Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Warner Brothers Studios, Hollywood, CA

God, it was hot…

Lena could feel the backs of her legs clinging to the faux leather seat of the golf cart as her driver for the day- Russ, was it?- continued his polite attempt at making small talk. Constantly trying to distance herself from her family name, even if subconsciously, Lena humored him.

But she was exhausted from her long red-eye in from Europe mere hours ago, trying valiantly to get herself back into the mindset of beginning a new film project, and having an admittedly difficult time focusing on Russ’s latest question.

“Pardon?” Lena replied, shaking the fatigue out of her tone.

“No worries Miss Luthor, it might still be early, but this heat is brutal! I said I can’t believe they’re back!” he said excitedly, wiping the sweat from his brow and returning his hat labeled “SECURITY” to his head, slightly askew- to point excitedly up ahead of them.

Lena followed the direction of his hand and saw what, or who he was pointing at. Up ahead, Lena took notice of two figures in the early morning light of the studio lot. Two figures, she noted as the golf cart closed the distance, were women. A blonde ponytail swayed back and forth from the back of the taller of the two feminine figures, as the shorter possessed a red, cropped bob of sorts. She also noticed that the women weren’t simply jogging in the early morning Hollywood heat, they were RUNNING.

When they’d nearly closed the gap, Russ gave the poor excuse for a horn a quick “toot,” causing both women to glance over their right shoulders, do a double take, and stop.

“Gus!” both women simultaneously yelled.

Ah. Lena chided herself, determined to commit the man’s name to memory.

“I didn’t know you two were back in town! It’s been too long! How are ya?!” Gus extracted himself from the golf cart with a fair amount of effort as Lena felt it dip and right itself as he removed his sizeable form from the small cart.

He engulfed the two women in a giant bear hug. The blonde and the redhead struggled to breathe as he squished them close, placing them gently back on the ground.

“How are you? How’s your family?” the shorter of the two women asked.

“Everyone is great! Kids are great! Hoping for some grandkids soon, but none yet! Susan is doing wonderful, still the most beautiful woman on the planet, keeps me so happy!”

Lena watched both women soak up every word Gus spit out with rapt attention, and chuckled to herself when the shorter teased, “Clearly, she’s keeping your heart and your belly full!”. As both women poked his rotund belly. Lena half expected Gus to be offended considering this was Hollywood and everyone was a tad on the sensitive side about, well… everything. But to his credit, he threw his head back after a beat and roared with laughter causing all of them to indulge along with him.

“Susan always asks about you two,” he said turning serious. “She’s so thankful. We both are, we’ll never be able to repay-”

“-Gus, who’s this? I’m afraid we’re being rude.” the blonde interrupted, speaking for the first time.

And for the first time Lena fully took notice of her as she turned fully to face the obsidian haired actress still seated in the golf cart.

God, it was hot indeed…

Lena exhaled slowly, looking down over her designer sunglasses, taking the blonde in. Even in the early morning hour, she was sweating, donning running gear that accentuated every visible muscle group. The woman standing before her was exceptionally toned. Lena took in long, tanned legs with defined quadriceps and calves clearly belonging to that of a runner. Inquiring eyes raked up over short running shorts and over the woman’s tank top, noting defined, yet still feminine biceps, continuing upward over exceptional shoulders, and finally met curious, bright blue eyes and a polite smile with her hand outstretched.

Shit.

Gus cleared his throat. “Miss Luthor’s flight just got in from Europe not long ago...”

Bless this kind-hearted man she didn’t even know for trying to cover for her blatant ogling.

Lena shook her head in an attempt to collect herself, “Yes, please forgive me I’m a little tired, as Gus said, long flight and little sleep has me in a bit of a cloud.” as she reached out to grasp the blonde’s retreating hand. “Lena Luthor.”

The blonde’s smiled broadened slightly, “Pleased to meet you Miss Luthor, Kara Danvers. This is my sister, Alex.” the blonde shook her hand firmly and gestured to the redhead beside her. Lena pulled herself together after letting go of Kara’s calloused hand, working hands, hands that- get a grip, Lena, and turned to the sister.

“Miss Luthor, Alex Danvers, pleased to meet you. No need to apologize, we’re no stranger to red-eyes and this heat isn’t helping matters.” Alex replied casually.

“So you two are back in town, and you’re here? Does that mean you’re working?” Gus asked with an undisguisable tone of excitement in his voice.

The Danvers sisters looked back and forth between each other as if trying to decide whether or not to disclose the nature of their visit.

Alex nodded. Kara tilted her head before answering, “We… are.”

The behemoth of a man known as Gus actually fist-pumped before picking the sisters up in another bone-crushing hug, eliciting a yelp from both women.

Lena’s interest deepened.

Gus returned both women to the ground and asked “Wait, are you over on lot thirteen?” And if the encounter with Gus and the two attractive, sweaty women didn’t have Lena’s attention before, it certainly did now. All of her attention. She waited as eagerly as Gus for a response from the sisters.

Again, they nodded simultaneously. “I KNEW IT!” Gus cheered.

“Lot Thirteen? Wait a minute…”

Lena had done the script table reads via video conference with her co-stars and the director, but today was the first day of filming and while the heady cocktail of tiredness, heat, and jetlag had her mind in a fog, she was certain… she quickly looked down at the thick script on her lap and noted on the top “UNNAMED PROJECT: WEEK 1. COPY - LENA LUTHOR. LOCATION. WB STUDIOS- LOT 13.” Her head snapped up quickly, and she opened her mouth to question-

“Whoa, Gus. I’m sure Miss Luthor has somewhere to be at this hour if she came straight here after a long flight” Kara said looking up from her watch, regarding Lena politely. “We’re going to finish this run before getting to work. It’s been so great seeing you, let’s make it a regular thing again, yeah? Give Susan a hug from each of us!” Kara hugged him once more and offered her hand to Lena, signaling that the conversation was finished, even if Lena wasn’t ready for it to be.

Lena shook the proffered hand, almost in a daze. Who was this woman?

“Miss Luthor, it’s been a pleasure, I’m sure we’ll be seeing you around.” Kara let go of her hand.

Going through the motions, Lena shook Alex’s and managed a somewhat breathless “Yeah.” Through her fatigue, she was almost positive she saw a pronounced smirk on Alex Danvers’ face.

After one final hug apiece to Gus, the Danvers sisters turned the opposite direction to finish their run, leaving Lena Luthor with more questions than answers as Gus clambered back into the too small golf cart.

He looked at Lena with a warm smile on his face.

“Two of the best people in the Universe, those Danvers sisters.”

“Who… something about that name is familiar,” Lena said almost as much to herself as to Gus.

He regarded her for a moment before restarting the battery powered engine.

“Kara and Alex Danvers. Well that’s a story that could take it all day, but I’ll do my best to give you the Reader’s Digest version before we get to your trailer. They’ve been on a collective hiatus for awhile, but most people in this industry know them because of Krypton Stunts.”

A realization washed over Lena.

Krypton Stunts, one of the most sought after stunt companies in the film industry. Lena had worked on some films that garnered major international success, and several of the productions had initially tried to enlist Krypton Stunts and their people, but none had proven successful. They were rumored to be the best, and apparently for good reason. She hadn’t heard that her new project had secured Krypton, and that was news that wouldn’t have been an easy secret to keep.

“So the Danvers sisters work for Krypton?” she tried to ask with casual indifference.

Gus looked at her for a long moment before replying with a shrug, a smile, and something else Lena couldn’t quite yet place… “You could say that.”

Now Lena Luthor was very intrigued

Gus reached out to hand Lena a bottle of water. Lena’s eyebrows pinched together in question, and he returned his eyes to the impromptu road before replying with a grin,

“You looked thirsty.”

Chapter Text

Downtown L.A.

“I cannot believe I let you talk me into this.” Lena huffed in mock annoyance while adjusting the strap of her sports bra, made visible by her off-the-shoulder top.

“Oh quit complaining. You always do this,” Sam replied. “You always pretend to be so miffed and act like I’ve dragged you against your will to get a good sweat sesh in, and then, when all is said and done, you end up really enjoying yourself. Going on about endorphins and oxytocin… so put your clip-ins on and hush. Besides,” she mumbled from behind an arm she was hugging in front of her body with the other in a fully extended stretch, “there’s a substitute instructor, and she’s supposed to be phenomenal- worth every penny and then some from what I hear.  I’ve never seen the class this full before, they’ve even brought in extra bikes.”

Lena regarded her friend, who had moved on to touching her toes, stretching her hamstrings.

“What?” Sam deadpanned, standing back up to her full height.

Lena slipped her cycling shoes on and bent down to fasten the Velcro.

“I’m just... so thankful for you, you know that, right?” Lena stood up to look at Sam.

“Stop it with that, I’ve told you a hundred times Lena, you never need to thank me. I’m just glad you’re finally happy, on your own terms. You deserve it.” Sam shrugged, waving off Lena’s gratitude before continuing her pre-cycling stretch regimen.

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Lena Luthor had first met Samantha Arias at their all girls boarding school in Europe. Both hailing from families that left a lot to be desired, that, and being so far away from home were the only necessary ingredients in a recipe required to concoct a fast, meaningful friendship.

A friendship that blossomed and flourished throughout their boarding school years, their bond only growing stronger when they parted ways and attended separate colleges. Their friendship remained while Sam chased her dream, and Lena chased her family’s.

Sam had always known exactly who she was and exactly what she wanted, two of many reasons Lena both admired and respected the hell out of her.

Lena had graduated early from M.I.T. and moved on to pursue various graduate degrees. Sam had finished up at N.Y.U. with a focus on the arts, then packed up and moved herself across the country, with a three year old, to pursue an acting career.

Theatre and drama had been a passion Lena and Sam had both shared through boarding school and well into college. But while Sam had moved out and severed ties with her adoptive mother the moment she turned sixteen, becoming an emancipated minor, Lena had been unable to escape the reach and influence of her own adoptive mother.

Lena’s own parents may never have shown her love, but appearances were everything to the Luthors, and “No adopted daughter of Lillian Luthor’s was going to squander the opportunity and privilege the family had provided her by taking her in, attempting to pursue something as laughable and menial as acting.”

Lillian’s words echoed when her parents had asked her where she intended to apply to college over dinner at age fifteen.

“That wouldn’t do at all, she’d follow in her older brother, Lex’s footsteps. Sure, she’d never be nearly as bright, nor as good as he was, but she’d find a position within the company somewhere and he could help keep her in line.”

Lex. Lena worshipped her older brother. The only Luthor ever showed her kindness, his love made Lionel’s benign neglect, and Lillian’s icy demeanor tolerable.

Because of Lex, Lena finished grad school and took a position in the Science and Technology Division of LuthorCorp, working in R&D.  She was doing notable work, her colleagues were amicable enough, and she even managed to keep her interaction with Lillian minimal, only having to see her mother at board meetings and the occasional presentation or press release when her presence was necessary.

Lena was content.  She was doing decent work, she got along with her coworkers, she never had to want for anything, but was no longer dependent on her trust fund, and she was able to meet Lex at least once a week for lunch.

And then the world as Lena knew it came crashing down.

It’s a funny thing, the mind’s capacity to remember minute, mundane details surrounding cataclysmic events. The name of the barista who had made her latte that morning, the latest hot take celebrity gossip surrounding The Royal Baby that came humming through the radio during her morning commute, the brand of overwhelming cologne of one of her fellow scientists doused himself with…

Lena was in the process of signing off on the latest schematics for a nuclear dam in southwest Asia designed to bring power to remote areas of China when the news broke.

The room stopped.  Everyone’s attention was focused on the floor’s various flat screen televisions. Every major news network had halted their regular mid-morning broadcast to break the news… “LEX LUTHOR ARRESTED ON MULTIPLE CHARGES; BUYING AND SELLING NUCLEAR CODES TO VARIOUS OUTPOSTS OF TYRANNY” Lena noted the somber look on the silver haired news anchor’s face as the camera cut to raw footage of her brother being escorted out of his high rise apartment building by a mass of F.B.I. agents. Lex was handcuffed and shackled, and as the herd of reporters called out questions, his head snapped up to look directly into one of the cameras and Lena saw something in his eyes that was entirely unrecognizable.

In the weeks that followed, Lena had been interrogated and questioned by the police and F.B.I. more times than she ever cared to remember.  Dozens of new charges against her brother continued to pile up. The F.B.I. had of course seized all of his research, including his cloud drives, computers, hard drives, and servers. It had come to light that Lex Luthor had been peddling government secrets to warlords and dictators for quite some time.  It was also now public knowledge that Lex Luthor had set forth the beginnings of a mass genocide, targeting immigrants, minorities, and any persons or groups that didn’t fit into the Lex Luthor model of prejudiced utopia.

The brother Lena knew, the brother she had spent nearly her entire life idolizing, was dead.

Weeks passed.

The news of Lex Luthor’s mental undoing seemed to be the physical undoing of the family patriarch. Shortly following Lex’s arrest, Lionel Luthor was diagnosed with leukemia, stage four. He died the day of the trial.  Every major newspaper and gossip rag played on the drama that disappointment killed Lena’s father, not the cancer.

Before his death, and unbeknownst to anyone, aside from his lawyers, Lionel Luthor had amended his will, naming Lena his sole heir as well as President and CEO of LuthorCorp. Much to Lena’s surprise, and Lillian’s utter contempt…

Lena did her due diligence and testified against her brother, appearing only in the courtroom when necessary.  Every moment of her already non-existent free time was spent resurrecting the reputation of the company her father had built and her brother had nearly destroyed.

Lena worked tirelessly for nearly eight months to raise her company from the ashes. She renamed it, making LCorp a force for good. She cleaned house, personally overseeing the immediate termination of any employee- everyone from the board members to the custodians who had ideals aligning with her brother’s radical notions.

The company was finally at a place Lena could be proud of.  Lex was behind bars for good. He’d received seven consecutive life sentences after further incriminating evidence placed him at the helm of various biochemical weapons attacks.  

Lillian it seemed, was out of the picture.

The Luthor matriarch had sat behind Lex in the courtroom for the duration of the trial, called upon by both the prosecution and the defense to testify.  Still she remained stoically supporting her son as layer upon layer of his madness was revealed.

As soon as the trial ended and Lex was carted off to a supermax prison in some unnamed location in the middle of nowhere to live out the rest of his days, Lillian seemed to vanish right along with him.

Lena had suspected that her mother had fled to one of the family’s many private homes.  Lionel may have eliminated Lillian’s influence over the company, but he didn’t leave her penniless.  Where Lillian had ended up, Lena forced herself not to care.

That left the one constant in her life: Sam.  Sam, it seemed, had been the only positive person in Lena’s life that had been with her through thick and thin, and refused to leave her; no matter how rough things got.

Almost a year to the day her brother had been led out of his apartment by the F.B.I., Sam had called to let Lena know she and Ruby were going to be in town for one of Sam’s auditions.  Lena welcomed the interruption, she’d always looked forward to seeing her best friend and god daughter, even if only for a quick lunch when they were in the same city.

After sating their appetites, catching each other up on their respective current events, and getting the scoop from Ruby on all the latest drama in the realm of eight year old girls, they decided to walk through the nearby park in search of ice cream.

That was when Sam decided to drop the proverbial bomb.

They’d just finished laughing at some ridiculous joke Ruby had told them when Sam turned to face Lena with serious look on her face. She regarded Lena for a long moment before continuing.

“I have a confession,” she said, hooking her arm through Lena’s and pulling her along after Ruby when the girl spotted a young woman up ahead of them with a puppy.

“Oh?” Lena asked lightly.

“Yes. My audition, they’re looking for two female leads. It’s a period drama.  I had my agent book you an audition as well.”

Lena stopped dead in her tracks, halting their forward progress.  She turned slowly to consider Sam, but had found herself speechless.

“Now, before you try and argue, or say anything at all really, just hear me out.” Sam stated holding up her free hand to cease any attempt at a rebuttal from Lena. Sam turned them forward once again, continuing their course of following Ruby down the tree-lined, brick walkway.

“You’ve done great things with LCorp this last year, Lena.  Hell, you’ve done the unthinkable, turning it into something better than it ever had the potential to be before you took the reins… but you’re exhausted.  You work seventeen hour days. When was the last time you took a vacation? I mean yes, filming demands long days, but I also take long vacations. I miss you, RUBES misses you. We’re worried about you. This isn’t some favor to me my agent was doing when she booked the both of us, Lena.  I told her the truth- about how talented you are. That you’re leaps and bounds better than I could ever dream of being. So, she looked you up, pulled some old footage from boarding school and college. She agrees with me, agreed enough to want to represent you as well, should you decide to do this.  You don’t have to decide now. The audition’s in three days, I’ll e-mail you the details and already had my assistant deliver a copy of the script to your office. Just… think about it.”

They slowed to a stop, both watching Ruby scratch the belly of a tiny dalmation puppy while proceeding to ask the apparent owner a million questions.

Lena mulled over the barrage of new information that had just been dropped on her.

“But what about L-”

Sam cut her off.

“LCorp will be just fine without you, Lena. Siobahn Smythe has been chomping at the bit to prove herself.  That woman somehow manages to hero-worship you without making it creepy weird. She’s capable of holding her own against some of those staunchy, chauvinistic, old bastards you have to go toe to toe with sometimes.  Siobahn is a fierce bitch. She can run LCorp, Lena.”

“You shouldn’t say ‘bitch!’” Ruby yelled, perched on her haunches, still scratching the belly of the monochrome spotted puppy.

“And YOU shouldn’t eavesdrop on adult conversations, young lady!” Sam quipped back, giving an apologetic shrug to the woman holding the leash. Lena chuckled.

“And besides,” Sam turned to face her. “It’s not like you’d have to acclimate to dealing with the press and life in the public eye.” Almost as if proving her point, Sam leaned around Lena, causing the shorter woman to turn with her.  Lena followed the direction of Sam’s dramatic wave and noticed two photographers, doing a poor job of attempting to conceal themselves behind a lamp post. “God,” Sam scoffed. “You’d think they’d get BETTER at trying to hide, not worse. Look, Ruby and I have to go, she has a playdate, but please consider this Lena.  You deserve to be happy. Ruby! Come give Aunt Lena a hug, we’re going to be late to for your playdate.”

“Moooommmmm.” Ruby groaned out while stomping over, all fifty pounds of her eight year old attitude on full display. “They stopped being called playdates when I was like… three. They’re called ‘hangouts.’”

Sam rolled her eyes and smiled at Lena over the top of Ruby as the girl hugged Lena.

“See what you’re missing?” Lena’s best friend asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“Bye aunt Lena! Miss you! Love you!” the petite girl hollered over her shoulder as she skipped off to hop into the back of the car that was waiting for she and Sam.

“Think about it, Lena. You have a gift. I love you, and I hope to see you Friday.” Sam kissed each of Lena’s cheeks before hugging her once more and following her daughter into the back of the private car before the driver closed the door behind her.

Three days later Lena found herself standing anxiously outside of the address Sam had e-mailed her. She straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, and stepped forward pushing the door open.

The rest was history.

That was almost five years ago.

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“Yoo hoo! Earth to Lena.” Sam sing-songed, snapping her fingers in front of Lena’s face.

“Sorry,” replied Lena, shaking herself back to the present. “I must have zoned out for a moment, what did you say?”

Lena looked around.  The class appeared to be at max capacity, but still no sign of their instructor.  She glanced at the clock on the wall, the guest still had ten minutes.

“I asked how the new film was going.” Sam answered, taking a drink of water.

“Really well actually, granted we’ve spent the first three days confined to the same tiny set, and I feel as if this is the first daylight I’ve seen since first arriving on set three days ago, but c’est la vie,” Lena waved non-chalantly. “The director’s a real bastard, but I have a good feeling about this, Sam.”

A small smile graced Lena’s lips as she recalled her return those few mornings ago.  Gus, and his kind-hearted demeanor, was more than willing to help Lena out as much as he could in whatever capacity his job allowed. Which did not include, apparently- divulging much more information on the Danvers sisters; the blonde Lena had since come to learn, was the younger of the siblings.

Kara Danvers. Their first meeting had been their only meeting, much to Lena’s disappointment. In between shooting, she’d kept her eyes up and ears open, hoping to run into the attractive blonde again. No such luck.  She also hadn’t heard any news regarding the hiring of Krypton stunts for her current film project, not for lack of trying. Gus was an impenetrable fortress when it came to information; who would have thought…

Lot thirteen was huge. Lena’s schedule was stringent. Her days had been long. She had not seen nor heard from either of the Danvers sisters since their initial meeting, but as she told Sam, Lena had a good feeling.

Almost as if on cue, the door at the top of the amphitheatre style classroom swung open and a figure entered. The figure had clearly fallen victim to the torrential onslaught that had been falling from the sky all day. Water was dripping from the road bike the newcomer was carrying over the shoulder, and the cycling jacket, as well as the visor of the helmet.  The combination of the over-the-shoulder bike, rain jacket hood, helmet, and Lena’s position in the classroom conveniently hid the face of the latest addition to the class, thus obscuring the person’s identity. The latest arrival continued their way downward and forward to the front of the classroom, and whoever they were- the deejay was happy to see them.

“Must be our teacher.” Sam noted as they watched the drenched instructor slow down enough to exchange a high five with the music man, and then disappear out of sight into what must have been a small room located behind the giant floor to ceiling screen at the front of the classroom.

The room was on the second floor of a vast gym with floor to ceiling windows, giving the class a clear view of the rain that had claimed Los Angeles for the day. The room was home to fifty or so spin bikes, all placed in a stadium style setting so each participant had a clear view of the lone stationary bicycle that sat front and center, facing the class.  The class was at capacity, mostly women, Lena noted. There was a buzz in the air, everyone seemed to be excited about the same thing.

“So, this guest instructor… what do you know about them?” Lena said, turning to Sam.

“Welllll… from what I’ve heard, she’s a friend of the owner and covers for her when possible.  She’s supposed to be outstanding, which I’m assuming is why there are so many people here,” Sam supplied, moving to swing a leg over her bike.

“Glad you could make it!  See you brought some of that weather in here with ya!” the deejay laughed at the woman emerging from the closet.

The woman walked over to the man with short, dark hair behind the turntables and they exchanged a complicated handshake.  With her back to the class, she replied, but it wasn’t loud enough to carry past the two friends.

Lena noted the woman still had the same cycling shoes on, and her eyes tracked up over legs clad in black cycling tights.  Calves, hamstrings, and glutes all taut from a serious commitment to her bipedaled craft. The raven-haired woman’s gaze continued upward over what was clearly a muscled back, hidden under a tank top that showed off a fit, yet still feminine figure. Lena watched as the woman, still chatting with the barely taller man, walked over to a doorway Lena hadn’t noticed until now.  She felt her jaw slacken as she watched the woman who was still engaged in conversation with the mixmaster, reach up and jump slightly to grip the door frame with her fingertips, allowing her arms to fully extend while bending her knees parallel to the floor and interlocking her ankles. Lena’s eyes followed notable forearms downward from the door frame, over strapping biceps and triceps, that strained as the woman, -who Lena had now noticed was blonde.  Sandy blonde hair that was still apparently damp from the rain, was pulled up into a high ponytail, exposing exceptional shoulder muscles… blonde hair that swayed back and forth slightly as the fair-haired woman began a series of casual fingertip pull ups. Wait a second… it couldn’t be…

The blonde completed a casual set of ten pull-ups, making them look easy, before returning to her feet, brushing her hands off, and turning to finally face the class.

Lena’s breath caught.

It was.

Kara Danvers stood before her and the rest of the class in all of her still damp, toned glory, and for the second time in nearly as many days, Lena Luthor found herself at a rare loss for words.

“Holy shit.” Sam muttered beside her.  Lena had almost forgot her best friend was there.  “She’s… WOW.”

So Lena wasn’t the only one who was speechless. She watched as Kara’s eyes lit up while her deejay friend told her something funny. The younger Luthor tore her eyes away and glanced around the room.   Aha. So THAT’S why the class was so full. Everyone- women and the few men in attendance, were completely enraptured by Kara Danvers. Rightfully so.

Kara took what appeared to be a headset microphone from the music meister, and leaned in as he whispered something in her ear and jutted with his chin in Sam and Lena’s direction.  Kara’s eyes followed suite, taking notice of Sam, and then moved to Lena, locking eyes with the obsidian-haired Luthor. Kara allowed a small smile to grace her lips before raising an eyebrow and tipping her chin in recognition.

Sam turned to look at Lena, seemingly impressed, while Kara finished attaching her mic. Whatever question Sam was poised to ask was cut short by Kara’s interruption.

“Alright everyone! Good to see you all in spite of the weather! It’s raining cats and dogs out there, right?”

Kara’s voice matched her demeanor- full of sunshine, blatantly contrasting the weather outside.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been here, but I do recognize some faces.  I also see a fair amount of newcomers…” she smiled, her eyes once again making their way over to Lena’s.  “I’m glad to see so many of you, this is great! My name is Kara for those of you that don’t know, and this guy over here,” she gestured to the deejay, “is Mr. Mxyz.  He’s in charge of the soundtrack to your suffering this evening.” Kara waited a beat before adding, “Kidding! Kidding! We’re here to have fun while breaking a sweat.”  She received a round of laughter, causing her smile to widen further. “But, if no one has any questions, let’s get started! Mxyz?”

The deejay known as Mr. Mxyz placed the oversized mixing headphones over his ears and pressed a button on his laptop, causing up-tempo, cardio-friendly music to pour through the surround sound system. Kara swung a leg over the stationary bike, effectively straddling it, - focus Lena- , and signaled to Mr. Mxyz.  The dark haired man pressed another button and screen behind Kara came to life.

“Where to today, fearless leader?” he prompted.

“Hmm,” she mused with a hand on her chin. “I’m thinking the hills of Tuscany, what about you guys? Italy okay?”

Everyone responded in kind.

“Alrighty then, Tuscany it is!” Mxyz pressed another button and suddenly the screen gave all the class members a cyclist’s eye view of a winding road through the hills of premier wine country.  A place that had been on Lena’s bucket list for some time, but she had yet to make time to visit with her busy schedule.

“Everyone ready?” Kara asked, clicking her shoes into the pedals, locking them into place, then leaning forward on the bike, eyeing the class happily, but with a look of mirth in her eyes.

Lena, Sam, and the rest of the class responded by clipping in and leaning forward as well.

“Alright then, let’s begin.”

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Ninety minutes later, Lena was considering the removal of Tuscany from her bucket list.  She was winded and covered in a sheen of sweat. Sam exhaled loudly beside her, and as Lena eyed her, she noticed that her fitness loving best friend wasn’t faring much better.  Sam squirted water into her mouth, and after wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, looked at Lena.

