Until Next Time?

Kara has watched her culture, her family, and her entire world collapse and burn. 

She’s plummeted through the sky and crash-landed onto a new planet, forced to grow up in an environment she didn’t understand. 

She’s had to learn that her powers are not a gift, but a risk to herself and those around her. 

And yet... 

It's Lena Luthor who scares her the most.

Not in the obvious ‘has-an-evil-brother-hell-bent-on-world-domination’ kind of way... more the ‘I-can’t-stop-thinking-about-you-dear-god-why-can’t-I-stop-thinking-about-you’ kind of way.

She knows she needs to talk about this, but she’s not sure what to say. It’s not like Kara hasn’t been enamoured by people before. 

When she first came to Earth she was fascinated with all its inhabitants. She was most captivated by Alex (to the point of annoyance) but this feels way different. 

It feels so unlike anything she’s really felt before. Almost as if there were a crowd of people always around her and she could pick out the faces of those who mattered to her. 

But her focus is right in the middle, trained on Lena.

It was a recurring dream she'd had every night since meeting the Luthor. 

The people around sometimes change. Maybe one night she’ll pick out Alex or Eliza. But Lena's always there. Always.

The dream is fuzzy when she wakes up, blurring at the edges as reality seeps in, but she never forgets Lena.

Good grief, that’s creepy. She really needs to talk to someone.

“Not that I don’t enjoy seeing you, oh sister of mine, but I have a date with Maggie in an hour and I haven’t seen her in ages. Talk whilst I get ready,” Alex opens the door and sweeps through her apartment, hunting for the mascara she soon finds on her coffee table.

“If you’re, um, if you’re busy I can come back,” Kara shuffles.

Alex notices that Kara looks uncomfortable and a little…shy? She’s never shy around Alex. This can’t be good.

“Oh God, what is it, Kara? Are you ok? Is it your powers? Are you getting those migraines again?” She stalks over to her sister, taking a close look at her before raising her hand to her forehead, “Ok you’re head isn’t hot. That’s good for now.”

“Jeez, Alex, no, I’m fine…I can’t even get a fever,” she swats the hand away, “I’m just, uh, I’m a little confused.”

“Oh. That I can deal with. But can you be confused on the couch whilst I put on my mascara?” 

Kara rolls her eyes at that.

“Honestly, if you’re busy I can come back.”

“No, it’s fine, I can still hear you, just…just speak loudly and clearly,” Alex says rushing into her bedroom to finish her make up.

“Right. Well. As you know, I went to my first shift a few days ago.”

“Ooh, yeah. You said it went well!”

“It did! It did…”

“You don’t sound sure of that, Kara.”

“No, no, I am?”

“Are you…asking me?”

“I am sure. It went well, really well. In fact, I met someone…someone fun and nice,” Kara smiles a little at the memory.

“Oooh, who?”

“Um, well…Lena Luthor,” She mumbles the last part.

“Who? You need to speak louder, I can’t hear you too well from in here,” Alex says trying to pull some jeans on.

“LENA LUTHOR…it was…Lena Luthor.” She sighs, pressing herself into the couch.

“Oh…” Kara jumps at that, Alex was right behind her. “Sorry.”

“I mean, she’s really cool and funny, and yes I know she’s a Luthor, but I can’t stop thinking about her,” Alex slowly sits beside her, “maybe that’s it.” 

“Hm?”

“Maybe I’m obsessing about her because she’s a Luthor and I really don’t wanna be friendly with a Luthor. It makes sense!”

“Uh, actually I don’t thi-”

“I keep thinking about her because she may actually be just as awful as her brother…”

“That’s n-”

“…but she seemed nice at the party and it’s confusing me.”

“Kara, I really d-”

“Thanks, Alex, this really helped. Have fun with Maggie tonight, tell her I say hi!” Before Alex can even finish a sentence, Kara speeds out the door.

Kara’s phone buzzes as she gets ready for her next shift. She freezes as she picks up her phone to see the last name she expects on the screen.

“…Clark?”

“Kara! I just heard about the job, just wanted to offer my congratulations," her cousin says.

It’s a little strange as Kara rarely had much contact with Clark since he dropped her off at the Danvers’. He kept more to birthday and Christmas calls. She only really used to call him when she was new to Earth and needed someone who would understand her loneliness. 

