9. Chapter 9(1)

Lana comes to town on a work trip – or so she claims, but Lena knows full well Lana likes to invent conferences and business meetings as excuses to get out of Metropolis for a weekend. They end up all piling into Jack’s bachelor pad and it takes longer than Lena would have thought for the subject of Kara to come up.

“So, what’s the update on Danvers the Younger?” Lana says, sipping a martini and eyeing Lena with a smile. Jack looks absolutely thrilled, leaning forward from his seat as though they’re about to gossip about Lena’s love life right in front of her. Which is probably true. “Last I heard, we were dating her.”

“Yes, I am dating her,” Lena says, rolling her eyes, but pleased with the easy way it comes out of her mouth, her chest calm. Lana waves her away, focusing on Jack’s sudden look of enthusiasm.

“Lena met the sister,” Jack says with a haughty lilt to his voice. “As the girlfriend.”

Lana eyes go wide with delight. “Ooooh, Alex?” she marvels, making an exaggerated show of tapping her fingers together like an evil supervillain. “Tell me everything. Does she hate you now?”

Offended, Lena scoffs. “Why would she hate me?”

Lana shrugs and Jack laughs. “You’re kind of uptight,” Lana answers as if it’s obvious. “Good for an owner maybe, not as fun as a girlfriend.”

Unimpressed, Lena throws a pillow at her, but somehow Lana’s able to ward it off with a swipe of her hand. “No need for violence,” Jack says though he’s laughing.

“God, remember when you said it wasn’t serious?” Lana says, a look on her face like she’s going to dissolve into endless laughter in a moment.

“It wasn’t,” Lena insists, despite knowing how untrue it is.

“At least now we can laugh about it,” Jack adds, with the a very fake-looking expression of pity on his face. “Before, it was just sad.”

“So sad,” Lana agrees, reaching out to touch Jack on the arm and they look at each other with matching expressions of woe that hold for a few seconds before dropping into shared amusement.

“I hate both of you,” Lena murmurs, resigning herself to their mirth.

“Lana and I were about to place bets on which one of you would crack first,” Jack says, still laughing as Lana nods.

“It didn’t work because we both knew it would be Kara,” Lana says and Lena wonders how awful it would be if she threw her martini at Lana’s face for a moment before deciding it’d be a waste of good gin.

She settles for glaring at her friends. “Why is my love life your consistent favorite topic of conversation?”

“We’re obsessed with you,” Lana says drily. “Plus, you’re the one who’s always getting all messed up over things. Jack and I - we know what we’re about.”

“Sleeping with people as indiscriminately as possible with a total disregard for responsibility?” Lena asks. Jack snorts.

“Says the girl who slept with every single woman in the MIT Flying Club,” Lana says.

“There were four of them in total, and one of them was Sam,” Lena says, rolling her eyes.

“Weren’t you in that club, Lana?” Jack asks, laughter rolling out of him until Lena has to reach over and punch him in the ribs. He starts wheezing through his laughter.

“Okay, okay, okay, let’s focus on something more pressing,” Lana says, pulling herself out of her seat and coming over to the two of them. She drapes her arms around Jack and Lena’s shoulders, pulling them together. It feels a lot like nothing’s changed since college. Especially when Lana remarks, “Where are you guys taking me for a good time in this city?”

--

They end up at Marvel Bar – an old prohibition style place. Lowkey enough to not be too crazy on a Friday, but popular enough that it’s still packed at a level that satisfies Lana’s desire for a night on the town. George thankfully doesn’t mind too much when Lana gets in the car and starts asking for an AUX cord immediately.

It’s a deceptively large space for a bar located in a nondescript alley and down two flights of stairs. They get waved in by the doorman and find a large half-circle booth in the back of club. Lana wastes no time before ordering a bottle of vodka to the table and co-opting Jack into searching the crowd for what Lana likes to refer to as free rides home.

It was never exactly an activity she loved participating in – there was always a little bit of fear of being too much like her brother, cavorting around and sullying the family name. But especially now, it holds no interest to her. She looks around with them anyway, especially as Lana starts listing off qualities she’d like – tall, dark hair, scruffy, flexible -

There’s a wave of blonde hair in the crowd and that shouldn’t be a distinctive characteristic all things considered, but Lena finds herself looking anyway. Perhaps wishful thinking more than anything. But it distracts Lena well enough that she pulls out her phone to text Kara, see how she’s doing.

Halfway through a what are you up to, Jack’s voice is pulling her attention with an entirely too pleased sounding, “Do my eyes deceive me?”

Vodka bottle suspended over her glass, Lana pauses to look at him. “What? What is it?”

Lena follows their gazes and her stomach drops to the floor when she sees what’s caught his attention.

It’s Alex Danvers, sauntering up to their booth with dark eyes and a dangerous looking smile. Just past her shoulder Lena can spot Kara walking towards the bar and she mutters a soft what the hell under her breath.  

Jack jumps out of his seat to greet Alex, gripping her in a quick hug and Lana sets the bottle back down, eying Lena with a mischievous grin.

“Hey,” Alex says, letting out of Jack’s hug to reach for Lena.

“What a surprise,” Lena says, digging through her shock to find for her manners and return Alex’s hug.

Alex laughs in her ear, eyes bright and filled with enough warmth to make Lena relax just a titch. “You mind if we join you?”

Jack answers for them with a pat to Alex’s shoulder and a friendly, “Of course. Does that mean the superstar is here as well?”

Making a face at the nickname that has Jack laughing, Alex nods. “I sent her for shots.” Her eyes dart to Lana then, eyebrows lifting in interest and Lena moves to introduce them.

“This is Lana Lang,” she tells Alex, watching as Lana stands and extends a hand, smile flirtatious as always. “Lana, this is -”

“Alex Danvers,” Lana supplies, a kind of excitement on Lana’s face that Lena knows spells disaster for her - as it always has. Jack actually laughs on the other side of the table. “Nice to meet you.”

Lena takes the opportunity to slip away from the table, beelining towards the bar, where  she can see Kara is turning away with a round of five shots clutched precariously  in her hands. When she sees Lena, she grins. It’s a nice sight, but she gets bumped immediately by a dude dancing quite vigorously, and Lena immediately remembers why she’s less than pleased with Kara at the moment.

Sparing a quick glance for their surroundings, Lena shoves Kara around a dark corner, her fingers pressing solidly into Kara’s stomach – hard enough that Kara makes a disgruntled sound but obeys the push, juggling the shot glasses in her hands. Some of the liquid sloshes over the sides to drop on her hands and Kara’s licking the excess away in a distracting manner.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Lena says, a tad accusatory, but still trying to shake off the surprise of seeing Kara.

