9. Chapter 9(2)

It’s a strange kind of exhilaration that thrills through her when Kara gasps a little at the first brush of Lena’s fingers. It makes her feel powerful and hot to feel Kara’s eyes follow her every move.

“Yeah, sure,” Kara says, laughing a little at the shaky way the words come out. “Whatever you want, baby.”

Lena’s gut clenches as she makes her way down Kara’s body, her fingers and lips tracing the lines of Kara’s muscles until they’re playing at the juncture of her hip. There’s a heady mixture of urgency and intimacy in the air and if Lena spends a little more time than usual between Kara’s legs it’s only because Kara sounds so fucking blissed when she comes like that.

--

The sound of rustling and the feel of the bed dipping is what pulls Lena back to consciousness and she spots Kara pulling her pants off the ground and stepping into them - barely visible in the dark of the room.

“What are you doing?” Lena asks, clearing her throat against the hoarseness she feels there. Her body feels exhausted, but warm and she’s sure she’ll be sore in the morning. It makes her fingers itch to pull Kara back into bed, but Kara continues to zip her pants up. “Come back to bed.”

“I can’t stay,” Kara says, sounding put out by it enough that Lena feels a little better at the rejection. Shirtless, Kara plants a knee in the mattress and leans down to kiss Lena, swift and solid. “Cat’s been religious about bed checks.”

Lena feels a chill when Kara pulls away, scraping fingers through her hair to bring it up into a loose bun. It pushes Lena to step out of the bed herself and shuffle towards her suitcase to put something on. Staying in bed without Kara feels a bit lonely at the moment and she’d rather brew a cup of coffee and watch as Kara prepares to leave.

“How does your back feel?” Lena asks when they make their way out to the front of the room and Lena goes about pressing the correct sequence of buttons to get her coffee maker working.

“Great,” Kara laughs, tugging her shirt off a lamp and pulling it over her head. “But I’ll probably need to chug about sixteen recovery drinks to get all the electrolytes back in my body.”

“Sorry,” Lena says though she’s not really. It still feels like maybe their post-game romp was a tad irresponsible - as much as her body ached for it.

Picking her jacket up from the floor and striding closer, Kara’s lips twist with amusement. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” she says, suggestive enough that Lena’s suddenly hyper aware of all the sticky, cooling parts of her body.

Kara’s hair has that messy just fucked look about it that always makes Lena’s knees feel weak. Her lips are red and swollen and Lena can’t help but notice the splotchy look of her neck, a trail of fading lipstick retreating down the collar of her shirt.

It makes her lips go dry and she licks against the feeling, a rush threading up her chest when Kara’s eyes follow the motion.

“You should go,” Lena says, but the throaty way it comes out belies how she really feels.

Kara laughs, the sound dark enough that it throbs between Lena’s legs. “Yeah, I probably should,” she agrees, though her expression is regretful.

It doesn’t stop her from winding an arm around Lena’s waist, pulling their bodies back in close and kissing her thoroughly. Lena holds Kara in close by her cheeks and smiles against her lips, enjoying the solid way Kara feels held against her.

--

There’s a day break between games and Kara spends the entirety of it in meeting after meeting. Though she texts Lena short updates about what she’s doing - including a long sequence of pictures telling the story of some prank Maggie’s playing on Eve -  they don’t see each other.

It’s the first time Lena’s made this trip to Vegas without scheduling her own long list of meetings. Regardless, she takes the day to visit her properties and drop in on some local managers and regional directors.

In the evening, she meets Jack for dinner and they spend their night wandering around the floor of their hotel casino.

After regaling Lena with a tale of how he’d won big at the craps tables last night, Jack gets a look in his eye that Lena’s always known to be wary of. “How was your night? Win big?”

Instead of her usual reply - a scandalized shut up, Jack - she decides to turn the tables on him.

“Big?” Lena repeats, a suggestive arch of her brow as she pretends to consider his words. “You could certainly say that.”

The way she says it drips with implication and it’s clear that Jack didn’t expect it from her. His eyes go wide a second before he chortles almost giddily, peeling off into laughter that has her rolling her eyes.

“Oh my god, I don’t need to know that much about Kara Danvers,” he says between giggles.

 Though she does shove him a little, she shrugs unapologetically. “You asked.”

--

The Lakehawks win the second game, though it’s a lot closer than the first. The Aces seem to have a better answer for having Kara back in the lineup and switched to a more aggressive defensive style.

It seems to agitate Lucy and Kara for the first half of the game, but by the second they’ve adjusted. The game slogs about much slower than the first, but they pull of a five point win in the end.

