Chapter Text
High school is more exhausting than Eve expected.
It’s not like Eve has been outright hazed or anything – in fact, people seem to be largely ignoring her, too focused on getting through the day themselves. But it’s tiring, constantly trying to act normal and make friends, and she’s absolutely ready for it to be over.
Thankfully, she’s made a friend – a pretty girl named Ruby, who saw the tiny rainbow sticker on her binder and smiled in 2nd period. There’s even a few people who are out in 11th and 12th grade. Maybe this school won’t be so bad, she reasons. It’s certainly better than 8th grade so far – the halls are clean, and the food is better.
The second-last class of the day is one she’s been dreading – combined Chem and Physics. Two horrible subjects and way too much math - she’s just going to grit her teeth, take some notes, and try to get through it. But that all goes out the window as she almost trips over her own feet when she sees the teacher.
The woman in question has dark hair and pale skin, and she’s dressed to the nines in a crisp blue dress, a tight bun, and sharp heels, rocking up slightly on her toes to write something on the whiteboard. She hasn’t even turned around, but it’s clear by the distracting shape of her hips that this is going to be a long, tortuous semester if it’s going to be spent pretending that she doesn’t now immediately have a huge crush on her teacher.
She’s about to try to steal a seat near the back when she spots a second woman who is also definitely not a student – tall and lean, with her hair half-up and half-down in blonde curls. She leans against the lab table at the front in slacks and a tweed blazer, one button conspicuously done up wrong on her shirt. Judging by her age and the whiteboard marker in her hand, she’s a teacher too.
Two teachers. Two hot teachers. Two hot teachers who keep stealing glances at each other, giving Eve a strange feeling in her chest.
Yeah…definitely sitting at the back.
She’s just settling in when she sees her new friend come through the door and grab a seat, turning around to call her over.
“Eve, over here! We can sit together!”
Oh no.
It’s at the front. Ruby wants to sit at the front. She has no choice but to follow, slumping into the seat beside her friend and trying not to stare at either of the women at the front of the room. She focuses on to board instead – it reads “Miss Luthor” in tidy writing on the left, and “Miss Danvers” in messier writing on the right. She can guess which is which.
Previously, she'd thought that a 'Miss Danvers' taught Bio. She had actually enjoyed that class – the teacher she had thought was Miss Danvers was funny, and nice, with short auburn hair and a pretty smile. She was easy to listen to even when she was talking about amino acids. This is clearly a different person.
Soon, the blonde teacher clears up the confusion by reaching up with a grin and adding an extra line underneath her name – “The Younger”.
Right. Two different teachers with the same name.
W hy are there so many hot teachers at this school?
When the bell finally rings and everyone has settled, the two women share a look and a smile before Miss Danvers moves forward, clapping her hands and rubbing them together.
“Alright, everyone. Who’s ready to get to learning?”
“Lena! Wait up!”
Lena rolls her eyes, her clicking heels keeping the same even pace as she hears the telltale clomp of those familiar scuffed Oxfords jogging on the linoleum behind her.
“And why would I do that?” Lena asks, opening her purse and pretending to rifle through it, if only to have something to do with her hands as the footsteps get closer. Finally she produces a manila folder that she absolutely doesn’t need, flipping through it with what she hopes is very convincing feigned interest.
“Because we’re going to the same place?” Finally the footsteps catch up with her, and Lena fights against the reliable swoop her stomach does as Kara Danvers falls into step, slightly breathless and grinning. “Cat’s office, right? I saw you were CC’d on the email.”
Lena sighs, conceding the point. She had also noticed Kara’s name in the email, and she’d been hoping to get to Cat’s office first so that she could settle herself for the irritating effect Kara’s presence always seems to have on her.
“I suppose I can’t get rid of you now, can I?” she says, her tone intentionally light, and Kara laughs. Her blue eyes crinkle at the corners, and she runs a hand through her messy blonde curls, and there’s a twist in Lena’s gut that has nothing to do with the nerves she’s feeling about being called into her boss’ office before the school year has even started.
Kara has had this effect – this sweet, heart -pounding, infuriating, distracting effect – ever since the day Lena started this job, fresh from university and full of nerves about teaching physics to high school students. Lena had been in her small office and about to work herself into a full-blown panic attack when someone sporting an incredibly messy bun had poked their head in, looking concerned.
“Are you okay?” the strange, disheveled woman asks, stepping inside the almost-empty office and putting a gentle hand on Lena’s shoulder. “I heard someone hyperventilating in here and I had a flashback to my first day.” The woman seems to be about Lena’s age, and she looks like a cross between a hippie and a fortune-teller – the messy hair is paired with solid-framed glasses, a bulky handmade wool sweater, a beanie, and a brightly-coloured woven blanket draped around her shoulders. There’s a pencil stuck in her bun, and her eyes are kind.
Lena reacts immediately, furiously wiping her eyes and trying to even out her breathing.
“I’m fine. Just nerves,” she says tersely, and the woman nods in understanding.
“Do you need some water or anything?”
“No. Thank you.” Lena waits a few moments for the woman to leave, but she seems content to keep leaning against Lena’s desk, rubbing small, calm circles on Lena's back. Against her instincts, Lena starts to find it the tiniest bit soothing.
So, of course, she shrugs the hand off.
“What are you wearing?” Lena blurts out in a horrific attempt to draw attention away from the move, and the woman looks slightly startled. Embarrassed at her outburst, Lena hastily adds, “I mean – is that considered work appropriate? I feel a bit overdressed.”
The woman laughs easily, shaking her head. “No, I don’t wear this when the students are here. But this wing of the school is always freezing cold. Don’t tell Miss Grant, but I think the janitor forgets to turn the A/C off here in the fall.”
“Why wouldn’t I tell Miss Grant?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want the janitor to lose her job!” the woman says as if it’s the obvious answer, and Lena blinks, unsure how to handle the unbridled optimism.
