Work Text:
National City
Friday, November 13th, 2020
Kara opened her eyes. She laid there, cocooned in the warmth of her bed, thoughts caught between dreams and reality. The sun had yet to rise, the room dark and shadowy. Faint beams of lights peeked through her curtains, casting the room in a dim silver glow. Rolling over to glance at her phone, she realized that she had a few more minutes before she was required to get up for the day.
She was having a good dream; the specifics were just out of reach, but she had been in a sea of green, surrounded by an endless field of flowers—sunflowers, to be exact. The scents of juniper, lavender, and rose enveloped the sultry air, and she wasn’t alone. She sensed the presence of someone else beside her; their touch whispery soft as it glided down her arms, tickling the palms of her hands, burning her skin.
Her fingers had twitched and she had giggled, wanting to sneak a peek at the figure. They were only a sleek shadowy shape through her eyelids, light and shadows dancing across closed eyes as the figure moved gracefully around her. Thumbs had gently stroked her eyelids, brushing over the bruises ringing her eyes, impossibly soft hair tickling her cheeks, a gentle butterfly’s touch against her skin.
She failed to breathe, the air snuffed from her lungs. And then…pillow-soft lips had pressed against her own. Something prickled as the back of her neck bloomed with heat. It was as if she was caught in the haze of a fever, her insides boiling and her skin warming with each tender stroke of the tongue.
The light flickered as her lashes fluttered, and for a second—just a second—all she saw were kaleidoscope eyes the color of seaglass before morning had snatched it away.
The quiescent atmosphere of her bedroom unnerved her. It was rare for her to not catch the sounds of city sweepers, car exhausts, the sibilant whispers of her neighbors, or the whistling autumn wind. None of her overdeveloped senses were currently available after last night’s exhaustion of her abilities. She had pulled off an amazing feat at a personal cost, and now she was left without her powers.
It was a fine way to start off her Earth Birthday.
Unable to delay her day any longer, she slipped out of bed and into the shower, wincing at the heat coming off the water. She had never cared too much about the temperature of anything, her skin and body usually impervious to those differences.
Without superspeed, it took her longer to ready herself, especially as she braided her hair. Normally, her hands were a blur as she arranged her hair carefully. But without her abilities, her fingers were clumsy as they sifted through her damp strands. She had to restart several times before she managed to finally achieve her intended hairstyle.
Kara pulled out a few pieces to frame her face, giving it an added softness. She skipped make-up altogether after checking the time. “Darn,” she muttered, rushing around the loft to collect her belongings.
It was never more apparent than when she solar-flared how much she relied on her abilities in her everyday life. She had no idea how humans lived without them.
With a rueful shake of her head, she departed for Noonan’s, hopeful she could at least get her coffee. And as it was her birthday, she was guaranteed a complimentary drink. That brightened her spirits for the first time since she woke up.
By the time she had made it down to the street, the sun had already begun to rise. The cornflower blue sky was streaked with peach and pale pink, soft streaks of clouds hung perfectly across the morning sky. Her spirits lifted at the beauty of another day. It was impossible a day as beautiful as this could bring anything besides good tidings.
Brimming with jubilance, Kara bounced down the street, greeting passersby with a warm smile and an exuberant wave of her hand. She loped with grace, carefully navigating around knots of people on their way to work.
The spiced air was ripe with the scent of decay and petrichor from yesterday’s rain, sidewalks strewn with wet, dead leaves and fallen twigs. The coppery canopies of the trees clustered along the streets added vibrancy to the otherwise grey tones of the landscape. In her opinion, National City came alive in the fall, not the spring. It was the most alive when the world around them was dying and it was rather beautiful.
It was a chilly morning, goosebumps prickled along her arms. She hurried along the street when she finally caught sight of Noonan’s a block ahead, desperate to get inside and out of the cold. It was odd to feel the difference when she entered the cafe.
The warmth wrapped around her, seeping into her bones. She felt a twinge for all those times she teased Alex for complaining about the cold. All of her jackets and coats weren’t for actual use but contributed to the illusion so she was like everyone else. And she was thankful she had such an extensive collection as she braved the morning.
The rich aroma of coffee perked her up, waking her dulled senses as the door closed behind her. Kara fell into line behind a couple; the petite woman leaned into her significant other, sighing sleepily as they moved forward. Something about it reminded her of Lena, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Maybe it was the dream that had her all confused. And then it occurred to her.
The color drained from her face as it struck her that her phone had remained eerily silent all morning. Nearly every year, she was treated to the dulcet tones of her sister’s voice, calling at the earliest hours to wish her a happy birthday. Pulling out her phone, her brows knitted together upon noticing that she had zero notifications from her family and her friends. She even checked her messages in case her phone was glitching, but the last text was sent around nine the previous night.
Alex had texted telling her to rest up and enjoy the small reprieve from her hero duties. Other than that, there was nothing. She checked all of her social media, and the only notifications were from her last posts and old friends.
Her stomach writhed with the odd realization as her heart sank.
They had forgotten .
But that hadn’t happened in all of her time on Earth. After developing a closer relationship, she and Alex had made a day of her chosen birthday. They had their own traditions, formed over years and years. It was their thing . Despite Kara being technically decades older than her physical age and the fact that it wasn’t her actual birthday, her sister had made it as special as she could. She was of the mind that everyone deserved to feel special—ignoring Kara when she pointed out she had superpowers.
None of her friends had sent messages, and she knew all of them were either awake or already at work. Feeling dispirited, Kara trudged forward, shoulders slumping as she lifted her eyes to meet the barista’s brown ones. “Hi Kara, what can I get you today? Pumpkin spice latte?”
She shook her head. “I’ll just have it black.”
“But it’s your birthday,” said the barista, Kate. Her smile fell as she took in Kara’s watery eyes and grim smile. Whatever she was going to say died on her lips, and she nodded, marking the cup, as Kara’s gaze drifted to the window.
In the time it had taken for her to arrive at Noonan’s and order a drink, a dark, ominous sensation had seemed to cover the city, the last hints of the beautiful blues and pinks of the sky obscured as a dark layer of storm clouds moved in.