Though Kara doesn’t put up quite the statline as she had before, she seems happy enough as she celebrates the win with her team on the court and waves to the Lakehawks fans in the crowd.

They don’t get to spend another night together in Vegas - the Lakehawks head back to National City immediately following the game - but Kara calls her late that night and her suggestive I’d ask what you’re wearing, but I’m hoping it's nothing shouldn’t do it for Lena, but she nearly trips over her skirt when she tries to shove it off on the way to her bed.

--

The playoffs start moving fast after that. There’s games every day, and the Lakehawks play every other day - she manages to do some work on off-days, but it starts to feel a little like her life starts to revolve around the games.

The brightest point of game three is undoubtedly that it’s Kara’s first start back at home. The crowd noise is nothing short of deafening as her name is announced in the starting lineup.

In her usual seats, Lena has a front row show to the way Kara smiles at the sound, stripping her warmups off and looking up at her own picture displayed on the jumbotron over their heads.

It becomes clear fairly early that the Aces don’t stand a chance in this game. Kara becomes a one-woman wrecking crew, fueled on by the way the fans shout their encouragement throughout the entire game.

The eventual scoreline has the Lakehawks winning by twelve on the back of Kara’s triple-double. Jack claps loud enough when the final buzzer sounds that Lena fears his hands might bruise.

As the fans leave the game they make a great show of collectively making sweeping motions towards any stray Aces fan and Lena feels a bit embarrassed with how much she enjoys the petty display.

--

Game four doesn’t go quite as well.

The talking heads will suggest Kara burnt all her energy in game three, but Lena knows that’s ridiculous. Kara doesn’t have finite reserves of energy like that. Not when it comes to basketball.

The more likely factor is an Aces team finally adjusting to how the Lakehawks play with Kara back in the lineup after such a long absence.

Kara plays well, but the Aces have found a way to defend her that’s effective enough to keep her shooting percentage below her average. Jack spends every game break reading the stat sheet and relaying as much to Lena in increasing frustration.

The chippy way the Aces are playing is agitating the Lakehawks enough that both Lucy and Maggie are in foul trouble early on and when Alex gets a technical in the third quarter for whatever she says to the referee, Cat nearly throws her clipboard into the stands.

It’s a four-quarter slugfest that has Kara looking downright pissed by the end of it.

The Lakehawks lose by one after one of the Aces players hits a turn-and-shoot three right over M’gann’s head. It ripples dismay all the way up the stands.

“Back to Vegas,” Jack mutters, his arms crossing over his chest and a look of disappointment on his face. They’ve retreated to the tunnel exiting the court and the team is slowly walking past.

Lena leans back against the wall to watch them, humming in agreement with Jack. “Who thought you would ever be disappointed about that,” she murmurs and he laughs.

Kara is at the end of the long line of players and she’s next to Alex, gesturing passionately about something with her hands and moving her body around as if to demonstrate what she’s talking about. It makes Lena want to smile and she has to twist her lips to prevent it.

When they get closer, Alex notices her, nudges Kara a bit mid-rant until she’s looking over as well.

Lena nods at Alex who returns the gesture and then does the same with Kara who smiles - albeit a touch sadly. As they pass, Kara reaches out, subtle as can be, and squeezes Lena’s fingers.

It’s quick and hardly noticeable to anyone else lingering in the tunnel, but Lena feels the warmth of it all the same, squeezes back and smiles when Kara winks at her.

--

Game five takes place early in the day on Sunday in Vegas and features an Aces team that’s learned how vulnerable the Lakehawks perimeter defense is. The away team gets absolutely crushed under an onslaught of threes. Maggie nearly launches a basketball into the crowd at one point until Alex stops her and even Kara looks liable to fight the next player that gloats after sinking a shot from beyond the arc.

The Vegas crowd is loud and obnoxious and very vocal about their team still being alive in the playoffs.

After the game, she and Jack retreat to the hotel and share a postgame cocktail on the casino floor. Eventually he abandons her for the slot machines to boost his mood with a promise they’ll meet up again for dinner.

She wonders what Kara’s doing, how she’s feeling after dropping two straight games in the playoffs. They haven’t been able to see each other much in the last few days and she knows the Lakehawks are on a quick trip back to National City for game six. The team plane leaves late that night so they’re able to have a morning shootaround at home the next day.

Pulling her phone out of her purse, Lena intends to send Kara a quick text, but just as she’s swiping her phone open and finding Kara’s contact, she turns away from her chair and walks directly into a familiar, solid chest.

