predicament bondage really is one of the hottest things ever. much to be said about how well it, as a class of bondage, forces the subject(s) to engage actively and in doing so tells the audience a more dynamic story. i feel like every time i see a new predicament bondage piece I'm being shown something unique and wonderful and forced to think about the body in interesting ways. really truly something special.
Midvale, a few weeks post-Phantom Zone. In an attempt to remaster the powers Kara spent months without, she and her two most important people make a road trip home to test her flight.
Or, I just want Kara to be able to fly for the joy of it the way Clark did in Man of Steel.
Read with “Flight” by Hans Zimmer playing. You won’t regret it.
/////
Lena knows the moment Kara emerges from the house up on the ridge. Alex’s eyes flick up, back down, then up again in quick succession. An entirely smug grin alights her face before she pointedly looks back down at her tablet.
“We’re going to have to have a talk about your affinity for making my sister new suits at some point, Luthor,” she says.
Lena feels her face heat up. “No idea what you mean.”
“Sure you don’t.”
Lena scoffs. “She needed a new one,” she hisses at the smirking elder Danvers. “The one she had was wrecked and there was no fixing it.”
“Agreed,” Alex allows, smile growing. “But this is what? The fourth one you’ve made for her?”
“One other! With upgrades!”
“Mmhmm.” Alex types a few more things into the tablet. Pulls out a USB and plugs it into the side. “Sure.”
Lena feels her face go hot. “What are you insinuating, Alex?”
Alex shrugs. “Not insinuating anything,” she says. She glances back up and smiles some more. “Just thinking you’re making a habit of making suits for Kara and I kind of appreciate it.”
At Lena’s questioning look, Alex elaborates. “Winn made her first one,” she says. “And yeah, it did the job, but it was-“ she waves her hand in a so-so gesture, wincing- “not the best. Prone to wardrobe malfunctions.”
Lena snorts. “Patriarchy.”
“Fuck ‘em,” Alex agrees with a playful two finger salute.
After a shared grin with Lena, her eyes travel back to where Kara must have made it down to the beach. “They’ve all protected her, the suits you’ve made,” Alex says. Her voice has gone quiet. Gone is the light teasing. She holds Lena’s eyes for a moment. “And I... can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
Lena’s eyes suddenly mist over, and her throat works against the lump that forms there.
Alex looks pointedly back down at her tablet, where she pulls up a video feed from one of the comm pieces resting on the boulder she’s made her impromptu HQ desk. She clears her throat. “I’ve never made sure you knew that. So. Now I’m telling you.”
Lena absolutely refuses to cry, but fuck if it doesn’t take a Herculean effort. She wrestles with the hot gratitude and affection boiling in her chest as Alex fiddles with the settings on the camera feed.
Alex glances up again, and her smile turns warm in a way Lena knows is reserved only for her sister. “Looking good, sis,” she calls. “Little weird without the cape, though.”
“Thanks! Lena made it!” Kara chirps from behind Lena. “Even has pockets! And yeah, I was going to ask you about that. Is there no cape, Lena?”
She barely dares to turn, but Alex is giving her one hell of a challenging look, and she’s still a Luthor.
And Luthors never back down from a challenge.
She turns her face just enough to look over her shoulder and immediately curses that particular Luthor trait.
Sure, she made the suit. But that in no way prepares her for what it looks like when it’s wrapped around Kara. The dark blue, almost black throws her golden hair, shimmering in the late sun, in sharp relief. The smooth material sweeps over the dips and curves of her shoulders and biceps, the dip in the high collar exposing slightly below the hollow of her throat. She approaches silently on the sand, the soft and supple deep maroon boots smooth and soundless. Lena had left the pants a little loose, a little more comfortable, but that did nothing to hide the muscle that bunches and releases rhythmically as Kara walks across the sand.
And she’s looking quizzically at Lena. Head slightly titled, blue eyes somehow even bluer against the darkness of her suit, the blue and red accents, and the reddish tint of the setting sun.
Lena rips her eyes away from the subtle dips in Kara’s abs and desperately wracks her brain to remember what question was asked of her.
