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Shortly after Kara was adopted by the Danvers, it just sunk in how difficult her life would be. Aside from the fact that her very last memory of home was its destruction, every senses that she had were heightened to what felt like a million times more than when she was on Krypton.
Both Eliza and Jeremiah had tried their best to be supportive of the grieving girl, but there was only so much they could do and say.
Every second on Earth was suffocating. Without Kal-el, or Clark (there will always be some sort of bitterness that she had to swallow every time she was reminded that Clark preferred his human name), she had no one to help her with her powers.
Well, there WAS one thing.
Kara knew that she had to adapt to Earth's language and culture fast. Other than reading books and observing her foster family, one way that Kara learned was watching television.
Her day-to-day routine went something like this: she'd watch the news every morning at 7 am like clockwork, after-which she'd eat a mountain of pancakes Eliza had cooked for her, finish reading books all about the different languages on Earth, then settle back on the couch to watch whatever the TV had to offer.
Most of the time it had been reality TV shows, fantasy series, and her most favorite one of all: cooking shows. She had been delighted to find out that there had been a channel dedicated to showcase the wonderful food from all over the world. A soft spot she had were Asian cuisine.
When Eliza saw her being so immersed on just that one channel after Kara finished her studies, she went all in, finally finding something that Kara liked.
"Looks good, doesn't it?" Eliza came up behind the couch where Kara had been sitting for 4 hours straight.
Kara startled and whipped her head around to look at Eliza. Her eyes widened and she opened and closed her mouth in an attempt to reply.
"I—you just," Kara stuttered, shock still painted on her face.
Eliza was growing more and more concerned by the second. Was it really that surprising that Eliza would talk to her? She was more than sure that she had informed Kara that she was working from home.
"I… could not listen to you," Kara whispered.
Eliza furrowed her eyebrows, trying to understand what Kara was trying to say. Kara was a very fast learner, having a near perfect eidetic memory, but she still hadn't quite perfected finding the proper words to her sentences.
"Hear. I could not hear you." Kara's voice cut through Eliza's thoughts. She was now looking down on the couch, still bewildered at what just transpired.
Eliza immediately thought of the worst.
Oh, God, did she lose her powers?
Was there Kryptonite here?
Did something poison her?
Eliza rounded the couch and sat beside Kara, hands caressing Kara's cheeks. She turned Kara's head from side-to-side to look for any injury on Kara's ears.
"Are you sick? Why couldn't you hear me? How long have you been feeling like this?" Eliza barraged Kara with questions before Kara could say anything in reply.
Kara was slowly panicking. She heard how Eliza's heart was beating faster and faster and she didn't want to cause any kind of stress or anxiety to the woman she was starting to see as her mother. Kara placed her open palms on Eliza's chest where her heart sat.
"I am alright, Eliza," Kara said hoping to calm Eliza's beating heart.
Eliza let out a sigh of relief, hands finally letting go of Kara's head and settled to holding Kara's free hand.
"Then why couldn't you…?" Eliza muttered, still confused about the whole thing.
Kara shook her head, then looked back to the TV that was still playing on the background. "That," Kara replied, palms raising from Eliza's chest to point at the TV.
"I was just… watching." Kara brought her hand down and turned her head to Eliza again, still looking unsure of what was happening to her.
Eliza opened her mouth to say something, when Kara suddenly turned her head to the front door in a blur, eyes squinting.
"Jeremiah and Alex have returned home," Kara answered Eliza's unasked question. She stood up and went to greet them.
Sure enough, the sound of their family car was heard by Eliza and she snapped out of her trance. Whatever happened, she was just gonna have to deal with later with Jeremiah.
"Honey, I'm sure." Eliza stressed out the last word hoping to convince Jeremiah of what happened before dinner.
"I mean, you should've seen her face," Eliza continued, pacing back and forth in front of Jeremiah in their shared bedroom. "She looked absolutely terrified that something had sneaked past her. I mean, I would be too if I had her powers."
"Okay, Okay." Jeremiah stood up and took Eliza's hand, gently coaxing her to sit on their bed. "What did you see right before it happened? What was she doing?" Jeremiah asked, all focus on his stressed out wife.
"Same thing she had been doing for the past 2 weeks every one to five pm. Watching that cooking show." Eliza took a deep breath before continuing. "I was about to ask her if she would be interested in learning how to cook. As a way to control her powers and just doing something other than studying and watching TV."
Jeremiah chuckled at that. "Yeah, she watches way too much of that, huh?"
"Oh, she absolutely does," Eliza immediately agreed with zero hesitation.
Jeremiah looked down on their joined hands, his thumb rubbing Eliza's hand in a comforting manner.
He, all of a sudden, was struck with a realization. "Maybe it's not that….complicated."
Eliza looked at him confused. "Explain."
"I mean, could it really be crazy if Kara was just… distracted? Distracted enough that she couldn't hear you?" Jeremiah's eyes went back to Eliza's, now shining with something akin to hope.
Eliza thought about it for a few seconds, doubt creeping in her head. She couldn't believe that a super powered being could just be distracted by a TV show.
"Maybe."
Eliza was cooking breakfast the next day, bright and early for her family, when she felt eyes on the back of her head. She turned to look and saw Kara sitting down by the dining table pretending to do her reading assignments. When Kara realized she had been caught, she let out a squeak and hid her entire face behind her thick book.
Eliza chuckled and lowered the heat of her bacon and turned around to look at Kara.
"Honey, you know you don't have to hide right? Not from me." Eliza crossed her arms and waited for Kara to show herself.
Meanwhile, Kara was thoroughly embarrassed at being caught and was praying to Rao that Eliza would just forget about it. She risked a glance and was found face to face with her second mother.
Eliza just smiled at her daughter and offered her an apron.
"Why don't you take a break and help me over here?" Eliza invited Kara.
Kara very much wanted to, but she still had not finished her responsibilities for the day. "But my readings—"
"—can be finished later," Eliza cut Kara off, arms holding the apron waving around.
"Consider this a break," Eliza finished winking at Kara.
Kara nodded and finally accepted the garment, wearing it excitedly.
Eliza's grin stretched even wider, happy to see Kara excited about something.
After that, Kara's love for both food and cooking flourished. They had to come to find out that Jeremiah was right, Kara had been distracted enough that her powers seemed non-existent at that time. It had now been established that whenever Kara was stressed or just needed to decompress, she'd start chopping up ingredients, turn on the stove, and listen to the bubble and sizzle of whatever she was cooking.
Because of that, Eliza would gift her what Kara would consider as one of her most prized possessions: a Kanazawa electric rice cooker. Granted, it wasn't the fanciest or the biggest rice cooker to have existed, but Kara loved it with all her heart. So much so that she nicknamed it Nessy.
That rice cooker had been with Kara's every high and every low. When she was frustrated at Alex for being a jerk-face, when Jeremiah went missing, when she got accepted at NCU, when she saved the plane Alex had been riding, and when she first met Lena Luthor—the day she had also decided she had wanted to become a reporter.
Safe to say, anyone who truly knew Kara Zor-el Danvers knew one unchangeable truth: no matter what, protect that damn rice cooker with you life or Kara would wreak havoc on heaven, earth, and hell.
When Lena came close enough to Kara's life, enough for Kara to comfortably invite Lena into her home regularly for movie nights and game nights, Lena was let in on this adorable little secret of hers.
"I didn't know Kara Danvers was also a chef?" Lena raised her eyebrows glancing around the kitchen, taking in what Kara was making.
"Heh, yeah, just a lil bit." Kara proudly presented to Lena the chicken pot pie that she just got out of the oven.
"I got into the hobby when I arrived here on Earth." Kara stepped closer towards Lena.
"See that rice cooker over there?" Kara continued, nodding her head towards the daint rice cooker. "Eliza gifted Nessy to me when she learned that I loved to cook and it grounded me. One of the most important thing I own here, actually."
Lena couldn't stop the grin from forming on her face if she tried. She raised her arms and pointed at Kara.
"You nicknamed your rice cooker after the Loch Ness monster?!" Lena was laughing herself silly now.
"Oh, Rao, I'm SO glad I introduced you to Twighlight," Kara laughed as well.
Kara stopped just in front of Lena and opened a cabinet, both of them finally calming down from their high. "Listen to this." She grabbed a fork and brought the pie closer to both their ears.
Lena couldn't keep the grin off her face as she leaned over the counter to listen to whatever Kara wanted her to.
Kara's apartment was covered in silence for a few beats before a scraping sound interrupted it. That, accompanied with the delicious smell emitting from the pie, Lena couldn't be blamed when her stomach made a rumbling noise in response.
Lena cleared her throat in an attempt to cover it up, but it proved to be useless when Kara started laughing.
"You, Lena Luthor, are now my favorite friend." Kara stepped back and pointed the fork she was holding in Lena's direction, clearly pleased with Lena's bodily reaction.
"And you will be mine if you give me that." Lena childishly made grabby hands towards the pie and sent a pout to Kara when she shook her head and placed the pie on a cooling rack.
