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marinawolf · 2 months

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It's You (Supercorp)

by marinawolf

The poll has spoken! Here it is- the angsty Supercorp fic (with a little bit of action and plot- it's a little long, sorry. I was gonna do two parts but that just complicates things so it's alllll here.)

Lena finds out after Lex decides to play a cruel game. (Filled with angst, betrayal, yearning etc etc. First kiss.)

3k words

The moon hung low in the inky sky, casting a haunting glow on National City. On the rooftop of the L Corp building, Kara lingered in the shadows, a solitary figure with a completely useless glass of champagne clutched in her hands, her eyes fixated on Lena. Oh, how she longed for the oblivion of intoxication. It would make things so much easier.

Kara sighed, taking a pointless sip from her champagne flute, the bubbles tickling her throat. The cool breeze ruffled her hair as she watched Lena. The world was enchanted by Lena Luthor, and Kara was no exception. She was everything - brilliant, brave, kind and beautiful. So so beautiful that Kara sometimes forgot how to breathe around her. Kara's fingers traced the rim of her champagne glass and she tried to tear her eyes away from Lena, a futile attempt to distract herself from the ache in her chest.

But unable to resist, Kara's gaze lingered on Lena's face, tracing the delicate curve of her smile and the sparkle in her eyes. She watched as Lena moved through the crowd, a vision in a black dress that sparkled in the moonlight, as if there were constellations wrapped around her body. The air seemed charged with an energy that only Kara felt, her super senses attuned to every detail. Lena's laughter, her heartbeat, the subtle shifts in her expressions - all of it was amplified for Kara. She could feel the familiar tug at her heart. Lena seemed so close yet so impossibly far away. The desire to confess, to bare her soul to Lena, burned within Kara. But the fear of rejection, of losing the one person who had come to mean everything to her, kept her rooted in silence. The irony wasn't lost on her - Supergirl, capable of facing the most formidable foes, was paralyzed by the mere thought of losing Lena.

A bitter taste lingered on Kara's tongue as she took another sip, futilely attempting to drown her emotions. If only she could find the courage to tell Lena the truth - that she was Supergirl, and that she was hopelessly and desperately in love with her.

Almost as if sensing Kara's gaze on her, Lena's eyes flickered toward hers and the most breathtaking smile formed on her face, causing Kara's heart to stop for a moment. Rao, those eyes. Kryptonite had nothing on those eyes, and when Kara looked into them, she could see her life unfolding in those shades of green.

Lena immediately made her way towards Kara, her arms already outstretched for a hug that felt like home.

"You look gorgeous, Lena", Kara whispered against Lena's neck, and she could swear that she heard Lena's breath catch.

As they parted, Lena's hand found Kara's wrist, "Why are you hiding in the corner? Come with me," Lena urged, gently tugging Kara towards the bustling crowd.

It was the last place she wanted to be but Kara couldn't say no. With a silent nod, she let Lena guide her, knowing that wherever Lena went, she would willingly follow.

"You okay?"

Kara blinked back to the present as Lena's concerned voice cut through the monotonous corporate chatter. She had zoned out as a man they were talking to droned on about his company. For some reason, she was finding it harder to stifle her feelings for Lena tonight and found herself spiralling, her thoughts running wild.

"Hm? Oh, yes, I am. Why?"

"You just seem out of it tonight. Do you want to leave? I'll just say my goodbyes, and we can get out of here," Lena suggested, her concern evident in her eyes.

Kara smiled at Lena, a warmth budding in her chest. Lena would totally leave her own event to take Kara home if Kara asked her to. She was that wonderful of a friend. They would probably end up at Lena's apartment, drinking wine and watching movies until Lena passed out, cuddled into Kara's side, making it so that Kara couldn't leave. And Kara would allow herself the indulgence- she would wrap her arms around Lena and close her eyes, and pretend that this was something else- something more. She allowed herself those moments of fantasy. And when they woke up entangled in each other the next morning, they would laugh it off, blaming it on the wine.

But no. Lena needed to be here. It was her event, after all and Kara needed to get some space anyway, and maybe some proper alien alcohol from her stash at home.

"You can't leave, Lena," she laughed, "but I think I am a bit tired. So I'm gonna go, okay?"

Lena's frowned, her gaze meeting Kara's, something indiscernible flickering within her eyes.

"Kara," Lena began, her voice holding a note of urgency, yet before she could continue, a sudden, deafening bang echoed through the air. Kara's eyes shot upward, shock and awe registering on her face as the night sky seemingly exploded around them.

Fire rained down on the rooftop and instinctively, Kara moved to take action, but before she could, Lena's arms enveloped her protectively, attempting to shield her from the fire and debris. It was a moment where the absurdity almost made Kara want to laugh. She felt momentarily frozen. Yet, she knew she couldn't remain passive. She had to save Lena. She had to save everyone.

A second explosion jolted the rooftop, causing Lena to lose her balance and her grip on Kara to falter. Taking the opportunity, Kara broke away from Lena and ducked into a corner, returning immediately as Supergirl.

Her first instinct was to ensure Lena's safety, and she grabbed her and lifted her off the rooftop, intending to carry her away from the looming danger. However, Lena resisted fiercely, fighting against Kara's hold, her frantic eyes scanning the rooftop.

"No!" Lena screamed, her voice fraught with desperation. "Kara is still there. I need to get Kara."

The plea reverberated through the night, casting a heavy shadow on Kara's heart.

"I'll find Kara. Don't worry," Kara reassured, her voice strained with the weight of deception.

She could see the anguish and worry in Lena's eyes, a reflection of deep concern that extended beyond the immediate danger. The worry was for her, for Kara, and as Kara soared back into the night sky, leaving Lena on the ground, the burden of keeping her identity hidden, of denying the depth of her feelings, felt like it could pull her down.

Kara cleared the rest of the guests off the rooftop swiftly and returned alone, hovering over it, scanning for the source of the explosion. To her surprise, there was none. It was as if the night had imploded onto itself, as if the air itself had ignited. The absence of a visible threat left Kara unsettled- this wasn't meant to cause any harm. A sense of foreboding washed over her as realization struck—this must have been some sort of diversion.

Panic gripped Kara's mind, and a single name echoed through her thoughts. There was only one person who would cause chaos at an L Corp event, and that meant one thing—Lena was in danger.

Racing back to where she left Lena, Kara found no-one there. In the place where Lena should have been waiting for her, a small white card had been placed on the ground.

Kara reached for the card, her hands trembling.

You are cordially invited to the Luthor family reunion.

The air became heavy with the worst kind of fear, and as Kara clenched the card in her trembling hands, a desperate scream threatened to escape her lips. Where did he take Lena?

At the DEO, Kara's anxiety echoed through the room as she paced, the worry etched on her face. Frustration, fear and desperation boiled within her.

"Why can't we find her?" She shouted, her anger bouncing around the room, shocking the agents around her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Alex, a concerned look on her face,

"Lex is very good at hiding, Kara. We're doing the best we can. We will find her," she reassured, though the words did little to quell Kara's mounting panic.

Kara felt a surge of helplessness, a burning desire to do whatever it took to locate Lena, even if it meant tearing the whole world apart and yet all she could do was uselessly wait around for a lead.

Just as she approached a point of no return, Winn's voice called out,

"I think I have something," he announced, drawing everyone's attention. "I hijacked city cams and ran facial recognition. Traffic cameras picked up Lena's face outside an abandoned warehouse. There's someone with her."

Kara's heart skipped a beat, hope coursing through her veins.

"Where is it?" she demanded, desperation edging her voice.

As Winn relayed the address, Alex grabbed her arm,

"Wait, Kara. Let us prep a team to go with you. It's probably a trap. You can't go in alone."

Kara's resolve hardened, her gaze steely with determination.

"I don't care, Alex. It's Lena."

With those words hanging in the air, she broke free from Alex's grasp and bolted from the DEO, propelled by the determination to rescue the woman she couldn't live without.

Kara reached the warehouse and effortlessly tore through the heavy iron doors. Her determined advance faltered as she took in the scene before her—Lex Luthor, armed and wearing a manic smile, stood with a gun pointed at Lena who, to Kara's relief, looked unharmed. Kara couldn't bare to see the terrified look on Lena's face, but she knew that if she let herself give in to the fear, she would never get them out alive.

"Ah, Supergirl, you made it!" he grinned, reveling in the chaos. "Look, sister, our guest of honor has arrived. Now we can start."

Kara moved towards Lena, but before she could reach her, Lex grabbed Lena and pressed his gun to her head.

"Nuh uh, Supergirl," he tutted, "You don't want your best friend to get hurt, now do you?"

Kara felt a chill creeping over her as she stood paralyzed.

"What do you want?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady despite the panic surging through her, "Me? I'm here—let her go, Lex."

Lex laughed. "Oh, Supergirl. Where's the fun in that? Let you sacrifice yourself and be the hero again? No. No, this time we're going to play a little game."

He retrieved a button from his pocket, and the floor beneath Kara illuminated with the ominous glow of kryptonite.

"Supergirl, no," Lena shouted, trying to step forward, but Lex tightened his grip on her, and pressed the gun harder into her temple.

"One little push of this button will make that lead floor disappear, and one little pull on this trigger can end my dear sister's life. Okay? Do we understand the rules? Good, now that the stakes are set, let's play a little game of truth. No dare, just truth."

"Please, Lex," Kara begged, "Let her go."

"Oh, I will. If you play my game, Supergirl."

Kara closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing. When she opened it again, she was resolved to do whatever it took to save Lena.

"Fine. Let's play."

"What a good sport," Lex taunted. "The game is simple. You tell the truth—you win. And there's only one question that we need to answer. Lena, who is Supergirl?"

Lena frowned, uncertainty clouding her features. "I don't know."

"Come, sister, you're smarter than that. Think carefully." Lex goaded, a malicious glint in his eyes.

Kara's heart pounded fiercely—this was Lex's plan. He knew. Somehow he knew, and he intended to use that knowledge to shatter the one thing she valued most in the world: her friendship with Lena.

"I. Don't. Know," Lena spoke through gritted teeth, her frustration evident. "Let her go, Lex. Let me go. There's no need for any of this."

"Oh, but there is," he replied, unyielding. "Okay, Supergirl—your turn. Answer truthfully now, or else I'll have to pull this trigger. Does Lena know you? The real you?"

Kara's gaze shifted to Lena, a silent plea in her eyes. She had to answer.

"Yes," she said softly, lifting her eyes to meet Lena's. Confusion etched Lena's face, and Kara's heart ached. Not like this.

Lex's smile widened, savoring the unfolding drama. "Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Lena, your turn again. Tell me, did Supergirl save your best friend today?"

Kara watched as anguish and panic filled Lena's eyes, the unspoken plea evident. "I don't know. Is Kara...? Is she okay?" The desperation in Lena's voice broke Kara's heart.

Before Kara could utter a word, Lex spoke, coercing Lena, "Come on, Lena. I know you're smarter than this."

He turned his gaze to Kara. "Tell her, Supergirl. Tell her about her best friend."

A sob escaped Lena's throat. "Oh god, please. Tell me she's okay. Tell me she's alive," Lena begged, and Kara felt her heart shatter.

"Tell her, Supergirl. The truth about her best friend."

Lex's words hung heavy in the air, and Kara knew exactly what he meant.

She looked into Lena's tear-filled eyes,

"Lena," she said, softly, "Lena, I—"

But before she could continue, she saw recognition dawn in Lena's eyes.

"No," Lena whispered, her voice trembling. "It's you? It has been you this whole time? Oh god, Kara, I thought you had—" Lena choked on a sob.

Kara remained silent, witnessing Lena's heartbreak unfold as the realization settled in.

"I'm sorry, Lena. I wanted to tell you so many times, but—"

"But you didn't," Lena's voice turned hard, the sense of betrayal evident. "Kara." She said her name like an accusation, and Kara wished she could vanish into the earth.

"I confided in you that everyone in my past had betrayed me. About how much it hurt to have someone you love lie to you and betray you, and you—" Lena's voice faltered, "You were playing me all along, Kara."

Kara felt her own tears fall. She had done the one thing she never wanted to do—she had hurt Lena.

"Lena, I was trying to protect you. Your family—"

"What?" Lena interrupted her, "You thought that you couldn't trust me because I'm a Luthor? Despite everything, Kara, you didn't trust me?"

"I would trust you with my life, Lena. I do trust you with my life. I just never wanted you to ever have to choose between me and your family! I didn't want to put you in that position."

Lex put the gun down, and Kara almost sagged in relief. "My work here is done," he smiled in satisfaction.

Then, surprising them both, he handed the kryptonite remote to Lena. "Take it, sister. I, at least, trust you to do the right thing. You'll always just be a Luthor to them."

When Kara saw Lena's fingers wrap around the remote, her heart shattered. Lex walked away, leaving them alone.

"Lena, please."

"What, Supergirl? Don't kill you? Isn't that what you would expect from a Luthor?" she spat.

"Lena, you're angry. I understand, but—"

"Oh god," Lena said, "You actually think I would hurt you?"

"Never," Kara said, "Lena, I'm—"

"You don't get it, do you, Kara? I would have chosen you. Over anyone. Over anything." She let the remote drop to the floor, the sound echoing through the empty warehouse.

"Lena," Kara whispered, her voice tinged with fear of the impending fallout.

The prospect that Lena might come to hate her felt more daunting than facing any physical threat. She would rather have Lena press that button than have to live with Lena hating her. Lena wasn't just a friend; she was the woman Kara loved, and the thought of losing her was unbearable. With everything on the line, Kara had to say it, to lay bare the truth that had been concealed for so long.

"Lena, I'm sorry. I know I should have told you sooner, about who I am, but please, please believe me. I was only trying to protect you. I didn't know how to tell you. You became my friend, and I thought it would be okay, that I could be Kara for you and still keep this hidden—keep you safe from it all. And then you became my best friend, and by then, I was too scared of losing you to tell you. And then—Rao, Lena, I fell in love with you, and it became too difficult to tell you. I was scared, and I didn't know how. I love you, and the thought of losing you—I knew that I wouldn't be able to breathe if I lost you. Lena, you are the single most important thing in the universe to me."

Lena fell to her knees, and Kara rushed to her, desperate to bridge the emotional chasm that had opened between them.

"I love you, Lena. I have loved you for a long time. Please, please forgive me."

"I want to hate you, but I can't," Lena whispered, her voice a fragile blend of hurt and conflict.

Despite it all, Lena pulled Kara into a fierce embrace, clutching onto her desperately. Kara tightened her grip around Lena, feeling Lena's silent tears seep into her shoulder.

Finally, Lena pushed Kara away, standing up, leaving them both to grapple with the emotional turmoil that hung heavy in the air. Kara rose to her feet, and they faced each other, the tension between them casting a daunting shadow.

"What now?" Kara asked, her voice soft, the fear of Lena's response palpable.

Lena met her gaze intensely, and Kara detected a flicker of conflict in Lena's eyes. It was as if the turmoil within Lena was written in the air between them, as if she was wrestling with a decision.

Then, without warning, Lena pulled Kara in, crashing her lips against hers with a desperate urgency. Kara, initially stunned, quickly melted into the kiss, mirroring Lena's desperation. She could taste the saltiness of Lena's tears on her lips, the kiss carrying a weight as if their very lives depended on it, as if Lena held Kara's breath captive. The world around Kara dissolved, leaving only Lena—her lips, her hands. Lena became the singular reality that mattered to Kara, the only thing tethering her to this world.

Finally, they pulled apart, foreheads pressed together, both breathing heavily.

"I'm hurt," Lena whispered, her voice laden with vulnerability. "You hurt me, Kara. But I can't imagine being without you. I love you."

Kara's heart clenched at Lena's words.

And as their lips met again, Kara vowed to spend the rest of her life trying to make it up to Lena. She would never hurt her again.

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waytooinvested · 15 days

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Fic: Small Problem...

A silly little story inspired by this adorable art by @art-by-ilaa19

.............

There was a low, sonorous BOOM, and before she had quite caught up with the fact that anything had gone wrong, Lena found herself sailing through the air as a blast ripped through the Tower. She braced herself for a painful impact, but by incredible good fortune the force threw her directly at the couch, where she landed with a small ‘oomph’ as the wind was knocked out of her.

She lay still for a couple of seconds, struggling to draw breath into her lungs, then fought her way free of the collapsed cushions to make sure her friends were safe and take stock of the damage.

As shocking as it was to be suddenly thrown several feet, the incident actually seemed to have been pretty minor – more a pulse of energy than an actual explosion, really, though it had apparently been enough to knock everyone off their feet.

Kelly and Alex were kneeling beside the bookcase they had hit comforting a crying Esme, though thankfully the little girl seemed to be more startled than actually hurt, having been caught and buffered from the falling books by her moms.

Nia had ended up on top of Brainy on the floor, but from the way they were now staring into each other’s eyes, Lena deduced that they were no worse for wear, and glanced away quickly before she started to feel like an intruder on the moment they were so clearly having.

