Chapter Text
When Kara woke up the next morning, she smiled when she heard the sounds of Oliver in the kitchen making breakfast. She quickly got up and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, before she walked to her closet to choose her outfit for the day.
Even though she knew she looked like a mess, and both men knew, Kara still wanted to look somewhat presentable for them both. They were here for relaxing, not helping her pull herself back together. She had to find a way to close off her nightmares. That same morning, only a few hours before, Kara had woken up both Oliver and Barry by her screaming from a nightmare. She'd punched Barry in the stomach, throwing him across the room and Oliver ended up having to clap directly in her ear to snap her out of it. The loud noise against her super hearing woke her up, but she'd closed off after apologizing to Barry for hurting him. He'd waved her off, saying he should have known better than to try to calm a sleeping alien who was clearly having a bad nightmare.
For her clothes that day, she chose a simple pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a light pink cashmere sweater with some white ballet flats, her hair in a ponytail. She had on her suit underneath her clothes like she always did. She walked back into her bathroom to put on some makeup and then walked out of her room and into the kitchen to greet Oliver a good morning. She put on a smile and held herself up as regally and strongly as she could manage after a long night, even though she knew it wouldn't fool Oliver or Barry. They knew her too well to be fooled by it.
"Good morning, Kara. How are you feeling?" Oliver asked quietly as he turned, making sure the bacon was off the burner and regarded her carefully. She looked exhausted. He knew she'd not been getting a lot of sleep lately, that morning was proof of it, but he had no idea it took such a toll on her. She may have not needed as much sleep as they did, but clearly, she needed it now more than ever. He could see light purple bags under her eyes, and Kara never had those. She'd come out of fighting the dominators completely fine and not at all winded, but now, she looked as she should have after that fight. Exhausted. Completely and utterly exhausted.
As he observed her, she did the same. He clearly hadn't gone back to sleep like she and Barry had when they'd all woken up earlier that morning, but he didn't look nearly as exhausted as he should have. That must've stemmed from all of the all-nighters she was sure he took. He was just used to not sleeping as much as a normal person. She could see exhaust lines across his face, but his body showed no signs of exhaustiveness other than slightly slow-moving. She felt terrible for waking them up. She knew neither of them slept very well in general, and she wasn't helping. Sometimes she wished she could take out her human heart.
'I'm alright. Thank you, Oliver. Just. . . exhausted, I think. Nightmare's like that take a lot out of me, and I haven't had much sleep for the last few months because of them. . ." Kara sighed, yawning. She smiled at him, but her smile didn't reach her eyes and it came out as more of a grimace. That sight pained Oliver. He hated not seeing her smile light up her entire face. He loved her smile. It was like the light at the end of a dark tunnel, and he needed it. He had to find some way to make her smile.
Nodding, Oliver patted her arm and turned back around to turn the bacon over and rolled his eyes when he heard Barry's signature whoosh, the tell-tale sign he literally raced into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Kar, Ollie." Barry grinned, coming up behind Kara, resting his head on top of Kara's, his arms wrapped around her from behind. He could sense Kara wasn't doing good this morning. He didn't know how, but he always knew when he was needed by Kara or Oliver. Barry knew as soon as he woke up for the second time that morning that Kara would need a hug, so he raced to get ready. Before he walked into the kitchen, he'd heard Kara's reply to Oliver, and sighed. He knew she'd had nightmares, but this had? And for months? He had to find some way to help her sleep better.
Kara turned around and hugged Barry, burying her face in his neck. He felt the tension in her shoulders release significantly, and wrapped his arms tighter around her, tilting his head down and kissing her hair. He caught Oliver's eyes, and the archer nodded at him, Barry nodded back. Barry could feel Kara start to cry, so he, without releasing her, led her over to the couch to settle her against him. Kara’s tears were falling against his neck, and he wanted to do something, but he didn’t know what, so he just held her against him tightly. She was gripping his t-shirt like a lifeline, but he didn’t mind. If she needed him, he would do whatever he could to help her.
Oliver kneeled in front of them and wrapped an arm around them both, sighing. He leaned his head against Barry's shoulder, his free hand holding Kara's lower thigh comfortingly. He knew she hadn’t been doing well, but Oliver didn’t think she would let herself be vulnerable around them, him in particular. She didn't know him as well as she did Barry, and while he didn't like it, he knew it was completely true. Kara and Oliver had a bad start when they met, him being untrusting and unfair, and Kara cooly regarding him when she spoke to him. He knew she was hurt about that still, and vowed in his head to make a point to her that he would do everything in his power to show her that he trusted her.
Kara calmed after a while, but she didn't try to pull away from Barry and Oliver. Instead, she relaxed into them. She sniffed, bringing her hand up and wiping at her tears. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into Barry's shoulder.
Barry looked at her and shook his head. "Don't apologize for having human emotions, Kara. You can't be supergirl all the time. Every hero is forged by their loses, heroes are the ones that go through hell, and come out of it with a smile and a newfound purpose. A purpose to right the wrongs and avenge the loved ones they've lost. The greatest heroes are the ones that have lost them most. You will be fine, Kara. You will always love him, but you will get past this overwhelming amount of grief. I promise." He whispered to her, kissing her head when she started to cry again.
Oliver took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Kara. . ." He trailed off with a sigh. "How about we stay in instead of going out like we'd planned? We can stay in and watch musicals and eat food we probably shouldn't, as much as it pains me to say?"
Barry and Kara both look up at him, grinning maniacally, Kara's face split into a wide, sunshine like smile. There. That was better. He likes seeing that smile.
"Really?" Barry asks, giddly now starting to vibrate. Kara placed a hand on his knee to stop it; he'd end up going through the couch at this rate.
Oliver nodded, a small smile lighting his face. "We can. How's that sound, Kara?"
Kara nods, pulling from Barry and standing up. She pulls Oliver up to give him a proper hug, and he gladly wraps his arms around her. He kisses her head, whispering into her ear: "You will come out of this happy, Kara. I promise."
She nodded, not saying anything. Then clapped her hands as she stepped away from the hug, looking at them. "Can we watch The Wizard of Oz while we eat?" She brought out her puppy dog eyes that looked like they could outwin Barry's, and Oliver sighed.
"Of course," Oliver told her, and she and Barry both yelled in glee.
Oliver shook his head. Yeah. . .they would all be fine as long as they had each other.