Kara almost accomplishes the innocent look she’s clearly going for, but there’s a quirk of her lips as she scans down Lena’s body that betrays her. “Hanging out with Alex.”

“At a club?” Lena asks, hearing how ridiculous the question is, but unable to stop it.

“Yes,” Kara says, amusement playing on her lips. “Good eye.”

“You’re injured,” Lena reminds her, even though Kara’s been walking and moving just fine for weeks now. Just that morning she’d seen an Instagram post of her at practice going through shooting drills and Kara hasn’t winced once in the last three times they’ve been together.

It occurs to her perhaps some, or maybe most, of her worry is rooted in the idea of being out at a club together even if they’d only run into each other.

“I’m fine,” Kara reassures her, but Lena feels like a crowded bar full of drunk partygoers is the last place Kara needs to be, irrational as it may be. “If I can practice, I’m pretty sure I can sit in a booth at a club. I’m not even really drinking. One of these shots is secretly apple juice.” She looks down at her hands, brow furrowing suddenly. “Shit, I can’t remember which one it is.”

Lena does a valiant job at not laughing at that. “It still feels irresponsible when you’re trying to get back in the lineup soon,” she points out, arched brow. She nearly puts her finger up to scold her, but manages to restrain herself.

Kara laughs, an amused look in her eye and clearly unaffected by the narrowing of Lena’s gaze. “I didn’t know you’d be here,” she says, completely ignoring Lena’s point. “This is a nice surprise.”

“You should go home,” Lena says. “And rest. And not be around drunk idiots.”

“Lena, I’m fine,” Kara repeats, more seriously this time. Lena knows, intellectually, that Kara’s perfectly capable of being out and about without worry. But the hot feeling in Lena’s chest doesn’t dissipate so easily – Kara is wearing a button down with a palm frond motif printed across it, a denim jacket overtop. Her hair is down and she’s wearing glasses – something Lena’s learned Kara likes to do to stay incognito. She looks a stupid kind of gorgeous that lets Lena know that the biggest threat to Kara’s back health and the bubble of secrecy they’re keeping their relationship in is probably her.

“For real,” Kara adds, an entreating smile on her face. “Alex asked to go out tonight – something to do with Lucy. I’m not going to say no to my sister and my back feels awesome today.”

Lena takes a deep breath, eyeing Kara’s posture. Besides the awkwardness of holding five large shot glasses together, she looks good. Great, even.

“Come on,” Kara adds, breaking the last of Lena’s resistance. “It’ll be fun.”

“Fine,” Lena says, after a moment. Kara grins, glancing around for a second before she leans forward and drops a quick kiss to Lena’s cheek. She hovers near Lena’s ear for a moment, their bodies warm and close.

“You look amazing,” Kara says. “Have I mentioned how good my back is feeling?”

“Don’t push it,” Lena says, shoving at Kara’s stomach again until she backs away, reaching for two of the shot glasses in Kara’s hand. “Let me help you carry those.”

--

It turns out to be a kind of torture to sit next to Kara when they return to the booth together. Perhaps this is really why Lena had resisted the idea of Kara being here. Very little to do with Kara’s injury, or of public exposure, and very much to do with the way Kara looks right now and the soft fresh smell of her that wafts over Lena every time Kara so much as shifts in her direction.

It certainly doesn’t help that Kara seems to be exuding a restless kind of energy and Lena’s body naturally associates that with pleasant experiences. Coupled with the vodka already warming in her system and Lena feels hyper aware of every movement Kara makes.

Jack is engrossed in a conversation with Alex over – something Lena doesn’t care enough to tune in for – but Lana is looking at Lena with an amused smile playing on her lips like she knows how much pain Lena’s in.

Lena makes a point to put some distance between her and Kara, enough that they’re not touching and she makes perhaps a too obvious show of not even looking at the other woman. It’s like an exercise in futility because it’s no secret to anyone in the group that she and Kara are  seeing each other.

If Lena wants to touch her girlfriend in a booth at a club, she should be able to. Prying eyes are hard to find at an upscale club that’s packed with drunk, dancing people. She’s not even really sure what’s stopping her. Instinct, maybe. The familiar urge to keep away from Kara as long as possible, to hold off until they can at least get to one of their apartments.

Although, the promise of relief isn’t really there either. Maybe that’s making it worse.

“So, Lana,” Kara starts, shifting in her seat and putting on a polite smile. “Are you a fan of basketball?”

Lana laughs, the sound more like a scoff than anything else. “No,” she replies, with nothing further to add.

Kara looks like she doesn’t know what else to say, her eyes dart to Lena helplessly, but Lena keeps her own eyes on her drink, spinning her straw in it absently.

“I’ve been to a few of your games, though,” Lana says, shifting in the booth so that her body presses closer to Lena’s and Lena’s closer to Kara’s. God, the woman is diabolical. “One with Lena in Metropolis early this season.”

“Oh, uh,” Kara practically sputters, her cheeks going full red. Lena’s own memory of that night is particularly vivid. Kara pressing her into the elevator wall, her face when the doors closed on Kara’s floor. “Yeah. I remember that game.”

“And I saw another one here a few months ago,” Lana says. “Lena refused to give me your number when I asked.”

“I would refuse to give you anyone’s number,” Lena interjects. Lana rolls her eyes as Kara laughs a little, shifting in her seat. Lena has half a mind to just put her hand on Kara’s thigh to calm her down. But she holds back, ends up shifting awkwardly. Lana looks at her very seriously, leaning even closer.

“Okay, can we just - “ Lana swats at Jack’s arm until she has his and Alex’s attention. “Like, we all know, right?”

“Know what?” Lena asks, confused at the quick way Jack nods at Lana in response.

“That you two are -” Lana makes an obscene gesture with her hands that has Alex laughing and Lena smacking at the movement.

“Would you act your age, please?” Lena scolds her, trying very hard not to blush. She can feel Kara’s searching eyes next to her and it occurs to her quite suddenly she hadn’t exactly told Kara that Jack and Lana know. Have known.

“Oh come on,” Lana says in that dismissive way she always has. “I’m just saying that everyone knows.” Lana gestures at all of them in the booth. “So can you two just please, please stop being so awkward?”

“We’re not being awkward,” Lena denies immediately, her chest drawing up defensively, but when she glances at Kara, she gets no support. Kara’s smile is amused and the quirk of her brow she gives to Lena lets her know she’s on her own.  

