Chapter Text
This was enough for Kara. It had to be.
Knowing that Lena was hers in a way that was intricate, delicate, and important to Kara’s culture…. It had to be enough. Even if Lena didn’t know they were married. That was alright, and it was within Kara’s rights of secrets to keep.
Kara was working on the secret thing. Really, she was.
Now that Lena knew she was Supergirl, it made leaving a lot easier. Kara wished she’d done it so much sooner. But regrets were something she did spend time on. She couldn’t. She had too many and they would consume her.
Nia cleared her throat. “Hey.” she greeted Kara with a dumb little wave as Kara came back to this realm of focus. “There’s supposed to be a board meeting soon with some of the other investors. Lena’s coming. Are you ready?” she asked.
“Yeah, Lena and I are great.” It was still shocking to say such a thing. The past year had tried to break them, but failed. They were stronger together. El Maryah.
Kara’s eyes closed for a moment as she remembered the night that Lena and Kara got married. Kara had just wanted to give Lena a bracelet, and a promise. “I’ll never lie again.” was what she started to say, but amended to, “I trust you with all of me.”
And well, when Lena broke down and promised in return that she would never break the trust she had been given, again, well. It was only fair for Kara to place the bracelet on Lena’s wrist, snug as a bug, and promise to keep Lena safe always.
And if Kara forgot to tell Lena she’d accidentally gotten married, well. That was nobody’s business but Kara’s own. That had been almost two weeks ago.
Kara lit up when she saw Lena entering the office. “Hey, Luthor. Looking good.” Nia whistled at Kara’s wife. Kara tried not to flinch at the sudden sound— not to mention Nia teasingly flirting with Kara’s wife. But! Nobody else knows they’re married, not even Alex. Kara just had to keep reminding herself of that.
It was kind of killing her to keep it from Alex, but Alex was on her honeymoon with Kelly. Esme was being babysat by all of the SuperFriends.
Kara winced as she rubbed her ear. “You’re so shrill.” Kara whined to Nia as Lena made her way over. It was then that she noticed that Lena was no longer wearing a bracelet on her wrist.
No. Longer. Wearing. The. Bracelet?
Okay. Kara gripped the chair’s edge tighter. This was fine. Lena didn’t know what it meant, which meant she’d take it off, and that’s fine. “Hey Lena.” Kara sounded foreign to her own ears.
“Kara.” Lena leaned in and hugged her friend, squeezing her arm muscles slightly. Kara wondered why she always did that. She shrugged, hugging back. “And Nia, hi.” Lena blushed slightly as she came out of their bubble. Kara wished she was still in it. Wished they were alone again. They hadn’t been alone since that night, busy with everything.
Nia shared a knowing look with Lena. “Not to worry, it’s just me. I’m used to you two’s shenanigans.” she promised.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Lena said firmly.
Kara raised an imperious eyebrow. “Whatever does shenanigans mean in this sentence?”
“Don’t know, don’t care.” Lena snuggled up beside Kara for a few seconds before pulling away when Kara asked in a low undertone: “Where’s your bracelet?” It was bothering her too much.
Lena bit her lip. “I’m sorry, darling. It broke. I’m having a jeweler fix it though.” she promised. “The string hooked on one of my shirts.”
Kara blinked back unshed tears. Rao please don’t make me do this. Don’t let this be real. Rao, I’m begging you to be a kind and forgiving God. I know that I forged Lena’s consent in this marriage but—- Her train of thoughts cut off abruptly as she felt Lena’s hand on her cheek, brushing away tears. Shit.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it meant that much to you, Kara.” Lena looked into her eyes. “I can’t even remember much of that night, but did I ever ask what it meant? The inscription isn’t in English.” she trailed her hand away from Kara’s face when people began to filter into the room for the meeting.
“I’ll uh, tell you later. I have to go.” Kara schooled her expression. Years of practice of being Cat Grant’s secretary will have you able to withstand much worse than your wife breaking up with you without even realising that you were married.
“Go? We have a meeting.” Nia demanded. “Come on, Kara, you can do this.” She brushed between them and ushered Kara away. “Did you not tell her what bracelets mean on Krypton?” Nia asked in a low voice, careful not to let Lena overhear them.
“No, no I could never do that.” Kara hissed. “She’d kill me. Thanks for getting me out of there. But no more meddling, okay? I mean it.” Kara insisted, wagging a finger at her apprentice — in superhero duties and reporting.
“I make literally less than zero promises not to meddle in your love life, but hey. Good luck on the meeting!” Nia beamed as she sat Kara down in the head office seat.
The meeting took twice as long, if not longer, than it would have because of white men and their incessant need to be right.
Kara slipped out of the meeting during the crowd rush, so hopefully —-
She was not lucky enough to miss Lena altogether.
Lena was reaching out for her — but Kara let her hands fall forlornly to the sides. “I can’t.” she whispered and hoped Lena would hear her. “I gotta go,” she called to Nia. “Supergirl is needed elsewhere.”
“Fly safe.” Nia called back. “I got your six if you need me.” she gave a big thumbs up before Kara zoomed away leaving Lena with nothing.
Not even a bracelet.