“Are you okay, Lena?” Kara ventured softly as Lena shut the door behind them.
“I’m fine. Sorry, I’m just really tired—jet lag,” Lena replied, clearly masking the truth.
Kara could sense it was a lie.
“You can talk to me if something’s bothering you. I’m here for you,” Kara said gently. But the response she received took her by surprise.
“I told you I’m fine, Kara! Can you just drop it?” Lena snapped.
The sudden outburst left Kara stunned; Lena had never raised her voice like this before. Kara felt a whirlwind of emotions—confusion, anger, but most of all, hurt.
“Oh. Um, okay,” she stammered, shifting uncomfortably as the silence stretched between them. Lena averted her eyes, and Kara's gaze dropped to the floor. “I’ll let you rest. I know you’re tired,” she managed, offering a faint smile. Unsure if she could reach out, she opted to keep her distance. “Just call me if you need anything, okay?” she said, heading towards the door.
“Kara, wait,” Lena called, her voice softer now, the atmosphere shifting as she approached. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lash out like that. I’m just really tired from the trip—I was out of line.” Lena’s small steps accompanied her words.
But Kara knew the reason behind Lena's distress wasn’t merely exhaustion.
“Please stay,” Lena pleaded quietly. Kara knew they had to talk this out, and she drew on her courage; she couldn't let the night end this way.
“I know you weren’t overseas,” she said, sensing Lena’s gasped reaction behind her. Closing her eyes for a moment, Kara fought to maintain her composure. She was no fool.
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Lena stammered.
“I know you didn’t go on a business trip, Lena. I’ve known all along that while you were making excuses for your absence, you were right here—in your apartment.” Turning to face Lena with her hands tucked in her pockets.
"Kara—I can—let me explain." Lena took a hesitant step closer to her.
-----
Finally finished rewriting this fic! Took a while! Would like to hear what you guys think!
i’m spilling all my words (but you keep ‘em to yourself) chapter 7 update
“What is it?” Kara asks falteringly, touching her belt.
“Just a little jealous,” Lena admits, and stands up with her glass, walking towards the sink or maybe Kara. “All night. They’re allowed to touch you and I can’t.”
Lena is laughing softly at her, and Kara can feel the buzz of it where Lena’s back presses into her thighs. She huffs, irritated. “You want spontaneous? Fine.” She reaches down to Lena’s hand, currently maneuvering her controller, and slips the ring off her thumb. “Here.”
Lena cranes her neck away from the TV to stare up at Kara, thumbs stalling on the buttons. “Hey, that’s my—what are you doing?”
Kara presents the ring before her. “Lena Luthor,” she starts. “You’ve been the love of my life for almost as long as I can remember and my best friend for even longer. And I would be… beyond happy to spend every moment of the rest of our lives together. Marry me?”
.
or, five times Kara proposes to Lena at game night, and one time they get engaged.
Prompt: “You aren’t alone. You’ve never been alone.”
“Lena, it’s time.” Kara murmured from the doorway, gaze visibly downcast. Lena acknowledged her best friend’s reflection in the full length mirror she was standing in front of. The mirror she had been staring into for the last who-knows-how-long.
The black dress she was wearing was flashier than the one she wore to William’s - Lillian would want it that way. Would want sophisticated cuts and eye-watering price tags for the attire at her funeral. Her hair was half-up and half-down, she wasn’t sure which way would please her mother so she decided to split the difference.
Kara had arrived early, less than a minute after Lena had roused herself enough to get the coffeemaker going - she was convinced Kara had kept an ear out for her and had sped over as soon as she had heard signs of wakefulness. Her best friend had wanted to spend the night, be there with her when she woke up in bed - a suggestion that would seem odd if it wasn’t for the fact that they had been sharing a bed since Lex and Nyxly’s defeat.
Lena had needed space though, room to break down in private; she knew Kara would want to be there for her but this was something she needed to do alone.
It was a hallmark Luthor motto. Pain and emotional vulnerability was private.
And it had felt right to honour her mother in this final way. To grieve her in a manner befitting a Luthor.
