Chapter 16
The silence was deafening. Kara and Barry didn’t dare to speak as they stared at the empty spot where the machine was a few minutes ago. There was nothing left of the device or Savitar.
Slowly, each member of the team started to come out of their hiding place, carefully scanning the building to make sure they were safe. When they found no indications of a remaining threat, they all gathered next to Barry and Kara.
Oliver was the first one to speak. “What just happened?”
“Where’s Savitar?” Wally asked.
“Where’s the machine?” Cisco questioned right after.
Barry finally tore his eyes away from the vacant space in front of him and looked at Oliver. “Humm… the…” He cleared his throat, trying to clear the emotion in his voice. “The time Wraiths, they’re hum… enforcers of the Speed Force, they appeared and just took him…”
“But where is he?” Lena inquired, clearly as confused as the others.
“Is he dead?” Felicity jumped in.
Barry shook his head. “No but it’s a fate worse than death. He’s stuck in some sort of limbo where he’ll relive the worst moment of his life again and again, for eternity.”
“Wow, tough shit.” Mick declared.
“At least it’s over.” Kara stated, her shoulders slumping as she slowly started to relax.
Barry sighed in relief. “Thank you guys.”
“Well, that was fun!” Mick said, a bit too cheerful.
Lena snorted. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Exactly, we just had to build the most powerful gun on this earth, rescue some of you, ask for the dominators’ help to create the Power Shaker, fight a hundred of minions, improvise a new machine and survive countless explosions. Kara even had to bath into the sun to reach her full potential but sure, it was easy as pie.” Felicity recounted drily.
“I love when a plan comes together.” Cisco joked as if he was Hannibal Smith from A-team.
They all laughed tiredly, relishing in their victory.
Lena stepped closer to Kara, leaning against her. “A victory kiss for the hero of the day?”
Kara smiled cheekily, engulfing her fiancée into a tight embrace. “Gladly.” She leaned in and met Lena halfway.
The couple kissed slowly, lovingly, the tension of the battle progressively leaving their bodies. When they heard catcall, they broke their embrace but kept their foreheads against each other.
Lena chuckled. “We’ll continue this later.” She kissed her fiancée one last time before stepping to the side to talk with everyone, ignoring Sara’s wink when Kara reached out to hold her hand.
The next day, after a good night of sleep, they all decided to have brunch. They settled outside in the grass, enjoying the nice weather.
Mick had insisted to have a BBQ, using all the ingredients synthetized by the Timeship Maker to cook his infamous red hot burger recipe. There were also pizzas, pot-stickers- at Kara’s insistence-, bacon and scramble eggs, pancakes, cupcakes, among other things, and some less greasy food like fruit or vegetable salad.
Lena was sipping her mimosa while talking with Sara, Felicity, and Thea when Kara leaned closer. “Do you need anything, I’m gonna refill my plate.”
Lena glanced at her fiancée’s plate and raised an eyebrow. “It’s still full of food.”
Kara scoffed. “I’m barely starting, I’ll be done in a minute.”
Lena laughed before kissing her cheek. “I’m good but go ahead, darling, I wouldn’t want you to starve to death.”
Kara smiled brightly and kissed Lena before standing up. She walked toward the side table, her mouth full of pot-stickers but stopped right in her tracks when she smelled the meat grilling on the BBQ.
Before Mick could blink, Kara was standing next to him, staring at the burger on the grill. “See something you like, Skirt?”
Kara nodded, popping her last pot-sticker into her mouth. “Smells good. Is it ready yet?” She looked at him with puppy eyes, clearly eager to taste one.
“Well, Skirt, it’s not just any burger you’re looking at.” Mick declared. “It’s my world famous recipe, I use red pepper, onion, Sichuan pepper, Dijon mustard, provolone cheese, garlic bread, Ultra Death Hot Sauce and my secret ingredient.”
Kara was already salivating. “Sounds yummy!”
Mick scoffed. “I bet you can’t even finish one, super power or not, this masterpiece isn’t for girl scouts.”
