Chapter Text
The world is a delicate balance. It only makes sense that when there is more power, the obstacles become greater and harder to counteract.
Today was most definitely one of those obstacles, Kara decided. She loved Alex, but her inner conflict upon being reprimanded for saving lives versus Kara’s own pride for having listened to her heart was agony. She hates this turmoil that has been haunting her ever since Alex stormed out of the apartment.
Pulling out her phone, she dials the only number she can think of. The one number that she shouldn’t call, because it could go even worse than the confrontation with Alex had. It is also the first number she ever committed to memory.
“Hello?” a sweet voice answers. The voice which has become her solace, her anchor in the past few years. Although the premise was an accident, Kara liked to believe that it was by the will of Rao that she had met such an amazing person.
“Hey Lena…”Kara greets, scratching the back of her neck. She doesn’t bother identifying herself, because she knows from experience that Lena Luthor does not answer regular phone calls like that. Kara feels the fluttering of her stomach, the nagging thought that perhaps she was bothering the busy woman, and most of all, the sadness of the day washing over her.
Lena lets out a heavy sigh and Kara hears her pen click as she puts down her work. It's impossible to get anything done with an anxious Kara on the other end of the phone. “What’s wrong? I know that tone.” Just the sound of Lena’s voice has Kara’s shoulders relaxing.
“No-.. Well it’s just that I-. Am I bothering you? Were you working on something when I called? Because I can call back-”. Kara rambles nervously, stumbling over her words. She might be a hero all over the news without even trying nor thinking about it, but when it comes to Lena Luthor, she’s reduced to the astonishingly sensitive person she is inside. Her mind fills with doubt. Kara certainly doesn’t want to be a bother to Lena. By now she is pacing back and forth in her apartment, her wet hair still plastered to her face.
“Well you’re already bothering me now, so out with it”,Lena answers surprisingly softly. It is the tone that tips Kara off. Lena isn’t usually so gentle with her. Despite their connection, Lena has always maintained a distance, a wall of sorts.
“You know already”,Kara breathes out. It’s not a question, it’s an acknowledgement. A few minutes ago she was ecstatic about every single person that was finding out about her existence. What could be better than being known for saving people? Her purpose here is to protect.
“Well, I would be bad at my job if I didn’t pay attention to the news”,Lena replies snarkily. She pauses, and Kara gets the feeling that perhaps Lena’s giving her a chance to say her piece.
Plopping onto her couch, Kara considers the consequences. Her relationship with Lena and Alex were on the line. In fact, her relationship with Alex was already blowing up. Lena may seem purely cunning on the outside, but in truth it was her emotions that made her so much more of a wild card.
“Lena, I want to protect more people with what I can do.”
The silence that follows terrifies Kara more than any words that Alex could ever hurl at her. Finally, Lena speaks up. “Nobody can stop you from following your heart. That’s how we got here isn’t it?”
It is as much of an encouragement as Kara will ever get. The words wouldn’t be of encouragement at all to anyone else. Yet, they make Kara’s heart soar. Not able to stop the grin that plasters itself on her face, Kara’s last seed of doubt is plucked out of her heart. “Thank you, Lena.”
“Just make sure not to endanger our...arrangement”,Lena reminds before the phone beeps, letting Kara know she has just been hung up on. The way Lena paused before the last word wrenches at Kara’s heart. The truth was that she wished it wasn’t just an arrangement for convenience. Well, it was only for Lena’s convenience. Kara on the other hand? She had an awful time hiding the truth. She is in love with Lena Luthor. It was just too bad Lena would never love her back. Yes, she was begrudgingly married to Kara, and she was nice, perhaps even a good friend on one of the better days, but returning Kara’s type of love was something she just couldn’t do.
Three Years Ago
Perhaps it was Kara’s extra sensitivity to light and sounds, but the bright neon of the Las Vegas strip was too much for her head. It was ironic that in the wildest part of America, Kara Danvers (the Alien) was the one that felt out of place. It was currently close to 4am and there were still throngs of people at the clubs lining the streets. Groups of friends laughed and drank until their faces were red.
Kara Danvers however, was alone. After finding out it was her 21st birthday, her friends had dragged her onto a road trip. They had only meant well, and Kara didn’t have it in her heart to refuse. That’s how she ended up here, having already made sure that her all-too-drunk friends were back in their hotel rooms, there was nothing better for her to do. This was one of those instances where she wished she could get drunk as well.
Stuck in her thoughts, Kara doesn’t notice the woman approaching her until she hears a sultry, “Hey there, sexy.” Her head snaps up to see a beautiful woman wearing a dress that hugged her curves tighter than anything else Kara had ever seen before. Kara’s blue eyes go wider than saucers.