It was a perfect representation of Kara’s mood. At first, bright and jubilant, then grey and cloudy, darkness invading her day. It made Kara feel even worse inside.
That in itself was a pretty amazing feat.
Kara slumped into a chair and laid her head on the table, sighing as the cold of the metal seeped into her skin.
Maybe she’d zoned out, maybe she’d dozed off, or maybe she’d just ended up staring wide-eyed at nothing in particular as the world went on around her. But Kate was standing in front of her, waving her hand in front of Kara’s eyes.
“Hello? Earth to the birthday girl?”
Kara blinked herself back to the present. “Hnngh?”
“Your coffee’s ready!” the barista laughed, brandishing the cup of coffee. “Wow, you must be really tired—we called your name about 5 times—”
“Oh! Yeah, sorry about that—” Kara tried for an apologetic smile. “It’s just. You know, a rainy day type of thing.”
“Ah. Well, it’s definitely going to get better! It’s your birthday , after all—so perk up!” Kate handed the blonde the cup. “Happy Birthday, Kara!”
Kara tried not to let the smile turn into a grimace as she grabbed the cup. “Thanks!”
Well, at least one person remembered.
If only the day had gotten better.
Almost immediately after Kara had stepped out the doors, a sudden wave of pedestrians had appeared out of nowhere, and Kara had been unwillingly swept along with them into the sea of jostling elbows.
A forceful shove rushed into her from behind, and Kara stumbled—which happened to be both a blessing and a curse.
Pro: the shove had allowed her to escape the riptide of people heading in some random direction.
Con: the laws of physics existed. (Seriously, why?)
Kara was left on the edge of the sidewalk with a rapidly spreading coffee stain on her shirt.
With a hiss of pain and a frustrated groan, she desperately tried to do damage control, but to no avail. Her shirt was probably not salvageable, and her no-longer-invulnerable skin tingled from the heat.
Kara wasn’t one to curse, so pardon her French, but gosh darn it, this sucked.
Everything sucked.
Was this a part of being human? Kara wasn’t sure, but she hated it.
Kara examined the state of her shirt and decided it warranted a quick change. Carefully, she started the trek back to the apartment, keeping an eye out for any more strange pedestrian waves that could cause disaster.
This worked well for a couple of minutes until Kara walked straight into a metal beam that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Grumbling and rubbing her head, Kara stepped around it, looking up to see just what exactly had left her with an aching head and—
—oh.
It was a ladder.
Kara froze, dread pooling in her gut. Alex had always teased her for believing in superstitions; but if every myth had its roots in the truth, then the Kryptonian wasn’t taking any chances.
And yet there she was, having just walked under a ladder—there was hardly anything else that screamed ‘bad luck’ as much as that action did.
Maybe if she was able to get to the apartment quickly and carry on with her normal Friday, the accidental walk under a ladder would not affect her.
Boy, was she wrong.
She stood at the corner of a block, waiting impatiently for the light to turn green, and maybe she was just a little too glad that it wasn’t so crowded anymore.
And then, another reason why she hated being powerless was added to her list as a large van, speeding much too fast zoomed past her and swerved around the corner, tires screeching on pavement. Kara winced at the sound, but that wasn’t all.
There was a muddy puddle.
Right in front of her.
That the van had driven into.
And she had a front-row seat to the show.
There was a wall of brownish water looming over her, and the next thing she knew, she was soaked, from head to toe, a muddy tint to her pastel clothes. She called out, a feeble “hey” at the long-gone van, and in defeat, began to wring out her clothes, struggling to block out the sympathetic murmurs of the pedestrians.
Great. She was wet and cold and dirty, and with the extra weight of her soaked clothes and her fallen spirits—she was going to be late to CatCo.
Maybe agreeing to work on a day without her powers, on her birthday, was a terrible idea. Sprinting back to her apartment was no easy feat, and the sea of elbows and shoulders that continued to push her around was definitely not helpful.
Kara thought being soaked from head to toe in muddy water would cause civilians to walk a circle with at least a radius of three feet around her. But no, unfortunately. They continued to push and shove, now with additional hisses of disgust when they accidentally brushed past Kara.
By some miracle, she was able to get home, dry herself, look decent, and walk back to work, sticking to the inner side of the sidewalk to avoid another muddy incident.
By the time Kara arrived at CatCo, it was half-past nine, much too late after she was supposed to arrive. With a half-hearted side-eye from Snapper, she got to work.
Maybe it was the muddy rainwater that had seeped into her bones or the fact that her feet still were cold and numb from her soaked socks (that she had taken off thirty minutes ago), that kept her from working as efficiently as usual.
Uncomfortably shifting in her seat, she gave in to the temptation to check her social media for any recent birthday wishes. Though she didn't really expect any new notifications, her heart sank further when the only messages were from distant colleagues or old college friends. They were short and genuine, but the words were unfulfilling of the hole of disappointment that had formed when she had first realized her close friends had forgotten.
Faking it was easy; playing something off as less than it truly was was already a daily occurrence as Supergirl. But somehow, it was just so odd of everyone to forget.
Crinkling her brows, she considered all the ways every single one of her close friends could forget. Maybe it wasn't her birthday; maybe she had forgotten a day, or skipped a day, or—Kara dropped her head between her hands, rubbing her eyes. That wasn’t possible.
Either she had missed a day of her life or everyone had forgotten. And the sheer possibility of the latter being true hit her like a kryptonite brick.
Kara wasn't getting any work done, so she grabbed her jacket and headed to the DEO, making sure to take a cab this time to avoid another muddy show. Without her powers, she wasn't able to do much saving, but hopefully, finishing her article in a different environment would help.
It started off okay at first; the lack of constant printer sounds and paper soothing to her; it was even more so when a gentle rain began to patter softly against the windows, the accompanying wind whistling through the building.
Maybe it didn’t matter anymore that her friends didn’t remember her Earth Birthday.
(Really, it did, and greatly, but Kara attempted to brush it off, however to no avail, as it clung to her like flies to honey.)
“Hey,” Alex’s huff of a greeting broke through her thoughts, and Kara’s head snapped up to see Alex, DEO-issued clothes ruffled, holding a large black umbrella. “I’m back. Kara, you okay?”
