Chapter 2: 2. Going Out
It wasn’t quite that easy of course.
Kara had no idea how she was going to tell Alex she’d woken up married to Lena Luthor of all people, with a shiny silver ring and a daughter to prove it. She didn’t even want to attempt it over the phone. Even if Alex believed her right away, she was going to want an explanation Kara simply didn’t have. It would be much easier just to show her.
That is, assuming this reality shift was limited to the three of them and this apartment, and they hadn’t somehow been transported to a different Earth where Kara really was married to Lena Luthor and they really did have a daughter...
No.
If that was true, it would mean that while this might be only one of nearly infinite possibilities, it was still technically possible, and Lena didn’t....Kara certainly didn’t... A Luthor and a Super working together had to already be defying the odds beyond credibility, so this? It couldn’t be real.
Right?
Right.
Either way, a trip to the DEO was in order.
Lena volunteered to make breakfast, leaving Kara to deal with the kid.
She still seemed reluctant to even touch her, which was a small problem, because while the changing and diapering process went smoothly enough, Kara really could have used an extra set of hands to convince Lizzy that wearing clothes wasn’t optional. It wasn’t so much that she resisted as that she wriggled, and Kara wasn’t used to handling human kids. She didn’t want to drop her, but she also didn’t want to hurt her by holding on too hard.
Lizzy thought all of this was hilarious of course.
Oh, and she hated socks, apparently.
Hated them.
The first sock went on fine, but as soon as Kara tried to put the second one on, the first was off again. Off, and thrown across the room with extreme prejudice and a familiar pout that made Kara want to apologize to anyone who had ever tried to say no to her. That thing was lethal.
After the fifth attempt, Kara made the executive decision that socks weren’t really all that important anyway. She tucked a pair into the expensive-looking diaper bag she’d found under the change table just in case. She would have socks, and if anyone wanted to judge her for leaving her kid in bare feet, they were welcome to try their luck at putting them on.
As soon as Lizzy was released, she bolted for the hallway, and Kara had to scramble to catch up. For a toddler, she was surprisingly fast. Not super fast, which Kara had been slightly worried about, but still, she could really move. She careened her way through the living room, apparently having spent more time working on speed than steering, and crashed straight into Lena’s legs.
“Mommy!” Lizzy wrapped both arms around Lena’s knees and beamed up at her. “No sucks!”
Lena froze. Kara didn’t think she’d ever seen her brought so completely to a standstill, either literally or figuratively. A plate of toast in one hand, a little orange sippy cup in the other, and no flat surface in reach, she looked down helplessly at the grinning toddler.
“Need some help there?” Kara offered.
“Please.” Lena handed over the plate and cup.
Kara set the food down on the table before tugging Lizzy free and depositing her into her booster seat.
“Thanks, I know this isn’t exactly...” Kara’s gesture took in Lizzy, the simple breakfast, and the fact that the toddler was currently getting more jam on her face and hands than in her mouth. “You.”
Lena shrugged. “Well, I may not have much experience with children, but toast and juice are well within my capabilities. Though I have to ask... What are sucks, and why aren’t we having any of them?”
Kara took a minute to catch up. “Oh, socks.” She snorted. “She refused to wear any.”
“Stubborn,” Lena noted with a smirk. “I wonder who she gets that from?”
Kara rolled her eyes. “Right, because you’re known for being so cooperative.”
The smirk widened. “That depends entirely on who you ask. For example, I almost never say no to a certain reporter. Everyone else on the other hand... let’s just say I know how to pick my battles.”
Kara was blushing again, she knew she was, but she was hoping Lena hadn’t noticed. “And I don’t?”
Lena raised a brow, her expression answer enough on both counts. “You pick far too many.”
Huh...
Kara might have been tempted to follow up on that little observation, but Lizzy chose that moment to throw her empty plate on the floor, which effectively ended the conversation. Thankfully Lena had had the sense to use a plastic plate, so it was only crumbs to sweep up, but given the enthusiasm Lizzy had leant to her breakfast, a wet wash cloth and a clean shirt were also in order.
