A Girl in a Bar

Deanlu

Supergirl is the property of DC comics and the CW. I am borrowing the characters for a little fun and storytelling. I've changed the Supergirl timeline some and added in some characters. Please leave comments. Storytellers live for comments...and chocolate, but I think I have a lot of chocolate right now.

"Yo Kara!" The bartender called from behind the bar. Kara looked around the alien bar. Not the one that Kara's sister and friends frequented, but another one where she didn't have to worry about being interrupted by Lena, Lex, Alex or anyone else. Sapphire Nights was located in the alien burrow the city called it. Old homes that once belonged to minority humans now gave way to aliens who had moved into the neighborhood. Yes, there were still humans living here. But more often than naught you would see aliens. There were corner grocery stores that had human as well as alien food. The local bookstore sold books in English as well as twenty other alien languages. Bakeries, coffee shops, fashion that would glam up alien and human, chinese and italian restaurants now existed next to alien foods humans had never heard of before.

"Hey Pharro. How's it going?" Kara asked as she stepped over to the end of the bar and took a seat. She was looking for a dark, cool place to drink and think.

"Good, good. Are you looking for some quiet or heavy drinking?" He looked behind her to see no one with her. The bar was modern with black accents and silver walls. The back lighting gave it a clean aesthetic look, but at the same time a warm feeling. The front ceiling to floor windows faced south allowing for light, but had floor to ceiling vertical blinds that could be closed to shut out the outside world. Neon blue and green accented the actual bar seating area. The bar area held bottle after bottle of alcohol, human and was a menu for appetizers and entrees from different worlds and human favorites. Toward the back of the bar were several curtained seating areas for privacy while toward the front and middle were the normal tables for regulars.

"Drinking and thinking time Pharro. I'm going to take a seat in one of the private seating areas. Just send my regular over." Kara motioned as she shifted her satchel on her shoulder and headed that way. She took a seat and leaned back as her head throbbed from her latest adventures. In this case it had been an argument with Ms. Rojas. Some stories were worth the fight.

"Here we go. One bottle of Malforian Delight. Anything to eat?" Acantha, the waitress asked as Pharro observed from nearby. Kara looked up at the woman. Dark brunette hair, bright red lips, and green eyes that reminded her of Lena's. Her dark mahogany skin was sun kissed by the gods Kara was sure. Kara leaned to the right looking at Pharro who shrugged his shoulders. Kara shook her head. She wasn't drunk enough for this right now.

"No, but ask me again in an hour." Kara said as she winked at Acantha. She watched the woman walk off. The reporter shivered watching Acantha's hips sway back and forth as her forked tail swished. Kara took her first drink and poured another right away.

"She was tired. CATCO was keeping her busy with all the short articles she had to put out. She had to write five or six short articles for every in-depth article she submitted. She enjoyed being Nia's mentor and William was interesting. A friend maybe, but never more than that. She had to make that very clear to him just two weeks ago.

"So I was thinking that maybe we can grab a bite to eat on Friday. You, me, some good food? Maybe a walk in the park afterwards." William's eyes were bright as he arched his eyebrows and smiled that quirky smile.
"I would love to, but…" Kara had begun watching him get excited and then his excitement fall when the 'but' came. "I'm just not interested. Maybe we can have lunch as colleagues sometime over a story, but I am not interested, William."

"Oh...Can I ask why?" William gently prodded as he tried to figure out if there was something he could do to change the outcome.

"You're a great guy. I'm sure anyone would want to be with you." Hope sprang into Williams' eyes for a minute. "Just not me. I love someone else. Plus my life is all sorts of complicated. So...yeah." Kara said looking down and William watched her for a finally nodded.

"You can't blame me for trying Kara. You are an amazing woman." Kara looked up and nodded. Except lately, Kara would disagree with that statement.

"Thank you." Kara had whispered as she walked away toward where Nia sat. The girl looked up as Kara explained she was going out to follow a lead. Nia had asked if there was anything she could do and Kara had shook her head.

"Here, Pharro said you were looking sort of peckish." Acantha said as she set down a double serving of potstickers and some cheese fries breaking Kara out of her reverie.