J’onn was bemusedly brushing soil and flower petals out of his hair after a collision with a pot plant, but the plant had decidedly come off the worst and he seemed to be more or less fine, even with the fetching addition of a Michaelmas daisy tucked rakishly behind one ear.

And Kara was-

Not there.

Given her powers the girl of steel should have been barely ruffled by a force that hadn’t even blown out the windows, and yet one minute she had been standing by the work bench, and now she was… nowhere.

‘Kara?’ Lena stood up gingerly from her place on the couch and looked around, anxiety beginning to stir in her belly.

‘Did anyone see what happened to Kara?’

Distracted from their own minor disasters, everyone turned to look at her, then to glance around the room as if Kara might be simply hiding behind something.

‘You two were cosied up together over something before the blast hit. Didn’t you see where she went?’

Alex’s question would once have made Lena’s hackles rise, but she understood now that it was concerned, not accusatory, and she just shook her head, worry sinking its claws ever deeper with every second Kara failed to reappear.

‘Uuuuh… guys? Wherever Kara is, I think she left her clothes behind’.

Nia had finally managed to disentangle herself from Brainy, and was pointing at the heap of cloth that as yet had gone unnoticed beside the workbench.

‘Oh, that can’t be good…’

Without quite knowing how she had got there, Lena found herself kneeling over the crumpled supersuit, lifting it carefully as if Kara might somehow still be hiding inside it. The fabric was warm from her skin, and Lena had to resist to urge to bury her face in it to hide her tears. It felt like they had only just got Kara back from the phantom zone, and now she was just gone again? So suddenly, and without any warning that she had even been in danger.

‘Hello? Can anyone hear me?’

Lena froze.

The voice sounded muffled and very far away, but she had heard it. She was almost certain.

‘Kara? Is that you? Where are you?’

‘Lena? Thank Rao! I’m not sure, I’m trapped somewhere. Some kind of dungeon I think? It’s small and dark, and it smells weird. Can you get me out?’

‘Kara? It’s Alex, we’re all here. We can hear you, just, but we can’t see you. We’re going to work out where you are and get you out. Do you remember how you got there?’

They all held their breath as they listened for Kara’s next message, focusing hard to pick up the distant words.

‘I was in the Tower, then there was an explosion, and I fell. There was a sort of tunnel... I’m at the bottom of it now, but the entrance sealed up behind me’.

The others glanced at each other, all trying to puzzle out what sort of portal Kara might have gone through to end up where she had described and yet still be audible from the Tower. All but Lena, who, being closest, had picked up the direction of the voice. A sneaking suspicion was growing in her mind as she honed in on it and put the pieces together with what Kara had told them.

It couldn’t be… could it?

She rummaged through the layers of discarded supersuit until she reached the knee high boots, which had folded over on themselves without the support of Kara’s legs inside to hold them up. She picked up the left one and peered inside, down the long tunnel of red leather it created.

Nothing.

Feeling a little silly now with everyone staring at her with expressions ranging from baffled to bemused, she picked up the right, and was instantly met with a tiny yell of alarm.

‘Woah! The room’s moving!’

Ah hah.

Lena laid the boot out very carefully on its side, and help the top part open.

‘Kara? Has the tunnel open up again now?’

‘Yes! How did you know that?’

‘I just- well, you’ll see in a minute. Follow the light. But uhh… try not to be too alarmed when you get out. We’re going to fix this, okay?’

They all stared as, blinking against the comparative brightness of the room, a tiny figure emerged from the boot’s opening.

Esme let out a shriek of pure joy, tears entirely forgotten, and would have thrown herself across the room to scoop up her now doll-sized aunt had Kelly not put restraining arms around her.

‘No baby, you might hurt her by mistake. Lets stay back here a minute and let Aunt Lena do it, okay? Lots of big people around her might be a bit frightening for Aunt Kara right now’.

And the sudden loud yell had indeed seemed to startle Kara, making her flinch and dive back into the mouth of the boot. Lena lay down on her side so she could see inside, head level with the cave-like opening.

‘Hey, it’s alright Kara. You’re safe. We’re still in the tower. You seem to have… shrunk, somehow, but we’re going to figure out how to fix it, okay? I promise’.

She kept her voice quiet and coaxing, trying not to frighten Kara any further even as she struggled to wrap her own mind around what had just happened.

‘I… shrank?’

‘It does look that way. You’re inside your boot right now’.

Kara stared up at Lena, then around at the shadowy recesses of her refuge, and finally down at herself. She said something too quietly to pick up, though the tone was bordering on panicky, then she called out again, clearer now that she was no longer muffled by layers of leather.

‘Um… okay. So I have total faith that you’re gonna find a way to full-size me again, but in the mean time… does anyone have anything I can wear? I am… more naked than I realised’.

In the circumstances, Lena hadn’t quite taken in that part either until it was pointed out to her, but... yep. Kara was naked. Extremely, totally, life ruiningly naked. It was something she had fantasized about too many times to count through their years of as-yet-unacknowledged physical chemistry with each other, but if she was ever going to be lucky enough to get there for real, this was not how she had imagined it would go.

Lena averted her eyes quickly, her cheeks heating inconveniently in response, despite the fact that the situation was about as far from sexy as it could get, and Kara was at this moment only around four inches high.

‘Right, of course, I’ll find you something. Stay there a minute, okay?’

Finding miniature clothes on short notice was easier said than done, and in the end they had to settle for a kleenex, which Kara wrapped around herself toga-style, and secured with a hair elastic offered up by a still-delighted Esme. It was pink and sparkly, and had a plastic glitter butterfly ornament attached to it, but it was the best they could do at short notice.

Once she was dressed and had fully emerged from the boot, Lena held out her hand and Kara climbed gingerly up into it, hanging on grimly as she was lifted from the floor.

‘Are you okay? Are you hurt?’

‘I don’t think so. I’m just… a bit overwhelmed. I don’t think I like being tiny. Also… and this seems kind of insignificant compared to what just happened, but I’m really hungry’.

She sounded totally miserable, and Lena wished she could hug her friend, but she was afraid that wrapping a hand around her would feel more like being grabbed than hugged. She settled for laying a fingertip lightly on Kara’s shoulder in a gesture that, she hoped, would feel comforting rather than alarming.

‘We’re going to figure this out. But in the meantime, hungry is something I can help with’.

Cupping Kara in her hands so she wouldn’t fall, Lena carried her over to the table where various snacks were laid out to fuel them through what they had thought would be a typical day of work. Lena skimmed the various options quickly, before settling on the remains of an order of potstickers and placing Kara down very gently amongst them.

Kara’s squeal of delight was the loudest noise Lena had heard from her since she had been miniaturised, and she couldn’t help laughing as she watched her best friend launch herself at a dumpling that was almost as big as she was.

As she turned back to the others to begin the work of figuring out how to un-shrink Supergirl, she was pretty sure she heard a tiny cry of ‘BEST DAY EVER!’ from inside the box.

It looked like Kara might just have found some upsides to being pocket sized, after all.

#supercorp #kara danvers #supergirl #lena luthor #my fic #supergirl fanfiction #crack fic #light hearted silliness #inspired by fanart #please go and check out the artist's awesome work if you haven't aready

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suzukiblu · 6 months

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alone, please, whimper

General Kara Zor-El's baby cousin went to a planet named Earth on a diplomatic outreach mission, found out Kryptonians have borderline unmatchable superpowers under the right environmental conditions, and got involuntarily cloned by some narcissistic asshole with a god complex.

Twice.

Also he got married to something called a "reporter" and didn't even invite any of the family to the wedding, the little brat. Uncle Jor and Aunt Lara were beside themselves. Of course Kal decided to wait until his thirties to have his rebellious phase.

And of course now General Kara Zor-El has two "teenage" boys that look exactly like Kal-El on her doorstep, and both of them look very unhappy to be here.

To be fair, if Kara had spent her entire incredibly short and incredibly unsafe life with very impressive superpowers and then gotten dumped on a planet where she didn't have access to most of them anymore, she'd also be less than thrilled. Apparently they're still a little telekinetic, but nowhere near as telekinetic as they'd be under a yellow sun.

The first one is Experiment Thirteen; the second one is Subject Match. Thirteen is a worse brat than Kal ever was and Match is somehow an even worse brat than that, which is quite a feat for a kid who explicitly thinks of himself as a weapon without free will. Thirteen, meanwhile, has too much free will and is determined to make it everyone else's problem.

And Kal, inexplicably, has decided to make them both Kara's problem while he argues with the Council about why they should be granted asylum and citizenship on Krypton. Apparently, the Earthlings who made them are not particularly fit guardians, and when hasn't Kal seen an injustice and thrown himself on it?

Which, speaking of injustices . . .

"Please tell me you two have actual names besides 'Thirteen' and 'Match'," she says with a sigh, eyeing the pair of them and the concerningly small bags they're both carrying. Kal had damn well better have shipped their actual luggage separate, if that's all they've got on them.

"No," Thirteen mutters stiffly, his jaw visibly tightening.

"We have project designations," Match informs her like he's delivering a mission report. "Names are unnecessary."

Kara wonders what superpowers she'd get if she went to this "Earth" to punch a few of the local Thinkers. Just as a mental exercise, that's all.

"Rao's sake," she says. "Kal didn't even give you any?"

Match looks irritated, and Thirteen's jaw goes very, very tight.

Dammit.

#kara zor el #kon el #conner kent #dc match #supergirl #superboy #superfamily #rinfic #anonymous #wip: krypton lives and kara did not sign up for this

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rustingcat · 7 months

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Vigilante

Kara was late.

She hated being late, but the amount of paperwork she had to sign was much larger than she anticipated, and the lack of signal in the classified room in the DEO meant that she couldn't alert Lena on time.

Kara made it to the lab an hour later, more exhausted than she realised.

"Kara! Is everything okay?" Lena asked the moment Kara put her bag down.

"Yes, I'm so sorry for the delay. I had to sign a LOT of papers for the DEO." Lena seemed so engulfed in the work, their work. The last thing she wanted was for Lena to feel like she's forced to take on the load.

"The DEO? Did something happen?" The worry in her voice was clear. Kara put a reassuring smile on her face to take some of it away.

"Yes, yes. I just signed an employment contract, I'm officially no longer a vigilante!" Kara said with a small chuckle.

"Oh, why the change? I remember you weren't a fan of working for the government before, especially with everything that went down with Colonel Hailey." Lena walked closer to her, a concern not completely gone.

"Well, now that my identity is public knowledge, Alex was very adamant in reminding me how open I am for lawsuits. Both private ones and from the government, like they could potentially sue me for stuff they ask me to do! How crazy is that?"

"Did you sign it already? I could go over it to make sure they don't put any peculiar articles or subsections."

"It's ok, Alex is still in touch with Lucy Lane. They went over the contract together several times before presenting it to me. Lucy is really good with this stuff." She reassured her.

"So you're a government official?"

"Yeah, free from any Supergirl related lawsuits, and with some pretty sweet tax benefits. Plus all of the salary they wanted to give me is going to go to different kinds of selected charities of my choosing, so that's awesome."

"I'm glad it all worked out."

"Me too." Kara breathed in relief.

"I have some news, too." Lena said as an excited smile spread on her face.

"Do tell," Kara said, biting her lip as a smile matching Lena started spreading.

"Okay, while you were off signing what was no doubt a mountain of paperwork," Kara nodded, "I found and fixed the problem with the distributor." Lena proclaimed proudly.

"What was the problem?" Kara asked, matching her excitement.

"We switched the materials connecting it to the compressor, but not the ones connected to the bio-terminal!" She explained quickly, her hands moving around in excited blur to match.

"Oh Rao! So it means–"

"We can start testing!"

"Ahh- Lena that's amazing!" Kara crushed into her best friend, giving her the big tight hug she deserves. She absolutely loved hugging Lena, really she took any opportunity she got. Feeling her warp around her tightly as if not wanting to let go, her smell that somehow always smelled amazing and feeling her heartbeat so close to hers. Hugging Lena was amazing, and she really deserved the most amazing hug after that discovery.

"Wait, we don't have their DNA to test it with." Kara noted once they pulled away.

"It's just a test to see if it can even process something like that, It doesn't have to be theirs. We already have exactly what we need." Lena explained.

"What do you mean?" Kara was confused, they didn't collect any DNA ahead of time.

"Samples of two specimens of the same biological sex, not to mention a combination of human and non-human DNA." Lena smiled at her.

"Oh." The room suddenly felt hotter. "Yeah, no… yes I see. Yeah that- that would definitely work." They would be combining their DNA. She and Lena. Their biological data would be combined. Kara felt very normal about this.

"Will you be able to extract some of your blood? If not, we can try saliva." Lena asked and she started to look around for the tubes.

"I think I can," Kara answered, looking at her fingers in an attempt to decide which one would be easier to cut. It's not like she would have to worry about the long term effect of the wound as it would heal once she stepped out into the sun.

Lena was already grabbing a syringe by the time Kara decided to go with her thumb, hoping to make the surface of the wound big enough to extract more blood.

She checked with her tongue to see which of her teeth is the sharpest –her upper left fang, and attempted her first try. It was painful, yet unsuccessful. She braced herself for the unavailable pain and tried again. The metallic taste in her mouth paired with the pounding pain in her finger told her she was successful. She took out her thumb and tried to lift it in a way that no blood would spill out. She held it above the tube Lena handed to her, letting the small drops fill it as much as she could, squeezing a bit despite the pain, until she was satisfied with the amount.

A quick walk to the window, letting the reflected rays of the sunshine upon her finger, fixed the little cut she created. She only wished Lena had similar powers. The syringe made her cut relatively small, but a cut was still a cut in Kara’s book. Lena was pressing a small piece of cotton to her arm, holding it tightly as she worked.

Kara walked closer to her. She was healed at this point and just as familiar with the machine as Lena, it was her turn to put on some work. She took Lenas wounded arm and gave it a small kiss to make it better. Lena's cheeks were immediately coloured with a light share of pink.

"All better now." Kara smiled at her. "Do you mind if I take it from here? You can keep pressing on the arm."

Lena simply nodded.

Inserting their blood samples carefully, Kara directed the machine to start the process. It was odd, she thought to herself, seeing all of the biological specification options for the combined data of her and Lena's DNA. Afraid to make a mistake, she slowly pressed on each button, choosing to unspecify everything before starting the process.

Kara looked at Lena with an exciting smile, biting down both her upper and bottom lips in the anticipation.

"And now we wait." Lena smiled back.

They watched in silence as the machine processed their data, searching for any errors or possible problems. They went through the math and the coding multiple times, they were at the very least confident in their work. The test was not to see a baby going through a full term, that process would take a few months even in their very advanced machine. Not to mention that due to the possibility of success, they knew that their first test subject should be for people who would be willing parents. So the test itself was only to see if the machine can prepare their given data to what could later become an embryo and then a healthy fetus should they choose to continue.

The process bar got closer to the end. No errors yet.

Lena was still pressing on her wound as she followed the process bar closely with her eyes. Kara wasn't sure if it was worry, tension or excitement on her face. Probably a combination of the three. She couldn't say she was faring any better, chewing in her bottom lip with similar emotions.

The bar got closer to the end. 97%, 98%, 99%, 100%.

Kara instinctively inhaled quickly. Holding her breath until the bar disappeared completely, replaced by a 'process complete' message on the screen.

"Oh my god!" She heard Lena exhale in relief.

"It worked!" Kara turned to face her, mouth wide open in shock and excitement.

"It did!" Lena confirmed in amazement.

They were hugging again before Kara fully realised she was doing it. Jumping in excitement in Lena’s arms as the latter laughed in response. When she settled down she noticed how close their faces were to each other, she could feel the heat radiating off of Lena's face warm her own. Suddenly their excited hearts became louder to her ears as she watched Lena wet her own lips. Kara instinctively mimicked the movement. They stayed like that for a moment, before Lena suddenly pulled away. Kara felt a pang of disappointment she could not name.

"I should check on this one project before I leave for today. Could you finish everything here?" Lena hurried to find her back, refusing to meet Kara's eyes.

"Sure," she had no problem wrapping everything herself. "What do you want to do with the PF?" It was the name they decided on for a successful processed DNA combination, a shorthand for Potential Fetus.

"It's not important, you can dispose of it." Lena finished collecting her stuff and exited before Kara could respond.

"Right." She muttered to the empty room. The project she went to check on must've been important.

Kara turned her attention back to the machine. She was familiar with the options, she designed the UI herself after all, yet they gave her pause. The button to proceed to the next stage had somehow become the most fascinating thing in the world. Flash images of small hands, a wild patch of dark hair and big striking green eyes passed through her mind in quick succession. She only noticed she clicked the button once a warning message asking her if she was sure she'd like to proceed popped up on the screen. Small panic went through her body as she realised what she almost did, Rao she almost greenlighted the creation of a baby for her and Lena.

She quickly pressed no, and moved on to check the other options. She had no need to restart the process to respect the bio-data for the PF, nor make changes to the DNA. She stared at the button to terminate the PF and all data related to it, but couldn't bring herself to do it. The images flashed her mind again. She wasn't sure what it was but she couldn't bring herself to do it, she couldn't press the button.