"You have to wait a bit," Kara was still laughing, now at Lena's disappointed face.
"You, miss Danvers, are evil. I will sue you for this." Lena narrowed her eyes and turned around and stomped towards the couch.
"Yeah, yeah, you big baby. Why don't you pick a movie for us while I prepare the rest of our feast." Kara rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and turned around to plate the food she prepared.
Lena hummed her assent and started to scroll through Netflix to look for anything interesting. "Yeah, speaking of," Lena started, focus still on the TV. "Are we celebrating something? This looks like a lot of food, even for you."
Silence passed by a few seconds, prompting Lena to look at Kara to see what was taking her attention so badly. Kara was fiddling with her hands and refused to look at Lena in the eyes.
"I just…" Kara faced Lena and swallowed nervously, shifting her weight from side-to-side.
"Kara? What's wrong?" Lena stood up from the couch and slowly went back to the kitchen to be near Kara.
"Iwantedtothankyou," Kara let out in less than half a second.
Lena paused just halfway from the kitchen and tilted her head to the side, obviously confused as to what Kara was talking about.
"The alien detector," Kara clarified.
Lena's eyes lit up in recognition and she started to try to reassure Kara. "Oh, Kara, I know I was… but I wouldn't—" Lena didn't know how to continue because at that time, she would have wouldn't she? If Kara hadn't revealed that she, too, was an alien, she probably would have released it.
"I know that it probably took you a lot of money to make even the prototype for that. Hell, I know that, that kind of research isn't well known and you had to spend a lot of time and effort for it." Kara was rambling now, hands going all over the place to let out her nervous energy.
"But you scrapped it anyway. Went against your investors and co-researchers wishes just so you can keep me safe. Keep US safe. I don't really know how to thank you for that. I don't have a lot of money so I can't give back what you lost, but I know this. Cooking is something that I've been doing a lot since I was a teenager and I thought that maybe you'd appreciate it." Kara finally finished what she was saying and also finally looked at Lena.
Unbeknownst to her, however, Lena had started walking towards her the more she rambled. And now, they were not more than a foot apart. Lena was just staring at her, obviously waiting until she had said her piece.
Lena's hand went close to Kara's face and tucked in a strand of hair. She held Kara's cheek while carefully thinking of what to say.
"I appreciate the gesture Kara, but it's unnecessary. You don't have to thank me. If anything, I should thank YOU for giving me another perspective of how my device could have brought more harm than good." Lena sweeps her thumb on Kara's cheekbone.
"And besides, you know I haven't completely scrapped it." Lena paused, looking to see Kara's reaction. "I still plan to sell it to hospitals that give healthcare to aliens. To help them." She finishes, finding nothing but adoration in Kara's eyes.
"I know, but it's not just that," Kara whispers, stepping a bit closer as if to tell Lena a secret. "You stayed even after knowing I was her. You didn't get angry. Didn't…" Kara trailed off, insecurity apparent on her face.
Lena would have none of that. She could take misogynistic old men in meetings, but her Kara being this distraught is killing her.
"Didn't…?" Lena ducked down to chase Kara's wandering eyes.
Kara took a shaky breath and answered, "Didn't leave me."
Lena's heart dropped, how long had Kara been feeling this afraid that she would leave her?
"Oh, Kara," Lena muttered, pulling Kara into a bear hug.
"And I know that it's been a while since you announced it, but it just wouldn't stop bugging me that I had been a burden to your company—"
Lena tightened her grip on Kara and shook her head rapidly. "No, Kara Zor-el Danvers, you are never a burden." Lena leaned back and looked at Kara with a fire in her eyes. "Never EVER say that about my friend again, you hear?"
Kara let out a wet chuckle and nodded to let Lena know she got the message.
When Kara lifted her eyes to finally look back at Lena, her breath stopped. There was something in Lena's eyes that she couldn't decipher; maybe wasn't ready to decipher. It felt like the world had paused just for this moment. Kara and Lena staring at each other in silence.
Lena blinked twice then cleared her throat. "Good." Lena nodded back, hugged Kara for a last time before going back to the couch.
"I hope this is the last time you thank me for that. You have to know that I'd do it a hundred times over, alright?" Lena picked the remote back up and gave Kara a gentle smile.
"How long did you say you've had that rice cooker for?" Lena chewed on her chicken pot pie while staring blankly at the TV screen.
"Uh, since I was thirteen, I think. Why?" Kara glanced at Lena for a second before looking back at the TV when Hans was just about to slice Elsa.
Lena lets out an impressed whistle. "Damn, and it's still up and running? Pretty impressive."