“It’s like watching two middle schoolers at the school dance,” Lana says, making a face like she’s disgusted by the image.

“She’s right,” Alex adds from across the table between them. “No one’s going to die if you two act like you know each other.”

“Intimately,” Lana adds, raising her hands like she’s going to make her gesture again, but Lena slaps them out of the air. It only makes Lana smile and Lena rolls her eyes.

Just as she’s about to admonish her friends, Kara’s scooting closer on the booth, her arm coming to settle on Lena’s shoulder, warm and heavy. “Better?” Kara asks Lana, her smile easy when Lena looks over at her.

Lana gets a look on her face that’s nothing short of ominous. “It’s a start, but I’m happy to watch more if you -”

“Lana,” Lena interrupts in a snap of the word, her glare doing nothing to her friend as it never has.

“Oh let me have my fun, Lena,” Lana pouts and Jack laughs.

“We’ve known you too long for that, love,” he says to Lana, scooting towards her to wrap his own arm around her and settle his chin on her shoulder. She pats him on the cheek and laughs.

“How long have you guys known each other?” Alex asks and when Lana turns to enthusiastically tell the story of how they all met years ago, Lena’s stopped from interrupting her by the soft brush of Kara’s fingers against her shoulder.

“This okay?” Kara asks, low and quiet near Lena’s ear.

It’s clear what Kara’s asking and as Lena’s eyes scan the crowd around them, she finds she actually is okay settled into Kara’s side while her two oldest friends argue about the true origin story of their friendship.

“Yeah,” she says softly and without more hesitation she turns to press a fleeting kiss to Kara’s jaw.

“When did you tell Jack and Lana?” Kara asks, the question more curious than anything.

Lena takes a breath, isn’t sure how to answer that question. “They guessed,” she says, making a face when she can’t think of anything better to say. “I suppose they have been guessing the whole time.”

“The whole time?” Kara exclaims, managing to keep her voice hushed, but the surprise showing in the amused twist of her lips.

Lena blows out a heavy breath, laughs at herself. “They’ve known me forever and apparently I’m not as subtle as I’d like to think,” she admits, watching as Jack laughs loudly at something Lana’s saying to Alex. Lena’s too focused on Kara to tune into their conversation.

It’s silly to think she’s been on Kara’s case about keeping everything between them secret and there have been two people in her life that have been in the know the entire time.

“Are you mad?” Lena asks, thinking maybe Kara has a right to be at least irritated at her, but Kara’s smile is easy and gorgeous, pulling Lena under her aura easily.

“No,” Kara laughs, shaking her head. “It’s good that you can talk to people about it.”

She shifts in her seat the slightest, glancing around the club. No one’s paying any attention to them, even with two famous basketball players bookending the booth. She supposes they’re shadowed by curtains and crowd for anyone to really notice them anyway, so she settles more into Kara’s side and feels Kara’s hand tighten on her shoulder.

“You shouldn’t be nice about it,” Lena jokes. “You’re making me feel guilty.”

“I’m sorry?” Kara says, laughing a bit.

They smile at each other and for a moment it’s just the two of them.

That is, until Lena hears the words boarding school and threesome leave Lana’s mouth and she whips away from Kara so fast Kara jumps.

--

They spend the rest of their night ensconced in their booth, Kara sipping at waters and Lena nursing a vodka soda while Lana convinces Alex and Jack to join her on the dance floor.

It’s comfortable in a way Lena’s starting to accept. No one at the club pays them any attention and they’re hidden enough away that you’d have to walk right up to the table to really recognize them or what they’re doing.

“Not so bad, right?” Kara asks, leaning forward in the booth, her hand slipping down Lena’s thigh to rest at the inside of her knee. She’s abandoned her jacket to the side and Lena can’t quite keep her eyes away from the pull of muscle up Kara’s forearm and up through her bicep.

“Not so bad,” Lena murmurs, enjoying the mix of warmth in her stomach from the vodka and Kara’s proximity. They’ve been touching in some way the last half hour they’ve sat there and it’s starting to do something to Lena’s brain.

She could get used to this. A part of her is afraid she already has. Kara’s eyes feel hot as they glance at her face and her hand feels heavy against the inside of Lena’s leg. It makes her want to squirm closer, to slide Kara’s hand further up her thigh and see what they could get away with in the privacy of their little space.

The combination of feeling is what has her focused on her drink and not on the careful slope of Kara’s neck and the itch across her palms to tug her in closer by the lapels of her shirt.

“We should have warned your sister about Lana,” Lena mutters, clearing her throat against the sticky way it’s started to feel.

“Why’s that?” Kara asks, chuckling and letting her eyes drift towards the woman in question. Lana does the answering for her where she’s positioned between Alex and Jack, one hand in Alex’s hair and the other in Jack’s.

“Lana’s the kind of girl that invites you out for ice cream and the next thing you know you’re in her bed wondering how she got your pants off so quickly,” Lena says with dry delivery.

Kara’s laugh is rich as it rolls over her, her fingers tapping on Lena’s knee in a distracted motion. “Sounds like there’s a story there,” she says, amused and Lena feels a flush climb up her neck.

“I assure you there’s not,” she says, dragging her eyes over to Kara’s. “I’ve just known her and Jack a long time.”

Kara’s hum makes it clear she doesn’t buy that, but she also doesn’t press, just smiles at Lena and takes a sip of her water. “You know, for a while there I thought you might be dating Jack,” Kara says after a minute, the words quiet under the heavy bassline of the music.

Lena has to lean in a bit to catch them, but laughs when they register. The sound more like a scoff than anything else. “Jack?!”

She shouldn’t sound that incredulous. Not really. Her relationship with Jack had been a frequent subject of gossip columnists around the city. It’s perhaps part of why she’s so aware of how much the press enjoys tidbits about her personal life.

But there’s something about Kara thinking such a thing that has her peeling off into reams of laughter.

“Sorry,” Lena says as her laughter ebbs away in face of the embarrassed flush in Kara’s cheeks. “I shouldn’t laugh. I suppose it’s not an unreasonable thing to think. My mother regularly reminds me he’s a very nice young man with a decent salary.”

“Yikes,” Kara says, with a little laugh, her eyes tracking back to where her sister is now - absolutely making out with Lana on the dancefloor while Jack does something he should not in public with his hands.

“You really thought I was running around with you while I was dating Jack?” Lena asks. Kara makes a soft noise, shifting on the seat and her fingers drifting on Lena’s knee until they’re situated more underneath her thigh.

