Work Text:
Lena’s phone had been ringing non-stop all day ever since news had broken out about L-Corp’s new underwater breathing tech. With it being Shark Week, tons of reporters and shark enthusiasts were trying to get the deets on how to acquire this tech, even though it had just started the manufacturing process. Lena walks out to her balcony, phone still ringing in her hand, and tosses it over the edge. She then walks back to her desk and calls her assistant on the landline.
“Jess, I’m going to need a new cellphone. Can you please order one today?”
“Right away, Miss Luthor. Rose gold again?”
“I honestly don’t care. I’ll probably need another new one by the time all of this hype dies down.” Lena hangs up and sits back in her cushy chair. She spends most of her days talking to people, whether it be in long, boring meetings or in front of large audiences while she’s giving a talk on the new wave of technology, or being scolded by her mother. But she’s tired. She just wants to be left alone, go one night without her binge watching of the newest season of the Great British Bake-Off being interrupted by a phone call.
At the end of the day, she heads home, new rose gold phone in hand. Her driver opens the door for her and she sits in the back of her town car. All of her contacts and apps were transferred over to the new phone, but she really should do some housecleaning and delete some of the numbers that she has. She really only calls two phone numbers regularly, anyway - her assistant's and her driver. While she scrolls through the hundreds of contacts, her phone chirps with the text message sound. The little bubble pops up at the top of the screen and she opens it.
Unknown contact: Hi! You don’t know me, but we’re number neighbors, so I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Kara, I’m twenty-five, I really love pizza and potstickers. Oh, and ice cream! Vanilla is my favorite. Just a plain Jane lover of vanilla, haha!!! 😂😂😂😂😂 I’m a journalist in National City. Well, aspiring journalist. I’m still an assistant right now, but I’m going places! If only my boss would let me do something other than get her coffee and schedule meetings… anyway, it’s nice to meet you and I hope to hear back from you. Bye!!!!!!
Lena stares at her phone in disgust. Not only does this person use an excessive amount of punctuation and emojis, she’s incredibly loud even through text. She doesn’t even know this person and she’s already annoyed. She could just ignore it, pretend she never got it, and the person would probably leave her alone, but no. Lena has to tell this person exactly how annoying they are. She’s providing a service for any other poor soul who might have to come in contact with them. In fact, she should get an award for being so brave, for telling this human exclamation point to shove it.
Lena: This is my work phone, please stop texting me.
There, that should do it. She was firm. Totally gave them a piece of her mind. They wouldn’t dare try to speak to her again. She—
Unknown number: Oh!!! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. 😫😫😫😫
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Lena: I just said to stop texting me. Don’t contact me again.
She feels marginally bad for being so mean, but she’s had it with people constantly pestering her. And she doesn’t need friends, especially perky emoji-using ones who text random strangers. As her driver pulls up in front of her building, she climbs out of the car and lets herself in through the lobby door. The security guard greets her with a gentle smile and she returns a half-hearted one back. When she unlocks the door to her apartment, she immediately takes off her uncomfortable heels and walks straight for her bedroom, where she removes all of her confining clothing.
After a long, hot shower, Lena walks back out into her kitchen and grabs a bottle of expensive scotch, pouring a hefty portion into a glass and takes a seat on her couch. She swirls the amber liquid before taking a sip and looks at her phone that she tossed onto her coffee table. Picking it up, she unlocks it and goes to her text messages. She reads through the messages she received earlier on the way home and feels a pang of guilt. The other person was just being friendly, wanting to make a new friend perhaps, and Lena shut it down without a thought.
She begins to type out an apology and swiftly deletes it. What is she doing? She doesn’t have to apologize to this stranger. She could just simply let it go, never have to speak to this Kara person ever again. But she feels bad. Her Irish Catholic roots are getting to her, even though she’s never stepped foot inside of a church that wasn’t being used for a wedding or exorcism (don’t ask). She sighs, takes a big gulp of her scotch and starts typing again.
Lena: Hi, I just wanted to apologize for being so rude earlier; I was having a bad day, broke my old phone and had to get it replaced.
She pauses for a moment before sending and adds ‘I’m Lena’ before she does. She locks her phone immediately and tosses it off to the other side of the couch. She hurries back to the kitchen and pours herself another drink, trying to ignore the fact that she just sent that text – at midnight on a Friday night, no less. She didn’t want anyone else to know that she had no life and spent most nights alone, drowning herself in alcohol. There’s a bzzt bzzt that comes from the couch and Lena’s heart starts to race. Kara must have replied.
With a full glass in hand, she walks back toward the couch, slowly, as if the phone is going to jump out and attack her with its sharp, pointy teeth. She picks it up gently and unlocks it with her face, another new feature she’s almost certain is being used to steal her identity
Unknown Number: Oh, that’s okay! I hope your day’s gotten better since then. I’m currently out with my sister. She dragged me out of my nice, comfortable bed, so I could wingwoman for her at a bar (which I’m very good at, by the way 😝) and now I’m just waiting for her to chat up a nice girl, so I can go home. It’s nice to meet you, Lena. :)
Lena’s heartbeat refuses to calm down and is thumping inside of her chest. Her hands are shaking, too, which is unusual. She’s usually quite good under pressure, but she feels like she’s underwater and sinking further below. For someone who speaks in front of board members and business partners practically every day, she has no idea how to respond to this text message. Does she even need to respond? How do people normally do this?
She groans in frustration and just types whatever comes to mind.
Lena: That sounds like fun. Maybe I should hire you to be my wingwoman, too. I work in National City, as well.
She adds Kara as a contact, not thinking anything of it. She was just tired of looking at the long, impersonal phone number under the little text bubble, that’s all. The scotch is starting to hit her, hard. Her vision is getting blurry and everyone around the room is either doubled or spinning, or both. Her phone vibrates in her hand and she looks down at it.
Kara: Wow, what a coincidence! Well, I’m at M’gann’s Bar downtown if you want to head over. I’ll probably be here for another couple hours, since Alex keeps getting cold feet and won’t talk to anyone. I’m pulling my best lines, too!
