Chapter 8
Lena’s frozen in place. She gulps as she turns in her seat to face Kara squarely. Her girlfriend has never, ever discussed hanging up her cape. Their conversations have always been about how to live with the danger she faces or how to be a couple when she’s a superhero. She had no idea that it was something Kara wanted, even if it was only sometimes. Lena knows she should not engage in this while Kara isn’t in full control, but she can’t stop her curiosity. The question comes out before she can stop herself. “Have you thought about this a lot?”
Kara gets up and gravitates towards Lena. The stool she’s on allows Kara to slip her body between Lena’s legs and rest her hands on Lena’s waist. She sticks with her same cryptic answer, “Sometimes.” Kara pauses for a moment, “You didn’t answer my question.”
Lena takes a deep breath and leans in to make sure Kara can truly see her. “I would do anything for you. If that meant cutting all ties and living off my trust fund in an isolated town on a beach… I would drop everything for you.”
“Do you think… do you think we would be- happy?”
Lena’s lips quirk up into a small smile. “I believe we would be happy anywhere doing anything as long as we were together.”
“Don’t- don’t you think we would… I don’t know… feel guilty.”
Lena fights to keep her facial expression in check. She gets it now. Kara’s never allowed herself to truly think about hanging up the cape because National City needs her. People need her. With all the ability and choosing to give it up after fighting so hard to become Supergirl, Lena gets it now. She answers carefully. “Maybe for a bit. It would take an adjustment for the public, for the police and DEO, but ultimately, life would continue on. I know you think humans are pretty fragile, and compared to you, I have to agree. But we are resilient. We have survived millennia before aliens came to protect us. Our heroes include human ones. I think the guilt of being able to do something and choosing not to is a difficult one, but it doesn’t make it inherently wrong. The guilt would be something to work through.”
Kara listens closely to every word. The red filters back in slowly as Lena talks. It doesn’t stop her though. Now that Lena knows that it identifies when Kara is struggling with herself, she knows that maybe this is something Kara needs to hear. And if Lena is dead wrong, she will spend a lot of time and effort and money apologizing for pushing her during this difficult time.
Feeling like she pushed enough, Lena pulls Kara into a hug, “We can talk more about this later.”
Very quietly, Kara mutters, “There seems to be a growing list of ‘things we will talk about later’.”
“My personal vote is that when we get this situation sorted that you and I take a very long weekend somewhere tropical. We can do all our talking there,” Lena jokes lightly, trying to pull them back from the proverbial cliff.
Kara hums in response. “I would like that. Somewhere with sea turtles.”
Lena pulls back from the hug and cups Kara’s face with her hands. “That can be arranged. But first, I need to keep working on your suit.” She looks all over that adorable face, searching for… something. “Are you alright, darling?”
Kara gives her a sad smile. “Yeah, I’m okay.” Kara presses her hand into Lena’s and leans into the touch for a moment. “I’ll put something together for lunch. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”
As Kara leans back, Lena pulls her forward into a soft and loving kiss. It may carry on for a bit longer than strictly needed for Lena to assure them both but sue her. Kara is addicting.
When they part, Kara lets out a chuckle, “I request that we do a lot more than just talking on this tropical getaway.”
Lena hums and smiles salaciously. “That can be arranged, too.”
“Rao, I wish we had this figured out already,” Kara groans.
“I know. Me too,” Lena responds quietly. “But to do that, I need to get back to work.”
Kara presses one last kiss to Lena’s lips before untangling herself and heading to the kitchen. Lena takes a moment to close her eyes and refocus her brain to the task at hand. After a deep breath, she turns back to run the analyses on the swabs she has taken. She doesn’t know how much time passes because she is completely in the zone. So in the zone that it isn’t until she feels taps on her shoulder that she realizes that Kara has been calling for her.
“Lee?”
“Kar. Sorry, I was engrossed.”
Kara gives an easy smile, “I could tell. Lunch is ready if you are.”
Lena looks over the computer one last time. “Yeah, a lot of this will just keep running in the background.”
“Find anything?” Kara asks as she guides Lena back out into the living room to a spread of sandwiches, veggies, grapes, cheese, and crackers.
Lena kisses her cheek when she sees Kara’s lunch plans. Pillows and blankets have been pulled out to make a little nest behind the coffee table full of finger foods. Kara does this when she wants to do two of her favorite activities: eat and cuddle. “The good news is that there was a sample left behind from the dust. It’s very similar to the real stuff, but different enough that we have to find the exact formula before we can figure out how to get it out of your system. I also think we will have to make the cure in something like a nebulizer treatment. I think this stuff is clinging to the lining of your lungs.”
