Chapter 10
The group had settled into their new base and everyone was busy with their tasks.
Lena and Felicity were working on the ‘power shaker’ machine, as Cisco had called it, while Kara was watching with intrigue as Cisco worked on the Scarab a few feet away. Thea and Sara weren’t far from them, discussing security measures with a plan of the building in hands.
At some point, Lena was struggling to remove a piece of the alien device and without thinking, she called. “Darling?” She was so focused on her work that she didn’t realize she had used a term of endearment instead of Kara’s name. It wasn’t so bad but she was trying to be careful around the team to avoid too much teasing.
Kara looked up from her spot. “Yes, babe?”
Lena smiled at the familiarity of Kara’s answer, it was like they were both home or in her lab. “I need your super strength, please.”
“Sure.” The superhero stood up and walked next to her fiancée. She stared at the piece Lena was pointed out and grabbed it, removing it easily. “Here.”
“Thank you.” The raven-haired woman smiled.
“Wow, things would go so much faster if I had you around.” Felicity exclaimed.
Kara giggled. “I do it all the time for Alex and Lena. If I can save them some time, I’m happy to help.”
“Must come in handy to open jars.” Thea commented, stopping her conversation with Sara to join them.
“And for others things too.” Sara smirked.
Lena grabbed a screw she had within reach and threw it at her. “Get your mind of the gutter.”
Sara chuckled. “Spoilsport.”
“Do you need anything else?” Kara asked Lena softly after a moment.
Lena frowned. To anyone it could sound like a normal question but she could see on Kara’s face something was bothering her and the woman would probably leave the room to do something on her own. “No, I’m good for now.” She answered.
“Okay, I’ll be outside if you need me.” The blonde kissed her cheek before walking away.
The CEO watched her leave and decided to give her some time to process whatever was wrong before joining her.
Lena found Kara sitting outside on the patch of grass behind the building, leaning against a tree. She wordlessly sat next to her lover and enjoyed the sun on her face. When Kara rested her head on her shoulder with a sigh, she kissed the woman’s hair and asked. “We haven’t had much time to talk with all that’s happening…Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just enjoying the sun.” Kara answered quietly.
“Are you sure?” Lena didn’t have to look at her fiancée to know the woman wasn’t telling the truth. “You told me once that the dominators somehow reminded you of your time on Krypton, of your home…”
Kara smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Home is with you, and Alex, and Eliza, Maggie, and our friends.”
Lena smiled softly. “That’s sweet but you know that’s not what I meant.”
“I’m fine.” The blonde assured.
“Then why the crinkles?” Lena questioned gently, titling her head to trace Kara’s frown with her finger
“You noticed.” Kara sighed in the crook of Lena’s neck before kissing it. “Damn crinkles.”
“Of course I did. Is it because you have to be in a pod?” Lena asked tentatively.
Kara moved closer, humming in contentment as Lena lifted her arm so she could snuggle to her side and started drawing slow pattern on her shoulder. She grabbed her fiancée’s free hand and started playing with it. “The last time I stepped into a pod, I lost everything and I woke up to a completely new and different world and I was just helpless. Here I will be unconscious and I won’t be able to help any of you and I hate feeling like that.”
“I understand it might not be easy but things are different this time. This earth isn’t dying and you are not alone.” Lena reassured. “I will be there as soon as you open your eyes.”
“How do you know?” The blonde inquired in a small voice. “What if I open my eyes and just find you all dead?”
Lena squeezed Kara’s hand and pulled her even closer. “That’s what contingency plans are for. If things don’t go as planned, we will wake you all up and we’ll leave. I’ll make sure the girl of steel wakes up first to help if it makes you feel better. And besides, have you met these people? They would come back from the dead just to get their revenge.” She finished on a lighter note.
The superhero gave her a small smile. “I know they can handle it, it’s just…”
“You just have to trust them and like I said, you’ll find me right by your side when you wake up. You are not alone, we are in this together.”
Kara lifted her head and kissed Lena’s cheek. “Since when did you become so wise Ms. Luthor?”
“Since you’re asking Ms. Danvers,” Lena started in fake seriousness. “I met this incredible woman a few years ago, a real optimistic ball of sunshine, she told me to have faith in people.”
“Oh really?” The blonde chuckled. “Should I be jealous?”
“That depends,” Lena replied playfully. “She had a striking resemblance with you and she was quite a kisser.”