“Holy shit, she’s amazing.  I’ve never had a spin workout like that before… actually, I don’t know that I’ve ever had a workout like that before.  I wonder if I can hire her.” Sam pondered out loud.

“Sam…” Lena said as she felt something uncomfortable blossom in her chest.

“What?” Sam replied, taking another drink.  “That was awesome! Everyone’s sweated out! And besides, LOOK at her… Christ, you’d have to be comatose to not want to stare at that body all day.”

Lena shifted her gaze to the front of the class, the uncomfortable feeling in her chest growing…  Kara was still at her bike, members of the class crowding around her to thank her, and make small talk, any excuse to talk to the blonde if Lena were to guess.  Who could blame them?

Lena took a drink of her own water, and toweled the sweat from the back of her neck, glancing at Kara again.  As usual, Sam was right. Lena sighed.

Lena bent down to unstrap her shoes, and when she stood back up, a smiling, muscled, slightly sweaty Kara Danvers was standing before her.  Lena’s mouth went dry.

“Miss Luthor, how nice to see you again.  I’m… pleasantly surprised.” Kara stated, a light, but genuine smile on her lips.  

Lena faltered, speech seeming to fail her while she stared.  

Kara’s smile began to wane and her eyebrows began to draw together when Sam, who had been stealing her gaze back and forth between the two women as if watching an invisible tennis match, came to Lena’s rescue.

“I’m Sam Arias.” she introduced herself, offering her hand for Kara to shake.  Kara grasped it and turned her attention to Sam.

“Arias… like an aria? I like it.” Kara said thoughtfully.

Sam smirked.

“I love music,” Kara shrugged, before adding “I’ve seen you before.”

Sam looked puzzled, trying to remember Kara.

“At the intersection of Sunset and Vine…” Kara added.  Sam still looked perplexed. “The billboard?”

“Oh!” Sam exclaimed. “Right… how could I forget?  It’s-”

“Gigantic.”  Kara supplied.

They laughed as Sam agreed.

Lena snapped out of her stupor as Kara took note of her watch, then tugged at both ends of the towel she had around her neck.

“I’m sorry I can’t chat longer, but I actually have to run.  Miss Arias-”

“It’s just Sam.”  she interjected.

“Right, Sam. Well it’s been great meeting you.  I hope you both enjoyed tonight’s class. Miss Luthor, I’ll see you soon.” Kara questioned with raised eyebrows.

Lena pulled herself together enough to form a semi-coherent response.

“I hope so.”

Kara’s smile widened.

“Great. Have a wonderful remainder of your evening, ladies.” And with that, Kara turned and disappeared into the room behind the screen.

Sam let out a long whistle as she bent over to pick up her own towel, eyeing Lena as the two of them made their way toward the locker room.

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew her?” Sam stated, half exasperatedly.

“I… don’t.  Not really, anyway.  We met my first morning on set.  She and her sister work for Krypton Stunts.  I-”

“THAT’S who you were talking about?  Jesus Lena, she’s… a goddess.” Sam said quietly, removing her gym bag from her locker.  

The uncomfortable feeling in Lena’s chest had returned.

“And you’re my best friend,” Sam continued.  “Which is why I promise not to try and pursue her.”  She said, turning to face Lena fully.

Lena’s head whipped up in question.  Sam held up a hand- her signature move in halting Lena’s attempt at protest.

“I saw you looking at her Lena.  Or should I say ogling.” Sam teased.

Lena’s mouth dropped open.

“I was n-”

“You were. And honestly, who could blame you?  I also like to think I know you better than anyone, and I know it’s been a long time since anyone’s piqued your interest so much so that you’re left speechless.”

“I don’t even know her.” Lena weakly tried to argue.

“So?” Sam replied.  

The two women descended the stairs and headed out onto the street.

“By the way Kara made things sound, you’ll be seeing each other soon enough.” Sam’s smirk was back.

Lena rolled her eyes, pulling her sunglasses out of her bag.

“Do you have time for a drink? After that, I think we’re both a little thirsty.” Sam said, laughing at her own wit.

Lena audibly groaned. Maybe she was that obvious, but with an evening free and time for a cocktail with her best friend, she wasn’t going to worry about it until her next encounter with the younger Danvers.

“I have another early call time, but the night is young. I’d love a drink, lead the way.”

Sam beamed, then looped her arm through Lena’s leading her down the street to a nearby bar.

Both women too content with the prospect of happy hour time together  to notice the conspicuous looking van across the street.

Chapter Text

Warner Brothers Studios, Hollywood, CA

Four days later and the rain was still coming down.

It was barely dawn as Gus chauffeured a bleary-eyed Lena to hair and make-up.

“Long days already, Miss Luthor?” Gus inquired over the rain that was pattering against the clear vinyl of the golf cart’s temporary rain walls.

Lena hummed in acknowledgement, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Well, no matter how early the call time, I’m afraid you’ll never make it in to work before this bunch.” Gus said chuckling, while motioning through the rain spattered plexiglass.

Lena sat up straighter and leaned forward, clutching her shoulder bag and squinting to see what Gus was seeing in the dreary, early morning light.

As they neared, the mass came in to focus.  Runners. Lena counted. Ten of them running in double file, two by two. It was early. It was chilly. It was pouring. They group was perfectly in step, perfectly in sync… it was almost militant. Gus slowed slightly as they passed.  Through the rain-streaked windows, Lena saw her.

Kara was at the front of the group, leading the row closest to she and Gus, dressed in black running tights, and what appeared to be a thin black quarter zip, the dark colours, paired with the early hour, disguised what had to be a woman soaked to the bone if her hair was any indicator.  The blonde hair was once again pulled up in a ponytail, but tendrils clung to her neck as she led the pack. As they pulled up even with the leaders, Lena noted the impassive, stoic look on Kara’s face. The elder Danvers ran in step directly behind her younger sister, equally as drenched. A man Lena didn’t recognize, but about the same age ran in tandem with Kara, then again she didn’t recognize anyone other than Kara and Alex. The sisters looked to Gus and Lena as they passed and acknowledged them with a respective nod and a wave.  This time Lena noted, smiles were absent. Gus didn’t stop.

“Gus? Is everything alright?” Lena asked cautiously.

“Hmm? Yes! Why wouldn’t it be?” the large man said, looking between her and his intended route.  “Oh, that??” He gestured, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. “That’s normal. They’re working. That’s the team- Krypton, I mean.  They’re here before anyone else, although… if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear Kara never went home, she’s always the first one in, last one out.  Anyway, like I was saying, they’re all here before anyone else, and get in their morning routine together before work.” Gus said happily.

“Morning routine?” Lena inquired.

“Yep! Usually a long run, then a workout- sometimes the gym… or martial arts, tai chi, yoga…” he ticked off.

“And that’s mandatory?” Lena was mildly impressed.

“Mandatory? Not at all! All completely voluntary!  Look, Miss Luthor-”

“Gus, will you please call me Lena already?”

The big man smiled.

“Miss Luthor…” Lena sighed. “Like I said, it’s not really my place to say too much when it comes to the Danvers sisters and the rest of Krypton Stunts. But there’s a reason they don’t have a website, just like there’s a reason your Google searches have come up empty-handed.” he smirked and sipped his own styrofoam-vesseled coffee.

Lena nearly spit out her latte. How could he- he couldn’t. Relax, Lena. He’s reading your body language… you’ve been obvious enough for crying out loud.

Lena opted for a slight subject change, hoping to avoid exposing herself anymore.

“I haven’t even heard that they’re officially on this project, is that normal? I feel with everything I’ve heard around the industry about them, it would be relatively big news.” she asked feigning nonchalance.

“Nothing is really ‘normal’ when it comes to that crew, but they don’t do flashy.  So I’m not surprised ya haven’t heard they’re on the job yet.”

Lena nodded in response as their morning commute together began to draw to a close.

“Yanno Miss Luthor…”  Gus paused, almost as if trying to gauge whether or not to continue.  “We hear a lot of things people don’t mean for us to hear down here at the bottom of the food chain; those of us working security I mean.”

“So I’m beginning to learn,” Lena teased, smiling into her caffeinated beverage.  

Gus smiled back.

“I’m just saying, I know your work.  You’re excellent, my Susan and I are big fans.  I also know this is your first big action film, and your first time doing your own stunts.  For whatever it’s worth, you’re in the best hands, with the best people… I don’t say that lightly.” Gus pulled the small vehicle into a spot directly in front of hair and make-up, ensuring Lena had the highest probability of staying dry.

Lena regarded him for a moment before gathering her things, readying herself to jog through the downpour. In the week that she had come to know Gus, she’d learned that he was a kind, jovial man who loved his family, the Danvers sisters, (even if he wouldn’t divulge much about them) and his job- in that order. She smiled and thanked him before turning to brave the rain when she felt a large hand rest on her forearm. She turned back around.

Gus’s usual joking demeanor was gone.  His eyes remained kind, but he’d turned uncharacteristically serious.

“Gus?” Lena worried.

“Two and a half years ago, my Susan collapsed at work. We’ve been married twenty one years now.  We actually met here, Lot seven. She was a personal assistant back then. But they rushed her to the hospital, ran all kinds of tests- most of ‘em I still don't understand.  Finally, we had an answer. CJD.”

Lena’s breath caught.

“You’re familiar?” Gus asked.

“Creutzfeld Jakob Disease… but Gus, you’re how old? In your mid-fifties?  Is Susan notably older than you? Because the average for initial symptom display is-”

“Sixties. Susan’s forty-eight, and an anomaly. Extreme early onset… and here’s the kicker- on top of there being no cure, as you know, we’d just switched insurances here at the studio and the new one claimed she had a pre-existing condition…”

Lena felt her stomach lurch.

“I didn’t know what we were going to do… I was prepared to work three jobs if need be, sell the house, anything to get her the best possible treatment.  Our daughter’s a nurse, nearly quit her job and moved home to help. Well, heads nearly rolled when her mother heard that. Anyway… I went to visit her at the hospital like I did every other day, and there was a team of doctors waiting.  I almost lost my lunch, thinking the worst. Well, they sat us down and told us that all of her medical expenses had been taken care of and that she’d been accepted into a ground-breaking treatment program that had just made it through trials with flying colours, all at no cost.”

Lena gaped, searching for words, finding none.

“That was my reaction too, plus a few tears and loads of prayers,” Gus replied.

“Gus…” Lena thought aloud. “I can count on one hand the number of experimental treatment programs for CJD that are in the successful human trials phase.  I might work in Hollywood now, but I do still attend board meetings and press conferences. LCorp is actually at the forefront of-”

Gus patted her hand affectionately before politely interrupting,

“I told you we were big fans of yours, Miss Luthor,” he said with a soft smile and an unmistakable look of gratitude in his eyes. “Now look, no one will admit to anything… and I don’t know how she did it, but that woman’s got some kind of magic about her in more ways than one.  I asked around as much as I could and didn’t gain much ground, but I know Kara Danvers was behind it.”

Lena tilted her head.

“Gus. Attempting to alter in any way, the participants or results in experimental drug trials… that’s not only unethical- it’s illegal.” Lena said carefully.

She felt conflicted; if what Gus was implying held any truth at all, the scientist in her repelled the thought of an ethics breach...  But her heart swelled at the thought of one Kara Danvers somehow pulling a set of monumental strings to try and save the life of a woman Lena could only assume was as kind as her husband. Lena didn’t even know the woman, but kept finding reasons to want to change that.

Gus regarded her kindly.

“Which is why I’m glad I never found out who took care of us. But my gut’s usually never wrong,” he said grabbing his sizeable belly with both hands and giving it a jiggle, eliciting a laugh from Lena.

“Well, I’m glad too.  Susan’s doing better?”

“She’s wonderful.  No official cure of course but she’s been symptom free for a year!”

Lena squeezed his hand as her smile widened.

“That’s so great, Gus. I’m so glad.”

“Miss Luthor,  I just wanna say…”

Lena held up her hand, not having it.

“I won’t hear it, Gus.  Just promise me that someday soon I’ll be able to meet the woman who makes you so happy.”

“You got it, Miss Luthor.  Soon. Now, if I’m not mistaken, I’m about to make you late, and we can’t have that.  Have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you later! Stay dry! Oh, and Miss Luthor? Stay hydrated today, eh?” Gus winked.

Lena felt her cheeks getting warm and smiled, “I’ll keep that in mind Gus, thank you. I’ll see you soon.”

She stepped into the rain toward hair and makeup with a small smile gracing her lips in the morning hour.

------------------------------------------

Six hours later had Lena collapsing on the couch of her trailer whilst the downpour continued outside.

She was idly rubbing her temples with the fingertips of both hands when the door whipped open, causing her head to snap up, taking in the umbrella wielding newcomer.

“Ronnie?” Lena asked, somewhat incredulously.

“The one and only,” the woman replied, turning to shake her umbrella off through the open door before pulling both it, and the door closed behind her. “You don’t call, you don’t write… I have to hear you’re back in town from your assistant…”

Lena found herself smiling through her tiredness as she stood to hug her friend.

“I’m sorry, it’s been non-stop since I landed.  I’ve barely been home. It’s wonderful to see you though.  What are you doing here? Filming?” she inquired, indicating the woman should sit, while grabbing a sparkling water for the both of them from the trailer’s fully stocked refrigerator. Bless Jess, she’d have to remember to thank her.

“No, I had a meeting.” Ronnie waved casually. “Then I bumped into Jess, and she told me where you were, and here I am. How was Europe?  How’s the new film? Seeing anyone? Tell me everything.”

Lena chuckled.

“Well I see you’re as no-nonsense as ever.  Europe was relaxing, much needed. The new film is going well, it’s still early, but I’m really enjoying myself thus far.  The director’s tough and demanding, and I’m still out of my depth being that I’ve never done action before, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless. Seeing anyone? No, not really.” Lena finished, avoiding Ronnie’s eyes as she took a drink of her fizzy beverage.

Ronnie’s lips ticked upwards.

Damn it.

“First of all, you’re going to be great- you always are. Secondly, what does ‘not really’ mean?”

“Veronica…”

Ronnie scrunched up her nose at the formality. She opened her mouth with what was most likely a sharp-tongued reply, before being interrupted by a noise outside.

Veronica stood to peer out the window of Lena’s trailer.

“What is it?” the still-seated woman inquired.

Veronica laughed.

“They’re shooting a dance-centric movie in the stage on the other side of that trailer.  When I ran into Jess earlier, she was flustered because she was trying to grab lunch, but the dance cast- which apparently includes a mass of five year olds, was swarming the food trucks.  She nearly got bowled over by a bunch of fidgety tots. Looks like they’re done with lunch, and trying to get some practice in.”

Lena smiled from her perch on the couch, tucking her legs under her.

“What about you, Ronnie?”

“I- holy shit. Who is that tall drink of water?” Ronnie said, nearly spitting out her La Croix.

Lena stood, joining her friend at the window, before feeling her own sparkling water go down the wrong pipe, causing her eyes to water.

Outside, it appeared the rain had abated.  Approximately twenty feet away from her trailer, stood a group of costumed five year olds, poised in formation, ready to dance.  A man with his back to Veronica and Lena their instructor, probably clapped his hands excitedly as the children made room for a shorter, dark haired woman with her hair pulled back into a tight bun.  She was joined by none other than Kara Danvers. Kara who was laughing as one of the kids told her something, his excitement evident through his tiny, quivering form.

Lena audibly groaned. Veronica looked at her and was about to follow up with a question when the instructor hit play on the phone in his hand, causing a rhythmic hip hop beat with booming bass to emit from bluetooth speaker on the ground next to his feet.

In unison, the kinders began their routine. Surrounding Kara and her companion. They were good. Perfectly choreographed moves included pops, a little break dancing, even some body isolations. About half way through the song, Kara looked at her friend, said something Lena and Ronnie were unable to hear, and nodded at the shorter woman.  As one, the kids spread out away from the two women, giving them space as the song came to it’s apparent crescendo.

Kara and the other woman began to dance.  In all honesty, Lena shouldn’t have been surprised.  The blonde woman, who she barely knew anything about, and had hardly spoken to, was full of surprises and Lena should’ve known to prepare herself for anything and everything.

Perhaps “dance” was understating things.  The two women were excellent, and clearly skilled.  Lena didn’t know hip from hop, but it was clear Kara and her friend had done this before.  Their movements were crisp and concise and they were completely in tune with one another.

Lena and Veronica watched together in silence and awe as the song came to a close and the women outside finished their routine to a round of tiny-handed applause and raucous cheering.

“She’s full of surprises,” Lena said, not realizing she’d spoken aloud.

Veronica turned, wide-eyed, taking stock of Lena before curling her lips into a wry smile.

“You’re drooling,” Veronica quipped.

Lena rolled her eyes before continuing to stare out the window as Kara and the shorter woman talked excitedly with the children mobbing them.   Did Kara always wear workout clothes? Who WOULDN’T stare? Damn those tights and tank tops.

“Spill.”

Lena sighed, deciding not to prolong the inevitable, “I don’t know who the shorter woman is, but I’ve met the blonde.  She and her sister work for Krypton Stunts- who apparently has the contract for the project I’m working on, even though that has yet to be confirmed in any professional capacity.  She also moonlights as a substitute cycling instructor- Sam and I took her class a few days ago, and I’m STILL sore.”

Ronnie’s eagerness to insert an inappropriate comment didn’t go unnoticed by Lena, but she ignored it before continuing.

“Honestly, that’s about all I know, considering I’ve said maybe a dozen words to her since we’ve met, her name’s Kara, Kara Danvers.”  Lena stated, trying to appear casual, dipping one of her shoulders.

“THAT’S Kara Danvers?! Christ on a cracker, Lena… you could have lead with that.  Although who could blame you for wanting to keep her all to yourself?” Veronica smirked, whetting her palate with watermelon water without tearing her eyes away from the window.

“You know her?” Lena asked, trying not to appear too eager to find out more about the elusive blonde stuntwoman.

“I know OF her,” Veronica drawled. “Rumors mostly… which I’d want to confirm before sharing.  But Krypton is the best, as I’m sure you’ve heard. Everyone who is anyone wants to work with them, and they’re highly selective on the projects they take on.  If they’re here, then I’m certain they’re on your film, Lena. You should be… shit, I don’t know what you should be. Excited? Nervous? Both? AND you’re doing your own stunts now! Well, what insurance will allow you to do anyway- silly if you ask me…” she gestured in annoyance, gaze still focused on what was transpiring outside. “But their team is small… which means you’re most likely going to be working VERY closely with one chiseled blonde stuntwoman.” Veronica finished her sentence by turning to face Lena, wiggling her eyebrows over the rim of her glass.

Oh.

Lena hadn’t thought that far ahead. She gulped.

“Wait, back up. What do you mean ‘rumors?’ Your turn to spill.”

In true Veronica Sinclair fashion, she sighed dramatically.  

“Look, I don’t know much… it’s all hearsay so don’t go spreading it around yet.  But I’ve heard that part of the reason no one really knows anything about them is because at least half of them are government or military.”  Ronnie noted Lena’s skepticism before adding, “That’s why they don’t have a website, it’s why no one really knows anything about them, why they aren’t continuously working on film projects- what stunt team takes a hiatus? Apparently they’re into some really heavy shit. Black-ops, wet work, Tom Clancy type shit.” Ronnie whispered conspiratorially, as if Kara and her cohort could hear her.

“Those are some lofty accusations, Ronnie.” Lena crossed her arms over her middle, and resumed watching Kara and her friend, who were now handing out popsicles to the eager little dancers.

“Look, I’m just telling you what I heard.  And I’ve heard it from multiple people, but let me make some calls, set the gossip straight. You know, so you know who you’re working with.” she winked.

“Right,” Lena scoffed before returning her full attention to Kara and her anonymous friend.

Kara was standing in line with three of the tykes, while one little boy was teaching her their routine while the instructor, the brunette, and remaining kids looked on a cheered, enjoying their freeze pops.  Kara caught on fast, and was soon dancing the entire routine with the three little teachers.

“Jesus, my ovaries hurt.  The woman’s like sunshine personified. AND she’s great with kids? AND a phenomenal dancer? You know what they say about great dancers, don’t you?” Ronnie smiled wickedly.

The uncomfortable feeling from spin class with Sam returned to Lena’s chest.  

“Put your shoes on, Lena.  Let’s go introduce me.”

Lena thought about arguing, but thought better of it when she realized it would be an opportunity to try to gather herself in an attempt to speak more than a handful of monosyllabic grunts to the attractive blonde.

“Fine,” Lena said while slipping on a nude-coloured heel. “But please don’t embarrass me, as much of feat as that may be for you…”

“Embarrass? Honey, I’m about the go down in history for being the best wing-woman that ever wing-womaned.  Now come on!” Ronnie flung open the door and stepped out into the damp air.

Lena took a deep breath before following her friend.

Here goes nothing.

After shutting the door of her trailer behind her, she stood shoulder to shoulder with Ronnie, and looked at the group of elementary dancers and their instructor.  The shorter brunette appeared to be shaking his hand, but Kara was nowhere to be seen.

The brunette was saying her goodbyes to the man and his class as Lena and Ronnie slowly approached, both looking around for any indication of where Kara had disappeared to.

As the dancers returning to their studio, the brunette was now focused on Lena and Ronnie.  At that moment, Lena noted just how pretty the petite woman was. Her hair was pulled back into a neat, taut bun, not a strand out of place.  She, like Kara and her sister, pulled off the ‘gym clothes’ look effortlessly.

“Did you lose something?” she mused at Lena and Ronnie, her lips quirked slightly upward.

“Wasn’t there just… sorry.  Someone I know was just here, and now she’s… not.” Lena stated, her voice laced with confusion.

Veronica made a show of bending over, to look under Lena’s trailer, and the trailers adjacent to hers. The shortest of the women chuckled.

“You just missed her.  Kara was needed elsewhere.” she replied. Lena met her eyes, the stranger’s smile grew minutely.

Damn.

“Lena Luthor?” she asked, stepping forward outstretching her hand.

“Yes, but how did you-”

“With all due respect, everyone knows who you are, Miss Luthor,”  the woman was still smiling. “You’re a world renowned actress…” she stated, shaking Lena’s hand.  “And your name’s on the door of your trailer…”

Lena shook her head, gathering her thoughts. “Right, I-”

Veronica interrupted. “Lena’s still relatively new to Hollywood.  Sometimes she forgets how famous her face is.”

The woman nodded, still smiling, “completely understandable.”

Ronnie offered her own hand, “Veronica Sinclair.  You’re a colleague of Kara’s? We didn’t catch your name.” she said through a borderline threatening smile of her own.

“I am,” the petite, pretty woman supplied before accepting Ronnie’s hand. “And I’m Lucy.  Lucy Lane.” her smile broadening, glancing calmly between the two women.

Lena and Ronnie’s eyes both grew slightly larger as they shared a surprised glance.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in Los Angeles…

“So then, she introduces herself- it was Lucy Lane, Sam! Lucy fucking Lane!” Veronica practically shouted, earning them a few pointed looks from their fellow coffee shop patrons.

“Ronnie, keep your voice down!” Lena whispered.

Veronica Sinclair shrugged casually, taking a sip of her americano.

Sam was staring wide-eyed at them both, mouth slightly agape. “Wait, Lucy Lane… as in the daughter of General Lane?  Lucy Lane, sister of Lois Lane? JAG Lawyer, Lucy Lane? You’re telling me this woman works for Krypton Stunts?”

“So it would seem.”  Lena mused quietly, more so to herself than her friends as she removed her teabags from their mug.

The rain in the city had finally surrendered, and now Los Angeles was falling victim to the familiar late summer, early fall winds of Santa Ana.  While the winds usually brought dry, low humidity air, the temperatures were usually borderline stifling. But after a near solid week of rain, Lena and her friends were enjoying the sunshine at local coffee shop in Lena’s neighborhood.

“Hmm… the plot thickens,” Sam added, taking a swig of her own coffee.  She paused a moment, thinking, before adding, “I mean, it’s not really that surprising.  The last I heard, Lucy Lane was still in the Army... I haven’t really heard much about her since.  She’s put some distance between herself and her father since that disaster of a mission that was all over the news a little while back. That hostage situation in the Middle East involving that pilot who was shot down, remember?”

Lena and Veronica nodded in unison.

“Anyway,” Sam continued. “If Lucy Lane is the barometer we’re basing the rest of that stunt team off of, I’d say we’re in for a lot more surprises.” she slowly stirred her coffee.

Lena nodded in agreement again, sighing deeply.  She turned slightly. The three friends were seated outside at one of the tables placed along the the sidewalk.  The sunshine was a welcome reprieve from the rain that had been plaguing the city. Lena had worked through most of the daylight hours the last week and a half, but the sunshine was enough to improve anyone’s mood. She closed her eyes, tilting her head towards the warmth, allowing it to warm her face through her sunglasses. She breathed in the fresh smell of the coffee roastery that occupied the back of the building they currently sat in front of.  Lena opened her eyes, watching the linen-coloured petals of late summer blooms she couldn’t name swirl around the concrete at their feet, the breeze pulling strands of her hair in front of her face. As she swiped a finger across her forehead, catching the offending tendrils and tucking them behind her ear, she went to bring her teacup to her mouth, when something across the street caught her attention.

In between the parked cars lining the streets of the quaint neighborhood, Lena thought she saw the swish of a familiar blonde ponytail. She squinted, leaning forward slightly, trying to catch a better glimpse.

“Right Lena?” Ronnie’s voice brought her back to the present.

“Hmm? Sorry?”   You’re hallucinating now, Lena? Maybe you need to heed your friends’ advice and just find someone to help you just scratch the itch and get laid so you can stop daydreaming about a woman you know nearly nothing about. Or just catch up on sleep somehow...

Lena returned her attention to the two women sitting across from her, both sets of eyebrows raised, anticipating her response.

“I said,” Sam continued, “...oh my.” she breathed.

Ronnie followed her gaze, sliding her sunglasses down her nose, “oh my is right,” she said, echoing Sam’s sentiment.

Lena turned, intent on seeing what had her friends so enraptured.  Half a block away, running down sidewalk, running toward where the three of them sat, enjoying their coffee and tea, was none other than Kara Danvers. Lena hadn’t been hallucinating after all.  Speak of the Devil and she shall appear… or was it an angel? Biblical references had always eluded her.

“Holy shit, is that… a wolf?” Ronnie asked in impressive awe.

Low and behold, trotting at a perfect heel, a very large, white wolf trotted unleashed next to a glistening Kara Danvers.  The sidewalk was wide enough to accomodate an actual semi-truck, yet people still veered out of their way in surprise, craning their heads in somewhat disbelief. Lena slid her own sunglasses down her nose as the pair neared closer. Maybe this woman really didn’t own anything other than workout clothing, not that Lena was complaining.  Her eyes trailed down over a tank-top, and running short clad body, recommitting the defined muscle groups to memory.  The duo slowed as they neared Lena, her friends, and the cafe.