“I’m Kara, by the way,” she continues, holding a warm hand out to shake. Lena accepts it, feeling Kara’s fingers fold firmly over hers. Her gut pulls in a way that, while alarming, definitely distracts her from her nerves. Now that they’re standing so close it’s clear that Kara is as attractive as she is eclectic – her eyes are bright behind her thick frames, her smile clear and genuine. Her jawline is as strong as her hands, and kindness seems to radiate from her.
“Lena,” she answers, still too overwhelmed to do anything but blink into Kara’s well-proportioned face.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lena,” Kara says quietly, with a smile that seems private. Like it’s just for them. It burrows straight into Lena’s chest, and she’s opening her mouth to find some lame reply just to keep Kara from leaving when Kara finally stands, rubbing her hands together.
“Well, if you’re sure you’re okay, I’m going to go get ready. My classroom is just next door if you need anything!” Kara points at a door Lena hadn’t noticed before on the far wall. “The door has no lock, so I might come visit sometimes.”
And with that, Kara is gone as suddenly as she appeared, and Lena hardly has time to get herself worked up over nerves again before her first batch of students is pouring in and she jumps in headfirst.
Later when Lena enters the staff room to see the person she now knows, after some investigation, is chemistry teacher Kara Danvers waving at her from a nearby table, she has to do a double-take. Kara has lost her bulky sweater and is now in a fitted but comfortable-looking blazer, her hair in a much tidier ponytail, and Lena starts to get the first inklings of the feelings that will later be as familiar as her own reflection.
Kara had seemed to take that first interaction as an indication that Lena needed a friend, and she’s been steadily battering Lena’s defenses ever since.
Now, with Kara strolling into her classroom through their adjoining door on a daily basis, it’s difficult to ignore the way her heart flutters at Kara's presence. Even when the reason she’s strolling in is because there’s a huge smoking scorch mark on her pants or she’s bleeding from the hand, and ‘the nurse’s office is too far, Lena. I just need a band-aid!’
Instead, Lena just patches up whatever small injury Kara has managed to inflict on herself that day, and does everything in her power to never be alone with her.
Usually when the halls are bustling with students and there’s classes to teach and crowds to blend into, that isn’t a difficult task. But now, with the only sound in the building being the blend of their echoing steps, there’s nowhere for Lena to run.
And with Kara looking like that, with her bright smile and her shirt tucked into her tight khakis and her hair loose and curly, Lena can’t be held responsible for her actions.
“So…” Kara ventures, nudging Lena gently with her shoulder. “How was your summer?”
“Fine,” Lena grinds out, finally putting the folder back in her bag. At Kara’s expectant look, Lena sighs. “I planned new lessons for this year, made some new strategies to make your students switch over to Physics, my brother told me I was wasting my potential and tried to get me to work for the family company. You know, the usual.”
Kara snorts, shaking her head. “Firstly, good luck with that – chemistry is king, and you know it. And secondly, your brother’s a dummy.”
“My brother is a genius,” Lena corrects, and Kara just grins.
“Well, he’s not as smart as you, which means he’s a dummy.”
At Kara’s goofy smile, Lena can’t help but crack one of her own. “So, everyone less intelligent than me is a dummy?”
“Exactly.”
The word is delivered with complete seriousness, and Lena laughs, shaking her head.
“You’re so strange.”
“And you’re not wasting your potential,” Kara fires back, the ever-present, infuriating kindness in her gaze making Lena almost ready to believe her. “The kids love you! You’re inspiring young girls to like science.”
“I’m inspiring them?” Lena scoffs, falling back on her usual tactic when it comes to talking about her feelings – deflection. “Half of your classes end the year completely in love with you.”
“And you think your classes don’t have crushes on you, Miss Perfect Bone Structure?”
“What -?” Lena chokes, but before she can finish the question, they’ve arrived at Cat’s already-open office door. Cat’s voice rings out from inside and Lena straightens, frantically trying to push back all the thoughts that arose inside her traitorous brain with Kara’s unexpected compliment.
“If you’re finished with your flirty banter, feel free to come in.”
Feeling her face heat up at Cat’s perpetual bluntness, Lena hurries past Kara and takes a seat in one of the chairs in front of Cat’s desk. Kara follows, and Lena isn’t sure if it’s a comfort or a curse that Kara looks exactly as red as Lena feels.
“I’m going to keep this brief, ladies,” Cat says as soon as they’ve settled into their seats. Lena crosses her legs primly, straightening her posture in preparation for whatever Cat has deemed important enough to call a meeting – in her focus, she entirely misses the way Kara’s eyes follow the movement of her calves.
“Our school leads the entire state in number of students going into STEM fields, especially girls. I would like to capitalize on that success,” Cat announces matter-of-factly, and Lena blinks owlishly at her.
“What do we have to do with that?” Lena asks, feeling like she’s missing something.
Cat rolls her eyes. “Why do you think we have so many girls going into STEM, Miss Luthor?” she asks, a challenging eyebrow raised. Lena shrugs, offering the easiest explanation.
“Because we have so many science and mathematics classes available?”
Cat shakes her head, her fingers lacing together in a steeple in front of her face. “You can throw as many science classes at high school students as you want, but you can’t make them enjoy it. The reason we have such a high concentration of graduates going into science and engineering programs is because of their teachers.”
“Miss Grant –“ Lena starts, but Cat holds up a hand, clearly not finished with her tirade. It takes every scrap of willpower Lena has not to look over at Kara, whose smug, knowing gaze is boring into the side of her head.
“We have some of the country’s finest teachers at this establishment, Miss Luthor, and you two are among the most universally beloved by our students. For god’s sake, you two chaperone half the clubs in the department.”
It’s true – she and Kara are the teacher chaperones for the science club, the Mathletes, and strangely enough, the chess club. It’s not strange for Lena, of course, as a well-established chess prodigy – there’s no point being modest, when she swept every competition in the western hemisphere before the age of 16 – but Kara is notoriously terrible at it. When Lena pokes at her for losing almost every match, even to the rookie players who joined only recently, she just grins and claims that she’s here to learn, Lena.