Kara snorted. “I wasn’t even kissing you back then.”
“Mmmm, maybe you should make it up for it then.” Lena pulled away slightly to look at Kara with a raised eyebrow.
Kara smiled, letting go of Lena’s hand to cup the woman’s cheek before kissing her softly. She let herself forget everything as she deepened the kiss, just enjoying the comfort and warm feeling of having the woman she loved so close. She slowly broke the kiss. “Thank you for being here. I love you.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Lena kissed her fiancée’s lips. “I love you too, darling.”
They stayed there in each other’s arms for a while before going back inside to continue their work.
When the two devices were almost ready, the team gathered to go over their plan.
“First, we’ll have to find Savitar and bring him here. That part is on me.” Barry announced.
Oliver shook his head in disagreement. “You shouldn’t go alone, take Kara and Wally with you. Jay will stay with us.”
“Okay but once we reach the area, they have to leave and go inside the pods,” Barry stated. “We can’t afford to lose our powers before the fight.”
“As soon as we’re sure you are close enough and handling the situation, we’ll fly or well run for Wally, right here.” Kara replied.
“It’s risky, maybe I should stay behind to help.” Wally offered.
“No.” Barry objected. “We need you in the power shaker thing.” He frowned at the name.
“You can bring him to the building next door, the scarab should work from there.” Cisco advised. “You’ll know when it will start to glow and if you fight there, they’ll stay away from the power shaker.”
“That’s a really lame name.” Sara commented with a roll of her eyes.
“Rude.” Cisco glared at her.
“It won’t be long before Savitar realizes Barry has the scarab.” Felicity declared.
“And for his minions to show up.” Thea added.
Sara nodded. “As soon as they realize what’s happening, they’ll come here and try to destroy both devices. That’s why we have to split into different teams. The machine with the speedsters and Kara in team A, the control in team B and generator in C. Barry, you’ll be your one man team.”
“We have to defend each team, especially since some of us will be unconscious.” John declared.
Oliver nodded in agreement. “They’ll probably target the generator to stop the machine first. It’s easier to destroy material than kill 3 of us. We have to take all that into consideration before we divide our forces.”
“I’ll keep the weapon to incapacitate Savitar with me.” Ray jumped in. “It can be a backup if Barry can’t beat him.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Barry muttered.
“No Ray is right,” Oliver insisted. “If for some reason it’s not working, it’s better to have it with us.”
“Is there a risk if they, for lack of better word ‘unplug’ Kara and the others without safely waking them up first?” Thea questioned. “I mean if they blow up the device, that’s something we should take into account.”
Felicity shook her head. “It shouldn’t have an impact. It would only disconnect the connection.”
“We should put an emergency button on the device that releases everyone just to be sure.” Lena advised.
“Good idea.” Felicity smiled at her.
“How long do we have to hold the fort?” Nate asked.
“Until Barry gets rid of Savitar, then we’ll just have to finish cleaning the building of all his lackeys.” Oliver answered. “We need to come up with more contingency plans though.”
“Shouldn’t we discuss the formation of the teams?” Sara inquired.
“We should wait until the… I can’t call this thing power shaker,” Oliver frowned, glancing at Cisco before looking back at Sara. “Until the alien device is finished and the different areas of the building mapped.”
“Guys, it’s an awesome name, let it go.” Cisco huffed.
“Okay, so I guess everyone go back to work on their tasks and we’ll finalized the details later.” Barry concluded.
Lena was working on the power shaker, positioning the 3 pods in a circle. She glanced at Oliver and Barry who seemed in an animated chat before catching a part of Sara, Thea and Kara’s conversation about the composition of the team. “I want to be part of team A.” She declared as she moved closer to them.
“Team A isn’t the brainiacs team.” Sara answered with a frown.
“I know, I want to help you protect the device.” Lena stated in a tone that left no place for argument.
Kara frowned, she had a feeling her lover wouldn’t want to go in the B team but she didn’t think she would start a fight about it so soon. “Lena no, you’ll stay with team B.”
“I’m sure they can handle it just fine,” The CEO waved dismissively. “I promised you to be there when you wake up.”
“Yes, when I wake up,” The superhero emphasized. “Which means when everything is done, not before in the middle of the chaos.”
“Kara, I helped Alex last time,” Lena reminded her. “I can stay behind the machine and just make sure no one gets near you.”