“I don’t know what I thought, really,” Kara says. “You guys were always around each other, and you were so focused on boundaries and stuff that I guess it made sense that maybe I was like. Your sidepiece.”

“My sidepiece?!” Lena blurts out incredulously and Kara’s nose crinkles when she hears it back like that.

“Well, I don’t know,” Kara says, defensively, an embarrassed laugh escaping her lips.

“Happy to hear you think so highly of my ability to stay loyal,” Lena says drily and Kara sighs through a smile.

“That’s not what I - it was more that,” she takes a breath, looks away a second. “I was confused about like...everything.”

“After all those times I told you I wasn’t in the market for a relationship and when we talked about sleeping with other people and - ”

“I was confused,” Kara interrupts with an amused emphasis on it.

Lena enjoys the attractive flush crawling up Kara’s neck. It makes her want to scratch her fingers down Kara’s chest. “And when did you figure it all out?”

Kara laughs like maybe she hasn’t actually figured anything out, but her hand pulls tighter against Lena’s leg. “About when you told me you had feelings for me.”

Though it shouldn’t be a surprise, Lena still feels a bit baffled. “You really had no idea before then?”

Kara’s chewing softly at her lower lip, her glasses slipping down her nose when she looks down and she adjust them before answering. “If I had thought twice about it maybe I would have seen it,” she says, a self-deprecating laugh falling out of her. “But I’ve always been kind of oblivious to this stuff.”

Lena hums, thinks of the moment she’d confessed everything to Kara and when she remembers the softly stuttered I don’t have feelings for you it doesn’t ache as much as it usually does, buffered by the warm hand wrapped around her thigh and the look of Kara’s eyes in the dim light of the club.

“It wasn’t until you were gone that I realized how much I missed you,” Kara shakes her head, eyes widening. “All the time. Constantly. And not in a friend way.”

It’s hard to pin down how she feels about that.

“I felt really dumb,” Kara continues. “Alex says that I never noticed because I don’t like getting attached to people.”

At the mention of her sister, Lena spares Alex a glance, brows lifting at the sight of Lana pouring a shot down Alex’s throat.

“She claims I have abandonment issues that make me keep all my relationships on the same level so I don’t have to deal with people I care about leaving me,” Kara says, the words tumbling out like a grumble.

Lena considers that, observes the expression on Kara’s face a moment. “Is that what you think?”

Kara takes a slow sip of her water before setting it back down on the table. Her movements look slow and deliberate. “I think that I spent a lot of energy convincing myself that I felt the same way about you as I did for any of my other friends,” Kara says with a wry twist of her lips.

“What changed?” Lena asks even though Kara had all but said it had been Lena’s confession that spurred on her own.

“It was pretty telling that when it felt like I had a choice between basketball and you, it was an easy decision,” Kara answers with a dark little laugh. “Let me tell you, that was terrifying.”

“I can imagine,” Lena says, setting her drink on the table and remembering Kara’s heartfelt insistence that she could put in for a trade, that she’d play for another team if it’d make Lena feel more comfortable. “I’m sorry I was so stubborn.”

“It’s fine,” Kara says, sounding earnest. Her palm feels hot against Lena’s leg, the muscle of her arm flexing as she shifts. “We’ve both got stuff.”

Lena laughs at that non-descriptor and the goofy little grin that plays across Kara’s face.

“I’m just glad we got to where we are now,” Kara finishes, threading forward to press a swift, innocuous kiss to Lena’s cheek.

The moment, and what Kara’s saying, feel incongruous with the loud, busy club they’re in. But Kara’s voice is low and clear in Lena’s ear, her hand wrapped around Lena’s thigh, and Lena feels affection sink down her spine free of guilt. She reaches up to grip Kara’s lapel, smoothing it down along her chest.

Kara, for her part, just looks at Lena, her blue eyes focused behind the thick rims of her glasses, expression open.

It feels like it gets hot in the booth all of a sudden, wrapping up and around her ribcage and Kara’s eyes dart to Lena’s lips as if in question. She thinks to be mindful of their setting, but they’ve been uninterrupted all night and Kara’s eyes are the prettiest shade of blue, so she gives a quick soft nod and just like that Kara is leaning down to kiss her, hot and open-mouthed.

She sinks into it without question, her fingers tightening in the collar of Kara’s shirt. Kara’s hand on her thigh grips tighter as well, and a part of Lena considers very seriously just pushing Kara into the nearest dark corner.

In the interest of not creating a scene, she pulls away from the kiss to murmur a heated do you want to get out of here but before she can say anything, Lana is barreling back into the booth, hitting Lena in her side and forcing her to break away from Kara as she reaches for the empty bottle of vodka on the table.

“Can you stop fucking in this club and help me?” Lana asks, a bit whiny.

After years of knowing each other, Lena can read the inebriation easily in Lana’s eyes, laughs a bit at the unfocused way they dart around as Lana pouts about the lack of vodka left.

“Can we go somewhere with more booze and like…” Lana gestures about and Lena glances over her shoulder to notice Jack and Alex idling nearby, huddled together and talking about something intently. Both of them look a bit ruffled, Alex with a smear of lipstick on her cheek. “A couch?”

“Time to lay down?” Lena asks, reaching out to hold Lana upright by the bicep when she threatens to fall over.

Lana takes a deep drunken breath and falls back against the booth, slouching there and licking her lips. “Call George and tell him I want McDonalds,” she instructs and Lena can see Lana’s kicking her shoes off under the table.

Kara laughs next to her, but stands and reaches for her jacket. “You call George, I’ll go close our tab out and get some waters,” Kara says, winking at Lena before pacing away towards the bar.

“She straps, doesn’t she?” Lana muses, watching Kara disappear into the crowd and drunkenly bumping into Lena’s shoulder as she pulls out her phone to text George.

“Lana, for God’s sake,” Lena starts, but when she glances at her friend, Lana’s eyes are unfocused, but happy, dancing around Lena’s face.

“I just call it like I see it, babe,” Lana says, letting her head fall heavily onto Lena’s shoulder. “Now can you get me McDonalds and maybe a cold bathroom floor?”

Lena rolls her eyes, but shifts to prop more of Lana onto her body as she finishes her text for George.

--

“Lena, why the fuck are you using your blender at eight in the morning on a Saturday?” Lana groans in the doorway to Lena’s kitchen. She looks a little rough around the edges, mascara still on her face as she blinks in the light streaming into the apartment.

“I was making smoothies,” Kara says, a small laugh on her tone. “And breakfast? Do you want some?”

