Author's Note: So this story was inspired by a post on Tumblr: ( bones4life . tumblr post / 190433929762 ) Copy/Paste into a new window, and erase all the spaces. The title of the story comes from the song 'Head Above Water by Olive James' and somewhat inspired the basis of the story, if you haven't heard it, you need to, it was in 5x08.

Something interesting to note, so I always listen to music when I am writing but when I got to a certain point in this chapter the following song came up 'Into the Night by Norman Duck', and music can inspire me immensely. Basically from the point that Kara's talking about Kryptonite, to Lena being in thought and on, that song inspired from that point on. It took the story in a direction that I wasn't entirely anticipating but it worked, and I wrote it a little differently, so I'm curious to know what you guys think. I also suggest checking out the song.

Have fun reading. Let me know what you think. This chapter is just over 5,100 words and it is all Kara and Lena.

Chapter 1

Supergirl flew around the city still trying to wrap her brain around the idea that she shared an earth with the other heroes. The days of having to use a device to get to Earth 1 was over, but the idea of having other heroes she could call upon in dire need, was a strange thing to comprehend. It had always been her and her cousin and that was it.

It wasn't that she didn't want other heroes to help when she was in need, they were her friends after all, but the idea was just so absurd. This whole Earth Prime thing was going to take some time to get used too.

Then there was Lena, she was still so pissed at her for lying as long as she did and Kara wasn't sure she'd ever gain her trust back. The worst part was that Lena was considering teaming up with Lex Luthor. Which made Kara sick. It didn't matter what the people of this Earth thought, Lex was no hero, he was a villain through and through. There was nothing that was going to convince her otherwise.

She just had to convince Lena of it because she knew that Lena was going to get hurt down the road. But trying to convince someone that their now undead brother is evil, was a feat all by itself.

Kara stopped floating above the city, she closed her eyes listening for anyone that might need her help but the city was silent.

Her phone vibrated in her boot, startling her from her train of thought. She reached in and picked it up, the message on the screen, confused her.

'Come to my office.' Was what it said, from Lena. Why would Lena want her to come to her office? Could it be a trap? No, if Lena wanted to kill her she would have done it on Earth 38 with the kryptonite cannons, so what could this be about.

Kara didn't waste time, since she didn't have anything better to do, she flew to LuthorCorp. That was another thing she couldn't get used to was Lena's building being called LuthorCorp again. It wasn't right. It needed to say L-Corp. She was tempted to take off some of the letters on the side of the building to make it so but it would probably just create more of a problem than anything.

Supergirl flew toward the LuthorCorp tower, she took in a deep breath before landing on the balcony not sure what she was walking into. Lena was sitting at her desk, looking at her laptop as she did.

Her boots connected with the balcony and she took a step down into Lena's office, "You texted," Kara stated standing in the doorway not sure how welcome she was in this moment.

Lena looked from her laptop to Supergirl in the entryway, "I did."

Kara fidgeted with her hands in front of her not sure what she was supposed to do in this moment, if she could step further in, if she was about to be asked to leave. This was unknown territory. "What can I do for you?" She asked very unsure of why she was here.

"I have a proposition for you," Lena stated motioning to the seat in front of her desk. "Why don't you take a seat?"

Kara swallowed nervously, "Uh… Lena," She was frozen in place, her feet not moving as she stared at Lena in confusion. "Are you sure?"

"If I was not sure, I would not have called you here, now would I?" Lena questioned motioning for Kara to sit down.

Kara's feet started to work and she moved toward the seat across from Lena, however she did not sit down for fear that this was some kind of trap. She never in a million years thought that Lena would hurt her, but Lex used this office too and what if he set some sort of Kryptonian trap? So she chose to stand next to the chair, just to the right of it.

Lena turned her chair towards the desk, facing Kara across from her, "I assure you there are no traps, Supergirl. Of course you would assume that I would set some sort of trap for you."

Kara shook her head, "I trust you. It's Lex that I don't trust and since he runs this company, he more than likely has been in this office."

Lena was taken aback by Kara's statement of trust, "This is my office, Lex has no say in what is in my office."

Kara wanted so much to believe that Lena was telling the truth about Lex but he was one slippery little man that she had first hand experience with during the crisis. She couldn't trust that this wasn't some form of a trap. "Just tell me why I'm here Lena. You've made it pretty clear on numerous occasions that you don't want to work with me, so why am I here."

"On the contrary, that is why you are here. I have decided to work with my brother, but I know that while he says he wants to do good, that is not in his DNA. As well, since my mother is not in jail on this Earth, I suspect she will be helping him achieve his goals, that is where you come in," Lena looked upon the hero in front of her waiting for a question because it was inevitable.

Kara was intrigued but also very confused by the statement, "Where do I come in in any of that? Seems to me that you are going to work with your brother, even with his not so good intentions. How do I fit in?"

"I want to do good, even if all of you don't believe that-"

"Lena-" Kara tried to interject but she was stopped by Lena raising her hand to stop.

"There is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise." Lena stopped for a moment to make it clear. "Now, I want to work with you to be my eyes and ears with any and all things Lex Luthor. He knows too much, and I suspect he will find ways to help me but I know he has his own plans. Unlike me, you have abilities that could be used to spy on him," She stated the main point of her plan.

"You want me to spy on him?" Kara asked as she moved to sit down on the chair.

"Yes, I want you to keep tabs on what he is doing and report back to me with what you find," Lena rolled forward, her legs moving under her desk. She placed her arms on her desk, her hands clasping together.

"So you don't actually want to work with me, you just want me to be your lackey," Kara pointed out the error in Lena's statement. "I thought you said you wanted to work together, if you think that is what working together is, you and I have very different views of what it means."

"Kara, I don't trust-"

"Yeah I know, you don't trust me." Kara said bluntly, more so than she probably would have in the past but it was becoming a broken record and she was done repeating it. "I lied to you for years about who I was, and I betrayed your trust on purpose, and I am so sorry that I did any of it. It had nothing to do with you being a Luthor, and everything to do with me." She paused for a moment letting that sink into Lena. "I don't expect you to get over that fact so easily, but if you want to partner with me, then you have to find a way to let some of your hatred go. Otherwise, this will not work."

Lena stared at Kara stunned into silence, she didn't know how to respond to such a statement.

"I know that I hurt you, and I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. Even if that means we never get back what we once had, you deserve someone that doesn't hide who they are. I wish that person could be me, but…" Kara trailed off not sure where she was taking that sentence. "Lena, I want to team up with you, I do, but using my abilities to spy on Lex, I don't know. Alex could do that from the DEO."

"We can't involve Alex, I can't have our partnership making its way back to Lex," Lena added to the conversation.

Kara looked at Lena even more so confused, "Wait wait wait wait, you want me to keep this from Alex? So, you want us to work together in secret?"

Lena nodded, "Yes, Lex has spies everywhere, if he gets even the smallest inkling that you and I are working together, this will go up in smoke."

Kara stood up from the chair, walking behind it, "Alex can read me like an open book. There is no way that I could do this and not tell her about it."

Lena slowly nodded in understanding, "You know, I also thought I could read anyone like an open book, that is until I met you." She stopped for a moment looking for the words to say. "Why… Why couldn't I see who you were?" She finally asked the question that had been plaguing her mind ever since she'd learned the truth. "Your disguise is literally a pair of glasses and a ponytail. Why didn't I see right through you?"

Kara took the question in, as she had wondered the same thing plenty of times in the past. "I have wondered the same thing. You know, truth be told, I have only actually told two other people who I am, the rest figured it out for themselves. That includes your brother, your mother, James, Maggie, and J'onn. I have only told Winn and Nia, and I only told Nia last year. Ever since I met you, I always wondered if you knew and just didn't say anything or if you genuinely didn't know. It wasn't until I had asked James to break into your vault that I learned you didn't know who I was."

"When you didn't trust that I had given over all of the Kryptonite in my possession," Lena added remembering that little moment of betrayal.

"Don't do that. You can't be mad that I thought you had more kryptonite when not too long after we learned that you figured out how to make it," Kara shot back not afraid to defend her fear back then.

"Right, and what other purpose could a Luthor have a need for Kryptonite than to try and kill a Kryptonian," Lena stared down Kara wanting to see what she said to that. "I figured out how to make it to stop Reign. Had I known about you, I wouldn't have done it and I haven't since then because there was no need for it."

