Lena was waking up, and not in her own bed. She was somewhere warm, swaddled in a heavy blanket. Her head was pounding and she didn’t want to open her eyes. A soft mewling sound tumbled from her lips, and she made as if to blink. Her eyes felt gummy and stuck shut.
“Shhhh,” a small, soft voice murmured. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
“Wuh?”
“Just rest,” Kara said.
It was easy to rest. He head fell against the wall of muscle that was Kara’s chest and pillowed on her breast and Lena let out a soft sigh, shifting a bit as she came around and grew more wakeful. She was sitting in Kara’s lap as Kara leaned back against a wall, and Kara had unclasped her cape and wrapped it around her in an impenetrable blanket.
As Lena opened her eyes, she saw that Kara was carding her fingers through Lena’s hair, so gently she barely felt it.
“Your hair is really pretty.”
“Thanks,” said Lena.
A kind of confusion swept through her. Weren’t they fighting? Lena was mad. She was furious. She was world-endingly, life-burn-downingly mad at the woman in whose lap she currently sat. Kara had lied to her about the fundamental nature of who she was and… and…
Lena didn’t feel mad.
“They gave you some pretty heavy drugs when they kidnapped you.”
“Kidnapped me?”
Kara let out a little snort. “You probably don’t remember. These were the lamest kidnappers, Lena. They nabbed you and immediately called me out. I found you and bagged them before you even came around from the drugs.”
“Thanks.”
“You probably won’t remember any of this later,” Kara sighed. “I just want to tell you I’m sorry again. I’m sorry I lied. It was wrong and you deserved better. I should have given you my trust the way you gave it to me.”
Lena blinked a few times but said nothing.
“I’ll never stop saving you. I will always protect you. Even if you never forgive me.”
Lena shifted slightly, pressing a little into Kara, who was now lightly teasing the tips of her fingers across Lena’s scalp, sending light tingles through her sleepy body. Kara yawned and shrugged.
“You okay? You warm enough?”
Lena nodded.
“Alex is coming with a team, she’ll make sure you’re all right. Go back to sleep, baby.”
Baby. That word sent a shockwave through her.
Lena’s eyes drifted shut. She was very tired and it made sense to sleep, to just let it all go. She was safe in Kara’s arms.
As she tumbled towards the dark, she felt the soft press of warm lips to her forehead.
“There’s still so much I want to tell you.”
Lena sighed and nuzzled into Kara’s shoulder. She was soft and warm and smelled heavenly, not just her lavender perfume but the soft smell of her. Lena never told Kara that she wanted to smell her armpits after spin class.
“You want to smell my armpits?!” Kara choked out.
Oh. That was supposed to be inside voice.
“Mmmhmm,” said Lena.
“Can I tell you something, since you probably won’t remember this later?”
“Sure.”
“I’m in love with you.”
Lena started, jolting a little more awake.
“No, shhh,” Kara said, pulling her into a tighter hug. “I know it doesn’t change anything. You don’t owe me anything. I’m just scared. I need you to know of something happens, if…” her breath caught. “If not fast enough.”
“Kara,” said Lena.
“Shh,” Kara murmured, touching a soft kiss to her forehead again that sent a jolt rippling through her.
“I don’t even know if you like girls. It’s just that was the real reason why I was so shitty and hid who I was. I was scared you’d leave if I told you and… and it happened anyway. I’m so sorry.”
Kara sighed.
“Sometimes I wish I could be human so there’d be no secret. I don’t know of Human Kara would have been brave enough to say anything to you but I’m a coward. It would be so easy if there was no lie.”
Lena opened her eyes and looked up. Hot tears glittered on Kara’s cheeks.
“And you know, if you lived with me, and not in that big fancy penthouse, nobody would kidnap you. I’d keep you safe and get you breakfast and make sure you eat before work and take care of you because you don’t take care of yourself.”
“Mmhm, and what do you get out of this arrangement?”
“Well,” said Kara, “I’d get to kiss the prettiest girl in the world.”
“Is that all?”
Kara’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “Well. I could do more than kiss. I never have with another woman so I’m not sure how… but I want to…”
She brushed bright scarlet.
“I could teach you,” Lena whispered.
“Don’t do that,” said Kara. “Don’t dangle that in front of me, if there’s no chance.”
“Kara,” Lena murmured, her drugged brain grinding its gears a little, “you don’t fill someone’s office with flowers as a friendly gesture. One does not buy an entire billion dollar media empire to hang out with one person as a platonic exercise.”
“Oh,” said Kara.
“I thought you were straight,” said Lena. “It boggles my mind that you thought I was. Me? Really? Have you seen me?”
“Yes,” Kara was looking at her intently now. “I have seen you since the first day. When I saw you for the first time I felt something I’ve never felt before or since.”
“This fight we’re having,” said Lena. “It doesn’t really feel important right now.”
“I know, but you’re on drugs.”
“Will you kiss me?”
“No.”
Kara’s lips were trembling. She dipped slightly as if she’d changed her mind, then pulled back and pursed her lips, pressing her eyes tightly closed.
“You might not feel this way later. It would be wrong.”
Alex chose that exact moment to kick the door in, sending a shower of splinters across the room. Kara pivoted in anticipation, shielding Lena but twisting around so they were even closer, Kara’s stunning blue eyes filling Lena’s vision.