Lana blinks as if startled to find Kara in the apartment. She shouldn’t be. They’d ended up at Lena’s apartment after the club on Lana’s suggestion for a nightcap.

“You’re a morning person, aren’t you?” Lana says as if accusing Kara of something dastardly.

Lena laughs from where she’s sitting at the island, her computer open in front of her as she checks her inbox. She’d been enjoying the quiet sounds of Kara puttering about the kitchen before Lana had stomped in.

“Kara tends to be insufferably full of energy,” Lena says idly, glancing up to catch Kara winking at her. It spikes a blush that she hides by looking down into her coffee. It still makes her feel jittery to be this open about Kara, but she’s known Lana all her life and underneath all her nerves there’s something calm and settled that she wants to sink into.

Lana makes another groaning sound as she flops into the seat next to Lena. “How annoying,” she says, stealing Lena’s coffee to take a sip. “What other bad habits do we need to know about?”

Lena manages to pluck her coffee out of Lana’s hand with a glare and a pointed, “Leave her alone, Lana.”

“You know you can’t tell me what to do, Lena,” Lana replies, taking the coffee a second time and shooting Lena an evil looking smile.

“She’s fine,” Kara says, laughing at the interaction and dropping ice cubes and berries into the blender.

“See,” Lana says, gesturing at Kara and arching a challenging brow at Lena.

Lena rolls her eyes, but relents, stepping up to make herself another coffee.

“Okay, so Kara,” Lana starts, propping her elbows on the kitchen and sipping at Lena’s coffee. “Who did you vote for in the last election?”

“Lana!” Lena scolds, turning from her perch at her cabinet, one hand on a new coffee mug.

“What?” Lana says, hands up to defend her own innocence. “I’m giving her the Lillian test.”

“Lillian like your mother?” Kara asks, the distaste clear in her voice as she pauses midway into adding a banana to the blender.

“Oooh, already hating Lillian, good start,” Lana says in a put-upon sage tone, her finger pointing approvingly in Kara’s direction. “Okay, we can do small questions first. Thoughts on minimum wage?”

Kara looks a bit baffled by Lana - as most people generally are upon first meeting her - but recovers and drops the fruit into the blender before answering. “I guess I think people should have a livable wage?”

Lana looks delighted by the answer, her fingers tapping against the coffee mug in her hand and a wide smile. “Gay marriage?”

Lena flushes when Kara looks directly at her for just a moment.

“I’d think that would be obvious,” Kara says, fiddling with the top of the blender and lifting an amused brow at Lana.

Lana smiles, enjoying that answer far too much for Lena’s taste. “What about the immigration problem?” is Lana’s next question and Lena rolls her eyes at the way Lana emphasises the last two words in clear mimicry of her mother.

Kara, for her part, looks confused and a little offended. “The problem?”

It seems to be an answer in itself for Lana who laughs abruptly into her coffee. “God, Lillian is going to hate you,” she says, sounding as if it’s a compliment.

“Lana,” Lena sighs, but she can’t fight a smile at the gleeful loon on Lana’s face.

“It’s true,” Lana says, a chuckle drifting across the words. “I mean, come on, Lena. An athlete and a social justice warrior?”

The Lillian tone Lana continues to use is amusing enough that Lena gives in to the mirth on her friend's face. “Blonde too,” she adds, only intensifying Lana’s laugh.

When Lena looks at Kara, she’s smiling, standing in Lena’s kitchen being interrogated by her friend like it’s nothing. It does something fluttery to Lena’s stomach, makes her set down her coffee mug and take a step into Kara’s personal space.

Kara’s smile never falters and she leans down when Lena makes to kiss her. It’s a soft, sweet kiss and when Lana interrupts them with an exaggerated cough to remind them they have an audience, Lena’s pleased to find only happiness in her chest.

--

As she’s going through her mail one afternoon, sorting out bills and flyers and the odd catalog, she comes across a small, pastel blue envelope with a return address she doesn’t recognize immediately.

It’s a wedding invitation. A tacky wedding invitation, but past the looping script that’s barely legible and the glitter that spills onto her counter, she’s able to read the details. The son of one of Luthor Corp’s board of directors is apparently getting married a year from now somewhere in Italy.

Usually, she’d ignore the invitation and throw the thing in the trash with the rest of her junk mail - though Lex had always been keen about crashing weddings with open bars, it’d never really been Lena’s thing. But there’s something about the Lena Luthor and Guest that has her considering it for a long few seconds.

With a soft exhale, she sets the small RSVP card to the side and thinks maybe she’ll check the Lakehawks schedule for next season.

A year is a long time from now, right? By then, who knows what her life will be like.

--

Despite their fall in the standings, the Lakehawks end-of-season position in the league gives them a home court advantage in their first round against the Evergreens. It’s one of the many reasons they give for Kara not starting the first game.

“First game of the first round. At home. John, I don’t think they should risk Kara Danvers before they need to,” an announcer says on the late-night sports rundown Jack’s turned on after dinner that night.

“Can’t agree more, Catelyn,” the other anchor replies. “We’re sure she must be eager to get back and contribute, but the Lakehawks, and Kara, need to be thinking long term here. The Evergreens are beatable and - ”

“Turn that off,” Lena calls out to Jack, pulling out wine glasses from her cabinet.

“They’re talking about your lover,” Jack calls back. “It’s important.”

“Don’t call her that,” Lena grumbles, fishing for her wine key to open the bottle on the counter.

“What else am I supposed to call her?” Jack asks, voice suddenly closer as he walks into the kitchen. “Girlfriend? Significant other? Paramour?” A pointed pause before Jack adds. “Former fuck buddy?”

Lena stops before she pours wine into his glass, her expression unimpressed as her eyes narrow. “Do you want wine or not? Because I will happily drink this entire thing by myself,” she warns him. “In front of you.”

“I apologize,” Jack says, holding out his wine glass. “Please, ma’am, may I have another?”

She rolls her eyes, pouring him his wine. The news is still talking about Kara, somehow, in the other room.

“But take heart, Lakehawks fans - if and when the team needs her, she’s around. Our reporter Cale Berkstrom caught up with her at Luthor Corp Arena.”

“I’ve been working hard,” Kara’s voice starts, sounding a little out-of-breath. When Lena peeks at the television, she’s clearly sweaty, in her practice uniform. “I’ve had a ton of time off, and it’s been good for me, but I’m ready to go whenever.”

“And how is the back feeling?” Cale asks, his mic pressed close to Kara’s face. Kara actually laughs a little, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Feels great,” Kara says with an easy shrug as if to display how loose she feels. “Stronger than ever.”

