Sleepy Puppy

There are things about Kara Danvers that only a few people know about.

Her dislike of balloons popping without warning. Her fear of sharks. The rage and despair buried deep inside over what she has lost. The lengths she would go to protect her loved ones.

And the fact that she sometimes talked in her sleep.

Lena found out about this particular quirk not long after she and Kara began sleeping in the same bed on most nights. Her days tended to start a smidge earlier than the blonde’s, who wouldn’t really fully awaken until touched by the rays of the sun (which was difficult in Lena’s west facing bedroom, they found).

The first time it happened, they were halfway through a “conversation” before Lena realized her girlfriend was still asleep.

“Honey, what do you feel like having for breakfast?” Lena asked, already dressed for the day while Kara was still in bed.

“Oh…I love honey,” was the mumbled reply.

“I don’t have any honey, but I do have a box of Cheerios, is that okay?” the brunette asked while looking for her shoes.

“…Cheerio? You’re leaving already?”

“Well yes, I have to head to work soon. But I have time for breakfast before I have to pop in to my first meeting.”

“…Alright, just make sure the chimney sweeps wipe their feet before they come in.”

“…What? Chimney sweeps?” Lena chuckled, confused.

“…I’mma punch those bankers in the face if they don’t give Michael his money back…”

“Kara?” the brunette turned to look towards the bed.

“I like the birds…”

Lena walked over and crouched down until she was level with her girlfriend’s face.

“…Kara? Are you…are you still asleep?”

“…Blue-haloo…” the blonde mumbled before burying her head deeper into the pillow and letting out a soft snore.

Barely containing her laughter, Lena kissed Kara gently on the head before grabbing her shoes and tiptoeing out of the room, leaving the cereal box on the counter for when the reporter’s alarm eventually woke her up.

As the weeks passed Lena began to notice a correlation between how tired Kara was from the night before (via either crime fighting or…other activities) and how nonsensical she was the next morning when only half awake.

On one morning in particular, after a night fighting so hard that she blew out her powers and scared the CEO half to death, Lena decided she deserved a “treat” and set about recording her exhausted girlfriend’s guaranteed to be hilarious mutterings.

Her phone all set to record; Lena began interviewing the unconscious reporter.

Maggie was in the midst of making a late breakfast (though it was probably closer to an early lunch) for Alex and herself when there was a brisk knock at her door.

Taking the skillet off the stovetop, the detective wiped her hands and walked to her front door, snagging her service piece on her way.

Standing on tiptoe, she peered through her peephole and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was just Lena. Relief turned into a slight worry when she saw that the pale CEO was alone and looked like she was in minor distress.

Putting her gun away, Maggie opened the door to let the other woman in.

“Lena? What brings you to my place at…” she checked her wall clock, “-11:10 on a weekday? Don’t you have work?”

Making her way inside (and looking like a spooked cat while she did it) Lena replied, “I did-I mean I do, but the biggest thing I had was a meeting this morning and that just let out so…”

“So you thought you’d just drive all the way across town to visit little old me? Must say, I’m flattered,” Maggie smirked as she closed the front door.

Following the CEO into the living room area, the smaller brunette folded her arms and stared her unexpected guest down.

“So, what’s up?” she asked, watching as Lena bit her lip and toyed with her fingers; classic nervous ticks that the woman usually hid unless in familiar company. Whatever was going on, Lena was freaked out about it.

“I…I was hoping to get your advice…” she asked shyly.

Maggie laughed, “My advice? On what?”

The lip biting continued. “It’s about Kara…”

“What about Kara,” Alex asked as she walked into the room, toweling off her hair from the shower.

Lena jolted, turning to Alex in shock.

“Alex! I-I didn’t know you’d be here…” she stammered.

“At my girlfriend’s apartment?”

“Well, we haven’t officially moved in together yet so it’s a fair bet that you wouldn’t be here all the time,” Maggie offered, trying to smooth things over.

“We haven’t really discussed-nevermind; that is not the point! The point is that my sister’s girlfriend is trying to talk about my sister with my girlfriend, and I find that odd!”

“It’s not that odd if you think about it,” Maggie countered.

“This was a bad idea,” Lena mumbled.

“She probably wanted a more…unbiased opinion on Kara that she wouldn’t get from you.”

“That…is a fair point,” conceded Alex, though she looked slightly put out by the revelation.

“I should go,” Lena stated, heading for the door.

But Alex was faster and put herself between the flustered CEO and the door before Lena even registered her moving.

“Ohhh no, you don’t! You’re not getting out of here that easily,” the agent stated before softening her words. “Something is obviously bothering you, and Kara would kill me if I let you leave with at least trying to help.”