Lena considers it for a split second. What’s the harm in going out? She’s already drunk, so she won’t have to put much additional effort in. She stands up on wobbly legs and walks into her bedroom, pulling the doors to her closet wide open. She picks out a nice top and a pair of dark wash jeans, splaying them across the comforter on her bed. She lies down just for a second, fully planning on calling her driver to come pick her up, but when she wakes up, the room is entirely too bright and her mouth tastes like a desert.
Rolling over on top of her outfit, she groans. She’d fallen asleep without even getting dressed the night before. She reaches across the bed and feels around for her phone. Unlocking it, she sees that she has a handful of unread messages.
Kara: Were you going to come by? I’ll wait for a little while if you are.
Kara: I think Alex is ready to go, but I got her a date!!! 😱😱😱😱
Kara: You’re probably busy! I’ll stop bugging you. Hope you have a good night!!!
Lena groans and rubs her face. The texts were a couple hours apart, so Kara was waiting for her the whole time and now that Catholic guilt was bubbling up again. She feels the need to make it up to Kara somehow, but she hardly knows her.
She pulls up Jess’ number and opens a new text window.
Lena: I need you to search all of National City for assistants named Kara who work for journalists or newspapers in National City.
Jess: All of them?
Lena can practically hear Jess gulp through the text.
Lena: Yes. I’ll give you a raise.
Lena: Also a bonus for working on a Saturday. Hell, if you send me the list by today, take next week off.
Two hours later, Lena receives an e-mail with a spreadsheet full of people named Kara and the names and phone numbers of their employers. Why Lena doesn’t just ask Kara where she works, she’ll never know, but that’s something for Future Lena to extrapolate. I’m any case, she gets to work on calling each employer on their personal phone numbers to try and find this Number Neighbor Kara.
She spends all of her Saturday calling each contact with no luck. The phone calls bleed into Sunday, as well, and it appears people don’t enjoy being disturbed on Sunday mornings at seven o’ clock.
“Yes, hi, this is Lena Luthor. Yes, that one. I was calling to ask—yes, I know it’s a Sunday. Well, I’m not so sure it’s only God’s day specifically, but I was just wanting to know if your assistant Kara uses a lot of unnecessary exclamation points in her correspondence. Hello? Hello?”
Lena looks down at her phone and sees the call has ended. She huffs in frustration. See if the Daily Planet gets any of her new security technology. She continues to make her way down the list until she reaches CatCo Multimedia. She and Catherine Grant go way back and is probably owed a favor or two, so Cat wouldn’t dare hang up on her. Plus, she knows Ms. Grant doesn’t go to church, so she can’t use that excuse.
“Cat, hello. Long time no speak.”
“If I recall correctly, the last time we spoke, you told me to shove my article and my company so far up my ass that it comes back up my throat.”
Lena winces. A few months ago, CatCo ran an article that pretty much said that Lena was still single, because no men would dare risk losing their balls by having a Luthor run the show. The thing Lena was most upset about was that the article assumed her sexuality. She couldn’t care less about whether or not people wanted to be with her. She thrives on people being intimidated by her.
“Right, about that. I may have been a little out of line.”
“No matter,” replies Cat. “Water under the bridge. What can I help you with?”
“Well, this is kind of an awkward phone call for me. I’m actually looking for your assistant.”
“Kiera?”
Lena furrows her brow. “Oh, I thought her name was Kara.”
“That’s what I said,” Cat deadpans.
“Uh, right. Well, does Kara have an unusual penchant for exclamation points in her e-mails and smile a lot? Maybe overly enthusiastic about... everything?”
“As a matter of fact, she does. Why?”
“I was wanting to send something to the office. She’s helping me… with an article.” There’s a pregnant pause.
“An article?” Cat asks.
“Yes! I asked her to write an article about me and my, uh…” She looks around her office for an idea and spots a fluffy orange cat on one of her magazines. She’s usually much more articulate and quick on her feet than this. “New… cat brush.”
“You’re working on a cat brush?” Lena can feel human Cat rolling her eyes through the phone. “Well, all right. I’ve been meaning to get Miss Danvers’ feet wet in the world of journalism anyway. I suppose a piece on cats is a good entry point. Send whatever it is you’re getting to the office and I’ll make sure she gets it.”
Kara Danvers. Now Lena has a name. She thanks Cat and hangs up, then quickly sends an e-mail to her R&D team to start planning out a new, fancy, cat brush that does… whatever it is people need cat brushes for. Maybe it can act as a massager, too. It can’t be any worse than those brushes shaped like tongues. She orders a bouquet of flowers (or five) to be sent to CatCo on Monday morning.
When Monday comes around, Lena is in the middle of a long, drawn-out board meeting when she receives a text message. While the men are bickering about how best to launch their next wave of tech, she walks over to the window and checks her phone.
Kara: So, my desk was covered in flowers when I got to work today. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?
Lena chuckles and replies back.
Lena: No, why would I?
Kara: Well, the card was signed ‘LL’ and Cat told me that a certain Lena Luthor gave her a call on Sunday night to ask about her assistant and mentioned an article that I’m supposedly writing.
Lena: LL could be any number of people. I don’t recall ever giving you my last name, and Cat Grant knows thousands of people, too. Anyone could have called her.
Kara: The card said ‘Sorry for bailing on you at the bar, fell asleep after drinking too much scotch.’
Lena: Well, shit. I forgot that’s what I had them put on the card. You got me, I sent them. I wanted to apologize for not replying to you. But, anyway, since I got you your first article, how about I meet you for lunch and you can interview me?
Kara: REALLY?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?! OH MY GOSH, THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Part of Lena wanted to keep the air of mystery between them, only stick to text messages. It was easier that way, less messy. Less chance of disappointment. But Lena felt like she owed it to Kara, for some reason. Because she was nice to her? Lena didn’t know, but she didn’t want to think about it.
One of her board members cleared his throat and she whipped her head around, putting her phone back into the pocket of her navy blue slacks.
“Okay, gentlemen, if we’ve decided on a launch date and have the announcement drafted, I think we can adjourn this meeting.” She doesn’t wait for a reply before gathering her documents and laptop into her arms and walking right out of the boardroom.
