Chapter Text
The pain of betrayal certainly wasn’t anything new to Kara.
It was a feeling she had been growing more and more accustomed to since she became Supergirl. First with Alex, then her aunt, and her parents. Every lie uncovered brought another sharp stake to her heart, a little bit more of the weight in her chest. Mon-El said she had the weight of the worlds on her shoulders, and he was right. She held the guilt of all the wrong things her family had done deep within her, along with the responsibility to protect the earth and the burden of being the last true child of Krypton, the last heir of the House of El, the last one to remember home and the light of Rao.
But the fresh burning in her chest that came with Lena helping Lillian was a lot harder to swallow.
“Don’t do it, Lena,” Kara said with all the hero authority the suit gave her, as she landed in front of the two women, but deep down she was pleading for Lena to listen.
Lena who she held in such high regards. Lena whom she thought of as a friend. Lena in whom she believed. Lena who she knew was good and kind and so unlike her family. Lena whom Kara hurt as Supergirl. Kara could still see the pain and sadness that had been in Lena’s eyes as she instructed Supergirl to leave her office, it was the same emotion reflected in Lena’s eyes now as she held the key in her hand.
“Why not? I’m a Luthor,” Lena said defiantly, but Kara could hear how her voice trembled with resignation. With a flick of her hand, Lena turned the key and launched the rocket.
Kara had no time to feel bad now. She had a missile to catch.
She cleared her mind of all her mundane problems and focused on catching her target. It was like quidditch all over again, like that time with Indigo’s missile; this time she knew she could do it. This was easier; there was no code to punch in.
“Gotcha!” She breathed with a small smile as her hands made contact.
Catching it, however, didn’t do much. It exploded in her hands, propelling her down with the force. She managed to catch herself before hitting the street and launched herself towards the port just in time to see Henshaw standing over a fallen J’onn.
“You may be an alien, but I’m cyborg superman,” he roared.
Kara knocked him down before he could even realize she was near. The floor cracked with the impact and she stood back up, looking down at his limp body. “You may be a cyborg, but you’re no superman.” In different circumstances, she knew Winn would be laughing in her com and praising her comeback. She saw the light of his cyborg's eye fade off and looked away.
Her heart clenched at the sight of J’onn, standing up proudly as he waited for his death. The glowing orange flakes falling over the city like rain, or party confetti, of death.
She thought of all the aliens that lived in National City, her friends. J’onn, M’gann, the clients of the dive bar, Brian, the giggling girl that sent her and Mon-El the drinks the resulted in her first ever hangover, all the families that took up National City as a refuge, the children…
Yet nothing happened.
Kara let out a small sigh, full of hope and confusion as J’onn stood there looking around at the air. The flakes started to dissipate. When she heard the police sirens, her heart swelled with relief.
She walked over to J’onn, the police cars filling the port behind them. “You’re okay,” she said to him, still a little airy, still a little confused. It was almost a question.
J’onn nodded. “We all are.”
Kara let out another sigh.
They both looked to where Henshaw had been only a few seconds before.
“He is gone,” J’onn groaned.
Kara looked around again, catching sight of mother and daughter where they stood. She watched as a tall and mean looking man cuffed and manhandled Lillian Luthor towards a police car. Kara’s heart clenched when she saw Lena, face void of emotion but heart slamming loudly and violently against her ribcage, Kara could see how her lips started trembling before she bit them from the inside.
She turned to J’onn. “Do you need me at the DEO right now?” He looked at her with a frown and caught a glimpse of Lena from over her shoulders. “I need to be with a friend,” she added.
“You did your job, Supergirl. You deserve the rest of the night off.” He smiled at her. “Come in tomorrow morning for debriefing.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you,” she said before turning to look at Lena one last time, their eyes met for a brief second, but Lena clenched her jaw and looked away before Kara cold even try for an apologetic smile at her. “Well, here goes to nothing,” she mumbled to herself as she took off into the sky.
Going from Kara to Supergirl was easy, but Supergirl to Kara after an entire day working at the DEO took some maintenance. She flew to her apartment at super-speed, careful not to break the sound barrier… again. J’onn had not been happy the last time, the DEO had to pay for the new glasses of an entire block. ‘Superhero Damage Control’ wasn’t her favorite seminar even with Pam from HR getting her twelve donuts with pink icing and sprinkles.
Kara hardly landed on her apartment, already flipping around to get a change of clothes and shove them in her bag without even touching the floor. And she was gone again.
