Two Sides of the Same Coin
When Lena pulls away from the kiss to breathe, Kara quickly stands, backing away from Lena, panting heavily. With her heart pounding and her palms sweating, Kara looks at the raven-haired woman still sitting on the couch. She catches the flash of hurt that crosses Lena’s face before ducking her head, her face burning.
“I’m sorry, Kara. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. If I misread the situation, I am truly sorry.” Lena’s voice is soft and careful, like speaking to a wild animal without spooking it. A single tear runs down Kara’s cheek and she wipes at it, trying to brush it away without Lena noticing.
“You didn’t.” Glancing at Lena now, Kara bites her lip. Confusion crosses over Lena’s face as she stands, her heels clicking against the floor as she walks toward Kara. Instinctively, Kara steps backward, hitting the wall of Lena’s office.
“Kara?” Lena stops, her arms falling limply at her sides in defeat. “I don’t understand. If I didn’t misread the situation, what’s wrong?” Kara bites her lip again, the coolness of the wall seeping into her skin through her blouse. Suppressing a shiver, Kara opens her mouth to explain or say something that isn’t stupid, but her super hearing catches an explosion on the other side of the city. Kara groans inwardly as Lena, in all her glory, stands there, green eyes searching Kara for an explanation or even something to come out of her mouth. Kara swallows hard.
“I’m sorry, Lena. I have to go.” Kara moves quickly, stepping around Lena to grab her things from the couch. After closing the door and running down the hall, Kara sighs heavily. Shaking her head to clear it, she scans the floor for anyone else. Noticing it’s clear, she enters another office space that has a balcony. Faster than humanly possible, Kara changes into her super suit, and takes off from the balcony, heading toward the explosion she heard.
“Alex? J’onn? Can you hear me?” The wind whips through her blonde hair as Kara flies down to the docks of National City where a steady fire is burning from an explosion.
“Supergirl,” Alex answers almost instantly. “What have you got?”
“An explosion of some kind at the docks. I’m going to check it out.” Kara walks closer to the flames, using her X-ray vision to scan for anything that might seem out of the ordinary. Nothing. However, the fine hairs on the back of her neck prickle. Moving cautiously, Kara circles the cargo boxes that are engulfed in flame. A small flash of silver catches her eye. Stepping closer to get a better look, Kara doesn’t notice the figure to her left, just out of her peripheral. Kara blows out the flames with her cold breath before moving forward to grab the silver object laying on the ground. Just as her fingers touch the silver disc, a blast of green comes from her left as the figure pulls the trigger on the gun they are holding. Kara goes flying, the blast throwing her over 50 feet away from the disc into more cargo boxes. Groaning, Kara tries to stand. Her legs fail her. She’s so weak. Kara lifts her hands to her face and notices a green tinge in her veins. Shit. Kryptonite. She rolls her head towards where the silver disc. The figure stands there, holding the device in their hands. They’re dressed in black, a hood and mask covering their face, the gun dangling at their side.
“Supergirl? Everything okay?” Alex’s voice comes through the comms. Kara can’t answer, the pain from the Kryptonite blast pulsing through her body. “Supergirl? Kara?” Alex becomes more frantic as Kara doesn’t answer. Kara can only watch as the figure walks towards her writhing form.
“Poor Kryptonian.” The voice is distorted from the mask. “So helpless without her powers.” The person laughs.
“You won’t get away with this.” Kara spits out. The person laughs again.
“I already have.” They disappear from Kara’s view. Kara barely remembers what happens next after J’onn and Alex show up. She can only recall seeing Alex’s worried face before she blacks out.
Kara wakes up disoriented. Her entire body throbs and she can barely move her limbs. Opening her eyes, she quickly shuts them again. Kara moans from the pain. There’s a hand on hers, lightly squeezing it.
“I’m here, Kara,” Alex whispers. Kara tries to squeeze back but her muscles won’t respond. Unfortunately, the pain forces Kara back into unconsciousness. When she wakes again, she can hear two individuals talking about her.
“Why isn’t it working? It’s been six hours,” Alex says worriedly. Kara tries to open her eyes to no avail. The Kryptonite is still coursing through her body, sapping her energy.
“The yellow sunlight needs more time to counteract the Kryptonite. She took a big hit, Alex. She’ll need a few days to recover,” Lena replies gently. Although Kara’s body is fighting to keep her alive, hearing Lena’s voice sends a flurry of butterflies into Kara’s stomach before she loses consciousness once more.