Kara removed her earbuds, allowing them to hang around her neck as she scratched her large, furry companion behind the ears as they continued toward the door.

“Kara!” Sam called out, waving enthusiastically as the athletic blonde turned, eyebrows scrunched in confusion trying to pinpoint who called her name.  Confusion turned to recognition, the scrunched brow morphed into a warm smile as Kara’s eyes flitted from Ronnie, to Sam, finally settling on Lena. She walked to where the trio was seated, her wolf following.

“Sam! Miss Luthor! Out enjoying the sunshine?” she offered them both her blinding grin.  “I’m Kara.” she said, stretching a hand toward Veronica, who accepted it with a predatory look on her face.

“Oh, I’m aware.” Ronnie drawled, causing Lena to roll her eyes and practically groan in response.

“Ronnie’s always had a flair for theatrics,” Lena supplied. “Kara, this is another one of my friends, Veronica Sinclair.”  Lena nearly surprised herself at her ability to find her voice in the presence of the toned stuntwoman. Improvement.

“Pleasure.” Kara stated, smiling warmly.

“No, the pleasure is definitely mine.” Veronica said, making a point to track her gaze up and down the woman’s frame.

Kara raised her eyebrows in response, while Lena glared.

“Kara,” Sam interrupted, “is that… a wolf?” they all turned their attention to the snow white, four-legged canine standing quietly at Kara’s side.

Kara smiled through her response. “He is, but shhh,” as she held a finger up to her mouth, somewhat conspiratorially. “As you can see, he tends to draw a lot of attention, for obvious reasons.” She indicated to the cafe’s other patrons, and passersby who were staring unabashedly.  “So while all his paperwork and legalities are in perfect order, we don’t exactly broadcast his lineage… not that it’s hard to guess...”

Lena, Sam, and Ronnie stared at the wolf in fascination.

“His name is Fen.” Kara offered, scratching him behind the ears.  While Lena’s guess put Kara around 5’8”-5’9”, the wolf’s head came to rest against her hip, requiring Kara to bend her arm at the elbow to rest on his head. He was huge.

“Finn?” Sam repeated.

“No, Fen.” Kara politely corrected. “As in Fenrir.”

“Norse Mythology. The giant hellhound.” Lena supplied without thinking.

“Yes!” Kara exclaimed, her voice tinted with masked surprise, “You know your Scandinavian mythology.  I’m impressed.” Lena felt warm at the light compliment.

“He’s beautiful, and while his size fits the name- I wouldn’t exactly call him a ‘hellhound.’  He doesn’t even need a leash.” she added.

“No, you’re right.  There’s a story behind his name, and in my defense, he actually picked it out himself.  But it’s a very long story, probably best saved for another time.” the blonde stated quietly.

“So… he’s your dog?” Veronica asked.

“I prefer to say that I’m his human. Fen is very... unique. He’s the smartest animal I’ve ever come across.  Smarter than most people, actually.” she looked down at him, still smiling.

“Is he… friendly?  Does like to be petted?” Lena found herself asking as she looked up, meeting Kara’s eyes.  Eyes that she knew, from their short-numbered, brief interactions, were blue, and maybe it was the combination of the sun and her sky-coloured tank top, but Lena’s breath caught at just how blue they actually were.  Lena found herself getting lost in the cerulean pools…

“He is friendly, most of the time,” Kara chuckled. “And as for being petted, I suppose it depends on what kind of mood he’s in, so I usually let that decision up to him.  Go ahead and ask him.” Kara was still smiling, eyes twinkling as she looked at Lena expectantly.

Lena looked at her quizzically.  She barely knew Kara at all, but found herself trusting her for some unknown reason.  Something told her Kara wouldn’t lead her astray or put her in a position to make a fool of herself.

Kara nodded towards Fen.

Lena took a deep breath and gave the wolf her attention.  Her breath caught for a second time in as many minutes; the exceptionally large animal, with immaculate snow white fur looked back at her, regarding her with his own set of striking blue eyes. Eyes that if Lena were honest with herself - matched Kara’s almost perfectly.

“Is something wrong?” Kara asked, her voice threaded with concern.

“No, it’s just, his eyes… they’re-”

“A genetic mutation,” Kara added warmly. “Another trait that makes him so special. Usually you see blue eyes in huskies, and occasionally malamutes, but it’s extremely rare to see them in a full blooded wolf.”

Lena responded by nodding mutely and reaching her hand out slowly.

“Hi Fen, I’m Lena.”

The white wolf tilted his head to the side, almost as if he was considering her, sizing her up and deciding what he thought of her. After a beat, with no further reaction from the animal at Kara’s side, Lena began to withdraw her hand in quiet disappointment. Then, just when she thought he’d rejected her introduction, the wolf stood up and stepped forward, nudging the hands in her lap with his giant head. He looked up at her with mesmerizing blue eyes, before sitting down and with surprising gentleness, placed his head in her lap.

“Oh…” Lena breathed. She looked up at Kara who was looking at her with an unsurprised smile. She returned her attention to the large furry white head in her lap and began to stroke his fur. The wolf’s eyes closed and he breathed out in contentment. Lena chuckled.  She noticed his tail, the fluffy appendage wasn’t wagging like a dog’s typically would, but more or less slowly flicking back and forth, almost the way a tranquil cat’s would.

“Well Fen, I’m very pleased to meet you.” she laughed again.

“Would you mind keeping him company while I run inside?” asked Kara, gesturing over her shoulder toward the door of the cafe.

“No, not at all; I’d be happy to.”

“Thank you.” Kara said, still smiling at her.

Lena nodded in understanding.

“Can I get any of you anything while I’m in there? More coffee? Tea?”  

Lena turned and looked across the table at her two friends, both of whom she’d all but forgotten about. Oops. Both of whom were also staring at her looking more smug than twin cats who ate a pair of canaries.

“I think Sam and I are good, what about you Lena? Thirsty?” Ronnie smirked over the edge of her mug.

Lena glared daggers from behind her sunglasses before looking up at a waiting Kara.

“I think we’re all good for the moment, thank you though.” she said, continuing to run her fingers through the soft fur on the top of Fen’s head.

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” and with that, Kara disappeared into the coffee shop. Lena watched as Fen lifted his head abruptly, eyes following Kara, he twitched as if to follow her, but she held up a hand and said something to him in a language she didn’t recognize. He waited until the door closed before returning his head to Lena’s lap.

“You two just really can’t help yourselves, can you?” Lena said, half annoyed.

“Oh come on Lena, can you blame us? She’s a work of art!  We’d be upset if you weren’t smitten, honestly.” Sam said, looking at her knowingly.

“I’m still waiting to hear back from my source,” Ronnie added, “on what her story is, but I’m all but speechless Lena, and you know that’s no easy feat.”

Lena wasn’t prepared to give either of them the satisfaction, but both of them were right in their own regard.  Kara Danvers continued to make Lena swoon, and she’d garnered an initial stamp of approval from one Veronica Sinclair… a miracle in and of itself.

“First of all,” Lena argued, “I barely know her or anything about her.  Secondly, she could be in a relationship, or married for that matter. Third of all, she’s probably straight.  And lastly, we work together. You both know how I feel about getting involved with a coworker.”

She looked down at the wolf, who was now staring up at her with his pensive sky blue eyes.

“All the more reason to get to know her, if nothing else she seems like a good person.  You can always use more friends, Lena. Especially in a business as cut throat as ours.”  Sam said genuinely.

“And with a family like yours…” Ronnie added. “What!?” she said, holding her hands up defensively as Lena and Sam both gaped at her. “I’m serious! You’ve done amazing things with LCorp, Lena. But it’s no secret your brother and mother’s… misgivings have followed you.  People will always need someone to blame, a scapegoat, and since your mother’s M.I.A., and Lex is rotting away in some unknown hole… the ignorant turn to you. So, like Sam said, get to know her. You could use more positive people in your life. And if she’s built like Zeus himself sculpted her from clay, and has the heart of a saint, befriends wild animals like Cinderella, and has a mysterious past potentially straight out of a spy novel, well… who could fault you for your pornographic thoughts.”

“You’re insufferable, you know that right?” Lena and Sam laughed.

Kara returned a few moments later to all three women positively fawning over Fen. She laughed as she approached, placing a dish of water on the ground for her companion. Fen’s head had perked back up when the door opened, eyes tracking Kara.

“You know Kara, he’s a total chick magnet.” Sam said from her place on the ground, scratching the wolf behind the ears.

Kara laughed again, a sound Lena decided she very much enjoyed hearing. The three women waited for a response.

“Not the first time I’ve heard that.”  Kara answered vaguely, not giving anything away as she brought a bright green iced drink to her mouth, looking down as Fen lapped his water.

The women made idle small talk for a few moments while Kara finished her drink.  The conversation never entered any sort of personal territory for Kara, much to Lena’s disappointment.

“You can sit down and join us, Kara.  We don’t bite… well-” Ronnie offered with a shrug.

Lena hid an eyeroll.  Hoping Kara decided to take the proffered seat next to her and prolong their afternoon interaction. Instead, Kara checked her watch, looking between them apologetically.

‘“Actually, I can’t.  We have some things to take care of before work tonight, so unfortunately we have to run.” she looked down at Fen, who returned her gaze.

“Tonight? You’re working tonight?” Lena asked, trying not to appear too eager.

Kara hummed, meeting her eyes with a soft smile, before she looked up and tilted her head, taking stock of a black van across the street.  Regarding it with something Lena equated to concern. Before Lena could ask about it, Kara brought herself back to the conversation at hand.

“Sam, Ms. Sinclair,” Kara nodded at each of them.

“It’s Ronnie, please.” she interjected.

“Ronnie. Nice meeting you, thanks again for entertaining this guy for me.” Kara jutted her chin down at the blue eyes looking back at her. “Miss Luthor,” she turned her full attention to Lena, “perhaps I’ll see you tonight.” Kara said, her voice sounding promising.

Lena, unable to do anything but smile and nod in response, the warmth she’d begun associating with Kara returned to her chest.

“I hope so…” Lena breathed.

“Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, ladies.  Oh, and just a head’s up, it looks like you’re about to have your hands full.”  Kara winked before tossing her plastic cup in the recycling can, and placed Fen’s bowl in the dirty dish bin, and with that, she turned on her heel, left them all with her smile and a wave, and began to run away. A group of young girls approached nervously, armed with smartphones and pens at the ready for pictures and autographs.

Fen, still at Lena’s side watched her go, his ears perked up, tail flicking back and forth with rapt attention as the distance between them grew. Lena, Sam, and Ronnie kept glancing between Kara and the white wolf… until finally, when she was about a hundred feet away, without turning around, Kara calmly yelled out a few more words none of the women recognized, and the wolf bolted.  Taking off at a sprint, causing the gaggle of girls to scatter like bowling pins, he caught up to Kara in no time and fell into step beside her.

Lena shook her head chuckled in disbelief.

Ronnie, elbow resting on the table, chin in hand, pulled her sunglasses down on her nose once more, leaning around Lena before uttering “Hate to see you go…”

Sam, joining in on her antics, dreamily finished her sentence with “Love to watch you leave…”

Lena rolled her eyes again and shook her head, smiling in definite agreement as Fen and Kara disappeared around the corner.  She, Lena, and Ronnie turned their attention to the group of young fans all excited to meet their idols.

“I think we’d better head out after this, Lena.”  Sam thought aloud as she signed a young girl’s magazine. “Sounds like you have yourself a night to get ready for.  And you know, Ruby’s spending the night with her grandmother so as luck would have it, I don’t have any plans.”

“How convenient for me, I suppose…” Lena said sarcastically, her elegant scrawl looping across her own face on the headshot a young fan had handed her.

“Funnily enough,” chimed Ronnie. “My date tonight had to reschedule, and you both know it’s best I’m not left to my own devices…”

Lena groaned, turning her attention to the young fans in front of her, black van across the street seemingly forgotten...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Warner Brothers Studios, Hollywood, CA

Four hours. Lena had been on set for a mere four hours.  They’d spent those four hours shooting the same scene. Lena was exhausted.  The comforts of her trailer were calling her name. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she reached the door of her wheeled, on-lot piece of personal solitude- only to have it interrupted…

“Miss Luthor! Miss Luthor.”  

Lena inhaled, putting a polite smile on her face before turning to meet the unfamiliar masculine voice. It belonged to a trim looking man, who appeared to be around her age with a kind face, and an eye for fashion. She took in his appearance, from his oxfords to his skinny tie.

“Hi! I’m Winslow Schott, you can call me Winn.  Big fan of your work by the way!” he said, clearly trying to tamp down his excitement as he rocked back and forth on his heels, swinging a tablet in his hands.

Lena continued to smile politely, waiting for an autograph or photo op request.  Fans usually didn’t venture away from studio lot tours, with the exception of special occasions, but it had been known to happen.

“Thank you, Winn. What can I do for you? You have a favourite movie? Did you bring something for me to sign?” Lena asked kindly.

“Sign? Wha- oh no! Miss Luthor… I meant I’m a big fan of your work at LCorp- while I’m sure your movies are great, I don’t have a ton of free time to watch many movies. “ he offered quickly, and not without a heavy dose of awkwardness.

Lena looked at him skeptically, trying to ascertain whether or not he was being facetious.  Lena rarely, if EVER received any praise regarding LCorp that didn’t come attached with a hefty serving of malice. This man was either an exceptional actor, or he was telling the truth. Lena ultimately decided on the latter.

“My apologies, Winn.  I’m not really that vain, I promise. Nor am I used to hearing much in terms of praise regarding my company,” she laughed quietly, causing Winn to smile. “It’s been a long last few hours. What can I do for you?”  

“It’s okay, I get the business; long hours and all.  But I work for Krypton Stunts.”

Winslow Schott now had all of Lena’s attention, as she removed her sunglasses, perching them on top of her head.

“I’m the ‘tech guy’,” he said, using air quotes with a laugh, followed by a beat of silence as he smoothed down his patterned tie, almost forgetting he had more to say before remembering himself. “Right,” he looked at his tablet.  “So I just came by to confirm that we’ll see you bright and early Friday morning for rehearsal over on lot thirteen. Filming isn’t set to start until about ten a.m., but we’ll want to walk you through everything, and do a few run throughs beforehand obviously.”

“Obviously,” Lena quipped in good fun.  “Of course, Winn. Just give me a time, and I’ll be there.”  Lena reached into her bag for her phone, to add the new addition to her calendar, as well as send a text to Jess with the new information.

“0600’s not too early, is it?” he asked, returning her polite smile.

“I’ll be there.”  Lena added the time to her calendar.

Winn opened his mouth to say something else when they were interrupted by the chirping of his phone.

Lena smiled, the ringtone eliciting a bittersweet memory…

“Is that the theme song from Tetris?”

Winn beamed at her.  “It IS! I love old video games.  There’s this really great- excuse me, sorry.  I’d better get this.” He answered.

“Hey Alex, I’m just finishing up going over Friday’s schedule with Miss Luthor. Yes, everything’s set. Okay, right. They’re here already?  Jeez, this is early, even for them. Alright. What time do we need to be ready to go? One hour, you got it.” Winn checked his watch, and Lena turned to eye the horizon.  The sun was setting, she turned again as she heard footsteps approaching.

Sam.

Winn hung up.

“Sorry about that.” he apologized to Lena, who waved him off.

“Winn, this is my dear friend Samantha Arias, Sam this is Winn Schott, he works for Krypton Stunts.”

Sam shook Winn’s hand.

“Ah, the mysterious Krypton. Nice to meet you Mr. Schott.”

“Please, it’s just Winn,” he paused, as if weighing his next words carefully before adding, “so listen, if both of you are free in an hour, we’re doing a run through of one of the film’s bigger fight scenes.  It’s not scheduled to be filmed for another month and a half, but the rest of the uh,- participants? Just arrived. Anyway, we don’t usually do this, but you’re welcome to come and watch. Just bring a jacket and umbrella, and maybe rain boots if you have ‘em.”  he said somewhat nervously. “Stage five, ten p.m. I have to run, nice meeting you both!” he bid them farewell over his shoulder as he hurried away.

“He’s sort of strange, right?” Sam looked after him as he left.

Lena smiled, crossing her arms.

“He is.  I like him.”

Sam hooked her arm through Lena’s, “Sooooo, we’re going to watch your girlfriend kick some ass then?”

“Sam,” Lena warned.

“Lena, you know what’s in Stage Five, right? And how much money it takes to have unadulterated access to it? To come and go as you please? They don’t just grant anyone the keys whenever they want… I’ve been in this business for a long time, and this is a little unheard of.  Wait until Ronnie hears about this!” Sam practically squealed.

Lena nodded. Stage Five was “The Rain Room.” Practically one of a kind, nearly any weather phenomenon on earth could be simulated for filming purposes inside Stage Five. Lena knew her current project was considered “big budget,” and was projected to be a block-buster, but to have the kind of pull that Krypton Stunts apparently had did absolutely nothing to quell her curiosity.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One hour later, Lena found herself, Sam, and now Ronnie heading toward Stage Five, umbrellas and jackets in hand.  Not that she’d ever admit it, but Lena was nervous. She also may or may not have spent a little extra time touching up her make-up and putting herself together.  She’d decided on a simple black pencil skirt and jade green blouse, paired with a set of more conservative pumps.

Ronnie and Sam were surprisingly quiet. There was something to be said for small miracles.

They walked from lot to lot, mostly in silence, making occasional small talk. Ronnie informed both of them her “source” hadn’t gotten back to her yet.

Finally.  They approached the mammoth building that was Stage Five. Ronnie held the door open for both Lena and Sam. The women entered the giant warehouse.  It appeared to be one massive, cavernous room, and like any cavern, it was cold. Lena could see her breath.

“I’ve heard it’s around 50 degrees in here all the time, due to the massive amounts of water in all those pipes,” Ronnie added, indicating toward the ceiling and walls. Summer heat outside all but forgotten, the women donned their jackets.

“Looks like that’s where the party is,” Sam pointed toward the far side of the room.  The trio started walking.

A small group of people was huddled around what appeared to be a makeshift command hub.  Lena noted as they drew closer, there were several monitors set up on tables, other tables housed several sets of open cases.  She noticed Winn, tablet in hand, with Alex Danvers standing next to him, both intently looking over something on his tablet. Winn was bundled in a heavy jacket, Alex in a fleece. The brown-haired man with a five o’clock shadow Lena recognized from the team’s morning runs was behind another one of the tables, talking quietly with a shorter woman with dark, close cropped hair. A few other people deemed unfamiliar were also milling about behind the monitors, all dressed in relative warmth.

What was transpiring behind them however, is what drew Lena’s attention.  On a platform, that was probably one hundred fifty feet across, and just as deep, stood Kara.  The blonde was dressed much less warmly than everyone else in the room, wearing black running tights, and a light black jacket, zipped nearly all the way up.  Her long blond hair was pulled up in a familiar pony tail, but this time it was tucked under a faded, worn ball cap. The platform she was standing on was raised out of the floor by about two and a half feet, and standing on it with Kara, engaged in heavy, animated conversation were seven men, all wearing black, somewhat traditional looking garb that looked like it would be most appropriate in a dojo in the far reaches of Japan if Lena was being quite honest.

Kara and the seven men appeared to be walking through a sequence of choreographed strikes and blows. Even though Lena couldn’t hear what they were saying, Lena noticed that Kara gave each one of the men one hundred percent of her attention when they were speaking, or chiming in to add something.  

During Lena’s moments of staring, nearly a dozen more spectators had filed in and taken up residence near where she, Sam and Ronnie stood. Lena quietly took stock of each one.  She noted a seemingly familiar woman with dark hair and equally as dark and mysterious features, dressed in black and red, hood of her cloak pulled up over her head, her dark eyes were sweeping the room.

Behind the cloaked woman, Lena’s eyes darted to a pair of ivory designer heels, up and over some of the longest legs she’d ever seen, catching the hint of the hem of a cream colored skirt.  A skirt that was covered by a complimentary off-white, hooded trench coat. The leggy woman’s face was hidden by her hood, but dark, shiny curls spilled out from under the hood. The profile of the woman leaned away from Lena, Sam, and Ronnie to listen to what the man next to her was saying. A man she recognized as-

“Miss Luthor! Miss Arias!” Winn’s voice startled her from train of thought. She turned to see him excitedly approaching in all of his puffy, winter-jacketed glory. “Hi! So glad you made it! And that you dressed for it!  It’s always chilly in here. Brrr!” He gave a dramatic shiver, causing Lena to chuckle. Just as Lena finished introducing Ronnie and Winn, she heard Alex call out.

“Kara! You about ready?”

Kara turned on the stage, holding up a finger to Alex, signaling that she needed another minute.

“Ladies,” Winn drawled.  “If you’ll excuse me, that’s my cue too,” he added, turning to hurry back to his battlestation.  He quickly turned back to the women, as if remembering something, “where you’re standing should be fine- I think you’re clear of the “splash zone.” he said with another set of air quotes.  And with that, he returned to his computers and began handing out orders to those around him.

“He’s… interesting.  And he works for Krypton?” Ronnie said amusedly.

“He is,” supplied Sam.  “We like him.” nudging Lena, who smiled in turn.

At that moment Kara appeared to have wrapped up whatever conversation she was so immersed in on stage, and turned to walk to the edge of said stage.  Alex and the man with the stubble approached. He reached up, handing Kara a long staff, she accepted it, setting it at her feet before reaching up behind her ball cap with both arms to tighten her pony tail. The blonde then brought her hands down to the zipper of her jacket, dragging it down, all the while fully engaged in what Lena assumed was important, work-related conversation.  She shrugged the light coat off, and it may have been cold in the cave they were all standing in, but when Kara shed her jacket, the heat that Lena felt on her cheeks- a flush that continued down her neck and blossomed on and in her chest could have warmed them all.

Kara was wearing a handmade cut-off tee. It was more of a tunic, really. A top that put Kara’s arms and shoulders on full display, but also allowed for what were clearly well toned obliques, intercostal, and abdominal muscles to sport their supporting roles.   And Jesus, was that a tattoo? Lena noticed ink decorating part of Kara’s left ribs, but half concealed by her sports bra, she wasn’t able to fully make out the artwork.

“LEE-NUH.”  Sam whisper-shouted. “I mean, COME ON!”

Lena tore her eyes away from Kara to look at her friend.  Sam was gaping at her, staring back and forth between Kara and Lena with such shock on her face, that if she weren’t so busy trying to force herself to breathe, Lena would have laughed.

“That’s just downright criminal.”  Ronnie deadpanned.

Lena could agree with that.

Kara tossed her jacket to her sister, slipped off her running shoes, leaving her barefoot.  She handed her shoes to the man standing next to Alex and bent down to pick up her staff, wrapping up their conversation.

The nameless man called out to Kara as he was backpedalling to where Winn and everyone else stood.

“Kara! Bet you can’t do it in one take!”

“Mike,” Kara huffed, before eyeing him warily.

“Loser buys a pint?” He added, throwing a charming smile Kara’s way.

“You’re on.” Kara smiled a knowing smile of her own.

The uncomfortable feeling that was beginning to make itself familiar returned to Lena’s chest as she watched Kara and the man known as Mike interact.

Kara turned with her staff in hand a walked to the center of the stage, the cut of her makeshift shirt putting back and shoulder muscles at their own center stage.

When she reached the center of the stage, Winn called out “Ready Kara?”

She stepped forward and gave a thumbs up, then proceeded to bounce from foot to foot as if she were about to enter a boxing match.  Kara then stopped, and rolled her neck from side to side. After deciding her muscles were sufficiently loose, she stopped.

“Alright everyone, here we go!” Winn yelled before making a few swipes on his tablet.  Swipes that brought to life the gadgetry that was housed in the cases that had been lying open on the tables.  Drones. Remote controlled drones, all mounted with their own series of waterproof cameras.

At that same moment, Kara stepped forward, placing herself in the midst of what Lena now noticed were six steel wires that descended from ceiling to floor. Wires that Lena hadn’t noticed before, as the ceiling was so high, and lighting wasn’t the best in the chilly, gigantic room.

“Up, up, and away!” Winn stated, before making a few more swipes across the glass of his tablet.  And with that, it was made apparent that Kara was standing on a suspended, hexagonal platform. With the swipe of Winn’s hand to his tablet, the platform began to rise, the wires disappearing high into the void, attaching at their opposite ends to what Lena gathered was a series of pulleys. The platform steadily lifted until it, and Kara were suspended roughly fifteen or so feet off the larger elevated stage.

As everyone looked upward to Kara, she took a deep breath, and tied a long piece of fabric to each end of the staff, creating a makeshift sling for it.  She slipped it over her shoulder. Kara stepped backward until her heels were hanging off the edge of the platform. She took another deep breath and paused, holding it in for a moment before releasing it, nodding, followed by another thumbs up.

“Winn.”  Alex nodded to the man manning all the electronics.

“And three, two, one, action!” he added one final swipe to the glass in his hands and suddenly the drones took off.  All of them heading for Kara’s crow’s nest perch, surrounding her. Lena glanced to where Winn and a few others stood, and noticed the feeds on the monitors in front of them were camera feeds, each one connected to a different drone, and each one displaying a different angle of Kara. Including a closeup.

Winn muttered, “And here. We. Go.”  He brought his finger down in a very dramatic manner, swirling it around before finally landing it once again on the screen of his tablet that he was now holding like a waiter in a five star establishment about to reveal the main course.

The moment Winn touched the screen, several things began to happen all at once.  A roar ripped through the expansive room; simulated thunder. Followed by artificial lightning, made lifelike by a massive halo screen that encircled the entire room above their heads.  Lena had read somewhere once that it was one of the largest LED screens in the world. As the thunder rumbled, and the lightning flashed, giving the impression that the fake storm was little ways away, and had yet to reach them, a light but steady “rain” began to fall from the ceiling.  The rain fell only over the 150’ x 150’ platform that raised out of the floor. Lena had noted that where the platform was elevated, a complex drainage system lay underneath.

Just as the lightning flashed again, a high tempo beat began to blast through unseen speakers.

“Is this… ‘Work B*tch?” Sam gaped incredulously.

A voice on Lena’s other side chuckled, startling she, Sam, and Ronnie.  

Lucy Lane appeared to have materialized next to them.  She was dressed in simple black women’s workout gear, essentially matching Alex.  The look gave both women an air of secrecy.

“Kara loves to work out to trashy pop music.  Watch, I think you’ll find it’s highly effective.”  She offered them a half, yet knowing smile- her attention leaving Kara only to make eye contact with Lena briefly.

