Earth 40

The clock had barely struck six-thirty in the morning and Kara was already getting out of bed, she did not want to be late for CatCo on the day of her return as Kara Danvers of Earth-40. She took a shower to clear her mind and calm her nerves. Lena Luthor never got up before seven, but on that Thursday made an exception. She was aware of the compromised situation Kara was in and wanted to wish her luck before she left.
Lena walked to the door of Kara's room, and opened it slowly in case she had not yet awakened and peered in, looking for her. And she did. Kara had her back to her, focusing her attention on the clothes she had sprawled on the bed. Everything would have gone perfectly had Kara not been wearing only a towel around her wet body, while she dried her hair energetically with a smaller one. The Kryptonian was so concerned about her choice of clothes that she did not notice Lena's presence. That scene paralyzed her. She could not take a step further, she stayed transfixed in the doorway, but she could not stop looking.

Her green eyes roamed over her neck and what remained visible of her legs. She swallowed. Kara entered the bathroom, it was the perfect time for Lena to let her know she was there, but again she was unable to do anything but stand there, longing to see more. After two minutes, Kara returned to the bedroom, this time, her body was barely covered by a simple set of blue underwear. Lena felt her cheeks burning and a relentless need settled between her thighs as she stared at the athletic body of Kara, who, still oblivious to her presence, was about to get dressed. At last, Lena reacted and turned quickly, feeling ashamed to behave like a horny teenage girl. Especially because that Kara was not her Kara, and she felt guilty for invading her privacy. She walked quickly to the kitchen, she needed a cold drink.
Ten minutes later, Kara entered the kitchen for breakfast, but no one was there. She went to the fridge and something caught her attention. It was a yellow paper, attached to the metal door with a small magnet. It had something written on it.

"Good morning, Kara. Surely you've gotten up before me, I hope you've rested well. Help yourself to anything you want, and have a good day. I’m sure that all will be well in CatCo. Cheer up, Girl of Steel. See you later. Lena."
"What a sweet gesture." Kara smiled and slipped the paper into the pocket in her pants.
Lena had stopped hearing noises, and knew that Kara was no longer in her apartment. It was a few minutes past seven and decided that it was time to get out of bed. She undressed slowly and slipped into the shower, feeling the hot water running down her neck, shoulders, back, legs...She kept her eyes closed. She wanted to relax, but her mind had other plans for her.

She had both her hands on the wall and had her head down when she heard the noise of the screen door slide, and soon she felt Kara’s hand around her waist, her breasts sticking to her back and her hips against her backside.
“Kara..." She whispered, "I have a meeting first thing in the morning.”
"So?" Kara whispered as she kissed her neck. "You're the boss, they won’t start without you."
Lena threw her head back, searching for her girlfriend's lips. They kissed under the curtain of water, their breaths quickening.
"They’re waiting for you...At the DEO...Alex is going to kill you," Lena managed to say.
"She’ll forgive me eventually...She loves me a lot," Kara said just before one of her hands grabbed a breast, making Lena moan.
"And Mr. Carr...Does he love you too?" Lena reminded her." She moaned again, Kara continued stroking her body. "You owe him an article."
"Right now, I couldn’t care less about Carr.” Kara's hand slipped between Lena's legs, and she gasped at once. “And I believe you think the same about your meeting.”
A greenish glow made her look between her thighs. She smiled. Kara was wearing the kryptonite bracelets. She had not interrupted her shower to share only a few caresses, she wanted to make love to her, and Lena surrendered to her hopelessly. When Kara's fingers invaded her body, Lena let out a sharp groan. Then they began to move together, softly, to the rhythm that Kara imposed with her hand. She liked to enjoy the trip before arriving at her destination.
"Tell me...Why do I like you so much?" Kara whispered in her ear in a huskier voice than usual. Lena shuddered and bit her lower lip.
Her groans grew more and more intense, and Kara increased the speed and pressure of her fingers as her free hand ran through her breasts, stomach and waist. Lena was about to reach her orgasm, Kara knew her body well. She kissed her on the cheek and enjoyed her spasms of pleasure.
"I love you, Lena..." she whispered against her neck.
Lena tried to catch her breath after her climax. It was the first time she had touched herself in the past two months, but it had been the saddest orgasm of her life. The water in the shower kept sliding over her skin, accompanying her silent tears.
"Kara..." she stammered in a trembling voice.
Wrapped in a robe, Lena entered the kitchen for coffee. There, she saw a paper on the table. She picked it up and recognized Kara's handwriting.
"Thank you very much for the encouragement, I think I’ll need it. Cat Grant is both as fantastic as she is intimidating. Have a good day at L-Corp, see you later. Kara."
She felt like crying for a second time that morning, but struggled to contain the tears. She had a company to run.
XXXXXX

Winn had assured her that she had nothing to worry about, that James would let her know about everything, because he worked at CatCo as a photographer. So the first thing that Kara did when entering the building was to look for the office of James Olsen. He received her with a smile, and told her everything he thought Kara should know so as to not raise suspicions about her identity.