“This year we’re going to be starting a new pilot program – a combination class aimed at our incoming 9th grade students. An introduction to the sciences that most students find intimidating. You’ll be teaching it,” Cat continues, and finally Kara’s eyes leave Lena’s face, and she seems to clue in on her intent.
“Wait, when you say ‘you’ll be teaching’, you mean…both of us?” Kara asks, sounding more than a little apprehensive. “Together?”
Lena’s own apprehension is so high that she’s fairly sure she’s seconds away from hyperventilation, but she’s surprising even herself with how well she’s hiding it.
“Astute observation, Miss Danvers. Yes, you’ll both be teaching it. It’s clear to anyone in the room with you that the two of you work well together. You have…magnetism.” Cat sounds matter-of-fact, but the casual way she states that other people - Both students and teachers - have noticed how she and Kara interact makes Lena want to sink into the floor and disappear.
“Will Alex be involved too?” Kara asks, seeming much less bothered by the observation.
It’s rare for siblings to teach at the same school, but Lena has always admired the working relationship that Kara and her sister have managed to maintain. She likes Alex – the older Danvers consistently gloats whenever a student transfers from Lena’s physics to her own biology classes, but there’s always an undercurrent of respect between them.
“I think that three instructors might be overkill, and biology has no issues with enrollment. No, it’ll be just you two. Kara is perfectly capable of teaching chemistry, and you can handle physics.” Cat’s tone says that there’s very little room for argument, and Lena accepts her fate with a curt nod.
“Right. I’ve created a base curriculum, but I expect the two of you to fine-tune it together to tailor it to your teaching styles before the school year starts,” Cat says, already handing over two binders. Kara takes hers with interest, immediately flipping through to the Chem section, and Lena tries to figure out how the hell she’s going to survive the semester.
They’re dismissed not long after, Cat waving them off while already dialing into another phone meeting. Lena is left standing in the hallway with Kara, trying desperately to re-calibrate after the events of the last 15 minutes.
“So…we’re gonna be pretty close this year, huh?”
Kara’s voice is like a thunderclap in Lena’s brain. Her head whips around to look at Kara in alarm, and something on her face must scream discomfort because Kara immediately backpedals, holding her hands up.
“I mean, we’re going to be working together a lot! With the new class, and our classrooms being – and we’re going to have to plan, and –“
Lena snaps out of her daze, waving off the worried explanation and taking a deep, measured breath. “Right. It’s fine, Kara. I know what you meant.”
“So, do you maybe want to go hang out in my office? To go over lesson plans?”
What Lena really wants to do is curl up on her couch with a glass of wine – maybe something stronger – and watch a mindless documentary until she passes out from sheer emotional exhaustion. But Kara looks so nervous and earnest and attractive with her wide blue eyes and her lip caught between her teeth, and Lena is nothing if not weak.
She nods, and Kara’s smile is almost enough to make her forget that she shouldn’t be happy about this.
Kara, for her part, seems to be genuinely excited about this new development. She has Cat’s binder open again, and she has all the confidence that Lena doesn’t feel.
“I think this is going to be really great!”
“This is going to be terrible, Alex.”
Kara throws her shopping bags into Alex’s backseat, flopping into the passenger seat and buckling up. The car engine revs and Alex, ever the big sister, only laughs at Kara’s anguish as they pull out of the mall parking lot.
“It’s going to be fine.”
“How? How is it going to be fine? I have enough trouble not staring at her 24/7 normally. Now I have to watch her teach and somehow keep it together?” Kara lets her head hit the seat, groaning. “She’s amazing.”
Alex rolls her eyes, but it does nothing to sway Kara’s opinion. Lena Luthor is, without a doubt, the most fascinating person Kara has ever met. She’s thought so since the day they met, when Lena was almost hyperventilating in her new office and Kara happened to be walking by. She had initially just wanted to comfort whoever was having such a bad day, but when she saw that the person in question was possibly the most beautiful woman that’s ever graced the halls of National City Prep…she might have put a little bit of extra effort in.
She’s only human.
Little did she know, Lena is also kind and funny and caring and undeniably soft under that aloof shell, and she was basically screwed from day one.
“Isn’t this, like, the best possible outcome? You’ve had a thing for Lena ever since her first day,” Alex says, swatting Kara’s hand away from the cupholder. “Hey! My latte. Hands off.”
Kara huffs, crossing her arms after her sneaky pilfering is intercepted. “Yeah, exactly, Alex. I have a thing for her. I’ve always had a thing for her, but nothing can happen. I thought I’d be fine, but then we started planning lessons and she’s so smart and I now have to spend every day watching her lecture in those dresses and those heels and –“
“What do you mean, nothing can happen?” Alex interrupts, frowning and waving a hand. “Why not?”
“She’s a coworker!” Kara says, but Alex only scoffs.
“So? That didn’t stop James and Winn, last year. Or James and Lucy, the year before. Come to think of it, James needs to calm his ass down.”
Kara purses her lips. “Yeah, but Lena is different. She deserves better.”
“Better than what?”
“Better than me,” Kara finally admits, her voice raising slightly. “Lena is…she’s a genius. She could change the world, Alex. She’s probably going to. Her brother wants her to go work for LuthorCorp, instead of teaching. And, being with someone like me…I’d just bring her down.”
The thoughts spill from her mouth like spontaneous word-vomit, thoughts she’s had ever since she snuck into the back of Lena’s third-period Robotics class and watched her in her real element. Robotics is by no means a common elective in high schools but Lena fought hard to be allowed to offer it - and the moment Kara saw the way she captured her students’ interest by flawlessly programming a robotic arm to use ASL, Kara knew that Lena was destined to do amazing things.
Alex is quiet for a few moments after her outburst, and Kara chews on a thumbnail, staring at the passing trees outside the window.
