Of Knights and Aliens

Chapter 71

They all head down to the training room. Kara bounces on the tips of her toes as they all enter behind her. She has on her new suit and headgear.

"Okay, Kara." Alex says, taking the lead. She presses a button and the ceiling glows green. "Hit me."

Kara frowns. "Um. What if it works? Then I could break one of your bones. Or worse."

Alex nods. "Right. I didn't think of that. Okay, punch that."

Alex gestures to the punching bag they set up in the middle of the room. Kara nods to herself and lets out a breath. She walks over to it and gets into the stance that Alex taught her. Kara doesn't feel any different, none of the discomfort or nausea that usually comes with Kryptonite exposure. She's hopeful. She punches hard, holding back her strength enough that it shouldn't permanently damage the bag should she have her powers.

The bag, to her surprise, explodes. The grains of sand rush out of the hole her fist created and onto the floor. She shakes herself off and runs a hand through her hair to make sure nothing got in it.

"I think it's safe to say it works." Winn says after a lengthy pause. "That was awesome!" He holds his hand up for a high five.

Alex rolls her eyes fondly at her nerdy siblings. "Alright, alright. We can be done for today. We can run more tests tomorrow, see how direct contact with Kryptonite affects you. But for now-"

"Dinner!" Kara cheers.

Alex raises an eyebrow at being interrupted but Kara's too busy doing an excited little dance to notice. "Yeah. Dinner."

***

That night, Kara ate enough that she felt stuffed and Lena had to drag her from the dining room to Kara's bedroom. Lena sits on the bed, her back leaning against the headboard. Kara hums happily and cuddles up to Lena's side after flopping onto the bed.

"We do have some things to talk about, darling. Don't fall asleep on me." Lena urges quietly. Kara blinks and gives her a worried look. "Nothing bad about us, Kara. I promise." She takes a breath to steady herself then speaks. "Kara, I want to talk about earlier."

"About how I made the punching bag explode? Don't worry, I can control myself. I honestly haven't done that in years." Kara says.

"What? Oh, that's not what I was talking about, Kara. I was talking about how emotional you got earlier about the Kryptonian technology." Lena says slowly.

Kara blinks again and nods resignedly. "Lee, do you mind if I change out of my supersuit for this? I promise I'll be quick."

"Of course not. And I know you'll be super quick."

Lena laughs at Kara's groan as she changes, her movements a blur. Kara rejoins her on the bed, cuddling up just as close as before.

"What about it exactly?" Kara asks.

"I just want you to know you can talk to me about this kind of thing. I'm not just your girlfriend when you're happy. I'm your girlfriend when you're sad or angry or whatever other emotion you feel. You're not going to scare me away by talking about it. The Gods know how much baggage I have." She chuckles softly. "We can help each other shoulder the weights on our shoulders. I think that's the right metaphor." Lena scrunches up her nose as she tries to think and Kara can't resist kissing it.

"You're cute." Kara murmurs. "Yeah. Okay, I can talk about this. I just usually don't with anyone but Alex. I just... I haven't seen Kryptonian technology in a while, not like that. I haven't seen Kryptonese lettering in even longer. I rarely speak Kryptonese anymore."