Kara gasps awake again, sitting straight up. Glancing around, she notices that she’s in the medical bay at the DEO. In a chair beside her bed, Alex is sleeping soundly as if she hasn’t left her side since the incident. A warm, yellow light floods the room. Kara looks up at the apparatus that hangs above her emitting the light. Kara lifts her arms, the muscles protesting less than they did the first time she woke up.
“Kara?” Alex jumps from the chair to her side. She embraces Kara in a gentle hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I thought I’d lose you.” Kara hugs Alex back tight.
“I’m here, Alex. I’m not going anywhere.” Alex lets her go, tears flowing down her cheeks. Kara reaches over, wiping them from her face. “I’m fine, Alex. See?” Kara gestures to herself. Alex nods. Before Kara can say something else, Lena clears her throat from the doorway.
“I’m glad to see you are awake, Supergirl.” Kara swallows the lump in her throat at the sight of Lena. She’s wearing a tight, forest green dress that brings out her eyes with black heels. Kara wonders if Lena’s still confused about their – er, Kara’s reaction to them kissing. Something she has to fix and soon. “Looks like my artificial yellow sun worked.” Lena glances at the light apparatus hanging above Kara.
“Yes, thank you. I am truly grateful, Lena,” Alex says.
“Please, Supergirl saved me. I owed her my life. I was just returning the favor.” Lena blushes a little from Alex’s sentiment. Kara realizes that she’s been sitting there, mouth probably wide open, staring at Lena this whole time.
“Thank you, Lena,” Kara finally says. Lena’s green gaze fixes itself onto Kara with a small smile.
“We’re even now, Supergirl. Until next time.” Lena leaves the room without another word. Kara tries hard not to stare as she leaves, the dress enunciating all the right curves.
“I can see why you have a crush on her, Kara.” Alex breaks Kara’s attention from the raven-haired genius.
“Alex!” Kara playfully swats at her sister. “Shut up! Ugh, I never should have told you.” Kara falls back against the pillow, covering her face in embarrassment. Alex just laughs.
LATER
Alex hands Kara a glass of wine before sitting next to her on the couch. Kara smiles, taking the glass and taking a sip. It’s been three days since Kara and Lena kissed. One since Lena saved Supergirl’s life. Now, Kara and Alex were back on Kara’s couch watching the rest of The L-Word. There’s been no word about the person that attacked Kara, especially since they know nothing about them. Nothing about the silver disc either. All the tech companies, including LuthorCorp, haven’t made anything to the description that Supergirl gave.
“What’s on your mind, Kara?” Alex sips her wine, staring at her. Kara hasn’t mentioned the kiss to Alex yet. Or that she kind of ran away after. She swirls the overpriced grape juice in her glass.
“Just trying to figure out why that person hasn’t made any moves yet,” Kara lies. Alex furrows her brow, not believing her.
“We’ll catch them. Just focus on getting your strength back first.” Kara nods. “Now, tell me what’s really going on, Kara.” Kara sighs. Shifting on the couch to face Alex, Kara drops her gaze back to her wine.
“LenaandIkissed,” Kara says quickly. Alex’s mouth drops open.
“What?! When? Details, Kara!”
“After the interview. There are no details. I kind of ran away.”
“Ran away? What happened?” Alex sets her glass on the coffee table. Kara swallows, the tears threatening to rise and spill. Alex gently takes the glass out of Kara’s hand and sets it down before pulling her for a hug. “You don’t have to tell me.” With those words, Kara breaks, the tears spilling over. Kara can’t stop. She’s a sobbing mess in Alex’s arms. After a while, she manages to contain herself.
“I’m sorry, Alex.”
“Kara, I’m your sister. No judgment.” Kara nods, grabbing her wine and draining it.
“The kiss with Lena…” Kara hesitates. “It was perfect. Better than I could have ever imagined, Alex. I just… I think Lena’s my soulmate.”
“Wow, Kara. That’s so amazing. I’m so happy for you. But, if it was so perfect, why did you run away?” Kara sighs.
“I’m not sure you’d understand, Alex.”
“Try me.”
“Okay, well. You remember my relationship with Mon-El, right?” Kara waits for Alex’s nod before continuing. “Since he was from another planet already, it was easy to tell him I was Supergirl. But Lena, she’s human. She has opinions on aliens already. Making technology to determine who is human and who is alien. What if I reveal myself to her as Supergirl and she’s not okay with it? Or, if I hide that part of me, what kind of relationship would we have?” Kara wrings her hands. “I just don’t want to screw it up, Alex.” Kara looks at Alex, biting her lip anxiously.
“If Lena can’t see you for you, then she doesn’t deserve you, Kara. I can’t promise you a life without pain and loss because pain is a part of life, but I know you will do the right thing and I’m in your corner. Now, how about some potstickers?”