“Wow, Kara. I didn’t know you felt that strongly,” Alex says softly, taking her eyes off the road for a moment to look at Kara in concern.
“Yeah,” Kara sighs, rubbing her face. “And besides, I don’t even think she likes women. She never talks about dating.”
Alex snorts, and Kara glances at her sharply.
“What?”
“Nothing, kiddo. I just think Lena probably leans towards women more than you think,” Alex says vaguely, and Kara’s eyes narrow.
“Based on what?”
“Intuition,” Alex answers cryptically, shrugging.
“That’s not helpful.”
“Did I say I was here to help?”
Kara rolls her eyes, continuing on with her previous train of thought. “Whatever. So, like I said, this year is going to be torture.”
“Well,” Alex says finally, patting Kara on the leg sympathetically, “You said you were thinking about leaving at the end of this year anyways, right? Maybe this is the push you need to finally try out journalism.”
“Maybe,” Kara says quietly, and thankfully Alex takes the cue. The rest of their drive is quiet, and Kara can focus on how the hell she’s going to survive the semester.
Their first class together is...an experience.
It’s hard, usually, to get a class full of fresh-faced 9th graders to care about a mandatory science credit. But with the two of them working together, a rhythmic give-and-take, they don’t provide an opportunity for the students to check out. It’s so much easier to keep everyone engaged with Lena there, being her beautiful and firm self, while Kara can lighten the mood and get their affection.
A few of the kids are even smiling when they leave, including the blonde girl in the front row who looked like she was about to have a heart attack when the period started. The girl – Eve, Kara remembers from taking attendance – spares a last lingering glance at Lena as she slips out the door, and Kara chuckles knowingly.
Another student falls victim to the Luthor effect.
Not that Kara is immune either, in all fairness, she concedes as her eyes are drawn to Lena’s hips in that blue dress.
“That didn’t go so badly, right?” Kara grins, throwing her marker into the air and catching it again. “I think they liked us together.”
There’s only 5 minutes between periods, meaning that Kara should probably be going back to her own classroom to prepare for her next class, but as per usual she’s finding it difficult to stop her conversation with the brunette.
“Well, they certainly seemed to find it amusing that your shirt has been mis-buttoned for the last 50 minutes.”
Kara looks down, stomach sinking with the dawning realization that Lena is right – her second button is in the third button-hole, meaning her whole shirt is slightly crooked.
“And you didn’t tell me?” Kara groans, looking down at herself despondently. It’s not a huge deal, really – her shirt is tucked in anyways, so it’s almost not noticeable – but it is a pain in the ass and she’s already brainstorming on how to get Lena back for the prank.
Lena snorts, hiding her grin behind her hand. “And miss out on seeing your face right now? Absolutely not.”
Kara sighs, shaking her head playfully in Lena’s direction and pulling her shirt away from her waistband. “You know what, I am totally going to Cat after this and telling her you’re creating a hostile work environment.”
She makes sure to actually look down at what her fingers are doing as she quickly unbuttons her shirt and buttons it back up properly this time – and she only raises her head back up in alarm when she hears a small, choked noise. She looks up to see Lena’s back is now to her, dark hair twirling as she spins on her heel. With alarming gusto, she picks up the eraser on the table and starts to clean the whiteboard with what Kara can only describe as a manic precision.
Weird.
Thankfully, Kara is finished with her buttoning when the 2-minute bell rings, and the first of Lena’s senior Astronomy students start to file in. Some of them grin and wave, knowing Kara from years previous or from one of the clubs she chaperones, and Kara waves happily back and asks a few about their summer while Lena seems hell-bent on ensuring there isn’t a single speck of marker left on the board.
Finally the period bell rings, and right on time a student pokes their head through the conjoining door from Kara’s classroom. When she sees Kara leaning against the lab table and Lena finally turning back around with slightly reddened cheeks, she grins in a way that Kara notices is just slightly too knowing.
“It’s 2:30, Miss Danvers.”
“Oh, shoot!” Kara exclaims, straightening up. She tosses the marker to Lena, who barely catches it - the plastic bounces between her shaky hands until she finally pins it to her abdomen.
“Gotta go! Geology don’t teach itself.” Kara jogs over to the adjoining door, turning around and shooting finger guns at Lena with a wink as she backs through it. “See ya tomorrow, partner.”
Lena’s students titter, and a few of the familiar mathletes sitting in the back noticeably lean over to each other and start to whisper. Lena, seeming to have recovered from her frantic board-cleaning, shakes her head at the cheesy joke. She claps her hands, and immediately a hush falls on the class. The door stays open just long enough for Kara to hear her put on her teacher-voice – the one that never fails to make shivers run up Kara’s spine.
“Okay, everyone, settle down. Today we’re doing an intro to celestial mechanics, and trust me – it is going to need all of your attention.”
The door swings closed after that, muffling Lena’s stern voice, and Kara rubs her hands together, trying to shove the brunette out of her mind – at least, for long enough to teach her last class of the day.
“Alright. Who wants to learn about rocks?”
Three weeks into her shared teaching experience, Lena is managing better than she thought she would.
Cat was right in her assessment, it seems – she and Kara do work well together, their banter and slightly different teaching styles seeming to keep the freshmen more engaged than they would be normally. The combination of Lena’s high standards and no-nonsense attitude with Kara’s goofy charm and daily chemistry puns (today, the board reads ‘think like a pro-ton: always stay positive!’) seems to be a hit.
The class has abnormally high grades so far, and 4 students have even successfully joined the mathletes, a club that’s usually known for being notoriously difficult for 9th graders to handle. And, with the exception of what she’s pretty sure was a minor heart attack when Kara unbuttoned her goddamn shirt in the middle of their classroom on day one, the instances of her making an idiot of herself over her attraction to the younger Danvers have been less and less common.