A message from Lena asking if she wanted a ride home made her notice the time. She sent her a quick message saying she would be right there, and turned back to the machine. Kara made a quick decision to store the data for later use, just in case they wanted to reexamine it, of course. Plus it was their first success, it could also be a reminder of their progress.

Kara finished turning off whatever unnecessary parts to keep the power consumption at a minimum, went over everything twice and spared a moment to stare at the container, before she left.

The images followed her to her dream that night, along with a familiar dimpled smile by her side.

Read in order in AO3

#look at them #succeeding in making a potential baby #that means nothing right?#supercorp #supergirl #kara danvers #lena luthor #supercorptober #supercorptober2023 #my art #my fic

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visualtaehyun · 4 months

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Sooo I kinda went back through all six episodes to examine the progression of how Day and Mork speak with each other. For ease of understanding, I'm color-coding words referring to Day and Mork like this again.

Disclaimer: not a native speaker, still learning 🙏

Episodes 1-4

Both use ผม/คุณ /pom, khun/ - ผม = polite, formal, respectful male 1st person pronoun - คุณ = polite, formal 2nd person pronoun -> other than pronoun choices, they speak pretty casually with each other:

Neither of them uses polite ending particles but Mork sometimes uses polite male ending particle ครับ /khrap/ (and then Day uses it back sometimes) - in the beginning seriously, for example when knocking on Day's door/bringing him meals, later on playfully and affectionately -> it becomes more frequent the closer they get and thus the more he teases Day

- ชัดครับ เจ้านาย /chat khrap, jao naai/ - ไม่คิดว่าคุณเดย์ของเราจะดังขนาดนี้นะครับเนี่ย /mai khit waa khun Day kaawng rao ja dang kha naat nee na khrap niia/

Speaking of particles- จ้า /jaa/ (also จ๊ะ, จ๋า etc.) is a particle used with juniors/children/people of lower status (you can hear Day's mom use it like this, for example, in ep. 6 when she greets Mork back) and commonly between family members or among intimates as it, you guessed it, conveys intimacy:

- จ้า พ่อสุดหล่อ /jaa, por sut laaw/ - [...] ขอบคุณครับ /khaawp khun khrap/ -> พ่อสุดหล่อ /por sut laaw/ contains the same พ่อ /por/ that means father, it's not just used in that context though - it can be used like a prefix to turn a noun into its male form, like พ่อสื่อ /por seuu/ = '(male) matchmaker' aka the word that Mork uses in ep. 6 to break all our hearts, and also to affectionately call a younger male

Both use impolite ending particles วะ /wa/ and นะเว่ย /na woei/ during their first argument (also a lot of แม่ง /maaeng/, a curse word, from Day that isn't in the subs at all lol) and, outside of this fighting context, they use these same particles casually here and there (same as Day does with his friends for example):

- นี่มันชีวิตคุณนะเว้ย /nee man chee wit khun na woei/ - คุณคิดว่าผมเหมือนคุณหรอวะ /khun khit waa pom muean khun raaw wa/

During this same argument, because of Mork's trauma response, he abruptly changes from คุณ /khun/ to just เดย์ /Day/ as he's pounding on his door (the same thing also happens when Day gets lost at Chatuchak Market btw) -> Shoutout and thank you to @btwinlines for opening my eyes to this 🙏 ...and inadvertently prompting me to write this post about the entire evolution of their language use lmao

The Phi-Nong along the way to the actual Phi-Nong

ผมโตกว่าคุณละกัน ไอ้น้องเดย์ /pom dtoh gwaa khun la gan, ai nong Day/

- นอ้งครับ ไม่ไหวอย่าฝืน /nong khrap, mai waai yaa fuuen/ - พี่ครับ ไม่ถาม อย่ายุ่ง /phi khrap, mai thaam, yaa yoong/

ใจเย็น ไอ้หนุ่ม รอบต่อไปพี่ค่อยเอาจริง /jai yen, ai noom. raawp dtaaw bpai phi khaawy ao jing/

ผมว่าเสียงพี่เขาอ่ะ เหมือนกลิ่นบุหรี่ /pom waa siiang phi khao a muean glin boo ree/

- [...] พี่หมอกของมึง /phi Mork khaawng mueng/ = your Phi Mork/ that Phi Mork of yours - พี่หมอกอะไรของกูล่ะ /phi Mork a rai khaawng guu la/ = What 'Phi Mork' of mine? - ก็คนดูแลของมึงไง /gaaw khohn duu lae khaawng mueng ngai/ = Well, [he's] your caretaker! - ไม่ใช่ของมึงแล้วจะของใคร /mai chai khaawng mueng laaeo ja khaawng khrai/ = If not yours then whose [is he]? -> in the following little exchange with that fan of Day's, Mork calls himself พี่ /phi/ and Day by name

Episodes 5-6

Day->Mork: ผม /pom/ -> พี่ /phi/, พี่หมอก /phi Mork/ Mork->Day: พี่ /phi/ -> เดย์ /Day/, น้องเดย์ /nong Day/, เรา /rao/, น้อง /nong/ etc.

Their particle use has largely remained the same but they are getting sweeter, as I said before, by using ครับ /khrap/ more frequently and not just in a teasing? playful? sarcastic? manner but also genuinely sweetly:

ฐานะอะไรดีล่ะครับ น้องเดย์ /thaa na a rai dee la khrap, nong Day/

How to even explain how sweet this sounds because Mork uses ครับ /khrap/ and calls him น้องเดย์ /nong Day/ specifically, nevermind the loaded word ฐานะ /thaa na/ = status

When I catch you, P'Aof!! Having Mork say something so romantically charged and then following it up with the getting-ready scene 🤌

There's more use of ครับ /khrap/ in this scene before this exact exchange here but this is the standout:

เดย์ก็เป็นคนหล่อเหมือนกันนะเนี่ย รู้ตัวปะครับ /Day gaaw bpen khohn laaw meuuan gan na niia. ruu dtuua bpa khrap/

เวลาพี่พูดเพราะ ๆ เนี่ย พี่ก็หล่อขึ้นเยอะเลยนะครับ พี่รู้ตัวปะครับ /weh laa phi phuut praw praw niia, phi gaaw laaw khuen yuh loei na khrap. phi ruu dtuua bpa khrap?/ -> เพราะ /phraw/ describes a voice as pleasant, sweet, melodious. When Porjai asked what her voice sounds like, the first thing Day said was เสียงเพราะ /siiang praw/ = nice/pleasant voice. So this is basically "when you speak sweetly", it's about the tone of his voice as well as choosing to use polite ending particle ครับ /khrap/ to sound more gentle - so much for zero tenderness 😌

#last twilight #morkday #thai bl #local woman harps on about linguistics #finished typing in the middle of the night but queuing this for later in the day bc of the 2 (two!!) other posts from tonight #brain please shush now about their language use 🥴🙏 สาธุ

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just-another-josh · 6 months

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Romance

Kara had the best of intentions.

She really, really did.

But let’s be honest, she didn’t stand a chance. She was setup to fail since childhood. During her time on Krypton, she never saw an actual, honest-to-Rao wedding proposal; not anything resembling Earth standards, mind you. No, it was basically your parents marching you down to the local council building when you came of age and submitting your DNA to the Matricomp to find a genetically suitable partner. The nobler the house, the better. It was no different than an arranged marriage on Earth.

On the off chance you did meet someone you wanted to bond with, the process was the same, save for your DNA was only tested against your potential mate’s. When Kara reached adulthood and reflected on the matching process, ‘cringy’ was the best way she could describe it. She was honestly happy the ritual didn’t survive Krypton’s destruction and by extension was not practiced on Argo. She loved keeping her culture alive and all, but she had no interest in telling Alura and Zor-El to “piss off” if her parents ever had the audacity to suggest she of submit her name.

Her exposure to proposals on Earth were limited, at best. Sure, she’d seen her fair share of people popping the question in the multitude of rom coms she’d watched and books she’d read, but her sample of real-world proposals was…sketchy. Eliza never shared the story of how Jeremiah proposed to her simply because it brought up too many bad memories. Kal and Lois were always vague when sharing the story of their engagement. As for Alex and Sam, their proposal took place immediately after destroying Al’s bar fighting Lex and Nyxly for the Love totem; any guidance they had to offer lacked credibility.

Without any authentic, trustworthy examples available to her, Kara decided to forge ahead on her own when she made the decision to propose to Lena. She convinced herself she didn’t need any help; she’s the editor-in-chief of CatCo magazine, hell, she’s Supergirl for Rao’s sake. She could come up with the perfect proposal that would blow the CEO’s mind! Something that would ooze love, devotion, and romance.

Kara spent a month coming up with the perfect set-up. She’d already forged the bonding bracelet in the Fortress and, with a little help from Sara Lance and Iris West-Allen, had purchased the perfect engagement ring (she didn’t involve her sister in the process; Alex had a big mouth whenever she hung out with Lena). She had a special box created to house the bracelet and ring for an optimal presentation; lining it with blue felt on the exterior and red felt inside.

As for the location, she decided to keep it simple and propose at their penthouse. She would fill the living and dining areas with candles to set the mood; sparing a few for the bedroom in case they decided to celebrate their pending nuptials in a more intimate setting.

She wanted to look particularly radiant that night, and with Nia’s help, Kara found the perfect dress at an upscale boutique. Not wanting the Naltorian to know why she was getting the dress (much like Alex, Nia also had a big mouth), Kara told her that she and Lena were going to dinner at a fancy new restaurant. Kara was nervous and disappointed when she was told the color dress she wanted had to be fitted and altered and couldn’t take it home that day, but the sales clerk assured her it would be ready before their “special night”.

Kara planned the perfect meal for her zhao. It would be a magnificent dinner filled with her favorite Irish foods. The Kryptonian knew she wasn’t the best cook, but she felt confident she could prepare Irish stew, soda bread, Colcannon Mash, and traditional Irish apple cake with custard sauce after watching a few YouTube videos.

Last but not least, Kara spent weeks preparing the speech she would give Lena when she proposed to her. The first draft went through multiple edits before she scrapped the whole thing and rewrote it. After rewriting the speech from scratch four more times and dozens of edits, Kara was finally satisfied. The hero thought it was the greatest piece of writing she’d ever done; in her mind, eclipsing even her Pulitzer winning expose on Lex and Red Daughter.

The plan was simple: Kara would propose to Lena on a Friday night. The CEO always got off in time for dinner on Fridays; a compromise the CEO made with the hero when they moved in together. She would meet Lena at the door wearing her very expensive dress; dinner already platted and on the dining room table. They’d enjoy a candlelit dinner with her and Lena’s favorite sappy playlist playing softly in the background. Once dinner was finished, she’d ask Lena to dance with her and when the playlist hit their special song (Safe & Sound by Taylor Swift, of course), Kara would produce the box that she had strategically hidden under the coffee table, get down on one knee, and propose. If Lena said ‘yes’ (Kara was at least 90% sure she would), her and her new fiancé would enjoy dessert and later head off to their bedroom to make love the rest of the night.

“Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy” as Winn would say.

Right?

The first indication that things were not going to go smoothly was a delay with the alterations to her new dress. The clerk at the boutique called her three days before the big night saying that the seamstress had been ill and was behind on her orders, but before Kara could hyperventilate, the clerk assured her it would be ready Friday morning with plenty of time to spare before dinner. Kara spent the next fifteen minutes doing controlled breathing exercises Eliza had taught her when she first arrived on Earth, reassuring herself that everything was going to be okay.

The rest of the week passed without further complications; it wasn’t until Friday morning that everything started going sideways.

Kara received word from the clerk at the boutique that her dress had been destroyed in a sewing machine mishap. Kara tried to roll with the punches and asked if they still had the dress in the color that she initially tried on. Unfortunately, the clerk informed her that that style of dress had sold out. After receiving a half-assed apology from the clearly disingenuous clerk, Kara poked her finger through her phone as she ended the call. The Kryptonian rushed to her private bathroom and spent several minutes doing breathing exercises again. Kara quietly mumbled to herself between breaths, “Everything’s going to be okay. This is just a minor setback. It’s okay. I’m okay. I’ll just dig out that dress I wore when we crashed Morgan Edge’s party. Yeah, that’s it, that’ll work. Everything’s going to be great!” She got up, splashed some water on her face, and went back to work.

Fortunately, Kara was able to escape CatCo in the early afternoon. With her personal phone taking up residence in the trash can, Kara grabbed her seldom used work phone, shot a text off to Lena telling her that she’d be using it the rest of the day, and flew (literally) out of her office to pick up the ingredients for the night’s special meal. The hero hated that she had to wait until the last minute to hit the grocery store, but between EIC and Supergirl duties that week, she just hadn’t had the time. Luck seemed to be on Kara’s side as she had no issues finding the supplies she needed and getting out of the store swiftly.

She returned home around 4pm and began fixing dinner in earnest, super-speeding through prepping the ingredients. She boiled potatoes, sliced up beef, apples, and veggies, whipped together dough, and sauteed some of the chopped vegetables in olive oil. She had everything prepped and ready to cook within twenty minutes (the potatoes took forever to boil, and she didn’t trust speeding up the cook time with her heat vision).

Kara didn’t realize the stew would take three hours in the crock pot before it was ready, creating a slight problem; Lena was due home in two hours. Kara turned the heat up to its highest setting to speed up the process. The bread, Colcannon, and apple cake would only take a half hour in the oven, so she moved on to the next phase of her plan.

Placing the candles throughout the penthouse was simple enough, but she ran into a bit of an issue when she went to pair her phone with the built-in sound system. Her work phone did not have the playlist she wanted downloaded on it and she couldn’t download it from the Cloud. Lena refused to connect any phone that didn’t have her personal encryption software installed, hence the reason why Kara never used her work phone. The Kryptonian for a generic YouTube playlist to stream directly into the living room speakers.

After speed cleaning the penthouse, setting the dining room table, and checking the progress of the stew (it was lukewarm at best), she readied her other dishes for the oven. A slight hiccup with the remaining dishes: each had to be cooked at different temperatures for different lengths of time. Unfortunately, the penthouse only had one oven, but Kara had prepared for this. Her plan was to average out the cooking times of the three dishes and repeat the process for the cooking temperatures. Bubbling with pride at her ingenuity, the blonde put the remaining dishes in the oven.

Her tasks completed; Kara noted she had forty-five minutes before Lena was due to arrive home. She used the time to take a shower, get dressed, and do her hair and make-up. As per usual, she kept her make-up light, save for using a darker shade of red lipstick. She styled her hair in a pompadour-style updo reminiscent of the way she wore during her exposure to Red K. Although she would never admit it to another living soul, she actually liked her wardrobe and style choices while she was infected; her fondness for that awful experience ending there.

Twenty minutes later, Kara exited the bedroom looking (and more importantly) feeling sexy and confident. She spent the next five minutes lighting the candles spread about the penthouse. Sadly, she had to light each candle at human speed; the candles would be blown out if she went any faster.

With twenty minutes left before Lena walked through the door, Kara walked into the kitchen to inspect her still-cooking food. Everything in the oven looked like it was progressing as planned; nothing was burned, smoking, or on fire, a win in Kara’s book. Much to her chagrin, the stew was still undercooked. Starting to panic, the Kryptonian decided to take a risk and use her heat vision to heat the stew to the appropriate temperature. Focusing on the simmering meal, Kara released two narrow, blue beams of heat vision. She had to use the utmost control to ensure she didn’t incinerate the stew (or the crock pot for that matter). She was reminded of all the times Eliza had had her finish cooking the Thanksgiving turkey in a similar fashion. Heating up a turkey was easy in comparison to what was essentially a thick soup; the slightest slip up could result in a boiling cauldron of inedible slop. As she slowly brought the hearty meal to temperature, she could smell a delicious combination of meat, vegetables, and spices. She couldn’t help the beaming, congratulatory smile on her face.

As far as Kara was concerned, she was killing it.

As if the universe had decided that Kara’s cockiness needed to be tempered, the alarm from the smoke detector roared to life causing the hero to lose focus; an intense burst of heat vision blowing the crock pot and its contents throughout the kitchen. Kara screamed as she was covered in thick, viscous brown chunks. The startled hero backed away from the oven and collided with the food prep area; the force of the impact crushing the lip of the marble counter with a loud crunch. Kara spun around to inspect whatever damage she’d done to the counter and in the process smacked the bottle of olive oil she’d used earlier. The oil splashed in all directions; some ending up on the candlelit dining table. The highly flammable oil ignited when it made contact with the candle’s open flame which resulted in bright flames springing to life on the tabletop; increasing its intensity quickly when the cloth napkins turned to kindling.

Seeing the mini-inferno spreading across the tabletop, Kara released a panicked yelp. “No, no, no, no, no, no!” she cried. She swiftly positioned herself near the table and extinguished the flames using her freeze-breath. The force of the artic blast knocked several candles off their perches: some landing on the floor and some on the furniture. Luckily, the candles were extinguished by the same force that knocked them over, but hot, liquified wax splashed onto the carpet and furniture indiscriminately.

