Work Text:
“I have no idea why I ever agreed to this, “ Lena snarls, gripping the steering wheel even tighter than before.
“You did it because you are committed to your company.”
Even through the distortions on the phone, Lena can hear that Sam sounds as tired as she feels. It has been a long few weeks at L-Corp, Sam putting out fires while Lena is out meeting with potential new clients and drumming up interest in their newest project: an AI assistant to be deployed in health care settings.
“So committed that I’m about to die in a snowstorm.”
“Lena.” Sam’s voice switches into the tone she uses with Ruby when she is scolding her for eating cookies before dinner. “If it’s really that bad, can’t you find a hotel for the night?”
“Do you have any idea where I am? The middle of bloody nowhere! The only thing I’ve seen for the past hour is...nothing. Well, sideways snow. But other than that, nothing.”
Lena knows that she should probably pull over, find the nearest inn or hotel on her phone and get directions. But she also knows that it’s only a three hour drive from here to get back to the city, to her own bed. If only this stupid snowstorm would let up.
Sam sighs. “Please promise me that if it gets too dangerous, you will pull over?”
“I promise that I will make it back in one piece for the board meeting tomorrow morning.”
“That’s not —,” Sam cuts herself off and Lena pictures her pinching the bridge of her nose like she always does when she tries to get Lena to take better care of herself. Lena decides to take pity on her.
“Sam, I’ll be fine. I should make it to the bigger highway here in a few minutes and I imagine the conditions there will be a bit better. But I promise I’ll be careful.”
“Alright.” Sam sighs again, louder this time. “Love you, Lena.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Say hi to Ruby from me.”
The call ends and Lena shifts in the driver’s seat to try and relax a little. Her entire body is tense, she is hunched over and way too close to the steering wheel, as if that would help her see better. Her windshield wipers are running at full speed, squeaking horribly with each pass. Lena curses the guy from the car rental who told her that this was the only car on the lot with snow tires and that she should take it even though it has some “smaller issues”, as he put it.
“Smaller issues my ass.”
Lena hates driving almost as much as she hates flying. Normally, she wouldn’t be out here, alone in an older model Volkswagen Golf. But the weather forecast meant that her return flight back to the city was cancelled and the only way she would get back in time for the board meeting, the one where the board would vote on key decisions that would influence the direction of the company for the entire next year, was to rent a car and drive back.
“Merge onto highway A1 in one point four kilometers,” her phone tells her.
Lena shakes her head at the female voice from the app. They really could have made her sound a bit less robotic. It’s not that hard.
She removes her left hand from the steering wheel to stretch it, then repeats the process with her right hand and winces. Her muscles are stiff and sore from hanging on for dear life for the past hour and a half.
“Fucking weather.”
She knows that things should improve once she gets onto the bigger highway. Or at least she assumes that the bigger highway will have been plowed and salted already, unlike the smaller road she has been on for the last hour.
“Merge onto highway A1 in five hundred meters.”
She can do this, Lena thinks. In fact, she feels almost giddy at the thought of merging onto a wider road. She feels giddy right until the moment when she sees flashing orange lights and a big black and orange barricade.
“What the fuck?”
“Merge onto highway A1 in one hundred meters.”
Lena slows down and drives all the way up to the barricade. A big sign with flashing letters tells her that the highway is closed due to “adverse weather conditions”.
“Merge onto highway A1.”
Lena snaps. She flings her phone into the back seat, where it bounces off the seat cushion and then against the door and onto the floor.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
She leans her forehead against the steering wheel and tries to take a few deep breaths. Her eyes are burning from the strain of driving through the snow and her muscles are screaming at her to rest. Sam’s words echo in her head. “Pull over if it gets too dangerous.”
Lena huffs out a hollow sounding laugh. “Looks like I’ll be sleeping in the car on the side of the road after all.”
“Merge onto highway A1.”
“Oh shut up!” Lena growls, now entirely fed up with that voice. She scrambles into the back seat to retrieve her phone and turn off the directions app. When she looks on the little map, she notices a small dot not too far from her current position. She taps it to expand the description: Greyhound pub.
She sighs. It’s only about another kilometer away and would at least mean that she could grab a bite to eat and a stiff drink or two before spending the night in the parking lot. She slowly pulls back out onto the road. It doesn’t take long before she sees the pub, lights illuminating the windows like a beacon in the storm. Lena parks the car and gathers her purse, phone and coat and makes her way inside.