She walks up to her assistant’s desk. Since Jess took the week off, another girl was there to fill in and Lena couldn’t remember her name. “I’m having lunch with Kara Danvers today. Can you reschedule my one o’clock and find a list of casual dining places that we could possibly go to?”
“Right away, Miss Luthor,” the girl sputters while typing away at her computer and buries her face into the monitor.
“Have the list of restaurants on my desk in ten minutes,” Lena says while heading to her office. Nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds later, the Jess-replacement knocks on Lena’s door timidly and waits for permission to enter. She quietly hands Lena the list of restaurants, typed up in alphabetical order with Yelp reviews and pictures of the menus. She settles on a small café near CatCo, so they won’t have far to travel once she gets there and there’s a patio that they can sit in, so Lena doesn’t feel so claustrophobic inside the restaurant full of people.
About an hour later, Lena receives a text from Kara.
Kara: I’m so sorry to have to do this, but Cat needs her dry cleaning done NOW, so I’m going to have to cancel our lunch date. Rain check? (Did I mention I’m sorry? Because I am!!!!!!)
Lena sighs and replies back, saying that it’s fine and she’ll reschedule their interview for another day. She calls up the restaurant and cancels her reservation and ends up skipping lunch completely. The next day, Lena finds herself checking her phone a lot more often than she usually does. The plain, stock wallpaper stares back at her, no new notifications since the last time she checked two minutes ago.
She picks up her phone and dials the faux-assistant’s phone number.
“What does it feel like to be ghosted?”
“Ma’am?” the assistant replies.
“When a person is ghosted, what does that entail?”
“Um,” the young girl drawls. “Well, usually, you don’t get replies to your texts, the other person avoids you. Sometimes they even change their phone number without telling you.”
“I see. Thank you,” Lena hangs up and scowls at the stupid device in her hand. There’s no logical reason for her to think that Kara is ghosting her. She hasn’t done anything to warrant such a reaction.
Right?
Just as she’s about to throw her phone off her balcony again, it buzzes in her hand and she sees the little bubble notification with Kara’s name at the top. She hurries to unlock her phone and nearly drops it in the process.
Kara: Hey! Sorry again about lunch. I was really looking forward to meeting you. Alex wants to go out again tonight (I know, a weeknight!!!), but I told her I’d go. Sooooo, if you want to meet at M’gann’s bar at, maybe, 8? We’ll save you a spot in our booth.
Lena’s palms get sweaty and her heart starts to beat a little faster. This was ridiculous. Why was she nervous over meeting someone in a bar? She’s met plenty of people in a bar before. Hell, her last hook-up started in a bar. Oh, god, that makes it even worse.
Lena: Sounds good, see you at 8.
Lena instantly regrets hitting ‘send’ and shoves her phone back in her purse, hoping to forget all about it. Later that night, Lena checks the clock and it’s about quarter ‘til eight and she doesn’t want to be there too early and stand around awkwardly, so she kills a little more time before calling her driver to come pick her up.
It’s nearly half past eight by the time she arrives at the bar and she takes a nervous step up to the big wooden door. The bouncer takes one look at her and recognizes her.
“Go right on in, Miss Luthor,” he says in a deep, baritone voice. His tattooed arm opens the door for her and she walks inside. The bar is dark with low-hanging lights that don’t provide much light and a couple of pool tables and dart boards line one of the walls. The opposite wall is the bar with stools in front of them and down the center are a few tables and booths. She stands near the door with her hands clenched around her purse until a woman with short, auburn hair walks up to her.
“Are you Lena?” she asks.
“Yes,” Lena replies.
“I’m Alex Danvers, Kara’s sister. She told me you were coming. She had to go run a last-minute errand, but she should be back soon. I saved us a booth over there.” She points to the back corner of the bar. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’ll have an Old Fashioned, thanks.”
Alex heads to the bar and waves down the bartender, who Lena assumes is M’gann. Once Alex has both of their drinks, they head to the booth, where other people are also sitting. Lena’s fight or flight instinct kicks in and flight is looking really promising right about now.
“Hey everyone, this is Lena Luthor, one of Kara’s friends. This is Winn, James, and Sam.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” Lena says politely as she scoots into the booth, sitting next to Winn. She quietly sips her Old Fashioned while they all continue their conversation.”
After two hours pass, Alex gets up to go to the bathroom and Lena follows her. Kara still hasn’t shown up and her patience is wearing thin.
“Is this some kind of game to her?” Lena seethes, storming up to Alex.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve been trying to meet her all week and she’d cancelled on me or just hasn’t shown up and it’s getting a little old. I’m a very busy person, as you probably know, so my schedule needs to be adhered to, otherwise things get all out of whack and I’m tired of it.” Lena takes a deep breath, clearly holding all of that in for a while, but she didn’t feel any better now that it was out in the open. Alex stares at her with her mouth dangling open and Lena feels a pang of guilt. It wasn’t her fault that Kara’s so flakey.
“Um, I’ll uh, let her know how you feel about it. But just to be clear, she does want to meet you and she was really upset when she couldn’t be here. I’ll call her and see what the holdup is.”
“Don’t bother,” Lena huffs. “I’m going to head home. It was nice to meet you, Alex. Please tell the others I said ‘goodnight’.” Before Alex can protest, Lena is already heading out the door and on her phone to call her driver. She walks past an alley and walks into something that feels like a brick wall and drops her phone on the ground.
“Great, thanks for that.” She bends down to pick it up and sees red boots standing in front of her and her eyes graze up slowly and across blues and reds until she sees a head full of blonde, wavy hair. “Supergirl,” she says, trying not to let the slight waver in her voice be too obvious.
“Hello, Miss Luthor,” she replies with a bright smile. “You’re out late.”
“How would you—whatever. I was just heading home, actually. I got stood up. Again.”
Supergirl furrows her brow. “I’m sure whoever it was has a really good excuse for it. No one would dare stand someone like you up.”
Lena scoffs and starts to dial her driver’s number again, but it goes straight to voicemail. “Seriously? I’m going to fire my driver.” She throws her phone back into her purse and starts walking down the sidewalk. Supergirl takes a second before jogging up to her.
“How far away do you live? I could give you a lift.”
Lena raises an eyebrow. “Thanks, but I prefer to keep both feet on the ground.” She can see Supergirl pout out of the corner of her eye.