With the table fire quelled, Kara turned back towards the kitchen to identify what had set off the smoke detector. The blonde zeroed in on a plume of smoke billowing out of the oven and rushed back into the kitchen. In her panic-driven haste, the Kryptonian ripped the oven door clean off its hinges and carelessly flung it away. The freshly launched door smashed through the glass sliding door and landed with a loud clang when it landed on the balcony.

Kara peered into the now doorless oven. “No!” she bellowed when she saw the soda bread burned to a crisp; thick black smoke rising from its charred corpse. The apple cake was well on its way to becoming charcoal but had yet to transition into a gaseous mess. The Colcannon resembled a Jello mold.

Kara, a crushed look on her stew-stained face, stepped back from the oven and doused the still smoking dishes with a quick burst of freeze-breath. She slowly became aware of the obnoxious shriek continuing to be emitted from the smoke detector. The Kryptonian removed the glass dish containing the Colcannon from the oven and flung it at the detector, smashing both to pieces.

Mercifully, the penthouse fell silent.

“Miss Zor-El, there is an incoming call from building security.” Hope’s soothing but indifferent voice broke the silence.

“Okay,” Kara quietly responded, clearly in a haze.

“Miss Danvers, this is Chet at the security desk. We’re monitoring a smoke detector activation coming from your unit. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just a little accident. Everything’s fine,” the hero flatly responded.

“Another issue with your toaster oven?” the guard said jokingly.

“Something like that.” She let out a shuddering breath at the guard’s playful ribbing, but the joke fell flat as it was just another reminder of her past cooking failures and compounded the gravity of her current situation.

“No worries, Miss Danvers. I’m glad everything’s okay. Please contact us if you need anything. Have a good night.” The guard hung up without a response; not that Kara really cared at this point.

Kara surveyed the penthouse; slowly taking in the scope of the damage. The kitchen counter and dining table both sported large scorch marks; the counter also showed a Kara-size indentation. Chunks of crushed, white marble littered the floor. The front of the oven sported black smoke residue that made a trail up to the ceiling. She turned towards the living room and saw that multiple candles were strewn about the carpet. Their white couch and loveseat bore splashes of now-cooled wax. The shattered sliding door and the severed oven door lying on the balcony floor added the finishing touches to the carnage.

Kara’s eyes filled with tears, but she refused to cry. She turned away from the damage and nonchalantly made her way to the bathroom. Once inside, she robotically wiped the brownish, caked-on stew residue off her face with a wet washcloth. Her face clean, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her once well-quaffed hair had wild strands hanging loose, her dress had crusty brown splotches running from top to bottom, and, turning to look at her backside, pieces of plaster and crushed marble covered her ass.

Kara squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head in disbelief. She exited the bathroom without making any other attempts to clean the remaining muck out of her hair or off her dress.

Kara returned to the living room and sat on their wax encrusted couch and the very edge of the cushion, her body ramrod straight. After a few minutes sitting quietly, the Kryptonian reached under the coffee table and retrieved the blue box containing the bonding bracelet and engagement ring. She set the box on top of the coffee table and longingly gazed at it. She closed her eyes and, as if finally giving permission to break free, a trickle of tears began to slide down her cheeks.

This is how Lena found her when she entered the penthouse.

The CEO mindlessly glimpsed at the mangled penthouse; mere seconds passed before her brain caught up to what she was seeing. “Kara!” She moved quickly to the couch, a look of panic in her eyes. “What happened? Did someone attack you?” Kara gave no indication that she was aware of Lena’s presence, let alone respond to her questions. Lena sat on the edge of the couch next to Kara, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning the seemingly catatonic Kryptonian’s body to face her. Lena closely examined her stunned girlfriend. She focused on the brown stains littering Kara’s dress, going so far as to scrape some of the crusted substance off with her fingernail.

After a brief examination of the unknown substance, a perplexed Lena gently cupped Kara’s cheek and ever so slowly turned the hero to face her. Lena saw a smattering of tears running down her cheeks. “Darling, what happened?” she asked with all the gentleness she could muster.

A look of pure anguish fell over Kara’s face and the floodgates opened. The hero pulled Lena into an almost too tight hug and buried her face in the CEO’s shoulder; uncontrollable sobs erupted from her. Rage, disappointment, embarrassment, and a litany of other emotions poured out of the blonde as her body was racked with an onslaught of tears. Muffled wails soon followed, the hero’s body quaking with each mournful cry.

On the verge of tears herself, Lena kept her composure as best she could. Her girlfriend needed her to keep her shit together and, although the CEO had no idea what was going on, she intended to support the hero in any way she could. She squeezed the blonde as tight as she could and ran her fingers through her hair, periodically planting chaste kisses on her forehead and softly whispering reassurances that everything would be okay.

After fifteen or so minutes, the Kryptonian’s cries were reduced to shuddered breaths and occasional sniffles. Taking this as a sign the blonde had finally calmed down, Lena decided it was a good time to get to the bottom of her girlfriend’s meltdown. “Are you feeling up to telling me what happened?” Kara’s body briefly stiffened, but the hero nodded into the brunette’s shoulder, nonetheless. She slowly extricated herself from Lena’s embrace and situated herself on the couch so she could properly face her.

Lena took one look at the bloodshot and puffy eyes on Kara’s tear-streaked face and her heart broke. “Oh, my giehrehv-divil, please tell me what happened.” Lena tucked a few strands of wet, matted hair behind the blonde’s ear.

Kara nodded and took a deep, shuddering breath. “I…I tried to plan a…a special evening for us. I ordered a special dress from Matti D and…and…I…was going to make some authentic, Irish food…and…and…so we could have a nice candlelight dinner…and then I was going to put on our favorite playlist…so…so we could dance…and then…and then…I was gonna…gonna give you…” Kara glanced at the blue box on the table and let out a painful, hiccupped whimper. “But everything got ruined!” she said with an angry stutter. “The seamstress destroyed the dress…so I had to put on this…this old rag which I know you like…but it’s four-years-old…and then…and then I broke my phone when they called me, so I didn’t have access to our playlist…” The intensity in Kara’s voice began to increase, as did the intervals between stuttered breaths. “…and…and I tried to cook dinner…but everything burned…and then…the table caught on fire and…and…I broke the counter…and…I ripped the door off the oven and threw it through the sliding door…and the wax on the couch…” Kara choked on a sob. “I wrecked everything!” she howled before crumbling into heaping mess of tears.

Lena deftly pulled the hysterical Kryptonian into her arms and began rocking her. She rubbed small circles on her back and planted more soft kisses on her forehead. The hero didn’t take long to recover but Lena refused to release her. Instead, the CEO slowly moved herself and Kara into a lying position on the couch; Kara readjusting her body so Lena could spoon her. The brunette planted soft kisses behind the Kryptonian’s ear, Kara melting further in her embrace.

The couple stayed cuddled together for an indeterminant amount of time before Lena broke the silence. “Is that for me?” she asked, indicating the blue box.

Kara somberly sighed. “It was supposed to be.”

“Now I don’t get it?”

Kara scoffed, “I don’t think you’d want it.”

“And why is that?” Lena asked, eyebrow raised inquisitively.

Kara sat up and turned to face the CEO. “Why?” she said incredulously. “Look at me…look at all this.” Kara waved her hand indicating the living room and kitchen. “Lena, I’m a dumpster fire!” the Kryptonian pleaded.

Lena sat up and grabbed ahold of Kara’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “Is that really what you think?”

Kara shrugged. “It’s how I see myself sometimes. Especially after I do shit like this,” she said as she motioned towards the kitchen again.

Lena thinned her lips as she carefully considered how to respond to Kara’s unfair assessment of herself. “So, because you see yourself as a dumpster fire, I should reject whatever’s in there.” Lena pointed at the box.

“You would if you knew what was in it,” Kara whispered defeatedly.

Lena chuckled. “Oh, my sweet, sweet, darling. I’m fairly certain I already know what’s in there.” The CEO confidently smiled, a glimmer of warmth in her eyes.

Kara gasped, her shoulders slumped, and she looked away; attempting to avoid the certainty in her girlfriend’s gaze.

Lena pulled at Kara’s hand. “Hey, don’t run away.” The Kryptonian turned towards the brunette but refused to make eye contact with her. Lena cupped her chin and gently guided Kara to face her. “I need you to look at me and listen,” Lena said with conviction. “You say you see yourself as a dumpster fire. Do you want to know what I see?” Lena asked rhetorically, not giving the blonde any time to reply. “When I look at you, I see a loving, considerate, romantic, and giving woman who…I don’t know…for the quadrillionth time since I met her, went out of her way to show me just how much she loves me…no one has ever gone to the lengths that you have to make me feel like I’m cherished. Honestly, you could accidently destroy our entire penthouse and I would still love you.”

Lena laid a soft kiss on Kara’s hand. “We’ve been through hell and back to get to where we are. I would be a damn fool if some broken appliances and a few scorched furniture made me question how what we’re trying to build here.”

“But I had this perfect plan…” Kara whispered.

“Darling, I can’t imagine how disappointed you must be, and I’m so sorry all this happened.” Lena squeezed her girlfriend’s hand tighter. “But please understand, I don’t need perfect, Kara. I just need you, imperfections and all…especially the imperfections…they’re what made me fall in love with you in the first place.”

Kara minutely nodded, still not looking convinced. “I just…I sometimes feel like I’m not good enough for you…like…somehow I’m not worthy of your love,” the hero said, averting her eyes.

Lena couldn’t help the astonished gasp escaping her lungs. “Kara. How could you say that? How could you ever think that?” she said with a hint of anger in her voice. The CEO lightly grasped the Kryptonian by the shoulders and made sure she had her attention. With a pained look on her face, Lena calmly said, “I’m sorry for raising my voice. I of all people understand how you can feel like that sometimes. When it came to you, I felt unworthy for years. I thought to myself ‘There’s no way I’m a good enough person to have Kara in my life’. And don’t even get me started on where my head was at when we started dating. I felt like a fraud. I convinced myself that I didn’t deserve your friendship, let alone your love.”

Lena’s eyes were filling with unshed tears. Kara noticed and mirrored her girlfriend’s painful expression. “But I don’t feel that way anymore, and do you want to know who finally got me out of that spiral?” Lena leaned in to rest her forehead on Kara’s. “You, my giehrehv-divil. You spent years showing me that I not only deserved to be loved by you but loved by our friends and family. You never gave up on me. I spent those same years doubting everything you tried to show me. Until one day, one day I started to believe it. There was no special event or earthshattering circumstance that opened my eyes. I just remember one day I was looking in the mirror and came to the realization that I was good enough, that I was deserving of your love, and that I was worthy of you.”

Both had tears cascading down their cheeks. Kara leaned in and gave Lena the gentlest of kisses, the blonde grinned into her girlfriend’s lips. The couple broke apart and Lena filled Kara’s hands with her own. “And let me tell you something, if that box has in it what I think it does, you, Kara Zor-El, are more than worthy enough to ask me the question that goes with it.”

A light dusting of pink appeared on Kara’s cheeks. “Promise?” she said bashfully.

Lena softly smiled. “Promise.”

Kara slammed the brunette into the arm of the couch with a bone crushing hug; almost knocking the wind out of the surprised billionaire. The Kryptonian ended up atop her girlfriend and buried her face in the crook of her neck. Lena could feel Kara’s smile tickling her skin, the blonde adding a hum of contentment once they were comfortably settled.

After enjoying a few minutes of happily snuggling with her girlfriend, Lena, staring contemplatively at the Kryptonian curled up on her side, brushed her lips against the blonde’s forehead and asked, “Kara, do you know what the odds are that, out of all time and space, the two of us would end up here, on this couch, in each other’s arms?”

Kara thought a moment before mumbling “no” into Lena’s neck.

“Well, in the interest of saving me the trouble of rattling off an obscenely long number, let’s just say a person would be more likely to be randomly struck by lightning...” Lena paused to let her words sink in.

Kara removed herself from Lena’s neck and leveled a raised eyebrow at her; clearly unimpressed. “That’s not a big…”

“…25 times,” Lena interrupted, sporting a mischievous grin. Kara’s eyebrows flew to her hairline, and she let out a low whistle. Lena nodded in agreement. For the first time since she arrived home, Lena was treated to her girlfriend’s trademark, radiant smile. The CEO cupped the Kryptonian’s face and slowly ran the pads of her fingers down the baby soft skin. The brunette’s features softened into a look of adoration and something akin to awe. “I don’t know if it was fate, a cosmic coincidence, or hell, even Rao that brought you to me, but I cherish every moment I get to be with you.”

Kara’s eyes began to well up again. She swiftly captured Lena’s lips with her own, her kiss desperate and hungry. They kissed until Lena had to come up for air. Kara leisurely moved off the brunette and sat up straight. She glanced over at the kitchen and frowned; a frustrated sigh followed. “Well, I guess I better get to cleaning up this mess.” Kara moved to get up but was quickly stopped by Lena’s hand grabbing her wrist.

Lena scoffed, “The hell you are. I didn’t triple the insurance coverage when you moved in for nothing. I’ll have a clean-up crew in here tomorrow to deal with this.” Kara reluctantly nodded in agreement. “No, you and I are going to order some take-out because I’m starving…as are you, I’m sure. While we’re waiting for dinner to be delivered, we’re going to get you out of that dress and into the shower, hopefully we can wash that goulash out of your hair.”

“It’s Irish stew…or it was supposed to be,” Kara said with a hint of embarrassment.

Lena’s face lit up. “Darling, that’s so sweet of you!” She sat up and gave Kara a quick peck on the cheek before continuing, “The food should be here by the time we get out of the shower, so we’ll eat, and then it’s straight to bed so I can show you how much I love you.” Lena seductively bit her bottom lip and wiggled her eyebrows. “Multiple times.”

Kara giggled excitedly and rose from the couch. “I’ll go get your phone out of your purse, I have no idea where my work phone ended up and I have no interest in finding it right now.” She had barely taken a step before she felt Lena’s hand grip her wrist again. She looked down at the seated CEO confused.

“I think you’re forgetting something,” Lena said, eyeing her girlfriend with an expectant look.

Kara scanned around the room; not finding anything that needed to be attended to immediately, she asked, “What am I forgetting?”

“Didn’t you have something you wanted to ask me?” Lena motioned towards the blue box on the coffee table.

The Kryptonian followed her girlfriend’s eyeline and when she realized what the brunette was alluding to, a deep blush and a look of shock overtook her features. “Oh…yes…right…okay!” She let out a long breath and shook her arms to loosen them up. Kara took several deep breaths and rolled her shoulders. “I can do this…I can do this,” she not-so-quietly told herself.

While Kara was having a mini-nervous breakdown, Lena sat silently trying her best not to laugh at the Kryptonian’s panic induced calisthenics. The brunette could not hide how much she was enjoying watching the blonde come unraveled.

Appearing to have psyched herself up sufficiently, Kara lifted the box up and cradled it in her hands. She opened her mouth as if to speak but stopped short. The Kryptonian set the box back on the table and began patting at her chest with both hands. Having not found what she was apparently searching for, she slid her hand into the top of her bra and, after digging under the cup for a few seconds, removed her still empty hand. She repeated the process with the other cup, once again coming up empty handed.

“Kara, what are you doing?” Lena said, leveling her girlfriend with a perplexed look.

The Kryptonian smiled sheepishly and held up her index finger. “Ummm, be right back.” She super-speeded out of the living room leaving a bewildered, windswept Lena without answers. Kara reappeared in front of the CEO within seconds, her face reddening and her jaw clenched. “I left my speech at the office,” Kara said through gritted teeth. “I worked on that speech for weeks.”

A small giggle escaped Lena’s lips, but she quickly slapped her hands over her mouth trying to quiet herself.

Kara threw her hands up in defeat, her body completely deflated. “Seems to be the theme this evening. Well, I guess I’m gonna have to wing it!” she said in exasperation. She aggressively swiped the box off the coffee table and unceremoniously plopped down on one knee.

Lena smiled, took Kara’s hand into her own, and lightly kissed it. “Relax, darling. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

#supercorp #supercorptober2023 #kara danvers #lena luthor

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harleychick91 · 2 months

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New Story

El Mayarah (M)

Summary: After waking from a recurring dream, Kara tells Lena the truth about her identity and how she feels. Nothing goes as the Kryptonian hopes. After being attacked by The Children of Liberty, the only way to save Lena’s life is to take her to Argo City. What happens there will change everything.

Chapter One

Kara’s POV

Ever since Reign was defeated and The Children of Liberty gained power in the media, I've had nightmares. Some were about fighting The World Killers, losing, and them killing everyone I cared for or The Children of Liberty killing all aliens and everyone who helped aliens. Either way, everybody I loved or cared about ended up dying and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

The only way I could go back to sleep was making a cup of tea and wrapping myself in the blanket Lena had left after a movie night. Sipping the warm liquid, I thought about the last few months. Things are so messed up. Lena and Supergirl are at odds because of kryptonite and she doesn't know the truth. It's been too long. It won't end well when I tell Lena who Kara Danvers really is.

Flipping through Netflix, I put on a comfort show and let it play in the background. Lena still made me the kryptonite armor even after our fight. And she gave Mom the recipe to make more Harun-El. I'm so confused.

