Chapter Text
AL’S DIVE BAR
Kara walked into Al’s and released a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding, as she allowed herself to relax just a bit more than normal in the alien-safe space. She felt as Lena’s thumb brushed over her knuckles, and she turned her head to smile back at her wife. Lena pulled her ever closer and kissed the side of her forehead.
“I’ll go grab Alex, if you want to grab our drinks.”
“One club soda and one whiskey, neat.” Kara tugged at the sleeve of her work shirt, still feeling slightly awkward around Mon-El.
“On it.” The Daxamite replied, clicking his tongue and shooting her the cheesiest of finger guns.
Things between the two aliens had been civil since their tentative truce formed. Kara was still struggling to let Mon-El in, not that the Daximite had been trying all that hard to prove himself, regardless of the words he’d said over text. Kara needed someone who she could trust to support her. She couldn’t afford to trust Mon-El only for him to let her down, especially if it came at the risk of herself or others.
She shrugged out of her coat and tucked it into the crook of her arm as she pulled out her wallet. She handed a twenty over to Mon-El and he pushed the drinks across the bar to her.
Kara gave him a tight smile, and he nodded back at her.
“I’m going to go over there now,” he said awkwardly, then pointed to the other end of the bar.
Alex and Lena approached the bar from behind the blonde. Kara felt a familiar touch caress her back and leaned into Lena’s comforting embrace. She passed the glass of amber liquor to her left and into her wife’s hand.
“Oh, that looked serious.” Alex’s voice chimed from her right. She sat her drink on the bar next to Kara’s.
Kara rolled her eyes.
“He says he wants to be better... but he keeps making the same mistakes. He refuses to learn from them...” She shook her head. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to trust him with the city’s wellbeing when he can’t even prove that he can follow directions and have my back.” She took a sip of her drink, trying to clear herself of the unproductive thoughts. “But on to more important things...Earth Birthday!” she grinned and looked between the two women.
Lena smiled broadly at her wife. “Earth Birthday,” their reason for meeting this afternoon, was very important, indeed. Lena was looking forward to joining in the sisters’ festivities this year, versus years previous where Kara had spent the day with her sister (although typically spending the night with Lena). Kara looked forward every year to spending the anniversary of her arrival to Earth with her sister, who had been integral to helping Kara fit in on Earth since she’d arrived. It was another Danvers’ sisters tradition which Lena felt privileged to be welcomed into.
“Yes.” Alex smiled, and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the blonde. Lena took in the slightly forced happiness on her sister-in-law’s face with slight apprehension and frowned slightly. Kara was oblivious.
“Thirteen years since I crashed here on Earth. So, I know we always just do cupcakes, but I was thinking we should go all out for lucky number 13. I've always wanted to try country line dancing, so I made us this reservation at a club. If we get there before 7:00, they teach us all these tutorials and the dances! Oh, I should call them and make sure that we can rent cowboy boots.” Kara rambled excitedly, and Alex’s face became less and less enthused with each word.
“Uh, well... about Earth Birthday,” Alex laughed nervously, and Kara heard her heart begin to race. “Uh, well, about Earth birthday... I know we celebrate every year, but the thing is, that, um,” Alex stuttered but forced herself to look directly at Kara as she explained, “Maggie surprised me with concert tickets to the Barenaked Ladies tonight.” The redhead excitedly and feverishly explained.
“Oh...” Lena pressed her body a little closer to the blonde, her eyebrows slanted inward as she pursed her lips, unimpressed by Alex’s lack of empathy for her little sister.
Alex looked at Lena, and quickly looked back to Kara. “And, um, she knows that I've loved them since college. It would be our first concert together and so, you know, I was... Maybe if there's... Do you think we can celebrate another night?”
Kara opened her mouth but was interrupted by a laughing Maggie as she made her way to meet them at the bar.
“Oh, my God! You are not going to believe this. One of the guys at my precinct is working security at the venue tonight and he was able to upgrade our tickets to VIP!” She slapped the tickets down on the bar. “Boom!”
“Oh, my God! That's amazing.” Alex smiled, as Kara took a sip of her drink, head facing down. “That's great. That's great.” Each iteration of the phrase seemed less assured, as she took in Kara’s poorly-veiled disappointment.
