Chapter Text
Kara Danvers felt strange as she drove through the streets of Midvale, Maine. Perhaps she should have prepared herself more. It was home, but it wasn’t. So familiar, yet so much had changed at the same time. Her old high school had an electronic marquee now. The hardware store looked to have been remodeled, and then there were the sidewalks through the center of town. They’d been replaced and had kind of a winding quality to them now. A nice touch. She studied the faces of the people she passed, recognizing many and some not at all.
It looked great, she thought, the town. She’d known Midvale, Maine practically her entire life and though it felt different, it was still close to her heart. Still hers.
But that wasn’t going to be easy, the whole being back thing. There had been a reason she’d stayed away for so long, and the weight of that sadness now say heavily upon her heart. She’d avoided it for as long as she possibly could. Declining invitations, evading family gatherings , and ignoring phone messages. She’d exhausted every tactic in her arsenal, and it was time to face what lay ahead.
But this time when she pulled into the driveway, there would be no Alex to hug her until they both fell to the ground outside of their parents’ home. She wouldn’t be there to tease her mercilessly or call her “kiddo.” They wouldn’t spend hours together on the old soccer field knocking the ball back and fourth while they talked about every aspect of each others life. Shooting the breeze, they’d called it, when those talks were actually so much more than that to Kara.
Of course, there’d been no Alex for years now, but Kara had done everything she could to avoid the places she’d recognize her sisters absence the most.
And that meant Midvale, Maine.
Her phone buzzed and she clicked it to speakerphone just as she stopped at of the the town’s two traffic lights. A line of elementary school kids was led across the crosswalk in front of her car by, wouldn’t you know it, Mrs. Altschull, her teacher from back in the day. This was seriously the twilight zone.
“You still alive?” Her best friend Winn’s voice filled the car. He was in LA for another week of so at the premiere of a film they’d worked on together.
Kara sighed. “Thus far. But the day is young.”
“Don’t be dramatic. That’s my job. Just wanted to check in on you, stroke your head from afar if that’s what you need.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll call you when I’m settled and you can tell me all about the fashion catastrophes at the premiere.”
“Will do. Wish you were here.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think the studio shares that sentiment. Plus, I need some time away.”
“I know, sweets. I love you more than Prada. We’ll talk soon.”
“We better. Bye, Winn.”
It was five minutes later when she took a deep breath and eased her car into the driveway of the Danvers home. As she looked up at the how she’d spent most of her childhood nestled inside, her heart thrummed nervously in her chest.
Yeah, this was gonna be rough.
Rallying, she reminded herself of all the reasons she’d come. The biggest of which was easy. She missed her family. It was her father’s sixtieth birthday in a few weeks, and her mother begged her to not let it go by without a visit. Then there was the fact that her own life was radically off kilter. She’d spent much of the year on location shoots from LA to Austin and hadn’t seen her apartment in Chicago in months. Her love life was a joke. And then there was the fact that the studio had her banned from her own movie set when she’d shown her highly inappropriate lead actor she wasn’t his personal blow up doll.
So here she was, needing to take a few steps back, assess her life, and find a way to put it all back together again. And that meant going back to basics. She had to remind herself of who she was before she could figure out where she was going. Deep down, she knew her family, her old friends, and this town would do that for her…if she could just let them.
“Kara Zor-el Danvers,” her mother practically shouted from the front porch. “You come here this minute!” She held her arms open and smiled widely as Kara approached. Once her mother’s arms enveloped her, she instantly sank into that feeling of comfort they always provided. It felt good, and in response, her eyes welled up at the long forgotten feeling. She pulled back enough to meet her mom’s sentimental gaze. She wiped away a tear from Kara’s cheek and Kara laughed at herself and the unexpected emotion.
“Hiya, Momma. I missed you.”
“Hi, sweetheart. It’s been too long since I’ve seen this face; you know this, don’t you?” She shook Kara’s chin slightly.
“I know.”
“And you should be ashamed of yourself for not coming home in so long. Now that you’re here, I’m not letting you get away again so quickly. You’re staying for a while. Understood?”
“Feisty. But yeah, that’s the plan. If that’s okay with you and Dad.”
“We insist. Daddy’s taking care of some of the details for dinner at Gibson’s. Your brother will be there, and Teresa and the kids along with the rest of the family.” She paused, studying Kara a moment. “How are you? And don’t kid a kidder.”