"Thanks." Kara knocked back two more of the pretty purple silverish liquid. Maybe she should freelance for the next few years. She had looked over the contract she had with CATCO under Andrea Rojas. The woman wasn't as smart as she thought she was. There were loopholes in the contract that would let her quit and write for others. Kara wasn't as stupid as people thought. She had grown up under her mother, who was the lead judge for Krypton. While she didn't care for the legal paperwork aspect of her mother's job, didn't mean she couldn't understand the legal jargon. Kara took a couple bites from the potstickers while she continued to think. She could still remember nights cuddled on her mother's lap while her mother read over some legal paper. She could remember her mother explain how there were always ways to shift contracts and make them more advantageous for others. You just had to think outside of the box. Kara rubbed her face and drank down another glass of Malfurion Delight.

"Text from Alex Danvers," her phone announced. Kara pulled the phone out of her coat pocket and pulled up the text from her sister.

Alex: Hey, Nia said you took the afternoon off? Everything okay?"

Kara: Yeah, all's fine. Don't worry. I'm a little busy right now. I'll talk with you later.

Alex: You sure?

Kara: Yeah.

Alex: Okay, I'll chat with you later.

"Just need time away Alex." Kara whispered, downing several swallows of her drink and eating with a little more gusto. Kara leaned back wishing she was with Lena. While their friendship was back on track, Lena had been spending her time with Andrea to get her back on the straight and narrow. There was a rumor that CATCO was up for sale again. Kara wished Cat would come back and take over. She missed the Media Queen terribly. Without Lena in her life like it used to be she just couldn't get excited about anything anymore. Maybe she needed a vacation.

"Lena." Kara whispered as she watched three women walk through the door. A young twenty something, a fortish woman, and a woman in her seventies. They were dressed professionally and laughing together. Oh, that spelled trouble. Pharro's eyes rose when she saw them step into the bar looking toward the Kryptonian and back. Pharro leaned over to Acantha and whispered softly as Kara continued to drink.

"God I miss seeing her in those suits. Especially that maroon version." Kara spoke softly to herself as she thought of Lena in the maroon suit with the blouse with the patterned neck area. She could just imagine tracing those swirls with her fingers feeling the warmth of Lena's skin below. She missed her friend. Was she really her friend though.

"Well, Supergirl may have saved me, but Kara Danvers, you are my hero."

"Am I though?" Kara still wondered. After everything that had happened. All the anger. All the hurt. Yeah, Lena had protected her from Andrea when she tried to kill the Super as Acrata. But, was she still the Luthor's hero? Lex had been imprisoned just a month ago after trying to destroy alien kind after Leviathan had been defeated. Brainy's sacrifice to capture Leviathan had just played right into Lex's hands. He had already figured out what the Coluan was doing and created a plan for it. It had come as a shock to this world that Lex Luthor was actually a villain. Five Hundred had died in the attack that day. If it hadn't been for the other heroes that existed here now it would have been even more devastating. Lena had actually been the one that had helped put the nail in Lex's coffin. Her intelligence and scientific know-how combined with Felicity Smoak and Alex's had helped save the day.

"So Pharro asked me to close the curtain. He thinks you need some privacy." Acantha stated as she pulled the curtains leaving only a foot wide opening in the center. Acantha looked across the bar where the three women were sitting and drinking.

"I saw them Acantha. Tell Pharro thank you, but if they choose to approach, you and I

both know there is nothing that can stop them." Kara remarked as she stared at the bottle in front of her. It was three quarter's empty and Kara was looking a little worse for wear even with the food she had ingested. Acantha knew Kara was depressed. She had seen it in many of the aliens and humans that frequented the bar. When their daily burdens were too heavy to bear they looked for an escape. Even if it was only temporary. A couple Roltikkons called for another round as a Trombusan who was reading a book waved for another alien beer. Acantha went to move to the bar, hesitating a moment, but nodded and moved off.

"I killed my brother for you, for our friends! Don't you understand what you've done?"

"Yes, I understood Lena." Kara had understood. The memory of killing Non flashed before her eyes. She could have injured him, taken him into custody, but she would always be looking over her shoulder. She knew he could escape and kill her friends and family. So when she had gone into battle against him she hadn't held anything back. So yes, she had understood. But the years of mental and what Kara believed to be physical abuse by the Luthor's had worked against her with Lena. She should have told Lena she was Supergirl. But really in the long run, no one deserved to know who she was. Maybe she should have never told anyone when she thought about it. It had ultimately brought her nothing but conflict and pain.

