Chapter Text
It was a windy evening when the golden light started fading over the rooftops. Kara Danvers stood on the curb just outside the CatCo building, her hands tucked into her coat pockets, glasses slightly sliding down her nose as she waited for the tram.
Lena Luthor, standing nearby in her usual sleek black suit with a green silk blouse peeking out, had her phone in hand and a shiny black car waiting at the curb, her driver patiently tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
“Are you seriously taking the tram?” Lena asked, eyes squinting a little as if Kara had just announced she was planning to bungee jump into a volcano.
“Yes,” Kara said with a sunny but determined smile. “I am seriously taking the tram.”
Lena gestured dramatically to the car behind her. “But we have a car. A comfortable, heated, leather-seated, not-packed-with-strangers car. With a driver. Who doesn't smell like questionable fast food and broken dreams.”
Kara laughed softly. “That’s oddly specific.”
Lena took a step closer, lowering her voice just a bit. “Come on. Let me take you home.”
“I’m not going straight home,” Kara said, glancing away for a second. “I wanted to stop by that little bookstore near Midtown. The one that stays open late.”
“Even more reason to take the car.”
“I don’t want to be chauffeured around like royalty tonight and I don't want to fly too,” Kara said, teasingly nudging Lena’s arm. “I want to blend in. Be low-key. Normal.”
“You’re Supergirl,” Lena replied flatly. “You are the opposite of low-key and normal.”
“Not tonight,” Kara insisted.
Lena stared at her. “You know if you get mobbed by fans, or worse, you’re going to call me and regret this.”
Kara grinned. “I’m incognito. Glasses on. Coat buttoned. I’m practically invisible.”
Lena crossed her arms. “Then I’m coming with you.”
Kara blinked. “No, you’re not.”
“Yes. I am.”
Kara squinted at her. “Lena. You don’t understand. The tram will be packed right now. There will be… people. A lot of people. They will push. They will smell. Someone will be talking way too loud on their phone about their cousin’s dental appointment. There will be that guy who plays guitar badly. You won’t like it.”
“I’m a Luthor. I can survive a tram ride.”
Kara made a face, half amusement, half horror. “Seriously, take the car. Be safe. Be comfortable. I’ll text you the second I’m home.”
Lena tilted her head. “Why don’t you want me to come?”
Kara sighed and looked Lena up and down dramatically, eyes scanning the perfect contours of her jawline, the way her hair was styled in those glossy waves, the way her coat was clearly tailored and probably cost more than Kara’s rent.
“You’re too beautiful,” Kara said flatly.
Lena blinked. “What?”
“You’ll get kidnapped.”
Lena frowned. “Kidnapped?”
“Yes!” Kara said, pointing at her. “You’re too beautiful. You’re wearing Louboutin heels, Lena! Do you know how many people are going to stare at you on the tram? How many shady dudes are going to start plotting your abduction?”
“Plotting my... Kara, I am not going to get kidnapped on public transit in National City.”
“You might.”
“You’re with me.”
“And I’ll have to punch everyone who looks at you too long.”
“That sounds exhausting,” Lena said dryly.
“Exactly,” Kara exclaimed. “It’s safer for everyone if you take the car.”
Lena stepped closer, her voice dropping as she smiled playfully. “But I want to be with you. Even in the smelly, noisy tram.”
Kara groaned dramatically. “Ugh. Why are you like this?”
“Because I love you.”
Kara’s cheeks flushed a little, and she muttered, “That’s emotional blackmail.”
“I call it romance,” Lena whispered.
The tram bell dinged from down the street.
Kara turned to look at it. Then back at Lena. Then sighed the sigh of someone who knew they were losing.
“Fine. But you stand behind me. If anyone pushes you, I will blast them into next week.”
“Deal,” Lena said, sliding her hand into Kara’s. “Besides, if anything goes wrong… I’ve got Supergirl with me.”
“You better not complain about the smell,” Kara muttered.
“I brought perfume.”
“You’re impossible.”
“I know.”
The tram screeched to a halt, doors hissing open, but Kara hesitated just a second. She looked over her shoulder. “Wait. Did you… did you tell your driver you're not going with him?”
Lena turned smoothly and walked back toward the sleek car waiting at the curb. The driver, Jameson, looked up from his steering wheel, brows furrowed in deep confusion as Lena opened the door and leaned inside.
“I won’t be needing the car tonight, Jameson,” she said, casually.
There was a pause. A long one.
Jameson blinked. “I’m sorry, Miss Luthor. Did you say… you won’t be needing the car?”
“That’s correct.”
“You… always use the car.”
“Tonight, I’m taking the tram.”
“The tram?” His voice pitched in the most horrified upper-class tone imaginable. “You mean… with the public?”
