#supercorptober2023

[just-another-josh]

It only took me a year, but I finished all 9 of the Supercorptober 2023 prompts!

What the fuck do you mean there's 31?

Well shit...I'm out.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50600662/chapters/127823668

[rainbow-rebellion]

So I did a thing and I put my Supercorptober 2023 ficlets up on AO3. Huzzah! Look at me with 5 whole works on my dashboard now 😄

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[sssammich]

sam's supercorptober 2023 fic roundup

FINALLY finished all prompts i wanted to write (shoutout to my friends to whom most of the chapters are dedicated to!)

anyway, all stories are also available on AO3 conveniently located in one place if that's more your jam. but here are the direct tumblr link versions as well.

days 2: romance, 4: money, 5: maroon, 13: spice, and 15: game aka Crepe AU: part 1 | part 2 | part 3 - kara and lena meet cute, also kara owns a food truck

day 19: hazy - semi AU where something happens with kara's memories

day 22: art - AU where kara buys a portrait of lena luthor in an estate sale

day 24: enchanted - AU where lena goes to a party and gets a psychic reading

day 30: magic - AU where the demon queen finally defeats supergirl, but it's complicated

share with your friends i'd love it and i bet they'd love it too lol anyway please enjoy and thanks in advance for reading and commenting xo

[lepidoptlangka]

Supercorptober 2023 - prompt 29 (I know this is late as hell.)

Stars

The sky was almost black, with outlines of clouds and minimal little white specks sprayed across. The city lights took away sight of any other features. The tall buildings, still busy traffic, late night bars, and flashing skyscraper roofs took up all the space, illuminating everything below so that the sky didn’t need to - so that it couldn’t. Lena had to imagine a less blank sky with more colours swirled across. She could only imagine the dark sheet over the world with its abundance of stars and planets, forming more constellations and nebulas than dusk, because this sky wouldn’t let anyone see, but at least it would let her dream.

Kara would offer to fly Lena out to the desert or some other place without tall buildings or artificial light, but Lena would refuse and say it was okay, imagination was all she need to see. The city lights had their own sort of charm and made everything always feel alive. The stars still made you feel something yet where they lacked tangibility they also lacked the allowance for people to be a part of it rather than just observe. The stars filled in what the city missed, and the city filled what space couldn’t provide at such a distance. Sitting with Kara outside on a fire escape was all that Lena needed to feel the sky and not just see. Together, it was as if the image of colour and specks in Lena’s head was really out there because in being surrounded by the city and right next to her she could feel the stars - she could really feel it -, and next to her she had a girl that once knew them so well.

In another life, even still doing the medicine and engineering that she loved so passionately, rather than making a company or pursuing any sort of thing, Lena would've loved to be an astrophysicist, simply spending her time in an observatory or even a lighthouse to look at the stars and find out what they were and why, looking at the sky and seeing answers to the world in a quite literal sense.

It made sense to her that the universe could exist in such a way. She still had on her bookshelf the same books filled with quantum equations and Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams that she used to hide beneath her bed. Space and the stars were complex but logical and that was something she liked; that way she had answers to the ‘what’ outside of Earth’s ‘why’. Logic and straightforwardness fit right in her head, so she loved it; the way the stars would shine and you could tell distance or heat and properties just from how bright they were.

She used to stay up every night, sneaking down to the living room to watch space talks on the big tv. Every time there was a comet she wished to go, but would have to resign herself to watching the broadcast where the two guys would sit and take questions as a large crowd massed in the desert to be able to see the beauty. When she finally got an mp3, she would sit by her window watching outside to imagine what would be there if electrical light and pollution disappeared, the broadcast she recorded with it from her radio streaming from ear to ear. She would remember back in Ireland, sometimes her mother would take her out to the country side or a more desolate place, and they’d sit together in the grass with a blanket, staring at the colours in the sky, and her mum would tell her stories of Irish myth, which Lena gladly got to keep.

Unlike Kara, Lena didn’t think her mum was in the stars. Rather she saw her as now one with the sea and the creatures that could be real, or as part of the magic that flowed through her. She liked to think of it this way, since then not only was her mother with her through her almost identical appearance or the necklace she hid under her dresses and shirts, but she would be with her in every spell Lena reluctantly made, and every breath she didn’t hold. The stars wouldn’t be tangible, but at least this was.

For Kara, she didn’t mind her mother and father being in the stars; most of her people were. Quite literally they had blown into pieces and become the stardust they were already made of, returned to a larger home. Then in a sense their souls would still be watching through the sky at every moment. Watching the sky, whether with its light obscured or vibrant, Kara could still pinpoint where Krypton was meant to be, and it felt intimate because she knew the stars, because she flew through them for so long, and her history and family was now embedded in it.

The stars meant everything to the both of them because although in different ways, both of their childhoods revolved around it in some sort of way, and both of them secretly hoped that their lives now could have been spent among them.

Kara herself would wonder if one day when they both died, if they’d end up in the stars together. Maybe Lena’s magic would infuse dark matter instead of earthly ground, and maybe Kara would return to her home.

The stars would be painted around the edges of the room when Lena finally moved in. They’d hang around bookshelves and the railing outside. The stars would linger like a friendly ghost always tending them of good of their existence. The stars would be everywhere because everything is made of stardust.

Together. The stars would be what held them together in every sort of moment. If they were both made of stardust then they would always have something between them even if sometimes it felt like they didn’t know who they were.

Together. Kara and Lena would stick together just like two metals in the midst of space. They were each other’s stars.

[just-another-josh]

Supercorptober 2023 (in 2024)

Write

“Wake up, zrhueiao.”

The sound of her wife’s tender voice is the first thing Lena registers as she is roused from her nap. As her awareness expands, the infrequent chirp of birds can be heard reverberating through the open living room window. The sound of ‘Fast Money’ playing quietly on the TV in the background.

The suffocating smell of acrylic paint and turpentine assaulted her overly sensitive olfactory receptors, forcing her to turn her head towards the cool December breeze wafting in through the open window.

She slowly began to stir. A light stretching of her arms and legs reminded her she’s lying prone on the living room couch, her favorite comfy spot.

Her contentment was quickly overshadowed by the dull ache in her lower back, tight shoulders, sore breasts, and a very full bladder. 

Yep, still pregnant, Lena thought wryly.

“C’mon sleepyhead, time to get your cute little butt off the couch.”

Lena gradually opened her eyes, her wife’s grinning face the first sight to greet her. As her eyes focused, she realized Kara was floating just above her, the Kryptonian’s body parallel to her own.

When they first started dating, Kara’s casual use of her powers in similar situations startled her.

Now, after two years of marriage under their belts, Lena didn’t bat an eye.

The CEO lazily grinned at her hovering wife.

“You have paint on your face,” she pointed out groggily.

Kara made no effort to wipe at her paint-stained face, instead rolling her eyes. “Well of course I do, I’ve been painting.”

Lena lazily grinned. “How’s the mural coming?"

A beaming smile lit up Kara’s face.

“Should be finished in an hour or two, tops,” she emphatically boasted.

“I can’t wait to see it.” Lena’s smile matched the intensity of her wife’s. She cupped Kara’s face with both hands and pulled her into a chaste kiss; deftly avoiding the splotches of paint peppered around her wife’s face.

“Help me sit up,” she asked once they separated. She offered her hands to the Kryptonian who gently accepted them and effortlessly guided Lena to sit upright. A light touch of vertigo threw her balance askew once she was fully sitting upright; a recent development plaguing her for the last few weeks.

As she had a number of times since the issue emerged, Kara remained by her wife’s side to keep her steady until the dizziness passed.

Once her equilibrium returned to normal, Lena became acutely aware of the increased pain in her lower back as the additional weight settled on her overstressed muscles.

She shook it off, old news after thirty-five weeks carrying twins.

“What time is it?” Lena asked as she rubbed her sore neck.

Kara fidgeted and smiled sheepishly at her wife. “It’s four o’clock.”

Lena was aghast.

“I’ve been asleep for three hours?”

Kara confirmed with a timid nod.

“Christ, I slept through the whole afternoon,” Lena whined.

Frustrated, she ran a hand through her loose, tangled hair.

Kara lowered herself to sit next to Lena and began rubbing her lower back.

“Hey, you needed to rest, you’re carrying two very active, very hungry girls,” Kara soothed. "I know staying home and lounging around is the complete opposite of your normal routine, but you have to give yourself a break.”

“Little parasites,” Lena growled, a look of faux disgust on her face.

Kara softly giggled and pulled her wife closer, Lena shuffling to rest her cheek on the hero’s shoulder.

Kara kissed the top of her wife’s head.

“Three more weeks, zhaote. Three more weeks and we get to meet our kir kruvuzhs,” she whispered.

Lena snuggled further into Kara’s arms; her agitation slowly escalating.

Tears filled the CEO’s eyes.

“I’m so tired, Kara. They’re not even here yet and I can barely function, and that’s after I’ve had eight hours of sleep. How the hell am I supposed to keep it together when the girls are here and I’m sleeping in ninety-minute intervals?”

Kara squeezed Lena as tight as she safely could and pressed a lingering kiss to her head. “Because I’ll be with you every step of the way. And for those times I can’t be here, Alex, Sam, Eliza, and the rest of our family will be right there as backup.”

Kara began to slowly rock her wife. “El Mayarah, remember?”

Lena nodded, too choked up to speak. She buried her head in Kara’s shoulder and let herself fall apart.

Once considered taboo as a result of her Luthor upbringing (or as her therapist put it, indoctrination), Lena felt no shame in being this raw, this vulnerable with her wife. The progression of Lena’s emotional maturity was a testament to her work with her therapist, Kara, Sam, Alex, and a litany of other players from her found-family.

It took a village, but Lena had learned to manage her insecurities to the point where she could express her emotions without feeling any shame.

After ten minutes of crying together (her wife joining in because…well…Kara’s a bit of a crier), the couple managed to separate from their embrace.

An emotionally drained Lena leveled her wife with a dry look.

“Fucking hormones.”

Kara’s involuntary snort led to both devolving into a giggling mess.

Kara thoughtfully placed her hand on top of Lena’s, a look of concern etched across her face.

“Zhao, have you written in your journal today?” she delicately asked.

