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Kara was relieved a testing session was over. Actually they had two more tests planned so after the portal spitted her back on a DEO’s headquarter floor and J’onn unexpectedly announced he thought it would be enough for today – even before she had a chance to mention her collision with a steel reinforced construction – she was a little bit confused. Relieved and confused.
Sure, she hadn’t gotten hurt and wasn’t in any pain – she was Supergirl after all – but it didn’t mean things like that recent hard landing didn’t affect her. In fact she was left physically shook by the impact. In addition, she felt shaken up emotionally. By… everything that happened after her crash. So again, Kara was relieved that others agreed with J’onn so easily (even Brainy didn’t protest) and that they called it a day earlier than initially planned.
Until she retired to a locker room and saw her face in a mirror, that was.
She groaned and leaned heavily against the sink, examining a conspicuous crimson mark on her skin. The decision to finish the tests earlier made more sense now. So did other things. Brainy’s lack of protest. J’onn’s only half-hidden amusement. Alex’s loud sigh. A shriek Nia let out when Kara was scrambling up from the floor. Lena’s…
Her quickly accelerating train of thought came to a sudden halt.
Lena.
What had been Lena’s reaction?
She’d barely looked at her best friend after returning from the last test. She hadn’t dared. And now–
“Kara?”
“RAO!” Startled Kara almost activated her heat vision. She’d been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't even noticed their main subject entering the room. So much for having super senses. But Lena was there, standing only three steps away with an unreadable expression.
Kara might’ve not known what she felt at the moment, but she clearly knew what she needed.
She needed to explain herself to Lena. For some reason.
“I… It’s not…Ughhh.”
Well, okay. ‘Explain yourself’. And what to say, exactly?
She tried again.
“I think…. Um. I think I ended up in the future.” This wasn’t that bad, actually. It was a start.
“Yeah” Lena agreed easily, to Kara’s relief. “About twelve years from now. I know. We spotted a mistake in portal’s calibration when you were gone.”
“…Oh.”
“Spatial coordinates were correct, though” Lena added after a moment when it became clear this was all Kara had to say. “You still landed on L-Corp Tower’s helipad, didn’t you?”
For a second Kara considered answering that ‘landed’ wasn’t the best word for what had happened but quickly decided against it and just confirmed.
Another pause. It wasn’t Kara’s best day. At least when it comes to conversational skills.
“Right. So much for input values. But if it comes to output…” Instead of finishing the sentence Lena just gestured vaguely to her face.
“Um… Right. So. L-Corp, right? And. You. You were there. And…” – Kara gesticulated frantically between them. “Yeah” she added at the end of her explanation, for emphasis.
“Are you trying to tell me it was future version of me who kissed you?” Lena’s eyebrow rose questioningly.
Kara nodded vigorously. And suddenly she found herself capable of formulating full sentences again.
“I realize how it sounds but I need you to believe me.” It was important. Crucial.
“You need it, huh?”
For the next few moments they just stood facing each other in silence. Kara could’ve felt panic raising in her chest with every passing second but she dreaded saying or doing something stupid and she just kept her mouth shut and her body still.
So yet again it was Lena, who spoke first.
"Have you ever heard" she took a step in Kara's direction, her voice sounding simultaneously pensive and deliberate "about cheiloscopy?"
"Cheiloscopy?" Kara echoed.
A short nod. And another step.
"It's like dactyloscopy, but for lips."
"For lips?" Kara repeated dumbly again. She'd probably have had hard time to come up with a wittier answer to Lena's words even on her best day. And today really wasn't one of them, apparently.
"You can identify a person by their lip print" The explanation was punctuated by the sound of yet another high-heeled footstep. Now Lena was standing so close that Kara could've felt her subtle body heat even without her super senses.
"A crease pattern within the vermilion zone is unique for each individual." Was Kara hallucinating or did Lena really glanced at her mouth while saying this? "Just like fingerprints."
Even if Kara had known what to answer (she didn't), she wouldn't have had a chance to do it, as slim fingers brushed her chin, tilting her cheek to a ceiling lamp. For a moment Lena looked closely at the crimson mark with what seemed to be a genuine scientific curiosity. Then she leaned in and kissed Kara exactly under the still-tingling, lipstick-marked spot. Right next to the corner of her mouth. Next she casually inspected an outcome of her action.
“Hm. Interesting.”
Kara looked sidelong at herself in the mirror.
‘A crease pattern’. Of course there wasn’t any crease patter visible, even to her alien eyes. All she saw was two smeared lipstick marks.
Both in a perfectly identical – and very distinctive – shade of red.