"I didn't want to do it, but I knew I had to because if Lex lived, the world wouldn't be safe, my friends wouldn't be safe. So I forced myself to pull the trigger. I shot my own brother in the chest. His final words to me were that I was a fool, that my best friend, that every friend I had was lying to me. With his dying breath, he told me that you were Supergirl." Lena growled out at the Super.

"Lex won in the end." Kara said as she poured out the rest of the bottle in her glass and motioned to the bar. The emptiness inside made her feel hollow, but the drink was replacing that with a wonderful warm, numb feeling. Yep,she wasn't feeling much right now. She was politely numb. Her phone beeped.

"Lena Luthor texting." Her phone's AI alerted her.

Lena: Hey, how about dinner tonight? Alex said you are off.

Kara: Nope.

Lena: Did I do something wrong?

Kara: Nope

"Kara, one more bottle. Pharro says you better not be driving tonight." Acantha announced as she cleared the plates and the old bottle. Kara watched out of the corner of her eye as the phone lit up two more times, but she kept her main attention on Acantha.

"I'm not. Acantha, is that an Aellon?" Kara motioned to a table near the bar. Acantha turned to see a yellow skinned reptilian humanoid joking with a blue skinned alien with a ridged forehead.

"Yeah, Jarith. The Aloi, Gamut, is taking a break from the wars in Galaxy 425.3. Jarith and Gamut met up long ago from what they have told me. Exploring the Hellion Fires of Aquanon." Kara's eyes ran over Jarith's form even as she contemplated something she normally would never think of sober.

"No, Kara. No." Acantha leaned forward, blocking the Kryptonians view forcing Kara to look at her now. "Don't. Their tastes run deeply into the sadistic side. You do not want to take them on singly or together. Please trust me on this one." Kara sighed and nodded, breaking the young waitress' gentle gaze. Though Jarith's yellow skin was highly appealing to the Kryptonian. Once assured that Kara would not seek out the two aliens, Acantha pulled the curtain as the woman poured herself another drink. Kara looked at her phone as she checked out the two texts.

Lena: So I'm not good enough to hang with now.

Lena: Well I guess your silence is answer enough.

"Fuck!" Kara groaned as she typed a response. The late afternoon had given way to the dark of night. Music played in the background as Kara watched the three women that entered earlier, leave. Thank God. She didn't need to mess with the three fates. Whatever they were doing in National City was probably not a good thing.

Kara: I amls out wight mow.

Kara: Anythway yourrr with Andrewa. Youuuu are the oneht that didn't contactvv me.

"One more, bottoms up." Kara drank deeply, closing her eyes when she heard her phone ring.

"Call from Lena Luthor." Kara shook her head and set her glass down, ignoring the call. She poured another drink and stared at the purple silver liquor. The phone rang again. "Call from Lena Luthor."

"Herro?" Kara answered as she spotted Jarith again through the curtain. He was at the bar. He glanced toward her seating area and looked at her through the curtain.

"Are you drunk?" Lena asked as Kara could hear her stepping onto an elevator.

"Yep." Kara responded, making the 'p' pop loudly as she took another swallow of her drink. Jarith raised his drink to her as Kara raised hers back. He smiled and turned when Pharro said something. Jarith grimaced and went back to his seat only giving her a slight glance.

"Where are you?" Lena demanded as Kara unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt and leaned back with her drink. She was perusing the bar with her eyes as she hunted for a possible hook up. Alex may treat her like an innocent virgin, but she wasn't. Oh boy she wasn't.

"Out." Kara responded as a beautiful Infernian walked past toward the restrooms. Kara's eyes enjoyed the view.

"Kara, where are you?" Lena demanded once more. The CEO started messing with one of her apps that would locate the Kryptonian.

"Where no one can fuck with me...yet." Kara slurred even as the Infernian that had passed the table just moments before stopped on her return trip. Kara heard Lena in the background as the phone clattered to the floor.

"Kara Danvers, long time no see." The Infernian woman smiled down at her. A look of familiarity passing toward the Kryptonian.