“Yeah, why’d you ask?” She forced a cheerful lilt into her voice and cracked a fake smile. “I’m perfectly fine.”
Alex eyed her strangely. “Nevermind.”
Kara squinted, tipping her head at Alex. “Where have you been? I’ve been here for two hours and haven’t seen you yet. You’re usually not gone too long,” she observed suspiciously.
“Oh,” Alex replied. “I-I was dealing with a Kelly problem,” she stammered.
Kara’s eyes narrowed even further. “A Kelly problem?”
Alex paled. “I’m not sure I’m supposed to say. She’s just going through a lot and this morning she woke up with a cold,” she managed.
“Oh,” Kara frowned, a sympathetic look. “Hopefully she feels better soon.”
“Same,” Alex whispered.
Suddenly, Alex shook her umbrella, grimacing at the water dripping from the tip into a large puddle onto the floor. “Oh, this is not good,” she muttered, and opened the umbrella, spraying a shower of mist onto the floor.
“There, that’s good,” Alex shook off the remaining droplets off the umbrella, closed it, and set it aside again.
Kara, on the other hand, was horrified.
“Alex!” she admonished loudly, pointing furiously at the umbrella.
“Hmm?” her sister hummed in question, sounding suspiciously clueless.
“You opened an umbrella indoors! Anyone knows that’s bad luck!”
Alex groaned. “Again with the superstitions?”
“Well, it’s a special day today, but everything unlucky is happening and it seems to be because of all these superstitions.” Kara harrumphed, placing emphasis on the words that would maybe remind Alex that it was her Earth birthday.
“Oh, a special day?” Alex seemed to get it, and Kara’s spirits lifted hopefully—
“It’s Friday the 13th! Of course! It’s an unlucky day for everyone, Kara. You’re not the only one facing some serious unluck.”
—only to hit rock bottom. Maybe Alex did forget. Kara slumped onto her chair, deflating. She didn’t want to tell Alex; it would only make her feel embarrassed that she had forgotten, and Kara wasn’t the type of person to do that.
Maybe it was just better to let Alex forget.
“Hey, you sure you’re okay?” Alex asked again, and Kara wanted nothing more than to punch something.
“Yep!” she answered, eyes locked onto the tiny words on her computer screen, her voice an octave higher than it should be.
“Riiiight,” Alex answered stiffly, not convinced. “I gotta get to work. See you,” she dismissed, pushing her way into the nearby bathroom.
“It’s my Earth Birthday,” she whispered to Alex’s retreating figure, face downcast.
“Nia!” she greeted, the hopefulness behind her voice genuine. It was always wonderful to talk to Nia. “Where have you been?”
“Hey, Kara! Cat stuck in a tree,” she shrugged easily. “Doesn’t happen very often. J’onn thought that I would like the rescue. What’s up?” she waved happily, her smile much too big.
“It’s a special day today, but I don’t think anyone remembers,” she stated dejectedly, fingers dancing over the keyboard anxiously. Hopefully, Nia would remember.
The younger reporter was silent for a moment as she pondered what Kara could possibly mean. And then, it hit her.
“Oh! It’s World Kindness Day!” she exclaimed excitedly. Her face fell slightly. “Kara, I don’t think I’ve been nice enough to you. Here’s a hug, since it’s also National Hug a Musician Day, and you’re technically…”
She never heard the end of Nia’s sentence, barely registering the wrap of arms awkwardly around her shoulders. How was this possible?
“Kara? Kara?”
The reporter blinked. “Huh?”
“I said, you’re not looking very good. You alright?” she asked kindly.
No. Couldn’t be further from okay. Everyone forgot my Earth Birthday, which is really important to me, and bad things have been happening the entire day. On top of all that, I don’t have my powers, and I can’t use them to see if everything’s fine.
“Yeah. I’m good.” She stated matter-of-factly, and the conversation was over.
Maybe going up to more of the Superfriends and asking if they remembered wasn’t a good idea, but one of them had to remember, right?
J’onn, oddly enough, was nowhere to be found; Kara assumed he was taking Kara’s place saving people, but his absence for such a long time was definitely strange.
Just like everything else.
It was a shame her powers had chosen the absolute worst day to blow out. More of the Friday the 13th superstition, perhaps?
“Brainy?” she approached the twelfth-level intellect tentatively.
“Hi, Kara,” he greeted. He seemed to be quite distracted, eyes glazed and eyebrows furrowed, as if he was deep in thought.
“I—” she glanced at Brainy’s unfocused gaze. “Nevermind.”
“What were you going to say?” he asked politely, his eyes finally focusing on Kara.
“It’s nothing,” Kara mumbled.
Brainy only frowned, opening his mouth to speak, but snapping it shut in the end.
“Well, here’s a hug, since Nia tells me it’s National Hug a Musician Day and you sing pretty well,” he finally managed.
He gave her a hug, the comfort only temporary, and she frowned further, making her way back to her space.
If anyone would remember her Earth birthday, it was Lena. It didn’t make sense for such a prodigy and knowledgeable person to forget something as simple as Kara’s birthday.
It took Kara two calls and then some for Lena to pick up. “Hey, Lee!”
“Hey.”
Kara frowned at the tone of her voice. “You okay? You sound tired.”
“Not really,” Lena sighed, and Kara heard a rustle, presumptuously the slump of Lena’s head onto the table against her arm. “There’s a lot going on and nothing’s going right.”
“Oh,” Kara sighed sympathetically. Maybe Alex was right about Friday the 13th. “You want me to come over? Are you at L-corp?”
“I’m sorry, Kara. I think I need some alone time right now. Is that okay?” Lena sounded strange, her voice thick, as if holding something back.
“Okay,” the reporter replied without hesitation. She was used to this by now, right? Lena was having it worse than her; maybe she should stop feeling bad.
Lena hung up without another word.
Kara wanted to cry.
She could feel the urge swelling in her abdomen and surging up her chest, wavering in her throat and pulsating behind her eyes. It was like an overwhelming wave of cold and wet that threatened to burst out of her; tears were inevitable.
No one remembered. No one. And Lena wasn’t in the mentality to wish her a happy birthday or even remember, so she didn’t count.