The pub is moderately busy. Lena spots about thirty patrons, most of them look like local regulars, but a few are clearly just on their way through like she is. There is a small stage set up in the corner where three middle-aged men are currently playing an awful rendition of ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis. It makes Lena cringe.
The pub itself is simple. The decor is old, but not in a fake kind of way. It looks actually old. The space smells like stale beer and cigarette smoke that is likely permanently embedded in the walls and furniture. She wrinkles her nose a bit but tries to put on a smile as she walks up to the bar.
“Good evening, ma’am.”
The man behind the bar looks older, in his 50s maybe, and based on his slightly red cheeks and clear beer belly, Lena assumes he’s both the owner of the establishment and his own best customer.
“Hello. I, um, I’m on my way back to the city but it looks like the roads are shut down now, so, I was hoping I could grab some dinner and wait out the storm here?”
The man nods. “Of course. Not a problem. We have a few folks here tonight who are in the same boat.”
Lena turns around and scans the room again. There’s a table in the corner with ten middle aged men who are clearly on at least their fifth pint. They are loud and rowdy and look like they’ve spent more time in this pub than anywhere else in their lives. On the other side of the room, there’s a couple at a table and they stand out because they’re dressed like they are at a fancy restaurant. Then, there is a family, mother, father and three children, who all look so tired that Lena almost yawns herself from second-hand exhaustion.
And then she spots a young woman sitting by herself near the fireplace. She’s blonde, with dark rimmed glasses and dressed in what Lena assumes is work attire, a dress shirt and cardigan. Lena knows she is staring at her longer than would be considered normal and it takes some effort to pull her eyes away and back to the man behind the bar.
“Right. Could I get a whiskey, please? And a salad?”
The man clears his throat, his expression suddenly apologetic. “We don’t have salad on our menu.” He shuffles over to his left and grabs a sheet of paper and hands it to Lena.
“Oh, okay. Well,” she takes a moment to scan the menu. Most of it is deep fried, and while she has no objection to that in general, she is still so stressed from her drive that the mere thought of fried food makes her stomach turn. “Let’s do the soup, then.”
“Soup and whiskey. Coming right up.”
Lena nods and tries for another smile. She knows it’s not his fault that she is stuck here. Thankfully, he quickly hands her the drink and disappears into the kitchen, releasing her from the interaction.
She makes her way toward one of the tables by the fireplace. It feels cozy and Lena thinks her stiff muscles could use some heat to help her relax. It’s pure coincidence that the table she picks is right next to the one where the young blonde woman is scarfing down a burger and fries.
Lena sits down and grabs her phone. She shoots Sam a quick text to let her know the roads are shut down and she’ll try to make it back to the city in the morning.
Sam: Please tell me you found a hotel?
Lena: Not quite. A pub. It’ll do
Sam: Lena Luthor mingling with the riff-raff. Never thought it would come to this
Lena: Shut up! At least it’s warm in here and they have whiskey
Sam: Oh boy! Stay safe, okay? Don’t have too much fun
Lena sends her a thumbs up emoji and takes a sip of her drink and sighs.
“Rough day?” The voice from the table next to hers sounds bubbly and warm.
“You could say that.” Lena scoffs but she turns to face the woman and lifts her drink as if to toast to that.
“Let me guess. You’re stuck here, too, because of the storm?”
“Yup.”
Lena shakes her head at herself. One word answers. Good job. She hates small talk. She’s never been particularly good at it. She can pull it off at work but it takes all of her energy to do it. And right now, she has exactly zero energy left.
But the blonde doesn’t seem deterred. “Want some company while you wait for your dinner?”
Lena looks up at her, a little surprised. “Sure.”
The blonde shuffles out of her seat, grabs her half-empty pint and sits down across from Lena.
“I’m Kara.” She extends her hand and smiles and Lena is sure she’s never seen a smile like hers before. It’s wide and warm and genuine, and Lena feels a little too hot all of a sudden.
“Lena.”
They shake hands briefly and it’s a little awkward because it feels too formal for the current situation, but Lena is too tired to think too much about it.
“So, Lena. To what circumstances do I owe the pleasure of meeting you here?”
Pleasure. Kara thinks meeting her is a pleasure.
“Well. A work meeting. And then weather-related flight cancellations that meant I had to rent a car, and, well, you know the rest. Snow, road closure, all that.”
“What do you do for work?” Kara’s face is open and she seems genuinely interested in getting to know Lena.
“I own a tech company.”
“Own? As in, you’re the big boss?”
Lena nods.