“Well, okay, then I’ll wait until you catch a cab or a Lyft, or whatever billionaires catch. I’m sure you have your own app for rich people taxi services.”
Lena snorts and shakes her head. “We don’t, actually. Most of us have our own drivers, but we have to use taxis just like the rest of the commoners sometimes.” They wait by the sidewalk for a few minutes, no taxis coming by and Lena wasn’t about to create a new Lyft account just for one stupid ride. She sighs and turns to Supergirl. “Fine, you can take me home, on one condition.
“Anything,” Supergirl replies.
“You tell no one about this. If you do, I’ll find out, and you don’t want to make me an enemy.”
Supergirl smiles and chuckles. “Oh, I don’t intend to, Miss Luthor.” She slides her arm underneath Lena’s knees and gently lifts her up. “Hold on.” Lena wraps her arms around the other woman’s neck and waits for the jolt that she expects to come. Instead, Supergirl floats up slowly and glides through the air, above the shops down below. “Okay, which way?”
Lena gives her directions and they head toward Lena’s apartment on the outskirts of the city and they land far enough where security wouldn’t see them. Once Lena’s feet are back on solid ground, she flattens her skirt.
“Well, thank you for the ride, Supergirl. I owe you one.”
Supergirl waves her off. “Nah, don’t worry about it. It was my pleasure.” As Lena nods a goodbye and turns to head toward her building, Supergirl calls out, “Oh, hey, and don’t give up on your friend just yet. I’m sure she has her reasons for standing you up. Just give her a chance to explain.”
Lena waves and starts walking again. She turns and looks over her shoulder, but Supergirl is already gone. Letting herself into her penthouse, she sets her purse down on the kitchen counter and goes to the cupboard to pull out a wine glass. She hears her phone chirp and she goes to check it before picking out a new wine bottle to open.
Kara: Hey, Lena, I’m SO SORRY about tonight. I really didn’t mean to stand you up and Alex told me how upset you were. I don’t have a good excuse, but I’d like to make it up to you if you’d let me. Lunch, tomorrow? My treat? I promise I’ll be there this time. Scout’s honor!
Lena can’t help but smile at the text message.
Lena: Fine, but I choose the place. This is your last chance, Danvers.
Kara: I’ll be there! Promise!!!!!!!!!!!
The next day, Lena makes another reservation at the same restaurant she and Kara were supposed to have lunch at before. Her leg bounces in anticipation while she waits for her lunch break to roll around. At exactly eleven fifty-seven, she calls her new driver to come pick her up and she heads toward her elevator. On the way, she passes the pseudo-Jess and tells her she can go to lunch. The car is waiting for her in front of the building and she tells the driver – this one was named Ralph – where to go.
When the car arrives in front of CatCo, Lena texts Kara that she’s waiting outside and not five minutes later, there’s a young woman standing out front, wearing dark-rimmed glasses, hair up in a ponytail, button-up shirt with chinos, looking around. This is Kara Danvers? Lena is so screwed.
She rolls down the window and asks, “Kara?” Kara whips her head around and smiles, walking up to the window.
“Oh, hi. Lena? When you said the car was outside, I was expecting a BMW, or something. This is fancy.”
“Right, sorry. I should have warned you that a billionaire CEO would be rolling up to your workplace in a town car with a driver. When Kara doesn’t say anything and just stares at her owlishly, Lena clears her throat and opens her car door. “Anyway, I thought maybe we could walk to lunch. It’s not far from here.”
“Yeah! Sure, of course.” Kara shifts the strap of her bag on her shoulder and waits for Lena to lead the way. They walk down the sidewalk, side-by-side, suddenly unsure of what to say to each other, now that they were both there in the flesh.
“So, um, do you really have a new cat brush, or was that just an excuse to get information on me? You could have just asked, you know.”
Lena bites the inside of her cheek, trying to keep herself from blurting out something stupid, like I wanted to find out who you were without having to ask you or texting you has been the most enjoyable experience since moving to National City. “It was more fun this way. Besides, Cat owed me a favor and you want to be a journalist. It’s all win-win.”
“Yeah, but why? You hardly know me. You didn’t have to do this for someone you barely met.”
Lena merely shrugs her shoulders. “How about you stop asking me questions and just let me take you to lunch? Then you can ask me questions for your interview.”
“Oh, great! Yeah, I have a bunch written out.” Kara fumbles around with her bag and pulls out a notepad; loose papers fly everywhere and she has to stop and pick them up. She jogs up to Lena and smiles sheepishly. “I asked Ms. Grant for some pointers and she pretty much said ‘don’t try to be your interviewee’s friend’.”
“That sounds like good advice,” Lena says, but feels bad once she sees Kara’s face fall. “I mean, depending on the article, anyway. You wouldn’t want to make friends with a serial killer, right?”
Kara smiles again and cocks her head to the side. “I don’t know. Have you seen Mindhunters? That guy Holden certainly seemed like he wanted to be friends with a serial killer.”
“Never seen it,” Lena replies. She stops in front of a building suddenly. “This is the place. I figured we could sit in the patio, more room.” Kara nods and follows Lena inside. Lena gives her name and the hostess nods and takes them to their table, picking up the little ‘reserved’ placard. They look over the menu quickly with a waitress staring at them awkwardly. Lena feels rushed, so she just orders a salad and Kara orders a cheeseburger.
“Oh no. Are you one of those healthy people?” Kara asks.
“Excuse me?” Lena replies, raising an eyebrow.
“You ordered a salad. Do you also make your own kombucha?” There’s a glimmer in Kara’s eyes, but all it really does is make Lena want to poke them out. How dare this-this woman? She doesn’t know her! This was a mistake. Lena shouldn’t have tried to be nice, it always backfires on her. She never should have replied to that stupid text message.
“Whoa, uh, you look like you want to murder me. I’m sorry. My sister tells me that I don’t have a filter sometimes and I forget. I didn’t mean to make fun of you. I’ve actually had kombucha once, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”
Lena’s heartrate slows down to a normal pace and she takes a deep breath.
“Sorry, I just—I’m a little self-conscious about what I eat.”
