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There were many things in life that Lena had prepared herself for: assassinations, betrayals, retaliations, corporate takeovers, the ever changing whims of boardroom politics, and— more recently— contingency plans, should Earth or the universe be threatened… again.
On the list of things she hadn’t planned for: befriending someone like Kara Danvers, working with Superman’s cousin, helping an entire city of Kryptonians survive, killing her brother, learning how to forgive, wielding magic and…
Fighting for top place on this list was her current predicament:
Supergirl had begrudgingly requested Lena’s assistance on a recon mission. Lena’s technological expertise couldn’t be tapped if jammers prevented her from listening in, so… she was to accompany Supergirl and provide what assistance she could in person.
Kara was not pleased to put Lena into what she adamantly insisted was harm’s way, but Lena had more than proven her ability to protect herself (and Kara, Nia had reminded them while purposefully avoiding Kara’s glower) and so Kara’s argument was quickly dismissed.
Lena was no stranger to Kara’s preferred method of gathering intel— hit first, ask questions later— and so she was surprised to find that Kara was employing more of a cloak-and-dagger approach. The two carefully snuck deeper into the underground base, their footsteps silent, while Kara was clearly getting more and more irritated by the interspersed lead-lined walls. On the fourth heavy sigh, Lena had nudged Kara in warning. As Kara looked back, likely ready to gripe about how much faster this could be if she could just do it her way, she suddenly went completely still. At Kara’s gentle touch to her arm, Lena paused and held her breath in anticipation. She watched as Kara’s brow furrowed, concentrating. She’d barely registered that the faint hum of noise just coming into range was that of voices, when Kara whisked her to the other side of the hall and pressed her back against one of the doors. As the voices grew louder, Kara was opening the door to the pitch-back room and crowding them both inside.
Genius though she was, it took Lena’s mind a few extra seconds to catch up on whatever had just happened and this was the moment she felt so completely unprepared for.
They were close, intimately so. This wasn’t late-night-movie-cuddling close. This wasn’t a princess-carry-post-rescue close.
It was Kara’s hands at her nape and the small of her back, pulling her in while also pressing her into the wall. It was Kara’s warm breath on her neck, whispering “hold on.” It was the way one of Kara’s thighs was pressed between Lena’s legs, and how Kara instinctively, protectively, pressed gently at Lena’s neck, guiding her to tuck in closer, Lena’s lips barely grazing Kara’s skin.
Lena could feel Kara’s pulse hammering. She wanted to ask why they were hiding, what Kara had heard, but with her mouth so close to that soft space between Kara’s neck and shoulder, she didn’t dare move. She tried to keep herself in the moment, really she did. Lena Luthor was not someone easily distracted, but she was someone on a long journey of self-discovery and self-love, and one or both of those values included Lena letting herself have the good things she wanted. That’s how she reasoned herself into leaning forward and letting her bottom lip brush gently against Kara’s skin. It was the shudder that rippled through Kara’s body that gave her pause.
”Sorry,” Kara murmured against Lena’s temple, like she was the cause of the touch. Lena took a moment to take in a breath, a little at war with herself and a little frustrated with Kara for taking the blame.
Memories of all their little shared moments flashed through Lena’s mind. Every soft touch, every gentle whisper and giggle… The recent “Just sleep here, Lena” with the follow-up of “we’ll both fit in my bed, it’s fine,” and then a few “Gosh, your bed is so comfy,” coupled with, “Oh no you don’t. I’m staying. If I don’t, you’re just going to keep working! Someone’s gotta make sure you sleep,” because “that’s what friends are for.”
But it wasn’t.
It wasn’t at all what friends were for. Ironically enough, through Kara herself, Lena had made at least a few more friends and none of them pulled her in like this.
Physically or emotionally.
Sam was the closest friend Lena had besides Kara and never, never was it like this.
Lena wished she could see right then. She wished that it wasn’t so dark, that she could look into Kara’s eyes and see what this was… but Kara’s body shifted, straightening, and Lena felt her turn her ear to the door. Lena turned her head from Kara’s neck and tried to focus on the sound Kara was hearing, letting her fingers dig into the back of Kara’s suit. Unfortunately, all she could hear was the pounding of her own heart. She wondered briefly if it was as distracting to Kara. Moments ticked by in the silent stillness as Lena worked to breathe her heart into a slower rhythm.
When Kara’s posture relaxed slightly, Lena kept her head tilted away, nervous about what she’d done. She desperately wished that she could see again, her eyes darting around only to take in darkness.
Except—out of her periphery she caught a faint glow. The tiniest mote of light hovered maybe a few inches from the corner of her eye. She struggled to comprehend what she was seeing, blinking a few times to try for better clarity as she turned more to face it. Then, just as suddenly, a few more spotted her vision. They looked the size of pin heads in the center, but radiated the softest of yellow lights, and the more she glanced around, the more the little motes popped into being.
Very alarmed, she wondered if something was causing these strange spots in her vision, but Kara’s voice helped soothe that anxiety with the quietest whisper of, “Lena? Is… are you doing that?”
With a relieved sigh, Lena whispered, “You see them, too?” She felt Kara nod, her cheek brushing against Lena’s in a touch that felt as soft as the light around them. “I think it could be my doing, yes.” She felt Kara smile into her hair.
“You are so cool,” Kara whispered. Lena, happy to be tucked into Kara so tightly that her blush would be well-hidden, still chanced a glance up to catch Kara’s eyes. All she could see was wonder and adoration, something so foreign to her in the eyes of anyone else, and it stole the breath right from her lungs. She silently thanked her magic and looked back towards the door. Her light didn’t seem to reach that far, as the door itself was still completely in shadow, which meant there was a very slim chance someone outside the door could see her light within. Finding her breath again, along with a bit of courage, she risked looking at Kara once more.
Kara was still looking down at her with something akin to affection, was still holding her close, and Lena felt further pulled in, somehow. Perhaps, it was more that they were both being pulled in, because Lena could feel the tickle of Kara’s breath on her lips. “Lena,” Kara breathed, their gazes locked.
In the very moment that Kara’s lips first touched hers, Lena could think of nothing else but of how right it felt, like a slotting together of two pieces that were made to fit. There was a part of her that was suddenly full, a feeling of, ‘oh, there you are’, as though she’d never realized she was missing this something and now she’d never want it to leave.
Eyes closed, Lena swallowed Kara’s gentle sigh and clutched tighter into the fabric of the suit, not wanting any space between them. They were already as flush together as they could be and Lena felt Kara’s smile against her lips before she pulled back a fraction to press their foreheads together.
Kara’s blue eyes were full of mirth as she broke into a grin. “Hi,” she whispered.
All Lena wanted to do was lean in again, but she valiantly kept herself still. “Hey,” she whispered back. A mote of light drifted between them to dance gently near the corner of Kara’s mouth, solidifying Lena’s theory that the motes belonged to her magic, playing off of her thoughts.
“Sorry, I should have asked first– I was just thinking about how amazing you are and then we were so close and you were looking at me like–” Kara’s soft voice was cut off by the press of Lena’s lips to the corner of her mouth. Clearly picking up on the correct signals, Kara kissed her again, hugging Lena tight enough that her toes lifted from the floor. Moments went by as they got lost in one another and it was Lena who finally remembered why they were here.
“Kara,” she murmured between kisses.
“Mmn?” Kara blinked dreamily and leaned in again.
“The– the mission.”
It wasn’t until after two more kisses that Kara seemed to come to. “Oh!”
Lena chuckled gently and pressed a kiss to Kara’s nose. “Let’s finish what we’re here for and then we can get back to, well…”
Kara was grinning again like she couldn’t keep it at bay, and Lena’s heart melted further. “This?” she asked hopefully.
At Lena’s nod, Kara was back to business. If Lena thought Kara had been impatient earlier, it was nothing compared to the time following their storage room excursion. In the span of an hour they had completed their intelligence gathering, found an opportunity to sabotage some tech, escaped without incident, debriefed quite hastily with a bewildered Alex and Brainy, and then landed gently on Lena’s balcony.
Later, Lena would wonder why it took them so long to come to this point. She would wonder why they had not crossed this threshold in the years they’d known one another, during the highs and lows of their relationship. The heartbrokenness of their greatest fallout would make more sense, but Lena would forever wonder if a moment like this could have prevented all of it from happening. Nonetheless, now that she knew what it felt like to have Kara’s lips trailing down her neck, across her collarbone, she never did wonder about it for too long.
Because Lena was on that journey of self-discovery and self-love, and Kara biting gently at Lena’s bottom lip while she giggled was a great thing that Lena wanted more than anything. She would let herself have that and so much more this time, whether she had ever thought to have prepared for it or not.