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Kara wasn’t invincible- not physically, not even moreso, not emotionally. She’d suffered loss and pain just like any other human, and, if she were any more self-pitying, she’d even say that what she lacked in physical pain, she made up for in other ways. But she was Supergirl. So she didn’t say that.
Instead, she said, “I’m alright.”, and “it’ll be fine”. And it was, for the most part.
She had nightmares. Panic attacks. Overloads.
And with time and therapy, they became less and less common. She always had somebody in her corner. Lena. Alex. Maggie. Somebody was always there, always available to make sure she’d be alright.
But it had never happened on the job.
It was a run-of-the mill evil guy. If anything, it was a photo-op and a press piece. Kara nearly laughed as she imagined one of her coworkers writing a story about her, not knowing the secret concealed by bright pants, glasses, and a ponytail.
It was because of that underestimation that the guy managed to get a hit on her. A strong undercut that sent her body backwards and her skull into the brick wall behind her. The sound of the impact and bricks crumbling echoed inside her head, with every ricochet increasing tenfold.
She cursed quietly, under her breath, and forgot the mission as she took inventory of the damage. In a moment, the alien was on top of her, tearing at her clothes, fists raining down on her torso, on her abdomen.
She couldn't breathe. He was pressed against her, heavily weighing on her chest. “Get off!” She roared, sending two twin beams of lasers into his body. He was a big alien, but not nearly the most powerful that Kara had had the displeasure of fighting. He flew off with that blast of energy, and the DEO agent descended upon him, using their tech to subdue him long enough to restrain him.
But Kara was there, pressed against the wall, chest still heaving, mind fuzzy from being jostled. Alex is always aware, though, and never as foolish as Kara was. Part of Kara knows that Alex should’ve been the one with the powers; she’d make a better hero by far. Alex descends upon her in an instant.
“Supergirl? Can you hear me?” She registers the glassiness of Kara’s eyes and the irregular cadence of her breaths, and spots the dirt on her face and the tears in her uniform. “Okay, you’re okay.” Alex shucked off her DEO jacket and laid it over her chest, covering her skin from the vultures of the press companies.
“Talk to me, Kara,” Alex whispers, quietly so that the press or the police holding them back cannot hear. “What are your injures?”
“M…M head,” Kara breaths out, though she isn’t sure whether the pain is from a concussion or the panic attack that is only continuing to escalate. “Where’s Lena?” Alex helped her for years with her episodes, but there was no replacement for the safety that Lena’s arms provided.
Kara closed her eyes tightly, feeling the pressure in her eyelids that matched the pressure in her head and the intensity of the ringing in her ears. Her body was rigid and cold; she shook as if she was in an ice bath.
There were more people- black clothing and big weapons- in a group around her, and Alex had moved. She was now crouched over Kara, hands on her neck and jaw, holding her spine still. Kara didn’t have the words to tell her that it wasn’t a physical injury she was suffering.
“I know. I know you want Lena; she’s going to meet us at the DEO.”
How did Alex know that? Kara registered her lips moving, the vibrations of speech coming from her throat that she didn’t quite know how to stop. “Please,” she gasped out, hands clenching Alex’s elbows with an intensity that she knew was hurting her. “Please, please, please, Al. Alex. Ale- Al-”
She registered the feeling of the world tilting; Alex’s hands leaving her neck and being replaced by a stiff and uncomfortable restraint. She turned onto a litter, and a wool blanket was fastened over her body, secured by straps, her face covered by Alex’s jacket.
“No, no, no, you’re making it worse.” Alex was calling out. “She’s panicking! Don’t give her that, Walsh- no, no needles.”
“Alex!” Kara called out, stretching and busting the straps around her arms and legs. She’d moved into the back of an armored ambulance, and Alex was outside, pushing aside the agents she was tasked with leading. “Alex, please.”
“Okay. I’m here.” She grabbed Kara’s hand to stop her from clawing at the collar and undid it herself, tucking Kara’s face into her shoulder and pressing her hands firmly on either ear to muffle the sounds around her. “Okay. Okay, Kara. It’s alright; I”m here with you. We’re going to see Lena.”
Lena. Lena. Lena. Lena. That’s all that Kara wanted. She’d make everything alright.
…
“Hi baby.” They were the first words that Lena spoke, smooth and calm, as Kara ugly-sobbed into her chest in the medical intake room. They were alone, Alex waiting outside after being relieved by Kara’s new favorite person. “I’m here with you, and I love you.”
It was the same sentence every time. No pacifying reassurances like ‘it’s alright’. Just a solid understanding that Lena was there, that Kara couldn’t do a single thing to make Lena turn her back.
“You’re so strong; I saw you help those people today. I’m so proud to be with you- you know that?” She talked slowly and smoothly, running her hands through Kara’s hair all the while and breathing soft and controlled. “There you are. Can I see your pretty eyes?”
Kara let out a humorless chortle. They were red and watery, both from the dirt and her emotions. Not very pretty at that moment. As Lena stared into her blue eyes, Kara focused intently on the green hue of hers. There was always an overwhelming serenity in her eyes.
“Are you injured?”
Kara shook her head softly. “Just…like, my pride.”
Lena took a wipe from the dispenser and gently cleansed the dirt from Kara’s face. “Pride needs to be checked every once and a while; that’s alright.” She continued her methodical breathing as she cleaned, finally deeming her job finished and pressing a kiss to Kara’s lips. “Are you sure that you’re alright? That’s never happened on the job before.”
“I know. It sucked.” Kara shook her head. “I just…I wasn’t focusing and I got hit hard and I wasn’t expecting it. And I just- I was already feeling on edge, and he was on top of me, and I couldn’t breathe…I just lost myself for a second.”
“I think if I got slammed into a wall by an alien, I’d lose my mind, too.”
Kara pinned her with a disapproving look. “Are you seriously flirting with me right now?”
“Is that allowed?”
“Can you give me, like, another hour?” Kara fought a chuckle and pulled Lena into the hospital bed with her, taking her hand and playing with her long fingers, feeling subdued and lethargic in the wake of one of the worst panic attacks she’d had in a while. “And maybe a bath?”
“I can absolutely give you a bath. But first, a new set of clothes.”
“Deal.”
…
It takes Kara three hours, two changes of clothes, a long bath, a Chinese food dinner, and a bed full of Lena Luthor to finally feel centered again. She swallows and breaths, running her hand up and down Lena’s bare leg where it is splayed over her midsection. Lena’s arm is over her chest and curled up to play with the hair at the top of her head, her nose against the shell of Kara’s ear and puffing out content breaths every few moments.
“Thank you, Lena.”
“I’m in bed with the most beautiful woman in the universe, and she’s saying thank you to /me/? Make it make sense, my love.”
Kara shook her head, pulling Lena’s hand from her hair and underneath the blanket to rest against her hip. She turns- first her head, then her shoulder, before the rest of her body follows, and presses closer to Lena and cups her hip, holding her there. “I mean it. Thank you for always looking after me.”
“Of course. It’s what we do for eachother.” Lena caressed her face and pulled her in for a chaste kiss. “There’s nobody else in the universe that I’d rather love.”
“Except for Margot Robbie.”
Lena hummed in agreement, smiling into another kiss. “Margot Robbie is always the exception to the rule.”
“She is,” Kara agreed. “I love you, too.” She smiled again and pulled Lena impossibly closer, holding tight enough that she couldn’t move, just the way that she liked it, and Lena returned the embrace, sharing air, sharing space, and sharing care that were more than enough to make Kara feel alright again.