"Darling, what do you think if this afternoon we go to...?" Eve entered the office and stopped talking as she saw Kara sitting on a chair.
"Kara, you're back! I'm glad you're better." She bent to kiss her on the cheek. Well, we'll talk later, when...You’re not busy. Bye Kara.”
Eve waved her hand and left the office.
"Eve and you...?" Kara asked, frowning. James smiled.
"Yes...But it’s not been long, just two weeks.”
"I'm so glad for the both of you," Kara said, "and now I'm going to see the Snapper Carr of this world. Oh Rao, I hope he’s not too much like mine."
"Calm down, you can do it... And you know, anything you need, you can count on me.
"Thank you, James." She shook his hand with affection. He was just as charming and as good a friend as her James.
On the way to Carr's office, Kara met Cat Grant.
"Kerah...I see that you have recovered from your surgery," she said, staring at her. That woman would never cease to intimidate her. And she had taken to call her Kerah again, or maybe she had not stopped doing it on this Earth. Whatever it was, she absolutely needed Cat not to know she was not the Kara she knew, but she was very concerned about her insight. It was not easy to fool her on her own world, and it wasn’t likely it would be on this one.
"Thank you, Miss Grant," she said quickly, "I am much better.”
"Good to hear, and now go see Carr and help me sell copies of CatCo magazine, chop-chop.” Kara nodded and smiled quickly.

The meeting with Snapper Carr went as she feared and worse.
"I know you're Cat Grant’s spoiled girl," she said.
“Excuse me?”
"But I'm not going to grant you any privileges. It was very unprofessional of you not to give and advanced notice of your surgery, ponytail." Kara wrinkled her nose at that nickname, the same used by the Carr of her world. “Another one like that and I'll do my best to fire you.”
"It won’t happen again."
“If I give you another chance, it's because of your contacts.”
"My contacts?"
"Even though you're nothing sort of special as a reporter, you know Supergirl and Lena Luthor, National City's most famous couple, and that's always a plus."
“Oh.”
"But we've had enough sugar with Cat's report. I want an article about the city's caretakers in Supergirl's absence, we're not alone without her."
"I see you're not a fan of Supergirl."
"I don’t like people who disappear without a warning," said Carr. "Looks like the two of you have that in common."
She didn’t say anything else, but looked down and went on with what she was doing. Definitely, in no world would she get along with that man, but that would not prevent her from doing her job as a reporter. On the other hand, contacting those who had taken care of National City in the absence of Supergirl wouldn’t be complicated; a visit to the DEO would suffice.
XXXXXX

EARTH-38
Alex stole glances at her mobile phone frequently. Maggie noticed, and it was starting to annoy her.
"I feel like you're somewhere else," Maggie said, breaking the silence.
“Huh?” Alex looked at her.
"We haven’t been going out for two weeks and you don’t pay any attention to me anymore," she said sadly. "I was hoping for something else after the night we spent in your apartment.”
"Sorry, Maggie, I just...I'm waiting for a DEO call, I have a pretty complicated case in my hands."
"If you can’t stay, just tell me, it’s all right."
"I wanted to see you." Alex took Maggie's hand. “I'm not having a good time, it's the DEO case and...Kara's absence," she admitted.
"But Kara is out of the country for work, isn’t she? She'll be back soon," Maggie said.
"Yes, of course," Alex lied. That was the story they had told everyone. “But it’s the first time I have spent so long without seeing her, and it is harder than I thought, we’re very close.” She smiled mildly.
"You'll see, before you know it, Kara is back and that case you have will be solved." Maggie's tone sounded like a caress. “You know that if I can help in any way, you just have to ask me.”
Alex rose from her chair and pulled Maggie to her body. She hugged her tightly.
"Thank you, Maggie..." She buried her face in her neck. "And forgive me for being like this.” Alex leaned back to look at Maggie's eyes, those dark, deep eyes as the night she loved so.
"When you're upset, I want you to share it with me, Alex, that's what couples do.”
"I'm sorry, it's just... I've never been with anyone like this before. Everything is new to me.”
Maggie merely smiled tenderly, tilting her head a little. Then she interlaced her fingers with Alex's and they left the bar. They said goodbye with a kiss on the lips and each one got on their motorcycle.