After thinking about it for a brief second, Lena sighed.

“Not yet.”

“Do you think doing a little writing might help you feel better?"

Lena pursed her lips in consideration before nodding.

“Probably.”

Kara smiled.

“Stay here, I’ll go get it.”

Lena grabbed Kara’s wrist before she could stand.

“First things first, I need to pee.”

Kara rolled her eyes as she began guiding Lena to her feet.

“Shocker.”

******

Two years ago, Kara and Lena embarked on their journey to become parents.

When they decided to bring a bundle of chaos (Lena’s words) into their lives, Lena spent the next year constructing a Kryptonian birthing matrix capable of creating a viable embryo made up of both human and Kryptonian genetic material. It was a daunting, painstakingly long task, but with the combined efforts of Lena, Zor-El, Eliza, Alex, Brainy, and Caitlyn Snow, they were able to successfully produce an embryo using Lena and Kara’s cells.

While the birthing matrix was being constructed, Lena and Kara had decided they wanted the baby to be carried to term and born naturally.

That was the easy part, the hard part being who would carry the future baby Luthor.

After dozens of civil (and not so civil) arguments between the soon-to-be expectant parents, it was decided that Lena would carry the aos.

Considering the glut of fertilization drugs administered to and embryos implanted in Lena, it should have come as no surprise when the first ultrasound revealed that she was carrying twins (it did, nonetheless).

The morning sickness during the first trimester was so severe Lena contemplated putting herself in a medically induced coma until the twins’ due date; luckily Kara and the rest of the Super-family were there to guide her through her nausea-induced insanity.

The increase in Lena’s body temperature was another fresh slice of hell that came with the pregnancy.

She wasn’t just hot, but Amazon rainforest in the summer hot.

It was another aspect of carrying twin Kryptonians she should have seen coming. Kara’s body temperature always ran at least one to two degrees hotter than the average human’s. As Lena always ran a little cold, she welcomed snuggling with her Kryptonian space heater.

Now pregnant with the twins, Lena carried the equivalent of two radiators in her womb. She had never sweated so much in her life; it poured out of her like a fountain. Even with the air conditioning at full blast wherever she was, it became routine for her to have to shower and change into dry clothes at least three times a day.

At the office, she did her best to mitigate her overheating by wearing sleeveless blouses; she would have given anything to be able to wear shorts but knew that was unacceptable in an executive setting.

The start of the second trimester brought a modicum of relief to the miserable CEO. She was more energetic, her libido came back with a vengeance (much to Kara’s delight), and she could keep her food down.

Therein lay the biggest challenge of the second trimester, and the rest of her pregnancy, for that matter: her insatiable appetite.

Being pregnant with Kryptonian twins required her to consume twenty to thirty thousand calories per day, anything less resulted in Lena becoming extremely ill. As a result of her daily caloric requirements, Lena quickly surpassed her wife’s already excessive levels of food consumption. Entering the Luthors’ house and finding empty takeout boxes, empty containers of gelato, and discarded bags of Funyuns strewn about became the norm.

Lena craved Funyuns like a junkie craved their next fix.

On more than one occasion, Lena could be heard screaming something along the lines of: “Kara! If you don’t get your perfect little ass to Costco and get me Funyuns before I run out, I’m going to put kryptonite in your fucking mouthwash!” or “Don’t you dare tell me to wait for the delivery driver. What’s the point of being married to Supergirl if you can’t get me my fucking Funyuns now?!?” 

Despite her second trimester falling in the middle of the summer heat, Lena was able to manage her chronic overheating by spending extended periods of time at the Fortress. It wasn’t uncommon to find the CEO comfortably lounging around the frozen structure wearing nothing more than a loose tank top and shorts.

It was around the middle of her second trimester that Lena decided to start a journal. It served as a way to record the changes her body was going through during the first four months of her pregnancy.

The entries were cold, clinical, and devoid of inference or emotionally driven content; only measurable, fact-based information. The thing read like a study published in the New England Journal Medicine.

Lena had no intention of doing some cliché pregnancy journal. There weren’t going to be any ultrasound pictures, trimester planners, baby registry lists, or other keepsakes.

She was Lena-Fucking-Luthor, and there was no goddamned way in hell she was going become some dipshit scrapbooker.

Kara was already taking care of that.

A month into her journaling, the couple had a miscarriage scare.

Lena went into a full-fledged, panic induced spiral. Despite reassurances from…well…everyone that the twins were safe and healthy, Lena was inconsolable.

At first, she blamed herself; her completely absurd and unfounded list of why she was at fault was longer than most novels.

After a week of self-flagellation, Lena shifted the blame to focus on her wife. It was subtle jabs at first, Kara rationalizing that her wife’s comments were just her way of venting.

After a week of Lena’s increasingly hurtful barbs, Kara had had enough and called her out on her behavior. The argument that ensued was on a level not seen since Lena stole Myriad from the Fortress five years prior.

As the argument reached its zenith, the yelling was so loud that Sam’s super-hearing picked it up all the way from her and Alex’s house.

Luckily, Alex and Sam were able to intervene and separate the couple before they said or did anything that couldn’t be undone; Sam staying at the Luthor house with Lena, and Alex taking Kara with her to the Danvers’ residence.

After a restless night of sleep, Kara returned home and, after a tense conversation, the couple agreed to a truce and enrolled in couples’ therapy.

It was during one of their sessions that the therapist suggested they start journaling daily.

Kara had been keeping a journal since shortly after her arrival on Earth, so she easily agreed.

When Lena proposed using the “journal” she’d already begun, the therapist allowed it with one stipulation: the CEO had to record not just her medical stats, but her thoughts and feelings as well.

After minimal cajoling from Kara, Lena begrudgingly agreed.

At first, Lena was at a loss as to what to write. Well, she knew what she was expected to write, but she didn’t know how to articulate her feelings.

For several weeks, after recording her medical stats, Lena would stare at the remaining blank space on the page, unable to corral the chaos in her head into coherent sentences. This would go on for several minutes before she’d put the journal back into the drawer in her bedside table with a huff, trying to convince herself that she would be able to come up with something the next day.

After a particularly difficult day at L-Corp, Lena was able to break through her writer’s block. That day, Lena recorded her weekly measurements as usual followed by recounting the events of the day, her frustrations with them, ways that she handled those moments poorly, and how she planned to avoid repeating her mistakes.

By the time she put her pen down, an hour had elapsed, and she’d managed to completely fill six pages.

 Though the CEO would admit it to no one, she actually felt better afterwards.

From that point on, Lena was making daily entries chronicling her workday. Her writing slowly began to include entries about both her professional and her personal life.

The journal pages quickly became filled with her thoughts and feelings without the clinical structure that once governed it. Soon she wrote about anything and everything: observations from the day’s events, anecdotes, strangers she had encountered, ideas for new projects, her family, her pregnancy, the twins, Kara, her hopes, her dreams, her doubts, and most importantly, her fears.

Cataloguing her fears gave her the opportunity to later assess them in a logical, calm manner as opposed to the panicked state that they originated from. Thus, robbing them of their power to control her life.

The irony was not lost on Lena that her brother was an avid journaler as well. He too would fill volumes upon volumes with his meticulously organized thoughts, but that’s where the similarities ended.

Lex’s journals were filled with his bitterness, anger, xenophobic rhetoric, and obsessive hatred for Clark and Kara and ways to kill them; all laced with his usual arrogant narcissism.

By contrast, Lena’s journals focused on love, compassion, inclusiveness, and ideas for creating a better tomorrow. They served as a reminder of the progress she had made in learning to love and accept love, a chronicle of where she’d been, where she was, and where she hoped to be in the future.

When she began her journaling voyage, Lena never imagined that it would become an integral part of her life. For her, completing her daily entries was just as natural as breathing, it required no forethought. 

She fully intended to continue journaling indefinitely; well past their therapist’s prescribed duration. The only question in her mind was what to do with the journals in the future. She already shared most of the details of her daily entries with Kara as part of their therapy. She had no intention of letting her friends and family read them, not even Sam.

Truth be told, she imagined passing them on to the twins if/when they became expectant mothers themselves.

In the event that one of her greatest fears came true and she was…taken from her family prematurely, she left instructions with Kara to give the journals to their girls when their jeju felt it was the appropriate time. Lena hoped that they would serve as a reminder of who their mommy was and how much she loved them; something she wished her mother had been able to do for her. While she was grateful to have her mother’s grimoire, it didn’t tell her anything about who Elizabeth Walsh was. It was very important to Lena that her girls knew who their mommy was as a person and not as some generic abstract.

She had no doubt that their jeju would do everything she could to keep her memory alive, but Lena felt that her written thoughts would be a clearer, more profound reminder.

“I’m finished.”

The pen in Lena’s hand stilled as she looked up to see a very giddy Kryptonian. She was surprised that Kara had finished the mural in the nursery so quickly, but a quick glance at her watch confirmed that she had been lost in her writing for over an hour.

She set the journal and pen on the coffee table and met Kara’s bright smile with one of her own.

“Done-done?” Lena asked with a feigned look of skepticism.

Kara put her hands on her hips and stuck out her chest à la Supergirl.

“Done-done,” she gloated. “Now get that cute little butt up so I can show it to you.”

“Well get those ridiculously hot biceps over here and help me up,” Lena said as she made grabby hands.

Kara positioned herself in front of Lena and gently gripped her hands; a small grunt escaping Lena as her wife smoothly pulled her up.

“Darling, my ass is anything but cute or little. Maybe it’s time for a new endearment?”

Kara shrugged.

“Okay, but “get those deliciously pregnant titties up” doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well,” she said with a mischievous smirk. “But I’ll give it a shot.”

Lena snorted and shook her head.

“Ah, there’s my boob girl,” Lena purred. “I wouldn’t worry about it though, I’d say they’ve rolled off your tongue quite a bit lately,” she husked seductively.

Kara’s cheeks quickly dusted pink, producing a triumphant smile from her wife.

As they reached the foot of the stairs leading up to the second floor and the nursery, Lena turned to her wife with an expectant look on her face, eliciting a confused crinkle from the hero.

“I am not waddling my fat ass up those stairs. Put your back into it, Supergirl.”

