Until Next Time?

It doesn’t rain often in National City. But right now it was. She didn't feel the cold, but the water that splashed down onto her skin was icy and unkind. She fought off a shiver.

Realising that she really should find shelter or her way home she started to run. This didn't help, since not only could she not figure out where she was, or see any form of cover from the rain, but she also felt as if she was running in slow motion.

Not like she was running slowly, exactly, or that she had lost her powerful speed. Just as if the whole world has being dragged down to a sluggish pace.

Naturally, she stopped and decided to walk instead, letting the rain soak through to her skin and then into her bones until the cold was a part of her.

Looking around at her surroundings she grew aware of all the people around her. They weren’t there before. At least, she didn't think they were.

It took her a while to realise but most of these people were just a blur- a haze of unfamiliarity. Just as this occurred to her, she makes out a figure amongst the blurs…was that Clark? Weird. What’s he doing here? He waved at her but doesn’t do anything more than that. Doesn’t reach out. Doesn’t say hi.

Before she can think about it too much, the crowd parts. There, right at the centre, was Lena Luthor. She looks amazing. She’s wearing the same dress and make up as when Kara first met her. Her dark hair almost drips off of her shoulders. But what she feels more than anything is the heat she radiates. Lena was a sun, spreading warmth into the planets that gravitated towards her. Her skin tingles. Kara realises that the rain has stopped, no longer numbing her.

She wakes up.

Looking around she can’t see or hear her alarm. It’s still dark so it can’t be past 5am. She groans and gets up, realising she would not be getting back to sleep any time soon.

She puts on a pot of coffee and stands there, thinking over her dream. It’s not the first time she’s had it, but it’s the first time she’s realised what it might mean. After all, they nearly kissed last night and the only thing that stopped her was that she didn’t want to rush whatever was happening between them. Going over that night, Kara suddenly remembers that Lena had promised her a date. She wasn’t sure what going out with a Luthor would entail. Would she take Kara out to somewhere really expensive and extravagant? Would their relationship be broadcast everywhere? Relationship? She needs to slow down; they haven’t even gone on the date yet.

Chancing a look at her phone the time reads 5:20 am.

Today was going to be a long day.

“This is the phone of Special Gay-gent Danvers, Maggie speaking.”

Not the usual response Kara received when calling her sister, nonetheless, she can’t help the smile that spreads across her face.

“Hello Maggie.”

“Ah, little Danvers,” Maggie replies. The pet name had lovingly been given to Kara not long after Alex and Maggie started dating, much to Alex’s dismay. “What can I do for you?”

“Is Alex there? I have…some news,” she picks her words carefully.

“She’s a bit busy right now, stressing over some work stuff. Thought I’d give her some room to work on whatever it is. You know how she gets.”

Kara knew exactly how her sister got when she was stressed, especially due to work. She felt a bit bad that Maggie was dealing with all that without Kara. She didn’t feel too bad though because she was sure Maggie was a bit more clued up on what her sister actually did. She was more equipped to deal with a frazzled Alex.

“Anything I can help with, Kara?” It was strange to hear her name coming from Maggie, but she assumed that it was her detective nature coming out; trying to put Kara at ease.

“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” she tries to make it sound as casual as possible.

There’s a pause on the other end. “Is this about Lena Luthor?”

“Oh. You know then.”

She must sound a bit putout.

“Don’t blame Alex, I pushed her to tell me.” Another pause. “You don’t have to tell me, Kara, but I’m always here to listen, you know that right?”

She didn’t know that. She felt a little reassured.

“Well, I think I’ve worked out what’s going on,” she sighs, “I think I like Lena Luthor…like…a lot.” There. She said it.

“Well done, little Danvers. You worked it out yourself.” She can hear the smirk in Maggie’s voice.

“Hey, wait a minute, you knew?”

“Well, it was pretty obvious by the way you were going on about her to Alex. Plus, we lady lovers can spot this kinda thing from a mile away.”

Kara snorted in response.

“If it makes you feel any better it took your sister longer to work out she was into me.” Maggie adds.