Eliza Danvers had ages since Kara saw her last. Not a great deal but enough that it caught her attention. Small limes had souring up around her eyes. She was thinner than ever before, and most of her hair was now white, not just the subtle streaks she remembered. She decided to answer honestly. “I’ve had better months. I think I just need a little break from everything. The studio thinks so too. Actually they’ve insisted on it, which is kind of a problem. I was pulled from the movie. They’ve brought in another producer to fill in my slot.”
As her mother opens her mouth, probably in question, Kara held up a hand. “Can we maybe talk about it later? I don’t think I have it in me right now.”
“Of course. I’m here if you want to…talk.” Kara nodded. She’d not had many heart-to-hearts with her mother over the years. It had always been Alex she’d turned to for advice tor to confide in. And more recently, Winn. He was pretty much her go-to. Her parents, though always well intended, had never understood what motivated her and disapproved of many of her choices. Okay, all of them. They disagreed with all of her choices. But then she hadn’t been exactly helpful in that department either. Not the easiest kid to raise.
“Thanks. Maybe.”
Her mother’s eyes dimmed in defeat. “Well, your room is waiting for you if you’d like to take an hour or so before dinner to rest or freshen up.”
Kara leaned in and kissed her mother’s cheek. “It’s good to be home.”
Gibson’s Steak House was the most expensive restaurant in town, and it was bustling with Danvers and their closest friends by the time Lena arrived. She was pulled immediately into one big bear hug after another, an Italian family imperative.
Alex’s older brother, James, swooped in, took her coat, and placed a big, sloppy kiss on her cheek. Lena’s here; the party can begin,” he called over his shoulder to the room at large.
She smiled happily at her brother-in-law and held up the brown paper sack. “Chocolate chip cookies for the kiddos. I promised and I always make good.”
“Nicely done.” He dipped his face deep into the bag and inhaled. “Wow. Are you sure we have to let the kids in on this little deal?”
She popped him playfully on the shoulder. “Jimmy don’t you dare play cookie monster. Come by the shop tomorrow and I’ll hook you up. Those are for the munchkins, who I have to kiss at least a million times right this very minute. Directions, please?”
“About fifty feet in. Kids’ table is on the left.”
“On it.”
Lena said a few passing hellos as she made her way to the kids’ table where she found her six-year-old nephew, Zachary, and her four-year-old niece, Ruby, coloring before dinner was served. “There are my two favorite small people.” She ruffled Zach’s hair and received an adorable smile un response. Ruby, however, bounded from her seat and easily kept into Lena’s arms. She has a special bond with the little girl, who now clung to her gleefully. “What’s up, little Ruby? How was your week? You married yet?”
Ruby giggled. “No, silly. Zach and me got to help Grandpa at the clinic and he let us pretend to be the doctor. I was the best one. Oh and Aunt Kara is here.”
“She is?”
Ruby nodded and pointed across the room. Lena followed her gaze and paused. There was Kara, speaking quietly in the corner with one of her elderly aunts.
Except it wasn’t Kara, not exactly.
This Kara was…different. Not at all the kid Lena projected in her mind whenever she thought of her. She was so grown up. It was startling.
In reality, she knew that time had passed and Kara was no longer a wayward teenager. Hell, she’d seen her several times throughout her college days, but the young women before her now was so much more than all of that. Somewhere along the way, Kara had gone from attractive to absolutely stunning. Her long blond hair was pinned back to one side, keeping her bangs from falling into her face. She wore faded designer jeans and a V-neck dark green T-shirt that somehow made her look cooler than all of them.
As Lena absorbed the confident carriage, the easy smile, the finesse with which Kara moved and spoke, she couldn’t help but feel a little proud of Alexis little sister. It was then that Kara lifted her eyes and smiled at her.
Lena gently lowered Ruby to the ground and closed the distance between them, grinning and pulling Kara easily into a hug. “Well, look who decided to grace us with her presence at long last.”
“You know me, Lee, always forgetting the time.”
As Kara released her, their eyes met and something moved between them. An understanding. An acknowledgment of the difficult years that had passed since they’d last joked in this way. Kara’s smile faltered briefly, her eyes brushing the ground before raising them back to Lena’s soberly. “I should have called you more. Or been here. Something.”
Lena squeezed her hand. “It’s okay, Kar.” And it was. The accident had changed life as they knew it, and everyone has reacted in different ways. “You’re here now and sure to unleash all sorts of trouble on the unsuspecting citizens of our small town.”
Kara narrowed her gaze. “Who told you?”
“We’ve met, remember?” That earned a grin. This was more like it. They’d all spent too much time being sad. “Hope you brought your appetite. Your parents ordered the menu eighteen times over.”
“My kind of meal.”