Check out the rest of my fics HERE

[sssammich]

day 24: enchanted

listen sctober is a state of mind ok?

crepe AU: part 1 | part 2 | part 3 day 19: hazy, day 22: art, day 24: enchanted, day 30: magic

if you'd rather read this oneshot on ao3

---

“If you attend this party, we won’t bother you for a month.” Sam, one of Lena’s best friends and roommates, announces as she perches herself on the coffee table in front of Lena who is sitting on her favorite corner of the couch. 

“Leave me out of this,” Andrea, Lena’s other best friend and roommate, says from the other end of the couch. 

Sam only shakes her head before focusing her attention back to Lena. “This will be good for you.” 

She arches a brow. “You don’t know what’s good for me.” 

“Mmm, babe. Be for real. As your best and most trusted friend, I only want what’s best for you.” 

They both turn when they hear a scoff from the other side of the room. 

“Sam,” Lena starts. “Let’s not pretend that you’re not a liar and a scammer and, most likely, a thief.” 

Affronted, Sam’s jaw drops and stares at Lena before swinging her sights on Andrea who’s sitting at the corner of the sofa not bothering to glance away from the magazine she’s reading. “Don’t look at me, this is between you two.” 

“Come on. You’re literally always at work.” 

“Because it’s literally my job.” 

Sam tries again. “It’s a housewarming party that’s open to everyone, you don’t even have to bring anything.” 

“Who invites strangers to a housewarming party?” 

Sam rolls her eyes. “First of all, I’m your one regular friend who didn’t go to the rich sad girl boarding school with princessa over there so I know a thing or two about making friends with people. Secondly, since I’m friends with them, they said I could bring my friends. Third, and most important of all, I’m doing this for your own good.” 

“And what good is that?” 

Sam smiles, her face stretching wide and Lena realizes all too late that she’s fallen trap from something so simple and elementary. She knows Lillian is just rolling in her grave wondering if Lena learned anything at all from her. 

“Well, I’m so glad you asked.” 

From the corner of her eyes, she catches Andrea shaking her head. 

“You’ve inherited the worst hand imaginable having a mass murdering egomaniac for a brother who forced this company on you. Which, by the way, you have slaved over for the better part of the last year. It’s time that you just take a breather, and this is it. Stay thirty minutes just to say you’ve talked to someone not directly employed by you or someone you tip when they hand you your takeout.” 

It never stops the sting from Sam’s words when she lays out the truth of Lena’s life. So she purses her lips and stays quiet for a while, a fool’s charade, until she eventually groans her acquiescence. 

Triumphantly, Sam smiles, and places a soft chaste kiss on the top of her head. “Lena Luthor, the woman that you are.” 

“Shut up.” 

Sam scurries out of the room and Lena takes a deep breath. 

“You should’ve just said yes the first time, then you could’ve saved yourself the trouble of the last two minutes.” 

It’s her turn to roll her eyes. “Where’s the fun in that?” 

Andrea lazily turns the page of her magazine. “Masochist.” 

—

Lena’s not a sucker. And definitely doesn’t think she’s one, but how she got swindled into forking over a crisp $20 bill to the woman across from her makes her rethink that, perhaps, she might not be as sharp as she believes she is. 

“Now, I want you to know I’m not a psychic,” Kelly, the woman, tells her. 

“But you are more than happy to pocket my money for this party trick.” 

Kelly shrugs, her toothy grin appearing far too amused. “Girl’s gotta make a living, you know.” 

Lena arches her brow, expectant. “Go ahead, then.” 

The other woman tilts her head and smiles, then she waves her hand in front of a crystal ball. Lena has half a mind to snort at this half-hearted performance. “You’ve been dealt a bad hand, Lena Luthor, but all I’m seeing is a very bright future for you.” 

This time, she does snort, unable to hide her reaction. “Inheriting the family business because your brother turned murderous lunatic isn’t exactly what I’d call bright.” 

Kelly continues moving her hand over the crystal ball before she lets her fingernails carefully tap the top of it, a pleasant tink sound as she does so. “You’ll come across some interesting situations that will make you rethink your old ways.” 

She narrows her eyes, observing the other woman from across from her. She doesn’t believe in psychics or witchcraft or magic or any of the sort because anything can be explained with science. But the way that Kelly doesn’t shy away from meeting her gaze makes a flicker of doubt enter Lena’s mind that maybe Kelly knows something she doesn’t. 

The other woman pulls back and folds her hands on top of each other as they rest on her lap. 

“Finally, you’ll be enchanted by someone you least expect.” 

Silence sits between them, Kelly’s eyes anticipating Lena’s next move. Which turns out to be Lena simply opening her mouth and hurling the first words that come to mind. 

“Bullshit. That's it? That’s what I paid you twenty bucks for?”

Yet Kelly only shrugs again, a laugh on her face as she makes a show of pocketing the twenty dollar bill from the table between them and shoving it in her bra. “Have a little faith.” 

She huffs. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” 

—

Lena moves on to a different area of the house, providing other guests the opportunity to fall trap into Kelly’s overpriced psychic readings. Who even holds a psychic reading at a housewarming party? 

Regardless of her own thoughts and feelings on the matter, Lena can’t help but respect the woman’s hustle, a kind of softness and gentleness in the way she presents herself, enough to lure unsuspecting guests to fork over their money to be told things they already know.  

She passes the throng of other houseguests and arrives in the kitchen, making a beeline for the kitchen island-turned-bar and uncorks one of the red wines before pouring herself a healthy glass. She takes a few sips here and there and wonders what’s a reasonable time to leave this party. Andrea and Sam managed to wrench her away from her desk for a night, so she’s willing to consider this night a loss for her and a win for them. But she doesn’t need to suffer needlessly in the torment of a house party. 

She grabs her phone and sends her friends a message letting them know that she’s leaving in ten minutes regardless of their impending protests before silencing her phone and shoving it in her back pocket. She takes another sip and peruses the cheese spreads on the other counter when she hears a car pull up right outside of the kitchen windows. She doesn’t quite see who’s out there, but she continues to hear movement, car doors slamming, and then faint footsteps approaching the back door.

Lena hears the thud against the back door then the ineffectual wriggling of the old door knob. Another thud comes through and Lena decides to help preserve this person’s dignity by opening the door for them. 

Now, Lena expects to help some poor soul relegated to grunt duty to come through that door, seeing as they were the one who was sent out to buy god knows what. What she doesn’t expect, however, is the finest piece of ass Lena has ever seen holding a crate full of liquor in one arm and a stack of six pizzas in the other. How this woman’s blonde hair is pulled in a ponytail, her glasses slightly skewed on her face, yet the blue of her eyes are still so readily apparent even in the evening light.

“Um, can I get through?” 

It takes Lena another couple of seconds to jump into action, pulling herself and the door back to make way for the woman who breezily dumps all the things she’s carrying on an empty spot of the already filled counters of the kitchen. 

Lena watches with curious eyes as the woman sighs out in relief when she puts all the stuff down on the counter, brushing her forehead with her forearm before resting her hands on her hips, surveying the goods that she’s just brought. When this woman does this, Lena can see how the tight faded red shirt she’s wearing stretches underneath her back muscles. She doesn’t want to say that her eyes widened in surprise, but she also doesn’t want to say that they didn’t.

Instead, Lena elects to stay quiet and shut the door closed in what she hopes is a quiet click, but is more of a medium volume thud that catches the woman’s attention, turning her around and showcasing her broad shoulders. 

“Oh! Shoot, I didn’t even realize…that…you…” the woman tapers off, her mouth slanting into confusion then awed wonder until she stops talking altogether. 

“Me…?” Lena says, urging the woman. 

“...yeah. I didn’t—um, I didn’t realize you were still behind me.” 

“Well. Here I am.” 

The woman nudges her glasses up. “Yes, right. And who am I speaking with?” 

“Lena. And you are?” 

The woman smiles. “Kara.” 

She accepts the offered hand between them, more than happy to feel the weight of the woman’s hand in hers: sturdy, warm. She smiles, tilting her head slightly and is endeared by the matching one on Kara’s face. 

“So how do you know the homeowner?” she asks, by way of making conversation, their clasped hands slowly, unfortunately, pulling apart from each other. 

Kara chuckles. “You’re looking right at her.” 

“So this is your house?” 

“That’s right! 

“Who invites strangers to their housewarming party?” 

“Who attends a stranger’s housewarming party?” 

She opens her mouth but no smart retort comes out. She’s thankful that neither of her best friends are around to witness this fish-out-of-water flailing that she’s currently doing. “I guess you have a point.” 

“Well, you’re here now, so might as well have fun, huh?” 

“I was just leaving, actually,” she blurts out.

“Oh, that’s a bummer. Can I entice you with a couple slices of pizza and maybe a little bit of small talk before you go?” 

“Sor—sure,” she says, course-correcting from an apology to an acceptance, surprising herself. It seems to surprise Kara a little, too. “Yeah, why not. One slice.” 

“Yeah?” Kara’s eyes are patient, as if expecting Lena to turn her down. But Lena wants to prove this woman wrong, so she nods. Delighted by her reassurance, Kara quickly opens the top box and quickly pulls a large slice, the melted cheese stretching, before placing it on a paper plate before handing it to her. Wordlessly, she accepts even as her eyes continue to watch as Kara piles on three slices on her own plate. 

In the middle of the kitchen, surrounded by bottles of alcohol and the delicious waft of pizza just nearby, Lena thinks maybe she’ll stay an extra ten minutes past the time she texted her friends. 

It would be rude to leave so soon, now that she’s met the homeowner, right? 

—

Surprising herself, instead of going home like Lena had planned, she ends up holing herself in a corner of the house talking with Kara. They’re in the den just off to the side of the kitchen overlooking the backyard. They take either ends of the sofa right underneath the window, the moonlight shining through the windows even as Kara flips the switch of the lamp just by where she’s sitting. They’re surrounded by boxes piled up on top of each other, a small little retreat of their own. Laughter and commotion can be heard from other parts of the house, the music softly playing somewhere. But they’re secluded in this room, muffling out the rest of the world. 

“Sorry for the mess. It’s taking a little longer to unpack this spot. Hope here is cool?”

“Is this some kind of second living room?” she asks as she scans the room despite the boxes in the way. 