Lena got the broom, Kara got the wash cloth, and Lizzy got Jam everywhere in her protest against the indignity of being wiped clean, and then she and Kara both got new shirts.
A quick search turned up their cell phones, a purse for Lena and a wallet for Kara, and two sets of keys. Kara grabbed the diaper bag, swinging it over her shoulder, and they were ready to go.
“So tell me again why we’re going to the FBI with this?” Lena asked as she followed Kara into the elevator, pressing the button for the parking garage. They’d decided against using Lena’s driver until they knew more about what was going on.
“Oh.” Right. In all of the confusion, Kara had forgotten just how little Lena actually knew. She hitched Lizzy a little higher on her hip and decided that was going to have to change. Things were already weird enough, and likely to get even weirder, Lena deserved as much of the truth as Kara could give her. “We’re not?”
“But you said we should talk to your sister?”
“Alex... doesn’t exactly work for the FBI,” Kara explained. “She works for the DEO.”
“DEO?”
“Department of Extranormal Operations. It’s kind of a secret government agency, they handle stuff like this.”
“Oh.” Lena looked thoughtful, but not particularly surprised. “So this isn’t unusual then? People waking up on the wrong side of reality?”
“It’s very unusual,” Kara said, feelingly. “But unusual is kind of their thing, so it makes it seem usual, if that makes any sense.”
Lena nodded. “Familiarity takes the extra out of extranormal. I get it; I’ve had my fair share of ‘extra’ myself. So we see your sister, and then what?”
“Hopefully she and the rest of the DEO can figure out what’s going on.”
“Are we sure they’ll believe us?” Lena echoed Kara’s earlier fears. “What if we’re the only ones who think anything’s changed?”
Kara chose not to share her reasoning on that front... That would be just... no. “Alex will know what to do,” she said firmly, hoping it was true. “Once we know what happened, we can fix it and then both of us can get back to our lives.”
The elevator doors slid open as they reached the garage, and Kara stepped out, turning when Lena didn’t immediately follow.
“Coming?” Kara asked, unconsciously gentling her tone. There was something about the way Lena was looking at her... but she blinked and it was gone.
“Of course,” Lena said, brushing off her hesitation and joining Kara. They scanned the garage full of cars doubtfully. “This could be interesting...”
There had been a key and a fob on Lena’s key ring, both sporting a shiny silver L, and Kara’s suspicions were born out when an experimental press of the ‘unlock,’ button revealed a matching silver Lexus parked only a few spaces from the elevators.
“Really?” Kara teased. “Isn’t that a little...”
“I’ll have you know, the GS is considered a family car,” Lena pointed out, haughtily.
“Right...” Kara let that one go. After all, it wasn’t like Lena had picked it out.
She put Lizzy in the back, relieved to find there was already a car seat installed because neither of them had thought to look for one upstairs. She handed the kid a second cookie to keep her still while she got her buckled in. The straps and snaps were fairly self-explanatory, and it only took a minute to figure them out. Lizzy tested everything with an experimental wriggle when she was done, sitting back into the seat with a resigned huff. Confinement was apparently one of the long accepted trials of her life.
Kara threw the diaper bag in on the seat beside her, shut the door, and joined Lena in the front, sliding into the passenger side and buckling herself in.
“Where to?” Lena asked, starting the car.
Kara gave her the address, and Lena entered it into the onboard navigation system. “That’s convenient,” she said when the route came up, indicating their destination was only five minutes away, but she didn’t ask any questions and Kara carefully didn’t volunteer any theories as to why their alternate selves might have chosen to live within such an easy commute of the DEO’s downtown headquarters.
Lena proved to be an excellent driver, if a little heavy on the gas pedal, and they were pulling into the DEO parking lot long before Kara was ready. This was going to be... she had no idea what this was going to be. Would it still be her Alex on the other side of those doors? Or would she be asking some other Supergirl’s sister for help? Or worse, were they even sisters in this world at all? Kara had been afraid to check the contacts in her phone before they left. Their apartment was full of photographs, but only of the three of them. There had been no sign of her extended family...