She landed a few streets away from the port, where a portable bathroom so conveniently stood and changed her clothes inside, folding her suit carefully and placing it on her bag all under a second. In human clothes and her suit hidden away and not on her body, Kara ran at human speed towards the commotion.
Not much had happened since she left. Police officers filled the open space collecting evidence and taking pictures all around, the lights flashing on top of the cars made everything have an eerie blue color with a hint of red. Lillian Luthor was sitting at the back of a police car, looking ruefully at her daughter, while Lena tried to ignore her mother as a police officer talked to her. Kara waited until the officer turned away from Lena to make herself known.
“Lena!” She called out from a few feet away, half-jogging towards the woman.
Lena frowned as she turned around. “Kara?” She didn’t move, waiting for Kara to get closer to her. “What are you doing here?”
“I, uhm… I have a police scanner,” she lied lamely, and it sounded more like a question.
“Ah,” Lena nodded with a bitter smile. “Supergirl told you,” she deduced. “Came to report on the new evil Luthor being arrested? Do you want an exclusive interv-” But Lena didn’t get to finish her sentence.
Kara threw herself at Lena, wrapping both arms around her and catching Lena by surprise. “I came for you,” she whispered next to Lena’s ear.
Lena was stiff at first, hard as a rock, uncomfortably stiff, but at Kara’s words and the hot breath against her skin, she slowly relaxed into the embrace, all but collapsing in Kara’s arms. Lena wrapped her arms around Kara, clinging to the girl’s clothes, face buried in Kara’s neck as she tried still to remain at least a little bit composed.
She felt Kara rubbing her back soothingly and it took all of her strength not to sob right there. In the middle of a port full of police officers and her mother. Kara’s body was warm and strong and it made her feel safe, Lena couldn’t remember when was the last time someone hugged her like that but it was definitely the best hug she ever got, the thought of that made her cling to Kara even tighter.
“It’s okay, I got you,” Kara whispered to her, squeezing her shoulders gently.
Lena pulled in a shivering breath and pressed her eyes tightly to will off the tears.
Kara didn’t pull away, only waited until Lena had taken up all the comfort she needed and let her step away when she was ready.
“I’m really sorry,” Kara told Lena, looking into her eyes. “Truly.”
Lena nodded, a pained expression on her face. She swallowed tightly and pulled a smile on her lips, one that didn’t reach her eyes and looked sour. “So where did your superhero buddy run off to? Thought she would like the show.”
Kara bit her lip. “She… thought it would be better to give you some space, she had a feeling you wouldn’t want to talk to her.”
“How considerate of her,” Lena said bitterly. She set her jaw and continued. “Actually, I owe her an apology.”
“You do?”
“I was unfair to her. She told me some things that I didn’t want to hear, and I was rather intransigent,” Lena confessed. “But you’re right, I don’t want to see her right now.”
Kara nodded carefully, her eyes never leaving Lena’s face.
“And you?”
Kara opened her mouth but didn’t find the words. Lena raised an eyebrow, urging Kara on. “I thought you could use a friend,” Kara confessed in a low voice. “I could… do you want me to go?” She held her breath.
“No! You can stay. If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t,” Kara whispered, shaking her head. She gave Lena a small smile and heard the woman’s heart flutter. “I owe you an apology as well.” Lena didn’t say anything. “I lied to you, about the interview.”
“She asked you to look into me?” Lena accused.
“No. I offered to help,” Kara clarified. “Without bringing too much drama.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie.
“You wanted to see what I knew about my mother.”
“Clearly I overestimated my reporting skills and sneakiness,” Kara joked, with a hint of self-deprecation.
“No, you were fine. I’m just…”
“Smarter than me.”
Lena cocked her head. “Your words, not mine.” And there it was, that charming smile Kara was so fond of. It was gone too quickly. “Why did you?”
Kara sighed. “I guess I didn’t want you to think I didn’t trust you, that I was accusing you of being…” She trailed off, not sure if she should continue.
“Like them,” Lena finished for her, and for the first time since they parted their hug, Kara looked away from Lena’s face, looking sheepishly down to her feet.
“I do trust you, Lena,” Kara told her. “I know you are good, better.” She looked up again, hesitant. She was afraid of how Lena would react, but the woman’s face seemed to be relaxing. She continued carefully. “That you want to make up for what they did.”