“Nah. This is my office. Or will be once I clean up a bit more.” 

“What do you do?” 

“I dabble in a little bit of everything. Mostly oil-based paintings, and I write sometimes.” 

“An artist, then?” she asks aloud after taking a bite of her slice of pizza. Her eyes scan the room again, this time making note of the words on the boxes. She even finds a folded easel in the far corner. It takes her a second to get a response with Kara taking a healthy bite out of three stacked pizza slices. 

“Some might say.” 

“Are you any good?” She prods, though she makes sure that her voice is teasing, light.

“Some might say that, too,” Kara responds easily, flashing her an easy smile just as she takes a sip of her beer. “I can show you sometime or something. If you want, that is. No pressure.” 

Maybe it’s the pizza or the alcohol or maybe it’s neither of those things and it’s just Kara sitting in front of her looking beautiful and handsome and easygoing and lovely but Lena finds herself smiling and nodding before she’s even aware she’s doing it. 

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” 

—

Lena’s not sure how long she’s sat on the sofa talking about things other than work and laughing at silly jokes and puns and stories and simply spending time with Kara, but she knows that the ten minutes she promised herself has long passed. The pizza is all gone, and the two bottles of wine that Kara swiped from the kitchen is all but gone, too. 

But one minute they’re laughing and tipsily enjoying their time together, and the next, she’s lazily opening her eyes as she registers how she’s being held inside a cocoon of warmth. She takes quick stock of herself, feeling warmth behind her. Then, she finds a strong arm is protectively crossed over her chest while her own arms wrap around it, as if nuzzling into it. 

Instead of panic at being constricted and finding herself in the arms of a stranger, Lena discovers that she is not opposed to this hold, to the heat she feels behind her, around her. She takes a deep breath, and dares to snuggle back, the protective arm around her tightening its hold on her somewhat. She feels a warm breath tickle her nape, but the thought only thrills her knowing that it’s Kara with her. 

This is not a thing she has ever done in all of her life, but her thoughts sleepily flit through familiar words: 

interesting situations…rethink…old ways…

Lena shuts her eyes and lets sleep overtake her once more. 

—

The morning light rudely wakes her; the brightness of the light disturbing her peace as it washes over her face. She shuts her eyes further despite not once opening them, and she instantly turns her head to nuzzle into whatever source of darkness is closest to her. 

Groaning, she turns in place until she finds what she’s looking for. She tucks her arms further into her chest and lets the reprieve of darkness above her protect her from the bright light. 

She feels the vibrating rumble in front of her, laughter belatedly traveling into her ears. With a huff, she realizes it’s Kara laughing at her, even as she maintains the engulfing hold she has of Lena in her arms. 

“Stop laughing,” she demands sternly even as the words come out mumbled and she finds her head completely pressed against the crook of Kara’s neck. She resists the urge to breathe in deep and alight her senses with Kara’s scent of faint body soap and sweat and laundry detergent. 

“Okay, I’ll stop.” 

But Kara doesn’t, and Lena snakes her hand away from her chest to blindly pinch at Kara’s side. 

“Hey!” Kara is laughing harder now, even as she maintains her protective hold of Lena. “Violence is not the answer!”  

“It’s self-defense,” Lena grumbles, continuing to pinch Kara on the sides until Kara’s hand grabs hold of her wrist to stop her. She attempts to wrestle out of Kara’s grasp, her eyes now open even as she still squints from the brightness in the room, joy spreading inside of her when she sees Kara’s look so beautiful and disheveled first thing in the morning. 

“I call a truce,” Kara offers finally, bringing Lena’s hand back down between them. Lena doesn’t miss the way Kara’s other hand, the one that’s safely guarded her from falling off the edge of the couch, is spread open against her back and gently caressing her. 

“I suppose I’ll allow it.” 

“Thank you, your honor.” 

She scoffs and rolls her eyes, but when she looks back at Kara, she can only see bright open skies and promise in them, and Lena thinks she’d like to maybe go outside for a walk or to the beach or to the fields where she can have a picnic maybe. 

Shaking her head of her wandering thoughts, she matches Kara’s easy smile. 

“Good morning,” Kara says, voice gentle and soft, reverent. 

“Good morning.” 

“How’re you feeling?” 

How is Lena feeling? She doesn’t know, truthfully. She has no idea how to navigate a time where she chats up a stranger and spends the night without having sex. Or to feel so familiar with someone she’d just met. Or want the urge to spend all her waking moments with someone whose only crime is an easygoing smile directed at her. 

“Good.” 

Kara smiles at her. 

“How’d you sleep?” 

Never better. She’ll be sore later. The safest she’s ever felt. Her shoulder tingles from where she’s laid on it too long. 

“Good.” 

Kara’s smile widens. 

“I…don’t—this normally doesn’t happen.” 

She quirks a brow. “You don’t normally spend the night spooning a stranger on your couch?” 

“No, I don’t.” 

She can’t help the smirk that appears on her face. “So you’re saying I’m your first?” 

Kara shakes her head, a small laugh escaping her lips. “Oh, you sound like you’re gonna be trouble.” 

Her? Trouble? She’s the one who’s being held lovingly in the arms of someone who could probably bench press her and not think twice about it. Who has been nothing but kind and wonderful and goofy and funny and sweet to Lena Luthor, sister of the deranged arsonist who has tarnished their family legacy and forced Lena to raise it back up from the ashes. 

“I think if there’s anybody who’s gonna be trouble, it’s you.” 

Lena watches as Kara’s attention alternates between her eyes and her lips. Not wanting to second guess herself or wonder what ifs, Lena surges forward and closes the distance between them. 

The kiss is soft, though their lips are a little chapped from all their drinking last night. She grabs a fistful of Kara’s shirt in her hand as Kara tightens her hold of Lena. Her other hand travels to the back of Kara’s neck, pulling her down and closer because Lena can’t get enough. Now that she knows how this feels, how Kara tastes—even first thing in the morning, she doesn’t want to let go, not even to breathe. 

Soon, they separate because she’s still only human. Their breaths are a little ragged, but there’s a bright smile on Kara’s lips and she just knows there’s one on hers mirroring it.

“I didn’t expect you,” Lena admits, vulnerable and excited and cautious and relieved. 

“Nobody ever does.” 

Kara brings her head back down and the two continue languidly kissing one another, savoring the feel of lips slotting perfectly against lips. 

—

One month later

“You set me up.” Lena sits down on the same spot in the living room of Alex and Kara’s house that she sat in at the housewarming party, sitting directly in front of Kelly. 

It’s been a whirlwind of a month for Lena, most surprising of all is Kara’s presence in her life. For one, she’s now dating Kara, far too surprised at the speed in which things moved along between them. For another, she’s had to endure (and continues to endure) the incessant and merciless teasing from both Sam and Andrea, especially when she came home the next day with rumpled clothes and a hickey on her neck. Lastly, even though it’s been a month, Lena’s circle of friends somehow doubled, with Alex and Kelly’s frequent appearance because of Kara. 

So here she is, wanting to lay blame at the woman who so conned her into the life she now leads. 

“Set you up?” 

“All the psychic crystal ball bullshit.” 

Understanding washes over the other woman and she smiles, the softness and gentleness of it irking Lena. “Ah.” 

“You’re not really a psychic.” 

“Well, I never claimed I was. You believed what you wanted to believe, I just nudged you into some…suggestions.”

“One of which was to get with your girlfriend’s sister.” 

Kelly laughs. “You’re too generous to give me credit. I’ll tell you what you wanna know, all you need to do is ask.” 

“Did you put Kara up to this?” 

At the mention of Lena’s now girlfriend, the one who she’s been seeing for the last month they both turn to the line that is Alex and Kara as they hold their large Chinese takeout order for the group, with Sam and Andrea in tow holding up their drinks and the chocolate pie they bought on a whim.

Yet Before Kara fully goes to the kitchen, she turns her head and flashes a smile towards Lena. 

“Come on you two, dinner’s ready,” she says.  

Kelly gets up and waits for Lena who slowly rises to her feet. She then allows for the other woman to wrap her arm around Lena’s shoulder as the two walk side by side towards the kitchen where they can hear the sisters bickering about Kara taking a bite of a potsticker before even laying everything else out. 

“Why bother when she took one look at you and fell in love?” 

“You owe me a twenty,” she says gruffly, not meaning every word. Kelly quickly releases her shoulder when Kara detours from her task of getting their plates and walks over and kisses Lena because she can and wants to and Lena thinks she’s happy to give Kara anything she ever desires on this Earth.

“God, you two are disgusting,” Sam quips. 

Alex pipes up. “Keep it PG, please.” 

Sam and Alex give each other high fives, Andrea rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Kara only waves them off behind her and gives Lena a peck on the nose before hurrying back to her task. 

Kelly leans over. “You really think I had anything to do with that?” 

Her cheeks redden, yet her sights remain on Kara. “Fine. You can keep the twenty.” 

Kelly only laughs.

[just-another-josh]

Supercorptober 2023 (in 2024)

Maroon

“You ARE using Myriad.”

“Lena, what are you doing here?”

“Question is, what are you doing here, Supergirl? I thought it was forbidden to use Myriad, but forbidden for anyone but you.”

“There are people missing, dozens of them stuck in Obsidian's VR. I have to find them.”  

“There are other ways to find people than Myriad. I can think of four off the top of my head, but you, you do what you want.”  

“What I'm doing is finding people your brother disappeared.”  

“Do you have any proof that it was Lex…no, I didn't think so. You just return to your default position of blaming a Luthor. You did tell me you'd treat me like a villain.”  

“If you acted like one, yeah, I did say that. And right now, you're trespassing, and I don't have time for this. You need to go.”  

“I'll leave when you stop using Myriad.”  

“That's not gonna happen.”  

“To think that I was sincere with you yesterday. Then I guess you're used to being two-faced.”  

Kara stared blankly at the ceiling. When she arrived home, she hadn’t even bothered to get out of her Super-suit. She skipped her fridge, her appetite nonexistent. Hell, she hadn’t even bothered to turn the lights on, instead opting to faceplant into her bed.

It had been a miserable day….scratch that, an exceptionally miserable day.