Of the many differences between their teaching styles, one thing they seem to have thankfully found common ground on is a love for hands-on experimentation as a learning tool. Kara is known for her often-dangerous but always entertaining chemistry labs, and Lena loves any project that can show students the actual real-world applications of physics. It helps them visualize what all the theory can actually be used for, and often they stay more engaged with the content afterwards. Kara has even recently been finding and emailing new physics experiments to Lena, with excited commentary on how they could work them into the curriculum – and in return, Lena has been playing Safety Officer for Kara’s chemistry labs, moving paper away from Bunsen burners and reminding Kara when she has and has not rolled up her sleeves.
Lena really should have known that eventually, with Kara in the room, one of their experiments was bound to go awry.
“Lena, stay there! I’m gonna record it!” Kara yells, already sprinting across the field with her phone in her hand. Lena chuckles at her enthusiasm and stays where she is, next to the impressively-sized bottle-rocket the class has managed to construct to demonstrate Newton’s third law of motion. If all goes well, the pressure of the air being pumped into the half-full bottle should propel it into the sky, and the students have a bet going with Kara about how far it will go. She’s not sure what the ultimate prize is, but there’s a jar of calculations (and, she knows, a few guesses) on her desk just waiting to be sorted through.
Just as Lena hoped, the class seem buzzed about being outside – they drew names to see who would get to pump the rocket, and the student in question is practically vibrating with excitement. A few students are kneeled next to the thing, still decorating it – “KARLENA 1” is written in bubble letters on the side, surrounded by a rainbow of star-shaped stickers. Lena had resisted the title, the first-name portmanteau hitting a little too close to home, but the students had been so insistent that she eventually caved.
“Okay, ready!” Kara’s distant voice calls – she’s squatting on the grass, her camera angled towards the sky to get the best view of the rocket going up. Shooting her a thumbs-up, Lena turns to Ruby and smiles.
“Miss Danvers is ready, so it looks like it’s time to launch.”
Nodding vigorously, Ruby grabs the pump handle and starts to work it. Just as Lena explained in class yesterday, it gets harder and harder to move it as more air fills the small space.
“So you guys can see, it’s getting more difficult for Ruby to pump. Why is that?”
Ruby continues in her struggle, and another keen student – Ruby’s friend Eve Tessmacher, Lena remembers – raises her hand.
“Because it’s reaching absolute pressure?” Eve says, slightly timid, and Lena nods in approval.
“Exactly – fantastic, Eve,” Lena says warmly, and Eve’s cheeks go pink at the praise. A slight hissing is coming from the bottle now, and Lena knows it’s only a matter of seconds.
“Okay, everyone, pay attention –“
Before she can finish, the rocket flies into the air with a loud pop, and the class erupts into a wall of noise. Trailing water in its wake, it arcs over the soccer field and starts to spin, finally starting its descent about halfway between the crowd of students and Kara.
She picked a pretty good spot, Lena thinks absently as the rocket gets closer and closer to Kara and the students yell in excitement.
She should probably move, Lena notes with growing concern as the rocket plummets. It’s falling at an alarming pace now, and Kara doesn’t seem to be moving – she’s looking at her phone screen, grinning as it flies towards her –
Oh, fuck.
Just as Lena realizes what’s about to happen, there’s a sickening crack as the carefully-crafted experiment collides with Kara’s face, and she hits the ground with a thud.
“Kara!”
Lena is running before Kara even hits the ground, all sense of propriety forgotten as she sprints across the grass in heels.
“Kara, fuck, Kara, are you okay –“ Kara’s glasses lie broken on the dirt beside her, and Lena scoops a hand under her neck to lift her into a sitting position.
“Crap, crap, crap –“ Kara mutters thickly. She slowly sits up with Lena’s help, a hand held over her face, and a wave of nausea rolls through Lena when the hand comes away covered in blood. Kara’s whole face is stained with it from the nose down, and her eyes are hazy and unfocused, staring somewhere in the vicinity of Lena’s chest.
“Kara? Kara, look at me.” But Kara’s gaze stays where it is, and Lena snaps her fingers, panic rising in her gut. “Hey, hey! Kara! Look at me.”
Finally, Kara’s eyes slide up to Lena’s, and Lena carefully holds three fingers in front of her face.
“How many fingers am I holding up?”
There are a few moments of silence, and then Kara grins, the blood making it look slightly macabre.
“Enough,” she says dazedly, and Lena is fairly sure that her entire body blushes as the students start to gather around them, breathing heavily.
“Jesus Christ, Kara…” she mutters, feeling uncomfortably hot, and thankfully the kids are mostly talking amongst themselves rather than listening to Kara’s probably-concussed rambling.
“Is she okay?”
“Holy crap, that’s a lot of blood –“
“Did you see Miss Luthor run? I told you guys –“
“Do you think her nose is broken?”
Kara’s eyes go unfocused again, a cute little frown on her face, and it’s all just a little bit too much with Kara still bleeding and a large bruise forming on her cheekbone. Feeling overwhelmed, Lena snaps.
“Everyone, go back to class and wait there until the period is over. I’m taking Miss Danvers to the nurse.”
Her tone brokers no argument, and slowly the students start to file back towards the school building. When she’s sure the attention is off the two of them, she puts a steadying arm under Kara’s and lets her weight fall on it.
“Can you walk?” Lena murmurs, and Kara nods enthusiastically. Together they stand, taking a large, hopeful step forward –
And then Kara pitches sideways, almost landing face-first in the dirt.
“Shit,” Lena mutters under her breath, trying desperately to pull Kara back up. “You know I appreciate your muscles, but why do you have to be so damn heavy –“
“Do you need help, Miss Luthor?”
Eve Tessmacher is standing nearby, looking nervous but earnest, and Lena sighs in defeat.
“Yes, please.”
Together they manage to haul Kara back up, and the three of them make their slow, tottering way back to the school building behind the rest of the class.