The song’s intro began to escalate, as did the intensity of the man-made storm Kara was trapped in, her shirt (or lack thereof) becoming quickly soaked, and her ball cap proving effective at keeping the rain out of her eyes, as well as keeping her vision clear.  

With another ‘clap’ of thunder, the music stopped and rain was all that could be heard.  Kara brought her arms down along her thighs as she crouched low into a deep squat, and then with the grace of a gymnast she vaulted off the suspended platform backwards, executing a series of perfectly timed back tucks that would be perfectly at home in an Olympic dive meet.  She landed silently in a crouch, her right hand out to her side providing stabilization as her body made contact with the floor. Her left hand splayed out on the floor, arm straight. Left leg bent directly underneath her as her body gracefully absorbed the impact of the landing and her right leg followed the direction of her right arm, straightened out directly underneath her upper right appendage, almost perpendicular to the floor.  A perfect landing.

Kara stood slowly, and with the latest flash of light, Lena noticed the seven men from earlier, all of whom now had their faces covered.  Each man wielded a long Samurai sword that reflected the flashing lightning. Each man man’s head and face were covered in black that matched the rest of the darkness in the room, but their arms and torsos were bare. Every last one of them was as fit as Kara.

As the beat continued to build and the storm continued to rage, the men crept closer.  Sufficiently trapping Kara in their circle. The rain-soaked blonde appeared unbothered. She turned her head downward and to the side slowly, taking stock of the men behind her, as she reached up with her right arm, grabbing the staff at it’s elevated end.  Kara flicked her wrist and somehow the strip of fabric appeared to untie itself and fall away.

Kara brought the bo staff out in front of her and lazily spun it, tossing it upward lightly, not watching as it arced- her attention still on the men behind her, but catching it with her other hand with ease before bringing it out and to her side, halting it’s rotations. She paused, as did the music. A beat.

The bass dropped and all hell broke loose.  

All seven men charged Kara.  Lena, as well as everyone else struggled to keep up with the fury of their movements.  Kara dodged elegant attempted sword strike after attempted sword strike. She hopped sweeping leg kicks that kicked up puddles of cold water with blind ease.

Kara pirouetted in the pooled water on one foot, using the momentum of her entire body to swing around and knock the man behind her, with his sword raised over his head with both hands, under the chin, startling him enough to knock him slightly off balance, off balance for her to sweep the bo staff down in a diagonal arch, bringing it down and upward, under his feet, taking them out from under him, and knocking the airborne sword twenty feet away and out of commission.  One down.

Kara used the minute distraction to her advantage, planting one end of the staff into the ground, almost like a flag pole, and with the help of simple physics, she vaulted around like a tether ball, planting two well placed kicks, the first to the face of the attacker closest to her, rendering him unconscious. The second kick landed just under the next opponent’s ribs, causing him to flinch.  He flinched and hunched over slightly, grabbing his side, providing Kara with a window of opportunity. She regained her feet and rapidly brought her staff up across her body and over her left shoulder, bringing it down heavily across the back of the impaired man in front of her. He fell to the ground with a thump.

It was raining so hard, the spectators took a step back to avoid the mist.  The bass thumped as the pop star’s voice bumped along loudly in the background.

The four remaining men adjusted their position around Kara, encasing her in a diamond.  A man in front, one directly behind and one on each side. Somehow, the tempo picked up yet again.

The pair of men flanking her attacked at once. Kara rotated the staff rapidly before tossing it in the air before doing a back handspring to avoid the first slash, then rapidly falling rigidly to the floor and landing in the downward push-up position.  Another downward slash landed where Kara lay, she barely missed it by quickly springing onto her back, and launching her body into a kip-up, landing on her feet just in time to catch the rapidly rotating bo staff as it returned to earth.

Another downward, two-handed stroke aimed to slice her in half, starting at the top of her head was stopped at the last second as Kara brought the staff up above her head with two hands.  The sword sliced through it like a knife through butter.

Lena audibly gasped.

“Are those real? ” She heard herself say out loud.

“Very.” Lucy stated calmly. “The weapons and the Shinobi.*  Those are Ra’s al Ghul’s men.”

Ronnie’s head snapped around, her wide eyes locking on Lucy’s.

Lena made a point to ask about it later.

Right now, her attention was back with Kara.  Kara, who’s long bo staff had instantly become two shorter sticks.  Sticks she expertly twirled and rotated into position and lowered herself into an Escrima fighting stance. Also known as Arnis, or Kali. Filipino stick fighting, a martial art form Lena was familiar with because it had at one time captured the interest of her brother.

If people thought Kara was dangerous with one weapon, she was twice as lethal with two.  Her arms and legs moved so quickly, Lena couldn’t keep up, delivering painful blows, and blocking ancient-sword wielding arms with the hard points of her body… it was a choreographed dance and Kara was leading all four of the remaining men with ease.

She blocked, turned and delivered a sweeping leg kick under the feet of one, knocking him headlong into one of his masked cronies.  Kara dodged a slash from the side, and brought both sticks down rapidly, her hands opening into a ‘chop’ at the last second, delivering a pair of jarring blows to the neck of one of the stumbling men.  He immediately dropped his sword and fell to his knees. Kara decided to use this to her advantage. She took a quick step and pounced, planting one foot on his shoulder, propelling herself into the air, where she promptly rotated one hundred eighty degrees, her bare foot making contact with the kneeling man’s face, knocking him out abruptly. Three to go.

Kara’s momentum vaulted her into the air directly at the man who had, just a second before, been directly behind her.  She was nearly parallel to the ground in her flight, one fist fully extended, she caught him square in the chin. He dropped.  Kara tucked into a roll, popping to her feet, her back to the two remaining assailants. She took a calculated breath before rapidly dropping into another, yet different fighting stance, her arms extending, head snapping to the left, pony tail whipping out beside her, spraying water.  

Water practically poured off the brim of her hat as she tilted her head slowly down. Kara’s cut-off somehow managed to both cling to her form, and hang off of it at the same time.  Water ran in streams down her arms, the sides of her face, her ribs, disappearing behind the fabric of her make-shift shirt.

Both men charged at once, somersaulting their way into her personal space.  Thunder continued to roll, lightning following immediately after. The manufactured storm was directly on top of them now.  The tempo of the bassline pulsed impossibly faster.

Kara blocked strike after strike, and delivered punishing hit after hit of her own.  But a perfectly time flick of the wrist cut her Escrima sticks in half again, this time rendering them useless.  She cocked her head, tossing them aside. Her hat and the shadows hid her vibrant blue eyes, but everyone could clearly see the menacing smile that gleamed in the semi-darkness. She rolled her head and cracked her neck.  The pop song kicked into it’s highest, most punishing gear… so did Kara.

The two remaining men tried to alternate their attacks, in an attempt to wear her out.  Their efforts were futile. She was toying with them, waiting for them to tire as she continued to block blow after blow, finally, in time with the music, she dropped low, and delivered a well-timed punch to the gut of the man in front of her.  He staggered, as he fell forward, Kara shot upward, grabbing the back of his head with her hands and bringing her knee upwards to connect with his face before dropping him and casting him aside. She caught his sword mid air and turned just in time to connect it with the neck of the final masked assassin as the song cut.

Kara and her opponent were frozen.  His arms had been midway up to deliver what he’d hoped to be a finishing blow, but Kara was faster.  She held both his wrists in her right hand, and her left held the sword she now wielded, arm slightly bent at the elbow, so as not to expend all of her energy should the fighting continue.  The blade of her sword rested against the right side of the remaining attacker’s neck.

Had the fight been real, Kara would have cleanly decapitated him.

“AANNNDDD CUT!” boomed Winn.

Lena let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

The thunder, lightning and rain abated on command and the lights came back up.

Kara and her companion both relaxed.  The smile that was just moments ago, full of danger, had returned to it’s warm, sunny disposition. Dripping wet, chest heaving, she flashed a smile that belonged on a toothpaste commercial, lighting up the cavernous room, and the shadow under the ballcap.  She turned to the masked man, who pulled the cloth from his head, smiling back at her. They stepped apart, and bowed to one another respectfully. The other men all got to their feet and Kara in turn bowed to each of them. Lena heard them exchanging conversation in Japanese.

Beside Lena, Sam and Ronnie were losing it.

“Holy shit. HOLY SHIT.” Sam breathed, wide eyed and grinning. “LENA. Oh my God, is she STEAMING?  She is actually, physically steaming.” Lena almost reached over and closed Sam’s mouth for her.

Instead she turned to look at Kara, who sure enough, had steam coming off of her skin from the chill in the air and the temperature of the water on her warm skin.

Sam turned to Ronnie, and the two of them began speaking in hushed whispers.

Kara finished up, and walked to the edge of the stage. Looking down at an approaching Alex, Mike, and Winn.  Alex was smiling casually as she tossed Kara a towel, Mike shaking his head with a defeated grin, and Winn was skipping on his tip toes, talking excitedly and much too fast for anyone to comprehend what he was saying.

“Looks like someone owes me a pint,” Kara raised an eyebrow in Mike’s direction.

She was met with a grin and a “touche.”

“I’ve seen better,” a low, lightly accented, feminine voice interrupted.  

Kara looked up and in Lena’s general direction, as Alex, Mike and Winn spun to see who the party crasher was.

Kara narrowed her eyes for a moment, smile never leaving her face when recognition washed over her.

“DIANA!” Kara yelled as she hopped down and hurried over to the woman that had been standing near Lena and her friends, cloaked in off white, the towel lay forgotten.  She’d taken her hood down, and Lena recognized her immediately.

“Is that Diana Prince?” Sam- who was still gaping, said dumbfoundedly.

Still close by Lena’s other side, Lucy answered.

“It is.  Diana’s latest movie? Kara choreographed the stunts.”  

Lena thought to Diana Prince’s current international box office record breaker.  The movie everyone was talking about. Diana Prince was currently the face of the feminist movement, giving new life to a classic heroic icon.  Women and girls wanted to be her, while men (and other women and girls) wanted to be ON her. Diana Prince was quite possibly the most famous actress in the world, and it was also quite possible that she actually was even more beautiful in real life.

“Kara choreographed the stunts?”  Ronnie asked. Lena recalled the movie.  Half the film was comprised of intricate fight scenes, some involving dozens of actors, stunt doubles, and stand ins.

Lucy nodded.

“Which ones?”

Lucy tilted her chin and raised an eyebrow, her tell tale smirk returning before she replied,

“All of them.”

Lena looked back to Kara and Diana.  Kara had tried- and failed to dodge a hug from Diana.

“I’m soaked! I’ll ruin that Givenchy dress!” she laughed.

“They make more. Besides, I’ve missed you.”  Diana pulled her in for a hug, kissing both of the blonde’s cheeks.

“I didn’t know you were in town!” Kara huffed, pulling away but still holding onto the beautiful brunette’s elbows, keeping her close.

“Last minute meeting, but I wanted to see you. Do you have time tomorrow? Maybe for paddleboarding, or lunch?”

“For you? I’ll make time.” she smiled. “I’ll check the schedule and let you know.  Let me wrap up here and then we can walk and talk?”

“Perfect.” Diana smiled.

Kara turned to take stock of the other spectators, eyes landing on the man standing next to Diana.

“Ollie! You’re here! I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow.” Kara greeted the man with close cropped hair and a day’s worth of stubble with a smile and a hug.  Recognition washed over Lena as she realized her guess from earlier was indeed correct. Oliver Queen.

“Looks like you’re not the only billionaire Kara Danvers is acquainted with.” Ronnie mumbled out of the side of her mouth.

Lena continued to look on as Kara and Oliver Queen exchanged a few quiet words, before she hugged him again. Which was interesting, considering everything Lena knew of Oliver- via business dealings and personal interaction, reminded her that after spending most of his twenties partying hard, after his father was lost at sea and Oliver himself spent a considerable amount of time stranded on an island from the same shipwreck, he returned a different man.  The Oliver Queen that the world knew now was a quiet, calculating businessman who was known for being very private, so to see him hugging a woman that Lena knew embodied sunshine, but was apparently equally as private, well that was a fact that she decided to store away and revisit later.

Oliver and Diana Prince had resumed conversation, while moving down the line, Kara stepped to the woman shrouded in the red and black cloak.  They smiled softly at one another, Kara raised an eyebrow.

“Nyssa.”

“Kara.”

They regarded each other seriously before both cracking grins at the same time, Kara reached for her, pulling her into a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re here.  It’s so good to see you.” Kara added, pulling away slightly.

“I feel the same Kara.  If you decide you’d like to face an adversary worthy of your skills whilst I’m in town, let me know.” she teased, winking.

“I’d love that.  Tomorrow?”

“Just tell me the time and the place,” Nyssa happily stated.

“Excellent. Oh, and I’d tell you to inform your father he did an exceptional job training these men, but based on their fighting style, I should be paying you the praise instead. Impressive.”

Nyssa shrugged. Kara winked.

“Don’t go far, I’ll let you know about tomorrow.” Nyssa replied with a slight bow of her head before turning to converse with Oliver and Diana.

“Sam, Ronnie, Miss Luthor.  I didn’t know you’d be here. Then again, I didn’t know anyone would be here.  They don’t tell me anything.” Kara said with another smile and a wink that made Lena’s knees go a little bit weak.

“It was sort of a last minute decision.  Winn invited us, I hope that’s alright.” Lena said first, surprising herself and her friends.

“Of course!  It’s your film after all. You’re welcome to any of our trainings and rehearsals, although I can’t promise they’ll always be exciting, but I CAN promise they won’t all be this chilly and wet,” the blonde said through a chuckle.

Ronnie and Sam hummed appreciatively, making no effort to conceal the fact that they were both blatantly staring. Lena was doing little to mask her own ogling. Up close, Lena could see the hair at the base of Kara’s neck, the too-short strands that couldn’t be pulled up under her hat into her ponytail had begun to curl from the water.  She noticed individual water rivulets on Kara’s tanned skin. Lena also took stock of the defined abdominal, intercostal, and oblique muscles she’d noticed earlier from afar. And the tattoo, partially obscured by her sports bra, Lena was able to make out a set of four paws on the blonde’s ribs. She tore her eyes away, dragging them up the blonde’s soaked excuse for a shirt and noted the logo over her left breast. A logo Lena recognized with the letters “U.S.M.C.” underneath.

Lena felt something furry nudge her hand, interrupting her train of thought. She looked down.

“Fen!” she exclaimed.

Kara chuckled, looking down at her white wolf.  The canine sat on his haunches next to Lena.

“He likes you,” said Lucy, who was still standing next to Lena and company. The shorter woman looked directly at Kara before smirking and adding “interesting.” Kara shot her a look in return that Lena couldn’t quite read as she stroked the wolf’s head.

“Hey Kar, heads up!” Kara turned swiftly, bringing up a hand to catch whatever Mike had thrown at her with considerable force, causing Lena, Sam, and Ronnie to flinch.  Mike walked over smiling, and then handed Kara her forgotten towel and a spoon.

“Ice cream?” Ronnie questioned, eyeing item in Kara’s hand that had been rocketed at her head a mere moment before.

“Loser buys a pint,” Mike sheepishly shrugged. “Kara’s a walking advertisement for eating healthy, but ice cream’s the way to her heart.” he grinned a megawatt smile in Kara’s direction.

Kara rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully.

“Mike.” she huffed, taking the proffered towel and spoon from him.  “I mean… that’s true.” she said, ripping the pint of ice cream open. “Ladies, this is Mike Matthews, we work together.  Mike, this is Sam Arias, Ronnie Sinclair, and Miss Luthor.”

Mike smiled and shook each of their hands, telling all of them it was a pleasure. Lena, in the meantime was trying to piece together the extent of his relationship with Kara.

“Alex said to let you know we’re debriefing in five.  Excellent work, as always. Ladies, nice to meet all of you, but if you’ll excuse me…” he walked away.

“Lena, we’ll be right over here,” Sam pointed vaguely over her shoulder.  Lena nodded dumbly.

A still smirking Lucy Lane appraised the situation knowingly and took her leave as well.  “I’ll see you in five Kara, Miss Luthor,” she nodded politely.

Kara smiled softly at Lena before digging in to her ice cream. “Would you like some?” the blonde offered the spoon.  Lena’s breath caught. Sharing a spoon with the woman she knew so little about but was clearly taken with was something Lena Luthor wasn’t ready for.

“Maybe next time. Thank you though.” Kara hummed before digging back in.  “You’re very impressive. Kara’s eyes snapped up at the compliment, meeting Lena’s. The younger Luthor once again nearly stumbling backward at how intense the blue orbs staring back at her were, shadowed by a hat or not.

“I- ...thank you.  Lots of practice.” the blonde said, smiling softly.

“You don’t really strike me as the type of person who needs much practice, with anything.”   Aha. There was the confident, board room commanding, CEO Lena Luthor.  

Kara laughed, a melody Lena decided she very much enjoyed being the cause of.

“So I met Winn.”

Kara’s eyebrows disappeared under the brim of her hat, her smile broadened.

“I like him.”  Kara laughed again, and a warmth bloomed in Lena’s chest.

“Good, I’m glad.  We like him too.”

“He confirmed the schedule for Friday.”

Kara thought for a second, mentally visualizing her calendar.  “Right. Are you ready? Any questions?”

“As ready as I’m going to be.  No questions right now, anyway… a little nervous though.”  Lena found herself admitting.

Kara brought her spoon down thoughtfully, giving Lena her complete and undivided attention.  “Nerves are to be expected. That’s part of the reason Winn asked you to be there so early. We’re going to walk through everything several times.  We won’t move forward if you feel uncomfortable or unsafe at any time.”

Lena breathed a little easier. “That’s very comforting.  Probably also the reason why I keep hearing that you’re the best.”

Kara smiled sheepishly, looking as if she wanted to argue.  They both looked down, Lena noticing that even in her designer pumps, a barefoot Kara was as tall as she was.  Lena’s hand still rested on the wolf’s head, his tail flicking back and forth in contentment.

“Kara!” Alex shouted from behind the monitors.

“Coming.” answered the blonde, without looking away from Lena.

“I hate to do this, but I have to go.” she said quietly. “I’ll see you soon?” she smiled hopefully.

“Very.” Lena answered coyly, causing both their grins to widen.

“Enjoy the rest of your night, Miss Luthor.  Fen?” Kara uttered a few more words in a tongue Lena couldn’t quite pick up on, and with that, the wolf and his human were rejoining the rest of their crew.  Lena turned towards her friends, both hands in her pockets. She turned back around, taking stock of the blonde stuntwoman one final time as Lucy casually tossed her one of the samurai swords and Kara caught it with little to no effort, ice cream secured in the other hand.

Lena Luthor still had many more questions than answers when it came to the younger Danvers sister and her colleagues, but there was one thing she was now certain of…

Kara Danvers was deadly.

Chapter Text

Lena Luthor’s apartment, Los Angeles, CA

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEE- THWACK!

With a groan, and herculean effort, Lena rolled over onto her back, bringing the hand that silenced her alarm up to meet the other, and rubbed her eyes with a deep yawn.  She blinked slowly, glaring at the thief of her limited and precious sleep. 4:15 a.m. She’d crawled into bed around midnight. Lena was tired, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t enjoying her current project, even if the director was a bit of a prick.

She flicked her bedside lamp on, allowing her eyes and the rest of her body to acclimate to the soft glow encompassing the room.  She sighed heavily, recalling her last few days…

Still reeling, Sam, Ronnie, and Lena made their way out of Stage Five in silence.  The silence remained until they reached Lena’s trailer, and was then abruptly ended with an onslaught of her friends trying to excitedly talk over each other. They continued gushing about the enigma that was Kara Danvers for the better part of an hour before each heading home.

The first half of the week had dragged on.  Lena and Kara’s interaction had been kept to a minimum.  Lena and Gus had rode past Kara and company in the early morning hours, one morning they were mid-run, the next caught them circled up, executing the most coordinated four-count jumping jacks Lena had ever seen.  

Yesterday however, Lena had an even earlier call time than usual.  The birds hadn’t even began to rouse in their perches when she was exiting her trailer, preparing to walk across the studio lots, -it was so early in fact, Gus wasn’t due at work for another hour. She rounded the back of her trailer, shaking off an inkling of dread, telling herself she was being paranoid.  She was on a perfectly safe, well guarded lot with excellent security. Still, her family’s past wrong-doings were resurfacing in the form of thinly-veiled anonymous threats disguised as some of Lena’s fan mail.  And while Lena was no stranger to the world of blackmail and violent threats, especially ones she could thank her brother for, it nonetheless had a tendency to put her on edge. While she attempted to assure herself it was nothing to worry about, a Luthor could never be too careful… especially the lone Luthor trying to do a little bit of good whenever and wherever she could.

Tamping down her nerves, Lena stepped forward, prepared to make the long walk to set in the dark.  Then she heard footsteps, not far behind her. She picked up her pace, eyes futilely scanning the pitch black over her shoulder while continuing to hurry.  Then she heard heavy, ragged breathing.

‘Don’t panic, don’t panic,’ Lena told herself as she attempted to further quicken her steps.  The footsteps and breathing, sounding like they were doing nothing but closing the distance between Lena and her would-be stalker. She broke into a jog, tucking her shoulder bag under arm while attempting to grasp for her taser or phone… whichever she could reach first.  She hastily reached the end of the row of trailers, and rounded the back corner of the last mobile unit. Just then her body connected with something solid, and a set of arms came up to clutch her lower back, pulling her body flush with the one she collided with as the pair of them spun around, off balance, and the frame she was pressed against provided her with a cushion as they collectively collided with the exterior wall of the nearest trailer.

A low “oof” sounded close to Lena’s ear and the hands at her back circled around her a little tighter when she began to struggle.  Lena attempted to push and shove the second offender off of and away from her when she heard a familiar, feminine “Miss Luthor?”

Lena froze, her hands coming to rest on the collar bones of the woman whose space she was currently occupying as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

“Kara?”  she asked, forced to look slightly upward thanks to their difference in height.

“Hi.  Are you alright?” neither one of them moving away from their current position, a position that had Lena all but pinning Kara to the trailer behind the blonde.  A position that would have anyone stumbling upon the pair of them to believe they’d just been engaged in rather intimate behaviour. Against her will given the circumstances, Lena’s face warmed at the thought.  Her heart rate, already rapid at the thought of being followed, had done nothing to slow itself down now that she found herself pressed against one Kara Danvers.

One very solid, very toned Kara Danvers. A very-  ...Lena minutely shook her head, bringing herself back to reality and why she found herself in this position in the first place.

“I- yes. I think so… I’m sorry, I thought-”  Lena looked back the way she had came, as if she expected to see a silhouette standing mere feet away, watching the two of them.  “It’s silly.” Kara tilted her head, and patiently waited… doing absolutely nothing to quell Lena’s growing affection for the blonde stuntwoman. “I thought I heard someone following me.”

If they hadn’t been pressed so closely together, Lena would have missed the way that Kara tensend against her, as she began looking past Lena, in the direction the actress had been hurrying from.

“I was probably just imagining things… like I said, it’s silly.” Lena said softly, attempting to brush it off.

Kara’s head snapped back to Lena’s face.  “If it upset you, it’s not silly. It’s dark out here, and it’s early.  Fen… رفتن. پیدایش کن”*

It was then Lena noticed the giant, silent white wolf sitting on his haunches a few feet away, regarding the pair of them quietly. At Kara’s command, Fen took off at a sprint in the direction Lena had come from. Kara and Lena both watched him go before Kara once again turned her attention back to Lena.  “Are you alright?” the blonde repeated softly.

“I… yes. I am now.”  Lena mentally berated herself for the utter cliche of her confession, while Kara nodded slightly, standing up straighter and in doing so, pushed them both off of the wall of the trailer. Lena reluctantly dropped her hands and stepped away as Kara simultaneously did the same, stepping away and in the direction Fen had departed. Kara had taken out her phone and turned on the flashlight, shining the beam in the aforementioned direction.  In it’s backlit glow, Lena noted that Kara was dressed in running shoes, running shorts, and a quarter-zip fitness top, headphones hanging loosely around her neck. She crouched low, flashing the beam under the nearby trailers.

Kara stood back up and turned to Lena.

“If there was anyone there, Fen will find them.”  her bright blue eyes searched Lena’s face as she stepped closer, “are you sure you’re alright?”

Lena nodded and chuckled somewhat humorlessly.  “Yes. Perks of being a Luthor I’m afraid… neverending threats on your life with the ever-present fear looming in the back of your mind…” she scoffed and waved in an attempt to make light of the situation.

In the dim light of the flashlight that was angled at the ground, Lena noted the tilt of Kara’s head, and how her eyebrows scrunched together as she frowned.

“That’s not okay.” the blonde stated firmly.

As Lena was formulating a reply, Kara looked quickly in the opposite direction. Lena couldn’t see or hear anything, but a few seconds later, Fen reappeared. Alone.

At that moment, if you had asked her, Lena couldn’t tell you if she was happy about it, or disappointed.

“Well, it looks like I was being paranoid after all,” Lena said softly.

Kara stepped away from her and toward Fen, he sat down as she approached.  Kara stepped right in front of him, and crouched down until both sets of their matching blue eyes met. Kara ran her hand across the top of his head before dropping it, holding it out.  Very carefully, the white wolf placed something in her upturned palm, his tail flicking back and forth. Kara rolled it around in her hand, letting out a long breath, seeming to know what it was before she even looked at it. Finally, Kara held it under her light, examining it.  Lena stepped closer, eager to see what the white wolf had returned with.

Lena peered closer, she and Kara were close both in proximity and in their inspection of the object.  The actress took note of what appeared to be a cylindrical metal tube, the width of a pencil, and approximately half as long; tethered on one end to twisted yellow cord.

Something familiar tugged at the back of Lena’s mind, urging her to wrack her scientific brain as to what the object in question was.

“Is that-” Lena’s breath hitched as the pieces slotted into place. Kara looked up and met her eyes. Lena noted a softness in them as the blonde smiled lightly.

As if sensing her anxiety, Kara halted Lena from finishing her sentence, but not impolitely.

“This…” she said calmly, “is something I want Winn to look over before I make an incorrect guess.”

“Kara..” Lena said, her voice laced with more tiredness than she felt a moment ago.

“Miss Luthor…” Kara parroted back, her tone light, eyes sparkling in the dim back glow of the flashlight, light smile still in place.

If the stunt woman’s demeanor and casual approach was meant to put Lena at ease, it was working. The fear Lena felt not ten minutes ago was nowhere to be found.

“I’m going to get this to Winn once he comes in, but in the meantime, where were you heading?” she asked Lena, simultaneously tucking the small metal object into a concealed pocket at the back of her running shorts.

“Stage Four.” Lena replied.

Kara hummed before lightly asking, “Extra early call time?”