“You’re here already, so you might as well stay,” Maggie pitched in. “Breakfast is almost ready if you can grab the plates. I made my famous scrambled eggs and fried potatoes!”

Stuck between a rock and a hard place (or in this case, an agent and a detective), Lena had no choice but to concede defeat and went to grab the plates from the cupboard.

Soon enough all three were situated on Maggie’s couch with their plates in their laps and cups of coffee resting on the small table in front of them. Lena somehow found herself sitting between the two of them, with Alex on her left and Maggie on her right.

She had just started digging into her food (with a small hope that eating would delay the conversation for a bit) when Alex spoke up from her end of the couch.

“So. What do you need to talk to Maggie about that you couldn’t just ask me?”

‘Damn,’ Lena cursed in her head, accepting the inevitable.

“I’m telling you Danvers, it’s because I’m not as biased about Kara as you,” Maggie said around a mouthful of eggs.

“I can be unbiased-“

“Actually,” Lena interrupted, “It’s not so much Maggie is more unbiased so much as she’s…”

“She’s…?” Alex prompted.

Lena coughed.

“More….’experienced’, about certain things….”

“Oh? Oh–oh!” One could actually see the wheels turning in Alex’s head as she thought about it. “Damn it, Lena, that’s my baby sister!”

Lena flushed scarlet and nearly screeched, “Not like that! We don’t–it’s­–relationships! Maggie has more experience being in relationships!”

Said detective nearly choked on her food as she began to laugh–hard. If asked she would have been hard pressed to say whose face she was laughing at more: Alex’s red face or Lena’s, though the latter’s was harder to see given she’d buried it in her hands.

Finally clearing the food out of the wrong pipe and taking a sip of coffee, Maggie stated, “Whichever way she meant, Alex, it’s obvious I’m the more experienced one.” She topped this off with a suggestive wave of her eyebrows that once again had both of her companions sputtering in a hilarious fashion.

“Now that we have that out of the way,” she continued, becoming ‘slightly’ more serious, “What seems to be the problem, Little Luthor?”

Re-composing herself as best she could (and resigned to the fact that her question would have to have an audience), Lena placed her plate on the table and began to explain.

“Do you know how Kara tends to talk in her sleep when she’s tired?”

“Yeah, she used to do it a lot during the school year when there was a test coming up,” Alex interjected. “Why?”

“Well…after what happened last night,” the two of them winced slightly; it had been a rough night for them all, “I thought it would be a good idea to record her talking when she’s asleep. As a sort of…I don’t know…a pick me up? To help put how scared I was last night behind me a bit faster?”

The elder Danvers and Sawyer nodded their heads in agreement and understanding; coping with certain events could take many forms.

“So you talked to her while she was asleep and recorded it,” Maggie stated, to which Lena nodded.

“I take it Kara said something?” Alex added, putting her plate next to Lena’s.

Lena nodded again, her blush returning slightly.

“And whatever it is, it freaked you out?” Maggie continued, adding her own dish on the table.

“I don’t-well…freaked out isn’t quite the word I would use but…yeah, kinda…” the CEO replied becoming quieter with every word.

The trio sat in silence for a moment, digesting this, before Alex spoke up.

“Well? What did she say?”

“Uh…well…” the blush intensified.

“Hey,” Maggie said softly, getting the pale brunette’s attention. “What ever it is, we’ll help you deal with it. Together. Okay?”

Looking the detective straight in the eyes, Lena found nothing but sincerity. She risked a glance over to her girlfriend’s sister and shockingly (to her at least) found more of the same.

Blinking away the sudden wetness she found in her own eyes, Lena took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Okay,” she nodded, whether to herself or them or both she didn’t know.

“It would probably be easiest if I just show you the video,” she said, pulling out her phone.

Alex and Maggie nodded simultaneously and scooted closer to Lena, both to see the screen in her hands better and to offer silent support that made the Luthor feel warm inside.

She took another deep breath and pressed play.

Earlier that morning…

“Kara? Kaaarrra?”

“Hm…whassup?”

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Mm good morning…” the blonde replied, her eyes barely cracking open.

“How’d you sleep?”

“In a bed…”

Lena snickered.

“Is it a comfy bed?”

“Da comfiest…”

“Like a cloud?”

“No…clouds are cold and wet…bed is warm…and only wet sometimes…”

Lena had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from barking out a laugh. The phone shook in her hand, but she regained her composure and kept going.

“Only sometimes?”

“Yea…it’s dry most of da time…but then we get a flood…”

“A flood?”

“Yeah…”

“Like in the desert?”

“Ooh…I’ll have a cookie dough ice cream please…”

“Cookie–pft! In–ha ha–in a bowl or a waffle cone?”