She glances up to the camera right then and grins. It’s the kind of smile that Lena can’t help but smile back at, the same that’s wormed its way into her heart.

“The Lakehawks have had quite the year leading up to the playoffs,” Cale continues, Kara turning back to him and nodding politely along. She scrubs the towel that’s hanging around her neck over her face as he talks. “Definitely not the shoe-in everyone thought you’d be. A lot of people are looking to the new ownership shift in the offseason as one of the -”

Kara cuts him off mid word, her smile only faltering the slightest. “New ownership?” The words come out incredulous and condescending enough that Cale reacts visibly, his eyes twitching as if trying to find a way to backtrack.

Kara laughs, gripping the towel around her neck with both hands and Lena hears Jack chuckle along with her as they laugh. “The Luthors have owned the Lakehawks as long as we’ve been a franchise,” Kara tells him as if explaining something to a child.

“Of course,” Cale says, shaking his head and smiling at Kara in a clear attempt to save the interview. “I was just referring to the change in supervision between -”

“Lena’s been great,” Kara says, interrupting again and Lena closes her eyes with a touch of exasperation as she tries to remind herself it’s her own paranoia that makes Kara’s defensiveness sound like it means something. “Anyone that thinks otherwise, doesn’t understand basketball.”

Kara must realize how that sounds because the tension that’d pulled into her shoulders, flows downward and she quickly shifts her face into something more friendly. “We’ve had a tough road to the playoffs this year, but I assure you, we’re ready and I’m looking forward to getting back out there and contributing.”

It’s clear from Kara’s tone that the previous line of questioning is closed, but she keeps a smile on her face at odds with her tone. It’s what has Cale Berkstrom relaxing and the awkwardness ebbing away from the conversation.

“Thanks, Kara,” he says, just as ready to end the interview as Kara seems.

“Thanks, Cale,” Kara says with a perfunctory nod.

Kara walks away then, down the long hallway towards the locker room and the camera shifts to focus on Cale as he throws it back to the newsroom and the segment ends, shifting to coverage on the upcoming hockey preseason.

Jack lets out a low whistle that evolves into a laugh.

“Your lover’s got a bit of a protective streak,” Jack says. “God, Lana’s right. I can’t wait for her and Lillian to meet.”

Lena's stomach swoops at the thought. “Shut up, Jack.”

--

Kara calls her as she’s slipping into bed, her phone lighting up on a recent Calvin Klein ad of Kara’s featuring her gold medal and Lena gapes at it for a second, wondering when Jack had the time to change her contact info.

“Hi,” she says, managing to pick the call up before it gets sent to voicemail.

“Hey,” Kara returns, voice edged with just a hint of exhaustion. It makes Lena want to run her fingers through Kara’s hair until she falls asleep, a hot urge that feels both familiar and not.

“You sound tired,” she murmurs, shifting down under her sheets and suddenly wishing they were together.

“Forgot what full time practice was like,” Kara says with some amusement even as it’s punctuated with a yawn. “Injury’s made me lazy.”

Lena rolls her eyes at that, but doesn’t comment. Kara’s conception of lazy is certainly not average. Even when she’d been fully injured she’d kept a fairly full schedule. When Lena would come over for dinner she’d spot the Lakehawks playbook open on the kitchen counter with Kara’s notes scribbled in the margin, or the television paused on game footage she’d have sent over.

“I saw your interview earlier,” Lena replies in lieu of confronting the notion Kara’s somehow become lazy.

The hum Kara lets out is telling enough, as is the worried little chuckle. “You did? How’d I look?”

As if on instinct, Lena’s hand starts to drift down her stomach. “Sweaty,” she replies in a dry tone that only makes Kara laugh.

“I seem to recall that not bothering you,” Kara teases and Lena feels her gut clench as a memory of Tokyo spikes across her consciousness.

Ignoring the seduction in Kara’s tease, Lena takes a breath. “You really shouldn’t have gotten so defensive with that reporter,” she says and Kara sighs.

“I wasn’t as defensive as I wanted to be,” Kara says, sounding put out at having had to stay composed. “It was a stupid question.”

“It’s a logical conclusion,” Lena replies. “I am one of the big differences this year and it makes perfect sense someone might point to that as the reason -”

“Lena, I’m the reason we barely got into the playoffs, okay?” Kara’s voice has an edge of irritation, but Lena can tell it’s not directed at her. “I’ve been distracted all season and injured for the last month of it and -”

“You’re saying that has nothing to do with me?” Lena points out, arching her brow though she knows Kara can’t see it. A wave of guilt squeezes at her chest so intensely she has to roll to her side to combat it.

Kara’s silent a moment and it makes Lena feel squirmy, like she wants to just hang the phone up and pretend this conversation never happened. “I know what you’re thinking, but it really doesn’t,” Kara says on a sigh.

“Maybe not the way the reporter meant it, but -”

“But nothing,” Kara interrupts, sounding firm.

Lena sighs as her chest starts to feel hollow.

“Seriously,” Kara says, voice softer this time. “I just mean - yesterday, J’onn mentioned that my rehab has been the most he’s seen me around the facility all year. Showed me my security logs and everything.”

“Kara,” Lena starts, unsure of how to finish. The idea that she’s the reason Kara’s in trouble at work or has been less than focused aches.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Kara says, and then laughs a little. “Actually, he seemed kind of proud of me.” Lena feels confusion leak in to replace her anxiety, plucking at the blankets on her bed.

“For being distracted?” Lena asks. Kara hums, and Lena can picture her standing at her patio doors looking out on the city, a few blocks away.

“He said that I was a better player because I wasn’t around as much,” Kara says. “A more well-rounded player and teammate or something.”

“Oh?” Lena feels useless to comment having zero ability to truly judge Kara’s abilities as a player and feeling far too biased to give a real opinion.

“Yeah,” Kara says, sounding like she’s trying to work through something. “I guess not spending every minute of my free time in the weight room or at shootaround actually did some good. Who knew?”

Aside from having witnessed a lot of it firsthand, Lena remembers hearing tales of Kara’s work ethic from nearly everyone when she’d first taken over the Lakehawks. Frankly, it makes her think of her own work, of how she spends considerably less time in the basement labs of Luthor Corp and how rarely she brings work home with her these days.

“I have been told there’s such a thing as overworking,” Lena jokes and Kara laughs.