“Unfortunately,” Lena answered tiredly. “I’m afraid I haven’t had much time to recover from jet lag and worry it’s starting to show.”

“Hmm… I respectfully disagree, for whatever it’s worth,” Kara stated through an easy smile that Lena noticed in the white glow, causing the actress’s cheeks to warm further; a warmth that was rapidly becoming part of her regular appearance when in the presence of Kara Danvers.  “That being said, make sure you’re taking care of yourself. The weather’s going to change soon, and the filming location schedule is unforgiving I’m afraid.”

Lena nodded in agreement before Kara continued, “I was actually headed in the direction of Stage Four, I hope you don’t mind the company.”

Lena sighed in relief, the panic that had began to manifest at the thought of walking to her destination alone after her conversation with the blonde had wrapped, abated.

“I welcome it, actually. If you’re sure I’m not taking you away from anything important.”

“Positive.  I have nowhere else to be.”

Lena suppressed a smile.

Never one for small talk, Lena found herself almost welcoming it as Kara and Fen accompanied her from lot to lot, taking her mind off of the incident that quite literally brought them together. Kara asked her how filming was going, if she was ready for the somewhat uncharacteristically hot weather to finally break, and other menial things before delving into conversation about the their film’s first major stunt set to be filmed in a few days’ time. Kara then reminded her that they would be covering all the bases before putting her in any position she didn’t feel quite comfortable with. Before she knew it, and had any chance to reciprocate and ask her own share of questions, they’d arrived in front of the looming building that was Stage Four. Kara had opened the door for her, and walked her to her designated sound stage, nodding and politely smiling at the passersby- mainly crew, with a few actors interspersed- who felt compelled to doubletake when they saw Kara and Lena together. Or perhaps it was the giant wolf that padded along silently next to them that drew the second looks...

Lena stole glances out of the corner of her eye at Kara.  The taller blonde woman exuded a quiet confidence and calming presence. She walked with her shoulders back and chin up, never failing to smile at anyone they passed. Her eyes, Lena noted, were constantly sweeping any room they entered, compiling and cataloguing every detail, taking note and taking stock of every possible minutiae, and filing it away, storing it, in the event it needed to be revisited later. Kara politely opened every door for her, stepping aside, allowing Lena to enter before her after visually ensuring the coast was clear of any viable threat.

When they finally reached their destination, a partially constructed small aircraft cockpit and hull, perched on a giant boom, surrounded by green screen, with more people bustling about despite the morning hour- wanting to prolong their time together, Lena came to a slow halt. Kara followed suit, as did Fen.

Lena turned to face Kara as Kara turned to face Lena.

“You’re sure you’re alright?” Kara asked softly.

“I am,” Lena stated, not breaking eye contact with the cyan pair in front of her.  “Thanks to you.”

Kara chuckled and scoffed trying to wave off the compliment while toeing the ground, all of a sudden becoming bashful.  She cleared her throat somewhat nervously, before lifting her had back to re-meet Lena’s eyes.

“What time are you done today?” Kara, suddenly becoming serious, asked.

Lena thought for a moment, visualising her day’s itinerary before replying, “Hmm, it’s a long day, we’re set to shoot here until about lunchtime, then I have a break for a few hours, but will most likely spend all of it on a conference call, then back here after dinner, and will probably be here until nine p.m., if I had to guess.”

Kara nodded thoughtfully, as if considering something, but ultimately she shook her head before again giving Lena her full attention.

“Well, it looks like your presence is about to be requested.” Kara said softly, lips upturned in a light smile, dipping her chin and raising her eyebrows in the direction over Lena’s shoulder.

Lena turned to see both hair and make-up, and wardrobe personnel headed her way with purpose.

The brunette sighed again, before turning back to Kara- Kara, who was now looking at her with a softness Lena wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of.  Her breath caught in her throat, and not for the first time in the presence of Kara Danvers.

“Kara, I-” she was cut off by both the wardrobe department, and hair and make-up. Impeccable timing , Lena mused.

“I’ll leave you to it,” the blonde stunt woman said quiet enough for Lena to hear. “Have a wonderful day, Miss Luthor.  Don’t forget what I said about taking care of yourself.”

Lena nodded. Kara smiled.

“I’ll see you soon.”  

And with that, both Kara and Fen were gone, and Lena was swept up into a whirlwind of hair, make-up, and costume, as the grueling day began.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At approximately 830 p.m., their prickly director finally yelled “cut” for the day and Lena felt what little energy she had left leave her body.  To say the day had been long would have been the understatement of the year. But, the director was finally happy, well- as happy as the miser of a man could be. Her L-Corp conference call had gone better than she could have hoped, and now she was finally done, and her bed was calling her name.  With any luck, Lena would be collapsing into her pillows by 11… just as soon as she went back to her trailer and- oh… her trailer. Lena had nearly forgotten about the events that’d transpired in the wee hours of the morning. When they came flooding back, she came to a realization that she’d apparently overlooked.  She’d be walking back to her trailer. In the dark. Alone.

Lena steeled herself.   Pull yourself together, Lena.  You’re a Luthor for crying out loud. Threats on your life are as commonplace as morning coffee. You can walk across the lot to your trailer by yourself.  

Her self-imposed pep-talk didn’t eliminate the fact that Lena wished a certain blonde stunt-woman was there to accompany her.

Lena finished placing her wardrobe back on the corresponding racks before gathering her things and heading for the door.  When she reached it, she took a deep breath, and pushed it open, and then she froze.

Sitting under the lone light, illuminating the doorway from outside, ten feet away from the door, on his haunches, sat Fen.  As if he was waiting for her. He tilted his head, and upon seeing Lena, his tail began it’s trademark, feline flicking. Lena looked around, expecting to see Kara emerge from the darkness, but all was quiet.

Lena took a step toward the white wolf, causing him to stand up and trot toward her, circling around and coming to a stop at her right side, pressing up against her leg, forcing her hand to rest on his head.  Lena chuckled and stroked his head. Fen stepped forward, stopped and looked back at her, almost as if he were asking her why she wasn’t following. Lena chuckled again, and shook her head, amazed at the animal’s intuition and intelligence. She moved forward, returning her hand to the soft fur of his head, and Fen led her back to her trailer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lena rolled over in her bed, willing herself to get up as she recalled the events of the last few days.  

Fen had walked her back to her trailer, and while she expected him to leave, when she re-emerged, ready to head towards her awaiting driver and head home to her bed, Fen had been waiting outside of her trailer, ready to escort her to her car. When she was safely inside, and her driver began to pull away, she turned just in time to see him trotting off in the direction of the trailers.

That had been three days ago.  Every day since, the snow-white canine had been waiting for her when arrived in the pre-dawn hours of the morning, waiting again for her while she collected everything she needed from her trailer, and proceeded to walk her across the pitch black lots, to her stage for the day. Although Fen was nowhere to be found (nor was his human) during the bright daylight hours, he repeated the routine after dusk.  

Someone had gone to enough trouble to find out her schedule… someone most likely being Kara Danvers.

Lena smiled at the thought, swinging her legs out of bed, feet hitting the floor as she prepared to ready herself for the day.

Lena was no closer to deciphering the shroud of mystery that encompassed Kara, and with each brief interaction they shared, her curiosity and perhaps something more if she were to be honest with herself,  did nothing but continue to intensify...

Chapter Text

Downtown L.A.

Lena tore her gaze away from the menu in her hand to take a sip of her wine and glance up at Sam.  Sam who sat across the table from her and was checking her watch again and leering out the window in search of someone.  

Suddenly, the restaurant door swung open, bringing in a maelstrom of swirling leaves, wind, and chilly fall rain, announcing Veronica Sinclair.

The ambience of the cozy spot was relaxed, but the glare the exasperated maitre’d threw the tardy woman as he tried to shoo her in and close the door in time to keep leaves and weather OUT, but decorations and heat IN, was enough to argue otherwise.

“THERE you are!” Sam huffed.  “You’re half an hour late! Lena and I have been wasting away waiting for you!”

Lena stifled a laugh, and quickly returned her gaze to her menu, refusing to be sucked into the middle of yet another one of her friends’ amicable spats.

Veronica dumped a heavy folder onto the table, and shrugged off her coat; simultaneously rolling her eyes.

“And all this time I’ve wondering how on earth you were nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series.  Case closed, apparently.”

Sam gaped and shot her a look full of as much disdain as she could muster, locking the two in a stare-down.  

Sam cracked first… Veronica and Lena following closely behind. Once their laughter subsided, Veronica picked up her menu, appearing unphased by Sam and Lena’s expectant looks.

“Are you going to tell us why you, the second-most punctual person I know after Lena here, was so late?”

Without looking up, Veronica jutted her chin in the direction of the manilla folder occupying table space before adding, “I met with my source.”

Lena’s eyes snapped up; Sam’s hand shot out, but Veronica was faster, slamming her hand down on top of Sam’s, holding the folder in place, her eyes darting back and forth between Lena and Sam’s. She shook her head slowly.

“Not here.  Lena, you live close, your place after?”

Lena nodded in response as she felt herself grow somewhat nervous… the contents of the folder, and the backstory of Kara Danvers still a closed book Lena itched to open.

The trio finished their dinner with an unusually forced small talk, all three wanting to return to Lena’s apartment and talk about the glaring folder occupying the fourth seat at their table. They paid their respective bills, and made the short, brisk walk over sidewalks of fallen leaves encased in a tense silence their friendship was unaccustomed to.

Lena hadn’t spent much time in her new apartment since returning from Europe as she’d jumped into work on her current film almost immediately, managing to half unpack and barely decorate, but she’d fallen in love with the space via a virtual tour while still abroad, and made the call immediately.  The building was in an older, recently regentrified area of the city, within comfortable walking distance of quaint little shops, cafes and eateries. It wasn’t overly pretentious, and Lena was sold on the gorgeous hardwood, mix of exposed brick and stucco, and large windows, letting in as much natural light as possible.  When she’d made the call, the realtor on the other end of the phone informed her that the apartments were highly sought after since the building’s opening. The owner had bought the building and entirely renovated it from top to bottom, restoring most of the structure’s original features. The actress had been informed there was also a vetting process, but Lena readily agreed, and two days later she was the building’s newest tenant.  Three weeks after that, she was on a plane back to the States, the movers having already transported her belongings to her new space.

While Lena hadn’t been afforded much time to appreciate her new flat, she was glad to be able to call a space she enjoyed, “home.”

The women approached her building together, walking past the private lot that accompanied it, surrounded by a brick wall, topped with a tasteful wrought-iron fence.  Lena glanced through the gate, noticing the preferred methods of travel that belonged to some of her neighbors… a Land Rover here, an older Mustang there, a pair of motorcycles, a Wrangler…

Lena and her companions made their way through the key-carded entry-way, and to the elevators, the ride- while most likely noticeably faster than most elevators in resident apartment buildings in the city, in this case, was nothing short of agonizing on it’s way to the top floor.

Silence continuing between the friends, they made their way to the end of the hall, Lena glancing at the doors of her fellow tenants, all of whom she had yet to meet.  Sam and Ronnie, breaking the silence to offer appreciative compliments on her new address.

As soon as Lena unlocked the door, and the three found themselves inside, door closing behind them, Sam stared down Ronnie with an aggressive “SPILL.”

Veronica sighed and the three of them shrugged off their coats, Lena heading to the island, bottle of wine and corkscrew in hand as Sam made her way towards the glasses.

They congregated around the island, accompanied by a rich red Lena had acquired from the Bordeaux region in France, and the folder that held so many secrets.

“Well,” Ronnie sighed again, “before you both get your hopes up… it’s a lot.  A lot of nothing.”

Sam pulled the folder toward them, flipping it open, revealing official looking documents, and as she flipped through them with her thumb, Lena noticed the thick black marks obscuring a majority of the text.

Redacted.

Lena had grown familiar with redacted text during her time at MIT, as the university was highly sought after regarding groundbreaking technology and potential government applications. She became more familiarized with redaction during her work with L-Corp, yet more so while it was still Luthor Corp and her brother remained at the helm.  When Lena took over the family business, she’d begun the process of closing down the weapons division of then Luthor Corp. While there were other divisions of her company that dealt in very delicate information, that one proved to make people the most nervous; all the more reason to be rid of it.

Bringing her attention back to the matter at hand, Lena watched as Sam slowly fanned the folder’s contents out on the countertop in front of them.  Her friend used both hands to spread most of the pages out in front of the women, and in the mix, pulled forth a photo.

A picture of Kara.  The blonde was younger, her hair pulled back in a tight bun, smile absent as she looked directly into the camera for the posed photo, but her eyes still shone with the warmth that Lena had come to associate with the stuntwoman.  Kara donned a crisp, pressed, navy blue uniform with a high collar, multiple brass buttons, a stark white military hat atop her head.

As Sam continued to file through the myriad of documents, Lena noticing varying government organization’s headers marking the top, all stamped with “TOP SECRET,” and “CLASSIFIED,” she found the folder’s only other photo- another picture of Kara, but in a different uniform, with her right hand in the air, a man in a similar uniform standing before her, apparently swearing her in to something or other… to what, Lena was unsure, both because her knowledge of military branch and structure was admittedly limited… but also because Kara Danvers in uniform was doing things to her …

She let out a breath and had to consciously refrain from fanning herself considering she was so warm all of a sudden.  Instead, she transitioned her attention to Ronnie, awaiting an explanation.

Veronica suggested they move to the couch, taking the folder with them- before launching into a lengthy explanation on what she’d been able to find out.

“Like I said, there’s a lot of nothing here… but it’s the nothing that speaks volumes.  Your mysterious stuntwoman was adopted, right around the time she was 13. Her adoption records are sealed as all minors are, but hers are... iron-clad… and the information on her available prior to her adoption is non-existent.”  Ronnie drawled, taking a healthy gulp of wine.

Lena felt a tug at her heart.   Adopted.  A trait she and Kara shared, another reveal that did nothing to quell Lena’s growing affection for the blonde.

Ronnie continued, “Your Kara Danvers is one proud Naval Academy Grad.  From what I’ve been able to take away from all of this top-secret garbage is that she’s nothing short of brilliant.  She was accepted early. Her SAT and ACT scores were outstanding. Perfect GPA, a list of extracurriculars a mile long… Ivy League schools were heavily interested, in fact, several of them actively recruited her… offering full rides. Unheard of, right?  But she decided to do her due diligence to the good ol’ U-S of A. She’s also an accomplished soccer player, and had athletic scholarship offers from numerous, notable schools… somehow made time to nail down her Paramedic certification prior to signing her life away to Uncle Sam. And that’s… really it. Before her adoption, there’s nothing… after she went to the Naval Academy, there’s next to nothing, and when she took her commission in the Marine Corps, there’s REALLY nothing… until she made a name for herself with Krypton Stunts, but it’s a private company and their business is even more ‘need-to-know’ than any three letter government organisation’s.” Veronica huffed before taking another healthy swig of wine.

Lena nodded slowly, staring at the information spread out in front of them.

“What about the rest of the team?” Sam asked, also staring at the counter-top of white before them.

“Same boat,” Ronnie huffed. “Albeit, not any less impressive.  Her sister’s actually an M.D. Went to med school at Johns Hopkins. Medically minded family it seems. Then she becomes just as much of a mystery. She has her medical license and did a stint with Medecins Sans Frontieres,* and then fell off the map.  Rumor is, the government snatched her up… which part of the government? Well, your guess is as good as mine.  

As for Lucy Lane, her reputation precedes her, then let’s see…

There’s Susan Vasquez, military background before going being swept up to work for the government- presumably the C.I.A.” Ronnie had set her now empty wine glass on Lena’s coffee table and had began ticking Kara’s colleagues off her fingers as she settled into the cushions.

Lena’s eyes drifted from her friend’s face to the array of documents and photos spread across the surface in front of her while Veronica continued with her list.

“Then there’s Mike Matthews, he was in the Navy, nothing appears out of the ordinary… and Winn, their resident geek and tech guru- computer degrees from Carnegie Mellon and U.C. Berkeley. Seems a tad over-qualified to be working for a stunt company, but what do I know? Anyway, lastly- Jimmy Olsen.”

Lena and Sam’s heads whipped up in tandem.

“Jimmy Olsen? Pulitzer prize winning photographer?” Sam gaped incredulously.

“The very one,” Ronnie drawled. “Rumor is, he and Lucy Lane dated for a minute, and he’s friends with Clark Kent, they used to work together, and Clark dates Lucy’s sister.”

Sam was drawing imaginary lines in the air, piecing the puzzle of people together in her head while Lena processed all the information Veronica had laid out before them.

“I can leave this here,” Ronnie said, gesturing to the folder and all its contents.

“That won’t be necessary,” Lena stated, cutting off Sam before she could add her own two cents. “Honestly, whatever their backgrounds are- whatever Kara’s story is, it’s their business. And while I appreciate the work you put into this Ronnie, it’s kind of an invasion of privacy, a rather considerable one; so if Kara and her friends decide they’d like to share in the future, great; and if not, well, it is what it is. Also, remind me to never make an enemy out of you.” Lena smirked before taking a sip of her own dry red.

“Always taking the high road,” Sam scoffed, before winking at Lena and nursing her own glass.

“Ugh, right?” Ronnie chimed in with a groan. “You just have to be the best person we know, don’t you?” she laughed.

Lena rolled her eyes, but did nothing more to hide the affection for the two women sitting next to her. They drifted into comfortable conversation, characteristic of a friendship that had endured its fair share of trials and tribulations, highs and lows, and only managed to bring the three women closer together. Lena sighed happily, sinking further into the comfort of both her couch, and her friendship, only barely aware of the slamming of a door in the hallway outside her warm apartment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Warner Brothers Studios, Hollywood, CA

Lena stifled a yawn as she made her way across the lots with Jess in tow.  She nodded along and hummed as Jess went over her schedule, pulling her jacket tighter as the chilly fall wind worked its way down the back of her neck. Maybe that last glass of wine was a bad idea . Lena winced, pushing her sunglasses further up her nose as Jess made mention of a meeting she had regarding a business deal with L-Corp next week in National City.

Lena’s reply to Jess was interrupted by a cacophony of grunting and clanging of what sounded like metal on metal.  Lena and her assistant continued to make their way across the pavement towards the source of the noise. As they drew closer to the origin of the primordial sounds, the pair noticed a small crowd formed.  The crowd parted slightly upon their approach, allowing Lena a direct line of sight to what seemed to hold everyone’s attention.

The blonde stunt woman that seemingly held a fair amount of Lena’s attention as of late. Kara Danvers and company.  Kara and her colleagues were in a sand pit, to put it simply. A rounded, slightly oblong sandpit. And they were sparring. Lena reached up, propping her sunglasses atop her head, taking in all that lay before her.

A crowd of about twenty onlookers had gathered around the perimeter of the sand pit to watch Krypton Stunts put their combative skill sets on display.  All of them donning garb that would have been at home in the Roman Colosseum. It was chilly, but the temperature in the air was apparently inconsequential. Dressed like gladiators, armed with gladiatorial spears, swords and shields, the members of Krypton Stunts surrounded Kara. Five against one.

Everyone was armed with a spear or sword, and a shield, and armor. Minimally restrictive armor, but armor nonetheless. Some sort of chainmail authentic to the time period, chest plates, the woman Lena presumed to be Susan Vasquez wore a helmet, all seemed reasonably protected. Except Kara.

The blonde wore high, laced sandals, a long, sleeveless tunic, her torso protected not by metal armor, but by a thick, leather chest and back plate, allowing for easier movement, but less protection.  Kara’s wrists were sporting leather bracers, and she wielded no shield, but two short swords. Her hair was half down, and the half that was pulled up had two small braids woven into it, pulled back and out of her face.

It was 50 degrees outside, maybe a little cooler with the autumnal wind, but they were all sweating, Kara included. Her hair damp at her temples from apparent repeated exertion. Lena watched as the blonde twirled the twin swords in her hands almost lazily. Before slowly turning, taking stock of her friends- now opponents outnumbering her.

Lena felt a nudge against her elbow, and not wanting to tear her eyes away for too long, glanced at the interruption quickly and did a minute double take, realizing who it was.

“Gus! Hi! It’s been a few days, how are you?” Lena inquired, the center of her attention back on the center of the makeshift arena.

The jovial man beside her chuckled before responding, “I know you’ve had some early days, Miss Luthor, but I’m doing just fine, thanks for asking. What about you? Settled in comfortably?”

Lena chuckled in response, not stealing her gaze away, “getting there, one day at a time.”

A beat of silence, and then…

“Gus, what are they doing?”

Kara now possessed almost all of Lena’s attention, as the blonde quirked an eyebrow, now walking the inner circle her friends surrounding her created. Lena wasn’t sure if Kara had noticed her or not, if she had, she made no indication of it. The stunt woman said something only her coworkers could hear, earning a scoff from her sister, and what appeared to be a snarky retort from Lucy Lane.

“Training.” Gus stated simply.

Lena opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, another familiar face appeared on her other side.

“Miss Luthor!” the male voice said excitedly, signature tablet in hand, jacket buttoned nearly all the way up.

“Winn! It’s good to see you again, how are you?”

“Great! It’s so great to see you too! Ready for tomorrow?” the tech man rocked up onto the balls of his feet in excitement.

“I am! Looking forward to it actually, chilly fall weather and all.” the actresses eyes still on the center of the arena.

“Good! We are too! Excuse me just a minute, they’re waiting for me, unfortunately.” Winn scurried away, sidling up to Alex while swiping at something on the screen of his tablet, eliciting another knowing glarel from the elder Danvers sister, this time aimed at the IT expert.

“You’re the one that insisted on filming this,” Alex huffed.

“I know, I know! And we’re almost ready, just let me… aha, there we go.  They should be here any second, he stated, looking up to the sky. On cue, Winn’s trusty drones descended upon the gladiators.

“Okay, ready in three, two, one!” Winn exclaimed, earning an even more severe glare from Alex before she dropped her stance, jutting the arm holding her spear forward, and bringing her shield up to protect her body.

Her stunt mates all mimicking her, minus Kara. The blonde dropped her chin, slowly glancing behind her, before bringing her chin in the opposite direction as if surveying the other side of the circle of warriors that enclosed her. She inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and held it, before opening them and exhaling slowly… and then rapidly dropped into a half crouch, bringing both her swords up, once again rotating her wrists, swiveling her swords.

As Winn’s drones sprang to life, so too, did the stunt team. They attacked Kara from all sides, and no one was holding anything back. But while they were are fast, Kara was faster. Her ability to duck, roll, and parry, while reading and anticipating the moves of her teammates was remarkable.

Vasquez lunged forward with her spear, and Kara rolled mid-air, dodging it in the knick of time, taking advantage of the minute window where the smaller woman was off balance. Using it to her advantage, Kara leapt forward at her opponent, lunging to the side at the last second, and once the short haired attacker had stumbled even with her, Kara swept her own foot behind that of Susan Vasquez, concurrently using her upper body weight to push Vasquez further off balance in the opposite direction, landing her firmly on her back, looking up to see one of Kara’s swords at her neck.  She held her hands up in surrender, Kara having already moved on before the woman could begin removing herself from the ring.

Kara was now fending off a frontal attack from Mike, with his long sword and shield, and additional attacks from each flank. Lucy and Alex both hoping to take advantage of Kara’s divided attention…

No such luck.  While one of Kara’s more compact swords collided with Mike’s larger one, she dropped to one knee, avoiding what would have sure been a seriously maiming blow to the ribs on her right from Lucy’s spear.  Kara stood quickly, using her shoulder to jar the spear out of her general vicinity. Lucy mostly held her ground, and brought her shield up as Kara charged her, but attacking the JAG officer wasn’t what Kara had in mind.  At the last moment, Kara leapt, planting her foot firmly onto the flat surface of Lucy’s shield, using it to propel herself upward, into a front tuck, over the head of a very surprised Mike Dax. Before the man could pick his jaw up from the sand, Kara had both of her swords crossed in an “x” pinning his head securely in-between them.

“Boo.” the blonde said with a wink and a smirk, leaving the man to groan aloud before going to join Vasquez on the sidelines.

“No way.” Lena heard beside her.  Quickly finding the source, Lena looked over to a gaping Jess. “That’s… holy shit! Diana Prince did that… Kara taught her… whoa.”

Lena chuckled at her assistant’s inability to form complete and coherent sentences. Good to know that she wasn’t the only one Kara Danvers affected so strongly.

Kara, who was now engaged in heavy hand to hand combat with both Lucy Lane and her sister. While Lucy occupied a majority of Kara’s attention, Alex came in from the left side, her own large sword, swinging downward in what looked to be a deadly blow, but where Alex was fast, Kara was faster still.  Her right short sword was currently engaged with the tip of Lucy’s spear, but Kara rapidly flipped the hilt of the sword in her left hand, catching it in an upside down position, placing the blade parallel to her forearm, shielding that particular part of her body. A loud CLANG of metal on metal echoed through the arena as the swords met, causing a few sparks to fly.

Lena’s eyes widened slightly. She looked at Winn, who had returned to his place nearby.

“Are those weapons real as well?” the actress questioned somewhat incredulously.

“Mhmm,” Winn replied without looking. “Actually, fun fact: Kara’s swords aren’t even replicas.  They’re the real deal. A metallographer dated the sword to 180 A.D. So Kara’s swinging around swords that an actual gladiator used. Pretty cool, huh?”

Now it was Lena’s mouth that hung slightly agape.

“What? How on earth…?” she stared.

“She doesn’t sharpen them. Although I can’t say the same for everyone else.” his brow furrowed.

“How is it that a stuntwoman is sparring with two pieces of history that a museum is probably itching to get their hands on? And why??” Jess practically shouted, although not loud enough to cover the clanging and grunting still taking place in front of them

Winn looked at them both for a moment before deciding to answer, as if he was choosing his words carefully, before continuing, “Kara has a close friend that deals in antiquities.” he said plainly, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. “And as for why she opts to use real weaponry instead of manufactured replicas, you’d have to ask her… but I have a feeling she’ll say something like, ‘the real thing is heavier, and the weight on the replicas is never quite right,’ and she’ll probably also throw in something close to, ‘and this is what it was designed to be used for.  The smith who made this would want it being used… no matter how old it is.’” Lena bit back a smile at his imitation of the woman he obviously cared for. Winn, who was now affectionately watching Kara dance around Lucy and her sister, effectively tiring them out.

The heaviness of Lucy and Alex’s armor and weapons was beginning to take its toll, while Kara looked as fresh as she did when they began their melee.