Kara no longer could deal with being in the DEO. So she dismissed herself, ducking into the rain.
She wasn’t sure when it had started raining again, but any hint of the clear sky she had been hoping for had been swallowed by dark clouds.
It wasn’t particularly heavy, just thin drops of water falling from the sky with the slightest sound. She felt deaf without her super-hearing, the soft pitter-patter of water drowning out everything other than the occasional car horn, and even then, she could hardly hear the honks that would usually pierce through her super-hearing no matter how high in the atmosphere she was.
She fought the urge to sob, and instead, pushed her way through the now-empty streets, jacket darkening in spots as the rain slowly soaked through. She glumly plodded through the rainswept city as the droplets began to increase in size and frequency, fat drops beginning to ricochet off the ground and onto her shoes, once again soaking into her socks.
Kara squirmed at the feeling of cloth plastered against her feet and shivered, pressing on towards home. Her feet stomped down on the concrete with every step, arms crossed to hold her small jacket to herself. She was trembling from the cold, and she could feel her nose streaming from the rain.
She briefly freed a hand to paw at her nose only to brush her cheek and find warmth. It only made her breath hitch and the immense ball in her chest swell until her lungs burned.
Blinking hard to clear her eyelashes of moisture, she found herself slumped against a wall, its ridges and bumps digging painfully into her back. Slightly out of the rain, she could hear her quiet sniffles, feel the warm tears spill over, one by one, down her cheeks.
They forgot. Am I remembering wrong?
Then, something occurred to her.
What if it was an alien? What if I’m in an alternate timeline? I need to ask J’onn.
She fumbled around for her phone, first finding the Supergirl phone before her personal number. In her haste, it clattered to the ground, landing corner first with a crack that could be heard over the rain. Kara didn’t even wince; she just huffed in frustration and further fought the urge to slide down the wall, sobbing.
Small cracks branched out from the point of impact, and she dug a fingernail under the screen protector to check if it could be only that—maybe she’d have a little bit of luck today. Unfortunately for her, the small lift only caused the cracks to sprout further down the screen protector, but not before she caught a glimpse at the scuffed screen below.
Kara let out a tiny cry of anger, her chest fluttering as she tried to stop herself from sobbing in public. Her numb fingers found her own phone and in a few short clicks, she dialed J’onn.
He would remember, right?
“ Kara? ” he picked up right away, and a little cold seeped away at his warm tone.
“Hey, J’onn,” she whispered, her voice croaky with tears.
“ Woah, Kara, are you okay? ”
“Could be better,” she said, internally screaming, begging for him to say something.
“ Bad day? ”
“Yeah. It was supposed to be a special day, too,” she added.
He released a breath but didn't say anything, and Kara frowned to herself. The silence dragged on for a short moment.
“J’onn?”
“ What? Oh- yes, Kara? ”
Her shoulders shook slightly as she bit back a sob, holding her breath to force it down.
“Are you busy right now? I won’t bother you. See you, maybe.”
The sob exploded out of her before she could stop it or end the call, and just as she clicked the bright red button, she heard a soft muttering in the background.
“Alex, maybe we shouldn’t-”
Shouldn’t what ?
Kara ignored every part of her that wanted to slide to the damp, cold ground and cry, so she forced herself back on shaky feet and continued in the rain.
Kara reached her apartment soaked to the bone, hair plastered to her face and neck. She had long ago taken off her glasses to paw angrily at the tears that had dared fall, and it had been fogging up with so much condensation and water she cursed hiding her secret identity and shoved her glasses away.
No one would recognize a miserable, crying, sopping wet girl as Supergirl anyway.
She was dripping on the floor, water running off her soaked clothes in rivulets. Cold beads of water slipped out of her ponytail to run a piercing trail down her spine. So she just stripped right there, peeling off her clothes, huffing as she struggled without super strength.
Finally, finally , after several long-dragging minutes of trying to take off her clothes while simultaneously walking to the bathroom, her clothes were sitting at the bottom of the laundry basket and she was standing, still quivering, in her bathroom.
She stepped into the shower, eyes and nose streaming.
She flinched back from the initial cold, eyeing the water that rained down from her showerhead. Usually, it didn’t affect her, but now, with vulnerable skin, she could feel the icy water wash over her skin, a little colder than rain and a lot colder than her tears.
The water warmed quickly, too quickly, and again, she found herself flinching back as it struck her now-penetrable skin. Kara wasn’t sure how humans lived for so long as such delicate and fragile creatures, but Rao, she didn’t need this, not on what was supposed to be a special day.
Kara finally got the water to an acceptable warmth, hot enough to redden her skin, but bearable, just barely. She stepped under the spray of water and let it wash the rain and tears from her skin. Any tears that fell became one with the shower water, and she chanted silently to herself.
It doesn’t count. I’m not crying. Not over something so stupid. It doesn’t count, not if nobody can see me or hear me or know I’m crying, not if there’s already water streaming down my face.
Despite the warm water and the numerous times aggressively blowing her nose into water or wads of toilet paper, her nose remained stuffed as she dried herself and got dressed into pajamas.
Kara opened the cabinet in the mirror, looking through the shelves for cold medicine. She could only find expired bottles of sleep medicine, presumably from years ago, when she had tried to take sleeping pills but to no avail; her metabolism was far too high for any human medicine to be effective.
With a grunt of irritation, she slammed the cabinet closed, yelping as the mirror first wobbled precariously, slowly, almost teasingly , just enough time for her heart to stop with the realization of what was about to happen. Then, it fell onto the sink and shattered, raining glass shards into the sink and all around.
She stared in disbelief at the now-broken mirror, and she caught a glimpse of herself, her face distorted on the broken pieces; a thousand puffy and bloodshot eyes, hundreds of mouths, hanging open and pulled taut in a silent sob.
To add to the catastrophe, most of it was broken into incredibly sharp pieces. She tried to pick one up, only to carelessly slice the tip of her finger open.
Right. My powers.
She grunted at the pain and watched, half-fascinated, half-discontent as a drop of crimson swelled from the cut. It was rare she got to see herself bleed, and she had forgotten how much it hurt.
Kara wrapped her finger in a small bandage, sighing forlornly at the mess around her. She’d clean it up in a day or two when she had her powers back.