“Is Miss Danvers going to be okay?” Eve asks. She sounds anxious, and Lena hurries to reassure her.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. I think it’s just a concussion. And…maybe a broken nose,” she admits, still rueing the day she agreed to do this experiment. Bottle rockets, with Kara Danvers? Of course someone got hurt. And of course, it was Kara.
“You seemed really worried.”
Lena swallows hard, trying not to flinch at the observation. She made a scene earlier, running to Kara like that, and she’s honestly a little bit glad that Kara is too concussed to remember it. “I’d be worried if any of you got hit with a bottle rocket.”
“Okay,” Eve says, but she doesn’t sound convinced. It doesn’t help that Kara chooses that exact moment to stand perfectly upright, practically wrenching Lena’s shoulder as she does.
“Ow, Jesus –“ Lena hisses, and Kara looks down at her with a look of awe on her face.
“Lena!”
“…Kara?” Lena answers cautiously, hovering close just in case Kara falls over again.
Kara blinks down at her owlishly, still covered in drying blood. “I got hit in the face with a rocket!”
“Yes…you did.”
Kara’s face breaks out into a grin, and she throws a fist in the air. “That was totally awesome!”
At Kara’s shout, the students still scattered across the field start looking back at their little huddled group. Laughing at Kara’s still-raised fist, some of them yell back.
“It was awesome, Miss Danvers!”
“Hell yeah!”
“Language, Miss Arias!” Lena scolds, and in the distance Ruby winces, looking abashed.
But Kara is far past caring about language – her hand is still in the air, and she calls back to them. “Yeah! LONG LIVE KARLENA ONE!”
Lena is slightly alarmed at how delighted their class looks by that sentence.
Shaking it off, Lena slings Kara’s arm over hers again. “Come on. Let’s get you looked at.”
She thanks whatever deity is listening that Kara goes quiet after that, letting Lena and Eve carry her to the nurse’s office unimpeded. Eve takes her leave once Kara is settled on the little cot, and Lena perches stiffly on the wooden chair beside the bed while the nurse pages for Alex.
“You’re staying?” Kara asks in a small voice, and Lena nods, crossing her legs.
“Until your sister comes to get you.”
Kara smiles absently, her head lolling from one side to the other. “Am I going home?”
“I assume you’re going to the hospital,” Lena replies, and Kara frowns, a sweet little crinkle forming between her brows that Lena wants to smooth away with her thumb. Her hand twitching with the urge, but she clenches it into a fist. Even if Kara isn’t going to remember it, she refuses to humiliate herself for the second time today.
“Can’t you come with me?” Kara asks, and Lena has to bite at the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling at the way Kara is looking at her with wide, trusting eyes.
“I have to go teach my last class,” she says softly, and Kara’s resulting pout is almost cute enough for Lena to forgive her for getting hit in the face to begin with.
She gets a few moments to compose herself when the nurse bustles back in, a bowl of soapy water in hand. While she cleans Kara’s bloody face and checks her fairly obvious concussion symptoms, Lena glances at the doorway. Where the hell is Alex?
Clearly, she’s going to have to keep Kara occupied for a little bit longer. Unfortunately the task gets all that much harder when the nurse leaves again, leaving Kara with her hair down, her glasses off, and staring directly at Lena with an unnervingly focused gaze.
Her eyes are piercing, and her skin is just a little bit red from the wet cloth, and oh my god, she looks so cute. Why does she look so cute concussed?
Finally, after at least a full minute of uninterrupted staring that Lena does her best to ignore, she sighs.
“What, Kara?”
Kara smiles, looking more coherent than she has since the rocket made contact with her face.
“Just glad you’re here. You’re so smart. And you’re so…floaty. And…beautiful.”
Lena’s stomach drops in a way she can’t completely convince herself is unpleasant. Beautiful. She thinks I’m –
Lena nearly jumps out of her skin when the door opens, and Alex Danvers charges through it like she’s on a mission.
“Kara, what the hell did you do now?”
Taking the opportunity she’s being offered, Lena stands abruptly, excusing herself and letting Kara’s sister grill her on the circumstances of her injury. She slips out the door unnoticed, drying her sweaty palms on her skirt while she power-walks down the empty hallway.
So much for things going well so far.
“My head hurts.”
Kara moves the ice pack to the other side of her forehead, squinting at the too-bright sunlight coming through the window. Behind her Alex opens and closes a cupboard, and the noise of it makes her flinch.
“It would hurt less if you went and had a nap in your nice, dark bedroom like I told you to.”
“It’s lonely in there,” Kara complains, and Alex sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“I promised I’d take care of you, but I did not sign up for an endless pit of whining. Go to sleep.”
Kara pouts silently, her eyes now closed against the light. She hears Alex pour herself a drink and sit on the other part of the sectional near her feet, and the rustle of a book opening. But there are thoughts that have been swirling in her scrambled brain all day, and before Alex has even turned to a new page, Kara has opened her mouth again.
“Do you think Lena will call?”
Alex huffs, pointedly putting the book and her mug down. Kara, fully aware of how pathetic her voice sounds, squeezes her eyes shut again.
“Why would Lena call you?”
“I don’t know,” Kara grumbles, turning onto her side and hugging a nearby decorative pillow. “To see if I’m okay?”
“Does she even have your number?”
“Of course she has my number. We teach a class together,” Kara says grumpily.
“Has she called you before?” Alex asks, and Kara hates how logical her arguments are. She knows that Lena has no real reason to call her. But that doesn’t stop her from looking hopefully at her phone every few minutes.
“Well…no. But she could text.”
“Kara…” Alex’s voice has a thread of pity in it, and Kara groans, pulling the pillow over her face.
“I know, I know. Just let me wallow, okay? I’m concussed.”
Alex pats her ankle consolingly, and while she picks her book up again Kara closes her eyes and tries to sleep. But her mind continues on, running in circles around the same few thoughts she’s been obsessing over since she came to on the grass of the soccer field covered in blood.