Maggie looked between the sisters and Lena, confusion on her face.
“Is everything okay?” She asked, mostly to the blonde.
Kara pulled her drink away and looked at her sister’s girlfriend. A fake smile found its way to her face. “Sounds like you guys are gonna have a lot of fun tonight.”
“Are... are you sure?” Alex asked.
Kara’s fake smile widened further, “Go! Go! Have fun,” she encouraged the couple.
“Okay.” Alex smiled, then quickly kissed Kara on the cheek before running after her girlfriend. “Okay. Bye. Go.”
Lena watched Maggie and Alex exit the bar, giggling and holding hands. She moved to the other side of Kara, who now was focused on the coaster in front of her, reading it as if it contained the secrets to the universe and not just the bar’s Instagram handle.
“Soooo...” The brunette started, her head slightly angled.
Kara ignored her.
Lena took the coaster from the blonde and set her still-full drink back down on it.
Kara still didn’t look up, but Lena could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes and the fight Kara was waging with herself as she willed them to not escape.
“We could still go try that country line dancing?” Lena prompted, bumping her wife’s shoulder slightly.
“No...” Kara looked to the brunette and fidgeted with her bracelet. “Actually, could we just have a quiet night at home?”
“A cheesy rom-com, pizza, potstickers, and wine?” Lena smiled softly, then gave Kara a gentle peck on the lips, “You’ve got it. Let’s watch JLo and Matthew McConaughey fall in love for the hundredth time.” She hopped off the bar stool and tugged the blonde’s arm, watching as a small but genuine smile came to her face.
THE LUTHOR-DANVERS RESIDENCE, SAME NIGHT
Lena always savored the moments when she would get to hold Kara as she slept. Kara very rarely took naps or fell asleep early. Her Kryptonian physiology required less sleep than a human’s and was almost photosynthetic—urging her to wake and sleep with the sun. In addition, her protective nature also meant that she usually stayed up until Lena was home after a late night at work. But tonight, the blonde had fallen asleep; after inhaling a pizza, about three orders of potstickers, and a round of intense but insanely satisfying sex. Lena’s fingers gently danced over the marks she’d left on the Kryptonian’s back, but the soothing motions did little to calm her inner rampant emotions.
Kara had been so upset about Alex bailing on her plans for Earth Birthday, and Lena felt protective of her wife. Half of her wanted to march across the city and yell at Alex and Maggie. The other half of her knew that Kara was also conflicted, and she didn’t want to cause her any additional stress. Kara wanted her sister to be happy, and she was genuinely happy that Alex had found Maggie. But, she now found herself not only balancing her relationships with Lena and Alex; she now also had to include an extra factor: Alex’s relationship with Maggie. It was an awkward dance that the superhero had yet to figure out.
Kara’s phone buzzed and Lena felt her muscles protest as she reached for it, hoping the sound and motion wouldn’t wake the sleeping blonde. It was still early, just past 9 PM, and Hank’s name flashed on the screen. She frowned, knowing that the DEO director wouldn’t contact Kara unless she was absolutely needed. She was supposed to be “off-duty” tonight. She opened the text, which bore a not-so-gentle “request” for Supergirl’s presence at the DEO. With a disappointed frown, she reached back to her side of the bed where the remote for the light controls was and turned off the red sun emitters.
Lena gently roused the blonde, knowing that she had only gotten about thirty minutes of sleep.
Kara grumbled and squinted at Lena, her eyes barely open.
Lena brushed a soft blonde curl out of Kara’s face and let her palm rest on her cheek. “Henshaw needs Supergirl at the DEO.”
The blonde nodded and yawned, sluggishly crawling out of bed as the effects of the red sunlight emitters lingered, but would wear off within less than a minute.
Kara pulled on her underwear and activated her nanobot suit, which wrapped itself around her. Lena smiled softly at the blonde, and stood while pulling the comforter from their bed around her own body and crossed the room to meet Kara. She kissed her gently on the cheek.
“Be safe. El Mayarah, i zhao. ” She smiled softly and watched as the Kryptonian left.