"Hey! I can be careful when I want to be," Kara huffed indignantly.
Lena took hold of Kara's hands and intertwined their fingers. "Awe, of course you can," She cooed, laughing a bit after turning her head towards Kara and seeing her face.
"Meanie." Kara stuffed her face with more gyoza, muffling her words.
Lena laughed at that. "Who's the big baby now?" She gazed lovingly at the hungry Kryptonian, taking note of the soy sauce at the corner of Kara's mouth.
Lena leaned over a bit and used her thumb to wipe the sauce, eyes on Kara. Kara flushed red when she then took her thumb and sucked it clean, still staring.
"Still mean?" Lena smirked.
They'd been at this for a couple of months now, after Kara placed her trust in Lena Luthor and they spent time together almost everyday. Lena highly enjoyed Kara's cute reaction whenever she flirted. Kara's brain turns to mush and she just malfunctions for a couple of seconds.
Though, that's not to say that Lena is immune to Kara's charm. Whenever Kara gains the confidence to initiate this little game of theirs or flirt back, Lena blanks out. She just has the urge to compress Kara and keep her in her breast pocket forever. That or she wants to bang her head on a wall to keep her cute aggression in check.
Kara couldn't keep her eyes away from Lena's lips looking all shiny after she licked it. "Yeah, totally..." She trailed off, leaning just a smidge closer. To do what exactly? She wasn't sure.
"So, the rice cooker?" Lena raised her eyebrows in a teasing manner. She was, no doubt, just as flustered as Kara when she noticed that she leaned closer, but they weren't quite there yet.
Kara coughed and reached up to fix her glasses. "Uh, yeah, Eliza gave it to me a month after she taught me how to cook. Well, I already knew how to, but theoretical knowledge could only get me so far."
Lena hummed and glanced back at the TV, noticing that the movie was almost over.
"So, where DID you learn if not from Eliza?"
Kara shrugged,chewing her last gyoza carefully. "TV, I guess? I used to watch this one cooking show for hours on end before they sent me to school. Now that I think about it, that's probably why they were so adamant I went there instead of continuing homeschooling."
Lena's curiosity went up at that and she finally took the remote to pause the movie, all focus now on Kara.
"You were homeschooled?"
"Officially, on paper, I was." Kara shuffled on her seat and turned her body to full face Lena.
"But really I was kinda just…self learning?" Kara scrunched her nose adorably that Lena had to clench her free fist to keep herself from kissing her nose.
"Eliza and Jeremiah were busy people and I was still so shy and hurt at that point that I turned to books for comfort. I guess they just wanted to give me a safe space to let all that hurt out." Kara was just staring at their intertwined hands, while she recalled the past.
"When I didn't want to read books, though," Kara continued. "I would watch TV. It was still mostly educational, but man I could not stop watching anything related to food."
Lena chuckled at that, imagining a small Kara right in front of the screen, totally engrossed at whoever was cooking. Or maybe more accurately, the food that was being cooked.
Lena shuffled closer to Kara. "And then?" Lena mumbled in their shared bubble.
Kara smiled goofily at Lena, voice coming down to a hush to match her volume. "And Eliza took notice, and that was that. We figured out that cooking helped me managed my powers. It grounded me whenever I felt anything too much. Even now."
Lena turned to the plate of foods still left on the coffee table. Remembering the sheer amount of food Kara had prepared for their movie night.
"Is that why this happened?" Lena casually gestures to said table. "You were nervous about tonight?"
"That, and I was also stressed out for a couple of days overthinking everything." Kara shook her head, laughing at how ridiculous she had been. She hadn't needed to be nervous, this was Lena after all.
Lena paused at that and her eyebrows crinkled. "Kara, you have to talk to me when you feel like that. Especially if you're having doubts about our relationship."
Kara quickly shook her head. "It's not that I'm having doubts about us, believe me." Kara tightened her grip on Lena.
"I know that we're good. That you probably don't regret scrapping the device—"
"I don't. Not for a moment." Lena cut her off.
Kara nodded, then continued, "It meant a lot to me. It still does. You didn't know me that well, but still…"
"And again, I'll do it a hundred times over."
Kara's eyes turned soft. It was now her turn to caress Lena's cheek. "Thank you."
Lena suddenly remembered the other thing that Kara mentioned a while ago.
"I'll always be your friend, Kara. I'm not leaving anytime soon." Lena didn't break eye contact with Kara in hopes to make her believe it. Lena would probably let the world burn before she'd leave Kara.
Kara's eyes watered and she sniffed quietly. "Yeah, I know."