Kara beams. “That’s so cool!”
“I don’t know about that,” Lena waves it off. “What about you? What do you do?”
“I’m a reporter. With CatCo. I was out here on assignment, actually, and now I’m stuck for the night it seems.”
Lena’s eyebrows shoot up. She hasn’t had the best experiences with the media in general, and certainly not in the context of who she is. She’s not sure if she should break off the conversation immediately or if she can continue but simply keep her last name under wraps.
While she is debating her next step, Lena vaguely registers that the band has switched to ‘She’s electric’, yet another Oasis song.
“Do they not know that there are other bands out there to cover?” Lena huffs out, and she knows she sounds cranky.
“Oh. You’re not a fan?”
“No. I mean, it’s a bit old-school? We’re already stuck in some old-timey pub, but that doesn’t mean we should be stuck in the 90s, too.”
Kara laughs. “Bad memories of the 90s?”
Lena purses her lips. She has an entire lifetime of bad memories, but she doesn’t need to share that with a stranger.
“I think the entire Britpop era in general was dreadful. Insufferable men who tried a little too hard to be interesting. Not my thing.”
“And what is your thing, Lena?”
Lena almost chokes on her drink. She is saved from embarrassing herself any further when the pub owner walks over with her soup. He apologizes again for the lack of salad on the menu, but Lena tells him not to worry and orders another whiskey.
Kara looks at her with a mix of outrage and amusement in her eyes. “Salad? Did you know that leafy greens are ranked number one on the list of top ten foods most likely to cause foodborne illness?”
Lena laughs. “I take it you’re not a salad person?”
“Oh god, no. Salads are sadness on a plate. I prefer foods that spark joy.”
“Okay, then, Marie Kondo. I will try and remember that.”
Maybe it’s their friendly banter, or maybe it’s the heat from the fireplace or the fact that she’s half way through her second drink, but for the first time since she left the city the previous morning, Lena feels at ease, the tension of the last two days evaporating into the stuffy pub air around them.
“So.” Kara starts.
“Hm?”
“What’s your plan for the night?”
Lena frowns at that. She picks at the corner of the coaster under her glass, weighing her admittedly limited options.
“Well. I think I’ll stay here, by the fire, though I assume the owner will want to shut things down eventually. If the roads are still closed at that point, my plan is to catch a nap in my car and then head out first thing in the morning.”
Just as Lena is about to ask Kara about her plans, the band starts up again, the lead singer launching into the opening lyrics of ‘The Importance of Being Idle’. Lena winces.
“That sounds surprisingly similar to my plans,” Kara announces, her voice light. “I assume you have somewhere to be tomorrow?”
“Yes. The annual board meeting at 10am.”
“Oof. Boring.” Kara draws out the last word in exaggerated fashion.
Lena chuckles. “It is. But it’s important enough that I really can’t miss it. What about you? Someone waiting for you at home?” The question tumbles out of Lena’s mouth before she fully realizes what she has just said.
Thankfully, Kara is a good sport about it. “Nope. Well. My sister. I was supposed to meet her for sister night tonight, but I obviously had to cancel.”
“Sister night. That sounds nice. I’m sorry you have to miss it.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I see Alex all the time. And at least this way, I get to tell her about the stunning businesswoman I met in a dingy pub during a snowstorm.”
Lena doesn’t miss the blush spreading across Kara’s face, and she assumes it’s because Kara didn’t mean to be quite this forward. Lena wants to probe, tease her about her choice of words, but she can see that Kara has moved back in her seat a little, away from Lena, and she doesn’t want to push too hard. She’s enjoying Kara’s company and their easy conversation more than she’s willing to admit, and she doesn’t want to jeopardize anything with a poorly timed joke.
“Well, let’s hope we’ll both walk out of here with a good story, and not just with a hangover and a desire to never drive anywhere again.”
Kara seems to relax at that, her bright smile back in place. “Let’s make sure it’s a good story, then. I’m up for it if you are.”
“What are you suggesting?” Lena is a bit confused. Kara clearly seems to have some idea of what the remainder of their evening should look like.
“I was thinking we could play a game? Twenty questions to get to know each other?”
Lena’s immediate instinct is to shoot this down. Twenty questions, that sounds like first date territory and so far, Lena has successfully pushed down all her thoughts about how outrageously attractive Kara is. But when she sees the hopeful look on Kara’s face and the way she is playing with the sleeve of her cardigan — is she nervous? — Lena leans forward, elbows on the table, and smiles.