Oh, Rao, how I wish I had my powers back.
It was merely four in the afternoon, but she felt as if the day had dragged on for a week. Her bones and joints ached from all the traveling without her powers and the sun to keep her up, and she just wasn’t hungry .
She sighed, blowing her nose into a Kleenex that she didn’t have the strength to throw away. She tossed it carelessly onto the wooden floorboards, not even trying to leave a mental note to her fully-superpowered self to clean up.
Kara buried herself in bed, taking no note of the chill in the sheets before they warmed up to fit her body temperature, and her last thought before she drifted into uneasy slumber was that she wished someone were here, lying beside her, to warm up the bed.
Kara was awoken not even ten minutes later when her phone rang, buzzing incessantly on her nightstand as it did so. She let out a groan, her joints popping when she tiredly rolled over to check her phone screen.
Lena.
Her heart stuttered in her lungs, and she cleared her throat before answering.
“Hey, Lena,” she said quietly.
“Hey, Kara,” the other woman said back. “You okay?”
“Yeah, of course,” she answered quietly. “You?”
Lena sounded relieved. “It’s all good now, thank goodness.”
“That’s great,” she tried, forcing a fake hint of cheerfulness into her voice, but the slight hysterical whine edging her tone really didn’t help any matters.
“Kara, what’s wrong, darling?”
“Just a bad day,” she muttered, fingers fisting the sheets as she swallowed back the rising anger and sadness and frustration.
“Oh,” Lena breathed, and Kara closed her eyes, listening to her own heartbeat and pretending it was Lena’s. She felt deaf, unable to tune into certain sounds—Alex’s heartbeat, the soft humming of her refrigerator, the steady pulsing of her air conditioning, Lena’s heartbeat. She felt like cotton had been stuffed in her ears as she strained for the familiarity of the steady thump and only heard and felt her own, hammering quickly in her throat, each pulse pounding against her tight throat. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kara said lightly, but she knew that it wasn’t true.
“Hey, want to come over for a movie night? I have something I want to show you.”
“Lena—” she began apologetically, sniffling.
“Are you sick?”
“Caught the sniffles from walking home in the rain.”
“Oh, Kara,” Lena said, and Kara sighed at her best friend’s soft voice, reveling in the way her name sounded coming from Lena’s mouth, even through the phone.
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Come over, please? I can send my driver over. I’ll pay for your cab. I know you blew out your powers last night; that must’ve sucked.”
“It does suck,” Kara muttered petulantly.
“Come over,” Lena insisted again. “Please?”
“Lena,” she breathed, almost giving in to her quiet plea. “I want to…but I’m tired, and I really don’t feel like I can get out of bed. Raincheck?”
A pause, and then “I’m coming over; I have the keys to your apartment,” was all the CEO said.
Not five minutes later, she heard the sound of footsteps, shoes quietly clicking on her wooden floorboards.
“Lena?”
“I’m here, Kara.”
The curtain was pulled back, and Kara could only stare dumbly at Lena, who was wearing a hoodie two sizes too big for her—Kara’s NCU hoodie—and she felt her heart swell at the sight, even through all the pain.
“Hey.”
“You look terrible.”
Kara pouted, carding her fingers through still-wet, undoubtedly tangled hair. Her back was cold from the large spot of water from her hair. “Thanks a lot. A solar flare will do that to a Kryptonian.”
A small, lopsided smile found its way to her lips as she leaned into Lena, who had sat down on the bed beside her, brushing a wad of tangled hair behind her ear.
“Movie night, Kara? My place? I even brought potstickers to bribe you.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Oh, so it’s that bad,” Lena murmured, looking a little guilty.
“Why can’t we do it here? I’m sorry, Lena…but…”
“I have something I need to show you. I promise you, it’s worth it, Kara.”
Lena gazed at her with large, pleading, doe eyes, “Darling, please?” and her small hopeful smile at Kara’s contemplating grunt was just too much for her to ignore.
“Fine,” she grunted, reaching out to grab the takeout container of potstickers. She could feel her mood lifting at her best friend’s mere presence, any anger she had felt had her worst Earth birthday slowly bleeding out of her as she buried herself in Lena’s side.
Lena jumped excitedly to her feet and smiled at her, so radiant Kara’s brain tumbled to a halt. She did an adorable little dance and cheer, grinning from ear to ear, and she couldn’t be more different than her CEO persona in the boardroom, reaching out a hand to help her out of bed, excited and carefree and,
I love you.
She froze at the sudden thought, suddenly lost in Lena’s celadon green eyes. Her breath hitched as Lena looked back at her, eyes shining with sincerity and genuine excitement, and yeah, Kara wasn’t entirely sure how she didn’t see it sooner.
“What’s wrong, darling? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing,” she said, committing Lena’s smile to memory, filing it away for later. I love you. And not just as a friend.
Once she started thinking it, she couldn’t stop, couldn’t stop acknowledging the way Lena felt like her sun when the sun wasn’t out, always drawn to her as if it was meant to be, as if by a force of nature too great to be defied. She couldn’t stop looking at her best friend’s beautiful eyes, wondering what it’d feel like to be lost in them.
When Lena grabbed her hand after she made herself presentable with a comb she had snatched from the bathroom (which was still covered in reflective glass), she wondered what it would feel like to never let go, to let Lena’s fingers fill in the space between hers, entangled together like she wanted their lives, their futures to be.
When they climbed into Lena’s car (“ You drove here yourself?” “You mean the world to me, Kara. Why would I send a driver? ), she didn’t let go, not until Lena gazed at her with a tender smile twitching on her lips and gently extracted her fingers so she could start the car and shift it into reverse.
When Lena flipped on the radio at a particularly long red light and grabbed her hand once more, Kara could only smile to herself and hold on for as long as she possibly could. And when Lena mouthed the lyrics, whispering the lyrics almost inaudibly (and off-key) to Kara’s very human ears, she could only look at the woman next to in disbelief and wonder how she got so lucky.
And yeah, Lena had yet to remember her birthday, but maybe she would later.
