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Lena Luthor had always considered herself a patient woman.
It was what she told herself every morning, while drinking her perfectly measured coffee, at her perfectly organized desk, in her perfectly controlled life.
But Kara Danvers…
Kara Danvers was a test.
—
At first, Lena thought she was imagining things.
The way Kara would disappear in the middle of a conversation — literally in the middle of a sentence — and come back minutes later with slightly messy hair and an absurd excuse.
“Sorry, Lena! A… cat. Stuck. In a… helicopter.”
Lena blinked.
Once.
Twice.
“Of course,” she replied, with the calm of someone who had seen too much to be surprised.
—
The second time was harder to ignore.
Kara walked into L-Corp with crooked glasses, her blouse slightly out of place… and a very specific mark on her wrist.
A mark Lena had already seen on live broadcasts.
From Supergirl.
Lena said nothing.
She simply smiled.
—
The third time was… impossible.
Kara took off her glasses.
Right in front of her.
For a few seconds.
Talking normally.
And Lena just… stared.
Waiting.
Waiting for the moment Kara would realize.
But Kara didn’t notice.
She just put her glasses back on — as if that were some kind of infallible disguise — and kept talking about coffee.
Coffee.
Lena had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
—
After that, it became entertainment.
A silent secret.
A private game.
Kara kept inventing increasingly improbable lies.
“I was helping my aunt with… extreme meteorology.”
“I tripped over a… gust of wind.”
“I… hit a pole. A very strong pole.”
And Lena just… watched.
Enchanted.
Amused.
Falling in love, against all logic.
—
Because it wasn’t just Supergirl.
It was Kara.
The clumsy way she moved, her overwhelming kindness, her wide-open heart.
The ridiculous contrast between the most powerful hero on the planet and the woman who forgot where she left her phone… while it was ringing in her own hand.
—
But there is always a limit.
There always is.
—
“You disappeared again.”
Lena’s voice was calm.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
Kara froze in place.
“I— I can explain—”
“Please,” Lena crossed her arms, leaning against the desk. “This time I really want to hear it.”
Kara swallowed.
“It was a… a fire.”
Lena raised an eyebrow.
“In a… submarine.”
Silence.
Kara blinked.
“That was… in the sky.”
Lena closed her eyes.
Took a deep breath.
One.
Two.
Three seconds of pure willpower.
When she opened her eyes again, she was smiling.
But it wasn’t a patient smile.
It was a tired one.
“You forgot your glasses again.”
Kara brought a hand to her face — and froze.
No glasses.
Again.
“Oh.”
—
Lena laughed.
She couldn’t help it.
A low, genuine, almost disbelieving laugh.
“Do you really think this works?”
Kara blushed.
“Lena, I—”
“You literally fly through my window.”
“…sometimes.”
“You make up impossible lies.”
“I’m getting better.”
“You take your glasses off in front of me.”
Kara opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
“I thought… you hadn’t noticed.”
Lena looked at her.
For a few seconds.
And then finally said:
“I’ve known you’re Supergirl since the third time you blamed a helicopter.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Kara blinked.
Once.
Twice.
“You… know?”
“For months.”
“And you didn’t say anything?!”
Lena shrugged, a small smile forming.
“It was… entertaining.”
Kara covered her face.
“I can’t believe this.”
“I can,” Lena tilted her head, watching her fondly. “You’re terrible at this.”
Kara let out a nervous laugh.
“This is… humiliating.”
“A little.”
—
The silence returned.
But this time it was different.
Lighter.
More honest.
—
Lena took a deep breath.
Then, softer:
“I was waiting for you to tell me.”
Kara lowered her hands slowly.
“I wanted to,” she said, sincere. “I just… didn’t know how.”
“Lying about flying submarines wasn’t the best approach.”
Kara laughed.
Weakly.
“Noted.”
—
Lena stepped closer.
Then another step.
Stopping too close.
Close enough to see every detail in those blue eyes.
“I’ve known… for a long time,” she said more quietly now. “And even so…”
She hesitated.
Something rare.
“Even so, I chose to stay.”
Kara held her breath.
“Lena…”
“Because it doesn’t matter,” she continued, steady now. “You can be Supergirl. You can save the world every day.”
Another step.
“But it’s you… that I—”
She stopped.
Too late.
—
Kara’s eyes widened.
“You… like me?”
Lena froze.
“…what?”
“Like— really like me?” Kara looked somewhere between shocked and hopeful. “Because I— I like you too— like, a lot— I just thought you’d— you know— hate me for hiding—”
Lena blinked.
Trying to keep up.
“Wait.”
But Kara didn’t stop.
“I can be honest now! Like, completely honest! No more flying submarines!”
Lena couldn’t hold it in.
She laughed.
Again.
“You really thought I was confessing a crime.”
Kara hesitated.
“You… weren’t?”
“No.”
Pause.
“…but maybe I was confessing something else.”
—
Silence.
Thick.
Charged.
—
Kara stepped closer.
“So… you like me?”
Lena held her gaze.
Without looking away.
Without irony.
“Yes.”
Simple.
Direct.
Irreversible.
—
Kara smiled.
That smile.
Open, bright, impossible to ignore.
“So… is this the part where we—”
Lena didn’t let her finish.
She leaned in and kissed Kara.
Without hesitation.
Without doubt.
Like someone who had known for a long time.
—
When they pulled apart, Kara was still smiling.
“I should have told you sooner.”
“Definitely.”
“No submarines.”
“Please.”
—
Kara laughed.
And this time, Lena laughed with her.
No patience.
No control.
No secrets.
Just them.
Finally.