“Last time you got stabbed.” Kara pointed out. “So I won’t let you get hurt again.” She tried to ignore the look Sara and Thea were giving them. She didn’t like to fight in front of people but it was an important subject and she didn’t want to back down and talk about it later.
“Barry will be fighting Savitar, Wally, Jay and you will be put out of action as long as you are in the pods. You need help all the help you can get.” Lena sighed in irritation. Once again, someone was telling her she should just stay to the side when she was more than capable of handling herself. She knew the risks and was willing to take them but clearly Kara refused to see her point.
“Then help by making sure the machine works.” Kara replied frustrated. The conversation was going around in circles and she could feel herself losing patience. By the way Lena was looking at her, she knew.
Lena looked at Sara and Thea. “Can you excuse us, please?” She waited for them to leave and dragged Kara to the side. They had little fights like every couple, about Kara’s less then tidy habits, her work schedule, too much take out and not enough cooking, etc. It was normal but on some occasions, for example things they had agreed to disagree, their arguing would turn into full shouting match despite Kara’s attempt at staying calm and there would be tears and maybe a few broken dishes on her part and Kara would fly to free her mind and blow off some steam. She would use her treadmill and then go to her office and drown in her study, always worrying, despite herself, if Kara would come back, although she always did. Some fears were hard to let go of and it was the same for Kara. But every time, they would settle in bed later and talk more calmly and wouldn’t fall asleep before calling a truce. That was how she knew they were made for each other, because despite all the struggles they had encountered, they stuck together and fought, El mayarah… She took a deep breath to calm herself. “The machine will work just fine there’s no need for me to stand there and watch Felicity press a few keys on her laptop to monitor it. I’ll be more useful if…”
“Don’t you get it?” Kara cut her off severely. “You don’t owe them anything. You have nothing to prove, not to me, and definitely not to them. “
“It’s not about that.” The CEO snapped despite herself.
“Really?” The blonde exclaimed. “Then what is it about?”
“I want you to be safe and I want to help.”
“Then help Felicity and Cisco,” The superhero repeated. “There is nothing wrong with that. Oliver, Sara, Thea and all the others will be there to make sure we’re okay.”
“I don’t know why it’s such a big deal that I want to stay by your side and make sure nothing happens to you while you’re in no state to defend yourself. I made you a promise and I intend to keep it.” Lena said, clearly aggravated. “Besides, the others got hurt too and you don’t put them in the corner.”
“They heal faster than you do and they have a special training. You fought twice and got lucky to still be in one piece.” The blonde sighed wearily. “I almost lost you I won’t let it happen again.”
“So I don’t have a say in it? Because the last time I checked, this is my life!“ Lena raised her voice.
“Exactly and sometimes I wonder if you care if you live or die as long as we’re all safe but I do, okay! “ Kara shouted in frustration.
Lena blinked, trying to recoil from the outburst. “Kara…”
“I thought we were past this. It’s not just you anymore, you have me, you have people who care about you, who love you.” The superhero took a deep breath before continuing more calmly. “Yes, this is your life and your decision, and I would never forbid you to do anything but we’re gonna get married soon so I think I have a say in this.” She ran her hand through her hair as she sighed. “I know I told you to be your own hero but that also means knowing when to step down and pass the torch. You did well, you’re amazing and you won’t be useless if that’s what you’re afraid of. You’ve been helping since you arrived here and you’ll continue by making sure the device works correctly. If anything, your presence is helping me but please Lena, there is a thin line between being brave and being reckless and I don’t want you to cross it. I need… I can’t…” Her voice cracked slightly. She balled her shaking hands into hard fists and tried to rein in on her emotions. It was nerve-wracking enough to step inside the pod, she didn’t need the extra-stress about Lena’s safety on top of it.
Lena deflected at the sight of her fiancée. Kara was clearly still anxious about the situation and she would be damned if she was part of the reason why. “Alright, alright, I’ll stay behind.” She stepped closer to Kara, grabbing her hands to force her to relax. “It’s okay, you won’t lose me...” She opened her arms and engulfed Kara in a tight hug. “I promised you forever when I proposed and a Luthor doesn’t make a promise they can’t keep.”
“Thank you.” Kara sighed in relief, holding Lena close and getting drunk off her scent. After a moment, she pulled away. “I love you.”
Lena smiled softly. “I love you too.” She said back before kissing her fiancée.