It had been a few days after that night when the DEO called on Supergirl to subdue an alien going rogue. This time, however, the alien was just a bit too strong for Supergirl and she ended up in the med bay solar flared.
Lena was watching the fight in her office in L-corp, worried about her super powered friend. After the fight, she was debating whether or not it would be wise to go to the DEO to help Kara recover. Her thoughts were interrupted by Alex's text.
ALEX:
She's okay. Unconscious and a little roughed up, but she's stable.
LENA:
Alright, Thank you.
Lena closed her phone and took a deep breath to calm herself down. She glanced at her table and the paperwork that she was reading. It was quarter to 9 in the evening and everyone had left up at that point.
Lena made a decision and nodded to herself. She hastily cleaned her desk and opened her phone again to send Alex another message.
LENA:
I'm coming over there.
ALEX:
Don't forget your badge. The door's open for you, you know where to find her.
Stay safe.
LENA:
Thank you, I will. See you in 15.
It took Lena 10 minutes to drive from her office to the DEO and 3 to finally arrive in the med bay. Alex saw her as she opened the door, nodding her head in greetings.
"She woke up earlier for a bit. Was looking for you and for some fried rice," Alex sniggered, eyes returning to Kara.
"Of course she did." Lena shook her head fondly and stepped closer to the Kryptonian, looking over her face.
"Well," Alex cleared her throat and started to stand up. "I'll leave you two to it, then. J'onn wanted me to check on the alien, see if it's anything we've already encountered." Alex sent a small smile in Lena's way.
Lena nodded her head thoughtfully, opening her mouth to say something.
Before she could, Alex cut her off. "It's good to see you, Lena. Though I'd much prefer if it were better circumstances."
Lena could see how tired Alex was. How worried she was for her sister even if she knew that Kara was okay. Lena could feel empathy for that. No matter how strong Kara said she was, her heart always constricted whenever the DEO called or when she saw Supergirl on television.
Lena gave Alex a tight hug. "It's good to see you too. Brunch soon? I kind of want to just ditch L-corp and just drink ten mimosas."
Alex laughed at that. "Oh, game on, Luthor," Alex replied, reciprocating the hug.
When they separated, Alex gave Kara a kiss on the forehead before saying good bye once more to Lena. She squared her shoulders and adapted her cool agent demeanor.
When Alex finally left Lena's line of sight, she sat down on what was once Alex's seat and let out a deep sigh. She held Kara's hand tightly in her own, and was staring at her face, willing her to wake up.
"Fried rice, huh?" Lena muttered to herself.
When it reached 3 am and Kara still showed no signs of waking up, Alex took it upon herself to kick both her and Lena out of the DEO to go home and sleep.
Without realizing it, Lena had driven to Kara's apartment. Since Kara had given her a copy of the keys to her door at their last movie night and explicitly told Lena to come over whenever she wanted, Lena decided it would do no harm if she spent the night.
Lena had just opened the front door and went to the fridge to get some water, when she saw something in the corner of her eye. More specifically, she saw Nessy. Then, a brilliant idea sparked. Since Kara craved fried rice, why doesn't she just make some for her?
I mean, how hard could it be? It's just frying rice.
Lena went ahead and prepared the ingredients she thought would make fried rice after changing into Kara's sweater and pajama pants.
Okay, so, rice, oil, green peas, carrots, eggs, salt, pepper, and MSG. Seems simple enough. Lena thought to herself confidently, double-checking an ingredients list on Google.
What she failed to realize, however, was that fried rice consisted of already cooked rice, not uncooked like risotto.
What she also failed to realize was that fried rice isn't usually cooked in a rice cooker.
It was a surprise to no one, but herself, when the fire alarm started to beep.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Lena repeated while she unplugged Nessy and stared at the black smoke rising to the smoke detector.
Lena whipped her head around the apartment for something to fix the situation, when she saw it. Lena hurriedly grabbed Nessy and dashed towards the window to hopefully prevent the smoke from continuing to set the smoke detector.
It was going good, so far. She had opened the window and fanned the smoke outside the apartment when she felt something was odd. Upon further inspecting it, she finally realized what was wrong.
"What the…" Lena tilted the rice cooker towards her face, scrutinizing the oiled uncooked rice, peas, and carrots. She rested the rice cooker on the window sill and reached inside the rice cooker just almost touching the food.
Lena was surprised to find out that it wasn't even emitting any kind of hot air. She narrowed her eyes before bracing herself and touching the rice to test out her hypothesis.
What the fuck?