That did make her feel a little better.

“We nearly kissed.” She admits, her voice just above a whisper.

“What?” Maggie yells, “Damn, Kara.”

“I know…” Kara says, “She was just standing there looking all beautiful and we were flirting and she offered but I didn’t wanna rush into it and my brain hadn’t caught up with what was going on so I didn’t really know I liked her!” She takes a breath once she’s finished rambling.

“You like her a lot, don’t you?” Maggie replies warmly.

“Yeah…I-I don’t know if I’ve really felt this way before,” Kara confesses, “it’s scary, Mags.”

“I know.”

Kara realises just how important Alex is to Maggie. Just how terrifying it was for both of them to fall for each other.

“Thank you, Maggie,” she says, hoping she sounded as sincere as she felt.

“Any time, kiddo.” A newfound understanding has developed between the two women.

“Alex is lucky to have you.”

“I…well…thank you.” She can hear the discomfort in Maggie’s voice at the compliment.

For a moment, Kara is reminded of Alex and how ironic it was for both these women to have fallen for each other when they shared such a distinct lack of self-love.

They said their good-byes soon after and Kara got ready for her third shift. With a renewed understanding of who she was, she felt confident heading to her first daytime shift; something hadn’t felt since she got to this planet.

Despite being unsure what a midday shift entails, she still feels that confidence when she’s introduced to a man around her age with short brown hair and a goofy smile. He seems to actually enjoy his job showing newbies like her around. He gives them all a tour of the building and where they need to go to polish cutlery, pick up the food, drop the empty plates and so on. He seems to go quite quickly, obviously used to the space, but Kara doesn’t find it too hard to follow.

He stops rather suddenly.

“Wow, I am such an idiot. I’ve been giving you guys this tour for like 15 minutes and you don’t even know my name.” Laughter ripples through the group.

“I’m Winn, by the way, and I’ll be here all day if you have any questions, folks.”

He turns back around and begins walking again, already a few feet away and continuing their orientation talk before everyone rushes to catch up with him. Another quick turn and Winn jumps, nearly crashing into Kara, the first to catch up.

“Jeez, you scared the crap outta me,” he says, trying to catch his breath.

“Sorry,” Kara rubs the back of her neck.

“Warn a guy next time,” he says, letting out a chuckle, “what’s your name?”

“Kara Danvers.”

“Well, Kara, someone with your speed is perfect for this job.” He offers a hand out to her, which she enthusiastically grabs and shakes.

She was a bit too keen. Winn retracts his hand, wincing, “Christ, you’ve got a strong grip there too… maybe be careful when you’re dealing with the glassware. Don’t want any casualties,” he regards her for a second, “by that I mean, casualties towards the glass.”

Kara nods, looking at him apologetically and then follows him for the rest of the tour.

It’s only in the last half hour of her shift that Kara gets to chat to Winn again. She’s polishing cutlery, caught in a rather heated daydream about Lena, when he appears next to her. This time it’s her turn to jump.

“Oh hey, I got you back,” he observes, amused at her reaction.

“Lucky you I wasn’t polishing any glass,” Kara jokes. It earns her a hearty laugh from Winn.

“Hey, you’re funny!”

“Don’t sound too surprised.”

He holds up his hands. “Hey, not everyone here is joker…if you can believe it,” he mumbles the last part, looking pointedly at their manager, a greasy looking man inspecting the cutlery and leaving fingerprints everywhere. Then complaining about them. Kara can’t help but snort. He had a point.

“You here next week?” He asks.

“Didn’t realise there was a shift for next week.”

“Oh totally, this place is always doing stuff! Next week is a twelve hour shift and they don’t have enough staff for it, so I have been tasked with sniffing out new talent and getting them to sign up.”

Kara looked at him incredulously. “Sign up? More like kidnap…twelve hours? No thanks.”

“Well, you get paid for those twelve hours which means you don’t have to do as many small shifts in the week, you get breaks and a taxi home since you’d finish at midnight,” he explains. “Plus, you get to work with me,” he beams.