"I'm afraid your name eludes me." Kara mumbled to the woman even as she let her eyes run over the woman's elegant spots that disappeared below her blouse. The Infernian slid into the booth and leaned next to Kara's ear. The heat she was giving off was just a little warmer than the Kryptonians temperature.

"Delia. I believe you remember a night of flame and ice a couple months back. If you're interested in revisiting those memories I'm in your phone." The Infernian left a sultry, flamed kiss on the Kryptonians cheek as her right hand slid over Kara's skin to wrap around her neck and pull her in deeper. "I even have a friend who could join us." The kiss brought forth memories of scorched sheets and two upside down positions that were impossible for humans.

"I'll let you know." Kara kissed the woman back on the lips letting a little of her freeze breath slip into the kiss. Delia broke the kiss with an evil grin on her lips.

"Anytime. Just let me know." Delia's hot breath whispered across Kara's lips leaving a glowing smile on the reporters face. She watched the Infernian slip out of the booth and return to her group. She watched them chat and laugh for a few minutes. Several at the table glanced toward her with a flirtatious look. Jarith had taken an interest again after watching the Infernian leave the booth. Kara took another drink and shook her head. She had never been so popular. Did she want a hookup? She thought for a long time about it as she stared at her drink. No, she wanted Lena. She wanted them back on equal footing once more. She had spiralled again into depression. What would Kelly say about all this? She'd probably say that it was all part of a healthy sex life which Kara had been abstaining from for months. Kara sighed and leaned down to grab her phone from the floor. When she rose back up she noticed there was a call from Alex, Kelly and Nia. She set the phone on the table as she looked up into the eyes of her best friend.

"Lena?" Kara exclaimed, surprised that the CEO was here. "What are you doing here?"

"You are drunk." Lena stated flatly as she motioned to the waitress. Acantha moved to Kara's table quickly.

"Yes mam. What can I do for you?" Acantha asked, looking at Kara and back to Lena.

"Bring us a couple of glasses of water, three burgers with fries." Acantha looked relieved that Lena was taking charge of the young woman in the booth. "Also, can you remove this bottle." Kara grimaced at the bottle that was half full. She hadn't asked Lena to come rescue her or to be here. Before she could say anything Acantha had removed the bottle and handed it back to Pharro. "Now, what's going on? Kara you never go out and get drunk. At least not alone."

"What does it matter to you Lena? I'm an adult and can go out and get drunk if I want. I don't need anyone's permission." Kara held the last of the drink in the glass in her hand. Lena reached for it only to have Kara drink it down before she could take it away. Kara slammed the glass down on the table. "I've taken you, Alex, Kelly, Nia home many a night and tucked you into bed drunk. Maybe, just maybe Supergirl deserves a night off for once." Lena immediately looked around to see if anyone had heard what Kara had said, everything looked fine. Something was wrong. Lena knew for sure Kara took great pains to keep her identity secret. So if she was spouting out that information freely then something had happened.

"Okay, that's it. When you start talking like that I know somethings wrong." Lena took the glass and set it on the edge of the table. "You're going to explain to me what is going on right now or we are going to get Alex here." Kara went to speak when she looked up into the reptilian, Jarith's eyes. He had come to a stop in front of the booth. He was angrily eyeing Lena.

"I don't think we need your type in here Ms. Luthor." Jarith growled out as he glared at the Luthor.

"I don't think your two cents is needed here. I'm having a chat with a friend and you are not invited into the conversation." Lena rebuked the Aellon as she placed herself between Kara and the alien.

"What I see is a beautiful alien woman trying to blow off steam from a harsh life and a filthy, evil alien hater human interfering with her life." Jarith shouted at Lena. Kara was up and out of the booth placing herself between Jarith and Lena even as the Aellon moved toward Lena.

"Don't!" Kara snapped pressing into Jarith's personal space enough to smell the spicy hormones he was giving off. Pharro had grabbed some weapon from behind the bar and began to move toward them. Kara held up her hand halting the bartender. "It's my business. She is under my protection." Kara's eyes blazed as her heat vision activated making her eyes change to a deep orange glow. Jarith spit on the floor and said something in Aellon, but he backed down and returned to his table. Kara watched him for a few minutes longer as she stood in front of Lena. Once sure he was no threat she glanced around the bar until everyone went back to their own business. Lena and Kara took their seats as Acantha approached setting their food on the table with a couple glasses of water and two diet cokes. Pharro had returned to the bar, but he kept a close watch on Jarith and his friend.