“Well,” Lena sighed dramatically, “I suppose if I really was evil, I probably wouldn’t confess everything to a reporter. No matter how cute she is,” she teased.
Kara laughed. “I was hoping I could convince you with a nice smile.”
Lena smiled again, and it almost made Kara sigh in relief. “I like to think I wouldn’t fall for that, but it is a very pretty smile.”
“If it didn’t work I could just pout.”
“Now that’s playing dirty.”
Kara giggled. She watched as Lena’s smile faded when her eyes met her mother’s and her own face fell back to seriousness. “What you did was really brave.”
“It was the right thing to do,” Lena brushed it off, with a small shrug of her shoulders.
“Yes! But doing what’s right is not always easy, nor is standing up against our family. It takes a lot of courage to do so.” Kara refused to let Lena’s heroism be undermined, even by Lena herself. “You saved a lot of innocent lives today. That’s the work of a hero.”
Lena shifted on her feet, a little uncomfortable.
“I, for one, am very grateful for what you did,” Kara continued. “I have friends who would have died today, but you stopped that from happening. You saved them. So, thank you,” she said seriously, looking Lena in the eyes again. Her lips trembled and she pressed them together to stop the crying pout she knew she made.
Lena only nodded, quietly, and looked over to the car where her mother was in. The police officers were getting ready to move her.
“Do you wanna… say goodbye?” Kara asked hesitantly.
Lena shook her head no. “She probably hates me right now.” She shrugged. “I guess there really isn’t such a thing as a good Luthor.”
“Well, there’s you. I think you are good enough to compensate for all the bad that they’ve done.”
“Yeah, well, I’m adopted.” Lena let out a dry laugh and Kara looked at her sadly.
“Can I take you home?” Kara offered.
Lena gave her a small smile. “That would be nice.”
Kara smiled back at Lena and they started walking, side by side, towards the street.
“The car I came in is evidence now, so it’d be hard getting home.”
Kara tried not to laugh at Lena’s joke, but she ended up giggling a little. From the corner of her eye, she saw Lena bit back a smile.
When they reached the sidewalk, however, Kara froze. “Okay… I guess there might be a big flaw in my plan,” she told Lena, biting her bottom lip slightly.
“What?”
“I don’t really have a car… And I can’t drive.” Kara blushed, hand flying up to fiddle with her glasses.
Lena laughed. “It’s the thought that counts, right?”
“I hope so.” Kara shrugged and gave Lena a tentative smile.
“It’s okay,” Lena was about to tell Kara that she could just call a car, but Kara interrupted her, by blurting out her thought.
“But I could walk you home.” Kara’s voice was edging too much on desperation, and she blushed a little at her hasty tone. “I don’t like the thought of you going home alone… especially after what happened today, and at this time of night, I think you’d be better off with some company.”
Lena was taken aback at Kara’s words; she blinked a few times as she looked at the kind eyes behind those cute glasses before she composed herself again. “How chivalrous of you,” she teased.
Kara laughed. “Well, lead the way, my lady.” She offered her arm to Lena, hoping Lena would let her keep her company at least for a while longer.
Lena grinned as she took Kara’s arm in hers and they started walking again. “Lady Luthor,” Lena tested. “Has a nice ring to it.”
Kara agreed with a hum and a nod. “And it fits in that alliteration your family is so fond of.”
Lena laughed loudly. “It is a little ridiculous.”
Kara smiled at Lena as the woman laughed. It was a beautiful sight, one she had feared she wouldn’t get to see again, at least not because of her. Once more that night, relief filled her chest, seeping into her lungs and making her breathe that much better.
They walked for a few streets, Lena never once complaining about walking so much in her expensive stilettos, before a thought crossed Kara. She realized she never really said it.
“You know, you’re kind of my hero,” Kara said, nudging Lena with her linked arm.
Lena smiled and shook her head, the little laugh under her breath was like a melody for Kara.
Lena smirked at Kara. “Are you trying to flirt with me, Miss Danvers?” Lena teased.
Kara laughed. “Not right now.” She grinned.
“Some other time them,” Lena said softly as she squeezed Kara’s arm.
-------
Lena led them to the high-end part of town, to a neighborhood Kara was sure no one who made less than a million a week could live in. Winn once called it CEO lane when she helped a little girl from being run over by a sports car, back in the earlier days of Supergirl. The girl’s father tried to pay her for saving his daughter and Winn didn’t talk to Kara for two entire hours after she refused the check.
