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Kara Danvers is not a morning person, her chipped alarm clock can tell you that much.
Metropolis High’s starting time of 7am sharp doesn't help, and anybody who's tried to talk to the hot-headed Kryptonian before she’s had her daily nap in homeroom knows just how much Kara hates having to wake up early.
Anybody.. except Barbara Gordon.
A small bundle of energy that was always easily identifiable by her fiery ginger hair and the purple bat-themed hoodie she refused to take off no matter the circumstance. The one person that Kara never yelled in the morning. But what was so special about her? Did she have blackmail? Or perhaps she utilised some dark magic to ensure her beloved friend could never get mad at her?
The truth was.. a whole lot more embarrassing.
Because Kara liked her friend a whole lot more than she should.
She had a crush on the Gothamite who refused to let anybody ever dull her spark. On Batgirl. On Barbara fucking Gordon.
And it was ruining her life.
“Please Kara?! Just swap seats with Diana! I need this! If you don't, my ship will never sail, and I’ll DIE!” The girl-in-question bawled, tugging her purple hood over her face and pressing herself against the cold door of Kara’s locker, her chest dramatically rising with each over-animated breath she took.
The Kryptonian sighed as she sorted through her mess of a locker, eyebags prominent, exhaustion even more-so, yet she didn't so much as tease Barbara when she spoke, instead, she shut her locker and allowed the shorter girl to lean up against her shoulder, focusing on her sobs opposed to how adorable she looked in order to keep a -somewhat- clear head.
“I’m not switching seats so Diana and Barbi can sit next to each other. Barbi might be a massive bitch that's way too.. ugh. Posh. And she smells way too much like tea, but she does all the work in our group projects, and I like getting an A plus in one of my classes!”
It’s not that she didn't want to sit next to Barbara in chemistry, hell, she’d dreamt about it. Half the time she's too busy staring at her from across the classroom to actually pay attention to whatever experiment they happen to be doing that day. After all, chemistry is when Babs finally lets her hood fall down to her shoulders, loosely ties up her hair, puts on a pair of safety goggles, and causes a few accidents in the name of ‘pursuing scientific knowledge’.
She’s only managed to pursue herself a detection so far.
Coincidentally, Kara always ends up with one too.
Still, Barbi was the only thing pushing up her grade point average, and if she didn't want to go to summer school, she had to pass chemistry with flying colours.
“And we have that big project this week, I don't care how much you want Diana and Barbi to date -which is fucking insane, by the way-, I need to get a good grade, so I’m stuck with Ba-”
“What if I do all the work for you and make sure we get an A plus?”
Now that caught her attention, and watching Barbara step back and peer up at her with those big, green eyes of hers didn't hurt her chances either.
Kara clicked her tongue before rolling her shoulders back, her posture relaxing as she began the trek to homeroom, a purple blur fuelled by elation and nerves bouncing by her side, awaiting her answer eagerly.
“..I guess I’ll swap seats with Diana.”
“AH! THANK YOU SOSOSOSOSO MUCH!!!!”
The ginger girl squealed, immediately pouncing onto her with an excited cry, her limbs tight around Kara’s muscular body as if she wanted them to merge into one gooey pile of anger issues and enthusiasm.
“You’re the best, Kara! Trust me, I’ll make sure we get the best grades in class, and we’ll have the best presentation at the science fair too. Should we become scientists? No, that's too boring.. I’VE GOT IT! Let's be crime-fighting scientists!”
The Kryptonian hated how her cheeks flushed a bright red colour, embarrassment running through her veins and causing her eyes to sharpen, becoming narrower as she awkwardly gripped onto a babbling Barbara by her hoodie and peeled her off, carrying the giggling mess known as her friend through the busy hallway (whilst avoiding eye contact with anybody that dared to look at her, of course) and into homeroom, dumping her at her desk near the front of the class before finally taking her place at the very back corner.
Barbara Gordon was going to be her lab partner in chemistry.
What could go wrong?
Well. A lot.
Kara could mess up and accidentally expose how she felt about her, or she could hurt her during an experiment and end up being hated by her crush. Anxious thoughts circled around her like vultures, leaving her to splay her backpack across the desk so she could use it as a makeshift pillow to catch a short, much-needed nap.
But just like every other nap she had taken as of late, the starring character was the literal girl of her dreams. Even in her sleep she couldn't escape Barbara; most of the time they were on a date, or on a mission together, but this time it was different. This time, they were in the chemistry lab.
The lighting was gorgeous: the orange sun peaking through the classroom windows perfectly illuminated Bab’s pale face and Kara found herself trapping the bat-themed vigilante against one of the many desks in the room, strong arms blocking her from darting to neither left, nor right. It was just them, their feelings, and a beautiful, setting sun.
She couldn't tear her gaze off of Barbara, not when her face was dusted such a soft shade of pink, it was almost peachy. And those lips.. Wet, glossy, ever so slightly parted, her loud breaths encouraging her to come closer, tempting her like a siren would tempt a pirate.
Kara would never be able to give in, not when their friendship was on the line.