"It was never about whether or not I thought you would use it on me, it was about whether or not I would come across it. Kryptonite affects me even if I can't see it. Just being in the same room as it weakens me. Like when we were in Kasnia, the second you opened up that lead lined box, it affected me, when it fell on the ground, I felt immobilized," Kara explained wanting Lena to understand why it hurt her so much when it came to light that Lena knew how to create it. "Even when you used it on me in the Fortress. My sister and Brainy had to get me out of there because I couldn't." She swallowed back the emotions she was feeling as she defended her side. "And I get it, there are so many things that can kill you, but can you even fathom the idea of just being in the same room as something that can weaken you, without even touching it? That's what Kryptonite does. Sure, if you turn it into a bullet it can pierce my skin, but if it's just lying around, it hurts just as much." She turned to the right looking away from Lena, "It was never about whether or not I thought you would create it to hurt me, I worried that someone might use you… to hurt me," She whispered the last three words as she took a few steps forward touching the edge of Lena's side table, trying to busy herself from the thought of Lena's technology being used against her.

Lena was surprised by the show of emotion that came from Kara. She certainly wasn't expecting it. She thought this would be easy, Supergirl would come here, she'd tell her the plan and that would be it. It never occurred to her that they might hash out everything right here, right now. There was so much she didn't know because she wasn't privy to the information, and even now with everything that had been said she didn't know what to feel.

Was she still mad? Yes. She wasn't sure that feeling would ever truly go away, but her relationship with Kara was different from every previous one that ended in betrayal. Unlike every other one, she had come to love Kara, and because they were so close hating her for the lies was difficult. Every person in her past that had betrayed her was cut from her life, but Kara wasn't like every previous person. She was warm, and kind, she made her feel like she could do anything, be anything.

So how was she supposed to just cut this person from her life? A life where their two worlds would inevitably cross. Did she pretend that everything they were, everything they hoped to be, just never was? Or did she try to find a way to make it work?

But what if her mother was right? What if she let Kara back into her life and inevitably she betrayed her again, effectively hurting her again?

What then? How would she recover? Would she go down the same path as her brother? Forget all sense of good, everything she worked so hard to achieve, and just turn to the dark side.

This was the fine line she was balancing on right now. Which side do you choose? The side that would be easier, choosing to hate and live in a world borderlining on being her brother, or the side that would take more work? One where if she worked hard enough could potentially bring her back to where she was before.

Choosing that side, however, meant that she'd have to keep from drowning because that's what happened before. She let her feelings for her friend get in the way of seeing what was right in front of her. Kara Danvers was Supergirl. Her best friend, her confidant, someone she shared everything with. How do you just get over that?

Kara stared at the bottles on Lena's side table, the way they were neatly lined up, behind a couple of glasses in front of them. This was Lena, everything in this office screamed Lena. But all she could think about was that they were here, in this moment, because of her. She lied, she promised she'd be the exception in Lena's world. She'd never betray her, and she'd always protect her.

Yet here they were. She's standing in Lena's office defending why she'd done what she did. A part of her wondered what it would have been like had she told the truth from the get go. How would their relationship have changed? Would they have been closer than they were before? Would they have worked side by side? Would Lena have upgraded her suit? Would they be more? These were the questions that filled Kara's mind.

She did this. She chose to lie, and lie and bargain and find loopholes any and all things to get out of telling the truth. Why? Why didn't she just tell the truth? Why didn't she come forth with the information that Lena wanted all these years? What stopped her?

She'd always trusted Lena, that was never the problem. The lies didn't come about because she never trusted her, there was more to it than that. A part of her liked having someone that didn't know who she was, someone that never expected more from her, that protected her. But that wasn't the entire truth, she had come to really care for Lena, even love her and as the years went on, she knew that if the truth came out, she'd lose her.

Which she did. All because she waited just a little bit too long. But a part of her wondered what would have happened had she told her the truth before Lex did, would Lena still hate her? The years that she chose to lie, still would have existed, all the time spent finding excuses for why she wasn't in one place or another, was still there. So what would have changed? Why would Lena have felt any differently had the words come from her and not Lex?

"What would have happened if I had told you the truth?" Kara whispered still staring at the bottles. She wanted to look at Lena but it was too hard. She made the mistake, she chose to do what she did, but she still wondered, 'what if'.

Lena was pulled from her thoughts, "What?" She asked not sure she'd heard Kara correctly.

"If I had beat Lex to telling you the truth about me, would things be different?" Kara asked in a different way, wanting to know if she could have avoided all of this had she just admitted the truth on the plane in Kasnia.

Lena didn't know how to answer the question because she wasn't sure if things would be different. Kara still would have lied for years, the only difference would have been that the truth came from Kara and not her brother. "I don't know. Kara, you still would have lied for years, the only difference being that you would have told me instead of my brother. Whether or not that would have changed things, I don't know."