Desperately needing sleep, I rinsed my mug and went back to bed. Since the blanket still smelled like Lena's apartment, I brought it to bed with me. Nuzzling my face into it, I inhaled the calming scent.

Waking in my bed, I heard a knock on my door. Rushing to answer it, Brainy stood before me. "Brainy? What are you doing here?"

"You're talking to me. And you know who I am." His brow creased. "Supergirl is-,"

"You can't say that! " Pulling him inside, I closed the door quickly. "It's dangerous to walk around without your image inducer turned on."

"Do we know each other? I am Brainiac 5. A 12th level intellect. The Legionnaires call me Brainy." He walked around my apartment aimlessly looking around.

"Yes, we know each other. Mon-El sent you." Why does this feel so familiar?

"Yes. To make sure your neuro pathways are intact." Brainy picked up a plant and examined it. "Your brain is in remarkable health for someone languishing in a coma."

Oh, Rao. "The coma dream palace thing I was in," I sighed. Not this dream again. "Yes, you think I'm in a coma. I was, but I'm not anymore."

"Did I bury the lead?" His head tilted. "You've been in a coma for two days."

"I know. My subconscious feels most at ease here and so on."

"Yes, you've been in a coma."

No matter what I say, it's still going to play out. Rubbing my face, I went along with it. "I'm in my loft."

"Oh! This is just where your subconscious feels most comfortable. We're not really in your loft."

This can't be happening. "If I'm in a coma, how are you here?" I watched as the man continued to walk around my apartment.

"Mon-El woke me from hyper sleep to communicate with you on behalf of him and your D.E.O. patriates. 31st century technology. It's also what's keeping you alive."

"Alive?"

"Reign defeated you," he spoke curiously. "Don't you remember?"

Flashes of the fight and Alex finding me in the rubble flashed through my mind. Dread filled me. "No. This…Reign is still out there. People are dying. I need to wake up." Rushing to my door, I tried to open it to no avail.

"I don't think you're listening to me." I tried pulling harder but the door wouldn't give. "Could we maybe try relaxing for a bit?"

After finally giving up on the door, I paced the loft. "This is torture," I huffed. Sitting on the couch, I watched as Brainy inspected my kitchen. "What are you looking for?"

"Any sign of decay or damage. In a simulation like this, it can show up in any type of fashion. I want to make sure there's nothing that will harm your reality reentry."

"Reality reentry?" I held a pillow to my chest.

"If you're not properly prepared, you could go into shock. Some people die instantly."

"Wait, does that mean I'm ready to wake up?" Getting to my feet, I tossed the pillow. "Is there anything I need to do?" I made my way towards the door again.

"This is the manifest of your subconscious and that's the only way in or out. Logic says you need to walk through it."

Trying the door again, it wouldn't budge. "It's not opening." I continued to pull. "Why isn't it opening?"

"We drained the tank and you've suffered no ill effects of hibernation." Boiling water, Brainy sipped a cup of tea. I bit my lip realizing he used some of Lena's favorite tea. "Everything is physically fine. There must be a different reason your mind is keeping you here."

"You're saying I'm keeping myself here?" I scoffed. "That doesn't make any sense. I'm the one who wants out of here." I tried punching through the door but was only knocked back.

"Is there a reason your subconscious wants you to stay here? Self preservation perhaps? You were badly beaten." He sipped more tea as he sat on the couch. "Fear can be powerful."

"I am not afraid." I tried using my heat vision until everything around us was destroyed. Frustrated, I started to clean.

"Is there something different about this version of your loft? Something that stands out."

Placing some items on my coffee table, I looked around. My stomach dropped seeing coats, shoes, and other little things that weren't mine. A lot of Lena's things are here. Things that aren't actually in my loft. This is new. The dream has never taken this path before. Turning my gaze to the picture in hand, it was one I took of us. We were cheek to cheek and smiling.

"You've noticed something," Brainy's voice trailed. "Who is this brunette woman?" He picked up a nearby picture I kept on the side table. "Your mate? Mon-El said you were single."

"No. She's…just a friend." My stomach fell. I don't want her to be just a friend.

The man studied me. "You want her to be your mate." His head tilted. "You could be stuck because you're scared."

"I've not told her that I'm Supergirl. She'll hate me." I swallowed hard seeing the brunette in question appear sitting in my armchair. Walking towards her, I wrapped Lena in my arms. "I miss you."

"I'm right here, Kara," Lena nuzzled her face in my neck, holding me tightly.

"She appeared to you for a reason," he coaxed. "What is it?"

Releasing the shorter woman, I turned towards Brainy. "Possibly because I have to face the fact that I've had feelings for her?"

His brow creased. "But you love Mon-El."

"You can love more than one person at a time, I think." I took the safer option, falling for Mon-El. Loving him was easier than loving Lena. He was a certain thing. She's not.

"And now?" Brainy's attention shifted.

Turning back to dream Lena, I cupped her face. The action caused a warm smile to appear. "To get out of here I have to admit to myself that I love her…." That thought terrifies me.

My alarm woke me from my Lena, Brainy, coma dream. Staring at the ceiling, I thought about Lena and my feelings for her. I am so screwed. I need to bite the figurative bullet and tell her. I'd rather bite a real one.

Continue reading on AO3 or FFN

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54436363

FFN: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14336503/1/El-Mayarah

#supergirl #supercorp #lena luthor #kara danvers #supercorp endgame #supercorp fanfiction #supercorp fanfic #supercorp fic #hurt/comfort #fluff and angst #angst with a happy ending #kara danvers x lena luthor #lena x kara #kara x lena #supergirl cw

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fl3shm4id3n · 1 year

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𝓡𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻, 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓫𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ᴊᴀᴋᴇ ꜱᴜʟʟʏ x ɴᴇʏᴛɪʀɪ x ɢɴ! ɴᴀᴠɪ! ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ꜱᴏɴɢ: ʙɪʟʟɪᴇ ᴇʟʟɪꜱʜ- ᴛᴠ

Tw: Polyamory, Sky People, death, angst, sad ending.

A/N: part two of this fic :c I almost cried while writing this. Listening to Tv by Billie Ellies made my eyes water :')

Masterlist

You noticed after that talk you had with Jake and Neytiri, you saw how things have began to change. Jake had got closer with Lo'ak and he began to treat the boys like actual kids. It was great seen them bond like a normal family then a squad. Everyone seemed a lot happier with this change.

But who knew it would be short lived, you had got on your skimswim and had gone with Jake, Neytiri, Tonowari and Ronal, something had happened to the Tulkun. When you arrived there, you saw some bodies floating in the water, Ronal had got closer to one, it was Rao and her calf. It was upsetting to see, you knew how the sky people could be cruel. The kill the most innocent being to prove a point.

When you all headed back to the village, the people were enraged hearing about the death of some their brothers and sister. Ronal had been the one that had been even more mad, she had threated into sending your family away due for the death of Rao, but you all knew that they were also in danger. Jake had manage to convince the people to go warn the Tulkun to leave, so that no more losses could be caused.

Things didn't end there, the kids were in danger, and the sky people were coming. You and Neytiri took over the sky while Jake and the rest of the Metkayina were in the water. They had captured Tsireya, Tuk and Lo'ak, you were scared for them, the Sky People were going to hurt them if Jake didn't go with them. You felt like you were about to die when he had heard Neytiri call for Jake, you felt like your heart was about to jump out of your chest. Until Payakan had enough of the sky people, first it was his mother, his brothers and sister, and now Lo'ak his spirit brother.

His action made a fight brake out, the Metkayina attacked and so did you and Neytiri from the sky. The fight went on for a little bit, so you decided to look for the kids, jumping off your Ikran, you were met with Neteyam who also had the same plan. You both manage to cut both Tsireya and Tuk of the rail. You had told Tsireya to head back while you with Neteyam and Lo'ak went to find Spider, so they did.

All three of you had been sneaky, since their were still some people roaming around the ship. Lo'ak had a gun which he claimed that his dad taught him how to use it. At the right moment, you guys went in for the kill, you all manage to find Spider, now you all had to leave, fast.

Shit was happening too fast, you all were hiding away, inches close to the water. You had told both Spider and Lo'ak to go first while you and Neteyam manage to get a free path. The gun that was once in Neteyam's hands ran out of bullets. So you had to take this risk. You held Neteyam close to your body, shielding him completely and jumped into the water.

Everyone was fine, safe, the boys celebrated, while you had felt a pain on your shoulder. "Fuck!" you whimpered, touching the wound. They all turned to you, seen that the water around you had been now a dark red. Everyone began to freak out, Tsireya had been back, when she saw what was happening, she also began to freak out. They helped you get on Neteyam's ilu and get you to safety.

They found a rock that was big enough, they pulled your body onto the rock and laid you down. "Dad! It's y/n!" Lo'ak screamed, as Jake had approached, seen you in your state, he turned your body over and saw that your back had also been bleeding due to the wound in the front. "Put presser on it!" Jake said, as Lo'ak then pressed his hands on your wound. Neteyam held your hand, hoping that you'd be okay.

You knew that you weren't going to make it. "It's okay, It's no one fault.." you chocked out, seen the faces filled with fear around you. Then Neyetiri came, her face also turned into one of horror. "It's okay.... It's okay" you kept repeating, until you knew that it was time. "Remember what I've told you" you said, this was directly to Lo'ak and Neteyam. "I lov-" you stopped, the light had now left your eyes.

"No, no, no" Neytiri had manage to say, she touched your face, trying to get a reaction out of you. "Y/n! AHHH!!" She yelled in agony. Lo'ak removed his hands, still covered in your blood, Neteyam held your hand tighter as he also began to cry. Tsreya had been touching your legs in tears, trying to get a reaction out of you. Lo'ak then moved over and hugged your body, tears shedding from his eyes.

Jake had lost you, it hurt him seen you dead, but in a way he was relieved, you didn't die alone. They couldn't stop now, they had to save Kiri and Tuk, mourning could be done later, but right now they needed to get their daughters. Neteyam, Lo'ak, Tsireya and Spider would stay behind with you while Jake and Neytiri went to get their daughters. Neytiri was out for blood, first it was her sister, then her father, home and now you, the sky people were going to see her rage.

The whole time, Neteyam and Lo'ak had been hugging you or holding your hand, remembering all the good times you had. The memories you all made, everything had been fine, you had made everything great. You had changed the relationship with their father, you did everything for the family, and you had died saving them. Then Lo'ak left, he had to do something.

When Jake and Neytiri had returned with Tuk, Kiri and Lo'ak, Neteyam still held your hand to his face, the same hand that would wipe his tears away when he was a child. Neytiri had approached, placing your head onto her lap, she had closed your eyes respectfully and stroked your hair softly. Tuk got a hold of your free hand, also holding it close to her face as she cried, at first she didn't want to believe it, she thought you must have been sleeping, but you weren't. Lo'ak had been hugging Tsireya close to him, she had also been crying. She may not have known personally but she knew that you were a great parent due to what Lo'ak had told her about you.

Back home, they were preparing you for your funeral. The kids had added something on you. Lo'ak had tied your hair together with his hair tie, Kiri had put a bracelet on you that she had been making, Tuk had been the one who picked the flowers, Neteyam had given you on his necklaces for you to wear.

When they had to take your body away, everyone once again had been in tears. You looked as if you were sleeping, peacefully as they swam with your body on a huge leaf covering in flower petals. It hurt them, very deeply having to put you to rest and never see you in person. Once at the location, when your body had been removed from the leaf, Tuk touched your face one final time as she had tears coming from her eyes. Both Jake and Neytiri then headed down with you, the kids stayed up watching. Lo'ak couldn't hold back any longer and began to cry again, Neteyam had his hand sticking out to you as he also then cried while your body had been laid on the yellow grass, slowly disappearing.

The family then headed to the spirit tree, both Jake and Neytiri weren't sure but they just needed to see if you were okay. Jake looked his now only mate, seen that she was wearing your choker. At the same time they both connected their queues to the tree.

It was the forest, you were in the pond, just sitting on a rock watching the fish, calmly. Then you looked over and saw Jake approaching "hey Ma Jake" you said with a smile, a smile that he may never see again. "Hey" he said approaching you, looking at the fish you had been watching. You looked up confused, seen tears in his eyes. "Why are you crying?" you asked. Jake almost let out a sob and he took your hand into his "I'm just happy to see you." He admitted, the tears running further down his eyes. "I'm also happy to see you" you smiled as him, bring his hand onto your face, placing your cheek onto his warm palm. A few seconds had passed and Neytiri had also appeared, seen you both together made her eyes swell up in tears.

This time, both Neteyam and Lo'ak had arrived at the beach, it was the beach you and Neteyam found Lo'ak. You had been there, sitting on the beach staring into the sun set. They both got to you, making you look at them and smile. "Hey you two, come join me" you motioned for them to join you and they did. Both sitting on either side of you. Then they both hugged you tightly, making you chuckle. "You boys okay?" You asked, as Lo'ak looked up at you with tears in his eyes. "Yeah, we're okay" he said as Neteyam still had his face buried on your neck. You stroked his hair comfortingly, and Lo'ak laid his head on your shoulder again.

"Do you guys remember what I told you?" you asked them. They both nodded. "What did I tell you?" you asked. "That we are both kind, we are both smart" Neteyam said, looking at you with teary eyes. "And?" you said looking at Lo'ak, making him respond. "And that we are important." He sobbed out, feeling you hug both him and his brother tightly. "Remember, I will always be here" you said happily at them, they didn't seem to notice the tears running down your eyes.

#avatar the way of water #avatar x reader #avatar x you #avatar x y/n #jake sully #neytiri #jake sully x neytiri x reader #poly jake sully #poly neytiri #poly jake sully x poly neytiri x poly reader #polyamarous #poly reader #the sullys #the sully kids x reader (platonic)#the sully family #platonic #platonic relationships #aphrodite's writing #atwow angst

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ekowolf · 6 months

Text

TW: Suicide (song)

how much can your skin crawl before you want to rip it all from your bones?

Strong for Someone Else Pt.2. (TW: SA)

Her standing here broken was his victory lap.

She let her eyes glance downward. Oh Rao

Her body was a sea of red. Her white button down in tatters, filet open.

Her blue bra.

Exposed.

Her legs barely covered by the remnants of her skirt.

Exposed.

The matching blue underwear that should have been there but now nowhere to be seen.

Exposed.

Salvation was right in front of her.

She hoped.

She knew she didn’t deserve it but—she hoped.

Her mind cycling through images like flickering reel of film. The pain. The searing pain. The hands. The smell potent to her nostrils. The water overwhelming her lungs. The gravely voice in her ear. The hands. The cold metal shackling her legs, her wrists.

The hands.

She knew she was spiraling. She knew the darkness was consuming what little was left of her. Her strength giving its last gasp before her reserves were depleted.

Her body couldn’t even find another ounce of energy to pull her hand back the few tiny inches to knock.

Too far. Too much.

She did the only thing she could do, she called out to her best friend and hoped her superhearing could pick up the sound over the game night frivolity.

The voice that came out of her she didn’t recognize, much like the rest of her; it was breathy and raw, her chest screaming with the effort to expel it.

Almost there.

“K-kara…” Lena felt her vignetting vision pulse and close in on her further like the shutter of a camera.

How much time passed since she said her best friends name? Seconds? Minutes? Her mind was unlatching from reality. Was she even at Kara’s door? Maybe she was still…there…back there?

She felt herself falling forward, the door disappeared as if it was never really there at all. Or maybe it was her that wasn’t really there?

Falling. She was falling.

She waited for the ground to claim her, to eat what puny remains was left of her—it isn’t much.

But the ground never came. Instead she felt strong, warm arms catch her so delicately it could have been a cloud that kept her from the ground and she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

In a way it was as similar to a cloud you could get—her friend who touched the sky and danced with skyscrapers.

She scraped the bottom of her reserves and used the last drop of energy to open her eyes.

She just wanted to see her.

One more time.

One last time?

Blue eyes like the sky on a clear summer day right before the sun went down, twinkling its few sacred stars so they could be seen through the atmosphere. It was a gift to see both night and day at once. That was Kara.

She could see Kara’s mouth moving but there was no sound. It was as if her ears couldn’t hear anything past the thumping of her own heart. She watched as the blonde turned her head like Kara was saying something behind her. Yelling maybe?

Oh, she wished she could hear her beautiful voice, even then.

She dug so deep to bring her hand up to the warm cheek under those soul piercing eyes that seemed different in the moment. Trying to calm them but like a storm rolling through those eyes looked for release.

She rubbed her thumb gently underneath, catching a tear before it traveled too far down Kara’s soft cheeks.

“D-don’t cr-…cry”, Lena whispered as her lips stuck together with the stickiness of blood like glue curing on a canvas.

But her eyes are too heavy, her body finally giving in, the darkness being just another thing to claim her tonight.

#mind body battle #not giving up #not giving in #i’m just tired #SoundCloud #supercorp #supergirl #lena luthor #kara danvers #katie mcgrath #no sleep club #chronic pain

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fazedlight · 5 months

Text

“IT’S OKAY, SPIKE!” Kara shouted, flying alongside the panicked dragon. “Easy, easy boy- OOF.”