“Cape, Lena?” Alex prompts with a shit eating grin.
“Right,” Lena coughs. She turns fully to meet Kara, hand already pointing to the belt slung diagonally across Kara’s chest. “I figured, since you’re not wanting to be in the limelight just yet, I should make it a bit more understated,” Lena explains. “Did you see the crest on your left shoulder?”
“Yeah,” Kara nods. “I like that it’s so small.”
“Press it.”
Kara’s eyes dance with curiosity, not leaving Lena’s, as she reaches up to press on the tiny S affixed to the dark brown leather.
At the press of Kara’s fingers, the nanites immediately begin to crawl across the suit, gathering and extending down her back and around her chest in a long, deep maroon cloak. Kara lets out a startled sound of delight, swishing the thick material and stroking at it with near reverence.
“More nanites?” Alex smirks.
Lena shrugs, tossing the elder Danvers a smirk of her own. “I mean, I do have an MO at this point. No sense in ditching it.”
“It’s great!” Kara exclaims. She swishes the cloak again, grinning happily. “I can put it away if I want! This would have saved me so many headaches years ago!”
She bounces over to Lena and wraps her up in a warm hug. “Thank you,” she says quietly. Only for Lena. “I love it.”
Lena squeezes her around the back, hands fisting in the material of the cloak, feeling herself flush with happiness. “I’m glad,” she whispers.
“That’s actually a pretty good idea, Lena,” Alex says as they break apart. She’s back at the tablet, tapping and looking over some sort of read out. “She was always complaining how the cape got in the way.”
Lena arches an eyebrow at Kara. “What about your cape tricks?”
Kara grimaces. “Much less useful than I was led to believe.”
Alex snorts. “Understatement of the century,” she mutters. “Okay,” she strides over to a Kara and gently fits a comm around her ear. “That has a GPS and camera built in. We’ll be able to see what you see, know where you are, monitor vitals-“
Kara makes a face. “Wait, if you can track me, couldn’t someone else?”
Lena shakes her head. “The crest has signals built in to interfere with radar. Any signal that’s not Alex’s will get scrambled to cloak you.”
Kara surges forward for another hug, and over her shoulder Lena sees Alex smile with an exasperated shake of her head.
“Always protecting,” she mutters.
“What, Alex?” Kara asks as she lets Lena go and takes a step back.
“Nothing,” Alex says. She inputs a few more commands on the tablet, then looks up at Kara. “So. You ready?”
Lena glances over to Kara for what she thinks will be a quick confirmation.
But in those brief seconds, Kara’s easy smile and eager brightness had darkened.
In the red glow of the sun, she stands with her face tilted upward. She gazes at the sky with unfiltered longing, but her hands are trembling. Her whole being quivers, wound tight like a spring, as if she wants nothing more than to hurl herself up to the clouds. But there’s a tightness in her eyes, something there that just... won’t let her. She just stands there, shaking, looking up with haunted eyes.
Alex reaches out, rests a hand on Kara’s forearm. “Hey,” she murmurs. “You don’t have to do anything crazy. Whatever you’re ready for is all you have to do. The rest will follow.”
Kara nods, but still she hesitates. “But what if- what happens if I can’t- I mean-“
“I caught you floating in your sleep two nights ago,” Lena says gently and Kara’s eyes - desperate, scared eyes - whip to hers. “You can do this. But only if you’re ready to. Okay?”
The near manic desperation in Kara’s eyes cools as they hold each other’s gaze. She squeezes Alex’s hand, takes a breath, and nods resolutely.
“Yeah, yeah,” she mutters, giving her shoulders a shake. “I’m good. I’m okay.”
Alex squeezes her arm, then lets go. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Kara has her eyes on the sky again, gives her shoulders one more fortifying shake. She flexes her hands, rubs them on her pants once. She glances over at Lena and seems to brighten at the reassuring smile Lena gives her.
“Okay,” she breathes. “Here goes nothing.”
She stills, closes her eyes. Breathes in deep, then lets it out slow.
She breathes once more, the tense lines of her face relaxing.
Silently, her feet leave the sand.