They settled down to dinner. The seventeen adults present were seated at a long table and the children at their own circular table off to the side, allowing their parents easy access. It was whenever they all got together like this that Alex’s absence was noticed most. Almost like a gaping hole that no one quote mentioned anymore, but everyone still felt. Lena offered up a silent smile to let Alex know she was remembered and missed on the day of her sister’s homecoming. She found if she made Alex a part of her life everyday life, it made her feel somehow closer.
Lena was ushered to a chair next to Jimmy’s wife, Teresa, and across from Kara. The early stages of the meal involved lots of questions about Kara’s job as a producer in the film industry. She see to field the inquiries as matter-of-factly as possible, but didn’t give an abundance of information.
To accompany the prime rib, the family style platters of green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, and seasoned squash were flowing freely down the table now. Jimmy loaded his plate now. “So do you have a lot of famous friends now?”
“A few,” Kara answered. “The films I work on are not exactly blockbusters, but we do have some notable names on occasion. I worked with Jenna McGovern recently and she was nominated for a Golden Globe for our film. She’s pretty great and we’re still in touch.”
Teresa grinned. “Ohhh, I love her. It all sounds so exciting.”
Her mother-in-law took a sip of wine. “It does, but there are plenty of exciting careers that are a bit more stable. And allow you to stay in one place. Like at home. I wish you’d give that some thought, Kara.” And here we go . While the heads of the Danvers family were warm people, they certainly came with a lot of opinions. Lena knew Eliza’s thoughts on Kara living apart from the rest of the family. She also made no secret that she didn’t love her chosen career path. If it were up to her, all her children would have followed her footsteps and gone into medicine. Jimmy had done just that and now had his own practice, while also working two days a week alongside his parents at their clinic. Alex had come close and studied medical management. But Kara had showed little interest, and that had disappointed her parents outright.
“It would be nice to live in town,” Kara conceded cautiously. “But it’s just not as easy with my line of work. In fact, it’s near impossible.”
“We could always use your help at the clinic,” her father-in-law, Jeremiah, pointed out. “You could look into medical school. We’d be willing to support you financially in the meantime. You’ve had your fun. Maybe it’s time to settle down, get serious. You’re so smart, Kara. Don’t you think you’ve wasted enough time as it is?”
Lena resisted the urge to roll her eyes, though it was hard. They’d put the same kind of pressure on Alex, who, I’m contrast to Kara, would have done anything to please her parents. She’d earned her business degree, settled in town, and took over the managing of Midvale, Maine Primary Care. Under her watchful eye, her parents’ clinic had grown to an overwhelming success, drawing tons of patients from neighboring towns.
But Kara was different, and there was nothing wrong with that. It was just a shame the rest of the family didn’t seem to agree.
“I don’t think that’s the direction I’m heading, Dad. But I appreciate the offer. I honestly do.” Her gaze fell to her plate.
“Where’s Kara heading?” Great-aunt Irene asked in a loud voice. “I don’t understand.” This was not unusual.
Kara looked up. “I think I’m trying to sort that all out. Can I get back to you?” And then she offered Aunt Irene a genuine smile, making Lena root for her all the more. I’m that moment, she decided to jump in, see if she could get evening back on track.
“Well, I for one am thrilled you’re here. It’s great to share a meal with you.” She raised her glass and met Kara’s eyes sincerely. “To Kara.”
The table followed suit and toasted happily, the touchy subject forgotten in light of the true meaning of the evening. Family.
The dinner came to a close as Lena shrugged into her jacket at the door, Kara stopped her. “Hey, you. I just wanted to steal a moment and say thank you.”
Lena shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, you do.”
She felt the tug of a smile at her lips. “Maybe a little. Not a big deal.”
Kara nodded. “How’s the bakeshop?”
Lena felt her spirits dip at the mention. “Uh…we’re hanging in there.” That was a good word for it; she just didn’t know how much longer she could hang. She estimated maybe a month or two until she’d have to close the doors permanently, but that might be a bit optimistic judging from the most recent numbers. She hadn’t toldanyone yet, including her three loyal employees. She didn’t have the heart. “Hey, come by for coffee tomorrow. We’re not as cool as Starbucks, but we make a mean muffin. Plus, we can catch up. I may or may not make you pay.”
“Risky. You’re not going to put me to work, are you?”
“I can’t make any promises. How are you with an industrial-sized mixer.”
“I’ve won awards for my mixing.”
Lena studied her. “Impressive.”
Kara laughed and Lena relaxed her troubles forgotten for a moment. There was something about being around Kara again that eased her spirit. Maybe it was that she reminded her of Alex. But no, on closer examination that simply wasn’t the case.