"I'll just draw the curtains and leave you to it." Acantha smiled at Kara and left. Once alone Kara reached for the glass of water. She took a long slow drink. The alcohol she had drank pretty much burned out of her body with her protective response toward Lena.

"I'm sorry." Kara sighed as she pulled one of the burgers toward her. Lena reached out for a burger and a diet coke.

"It's okay. But I would like to know what's going on?" Lena asked softly as she looked at her friend. "You aren't one to go out and drink." Kara ate for a few minutes and took another sip of water. She knew she just needed to talk to her friend.

"Why not me Lena?" Kara asked when she looked up into green verdant eyes. "Why have you never thought about going out with me?" Lena's eyes widened in surprise. This was not what she thought was going on with Kara.

"I..I had given you lots of hints, Kara. But you never acted like you were interested." Kara thought about what Lena said. She wasn't really good with flirting. A great deal of it went over her head a lot of the time. In fact she would never have known about Williams' interest if he hadn't come out and asked.

"So...the flowers that filled my office, the many lunches, and dinners, the outings together, and the invitations to LCORP and CATCO events as your plus one were actually you wooing me?" Kara declared as her hand ran over her face in embarrassment. She had missed it until now when she sat down to talk about.

"Yes. I just figured you weren't interested in a romantic relationship. When the falling out came." Lena stopped for a moment, because the hurt was still there. She took a deep breath and continued. "I figured I had dodged a bullet as they say. I've noticed that since we have reconciled you seem off. Not as interested in our friendship." Lena picked at her food for a moment. She grabbed a fry and ate it even as Kara sat thinking. Kara grabbed the other burger looking more sober than before.

"What if I said I didn't want to be just friends?" Lena stopped chewing as she looked at Kara. "What if I said I wanted to be more?" Lena moved her fries around on her plate as Kara ate her second burger.

"Can I ask you a question and you won't hold it against me?" Lena hesitantly asked Kara. The Super looked up and nodded. "Why now?" Kara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. How to explain.

"You once told me that when you felt things again you would be afraid of the person you became. I told you I would be there for you. You asked me to promise. I promised you I wasn't going anywhere." Kara reminded Lena as she reached across the table to her. Lena remembered that moment. It had been at the beginning of their relationship when everything was new and fresh. They had been talking about how love did strange things to her family and how she had lost so many people she cared about. "We've gone through fire together Lena. You are my favorite person. Our relationship has been tried by so many things and here we sit. Still together. I still love you. I still care about you. I still want to be with you." Lena looked at Kara in wonder as tears fell from her eyes. Kara was right. They had gone through hell and were still together. Kara and she had fought for each other even when everything was against them.

"So what are you proposing Kara?" Lena asked as she looked at those ocean blue eyes. She didn't even dare guess or hope right now. The estrangement had made her careful.

"That's exactly what I am doing Lena. I'm proposing you be mine." Kara assured the woman as she gently squeezed her hand drawing her closer. "Be mine Lena. We already know each other so well. But we have so much more to discover. You have to choose it. We have always chosen each other. If you want this to change, you have to choose it as much as I choose you." Was it really that easy Lena asked herself. Yeah, she and Kara had messed up with each other. They always came back to each other and worked it out. Even when it was hard. Kara was her equal in so many ways. She looked up once more at those blue eyes she loved so much.

"Yes." Lena asserted as she pulled Kara to her in a hug. Kara moved closer as tears fell down her cheeks. Just holding each other and feeling their presence helped heal the ache inside. Kara raised Lena's head and kissed her softly on the lips. Their hands framed and moved around their faces and into their hair as the kisses continued. Pieces inside Lena and Kara that echoed with pain and loneliness since their estrangement closed softly. They were still there and would take work, but the ragged edges softened and closed.

In the end, love was all about choosing. Choosing to be with the one you loved when it was hard, not just easy. Choosing to honor vows given in front of witnesses and when there weren't witnesses. Love was a choice between two hearts.