Alex reaches over for Lena’s arm and grasps it tightly.
Eyes still closed, Kara rises higher in the air, straight up. She turns in gentle circles as she ascends, up and above the ridge.
Alex is looking over the read-outs on the tablet, eyes darting back and forth with near frantic energy. “Looking good so far, Kara,” she says distractedly. “Vitals are good. You’re at a hundred feet now.”
“Feels good,” comes Kara’s voice through the comms. “I’m not even trying.”
Alex’s smile is so proud Lena wants to cry. “That’s good, kid. That’s so good. Two hundred feet now.”
Alex is still gripping Lena’s arm painfully tight, but she’s rocking up on her toes happily, shooting Lena fervent looks of pure joy.
“Knew you could do it, Kara,” Lena says into her own comms, taking Alex’s hand away from her arm but keeping ahold of it. She squeezes as tight as her own bubbling pride allows.
Kara’s finally in the air. She’s flying. It’s one more step closer to conquering the giant mountain they’ve been climbing since she got back.
“How high now, Alex? I’m not looking.”
Alex glances at the screen, then up towards where Kara is becoming a dark dot among the clouds. “A thousand feet. Still feeling good?”
“Yeah. Really good, actually.”
“Have you opened your eyes yet?” Alex’s voice is teasing.
“No. What if I’m suddenly afraid of heights?” Her voice is childishly whiny, drawing a chuckle out of Alex and Lena.
Lena glances down at the video feed from Kara’s earpiece and has to stop herself from gasping.
“Kara, I think you should open your eyes,” she says slightly breathlessly.
“I’m gonna fall if I do,” comes Kara’s tight reply.
Alex is also staring at the camera feed, watching as the view of the water recedes farther toward the bottom of the screen as Kara rises higher and higher. “Kara, you want to see it,” she says. “Trust us.”
Lena knows the exact moment Kara opens her eyes. There’s a tiny gasp through the comms, and the camera arrests in place. Locked on to the brilliance of the shimmering water, the watercolor of the clouds in the light of the setting sun.
For a moment, Kara hangs motionless in the air.
Alex is anxiously tightening and loosening her grip on Lena’s hand. Looking up to where Kara is barely a speck in the sky, back to the camera, then back up again.
“Kara?” she says, a small break in her voice. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” comes Kara’s breathless voice. “Yeah, no, I’m good.”
There’s another moment of silence, then “It’s breathtaking. I... I’d almost forgotten-“ her voice cracks, and she clears her throat -“How beautiful this planet is.”
Alex squeezes Lena’s hand so tight it hurts, and Lena brings her free hand to grip at Alex’s forearm.
Alex sniffles, swipes her eyes against her shoulder. “It has its moments,” she rasps.
For a few long moments, they three stay silent. Lena and Alex on the ground, clutching at hands and arms in barely restrained joy with the waves lapping nearby.
And Kara, so high they can’t even see her, hanging in midair. Silent save for her gentle, easy breathing and the wind whistling around her.
And then, so suddenly both Lena and Alex flinch, she huffs a breath.
“Wanna see how fast I can get around the world?”
Alex barks a laugh, exchanging a fond and relieved look with Lena. “Your record is what? Thirty four seconds?”
“I can beat that,” comes the cocky reply.
And god, she sounds so happy.
Alex scoffs. “If you say so.”
Lena pulls out her phone and sets up a stopwatch. “On my mark, then?” she says.
“Don’t break anything, Kara,” Alex warns, though there’s no bite in her voice.
“And don’t break that suit,” Lena chimes in.
Kara’s voice has a tiny edge of Supergirl - the first since the Phantom Zone - when she replies. “Nothing’s getting broken here except the sound barrier.”
A shiver shoots down Lena’s spine. She does her best to ignore why.
“In three, two, one-“ she taps her phone- “Go.”
BOOM!
The noise vibrates through Lena’s chest. High above, the sky seems to part for Kara as she rockets towards the sun, leaving a trail in her wake.
Lena and Alex crowd the screen, watching wide-eyed as the ocean zips by far below, clouds whipping past, the camera quivering with the breakneck speed.