The food was cool to the touch, if not a bit warmer than room temperature. When Lena looked closer, it suddenly dawned on her where the smoke was coming from. It had been Nessy that was producing the black smoke.
Before she could think or even look at the time, she dialed Alex's number.
"Dude, what the hell," Alex grumbled on the other side after a few rings.
"Alex, I think tomorrow might be my last day on Earth." Lena offered no further explanation and was just stuck staring at Nessy, fire alarm still insistently beeping on the background.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Alex sounded more awake now after hearing Lena's tone.
"So, you know how you said that Kara was craving me and fried rice when she woke up earlier?"
"She was craving fried rice and looking for you. But, yeah, sure. What about it?"
Lena reached out to poke Nessy, causing it to wobble about. After a few seconds, it crashed down, sealing Nessy's fate.
Silence was all that could be heard. Well, except for that damn smoke detector.
"Lena." Alex's voice shook Lena out of her stupor.
Lena lets out a string of curse words. "Alex, I think Nessy is officially out of commission."
"Oh…"
"Yeah, oh."
A beat of silence followed. Then two, then three, and then: "you are so screwed, Luthor." Alex finishes.
"I know," Lena's voice came close to whining.
"She's gonna be pissed."
"I know."
"She's probably gonna kill you."
"I know!"
"Oh, God, she's probably gonna kill all of us."
"Alex, how do I fix this?" Lena sounded desperate. She just wanted to do one good thing for Kara after all that she went through. After their last movie night, Kara finally started to slowly open up about her trauma on losing Krypton, losing her aunt, and just the fights every single day.
And what did she do? She broke her precious rice cooker.
"Alright, alright." Lena could hear rustling over the phone and a zipper.
"Why don't you clean up whatever mess is there while I come over, yeah?"
Lena looked around the apartment and saw the mess that she made when she was in a panic and that goddamn smoke detector was still going off.
"Please hurry."
"I'll be as quick as I can."
"Yeah, no, I say we buy a new one and chuck this where a certain Kryptonian won't find it."
It had been close to an hour since Alex arrived at Kara's apartment. They both sat down on the living room floor and opened up the rice cooker to see what broke and only had two solutions.
-
Tell Kara that Lena broke Nessy and face her wrath
-
Buy a new rice cooker and never speak of this incident ever again.
So far, number 2 was looking real tempting.
"I really don't wanna lie to Kara…" Lena hesitated.
A while ago, both she and Kara promised "no secrets" so that they'd be comfortable working with each other given the history of their last names. This was specifically about information that could hurt the other. She knew damn well that even if this wasn't life threatening to either of them, Kara would be hurt knowing Nessy could no longer be fixed.
"Psh, don't worry about it, we used to do it all the time back at home." Alex was still trying to convince Lena.
"Nessy broke before?" Lena asked in shock.
"Oh, no, not Nessy. Never Nessy." Alex quickly corrected. "It was other stuff like plates, utensils, the vacuum. You know, that kind of stuff."
"I don't get it, why go behind her back?" Lena was still confused.
"It's probably not my place to say, so I won't say much." Alex leaned back on the couch and rested her head on the couch seat, staring at the ceiling.
"Kara was in a really bad place when she first came here. She lost control of everything. Teaching her younger cousin all about Krypton, her powers, her thoughts… it looked like Kara was suffocating." Alex ran her fingers through her hair and turned her head to look at Lena.
"Whenever she broke stuff, she'd feel so guilty. She kinda resembled a kicked puppy," Alex laughed softly. "So, whenever she lost control and broke something without her noticing, we replaced it. The three of us made a pact to protect Kara, even from her own thoughts."
Lena stared at Alex with a look of understanding. If she were in Alex's shoes years ago, she'd probably do the same thing to protect her grieving little sister. Even if it were technically lying to said little sister.
"But." Lena looked away and pursed her lips. "I broke it, not her. I can't deceive her like this. She has to know."
Alex looked at Lena with something akin to pride and amazement. "Alright. I'll be with you every step of the way."
Lena was surprised by this and was just starting to tell Alex she didn't have to.
"I insist." Alex raised her palms towards Lena to stop her from talking. She lowered it down after Lena closed her mouth. "You aren't alone anymore Lena. You have us. You have me, too."
That was Lena's last straw and everything came crashing down. Truthfully, it wasn't just about Nessy that had gotten her so panicky and distraught. Though, of course, it's a big part. No, it was everything that happened that stacked up.
She had been at L-corp all day from 7 am and she had only eaten the lunch that Jess and Kara insists that she has everyday.
