Chapter Text
"Hey little sister!"
Lena was delighted to see Lex after a long separation, and even better, he was smiling warmly. In an instant, that familiar smile eased Lena, cheered her like no one else could.
"Hi big brother!"
"How's London?"
There was no point in trying to fool him, after all no one knew her better than her brother, but still. Regardless of her inner conflict in worrying him, Lena knew she was going to be honest with him. She might be twenty-one now, and all grown up enough to go overseas for her Master's program, but she was always his little sister.
"Honestly? I'm lonely."
Instantly, Lex was all sweet solicitude, grasping the phone in both hands. "Hey, are you doing okay?"
Squirming a bit, Lena chewed at her lip before sighing gustily. "Mostly? It's just starting to sink in how long I'm going to be away. I mean, I know I signed up for this, and it's an adventure, but still…"
"Hey, kid, you call and whine at me any time you need me, okay? Night or day, I'm here for you."
Sniffling over sting of emotional tears, Lena scrubbed at her eyes and smiled that shy little smile that made her look four years old again. "Thanks, Lex."
"Have you gotten those big, soulful eyes relicensed?" he teased lightly and Lena couldn't stop her giggle. That was all the invitation Lex needed to cheer her up, his expression openly gleeful. "Hey, two more years and you'll have that Master's degree and the world will be yours to rule!"
The magnanimous sweep of throwing both arms wide made Lena giggle more and nearly sent several expensive pieces of equipment tumbling, someone squawking in protest just off-screen.
"But don’t have me bumped off just yet, eh?" The deadpan delivery made Lena gape before cracking up. No could make her laugh like Lex. No one.
Immediately Lex sat forward again, his face alight with delight.
"Oh hey, meet my new best friend in the world."
From just off camera, the mystery voice made a rude scoffing noise laced with warm humor. A very female voice. Lena could barely process her brother not only letting someone in his lab, but a female someone. Who was this woman? She must be someone special. A slender figure stepped into the view of the camera, face in profile, attention on a device in her hands. Long auburn hair obscured her from the cheekbones down, mystifying Lena to what she looked like.
"So what's with this energy converter? Did you actually want it to explode?"
Lex visibly startled and protested, "no!"
"Then you seriously gotta turn down the conversion rate on this thing. Because this will make an excellent grenade worthy of taking out a city block, but not what I signed up for. Boys."
The playful derision on that parting shot pulled a grin from Lena, despite her shock at the stranger's presence. As the mysterious Alex strode away without ever having looked away from her tablet, Lex's sheepish eye-roll pulled out the giggle Lena hated and could never control around him, the big loveable jerk.
"So, yeah, that's Alex. Dad hired her right out of med school because she's brilliant and a smartass."
"And I'm funner than Clark!" Alex yelled from nearby and Lex perfectly mimicked her earlier scoff.
"Yeah, well everyone is funner than Clark. I love the guy, but his sheer wide-eyed earnestness really makes everyone want to tease the hell out of him."
"You mean your college buddy, Clark? The journalist straight out of that Pleasantville movie?"
Both Alexes cracked up, a thumbs-up flashing into the edge of the video frame from her brother's new pal.
"Ha ha, hilarious. Just remember that he's friends with your folks too, smartass," Lex sassed his pal before returning his attention to the call. "So how was the modern business symposium?"
"I never said my parents had good taste in friends," Alex chuckled off screen even as Lena groaned long and dramatically, nearly faceplanting to the desk in her hotel suite.
"Uuuuuuuuugh! Do I really have to sit through another four days of this? I hate being the Spare! I have homework!"
For all her jokes about being the Spare to the Heir, Lena adored her brother and her folks. Oh sure, she wasn't Mom's pride and joy, her genius prince, but she was still loved and encouraged on her own merits. But she still had to be prepared to take over the legacy should something happen to her older sibling, no matter how it might chafe sometimes.
They were an odd family, the Luthors. Old-money rich and intelligent enough to shake the world, they were private and presented a very dignified face to the world. It was exhausting sometimes, but Lena was used to it.
And she was never alone, not really. All she had to do was find a little private space and it was a rare time that Lex or her folks didn't make at least a few minutes for her.
The best calls were when she caught Dad in his private study, or better yet, Lex in his labs. It was there he was the most open, the corporate facade shed completely, just her goofy brother left for her to enjoy.
During those calls, it quickly became apparent that her brother's new favorite person in the world was at least as bad a workaholic as he was. If not worse.
"--and then the idiot presses the button and the whole damn thing goes up like a roman candle, spitting sparks and confetti all over Mom! Confetti! Can you believe it? I have never seen Mom so taken aback in my life!"
He was laughing so hard he was nearly crying with it, clearly just as amused to retell the story as he was to have lived it in real-time. Whoever this Alex was, he clearly adored her and Lena didn't know if she was subtly jealous or just really wanted to meet her finally. But it never seemed to happen. Even the times she was there in the lab, she was a restless ghost, appearing and disappearing, clearly caught up in her own thoughts and tasks.
It became a bit of a running gag after awhile.
"Aww, poor Alex," her brother was gently mocking his pal. The call was voice only this time, Lena too weary to fiddle with her phone. Finals were kicking her ass and her thesis was mocking her like a demon in her head. Frankly, her brother and the mysterious Alex were just what she needed.
His stage whisper clearly conveyed his smile. "Don't tell her I told you, but she's totally jealous of you. Well, you being my little sister, because she always wanted one."
"I'm right here, asshole," Alex's dry voice was just caught by Lex's mic and both Luthors cracked up. Still, Lena couldn't help but feel for her, could only imagine the wistful confession to her brother.
"Only child, huh?" she said gently, addressing the other woman directly for the first time. "I can think of some benefits of that."
"Oh, I've been wounded!" Lex carried on melodramatically and Alex's chuckle rolled over Lena's ears.
"All kidding aside, he moons on about you all the time. You sound pretty amazing."
It actually shocked Lena, the rush of warmth that blasted through her from this stranger's praise. Lex was a very careful man who he let past the cultured smile and corporate chic. And this Alex spent considerable time in his personal space where he was dressed down, alight with his intelligence and good humor and just her big brother. So, yeah, Lena was curious as hell.