Now, mind you, not the worst day of her life; that distinguished honor belonged solely to the day she watched her planet die. Today wasn’t worse than the day Astra died, or the day Reign beat her into a coma, or the day she watched an antimatter wave destroy Argo (yes, it was later restored, but she didn’t know that at the time). 

No, today’s suffering ranked somewhere between dating Mon-El and Alex having her memories of Kara’s secret identity removed, less about death and destruction and more about emotional damage.

It all started yesterday.

Lena had come to her office and offered her condolences regarding Jeremiah’s death, even going so far as to provide her a copy of “Going On Being” to help her through the grieving process. It was an emotional albeit awkward exchange, but it was the first time since Lena had stolen Myriad that the two of them had spoken without any underlying hostility. It was the first time Kara had seen a glimmer of the old Lena; with all the warmth, kindness, and compassion that she knew her former best friend once felt toward her. There was no sign of hate or malice in her voice, just sympathy and understanding.

Rao, she even called her ‘Kara’.

It gave Kara hope. Hope that maybe this was Lena’s way of offering an olive branch. Hope that things weren’t so far gone between them that they couldn’t mend the bridge that had been razed by their lies.

More importantly, hope that Kara could reveal to Lena all the other secrets that the CEO was still unaware of.

Unfortunately, today’s encounters with Lex, the Morae, a baby Sun-Eater, and Lena’s impromptu visit to the Fortress of Solitude had laid waste to Kara’s burgeoning hope.

If Kara was being honest with herself, the issues with Lex, the Morae, and Kal’s pet Sun-Eater (they were going to have a very long, unpleasant conversation about that the next time she saw him) were nothing exceptional, just an average Tuesday in the life of a Super. What kept her mind stuck in a cycle of self-flagellation was her argument with Lena. She continued to replay the conversation in her head and the more she dissected it, the angrier she became at herself.

To put it succinctly, she’d been stupid.

What she said was stupid.

What she did was stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

There were dozens of other things she could have said or done during their confrontation. Instead, she continued to throw more gasoline on the inferno their relationship had become. At this point, she’d lost count of how many asinine mistakes she’d made since Lena had entered her life.

The look on Lena’s face when she discovered she was using Myriad continued to haunt her. She could see anger, betrayal, and worst of all, disappointment written all over the CEO’s face. Kara continued to torture herself trying to figure out what Lena was most disappointed about. Was it Kara’s perceived hypocrisy regarding Myriad or was it her dismissive attitude towards Lena’s objections to her using it?

It occurred to her that maybe Lena put just as much value as she did in their conversation at CatCo the previous day. Maybe she was just as hopeful that they were on their way to repairing their tattered relationship, only to have the possibility utterly crushed.

All Kara knew at this point was that any chance of mending her broken heart had been ripped away and she had no one to blame but herself.

Compounding all of this was a nagging question that was quickly forcing its way into the forefront of Kara’s thoughts; something Lena had said during their brief tête-à-tête. It was a throwaway observation that Lena had made that, at the time, had been overshadowed by much more biting, cruel remarks. On the surface, it seemed completely benign, but as Kara often did, she pulled the statement apart piece by piece hoping to find if there was something she was missing. Some hidden clue that might provide her with a way to unfuck the situation.

Kara’s frustration was maxing out her patience. Under normal circumstances, if she was confused by something someone had said, she’d just ask them for clarification.

That wasn’t possible with Lena.

She’d made it very clear that Kara was persona non grata at both her penthouse and L-Corp. She’d be pissed if Kara showed up unannounced at either location just to ask her to explain her comment. It would be reckless and stupid to seek out Lena was and confront her. She would have to be out of her mind to even contemplate being within a hundred yards of her after what transpired today.

Right?

Well…it would be if Kara didn’t have a plan.

A plan like the one she had just come up with.

Kara shut her eyes and tuned out the cacophony of sounds surrounding her to find a very specific heartbeat.

The Kryptonian sprung from her bed and made a mad dash to grab her cellphone off the kitchen counter; rapidly pulling up Alex’s contact.

*****

After a quick stop at the Tower to pick up the “package” that Alex had prepared for her, Kara continued on to her final destination.

Two hundred yards out from Lena’s penthouse, Kara’s super-hearing picked up the sound of proximity sensors alerting Lena to her approach. She heard Lena’s heartbeat spike at the automated notification, accompanied shortly thereafter by a few sniffles. It sounded like the CEO was or had recently been crying.

As much as Kara wanted to use her x-ray vision to confirm her suspicions, she didn’t want to violate Lena’s privacy any further than she already had by showing up unannounced.

Kara started getting nervous that Lena wasn’t going to come out, but before her anxiety could spiral any further, her former best friend emerged from the hallway. Her gait as she approached the sliding glass door leading to the balcony indicated she was less than pleased with Kara’s impromptu visit.

The Super was too distracted to notice Lena’s aggressive approach; her attention was firmly focused on Lena’s attire.

The CEO was clad in the same suit she wore when she confronted Kara in the Fortress earlier that day. Too distracted at the time to give it more than a passing glance, all the air escaped Kara’s lungs now that she was able to get a thorough view.

She couldn’t help but admire the sharp, formfitting cut of the dark-hued suit, but her focus quickly shifted to the scintillating top that accompanied it. Kara licked her suddenly dry lips as she regarded the lace, floral print mock-neck top—and more importantly, the way it hugged Lena’s body like a second skin.

She looked every bit the powerful, commanding, confident CEO.

In Kara’s eyes, she looked like a goddess and, as far as Kara was concerned, she deserved to be worshipped like one.

Kara’s appreciation (appropriate or not, she couldn’t decide), was quickly tempered by the sobering thought that not too long ago, she would’ve been able to gush to Lena about how handsome she looked. Lena, as per usual, would try to take the compliment in stride, but her blushing cheeks and elevated heartbeat would give away how much she appreciated it.

That was a lifetime ago, or what seemed like one.

Until yesterday, Kara hadn’t been able to be in the same room as her without Lena’s resentment, pain, and feelings of betrayal enveloping them both, much less pay her a compliment about how stunning she looked.

Kara’s attention was quickly drawn back to reality as Lena stepped onto the balcony; the CEO was brandishing a very large blaster cannon, clearly one of Lena’s custom jobs as it appeared to be constructed with an amalgam of alien parts.

“I don’t have time for any more of your bullshit, Supergirl!”

Lena’s rage was on full display; her adrenaline infused heart thundered loudly.

“You have five seconds to get the hell out of my airspace or I start shooting!” she furiously threatened.

So much for the warm welcome. Not that Kara expected one, but this…seemed a bit over the top.

Kara apparently wasn’t moving fast enough to comply with Lena’s command. The CEO activated the cannon and pointed it at Kara.

“It’s not Kryptonite and it won’t kill you, but it’s got enough kick to knock you on your perfectly sculpted ass!”

Kara tilted her head to the side, confusion etched on her face from the off-hand comment. She decided to file it away for another day when she saw an orange glow coming from the cannon’s muzzle and Lena cocking her head to sight-in her target.

It was now or never.

“Would have helped me?” Kara yelled out.

“What?” Lena’s position remained unchanged.

“You said back at the Fortress that you knew at least four different ways to find the trapped Obsidian users. Would you have helped me if I’d asked?” Kara did her best to keep her voice steady, hoping that Lena wouldn’t pick up on her anxiety.

Lena seemed taken aback by the question. Her brows furrowed, jaw clenched, and green eyes locked on Kara as she considered the question.

Kara remained silent, floating quietly and not making any effort to get closer to the balcony. The quiet stand-off continued for another minute before Kara noticed Lena’s hands begin shaking from beneath the cannon.

Kara could see the internal struggle going on inside Lena based on the conflicted look on the brunette’s face. The CEO’s breathing intensified, and her heartbeat became more rapid.

Anyone who didn’t know Lena’s facial tics would say she looked like she was in physical pain, but Kara knew better. She knew Lena’s logical side was currently warring with her emotions.

She also knew that the best thing to do when Lena got into this type of headspace was to shut up and patiently wait for her to reengage.

With a flash of gnashed teeth and a frustrated growl, Lena powered down the cannon and lowered it to her side. Her eyes remained locked on Kara’s, but the tense look on her face softened into a resigned expression.

She breathed out a long sigh, shut her eyes, and hesitantly nodded.

Kara let loose a relieved sigh and allowed herself a small grin. She regained Lena’s attention and motioned towards the balcony.

“May I?”

Lena rolled her eyes and made an overdramatic wave signaling Kara to land. She unceremoniously dropped the laser cannon atop the smooth surface of the railing and turned back to face the slowly descending Kryptonian.

Kara’s boots lightly padded onto the balcony as she landed, and the hero made sure to allow Lena plenty of personal space.

Despite the distance between them, Kara was able to confirm her theory when she first arrived: Lena had indeed been crying, evidenced by her puffy, red eyes.

Lena squared her shoulders and leveled Kara with a glare that fell somewhere between annoyed and homicidal.

Kara was hoping it was closer to the former.

“So what is it tonight, Supergirl? Begging for forgiveness or threatening me again?”

Kara flinched from the blatant hostility. The scowl on Lena’s face drove a red-hot poker through her heart.

“No, nothing like that.”

Kara reached into her belt and produced a flash drive. “I came to bring you this,” she said as she held up the pinky-sized device for Lena to view.

Lena cast a suspicious look towards Kara. “What is that?”

Kara contemplated cheekily pointing out that it was a flash drive but refrained; Lena was clearly not in a joking mood. “It’s a copy of the database from the Tower - Incident reports, field reports, surveillance footage, research, psych profiles, intelligence reports, basically everything we’ve compiled since the creation of Earth-Prime.”

Lena covered her surprise behind a loud throat clearing. “Intelligence reports on what exactly?”

Kara knew this would be the first thing Lena would focus on and had her response pre-loaded.

“Obsidian, Andrea, Ben Lockwood, The DEO, Leviathan, Eve Teschmacher, Lex-”

“Of course,” Lena interrupted, practically sneering.

Kara ignored the comment.

“- and you,” she finished, locking eyes with Lena.

Lena’s mouth fell open at Kara’s admission but she quickly regained her composure, her expressionless veneer now firmly in place.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

Kara nervously chewed her bottom lip.  Her plan really didn’t involve a well thought out and rehearsed speech; the Super knew she would have forgotten every line once she faced Lena. Instead, she decided to let her words be guided by a singular directive:

Tell her the truth.