She witnessed her friend, best friend, and maybe more, fight an alien that was strong enough to render her powerless.
Kara didn't wake up the entire duration of Lena's stay where she had done nothing but hope and pray to Rao that Kara would.
She broke Nessy, Eliza's gift for Kara that Kara probably treasured more than her.
She had try to fix it, but alas, nothing could be done.
And now it was 5am the next day and Alex tells her that they are friends and that she was there for her.
Alex hugged her wordlessly and let Lena cry on her shoulders. Her new little sister.
or would it be sister-in-law? Alex thought in amusement.
The next day, Kara woke up all smiley and cheery as if the events yesterday hadn't affected her whatsoever. She looked around hoping to find her sister or Lena or both.
Kara was a bit confused when she looked left and saw both Lena and Alex sitting solemnly.
"Uh, guys, did someone die or what?" Kara joked nervously.
Both their eyes snapped to Kara and they immediately went to her in a rush.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Alex asked while she held Kara's hand.
"Like brand new," Kara joked again, hoping to ease her sister's worries.
Kara broke Alex's stare to find Lena's. Lena stayed a foot or two behind Alex, giving her space to check on her sister. A worried look still plastered on her face.
"Lena?" Kara asked cautiously.
Alex stopped what she was doing and looked back at Lena, nodding her head and smiling in reassurance.
Lena took a deep breath. "There's something you need to know."
Kara's signature crinkle made an appearance, showing her obvious worry.
"Did something happen? Are you okay?" Kara slowly sat up and faced both Alex and Lena.
"Well, no—I mean yes, but," Lena hesitated, pleading eyes looking to Alex for help.
"Kara, we're gonna say something and I want you to keep a level head. Can you promise us that before Lena has a heart attack over here?" Alex intervened.
Kara just looked even more confuse than before. "Yeah, of course. Whatever you need."
Alex studied Kara for a bit before nodding her head and looking back at Lena.
"Ready whenever you are."
Lena wiped her sweaty palms on her slacks. Then said nothing.
Ten seconds of silence have passed and Kara was feeling a bit impatient and she was going to ask again when suddenly—
"I broke Nessy trying to cook fried rice for you." Lena rushed, looking at Kara's forehead.
"Wha…?" Kara blinked twice, searching both of their eyes for a joke.
Lena turned around and brought a bag that was placed near the feet of where they were sitting a while ago. She opened it and presented the sad looking rice cooker to Kara.
"I wanted to do something nice for you after what just happened—" Lena starts to ramble, showing no signs of stopping.
Kara received the rice cooker presented and was even more confused now. She observed the rice cooker at every angle, looking for something.
"—and Alex mentioned that you were craving fried rice and me—"
"looking for you," Alex quietly interrupted.
Lena couldn't be stopped at this point though. "and so I decided to cook it instead. It was a way of saying thank you for the feast a few nights ago and a way to comfort you after what happened. But, well, as you can see…" Lena waves in Kara's general direction.
Kara had a blank look on her face, making Lena even more nervous. She had much rather preferred when Kara was just confused, not whatever this was.
"And Alex?" Kara asks in a detached voice.
Alex gulped when the attention was suddenly on her. "Uh, well," Alex pathetically tries to explain. "I suggested we replace it with a new Nessy after we couldn't fix it. Sorry." Alex winced when she finally admitted it.
Lena was biting her lips so hard it felt like it would bleed at any moment. Was this it? Was this what broke the camel's back? Not the alien detection device, not the last name, but the broken gift?
"Alex, do you remember what brand Nessy was? What brand she is?" Kara stresses the last word, hinting at something.
"Uh, I remember it was, like, Kawasaki or something? Wait, no," Alex mutters, trying to remember the brand.
"Kasa…Ka…" With closed eyes, Alex still couldn't remember it.
"Kanazawa." Kara finishes to help Alex out.
"And pray tell," Kara continues with an entertained smile growing on her face. "What does this say?" Kara turns the rice cooker around, tapping on the word plastered on front and center.
"Oh, fucking hell, Kar." Alex groaned when she had realized.
Lena was still readying herself for the worst, so she couldn't immediately see it. Once she saw the word "Hanabishi", however, relief flooded through her.
"You asshat!" Alex slapped Kara on her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell us?!"
"Okay, to be fair!" Kara dodged Alex's continued attack on her poor shoulder. "I thought my sister knew what brand Nessy was at least." Kara said still laughing at Alex.
"And also." Kara went to focus on Lena. "I only use Nessy for special occasions since she's a grandma at this point. Didn't want to overwork her."