In a reversal of roles, it was now Lucy who charged at Kara, the blonde once again leaning sideways to avoid a spear, before bringing the hilts of both swords up, hammering them down on the shorter woman’s shield, causing enough of a vibration for Lucy to drop her guard.  Kara swiftly stepped into Lucy’s space, resting the point of one of her swords under the woman’s spear-wielding arm, against her flesh at a break in her armor. Had the fight been real, Kara would have, at best, punctured a lung, and caused significant pulmonary damage. Lucy huffed in frustration, before stomping out of the arena somewhat petulantly. Lena bit back another chuckle.

Alex wasted no time in building her own charge, Kara stood her ground, bending over at the last second, forcing Alex to adjust her attack, rolling over Kara’s back and popping back up. She and Kara circled one and other, assessing potential points of weakness.  Kara grinned. Alex scowled.

“I hate when you do that, you know,” she all but yelled.

“Do what?” the blonde feigned dumb.

“You know what, act like you’ve already won because you’re five moves ahead.”

“So then is this where I say ‘check?’” Kara bantered.

“UGH,” was Alex’s only reply before lurching forward again.  Her frustration spurred her on, but while Kara was fast, she was also patient. She continued to block Alex’s heavy sword swings one at a time, until the redhead began to slow down,  again tiring herself out.

“The two of them are the most fun to watch,” whispered Gus from behind Lena. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re all the best at what they do, but those two… are on another level.  They’re so in tune with one another, they end up putting on the best show.”

Lena could do nothing but nod in reply.

The sisters had resumed their physical chess match, Kara continuing to allow Alex to wear herself out, biding her time, waiting for the right moment to counter strike.  Then suddenly, the opportunity presented itself. Alex brought her sword downward again in a cross-arc, Kara spun left and quickly planted herself behind her sister, bringing her left arm up and around her neck, placing her in a loose headlock, while the tip of the other sword rested against her abdomen. The position placed them cheek to cheek, Kara hugging her sister in a victorious hug from behind. Alex huffed out a surly breath.

The taller of the two sisters, leaned close to Alex’s ear, smirk firmly in place before whispering loudly enough for everyone to hear…

“Checkmate.”

Alex groaned again, attempting to elbow her sister in the gut, but Kara was too quick. She leapt backwards and out of the way, but not before planting a noisy kiss to her sister’s cheek.

“You’re annoying, you know that?” Alex said, although her laugh betrayed her.

“You love me.” Kara teased back, their audience chuckled along with them.

“Does that mean it’s finally my turn?” A deep voice echoed from somewhere across the miniature arena.

Lena spotted the source of the question.  A tall, broad, dark-complected, looming figure of a man stepped into the sand, bringing his long sword up and banging it against the front of his sword. While she had never met Jimmy Olsen, but she’d seen his face plastered on the front page of various newspapers and magazines after winning one of the most coveted awards in photojournalism. But to see him here, wearing armor, wielding a sword and shield, ready to fight? Well, that was something most people familiar with his reputation would find surprising. As far as Lena knew, he’d spent the last few years dividing his time between Metropolis as the Daily Planet’s premier photographer, and CatCo magazine acting as interim editor-in-chief.  

“If you think you can keep up,” Kara laughed.

“Oh, you’re on,” James smiled smugly.

Taking their respective positions, they began.  While Kara was the better, more technical fighter, James Olsen was nearly twice her size, and it was working to his advantage. Kara couldn’t seem to get close to him. Not close enough to land a blow that would matter, so for now, she was on the defensive.

“He just joined the team not long ago,” Gus whispered again to Lena.  “There must be something about him though, something that makes him a good fit… I like to think I’ve spent a decent amount of time around this crew- well, more than your average bear, and I can tell ya, they’re pretty picky.”

Lena nodded silently in response once again.

James brought his shield up, deflecting both of Kara’s swords, the clang reverberating through the crowd. He responded with a vicious swing of his own massive longsword, Kara having to tuck and roll to avoid it. They traded blows, grunts, and groans for what seemed like an eternity.  James delivering another violent swing, Kara avoiding it by dropping to one knee while again flipping one of her swords, grabbing it by the hilt, grazing it across her large opponent’s thigh as he stumbled past, she pivoted 180 degrees on her knee, hair fanning out as if time slowed down as she turned, throwing arcs of sand, before hastily returning to her feet. Jimmy Olsen grunted, looking down, a very long, visible, scratch now adorning the outside of his thigh. The mark seemed to spark a renewed fury in the team’s newest member, as he doubled his efforts. Apparently this was what Kara had been counting on.  She stepped back, almost lazily deflecting his blows, his expansive wingspan had been working to his benefit… until now. His large stature meant every missed and deflected blow was a significant amount of wasted energy, and the longer the fight went on, the more catastrophic each missed blow proved to be.

Jimmy Olsen was tiring.  Kara picked her moment. She waited for him to correct himself, standing upright, sword still in a recovery position at his side, she sprang forward, sprinting three large strides, before jumping into the air, bringing both feet forward, leaning backwards, pulling her body parallel to the ground, Jimmy Olsen responded accordingly. Just as Kara had expected him to.

His eyes widened, seeing the soles of the blonde’s gladiator sandals coming right at his face. Fast. He brought his shield up in protection, the defensive, knee-jerk reaction proving to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Kara had been aiming for his head, the impact of her body weight rocketing forward, turning her body into a missile, with his shield at the top of his body put the large man off balance. The photographer wavered, before stumbling, and then tumbling.  Kara had landed into a back roll, once again returning to her feet, wasting no time seeking out her FINISH HIM moment.

The rookie had landed flat on his back, Kara resumed flight, and before Jimmy Olsen could even begin to process what had happened, she was kneeling on his chest, driving a sword into the sand on each side of his head.

His eyes wide again, this time comically so, he grunted one final time before dropping his head back down to the sand, closing his eyes in defeat. Opening them to find the blonde smiling down at him, she wiggled her eyebrows before getting up, offering him a hand. He took it, now returning her smile, shaking his head.

He looked down at the long scratch now adorning his leg, “seriously Kara??”

The blonde shrugged, only somewhat apologetically, before another voice chimed in.

“Stop whining. You wanted on the team, consider it your initiation.” Lucy quipped, tossing him a towel before walking away before he could formulate a response.

Lena and Jess maintained their places on the sidelines, watching as all the onlookers had released the collective breath they were all holding.  

“Miss Luthor.”  Jess whispered, awe-struck.  “I’ve been your assistant for awhile now, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything like that before.  If this is any indication as to what you’re going to be getting into tomorrow… well, I think I’ll be on set for every scene if you don’t mind. They’re… the best. I mean, I KNEW that, but seeing it is just…” Lena chuckled at her assistant’s continued inability to finish a thought.  

“Hi.” Lena turned to find a still sweaty Kara Danvers smiling softly at her, a foot of space separating the two women.

“Hi,” Lena breathed back, a smile of her own tugging at her lips.

“Right,” Lena heard Jess mutter beside her, the assistant glancing back and forth between the two women who couldn’t seem to be bothered with the rest of the world. “Okay then. Miss Luthor, I’m going to get us some coffee, and then I’ll just be over there somewhere... staring at the nearest wall or counting cracks in the pavement if you need me.”

If Lena had heard her, she gave Jess no indication.  

“Great, good talk.” Jess said to herself before slinking away from the oblivious women.

“You’re filming today?” Kara asked, bringing Lena out of her reverie.

“Mmm,” Lena answered softly, eyes tracking Kara’s face and neck, noting how her hair clung lightly to her temples and neck, due to sweat. Something Lena would have considered a definite turn OFF from most people, but it was a look Kara wore well.

Then again, if you were to ask Lena, Kara Danvers wore everything well. Lena’s propensity for self-awareness meant she could recognize her considerable bias where Kara was concerned.  

“I have a little time before we start though,” the brunette continued.  “So, was that for a film you’re working on, or-?” she trailed off.

“No,” Kara replied, still smiling. “Just training, we like to mix it up, keeps everyone well-rounded… besides, makes it fun.” she said, scrunching her nose up.

“Ah,” Lena returned the smile. “So, not to change the subject, but I’ve had the the most handsome body guard escorting me from lot to lot in the dark this last week… you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Kara’s reply was a set of raised eyebrows, paired with a brilliant smile Lena had rapidly enjoyed being in the company of.

“Is that so?” the blonde questioned, feigning ignorance. “Hmm… handsome you said?” Kara’s smile growing.

“Oh yes, roguish good looks. He’s very dashing, in addition to ensuring I make it to each destination completely unscathed.  He’s quite the gentleman,” Lena dramatized, unable to hide her own teasing smirk.

“Well, maybe you can introduce me,” Kara teased back before winking, causing Lena’s knees to go just a little bit weak.

Kara had both hands clasped behind her back while she and Lena danced on the edge of… whatever it is they’re doing. If the woman in front of her, that she barely knew could elicit these kinds of reactions from her without even touching her… well, it was a good thing both sets of hands were being kept to their respective bodies.

Lena cleared her throat, biting her lip before looking down at her designer flats and then back up again to meet Kara’s blue eyes once more.

“Seriously though, Kara… I just wanted to say thank you. I know you must have gone at least a little out of your way, and while it was ultimately unnecessary, Fen’s presence during the late nights and early mornings has been… very much appreciated.  He’s been a great comfort, so thank you, truly.” Lena ended quietly, still holding Kara’s gaze, which had softened.

The stuntwoman nodded her head ever-so-minutely before falling back into the ruse, “Miss Luthor, I’m extremely glad you’ve felt so safe, but I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” biting back another beaming grin of her own, eyes twinkling.

Lena huffed and rolled her eyes, but her smile was still in place, but before she could offer her own witty retort, they were interrupted.

“Kara, time to go. Miss Luthor, great to see you again.” Alex Danvers breathed out, nodding at Lena as she swaggered her way up to the pair, her armor and mail stating her presence as she got closer, all but leaning against her younger, taller sister.

“Call me Lena, please.  And likewise, Miss Danvers.”

“Ugh.” Alex said with disgust, “it’s definitely ‘Alex.’ ALWAYS ‘Alex.’” Lena laughed in response, while Kara rolled her eyes, earning a sisterly punch in the arm. “Anyway, we’re getting ready to move on,” the red head stated simply. “Lot thirteen in twenty, Kar. Don’t forget we need should probably change before heading over.” Alex gestured down at their gladitoral garb, and waited before receiving some sort of confirmation from her sister, in this case, it was a nod, before turning her attention in Lena’s direction once more.  “Lena, I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.”

And with that, Kara and Lena were alone again.

“You have to go.” Lena said matter-of-factly.

“I do.” Kara replied simply, but made no move to step away from Lena and the latest of  too-short conversation.

“Miss Luthor!”

Without turning around, Lena already knew her assistant was speed-walking in she and Kara’s direction, two cups of coffee in hand. Opening her eyes again, Lena noticed the stuntwoman was biting back laughter.

“You have to go.” Kara joked, tossing Lena’s statement back at her.

“I do.” mimicked Lena, but not without an air of huffiness and an eye roll.

“Duty calls.” Kara said softly.

Lena hummed in agreement.  “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“You will,” Kara answered lowly, almost as if in an attempt to keep their conversation private for just a few more seconds. “0600. Don’t be nervous,” she said, all of a sudden serious. Lena was caught off guard for a brief second, before Kara’s trademark grinned returned and she added, “but it’s okay if you are.” The blonde threw in another knee-weakening wink for good measure.

“You’re terrible.” Lena laughed, Kara joining her.

“Miss Luthor.”

Jess had reached them and their moment was over.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, enjoy the rest of your day. Oh, and if necessary, your late night rendezvous will be ready and waiting” Kara stated elusively, before turning on her heel and heading in the direction of her sister.

Taking a deep breath, Lena gathered her thoughts before turning to Jess.

“Late night rendezvous!? With Kara Danvers!? Miss Luthor! Alr-” Lena interrupted her assistant’s whisper-shouting with a sharp exhale of air, and a halt of her hand in the air.

“Jess. That’s not-” Lena released a somewhat frustrated exhale before continuing and taking the cup Jess held out for her, “her wolf has been making sure I get across the lots safely on nights we run late, and mornings we’re earlier than normal.”

Jess squinted her eyes at Lena for a moment, as if she was trying to decide if what Lena was saying was true or not.

“That’s sweet, but if we’re being honest, I’m a little disappointed.” offering no further explanation as she left Lena standing by herself as she began moving in the direction of her boss’s trailer.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?” Lena hurried to catch up.

“Miss Luthor, you’re an actual genius. But you certainly don’t need multiple degrees and a MENSA-level IQ to see it… besides, I’ve been around you long enough to know which of your looks are reserved for whom. I have to admit, you’re pulling out some I’ve never seen before, it’s quite- well, it’s refreshing to tell you the truth.  I’m happy for you.”

“Jess, you’ve completely lost me.  What are you saying?”

Jess had come to a stop, Lena halting beside her.  Her assistant stared her in the face for a minute before deadpanning, “Kara Danvers can GET IT.”

“Jessica!” Lena might not have been up to speed on all the slang the younger generation was using these days, but she was an ace with context clues and inference.

“I’ve seen the way you look at her, Lena,” Jess’s tone turning serious with the use of her boss’s first name.  “Sure, you don’t know much about her, but maybe try letting yourself be happy for once, see if there’s anything there, and if it has potential to go somewhere? Even if it is just as friends, you could always use more of those.”

“So you all keep telling me,” Lena grumbled.

“Doesn’t hurt that she’s like… wicked hot.”

“Wicked hot? Really, Jessica?” Lena still felt her cheeks heat.

“Yeah, sorry… I’ve been spending time with my nephew on the weekends, he’s fourteen… but she’s still gorgeous. Just saying.”

The duo continued until they reached Lena’s trailer. Lena opened the door only to be met with an impatient looking Veronica Sinclair.

“Ronnie?” Lena questioned, folllowing Jess up the steps and into her temporary reprieve from shooting. “I didn’t know you were planning on stopping by.”

“I wasn’t,” Veronica replied somewhat shortly.

“Oh, was I supposed to call y-”

“You weren’t,” the tension in Veronica’s voice intensifying with each passing second and uttered syllable.

“Veronica.” Lena said with an air of finality, having picked up on her friend’s uncharacteristic nerves. “Enough, what is it that seems to have you so on edge that you had to come all the way over here and camp out in my trailer, and couldn’t be shared over the phone?”

Veronica sighed before looking between Lena and her assistant and suggesting that they both sit down.

Lena’s stomach dropped ever-so-slightly; thinking back on every instance in her life she’d had someone suggest to her that she ‘take a seat’ before the person in question delivered her any sort of news, it had never been good. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jess perch on the edge of the couch.

“I think I’ll stand.”

“Suit yourself,” shrugged Veronica.

Lena’s old friend friend laid a blank manilla folder down on the table.

Lena sighed.

“Not this again. Ronnie, I thought I said-”

Ignoring Lena, Veronica flipped open the folder, revealing a single 5” x 7” photograph. She picked it up and handed it to Lena.

Lena accepted the proffered picture. Jess had materialized at Lena’s side and the two of them inspected the image. After a moment, Lena shrugged and attempted to hand it back to her investigative friend.

“It’s a picture of President Marsden giving a speech in the Rose Garden… she’s given dozens of speeches in the Rose Garden.  I don’t really-”

“Look closer, Lena.” Veronica stated quietly, interrupting again.

Lena and Jess peered closer, both sets of eyes taking in the photograph in its entirety. Noting The President standing tall and proud behind her podium, presidential seal proudly on display in front of her.  The image contained the backs of the onlookers and listeners heads. In the background, along the wall of The White House, Lena could make out a blurry figure standing against the wall, and judging by the ambiguous figure’s posture and stance, they were undoubtedly Secret Service.  

Still looking for what might have her friend so on edge, Lena continued to gaze at the picture, waiting for the culprit to jump out at her.

Nothing…. Nothing…. And then…

“Oh my God.”

Lena’s eyes snapped up and met Veronica’s, who in turn offered a solemn nod.

A second later, “oh my GOD,” echoed Jess. She and Lena shared a wide-eyed look.  Their gazes simultaneously returned to the image.

“Holy SHIT.” Jess blurted uneloquently.

Standing in front of the low stage, between the President and the spectators, with approximately ten feet between the pair of them, were the Danvers sisters. From what Lena could ascertain from the photo, Alex and Kara were both dressed in what people referred to as “power suits.” Lena shivered involuntarily. The stereotypical sunglasses that usually went with the job description were absent from the faces of both women, and instead of staring statuesquely straight ahead like every available media photo portrayed The Secret Service, the women were staring at each other, making eye contact- an unspoken conversation.  And if there was any shred of doubt as to what the sisters’ purpose was in the photo, it was sealed in stone when Lena took note of the almost indiscernible ear piece tucked behind the ear of Alex Danvers.

Lena and Jess both looked up at Veronica, who could only raise her eyebrows in response.

“Holy shit is right.” Lena replied.

Chapter Text

Lot 13, Warner Brothers Studios, Hollywood, CA

Lena sipped her hot coffee in an attempt to stave off the chill in the early morning air as she watched the parts of a whole work around her.

She’d arrived earlier than usual to the lot, wanting to be adequately prepared for her first big stunt scene. Krypton Stunts was bustling about all around her, and each member had assured her at least three times that while they appreciated her continuous offers to help, there was really nothing she could do other than wait comfortably until the director arrived. So she sipped her coffee and watched them work.

To say that Krypton was a well-oiled machine would be gravely understating things.

Before her was one of the largest pools Lena had ever seen, and one of the deepest. The studio maintained the giant in-ground tank before her for many of their high budget open-water scenes. It had the ability to simulate category three hurricane waves.  

Lena scanned the area around the pool again, pulling her casual designer jacket tighter, and wrapping both hands around her still steaming cup.  Alex and Winn were inspecting something on one of the screens behind their current command HUB, surrounded by electronics. Lucy was directing James and a few movie crew members on where to put giant fifty gallon barrels, dragging a hose behind her. Mike was on the adjacent side of the pool, slightly hunched over, hands on his knees, inspecting a partially constructed airplane that he, Alex, Susan, and Lucy had connected to military grade aircraft cable from the top, and intricate track work from the bottom when Lena had arrived.

Lucy sauntered up to Lena while she’d been scanning the area around the pool, she still had yet to see Kara.

“That coffee?” Lucy asked coming to stand in front of Lena, looking a little hopeful.

“Mhmm,” Lena replied softly.

“The rest of it wouldn’t happen to be located nearby, would it?” the younger Lane asked, even more hopeful this time.

“It’s not far,” Lena sympathized.  “I’ll have Jess bring you some on her way back,” she stated simply, taking her phone out to shoot her assistant the request. “What time did you get here?”

“Early.” Lucy smiled. “Earlier than usual.”

Lena nodded thoughtfully. “Is it always that way before a big stunt?”

“Yes and no… this film is different.” she replied simply.

“You’ll have to forgive me, I’m new to the realm of stunt work, or being involved in stunts in any capacity.  Different how?”

Lucy Lane tilted her head, considering Lena… “I thought that much to be obvious, Miss Luthor.”  

Lena regarded her for a moment, still not understanding.

“Because of you, of course.” Lucy supplied resolutely.

Lena did a double take, eyes narrowing at Lucy’s statement, trying to decipher what the shorter woman was implying.

“I don’t expect any special treatment-” Lena started.

“That’s not what I meant.” Lucy said quietly, halting Lena’s line of thinking with her all-knowing smirk.

Pieces began to slide into place in Lena’s mind… surely Lucy couldn’t be implying what Lena thought she was implying… could she?

“Where’s Kara?” Lena inquired, trying to sound as non-chalant as possible. But looking up, she caught Lucy’s eye and knew the woman saw right through her question.

Lucy’s smirk transformed into a full blown grin, and she raised both eyebrows at the younger Luthor. Lena open and closed her mouth like a fish out of water- something she, as a Luthor NEVER did, but Lucy Lane had her cornered.

Deciding to spare her any further torture, Lucy just cleared her throat, regaining Lena’s attention before the shorter woman just pointed upwards while simultaneously jutting her head. Lena’s eyes followed.

Approximately seventy five feet in the air above them, harnessed into self-arresting rigging, scaling the boom of the crane parked next to the wave pool, was Kara.

From her vantage point on the ground, Lena could see that Kara was dressed in leggings, and a tight-fitting pullover.

“What’s she doing?” Lena asked without looking down.

“Inspecting the crane.” stated Lucy as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“The entire thing?” reeled Lena.

“So it would seem,” Lucy quipped, allowing Lena to revel for a beat or two before continuing. “The crane arrived late last night- or early this morning, depending on what sort of person you are.  You’ll come to find Kara is very thorough, and while she will insist that everyone on this team is of equal standing, and she takes everyone’s opinion into careful consideration, she’s the captain of this ship.  Our reputation isn’t something any of us take lightly.”

Lucy tore her gaze away from Lena, and Lena followed suit, both looking skyward toward Kara, who was moving higher up the boom, clipping and unclipping herself as she went, inspecting every inch of the skeletal arm and cable ensconced within it.

“Kara is the best.” Lucy stated, her voice laced with admiration for the blonde above them.  Admiration, and maybe something else, Lena mused.

The two women looked on from the ground as Kara made her way to the top of the crane, swinging a leg around the lattice work, and avoiding the upper guylines to hold herself in place while she looked over the spindle, and pulleys as well as the lower sheave.  Everything seeming to be in order, and finding it to her apparent liking, Kara began to retrace her steps, descending rapidly.

When both of Kara’s feet returned to the ground, she hooked the lobster claws of the self-arresting safety lanyard attached to her harness together, before casually looping them around her neck as she walked over to where Alex and Mike were finishing up their task.

“Well, we’d better start getting you prepped… come on.” Lucy stated plainly, before starting off in the direction of her friends with Lena close behind.

---------------------------------------------------

Once Kara had spotted her, offered a ‘good morning,’ and her bright smile from afar, they were rapidly underway.  

Alex and Lucy had walked Lena through every step of the stunt. The stunt, one of the film’s biggest, was an airplane crash into the ocean, the pilot and co-pilot were nowhere to be found, and Lena’s character found herself at the controls during the plane’s demise.  

When it came to safety, Lucy Lane’s demeanor softened considerably, and the quick wit was placed on the backburner as she and Alex walked Lena through harness she’d be strapped in to that held her in the pod, how to release the buckles if absolutely necessary once the pod hit appropriate depth in the water.  Reminding Lena of her time spent training with dive instructors on how to remain calm under water, and breathing exercises to help improve the amount of time she’d be able to hold her breath. The two stunt women walked Lena through where everyone underwater would be placed in relation to her, down to the square foot, from underwater cameras and microphones, to the stunt team and safety divers.

Lucy and Alex walked Lena over to the cockpit replica she had seen Mike and company huddled around throughout the early morning. He pushed both hands off his knees and stood as they approached, offering her a warm smile and a polite, “Miss Luthor, nice to see you again,” before she replied in kind and told him to call her ‘Lena.’

The three members of the stunt team walked Lena through every last detail of the pod that would be sending her hurtling into the deep, bright blue, man-made tank. Her scientific mind envisioning the physics of it all.

Lena’s mental math and Mike explaining how the windshield of the cockpit would be added via C.G.I. and green screen, for safety purposes- was interrupted when Lena took a step back and collided with none other than Kara. Startling herself as Kara’s hands came up to Lena’s upper arms to steady her, the actress turned, taking in the taller woman, with a slightly breathless apology falling from her lips. Kara only smiled and waved her off, stepping away and putting a polite distance between them.

The blonde looked around to the rest of her team, asking how things were going, before her eyes met Lena’s. Alex brought her sister up to speed as Lena looked on. Kara’s attention was unwavering, committing every verbal footnote Alex mentioned to memory. Even if they weren’t sisters by blood, (as Lena had learned thanks to Ronnie’s snooping,) the Danvers sisters were definitely in synch.  The two women fed off of one another’s energies, knowing how to speak to one another both with and without the use of words. Lena had shared that with a sibling once upon a time…

“And how are you feeling so far?” Kara asked lightly, and suddenly four sets of eyes were on her.

Lena cleared her throat.  “Honestly? Definitely nervous, but no more than to be expected… and also… safe.” Kara’s light smile didn’t go unnoticed by Lena.  “This,” she gestured at the team, “this very thorough walk through is helping. A lot more than any of you realize, I’m sure. If the scientist in me can see everything laid out from conceptualization, to execution, to result, it helps put the actress in me at ease…” Lena stated lightly, offering a smile of her own.

“Good,” the blonde replied softly.  “We won’t move forward unless you say so.”

“Do I need a safe word?” Lena quipped, eyes never leaving Kara’s, but behind the blonde, she noted Alex, Lucy, and Mike biting back laughter. Lena’s eyebrow ticked up in question. She took stock of how Kara’s eyes widened so slightly, it almost went unnoticed- but Lena noticed.

Kara steeled herself by clearing her throat, not looking away, a polite smile of her own appearing, “that won’t be necessary.”

Lena sighed internally.

The early morning progressed with the members of Krypton continuing to walk Lena through the stunt one step at a time, doing several dry run-throughs. Lucy and Alex had helped Lena get comfortable in the harness of the cockpit while Kara and Mike engaged in what appeared to be a lengthy conversation with the crane operator.

Lena would be filming the scene in the cockpit alone, but Kara had occupied the seat next to her, after helping Lena with her harness, Kara buckled herself in alongside Lena.  Kara explained she’d help Lena get acquainted to being airborne and comfortable with being suspended. So they’d harnessed in, and the crane operator had slowly lifted them into the air, and gently manouvered them out over the surface of the water. The winch slowly began to lift them while Kara explained on her signal, he’d drop them enough to give them a jolt so that Lena could get comfortable.

“It’s just like a roller coaster.” Kara stated assuredly.

Lena chuckled humorlessly as they began to slowly ascend.

“Growing up a Luthor, there wasn’t really a ton of opportunities to visit theme parks and ride roller coasters, so I’m afraid I’ll have to take your word for it…”

Kara’s head swiveled so rapidly, Lena worried she’d given herself whiplash before the cockpit even dropped. Lena’s green eyes met the blue staring back at her with as indifferent a look as she could manage.

“You’ve never ridden a roller coaster?” Kara gaped incredulously. “Or been to an amusement park??” she followed up, growing even more astounded.

If there weren’t so much going on, Lena would have found the look Kara was giving her nothing short of adorable, especially given their close proximity. But the cockpit continued to rise over the surface of the water.

Kara held Lena’s gaze, a slow, half smile formed on the stunt woman’s face before she whispered, “looks like we’re about to make up for lost time then.”

Lena mirrored Kara’s grin, also unable to look away.

“I really feel like that should make me nervous.”

“Does it?” Kara replied.

“No.” Lena stated simply, still unblinking.

“Good. I’m glad.”

----------------------------------------------------------

That was how Lena found herself strapped into a fabricated airplane cockpit, suspended seventy feet above the surface of the water, angled downward, with nothing between the surface of the water and the cockpit but air.