Kara looks at her and frowns. “What? Why? You look great! I mean, I just met you, but you’re, uh, like, kinda gorgeous. I mean—crap! Alex told me not to say everything on my mind. Anyway, you shouldn’t worry about what you look like, is all I’m saying.” The words tumble out of Kara’s mouth and both of them are the same shade of red, but for different reasons. Lena’s annoyance melts away immediately and the waitress comes by with their food.
“Could I also get a side of french fries?” Lena asks, smiling at Kara.
“With ranch!” Kara adds.
When Kara had said she had interview questions ready, Lena didn’t realize that she had five pages worth of interview questions. Their lunch became a two-hour interview, and Kara didn’t limit her questions to the cat brush, either.
“So, when you took over the company, I know you rebranded it and kind of wanted to head in a different direction from your brother,” she says, tapping her pen on her notepad. Lena nods, waiting for a question to be asked. “What is it that you want L-Corp to be?”
Lena thinks about the question pensively. “I guess I just want to make it mine, you know? Ever since my brother was forced to step down, I just wanted to take the Luthor name out of it, you know? Not because I’m ashamed, but because it shouldn’t be what I’m known for. I want to create machines and tech that will help people. I want to develop cures for illnesses and robotics for amputees. I want to do good.”
Kara smiles easily and jots down some notes. “Well, you’re off to a good start. This cat brush will help cat owners all over the world.”
Lena snorts. “You know I only made that up so that I could meet you, right? Well, not only meet you, but so you could have your first interview and article to write.”
“Uh-huh, sure. Admit it, I was so alluring and mysterious in those text messages, you couldn’t help but want to see who was on the other end.”
Lena scoffs. “Right, in between the exclamation points and emojis was my desire to find out who you were.”
“I knew it!” Kara sits back proudly. She looks at her watch. “Shoot! I was supposed to be back forty-five minutes ago.” She takes her wallet out of her purse, ready to pull out some cash.
“No, don’t worry about it. I got it,” Lena says, waving her hand at Kara dismissively.
“I said I was going to pay,” Kara pouts and Lena just smiles at her. “Well, thank you for lunch and the interview, Miss Luthor. I’ll probably have this article written and uploaded by Friday.”
“I can’t wait,” Lena replies with a smirk, internally groaning at how flirty it came out. They walk back to CatCo and Lena leaves Kara there while she’s driven back to L-Corp. She replays the entire lunch over in her mind and groans when she realizes that she’s really going to have to spend time and resources on making a cat brush. She doesn’t even like cats. Those four-legged balls of satanic energy can’t be trusted.
When Friday comes around, Lena receives a text message with a link to a CatCo article and she sits down on her sofa to read it. She had to hand it to Kara, she did have a way with words, and she didn’t say anything offensive about her or her family, which was always a plus. In fact, it was probably the most unbiased article ever written about her. She smiles and opens up her texts.
Lena: That’s a really great article. If Cat isn’t careful, she’s going to lose an assistant.
Kara: Actually, I have good news! She’s promoted me to junior reporter, can you believe it??? I owe everything to you. Please, let me take you out for dinner and let me pay this time. It’s the least I could do.
Lena knows she’s treading a dangerous line, but it’s been a long time since she’s had an actual friend to spend time with, rather than employees who were paid to. But Kara is fun and Lena has fun talking to her. She hasn’t smiled that much in years, or maybe ever. In any case, she ignores whatever feelings are bubbling in her stomach and chest and pretends that it’s all because the prospect of having a new friend is exhilarating.
They agree to have dinner on Saturday night and Lena showers and stands inside of her huge walk-in closet, suddenly having nothing to wear. She flips through every single dress she owns and none of them look right. She looks at her watch to see if she has time to go out and buy a new one, but she’s only got about an hour and a half before she has to meet Kara at the restaurant, so she sits on her bed and groans in frustration. She doesn’t understand why this is so difficult for her. For dates, she just chooses whatever fits and will make her ass look good, but this isn’t a date! It’s not. Is it? It’s dinner with a friend, whom she’s met exactly one time, and dinner is being paid for. It sounds like a date, but isn’t a date.
Is it a date? Shit. She doesn’t even know.
She settles on a black sleeveless dress and a pair of five-inch heels. That should put her on even ground with Kara, at least height-wise. She pulls out one of her necklaces from her jewelry box – a gold chain with an opal that dangles from the center. Then she goes to her bathroom wardrobe and meticulously applies her make-up before calling her driver to come pick her up. Kara had chosen a local Italian restaurant, which does nothing to convince her that it isn’t a date, but she sighs and walks inside anyway. She gives the host her name and he takes her to their table. Kara is already waiting there and she looks nervous, Lena notices.
When Kara sees her, she stands up immediately and grins. The host pulls out the chair that’s adjacent to Kara’s for Lena and pushes it in when she sits down. He takes their drink order and Kara lets Lena choose the wine, since she’s better at that sort of thing. There’s a candle lit in the center of the table and it’s really feeling date-like now.
“I’ve never been here before, but Alex recommended it. I think she took one of the dates I got for her here, but now that I think about it, that makes this kind of awkward.”
Ah, so not a date.
“It’s nice,” Lena says, sipping her ice water in hopes that it quenches her thirst.
The waiter comes back with the wine and pours them two glasses full, then takes their order. Lena feels jittery and nervous, unsure of what she wants and how to get it.
“So, thanks again for getting me that promotion.”
Lena shakes her head. “You got that promotion on your own. I just got you your first interview. Who knew Cat was a... cat lover?”
That gets a snort from Kara and she adjusts her glasses. Lena decides that making Kara’s laugh is her new favorite thing and wants to continue doing it.
“Who was your other number neighbor?” Lena asks.
“Hm? Oh, I don’t know. They replied in a language I don’t know how to read and Google translate said that it was Norwegian for ‘choke your chicken,’ which I assume is ‘go screw yourself,’ so,” Kara shrugs nonchalantly.
“Then I guess you got pretty lucky with me,” Lena teases.
“I guess I did,” replies Kara with a slight smile and a serious look is her eyes. Lena shakes it off and takes another sip of her wine, concentrating on how it feels going down her throat and not at all paying attention to the thumping of her heart.
