<Author notes: This takes in the 'other dimension' with the characters from 'our dimension.'>
"Alex, Maggie, wake up," Kara said.
"We're awake, Kara," Alex replied.
"Sorry about the noise," Kara said. "You had something in front of the door."
"That was the point kid. It was supposed to make noise." Maggie sat up yawning. "What time is it?"
"It's 6:00 AM. I need to get home, but I wanted to tell you I went to Metropolis to see Clark."
"Clark?" Maggie asked.
Kara and Alex stared at each other.
"This is a, 'She doesn't know?' moment, isn't it?" Maggie asked.
Kara shrugged. "We're in another dimension. I just don't care right now. Clark Kent is Superman."
"Ah," Maggie said with a nod. "Move, Alex. I need to go pee."
"That's it?" Kara asked. "You find out who Superman is and that's all you say?"
"Kid, I'm a detective. You people need better disguises than a pair of glasses. I honestly have no idea how you ever hide from anyone." She patted Alex. "Now seriously, I have to go pee."
Alex slid out of the way, letting Maggie leave the room. "She's amazing, isn't she? She's absolutely unflappable."
"I'm happy for you," Kara said sitting next to her sister and giving Alex a one-armed hug.
"So what did Clark say?"
"He wasn't there, however, I spoke to his wife..." Kara sat with her mouth open, a slight smile on her lips.
"Do I have to guess?"
Kara nodded.
"I'm not guessing."
"Oh, come on. Just guess."
Eyes narrowed, Alex yelled, "Hey, Mags! Clark Kent is married in this dimension! Guess who his wife is!"
"Uh...Lois Lane!?" Maggie yelled back from the bathroom.
"How the fu...!?" Kara lifted her arms, slapping them down onto the bed. "How does she do that?"
"She's a detective. She detects. Okay, so what did Lois tell you?"
"Clark is off planet dealing with an interplanetary invasion."
Head jutting forward and eyebrows raised, Alex said, "Excuse me?"
"I offered to help, but Lois told me Kal-El had it. She called him Kal-El," Kara said with a smile. "It was so cute. She seemed happy. I bet they're happy."
"We're being invaded?"
"They're in the galaxy, but not our atmosphere. It's a peripheral incident. Don't worry about it."
"I'm worried," Alex said, worrying.
"No, Alex, this is a good thing."
"How is a space invasion a good thing?"
"It gives me an excuse with Lena," Kara said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"So, you intend to use our galaxy being under attack by aliens as a reason why you're dodging sex with your wife."
Kara grinned. "That's a solid excuse, right? That beats the hell out of having a headache, plus I don't get headaches."
"Somehow it's going to go badly for you. I don't know how, but I sense it."
"No, it will be fine. I'm going to tell her I have to cover Metropolis until Kal-El comes back. She can even check with Lois who can confirm that Clark is in outer space defending the galaxy. Then, anytime things get heated with Lena, I will whoosh away. It's brilliant."
Alex shrugged. "If you say so, but Kara, wouldn't it make more sense just to tell Lena the truth?"
"About who I am?"
"About who we all are," Alex clarified. "We need her help to get home. It sounds like she loves her wife and will want her back. The DEO here is a bunch of psychos who can't help us. It's got to be Lena."
"Okay, that's a good point." Kara thought for a moment and then nodded. "You're right. I'd like to get Lillian out of the house first. As nice as she is, she doesn't know Kara is Supergirl. I keep getting flashbacks of fighting Metallo and of the Medusa virus. When she hugged me, my skin crawled. Lena doesn't want her mother there, so getting Lillian out shouldn't be too hard. Anyway, we don't want to be opening a portal to another dimension with Lillian Luthor around, do we?"
"That's a hard no," Alex replied.
"What about Lillian Luthor?" Maggie asked as she came back into the room.
"Kara has agreed to tell Lena who we really are. She just wants to get rid of her mother-in-law first."
Maggie nodded. "Probably a good plan. Are you getting an evil vibe from her?"
"No. I'm getting a Lillian Luthor vibe from her. That's evil enough. She isn't nice to Lena, and Lena is really sweet. I just want to..." Kara held up her hands, squeezing them into fists and shaking them. "I went through a lot of flatware during dinner last night. I'll need to have some extras tonight if Lillian is having dinner with us."
"Dinner with Lillian Luthor. How awful is that?" Maggie asked.
"Honestly, it's one of the worst things I've ever had to do in all my time as Supergirl. Hey, you two should join us."
"I think I'm persona non grata," Maggie replied.
"We could make an exception," Kara said.
"No, she's right. If you think you're in trouble with Lena now, you'd be a dead Kryptonian walking if you brought home a DEO agent," Alex pointed out.