(Despite the stoicness of the declaration, she still sobbed and sniffed and whimpered into her pillows, fingers curled and clutching at a Midvale High T-shirt for comfort.)
Kara had arrived that morning, expression broken and mouth a broken line attempting to emulate a frown or a sympathetic smile - that’s when Lena was sure Kara had heard her last night. The tightness and length of the hug that followed merely confirmed it.
They eat breakfast together, Kara taking over the cooking when it became apparent how sluggish and unmotivated to eat Lena was. Kara made her favourite french toast and cut up a bowl of fruit even when Lena clearly struggled to eat it all. Kara had approached love and care the same way she did in a fight; sheer strength and an overwhelming force until her opponent buckled under, utterly accepting of inevitable defeat.
The last Luthor had retreated to get ready then, taking infinite care over her appearance; it was the only thing she could and would contribute to the day’s proceedings.
Lillian had left detailed instructions and a small pot of money to fund it. Lena need only turn up at the cemetery - for some reason not the well kept site near the Luthor Manor but one just outside National City’s limits.
(Lena assumed that Lillian had selected this location in the hopes that Lena would visit - something guaranteed to never occur if she were to be buried so close to Lena’s once childhood home).
“The car’s here.” Kara added gently, hesitant fingers reaching out to lightly squeeze the raven haired woman’s elbow when she failed to respond.
“Okay.” Lena sighed, taking one last close look at the orphaned girl in the mirror.
Orphan.
Lena had found herself pondering the word ever since Lillian’s funeral date had been determined. She found her thoughts turning to the descriptor whenever her mind was granted a moment's rest (something Lena vigorously strived to avoid). Now on the way to her mother’s funeral, Kara unnaturally silent in the back seat of the black sedan they were travelling in; Lena had all the time in the world to ponder it.
She was a rare breed. An orphan twice.
An orphan who had also lost a sibling twice (once to madness and again to something akin to death).
Orphan doubled. Maybe orphan squared.
The word didn’t fit, Lena realised after a while, green eyes watching the buildings flit by (decreasing in height and frequency as they made their ways outside) and studiously avoiding the concerned blue intensely focusing on her profile.
Orphan was too small and yet too much to describe her.
Maybe she was too old to be an orphan. Maybe she was too much of an orphan to be an orphan.
It wasn’t until later, standing by the dark pit that would be Lillian’s final resting place that Lena realised what the word should be.
Alone. She was alone.
The Last Luthor.
The Last Walsh.
The ceremony had been simple and avoided religious texts, instead relying on readings of poems Lena had never known Lillian liked - it was this realisation (not knowing her mother without any hope of rectifying that gap) that made Lena’s eyes itch and her throat feel tight, more than the moving words that made the content.
Kara had held her hand through it all, silent and protective. The Superfriends were there too. At the back, offering comfort and support by their mere presence for a woman that had made their lives miserable. Lena, even in her fog of grief had hugged Alex gratefully after the ceremony - if anyone had any right to dance on Lillian’s grave it was the Danvers, but the redhead had offered sympathy and kindness, a sign of the joy and love that Kelly and Esme had imbued her with.
“I need a few minutes.” Lena requested once the event had reached its finale. The few guests that had attended - old friends of Lillian’s from university who had lost contact with the woman once she became a Luthor through marriage - carefully making their meandering departure through the rows of tombstones. The superfriends lingered nearby, though it was clear they were antsy and Esme looked fatigued - the day requiring extended concentration and control that a child shouldn’t have to provide for longer than necessary.
Kara hesitated, uncomfortable leaving Lena.
“I’ll be fine.” Lena assured, though she could hear the painful neutrality of her voice - a protective measure that blue eyes peered through like glass. “Tell the others…” She pursed her lips, unable to drag her gaze away from the black hole that swallowed up her mother. “Thank you. I appreciate their company, but they should go, I’m not… I’m not feeling overly social.”
“Alright.” Kara accepted after a thoughtful pause, squeezing Lena’s hand once more before regretfully letting go - it took another beat before Kara resolved herself to turn away.