“I’m going to need another drink for this.”
Kara almost jumps out of her chair. “Let me take care of that.” She is beaming and clearly a bit too excited; her own empty pint glass topples over when she tries to grab it and Lena’s glass to get them both a refill.
Lena just laughs.
When Kara returns a few minutes later, she pulls out her phone and brings up a list of questions from some “Get to know your date” article. Kara tells her that her coworker and good friend, Nia, wrote it and that the questions are good and not as shallow as the ones often used for these sorts of lists in other articles.
Lena can’t help but think that the nervous ramble about whatever list Kara is now looking at is entirely too endearing.
“Alright. Go for it. You suggested it, you get the first crack at it.”
“Okay. Here we go.” Kara sits up a little straighter and looks right at Lena. “ What’s the last movie that made you cry?”
“Oh dear. I’m afraid you won’t like my answer to this.”
“Lena,” Kara interrupts, “this isn’t about whether I like your answers. Any answer is a good answer here. This is about getting to know you, remember?”
“Right.” Lena clenches her jaw. If Kara knew who she was, she would most likely not want to get to know her at all. “Well. I don’t actually watch movies much. With my work, running the company, I barely have time to do anything else.”
Kara tilts her head a little, letting Lena’s words sink in. “That’s fair. What about as a kid, though? I’m sure you must have watched movies then?”
It’s a direct hit, not even two minutes in.
Lena takes a few seconds to gather her thoughts, focusing on how her fingers are tracing the cracks in the wooden table in front of her. She hears the damn cover band launch into the chorus of ‘Don’t look back in anger’ and she almost bursts into a loud laugh. Of fucking course.
“Movies weren’t really something my, um, father and mother encouraged as a way to pass time. So I don’t have an answer for you on this one.”
When Lena looks up from the table, she finds Kara looking at her curiously but without judgement. It’s like she is trying to solve a puzzle.
“Okay. Your turn,” Kara says after a moment, sliding her phone over to Lena so she can see the list of questions.
“What are five things you cannot live without?”
“Oh, that’s easy.” Kara’s face lights up. “My adoptive mother and sister, donuts, pizza and potstickers.”
“So, food and family?” Lena chuckles.
“Yes, but not just any food.”
“Right. No salads. I remember.”
They continue the game, and Lena learns that Kara had a cat named Streaky growing up, that she loves NSYNC and is obsessed with working out, which explains the ridiculously toned arms Lena hasn’t been able to stop thinking about since she first spotted Kara. Lena lets Kara in on what her typical Saturday night looks like — reading a book at home alone — tells her that she has been plagued by insomnia since her teenage years and that if she could travel back in time to have dinner with a historic figure, it would have to be Marie Curie.
All in all, Lena thinks that this evening has turned out way better than she could have hoped for. That’s until Kara gets to the final question for Lena.
“What’s your take on climate change?”
“My take? I’ve spent the past five years at L-Corp working on solutions. Well, not just me alone, obviously. The entire company has shifted to focus on it. Though I’m well aware that we need much broader action, regulations, and stronger corporate and political will to get anywhere with this.”
For a moment, Kara just stares at her and Lena thinks it’s because she’s processing her answer. But then, Kara inhales sharply.
“You’re Lena Luthor.”
Shit.
“The Lena Luthor. Who runs L-Corp,” Kara adds, and Lena isn’t sure whether it’s meant as clarification or accusation.
“Yes, that’s me.” She sighs and braces herself for the inevitable fallout.
“That’s —,” Kara’s eyebrows lift so high they are almost hidden in her hairline.
Lena’s brain has no trouble supplying the words Kara is clearly looking for but not speaking out loud at the moment: despicable, awful, monstrous. Let’s add heinous, too, for good measure.
“That’s awesome!” Kara finally exclaims.
“What?”
“I can’t believe it. It’s amazing, you’re amazing! My mom, Eliza, she is a doctor. She’s obsessed with L-Corp’s work on health care innovations. She always talks about you, reads every article about you she can find and then tells me about it. Oh my god, she is going to freak out when I tell her about this!”
Lena’s mind is looping. She has no idea what to say, having prepared her usual message about how she is aware of the damage and crimes her family members have committed but that she is working hard to make up for all that and that she’s determined to do good things for the community and the planet. Now, with Kara looking at her like she has just met her idol, Lena is unsure how to react.
“Can I, um, I know this is going to sound weird, but can we take a selfie and I can send it to my mom?”
