Prompt: filler scene for how lea finds out about Lena protecting her in the finale from Andrea because unless Lena says something thereâs no way she would know
Returning from the Phantom Zone is harder than Kara expects it to be. Sheâs already done it once, so this time should be easier. It isnât. Her bones hold a perpetual chill, and the normalcy that quickly settles over her friend group keeps her wondering when the hallucination is finally going to end. She doesnât trust it to last. How could she, when she has seen it countless times before? How can she when each time her happiness and relief inevitably ends in pain and blood and death?
The worst of it is Lena.
Lena, so hesitant and beautiful and sad, lingering in a state of in between. Sheâs found her place among the Superfriends, that much is apparent even to Kara. Whatâs less apparent is where she fits with Kara. Kara feels Lenaâs need to reconnect, a need reciprocated deep in Karaâs chest, but Kara keeps her distance.
Even if this Lena is real, safe from whatever violent end that would befall her in Karaâs phantom-induced dreams, so much has transpired between them. So much pain and heartache that Kara canât bring herself to faceâ so much doubt as to whether Lena wonât hurt her again. If she does, if it all falls apart again⌠Kara doesnât know if she could survive it.
Kara mentions her apprehension to her sister one night, when Alex observes how distant sheâs been with Lena. Lena, who has proven herself time and again since Kara was banished, only Kara wasnât around to see it.
Alex grows quiet, then beckons to Kara. âThereâs something you need to see.â
Alex sits her laptop in front of Kara, logging in and pulling up a video saved in its own separate folder on the hard drive. The video loads to an image of Lenaâs lab at LuthorCorp. She recognizes herself reclined in the chair sheâd used to communicate in the virtual reality, and sees Lena nearly off screen, monitoring her status.
âAlexâŚâÂ
She was thereâ she doesnât need a replay of that awkward handshake theyâd shared when theyâd agreed to bygones.Â
âJust⌠watch.â
When Alex presses play, Kara waits for herself to wake up. But thatâs not what happens. She almost gasps when Acrata steps into frame, a sharp shard of something green gripped tight in her fist.
Kryptonite.
But faster than the bile that rises in Karaâs throat, Lena is there, stepping between Supergirl and her would-be killer without hesitation. Words are spokenâ thereâs audio, but Kara doesnât hear. All she can process is the way Lenaâs chin lifts, baring her throat to the jagged shard that could tear through her skin as easily as Supergirlâs. All she can see is the way Lena plants her feet, her stance strong and immovable⌠Kara doesnât hear, but she knows what Lena says.Â
Lena would die before letting Acrata anywhere near Kara.
Karaâs breath catches in her chest, and suddenly she canât breathe past the weight of what sheâs seeing.Â
âBrainy pulled the footage before he left LuthorCorp,â Alex explains softly. âShe was willing to give her life for you, Kara. And while you were goneâ when I say she never stopped working to get you back, I mean ceaselessly. We had to force her to take breaks.â
Kara doesnât respond. She canât.
Alex takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. âI know you guys have a lot to work through,â she continues, âand I know it can be scary to trust someone whoâs hurt you. But from what Iâve seenâ Lenaâs not going anywhere. Sheâs still here, and would move heaven and earth to keep you safe.â
Kara sits silently for a long moment, eyes glued to where the screen has paused, with the jagged point of the kryptonite dagger perilously close to Lenaâs throat. Where Lena fixes Acrata with an implacable stare that seems to say me first.
âI need to go,â Kara stammers finally, rising onto shaking legs. Alex nods in understanding, and the next thing KAra knows sheâs standing in front of Lenaâs apartment door. She stands there for an interminable moment, before her hand finally lifts and raps a hesitant knock against the surface.
It takes a moment, but finally the deadbolt slides back and the door opens, revealing Lena in soft yoga pants and a loose t-shirt thatâs slipped off one shoulder.
âKara,â Lena greets in a low voice. Her hair is loose around her shoulders, and she runs a hand through it self-consciously. âIs everything okay?â
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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
Kara is rescued from the Phantom Zone. Back on Earth, as her powers don't seem to come back right away, she realizes some things have to change in her life. She's not the same Kara she was before the Phantom Zone, she's not the person she was before her fight with Lena anymore. Maybe now she's ready to tell Lena how she feels.
Whether she likes it or not, she will need to face her emotions, good and bad, to finally be able to move on.
OR
A fanfic I started before S6 part 2 aired, where I explore Kara feelings and her recovery!
Canon compliant until Kara is rescued in S6EP07
___
Itâs time I posted a link to this fic here! Chapter 10 and 11 will be coming soon!
You know, I'm thinking back on the post PZ scenes we had with Lena and Kara, especially the late night potstickers at the Tower, and I'm just marveling at how much that must have taken for Kara. Not in regards to the rift, but in regards to what she just went through.
Like, she revisited the worst nightmare of her childhood, and survived AGAIN, enduring Rao knows what. And we know that Kara's instinct is to pull away when she's troubled and emotions are hard. But she didn't do that this time. This time, she reconnected and enjoyed these moments she had. With Lena.
I wonder a little about who initiated these moments, but in the end it doesn't really matter. The fact that they're both so comfortable in each other's company-- the fact that KARA is so comfortable in someone else's company... it means a lot.
