Hurts Like Heaven

Chapter 6 - Strawberry Fields Forever

***BARRY***

My tongue is not obeying my brain today. I mean, it's obeying the signal to send nerve impulses to be interpreted as various gustatory sensations, but when it comes to its primary function of helping me use my words, it's failing like my first attempt at the PSAT. To be fair, I was hella distracted because right next to me happened to be Lauren Williams, my first crush - aside from Iris, but she doesn't really count since we're adopted sibs and all. The girl who almost took my virginity about two years after that day, in fact.

Meanwhile, the girl who did, she's laughing her head off as Conner regales her with what must be oddly hilarious tales of his time with the Luthors on this Earth. I'd join in, but I'm not really listening. I can't bring myself to enjoy this victory lunch as much as I normally would.

I have to take her aside and confess to her. Preferably after we get back home, because I'd rather not have to accompany her home when she's in a foul mood-

"Barry? Earth to Barry!" Kara snaps her fingers in front of my face, drawing my attention to the fact that everyone else has vacated the table. "Bar, you look a little out of it. What's wrong? I thought kryptonite didn't affect humans."

She chuckles at her own joke, and I chuckle at her use of Joe's old nickname for me. I was wondering when she'd appropriate it for herself - guess now was the time. "Nothing," I say a little too quickly.

"Not nothing." Not one for bullshit, Kara is. Comes with the territory, I guess, when you work for Cat Grant. "Whatever's going on, just spit it out, okay?"

I look around and see the rest of the people in the cafeteria. None are paying much attention to us, but still... "Can we talk in private?" Guess I won't get to wait till we get home after all. Might as well rip this moldy old Band-Aid off sooner rather than later.

"Sure."

I take her hand and lead her, in two seconds, to a broom closet near the locker where my other self and I, along with Jax, just self-decontaminated. Yeah, not the most original of hiding places, but at least it's in the same place as one on my Earth. "Kara, I..." I try to clear my mind of worrying thoughts, and fail. "Kara, something's..." My tongue is actively rebelling against my rational brain at this point, an insurrection that needs immediate quashing. "I think I got you pregnant."

She stares at me in disbelief for an eternity of speedster time, then her mouth falls open in a most amused O. "Hahahahahaha...oh, God, you got me there good!"

"No, but..."

Her face falls as she finally registers that I'm not playing. "Barry...how? We can't...we...we used protection, didn't we? Yeah, we did...I mean, it's not like they're 100% effective, but you don't seriously think we fell in that one percent or so that wasn't, do you?"

"100% effective for humans," I point out. "Humans at baseline. Not meta like me." I hang my head for a moment, and when I look up, her eyes have hardened just a bit. Is she about to heat-vision me? I wouldn't at all be surprised.

Instead, she asks me another question, no doubt after giving herself time to process the implications. "Did you...did you come up with this on your own, or...?"

"Cisco thought about it," I say ruefully. "He, uh, kinda figured out we'd slept together, and then the look on his face was all..." I do a serviceable imitation of Cisco's brief flash of a horrified expression.

She laughs for a second, but then gets serious again. "Barry...let's not jump to conclusions, all right? First off, I...there's a bunch of reasons why Kryptonians started having babies in vitro all the time. I can't be sure I'm even capable of carrying a child."

She pauses long enough for me to say, "Wouldn't you know it, it'd take my speedy sperm to knock you up."

"Why do you say that like it's such a bad thing, though?"

I don't really have an answer. Well, I do, but I don't want to tell her that as much as I love her, I don't see how realistic it would be for us to have a child. I'd have to leave home, she'd have to quit being Supergirl for a while...I couldn't ask that of her.

Eventually, I force myself to say it. "Kara, I...I don't wanna see you not living your life."

"What?" She blinks several times, nonplussed. "Come on, Barry, it's not like I'd be the only one making a sacrifice here. What, so you're okay with putting your life on hold, but not me doing the same?" She scoffs and turns away. "Never thought I'd live to see the day when Barry Allen turned into a chauvinist pig."

"What? That's un..." I'm about to finish that with "fair," or perhaps "called for," but I make myself swallow my anger. "Kara, just...I said I didn't wanna force these kinds of choices on you. I didn't say you couldn't make these choices. Trust me, I know better than that." I take a deep breath. "Kara, I'm so sorry. Truly. I just..." I reach out, and she flinches away at first, but then draws closer to me so I can embrace her again. Stroking her hair as my tears drip into it, I say, "It's all your decision. Keep the baby if we've got one-"

"Or two, or three-"

"Or abort it-"

"I'd hate to deny your kid a shot at life-"

"Whatever you do, I'll support you." I kiss her cheek and feel a tear there too. Hers. Though I don't have Kryptonian taste buds, I think I've figured out the distinct flavor of her tears by now. Maybe it's because she's Kryptonian, but her tears are slightly less salty and more acrid, like my dad's favorite English breakfast tea without sugar. "I love you, Supergirl."

"I know, Flash." She stands on tiptoe and kisses my tears away, then pretends to spit them off to one side. I smile at her, but I suspect the one she gives in response is just as forced as mine.

Holding hands, we walk out of the closet and back downstairs, where our people are looking ready to go back home. Cisco, for his part, looks impatient to do his Vibe thing, while Clark and Diana continue to carry on a conversation with the former's counterpart (I hear the boys share a laugh about a mutual ex named Lois Lane - from the sound of things, they did not part on the best of terms, on either Earth), and Conner keeps looking shyly at Jesse Wells before averting his eyes. Aww, do I sense our Superboy's got a crush? I'll see if I can have Cisco help set him up on some kind of interdimensional dating service. Assuming the feelings are mutual, that is.

Cisco's about to Vibe open the portal back home when Jesse reaches out and lowers his hand with one of hers. The other, she uses it to consult a tablet. "We got company, guys."

"Friendly?" Diana asks, reaching for her sword.

Jesse shakes her head. "Well, sort of. It's a couple of heroes bringing someone in. High profile target. And they're already coming in right now..." She turns around, as do the rest of us.

When our visitors show up, everyone gasps, but nobody louder than Kara. That's because one of them coming in is her counterpart from this Earth. Though we already knew the two Karas were nearly identical - unlike, say, the two Clarks - it's still just a bit disturbing to see what looks like a brunette version of my girlfriend walking in. Teamed up with her is a tall, dark, handsome guy with at least three days' worth of beard growing on his face. His supersuit is kind of the opposite of Kara's colors - blue cape, red suit, and with a small House of El crest over his heart. I recognize him from a picture this Earth's Caitlin showed us - Kara-2's boyfriend, Mon-El.

"Everyone," Jesse says for the unintroduced, "meet our Supergirl and her partner in all the ways, Valor." She narrows her eyes at the figure between them, a guy shorter than Mon but taller than Kara, with a black bag over his head. "Show us who you got."

"Took down his chopper halfway to San Francisco." This Kara sounds, if anything, even tougher than mine.

Mon picks up the bag and whips it off the guy's head like he's revealing a Fabergé egg for auction. It almost might as well be such an egg, given that it's vaguely ovoid and belongs to a very, very rich man. "So, Lexy," he says with a silly look on his face, somewhere between smirk and sneer, "wanna apologize to the aliens you tried to poison? And with Taylor Swift too!"

Kara-2 rolls her eyes at the very thought. "Has this man no shame?"