No, she was being ridiculous. They were the Luthor-Danvers family. She was still Kara Danvers, which meant Eliza and Jeremiah had adopted her and Alex was still her sister. Everything was going to be fine. So long as she had Alex, in any variation, she could handle this.
“Alex will know what to do,” she reminded herself firmly.
“You have a lot of faith in your sister,” Lena observed quietly, parking the car and turning to look at her. “I envy you that.”
“She’s the best,” Kara agreed. “She’s always taken care of me.”
Lena looked away, long fingers tightening on the wheel before sliding free to tangle in her lap. “Lucky,” she said.
Kara wasn’t sure what possessed her, but there was this something about Lena that always... she just wanted to make it all better, somehow. “Hey,” she said, reaching out to take Lena’s left hand and holding it up against her own. “So long as we’re wearing these rings she’s technically your sister too, so consider yourself entitled to full sister-care privileges.”
Lena raised a single, skeptical brow. “And how is Agent Danvers going to feel about having a Luthor in the family?”
“She’ll love you,” Kara assured her, promising herself she would make darn sure of that as soon as she could have a private word with Alex.
Lena snorted, but she linked her fingers with Kara’s and her green eyes were amused instead of sad. “Well, so long as you’re sure. I suppose I could use a few relations I won’t have to testify against in court. Even if they’re only temporary.”
“Good.” Kara attempted to retrieve her hand, but Lena didn’t let her go.
“While we’re on the subject of privileges...” She grinned wickedly. “What sort of spousal benefits should I be expecting?”
And they were back to the blushing.
Kara knew Lena was only teasing her. There was no way she was being serious... but Rao, when Lena was looking at her like that, it was easy to forget she didn’t actually mean it the way it sounded like she meant it. Kara opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Lena’s grin widened, her gaze flicking down before coming back up to Kara’s eyes, and had it always been this hot in here...?
“Mama, out!”
The imperious demands of a toddler who’d had quite enough of being ignored, thank you very much, was more than sufficient to bring Kara back to reality. Lena too, if the annoyed twist to the corner of her mouth was any indication. She dropped Kara’s hand with a poorly concealed sigh, and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Shall we?”
“Ye-Yeah...” Kara adjusted her glasses and took a deep breath. Right. Alex. The DEO. She could do this.
Thankfully, the guard on duty at the front desk was a friend.
“Hey Bill,” she said. “I’m here to see Alex, do you know if she’s in yet?”
“Ms. Danvers!” He beamed. “Your sister just got in about half an hour ago. I’ll let her know you’re on your way up.” He turned to Lena, and Kara braced herself for a barrage of questions, but if anything, his smile just got brighter. “Ms. Luthor, we’re always happy to see you too. Now, I know Agent Schott has some new toy he’s dying to show you.” He lowered his voice in a conspiratorial whisper. “So if you’re in a hurry, I’d avoid the armoury.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Lena mock-whispered back, playing along. She even added a flirty wink.
Bill blushed, and for some reason Kara found it irritating. She shifted Lizzy on her hip. “We should probably go up.”
“Of course, Ms. Danvers.” Bill handed Lena a visitors pass. “Just drop this back on your way out. I know it seems silly, since we all know you’re with Ms. Danvers here, but we have to follow procedure.”
“No trouble at all,” Lena assured him, clipping the pass to her shirt.
Lizzy squirmed. “Buh,” she reached out and slapped the top of the desk. “Buh, cookah, ‘Izzy!”
“Don’t worry, Miss Lizzy.” Bill reached under his desk. “I didn’t forget you.” He came back up with a third cookie. “Here you go.”
Lizzy promptly stuffed the whole thing in her mouth, grinning through the crumbs. Bill just shook his head.
“You’ve got your Mama’s appetite, kid. That’s for sure.”
“Thanks, Bill,” Kara said weakly. “We’re gonna...” she gestured towards the elevators.
“All right, Ms. Danvers, Ms. Luthor, you all have a good day, now!”
“You too, Bill.”
Lena waited until they’d gotten onto the elevator, and the doors were closed before asking the obvious question. “That wasn’t a very good sign, was it?”
“Nope.”
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone