Irhaboggle Pride (2019) Spectrum

Red

In just one look, Kara's whole world went red. She couldn't remember anything but red. She couldn't remember the dinner or the diner. She couldn't remember the man sitting across from the Red. She couldn't even remember the man holding her hand. All she could see, or think about, was red. Lena. Lena Luthor's red. The red dress she'd worn on her date with the man whose name Kara had forgotten in a flash of red.

The man holding Kara's hand gave her a little nudge, and Kara was instantly shot back to the present. Jack. Jack Spheer. That was his name. The man sitting across from the Red. And the man holding Kara's hand was Mon-El. They were here to find Lena, and help her on her date with the mysterious Jack Spheer. He was an old flame of hers. Flame. How fitting. Something else Red.

Brought back to the present by Mon-El, Kara forced a big fat smile on her face as she approached Lena and Jack.

"Oh my God! Are you guys eating here?!" Kara shrilled, voice almost painfully high-pitched.

"We're eating here!" she pointed to herself and Mon-El as they both spoke in perfect unison, grinning like idiots.

The look on Lena's face said it all. She could only shake her head with a disbelieving and embarrassed laugh.

"What a complete and utter coincidence," she said, having never sounded more sarcastic.

"Ms. Danvers," Jack greeted Kara with a polite but guarded nod.

"Ah, yes, this is my boyfriend, Mike!" Kara introduced Mon-El, but the moment she said "boyfriend" she felt her stomach twist. No, Mon-El was not her boyfriend. Or at least, she didn't want him to be. She wanted Lena, she wanted the Red. But she kept on her happy façade as she moved swiftly to Lena's side.

"Do you mind if we join?" she asked, already taking a seat right beside Lena. Meanwhile, Mon-El greeted Jack with a boyish grin.

"Kara, I appreciate the rescue, but it's really not necessary!" Lena whispered as soon as Kara was seated.

"That's what friends are for!" came the too-happy, too-possessive reply, but Lena completely missed it, only giving Kara another uncertain but amused smile as she turned back to Jack. For the second time that night, Kara saw Red, but this time, it wasn't as pleasant.

Kara continued to try to weasel information out of Jack, but before long, he and Lena struck up a conversation and Kara was forgotten.

"Maybe another time, Ms. Danvers," Jack murmured, having eyes only for Lena.

"Oh, ummm, uhh, Lena, a-a-are you?" Kara muttered, suddenly feeling very inferior and embarrassed. She looked to Lena for help, but Lena was just as fixated on Jack as he was on her. In the same subdued tone, Lena agreed with Jack and gently told Kara that her help was no longer needed.

"Well, we are out," Mon-El said at last, trying to come to Kara's rescue. She shot him an unreadable look, but said nothing. "Cause nothing gets in the way of romance!" he stood to go and Kara winced again, but she obliged to stand as well. While Kara shot Lena one last pained look, Mon-El was busy pickpocketing Jack for his security badge during their farewell "man-nection" hug. That much made Kara smile, but even as she existed the building, playfully nudging Mon-El, the Red stayed in her mind like a stain, or a brand, or a flame. Even after she'd returned to the darkness of the night, all she could see, or think about, was Red.

ooo

Several months later, Jack was dead and Mon-El was forced flee Earth. This left Kara and Lena alone together once more. It was lonely without the men whom they had genuinely come to love, but even through all of that bitter blue, Kara could still shades of red. After that first night with Lena in the red dress, Kara was never able to completely erase that image from her mind. No matter what Lena wore, Kara always saw the red reflected from her memory. Then fate finally decided to be kind to her, and she got to see Lena in that little red dress once again. But even better than the dress was the fact that, this time, Lena was wearing it for her.