By the end of the night, they’re walking down a small path in a nearby park together with very few streetlights. Lena is a little worried about the location and the people nearby, but Kara doesn’t appear to be phased. In fact, Kara keep smiling at her nervously and won’t stop adjusting her glasses until there’s a click behind them and a man demanding that they hand over all of their cash and jewelry. As Lena sighs, she begins to take off her watch, but Kara turns around suddenly and knocks the gun right out of the man’s hand and easily dodging a punch. Kara then elbows the man in the nose and he falls to the ground, writhing in pain.
Lena stares at her, slightly terrified, but also incredibly turned on and Kara grins at her sheepishly, stating that Alex has forced her to take a few self-defense classes with her. They wait for the police to come and give their statement. Alex rushes over and pulls Kara into a hug, giving Lena a concerned look, as well.
“Are you two okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re fine. Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Kara replies easily.
“I think she broke that guy’s nose,” Lena comments, watching them cuff the would-be robber with blood dripping down his face.
“He got off easily,” Alex says with a frown. “Kara could’ve—“ She stops herself and clamps her mouth shut. Kara shoots her a look that Lena can’t quite decipher, but she just chalks it up to them being relieved and still running on adrenaline.
Alex drives both of them home and Kara walks Lena up to the doorstep of the apartment building.
“Well, attempted robbery aside, I had a nice time tonight. Thank you for indulging me,” Kara says sweetly.
“I had a good time, too. Thank you for dinner,” replies Lena as she shuffles her feet nervously. She doesn’t know why she’s nervous, because she definitely shouldn’t be expecting a goodnight kiss, but she wants one. Catching her by surprise, Kara leans in and kisses her on the cheek and she freezes. Alex flashes her lights on the two of them and Kara laughs and rolls her eyes.
“She’s the worst. I’ll, uh, I’ll text you?” Kara asks hopefully, taking a step back, her hand still holding onto Lena’s forearm. Her words have completely left her, so she just nods slowly. Kara says goodnight and walks backward toward Alex’s car. The horn blares and startles her, so she quickly rounds the car and jumps into the passenger seat. Lena can see Kara frowning and playfully slapping Alex’s arm, and Alex is just laughing.
So, maybe it was a date.
Lena sighs and walks into her building, the long trip up to the top floor gives her time to replay every single thing that happened that night. From Kara giving her smoky eyes to her pushing Lena behind her when the man pointed the gun at them, she couldn’t quite pinpoint what she was to Kara. She could most likely consider them friends, that was for sure, but this strange dance they’re doing where they go on dates that aren’t specifically called dates and all the texting, which is all quite tame, she isn’t sure what to make of it.
The next text she receives from Kara a week later doesn’t make it any easier on Lena, either. She’s sitting at her desk, buried in paperwork, when her phone goes off.
Kara: Hey! So, Alex and her new girlfriend (she finally settled down!!!) are going to this cabin out in the mountains this weekend and asked me to join. I don’t really want to third wheel it, so wanted to know if you wanted to come. I know you’re probably not the camping type, but this place will have running water and a shower, so it’s not like CAMPING camping. Let me know!
Lena hates camping. It’s dusty and everything smells like trees and ugh. And she wouldn’t be caught dead in hiking boots. The last time she went camping was when she and Lex were younger and her parents were trying to make it some kind of bonding experience, but all she got out of it was being stuck under an overturned canoe and fear of contracting dysentery.
Lena: Sure, count me in.
Let it be known that Lena Luthor is completely whipped. Alex and Kara pick Lena up bright and early that next Saturday, the car packed up to the brim with beer, food, toilet paper, and other necessities. Kara introduces Kelly, Alex’s newest flame, and Lena climbs into the back with Kara, who looks like an excited child as she stares at the window while they drive out of the city. Lena notices how Alex and Kelly hold hands across the center console and her own hands are set in her lap. Kara’s are stiffly set at her sides as she bops around to whatever song is playing on the radio.
“So, Lena,” Alex says while looking through the rear view mirror, “have you gone camping before?”
“Only once, when I was younger,” Lena replies. “My father’s attempt at family bonding.”
Kelly turns around to face her. “Well, we don’t have to bond if you don’t want to, but Kara’s told me a lot about you and I think we have a lot in common. Hope you like wine, I brought four bottles.” Lena smiles and looks at Kara, who is beaming.
Once they get to the cabin, Kara hoots and jumps up in the air when she sees the place. It’s a two-story building made to look like a wooden cabin. There’s a patio in the back with a barbecue and a fire pit, along with horseshoe and cornhole further out. A trail leads straight to a lake with a short pier and a tiny boat tied up to it. As far as cabins go, this is one of the most luxurious ones Lena has seen. They all help unload the car and put the food into the refrigerator. Kelly and Alex run upstairs to choose their room while Kara yells at the both of them and pouts while she’s still holding a carton of milk in one hand and eggs in the other.
After Lena helps Kara put everything away, they walk upstairs as well and check out the rooms. The one that Alex and Kelly picked is at the end of the hall with a bathroom next to it, but there’s only one more bedroom left with a queen bed.
“You can take this one, I don’t mind sleeping downstairs. That couch looked pretty comfy.”
“Oh, no, I don’t want to put you out. I don’t mind sleeping downstairs,” Lena objects.
“Just share the goddamn bed and be quiet!” Alex yells from behind the closed bedroom door. Kara rolls her eyes and walks back downstairs with Lena following close behind. They explore the rest of the cabin and go out to the backyard. Kara runs down the path toward the pier, throwing off her shoes and socks on the way there and dives right in. Lena winces at the thought of how cold the water would be and how much bacteria is probably in that water, but when Kara surfaces, she smile on her face makes Lena forget all about it.
“Lena, come in!”
Lena shakes her head. “Oh no, not happening.” Kara pouts, but Lena resists and sits down, dangling her feet over the edge of the pier. She can just barely dip her toes into the water and, just as she suspected, the water is freezing. “How are you not cold?”
Kara shrugs. “I guess I’m just naturally hot.” Lena nearly slips off of the pier, but she thinks that the cold water will do wonders for her overheating body. She sits and watches Kara show off, swimming in circles and then she climbs out and finds a high branch to jump off of.