Alex rolled her eyes and slapped her sister one more time. "Whatever, I'll go and do my job now." Alex tsks, hugging Kara and Lena one last time.
Before Alex could exit the medbay, she looked back at both Lena and Kara. "Both of you, stay and talk. Especially you, young lady." Alex points at Lena. "I'm expecting healthy communication in here. Chop-chop." She imitates Cat Grant before finally taking her leave.
Seconds passed by and Lena was still trying to wrap her head around the past 5 hours of her life wasted in panic.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Kara's voice snapped Lena out of her trance and she finally made eye contact with Kara.
"There she is." Kara smiled and patted the space next to her. "Come, sit. Apparently we have much to talk about."
Lena took her sweet time walking to where Kara was sitting, eyes roaming around Kara's face the whole time looking for any sort of clue that she was angry or disappointed in her.
Kara, on the other hand, was just happy to finally see Lena. Alex wasn't kidding when Kara was looking for Lena. In fact, she might have downplayed it a bit. It would probably have been more accurate to say that Kara HAD craved for a certain green-eyed Luthor.
When Lena finally sat down next to Kara, thighs touching because "how else would they sit down?", Kara right away took hold of Lena's trembling hands and soothed it with her thumb.
The both of them stared ahead, not at each other. Kara stayed silent while Lena was still stewing in her own thoughts. She was content to wait for Lena if it takes them a full day to start talking.
"Sorry," Lena says quietly after a few minutes of silence.
Kara hums noncommittally, thumb still soothing the back of Lena's palm. "What about?" Kara finally asks after a few seconds.
"For breaking your rice cooker," Lena states as if it were obvious. "Even if it wasn't Nessy, I still broke something of yours."
Kara hummed again. "Well," Kara drawled, "did you do it on purpose?"
Lena was taken aback by the question, turning her head to face Kara. "What? Of course not! I would never, I—"
"Then, no worries." Kara interrupted casually, shrugging.
Lena closed her mouth and thought about it for a few more moments.
"Just like that?" Lena asks, doubt filling her words.
"Just like that." Kara nodded seriously, leaning a part of her body weight against Lena.
"Even if I thought it was Nessy and broke it anyway?" Lena leaned back against Kara as to not fall over.
"Even then." Kara rested her head atop of Lena's, closing her eyes.
Lena still wasn't fully convinced.
"Even if you said that you'd break your "no kill rule" just to save Nessy from the hands of the monster that would break it?" Lena's voice was smaller now.
Kara snorted and opened her eyes again to look at Lena. She lifted Lena's chin so that Lena could look at her too.
"You're not a monster, Lee. You're my friend," Kara said simply, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. For Kara, it was.
Lena looked into Kara's eyes intently, finally believing that they were okay.
"Well, actually," Kara hesitated.
Lena felt her blood run cold at that. She started to separate herself from Kara, a cold mask slipping into her face.
Kara wouldn't let her, though. Kara slid her free hand on Lena's waist and didn't allow her to separate them.
"You're not just my friend. or my best friend," Kara clarified.
Lena blinked up at Kara, hope filling her veins. Is this it? Is she finally going to put a name on the game they had been playing for months?
"You know that I like you, right? And you like me too." Kara's gaze burned, but Lena couldn't find it in her to look away.
"I know that what we have is still fresh." Kara's hand that was on her chin slowly slid to her shoulders, then arms, and finally to her hand where Kara interlaced their fingers.
"But I don't want you to doubt your place in my life. I feel so strongly with you in such little time. Hell, this beats when James and I were a thing." Kara chuckled at the memory.
"So," Kara continued, "I'm not gonna leave you for breaking a rice cooker because you tried to do something nice for me. May it be Stitch or Nessy."
Lena finally smiled at that and leaned her head to rest it on Kara's shoulders.
"Your naming conventions are adorable, have I told you that?" Lena noses her way to Kara's neck.
Kara shudders at the sensation. "No, but I'd much rather you call ME adorable."
"Dork," Lena softly teases, tiredness seeping into her bones. "Mmmm, sleepy," Lena mumbled, suddenly pushing Kara so that they'd lay down.
Kara just coos at how adorable Lena was being before fixing their position so that they were cuddling properly. Kara releases Lena's ponytail and starts to massage her scalp.
Lena sighs in contentment and places an innocent kiss on Kara's jaw in gratitude.
"Sleep now, talk later?" Kara whispers, hands still massaging Lena's scalp and now her back.
Lena let out a quiet hum that Kara could only hear because of her powers slowly but surely returning. Before Lena could fully succumb to rest, she felt Kara kiss her on her forehead.