“If you still feel this way later, call me.”
From then it became a blur. Kara placed Lena gently on a stretcher and reclaimed her cap, then trudged a safe distance away and flew off.
Alex was curt and short with her as usual, fussing over unnecessary risks and complaining sharply that Lena got into too much trouble, before sharply cutting off the conversation when it got too friendly and storming off.
Lena ended up back in her penthouse by six, all in all a fairly convenient kidnapping and rescue. She trundled inside and sat down on the couch, staring straight ahead for a while before she went to pour a glass of scotch, then thought better of it.
The night was chilly. National City never really got cold, but on a January night it could be brisk. Lena leaned on her railing and stared out at the bright lights of the city, the flow of traffic beneath and the distant sounds of life and joy.
Suddenly she felt very cold.
“Kara,” she sighed.
In an instant she was there, appearing in a faint gust. Her cape billowed out majestically behind her, hair aloft on the wind currents like clouds of spun gold. Kara didn’t look like an angel; angels looked like Kara.
“Come inside.”
Lena turned and walked back into the warmer confines, hearing the gentle thud of Kara’s boots on the balcony and her soft footsteps walking over.
“Haven’t been here in a while.”
“I used to dream of you moving in with me,” Lena admitted.
Kara stood silently behind her, shifting on her feet.
“I used to think about pampering you every time you mentioned that your rent was high or joked about a reporter’s salary. I wanted to take care of you, treat you, give you fine things.”
“You don’t have to give me anything.”
Lena turned around and crossed the distance between them. With Lena barefoot and Kara in heels, she towered over her. Lena stepped aggressively into her space and Kara didn’t flinch as Lena curled her fingers in the collar of her suit and pulled her down.
She didn’t hesitate. She gently bracketed Lena’s hips in her hands and pulled her in, bending over her to bring their lips together, Kara’s every move soft and gentle, the utmost care in every tiny gesture.
Kara was a good kisser. Lena let it deepen, feeling the heat flush in her chest and elsewhere, as Kara swept her cape around the both of them in a grand, silly, absurdly romantic gesture that made Lena’s knees go all wobbly and her belly flare with warmth.
“I could give you another chance,” Lena whispered into Kara’s lips.
“I’d like that.”
“Want to fly me home?”
“You are home,” said Kara, sounding a little confused.
Lena looked around the apartment, then rested her head on Kara’s chest. “No, I’m not.”
“Oh,” said Lena.
“Take me back to your loft. We can kiss and do the other things and then you can go get me breakfast.”
Kara slid her arm under Lena’s legs and back and picked her up, tucking Lena gently against her chest, stepped up onto the balcony railing and then off, into space. Lena’s breath caught and she tensed as she always did. She really didn’t like heights.
“I won’t drop you.”
Flying back through Kara’s window was a little awkward with the two of them, but they managed. Inside, Kara deposited her on the couch and the fussing began.
First, she made Lena put on a hoodie at the first sign of a shiver. It was old and threadbare and smelled like Kara, and when she wasn’t looking Lena buried her face in the sleeve and breathed it in.
Kara placed an order at a local restaurant and rather than wait for delivery, zipped out and got it herself.
“Do the people at the potsticker place not freak out when Supergirl pops in?”
“Actually, they give me a discount.”
She put the food in front of Lena and disappeared briefly, emerging in a tank top and running shorts, and Lena almost dropped the potsticker she was about to bite into.
Kara sat down beside her, and Lena stared at her. She wasn’t wearing her glasses and her hair was in a loose ponytail, leaving her in a kind of halfway state between Kara and Supergirl. Despite the display of her blocky shoulders and the ribbed fabric tight on her bunching abs, she looked so warm and soft.
Kara speared the potsticker and popped it into her own mouth.
“Hey!” Lena chirped.
“You were just staring at it.”
“Kara!”
“Fine, here.”
Kara gently took another dumpling in her chopsticks and offered it. Lena looked at her askance, then leaned forward and took it in her mouth, eyes never leaving Kara.
Slowly, they shifted together until they were side by side on the sofa, Lena sort of falling onto Kara as she sank into the cushions. They were less eating and more feeding each other, which turned into Lena feeding Kara as they watched whatever came on the TV.
Kara slowly worked an arm around Lena’s waist and Lena turned, throwing her legs across Kara’s thighs.
“I’m tired,” said Lena.
“You’ve had a long day.”
“Want to go to bed?” Lena said. She tried to put her best husk into her voice but it cracked a little and betrayed her.
Kara said nothing. She smiled and lifted Lena up with ease and carried her to the bed.
Lena shimmied out of her leggings, letting them fall around her ankles, all while covered by the oversized hoodie, and her heart was pounding as Kara lifted the covers with an exaggerated gesture and beckoned her into the bed. Lena climbed aboard.
Kara crawled in after her and embraced her like she was trying to pull Lena inside her body.
“You must be tired,” Kara murmured. “It’s okay if you just want to sleep.”
“I am,” Lena whispered back.
Kara started to pull back, but Lena held on. “Can you hold me for a while.”
“Nothing is gonna get you.”
Lena closed her eyes and curled up against her, sighing.
Two weeks later, she put the penthouse on the market.