“Hey,” Kara laughs, reaching out to hold Lena upright by the elbows.

Lena startles, her heart leaping enough that she presses the hand holding her phone over her chest and glares at Kara.

It doesn’t do much, Kara just laughs again and shrugs, clearly unapologetic for spooking Lena. “I saw you sitting here as I was heading up to my room and I just wanted to say hi.”

She’s in a more incognito disguise than normal - a baseball hat pulled low over her glasses and her jeans and t-shirt ensemble nothing too flashy. Lena’s sure it’s to avoid attracting any unwanted attention after a loss. The memory of Kara slouching low at the hotel bar months ago in this exact situation makes Lena feel a sudden unstoppable wave of empathy.

“Hi,” Lena says, allowing a smile at the goofy way Kara is looking at her. “How are you doing?”

Kara’s hands retreat from Lena’s arms to her pockets and she shrugs again, the twist of her lips betraying her feelings quite easily. “Pissed,” she says simply. “But at least we have a chance to end it at home.”

Lena nods and can’t resist reaching out to press her hand against Kara’s bicep in a friendly squeeze. It makes Kara smile again and Lena’s chest loosens.

“You want to get something to eat?” Lena offers. “I happen to know a few good places.”

“What about room service?” Kara counters.

It sounds a little suggestive, if Lena’s honest, and the thought must telegraph to her face because Kara starts to blush in that adorable way she has, so at odds with all the smooth confidence she usually exudes.

“Not in a - I don’t mean it like room service,” she starts, making a little face. “I just meant I’d rather be somewhere without televisions or like, Aces fans.”

Lena laughs, but lets her off the hook with a tilt of her head towards the elevator bank all the way on the other side of the floor. “I think I know a place to get room service,” she jokes and Kara rolls her eyes, but chuckles.

“Thanks,” Kara says softly, a dejected expression taking hold of her face again. It makes Lena’s fingers ache. “Tonight really sucked.”

“I know,” Lena says, equally as a soft. Before she can think otherwise, she steps into Kara’s personal space and brings her arms up around Kara’s shoulders.

It tugs them into a hug that Kara takes a second to react to, but she does, bringing her hands to Lena’s back to keep them tight together.

It feels good and natural and Lena honestly forgets they’re standing in the middle of a crowded casino floor for long moments. Doesn’t even think to care about watching eyes until a loud exclamation from a nearby roulette table is breaking them apart.

“Come on,” Lena murmurs when they step out of their hug and she flushes with the realization that anyone could have seen them pressed together even if a big part of her has stopped caring.

It’s hard to care about anything other than the look on Kara’s face.

They make their way to the elevator bank together and when Lena’s sure no one is really paying attention to them, she tangles her fingers with Kara’s and presses the button for her floor.

Up in the suite, they order room service and sit on the expansive couch in the outer sitting room. Lena waits until Kara’s had her fill before she coaxes her back onto the cushions and peels her jeans off.

It’s soft and easy and Kara falls asleep snoring against Lena’s chest, the setting sun breaching color into the room as the lights of the strip start to dance outside the window.

She sets an alarm on her phone for when she knows Kara needs to start leaving to catch the team plane and then strokes a soothing hand down Kara’s spine, falling into the feeling of having her so close.

--

They don’t end the series at home.

Vegas takes a ten point lead on the Lakehawks into the second half and most of the starting lineup is in foul trouble by the middle of the third, Maggie fouling out completely by the start of the fourth.

Alex holds a huddle right in front of Lena and Jack after it happens, screams at her team about defending their house and not letting Vegas off the hook. It’s loud and inspiring, but isn’t enough to get the Lakehawks back in the game.

They lose by three when Lucy misses a game-tying shot as the final buzzer sounds. Kara stands at the top of the key and just stares at the scoreboard for a long time, hands at her hips as the Vegas team celebrates bringing the series to seven games.

They catch each other much later as they’re both leaving the arena, Kara heading towards the player lot and Lena texting George to bring the car to the underground parking. Lena had stayed late to speak with James about travel plans and tried to pretend it wasn’t an excuse to linger around in wait for Kara.

Kara’s freshly showered and changed when they spot each other, and Kara hitches her bag higher up on her shoulder and paces the few feet between them with a smile.

“Hey, you’re still here,” Kara says, sounding brighter than Lena expects. It makes her stomach swoop.

“I got caught up talking to James,” Lena says, enjoying the fresh, crisp scent of Kara that wafts over her.