“Lee!” Kara exclaims with her mouth agape. “That’s- that’s fantastic!”
Lena pulls the woman to her little creation. They both settle in, leaning heavily into each other. “Well, it’s progress at least.”
“It’s been what… twenty-four hours? You’re an amazing genius.”
Lena blushes at the compliment. “Well, I couldn’t do it without you. If you hadn’t remembered-”
Kara scoffs and cuts her off by popping a grape into Lena’s mouth. “Remembering is nothing compared to actually figuring it out, Lee.”
Lena stares at her with wide eyes. She slowly bites down on the grape before responding to the boldness of the blonde. “You are lucky that I was craving a grape just then.”
“Or what,” Kara goads back.
Lena squints her eyes and hums lightly. “Cheeky. I’ll be sure to remember this on our little holiday.”
“Please do,” Kara’s voice is thick with desire.
Lena tosses a grape of her own at Kara’s face, but of course the super uses her speed to catch it with her mouth. “Cheater.”
Kara just grins in response. Lena rests her head on Kara’s shoulder as they pick away at the spread before them. Their lunch is calm and quiet. They let themselves enjoy the company and take the opportunity to rest.
Kara’s the one to break the silence. “I love you, Lee.”
“And I love you, Kara,” Lena whispers back with a smile.
Lena doesn’t even realize it, but she drifts into a light sleep at some point during their quiet meal. Kara doesn’t move a muscle as Lena’s body is slumped into hers. She listens to that steady thud of Lena’s heart. Her mind is oddly quiet, both sides quite content to just sit there with the love of her life. The Red K side is actually happy to hear that Lena is making progress for a cure, which is unusual to say the least. Kara doesn’t think too hard on it. Kara hears Lena’s heartbeat increase. She loves this moment. The moment that Lena wakes up and gives a cute little huff followed by the softest smile when she sees Kara. Kara’s already smiling before Lena can even open her eyes.
Lena hums lowly, “How long was I out?”
“Not long,” Kara whispers.
Lena lets out a sigh. “Even if I tell you that you should have woken me up, you were never going to, were you?”
Kara kisses the crown of Lena’s head. “Nope.”
Lena pulls up Kara’s hand that is trapped between their bodies to plant a kiss of her own on Kara’s knuckles. “I should be getting back to the lab.”
“The computer hasn’t chimed, yet. You should rest more.”
“There are still more tests I should be running, darling. The sooner we figure this out, the better.” Lena twists to plant another kiss on Kara’s cheek. “I know you are healed and back with your powers, but I can’t shake the feeling that you are still vulnerable with the Red Kryptonite in your system.”
Kara’s brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
“I- I’m not sure fully. I’m concerned that I’m the only one you can tolerate right now. I know you have said that your previous experience with red k had every dark thought coming out, but this seems to be different. You’re so angry with Alex and J’onn. Not just annoyed or detached, angry. I can’t help but wonder if this is part of this specific formula. What if- what if Lex thought you would turn on more than just me? What if he thought you would turn on all of us?”
Kara’s eyes start to tinge red. Her breath gets heavy. “I will kill your brother the next time I see him.”
“Kara?”
“He has done nothing but hurt us. He will never change. No prison can hold him.”
“Darling, look at me.”
Kara locks onto Lena. All Kara sees in those green eyes is love and concern. It doesn’t lessen the violent urge to speed off to find Lex Luthor and throw him into the sun.
Lena interrupts her thoughts. “No one, no one, wants my brother dead more than me, but we are not killers. We are not him. We will figure this out, and we will deal with my brother, together.”
Kara’s eyes shined brighter, which has Lena squeezing Kara’s hand tighter.
“I know, Kar. I know you are struggling with this right now. But can you trust me? Can you trust me to be the rational voice right now? I love you too much to lose you to this.”
It takes Kara several minutes before her body relaxes and her eyes clear again. She smiles sadly at Lena. “I trust you.”
“Thank you, darling.” Lena closes the gap and kisses her.
“Can- can I stay in the lab with you?”
Lena kisses her again. “Of course. You know that I love your company.”
Kara stands up first before delicately helping Lena up, too. “The computer just dinged.”
Lena gives a sharp inhale. It’s always that moment full of anticipation, but this one is laced with nervousness. Lena is anxious to find the answer to help cure Kara. “Let’s go see the results.”