It used to be oddly comforting, the way nothing was ever out of place in Lena’s barely-decorated penthouse, but at that moment, when Kara stepped into the large space, she felt the utter weight of its emptiness. There was a part of her that had hoped that when Lena dragged her to the apartment, there would be something, anything, that screamed I remembered your Earth birthday, Kara!
But the space was devastatingly large and empty, aesthetic greys, browns, and too-bright whites painted across plain walls.
Lena turned back to face Kara, long-anticipated words at the tip of her tongue, but Kara was still frozen by the doorframe, ocean eyes filled with salt and disappointment.
“Darling, come in. I have something for you.” Lena tried her best to tug on Kara’s arms, then waist, in order to get the woman inside.
“Yeah?” Her voice broke slightly as she tried to breathe, letting the full extent of the pain sink in. Everyone had forgotten. Lena was only trying to make her feel better.
(If anything, Kara should have known that Lena would never forget.)
Lena nodded and pulled Kara closer, hands twisted into her soft, pale blue shirt. “Of course, how could I forget?” Her voice was smooth and low and—
Lena released the hold she had on Kara and turned towards the empty apartment, disappearing into her bedroom. Kara shuffled forward slightly, into the space, closing the door behind her, the silence deafening. Her heartbeat roared in her ears, pounding mercilessly against her ribcage, her throat, her skull as she tried to figure out what in the world Lena meant.
Something certainly seemed off, but everything about that day had seemed off, so she didn’t dare question it, anticipating something that would devastate her with the realization that everyone had forgotten.
But, soon enough Lena reemerged, both hands tucked behind her back.
“Close your eyes and count to three,” Lena spoke, and Kara obeyed immediately, shutting her eyes tight. She counted up to three slowly, leaving enough time for disappointment, for devastation, and then she opened her eyes slowly.
The fullest, most vibrant bouquet of sunflowers she had ever seen was sitting in front of her. Lena lowered the bouquet just a bit in order to meet Kara’s unreadable gaze. “There’s one flower here for each of us that loves you.”
Us? Kara’s brain couldn’t seem to comprehend what was actually happening. Who else—
“Just like sunflowers, we will always find our sun, and when we can’t, we know we can always turn to you. Happy Birthday, Kara Zor-El.”
“Lena—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish. There was a series of odd buzzing noises and blinding flashes of light that engulfed Kara in an instant. And as fast as they had arrived, they were gone, revealing something so much more than just Lena’s plain penthouse.
“Happy Birthday!”
A chorus of voices filled the apartment, and Kara’s words died on the tip of her tongue. People began appearing from behind various pieces of furniture, all popping confetti or blowing party horns.
And after much too long, after Kara recovered from the initial shock and change in environment, she noticed that the once pristine, white apartment was now decorated to the nines. Fairy lights were strung across the walls, an ambient, golden glow lighting up the living room. Pastel curtains hung in the doorways, and strewn across from the large ceiling was a crisscross of crepe paper streamers, messy but oh so beautiful, in Kara’s favorite colors—pastel pinks and blues and yellows.
She clasped her hands at her mouth, speechless, spinning in slow circles to fully take in how decorated the penthouse had gone in the blink of an eye.
“You guys remembered…” She finally managed through wet eyes and her throat thick with emotion. Without warning, tears started to spill over, creating rivers down Kara’s cheeks, as she looked from Alex to Kelly and Rao —J’onn and M’gann and Brainy and Nia and Eliza ! They were all here—and around again until she settled back onto Lena, with a look that meant more than words could ever say.
“As if we could ever forget your Earth Birthday!” Alex broke through the silence, a hearty and contagious chuckle that soon spread around the room like wildfire. “Now, get in here so we can give you too many hugs and watch you down enough sugar to kill all of us.”
Kara let out a wet laugh, obscured by her hand, and managed to force her cheek muscles into a smile in time for Eliza to snap a few chaotic photos of the entire group. Alex then put a cheesy party hat on Kara and opened up her arms just in time to catch Kara, who threw herself in her sister’s arms.
She hugged each and every one of her friends tight tight tight, tears flowing from her eyes as she did so. After an entire half-day of feeling the lowest she had ever felt, Kara was genuinely happy—overjoyed—and smiling again, mouth pulled wide in the ear-to-ear grin everyone knew was Kara’s.
Eliza wiped away her tears and smoothed out the mess that had become Kara’s hair, before placing a small box in her hand and dropping the gentlest of kisses on her forehead.
I love you, my dear,” she whispered into her daughter’s hair. “Happy Earth Birthday! Now go, have fun!”
Kara pouted, an adorable tug of her lips that wordlessly said thank you, and her eyes found their way back to Lena, who was still standing just outside the living room, still holding the bouquet of sunflowers.
In a few short steps, Kara stood in front of her.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” Kara eased the flowers out of Lena’s tight grasp, pressing her nose into the soft petals and breathing in the familiar smell.
“We had planned this for lunch, but I had way too many problems with the nanobots, which is why I wasn’t able to see you all day. And during that phone call—I’m so sorry—I was genuinely frustrated that nothing was turning out well, and everyone was stressed, trying to hustle in order to put everything together. I hope this will make up for it?” With the flowers gone, Lena wrung her hands together as she spoke, nerves eating her up inside, eyes darting frantically across Kara’s face for validation.
Kara nodded. “It’s more than okay.”
She used her free hand to reach out and hold one of Lena’s anxious ones, running her thumb across white knuckles. She felt Lena’s hand relax under her touch, clenched fist unfurling like a new flower in spring.
“Either kiss or get your asses in here!”
“Wait! No! Don’t kiss yet!” Nia pushed Alex down onto the couch as she rushed towards the pair. “Sorry Kara, but you’re just going to have to wait to get your present later because I’m stealing your girl for now.”
Lena laughed quietly as she was dragged back to the rest of the group, leaving Kara left with her mouth hanging open, confusion written all over her flushed face.
Kara placed the flowers by the door next to her keys and bag, tracing over the velvety petals with a shaky fingertip, amazed at how soft they felt compared to the roughness of her own skin. Her heart swelled impossibly as she caught Lena’s pretty laughter, carried out over everyone else’s, and from across the room, she met Lena’s kaleidoscope gaze.
Come here, it said. Sit with me.