“…Extra syrup please…but put the butter on first…”

“Butter?”

“Yeah so it gets in the cells…”

“In the cells?”

“Butter is the mitochondria of waffles…”

“Is it now?”

“Yeah…”

“So it’s the powerhouse?”

“…Like me…”

“Pft–You’re butter?”

“When I’m with you…”

Lena bit her lip to keep from “awing”, her heart melting right on the spot: even when half asleep her girl was an absolute sweetheart.

Deciding enough was enough (she had more than an ample amount of evidence to tease her girlfriend with later), Lena resolved to end the “conversation” and finally head off to work. She was glad they’d had the foresight to get the blonde the day off; poor girl was more exhausted than she’d ever seen her.

“Okay sweetie-“

“-Candy?” Kara interrupted.

“No silly, but I’ll grab you some on my way home. I have to go to work now.”

“Oh…okay. Drive safe…”

“I will,” Lena replied and made to stand up.

“I love you…” the blond mumbled one last time before burrowing under the covers. Blissfully unaware of how her girlfriend had frozen in her tracks.

Lena stood there; mouth agape.

She looked at Kara.

Then she looked at her phone.

It was still recording.

As the video ended the trio once again sat in silence until Maggie finally broke it.

“Oh my god,” the detective began.

“Yeah,” shell-shocked Alex agreed.

“That was the most adorable–“

“–And sickeningly sweet–“

“Thing I have ever seen!” Maggie crowed, her dimples showing as she beamed.

“’I’m butter when I’m with you?’ How the hell is my dorky sister so smooth when she’s half-asleep?!” Alex groused affectionately, running her hand over her face.

“She’s smooth cause she’s the powerhouse of the waffle cell, Danvers!” the detective guffawed; falling against Lena gracelessly and causing Alex to finally crack up.

Taking a few minutes to laugh and coo over Kara’s adorableness, Alex finally cleared her throat and asked a once again scarlet-faced Luthor what exactly the problem was.

“I mean there were a couple of innuendos tossed in there–which, as her sister, I would have rather not have heard– but nothing really seemed too-“

“That was the first time,” Lena mumbled quietly.

“–Horribly…the first time? For what?” Alex wondered, now even more confused.

It clicked almost immediately for Maggie however, the shortest brunette snapping her attention back to Lena instantly.

“Lena,” she began with a soft voice, waiting until the girl–who was now trembling ever so slightly–turned to her before continuing.

“Was that the first time Kara said she loved you?”

Swallowing, Lena could only nod once.

“What?!” Alex exclaimed. “That was the first–but–you two have been together for months! You sleep together almost all the time!”

“Alex,” Maggie admonished. “Different couples do things at different rates and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.”

The agent threw her hands up, “I’m not saying there is. I just thought–“

Maggie shushed her girlfriend gently and turned her focus back on Lena, who had dropped her head down slightly in the midst of their talking.

“Okay. So that was the first time she’d said that,” she stated.

Lena nodded, not looking up.

“And you’re freaking out because…”

“You don’t feel the same way?” Alex asked in a surprisingly gentle manner.

Lena’s head whipped up so fast the agent actually jumped slightly.

“Of course I feel the same way! Kara is the most amazing, kind, and caring person I have ever met! She’s sweet and generous and could light up a dark room just by walking into it! But she’s also smart and funny and-and-and just wonderful and of course I love her!”

Lena clamped her hand over her mouth as the last three words left her tongue, her eyes as wide as the two had ever seen them, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Not even hesitating, Alex reached forward and pulled the trembling girl in for a hug, Maggie following not a second later, so that Lena was surrounded by nothing but warmth, safety, and love.

“Okay, okay,” Alex said softly, rubbing Lena’s back as best she could. “So you love her.”

Lena nodded her head against the elder Danvers’ shoulder.

“And she said that she loves you.”

Another nod.

Alex sighed, “Sweetie, I’m sorry, I know I’m new at this, but I still don’t quite see what the problem is?”

Lena mumbled something against Alex’s shirt.

“What was that, honey?” Maggie asked gently.

“She was asleep when she said it,” Lena murmured dejectedly.

“Ah,” Alex said. At Maggie’s confused look she elaborated, “Kara almost never remembers what she’s said before she fully wakes up. It doesn’t stick to her long-term memory.”

“Oh? Oh,” Maggie figured it out. “You think she’s not going to remember saying she loved you.”

“Don’t be silly, Lena,” Alex said, cradling the Luthor against even tighter against her. “Even if she doesn’t remember saying it, the fact that she said it at all means that she does feel that way towards you, and that’s not just gonna suddenly go away when she wakes up.”