After the blonde was gone from sight, she sighed.
So much for a quiet night at home.
THE DEO
“Hey, shouldn’t you be at your concert?” Kara was surprised to see Alex at the DEO, since she was also supposed to have the night off and wasn’t “on-call” nearly 24/7 like the superhero was.
“Ah, well, I wanted to check in.” Alex walked next to her as the sisters made their way back down to the main situation room.
“I just got in, but from the message I got, I don't think they've found anything yet.” Crinkle appeared between Kara’s eyes. A still at-large White Martian had attacked J’onn and M’gaan, and while they had tried to contain the threat without bothering Supergirl, Henshaw had decided to call her in.
“No. I mean I wanted to check in about us. I'm... I'm sorry I bailed on your Earth birthday. You made all those plans.” Alex talked with her hands, her motions growing as she became more and more upset that she had disappointed her sister.
Kara shook her head. “I made them this morning, it's not a big deal.” It was completely out of character for her, and her fake smile betrayed her poorly-disguised lie.
“This morning? So last-minute of you.” Alex looked at the blonde, who refused to look back at her.
“I know. I know I got a little over-excited. But it... It's okay.” Kara looked back at her sister. “We can celebrate another night.”
“So, you're not mad at me?” Alex clarified again.
Kara laughed and stopped on the seal in the middle of the room. “No, no, no, I am not mad.”
“Because it really felt like you were mad at me. And then I felt guilty for trying to have fun-”
Kara cut her off. “Alex, I was being immature. I want you to have fun with your girlfriend, it's... It's not a big deal, it's fine.”
“You promise?” Alex still didn’t quite believe her.
Kara smiled, “Absolutely. Besides, Lena and I were having a nice night before we were interrupted, we watched Monster-in-Law for the thousandth time.”
“I have no idea how you can watch that considering your own monster-in-law ,” Alex said, grimacing.
Kara laughed and winked, “Exactly.” Then walked off to the situation room.
Alex groaned and followed after the alien.
“Psst!” Alex made a motion with her hands and Kara looked at her like she had two heads. They were trying to stop the building from exploding while a white Martian ran loose in the DEO and her sister was playing charades!?
“What?” She whisper-shouted, her brow furrowed.
Alex huffed, “Look around the corner.” She whispered back, her teeth and jaw clenched.
Oh! That made sense, “Oh. Oh.” She peeked around the corner, seeing nothing. “All clear.”
Alex frowned as she walked around the corner, the two sisters staying close to each other as they searched for Winn.
“We're not so good at communicating these days, are we?” Alex asked, double meaning lacing her words.
Kara looked at her, acknowledging the feelings she’d been trying to hold back. “I was mad before. About Earth birthday.” Kara felt slightly silly, whispering across the hallway like this.
“I knew it.” Alex kept sweeping back and forth with her flashlight and service weapon. “I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have bailed on you.”
“It hurt my feelings,” Kara admitted, looking back at Alex.
“I know.” She sighed, “It wasn't fair. Look, I don't want to feel bad for wanting to spend time with Maggie.” Alex stopped walking forward and instead stepped closer to Kara, who shook her head.
“You shouldn't. It's a good thing, and I’m so happy that you’ve found someone... It's just...” Kara searched for the words she wanted to say. “Ever since I've been on Earth, I don't know what life is like, without you there all the time. And I felt that changing and it's just...” She shook her head, “Scary.” Her eyes watered as she continued to speak, “When my parents put me on that pod in Krypton, I... I don't think I realized what was actually happening. I didn't know that I was saying goodbye to them forever. I've been abandoned before, and I didn't wanna be abandoned again. Lena is amazing, and I love her so much, but it's different. You’re my sister, and I... I was being selfish and I’m sorry.” Kara finished, looking at her sister with sincerity.
Alex nodded, her own eyes tearing up, “I will never abandon you.”
A crashing sound from down the hall distracted them.
“What was that?” Alex asked, shining her flashlight down the dark corridor.
“Let's find out,” Kara replied.