“I’m putting all my…our cards on the table so you can have an idea of what we’re up against. I want you to be able to review the information and draw your own conclusions…then…maybe you can figure out where you fit into all this, instead of me telling you where you should be.”

Lena remained silent; her face completely unreadable.

Kara fought to mirror Lena’s stoicism but couldn’t hide her slight fidget. “...and, selfishly, we could really use your help. The team hasn’t been the same since you…left.”

“Something tells me your sister would be less than thrilled if she found out you were giving me this.”

“Who do you think helped me put this together?” Kara said proudly, not even trying to hide her smile.

“You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t believe you,” Lena bit back.

Kara’s smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a crestfallen look. “That’s fair.” She forced herself to meet Lena’s icy glare head-on. “Why should you? All I’ve done is tell you that you should trust me and then shown you the complete opposite with my actions.”

“Is that why you’re giving that to me?” Lena nodded toward the flash drive still in Kara’s hand. “Is that your grand gesture to show your trustworthiness?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders, a sad smile on her face. “It would be great if you genuinely saw it that way but, no, there’s no strings attached.”

“Seems a bit risky to trust such sensitive information to a villain.” Lena’s voice was pure venom.

Kara involuntarily shuttered, a chill running through her spine at Lena’s brazen contempt. The hero ran a hand through her hair attempting to quell her feelings of shame and embarrassment that threatened to overwhelm her.

Tell her the truth.

Kara huffed out a sigh and placed the flash drive back into her belt. “I think we can both agree that me calling you a villain was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever said.”

Kara dared to make eye contact with Lena only to receive a head tilt and raised brow from the CEO.

“If you’re willing to humor me for a minute, I’d like to explain what happened that night,” Kara asked with a hopeful look.

Lena remained impassive; Kara took her lack of response as consent to continue. “You’re probably not going to believe me…no, I guarantee you won’t believe me, but earlier that evening I was visited by a fifth dimensional imp who showed me four different timelines where I told you I was Supergirl before Lex did.”

Lena scoffed in disbelief, but Kara chose not to acknowledge her reaction.

“All of them were a complete disaster no matter how early in our friendship I told you.”

The memories of that night flooded back into her mind, forcing Kara to swallow the lump forming in her throat.

“You ended up either dead or mutilated in three of the four timelines.” Kara’s eyes became glassy. “It scared the hell out of me, Lena, because even though none of those timelines were real, they reminded me of how vulnerable you are; especially now that you’re working with…”

Kara trailed off and took a shaky breath.

“It terrifies me that you’re working with Lex. I’m so scared that one day he’s going to decide he doesn’t need you anymore or he wants payback against you for shooting him and puts a bullet in the back of your head.”

Kara began to choke up, her breath coming out in stuttering waves.

Lena watched on, her icy façade slowly melting as Kara endeavored to even out her breathing.

Once she was able to compose herself, Kara’s watery blue eyes met with the CEO’s. “I can accept that you don’t want me in your life; I hate it, but I can accept it as long as I know you’re happy and thriving. What I could never accept…could never live with…is a world without you in it.”

Kara’s eyes began to glow; her face twisted with barely contained fury.

“If Lex…if he took you from…if he killed you, I would track him down and tear him apart piece by piece until he begged me to kill him…and Rao help anyone who got in my way,” Kara choked out with a growl.

Lena’s brow furrowed and her mouth fell slightly open as she tried to process Kara’s chilling admission.

Kara’s eyes cooled as she slowly composed herself. She took a step towards Lena. Much to her surprise, the CEO made no effort to step back. The two stood just out of arm’s length from each other.

“So, when I landed here that night, I was so afraid that I decided to go the tough love route and give you some bullshit ultimatum that I knew was going to fail even before I finished saying it.” Kara’s entire body tensed, her balled up fists dug into her thighs as waves of shame rolled through her body.

She took another step towards Lena.

“I was so scared and desperate to get you away from him that I stupidly thought threats would be more effective than trying to reason with you.” Kara shook her head in disgust, jaw tightly clenched.

“You could have just talked to me,” Lena timidly admitted. “I might not have given you the warmest response, but I would have listened.”

Kara could see that Lena’s features had significantly softened. The hero thought she may have detected a hint of warmth and compassion in those hypnotic green eyes.

Kara hesitantly grinned, not completely sure how to react to Lena’s changed demeanor, but it was short-lived. She was swiftly overcome with guilt; a forlorn look darkened her features.

“That would have been a kindness I didn’t…I don’t deserve.” Kara shook her head again, internally chastising herself.

With a start, she realized that she was mere feet from Lena. As their eyes met for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, Kara was close enough to see the different shades in each of Lena’s irises. Kara could see that Lena’s hardened resolve had dissipated into a hesitant vulnerability.

Tell her the truth.  

“Lena, I didn’t listen to you,” Kara said contritely. “You were right, what you said when you took Myriad. You told me about all the people you loved that betrayed you, but I didn’t listen. You begged me not to violate your trust, but I didn’t listen.”

Kara could see Lena’s eyes become glassy with unshed tears, a slight tremble in her lip. Fighting back her own tears, Kara took another shaky breath.

“Instead, I listened to my fears and the fears of others… people who, at first, couldn’t get past your last name and wouldn’t even bother to try and get to know and understand you. I let those fears distract me from what you wanted, what you needed from me.

“I let those fears convince me that knowing my identity would put you in greater danger, which I know now is just ridiculous. I let those fears stop me from showing you my whole self because they told me you only wanted ‘Kara Danvers,’ not ‘Kara Zor-El.’

“Worst of all, I let those fears convince me that you’d hate me, and I’d lose you forever.”

Both women had tears streaming down their faces, so completely lost in each other’s eyes that they didn’t bother wiping them away.

“I didn’t listen to you…to my heart, and if it costs me you, I will regret that decision for the rest of my life.”

Kara reflexively extended her hand towards Lena but quickly stopped herself when she realized what she was doing.

Lena gave no indication that she saw Kara’s aborted attempt, the CEO simply continued to remain fixated on the hero’s eyes, conflicting emotions playing across her face.

Kara shut her eyes and took a deep breath; her tightened eyelids unleashed a waterfall of unshed tears.

They stood entranced with each other for an indeterminate amount of time before Kara, clearing her throat, snapped them out of it.

The two backed away from each other a few steps and began haphazardly wiping their tears away. Once her eyes were sufficiently cleared, Kara could see Lena’s features harden again, though with less intensity than when she first arrived at the CEO’s penthouse.

Kara could see that Lena was clearly debating with herself but before Kara could ask why, Lena held out her hand.

“I’ll take the drive,” she said with a calm certainty.

As she retrieved the flash drive from her belt, Kara fought to keep her enthusiasm contained, managing to limit her reaction to a tight grin.

Lena rolled her eyes and reached out for the proffered drive.

As the device changed hands, their fingers brushed together. Kara’s super-hearing missed the flutter of Lena’s heartbeat, too distracted by her own thundering pulse that threatened to force her heart from her chest.

“No strings?” Lena asked sternly, holding the flash drive at eye level.

“No strings.” Kara assured her with a smile.

“Okay,” Lena replied with hesitancy in her voice, placing the drive in her suit pocket. “I hope you know this doesn’t fix everything.”

Kara smiled ruefully. “I know...”

The hero shifted uneasily.

“...but maybe this could be a start to repairing things…repairing us?” she said with a hopeful look.

Lena leveled Kara with a nervous glance before giving her a curt nod.

“Um…so…if that’s all, I’m going to go to bed. It’s…been a long day,” Lena said awkwardly.

“Oh, yeah, right. Crazy day…uh…I’m sure you’re exhausted. Me too. Today’s been a real backbreaker…yeah, I should probably head home too…get some sleep…Oh! Maybe dinner first! Yeah, dinner first, then sleep.” Kara rambled, her hands jittery and a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks.

Lena shook her head and turned to enter her penthouse, pulling the hair tie from her ponytail as she neared the door.

Kara watched as Lena’s hair cascaded down her shoulders. She was suddenly struck by a wave of anxiety. Her conversation with Lena had gone better than expected, but Kara had so much more she wanted to say, and she feared she wouldn’t get the opportunity. She was afraid that somehow this tentative…well, whatever it was, would fall apart.

She started to panic. Her chest felt like someone was sitting on it, an anxious knot formed in her stomach, and she could feel a lump forming in her throat.

Tell her the truth.

“Lena!” She blurted out without thinking.

The CEO was startled by the hero’s outburst and turned to face her, a yearning, drained look on her face.

“Lena, I love—”

Kara’s entire body felt like it was on fire. Now confronted by the moment she so dearly wanted, she froze.

She knew what she wanted to say. She wanted to tell her how much she missed her, how much she wanted to hold her, kiss her, and never let her go.

She wanted to tell Lena that she loved her more than anything in the multiverse...

...but she couldn't.

Now wasn’t the time, she knew that deep in her heart. To tell Lena how she really felt about her would be too much, too soon.

Their reconciliation was in its infancy, and Kara wasn’t going to jeopardize it by dropping a nuclear-sized emotion bomb on her. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

“I love your suit. It’s a… I mean you look… really…”

Kara was blushing so hard her cheeks were burning.

“…maroon’s a good color on you,” she finally managed to stammer out.

It was apparent that Lena wasn’t expecting the compliment; the blush on her cheeks indicated as much. She averted her eyes from Kara’s gaze and timidly tucked some errant strands of hair behind her ear.

Kara couldn’t help the satisfied smile that stretched across her lips; thrilled by Lena’s reaction. For a fleeting moment, it felt like old times, a hopeful reminder that not everything between them was irreparably broken.

Kara’s triumphant moment ended abruptly when Lena caught sight of the hero’s giddiness. Her shyness bled away and was replaced with an air of forced indifference.

“Actually, it’s burgundy,” she pointed out haughtily.

“Oh,” Kara said bashfully; her embarrassment coloring her cheeks once again.

“Well, you still look pretty handsome in it,” the hero responded sincerely, a look of reverence on her face.

Disarmed by Kara’s candidness, Lena’s regal stature quickly deflated.