An unwitting thrash of the dragon’s tail sideswept Kara in the air, causing her to tumble as he continued to rip ahead.

“Supergirl,” came Lena’s voice in her ear. “Are you still there?”

“Yep,” Kara said, halting her fall to the Earth, surging back up into the sky and heading again towards the dragon. “Have you figured out why he’s upset yet?”

“We detected a disruption in spacetime. If he freaked out during Crisis last year, he may be sensitive to-”

“Another crisis?!” Kara said, nearly caught up to the dragon.

“Unlikely, Brainy is investigating the cause.”

Kara didn’t respond as she finally flanked Spike’s side, shouting words at him in an attempt to soothe - not that it was working all that well.

“Have you tried beef jerky?” came an amused voice behind her.

Kara startled, rotating in the air to see another figure, flying just a few yards away. In the dark sky, she could make out a… woman, a white supersuit, a red cape, short-cropped light hair. It was mid-turn that Kara realized there was a small bag hurling in her direction. Kara instinctively reached out to grab it, seeing Original Beef Jerky on the label.

“Who are you?” Kara shouted, glancing back up.

“You don’t recognize me?” the stranger smirked.

“Should I?”

“My name,” the blonde said, “Is Kara Zor-L.”

-----------

It didn’t take long for Spike to calm down after that. A couple of bites of jerky, and the dragon amiably landed on the ground, seeming to physically shake off his nerves before shrinking back down into a peaceful iguana. Alana was relieved to have her pet back.

Kara eyed the new blonde warily, but this other Kara didn’t seem concerned. “I’ve been dealing with a brainwashed Legion member,” the other woman explained. “He threw me out of my universe. I need to get back there.”

“So the multiverse is back,” Lena said over comms, listening on to Kara’s conversation with… Kara. “Bring her to the Tower, Brainy and I can try to help her.”

Kara looked up. “Alright… Kara,” she said awkwardly-

“My Earth name is Karen,” the blonde responded.

Kara nodded. Thank Rao, this’ll be less confusing. “Alright, Karen. Let’s get you back to the team.”

-----------

“So you’re… Power Girl,” Lena said, eyeing the much older kryptonian. “And you were able to grow up on Krypton?”

“It’s a long story,” Karen said with a shrug. “When do you think you’ll be able to send me back to my Earth?”

“Just a few hours,” Lena said. “Brainy’s making some equipment modifications.”

“Looking forward to getting home,” Karen said. “Cat will be annoyed.”

“Wow,” Kara said with a laugh. “Different timelines, but somehow we both work for Cat Grant.”

Karen tilted her head towards Kara as her brow crinkled - Lena couldn’t help but think of how strangely familiar her expression was. “I suppose she would be a little old for you,” Karen mulled.

“Old?” Kara asked.

Karen smirked. “Cat is my wife.”

“Oh,” Kara squeaked, as Lena's heart skipped a beat.

-----------

“That’s not suspicious to the press at all?” Lena said. “You and Cat living on opposite sides of the country?”

Conversation had wandered - from Karen’s Starrware Labs and her development of environmental nanobot technology, to her superhero antics as Power Girl, to her marriage. Lena hadn’t missed how Kara’s cheeks turned bright pink with the mention of Karen’s love life, and how she took every excuse to duck out of the room to check on Brainy’s progress.

But now Kara was back, and pacing, and nervous - and somehow that only seemed to amuse Karen.

“We’re good at privacy,” Karen said. “Though I’m opening a branch of Starrware Labs in National City, so soon this’ll be less of a pain in the ass anyway. It’ll be nice to be able to attend Carter’s baseball games without suspicion.”

“Carter?” Lena asked. “I guess Cat was previously married on your Earth, too.”

“The media went nuts when we started dating,” Karen smirked. “America’s Power Bisexuals. Ironic headlines, considering they don’t know I’m Power Girl.”

“You’re bi,” Lena asked curiously, noting again how Kara seemed flushed.

Karen shrugged. “Bi, pan, whatever. Sexuality in Krypton’s society was considered fluid.”

“What?” Kara said, confusion overriding her new shyness. “That sounds like Daxam, not Krypton.”

“What’s Daxam?” Karen asked.

Kara stared at Karen for a moment. “I’m… going to check on Brainy again,” she said, making her way out the room.

Lena curiously watched after her, before turning back to Karen - who seemed to be far too amused at what was transpiring. Lena shifted in her seat, another curiosity coming to mind. “What’s my life like on your Earth?”

Karen shrugged. “You’re a powerhouse. Married to another tech genius, some Jack guy. It’s rumored you’re in an open relationship, you spend a lot of time with the Obsidian CEO.”

“Oh,” Lena said.

“Is something going on between you two?” Karen asked Lena, gesturing at where Kara went through to the door.

“No.”

“Do you want something to be going on?”

Lena was going to rebuff, the words of course not ready to fall from her lips. But something stopped her. Maybe the familiar crinkle in the stranger’s brow, maybe the fact that the blonde was imminently about to leave the universe entirely. “I don’t think that’s a possibility,” Lena said regretfully.

“Why not?”

Lena shrugged. “Kara’s straight in this world.”

“Are you sure?” Karen said, her eyes seeming to dance with the almost familiar smile, last observed when Kara convinced Lena to buy an entire tub of ice cream. Lena couldn’t help but laugh, as much as the reality of the situation made her heart ache.

But before she could formulate a response, they could hear the patter of footsteps coming back. “It’s ready,” Kara said, nodding in Karen’s direction. “Brainy says you can go home.”

-----------

Karen departed for her Earth - and normalcy resumed, as Lena and Kara crashed on Lena’s couch, consuming their late dinner from Chinese takeout containers.

Lena looked over at the blonde, who seemed… still unusually quiet, seemingly pensive. “Is it odd?” Lena asked gently. “Hearing about a different Krypton?”

“Yeah,” Kara said, pulling her legs up onto the couch. “It makes me wonder…”

“Wonder?”

“She’s just… very confident,” Kara murmured, staring down at her chopsticks.

“She’s older,” Lena shrugged. “Seen more.”

“I think even if I were a decade or two older, Cat would still eat me alive,” Kara smiled.

“Maybe,” Lena laughed.

A pause. “We’re… similar in other ways,” Kara said softly.

“Oh?” Lena said, her heart skipping a beat.

Kara shifted awkwardly, finally glancing up at Lena. “I overheard something she said. Her talking about you and Jack. And… Andrea.”

“It wasn’t that surprising,” Lena replied slowly, her heart pattering as she realized that Kara might be… trying to assess the situation. Which gave her the bravery to be a bit more forthcoming. “Andrea and I were together in high school.”

“Oh,” Kara said. And for a moment, silence fell again.

“Lena-” “Kara-”

The two looked up, each noting that the other had a blush crawling across her face, each feeling the vibration of possibility flowing between them. “Could we…” Kara started. “Could we be more?”

“If you want us to be,” Lena said, a small smile growing on her face.

Kara’s eyes widened, before a grin crossed her own face. “I’d like that,” she said.

-----------

A month later, a small portal temporarily opened up in Karen Starr’s office. She didn’t notice at the time - she was far too busy making out with her wife - but she did find the note left behind:

“You were right. Thank you. - LL”

#Power Girl comes for a visit #flexing my comics knowledge while also completely making stuff up #I don't know why I wrote this #✨experimental writing✨#supercorp #supercorp ficlet #fazedlight #mel writes ficlets

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cheshirecatuniverse · 1 year

Text

Gummy Bears (Rao)

"Rao" Misaki Mario x Reader (She/Her)

Song: Skipping Stones (feat. Jhené Aiko) - Gallant

Summary: In which you have too many run-ins with Rao and every time you want to stay with him longer. But your nightmares never go away.

WC: 7.2k

Notes: my works can be gorey, violent, and other mature themes! lots of plot. reader went through a traumatic experience and has an injury that effects their lifestyle. there's also a nickname reader gets called by. murayama's bestie makes an appearance. barely edited I'm so sorry, it will be soon!

It was quiet, as quiet as a restaurant could be midday. There was only an elderly couple who stopped eating to exhange a word or two sometimes and a young woman with her child sleeping in a stroller.

Even the clatter of the dishes being washed echoing from the kitchen was tolerable. You considered the moment a gift as you enjoyed the soft hum of the music playing through speakers. But it was all tragically ruined by someone's finger.

"Stop tapping the glass."

Tap Tap Tap.

You put down the cup you were cleaning and lifted your head to the ceiling, "Do you have a death wish, kid?"

Your fellow waiter snorted at you, "Pretty sure if I did you'd still be fired."

He continued to tap on the cups lined up and it took too much of your willpower to not follow up on your warning. He happily ignored your looming urge to throw him across the restaurant.

The new generation were just so rude, which was your own but that wasn't the point.

You hated new coworkers, especially when they were from that nearby boys school. Usually they last a month, before they get bored or decide it wasn't worth the extra cash. That leaves yourself with cleaning up after them.

If you were going to be honest though, the current newbie wasn't as annoying as you'd have thought. Which was more than fine, but it doesn't mean you want to get along with him. You were only here to get your paycheck and a daily free meal. So, you focused on yourself. Tilting your head to the right to look closely and dried the glassware.

The door opened, and you heard several people step in. There it is. Well it seemed that having some quiet wasn't very realistic.

"It's yours," your coworker shot over the cabinet door he sat by, putting the clean aprons away.

You clenched your jaw because he was right. Of course you knew that. But this little brat had to tell you the obvious. "Put the glass away then."

He waved you off without turning away from the cabinet. "Yeah, Yeah. When I'm done here."

You let a breath out from your nose and threw the towel down. For the first time you looked at the people who came in, seated and restless. The black uniforms that you've grown accustomed worn by all of them. It was around that time school was out.

As you stepped around the lunch counter you didn't notice your coworker pop his head up from the floor. He scrambled up and stood like he was struck by lighting. Mouth opened and closed like a fish trying to talk underwater.

You slid the worn-down menus to the six boys, "Okay, what drinks can I get you guys started on?" Your tone was never much for customer service but at least you knew how to word yourself.

"Three waters, two cokes, and a green tea," It was the one at the edge of the booth, with tinted glasses.

You began to write- "Yah, Mercy. You know I want a beer."

You turned a little to your left, and you could see your dear coworker making motions in front of his face. Is he telling you to smile? You gave a simple glare in warning and turned directly at the table. The Suzuran student who wanted a beer was the one with crazy hair and even crazier eyes to match it.

"Yeah and I want a unicorn. But guess what? They don't exist and you're underage. So three waters, two cokes, and a green tea," You read out from your writing pad with your head tilting to side. "That it?"

Crazy hair slumped and dropped his head harshly on the table. The giant thud didn't make you react, much to the surprise of the biggest person at the table. He had a grimace on his features as he looked at you, though his eyes felt different. You immediately pushed that thought out of your head. Don't try reading people, you thought. Especially this one, you heard one of them call him Rao. Although you tried keeping Suzuran information limited, there were enough rumors about him to reach you.

Mercy, as it seemed, let out a mix between a scoff and cough at crazy hair in the corner. "Sorry about him, and if you can get us a basket of bottomless fries..." The sulking crazy hair boy slowly rose up, like his soul was revived.

"...Can I smoke in here?"

You squinted and said nothing for a minute. "Sure go ahead. While you're at it, go ahead and blow the smoke in front of the baby." You jabbed a thumb to the back, the soundly sleeping small child with his mother at the farthest table. You watch as Mercy dropped the cigarette he had ready between his fingers. Rao followed his gaze from your finger to the left corner of the restaurant, his expression darkened even more.

If he thought for one second that you were going to let one of his buddies expose the baby to second-hand smoke, you were willing to throw your job away. He could intimidate you, even threaten you. It wouldn't move you one bit.

Everyone went quiet quickly, so you gave one last look and walked away.

"Wow. What did you do to her, Mercy?"

"Ah? I don't even know her."

You sighed when your coworker kept whisper-yelling at you for failing to be nice to Rao and his group. This day needed to be over. And over fast. You kept your words curt as you gave them their drinks and their food that followed.

When you were done with them, you heard someone call your name while you were wiping down tables. It was Yuki, the young woman who came here with her child once a week.

"Sorry. I-" She hesitated before raising her hand with an envelope. "I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't an emergency, but is it possible for you to watch Isamu? I have to drop off paperwork off to the office across the street, and I know he'll wake up if I take him."

Yuki wasn't a friend but she was someone you knew well, as she lived two apartments down from you. You checked the time and then back at her, "How long do you need me to watch him?"

"It shouldn't be longer than 15 minutes."

You checked the time. Well, you were going on break in five.

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Thank you, thank you! I'll pay you back, I promise." You waved her off. You really didn't want anything in return. She went back to the table to gather her things and pushed the stroller to the counter.

You sat on a stool, giving your aching feet a break. The kid was still asleep, thankfully. He was small, really small. Maybe a year old? You may have remembered Yuki saying he was turning two soon.

Someone slammed one of cabinets behind the lunch counter loudly and woke him up immediately. Your glare was loud enough for your coworker to put both his hands up, "That's my bad, honestly."

The little kid was wailing and you shakily picked him up. A good temperament was something you lacked these days, but you were relieved to feel the kid accept you. He clung to you as you rocked him and you leaned over to the stroller to find his sippy cup. You did find it, but when you tried reaching for it, it fell and rolled across the floor.

"You've gotta be f-" You clamped your mouth shut. No cursing in front of small children.

Your eyes slightly widened in surprised when you saw someone's feet stand around it. Rao reached down and grabbed your lifesaver. With a napkin in his hand he wiped the top of it and slowly stepped in front of you.

"Here."

Rao still had the same grimace on his face. Body towering over you in a much more exaggerated way because you were sitting. It was like the world's smallest and most intimidating eclipse. It's probably the only way you can call him small. You were sure the muscles in his arms were bigger than your head.

Confused at the way his emotions were frozen on his features, you wondered. Just what is he doing? You took the cup with caution, as if you were taking a bone from a bear.

The kid calmed down when you placed it in his hands. You patted his head as you watched Rao walk outside to where the Suzuran boys were waiting.

◇♧◇

Shopping wasn't your strong suit. Okay, it was but not in any way that was good for your wallet. There was only one goal right now, quick cook food and medicine from the convenience store. Hunched over the candy section was nothing, you were just looking. Your hand that slipped and pushed a bag of gummies into the basket? Purely accidental.

Too busy looking at the gummy packets piling in your basket you didn't hear the door chime or the footsteps behind you. On instinct, you tense up with your shoulders raised. You felt an arm slip around your shoulders and felt someone on your right side.

"Sweets," someone giggled and pushed your head down to bump it with her own.

You rolled your eyes, "Hi to you too."

You didn't imagine seeing your friend here, especially since she lived in the Sannoh district. Not to mention she was in Sannoh Rengokai. This was more out of her way.

She hummed and let you go, "I haven't seen you in a bit. So when are you going to start working with me for real, Sweets?"

"If you go get me ibuprofen maybe I'll think about it."

Your dull headache that began an hour ago was a reminder that you had to restock your kitchen. Your friend returned from a couple aisles away and handed you a bottle of ibuprofen. You said thanks and placed it in the basket while she looked at you curiously.

"Are you sick?"

"My head just hurts," you shake your head.

She pursed her lips into a thin line and looked at the back of the store. Where a group of guys were grabbing a variety of drinks. In a quieter voice she asked, "Is it your eye? Your next appointment is for next month right?"

"Yeah but it's always been like that. It's fine," you sighed.

The conversation got cut short at the call of her name. A couple of people walked over to you, some of them with black uniforms. It instantly reminded you of Suzuran but these guys weren't, the uniforms were slightly different.

One of them pointed at you which you didn't like very much, "Oh, Who's this?"

Your friend introduced you and then looked at you, "This is Fujio, he's from Oya High."

He waved enthusiastically with a big smile, "Nice to meet you."

That made you raise your eyebrow, "But I thought you and Murayama were done with Oya?" As soon as you said that you realized that he wasn't anywhere to be seen or heard. "Where he is by the way?"

She looked down at the ground and tried not to look mad, "Away. On a trip or something. But yeah, we don't go there anymore. I still like hanging out with these losers though."

"You mean you like to leech off us."

"And you let me because you love me, Todoroki," She leaned towards the guy with the glasses and blew kisses at him until he walked away. "Anyways. You should come hang out with us, Sweets."

"Sweets? No way is her name Sweets!" Two figures you unfortunately recognized. Rao and the guy shouting at you as they came over, crazy hair. There was change in Rao's eyes, they widened a little. Your vision didn't let you see it.

You tilted your head at crazy hair, "I thought you were just having a bad hair day last week but I guess I was wrong."

Your friend laughed at that. "Wait, wait. You know Binzo?"

"I don't." You were staring at Rao, who easily loomed over everyone around you. He had originally stepped as close as Binzo but took a small step back. Hands in his pocket, he watched.

Binzo had a hand on his chin, his eyes wide in fascination, "So why sweets and not salty?"