Alex started and walked away with a bittersweet feeling inside. She should feel immensely happy, the girl she loved so much had told her she felt the same way she did, and they were dating. However, Kara's absence clouded everything. Ten days had passed since her sister had told her she had to travel to Earth-1 to help Barry and her friends. Ten days of silence, ten days without receiving any signs of Kara's life. She kept wondering why she had not yet communicated with her, if everything had gone well, or badly, if she had been hurt, if she could not return to her world...If she was dead. Alex gritted her teeth at the thought. The uncertainty made her crazy with worry, and the impotence she felt for not being able to do anything about it was killing her.

But Alex Danvers was not the only person in National City to suffer the absence of Kara Danvers and Supergirl. Each night, Lena Luthor went to the balcony of her office in L-Corp to watch the night sky with a single desire, to see Supergirl flying through it. And during the day, she longed to receive Kara's unexpected visits. It was curious that both had disappeared at the same time, very curious indeed.
At least, Supergirl had dedicated her a "thank you, I'm sorry I doubted you" the night that she betrayed her own mother to save the lives of all the National City aliens. But Kara...She couldn’t deny it, Lena expected something from Kara after what happened with the Medusa virus. A visit to thank her, a call, an invitation to have a cup of coffee, any gesture, whatever, and her absence made her feel confused and sad. After four days, she could not take it anymore and showed up at Kara's house, but no one opened the door. Her attempts to reach her by telephone were in vain, always the same message announcing that the phone was off or out of coverage. She came to think that maybe Kara didn’t want to continue their friendship, and that hurt her. She could not lose her only friend without explanation. What had she done wrong?

She felt a little relieved when she visited CatCo and James told her that Kara was out of the country, covering a story, that she had been in a hurry and they had trouble reaching her by phone. But she needed more information, and two days later she located Agent Danvers and asked for Supergirl. Alex had to tell her that Supergirl was on a mission off the planet, but that she would be back soon.
Lena was tying up loose ends, she had never believed in coincidences. But what disturbed her the most was the regret she felt at the absence of both women. Why did she miss them so much? Why did she get anxious at the thought of not seeing them again?
Her gaze was lost in the night lights of the city. She closed her eyes and sighed. Then she opened them and looked up at the sky.
“Will you come back someday?” She asked bitterly.
END OF EARTH-38
XXXXXX

Kara lay on her bed, but she could not sleep. She kept thinking about what had happened in the last few days. She was living the life of another person, and for that, she had deceived an entire city. Besides, she was aware that this farce was not exactly easy for Lena. Her presence gave her conflicting feelings, she knew from the way her heart rate and breathing altered when they were near. But Kara preferred not to comment on this with her so as not to upset her anymore. What she was doing was keeping an eye on her vital signs. So that night, she sensed her disturbed breathing and worried.
In an instant she slipped into her room, needing to know that she was alright. Lena was sleeping, but she seemed to have some kind of nightmare from the grimace that showed her face. Kara sat on the edge of the bed, doubtful whether to wake her up or do nothing. Her blue eyes filled with her. Despite the bad dream, she found her beautiful with her hair sprawled on the pillow and her fleshy lips slightly apart. Kara's fingers came to her cheek, but then, Lena stirred a little, and spoke between sobs, causing her to withdraw.

"Kara...Please...No...Don’t go..." Lena moaned, still asleep.
A tear trickled down her cheek and Kara felt her heart break.
"Lena...You don’t even get peace in your sleep,” she whispered.
She wanted to wake her up so she wouldn’t suffer like this, and she took her shoulders gently.
Lena needed little else, she was wide awake. She opened her moist green eyes, and looked at Kara bewildered.
"Kara?" She sat up a little, resting on her elbows. "What are you doing here?" She asked in a low voice.
"I...I heard you...You had a nightmare and...I didn’t know what to do..." she stammered. "I'd better go and let you rest," she added as she made a gesture to get up. But Lena caught her hand.
"Wait...Stay with me until I fall asleep," she said.
"Sure," she said.
Lena was still holding her hand, and she took it to her chest, curling up and closing her eyes to go back to sleep.
"Thank you, Kara...I used to sleep embracing my girlfriend, it always made me feel safe”.
Kara could not identify what she felt to hear her words. She could only smile and wish that for the remainder of the night, Lena Luthor could have beautiful dreams.