THE LUTHOR-DANVERS RESIDENCE, ABOUT AN HOUR LATER
Kara stared at the TV in rapt fascination, letting the mind-numbing comedy help her forget about the mess of a night she’d had. The conversation she had with the White Martian shapeshifter impersonating Alex kept taunting her. And she hadn’t even actually spoken to Alex. realizing she was spiraling again. Kara refocused herself, this time focusing on the slow rhythmic breathing of Lena asleep in their bedroom.
A knock on the door interrupted her focus, and she sat her hot cocoa down on the table to look at the door instead.
Behind the door, Alex stood with a single cupcake bearing a “K”, with a lit candle.
Kara smiled and ran to the door, opening it to let her sister in.
“Happy Earth Birthday” Alex smiled. ‘Look there a K.” She sheepishly smiled, holding out the cupcake to Kara.
Kara looked at her sister and the cupcake, then made a grabby motion with her hands, her grin growing.
“Go ahead, blow it out.” Alex prompted. Then, remembering a couple of incidents caused by miscalculated gusts of air, added: “gently.”
Kara blew out the candle, gently. “Thank you.” She took the cupcake from Alex, and the sisters walked further into the condo, the grin never leaving Kara’s face.
“You’re welcome.” Alex followed Kara into her kitchen.
“So was Maggie mad that you missed the concert?” Kara grabbed a plate from the cupboard, looking back at Alex.
The older sister set her coat and purse down on a barstool and looked at Kara, “Well, luckily, I have a girlfriend that understands when deadly aliens besiege my place of work, that takes precedence.”
Both sisters chuckled,
“Yeah, I’m glad everyone is okay.” She moved to the silverware to grab a couple of forks, “and that last White Martian... Oof! First of all, boy, did it do a good impression of you, and second, you got there just in time.”
Kara sat down on a barstool next to Alex, who shuffled in her own seat a bit awkwardly.
“Uh, speaking of that White Martian, um... When it was me, did you have a conversation?” She watched Kara pick off the candle and fondant toppings. “Because I have these memories. They're like a... Almost like a dream, that we talked about. But I'm not really sure if that was real.”
Kara sliced the sugary confection in half and licked a bit of the transferred frosting off the side of her thumb. “Do you remember?” She whispered, then looked back at Alex sheepishly. Kara had run from the situation at the DEO as soon as she’d been able to. Hoping to avoid this specific conversation.
“Yeah.” Alex whispered back, then a bit louder, and continued, “ So I'm not crazy?”
“Nope. I guess if the White Martian's bond is strong enough, the telepathy goes both ways.” Kara refused to look her sister in the eyes.
“Yeah. I guess so. Kara.” Alex’s voice made Kara finally look up at her. “I'm not ever going anywhere. I promise. Just because I'm with Maggie, it doesn't mean I'm not with you... Always.”
Kara nodded “I know. I... I guess I made those big plans because I wanted the day to be extra special. I felt you were slipping away. Things have been so weird since Lena moved to National City and I feel like our relationship is different now and I just... I miss us. I miss how we used to be.”
Alex nodded sadly.
“I was mad.” She admitted. “For a long time. And I tried to not let it show. Because you were so happy having Lena close.” Alex fidgeted. “And then I met Maggie, and meeting her... challenged so much about what I thought I knew about myself.” She sighed. “But it was—is...exhilarating.“ She paused, “Look, sometimes, you know, in our life, when one part is really confusing, we will pour way more attention than necessary into another. A part we have control over... I think, maybe, I tried avoiding how our relationship was being strained by trying to ignore it and focusing on myself instead... and that was wrong.” She looked at Kara, placing her hand over her sister’s. “I’m sorry.”
Kara turned her hand over to hold Alex’s. “I’m sorry too. I tried so hard to make all these plans because I just want you in my life. And you deserve to find that happiness too. You deserve to spend time with your girlfriend and enjoy it... I just... felt us changing. I know it’s not been easy for you to accept everything. And I also got so wrapped up in me...” She shook her head and pulled away. Kara grabbed the previously forgotten desert and one of the forks, pushing them into the middle between the sisters. “Earth Birthday 2.0?”
“Earth Birthday 2.0” Alex agreed, clinking her fork to Kara’s with a smile.