Seeing her expression, the woman throws her head back in a beautiful, crisp laugh. Her neck muscles tense in a way that has Kara’s face flushing. “Sorry. I don’t usually come on that strong. You are really pretty though”,the woman corrects, licking her cherry red lips and letting her eyes roam down to Kara’s lips and back up to her eyes. The action makes it clear that she had meant every word of her first greeting.
Heels click as she steps forward and holds out her hand for a handshake. Lavender perfume floods Kara’s super sensitive nostrils in a way that makes her nose flare. “I- I-.... hi!” Kara manages to squeak out as she grasps the beautiful woman’s hand. At the last second before their hands meet, the tiny bit of Kara’s brain that still functions screeches a warning to NOT crush this gorgeous new acquaintance’s hand, and she just manages to tamper it down to an acceptable amount of strength.
“Lena Luthor. What do you say we go for some drinks? I’ll pay” The smirk on Lena’s face screams that she knows exactly what she is doing to Kara.
Although Kara is quite honored to be asked out by Lena, there are two problems. One, she can’t get drunk and Lena is obviously tipsy by the way her cheeks are flushed and her breath smells of alcohol (which mixes surprisingly well with lavender). Second, she’s a Luthor, a relative of her cousin’s sworn enemy. That’s got to be breaking some sort of moral code.
Then Lena steps even closer, looking at Kara from underneath her eyelashes and smiles apologetically. “Sorry… it doesn’t have to be alcoholic drinks you know. I’d love to get to know you over a cup of coffee.” With that, Kara’s inhibitions are thrown out the window. Nobody who was trying to get anything out of her would give up the opportunity to get her drunk that easily.
“I- Yeah, sure.” Lena’s grin makes Kara’s leap of faith worth it. Their hands connect, and Kara can feel the warmth of Lena’s palm as Lena tugs her through the crowd. Every once in a while Lena turns back to make sure Kara is okay. They talk about their lives, the little things, the things that almost make Kara sound like a normal person. It’s also the thing that makes Kara herself. And Lena… Lena is just another lonely girl.
Around the fifth time turning around, Lena bites her lip as she looks at Kara as if considering something. It makes it difficult for Kara’s eyes not to gravitate there.
The next time, Lena does it again, less subtly, and she giggles as Kara’s eyes glue to her lips. She steps back towards Kara, leaning in so that they are only a breadth away from each other. “If you want to kiss me, then you should do it”,Lena says, her eyes showing a fiery type of determination.
It lights Kara’s kryptonian blood on fire. When their lips meet, Kara feels better than flying, she feels like she has the whole world within her grasp. She pulls away, in awe of what she just did. The one green and one blue eye that reflects back at her is like staring at the world, the world that she had studied from Krypton, preparing to protect Kal-El.
Lena steps away and tugs on her hand, a carefree grin on her face. She keeps turning around and Kara readily steps into her arms to kiss her, only for Lena to pull away and playfully run forward. Kara gives chase rather willingly. As the daughter of one of the rulers of Krypton, she never got to play around.
It becomes obvious that Lena doesn’t know where the nearest coffee shop is, and maybe isn’t even trying to find one. Kara can’t quite bring herself to care, because her lips are being stained with the cherry color of Lena’s again and again in a dizzying dance, and the way Lena smiles at her has the world slipping away.
So when they stumble into yet another street and come up to a church, light spilling through the beautiful glass panes onto the sidewalk as a mirage of colors, Kara has trouble computing where they are.
Of course, when she realizes, she flushes and glances over at Lena. Lena is already staring at her, with a completely different look from the hungry one when they met. It is of pure wishfulness; the type of wishes that are made in fairytales. Suddenly Kara realizes she’s in love with this woman she met not so long ago, who’s looking at her like she is everything. “Let’s get married.”
Maybe Kara didn’t grow up with fairytales like those on Earth, but there were fairy tales that her father told her on Krypton too. In this moment, Kara wanted to be the knight in shining armor for her damsel of a Princess (Lena certainly wasn’t in distress at this moment with her pink flushed cheeks under the streetlights). Against her better judgement, Kara finds herself nodding.The way Lena’s face lights up is worth every consequence that could possibly come.
So they find a wedding boutique that is miraculously open way too freaking late, and decide on an Earth styled ceremony. Candles light up the aisle as Lena practically glides down it in her white dress. Kara’s breath is taken away.
Just like that, Kara Danvers is married to Lena Luthor.