Kara nodded, "Right, so um… I think um, I think… I'd like to think about what you said and then I'll.." The emotions she was feeling in this moment was coming to the forefront and she knew if she didn't get out of this office soon, she'd break down so she started moving toward the doorway. "I think I uh… I'll get back to you on what I dec-"

Lena was suddenly standing next to Kara, her hand on her left arm, "Kara…" She stared at the side of Kara's face, the clear look of tears in her eyes shining in the moonlight.

Kara stared forward toward the open door to the balcony, she could easily move the rest of the way. She could easily escape the hold Lena had on her arm, but instead she let her hold her there.

When she came here, she never thought that they'd end here. She never thought that they'd bring the past to the future, and she never thought she'd feel what she felt. Losing Lena hurt her more than she'd anticipated and this moment showed that even more so than she thought possible.

The idea of working alongside Lena scared her on a level that she wasn't prepared to feel. She'd wanted this, she wanted them to work together knowing the truth but the idea of that becoming a reality? It was too much. All the feelings she'd pushed down, were coming back full force. She didn't know how to deal with them. But being here, listening to the calm and collected sound of Lena's heartbeat, standing in the moonlight, she let them wash over her.

Kara finally turned her head to the left, she didn't look at Lena right away, just at her blouse, "Lena…" She whispered as she didn't know what to say, her eyes filled with tears, as she looked into green eyes. "I don't know… I don't know what to do here," She whispered again, the emotion of what was swirling in her mind taking her over.

Lena stared into Kara's blue eyes, the sincerity and love written all over them. She wanted so much to just give in, to just go for it, but she'd be jumping right back into the relationship again. The one that she promised herself she wouldn't do again. Kara hurt her, she hurt her badly. Was it possible for her to just let it all go and let this moment take her over? Would she regret it?

It seemed so right, though. Could she convince herself just to give in? Or did she let Kara go? Fly into the night? Just let this moment die out, never to be seen or heard of again. They just go back to what they were. What they were before this moment. Two people that were at odds with each other.

Was that a better decision? She didn't know what to do in this moment. It had been a long and tiring day. First learning that her brother was alive, then that they were on a new Earth, then that her mother wasn't in jail, the fact that Luthorcorp owns the DEO, then her deciding to not only team up with her brother, but Supergirl as well. She was so tired, so was she really in the right mindset to make this decision accurately? Or was she letting the emotions from the day take her over. She wanted some sense of normalcy, would this be it?

Would letting herself fall backwards be the way she wanted to go? She wanted to make her mind up but the look in Kara's eyes, even the fact that she wasn't running, said everything that needed to be said.

She didn't have control at this point, she had made up her mind and she didn't care what the consequences might bring in the morning. In this moment, she didn't care about drowning. In this moment, she wanted this, she had wanted it for years before everything came to light.

"Lena…" There it was again. Kara spoke in a way that sounded like she was pleading for something. She had turned from facing the doorway, taking the extra steps into Lena's space.

Lena let the moment get the best of her, it was like her body had a mind of its own as she bridged the gap between them and connected her lips with Kara's. It was slow at first, their lips moving against each other. The feelings coming from the kiss was far better than Lena had ever thought it could be. She pulled at Kara's hands wanting them on her hips, once her hands were there, she ran her hands up and around strong shoulders, around Kara's neck neck and into blonde locks deepening the kiss.

Kara felt like she was on fire, her hands on Lena's hips, this was everything she'd ever hoped could have been. She was touching Lena, her lips were tasting Lena's, her perfume surrounding them, it was like being on another planet. It was surreal, it was unreal, it was better than she'd ever thought possible.

Then it hit her, they were just fighting, they were just arguing about Kryptonite, about how it was her fault that they were in this place. That because of her they weren't already making out in Lena's office. They had to be on a new Earth, in this alternate world for this to be happening and that's when it hit her.

She pulled back, "I'm- I'm- Lena I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me." Kara took a couple steps back distancing herself from Lena.

Lena looked at Kara a little dazed not entirely sure what Kara was apologizing for, "This was entirely my fault Kara. You have nothing to apologize for here. I let this moment get the best of me."

Kara nodded agreeing with what Lena said but was also a little saddened because it sounded like she had regretted the kiss entirely. "Okay, so… do you want me to go?"

Lena shook her head before she even realized she was doing it, "If you want to go, then you can go."

"That doesn't answer my question," Kara stood a few steps away from Lena, she wasn't going to go unless Lena told her to go. "Do you want me to stay?"

Lena looked toward her desk, "I initiated the kiss, Kara." She looked back at the hero, "If I wanted you to go, I wouldn't have done that."

