Lena Luthor

It was a kind of guilty contentment Kara felt after Lena’s question. Lena, who could juggle math in her head that would make more of Earth’s top minds reach for a bottle of aspirin and run a multi national corporation and help fight of literal armies of evildoers, had completely lost track of the time. 

It was comforting to know that Lena felt safe enough to let herself lose track of time like that, even if part of it could be–and probably should be–chalked up to everything she’d been through since returning to Earth…and before that over Lena simply feeling secure enough around Kara to lower her guard.

But before the guilt had time to eat away at the contentment, ‘our little one’ dropped into her ear and Kara’s heart swelled in her chest.

She didn’t even protest Lena’s dig at her eating habits. She was too happy to care enough for even a token resistance.

“Mmhmm. We’ve got to make sure that our little one grows up big and strong and smart like her moms.” 

Kara dipped her head down to press a quick kiss to the top Astra’s head, then another, longer, kiss against Lena’s lips. 

“But that’s for tomorrow. For now, I think someone could use a nap.” She turned to Astra, her forehead pressed gently against the side of Lena’s temple. “What do you think, huh? Does someone-” Kara made a show of pointing at Lena, “-need a nap?”

“I already took a nap,” Lena said but just the mention of sleep prompted a yawn that she couldn’t quite stifle. It had been a stressful 24 hours and if she had to go deal with Kara’s mother and a baby and Kara herself all while worrying about Rhea... She knew she had to take advantage of this time. 

Conner, not needed at the Tower or the DEO or Luthor-Corp today, went straight home after school. A rarity, he usually had something, but he guesses everyone else has things covered sometimes. Besides, no Lex - something he’d consider a gift from above, if he believed in that sort of thing - meant things were significantly quieter. Even if everyone - including him, especially him - were waiting for the other shoe to drop. But he’ll take the gift where he can get it - no narrowly avoiding his father wherever he stepped, and no strange orders at the DEO that were certainly there just so Lex could prove he had control. 

Seeing Lena when he walked inside the penthouse, smiled softly, throwing his backpack on the couch. “Hey,” Sometimes Lena was there when he came home, and sometimes she wasn’t, though it was a nice surprise when she was. 

Noticing the arrays of snacks, Conner furrowed his eyebrows. “…What’s the occasion?” 

Lena shrugged in a way that was intended to be casual but felt awkward. Stiff, even. There had been a lot on her mind lately--ever since she had murdered Lex, really--and relaxing was... difficult to say the least. And she was worried. Worried about Lex, worried about Supergirl, but, most of all, worried about Conner and whatever role Lex wanted him to play in all of this. 

She had made an effort to be home on time today since Lex was still overseas doing press for Obsidian. Conner was old enough to figure out his own dinner even without an array of staff at his beck and call but that didn’t mean that he should be left alone. And Lena hated having him in her lab--her current work made her feel strangely flawed and vulnerable and she didn’t want her nephew to see her like that. She wanted him to think of her as being steady and comforting and the fact that the failure stung of years of lies... 

It was better to beat him home so that he wouldn’t have to stumble across her tearing herself apart over equations and datasets that weren’t quite working. 

“I know it’s no effort for you to help me move since you can literally pick up a city block but thank you. I guess I should’ve made sure that my apartment was in my name before I flipped out at Lex,” she said as she flopped down on her couch--one of the few things she had managed to rescue from the penthouse. The apartment came with appliances, at least, even though the microwave had to be nearly as old as she was. It was reasonably spacious, at least, even if it was rundown. Getting an apartment on a suddenly tight budget--not to mention the fact that pretty much all of Lena’s money was tied up in LexCorp--was not easy and, though various offers had been made to put her up for a while, Lena was determined to keep her friends safe by not being a burden. 

Which was how she had ended up in a one-bedroom apartment in a mostly okay part of town thanks to Kara’s help. Lena was mostly just relieved to be somewhere her own. They had already done a surveillance sweep and they were in the clear for now. She had put up her own sensors while doing most of the unpacking and, now, Lena had a coffee table left behind by the previous tenant, a bed, a couch, and a table that was almost passable as a desk. It wasn’t much--in fact, it felt like it was approaching the bare minimum--but at least it was hers. 

“Whenever.” Kara answered. The call with Eliza had been brief to say the least, mostly because Kara wasn’t sure what to say, especially after she knew that Alex had beat her to the punch in filling her adoptive Mom in on this latest twist in the Danvers family tree, so they’d never really gotten around to setting a time other than ‘tomorrow’.

She should probably call Alex. She’d need someone to drive down with all their stuff since Kara would have her arms full with Lena and Astra–literally–flying them down.

Unless she flew their luggage down tonight while Lena and Astra were sleeping. She could get the worst of the awkward with Eliza out of the way now, before Lena was there to suffer through it, which was a plus.