Kara snorted. “You’ve clearly never seen me in an eating contest but I’m up for the challenge.”
“Did someone mention an eating contest?” Barry interrupted. “Count me in!”
“Me too!” Wally jumped in.
“Not for me, I’m too old for this nonsense.” Jay stated.
“Yay, eating contest!” Cisco shouted, effectively stopping every other conversation among the group. “Kara or the speedsters, who will win this fight?”
Lena chuckled. “Oh, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Kara is a bottomless pit.”
“Hey!” Kara exclaimed.
Lena arched her eyebrow. “Am I wrong?”
“No, but still…” Kara pouted.
Lena chuckled again. “Don’t worry, my bet is on you.” She winked.
“What’s the catch for the winner?” Thea asked while helping everyone clear the table so Kara, Barry and Wally could settle there.
“And what are the rules?” Felicity added.
Oliver shook his head. “Don’t encourage them.”
“What? Let the kids have some fun.” Felicity bumped his shoulder playfully. “They deserved it.”
“Only one glass of water, no puking, no fainting. You have 3 minutes to finish your plate.” Mick explained as he cooked more burgers.
“I have an idea for the prize.” Sara smirked. “Mick will owe the winner 3 wishes.”
Mick frowned. “Do I look like a Djinn in a bottle?”
“You smell more like a bottle of gin than a supernatural creature.” Ray teased him.
“Who’s up for the 3 wishes?” Cisco questioned. Everyone except Mick raised their hand. “Then 3 wishes it is.”
Mick growled. “That’s why I don’t like democracy…”
Kara, Barry and Wally sat in line at the table, looking at their plate of almost two dozen burgers while everyone gathered around them.
Suddenly, Nate joined them in a referee costume, holding an old chronograph in his hand. “I’ll be the timekeeper!”
“Oh my god, you didn’t.” Sara laughed. “You look ridiculous!”
“I think he looks nice.” Amaya smiled. “But don’t count on us to play the cheerleaders.”
“I wouldn’t mind.” Mick exclaimed with a smirk.
“Of course you wouldn’t.” Lena rolled her eyes at the man’s antics.
Nate stood in front of table and inspected the food carefully. “I think everything is in order. Shall we start?”
“Yes!” Kara jumped eagerly on her chair. “I’m starving!”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, you’re about to witness the Superstar Chawndown.” Cisco announced in a WWE style. “Our first contestant, Barry, also known as The Flash, who can cook minute rice in less than 58 seconds. Then, we have Kara, known as Supergirl, who could eat an elephant without taking a pound and last but not least, Wally, Kid Flash, who loves pizza more than the teenage mutant ninja turtles.”
Kara frowned. “I’m not sure I like his presentation of me. Besides, I don’t even know what an elephant taste like and I wouldn’t even eat this poor animal.”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s Cisco, just play along.” John advised her.
“Okay, let’s do this!” Felicity cheered.
“Everyone’s ready?” Nate asked. When the three challengers nodded, he brought his chronograph closer. “On your mark… GO!”
Barry and Wally started stuffing their faces swiftly, barely chewing while Kara took her time to enjoy her meal, even pausing to compliment Mick on his cooking skills. Quickly, the speedsters realized how spicy the burgers were and slowed down their shoveling.
“Oh my god, what’s in this thing?” Wally asked, gulping his glass of water in one go. “I can’t even feel my face anymore!”
“I feel like... I’m dying inside…” Barry leaned against the table, taking deep breaths like it could help him calm the fire in his stomach.
“I think it’s really good.” Kara declared with a grin, sauce all over her face.
“That’s kind of gross,” Sara commented. “How can they eat all that?”
“Kara has a fast metabolism and is immune to a lot of things on earth. It seems like spices is one of them.” Lena explained, the amusement evident in her voice.
“It’s fascinating!” Felicity said in awe.
“I kind of agree with Sara though, it’s gross.” Thea jumped in. “They’re eating like rabid wolverines.”
“30 seconds left!” Nate called.