The hallway is empty and quiet and Lena breathes in the feeling of just being near Kara for a moment. The idea of walking away seems somehow loathsome and she feels rooted to the spot.

Kara must feel similarly because her lips quirk a little and a vulnerable sounding, “Come over?” escapes her lips.

--

They end up in Kara’s bed, Kara sipping at a nutritionist-approved recovery smoothie and Lena flipping through channels on the huge television mounted across from them. She pointedly clicks faster through the long list of sports stations Kara has included in her cable package, but Kara catches a glimpse of it anyway and stops Lena by plucking the remote out of her hand.

“Wait, I want to see that,” she says, turning back five channels to the late night SportsCenter covering the games that night.

It’s the tail end of coverage from the Gotham Grenadiers win over the Midway City Railsplitters that ended the series in six games. It turns then to the Lakehawks game. A picture of Kara looking dejectedly up at the scoreboard with the Vegas team celebrating behind her is what starts the segment and Lena’s brow pulls down.

“Why?”

“Maybe they have some brilliant insight as to what went wrong,” Kara deadpans, setting her empty drink down and sitting up a bit.

“Doubtful,” Lena replies, already seeing Kara begin to give into her own form of wallowing.

When the Lakehawks lowlights start to show a sequence of missed shots, balls clanging off the rim into Aces players’ hands, Lena retakes the remote and clicks the television off to the sound of Kara huffing.

“You’re torturing yourself,” Lena says, setting the remote down on the table.

“You know, I’ve never lost a championship,” Kara says, sounding more irritated than anything else.

“You haven’t lost this one either,” Lena points out.

“Yeah, not yet, and I might not even get the chance at this point.”

“That doesn’t sound like you,” Lena says, a bit taken aback by the uncharacteristic defeated tone in Kara’s voice.

Kara blows out a breath, slouches down in the bed. “I just want to win. I hate losing.”

“You’ll win another championship,” Lena says, believing it and wondering when Kara stopped. The idea that Kara won’t spend most of her career collecting trophies is somewhat baffling to Lena - like something she’d just expected to be true.

“I want this one,” Kara says, nearly whining it.

Lena smiles, strokes an errant hand of hair off Kara’s forehead. “Then win this one,” she says simply.

It does something to Kara’s demeanor, her face softening. “You’re right,” she says quietly and Lena’s a little surprised that’s all it took to shift Kara’s mood, but happy it did nonetheless.

Kara yawns, and Lena feels weak to the exhaustion in her face. With a soft smile, she squeezes Kara’s shoulder and says, “I should go.”

“No,” Kara says quickly, reaching out to pull Lena back in by her shirt when she tries to slip out of bed. “Stay. Please.”

When Lena looks a bit surprised at Kara’s reaction, Kara just laughs at herself, shrugging a shoulder. “I’m too exhausted to have sex, but I kinda wouldn’t mind if you stayed tonight.”

It takes no consideration for Lena to give into that entreaty and she slips back in against Kara easily.

“I have an early meeting in the morning,” Lena mentions even as she’s giving into the tug of Kara’s fingers.

“I’ll set an alarm,” Kara says, a happy smile on her face when Lena sinks back down against the pillows.  

--

Lena’s told on more than one occasion that in the last two Lakehawks championship runs, no playoff series was taken to seven games. Though Lena had already planned on it, she’s also told by numerous people around the offices that she should be at the game. As if Jack would let her miss it.

As if she’d want to.

The atmosphere is packed with tension. The crowd feels larger and somehow louder than its been at any other game in Vegas during the series. There are a few points the noise swells to such a level that Jack begins accusing the Aces of pumping in crowd noise.

The Lakehawks are all business from the moment they step up onto the court. It’s Kara this time that pulls her team in for a huddle in front of the bench and Lena can just make out what she says over the roar of the fans. Forty-eight minutes guys. Leave it all out there.

They all clap in unison and as they move to take their positions around the tip-off circle, Lena catches Kara’s eye.

It’s a quick connection of their eyes, but Lena feels a thrill down her spine at the look on Kara’s face. There’s none of the shaky nerves that were there after game six, nothing tense or anxious on her face. Instead, there’s the confidence Lena’s always associated with Kara and when she notices Lena in the crowd, she smirks.

And just like that, Lena’s sure the Lakehawks are about the win.  

Coverage of the game won’t know what to make of Kara’s fifty-two points nor of her fifteen assists. The headline that night will read Skippers Beware: Kara Danvers is Back.