They stopped right in front of a building with a tasteful glass entrance and a big reception desk.
“Well this is me,” Lena said with a sigh, turning to look at Kara. “Thank you for walking me home, Kara. I appreciate the gesture, and the company is not half bad either.” She grinned at Kara, raising her left eyebrow quickly, in a lighthearted manner.
Kara nodded. “The pleasure was all mine. You’re always great company, Lena.”
Lena wavered, as if she wanted to go but didn’t want to leave. She bit her lower lip and eyed Kara a little apprehensive, her heart beating loudly in her chest. “Do you want to come up for a cup of tea?”
Kara smiled. “Of course, I would love to.”
Lena’s smile was almost blinding. “Great! Come.” Lena grabbed Kara’s hand and tugged her inside the building.
“Good evening, Ms. Luthor,” the man behind the reception desk greeted with a smile.
Lena threw a warm smile at him. “Good evening, Marcus. Can I get my extra key? I left my purse in the office.”
“Again.” The man laughed as he pulled a little black plastic tag the size of his thumb from one of the many drawers on his desk. “Honestly, Ms. Luthor, I don’t know what you’d do without me,” he joked, handing Lena the round little tag.
Lena grinned back at the man, waving the tag on her finger by the keyring. “Probably be living on the streets.”
“I don’t doubt that Ms. Luthor,” Marcus laughed. “And who is this beautiful lady?” He asked as his eyes set on Kara; his tone was suggestive as was the look he threw at Lena.
Kara felt herself flushing, but she saw as Lena rolled her eyes.
“I-I’m Kara Danvers,” Kara said, wavering only a little.
Marcus grinned at Lena, who only scoffed. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Danvers.”
Kara smiled her bright smile and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you too…” Kara trailed off.
“Marcus.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Marcus.”
Lena tried not to scoff again. “Come on, Kara. I’m dying to take these heels off,” Lena almost whined. She tugged at Kara’s hand again, leading her towards the elevators.
“Nice meeting you, Ms. Danvers. Looking forward to seeing you again,” he called after them, a hint of laughter in his voice.
Lena pulled a confused Kara into an elevator and let go of her hand, a contact they both missed immediately.
Lena pressed the little tag against a panel and the buttons lip up. “Ignore him,” she said with a little shake of her head as she pressed a button. “He likes to tease my dates,” she explained dismissively, looking back at Kara.
Kara’s breath caught in her throat, she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, she was about to start sputtering when Lena continued.
“He must think you’re my date.”
“Oh,” Kara breathed out, trying to regain her composure. “There are worse things to be thought of.” She grinned at Lena, but her blush was still evident.
Lena laughed. “Who would have thought,” she said with amusement. “Kara Danvers, mild-mannered reporter, is a smooth talker.” She laughed a little.
“Well, definitely not my sister,” Kara said with a shrug, which only made Lena laugh harder.
When the elevator door opened, Kara was expecting a hallway, and maybe a few very large doors, like on Cat’s building, but instead she was met with a large canvas of an abstract painting.
Lena stepped out and opened a closet. “Do you mind taking off your shoes?” She asked as she discarded her own shoes and nudged them inside the closet.
When Kara didn’t answer, Lena turned around to find Kara staring at the painting with her mouth hanging open.
“Kara?”
Kara blinked. “Yes?”
“Your shoes.”
“Oh. Right.” Kara kicked her shoes off and nudged them to the closet.
“Is… is that…?” Kara couldn’t formulate a question.
But Lena knew what she was asking. “A real Kandinsky?” She concluded as she took off her jacket. She hung it in the closet and held out her hand, waiting for Kara’s jacket. “Yes,” Lena finally said as she closed the closet. “It is.”
Kara gasped. “This is… Dreamy, from his Improvisations series. 1913.”
Lena smiled at Kara. “Don’t you know your art?”
Kara nodded, without taking her eyes from the canvas. “I love art. I minored in it in college.”
“Oh! That’s great!” Lena beamed at Kara, even though the blonde didn’t spare her a look. “I can give you two some time,” she teased.
Kara blushed and looked at Lena. “No, no. That won’t… That won’t be necessary.”
Lena laughed.
“I’m here to keep you company, not the painting,” Kara told her with a decisive tone. Her ears picked up the flutter in Lena’s heartbeat, which combined with Lena’s smile, had her chest tightening a little bit.
“You’re sure you’re not flirting?” Lena teased.
