Of Knights and Aliens

Chapter 103

Kara lets go of Lucy and gives her a watery smile. Lucy leans back in for one last quick tight hug before letting go and stepping back. She takes James' hand and tries to sniff subtly while James does the same.

Eliza and Jeremiah come over to Kara along with Lena. Lena goes to Kara's side immediately, holding her hand and gently rubbing her thumb across Kara's knuckles.

Eliza smiles at the sight of Lena comforting her daughter. "You picked a good one Kara," she whispers so only Kara can hear. Kara's cheeks flush but she smiles proudly. Eliza speaks louder so everyone can hear. "I won't hug you yet, Kara. I may start crying and not let you go until it's time for you to go."

Kara's lower lip wobbles and she nods, turning to the small group that's gathered to say goodbye to her and Lena. Winn steps forward and practically throws himself at them. He wraps them both in a hug and they hug him back. Lena acts like she doesn't notice his tears staining her shirt.

"I'm really going to miss you guys." Winn's voice cracks and Kara rubs his back.

"We're going to miss you too Winn," Lena murmurs.

Winn squeezes her tightly, thinking about how he can't wait for her to become his sister-in-law too. He pulls back after a moment, wiping away his tears, letting the next person step forward as he attempts to gather himself.

"If anything happens to Kiera, not even being the Queen of the Luthor Kingdom will be able to save you from my wrath." Cat threatens, stepping close to Lena.

Lena has long since become used to being threatened and manipulated and doesn't flinch. Cat steps back after an intense moment of staring, nodding to herself.

"I would expect nothing less, Miss Grant," Lena says.

Cat breaks into a small smile. "Polite, even after being threatened. Impressive."

"Miss Grant..." Kara tries to interject, afraid what what might happen if Cat and her girlfriend continue this.

"Kiera, I've told you to call me Cat."

Kara gives her a look. "If you keep calling me by the wrong name, I'll do the same with you."

Cat looks surprised and impressed. Her eyes flick over to Lena. "The kitten does have claws. Good job bringing her out of her shell."

Lena figures this is the best she's going to get with Cat Grant, especially since she hasn't completely earned her trust in Cat's eyes. She sticks out her hand and Cat waits for a moment, intending to make Lena squirm. Lena doesn't show an ounce of the emotion that Cat's tactics usually elicit from people. Cat tries to keep how she's impressed to herself, but the glimmer in Lena's eyes tells her that she hasn't quite succeeded. The little Luthor is more observant than she has expected.

Cat sticks out her hand and she and Lena shake. Kara looks back and forth between them like she's waiting for something to snap. She breathes a quiet sigh of relief when she feels the tension between Cat and Lena dissipate.

Cat sticks out her hand for Kara and it takes a second for Kara to process why Cat is holding out her hand. Kara huffs and gently bats it away, pulling Cat in for a hug. It takes a moment for her to relax into the hug.

"I'm going to miss you," Kara sniffles.

"I'm going to miss you too, Kara."

"She knows Kara's name!" Winn says in surprise.

"She's the Princess and a friend, of course I know her name Wilbur." Cat says as she pulls back from the hug, giving Winn a piercing look.

"She got the first two letters of my name right," Winn says excitedly to Alex.

"You have low standards for women, Winn." Maggie teases, ruffling his hair.

As Winn tries to redo his hair, it's J'onn's turn. He opens his arms when he sees Kara's eyes fill with tears and smiles softly when he is immediately engulfed in a Kryptonian strength hug. She hugs him as tightly as she dares and he hugs her back just as hard.

J'onn opens his eyes and lifts one arm, his voice gruffer and deeper than usual. "Get in here, Lena." Lena blinks on surprise and then joins the hug. "Kara, I love you and your sister as though you're my own daughters. And I am so proud of the life partners you have both found."

Kara's given up any pretense of self control and has tears streaming down her face. "I love you too," she giggles wetly. "Space dad."

J'onn's chuckling vibrates in his chest and makes his body shake against them. There's a wetness in his eyes that Alex has only ever seen when he's talking of his family on Mars.

"Space Dad, huh? I guess you're my Space Daughter, then. Earth Daughter and soon-to-be Earth Daughter-In-Law, get over here."

Maggie and Alex exchange a surprised look before joining in. They continue hugging until Alex hears a familiar sniffle.

She pulls back slightly to look behind her. "Winn, are you crying?"

"It's just such a beautiful moment. A family hug." Winn sniffles again.

"It's not a family hug, Winn." J'onn says. "You aren't in it, and neither is Eliza and Jeremiah."

Kara can practically hear as Winn's lower lip trembles and hears his feet hit the ground at a rapid pace.

"Papa bear!" He cries out.

Kara can hear his feet leave the ground and braces herself, letting him latch onto her back like a koala to hug J'onn too. J'onn chuckles and hugs him as well.

"You might as well get over here, Eliza and Jeremiah," J'onn says.

They agree and once they join the group hug, it truly does feel like a family hug. Lena stays close to Kara, trying to pretend like there aren't tears in her eyes and dripping down her cheeks. She's really going to miss these amazingly wonderful people.

Guys, instead of studying for my Spanish exam earlier (as in I took a break from studying), I wrote this mess of a chapter... When J'onn was talking about family, I nearly cried while walking to my Spanish class for the exam! Turns out, I really like group hugs? Writing them, at least. They're a bit difficult though, because there's so many people and limbs and how do you describe that? But I made myself chuckle at the Winn jumping and grabbing onto Kara like a koala... What a cute dork! Next chapter, we may finally finish up the goodbyes? We just have the parents and Maggie and Alex left, so who knows how long that'll take... We'll see! Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!