Unfortunately, Clark didn’t have the same memories as Kara. He was too young to remember most of what she does and his heart never aches in the same way. His was more of a loss for something he never knew. Hers was a loss for the only world she knew. He couldn’t offer her much more comfort than the others and she gave up calling him (except, again, for the obligatory birthday and such).

“Oh, thanks, Clark, it means a lot. I started last week and I’ve got another shift today.” Kara says sincerely.

“Then I’ll try not to keep you too long,” she can hear him smiling on the other end, “how did your first shift go?”

“Great, yeah, really good!”

“Make any new friends?” In the early days Clark used to ask that all the time, hoping that she could find someone to help her adjust. Her answer was always no.

“Oh, uh, well, yeah…” She shouldn’t be doing this, she shouldn’t tell him. He won’t be happy.

“Who?”

 “Well,” she could just pretend it’s someone else, but maybe she needs the outlook of someone who has her heritage, her culture. Someone who could give her some more insight into why Lena was stuck in her head. “It’s, uh, it’s a guest who I happened to get along with.”

“Nice, surprised they’re not all snobs. Who was it? Someone famous?” He’s interested now.

“Yeah, kinda…it was…it's-it's Lena Luthor, actually.” She waits. She thinks he’s hung up after he doesn’t say anything for about a minute.

“Oh.” That’s it. She knows she’s made the wrong decision. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? “Well. That’s…interesting.”

“She’s really nice, honestly, and she seemed really down to Earth. I mean I don’t know her personally, but I don’t think she’s like Lex.” She cringes as soon as it comes out of her mouth.

“You’re right, Kara,” she’s surprised at that, “you don’t know her personally,” she’s marginally less surprised at that, “and I don’t think you should trust someone you don’t know. Lex was a good friend of mine and look how he turned out. How do you know she’s not the same?”

“How do you know she is?”

“She’s a Luthor. And whether you like it or not, that means something.” He sounds distracted and more than a little dejected for a second. “I’m not saying she’s definitely evil, but please, Kara, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I have super strength, Clark.”

“I don’t mean like that.” For the first time Clark actually sounds old. “Please, just...be careful. You see the best in everyone, and that's so admirable. But sometimes people are just bad.”

“Ok, I’ll be careful.” She says, rethinking her entire day.

They say their goodbyes and Kara finishes getting ready for her next shift. For the first time since meeting the woman she hopes that Lena isn’t there.

She’s only one hour into her shift when she spots the woman she'd hoped she wouldn't see. 

Typical. 

Luckily, she’s on appetizers so she can navigate her way around the room easily. Even more fortunate is the fact that the room is packed with people, so if she’s sneaky enough she can entirely avoid Lena.

She finds out all too soon that she’s not sneaky. At all.

“Hello, stranger,” Kara hears the smirk before she sees it. Turning around slowly she gives Lena an awkward wave.

“Hey…there…” As soon as she says it she regrets it, Lena looks at her as if she has two heads.

“Where have you been? I had to endure an entire event without you,” she says it playfully, but Kara looks as if she’s just realised she left the oven on.

“Oh right, yeah, sorry, I…uh…haven’t had a shift since that first one,” she explains, clearly quite distracted. Before Lena can say anything she starts to walk away.

“Hey,” Lena says, trying to catch up with Kara’s movements, but Kara's fluid and keeps turning quickly. She’s also obviously trying to shake off Lena. Lena can tell she’s not going to slow down anytime soon, so she stops instead and yells, 

“Hey!”

To Kara’s horror, people around them turn and stare. She tries to will the other woman, through the power of doe-eyes, to not cause a scene. It’s only her second day. She can’t lose this job. 

Fortunately, Lena can tell Kara can’t afford to have these people stare at her any longer and moves towards her slowly and unthreatening. People seem to lose interest and go back to their conversations. Maybe she was hungry and the appetisers were just that good.

“Kara, what is it? Have I done something wrong?” She doesn’t sound angry, just a little upset to have caused her any distress. Kara’s shoulders sag and her defensive demeanor crumbles. She’s not that person. She never was.

“No, no…I’m sorry. I just freaked out. I don’t know why,” as Kara says it she feels smaller and smaller, feeling horrible for how she treated Lena.

“I think I know,” Lena says moving even closer to the girl, “I’m a Luthor. Most people don’t like that about me, I understand, but I want to make myself clear. I am not like my brother. Not one bit and any problems you have with me should be because of my own decisions and beliefs, not my brother’s.”