Of course, she’d still need to call Alex and have her stay at her apartment while Kara was busy ferrying luggage down to Midvale. And that would mean leaving Lena alone to deal with a whole load of awkward all on her own…

No, best to call Alex and find out when she’d get there, then wait to fly Lena and Astra down for the same time before coming back for the luggage. At least then she’d be there to take the worst of the awkward off Lena, and Eliza would keep Alex in line while she was flying back and forth between Midvale and National City.

Yes. That worked.

“Pancakes for breakfast?”

“Is it breakfast time?” Lena asked, genuinely lost. She felt as though she had no sense of time after so many months left without a clock or a real schedule to keep her on track. The ship’s artificial day/night cycles had been strange and Lena had overheard one of the guards mention the fact that Lena’s room in particular had uneven hours just to further disorient her. 

“Right, packing,” Kara said, giving her very serious nod while also making no move to leave Lena’s side. After a beat, she looked over at Lena, “Did I mention the whole super speed thing? I can have us packed and ready to go faster than you can say “Are you done packing?” She glanced down at Astra, her finger moving to gently tickle the baby’s belly. “Just, you know, in case you wanted to focus on the second part of that plan first.”

Lena felt incredibly foolish at the reminder that Kara could have them packed in the span of two seconds. She knew, logically, that Kara was Supergirl and that Supergirl was capable of incredible things. But Kara still felt like Kara and not an alien capable of breaking the sound barrier on a whim. 

Lena’s praise did nothing to soothe Kara’s conscience, but it did bring a blush to her cheeks. Pushing her glasses back up her nose, Kara shook her head. “I’m nothing special. Not like you.” And she wasn’t. Unlike Lena, Kara was knife proof along with being bulletproof. Unlike Lena, she had superpowers.

Unlike Lena, she still had a secret.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Kara focused on the thumb brushing her hand, then had to push those thoughts aside by focusing on her lap as she fussed with her glasses again.

“And you’re my friends and family.” She paused. “Well, my friend anyway. And technically my work, too. Sort of. Kind of.” Kara trailed off for a beat before rallying with, “But not now. Now you’re just my friend and I am here for you for as long as you need me.”

She paused for another beat before her guilt pushed her to add, “No questions asked.”

The water was cool and refreshing and Lena was pretty sure that it was the best thing she had ever tasted. Or maybe her brain was just fried. Or maybe Kara had found some sort of magic bottled water. Maybe made of unicorn tears or something. She felt her brain drift as Kara spoke about friends and family and work and it took an embarrassingly long time for it to process. 

“You can ask,” Lena said. “But, um, how bad is my shoulder?” She didn’t want to look at it herself because rewrapping it would be a nightmare but she was hoping Kara could give her some insight. “Is it I’ll never wear a bikini again bad or your arm is useless for the rest of your life bad?” 

Taking Lena’s head on her shoulder as silent permission, Kara wrapped an arm around Lena’s shoulder; her other hand idly–and automatically– moving to rub Astra’s back in slow, soft circles. Despite her attempt to lose herself in the moment, she couldn’t hold in the scoff that followed Lena’s comment.

“Sorry,” she quickly offered, pulling her hand away from Astra to let Lena take over calming their daughter. “It’s just- When I think of what she put you through when I think of how frustrating it was not being able to save you from any of it, how powerless I felt, I just…”

Kara blinked back the tears starting to rim her eyes, then turned her head enough to press a quick but firm kiss to the top of Lena’s head.

There was more she wanted to say, more she needed to say, but now wasn’t the time for it. Lena didn’t need a reminder that not all hurt was physical–she’d had enough of the other kind from her ‘family’ over the years–or that Rhea had tortured and tormented her in ways that would never leave a scar where anyone would see it, but that Lena would carry with her for years to come, even with therapy. 

She didn’t need to tell Lena how much Rhea had to pay for. She could save that for Alex. Right now, Lena needed her and she needed her here.

Nothing mattered more than that.

“I know,” Lena said quietly as she simply let Kara hold her. There was nothing to be done about Rhea or what had happened for the time being. Trying to deal with it when everything else was happening... was a waste of time. They were better off doing what they could now and worrying about all of the emotional issues later. Or never. Never was also a distinct possibility. 

“We should finish packing so we’re ready to go,” she said gently. She knew that Kara was having a hard time processing this--at least Lena had known about Astra whereas Kara had only known about her since yesterday--and she wanted to give her time to deal with it but they didn’t have time. Not when Rhea was still alive. Not while danger still lurked around every corner. 

“Okay, okay.” Kara assured Astra as she pulled her hands back, but not before stealing one last kiss from the cheeks of both. Beaming, she settled back into her seat and took a moment to admire the view.

She could get used to this. Who was she kissing, she already was.

“Yeah,” Kara’s eyes stayed fixed on Lena, “She is.” Her own exuberant mood lingered for a moment longer before a thought stole the smile from her face. Sitting forward, Kara leaned towards Lena.

“Has she… has she never laughed before?”