Kara and Alex had taken up residence across the surface of the water at the pool’s opposite end, atop an elevated platform, giving them the best vantage point of all of the scene’s moving parts - from the divers and underwater camera operators beneath the water’s surface, to Winn and the rest of the stunt team placed at various positions around the tank’s edge, including every other member of the crew, from cameramen to the film’s irritable director.

The wind continued to a chill to the air that meant summer was on her way out.  Nonetheless, while Alex wore a full-bodied wetsuit like everyone else in the water, Kara sported a neoprene jacket and shorts, and when Lena had inquired about it, the blonde shrugged noncommittally and claimed she “ran hot.”

“Alright up there, Lena? Ready?” Alex’s voice came through a two way, waterproof speaker near Lena’s ear.

Lena took as deep a breath as the harness would allow before replying, “as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Okay then.  Here we go.” Alex answered before raising her arm, giving a thumbs up.

From her vantage point, Lena watched as Alex sat her radio down on the railing of the platform she and Kara occupied as she leaned down to listen to something Mike was speaking up at her. She saw Winn’s drones spring to life and spread out, the majority heading in Lena’s direction.

Lena took another deep breath and waited for the cue from the director as she mentally ran through the script one last time… there was no dialogue in this scene, only Lena’s character trying to frantically slow the descent of the plane before it broke the surface of the water. Shouldn’t require too much extra effort, she mused.

She scanned the scene below her one final time, noting as the director brought his megaphone to his mouth after adjusting his headset.

One final deep breath as she looked down at Kara, Kara whose attention hadn’t left Lena since the capsule began to raise.

The tinny voice of the director through the megaphone broke the quiet, “...and ACTION!”

Lena delved into the mindset of her character as she frantically began fumbling with the pseudo-controls, while pressing buttons and pulling back as hard as she could on the yoke,  reaching with her left hand to pull the throttle levers back gradually.

Suddenly Lena felt her stomach drop along with the pod as the crane operator began to release the winch. Lena held on for dear life.  Not much acting was required at this point.

Her breath caught with a giant “OOMPH.”  

She was going to have bruises from the harness tomorrow if not sooner. The cockpit was to descend at a rapid, but controlled speed, enter the water, and pull her back out after the director yelled “cut.” The whole scene taking no more than three minutes, with approximately one of those minutes spent under the surface of the water.

That jolt was ‘NOT rapid, NOR controlled.’ Opening her eyes, she noted that she’d dropped about twenty-five feet.  Collecting herself, Lena also noticed the movement on the ground. Lucy, Vasquez, and James were moving hastily toward the side of the pool, motioning vigorously at the divers along the edge of the pool, pointing and indicating at the ones underwater.

“Alex!” Lena heard Kara yell, her even voice carrying across the surface of the water, still not tearing her eyes away from Lena.

“Lena,” Alex’s voice came across the speaker once again, calm and unwaivering.

“What’s wrong?” Lena answered immediately, trying to match the redhead’s even tone, albeit only partially successful…

“We’re working on it, there’s an issue with the cable toward the top of the boom, but listen-”

Lena looked skyward, immediately noticing there was more than just “an issue” with the cable, almost two-thirds of the way up from where it was attached to the cockpit, the aircraft cable had begun to fray. Significantly.  Lena squinted, noticing the ends appeared to be sizzling, with a white smoke emanating from the spot in question, almost imperceptible.

“Alex!” Lena replied,  “the cable, there’s some sort of corrosive substance on the cable beneath the boom! It’s eating eating away at the metal!”

Lena saw Alex holding the radio up between she and Kara, at Lena’s information, she could see the sisters share a look before Kara nodded and Alex continued, “Lena listen, with the state of the cable, it’s too dangerous for the crane operator to try and swivel the boom back over solid ground with your current height.  We’re going to get to you AS SOON as the cockpit hits the water, but once the cable goes, I need you to wait to take a deep breath until the water is at your neck, control your breathing as much as possible so you can take the deepest breath you can. You can do this. Alright?”

“I- y-yes. Yes, okay.” Lena nodded, more so to assure herself than anyone else.

Lena heard the channel open again, and this time she heard Kara talking in the background. Alex relayed the information. “The cockpit is weighted, and should remain upright when it hits the water. Bring your arms across your chest, and grab your shoulders as tightly as you can.”

“Okay.” Lena answered shakily.

“Good,” Alex stated calmly.

“Kara!” Lena heard Mike’s voice come through the radio in the background. She watched as the blonde turned and caught two fluorescent yellow tubes he tossed her. They looked to be the size of water bottles.

“We’re right here, Lena.” Alex replied once more.

“I know,” Lena said as calmly as she could, unable to keep the tremor out of her voice. “It’s-”

Once again Lena’s stomach ended up in her throat as whatever substance was coating the cable had eaten completely through and the cockpit fell toward the surface of the water.

The water which was FREEZING. Kara by way of Alex had been correct, the pod remained upright and broke the surface of the water first, sparing Lena from any contact injury other than additional bruising from the harness. The water was rising quickly, (or the pod was sinking quickly, Lena was already shivering too much to care.) Just as the water reached her neck, and she prepared to take a deep breath, she saw Kara leap off the platform and dive into the water, followed closely by Alex, both women now holding fluorescent bottles.  Lena took one final breath before becoming entirely submerged, breaking the surface of the water with her eyes around the same time the Danvers sisters did.

Lena saw the divers moving toward her from the sides of the pool., but Kara and Alex were gaining on her quicker, as they were unimpeded by heavy dive equipment. The sisters followed her swiftly sinking contraption toward the bottom of the pool.  Lena attempted to fumble with the buckles, but to no avail.

She knew the water as going to be cold, as the pool was far too large and far too deep to justify heating during the summer months, but she wasn’t expecting it to affect her so much and so early.  Filming in cold water of any sort mandates frequent warming breaks to protect the cast and crew, but this… this was on another level, Lena thought to herself.

Kara and Alex caught up to the still sinking cockpit. Alex worked on removing the camera mounted to the side opposite Lena, that prevented side entry, while Kara swam to the top of the cockpit, and lowered herself feet first through the opening.  Just as Lena’s lungs were beginning to burn from lack of oxygen, Kara reached up, bright yellow canister in hand, and held it out for Lena, pointing to her own mouth. Air , Lena realised, before biting down on the mouthpiece atop the Spare Air emergency oxygen container. She took a deep, refreshing breath of oxygen, and made eye contact with Kara. Kara who motioned with her palms open and facing downward, making a repetitious downward motion. Calm down. She was asking Lena to calm down. The blonde gave her a close-mouthed smile- a smile Lena had no trouble detecting as Kara’s mouth wasn’t occupied by any emergency oxygen.

Lena nodded. Kara grabbed her hands- the blonde’s hands were warm compared to Lena’s- she wasn’t kidding about being warm- and gave them a squeeze, before letting go and reaching to the buckles of the harness across Lena’s chest. Kara tried to release the closure, but for some reason, it wasn’t budging. The stuntwoman moved to the buckles securing Lena’s thighs.  Still nothing. Lena watched the blonde’s brow furrow- whether it was in concentration, frustration, or a bit of both, Lena couldn’t tell.

Kara reached down to her calf to retrieve a dive knife from its sheath.  The blonde once again made eye contact with Lena, who nodded again in return, giving Kara the go-ahead to work her fingers along the underside of the harness straps, so as not to cut Lena, making quick work of all points of the harness holding Lena in place. After cutting the last strap, Kara checked her watch, again looking at Lena, and reached up to take the nearly empty emergency air canister from Lena’s mouth before offering her the other spare. Lena accepted gratefully, but paused, grabbing Kara’s wrist, causing the blonde to look at her in question. Kara just smiled and shook her head, indicating she didn’t need it and that Lena needed to take it.

Just as Kara was helping Lena out of the now tattered harness, Alex succeeded in removing the camera and its mounting frame, creating a larger opening for the women to exit the pod.

Kara swam out first, before turning around, offering her hand to Lena, and as Alex helped her out of the cockpit, Kara pulled her forward.  Kara’s strength, paired with the near weightlessness the water offered, found Lena pressed up against Kara’s side, their immediate proximity causing Lena to wrap her left arm around Kara’s shoulder, while Kara’s right arm wrapped snugly around her waist, pulling her even closer.  Lena was immensely thankful for their shared space for a myriad of reasons, one being Kara provided considerable warmth, warmth Lena tried to cling to - literally. Secondly, because Lena was on the brink of exhaustion. Even though she felt like she hadn’t done all that much physically since arriving on set that morning, the day’s events had taken a lot out of her, and she didn’t know if she’d be able to make it to the surface by herself.

Kara looked at her, before offering a soft smile and raising her eyebrows, ready? She was asking. Lena took another breath as Alex appeared on her other side and the rescue divers surrounded them- Alex held up a hand indicating they were okay and ready to ascend. Lena looked at Kara once more and gave her a final nod.

Kara and Lena began to kick together. Alex and the other divers ascending with them.  After what seemed like an eternity, Kara and Lena broke the surface of the water together. Lena hastily removed the air canister from her mouth, before bringing herself around to face Kara fully, and almost subconsciously enter the remainder of her personal space.

“Hey, hey… I’ve got you. You’re alright. Hey, look at me.” Kara said against Lena’s ear after she’d wrapped both her arms around Kara’s neck.

Lena pulled back slightly, enough to be able to look Kara in the eye… they were close enough that she could count the water droplets in Kara’s eyelashes.

Lena brought her arms up in front of her chest, bringing her fists under her chin while she kicked to stay afloat.

“I’m alright…” Lena replied softy, “thanks to you… again.”  Kara smiled softly in response, but still looked Lena over skeptically. “Hey,” Lena stated, softer still, “I’m alright, I promise… I’m just really cold,” trying to smile as her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.

“Right.” Kara replied softly, before her eyes widened, “right!  Arms around my neck, and help kick if you can, if not, just hold on.” Lena just nodded and resumed her tight grip around the back of Kara’s neck, bringing them cheek to cheek.  Kara replaced her right arm around Lena’s waist, and the other began to push and pull the water as her feet began to kick.

Lena noted they were near the middle of the pool.  James, Vasquez, Mike, and Lucy were materialized next to the side of the pool she, Kara, and Alex were headed towards.

When the reached the wall of the pool, James and Mike stepped forward, reaching down to hoist Lena carefully out of the pool.

“She’s freezing. Get her in a warming barrel, now.” Kara said, her presence immediately taking control of the entire set before she even hoisted herself out up onto the wall, offering a hand to Alex as she began to politely dish out commands.

“Alex, that crane operator,” Alex began nodding before she’d even fully stood up.

“Vasquez,” the elder Danvers commanded, “you heard Kara, we need to talk to him.” Susan Vasquez nodded, replied “on it,” before disappearing in the direction of the crane.

Lena was still listening as Mike and James helped her into one of the 50 gallon drums James and Lucy had been filling earlier.  Filling with what she now realized was exceptionally warm water. Lena sighed with happiness, as her body began to warm up and she listened to Krypton Stunts take control.

“James, Mike.” Kara stated as the two men returned to their semi-circle. “That cockpit, we need it out of the water ASAP.”

“I want Winn to scan and scour every inch of it before someone else does.” Alex stated.  “I want to know what happened before the sun goes down.” Mike and James nodded solemnly before heading off to complete their assignment.

“Winn!” Alex yelled.  Their resident tech guru appeared in between the sisters almost immediately, reifying out of nowhere.  If it weren’t for the exhaustion she now felt, and the gravity of the situation, she would have laughed at look on the man’s face- the look he got practically anytime Alex so much as BREATHED in his general direction.

Alex, Winn, Lucy, and Kara huddled closer together, and what they were now talking about was spoken in hushed tones too quiet for Lena to pick up on.  But after a few moments, the four dispersed.

Lena’s eyes were beginning to slip closed, but reopened as soon as Kara appeared in front of her. Kara knelt down, bringing her eye level with Lena.

“Hey Jacques Cousteau, warming up at all?” she smiled.

Lena smiled back, “that’s not even funny,” she chuckled drowsily.

Kara hummed, her smile growing. “Then why are you laughing?” she whispered, as if they were sharing some great secret.

Lena chuckled some more. “It’s warm in here.”

“I know, but you can’t stay in there all day,” the stuntwoman quipped, reaching out to move a stray lock of wet hair behind Lena’s ear.

“Miss Luthor! Oh my go- Miss Luthor!” Jess appeared next to Kara so quickly she may as well have teleported. “I saw what happened! They wouldn’t let me th-”

AHEM. Kara cleared her throat loudly, putting a halt to the worried rambling of Lena’s loyal assistant.

“Hi. I’m Kara. It’s Miss Huang, right?”  Kara said cheerily before extending her hand.

“Uhh…” Jess looked back and forth between Lena and Kara, the latter raising an eyebrow, waiting for a response. “Just Jess…” Jess replied slowly, before reaching out to shake Kara’s hand equally as slowly…

“Okay, just Jess. Lena’s going to be alright, but I need a favour.”

At those words, Jess instantly snapped back into ‘aggressive assistant mode.’

“For Miss Luthor? Whatever I can do to help.”

“Great. It’s going to seem silly, but her favourite hot drink. Coffee, tea, whatever it is, as hot as you can get it. Quickly. And bring it back here, please.  She needs out of those cotton clothes and into a hot shower ASAP. Lucy should be-”

“Right here.” The brunette appeared at Kara’s side, holding the fluffiest robe Lena had ever seen.  “Fresh out of the dryer.”

“Great.  Jess, Lucy’s going to help Lena back to her trailer, and if you could meet them there with that drink, and then make sure she takes the hottest shower she can stand, that would be wonderful.  I get the feeling she can be a little stubborn,” Kara’s eyes never leaving Lena’s.

The actress rolled her eyes playfully while Jess huffed out “you have no idea.”

Kara chuckled before offering Lena both of her hands.  “Alright, up and out. Lucy and Gus are going to make sure you get back to your trailer.  Take a hot shower, drink whatever Jess brings you, and take a nap. The doctor will be by in a little bit to check on you.”

Lena grumbled, but accepted Kara’s hands anyway, not even putting up a fight when the blonde moved Lena’s hands to her shoulders before asking “is it alright if I lift you out?”

“Mhmm,” Lena heard herself say.  Kara’s hands made their way back to Lena’s waist before carefully lifting her out of the barrel and placing her carefully back on two feet.. “You’re really strong.”

“And you’re really sleepy,” she heard Kara say through a grin.

“Accurate.” Lena slurred out.

The women surrounding her chuckled.

“Luce.” Kara held Lena upright, as Lena had yet to remover her hands from Kara’s strong shoulders, as Lucy moved behind her, wrapping the fluffy robe around her shoulders. Lena snuggled into the warmth.

“Alright, just a second, Gus is on his way.” Kara said softly next to Lena, hands leaving her waist to pull the robe tighter around her, and fastened it, before once again making their way back to help Lena stand until it was time to go.

“Kara?” Lena asked so softly she wasn’t even sure she’d said it loud enough for anyone to hear.

“Hmm?’ Kara hummed next to her ear, as Lena had seemingly found herself pulling Kara back to her orbit.

“Thank you. Again. It- it means a lot.” Lena whispered.

Kara took a deep breath before answering, “I meant what I said, you don’t have to thank me. Ever.  But if you’re going to insist… then my answer is ‘anytime.’”

Lena shivered again at the words spoken so close.

“Are you still that cold?” Kara asked, pulling away, trying to pull the robe tighter.

“Mmm, no. Not cold. Stay, please? You’re so warm… Sorry.” Lena apologized half-heartedly while trying to pull Kara closer. Kara only laughed and wrapped Lena tighter before pulling her back in.

“It’s alright.  Using me for my warmth huh? I see how it is.”

“Well, I AM a Luthor after all.” Lena joked.

Kara scoffed before replying “You’re so tired you won’t even remember any of this after the long nap you’re going to take.” Kara’s tone full of mirth.

Lena pulled away abruptly, only far enough to look Kara in the eye, suddenly very awake now.

“I’ll definitely remember,” her eyes searching Kara’s. If she wasn’t close to drowning earlier, she was certainly close now with the vividness and depth of Kara’s blue eyes. “Kara, I-”

“Alright, Gus is here!” Lucy said loudly as she made her way back to Lena and Kara, Jess having departed to acquire Lena’s drink.

“Great, let’s get you-”

“Oh, hey- ho! Where do you think you’re going Luthor? We still have at least three more hours of filming to get in today if we’re going to stay within budget!”  

The women all turned to find the film’s bristly, moody, balding, director sauntering their way, doughnut in hand.

Lena opened her mouth to reply, but Kara beat her to it.

“Excuse me? Snapper, you’re not serious. You saw what happened. Don’t be unreasonable.”

Kara stated calmly before she and Lucy placed themselves protectively between Lena and Snapper Carr.

“I’m not being “unreasonable,” ponytail. We need to remain on schedule or else all these people don’t get paid.  This budget is strict and I won’t take the heat for falling behind when it’s easily avoidable and unnecessary.”

Snapper brought himself toe to toe with Kara.  Kara who was smiling? Lena wasn’t seeing things, as she brought herself close enough, she could see that Kara was smiling at the agitated man.

“Unnecessary??” Lucy retorted with exasperation.

“Hey Snapper!”  Alex yelled. He turned.  The all noted that she stood with Winn at the electronic command HUB, and was holding up a phone.  “Cat’s on the line! We told her what happened and she wants production halted through the weekend! Until we can get to the bottom of this! Do you want to talk to her?”

“Cat Grant??” he sputtered.

“Uhh, yeah! Queen of All Media. Owner of CatCo Worldwide Media? Thereby owner of CatCo Production Company? How many other Cats do you know? Anyway- you wanna talk to her or not?”

“No, no we’re all good. Um,” he turned back to the three women behind him, “right, Miss Luthor, Miss Danvers, my apologies… stress and all. Get some rest.”  he muttered. And with that, Snapper Carr turned on his heel and ambled away, continuing to mutter to himself.

“Did Snapper just apologize to you two?” Lucy stood awestruck. “Is the world ENDING?”

They shared a laugh as Alex made her way over to the trio. The redhead offered them a wink.

“Cat really is on the phone though, she’d like to talk to you Kara.” Kara took the phone from Alex.

“Right. You,” she turned, pointing at Lena, who was clutching her robe around herself for additional warmth now since Kara had vacated her space, “trailer. Hot drink. Shower. Nap. now please.”

Lena’s eyebrows raised at Kara’s commanding, yet gentle tone, as her tired brain tried to sift through the things it was making her feel. Later. Unpack those thoughts and feelings later. Too tired to compute right now.  

Lena’s gaze turned to Alex and Lucy, looking for help.

“Hey, don’t look at us,” Alex held her hands up in mock defense. “We’re with her.”

“Fiinneeeee.” Lena grumbled petulantly.

“Good. Alex-”

As Kara and Alex had started to walk away, Lena reached out, grabbing the blonde’s wrist, stopping the sisters.

“Thank you, both of you- ALL of you.  Thank you again.” Lena looked around at the three women.  Lucy and Alex smiled and nodded as Kara flicked her wrist, causing Lena to let go.

Kara caught her hand, gave it a squeeze, and replied, “of course. Now go with Lucy. Go get warm and get some rest. We’ll talk to you soon. Oh wait! I almost forgot!” Kara let go of her hand, before bringing it to her mouth, contorting her middle finger and thumb, and placing them in her mouth, letting out the loudest whistle Lena had ever heard. Just as she moved to bring her hands to her ears to cover them, Kara stopped.

“What-”

Kara held up a finger, “Just wait.”

She turned in the direction the sisters and Lucy were facing, and saw people moving equipment clamoring to get out of the way before she heard the rapid padding of paws, and then she saw him.

“Fen!” Lena said excitedly.

The white wolf stopped in front of Kara, and sat down, nudging her hand with his face, asking for affection.  The blonde laughed before bending over to meet him, scratching behind his ears and kissing him on the head. After a moment, she stood back up, and looked down at him, he returned the look.  

“Well what are you waiting for?! Go on then!” She pointed at Lena, gesturing for the wolf to go and greet her. To Lena’s absolute delight, he did.  Pushing forward, he leaned up against her side, circling around and nudging under her hand, moving until it Lena’s hand came to rest on his head. She absentmindedly began stroking the soft fur there. “Fen.” The wolf’s ears perked up and he sought out Kara’s face. “ оставайся с ней.”*

“Better?” Kara asked, meeting Lena’s eyes.

Lena gave the biggest smile she could muster, considering the days events and her level of tired, and one final nod before allowing herself to be led toward Gus waiting in his cart, ready to chauffeur them to Lena’s trailer. (Adding both Kara and Fen’s knowledge repertoire to the mental dossier she began accruing, intending to ask Kara about everything it contained at some point.) Lucy must have spoken to Gus beforehand, because aside from his usual pleasantries, he was quiet for the duration of the ride, bidding them farewell upon their arrival.

Lucy helped Lena into her trailer where Jess greeted them with a warm smile, and a warmer to-go cup.

“Hot toddy,” Jess state simply. “With Scotch. The good stuff.  Fuss at me later about it. Drink it while it’s hot. Then strip.”

Lena groaned and happily took the drink, too exhausted to even think about fussing over the fact that her assistant added an eighteen year old scotch to hot tea.  She was too tired, too cold, the drink was too good, and the shower too promising.

“Thanks.” was the last word she mumbled after her hot shower, as she laid down, wrapped in her comfiest clothes her trailer had to offer, and swaddled in blankets, with the comfort of a 150lb wolf spread out on the floor next to her. The shower had warmed her from the outside in, the hot toddy from the inside out, and Kara Danvers? Well, Kara made her feel warm all over.

Lena drifted off, chasing dreams of a stunt woman bodyguard with sure hands, strong shoulders, and blue eyes she could happily drown in.

Chapter Text

Lena Luthor’s Trailer, Warner Bros. Studios, Hollywood, CA

Lena awoke to a soft, yet steady “rapping” at the door of her trailer.  She tried to stretch and shake off the slight disorientation she felt, but found herself unable, as she was wrapped snugly in a few heavy blankets.  Taking a deep breath and attempting to rid her mind of the day’s exhaustion, the knocking at the door continued.

Lena blinked the sleep from her eyes, and upon looking around, saw a large, fluffy white mass occupying most of the floorspace of her trailer. She smiled fondly at the large wolf, who happened to be looking toward the source of the new noise with rapt attention. His massive tail was slowly flicking back and forth in the feline-like manner Lena had noticed before. His head slowly tilted from side to side- giving Lena the impression that whomever was on the other side of the door was a friend, not a foe.

“Who is it?” the actress inquired, still sleepily. 

“It’s Alex, I came to check on you,” came the soft, slightly muffled reply of the elder Danvers. 

While Lena found both the Danvers sisters intriguing, but couldn’t help her mild disappointment at finding out Kara wasn’t the sister currently paying her a visit. Nonetheless, she untangled herself from her burrito of blankets, swung her legs over the edge of her trailer’s plush couch, and made her way to the door, opening it for the crimson-headed stuntwoman.

“Hi. Please come in,” Lena greeted politely before making her way back to her couch cocoon, still blinking away the pull of the tired her body felt from the day’s excitement, as well as the extra strong hot toddy Jess had all but forced upon her. 

Alex climbed the stairs, pulling the door shut behind her and followed Lena inside.  Fen, Lena noted, perked up at once. The wolf stretched to his full length, taking up even more room than he did previously, before making his way to Alex for some attention. 

It was then Lena noticed Alex had brought a black leather bag with her.

“When you said ‘check on me…’” Lena stated, leaving her question open-ended.

Alex smirked before pulling her gaze away from Fen and moving it to Lena, placing her bag down on the table as she moved to the sink and began to wash her hands.

“Even though the extent of my practice usually involves patching up a member of our team for a scrape and cut here and there, I DOhave a medical license,” Alex remarked softly, committing herself to a rigorous medical scrub, turning off the tap with the paper towel she’d commandeered while turning to Lena. “But you already knew that,” her smirk growing.

Lena floundered, not knowing how to reply, her mouth opening and closing, unable to form a reply.

Alex filled continued to fill the empty air between them. “Your friend Veronica isn’t as discreet as she thinks she is… actually,” Alex mused thoughtfully, “she isn’t discreet at all,” she finished, through a smile as she opened her medical bag, and took out a pen light.

Lena scoffed, “well, you’re not wrong. Her heart’s in the right place though.”

Now it was Alex’s turn to remain silent, her smile still in place.  She joined Lena on the couch, and turn her pen light on. “Just going to check for any concussion symptoms, if that’s alright.

“Of course. I feel a lot better after a hot shower and a nap, though.” 

“Look straight ahead for me. And your assistant’s hot toddy?” Alex laughed, waving the small light in front of Lena’s eyes, checking her pupils, noticing the way Lena’s eyebrows knitted together.  “Kara and I ran into her after she’d left you. She mentioned it. If it weren’t necessary, I would’ve said that was a waste of an eighteen year old scotch.”

That earned a smile from Lena.

“That’s what I said. Jess can be very insistent though. It’s one of the many things that makes her so great,” the darker haired woman added fondly, earning another smile from Alex.

“Any headache, or neck ache? Whiplash of any kind?” Alex asked, leaning back away from Lena.

“No, none. Just still tired, but I think that’s from the events of the day overall.”

Alex nodded, “you don’t appear to have a concussion, which is good, I’m just going to check your temperature,” as she reached back into her medical bag, pulling out an ear thermometer. Lena nodded, giving consent for Alex to take her temperature, both women opting for momentary silence, until the device beeped.

“Ninety eight point seven, close enough,” as she deposited the tip into Lena’s garbage can.  “I like your decorating style by the way,” Alex pointed to the handmade cards, and drawings that Lena had taped to the walls of the trailer. 

“Thank you. Fanmail. I try and answer all of them…” 

Before Lena could ask or say anything else, there was another knock at the door. 

Alex met Lena’s eyes, and without looking away, Lena loudly asked, “Who is it?”

“Miss Luthor, it’s Winn, Winn Schott. Uh, so sorry to bother you, it’s just- I’m looking for Alex Danvers, and last time I talked to her, she told me she-”

Alex had apparently decided to terminate Winn’s oncoming ramble before it started by flinging the door open much more aggressively than was necessary, causing him to jump backward in surprise, nearly dropping his tablet in the process.

“Yes, Winn? What’s so important that it couldn’t wait?” 

His eyes darted back and forth between Alex, and up and over her shoulder to Lena before scratching the back of his head, before mumbling out “uh, it’s the crane… Mike and James were able to swing the boom from its position over the water, and lower the remaining cable to the deck to be analyzed…”

Alex and Lena stared at him, waiting for him to continue, and when he didn’t…

“AND?” Alex demanded impatiently.