“Thank you,” she said sheepishly.

Kara’s smile became impossibly brighter.

“Goodnight, Lena.”

The hero lifted off from the balcony and leisurely coasted away.

Lena watched as her red cape disappeared into the night, a soft grin on her face.

“Goodnight, Kara.”

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[just-another-josh]

Supercorptober 2023 (in 2024)

Money - Gamblers Not-So-Anonymous Part I

Samantha Danvers was working in her office at the Lena Luthor Foundation when the company’s namesake abruptly stormed in.

“Alright, talk.”

Sam, clearly unfazed, didn’t bother looking up from her laptop.

“Hello to you too.”

Lena huffed and rolled her eyes. “Hello, Sam,” she said impatiently.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Sam tapped a few keys, her eyes still fixed on the screen.

Lena stood rigidly with her thumbs in her suit-pant pockets, fingers beating an annoyed rhythm.

“I want to know about the bet.”

Sam paused her typing; her jaw set tightly as she forced herself not to look at her boss.

“What bet are you referring to?”

Lena scoffed, “Oh please, Samantha. Don’t insult my intelligence.”

Sam huffed out a defeated breath and turned to face Lena.

“What did you hear?”

Lena stepped closer and placed her hands on Sam’s desk.

“Since you, Kara, J’onn, and M’gann were off doing the hero thing last night, Alex, Nia, Brainy, and I went to Al’s. Halfway through the evening, Nia was updating us on the status of their house hunting and complaining about current home prices.

“Brainy then made a very off-hand comment along the lines of ‘…if only we had won the wager…,’ but before he could finish, Nia elbowed him in the ribs while your wife kicked him under the table. The rest of the night, they changed the subject anytime I brought it up.”

Lena leaned in and eyed Sam with a laser-sharp gaze.

“So, tell me, what were all of you wagering on and what does it have to do with Kara and I?”

Sam took on a mock-offended posture, an indignant huff pushing out of her nose.

“Awfully presumptive. What makes you think, and this is not an admission, that the bet was about you and Kara?”

“Process of elimination,” Lena said, feeling insulted. “C’mon, Sam. Did you forget I’m first and foremost a scientist? I asked Kara when I got home last night if she knew anything, and she said she didn’t-”

“How do you know she’s not lying?” Sam interupted, trying her damndest to hide her grin.

Lena looked at Sam in disbelief.

“Because secret identity aside, when it comes to me, my girlfriend is a shit liar.”

Sam nodded.

“Point conceded. Continue.”

Lena flashed Sam a smug grin.

“This morning, I ran into J’onn and M’gann at the DEO and asked them about it. They suddenly remembered they had to go grocery shopping and flew out of the balcony before I could get another word in.”

Sam nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

Lena continued, “So, add J’onn and M’gann to you and the other three idiots, with Kara and I being the only two not in on it, it stands to reason that the bet has to do with us."

Sam’s face twisted into a look of indignation.

“Hey! What makes you think I’m part of this…this…conspiracy?”

A look of complete bewilderment fell over Lena’s face.

She shook her head. “If your wife’s in on it, that guarantees you’re complicit.”

Lena’s stare drilled into Sam for emphasis.

The CFO deflated and shook her head.

“Coluan asshat. I should throw him into the sun.”

Lena’s lips twisted into a cocky smile.

Sam looked at her watch and saw that it was just past four o’clock.

“Fuck it. It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Sam mumbled as she motioned towards the brown couch behind Lena. “Have a seat, I’ll get the drinks.”

Lena headed towards the couch, dropping her clutch on the coffee table and unbuttoning her coat. She had no sooner sat down before a tumbler filled with scotch was in her hand courtesy of Sam and her super-speed.

Sam, taking a sip from her glass, had already settled on the other side.

Lena allowed her friend to indulge in a few sips silently before throwing an expectant look at her CFO.

“Waiting.”

Sam took long draw from her drink and rolled her neck, an audible crack resulted. She let contented sigh and sank further into the couch.

“The bet had to do with when you and Kara were going to hook-up.”

“Hook-up, hook-up or start dating?”

“It wasn’t specified, but we all assumed since Kara is a complete Pollyanna, it would be the latter. Everyone knows she isn't down with casual hook-ups. Now her new girlfriend on the other hand...” Sam took drink to hide her grin.

Lena chose to ignore Sam's jab; the look on her face remained banal.

“What were the terms?”

Sam cleared her throat and shifted into executive mode.

“The over/under was six months. No minimum buy-in and you could add additional money to the pot at any point, but you couldn’t change the time period you originally bet on. The pot would be split evenly amongst the winners. People were allowed to subtly try and influence the two of you but were not allowed to directly interfere.”

Lena tapped her finger on her chin.

“Six months…when did the bet begin?”

“At me and Alex’s wedding reception.”

Lena quickly did the math in her head; she and Kara had announced that they were a couple four months after the wedding. Lena hummed to herself but remained stone faced.

“Whose idea was it?”

“Winn,” Sam said without hesitation, not feeling an ounce of remorse for throwing him under the proverbial bus. “Apparently, he watched you two have ‘an emotionally charged moment’ that convinced him your relationship was heading in the direction of more than platonic.”

“Oh, for god’s sake. We were crying and hugging. There was nothing remotely romantic about it,” Lena grumbled.

Sam raised her hands nonthreateningly.

“Hey, me and Alex were about to take off for Argo. I’m just quoting what he said.”

Lena clenched her jaw but didn’t respond.

“Whatever Winn saw encouraged him to make a beeline for Nia and Brainy and…well…the rest is history.”

Lena took a sip of her scotch before resting her elbow on the back of the couch, placing her head lightly on her fist.

“What did the pot get up to?”

“Thirty-six grand,” Sam said quietly.

Lena abruptly sat up; her eyebrows comically raised.

“Holy shit! How many people were in on this?”

Sam seemed to shrink into her seat.

“A lot?” she said with a sheepish look on her face.

“Names, Samantha. I want names,” Lena ordered in a playful variation of her boardroom voice.

“Okay,” Sam grumbled in defeat.

With a burst of super-speed, Sam was back on the couch with her laptop open, furiously typing away.

Lena chuckled. “I assume they put you in charge of the bookkeeping?”

“Well, I am the only corporate accountant in our circle of friends, so, duh.” Sam shook her head in faux disgust.

Lena remained silent while Sam tapped away at her keyboard, opting instead to take a few more sips of her drink.

Before Lena had time to enjoy the satisfying burn, Sam indicated she was finished.

“Ok, so, you already know about me, Alex, J’onn, M’gann, Brainy, Nia, Winn…there was Lois and Clark-”

“What?” Lena interrupted. “They don’t even like me.”

“Actually, Clark likes you a lot. He says Lois still has trust issues with you, but he suspects she has a bit of a gambling problem too, so…”

Lena arched her eyebrow.

“Good to know.”

Sam shrugged.

“Eliza, Alura and Zor-El-”.

“Really? That seems very un-Kryptonian.” Lena interjected.

“Alex and I said the same thing when Eliza told us they were onboard, but I guess Alura jumped at the chance to throw in after Eliza broke it down for her during their weekly call.”

“Hold on, Eliza and Alura have a weekly call?” Lena said, a hint of trepidation in her voice.

“Yup,” Sam said with a pop.

She smiled diabolically.

“Good luck with that.”

Lena gave an imperceptible nod as she started fidgeting with her glass; distracted by the implications of a weekly discussion between Kara’s “moms”.

“Where was I?” Sam mumbled as she scanned for where she left off. “Ah, there we are. Jess, Cat Grant, Andrea-”.

“That zrhykhig!” Lena blurted out. “That’s why she’s been throwing herself at me like a bitch in heat since the wedding.”

Her anger continued to swell as pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

“She took the over, didn’t she? Of course, she did. I don’t even know why I’m asking. I’m sure she thought the best way to keep me and Kara apart was to con me into fucking her.”

Waves of golden energy began cascading over Lena’s hands.

“I swear to Rao I’m going to find a spell that’ll undo the nose job she got for her sweet-sixteen.”

Sam looked up from her laptop nervously.

“Whoa, slow down there, Elphaba. There’s no need to mutilate her.”

Sam fixed Lena with a disapproving glare that seemed to calm her down; the magic over her hands dissipated.

“To answer your question, yes, she took the over. Now, are you going to stop interrupting me so I can get through this list?”

“No,” Lena said defiantly.

“Worth a shot,” Sam mumbled to herself.

“Next, we have Barry and Iris West-Allen-”

Sam shot a hand up to stop Lena before she could interrupt.

“Yes, I know you just met them a month ago at his birthday party. Please bear in mind, the rest of this list is comprised of people you first met at said party, but also bear in mind they’ve all known Kara for years.”

Lena closed her mouth and mimicked zipping her lips shut.

“Thank you.” Sam nodded, momentarily relieved. “As I was saying, Barry and Iris, Ray and Nora Palmer, Sara and Ava Lance-”.

“Wait, Sara Lance?” Lena threw a teasing grin at her friend.

“Yes.”

“White Canary?”

“Yes.”

“Wasn’t she the one that…”

“Yes.”

“With Alex…”

“Yes.”

“The one you threatened to-”

“Yes! Can we please stop talking about the woman my wife had a one-night stand with?”

Lena snorted several times as she tried to contain her laughter.

Sam, fuming, returned her attention to the list.

“Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Mick Rory-”

“The large gentleman who spent the entire night drunk and grunting at everyone?” Lena asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“That’s the one.”

Sam perked up.

“And finally, Kate Kane.”

Sam swore she heard Lena growl.

“The sauced-up brunette that kept getting handsy with Kara?”

“Yes. Most people just call her Kate, or Batwoman.”

Sam could see a vein beginning to protrude from Lena’s forehead.

“For the sake of context, she started flirting with Kara after placing her wager. I think she was pulling the same move as Andrea.”

Sam reached across the couch and patted Lena’s knee reassuringly.

“So, maybe don’t go all Jigsaw on her?” Sam appealed.

Lena’s posture softened, but she seemed to somehow look both perplexed and astonished at the same time.

“I just don’t understand how all these people, whom it should be noted I’ve spent a grand total of less than two hours with, felt confident enough to wager on Kara's and my love life.”