"Why the change of heart?" Kara asked curious to know what had changed in Lena to make her do that. She certainly wasn't expecting it and didn't know how to deal with it. Had he thought of her friend on that level in the last year, absolutely but then everything happened and she didn't think it would go anywhere.

Lena sighed, "I don't know."

Kara took a step toward Lena, "You of all people think steps ahead of anyone else, I don't believe that you would have done that on a whim."

Lena turned toward the window, looking out at the city, the moon in the clear sky, "You're right. When I asked you here, I had a clear plan, but I never thought that you'd bring up the past and that through me off. It brought back old feelings, feelings I thought I pushed so far down that they were non-existent. I was wrong."

Kara nodded in understanding, "Okay," She swallowed nervously rubbing her hands together before she spoke, "I told you that I would never lie to you again, I meant that." She could tell this piqued Lena's attention back to her. Lena's eyes connecting with her own. "I think I've proven that with the fact that I came here as soon as I could, to tell you about the new Earth, even though you'd already known. I could have chosen to lie, but I didn't." Staring at Lena while admitting this seemed so much more daunting than she was prepared for. So she turned her attention to the city. "Before we came here, when all the Earths were disappearing, there was only one thing on my mind. I was never going to see you again." She whispered the last part looking back at Lena to gauge her reaction.

"Kara…" Lena started but Kara continued her thought.

She looked down at her hands, "Sure I wanted to save everyone, I wanted to bring back my sister, J'onn, Brainy, Nia, my mom, but even though you and I were at odds, you were who I thought of." Kara looked up from her hands at Lena, "I wasn't going to be able to fix this, I didn't even know if that was possible because I know how mad you are. How mad you still are. I know that what I did hurt, and I can't even imagine what you must be feeling, and no matter how much I apologize, it'll never make up for all the lies. I know that. Even with all that, I can't imagine this life without you in it. If that means we're at odds, so be it. If it means that you and I working together to bring down Lex, I'll be there. If it means something more… count me in." She stared into green eyes, "I think part of the reason I never told you the truth wasn't because of your family, it was because of mine. I thought that you would hate me, eventually because that seems to be the way of our families. The idea of a super and Luthor, is practically unheard of. Then you and I became closer, and closer and before I knew it..." She couldn't find the words to end the sentence. There didn't seem to be a word that would fit.

Lena nodded understanding what she was saying, "I get it. I feel the same way but then the truth came out and I learned that you were lying to me. For our entire relationship, you'd been lying to me. There were so many things that would have made sense to me, had I known the truth but you hid them from me. It put our entire relationship into perspective, what was the truth? How am I to know?"

"Lena, the only thing I lied about was this," Kara motioned to her Supergirl suit. "I never lied to you about anything else. The way I feel about you, all the many, many conversations we had, the only lie was that I didn't tell you that I was Supergirl. And I know that I was a different person at times when I was around you as Supergirl, but I think I was overcompensating, trying to hide the truth. Even with all that, I will understand if you never want to see me again."

Lena shook her head, "No, I do want to work with you to take down Lex. I know you know he's a villain. He claims that he's good now, but he's still my brother, and I know my brother, he doesn't have a good bone in his body. I can't do this without you."

Kara was taken aback by the admission from Lena. She wasn't expecting Lena to admit such a thing to her. She needed her. "Do I still have to lie to my sister?"

Lena nodded, "Preferably, yes. The less people that know about this, the better but if she starts to suspect you, then we can talk about bringing her in but I would prefer it to be just between you and me."

"If it's to bring down Lex, then I'm in," Kara finally agreed to the idea of teaming up with Lena. She didn't want to bring it up but she felt she had to, "What does this mean for us?" Referring to the kiss moments ago until something caught her attention. Her brow scrunched in concentration trying to decipher what she was hearing.

Lena noticed the shift, "What's going on?"

Kara blinked a few times, gripping her temple, "You can't hear that?" She questioned clearly in pain, she dropped to her knees as the pain in her head was becoming too much for her.

Lena dropped down on her knees, "Kara, what's happening?"

"I- need, I can't… It's so loud, what is.. I can't, you are…" Kara answered with pauses as she gripped her ears trying to stop the sound but it wasn't working, she'd never felt such pain coursing through her entire being. She thought almost dying while fighting Reign was bad, this was worse. It was as though the sound was moving through her entire body and there was nothing she could do to stop it. It became too much, and she blacked out, collapsing on Lena's floor.