Kara must realize then that Lena hasn’t said a word in the past few minutes, and Lena is sure that she probably looks a little shell-shocked. Kara’s overly excited demeanour immediately transforms into sincere concern.
“Lena, are you alright?”
“Yes.” Lena grimaces when she hears how croaky she sounds. “Yes, I’m just. I’m not really used to this kind of reaction when people hear my last name.”
“Oh.” Kara leans back, her eyes flitting back and forth between Lena’s. “You mean because of your brother?”
Lena nods. “And mother. And father. The whole package.”
“I didn’t even think about that. About them. At all. I mean, you’re you. You’re, you work so hard, and you do so much good.”
“Well, not a lot of people see it that way.”
Just then, Lena hears “you know some might say you get what you’ve been given” echoing through the room and she’s never hated Oasis more passionately in her life than now.
She is pulled out of her thoughts when she feels Kara’s hand cover hers on the table.
“I see it that way. And my mom does. And honestly, all I know at the moment is that I’ve had the best evening here with you. You’re funny and smart and beautiful. And I know this is just, we’re just passing the time, but I’m glad I’m stuck here with you.”
Lena knows she’s blushing now. She can feel the heat all the way in the tips of her ears.
“Thank you, Kara. I really appreciate it. And for the record, I’ve had the best evening, too.”
Both women jump when they hear the pub owner clear his throat loudly, trying to get their attention.
“Sorry to interrupt, but they let us know that the roads should open up in a couple of hours. Can I get you ladies something in the meantime? Some coffee? Scones?”
Scones? Lena feels a little disoriented and checks her phone. It’s four in the morning.
“Holy shit! Did we really just talk all night?”
Kara looks just as bewildered. “Apparently we did.”
They both laugh and order coffee and food and then take turns to freshen up a bit in the washroom. When Kara returns to the table, Lena stops her with a hand on her wrist.
“Do you still want to take that photo? For your mom?”
Kara beams at her. “I would love that. But only if you’re comfortable with it.”
“I am. Comfortable.”
Kara sits down in the chair next to Lena and scooches closer, wrapping one arm around Lena’s shoulders and the contact feels electric. Kara grins at the camera and Lena can’t help but mirror the action. With the photo snapped and cropped to eliminate some glare from the fireplace behind them, Kara types out a quick text to her mom and sends it off.
Lena takes the moment to send a couple of quick texts herself. One to Sam to let her know she’s about to get back on the road and will be there in time for the board meeting, and one to her assistant, Jess, asking for extra coffee deliveries to get her through the day.
The next two hours pass as quickly as the previous six did, and after stocking up on more coffee and snacks, both Kara and Lena are ready to make their way to their cars. On her way out the door, Lena stops by the stage and drops some cash into the band’s tip jar.
As they step outside, Kara looks at her. “Did you just leave them a massive tip?”
Lena shrugs. “They did entertain us all night. They earned it.”
“Even though you hate Oasis?”
“It could have been worse.”
Kara shakes her head and smiles as she walks Lena to her car. When they get to the slightly snowed-in Volkswagen, Kara uses the sleeve of her jacket to clear off the windshield a bit for Lena.
“Thank you, Kara. I really did have the best time.” She digs through her purse for a pen and piece of paper and writes down her number. “If you want, text me and we can see about a repeat performance when we’re both back in the city? I’m sure we can find another list of questions to go through.”
Kara takes the paper and grins. “You know, you could have just asked me for my phone to put your contact info in.”
“Ah. Well, maybe the whole old-school vibe here has rubbed off on me,” Lena waves toward the pub behind them.
“Fair enough. I’ll let it slide this time.” Kara is still grinning. “Get home safe, okay?”
“You, too, Kara.”
It’s a bit awkward, then, because the evening did feel like a date to Lena and all she really wants to do is to step into Kara’s space and kiss her cheek, but it’s entirely possible that Kara simply thinks this was a fun night with a new friend. Lena settles for reaching out to give Kara’s arm a quick squeeze before she turns and gets into her car. Kara sends her one last bright smile and a small wave before she walks over to a red Jeep that’s parked close to the side entrance of the pub.
Lena lets her head flop back against the headrest of the driver’s seat and takes a few moments to settle down the adrenaline that’s coursing through her body. She is just about to turn over the ignition to get going when she hears her phone ping.
Unknown number: Did you just ask me out on a date?
Lena laughs and saves Kara’s number in her phone.
Lena: If you want it to be a date, then yes I did
Kara: YES!!!!