"When we were younger people called her that because she liked to eat or make anything with sugar." Your friend pointed at the basket you were holding, half of it had candy.

You were embarrassed enough to rub a hand on the back of your neck. You buried it down and headed to the register with our friend clung onto you as she laughed.

After she said a soft sorry, she smiled, "Are you coming with us?"

"My head," You pointed quietly at yourself, "Maybe next time, okay?" Although you really wanted nothing to do with Oya and Suzuran.

You didn't understand how your friend still stuck around them. Everything that happened at the peak of Kuryu made you want to lock yourself in your apartment forever. The throb of your headache got worse.

She nodded, "And you'll let me take you next month? Y'know to-?"

A hum left you, agreeing. You paid for your things, your head tilted to right as you read the total amount. She turned around to look at the rest of the group.

Arms crossed she asked, "And which one of you men are gonna help her with her bags? She's not feeling well enough to be left alone."

At the sound of no one stepping up she had taken a breath to yell. You rolled your eyes hearing it but it still gave you secret and small smile. The yell never came though, you heard someone walk forward. He was swift to grab your bags, you couldn't turn your head to the right fast enough to see him.

By the time you had realized who it was he stood outside, waiting with your bags. Waiting for you.

"Ah?" Your hearing was good enough to hear Binzo's confusion. It mirrored your own.

Fujio walked over to the window beside the entrance and started dancing. Dancing? Even though Rao had his back turned.

"Alriiight Rao! A gentlemen as always," Fujio said in approval.

Your friend nodded in agreement and bumped her hip against yours. With a jolt you looked over at her.

"Well go on," She smiled mischievously, "Y'know I haven't gotten my hands on him. He is cute right?"

You sputtered out half words and noises of confusion. You walked fast, away from her, away from Fujio, and hopefully they didn't see the slightest red on your face.

Outside, you froze in place. Rao was so tall that you stared at his chest and you refused to look up. You jabbed your thumb over your shoulder.

You mumbled, "Ah... this way."

To your happiness it was a quiet walk, your noise sensitivity probably didn't help your head. The two of you kept some distance and the one time you glanced over he was staring straight ahead. God, his jawline looked chiseled from stone. The guy looked like an ancient warrior who's defeated armies, which is a funny thought while looking at him hold your grocery bags.

The headache bothering you since the last hour got worse even through the quiet. If you didn't do anything about it now it'd cause more trouble. Desperate, you turned to look at him again.

"Can you hand me that bag, please?" You pointed and he gave it to you. Rao watched you frantically find the medicine you were looking for. You took a couple a pills, not needing water even though your throat didn't appreciate it. Forgetting about him for a moment you hissed in pain and rubbed your fingers against your eyes.

"Are you okay?" Rao asked softly. You were caught off guard at the tone of his question. His voice was deep but didn't hide the concern.

You shrugged it off, "It's just a headache."

He went back to facing ahead and you thought it was the end of it.

Rao said your name and asked, "What highschool do you attend?"

"Oh. Why?" You left out any malice because you were genuinely curious.

"I haven't seen you around."

Since you gave him and his friends the worst customer service in the world a week ago, you almost wanted to say.

"I do school online," you sighed and kicked a can on the ground, "No problems that way. Actually going to school- that's too much." After Kuryu, after what you did, after everything.

Rao left a big pause, like he was trying to form what he wanted to say to you.

"Listen..." He stopped his footsteps, "If anyone from Suzuran did anything they shouldn't have-"

"Ah?" You shake your head, "Like I would let anyone from that place even near me." You managed to look him in the eye and let yourself smile, "No offense."

Rao let out a scoff but lightly he told you, "None taken. But you seem to not like Suzuran very much."

"I don't like the idea of Suzuran," You corrected and began to walk again. That was enough to for him to drop the subject, but it wasn't bad.

The rest of the walk was peaceful, with a few words in between but it didn't feel awkward like the beginning. Rao wasn't the worst person to walk you home. Which was a frightening thought only to you. He respected your space and let you talk freely. Well he didn't allow you to talk freely, but anything you said felt like it was heard by someone who wouldn't judge you.

There was nothing you knew about him. You knew enough to know he wasn't awful but that was all you wanted to know. You weren't going to analyze him, keep the little details in mind, or find out his weaknesses. You were just going to acknowledge that Rao was here, with you.

Outside your apartment you told Rao to leave the bags against the wall. He was quiet when he slipped away. When you unlocked the door to your apartment you bit your lip. Damn it.

Rao felt someone grab his wrist, he turned around to see you. You were refused to make eye contact and shoved something in the palm of his hand, "Bye."

There was no time to say anything as you rushed yourself and your bags into your home. Rao looked down at his hand, a soda. A strawberry flavored one, with little cartoons and pink hearts on the can.

"Bye," Rao with wide eyes whispered to himself.

◇♧◇

You now were officially working three jobs. Your friend was ecstatic when she got your call. She had wanted you on her team since she had gotten back into kickboxing. To your suprise, it was your least stressful job. You cleaned her wounds up between rounds and got to watch her beat men twice her size.

After another victory, there were plans to go out to eat. The both you were walking to the restaurant, she mentioned that a couple others would join you too.

You shivered in the cold and your friend basked in it after hours of fighting. The mini dress you had on was too cute that you had to wear it, there weren't too many occasions for it anyways.

"So you wanna tell me what happened with Murayama?" You asked to distract yourself from the crisp night air.

Caught off guard your friend flinched, "Huh? There's nothing."

"Nothing my ass. It's honestly kinda freaky that he's not with you. Is he really on a trip?"

"Yeah, he actually is and I was supposed to go too. Murayama, Seki, Furuya, and me," She looked away and found interest at the closed shop windows, "We got into a fight. He thinks I need to stop avoiding what Kuryu did to us."

"I'm sorry," and you meant it. You were sorry that he had point.

She said your name and looked at you, "...do you think we'll ever be able to talk about it?"

Your eyes stung, "I wish I knew."

That was a lie, you only wanted to lock yourself in a room. Where no one can hurt you, where no nightmare can find you. That could be enough. But you didn't say anything, you blinked your tears away and took a deep breath.

When you two made it to the restaurant, you sighed in relief when you felt the heaters. You rubbed your arms up down to get your blood warm again. Your friend ran over to a table as soon as she saw the people she was looking for. As you followed slowly behind, you froze at the sight of Rao. Oh, you gotta be kidding me, you thought.

It was strange not to see him in his school uniform, a good strange. Something that you weren't going to pay attention to. Rao was in the middle of a conversation with Fujio, Binzo and a couple others when he saw you. Your friend had called your name and dragged you over to the table. You sat down next to her and across from him.

Rao looked at you and you looked at him, and awkwardly you thanked him as he poured you a cup of water. He kept his stare on you and he said something to himself so quietly you could only hear an incoherent grumble. Out of habit you tilt your head to the right, wordlessly asking him a question.

"You look really nice," He finally told you.

You took a sip of water to hide your nerves, "You do too."

Your friend draped her arm around your shoulders and announced, "Y'know, Sweets is my fastest cornerman. She could be my medic too and be faster than the one we have now."

"That's true, we saw you between rounds. You were like a cheetah," Fujio gave you a thumbs up.

You were surprised, "Oh. I didn't even see you guys."

"Cause I put up a fun match right?" Your friend beamed. "Better than any of those rigged ones on tv."

You nodded energetically, "God, of course you are. You hit like a truck. You should watch your kicks though. You get too excited and hit early and lose damage. The guy was slow though- and with a big ego, you were gonna win either way."

That made her light up, with her knees on her chair she jumped up and hugged you. You groaned and made a bad attempt to get out of her grasp. For a small second in time you felt like nothing had changed the past couple of years and you let your childhood friend celebrate the deja vu.

She laughed, "Will do, Coach!"

"Yah, Sweets, do you fight? We should go one-to-one," Binzo asked.

"Nope," Your friend and yourself say at the same time. You hissed lightly at her to let you go.

You pointed, "She's got that covered."

The opponent she faced really was never going to win, even if you didn't know your friend, you knew that. You couldn't help watch closely tonight, your neck sore from how you liked to tilt your head. Crowds of people cheered and it made your friend's opposition grow taller. His movements were exaggerated and he kept making laps around the ring. The dead giveaway to you though, was that his gloved fists weren't even up to his face.

Just thinking about it all made you look at the people around you. Binzo's body spread out as much as he can with his chair at a farther distance than the others, relaxed but easily reactionary. Fujio seemed to like to keep his hands in his lap or on Tsukasa's shoulder, gently patting him. He had an injury, maybe a sprained shoulder or arm. Before you could process it, your stare made it Rao's hands. Arms crossed and tucked in arms, it wasn't a barrier, no, it was an act of soothing.

You caught yourself in time, you looked down at the table. Water, you needed water. When you reached for the glass you grabbed air. Your stomach dropped at the sight. You missed the fucking glass, you thought. It was about 4 inches farther.

Reality hit you and you were quiet the rest of the time. Even Rao spoke more than you. While your friend tried to ask you questions to join in the conversation you just nodded or shrugged.

"Hey." Outside the building, everyone was about to part ways but your friend pulled you aside. "Do you want me to walk you home?"

You took a step backwards, "It's fine."

You were in the Sannoh district and getting home would take a little longer but you just wanted to be alone. You shrugged off the sound of your name being called and left.

In some sick way you wished you were back to a couple years ago. Before everything hurt so much, you were so empty and cold. It was better that way, it was better than trying to shove everything you felt down in the abyss.

The uncomfortable soreness of your heels, your cold arms and cheeks, and the tight feeling in your throat. You walked through it.

Your ears caught the sounds of the occasional car that drove out of sight. Building owners had begun to close their shops and offices as you passed by. The sound of a big dog barking in a home nearby echoed from somewhere. Someone's footsteps who walked around in the alleyways closely. But nothing seemed to process in your mind or maybe you didn't even care.

A gasp barely left you when you got slammed against the alley wall with a rusty knife pressed against your neck.

"Your fucking wallet. Now, bitch." The stranger jammed the knife harder into your throat. It was dull but if the man wanted he could jam it through your neck. He smelled like alcohol and vomit, the smell. That's all it took.

A cold and dark room, your vomit, blood, and decaying flesh being the only thing you could smell. Some people remember their first kiss, favorite Christmas, anniversaries and birthdays. You could only remember how much you threw up in that awful room. Your infected wrists and blisters on your face, you could still feel them everyday.

Fingers weak and jittery, you failed to get his hands off of you. It was clear what was going to happen and again there was no one. The worst of the world would follow you until you were dead. You were alone.

So you did the only thing you could do, run your mouth.

"Fuck off," You tried to scream but it came out strangled. There wasn't any stopping him, things like this would just keep happening.

He growled and yelled so close to your face you could feel spit on you. You could feel the knife begin to cut your throat, you whimpered quietly in pain. Don't cry.

Just as you were ready, he flew into back of alleyway. You stumbled away from the wall and your hands found the dumpster to lean on.

Rao didn't look anywhere near you, completely focused on the man who had just started to get up. The grimace on his face that had most of the times was absolutely nothing compared to the look he had right now. His eyes completely dark with no empathy for the drunk.

Your attacker made the stupid decision to lunge at Rao. His wrist was caught easily. It only took Rao to tightened the grip around his wrist for the knife to the ground.

Rao scowled, "You ever hurt another woman again, I'll find out. I don't give second chances." You turned away when you saw him raise his other fist. A couple loud thuds and a yell were enough to know that the drunk was out cold.

You breathed heavily, and tried to get your legs to stop shaking. It wasn't working. You felt a hand touch your shoulder and you yanked yourself away.

You turned to Rao with a scoff, "Can you stop helping me?"

"Why?" Clearly taken back but Rao didn't move any closer.

"You don't know who the hell I am. You have no idea-" You sucked in a breath, "I'm the type of person who would work for yazuka, Rao."

You walked back to the dumpster and found an old metal machine to sit on. You curled up on yourself, as much as you can with a short dress. Did you want to go home? Did you wanna go back to that dark room? Anything felt better than being here with Rao. Him being anywhere near you was suffocating. God, you couldn't stop shaking. There wasn't anywhere you wanted to go, everywhere you go you felt the same.

Rao took a knee in front of you. He looked up and down, he scanned for anything serious. He had his hands on either side of you, but he never touched you. Then he looked at your eyes.

"Are you? Right now?" He asked.

"What?" You lifted your head. Rao, day or night, cold or warm, actions or looking afar, could never fail to make you confused. You paused for moment, weighing the choices.

"No," You whispered.

"Then it doesn't matter," He simply said. Like it was the easiest thing in the world. It took your whole being not to snap at him.

Rao reached out a hand before he pulled it back a little, "Can I look at you?"

He gave you all the time in the world, no ticks of impatience anywhere. You finally nodded and he checked the cut on your neck. It felt strange to feel his fingers. Confused, you felt his hand at the back of your neck and it returned with fresh blood.

Rao called out your name in a way that made your chest hurt. He rose up to his feet, "You need to be taken to a hospital."

"No, No," You shake your head, "I'm fine it's nothing. Look I'm fine and I'm standing." The impact to your head didn't felt like it had hurt at the time. You moved a hand to the back of your head the cut, it was as superficial as the one on your neck.

"Rao, it looks worse than it is." Your adrenaline wore off and you started to get cold again. You shivered, "Please. I just want to go home."

"Are you sure?" You nodded immediately and he sighed. He looked down the alleyway and then to you. When he slipped off his jacket you would never imagine that he would put it over your shoulders.

"Okay. Let's go then."

Rao watched you slip your arms through the sleeves, your fingers barely peeked through. When you zipped it up to cover the bloody mess he realized how small you looked in his jacket.

At your door, you could hear a distant bark. The lock clicked open at the turn of your key. Before you turned the knob you sighed.

"You can come in," You said softly.

There was no way you wanted to look at his reaction, so you stayed turned away and pushed the door open. You flipped the light switch at the exact same time your dog ran over.

It made sense that he was stand-offish with Rao behind you. "Sit. Good boy." You commanded and made you way inside. Rao watched you walk into the kitchen and then looked at your big dog. He had a black spiked collar with a heart shaped name tag that said Baby.

"He's trained," You called out from the other room, "Doesn't bite anyone's head off without my permission."

That didn't surprise Rao. He unhooked your heels from his fingers and put them in the shoebox near the door. When you two made it to your neighborhood you slipped them off and sighed about how you were done with tonight. He had wordlessly taken the heels from your hands.

It took a couple minutes to find what you were looking for. You got off the kitchen counter when you took it from the top of the kitchen cabinet. Avitene powder wasn't hard to come by when your friend was a boxer. You took off Rao's jacket and cleaned yourself up. The powder clotted your bleeding and you found a couple bandaids for your neck and head.

You asked for help when Rao walked in. You held your hair up as he carefully placed the bandaid on your scalp. His hands lingered as he looked with worry, not that you could see it.

"I could still take you to the hospital." You shake your head at that and you let your hair down to make him pull away.

"Do you know what they would do?" You walked over to your fridge, pulling out a soda and water bottle. "They would say I don't need stitches, clean me up. Then charge me my rents worth."

Not to mention you had doctor visits often, but he didn't need to know that.

"Thank you," He told you when you passed him the water. You led him to the couch and your dog pranced over too. Head laid back and you took a minute to process. Rao looked at the couple of picture frames you had, one of your dog when he was a puppy and another of a younger you and your friend.

He turned to you, "Did you two grow up together?"

You smiled, "A little bit. It was the wrong place, wrong time. Somehow, we're still here."

Rao's arms were crossed, it made him look much bigger. You didn't read him, you didn't want to.

"It's good." He found his shoes to be particularly interesting.

"Hm?" You tilted your head.

"That you're still here."

◇♧◇

When Yamaguchi told Rao that a girl was at Suzuran to see him his stomach flipped. He's been seeing you a lot these days but he never found you anywhere near Suzuran.

The rumors circling around about him recently, he knew them well. The girl who worked at that one restaurant half a mile away who kept being seen with Suzuran's strongest. Suzuran weren't the only ones, his own faction and friends were talking too.

Fujio had been telling him things to say to you since the convenience store. He immediately saw how much Rao paid attention to you. To help his friend, Fujio made sure to encourage him to voice out his thoughts and to make sure Rao made you feel comfortable. Which Rao really didn't need help with but Fujio advised him on what not to say. It was helpful.

The door to the roof creaked open. Rao should have known it wasn't you from how he heard no bickering from Binzo. When Rao turned around, what he found was your friend. A former Oya High part-timer and Sannoh's fighter. She was no joke, despite how easily she laughs and how affectionate she is with you.

She gaped at the whole school view, "Never been here and this place is already giving me memories."

Binzo grinned, "Missing Oya, huh?"

She didn't answer and instead looked at Rao. With a wink she smiled and waved.

"I need to talk to you." Yamaguchi and Binzo stepped closer- "Alone."

Binzo groaned but she taunted them with a wave. Her smile dropped immediately when they closed the door to the roof.

"I need a favor and you're going to do it."

"I am?" He furrowed his brows.

