1. Chapter 1(2)

Exciting game. Go Lakehawks!

The response comes in the morning when she’s scrolling through her inbox over a cup of coffee.

Thanks! It’s always exciting to come from behind.

She chokes a bit on her coffee but manages to stop herself from spraying it onto the tablet she’s holding.

The message is signed off with a simple KD and a question: Do you have something against phones?

Lena just deletes the e-mail thread and pours the rest of her coffee down the drain.

The next time she spots Kara Danvers on television late night over drinks with a potential investor she has to fight a blush.

--

The number blinking up from her phone is unlisted as far as she can tell and she squints at it in the darkness of her bedroom for a long moment before deciding to answer.

It takes a second through the fogginess of her still sleep laden brain, but she manages to register the voice on the other end of the line giving her an amused, “Hey, little sister.”

“Lex?!”

“The one and only,” he responds and Lena can hear the cocky grin in his voice.

She sighs and rubs sleep out of her eyes as she sits up and bed. “Lex it’s,” Lena glances at the digital clock on her bedside table. “Three in the morning.”

“Ah sorry,” he says with a soft laugh. “No concept of time where I’m at.”

“And where is that exactly?” Lena asks, reaching over to switch a light on.

Lex tsks into a chuckle. “That’s not of consequence.”

“Not to you maybe,” Lena says dryly with a roll of her eyes. Her brother continues to laugh on the other end. “Is there a point to this middle of the night phone call?”

“I saw you kept the basketball teams and have been attending the Lakehawks games,” Lex comments.

Lena’s brow furrows. “You get sporting news in your hideout?”

Lex laughs again, an unaffected casual sound for someone who is basically a fugitive. “I just called to say I was happy you kept the teams. Especially the Lakehawks. If you had sold off the Harriers, I would have been disappointed, but not quite so sad. And I’m happy to see they’re doing well. If you need any help…”

“James Olsen already warned me that you know nothing about basketball.”

Lex scoffs. “I’m a basketball mastermind. Jimmy lies.”

“Sure,” Lena drawls and can’t stop the smile. It feels good to talk to her brother again.

“Hey, I’m the one that drafted Kara Danvers, okay? That was me and without her what are the Lakehawks anyway?”

Lena thinks of Kara for a moment and clears her throat. “I’ll give you that,” she murmurs.

--

She’s in London over the next stretch of games at a tech conference to showcase Luthor Corp’s new Model L electric car. The task of getting everything ready and delivering the keynote speech pushes thoughts of basketball far from her mind.

It isn’t until she’s sitting at her hotel bar having a late night martini that she catches wind of the Lakehawks again.

The television there is playing the news and she hadn’t thought that American women’s basketball would be something she’d hear about in London of all places, but the league logo is flashing on the screen.

It’s because of the upcoming Summer Olympics, she realizes quickly, as the news seems to go over the players from the Lakehawks that will likely represent the United States at the games.

The promotional pictures of Kara and Alex that hang in the entrance of Luthor Corp Arena are suddenly on the screen and Lena reads the closed captioning while the announcer discusses the potential roster.

The next sequence of videos, however, gives Lena pause and she watches as Kara takes a nasty spill during the game that night against local rival the National City Skippers.

The cameras stayed zoned in on the way Kara gingerly picks her up from the floor, Alex’s grip on her bicep helping her back to her feet. Kara walks slower than normal towards the bench after being subbed out and the last bit of footage shows the team trainer kneeling in front of her chair.

It cuts back to talk of the roster after that and Lena gives it a frustrated glare for a moment before reaching for her phone.

A quick mental calculation tells her it’s not at all unreasonable to send a text to someone in America, but she pauses for a moment at the realization this would be the first time she’s used the number Kara gave her all those weeks ago when they first met.

She should just e-mail her. It’s professional and in line with the way they’ve been communicating before, but it also risks a delay in response and she knows the quickest way to get an answer to her question is to use the number Kara gave her weeks before.

Curiosity wins out over better senses and after another sip of her martini she writes a quick friendly text and sends it out.

Leslie Willis certainly does hold a grudge - LL

It doesn’t take long for a reply to come and her phone blinks at her just as she’s ordered another drink and a small appetizer off the late night menu.

I was beginning to think you didn’t know how to use a phone. It’s followed by a few emojis that Lena’s phone doesn’t recognize for some reason.

Lena quirks a brow at that, lips pursed, but before she can respond Kara texts again.

Leslie is the worst, but she can’t keep a good girl down.

This text is accompanied by a picture of Kara grinning at the camera, her arm flexed in the shot and chin lifted. It reminds Lena why she didn’t want to open this line of communication in the first place.

Regardless, her curiosity is sufficiently satisfied. Kara doesn’t look at all injured in the photo and if she thought about any kind of game-altering injury would have made the news she was watching earlier.

They haven’t exchanged many words since Lena rejected Kara’s proposal for dinner in her office days ago and she can’t deny she’s happy Kara doesn’t seem to be sulking about it. Perhaps her offer of friendship was just as sincere as her offer for dinner.

That’s good. I have a lot of money invested in your well-being, Lena texts.

A video comes through this time and it’s clearly taken from Kara’s POV as she throws what looks to be like an empty Gatorade bottle towards a trash can and makes a triumphant sound when it lands inside. The text that accompanies it is: your investment is well protected.

Lena laughs, but declines saying anything back other than Good. Sleep well.  

When she falls asleep that night in her empty hotel room and Kara Danvers’s face lingering in her mind’s eye it’s with a smile and a light heart.