Kara dropped her hand from the bunch of flowers and made her way across the living room. An assortment of her favorite foods and drinks were laid about on the kitchen counter and she struggled to resist grabbing a potsticker and stuffing it into her mouth uncontrollably.
A pile of worn-down boxes with faded game names and muted colors sat on the coffee table, the centerpiece of the circle the group had formed around the familiar games. Kara took her place on the couch right next to Lena, who smiled up at her, a soft, genuine smile that made her eyes crinkle at the corners.
“You’re with me, right?”
“Always.”
Lena said it as if she were almost offended by the fact that Kara would even have to ask, and so she stifled a giggle and leaned into Lena, her mind echoing I love you, I love you, I love you.
After four undefeated rounds from the jubilant pair, Eliza called a time-out, laughter spilling from her lips in between words as she did so. Alex huffed, glaring at the two as Kelly and J’onn went to the kitchen to grab refills and the cake. Brainy laid out the presents next to Kara in order of least to most exciting (in his book) and Nia was walking around trying to find the perfect angle to record it all at.
Kara scooted closer, closer to Lena until their sides were pressed up against each other, and she played with the brunette’s hair softly, allowing the smooth strands to slip in between her fingers like an ebony waterfall.
The lights shut off as Kelly’s voice started the birthday song. It was off-pitch just slightly and a few people were behind, but it didn’t matter; it still made Kara happy all the same. Her favorite people were here, wishing her a happy birthday, something her past self never thought would happen.
Plus, the huge cake, now on the table in front of her, looked absolutely scrumptious.
The last of the notes hung in the air, fading into quiet cheers as they waited for Kara to blow out the candles. She closed her eyes and thought for a moment, wishing generously before she leaned forward and took out the flames with one blow.
Lena shifted to stand, but Kara wrapped an arm over her shoulder, effectively keeping her in place. She felt Lena struggle a bit, before sighing as she gave in, reaching up to intertwine their fingers. As the lights blinked back on, Kara slowly withdrew her arm from around Lena, making sure that at least Nia had seen the otherwise subtle gesture.
Alex made a move to grab the knife next to the cake, but J’onn stopped her and grabbed it himself. He made even cuts—much to Kara’s protest—while M’gann scooped an unhealthy amount of ice cream onto the colorful plates next to it.
After the cake cutting, presents were opened—all things Kara really appreciated and enjoyed, including many cards from everyone, an excess of wholesomeness in the form of reaction pictures and memes, a playlist, and a huge poster with her face plastered all over it with everyone’s thank you’s, and a USB drive, which contained a ten-minute long video, each of her friends sending a personal and loving message. By the end, she had teared up for the millionth time that day—but the second time from joy—and expressed her endless gratitude for each and every member in the living room.
After the presents, Brainy laid out the next game as the sweets were passed around. It went much slower than before, interrupted by personal anecdotes and funny stories, but no one minded. Empty plates were stacked on the floor and tables the longer the night progressed; Lena stacked her half-eaten one on top of Kara’s licked-clean plate, knowing very well that Kara would finish it up for her.
And as the night wore on, hearty laughter fading into quiet and sleepy chuckles, contagious yawns being passed around the room, Kara could see the sleepiness settle into everyone slowly but surely. Eliza was falling in and out of sleep on the chair, while Alex had snuggled into Kelly’s arms, blinking up at her girlfriend softly. Nia and Brainy were both supporting a tired smile, and J’onn and M’gann looked like they were on the verge of sleep-flying.
The only one who seemed awake was Lena, but Kara knew it was because of the awful sleep patterns Lena had created for herself. But Kara kept quiet, never saying a word about any of it.
Kara knew the both of them would get a good night’s sleep tonight, anyway.
At last, it was Lena who sent everyone home as the clock hands neared 10, despite Kara’s insistence that she could pull an all-nighter.
(“But I’m fine—“
A warm hand on her chest shut her up.
“Don’t insult my intelligence like that, darling.”)
J’onn and M’gann left first, citing their old bones and early bedtime. The rumble of the Green Martian’s voice giving final well-wishes reverberated through her diaphragm as he enveloped Kara in a fatherly embrace. M’gann followed suit with another hug, one that matched J’onn’s quiet intensity.
Brainy and Nia left next, with a firm handshake and bow of the head and a kiss on the cheek, respectively.
“Happy birthday, ace reporter.”
Nia’s whispered words left Kara’s heart thrumming with gratitude. It must have been hard, keeping all this a secret, especially when everything had gone sideways.
Finally, Kara turned to her mother, sister, and Kelly. They were all still passionately yet tiredly discussing possible upcoming scientific advancements with Lena as they donned their coats and other outer gear.
She sidled up to her best friend, snaking an arm around Lena’s waist. The warm hand at the small of her back kept her from bowling over in exhaustion.
As Eliza finished pulling on her gloves, she pulled Alex in for a tight hug. “If you need anything, Alexandra, I will be there for you. I love you, honey.”
Next, she wrapped her arms around Kelly. “Kelly Olsen, I’m so glad you walked in Alexandra’s life. What I just told her applied to you too, and you’ll do well to remember that. I hope you come down to Midvale sometime, I’m sure you’d love it. Do remind me to share the pecan pie recipe with you—this one,” She tipped her head in the older Danvers sibling’s direction “cannot cook, bake, or even boil water to save her life.”
“ Wha—hey!”
The dark-haired woman chuckled and nudged Alex’s shoulder. “Oh don’t worry, Eliza. We’ll be sure to visit as soon as we can. And I’ve already figured out that Alex and kitchen do not mix, much like everything she tries making!”
This brought a fresh round of laughter to the five women. Alex and Kelly gave their last goodbyes, fond looks passed around the remaining group, and the next thing heard was the quiet click of the door bolt sliding home.
Kara was still quietly laughing as her mother turned to her.
“Birthday girl.”
Eliza smelled of flour and lavender, and Kara leaned into her warmth. No words were passed between them for a few moments, an immense amount of unspoken love and emotion already enough. The edges of her mouth curled up as she felt a familiar pair of lips on her forehead.
When they made eye contact again, her mother cradled her right cheek with a proud smile. Eliza Danvers was a tough and strict woman, no doubt; but it was out of love. Now that her daughters were grown up, she could afford to show her soft side a little more.