"Maybe Lillian would leave?" Kara suggested.
"Or maybe she'd get worried, and she'd refuse to leave. I tell you what, Little Danvers. You pass it by Lena. If she wants my charming company, or not charming, lady's choice, I'll come crash your party. I assume the food is good," Maggie said.
"We serve meat."
Maggie and Alex looked at each other. Maggie shrugged.
"Talk to Lena. I'm in," Alex said.
"Okay. So, what are you two doing today?"
"I have no idea what I do around here," Alex admitted. "I'm a doctor, but I can't exactly practice medicine, so I guess I just...wait?"
"Oh, man! Winn!" Maggie slapped her head.
"What about him?" Kara asked.
"I was supposed to meet him last night and talk about our energy burst from when we crossed over. When I couldn't find my place, I planned to text him. He wasn't in my phone under his name. I'm sure he's in there with some stupid nickname. I was going to go through all my contacts last night, but then I totally brained it. There were so many names there I didn't know."
"Okay, well just see him at the DEO today. No big deal," Kara said.
"Uh, I messed up yesterday at the DEO. I said something about Kara and Supergirl and the roof. I didn't know that Henshaw knew who you were. He's onto me. Winn thinks I'm doing some kind of check-up on Henshaw, that I'm up for his job, and Winn is helping me. Crap. Now I'm going to have to come up with an excuse for why I blew off the one guy in my corner," Maggie said as she dropped onto the bed again.
"Want me to stay and help you guys?" Kara offered.
"Kara, you're just stalling," Alex said. "Go see Lena. Have an awful day with Lillian. Try to get her out of the house and then tell Lena who you are. Get us the hell back to our own dimension. Then we'll buy some donuts."
"I like donuts," Kara said.
"I know you do sweetie. We have your phone number, and you have Maggie's. We'll check in after lunch, okay?"
"Okay," Kara agreed, slinking out of the bedroom. "If Lena wants Maggie over for dinner, I'll let you know."
"Make steak for Alex," Maggie said. "Oh, and tiramisu!"
Alex rolled her eyes. "Bye, Kara."
<><>
Landing on the balcony outside her bedroom...okay, technically it was Lena's and Kara's bedroom, not hers. Still, she was the Kara they had right now so for all intents and purposes, it was hers. So, landing on the balcony, Kara took a deep breath before carefully opening the door. The room was still dark. That was surprising. The Lena Luthor she knew was an early riser. Maybe this gentler Lena slept in. Maybe she'd be able to sneak back in and—
The light in the corner flicked on, and Lena looked up from the chair where she sat. "Hello, Kara. Have a good night out?"
Kara swallowed. Now that tone she'd heard from the Lena Luthor on her dimension. It had been followed by the words, 'You can leave the way you came in.' That was a cold and angry woman.
"Lena, I was just...uh...I had a thing."
"A thing."
Kara nodded.
"Was that thing, a burning orphanage?" Lena asked.
Laughing, Kara carefully stepped further into the room. "Funny, you're funny, but no. Actually, I was in Metropolis. By the way, Lois says hi. She misses you and she and Kal are hoping we can join them at the boathouse this summer."
"Metropolis." Arms crossed, Lena's posture relaxed slightly. "You've bought yourself three minutes. Continue."
"Kal got called off-planet. I had to cover for him. You know how that goes." Kara shrugged. "That was less than three minutes, right?"
"What do you mean off-planet?"
"I mean he isn't currently on this planet, thus off-planet."
Lena's hand snapped forward as she pointed accusingly at the blonde. "Do not test me, Kara Luthor. I am a woman on the edge. You disappeared last night and never checked in. I was a nervous wreck. I sat up worried all night. I'm exhausted. Did you leave our atmosphere?"
"No ma'am."
"Better. Thank you," Lena said rolling her shoulders to relax them. "How bad is it, Kara?"
Kneeling in front of Lena, Kara began gently to rub the tension out of the woman's shoulders. "It's fine, Lena. There's a little...event. Kal's got it. I've got to cover Metropolis and National City. I'll be busy for a few days, and I know that will be hard on you, but things will be fine. I'm sorry for the extra stress while your mother is over. I know that's making things worse. Hey, if you want, we might be able to chase her out by inviting a DEO agent over. What do you think?"
"That's not even funny, Kara. Don't...just stop making jokes. So tell me what pulled Kal off world. Catch me up. I'm going to grab a shower and then head over to the lab, but the more information I have, the better. I need details."
Standing, Kara kissed the top of Lena's head while she continued to massage the woman's shoulders. "No, you don't. This is a job for Superman. Supergirl is going to fly around and do Supergirl jobs. Your job is R&D. You do your job and let me do my job, okay?"