“My point is that, I don’t know, there are some people who think that having you around has made me better,” Kara says and the silence that follows feels heavy until Kara adds, “I mean, my understanding of my own emotions has deepened at the very least.”

“Glad to be of service,” Lena says drily. Kara chuckles on the other end of the line.

“Yes, thank you,” Kara says, and though she punctuates it with a yawn, her next words come out even and low. “Now tell me what you’re wearing.”

Lena laughs fondly. “Go to bed, darling.”

--

Lena’s just finished a call with a group of East Asian investors when Cat Grant walks into her office without any announcement. It startles her, to say the least, and she barely restrains from jumping.

Thankfully, she manages to stand gracefully in her chair and greet Cat with a welcoming smile.

“Cat. To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure?” She asks, pointedly before gesturing towards one of her office chairs. Cat declines the invitation and instead stands in front of Lena’s desk.

“I’m here on business,” Cat announces, a smile on her face that makes Lena think she should be worried. It’s odd for Cat to come to Luthor Tower for any kind of business – most Lakehawks business is conducted at the front offices at Luthor Corp Arena and Cat’s known for not travelling far from the premises.

“Well by all means,” Lena replies, gesturing again towards a chair, but Cat either doesn’t notice, or intentionally ignores it.

Instead, she wastes no time in getting to the point. “I’m aware of your relationship with Kara.”

It’s so startling that Lena almost audibly reacts to it – a short intake of breath she swallows quickly. “I’m sorry, what relationship?”

Denial is so hardwired into her psyche that she’s made the decision to do it without much thought. Cat gives her a look that makes Lena feel small even if her own office – a feat few have ever accomplished.

“I don’t have time to dig it out of you,” Cat says. “I’ve known for some time now. Kara is a lot of things, but subtle has never been one of them.”

That’s an alarming thought. “I –” Her face must telegraph her thoughts because Cat’s lips push together even as her brow furrows.

“I wouldn’t worry about other people having caught on,” Cat says, sounding uncharacteristically reassuring. “I know Kara better than most people. She has her tics. Most of the team, at least, are far too focused on themselves to see what’s right in front of them. I imagine Alex knows, but the rest…”

That makes Lena feel the slightest bit better even though she should have known as much. Alex had been undeniably shocked when she’d found out.

“I don’t care either,” Cat adds, pulling Lena’s thoughts back to the present. “Kara can sleep with whomever she wants to as long as it doesn’t affect what happens on the court. There are certainly worse choices.”

It’s not what Lena had expected. At the very least, she would have thought Cat might have a few choice words regarding the power structure of their relationship, but Cat seems unconcerned that Lena is basically Kara’s employer.

“I’m sorry, I suppose I don’t understand the purpose of this conversation,” Lena says, completely at a loss and struggling against showing it on her face. Cat sighs, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling and then back down to eye Lena as if this entire interaction is a great burden.

“You may know that Kara is under contract for the next six years, for 240 million dollars,” Cat says. “I’d never say this to her directly, but she’s the face of this team and this franchise and frankly is...very expensive.”

“I know that,” Lena says, some heat leaking into her words. It’s insulting to think that she doesn’t know about these things, really. Her family name is on Kara’s checks.

“We’re heading into the playoffs now, and Kara’s rehabilitation is a priority for this team. It’s likely she’ll return to play against the Aces, once we get through the Evergreens.”

“I know,” Lena says, a bit baffled at what Cat’s saying – they’d discussed just as much in a meeting not two days ago when Lena’d been called in to talk to James, Cat and J’onn about the issue. Kara had been unable to shut up about the possibility the past week either, but Lena’s wise not to share that much.

“Then I assume you know that any kind of drama or…” Cat pauses, her lips thin a moment. “Spectacle, could cause an unwanted obstacle in the entire process. She needs to be completely focused on the playoffs for this team to succeed.”

Lena thinks to be offended – hears the accusation in Cat’s tone and wants to snap at her. Her involvement with Kara has been a season-long endeavor and has been about as discreet as it could possibly be between two relatively famous people. Not to mention Lena’s constant anxiety about it.

“And to be clear, Lena, I’m not asking you to break off your relationship,” Cat says. “I care about Kara’s happiness, on account of her happiness being directly correlated with her performance. But I am asking you to be careful. At least until we win.”

“I have no intention of creating a scandal where there needs not be one,” Lena says, reminding herself that this is her office and she’s not going to let anyone – not even Cat Grant – berate her like a child in it. “And I can assure you, Kara is anything but distracted. I’m not sure something as insignificant as this could distract her.”

It’s a stretch of the truth - Kara had just recently admitted how distracted she’d been towards the end of the season - but she knows how much Kara’s focused on returning in the playoffs, how hard she’s working to be able to contribute to her team’s successes again and she feels unstoppably defensive of her.

Something softens in Cat’s face, though her tone remains unforgiving. “The fact that you think it’s insignificant at all is what worries me,” Cat says. “Kara’s had many dalliances as a Lakehawk, but I know her well enough to know when something’s changed.”

Lena hadn’t meant it like that, but she doesn’t know how to explain it to Cat. Doesn’t know how to explain that part of what she finds so breathtaking about Kara Danvers is her wholehearted loyalty to the Lakehawks, her competitive drive to be the best, and her unwavering commitment to winning.

She tries not to remember that moment in the elevator when Kara looked at her with dark, desperate eyes and said I’ll put in for a trade as if the only thing that could surpass her loyalty to the Lakehawks was the possibility of being with Lena.

“I’m merely confident in Kara’s ability  to do her job, and well,” Lena says sternly, her jaw tight and back straight, trying very hard not to focus on Cat’s mention of Kara’s dalliances or how Lena’s somehow different. She’s afraid if she thinks too hard on it she’ll start blushing.

Much as she knows it to be true, having it spoken out loud in her office is making her feel flighty.

Cat’s eyes narrow critically, but her chin lifts as if Lena’s passed some test. “I suppose that should be reassuring enough.”

 “I think I’m still failing to see the purpose of this conversation,” Lena says, arms crossing her chest.

A smile seems to threaten its way to Cat’s lips. “Just making sure we’re all on the same page,” Cat says. “Congratulations, by the way. You two make a handsome couple.”

Lena feels whiplashed, but Cat’s already turning to walk out of the office - their conversation over just like that.

“Cat,” Lena calls out, halting the other woman’s path to the door. “It really doesn’t bother you?”

“What? You and Kara?” Cat looks irritated that Lena’s asking such a petty question and she hesitates only a moment before clarifying something that’s been nagging her for what’s felt like months and Cat seems to have glossed over entirely.