But in her dreams, nothing was at risk. So when a thought popped into her head, she acted on it, closing the gap between them and pressing their lips together. Tongues slipping into each other's mouths, enwrapped in a passionate, desperate dance that they’d both been putting off for far too long.
Barbara tasted perfect. Like milkshakes and strawberry jam-filled donuts. Like cloudless sunny skies and a gentle breeze. Like her energy personified.
“Kara..”
A breathy voice called out for her, their passionate kiss coming to an end in favour of allowing the shorter girl to speak.
“Kara.”
She repeated once more.
“Kara.”
And again.
The Kryptonians' brows furrowed in confusion, and she tilted her head to the side only for Barbara to bark out a sudden- “KARA!” -and yank her back into reality.
She jolted awake, body shooting up like a plant stalk as her head darted from side to side, trying to make sense of the world around her. Her superhuman eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and she soon managed to make out the face of the girl standing next to her desk.
Who else would it be but Barbara Gordon?
“You were drooling on your backpack,” She blinked, pointing towards the wet stain atop it and sticking her tongue out in disapproval. “Oh, and the bell went. We need to get to chemistry before the bell goes! C’mon!”
With that, she tossed Kara’s damp bag onto her lap, gripping onto her arm immediately after and harnessing all of her strength in order to pull her to the chemistry lab.
She didn't even manage to get her out of her seat.
After a brief montage of tugging, panting, a water break, and then more tugging, the Kryptonian finally got out of her seat. Slinging her backpack over one of her shoulders and practically having to drag her drained body across the room. How did that nap leave her even more exhausted than before? Now she had to go to chemistry. All whilst Barbara rambled on and on about comics, couples, and the corniest things known to mankind.
It was all white noise to the taller girl, though. Her mind only managed to focus on her dream. On their kiss. She felt as if she were nothing more than a child, who overthinks a kiss this much?! It’s a completely normal thing to do with somebody you like! But the way Barbara said her name.. Kara’s knuckles turned a deathly pale colour as she gripped onto the strap of her bag tightly, trying to phase out her confusing thoughts in a way that wouldn't end with the entire school collapsing from an anxiety-fuelled rampage.
Her boots crossed the threshold of the classroom, stepping out into the well-lit hallway that was aligned with rows of identical lockers (along with the occasional poster). But not even watching Garth get stuffed into a locker by one of his various bullies could cheer her up right now.
She was so tired of feeling confused. Of waiting for her feelings to go away. Of staring at Barbara and hoping that she’d magically like her back. They’ll be partners in chemistry for the entire week.. Ugh, it was like she was trapped under ten tons of kryptonite, and the only way out was if she admitted Superman was a better hero than her.. As if she’d ever say something as stupid and untruthful as that.
And she was still completely worn out from last night. Usually her daily homeroom nap managed to satisfy her need for sleep, but that dream had left her more exhausted than ever before, the yawn escaping her lips made that apparent.
“Okay! That’s the plan! Do you wanna go over it again??” Barbara asked, twiddling her thumbs as she peered up at Kara, a thrilled look on her face. The first phase of ‘Operation: Make Dianerva Canon’ had almost come to a close, and all her Kryptonian friend had to do was make sure they’d be partnered together for this week's chemistry project.
“Nah, I’ll be fine, you just go talk to Karen whilst I swap seats with Diana.”
“Okay! Did I mention that you're the greatest friend ever?!”
A proud smile spread across Kara’s face at those words, and she turned towards the door of the chemistry classroom, strutting inside without a second thought. Was she completely drained from a night of only thinking about Barbara? Yes. Was she incredibly hesitant about swapping seats for a week? Yes. Had she listened at all to her friend whilst she was explaining the plan? No. Not at all.
But she was Supergirl, and she’d get through this just like she got through every other problem she had encountered, with pure stubbornness and brute force.
“So.. Diana..”
She began, her smile awkwardly forming into an overly-toothy grin, one that lacked any form of sincerity whatsoever.
“Ah! Friend Kara! Did you fail to complete the chemistry homework like last time? Never fear, I can help you through it before our teacher arrives.” The Amazonian princess smiled up at her, star-shaped earrings moving as she tilted her head upwards to properly face her friend.
“Psh, I totally did it, you know how much I love chemicals and uh.. rocks,” She nodded along to each word she spoke, as if that made her words more truthful. “..Okay, here's the thing, Babs really wants to do a project about Krypton for chemistry, and she kind of needs me for it, so would it be cool with you if we swapped seats for a week?”
“Barbara doesn't want to sit with me?”
“No! No- It’s not really about not sitting with you, it's more about.. sitting with me.”
Diana's face remained locked in its puzzled expression, her brows knotted, one of her eyelids raised, her lips pushed into a questioning pout. But then her features began to shift, eyes widening in realisation as she pushed her chair back and got up. Immediately grabbing her array brightly-coloured workbooks and stacking them on top of each other.
“I understand! You are trying to court Barbara, yes?” A proud smile stretched across her face, teeth as perfect as the rest of her was.
“What?! Fuck no! I just-”
“No no, do not worry Kara, your secret is safe with me. Besides, this is completely normal on Themyscira, so you have my full support.”