Blinking up at Kara, Lena asked, "I should concentrate on my job?"
"Exactly," Kara replied with a smile.
Lena reached up and placed her hands on Kara's stopping the blonde's motion. "Supergirl's got this. You're the hero in this family after all. I should just go do my job at Luthor Corp and let you do yours."
"Are you all right? Are you still angry with me?"
Standing, Lena examined Kara for a few moments before she replied, "I'm scared. It's frightening for us humans to have to stand around so helplessly while who knows what goes on in space. I suppose I'm grateful that there's a Superman out there to protect us and a Supergirl of my very own right here to protect me, my own personal hero. You don't understand that awful feeling of just wanting to help and not being able to do so."
"Hey," Kara pulled Lena into a hug, holding her close. She wanted to comfort the other woman, but the hug felt good for her also. Being lost on this world was frightening, and Lena was a friend. Even here she felt like a safe place. "Just having you helps the world. Honestly, Lena, I'd be a mess without you right now. I need you. You're a lifesaver, and I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You need me," Lena said, repeating Kara's words.
Pushing away to arm's length, the blonde nodded.
"What do you need me to do? What can I do, Kara? Anything in the world, ask anything of me. This is your chance."
Kara smiled. "Just be yourself and be here for me. Right now I feel like I don't have a friend in the world and then there's you. You're my anchor. Can you just be here for me? Don't ask anything for the next few days, just be here for me, please?"
Lena stroked Kara's face, her eyes searching, examining everywhere over the other woman's expression as she did so. "You are so beautiful. Do you know that, Kara?"
"I'm beautiful? Well, that wasn't what I was expecting."
"You're beautiful," Lena repeated her thumb running along Kara's forehead and then coming to stop between Kara's brow on the left-hand side. "Hmmm. Do you remember that day we met in Midvale? Do you remember what you said to me?"
Kara smiled, but inside her stomach was doing flips.
"Let me see if I can do you justice here," Lena said clearing her throat. "You pushed up your glasses, squeezing them on either side with your fingertips, which is quite adorable dear, and you said, 'Oh...um...you're Lex's sister? Gee. You're...uh...like really pretty...like beautiful.'" Lena smiled brightly. "You were such a nervous little geek back then. It was quite endearing. We walked and talked for hours about anything and everything. Then when we ended up on that beach watching the sun go down, I kissed you. I didn't even ask permission; I just kissed you. You were breathing so hard, and I could tell that you wanted it, liked it, but I could also see you were scared. You were frightened you'd hurt me. I put my head on your shoulder and whispered, 'It's all right Kara; I know. I know who you are. I know from where you come. You don't have to be frightened. You can trust me.' I felt all of the tension melt out of your body as you rested your head on mine. We just laid there together for close to an hour, not talking, not kissing, not doing anything but watching that sunset and being together."
"Stronger together," Kara said, her heart pounding at the emotion the image stirred.
"Yes, stronger together," Lena said, wrapping her arms around Kara again and holding the blonde close. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help with this situation with which you and Kal are dealing?"
Gently squeezing Lena, Kara replied, "You're doing it right now. How did I get so lucky?"
"Oh, I think you just fell into it," Lena replied with a laugh. She tipped her head back. "I love you Kara Luthor."
"Oh, well now I'm even luckier. Maybe I should go play the lottery the way my luck is going. Any suggestion for numbers?"
Something crossed Lena's face, a subtle darkening, but it passed, and she stretched up slightly and applied a gentle kiss to Kara's lips. "We both need to get ready for the day. I'm going to speak with the staff and make sure everything is set up according to Mother's likings before she has any reason to snip at me about it. She'll be polite to everyone else, but I'll have to hear her little comments. Why don't you shower? If you take your time, I'll be back to join you. So don't rush."
"My back could use some scrubbing," Kara said with a smile.
"I'll bring my loofa." Kissing Kara gently once more, Lena released the blonde and headed to the door. "Oh, before I forget, you need to put out a press release about that little accident we had on the roof yesterday. I'm going to make sure to be visible today since someone scooped me up and took me off to the hospital. Really, Kara, that was overkill. Alex was right there. What's the point of having a doctor in the family if we don't make use of her? Anyway, make us look good."
"Don't I always?"
Lena nodded and headed out of the room.
Kara sighed with relief. "Okay, one quick shower it is. I guess I'm scrubbing and dressing at super speed unless I want to be in the shower with Lena Luthor." When an image formed in her mind, Kara shook her head to clear it. She had no idea where he mind was. This place was definitely getting to her.