“Oh my god,” Lena murmurs almost by accident.
On the screen, a dark line of land rapidly approaches on the horizon as Kara hurtles toward it.
“That’ll be Japan,” Alex mumbles. She checks the read-outs and nods to herself. “Vitals are still good. Heart rate’s a little elevated, but considering-“ she gestures to the screen with a wry smile.
Lena nods, barely holding back happy tears.
On screen, Kara slows just enough for the sound to come back. Air whistles through the comms, her breathing slightly labored, and she ducks her head to watch the cities blink far below.
She won’t break her record by slowing like this, but Lena doesn’t mention that. And neither does Alex. They just watch as Kara picks up speed again, camera angling strangely as she dives.
She shoots west, weaving in huge slalom turns. The camera angles and tilts as she looks across the water, across the trees and grasslands and mountains as she passes them. Cities and towns flash past like street lights on a highway.
On the screen, her GPS tracks her through the rest of Asia, across India and into Africa. It’s a far cry from the speed she’d shot off at, but she doesn’t seem to mind as she dips and rolls through the clouds, hand outstretched as if to catch the swirling vapors.
Once she reaches the distant coast, Kara dips so low her hand reaches out to skim the water. She sails over the waves, fingers dragging, until she finds a pod of dolphins playing in the white water. For a moment, she flies just above the waves with them as they leap and dance.
The camera jerks toward the sky, and Kara gives a loud, delighted whoop as she shoots upwards. Spinning and spinning so fast the camera is blurring with the speed.
And through it all, Kara is laughing. Huge, joyous belly laughs, arms outstretched and head thrown back as she sails back into the clouds.
At 40,000 feet, she slows her ascent. Like a ball tossed in the air, she hovers at a stop for a split second before she starts to plummet. She turns, belly down and arms outstretched as the ocean rushes to meet her.
Still laughing with outrageous joy.
“God I missed that,” Alex murmurs. Her voice quivers and breaks.
Lena doesn’t take her eyes away from the screen. She doesn’t want to miss a single moment of this. But she does give Alex’s hand a squeeze in agreement.
Because hearing that laugh, being here and watching as Kara rolls and dives through the air, is healing pieces of Lena’s heart that she didn’t think would ever even scab over.
Kara’s joy is infectious, like it had always been. And Lena finds that she’s soaking it in like a woman parched.
On screen, Kara shoots off with another mighty BOOM. Her GPS shows her hurtling across the US at breakneck speed.
“Not even close to her record,” Alex laughs wetly. “Guess we’ll have to try again later.”
Lena swipes her hand under her eyes with a chuckle, catching tears that neither of them really acknowledge.
And seconds later, Kara lands with a muffled thump. Sand flies under her feet, and the ground trembles.
But her face is flushed, smile radiant, eyes glistening with tears.
Alex takes a step toward her, but pauses. “You okay?”
Kara gives a sobbing laugh, gestures helplessly with her hands. But her smile is wondrous.
Alex surges forward and wraps her in a tight hug. Kara clutches back, hands buried in her sister’s jacket and face pressed against her shoulder.
After a moment, one hand reaches out, fingers wiggling invitingly.
Lena takes that hand in both of hers and holds on tight. Over Alex’s shoulder, Kara’s eyes crinkle with her smile, sparkling and overwhelmed. She squeezes Lena’s hand, then tucks her eyes against her sister’s shoulder with a huge breath.
In a way, Lena feels as if they’re all breathing that same breath of relief.
“I wanna go again.” Kara’s voice is muffled adorably against Alex’s jacket.
Alex chuckles and rocks Kara back and forth happily. “We can stay out here as long as you want.”
Kara nods. “’Kay,” she says. But she holds on to Alex tighter, fingers digging into her jacket. “But in a minute, okay?”
Alex nods. Presses a kiss to the side of Kara’s head. “In a minute.”
And that seems to suit all three of them just fine. No one’s quite ready to let go yet.
/////
I'm a sucker for the angst just as much as the next nerd but I needed them to just... be happy and together. Just for a moment.
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