“Jesus, Kara, be careful,” Lena yells up to her.
“I got this, don’t worry,” Kara yells back. She takes a running head start before leaping off the branch and splashing down into the water. The ripples flow to the edge of the bank and Lena waits for Kara to come up, but she doesn’t.
“Kara?” She’s standing up now, trying to see where Kara would have landed, but there aren’t any bubbles anywhere. “Shit,” Lena says, starting to panic. She takes her phone and keys out of her pockets and plunges herself into the icy water, diving underneath to look for Kara. The water is cloudy and she can’t see anything, but she keeps searching, throwing her hands out in front of her, trying to feel for a body. She screeches when she feels something grab her ankle and she swims to the surface. Soon after, Kara’s head pops up and she’s laughing.
“Fucking hell, Kara! Don’t do that, you can’t—“ she realizes she’s crying and practically hyperventilating. Kara’s smile falls once she sees it and swims back to the pier, lifting herself onto it and then helping Lena out of the water.
“Hey, I’m really sorry. I was just having fun. You see that all the time in the movies. Gosh, I wasn’t thinking, Lena.” Lena doesn’t say anything and just launches herself into Kara’s arms, wrapping her arms around the blonde’s neck. “Come on, let’s get you inside and warmed up.” She leads them back up the path, Kara picks their shoes up on the way there and she leaves Lena in the living room floor after starting a fire. She heads upstairs to grab them some dry clothes and she can hear Kara and Alex arguing.
Kara comes back down, brow creased, but has clothes in her arms. She hands Lena a pair of sweats and a hoodie. “There’s another bathroom downstairs, past the kitchen,” Kara says with a frown. She looks like a puppy who just got scolded. Lena thanks her and retreats to the bathroom. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes are bloodshot and her lips are darkening into a purple color. She quickly jumps into the shower and rinses off the lake water with hot water and she begins to feel better.
When she comes out, dressed in what she assumes are Kara’s clothes, Kara is sitting in front of the fire with a mug in her hands. Lena walks over and sits down next to her. “I made you some hot chocolate. I didn’t know if you wanted marshmallows or not, but they’re on the coffee table.”
Lena smiles gratefully and picks up her mug, letting the warmth heat up her hands. They sit in silence for a few minutes until Lena breaks it. “I’m not mad at you. I just—I thought you were in trouble and I couldn’t find you. I panicked.”
“It was a stupid joke. I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry.” Kara looks embarrassed and Lena assumes that Alex already gave her an earful upstairs. They both come down and make sure Lena’s okay and she tells them both that she is and she overreacted.
“No, Kara knows better,” Alex says.
“It’s really okay. I’m just not used to—“ Lena pauses. “I’m not used to worrying about people.” Kara’s eyes shoot up and look at her, but Lena’s don’t meet them. She stares down into her mug of hot chocolate, watching the marshmallows slowly dissolve. Alex and Kelly look at each other and stand up.
“We’re going to, uh, go grab a few things from the market in town,” Kelly says hastily. “You two get warmed up and rest. We’ll be back soon.”
“That was weird,” Kara says, watching the car skid off through the window. Lena hums, but doesn’t reply, still cradling the hot chocolate that’s now cooled off considerably. She doesn’t know what to say and Kara isn’t faring any better.
“I think I’m going to go take a nap,” Lena finally says, standing up from the couch. She sets her mug down in the sink and heads upstairs, Kara just watching her go. Lena closes the door behind her and leans against it, letting out a deep, shuddering, breath. She feels trapped, all of a sudden. Out of all the things that could happen on a camping trip, freaking out about her only friend nearly fake-drowning was not something she would have expected to happen. She slides down to the floor and sits while leaning against the door. There’s a gentle knock on the other side and Kara’s concerned voice.
“Lena? Can I come in?”
Lena slowly stands up and cracks the door open, peeking out to see Kara’s sad puppy eyes. She clenches her jaw before opening the door wide enough for Kara to walk through. Lena sits on the bed and Kara joins her.
“I wanted to apologize for—“
Lena shakes her head and interrupts Kara before she can go any further. “No, it’s fine. It was just a joke and I overreacted, because I thought my only friend drowned. It’s okay, I’m over it.”
“You don’t sound over it,” Kara replies. She reaches over and places her hand on top of Lena’s “You said you weren’t used to worrying about people, but I am. There’s something that I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while now, but I didn’t know how. And, unfortunately, it’s probably going to make you worry more, but I feel like I owe it to you to tell you.” She stands up and faces Lena, slowly bringing her hands up to the buttons of her shirt. Lena stares at her, unsure of what’s happening or why Kara is stripping in front of her.
Kara slowly unbuttons her shirt and Lena sees the unmistakable patterns of reds, yellows, and blues on her chest. She gasps softly and things begin to make sense – all of the cancelled plans, being stood up, being able to hold her breath for over three minutes in freezing cold water. Kara is Supergirl. And she was right, this would undoubtedly make Lena worry about her more, but for other reasons.
“Why are you telling me this now?” is all she can say and it comes out in a whisper.
“Because I didn’t want to lie to you anymore, about why I was always gone and how I broke that guy’s nose when I pretty much just flicked him. You’ve become really important to me in such a short time and I… I really like you, Lena. A-and you don’t have to worry about me while I’m off doing Supergirl stuff! I’ll text you every day, check in with you whenever I’m on TV with some story that’s been blown way out of proportion. I think I have an extra watch so you can call me at any time, whenever you need me.”
“When you say you like me, what does that mean, exactly?”
Kara laughs. “Out of all of that, that’s the thing you clung onto? I like you, Lena.” She takes a step forward. “I know we don’t really know each other that well, but I’d like to get to know you, if you’d let me.” Lena traces the ‘S’ symbol on Kara’s chest and her heartrate begins to increase significantly. She starts going through a list of pros and cons in her head.
Pros: Kara likes her. Kara can take care of herself. She can fly. Lena really likes her back. Kara’s biceps are enormous. She won’t have to worry about Kara’s stamina (wink wink). Or about getting her sick when she has the flu.
