Archive of Our Own

Jimmy Olsen wasn’t sure when was the last time he had a restful night. The past few weeks had been a whirlwind of battles, fights, uncertainty about the future, and feelings he just couldn't understand.

Feelings that his stupid human brain refused to process, he realized it now, far too late for it to even matter.

Even before the Eradicator’s attack, Jimmy had spent a whole month sleeping poorly, which was normal, considering Superman, his best friend in the whole world, had lost his powers. Jimmy tried to pretend everything was fine, playing video games with him and having silly conversations, spending time at the Daily Planet obsessing over picking the perfect photos for Lois’s articles, and blowing his small fortune on gifts for his friends and dates with girls he didn't actually like.

He did all those things because the alternative was admitting there was only one girl he liked, only one superhero he was head-over-heels in love with. But he was never going to confess it to her, because he was an idiot, so, he simply avoided her for an entire month, he pushed her away, made her feel abandoned, and…

And then what? He promised her he’d do better? When had he said that? Three days ago, barely hours before watching Kara Zor-El collapse after taking a massive laser beam at point-blank range.

“What a terrible time to make your promises, Jimmy Flamebird.” Kara would have told him that; he was sure of it.

He wished with all his might that Kara would say something to him, anything. But for three days now, she had just been lying in a bed inside a S.T.A.R. Labs facility, protected by a sheet of transparent glass that was bulletproof, laser-proof, missile-proof, and proof against anything else that could hurt her, the same glass filtered the sun's rays and redirected them into her body as radiation, something Jimmy desperately hoped was working.

That had been his life for the past three days: hoping things would just work, his bank account was deep in the red after this investment, and he couldn't care less.

“Oh, Jimmy Flamebird, you should not waste your Earth resources on me! Do not worry, I will recover on my own, I am a strong and powerful Kryptonian warrior!” That was something Kara would say, of course.

But, then again, Kara couldn't say a single word.

Jimmy wondered how Clark was doing right now, he had traveled to the Fortress of Solitude to regain his powers, and they hadn't heard from him since. The young man felt a brief shot of anger when he thought about him. Why did it occur to him to do that only after a whole month? Why not sooner? If he had just thought it before, maybe Superman would already be back, and Kara wouldn't be…

“Jimmy Flamebird, do not blame Kal-El for this! You could not know what he was going through!” Kara scolded him in his imagination, he sighed, not only was it something she would say, but she would also be right, once again, he was acting like an idiot.

She would flush red while yelling at him, completely mad, throwing a death glare his way and crossing her arms, Jimmy wanted her to do that so badly, he wanted to see her furious, angry, smiling, joyful.

He wanted to see her any other way except asleep like she was now, her vitals (at least the ones the doctors could read) remained steady, but she just wouldn't wake up, Jimmy remembered how her body felt against his when he managed to barely lift her off the ground while she lay among the rubble, unconscious.

She felt cold, impossibly cold. And her face, which was constantly lit up by a million different shades of pinks and oranges, now looked gray, Jimmy wondered how that was even possible, he had shaken her lightly, whispering her name, certain she would open her eyes, say his name in that lovely, incorrect way she always did, and hug him.

Or maybe she’d slap him, he’d accept that too. He’d accept any kind of reaction from her, anything except her not moving. Any word of admiration or contempt, anything except silence. Any funny or angry face, anything except…

Jimmy thought about her eyes and smiled slightly, they were closed now, just as they had been for the last three days, but he could remember them clearly, they were probably his favorite thing about Kara.

Dammit, he liked Kara so much. And he had decided to give her one of the stupidest pieces of advice in human history, and then felt like he had the right to get mad because Kara had done exactly what he suggested.

“Jimmy Flamebird, that was, in fact, an incorrect tactic on your part, quite disappointing,” she would tell him.

All he could do now was wallow in regret, Clark was out there, trying to regain his powers, convinced that Superman could return and fix everything.

Lois was dealing with Amanda Waller. She had entire folders of documents proving that Lex Luthor was an absolute monster, and she had decided to get her revenge the only way a journalist could: by sinking him with irrefutable proof.

Jon and Lara were… he wasn’t sure exactly where they were, to be honest. Lara had been here with Jimmy yesterday, watching over Kara, genuinely worried about her well-being. Jimmy admired that, despite coming from such a dark and hostile future, she still chose to be kind.

Her brother, on the other hand, had been incredibly shaken up after watching Kara sacrifice herself to save him, he hadn’t said a single word on the way to the labs, nor when Clark said goodbye to everyone to head to Antarctica. At some point, he flew out of Jimmy’s sight and the man hoped the time-traveling teenager wouldn't get into trouble, but he couldn't blame him if he decided to do something rash.