"Do you know about the appointments?" She quickly judged the confused look on his face and shaked her head. "...'Kay, well for long time I've been taking Sweets to her doctor's appointments. Never missed one, but now I don't got a choice."

"Why does she have to go?" The look on her face made him feel unsettled. A hundred thoughts seemed to go through her mind and she pursed her lips.

"About 3 years ago Sweets got hurt. The only reason she got better cause we were there for her. But now it's just me," She ran a hand through her hair, "Everyone else is dead or on the run. I don't know if I should even be telling you this."

Her pace was fast, Rao followed carefully. As he started to process it she began to walk away.

"If she doesn't miss the doctor's appointment tomorrow then this will be worth it." She glared at him, "At least just walk Sweets there. You don't do it, fine. You can not care. But if you hurt her, I'll kill you."

She walked away, and Rao could hear her laugh ring inside the building at a joke Binzo made.

◇♧◇

A Saturday was a perfect day to stay inside all day. Everyday was, if you could. Originally, you had plans but they're not going to happen. You called out of one of the restaurants you worked at and your friend's boxing match.

Baby had already been walked and fed. There was a constant squeaking from his chew toy outside your bedroom. You were nice and comfortable in your bed and sipped on your fresh tea.

A month ago you had been attacked. For a little bit you had to wear turtle necks but your cuts healed nicely. You didn't tell anyone what happened but Rao had made sure to check on you. At the restaurant it's a common sight to see him pass by or come eat with his group.

Whenever he pulled you aside to talk, Binzo would make faces behind Rao. You made sure to shut Binzo and your coworker up with a wack of a dish rag.

The closet door was opened and Rao's jacket was hanging in the corner. Your ears heated up, when you had worn it that singular time it smelled really nice. The cologne he wore you didn't know the name to but it was on your mind often these days.

"I should give it back," You told yourself.

Not today, though. Today you were going to stay inside and sleep. The mug you had in your hands was now on your nightstand. Right as you settled into your covers you heard your dog bark. A knock at the door made you roll your eyes.

Now who the hell was that? The neighbors never bothered you on the weekends and on the afternoons. No one texted you today other than your friend who okay'd your absence.

Begrudgingly, you shuffled over to your door. With the dog ready at your side you found, Rao?

You were embarrassed, "I... didn't know you were coming." Your sweats and old sweatshirt proved that.

Baby circled around Rao when he came in. You smiled at how gentle Rao patted the dog's head.

When your dog walked away, satisfied with the attention Rao turned to you. "Sorry, I should have called but I wanted to offer this in person."

"Offer what?"

"To take you today."

Your throat hurt, "What did she tell you?"

You were going to beat the hell out of your friend. How did she think this was a good idea? Rao called your name out to try to calm you, it was clear by your panicked eyes.

"Just that you needed to go to your doctor's appointment."

Okay, good. But still not good, you did calm down. You had told her you were not going, she guessed that Rao would work. You still planned to jump her for roping him into this.

With the soft encouragement Rao gave, somehow you ended up sitting on the couch as you slipped your shoes on. Well, if you wanted to get there on time there was no time to change.

You didn't want to talk and Rao respect that. He didn't need to know the details and it was a sensitive subject.

But when you two entered the waiting room his heart dropped. The eye posters and pamphlets on the wall. You had to go to the ophthalmologist?

When the nurse called your name, you stood up and began to walk away. Before you could take a step Rao grabbed your hand.

"I'll wait here." He watched your eyes water and you nod.

As you left, Rao realized you always had your head tilted to the right. He remembered the one time that Binzo teased you for it and how quiet you got. Rao may have to fight him again.

Rao had seen you reach out to things hesitantly. You were always aware of your steps and always on edge if you weren't in your home.

Why didn't he see it sooner?

It had gotten dark when the two of you walked out. You said nothing about your visit, you said nothing at all. Too much was happening in your head, so you were more stuck in there than out here.

You tripped over a box, that's what happens when you're not careful. If it weren't for Rao's hands that steadied you, you would have met the pavement.

"Are you-" You didn't let him finish as you stumbled somewhere, anywhere.

Away, you wanted to go away. Ignoring Rao as he called your name. It hurt so much.

Rao found you breaking a bottle against a dumpster. He tried getting your attention but nothing was working. Rao just watched you pace and pace until you walked to him.

"Did you know I can't see anything in my right eye?" You tried to smile and failed. "That I haven't been able to for years now."

Rao said your name and you scoffed, so tired of your feelings.

"No, no. Listen, I did a lot of bad things. I hurt so many people because that was the only thing I was good at. And when I wanted to leave," You gasped for air as tears streamed down your face, "I got what I deserved."

The only thing he could do was hold you, and that's what Rao did. You sobbed and cried on how it was your fault. Mumbled his name against his shirt. It was a long a time before you stopped crying. Rao didn't care, he could have his arms around you for an eternity. If it was for you, he would.

Anyone that walked by he made sure to shield you from them. Anytime your arms started to shake in anxiety he rubbed them up and down. And when you repeated over and over again how it was your fault he told you that he was here. He was.

Rao asked after you stopped crying, "Do you want to go home?"

You shake your head, for the first time you didn't want to. Slowly, you pulled away from him. You needed to stand on your own feet. Your head cleared.

"I don't know where I want to go."

Rao hummed and thought. He took your hand when he found an answer, "Let's get you gummy bears."

"How do you know I like gummy bears?"

"You had a bag filled of them one time."

You giggled, and then you couldn't stop laughing. Rao couldn't stop his smile that appeared.

He remembered. So you agreed. When he walked you home and kissed your cheek, you felt better.

You walked your dog, gave him a treat. Washed your face and teeth before going to bed. You dozed off in your warm bed and the last thought you remembered made you smile.

That was the first time you laughed in years.

#high & low #high&low #high&low the worst x #high&low x reader #misaki mario #mario misaki #high&low misaki mario #high&low rao #high&low raoh #suzuran #rao x reader #this was so cool to write

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marinawolf · 3 months

Text

Always You (Supercorp)- Chapter 2

by marinawolf

An angsty and somewhat painful follow up to the kiss and the betrayal. After a month of no contact, and a downward spiral on Kara's part, Kara and Lena finally see each other, but Lex Luthor has more tricks up his sleeve.

Kara had been spiralling for weeks. She couldn't eat or sleep, and every day felt like a never-ending cycle of pain and guilt. She had betrayed Lena's trust, and even though she knew that she had done what she had to do to protect her, the weight of that decision was crushing her.

Kara had started drinking heavily, scoring vials of potent alcohol from an alien artefact dealer, not caring about the danger it posed to herself. She felt like she was slowly losing her grip on reality, and nothing seemed to matter anymore. Her Supergirl shifts became a distraction, and she threw herself into every scenario without a care for her own safety. She knew, logically, that this was self destructive behaviour but she couldn't bring herself to care. She just needed to forget those blue-green eyes, to drown herself in alcohol and violence.

Work itself was a nightmare. Everyday she hoped to see Lena at Catco, but everyday she was disappointed. It seemed that Catco's new boss was making herself scarce, and only Kara knew why.

---

After another workday came and went without a word from Lena, Kara walked to an alley next to the building and took off her clothes, exposing the suit she wore underneath at all times. She emerged from the alley as Supergirl. When she saw no emergencies requiring her assistance, she immediately went in search of Drogo, a human with a unique talent of procuring alcohol that could inebriate Kara.

She flew to the bar Drogo hid out in and casually strolled through the door. The aliens who frequented the place had grown accustomed to her presence, and a delicate understanding was formed. She wanted to get wasted, and as long as they didn't do anything shady, she had no reason to harm them.

"Supergirl, you look enchanting this evening." Drogo smirked at her from his corner booth, his table covered in strange items he had come to sell to the bar's clientele.

"What do you have for me?" she asked, impatiently. She desperately wanted to sink into the buzzing nothingness of intoxication.

"Ah, so not up for a conversation, eh? I'm rather delightful, you know." He grinned, "and handsome". Kara rolled her eyes, and gestured at the table.

"Okay, okay," he said, reaching across the table for a vial of glowing blue liquid before handing it to her. Drogo never took payment from her, and only asked for one favour in return, still to be determined. Kara had taken the deal, not caring about the consequences.

"What is it?" she asked, her hands closing around the vial.

"Remember my policy? No questions, Supergirl. Take it or leave it. Just know, it'll get you wasted."

Kara shrugged, popped off the cork and threw back the liquid. It burned going down her throat and almost immediately, she felt a mellow buzz settle over her mind. Her limbs felt loose and she smiled. She stationed herself at one of the booths, ready to get comfortable with greasy bar food when Alex's voice buzzed in her ears.

"Kara, there's a situation at the Folio Building. Looks like an alien picking a fight with drunk college kids."

Kara stood up, praying to Rao that she wouldn't fall over.

"I'm on it" she slurred into the receiver. She walked out of the bar slowly, her vision a blur, cursing Drogo for not warning her that this one was the most potent she had ever had. Every step felt like she was moving through water and she had to constantly force herself to focus on the present. She took off in the general direction of the Folio building, a known hang out spot for college kids. Flying while drunk was a strange experience, and Kara was secretly glad that there wasn't much in the way of traffic in the air.

Once she reached the area, it didn't take her long to find the commotion. A group of drunk people stood on the sidewalk, cowering away from a kid with flames in his hands. The kid laughed manically and threw columns of flames wildly.

Kara squinted, trying to focus her vision and saw that the flames emanated from a pair of gloves and that the kid was human. She groaned. She would need to speak to Drogo, to find out how all this dangerous alien tech was falling into the hands of college kids.

She flew down and landed in front of the kid, losing her balance slightly.

The kid smiled at her.

"Lex told me to expect you, Supergirl. You're even prettier in person so I'm really sorry to have to do this."

The flames in his hands went out and he pulled out a gun with a glowing green chamber. Kara recoiled. Kryptonite.

So Lex Luthor was getting college kids to do his dirty work now?

Kara didn't know why he was suddenly so desperate to kill her, but she knew she'd have to deal with Lex. He was becoming too troublesome and she was concerned. Not for her own safety, but for Lena's. She knew that he would use anyone to as a means to an end. Even his own sister.

Lena, Kara thought, stupid Lena. Those stupid blue-green eyes. Those stupidly soft lips. Kara's mind drifted away from the confrontation at hand, all thanks to the magical liquid Drogo had given her. She could barely focus on her surroundings.

She was suddenly brought back to reality by a stinging pain on her palm, and she looked down to see that the kid had shot her with a kryptonite bullet. Luckily, it only grazed her palm, but it made her angry. She lunged at him, grabbing a glove and ripping it off his hands. His eyes widened in fear and he tried to shoot at her again. She moved out of the way just in time and tried to grab the gun. She lost her footing, and tumbled to the ground, taking the kid with her. She heard another bang, and saw a glowing crater just next to her head. He had barely missed this time.

Suddenly, the kid was pulled off her by an angry Alex. Alex disarmed him quickly and placed him in cuffs before turning her furious glare onto Kara.

"Are you drunk?" she demanded. "There is a live feed of you falling over your own feet all over the internet!" Kara's ears buzzed and she knew that if she opened her mouth now, she'd be sick. Alex scoffed at her, and pulled her up to her feet.

"I wanna go home," she slurred, pushing Alex away.

"We're going to the DEO. What the hell is wrong with you?' Alex hissed.

Kara stopped fighting Alex and silently followed her to the black vehicle parked across the street, ignoring the murmuring crowds. She entered the vehicle and closed her eyes.

"What in the hell were you thinking, Kara? Firstly, since when do you get drunk? How do you even get drunk? Secondly, why the hell would you get drunk and try to fight? You should have said something!"

Alex was furious, and she paced across her office in long strides, only stopping to glare at Kara.

"Thirdly," Kara murmured.

"What?"

"You asked three questions. So you should have said 'thirdly'". She smirked at Alex.

Alex stopped and groaned, running a hand over her face.

"Look, I know that Lena was your best friend and her finding out wasn't...ideal. But Kara, you have to get through this. You can't go putting yourself in danger! You and Lena will make up and you'll be friends again. Just give it time, okay?"

If only Alex knew what had transpired between Kara and Lena. How Kara had inadvertently broke Lena's heart, how Lena Luthor was not one to forgive. She wanted to tell Alex but knew that it would only complicate things.

"I know," Kara said, faking a small smile, "I'm sorry. I won't do it again, Alex".

Alex sighed.

"Fine. But we're not done talking about this. Get some rest"

Kara nodded and Alex left the room, satisfied. Kara lay down on Alex's couch and closed her eyes.

As the alcohol wore off, all she could see were piercing blue eyes and the tears in them.

That weekend, Kara saw Lena across the room at a Catco event. Lena was forced to be present as the media was there, and they wanted the new CEO to give a speech on Catco's new directions.

Kara hadn't intended to run into Lena but then their eyes locked from across the room, and Kara's world stopped. She felt a surge of emotions - hope, love, fear, and regret - all flooding through her at once. The only thing she could see was Lena, in her exquisite gown. For a moment, Lena's professional demeanour dropped and Kara could see the pain on her features. But just as quickly, Lena's eyes flicked away from her, as if she wasn't even there. The rejection was like a punch in the gut, and Kara felt her heart break all over again.

She turned around to leave when an explosion rocked through the room, sending glass flying everywhere. Kara took cover behind a pillar, and ripped off her clothes to expose her suit. She rounded the corner to the source of the explosion and froze.

Lex Luthor stood there, his long coat flapping in the wind. In his hands he had a gun, and it was pointed at Lena Luthor's head.

Kara saw the fear in Lena's eyes and tried to reach them, but Lex stopped her by cocking the gun.

"Nuh uh, Supergirl. Don't come near me unless you want to see your bestie's brain all over the floor." He leaned towards Lena and planted a sloppy kiss on her forehead, "Sorry, sis. I really don't want to kill you so let's hope that your friend is smart."

Fear, anger, and desperation flooded Kara's system, causing her to feel paralyzed for a moment. But then, a sense of determination took over. Lena was all that mattered and she had to do whatever necessary to keep her safe.

"What do you want, Lex?" she asked, her voice determined.

"Oh, nothing much, really," he smiled, "just something small. I want you to try out your present! But first, everyone get out!"

He shouted at the crowd and in their terror, they reacted immediately, clearing out the room.

Lex laughed and pointed at a contraption standing near the broken windows. A pod, big enough to fit Supergirl.

"Go on," he said, eyes manically wide, "get in."

Kara knew that the pod was probably lined with Kryptonite but she had no choice. She took a step towards it.

"Kara, don't!" Lena shouted, and for a moment, Kara's heart leapt. Hearing her name fall from Lena's lips after all this time was magical, even if they were in a perilous situation, "Let him shoot me. Get out of here, please!"

Lex pressed the gun into Lena's temple angrily, causing Lena to cry out.

"Tut tut, sister," he sneered, "you wouldn't want your brother's plans to go awry now, would you? We Luthors have to stick together."

He pressed the gun harder into Lena's temple and Kara heard Lena gasp in pain.

"Stop it, Lex," Kara said, her voice even, "I'll do what you want. Just let her go."

Lex smiled, pulling the gun away from Lena but still keeping it trained on her.

"Who knew," he laughed, "that you would be the key to killing Supergirl, Lena?"

"You bastard," Lena spat, "You'd better kill me because if you do anything to her, I will hunt you down for the rest of my life."

Lena's threats were unnecessary as Kara had already stepped towards the pod. She turned to look at Lena. She knew that Lex was capable of killing Lena to cause her pain, and she couldn't let that happen. With a heavy heart, she stepped into the pod.

Lena screamed out for her, anguish clouding her features, but Kara ignored her pleas.

Lex Luthor stood smugly outside the pod, holding a remote control in his other hand. As the glass sealed over Kara, could only bring herself to utter one word, "Lena". She hoped that Lena knew what she meant- I'm sorry. I love you.

Kara felt the cold metal of the kryptonite pod against her skin. She closed her eyes, waiting for its inevitable finality. "Supergirl is about to become a bit different," Lex sneered, before pressing a button on the remote.

Kara braced herself for the familiar pain that always accompanied exposure to the green mineral. But to her surprise, the kryptonite begin to glow red instead of green, and a wave of confusion washed over her. She realized that this was Lex's plan all along - to use red Kryptonite. Kara would turn against herself and all that she loved. She would turn into a monster. It was worse than death.

Kara's heart raced as she felt a dark energy coursing through her veins, her thoughts became clouded with anger and aggression. She felt herself losing control, the darkness taking over her mind and body. She tried to fight it, to hold onto the goodness and light that have always defined her, but it was like grasping at smoke.

Through the haze of her rage, Kara caught a glimpse of Lena's face, and her heart ached with a sudden sense of loss. She knew she had to fight this, to break free of Lex's grasp and protect the woman she loved from his manipulations. But in that moment, it felt like an impossible task. The darkness threatened to consume her completely, and as she slipped nto it, Kara wondered if she'll ever be able to find her way back to the light.

But in that darkness, she saw something - a pair of piercing blue-green eyes.

Lena.

And she memorised it, an anchor to help her find her way back.

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