The Danvers matriarch finally embraced Lena, who tensed up initially, before relaxing her body.
“Lena, thank you for calling this party off when you did. I was going to say something, but you beat me to it. Kara’s lucky to have you around.”
Eliza was in Proud Mother mode, and it made Lena blush, her eyes resting at her feet abashedly. “Of course, Ms. Danvers—“
“Oh, don’t be silly, dear. Call me Eliza. Kara and Alex trust you with their lives, and that is good enough for me.”
The tall blonde woman dropped a kiss amidst strands of dark hair, waving a final goodbye before she left the two women standing in the now-silent penthouse.
Her shoulders sagged, but a gentle smile spread across her face. This wasn’t how Kara thought her night was going to end.
She felt a hand at her back again, this time guiding her toward the back of the house. She draped herself over the warm body next to her, wordlessly thanking her best friend for—it was too much to list—everything.
But this especially.
The comforting squeeze of her hand told her that Lena had gotten the message.
Kara was left in the guest bathroom with a stack of soft clothes ( her clothes that had somehow left her cozy apartment and ended up in the brunette’s bottom drawer), a toiletry kit, and the lingering warmth of Lena’s hug.
(“Lee, did you seriously go out and buy an entire toiletry set?”
Kara’s voice cracked with incredulity and disbelief as she looked down at the grey twill weave of the toiletry bag.
“Oh, hush. You’re over here more than enough to constitute having one.”
Lena’s eyebrow hiked up, daring her to disagree.
The blonde huffed, setting the bag down on the coffee table and launching herself at her best friend. She smiled privately, face tucked into Lena’s chest as she heard the wheeze from Lena.
They fell asleep on the couch wrapped up in each other to the buzz of the television in front of them.)
She poked her head into the other woman’s room when she finished, surprised to find Lena already stripped back and sitting up at the headboard of her bed.
Kara had forgotten how slowly she moved when she lost her powers. Her sense of time passing was well and truly skewed without her usual strength and reliance on the sun.
“What are you doing over there? C’mon in.”
The reporter climbed under the covers and slumped into the warm comfort of her best friend.
“Still have energy for one more gift?”
“A gift? Mmmm, yeah.”
Kara felt, rather than heard the businesswomen's snort of amusement, her face hidden in the crook of Lena’s neck.
She hauled herself upright as the dark-haired woman produced a slim box.
“A glasses case?”
“Well—I suppose, yes, but not just that.”
Lena’s weathered hands wrapped hers around the soft hewn leather. She opened it up to find a pair of round tortoiseshell glasses.
Raising a brow, she slipped her current frames off and settled the new ones on her nose. It was definitely heavier than her previous ones, which piqued her interest.
Lena’s fingers started worrying each other again as she started to explain.
“After your last solar flare, I had an idea for glasses that housed a couple of extra things. Of course, they’re lead-lined, for obvious reasons. If you press this button here,” Kara’s right hand was guided to the top of the temple, near the hinge, where a raised bump sat, “it’ll send out a distress call to everyone and the Tower. You have a propensity for getting into sticky situations, and I didn’t want you without a way out.”
Lena’s voice was upbeat, but there was tension pulling at her smile and eyes. Kara pulled the hand holding hers toward herself, leaving light pecks on the knuckles.
“Hey now. I’ll always come back for you. Who else is going to finish your food?”
“Oh, I reckon I can give Sam a ring…”
The blonde scoffed, pushing the frame further up her nose. Lena chuckled and continued.
“On the left, you’ll find Brainy installed the same microtechnology as your previous pair, so you can still whip them off for the suit.
“And if you look at the temple tip on the left side, you’ll find another button.”
Warm fingers curled around her ear, pushing hair back to expose the end piece. There was indeed another button, this one thin and longer.
“Go ahead, press it.”
So she did.
Right when she was about to ask what it did, a steady thumping filled her ears.
She glanced at Lena, lips parted slightly in surprise and gratitude. The other woman was fidgeting with her fingers nervously, mouth opening and closing as if looking for something to say. “You, uhm, mentioned listening for my heartbeat to comfort you, and I realized that when you solar flare, you can’t hear it. So…” She gestured towards the pair of glasses with shaky hands.
She didn’t realize until then how much she’d missed hearing the rhythm of Lena’s heart all day. No wonder she had felt a little unstable.
Leave it to Lena, ever so observant, to notice the small details. She could feel her smile getting wider and wider, and she looked at her best friend.
Rao, I love you.
“Hey, don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying.”
Fingers swiped under her eyes.
“Oh. I’m crying.”
Kara barrelled into her best friend’s arms, knocking them both vertical. The comforting presence and scent and feeling of Lena, Lena, Lena was all around her.
Nimble fingers pulled the intricate frame away from her face, depositing them on the bedside table.
“Thank you.”
“It was nothing, really.”
She drowsily hummed into the other woman’s neck. “Stop before you start me on this. Thank you for today.”
“It was the least I could do.” Fingers tapped her shoulder blade. Three taps, again and again. I Love You. It was how the raven-haired woman said it, whenever she could.
Lena spoke again, her voice soothing and soft. “There’s still an hour left in the day, so I’ll tell you again. Happy birthday, dear.”
The air in the vast penthouse was silent for a couple of seconds, as Kara basked in the warmth of her best friend’s voice. This version of Lena was the best gift of all.
“I love you.”
It slipped out of her mouth, heavier than both of them were expecting. But that was for tomorrow’s Lena and Kara to work through. For now...
Kara burrowed ever closer, feeling Lena’s arms tighten around her, and she did the same, fingers brushing absently at the nape of Lena’s neck.
What a perfect way to end the day, her heart hummed contentedly, thrumming an even, slow pace. And then, just as she reached the space between consciousness and unconsciousness,
I love you too.
She couldn’t tell if it was either Lena’s whisper by her ear or her imagination, but either way, she knew that Lena felt the same.
Her lips tugged sleepily into the tiniest of smiles, and with Lena right next to her, she fell easily, in more ways than one, Lena’s heartbeat filling her ears, thumping evenly in what felt like home, home, home.