Winn continued to stall uncomfortably. 

Lena chose that moment to speak up.

“Mr. Schott, Winn, respectfully, I’m already quite certain this was another intentional attempt on my life, so it’s just easier if you tell me what you know now, as I’m going to find out sooner, rather than later anyway…” Lena sat back down on the couch, sighing softly when Fen picked himself up and sat next to her, placing his head in her lap.

Winn looked helplessly to Alex, who just shrugged, before grabbing the front of his shirt and yanking him inside, closing the door behind him. Alex made herself comfortable in the chair across from Lena, and Winn stood before them, swiping at something on his tablet, about to proceed, before freezing, his eyes going a little wide.

“He likes you… A LOT,” staring at the white wolf, whose eyes were now closed as Lena stroked the fur on the head in her lap.

“You know, Lucy said all but the same thing… does he usually not like people?” Lena’s curiosity was growing.

“No, it’s just…” Winn trailed off.

“Winn,” Alex cleared her throat, interrupting his train of thought, bringing his attention back to the matter at hand, “you were doing something?” as she motioned to his tablet.

“Ah, right.”

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For the better part of an hour, Winn went into detail, explaining the conclusions that had been drawn based on all the information he’d had at the moment, pausing so he and Alex could answer Lena’s questions- both members of the stunt team appreciative of the fact they were talking to a literal genius, so Layman’s Terms weren’t necessary. 

At the end of the intense q & a session, Lena was quiet, seemingly lost in thoughts of her own, before meeting both Alex and Winn’s eyes, “I have a proposition for you.”

Her proposition caused Alex’s eyebrows to meet her red hairline, and Winn to yelp and nearly fall off his chair.  Alex regarded her for a moment…

“You’re serious?” 

“One hundred percent.” Lena quipped, no humor in her tone.

Alex offered the scientist-turned-actress no additional reply, but turned to Winn, who somehow appeared even more helpless than he had upon entering the trailer.

“Where’s my sister?”

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Lena had pulled on a pair of slippers, ignoring the smirk Alex sent her way, before following the two members of Krypton Stunts down and out of her trailer, Fen in tow, staying close to Lena’s side.

Winn had told them Kara was in one of the sound stages, one that was seldom used for anything but storage anymore, as it contained older equipment that was being phased out of the now-digital film era, so why Kara would be there, well, Lena was about to find out.

The sound stage was relatively close to her trailer, so the three of them (and Fen) opted to walk. As they neared the door, Lena heard a steady thumping coming from behind it. Alex cast a sideways glance to Winn, who returned it nervously. The actress noted the heavy sigh that Alex offered in response as the four of them reached the door. Alex pulled it open and ushered all of them inside. 

The steady thumping, Lena quickly discovered, was the bass to another catchy, upbeat, pop song Lena was sure she’d heard Ruby singing along to more than once. Looking around, Lena noticed that what aging equipment remained in the massive warehouse had been pushed to the walls, creating an open space occupying much of the building that was roughly the size of a football field.  The space available after the equipment had been moved aside, left slightly less than half a football field available. The aforementioned space was currently being occupied by different pieces of workout equipment, the lighting causing illumination only on where apparently necessary- which created a lit path from the door, straight across to the back of the warehouse, the remainder of the vast space was left shrouded in shadow. 

Lena’s eyes followed the light, her legs followed Alex and Winn, who had now slowed their pace. At the far end of the single room, Lena took stock of what had caught their attention.

Kara.

The blonde stuntwoman was rapidly working her way around a heavy bag, her hands wrapped, her feet bare. Alex leaned over and whispered something to Winn as Kara continued to move.  Their quartet began to move toward the blonde again, and as they did, Lena noticed that Kara was drenched, the tendrils of hair not contained in her ponytail clung to her temples, her grey tank top visibly showing sweat.  For as hard as she had to have worked to get to such a state, she continued to move around the bag, delivering solid blows with her hands and feet at a lethal pace. 

“What’s she doing?” Lena asked loud enough for her escorts to hear her.

Winn looked at Alex, who looked at Kara before giving Lena her attention, and an answer.

“Punishing herself.”

Lena’s brows furrowed together again, “I don’t understand… punishing herself for what?”

Alex didn’t supply an answer this time, just turned back to her younger sister, who showed no signs of stopping her grueling assault on the punching bag.

Winn leaned closer to Lena, so as to be heard over the music.  

“Kara blames herself, for what happened to you in the simulated cockpit.”

Lena stared at him incredulously.  “What?? That’s absurd, it wasn’t her fau-... she SAVED me.”

The normally flustered Winn regarded her carefully, as if reaching some sort of internal decision, before pressing on.  “I know that. We all know that. But Kara was the one who checked the crane beforehand, and I can tell you from experience, until we have more solid answers, she will continue to blame herself.  Kara is wonderful, and the backbone of this team, Miss Luthor. But she’s also harder on herself than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s part of who she is, it’s a blessing and a curse, and no one knows that better than Kara. It’s also a large part of why she’s the best,” he finished quietly. 

Gone was Winn’s normal bout of nerves that was typically mixed with some variation of fanboy excitement, and momentarily replaced with loyalty for a woman he clearly admired. Lena could only nod.

Alex had uncrossed her arms, and turned back to Winn, giving him a nod, then began to make her way towards Kara yet again.

Winn flicked through a program on his tablet, Lena watched as he took control of the building’s wireless internet, and eventually, Kara’s music platform. He hit pause, halting the song, and thus Kara’s workout.

Kara currently had her back to them, but her shoulders visibly slumped, before she picked her head up, and rolled it side to side. 

Lena, Winn, and Fen followed Alex, making their way to the far end of the warehouse.

Without turning around, Kara called out, “Very funny, Winn.”

“He has an update, Kara,” Alex answered in his place. 

Kara walked forward, her back still to the group, picked up a towel, and a bottle of water from the ground in front of her. She stood up and turned back around to face them, now putting Lena only a few feet away from the sweaty blonde. Kara regarded all of them as she took a healthy swig of water, towel around her neck. Lena watched her throat bob. Kara replaced the cap as she looked at Lena, offering a smile.

“Miss Luthor, how are you feeling?” concern evident in her voice.

“Much better, thank you.” Lena answered quietly, yet internally frowning at the level of formal politeness that Kara had reverted back to when addressing Lena.

“Good. I’m very glad to hear it. Alex?”  Kara looked to her sister, saying more with her eyes than with her words.

“It’s alright, Kara. She knows, she’s up to speed.”

Kara looked to Lena again, her expression unreadable, before uttering her two word response… “I see.”

Kara had walked closer, now within reach of all of them, Fen hadn’t moved from Lena’s side, but hadn’t taken his eyes off of Kara since he’d spotted her when they’d entered the building. Kara didn’t need to look at him, but lifted her left hand, gesturing downward slightly. Fen sat. Lena smiled and resumed petting the fur on his head. Kara’s lips ticked upward on one side… a barely there smile.  Lena noticed, her smile growing. Kara looked back to Winn. 

The quirky I.T. guy Lena had begun to grow fond of began to fill Kara in on the new information while Alex filled in the blanks, the two of them telling Kara everything she’d heard when the three of them had been in her trailer. Well, almost everything…

“...and the acid compound from the bit of cable from the boom we analyzed matches the traces we found in the fingerprint pulled from the det-”

“I’m sorry, what?” Lena interrupted unapologetically. 

Winn looked sheepish.

Kara sighed softly before meeting Lena’s eyes again, “I’m sorry. I wanted to be sure before telling you.”

Lena’s face must’ve displayed her momentary confusion, until it clicked into place.

“The metal cylinder, from the night I ran into you… you know what it is. You knew that night, didn’t you?” Lena’s question practically rhetorical.

“I wanted to be certain. But yes, I had my suspicions.” Kara stated softly. 

Lena waited for her to continue.

“It’s a-”

“Detonator.” Lena answered the same time Kara did. 

It was Alex, Winn, and Kara’s turn to look surprised, Kara less so than her friend and sister, but surprise regardless. 

It was Kara’s turn to ask the rhetorical question, “And you know where it came from?” She motioned for Winn’s tablet, before swiping at it a few times, then turning it and handing it to Lena. A close-up picture of the object in question, next to a ruler, and covered in fingerprint powder, the photo most likely taken by a law enforcement agency of some kind, appeared before her. Lena didn’t have to look at the picture of the metallic cylinder, twisted yellow cord coming out of one end, for very long to recognize its origins. She preceded her answer with a sigh of her own.

“I do, unfortunately.” 

Alex and Winn both did a double-take before staring at her, Winn’s mouth slightly agape.

“I was afraid of that,” Kara stated softly, handing Winn back his tablet, his mouth still hanging open.  “Manufactured by LuthorCorp, when your brother was still in charge, and its weapons division was still up and running.”

“Shutting down the arms branch was my very first order of business when I took over the company and changed its name,” Lena declared somewhat hotly, her defenses raising, not expecting Kara to treat her like… a Luthor.

Kara softened, “Miss Luthor, I don’t for one second, believe you had anything to do with this, or know anything about it. I am,- WE are on your side. I simply meant I wish we weren’t in any sort of situation where you were familiar with your life being in danger, let alone at the hands of someone you may know. I apologize for suggesting otherwise.” Kara’s tone had softened, but she was still more distant than she’d been in any of their interactions to date. 

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose, her other hand resting on her hip, before remembering she was wearing slippers and sweats, she looked back up, they were all looking at her, Kara having noticed her slippers, was smirking. Lena tried to hide her blush, cleared her throat, “No, I’m sorry… you’ve all been nothing but kind, caring, and helpful, it’s just been a long day. Please, continue.” She hoped to draw Kara’s attention elsewhere, but the blonde refused to look away, causing Lena’s cheeks to grow hotter. 

Finally, Kara looked back to Winn and urged him to continue. He proceeded to inform Lena that there was evidence of the same compound found in the acid that had rapidly eaten through the thick aircraft cable suspending the cockpit, as there had been in the partial print that had been lifted from the detonator.  The print hadn’t yielded any results, unfortunately. The conclusion however, was that the detonator and the cockpit incident had the same person or persons responsible, so it wasn’t entirely all for naught.

“Is the cockpit out of the water yet?” Kara asked Alex and Winn.

“No, the smaller, secondary crane to remove it hasn’t arrived, and no one can get ahold of the two-man crew.” Alex growled out her frustration.

“What?” Kara looked at her, again saying more with her eyes than with her words. “Right, well- we’re going to have to remedy that.  Winn, could you have everyone else meet us by the side of the pool?” Kara dried any remaining sweat off her face with the towel around her neck before beginning to unwind her hand wraps. Winn nodded, before beginning to type on his tablet.

“Miss Luthor, we’re going to help you get to the bottom of this, but I think it might be advisable if we talk to Miss Grant, and ask for filming to be put on pause until it’s safe.” Kara’s hands had moved to her hips, this obviously wasn’t a concern the stuntwoman had  just thought of.

“Absolutely not.” Lena’s response was absolute. “Not unless you can tell me that you believe others are in danger. I won’t stop living my life and live in fear.  When Lex Luthor is your brother, this comes with the territory,” Kara looked about to protest, but Lena continued on. “I won’t live in fear, but I won’t let anyone else get hurt because of me, so if you think that’s probable, then alright. But until we’re at that point… I’d like to continue to live my life as normally as possible.”

Kara didn’t answer, so Lena pressed forward.

“Your sister and Winn suggested I seriously consider personal security, or bodyguards; after getting over their apparent shock I didn’t already have any.” ,

“That’s not a terrible idea, especially if you want to continue working.” Kara’s gaze softened further.

“I agree…” Lena slowly began to smile, watching as Kara took another drink of water.

“Which is why I’d like to hire you …”

Kara choked.

Chapter Text

Warner Bros. Studios, Hollywood, CA

“You’re serious?” Kara’s initial grin disappeared.

“Entirely,” Lena replied.

“Kara, hear her out,” Alex quietly requested.

Lena took note of the wordless exchange between the sisters while she and Winn stood on the sidelines, trying to decipher their wordless conversation, Kara searching her older sister’s face for answers and giveaways. In the end, Kara nodded quickly and resolutely, before looking between Alex, then Winn, before Lena was on the receiving end of sapphire eyes.

“Okay,” Kara resigned, “but we’ll have to walk and talk,” she stated before once again glancing downward at Lena’s choice of footwear, raising a single eyebrow in question.

Seizing the offered opportunity, Lena ignored the blush on her cheeks before answering “fine by me.”

That’s how the actress found herself falling into stride alongside Kara- Fen now at his human’s side, with Winn and Alex in tow, before taking a deep breath and greatly overplaying her hand as Kara led them in between the maze of trailers.

A photograph was all Lena had to go on.  If there was anything to be said about the Luthors and gambling, it was that they never placed a bet they were unsure of.  So Lena took a gamble. A big one. Forging ahead, she all but accused Kara and her sister of being Secret Service for hire for Olivia Marsden, and if they “were good enough to protect the President, then they were certainly good enough to protect a Luthor.” 

At that, Kara brought them to an abrupt halt outside a door Lena was unfamiliar with.  She almost took as step back as Kara turned to face her, somehow the mysterious stuntwoman managed to invade Lena’s space without actually invading her space… it was impressive. Kara was… sizing her up? No, but she was coming to a series of conclusions, the look on her face unreadable. She took a deep breath of her own, sparing Lena a final once over before turning and opening the door to the closest trailer before climbing the pair of steps, turning the lights on and stepping inside, Fen hot on her heels.

Lena looked to Alex and Winn, the elder Danvers motioning for her to follow Kara with she and Winn bringing up the rear as they entered what appeared to be Kara’s trailer.

Fen curled up on the couch as Alex sat down beside him, Winn made himself at home in the recliner, while Kara disappeared down the hallway, leaving Lena to take stock of the trailer’s interior. It was comfortable. Lena noted a bow and a quiver of arrows in one corner, and the short swords from earlier laid neatly on the table. There were smaller versions of movie posters- ones Lena presumed the team had been a part of- framed and hung on the walls, but no photographs, nor personal effects, aside from a water bowl for Fen, and some workout clothes folded neatly on one of the shelves.

“Winn, where are Mike, Lucy, James, Vasquez, and the others?” came Kara’s inquiry from down the hallway. 

Lena turned to follow the source, and felt her jaw slacken.  Kara was standing in the bedroom, back in her neoprene shorts, and a sports bra, beginning to re-don the neoprene jacket from earlier in the day.  Sure Lena had been able to make out defined obliques and abdominals the night in the rain room, now her view was unobstructed. Not wanting to seem like a creep, she quickly turned, now facing a knowing Alex. Shit. And an oblivious Winn, who was engrossed once again in his tablet. 

Kara appeared behind her, adequately clothed, as Winn answered, “they’re all waiting by the pool. Mike took care of the lighting. Secondary crane is in position. We should be good to go.  Everything’s ready.”

“Good, Alex?” 

“Ready when you are, sis.” Alex stood, making her way towards the door, Fen watching them all closely. Before following Winn and Alex down the steps, Kara turned to Lena.

“I’m not ignoring you, I’m thinking.  What you’re asking isn’t just a decision that affects me, or Alex… it affects the entire team.  We can’t ask them to do this, it needs to be something we agree upon, and discuss. This team isn’t a dictatorship, and regardless of what they may have told you, I’m not in charge.  So I’m asking, for time for us to discuss it, before coming back to you with an answer. I’ll talk to my sister and we’ll talk about it as a team tomorrow, if that’s alright.”

Now it was Lena’s turn to regard Kara.  She watched the blonde’s blue eyes track hers carefully, full of concern and care.

“Of course,” came Lena’s soft reply. “And I’ll pay well.” 

Kara waved off the statement immediately, “that’s a non-issue,” her response putting Lena’s monetary declaration to bed. “As soon as we’ve talked it over, we’ll let you know our decision,” her answer accompanied with a soft smile.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Kara’s smile grew. “Now, we need to get that cockpit out of the water, you’re welcome to join if you have nothing better to do,” motioning for Lena to take the steps before her, but not before handing her a puffy jacket.

Lena, accepting it fondly, smiled back and replied, “there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The scientist-turned-actress stood bundled in Kara’s proffered down jacket, while the stunt team buzzed around her, hive mentality having taken over.  Lena took it all in, once again, each team member a cog in the grander scheme of the task at hand. 

The sun had set and massive spotlights now illuminated the deep pool from above, as underwater lighting lit up the submerged cockpit from below. 

Lena had gratefully accepted a steaming cup of tea from Lucy Lane, “just returning the favor,” the sharp woman had declared. A cup she cradled close, trying to absorb it’s warmth, as she carefully toed closer to the edge of the deep tank, not at all anxious to submerge herself in it’s chilly depths again anytime soon.

She looked on as Alex, Mike, Lucy, James, and Kara stood near the edge of tank, nearest the new crane that had been brought in.  Lena noted a familiar presence beside her, and turned, finding Winn standing nearby, zipped into his own jacket, trusty tablet in hand. 

“The crane operator from earlier is MIA, and the replacement crane and two man crew received a call a few hours ago telling them their ‘services were no longer needed, and the order had been cancelled.’” Winn supplied freely, his trusty air quotes not letting him down.

“So, now what?” Lena’s eyes not leaving the stunt team.

Winn sighed, “we all put our heads together, and while it’s not ideal, it should hold long enough to do the trick…”

Lena waited patiently for Winn to continue.

“We’ve removed the damaged end of the crane cable already to be inspected and analyzed, Mike will lower the remaining end of the cable into the water, and Kara and Lucy, with the help of James and Vasquez, are essentially going to weld it to itself after looping it through the cockpit.” 

Lena was processing the information as fast as Winn was spitting it out. Underwater welding. Non-alloy carbon steel that weighs literal tonnes. What were the extent of Mike’s crane operator skills? 

She turned to face the jittery I.T. guru. 

“You have the means and skills to weld underwater?” she couldn’t suppress the incredulity in her tone.

Winn, in lieu of an answer, pointed to where Kara, Alex, Lucy, James, Vasquez all stood. They were all wearing neoprene of some degree, and Lena now noted the underwater welders’ gloves, and face shields sitting at their feet, along with flippers and S.C.U.B.A. equipment. Mike was rejoining them, pushing a wheeled cart, topped with what Lena recognized as underwater welding electrodes and accompanying stinger. He and Kara exchanged words as he handed her a different looking, larger helmet. Kara would be doing the welding, it seemed.

“We travel all over the world, it helps to not need to outsource whenever we can help it,” Winn added quietly and continued, “most of them are jacks, AND JILLS of all trades.” 

Lena nodded, adding yet another crumb to her mental filing cabinet of information on Kara and Krypton stunts.

“I’ve never seen an underwater welding hood like that before,” she mused.

Winn’s lack of answer caused Lena toward him again, he searched her face as if deciding how much to say next. He smiled. “You won’t see one anywhere else.” 

Just as Lena was about to inquire further, Alex’s yell interrupted them. He quickly and quietly excused himself to join the Danvers sisters as the rest of the group broke apart, Lucy making her way back to Lena.

“Alright there, Luthor?” her tone void of anything malicious, eyes twinkling.

Lena smiled.

“Just observing, staying far enough away from the edge. I have no desire to go for another swim tonight.” 

Lucy chuckled, moving beside Lena, watching her colleagues work.

“So, Winn told me you’re going to weld and recover the cockpit. Intriguing.”

Lucy’s reply was her familiar smirk, awaiting the inevitable question.

“And Mike? ‘Crane operation’ is one of his skill sets?” Lena watched and waited, trying to pick up on any shred of information, any tell Lucy was about to disclose, voluntarily or otherwise

“Cranes are one of the less... complex vehicles we’ve needed to operate.” Lucy may have been shorter in stature, but her presence made Lena feel miniscule in comparison.

As Lucy rejoined her colleagues, Lena stood back, clutched her tea to her chest, snuggled into Kara’s jacket, and watched the stunt team work on pulling the cockpit out of the water.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours had passed before Lena found herself on her couch, across from Sam and Veronica, awaiting their take out order, each with a healthy pour of wine in hand.

Lena had just finished playing back the day’s events to her friends in full, right up to where the damp Danvers sisters had reiterated to her that they’d sit down with their teammates first thing in the morning to discuss becoming Lena Luthor’s personal protection detail for hire.

Sam and Veronica were on two different pages, each attempting to talk over the other now that Lena had finished.

“So wait, they’re SCUBA welding, crane operating, secret service stunt people?” gaped Sam.

“You propositioned her based on a single photograph? I’m really proud of you,” Veronica said, grinning into her wine. 

Lena was about to reply when he heard a voice in the hall, assuming it was their delivery, she got up and made her way to the door. 

“Here Lena, let me get the tip,” Sam said, following. “Thank God, I’m star-” 

Sam’s sentence died in her throat. Lena had opened her door not to their Chinese food, but to none other than the Danvers sisters.  The women in the hall turned from the door they were standing in front of, across the hall from Lena’s to gape right back at Lena and Sam.

Lena noted that the pair were in street clothes. Jeans, boots, leather jackets, backpacks. This is a first, a very welcome one. Before her eyes fell on the motorcycle helmet in Alex’s hand, and then the one pushed back and perched atop Kara’s head. Oh. Her eyes met Kara’s.

“Kara! Alex. We thought you were our delivery, what are you doing here?” Lena heard herself ask, leaning against the doorframe for support, just as Veronica joined them

“Hey, what’s the hold up, do you need more cash for a tip? Oh. Well, what do we have here?”

Lena could hear the smugness drip in Veronica’s tone and hoped her own eye roll wasn’t noticeable.

Alex looked at her sister, prompting the blonde to once again make eye contact with Lena before thumbing over her shoulder at the door behind them, keys in hand jingling, and answering, 

“I live here.”

Chapter Text

Lena’s (and apparently Kara’s) apartment building, Los Angeles, CA

Kara was gesturing at the door behind her, waiting for a reply from Lena- who finally gathered herself enough to look between Veronica and Sam, all sharing a blatant look of surprise. Kara and Alex, eyes dancing with equal amusement, were apparently waiting for one of them to say something, anything at all.

“You live… here?” Lena’s tone nothing short of dumbfounded.

“Well, there, actually.” teased a smiling Kara, pointing again to the door over her shoulder, motorcycle helmet now tucked casually under the other arm.

“Right,” Lena breathed out, staring. She was distantly aware of a throat clearing behind her, Veronica, she realized after the fact. “Right! You live.. There. Both of you?” she mentally kicked herself for her awful attempt at feigning casual interest. You’re an actor for God’s sake, Lena. Get a hold of yourself.

Alex was watching her knowingly, because of COURSE she was- a sister’s intuition, or whatever they called it. “Well, not me, I live a few neighborhoods away, but it’s sister’s night. So here I- oh. Hello.” Lena turned slightly to see a strange look come over Alex’s face when she took notice of Sam. Kara, whose eyes flicked between her sister and Sam- her expression of apparent wonder now matching Alex’s.

Lena noticed Kara’s smile widened slightly, an invisible lightbulb above her head blinking on. 

“Sam, this is my sister, Alex… Alex, this is Samantha Arias.” Kara stated with mirth. 

Lena, Kara, and Veronica watched the two shake hands as if they were all trapped in the middle of some serendipitous meet-cute straight out of a rom-com.

Lena quietly cleared her throat, all the while, making a poor attempt at hiding her own grin, before hopefully offering, “we’re waiting on take out, and I’ve ordered more than enough, please join us, and we have wine,” as she indicated to her glass of red.

“That’s incredibly kind, but-” Kara began, while Alex both eagerly, and simultaneously stated,

“We’d love that.” 

Lena chuckled as Sam’s smile widened, while Kara sighed through a smile of her own before resignedly agreeing, “we would love that.”

“Great, it’s settled!” said Lena while fighting to keep her excitement in check, and stepping aside to allow her two new guests to cross the threshold.

“Umm, I hope you don’t mind if we each shower first, kinda just came out of the tank on lot thirteen, then we’ll be over?” Kara supplied.

“Of course, take your time,” Lena answered warmly.

“Great, see you s- oh, shoot! I have Fen…” Kara winced.

“Bring him!” Lena exclaimed, doing nothing to hide her excitement this time.

After a bout of “are you sure?”, “yes of course!” back and forth, Kara all but reluctantly agreed, before the women all parted ways for a short time…

—------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time Kara and Fen had made their way across the hall to Lena’s apartment, Alex had been camped out on her couch with Sam, engrossed in conversation for close to an hour.

Lena opened the door to a freshly showered, slightly damp-headed Kara Danvers, clad in another, albeit different pair, of worn, faded-wash jeans, ripped in all the right places, and an equally worn, but well-loved, crewneck sweatshirt that donned a military logo Lena was vaguely familiar with. She took note of Fen sitting quietly at Kara’s side, tilting his head back and forth.

“Hi.” Kara said quietly, with a soft smile.

“Hi back,” Lena replied, taking her weight off the door to make room for Kara and Fen to pass through, but not before she felt a hand at her back and a presence at her side.

She looked to her right, and noticed Veronica with purse and coat in hand.

“Ronnie, you’re leaving already?”

Veronica hummed. “Unfortunately. As much as I’d love to stay and play fifth wheel, I have an extra early call time myself, so it’s here that I leave you,” as she leaned in to exchange cheek kisses with Lena. “I’ll expect to hear every juicy detail,” as she winked on her way out the door, but not before grabbing Kara by the bicep, squeezing lightly, looking back at Lena with raised eyebrows, and nodding, clearly impressed. And with that, she was gone.

Kara looked both amused and perplexed.

“Did I miss something?” she asked, toothpaste commercial smile still in place.

“I told you she was dramatic. Actors, am I right?” that earned her a laugh from Kara. “Now please come in, both of you.”

Kara indicated for Fen to go first, and then did as she was told, Lena closed the door, and then turned around to find Kara holding out a bottle of wine for her. 

“This is for you, I noticed earlier you’re drinking red, so I hope you like it. Consider it a ‘thank you for inviting us.’”

Lena took the bottle carefully, “Kara, that’s extremely sweet but you didn’t have to bring anythin-” she looked down, catching sight of the label for the first time, “oh my God. Kara this is a $10,000.00 bottle of wine. Limited release. Are you kidding??”

Lena looked up to find the bashful Kara from a few days ago had returned, and as the stuntwoman scratched the back of her neck, she offered “consider it a welcome to the neighborhood and building, too?” as she toed off her shoes, leaving her in socks with tiny jet planes on them.

Kara entered Lena’s living space, Fen beside her at a perfect heel, heading toward Sam and her sister, whilst Lena remained at the door, bottle of wine in hand, flabbergasted look still on her face, realizing she was still not any closer to knowing much about one Kara Danvers.