Lena waited. Waited until she had heard the retreating footsteps fade into nothingness.
“I am alone.” Lena tested the words out.
They sounded… sad.
But also right. The culmination of her life. The final line in her biography.
She wrapped her arms around herself to ward against the afternoon breeze that brought a slight chill with it.
“You aren’t alone. You’ve never been alone.”
Lena chuckled mirthlessly to herself as Kara landed near-silent next to her.
Of course she had been listening, literally hovering nearby.
“You and I both know that’s not true.” Lena replied, gentle and forgiving of the trespass.
Kara sidled closer, arm moving to wrap around Lena’s waist encouraging her to seek the warmth she had failed to give herself by burrowing into Kara’s side.
“Do you believe in soulmates?” Kara asked out of nowhere.
Lena blinked in surprise, “Umm… not particularly, though I’ve always liked the romanticism of the concept.”
Kara hummed as if she was expecting that response. “I didn’t either.”
“Didn’t? Implying you’ve changed your mind.” Lena prompted curiously.
“It’s not a kryptonian concept.” Kara explained. “Soulmates, that is. Understandable considering we have arranged marriages. We accept that the match we have been aligned to will be acceptable but not… perfect. Kryptonians expect a decent relationship that will require input and hard work. Not necessarily passion; love, even less so.”
Lena nodded, absorbing the information and committing it to memory alongside everything else Kara shared about herself. “I think humanity could do with some of that, though.” Lena murmured thoughtfully. “There is an expectation in our culture that a relationship be perfect; that if work is required it is not worth saving.”
“True.” Kara agreed readily, hand shifting to Lena’s hip to tug her even closer. “Though I think I prefer Earth. The choice being mine. I get to be the one to decide that someone else is worth the effort. I get to say ‘I want to spend my life making something real and imperfectly perfect with that person. That one right there’.”
“How earnestly hopeful.” Lena teased.
“Eh, it comes with the job.” Kara shrugged, cheek moving to rest against the side of Lena’s head - surrounding the Luthor until loneliness was impossible to claim.
“It doesn’t sound like you believe in soulmates…” Lena mused after a lull.
“Doesn’t it?” Kara inquired.
“Soulmates are pre-determined, you said you want to choose.”
“Soulmates aren’t pre-determined.” Kara disagreed, shifting back slightly so she could peer into Lena’s green eyes.
It was only then that Lena realised she had stopped staring into the grave, drawn like a moth to the flame, (a Luthor drawn to sincere blue).
“They are made and fought for and lovingly grown. A soulmate is someone out there who’s willing to spend a lifetime fitting the pieces of themselves into yours with the aim of complementing the best parts of each other. Can you fathom how special that is? Billions of people on this planet and billions more on so many others, and you find that one person who is willing to link their soul to yours - taking on all the hardship that may entail. Seems pretty amazing to me. Seems like that is what a soulmate truly is.”
“Kara…” Lena began before cutting off, unsure how to respond to the speech that was clearly practiced in a way that only internal ruminations could create. She exhaled slowly, decreasing the breakneck speed of her internal thoughts, “I prefer your version.” Lena eventually declared. “But what has this got to do with me being alone?”
“Who said it has anything to do with it?” Kara questioned, cheeky and cocky in that way that always made Lena’s heart full to bursting.
Lena arched an eyebrow, producing a rueful smile from the blonde.
“We shouldn't talk about it here.” Kara said softly, leaning forward to press a kiss to Lena’s forehead.
“No?” Lena prompted.
“No.” Kara affirmed, glancing quickly sideways at the hole in the ground.
“Soon, though?” Lena checked, hoping there wasn’t too much of a desperate edge to her voice.
“Soon.” Kara promised, chin lifting and shoulders squaring in physical display of her commitment.
After Lena shoots Lex and learns the truth about Kara she’s arrested for his murder, and both she and Kara learn just how far both of them are willing to go for one another.
Alex was not at all a stranger to being roused from her sleep by inopportune phone calls. It was both the nature of her work and having a Kryptonian for a younger sister, so when her phone rattled itself across her bedside table, it took her only two clumsy swipes to scoop it up and sit up hunched against her bed’s headboard, letting her eyes acclimate to the darkness.