Cons: Aliens will constantly be attacking Kara, maybe even her now that she knows. Alex will absolutely give her the shovel talk when she gets back. Possibility of broken bones in bed; she’d have to figure something out.
“Is it okay if I kiss you?” Kara asks, interrupting Lena’s mental listing. Lena blinks and looks up into Kara’s eyes as she waits patiently for her reply. Lena nods silently and her breath hitches when she feels Kara’s lips on hers. In fact, she stops breathing altogether. All she can think about is how soft Kara’s lips are and how warm her body feels next to hers. She backs up until her knees hit the edge of the bed and she sits down and scoots back until she reaches the pillows. Kara climbs up and crawls up beside her, running a hand through her hair gently.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks.
“I don’t know how to do… this. Like I told you before, I’m not used to worrying about anyone but myself and I haven’t had a relationship that wasn’t built on using each other for personal gain or me rebelling against my mother.”
Kara’s eyes soften. “It’s okay, we’ve got time. We can go as slow as you want. We can even go back to just texting if that would make you more comfortable.”
Lena laughs lightly and is about to lean in to kiss Kara again when she bolts up and stands two feet away from the bed. Lena looks at her strangely, but there’s a knock on the bedroom door and Alex opens it to peek inside.
“Hey, we’re back. Are you two oka—“ Alex stops talking when she notices Kara’s open shirt. “I see you’ve told her.”
Kara looks down at herself and quickly fastens the buttons again. “Yeah. I, uh, I did. Sorry?” Alex just rolls her eyes.
“Well, when you two are done in here, I’m starving and want to eat before I wither away, so come down and help me cook.” She turns to leave, but she yells out, “And don’t think you’ve gotten out of the shovel talk, Luthor.”
The rest of the weekend is spent swimming, or in Lena’s case, trying to stay dry and out of the sun. They sit and talk around the fire pit, Alex teases Kara endlessly about how she acted when she and Lena met for the first time.
“You should have seen her,” Alex laughs. “She would ask me what to say to you and ran every single text message by me first before sending them. She insisted on keeping all of the exclamation points and emojis, though.”
“Hey! Those emojis give my texts character,” Kara pouts.
At the end of the weekend, they pack up the car and head back to National City. Lena secretly dreads the thought of going back to work, but at least Jess should be back. She’s not sure what Monday will mean for her and Kara, either, and she’s not sure how far she wants to take things. It’s been so long since she’s had a meaningful relationship with someone, let alone a friendship and she’s a little scared.
Kara doesn’t let her stay that way, though. As promised, she texts her everyday and even sends her selfies of her doing good deeds around the city. She enjoys having a... girlfriend? Girl who is also a friend? Well, whatever Kara is to her, she’s enjoying it.
One night, Kara drops by L-Corp while Lena is still working, trying to get some last-minute proposals finished. She knocks on the glass balcony door and Lena spins around in her chair and smiles once she sees Kara in her suit. As she walks over to open the door, she notices that Kara’s holding a brown paper bag in one hand.
“What’s that?” Lena asks in lieu of a greeting.
“I figured you’d be hungry, so I took a slight detour and brought some croissants from Paris.”
Lena smirks. “A short detour, huh?” Kara nods and leans in for a kiss before walking inside. She pulls out a couple of small paper plates from the bag and puts the croissants on them, handing one to Lena. They sit down on the office couch and Kara stuffs the entire croissant into her mouth. When Lena gives her a questioning look, Kara chews and chews... and chews, then swallows.
“I didn’t want to get crumbs on your couch,” she says sheepishly. Lena laughs and rolls her eyes. Kara then turns to face Lena completely. “I wanted to ask you something, which is why I came here, actually.” Lena puts the plate down on the coffee table and listens to Kara intently. Kara takes a deep breath and then words just fall out of her mouth. “Okay, so, I know we haven’t exactly defined what we are to each other and I don’t know if labels are even your thing, but I just wanted to know if you wanted to be my number neighbor girlfriend.” The last three words are mumbled near incomprehensibly.
Lena blinks. For a second, she thinks Kara is asking her to be her number knave or dolphin, but that can’t be right. “You’re asking if I want to be your girlfriend?” Lena confirms. Kara nods hesitantly and Lena can’t help but smile. “I’ve been wondering when you’d ask,” she says. Kara lights up and hugs the air right out of her new girlfriend. Lena’s definitely glad she didn’t block Kara’s number when she received the first text message. Her touch-starved self would miss out on all these hugs and cuddle sessions that Kara seems to be obsessed with. Lena supposes she likes them well enough, too. In any case, she loves making Kara smile and she’s a pretty okay kisser, so she guesses she’ll keep her around, and Alex and Kelly are amusing, especially when they all gang up on Kara together.
Kara stills herself and Lena pulls away. “What is it?”
“You should text your other number neighbor.”
“I’d really rather not,” Lena replies. Kara searches around for Lena’s phone and uses her super speed to grab it and get away from Lena before she can take it away from her. “Kara, seriously, don’t text it.”
But it’s too late. Kara’s already texting some incredibly lame message to Lena’s other number neighbor, probably something like Howdy, neighborino! I’m Lena Luthor, your local billionaire extraordinaire! We should be friends! I love friends!!! Lena crosses her arms, completely unamused while Kara patiently waits for a reply.
Unknown Number: Lena, it’s about time you got over your little tantrum. What’s gotten into you? Is this a cry for help? I knew you’d take after your father. Have you talked to Lex lately? I was thinking the three of us could have brunch sometime. I haven’t reprimanded you about that ridiculous article about the cat brush yet. What were you thinking? Spending company money on something like that?
Kara blanches and Lena takes the phone out of her hand. She’d deleted her mother’s phone number months ago and also changed hers, but now Lillian has it again. Lena just glares at Kara, who grimaces and squeaks out a sorry.
“You owe me, big time,” Lena says through her clenched jaw. "Now I have to change my number again."
“Uh… yep! I sure do. Anything you want, it’s yours.”
“Bedroom, now. Take everything off but your suit.”
Kara’s never moved so fast in her life and Lena’s left to wonder what things would be like if she’d never replied to Kara’s message, but she really doesn’t want to know. All she knows is that her life is better with her in it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, even if that means having to ghost her own mother again.