She had been dazed, certainly, and there are gaps in her memory – for example, she doesn’t remember most of the walk from the field to the nurses’ office – but she wasn’t completely incognisant that day. She remembers hearing Lena’s voice scream her name, and the warmth of her presence at her side. She remembers the tenderness with which Lena touched her forehead, the way she blushed at Kara’s (stupid, inappropriate, god, she needs to apologize for that somehow) joke.
She remembers Lena admitting that she appreciates her muscles.
Flexing absently, Kara makes a plan to kick up her gym time once her headache goes away. Which, based on how difficult sleep is turning out to be, probably won’t be for a while.
Huffing dramatically, Kara turns over again and stares at the ceiling.
“Distract me.”
“With what?” Alex doesn’t even look up at her this time, instead taking a long sip of the steaming mug she’s been letting cool. She’s clearly trying to ignore her. Smiling deviously, Kara puts on a practiced tone of nonchalance when she answers.
“Well, how about you tell me all about that cute PTA mom you were flirting with on Tuesday?”
Exactly as Kara hoped, Alex chokes on her drink, spraying some of it across the coffee table.
“I wasn’t – flirting –“ Alex coughs, her face red from more than just the hot water that’s now dribbling out of her nose. “She just – her daughter is in my freshman class, and she wants to be a parent chaperone for our class trips. That’s all!”
“Mhm. Okay. Tell that to your face,” Kara says, disbelief in every inch of her voice. Alex flicks spilled tea at her, and she flinches at the droplets. “Hey! I’m concussed!”
“I was not flirting,” Alex maintains, but Kara knows her sister, and she knows what she saw. She tuned in only at the end of Alex’s conversation with Ruby Arias’ mother when she met Alex to get a ride home, but judging by the dreamy way Alex waved goodbye, there was more than a little flirting happening before she got there.
And, not that it means anything, but she doesn’t recall seeing a ring on Ms. Arias’ finger.
Her face must betray her thoughts, because Alex smacks Kara’s calf with her book, pointing a threatening finger. “Hey, I could just leave you here alone. Unlike you right now, I’m allowed to operate a motor vehicle.”
Kara groans, poking at her with a socked foot. “You wouldn’t!”
“I would. Don’t test me. Now, go to sleep.”
Finally she does, lulled by the soft noises of turning pages and Alex’s always-comforting presence – but her dreams are filled with bottle rockets and concerned green eyes, soft hands touching her cheek and her name, shouted in a familiar voice.
It takes a few days for her headache to really ease, but thankfully by Monday she’s feeling well enough to go back to work again. And just in time, too – parent-teacher conference night is something she’d prefer not to miss, even with a huge purple bruise across her cheekbone.
Her students seem happy to see her. According to her Chem 3 students, the substitute teacher Ms. Smythe had been ‘boring and mean’ – but no class seems happier than her freshman Integrated Sciences class with Lena. Cat hadn’t bothered to get a sub for her, instead letting Lena take the lead for the few days she was off, so it doesn’t make much sense that they missed her the most; but she comes back to 21 ecstatic students, a cake with a crashed rocket on it, and Lena looking quietly relieved at her presence.
Even though the cake is her favourite flavour (how they know she loves chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream she has no idea. Maybe they asked Alex), Lena’s smile when she walks through their adjoining door is still the best part of her day.
At least, it is until the conferences later on.
Of course, her interviews go well – she doesn’t really have any problem students, and all the parents she meets seem perfectly nice. And slightly later, when she and Lena are doing joint interviews for their shared class, it’s great to hear the positive feedback that the freshmen’s parents have for them, about how their teaching has made their kids interested in science for the first time.
But the best part of it isn’t seeing her students or meeting their parents or the praise – it’s the way that Lena touches her arm as the night is winding down, how she leads her into a quiet hallway off the gymnasium where all the little stations are set up and raises a gentle hand to the bruise on her cheek.
“It looks worse than it feels,” Kara jokes quietly, and Lena smiles softly, her fingers trailing over the warm skin. Instinctively Kara moves her face towards them, and as if she’s only just realized exactly what she’s doing, Lena pulls her hand away quickly, clenching it at her side.
“It looks pretty bad.”
Kara shrugs, leaning against the wall on her left. “The worst of it was when I was still all bloody. Thankfully, my nose didn’t break.”
“I still feel a little guilty that it was my experiment that got you hurt,” Lena admits, and Kara shakes her head.
“It wasn’t your fault I was looking at my phone and not the object hurtling towards my face,” she deadpans, and Lena chuckles, moving closer and leaning as well. She ducks her head, a curtain of black hair obscuring part of her face.
“I thought about calling you. To see how you were feeling.”
Kara’s heart leaps into her throat.
Vindication! Take that, Alex -
“Why didn’t you?” is what she says instead, in a much more measured tone. Lena looks back up, and suddenly she realizes exactly how close they’re standing – their chests are almost touching, and she’s close enough that she can smell Lena’s perfume, something light and floral and probably expensive. Lena’s eyes are wide and so, so green, and when she exhales shakily Kara can feel the warm breath wash over her skin.
“I…“ Lena whispers, her eyes flickering down –
One of the gym doors opens with a slam, several couples and a few kids spilling out and heading towards the doors to the parking lot down the hall, and Lena jumps back as if she’s been electrocuted. Tucking her hair behind her ear with a shaky smile, she side-steps around Kara and heads towards the now-open door, heels clicking rapidly.
“Lena –“ Kara calls, frowning at the interruption, but Lena slips through the crowd and back into the gym easily, and Kara is left standing alone in the hallway.
The moment stays with her for the rest of the night, even though Lena seems determined to avoid her afterwards. It preoccupies her through the rest of her parent meetings, and it’s distracting enough that she doesn’t even gather the energy to tease Alex about the fact that she’s spent 45 minutes leaning against her table and clearly flirting with Ruby’s mom.
She does, however, give an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up to Ruby herself, who is standing nearby with a mischievous look of dawning realization on her face.