“Hello?” she croaked, already fumbling for the light switch in the dark, still holding out hope that whatever the emergency was, it could be solved from the comfort of her bed. Her hand grazed it a moment later and she closed her eyes tight as her room flooded with light.
“ Director Danvers. I need you to listen to me very carefully. ”
“Lena?” She sat up, hardly noticing the chill as she threw her blankets back. The shock at hearing Lena of all people on the other end of the call made her miss the strange way Lena had addressed her. “Are you—”
“ If you want to keep Supergirl’s identity a secret, you need to do exactly as I say. I don’t have a lot of time.”
For a moment, Alex had the almost irresistible urge to ask Lena the question that she was sure that Lena expected her to: Do you know? Only if she did, that would inevitably lead to another question and another like a neverending scavenger hunt and if Lena was right and Kara’s identity was at risk of getting out…
“I’m listening,” Alex said, reaching across her nightstand to grab her signal watch. She pressed it two times, knowing she wouldn’t have to wait long, and then held her phone more securely against her ear, determined not to miss a word.
After Lena shoots Lex and learns the truth about Kara she’s arrested for his murder, and both she and Kara learn just how far both of them are willing to go for one another.
Alex was not at all a stranger to being roused from her sleep by inopportune phone calls. It was both the nature of her work and having a Kryptonian for a younger sister, so when her phone rattled itself across her bedside table, it took her only two clumsy swipes to scoop it up and sit up hunched against her bed’s headboard, letting her eyes acclimate to the darkness.
“Hello?” she croaked, already fumbling for the light switch in the dark, still holding out hope that whatever the emergency was, it could be solved from the comfort of her bed. Her hand grazed it a moment later and she closed her eyes tight as her room flooded with light.
“ Director Danvers. I need you to listen to me very carefully. ”
“Lena?” She sat up, hardly noticing the chill as she threw her blankets back. The shock at hearing Lena of all people on the other end of the call made her miss the strange way Lena had addressed her. “Are you—”
“ If you want to keep Supergirl’s identity a secret, you need to do exactly as I say. I don’t have a lot of time.”
For a moment, Alex had the almost irresistible urge to ask Lena the question that she was sure that Lena expected her to: Do you know? Only if she did, that would inevitably lead to another question and another like a neverending scavenger hunt and if Lena was right and Kara’s identity was at risk of getting out…
“I’m listening,” Alex said, reaching across her nightstand to grab her signal watch. She pressed it two times, knowing she wouldn’t have to wait long, and then held her phone more securely against her ear, determined not to miss a word.
No one is fucking talking about it but another black man was killed by the same police department that killed George Floyd they killed him 9 seconds after entering his apartment. No knock warrants are fucking bullshit. He was wrapped in his blanket he was innocent they had the wrong address there is body can cottage you cannot fucking deny this bullshit.
This is being hushed up and covered up and I cannot believe it took me until TODAY, SIX DAYS AFTER IT HAPPENED to find out about it.
Everyone should be talking about this shit.
All the BLM protests and here we are again. We cannot let a single one of these slide because that's how nothing changes and that's how innocent people are being killed at the hands of assholes who are happy to pull the trigger without hesitation. I'm so fucking upset right now and so should you be.
EDIT: THE ORIGINAL POST SAID NINE MINUTES I MEANT TO SAY NINE SECONDS
Amir Locke was murdered on February 3rd of 2022, 7 DAYS AGO. He was 22 years old. The police did not have a warrant, and his name wasn't on their search list.
What was his crime? Sleeping in his cousin’s house.
He was a licensed gun owner, and when the Minneapolis police stormed the house, he grabbed his gun in reaction to protect himself. The police immediately started firing, shooting three times and murdering Amir Locke.
“His crime” was fucking SLEEPING.
Reblog this shit. Tell your friends and family. Say his fucking name. It’s been two years since the murder of George Floyd, and the same fucking police department has killed another innocent Black man.