Kara laughed, blushing a little bit.
“Come, I promised tea.”
Lena led Kara out of the foyer and into the living room. “You do like tea, right?” Lena asked, crossing the long island that separated the living room from the kitchen. “I didn’t even ask.”
“Well, I did agree to tea, didn’t I?” Kara stayed on the other side of the counter, leaning her elbows on the cold marble.
Lena smiled. “Somehow I get the feeling you’re someone who would accept to drink something you don’t like just to be nice.”
Kara laughed with a little blush and raised a hand to her glasses. “You’re right,” she admitted, and Lena’s laughter boomed. “But I do like tea.”
When Lena turned around to turn on a kettle, Kara allowed herself to look around. She was used to Cat’s two homes in the city, but none of them looked like Lena’s. The penthouse looked like a decorative showroom for the rich and famous, or something out of a Netflix series; everything looked like it was too expensive for Kara to even be looking at, and so big. There was a set of stairs across from the entrance foyer, indicating that it had at least two floors, and if the top floor was as big as the lower one… There was even a piano close to the window wall.
Kara was admiring the view the wide glass wall and high altitude provided when Lena turned back and noticed Kara’s dazed look.
“Kara? What is it?”
Kara blinked a few times, focusing back on Lena.
“It’s just… your place is really big,” Kara half whispered.
Lena laughed. “Well I am rich,” she joked. “After living most of your life in a mansion, you kind of get used to large spaces.” She shrugged and ran her hands on the marble counter.
“It’s a really beautiful home.”
Lena smiled. “Thank you.”
“And the view is amazing,” Kara continued.
“Yes, it’s part of why I bought this. It’s a little ironic, really, for someone who’s afraid of heights to live at the top of one of the highest buildings of the city.”
“Or brave,” Kara teased.
Lena shook her head. “Brave would be if I could actually walk to the window and look down without picturing the many ways I could fall to my death.” Lena didn’t even attempt to use a humorous tone.
“I’m sure Supergirl wouldn’t let you get to the floor,” Kara told her solemnly.
It felt like a promise.
It was a promise.
Kara would never let anything hurt Lena, even if Lena wasn’t on good terms with one or both of her personas.
The air was heavy now, with the unspoken truths, the weight of secrets, the toll of the long day they both had; neither of them spoke.
The silence was only broken with the whistle of the kettle.
Lena shook herself out of their stupor and turned again. “How do you like your tea?”
“With sugar.”
“Milk?”
“No, thank you.”
As Lena set on making their tea, Kara’s phone vibrated with a text notification.
Kara locked her phone just in time to see Lena placing two mugs on the counter.
“I was thinking we could go up to the lounge,” Lena told Kara. “It’s more comfortable there.”
Kara agreed and they gathered their mugs and made to the stairs.
“I’m convinced you’re just trying to show off your house,” Kara joked when they reached the second floor.
“I am.” Lena winked.
Lena’s lounge was actually bigger than Kara’s entire apartment, and Kara didn’t know why she even bothered to be surprised; Lena was, after all, the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company.
They sat on one of the ridiculously expensive couches and turned a little to face each other. Lena with her legs folded tucked underneath her, and Kara with one leg crossed and tucked under the other one.
“Thank you, Kara,” Lena said softly. “For staying. It means a lot to me.”
Kara beamed at her. “I’m glad. I only want to help you, Lena.”
“You’ve done nothing but help since I met you, Kara.” Lena’s smile was kind and she looked a lot more relaxed than Kara had ever seen her. “Even when we don’t agree on things, you still hang around and try to see my point of view, which, admittedly, is a lot more than most people have done for me.”
“You’re my friend, Lena,” Kara said as if that was all the explanation Lena needed.
“You’d be surprised how little that word means when you’re a Luthor,” Lena said with a deprecating laugh. Instead of saying anything else, Lena took a sip of her tea.
“Okay,” Kara said with a sigh. “We can talk about it, we can talk about something else, we could not talk at all…”
“Is your plan to distract me, Ms. Danvers?” Lena’s left eyebrow raised again. Kara had mixed feelings about that eyebrow.
“Just trying to help you feel better,” Kara said solemnly. “However way works.”
“You sure are dedicated,” Lena teased.
Kara smiled and nodded. “The correct term is stubborn.”
Lena laughed. Kara took a sip from her tea and the heat made her glasses foggy. Lena chuckled and Kara blushed.