First of all, they looked nothing alike. Alex had been a brunette with dark brown eyes she’d inherited from father’s side of the family. Kara, on the other hand, was all her mother. Her eyes were a much deeper blue, which contrasted nicely with her light- as- a puppy hair that fell just past her shoulders.
Then there was the intense difference in their personalities. Alex has always been a bit more serious, a take -charge kind of girl others looked up to in admiration. Kara was much more laid back, a friend to everyone, and always on the lookout for a good time. It was her fly-by-attitude that used to frustrate Alex to no end, but Lena had always found it rather endearing. “So tomorrow then?”
“How could I miss it?”
“‘Night, Kar. Don’t get arrested.”
“‘Night, Lee. No promises.”
Kara watched through the window as Lena got into her car. She’d expected her to look different somehow p, either older or altered by loss. But that simply wasn’t the case. Nothing about Lena said widow. She swallowed hard. If anything, Lena looked more vibrant, more beautiful than ever before. Her jet black her was now accented with light brown highlights. It was a tad shorter, which showed off a few sassy layers that added a whole new hip quality she hadn’t seen on her before. But her minty green eyes still danced.
And thus, she was stuck.
She hadn’t made a plan on how she’d handle the Lena situation and the complicated layers that came with it. She’d meant to, but she’d hoped it would be a non-factor. It was a schoolgirl crush once upon a time that was fun to reminisce about in her head. That was all.
As the gathering came to a close, Kara decline rides from everyone who offered and opted to walk home that night instead. Enjoy the stroll. The streets of Midvale, Maine were generally pretty quiet after ten. Small town tended to close up early. The stars gleamed brightly overhead and fresh air filled her lungs. As she passed The Owl Tree, the towels token bar, music drifted faintly from inside and she could make out a few shadowed figures knocking back a couple with their buddies. She contemplated heading inside for a beer nene a voice benign her snagged her attention.
“Kara Danvers? Am I hallucinating on the sidewalk or are you actually standing here in front of me?”
She turned and smiled. “Hey Sam.”
Samantha Arias closed the short distance between them on the sidewalk, stopped in front of Kara and took her in. “Wow. The water in Chicago is to be commended. Bottle even. You look great.”
Kara rolled her eyes. “Come on.”
“When did you drop back into town, and most importantly, how long are you staying?”
“Today and I’m not sure. A little while, at least. No exact plans on that.”
Sam nodded, still drinking her in blatantly. It was actually kind of amusing. They’d gone to school together. Sam has been two grades ahead, and into boys for only the first half. Kind of like Kara. “You look good. Even better than the last time I saw you, which says a lot.”
“You’re sweet.”
“Prove it and buy me a drink. We should catch up.” But she didn’t wait for an answer and was already tugging Kara in the direction of the bar.
“Actually, I was just heading home. Long day.”
Sam turned back, her heavily made up face fell dramatically. “If you humiliate me now, I may never recover.”
She held Sam’s gaze and contemplate pd her next move. A little distraction couldn’t hurt. She could unwind a bit from the day, shoot the breeze with Sam, see who else she might run into from the old days.
She slid Sam an easy smile. “Why not?”
Except an hour later, when she had to peel Sam off of her like a fruit roll-up, she could have easily answered that question.
“What did you think of me in high school, Kara?”
“Uh, quite honesty, you terrified me in high school. I watched you chase after my sister like it was your job.”
Sam laughed. “We were just kids back then. If I had known you were an option, I might have chased after you. Everyone kind of thought you were just trying to be like your sister when it came to dating girls.”
“Yeah, including my parents. Fun times. It took them years to believe this is actually who I am.” Taking a last swallow of her beer, Kara turned to Sam, whose chin was now rested on her shoulder while her hand wandered a bit too boldly inside Kara’s jacket. “You know what? It’s getting late. I think I’m going to call it a night.”
Sam refocused her attention on Kara’s ear and purred softly into it. “I live a block from here.”
Any other day, Kara would have accepted such an obvious invitation, but for whatever reason, tonight just wasn’t the night for it. Sam was nice enough, attractive too. Probably it was the drive, or the head trip being back in Midvale, Maine brought on, but she’d rather just head home and curl up in bed. Forgot the way her parents had again marginalized her career and her life choices.
She caught Sam’s hand and pulled it from its audacious placement on her stomach and kissed the back of it. “Another time. But thank you for the company.” She dropped a twenty on the bar to cover their drinks.
“Sweet dreams, Kara Danvers. We’ll talk soon.”
“I bet we will. Thanks for the company.”