I think . . . I'm officially back! This little story is turning out a little longer than expected! but I really wanted to do this sort of reverse "It's a Wonderful Life" concept justice! I hope y'all enjoy! Comments literally send me over the moon! If I was one of those goofy TikTok npcs then I would dance every time I got one! I love hearing from y'all, so let me know if you like it, hate it, whatever!
Every Time a Bomb Explodes, A Super Gets Their Cape - Part 2
As discreetly as possible, Lexi shifts her eyes from the tablet in front of her to study the woman across from her.
Her mother was fidgeting in her seat, the fingers of her right hand twirling the wedding bracelet on her left. It almost seemed like an absent minded gesture, but to Lexi the simple act said so much more. Especially with the deep crinkle seated between her eyebrows.
Kara has been acting weird ever since her fight the night before with an unidentified alien; and her behavior had definitely escalated this morning. From her odd behavior in the kitchen, to her extra long hug before they left, and now her distractedness in the limo.
Rolling her neck to rid the kinks, Lexi tried to refocus on the work in front of her. She only has another week to finish the findings report for her latest experiment, and she's trying to concentrate, but she just can't shake the feeling that something is . . . off.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watches as Kara's studies the inside of the car; eyes peering out over the rim of her glasses in a way that Lexi knows means she''s using her x-ray vision. Kara may be think she's being sneaky, but you don't grow up around a super hero without learning their tells.
Lexi swipes over to the message app on her tablet and pulls up the text chain with Lena and Aunt Alex.
"Something weird is going on with mom."
No sooner has she hit 'send' then her phone goes off, lighting up and buzzing in the seat beside her with the notification of an incoming call.
Ignoring Kara's curious look, she silences the phone before turning back to her tablet.
"Don't call me! She's right here!" she types angrily in the text box to her mother as she tries to avoid looking in Kara's direction.
"Who was that?" Kara was trying to sound nonchalant but Lexi could hear the strain in her voice.
"Telemarketer." Lexi shrugged, never taking her attention from her tablet screen.
Even without looking up, she could tell you exactly the look that was on Kara's face - the patented 'super mom' stare - the same one that if Lexi didn't know better would make her believe her mother had mind reading powers.
The message icon flashes with a new text.
"Red Kryptonite?"
With two words, Alex has managed to give voice to all of their fears.
Lexi pretends to stare pensively out the window at the passing buildings; but in reality she uses the opportunity to scrutinize her mother out of the corner of her eye.
She's spent hours poring over Supergirl footage, knows all of the telltale signs of a red kryptonite exposure from the handful of incidents before.
There are no characteristic glowing red veins, and no sadistic glint in her eyes. In fact, she seems almost exactly like the person Lexi grew up with - except she seems . . . lost.
Lost and sad.
The bone deep sort of sadness that Lexi had only seen about her when she talks about losing Krypton.
No. she finally texts back.
It's not red kryptonite.
That much she's sure of.
But it is something. she adds after a moment.
Alex's response is swift.
Do I need to bring tactical support?
If there's one thing that Aunt Alex had drilled into Lexi's head over the years, it was to trust her gut.
It's a feeling, kiddo. You can't explain it, hell; half the time you don't even understand it. You just know.
And Lexi knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that her mom isn't dangerous . . . she's just . . . well . . .
With a start, she realizes that Kara has shifted to meet her gaze and their eyes are locked across the backseat of the limo.
"You alright, Little One?"
It's the same calming voice; the same term of endearment that Lexi's been hearing since she was three years old and first learning to trust people. No matter what's going on, she has to help Kara figure it out, she owes her mom that much.
"Yeah, yeah, just uh . . . nervous. Ma and Taylor have been plotting together all morning, who knows what they've come up with."
Kara's laugh doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"I'm sure it'll a surprise for both of us."
Hopefully a good surprise. Lexi can't help but hope as she types out a response to Alex before closing her laptop.
No tactical support needed.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Kara can't help but feel slightly out of place as the town car makes its way across the city. Sure, she's been in Lena's car service before, but never without Lena; and certainly not sitting across from her . . . kid. It sounds weird saying it even in her head, but it also somehow feels perfectly normal. Like a part of her looks at Lexi and feels, well, motherly. Vague memories taunt the edges of her consciousness like a dream that she can't remember.
Other feelings are there too as she listens to Lexi rattle on somewhat nervously about the space travel experiment she's working on -
Love, is the most obvious by far.
There's a warm blossoming of undying and unconditional affection that Kara can feel deep in her bones in a way that she's never felt about anything before.
Sure, she loves lots of things - potstickers, lasagna, puppies, Alex, Eliza, the memory of her parents, heck even Lena, (in more ways than she's ever even admitted to herself before today). But this, this is something entirely different. She's never felt so much love and pride and worry - god, are mothers always this worried? - directed towards a singular human being before.
She's barely known Lexi for a few hours, but she already knows that she would die for her. Perhaps more worrisome is that she would kill for her too, without a second thought.
Kara doesn't kill.
Or at least, she tries not to.
But if Lexi was in danger, she knows what her choice would be without hesitation.
It almost makes her understand what her own mother must have felt when she put Kara on the space ship bound for Earth. She'd spent years wondering how her Alura could have so easily sacrificed herself and battling with a mountain of survivor's guilt.
But now, looking at Lexi, she understands - at least in some way - the feeling behind her mother's actions.
It's not long before the car comes to a stop in the middle of National City's shopping district, and Kara watches as Lexi packs up her laptop into her shoulder bag.
She feels a rush of nerves as the younger woman slides out of the car calling a "Thank you!" to the driver as she steps onto the sidewalk.
This is it.