The early October breezes are carrying a chill now, crisp leaves skittering across the pavement under her feet when Lena makes the quick walk from her car. She gathers her coat around herself, shivering absently as the wind picks up, and behind her she hears what she’s been hearing almost every morning since September – Kara’s shoes hitting the pavement at a quick jog until she gets to Lena’s side, her sunny smile making Lena’s day a tiny bit brighter.
“Morning, Lena!”
As usual, Lena lets Kara grab the door and hold it open for her, and at this point she can almost pinpoint the exact moment when Kara will say -
“Ladies first!”
Smiling to herself, Lena steps through the door like she always does, and Kara falls into step behind her.
“Good morning, Kara,” she says finally, and Kara grins, her long legs catching up to Lena’s pace.
“How’s your day so far?”
Lena takes a sip from her travel mug, the hot coffee brightening her day even more. “It’s barely started, but so far, it’s acceptable.”
When they reach the science hallway Kara follows her into her classroom and sets her leather messenger bag on the floor, another frequent feature of Lena’s morning, and Lena sets her coffee down on the lab table before shucking out of her jacket, hanging it on the hook near her office door.
“Lena!” Kara sounds surprised, and Lena turns around, expecting something out of the ordinary.
“What?”
Kara takes her own coat off, laying it on the desk, and reveals the outfit underneath. She’s wearing –
Jeans. Tight jeans.
Tight skinny jeans, a comfortable-looking long sleeved shirt, and sneakers. She looks slightly ruffled and soft and oh, god. She should have remembered.
“It’s Casual Day! Did you forget?”
Lena turns around and heads to her office, needing a few moments to not be looking at Kara Danvers in jeans. Unfortunately Kara follows her, and her respite is short-lived. Kara perches on the edge of her desk, and Lena is forced to continue the conversation as if she isn’t completely overwhelmed by the miles and miles of fitted denim in her field of vision.
“I’m already wearing pants, Kara,” she says, gesturing to her tailored dress pants and silk shirt and trying for levity. Kara looks downright scandalized.
“You’re wearing – is that casual for you?”
It’s not, of course. Lena enjoys comfortable clothes as much as the next person – she has sweatpants and tank tops at home, flannels and soft shirts – but the thought of wearing them to work makes her feel uncomfortably exposed. Her clothes are a part of her armour, her usual pencil skirts and blouses and heels giving her a sense of control over her day, and wearing pants – even tailored dress pants – actually is a bit outside of her usual comfort zone. She smooths the pressed fabric with a clammy hand.
“It’s casual enough,” Lena insists, but Kara shakes her head.
“It truly isn’t,” Kara says firmly, and she disappears towards her own classroom. Lena takes a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts, but before she can even begin Kara is coming back with a bundle in her hand. It’s gray, and soft-looking, and she shoves it into Lena’s hands with an expectant look. “Here.”
The bundle droops when Kara grabs it, the fabric unfurling and almost touching the ground.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a sweater, genius,” Kara grins, and Lena holds it out in front of her, looking it over. In blue print it reads “National City University” with a school crest.
Kara wants her to wear her school sweater.
“Okay,” Lena drawls, thankful that she sounds much more casual than she feels, “What are you expecting me to do with it?”
“It’s casual day, Lena!” Kara is already leaving, the door swinging shut behind her as the bustle of students entering the school starts to infiltrate the room. Lena brings the sweater up to her face, inhaling deeply – it smells like clean detergent and something else, something she recognizes but can’t place. A Kara-smell – probably what Kara’s apartment smells like. The thought makes her stomach swoop.
Against her better judgement, Lena puts it on.
Of course, the difference is noted immediately. As her Junior Physics 2 students file in, all dressed in their own casual clothes, someone makes the astute observation that her clothes are out of the ordinary.
“NCU? Didn’t you go to MIT, Miss Luthor?”
Lena’s two framed degrees on the wall behind her desk confirm the statement, so she nods, artfully deflecting.
“I did, yes. Apparently Miss Danvers thought my ‘casual Friday’ wasn’t going hard enough.” The droll comment garners a laugh from the class, and with the comment squared away, Lena gets started on her planned lesson in Kinematics.
She’s halfway through explaining non-uniform motion when there’s a swell of loud laughter from next door. Her students are jarred from their own note-taking by the sound, and Lena sighs, knowing what’s coming next.
As if on cue, the door between their classes opens and Kara strolls in, her entire left sleeve missing to the elbow and smoking slightly at the edges. Kara herself seems alarmingly calm, smiling and waving at some of the familiar students.
Oh, Jesus -
Immediately Lena rushes towards her, rolling the sleeve up to Kara’s bicep and checking the skin of her forearm for damage. Shockingly, she seems fine, except for a few small red patches where the arm hair has been burnt off.
“Kara, what on earth –“ she says, almost disbelieving that Kara could manage burning her entire sleeve with so little damage to her skin. Kara waves her off, her singed sleeve sliding back down her arm with the movement.
“Oh, it’s fine! We were working on lab safety and combustion today, and –“
“Lab safety?” Lena says incredulously, a brow neatly arched, looking pointedly at Kara’s still-smoking shirt.
“Yes!” Kara says, as if Lena is the one not making sense. “And clearly, the students have now seen what not to do, so mission accomplished, right guys?” Kara addresses Lena’s class, winking, and they giggle as Lena rolls her eyes. If she weren’t so preoccupied with checking Kara for burns, she might have noticed the way some of them exchange knowing looks, whispering and grinning.
Kara, for her part, seems unperturbed by the whole situation. She rolls her half-sleeve back down when Lena has satisfied herself that there’s no serious injuries, and she starts hunting around behind Lena’s bench.
“Anyways, Lena, did I leave my blazer in here?”
Inwardly, as Kara jokes about her clumsiness and digs through Lena’s cupboards, Lena curses the day her traitorous brain decided to latch onto Kara Danvers.