I only wish we'd had time to see Kara have a chance to unpack all the PZ stuff after Nyxly and Lex were defeated. She went from the Phantom Zone to the hunt for Nyxly in the space of an episode, it feels like. She never got a chance to recover from the first before diving into the ladder.
No wonder the totem challenges were so difficult for her too. I mean-- her emotions must have been either all over the place or else seriously repressed.
But with Lena she got to relax for a few minutes. Just a little.
AU where Kara comes back from the PZ and after a while Kara takes Lena aside and quietly confesses that she owes her an apology.
"No," Lena dismisses. "We agreed to leave it in the past."
"I know," Kara returns. "But I can't, because... I understand now."
Lena stares at her, shocked. Then she waits, giving Kara time to continue.
"When I was in the Phantom Zone, I was so close to losing hope-- losing myself. By the time I met Nyxly, I was so desperate... for a friend, an ally-- anything to remind me that there was a world beyond myself and my fears.
"I clung to her. And she put on this guise of kindness, and let me believe we were on the same side. When she finally revealed her true self... it completely blindsided me. I wasn't expecting it at all, and-- it gutted me."
Tears glitter in Kara's eyes. Lena longs to reach for Kara, to offer comfort, but Kara is too consumed by her guilt to be touched. Not yet.
"And that was only after knowing her for a few weeks."
Kara meets Lena's gaze. Her lips twist against brimming tears, and she swallows against the sobs blossoming in her throat.
"I did the exact same thing to you. I can't-- I can imagine how you felt, after the years we spent building our friendship, a friendship based on trust... and-- I can't stand it!"
A sob bursts from Kara's chest. She covers her mouth with her hand in an attempt to stifle it, but the dam is broken. It pours out of her in a wave. But this time, finally, Lena wraps her arms around her, channeling her warmth and love into the embrace. Kara returns it tightly, clinging to Lena.
"I understand too," Lena murmurs. "And we can talk about more, if you need to. Just know that I'm not angry anymore. And I still want to be your friend."
They pull away a little, just enough to make eye contact.
Lena smiles. "That's all that matters, okay?"
Kara nods, though her lips still tremble as she wipes her tears away.
"I won't ever do that to you again," she vows. "I promise."
Their fingers tangle together, and Lena gives her hand a squeeze.
I've decided that the most realistic opportunity for Lena and Kara to start healing is for there to be a game night, and Lena just... lingers. They haven't really talked since the Phantom Zone, and Lena isn't entirely sure how much Kara's been told about what happened in her absence. Does Kara know how hard Lena worked to bring her home? Does Kara know Lena nearly destroyed her legacy when it came down to saving Kara or stopping the phantoms on earth?
Lena doesn't know, but when Kara doesn't feign exhaustion to prompt Lena into leaving, she counts it as a good sign. When Brainy and Nia finally leave, it's just the two of them, and Lena finally has a chance to ask the question that's been weighing on her since the Phantom Zone.
"Are you okay?" she asks quietly. They're on the couch together, facing each other with their arms propped up on the back cushions. Lena lets her hand fall, brushing Kara's forearm in concern before she can stop herself, before she can wonder if she's allowed to intimate a touch.
Kara sighs, and nods. "I'm getting there. Nights like tonight help. I like having you guys around."
Once upon a time, Lena knows Kara might have simply said, having you around, the plural implicit, and easily translatable to having Lena around specifically. But Kara picks her words as carefully as Lena does.
A quiet settles over them. Lena doesn't pull her hand away, continuing to let her thumb rub against the sleeve of Kara's sweater. Now that contact has been made, Lena can't bring herself to pull away.
Finally, Kara looks at her with soft eyes. Wary eyes. Weary eyes. Hopeful eyes.
"Are we okay?"
Kara's question washes over Lena, filling her with peace. A month ago, it might have slammed into her, stabbed into her chest and carved her open. But now... Lena can't bring herself to hold the grudge her instincts want her to.
"If you want to be," Lena returns, just as quietly. "I know I--"
"No, Lena--" Kara straightens, her gaze sharpening. "Stop. We both have done things we're not proud of. I love you anyway."
Love. So Kara hadn't been lying. Lena wasn't crazy after all. She'd nearly convinced herself that the depth of their friendship had been one sided, that her expectation of reciprocity had only been assumed, to Lena's own shame. But it hadn't been.
"I love you too."
God help her, she did. In spite of everything, Lena still feels the tug in her chest at Kara's nearness, her anger having ebbed to reveal the affection, the connection, that had so enthralled Lena in the first place.
"I'm not saying we shouldn't still talk about it," Kara continues. "We probably should. But I... I just don't have it in me to be angry anymore."
Lena nods, tears clouding her vision. "Me either."
"So maybe we can just... try again?"
Kara lowers her hand against the cushions, tangling her fingers with Lena's.
"I've missed you."
Lena hiccups, covering it with a soft, deprecating laugh. She wipes at her eyes.
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Kara is rescued from the Phantom Zone. Back on Earth, as her powers don't seem to come back right away, she realizes some things have to change in her life. She's not the same Kara she was before the Phantom Zone, she's not the person she was before her fight with Lena anymore. Maybe now she's ready to tell Lena how she feels.
Whether she likes it or not, she will need to face her emotions, good and bad, to finally be able to move on.