Sure, she's seen pictures of her and Lena together in this universe. She's spent some time around Lexi - their literal kid - the 'product of their union' - so to speak.
But this.
This is big.
This is seeing Lena with her own two eyes.
A Lena that doesn't hate her.
A Lena that knows her secrets - ALL of her secrets.
A Lena who she presumably hugs and kisses and - oh Rao, she feels her neck start to sweat under her collar - because they've definitely done things, if the drawer in the closet that she tried not to pay attention to is any indication, they've done a lot of things.
She doesn't know how to be that person with Lena.
She's only ever imagined that kind of relationship with Lena in her deepest, darkest fantasies. And now, now she's going to have to go out there and try to act normal when she knows that Lena's seen her naked before.
Of course, she's presumably seen this universe's Lena naked before too, but she doesn't remember seeing Lena naked, and that definitely puts them on an uneven playing field.
Oh Rao, why did she ever start thinking about Lena naked?!
Now it's the only thing she can think of, and wow her face is really hot -
"Hey! Mom!" Lexi's face appears as she bends down to look in the car. "You coming?"
"Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yep." It's then Kara accidentally meets the driver's gaze in the rearview mirror and of course he's looking at her like she might have possibly just grown a second head. So she smiles what is probably the most awkward smile in the history of awkward smiles, and steps out onto the sidewalk.
"Come on," Lexi begins leading her in the direction of the crosswalk. "Ma said they'd meet us on the corner of Chesnut and 4th."
It takes a moment for the light to turn red and the walk sign to flash, but by the time it does, Kara thinks she's gotten herself under control. She's even almost paying attention to the wedding drama that Lexi is going over.
That is, until she looks up and sees Lena and Taylor waiting on them across the street.
Lena isn't looking at her, instead she's looking in a store window, laughing at something Taylor is pointing at.
Kara can't help but stare, because oh, she looks beautiful.
Sure, Kara's had that thought before, but this is something else entirely. She's not sure if it's the strands of gray mixed with Lena's dark bun; or the laugh lines framing her casual expression; or the matching ring and bracelet on her left hand that sparkle when they catch the light just right. Whatever it is, hits Kara like freight train, and just as if the yellow sun turned to red, she feels weighted to the spot.
"Oh my geehad!" Lexi is stopped a few paces ahead of her in the crosswalk, exasperated look on her face. "Quit staring at your wife and come on."
Kara blushes furiously, ashamed to be caught so blatantly staring, and allows Lexi to pull her forward.
"Geez! When will you two ever stop? I swear, it's like you're two little lovebirds that can't stop staring at each other. You've been married for almost thirty years; get a grip, Mom." Lexi's voice is teasing but it does nothing to calm Kara's nerves.
"Sorry, she's just so -"
"Beautiful." Lexi finishes with a roll of her eyes. "Or stunning, gorgeous, ravishing; whatever synonym you pull out of the thesaurus today."
If Kara thought she was blushing before, it's a thousand times worse now, because she knows that they're close enough for Lena to over hear them; and even though Kara isn't the one to say the compliments out loud, she was certainly thinking them.
"Don't worry, chickadee, with any luck, you'll be an old married woman someday and you'll be so disgustingly infatuated with Taylor that you'll gross your kids out too." Lena teases as Lexi leans in to kiss her cheek.
"Yeah, yeah, but it won't be gross when I do it. " Lexi protests. "Right, Tay?"
Taylor laughs, pulling Lexi in for a kiss.
"I think it's adorable."
Kara can't help but smile at the two of them, because their so obviously in love; and young love is something magical for sure. Then she looks back at Lena, and her heart stutters in her chest just a little bit, and her stomach flip flops, and maybe it isn't just young love that's magical. Because now, she's face to face with green eyes that certainly feel like magic to her.
"Don't let her tease you, darling. I love your synonyms." Lena smirks."
"Ah heh." It's then that Kara's brain decides to notice that Lena's lipstick is the same maroon shade as her coat. She knows she's staring, but she can't stop her eyes from tracing the path from Lena's eyes to her mouth and back again. And then Lena's face is inching closer and closer, and before Kara can put together what's happening; Lena's lips are on hers.
Because of course they're kissing, because that's something that they do, obviously.
And of course Lena's mouth feels like heaven, and Kara wants to lose herself in the hypnotic movement of her lips and the gentle tracing of her tongue and -
Just like that, Lena's pulling away.
Because this kiss may be something monumental to Kara; but to Lena it's just a regular kiss - something they do every day, several times a day at that.
Kara can't help herself from chasing Lena's lips with her own.
Can't help reaching a hand up to frame Lena's jaw and pull her closer.
Can't help her tongue from following Lena's back to the other woman's mouth.
Can't help her other hand from settling on Lena's waist and fisting around the leather of her belt.
Because it feels like the first time.
It feels like something she's waited years for.
But it also feels like something she's done a thousand times before and will do a thousand times again - as long as Lena will let her.
Their breath mixes together in a heady sort of haze, and the kiss deepens into something that's almost to much for a street corner.
When Lena pulls back, Kara lets her; but she keeps her hand on Lena's cheek, thumb reaching to swipe at lipstick that's smeared under Lena's bottom lip.
"Ahem." Lexi clears her throat pointedly, and Taylor snickers; but Kara's too love drunk on the sparkle in Lena's eyes to care.
Her stomach, unfortunately, pays no attention to the mood or the desire pooling in her belly and lets out a loud grumble.
The sudden noise may ruin the kiss, but it makes Lena giggle, and Kara can't help but think that that's almost just as good.
"Come on," Lena pulls away, taking Kara's hand in her own as she turns. "Let's stop embarrassing our daughter and get you some food."