After all, Jimmy had gotten himself into plenty of trouble too.

Three days ago, just hours after bringing Kara to this place, Waller had called him in for what she promised would be a "brief interrogation." He refused, he wasn't about to abandon the woman still resting in that bed, what if she woke up the moment he left and he wasn’t there? What if something even worse happened? 

But Waller didn't take "no" for an answer, a fact made perfectly clear when Slade Wilson showed up outside the room, pointing one of his katanas at him and giving a slight nod for Jimmy to "step outside for a moment." Jimmy considered refusing, but immediately realized he had no way to fight him. So, he complied. 

Surprisingly, the whole thing lasted less than half an hour, he told them what he knew, Waller nodded a few times while a secretary jotted things down in a notebook, and at the end, she simply said:

"You are free to go, Mr. Olsen, we apologize for the inconvenience."

“Jimmy Flamebird! Warn her never to do that again, or you will be very angry with her!” Kara said in his mind. The photographer opened his mouth to speak, but the woman from the Pentagon did nothing but raise an eyebrow, and Jimmy left without saying a word.

“You should have said something,” Kara complained in his imagination. “You cannot let them treat you like this.”

But the moment he stepped out of the room, Jimmy felt his internal fury reach unmeasurable heights. Handcuffed, being pushed along by Slade while complaining about his discomfort, Lex Luthor was waiting outside. He didn't know exactly how it happened, but he closed the distance between himself and Lex in two strides and practically screamed in his face:

"I hope you rot in prison!"

Despite the sheer force of his voice, Lex didn’t even flinch, he just looked him up and down and snorted.

"An ally of Superman insulting me, what a surprise."

"I'm not his ally, I'm his friend," Jimmy snapped back. "Do you even know what that word means, friend?"

Lex simply let out a short, mocking laugh.

"Yes. I used to consider myself your friend, Jimmy, remember? After all, you were the one who gave me the idea to go after Superman!"

Jimmy just saw red after those words, his hand clenched into a fist, and an instant later, he drove it straight into his "old friend's" stomach, Lex let out a curse mixed with a wail of pain, and Jimmy started walking away, ignoring that Amanda Waller had stepped out of the interrogation room and was calling his name.

Slade was in front of him now, and Jimmy could feel the edge of his heated blade leaving a slight cut on his cheek.

"Are you going to stop me?" he asked Luthor's former bodyguard.

Slade simply shrugged, Waller had probably given him a signal Jimmy couldn't see, because he immediately sheathed his weapon and whispered:

"Next time, aim for the right flank, the idiot always complains that it's his weak spot."

Jimmy didn't reply, as much as he wanted to beat Luthor unconscious, the only thing he wanted right now was to get back to taking care of Kara.

“Jimmy Flamebird, that was incredibly stupid of you,” she would tell him with a frown. But considering it was Kara, she would also probably punch his shoulder lightly, smile, and add: “Spoken like a true warrior. Good job!”

Jimmy desperately wished Kara would wake up so he could tell her what he’d done, just to see her laugh, if only for a fleeting moment while imagining the scene…

Jimmy’s senses instantly flared to life when he caught the faintest sound. There was no warning from the monitors measuring Kara’s vitals, no sudden movement. She didn’t gasp, nor did she violently shatter the bed she was resting on. None of that.

Kara simply blinked her eyes open, just a fraction. A low, faint sound escaped her lips, hardly more than a soft cough and Jimmy was by her side in a heartbeat.

An absolute eternity seemed to pass before her eyes fully opened. Jimmy placed his hand over the covers, not quite daring to touch her bare skin directly.

"Jimmy Flamebird, your constant heavy breathing is interrupting my rest," she said.

"Kara…" was the only thing he could whisper in response.

"That is correct," she replied. Her face was expressionless, but her voice, slow and weak, showed just how exhausted she truly was. "As far as I remember, that is my name."

"Kara!" Jimmy repeated.

"Correct," she nodded. "Kara Zor-El."

"You're awake!" he cried out, his brain finally accepting that this was actually happening. She was finally awake! He hadn't doubted the Kryptonian's strength for a single moment, but seeing her open her eyes felt a million times better than he had ever imagined.

"Jimmy Flamebird, is it truly necessary for you to state so many obvious things?"

Wow. The very first words out of her mouth after waking up from a coma, and she was already teasing him. Jimmy didn’t know what to say. Instantly, he burst into tears and threw himself toward her body, only to stop himself, suddenly realizing she was barely conscious. God, he was losing his mind!