“Don’t laugh,” Kara whined. “This is a very serious struggle.”
Lena pursed her lips to stop her laughing. “Of course it is. Very hard. Daily struggle.”
“Exactly.” Kara tried drinking again and it only got worse, she pulled it back, but her glasses wouldn’t clear up on their own.
“Entirely too adorable,” Lena said softly, and Kara blushed a little darker. “You know, if you would just take off your glasses, this would be a lot easier,” Lena offered.
“No!” Kara gasped. “I mean… I, I prefer being able to see well,” she lied lamely.
Lena shrugged. “It’s your decision.”
Kara blew on the tea with a little hint icy breath to stop it from fogging. “This is really good,” she said after managing to take a sip properly.
“Glad you like it.”
“Okay,” Kara started. “You had a long day today.”
Lena let out a snigger. “That’s an understatement.”
“A very not great day.”
“Wow, you are so perceptive, Kara. No wonder you’re such a great journalist.”
Kara ignored the sarcasm and continued. “Whenever I have a long and not so great day, my sister and watch a movie and eat take out. It’s something we’ve done since I was first adopted,” Kara explained. If Lena was surprised by the new information, she didn’t show it. “It always makes me feel better. Even it just for the time of the movie.”
Lena smiled. “That seems nice.”
“What’s your favorite movie?”
Lena frowned, almost hesitant to say. “Star Wars… Well, Empire.” If Kara knew Lena a little bit better, she would know Lena was bracing herself for a mocking remark.
“Oh! I love Star Wars!” Kara exclaimed. “But my favorite is Force Awakens. I love Rey and Finn, and BB-8 is my favorite droid in any movie ever. He is just so cute!” Kara frowned. “Or it… why gender a robot?” She added under her breath.
“You don’t strike me as someone who likes Star Wars.”
“Alex forced me to watch them. But I really loved them, so it’s all good.”
“Lex and I would play chess together,” Lena said. “He would joke saying he regretted teaching me how to play, as he was always trying and failing to beat me since the first time.”
Kara laughed softly. “Alex hated playing chess with me.”
“Why’s that?”
Kara shrugged. “I’d get too distracted and ruin the game,” she said dismissively. “Or win.” She grinned.
“Some people just don’t know how to lose,” Lena laughed.
“Yeah. It’s been so long since I last played.” Kara sighed.
“Oh! You know, I was a chess champion back in boarding school… no, forget that, that’s embarrassing.” Lena blushed and squeezed her eyes shut.
“No, no, there’s nothing embarrassing about being very smart,” Kara told her, placing a comforting hand on Lena’s knee. Kara felt the leg jump at the contact and pulled away.
“Well,” Lena said, ignoring her body’s reaction. “Chess champion doesn’t read as very… cool.”
“Well, we were all different people in high school.” Kara shrugged.
“That’s to be expected. I was twelve after all.”
Kara nearly spat her tea and started sputtering as it slid down the wrong pipe. “Twelve years old,” cough “in high school?” cough.
Lena shrugged, sinking a little into the couch, almost as if trying to hide. “Technically I didn’t go to highschool I went to boarding school in England, so I did secondary school. But yes, I was four years early.”
Kara coughed again, loudly. Lena was used to the shock when she told people, she just let Kara process on her own.
“You graduated high school at fourteen?”
Lena bit her lip. “Thirteen actually. It was before my birthday.”
“Wow!” Kara whispered in awe.
“I’m not just a pretty face.” Lena winked.
Kara laughed. “Yeah, that’s quite the understatement.”
“I’m a woman of many talents,” Lena joked in a suggestive tone, raising her eyebrows to add to it.
“I used to tap dance in high school, and I was captain of the scholastic decathlon.”
“Really?” Lena asked with a little bit of surprise, leaning back on the couch with her arm propped on the rest.
Kara shrugged. “I have an eidetic memory.”
“Well, Kara Danvers, you keep surprising me.”
“Surprise good or surprise bad?”
Lena grinned. “Surprise good, Kara. Always.”
“Well, good.” Kara gave her a little shy smile.
“So, are you up to playing chess with a champion?”
Kara perked up. “Definitely.”
“I promise I’ll go easy on you the first time.”
“Oh! You are going down!”
She didn’t. Lena won all 4 times they played, but Kara was a good match for her.
As they played and talked all night, Lena didn’t think of her mother once. Kara’s distraction tactics to make her feel better definitely worked.