“I’m not sure…” she says not entirely convinced.

“At least you’d be working at a place you already know,” he shrugs, “besides, everyone usually ends up having a laugh…even if it is about our own suffering.”

She thinks about it for a moment. He does have a point. Besides, due to her alien DNA, she wouldn’t get nearly as tired as the others.

“Alright…I’m in.”

“Great!” He punches the air. “I’ll get a job slip sent to you by the end of the day. You won’t regret it.”

Kara decides she’s going to change into pyjamas the second she gets home, eat an extraordinary amount of junk food and watch Catfish reruns. Unfortunately, the universe has other ideas for her. When she eventually gets home, Clark is waiting for on her couch.

“What is it, Clark?” Shocked by his presence, she doesn’t mean for it to come out so harsh.

She’s pretty sure she knows what he’s here for and she doesn’t want this conversation right now. Or ever, really.

“Can’t I come round to surprise my cousin?” He replies, his hands up in defence. If he was anyone else Kara might give him the benefit of the doubt. Except she knew Clark and she knew that his visits always led to something she didn’t need in her life.

“Two surprises in a week? Am I dying? Are you dying?”

“Hey come on now, nobody’s dying. I’m just here to visit.” The look in his eyes says otherwise.

“What do you want to know, Clark?” She sighs. He looks her in the eye for a moment before his shoulders relax.

“I feel like we kind of left things a bit weird last time. I never wanted you to think that you can’t be friends with whoever you want to be friends with.” Now that was something truly surprising.

“I talked to Alex and she just happened to mention that you saw Lena again.” The surprise vanishes as soon as it had come. Was there anyone Alex hadn’t spoken to?

“You have to be careful, Kara. If she finds out you’re a Super as well, she could turn on you.”

“Oh my God, Kal, I’m not a Super, you are!” Kara practically yells. “I’m not using my powers, she’s proven to me she’s not like her brother and we’re actually getting along really well. Can you just drop it?”

It was the first time in years that she’d used Clark’s real name and the drop in his face as she did left her stomach twisted. That name had been buried along with his family and their planet.

“I can’t drop it, Kara,” he spits out her name. “I didn’t want to say it before, but I have to protect myself too. You’re letting these kinds of people into your life and you don’t think it’ll affect me? We might not have the best relationship but we’re still blood and I’d think you would actually care about what happens to me.”

Every word feels like a papercut (she’s heard Alex complain about them enough times, they sound painful) except they’re all over her body.

They don’t say anything for a long time.

“I care about you,” her voice is sad and small, but it’s enough to get Clark to look at her. “I’ll be careful, I promise. But that’s not going to stop me being friends with her.”

He gives her a sad smile as he makes his way to the door.

“I’ll see you, Kara.”

“Wait,” she calls. He stops and turns. “She told me…about some plans she has for Luthorcorp when she takes it over. Nothing like what Lex did,” she smiles at the memory of how close they were in that car, “I honestly think she’s trying to make a difference.”

“She might be, or she might just be trying to look good.” He shakes his head. “She might be trying to distance herself from Lex, or trying to get you off her back so she can follow in his footsteps. She could be up to anything. She’s a Luthor. That means something. That doesn’t distance her from what Lex has done. It never will.”

Something cracks within Kara.

When she was younger she accepted that Clark couldn’t take care of her. He couldn’t help her or empathise with her because he didn’t have her memories. Yet here he was, asking her to do that for him. More than anything she had wanted the family she had on Krypton to be on Earth, but he couldn’t do that for her. Now that he needed that family, that blood connection, he came to her.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t do those things for her back then. He just wouldn’t until it suited him.

“Get out,” she demands through gritted teeth.

“Kara, I didn-”

“I mean it. Get. Out.” It was whispered, but in the heavy air it rang clear.

Clark was always clever. He left without another word.

The worst part of all of it wasn’t that he was wrong. It wasn’t even his indomitable belief that he was right. As Kara felt his words crawl across her skin like the shadow of an eclipse, she realised the worst part was that she was starting to think he might be right.