“They spent more than five minutes in the same room with you two, that's how,” Sam evenly stated.

Lena leveled Sam with a look of utter confusion.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Sam’s mouth fell agape, absolutely stunned.

“Oh, honey. You two were the paragons of sexual tension. Anyone with eyes could see it plain as day. You should have seen all the confused looks I got from people when I told them you two weren’t dating.”

I light dusting of pink spread across Lena’s face as she smiled fondly.

“Paragons of sexual tension?” Lena asked rhetorically.

After a moment of consideration, the CEO conceded

“Accurate.”

Sam let Lena stew in her embarrassment a few moments longer, taking great pleasure in watching her oldest friend squirm.

Using her super-speed, she refilled their drinks, and, clearly out of patience, burst out, “So are you going to ask me, or what?”

Lena titled her head questioningly.

Sam sighed out of sheer frustration.

“Don’t you want to know who won?!?”

Lena startled and nodded emphatically.

“Yes, of course, yes. Please, tell me.”

“There were three winners: Eliza, Jess, and me.”

Sam smiled pompously while doing a celebratory jig.

Lena, looking completely unsurprised, grinned warmly.

“Eliza…no shock there. That woman can read her daughters like an open book. And Jess…well, I guess you could say she had a front-row seat from day one.”

She paused as she reminisced. A tender smile spread across her face; she focused on Sam with curious glint in her eyes.

“So, how did you know?”

Sam, pretending to take offense, gasped. “Aside from years of watching you two longingly eye-fuck each other?”

Lena snorted into her glass as she tried to take a drink, inadvertently causing some of the liquid to splash on her face. A deep blush settled over her cheeks as she wiped at her now damp face.

“Yes, aside from that,” she said through a coughing chuckle.

Sam’s grin at Lena’s antics was slowly replaced by a look of melancholy. She methodically swirled the contents of her tumbler, seemingly transfixed by it.

“Honestly, everything came into focus when you two were fighting.”

Lena abruptly stopped her efforts to dry her face, instead focusing on Sam with a forlorn look on her face.

“That year you spent apart, I watched you both flounder. You two were just going through the motions...lost. Neither one of you was whole."

Sam's lips lifted into a sad grin.

"As cliché as it sounds, you two really are stronger together. El Mayarah in the flesh.”

She paused to take a drink.

Lena’s eyes became glassy, a slight tremor in her hands barely visible.

“When it happened, I remember thinking about everything you two had accomplished together: you sent the Daxamites packing, beat Reign and saved me, stopped Lex and Red Daughter from basically taking control of the country, and handled all the other little disasters in-between. When you two finally reconciled you were able to prevent Leviathan from taking over the world and then stopped Lex from killing two-thirds of the population on Earth; and that was before you two had a chance to work through your shit.”

Sam grew more passionate as she continued, “To this day, I firmly believe that if we would’ve beat your fuckhead brother before he trapped Kara in the Phantom Zone, you two would’ve been married before Alex and I.”

Lena tilted her head and lightly shrugged, silently acknowledging the possibility.

“When we got her back from that hellhole, Nyxly showed up and threw a wrench into everything. Lex rearing his bald head again was just the cherry on top.”

Lena let out a frustrated sigh as she reflected on that tumultuous time in their lives. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her body reacted viscerally to the unpleasant memories.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I promise there is a point to this walk down nightmare lane,” Sam said as she reached across the couch and placed her hand over Lena’s to reassure her.

Lena lightly patted the top of Sam’s hand in acknowledgement of the tender gesture.

“What I’m trying to point out is that the reason you two didn’t get together after you reconciled was not by choice or missed opportunities, it was the fact that you two never got a chance to breathe long enough to explore how you felt about each other. I knew with absolute certainty that once things died down, you two would end up getting that opportunity. So, when Nyxly and Lex fucked-off to the Phantom Zone, I had the utmost faith that you two would be swapping spit, and other bodily fluids, in very short order.”

Sam flashed a brilliant, mischievous smile.

“Hence, why I took the under.”

Lena grinned through her tears, and squeezing Sam’s hand she quietly said, “Thank you for never losing faith in me…in us.”

Sam scooped Lena into a tight hug, her chin rested over Lena’s shoulder.

“Oh, sweetie. I love you and Kara so much. All I’ve ever wanted for you two is to be happy…well, together, and happy.”

They squeezed each other tighter, giggling into each other’s shoulders.

“I think we need to switch to a lighter topic,” Sam said through a choked-up laugh.

They broke up their hug, both futilely trying to save their mascara as they wiped the tears from their eyes.

“I agree. Did you have something in mind?” Lena managed to sniffle out.

“Actually, I do.”

There was a hint of nervousness in Sam’s voice. Lena noticed that her friend was fidgeting with her hands.

Lena scoffed, “Oh, Christ. Now what?”

Sam anxiously cleared her throat.

“Weeelll, there might be one more wager that hasn’t been settled yet.”

Sam did her best to avoid looking at Lena, instead focusing on her suddenly very interesting hands.

Lena’s eyebrow rose ever-so-slightly. “This should be good,” she deadpanned.

“So, after it was confirmed you two were officially dating, a second bet was made on who made the first move,” Sam admitted hesitantly.

Lena was the picture of stoicism.

“I see, and what’s the pot on this one?”

“Forty-five thousand.”

Lena’s eyebrows shot up.

“For fuck’s sake, Sam. It’s been a week since we told everyone!”

Sam smiled, a bit embarrassed.

“Yeah, a lot of people are trying to recoup their losses.”

“I feel like there’s a teachable moment regarding the evils of gambling somewhere, but…,” Lena drifted off, clearly indifferent to their plight. She leveled an inquisitive look at Sam. “So, Mrs. Danvers, which pony did you back?”

Sam slammed back the remainder of her drink and placed the empty tumbler on the coffee table. She timidly met Lena’s eyes and weakly smiled.

“Kara.”

Lena’s brows furrowed at Sam’s admission. She let her CFO suffer through a dramatically awkward silence before responding.

“Et tu, Brute?”

Sam shrugged.

“Lena, I mean this with all due respect, but you are the very definition of ‘useless lesbian’.”

“Useless bisexual,” Lena quickly corrected.

“Oh, please. Jack and James were total beards!” Sam cackled.

Lena’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Sam in reproach.

“No comment,” she said sternly.

Sam was now laughing so hard her side hurt. Lena took a heavy swallow of her drink and regarded her friend with an icy stare.

Her impatience building, Lena opted to change the subject.

“Speaking of James, I noticed he wasn’t on the list of participants.”

Sam took a minute to regain her composure and even out her breathing.

“He felt it would be inappropriate to wager on when his ‘ex-girlfriends’ would hook-up.”

“What does he mean, ‘ex-girlfriends’? Kara never even went on a date with him. They kissed twice…the first time he was being controlled by Myriad.” Lena said, clearly appalled.

A look of shock climbed across Sam’s face.

“Shut the fuck up! I never knew that! Oh my god, Alex doesn’t even know about that!”

“I can’t believe I slept with that narcissistic prick.” Lena snorted angrily at the memory.

Sam loudly clapped her hands, breaking Lena’s reverie.

“Well, I’m glad we could clear that up. Now, fess up. Who jumped first?”

Lena remained silent and studied Sam for a moment, the CFO was practically bouncing in her seat in anticipation.

After what seemed like an eternity (to Sam at least), Lena slammed back the remainder of her scotch and set the empty tumbler on the coffee table.

A devious grin on her lips, Lena stood and began fastening the buttons on her jacket.

“Thank you for the drink and for the conversation. It was rather stimulating.” Lena retrieved her discarded clutch from the table and moved to exit Sam’s office.

Sam quickly realized that Lena was going to leave her hanging and sprung to her feet.

“Oh, hell no! You’re not flaking out on me now, Luthor!”

Lena didn’t slow her pace.

“I’ll see you at Game Night on Friday. Don’t forget, you and Alex are on snack duty this week.”

Sam used her super-speed to position herself between Lena and her office door.

“Please, Lena! Just tell me. Alex bet on you, so it doesn’t matter who made the first move, I win either way,” she whined as she grabbed Lena by the arms. “C’mon Lena, Alex and I could use the money to do that add-on to the house and take the trip to Aruba we’ve been talking about for years.”

“Oh please, you just got back from honeymooning on Argo.”

“Yeah, but that was four months ago…and Argo doesn’t have crystal blue waters…and sandy beaches…and clear, sunny skies…and…and drinks with little umbrellas in them!”

Sam was pleading, well, more begging at this point.

Lena gave Sam a piteous smile, cupped her cheek, leaned in, and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

“Love you, sweetie.”

She separated from Sam’s grip and exited through the office door.

Sam helplessly watched as Lena disappeared behind the shut door.

“Fuck!” she bellowed into the empty office.

The Kryptonian rushed over to her desk and retrieved her phone, quickly bringing up her wife’s contact.

MyBrownEyedGirl: The jig is up! Boss Lady was just here. She knows everything!

BigRed: Fuck! I knew Brainy shit the bed last night. What did you tell her?

MyBrownEyedGirl: EVERYTHING!!!

BigRed: Oh.

BigRed: Wow.

BigRed: How’d she handle it?

MyBrownEyedGirl: Typical Lena.

BigRed: Shocker.

BigRed: Did you ask about the other thing?

MyBrownEyedGirl: YUP

BigRed: AND???

MyBrownEyedGirl: Typical Luthor.

BigRed: Again, shocker. Plan B: I’ll load Kara up on potstickers, ice cream, and Aldebaran Rum. I guarantee she’ll talk when I’m done with her.

BigRed: Don’t worry, baby. We’re getting that new rec room AND our trip.

MyBrownEyedGirl: Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you throw around all that Big Dick Energy?

BigRed: Yes, but you can remind me again tonight.

MyBrownEyedGirl: With pleasure. Rubes is staying at her friend’s house tonight. I’ll get out the big strap.

BigRed: Fuck, I love you!!!!

MyBrownEyedGirl: Love you too, red.

MyBrownEyedGirl: Oh, one more thing. I need a favor from you.

BigRed: Name it.

MyBrownEyedGirl: Please remind me to call Nia and tell her she needs to find a new baby-daddy, because I’m going to throw Brainy’s dumb-ass into the sun!!!

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