But then, he felt the bedsheets shift slowly. She slid her arms out from underneath them, reaching up to gently touch his face.

"You're awake..." he repeated. "Kara... I... I was so..."

"Worried," the warrior softly finished for him. Jimmy felt a million jolts run through him as her fingers kept brushing against his cheek. "I know. I could feel you. I repeat, your breathing has been far too heavy this entire time. Your heartbeat increased in speed and intensity, and I could perceive your muscles tensing."

"I was..." he tried to say.

"Worried," she said in a low voice, shaking her head. "I just stated that, Jimmy Flamebird."

He wasn’t sure how to respond, and luckily for him, she spoke up again.

"Kal-El, Lois Lane, Jonathan, and Lara Lane?"

"In that order: at the Fortress trying to get his powers back, making sure Lex Luthor goes to prison, and... honestly, no idea where the kids are."

"I should go look for them," she said, attempting to sit up. Jimmy immediately placed a hand on her chest, stopping her in her tracks.

"No, you need to rest, Kara," he told her, as firmly as he could manage.

"You are in no position to give me orders, Jimmy Flamebird. I am far more powerful than you," she warned playfully.

"I'm worried about you," he said, knowing that once again, he was stating the absolute obvious. And yet, it seemed to work, because she leaned back, lying down once more.

"Worrying you even further is not in my plans," she whispered.

He shifted upward and just stared at her for a long time, smiling as he watched her cheeks flush red. He took in every single inch of her face. Yes, she looked tired, and her skin still carried a faint gray shadow that reminded him Supergirl had almost died. but her eyes were open, completely locked onto his. She said something, but he didn't catch it, far too busy getting lost in those two blue irises and the bright, golden sea of her hair. He noticed she was frowning now, and decided his only real option was to pay attention.

“What was that?”

“I shall ask again, what are you doing?" she said, slightly irritated.

"I... I was looking at you," he confessed, coughing a little.

She let out a brief, breathless laugh. Her voice sounded dry as she said, "Again, you are saying things that are very, very obvious."

"I haven't done anything but look at you for the last three days," he blurted out, shaking his head and trying to get up. "I'm sorry, I should probably go shower, because I'm sure I..."

"Smell incredibly bad," she said. Jimmy could have died of embarrassment right then and there, at least until she added, "But I do not want you to leave."

"I want to trust you, but I am afraid you will leave me alone again."

She had told him that before the battle against the Eradicator, Jimmy had clung to those words like a lifeline, deciding that the best way to care for her would be by doing exactly what she wanted. He would stay by her side until she woke up, he hated himself for letting Waller interrupt him, but it had been the only time, now that Kara was awake, he would do the same, no matter what happened, he wouldn't abandon her.

"I won't leave," he promised, nodding.

"Knowing that makes me happy, Jimmy Flamebird," she said.

Kara slowly pulled him back toward her. For a few seconds, their bodies tangled together as he tried to lie down beside her without getting under the covers, she, obviously, wasn't going to have that and after another minute, they ended up completely buried beneath the sheets, with Kara staring right at him and him going completely stiff until she spoke again.

"The pillows in this facility are incredibly uncomfortable, Jimmy Flamebird."

"I'll get you a memory foam one, Kara," he promised, already figuring he could take out a loan and buy her twenty of them if she asked.

"That will not be necessary..." she answered, almost in a whisper, snuggling her head tightly against his chest. Jimmy moved his arm just an inch. She, of course, noticed, and gave a tiny nod with a soft smile. He wrapped his arm around her, and she let out a faint, quiet laugh.

"...This is definitely much more comfortable, what's your opinion, Jimmy Flamebird?"

He didn't answer, and she shot him a look that could only be interpreted as 'answer me right now or face my Kryptonian wrath.'

"Yup," he said, still gasping for air and she immediately questioned, "will you stay, Jimmy Flamebird?"

"I'll stay, Kara Zor-El," he answered quickly.

She didn't say another word. Jimmy hoped they might finally manage to fall asleep together, but to his surprise, she wouldn't stop staring at him. Head over heels in love as he was with her and her eyes, he couldn't stop doing the exact same thing.

Eventually, if everything went well, Clark would return, having regained his powers. Or Lois would probably march into the room, interrupting them while gloating about how she had sent Lex to prison. Maybe Lara and Jonathan would come by to see them, both overjoyed to see their Aunt Kara alive. And, most likely, they would all have to stand together to face the Eradicator when it inevitably returned to the present.

And then, if absolutely everything went right and they got really, really lucky... maybe he could finally confess what he truly felt in his heart.

But until any of those things happened, the only thing Jimmy could think about was how incredibly lucky he was just to have Kara by his side.