Kara, standing nearby, snorted into her hand.
“Yes,” Lena said, calm as ever. “With the public.”
Jameson looked at Kara with visible panic, then back to Lena. “Is this...have you been kidnapped? Blink twice if you’re in distress.”
Lena sighed. “I’m not in distress. This is a choice.”
Jameson looked betrayed. “But… we have water bottles in the car. I warmed the seat.”
“I’ll survive,” Lena said, closing the door gently. “Go home, Jameson. Thank you.”
Jameson pulled away slowly, looking back three times like he was watching her board a rocket to Mars.
Kara turned to Lena, eyes wide. “You’ve never taken the tram before, have you?”
“Nope,” Lena said, casually. “Nor the bus. Or the subway.”
Kara gaped. “Ever?”
Lena tilted her head. “Why would I?”
Kara clutched her forehead. “You’re really doing this. You’re seriously going through with this plan.”
“I am.”
“You can still change your mind,” Kara said, trying to sound casual, but sounding more like someone trying to stop a toddler from putting a fork in a socket.
Lena just smiled smugly. “Nope.”
“Okay. Fine.” Kara sighed. “But if you’re going to do this, you can’t do it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like… you.” Kara motioned to Lena’s designer coat, tailored pants, and heels. “You’re dressed like you’re on your way to a Vogue interview.”
“I look fine.”
“You look kidnappable.”
Lena raised an eyebrow. “Again with that?”
“Yes, you will be kidnapped!” Kara exclaimed. “You don’t understand. You look like a walking ransom note.”
“That’s dramatic.”
“So is being thrown into the back of a van!”
Lena opened her mouth. Closed it. “Fair. But I’m still going.”
Kara exhaled deeply, set her backpack down on the bench, and unzipped it like a soldier preparing for war.
“What are you doing?” Lena asked, amused.
“Giving you a fighting chance.”
Out came a soft, oversized hoodie navy blue, with the word “Midvale” faded across the chest. Kara shook it out and thrust it toward Lena.
“Put this on.”
“I’m not cold.”
“You’re not safe.”
Lena rolled her eyes but took the hoodie, holding it up. “This… is enormous.”
“Good. You’ll blend in.”
“I’ll drown in it.”
“That’s the point. Hood up. No one will know you’re a billionaire with an eight-step skincare routine.”
Lena started to laugh. “Fine.”
She took off her coat with dramatic flair, folding it like a precious silk artifact and setting it on the bench. She then pulled on the hoodie, sleeves instantly falling past her wrists.
Kara gave a nod of approval. “Better. Much better.”
She knelt down and unzipped another pocket, revealing a fresh pair of black-and-white Converse sneakers.
Lena frowned. “You brought shoes?”
“Backup,” Kara said, like a girl scout. “I always carry these. Just in case I need to change after flying.”
“I’m not putting these on.”
“You’re not wearing heels on the tram. You’ll twist your ankle trying to stay upright.”
Lena stared at the sneakers like they might bite her. “Do you know how much these heels cost?”
“Yes. That’s why they should not be on public transit.”
Lena sighed, but Kara gave her the patented puppy-eyes. Defeated, Lena carefully stepped out of her heels and into the Converse.
Kara gave a low whistle. “Okay. You actually look kinda...”
“What?”
“Hot.”
Lena arched a brow. “In this hoodie?”
“You look like a dangerous indie rock drummer.”
“That’s… unexpectedly flattering.”
“One last thing,” Kara said, rummaging again. She pulled out an elastic hair tie and waved it.
Lena narrowed her eyes. “Absolutely not.”
“You’re glowing. You need to stop glowing. Glow = danger.”
“You’re being absurd.”
Kara just stepped forward, gently pulling Lena’s hair back into a ponytail herself.
“There,” she whispered. “Now you’re dashing. And anonymous.”
“I look like I’m about to sneak into a college party.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m not changing my mind,” Lena warned.
“I figured.”
Kara looked her over one more time. Her hoodie swallowed Lena’s frame, the sneakers slightly too big, the ponytail slick and high.
“You’re still too beautiful,” Kara muttered. “I give it five minutes before someone tries something.”
“That’s what you’re for,” Lena said, linking arms with her. “My personal bodyguard.”
Kara groaned. “This is such a bad idea.”
“It’s an adventure.”
“No, Lena. An adventure is a food truck in an alley. This is public transit at rush hour!”
But Lena didn’t stop. She tugged Kara by the hand, stepping up to the tram doors just as they opened again.
And as they stepped inside, sandwiched between a man with a gym bag that smelled like despair and a woman shouting into her phone about a dentist appointment gone wrong, Kara turned to Lena and whispered:
“Still time to jump out.”
Lena just smiled and held her tighter. “Never.”