While Barry and Wally were struggling to even breathe, Kara finished her plate and was now wondering if she could steal her friends’ burgers, since it didn’t look like they were about to eat them. She shrugged to herself and grabbed their plates, pouring the remaining burgers in hers and ignoring Mick’s incredulous look. She happily held a burger in each hand and took a bite in them alternatively.
“Stop, time’s out!” Nate shouted.
Kara kept munching her food. “I’ll just finish them, I don’t want it to go to waste.”
Cisco moved next to Kara and lifted her arm, despite the greasy burger still in her hand. “And the winner is, KARA!”
Everyone applauded as Kara laughed joyfully. “Thank you, thank you.” She finished her last burger before standing up. “See Mick, I told you it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“You’re not even from this Earth, I’m pretty sure that’s considered cheating.” Mick answered.
Lena slapped his arm. “Don’t be a sore loser. She won fair and square.”
“So what’s your first wish?” Felicity inquired, eager to know what Kara had in store for the poor fella.
“More burgers!” Kara declared, giggling.
“Great, now I’m Sponge Bob.” Mick rolled his eyes.
“Then…” Kara tapped her chin as she thought. “I wish to know what the secret ingredient is.”
“Nope.” Mick said, popping the p with insistence. “What part of secret don’t you understand, Skirt?”
“She won, you have to tell her.” Sara insisted.
“Fine,” Mick sighed. “I marinate the beef in some moonshine. Happy?”
Kara nodded. “Yes.”
“What’s your last wish, honey?” Lena questioned, resting her hand on her fiancée’s arm.
“Mhh, I think I’ll keep it for later.” Kara replied with a sly smile.
“What?” Mick glared at the blonde. “No, you can’t do that, I don’t want to owe anyone anything.”
Kara smiled. “I think I can.”
“I think she can.” Sara agreed.
“I second that.” Lena stated.
“Agreed.” Thea approved.
“Ditto.” Amaya said.
“A bet is a bet.” Felicity concluded.
“So you all ganged up against me.” Mick sighed again. “Urgh, women…”
After spending most of the day together, talking and laughing, it was time to go back home.
Lena and Kara started to say goodbye to everyone. When it was Mick’s turn, the man stood proudly in front of them with a ’Kiss the cook’ apron, making everyone laugh at his silliness.
“Didn’t you forget something, ladies?” Mick asked while pointing at his apron.
Since Lena didn’t know when she would see him again, she decided to humor him. She winked at Kara and motioned for her to follow her lead. They both leaned in and kissed Mick’s cheeks. The man smiled smugly, puffing his chest until Sara appeared behind him and smashed the back of his head.
Mick turned around and winked at his friend. “Don’t be jealous, you can kiss me too, blondie.”
Sara chuckled. “In your wildest dreams, buddy!”
Everyone finished saying their goodbye as Lena and Kara moved to the side, ready to activate the portal to go back to earth 38. Kara pressed the button on the travelling device and turned around to wave at everyone.
“I hope we’ll get an invitation to your wedding!” Felicity exclaimed.
“Oh yeah, if all the women are as cute as you two, I can’t wait to visit.” Sara declared. “And you know, everyone gets laid at weddings.”
“Wow, so romantic.” Thea replied sarcastically.
“Of course, you’re all invited!” Karla smiled.
“If you promise us to behave.” Lena added, raising an eyebrow in Sara’s direction.
“Oh you know us, we’re angels.” Sara winked.
They all laughed and nodded in goodbye before Kara and Lena turned toward the portal.
Kara lifted Lena off the ground and carried her bridal style. “Ready to go home, future wifey?”
Lena smiled lovingly. “Home is in your arms but if you’re talking about the penthouse then yes, I am.”
Kara blushed. “I can’t wait to marry you.”
“The feeling is mutual, future Mrs. Luthor.” Lena kissed her cheek. “Now up, up and away, Supergirl.”
“Happy to oblige, princess.” Kara smiled before jumping into the portal leading them back to their earth…
~ THE END ~