--

The Lakehawks plane flies back the night of the game and arrives before Lena’s, so she doesn’t expect to see Kara right away, but when she gets into the car waiting for her, Kara’s sitting on the leather seats right beside her.

“George offered me a ride,” Kara tells Lena, a sly smile as her eyes go sideways towards her driver. “I thought maybe he was trying to kill me before the Skippers series, but he insists he’s neutral.”

From the front seat, George laughs and Lena looks between them, sensing a continually clearing picture of her future come into focus.

“Nice of him,” Lena says, dry as can be when George catches her eye. He winks at her and presses a button to raise the partition and leave her in the silence of the backseat with Kara.

“Hope it’s okay,” Kara says, her arm coming to rest over the back of Lena’s seat as the car starts to pull away from the airport.

“It’s a nice surprise.”

There’s a restless, triumphant energy exuding off of Kara, fresh from the game and clearly having enjoyed the quick flight from Vegas to National City with her teammates. She’s practically thrumming, the kind of pulse of anticipation that Lena’s body reacts to. She slides up under Kara’s arm, her hand finding Kara’s thigh and they press together so warmly that she can’t look at Kara’s face lest she start something she can’t finish in the back of this car.

She manages. Though just barely.

Kara’s fingers spend the ride stroking against Lena’s shoulder and the low tones of her voice talking about matchups for the Skippers games is doing something to Lena’s insides.

By the time they make it to Lena’s apartment she feels shaky with impatience. Kara’s smiling like she knows where Lena’s head has gone and Lena’s fairly sure the little smirk she has when she plucks Lena’s bag out of the trunk along with her own is on purpose.

Though she knows she’s being played with, Lena still can’t stop herself from pressing forward to kiss Kara in the elevator of her building. She feels warm and solid and a kind of intoxicating that starts to block out the rest of the world even when the elevator doors open and they take the few steps towards Lena’s apartment, Lena remaining pressed in close against Kara.

“Someone might see,” Kara reminds her in a murmur, breath warm against Lena’s lips.

There’s a careful moment before Lena responds – like something clicking together between them – and Lena’s surprised to find what drops easily from her mouth. “I don’t care,” she says back, and Kara’s eyes widen just enough to be noticeable.

It might not be the entire truth. Tomorrow’s Lena will certainly care. But for the moment, standing there with Kara in front of the door to her apartment, she really doesn’t.

There’s something careless about the way Lena surges forward and recklessly pushes their lips together. Kara makes a squeak of a noise, but sinks into the kiss easily, her hand perching on Lena’s hip to bring them in close.

They back up against the door and Lena fumbles with it to get it open, reaching behind her and refusing to detach from the single-minded way Kara’s kissing her. It feels good and Lena’s not going to deny that the risky way it feels to still be standing out in the hallway is doing something to the heat in her stomach.

Kara seems a little more concerned with their position and helps Lena get her door open, walking them inside carefully, but remaining tangled together. The minute they get in the door, Kara drops both of their bags, her grip tightening on Lena in a way that makes Lena’s guts go liquid.

If Lena’d been paying attention, she might have noticed the familiar pair of sandals kicked off in her entryway, or the decanter of scotch sitting on her kitchen counter. She might have smelled that weird mixture of sandalwood and coconut that would have tipped her off to the new presence in her apartment.

But she can’t pay attention to anything other than Kara’s arm around her waist, the heady feeling of their hips pressing together and the warm play of Kara’s lips as they start to move down her jaw. Kara’s body presses her back into her closed door, her hands catching on the hem of her skirt. There’s nothing else in the world but them.

Which is why her heart nearly leaps out of her chest when she hears a soft laugh to her right.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

Lena’s fingers clutch at Kara’s shirt and she doesn’t need to turn to know who the voice belongs to. It’s as familiar to her as her own. Kara’s lips are frozen where they’re pressed under Lena’s ear and ever so slowly they pull away from each other.

Heart thudding uncomfortably in her chest, Lena turns to see her brother leaning casually against the back of her couch, watching the two of them as they’d been stumbling through the apartment. He’s wearing an obnoxious looking floral print shirt and khaki colored cut-off pants. His hair looks windblown and wild, sunglasses perched on his head, his eyes dancing with delight as he holds up the tumbler of scotch in his hand. He has a beard.

“Lex,” Lena breathes, trying to calm the racing of her heart as she carefully extracts herself from Kara’s embrace. She supposes there’s no explaining away what he’s seen.

He smiles at her, wide and almost too happily, his laugh the kind of sound she remembers from when they were younger, and he’d cheat his way into beating her at chess. “Hey, sis. Long time, no see.”