Kara looks up to meet her eyes and finds a raw determination that leaves her breathless. She also didn’t realise how beautiful Lena’s eyes were, gold spreading from just around the pupil outwards to seep into a bold green. She loses herself for a second and then comes crashing back to reality. All Kara can do is nod.

“Great!” It’s amazing how Lena can break back to being cheery after nearly scolding Kara. Or rather, it’s scary as hell, and if Kara was being honest with herself? It's exhilarating.

They chat and wander around the venue, taking their time. It’s only about an hour later when Lena turns to her and asks, “When does your shift end?”

“Oh, uh, in about two hours,” she answers, very surprised by the suddenness of the question, "Why?”

“Meet me outside after your shift, I have something to show you."

Lena disappears and Kara is left alone to ponder what on Earth that could possibly mean.

She spends the rest of the evening caught in a daze, trying to figure out what Lena would be so inclined to show her and having daydreams about the whole thing. 

When her shift ends she waits outside, caught off guard when a black limousine pulls up outside the venue. The backdoor opens and there's Lena looking almost too smug.

“Fancy ride,” Kara says, very impressed.

“Well, if my wonderful personality doesn’t win you over, I’m sure the limo will,” she winks. Kara blushes and gingerly gets into the vehicle. “Come on, it’s not gonna hurt you."

Once Kara's settled in the back, Lena, sat a little too close, motions to the driver and they start to move. Lena picks up a file on the seat next to her and hands it to the other woman. Kara gives her a quizzical look taking the file.

“Look, don’t ask me anything, don’t say anything until you read it. Not a word until you’re finished.” Kara raises an eyebrow at that, but follows her instructions and reads the file.

There isn’t much, but what she reads is enough. More than enough.

“Wow. This is…wow,” its all Kara can say.

“This is just a basic outline, but you get the idea,” Lena shifts and looks down, suddenly shy, something Kara has never seen with her before, “what do you think?” She asks, picking at a perfect nail.

“Lena…” Kara says breathlessly as she looks up at her, “this is amazing,” and she really means it.

“You think so? Because I haven’t taken over the company yet and I’m not sure the old investors that are left will necessarily agree to the changes I want to make. After all, they did invest in Lex and his ideas…initially. I’ll have to do a lot of pushing to get this stuff through, but it’s what I want to do. It’s who I want to be,” Lena rambles until she finally takes a breath and meets Kara’s eyes. “All I want…is to help people.”

Kara can see the compassion and dedication in Lena’s eyes. She’s not lying, she does want to help people and maybe that means Kara can trust her. Maybe if she has one person on her side she can do this.

“I’m sorry I doubted you before. You’re a good person, Lena,” Kara apologises, “and I wish I hadn’t made…assumptions.”

“Look, Kara, I get it. It’s why I showed you this,” she glanced at the file, then back to Kara's face. “You have your doubts and I know that my life will consist of convincing people I’m different after...everything.” She smiles, “ but I wouldn’t have shown you this if I thought you weren’t worth convincing.”

In the end, it’s a comfortable ride; they have lively debates (Lena insists they're 'conversations') and laugh in the back of the limo as the driver finds his way to Kara’s apartment. Lena insists on driving her back and Kara finally gives up her address (another thing that Lena has to convince her of). It doesn’t take as much convincing for Lena to insist that she walk Kara up to her apartment. In fact, Kara seems fairly overjoyed by it.

“Thanks for walking me up. You’re the gift that keeps on giving,” Kara jokes.

Lena chuckles at that. “Well, I’m glad you think that but I’m not sure many people will agree.”

“You changed my mind, you can change others too,” Kara smiles at her, “after all, you’re a very good persuader.” That comes out a lot flirtier than she intends.

Lena raises an eyebrow. “What else can I persuade you of?” It’s in this moment that Kara realises how close they are to each other. “Maybe a goodnight kiss?”

She’s excited, if a little apprehensive, “I’m not sure, I mean I don’t know you very well…” she can see Lena is a little disappointed at this even if she doesn’t mean to show it, “but maybe you can convince me at a later date.” She perks up at this.

“How about we make that 'later date' an actual date?”

“That’s not what I meant…but yeah, I-I’d like that.” At this point, Kara is blushing more than she ever has in her life. Lena smirks, says goodbye again and leaves Kara to stumble into her apartment more than a little dazed.

She slumps against her apartment door as she realised what all this means. After all, she wanted that goodnight kiss and she knows next time it won’t take any convincing for her to give it.

She was in way over her head with Lena Luthor.