“I DONT HAVE A CRUSH ON-”
The entire classroom went silent at her yelling, and she could practically feel her face turn a few shades darker. Great. This was just what she needed after a night spent thinking about Barbara Gordon and getting absolutely no sleep as a result.
The sincere look on Diana’s face was the cherry on top of this whole mess. Kara sighed, running a calloused hand through her short hair, clearly frustrated at being found out so easily. She’d been hiding her crush for an entire month, and this is how she got exposed?! Great. The last thing she needs is anyone else finding out.
“..Thanks. I guess. I’m usually sat over there.” She jabbed a finger at the two-seated desk in the middle of the classroom; Barbi had already taken her seat, taking the time to admire her flawless makeup through her golden pocket-mirror before class started.
“Next to Barbi? Perfect! We can discuss strategies for the gymnastics teams next competition before beginning to study vigorously for the project!” And with that, Diana was gone, manoeuvring through the busy class to get to her brand new chemistry partner, who just so happened to be the one girl in school that absolutely despised her.
That was made apparent the minute class started.
Barbi’s snide remarks and painfully posh scoffs could be heard from across the classroom, each question the Amazonian answered, she would scrutinise, searching for the most miniscule era to correct her on. When she finally found one, all she received in response was a happy ‘Thank you Barbi, you’re incredibly intellectual, perhaps we should be partners in our other classes as well?’ That led to her releasing a loud shriek and having to wait outside the classroom for ten minutes.
Yet not even that could distract Kara Danvers, her gaze resting upon her hard-working friend whose own focus rapidly shifted between her laptop, her workbook, and her portable bat-themed binoculars (that were specifically used to spy on her friends during class).
“Psst! Kara, what are you doing? You’re meant to be telling me how it's going Diana and Barbi, remember the plan?” Barbara whispered hurriedly, scribbling down a few notes with one hand as the other typed away. She was a hard-working, well-oiled machine, at least when it came to things when it came to things she was passionate about. There was no way she was going to summer school now!
“Huh? Yeah, they’re uh..” She lightly swung her chair, pushing it forwards and backwards as she allowed her head to drop back, blue eyes honing in on the pair a few desks away from them. “Barbi is whispering insults under her breath, Diana is.. praying to Athena for a good chemistry grade, I think Barbi is about to stab her with a pen- Oh, they're doing their project on the chemical makeup of exotic animals. Fucking lame. Ours is way better.. What's ours again?”
Kara kicked her feet up onto her desk, her chair finally stable on the ground. She tore her gaze away from Barbara's favourite ‘ship’ in favour of looking at her instead.
“Well I was thinking we could look at different chemical reactions based off of-”
Batgirl’s voice was slowly zoned out by the Kryptonian, and she bit her tongue in thought. Usually humans look all weird and mushy from the side, but Barbara just looks.. cute. Her freckles were placed perfectly across her cheeks, and accompanied by a light, natural blush that made her green eyes look even more gorgeous than they already did. Her staring was getting more obvious by the second, but Kara just couldn't tear her eyes away, not off of that soft yet straight nose of hers. She wasn't thinking as her hand reached out to tuck a few unruly strands of the Gothamites hair behind her ear, and that left her incredibly unprepared when the girl in question turned to her with a puzzled look on her face.
“Kara, are you okay?”
“What? Yeah, obviously, I was just trying to fix some of your hair! If it gets in your face, you’ll mess up your work and make me flunk chemistry.”
“Agh! You're right! I need to focus-”
“And the project sounds lame, can't we do it on Krypton instead? Now that would be cool.”
A loud gasp caught her off guard, followed by a nod so eager that Barbara’s hood fell from her head and down onto her shoulders.
“That's genius! We can use Supergirl as our ‘study tool’, and I’ll finally get to add your notes to my collection!”
“..what.”
“My collection! It’s like.. A big folder of all of my friends. I have notes on the Amazons, Zee’s family, Karen’s shrinking tech.. And now I can finally have more under your column!”
That was.. strangely flattering. She sat down properly -a rare occurrence for somebody as rebellious as her-, dragging her chair closer to Barbara's and firmly planting her elbows onto the table.
“Are you kidding? You could do a whole folder just about me. Have you seen these biceps? They stop meteors y’know.” A cocky grin plastered itself onto her face as Barbara poked at her muscular arm through her leather jacket, lips pushed out into a curious pout.
“Hm.. I have an idea.”
“I’m listening.”
“It’s two words.”
A thousand possibilities ran through Kara’s mind at that moment: Kiss me? You’re hot?? Let’s date??? She was practically on the edge of her seat as Barbara spoke, her boot tapping against the floor in an attempt to work out her excess excitement.
“Sweet Justice.”
Her face fell instantly.
“We can do a stakeout! I’ll tell Diana that Barbi loves it, so they’ll go there to study after school, and then we can watch them whilst doing our own project. It’s genius, right??”
“Yep. You're a genius.”
“Yes!” Barbara pumped her fist through the air repeatedly before finally diverting her attention back to her work, leaving Kara alone with her thoughts.
A ‘stakeout’ at Sweet Justice with her crush, what could possibly go wrong?