Sniffling Lena muttered, “She said, ‘Drive safely, I love you’.”

“So?”

“So, she says that all the time to you.”

“Well, I’m her sister, she kinda has to love me. What are you saying; she can’t love more than one person at once?”

“Have you met Kara? Girl has enough love in her for the entire planet,” Maggie added, her cheek resting against Lena’s shoulder.

“Exactly! So what’s your point?” Alex asked.

“It’s a phrase that she’s said often enough to the point where saying it has become second nature.”

“Ah, I get it,” Maggie interjected. “You think she said it out of habit and not because she really meant it.”

Lena nodded again and buried her head even deeper into the surprising softness of Alex.

“Not meant it-okay, enough. Lena,” Alex said, moving her head until she could make eye contact with the girl squished against her.

“Do you know why I sounded so incredulous earlier when you said that this was the first time Kara had said ‘I love you’?”

Lena, looking so small and scared that the agent’s heart broke a little, shook her head no.

Alex firmly and quietly continued, “Because I know my sister. I know what she looks like when she has a crush. When she’s smitten. When she’s in love. And more to the point, I’ve seen the way you two are together.

“Lena, I was shocked earlier because I have seen you two say that you love eachother in every way except for out loud. Kara brings you flowers when you’re feeling down, and you bring her potstickers. She makes sure you get the seat closet to the heater when we have game night so you don’t get cold, and you move her game pieces for her so that she doesn’t have to let go of you when you’re snuggled on the couch and she’s in one of her clingy moods.

“I have watched my sister fall in love with so many things since she landed on this planet,” Ales said, still maintaining eye contact.

“But I have never, ever, seen her love anything as much as she loves you. Do you know how many times she’s gushed to me about you? It’d be annoying if I didn’t do the same thing about Maggie.”

“Aw, you are getting soft on me, Danvers,” Maggie gushed, making Lena giggle a little and the agent blush slightly.

Ignoring her girlfriend, Alex continued, “You are a brilliant, kind, and wonderful human being, who has had some terrible things happen to her, and deserves all the love in the world.”

A tear finally escaped and fell down Lena’s cheek. Alex raised a hand to gently rub it away with her thumb and then cupped the pale girl’s face. Lena nuzzled into her palm, the scared look in her eye fading more with each second as she realized how serious the elder Danvers was.

“And if I can see how lovable you are? You better believe my sister, the humanoid puppy, can too. She loves you, Lena. Don’t you ever doubt that. Okay?”

Lena nodded before burrowing back into Alex’s warmth out of a combination of embarrassment and a need for more comfort, finally wrapping her arms around the elder Danvers in a hug. Alex let her and resumed rubbing circles on her back.

Maggie sat back and just took in the scene before her with a smile on her face.

She would never ceased to be amazed at how much love the members of the Danvers family had to give to those that they deemed worthy of it. She knew the youngest Luthor hadn’t had the greatest of childhoods (or teenage and adulthoods for that matter), so she was so glad she’d finally found her way to one of the most loving families the detective had ever seen.

Making eye contact with Alex over Lena’s head, Maggie was glad she’d found them too.

After cuddling for a while, Lena mumbled into Alex’s shirt, “I don’t know what to do…”

“That’s easy, sweetie,” Maggie said.

“You tell her,” Alex finished.

A few hours, and several pep talks later, Lena returned to her apartment to see that Kara had finally gotten out of bed.

She found the blonde shimmying around her kitchen to N*SYNC of all things, just wiggling and singing along while she whipped up some waffles.

And Lena fell even more in love.

Her powers still out, it took Kara a few minutes to actually notice her, but she beamed when she did.

“Lena! You’re back early! How was your meeting this morning?”

“It was good,” Lena replied, walking over to her girlfriend.

“That’s great! Would you like some waffles? I woke up with a huge craving for them-mmf!” she was cut off as Lena crushed her lips against hers in a kiss that made the blonde’s toes curl.

After a minute of lazy lip locking, Lena pulled away and rested their foreheads together. Hazel eyes gazed into cerulean blue. The brunette made a decision.

“I love you,” she said, biting her lip.

Kara stared at her for a long second (not even a second, but for Lena it felt like an eternity) before her mouth spread into the biggest grin the CEO had seen from the superhero to date.

“I love you too,” the blonde finally replied and dove back in for another kiss.

Some time later, Kara all but crashed through Maggie’s window after frantically searching the city for her sister.

“AlexAlexAlexLenalovesmeshesaidshelovesmeohmyRaoAlexWHATDOIDO?!”

Maggie laughed so hard her drink came out her nose, while Alex just let her head thump onto the table and wondered when exactly she had signed up to get two adorkable but oblivious sisters.