“That I’m practically her boss,” Lena clarifies with a soft clearing of her throat. It drops between them and sits there. Lena feels anxiety grip her throat as the silence stretches, but she doesn’t retract the question. She’s far too desperate for an answer. Now that it’s out there, she needs to know. 

What she gets is a loud, uncharacteristic laugh from Cat. “You’re not her boss, Lena,” Cat says, the amusement on her face looking more like condescension. “I am.”

Lena thinks maybe Cat needs an informational chart or graph showing her that Lena does in fact hold some position of authority over the Lakehawks roster, but Cat seems to deem the subject closed, because she turns before Lena can reply and disappears out the door.

--

The first series against the Evergreens begins and just as expected, Kara is on the bench. It’s a five game series, the first two of which will be played at home. The promos that have run all week employ phrases like Defend Our House and Road to Repeat with a running montage of Lakehawks players making flashy plays against the Evergreens. There’s a very memorable shot of Kara slamming a basket in over Sara Lance’s head that Kara’s been delightedly showing everyone at any given opportunity. Lena’s been sent the clip no less than five times in one day.

It’s exciting and Lena gets swept up in the sheer energy of a playoff atmosphere. Luthor Corp Arena is deafeningly loud during the first two home games and packed full of fans all wearing the same Lakehawks colored t-shirt and waving baby blue towels in the air.

The pregame is much different than it has been all season, though none of the players meet at center court to greet each other or exchange friendly hugs and handshakes. The teams seem largely to ignore each other though she does see Sara throw Kara a little chin lift as she passes by.

Kara for her part, sits on the far end of her team’s bench in a well cut blue suit that draws Lena’s attention for the better part of warm-ups.

The game goes well for the Lakehawks. They seem to have abandoned any quirks from their end-of-season slide in favor of being playoff ready. The Evergreens have no answer to an Alex-Lucy duo that seem to be clicking at just the right time and the focused way M’gann keeps draining corner threes like she was born to do it.

They take the first two at home and the crowd roars when Maggie gives an on-court postgame interview and tells everyone to bring their brooms to Star City.

“What did Maggie mean?” Lena asks Kara later when they meet up for a late night bowl of ramen at Kara’s apartment. “With the brooms.”

Kara laughs and starts to mimic pushing a broom against her kitchen floor. “Because we’re gonna sweep ‘em,” she says delightedly and that still means nothing to Lena, but she laughs when Kara does.

--

The Lakehawks do end up completing a sweep of the Evergreens in a hotly contested game three. There had been tickets to the game on her desk that morning as well as a list of flight options, but she’s slated to speak at a charity gala in which Luthor Corp is a major sponsor. Though she admittedly does seriously contemplate canceling, she gives the tickets to Jack with instructions to cheer loudly.

The realization she’d prefer a basketball game over a professional obligation certainly makes her pause a moment.

She catches the game highlights later when she’s passing by the small bar in the lobby of the event center and she steps closer to watch them play on the massive television hovered over glass shelves of liquor.

Alex is giving an interview on screen, hair slick against her temples and face flushed. She’s laughing at something the interviewer says and the closed caption reads she’s ready when she’s ready.

The screen switches then to a panel of Evergreens players that Lena recognizes - Sara and Laurel Lance side-by-side with Felicity on the end. They look subdued and resigned as they’re asked a few questions and when Lena sees the score of the game flash on the bottom of the screen she understands why.

Lakehawks 97 - Evergreens 54

Her eyes go wide as she turns away from the screen and pulls her phone out of her clutch, striding towards the exit of the building.

Saw the score, good game, she texts Kara, sliding into the backseat of her car and instructing George to take her home.

A wall of broom emojis comes in as her reply, but before she can type a response, her phone is ringing and Kara’s contact is flashing on her screen.

“Do you think it’s too early to send Sara a bunch of gifs of M’gann crossing her over in the third?” Kara asks when she picks the phone up with an affectionate hey.

“Yes,” Lena responds promptly though she laughs.

“I’m just so happy we won,” Kara says and the delight in her voice is infectious.

“Me too,” Lena replies, imagining the smile on Kara’s face.

“So what are you wearing?” Kara asks, in rich rolling tones that makes Lena feel hot all over.

She laughs, but reaches to make sure the privacy partition is up all the way. “I’m not even home yet,” she tells Kara, squirming more at the low sound of Kara’s laugh.

“Tell George to drive around the block a few times,” Kara suggests, all too amused by the prospect. Lena hates that her stomach feels like it melts at the low sound of her laughter and for a moment she nearly considers it.

--

With the Evergreens eliminated, the Lakehawks are on to round two and their next opponent - a Las Vegas Aces team seeded high enough to have had a first round bye. Or so Kara explains it. The intricacies get a bit lost as Kara decides to add a soft, “You should come.”

Lena blinks, confused a bit. “I’m sorry?”

“I’d like it if you came to Vegas,” Kara says, her voice soft as if unsure of what she’s saying, and Lena feels there’s something weighted there she’s not picking up on.

When she doesn’t reply right away, Kara shifts and adds, “For the game.”

Since the Aces ended their season higher than the Lakehawks, they’re set to have home court advantage for their series. It means the first two games are scheduled in Vegas and Lena’d actually considered going already – Jack had sent her about sixteen text messages about it as well – but she doesn’t need Kara to know that.

“Why is that?” Lena asks, though she suspects the answer.

“Cat says I’m officially going to play,” Kara says quietly, and Lena feels her eyes goes immediately wide. Though it’s what she expected, what they’ve all been expecting for weeks now, the significance of it still lands heavily in her chest.

“Really?” Lena asks, her own voice dropping down to match Kara’s. It comes out like an awed whisper.

“Yeah,” Kara replies, still quiet, but a hushed excitement threading between them. “Really. Maybe game one, but for sure game two.”

Lena can’t stop her smile. It stretches impossibly wide across her lips and she wonders if it’d be inappropriate to leap across the table and kiss Kara. It is her own home, of course, but the moment feels soft, at odds with that urge.

“I’m excited for you,” Lena says, reaching instead for Kara’s hand. Kara grabs it and holds on tight, a smile on her face that makes Lena feel like melting into the floor.

“Thanks. Me too,” Kara says, a spark in her expression Lena hadn’t quite realized was missing until just that moment.

“Nervous?” Lena asks, wondering if all that time away had done anything to Kara’s confidence.

It’s immediately apparent that it hasn’t. Kara’s smiles is close to predatory and in a different context, Lena would need to cross her legs. As it is, she shifts a bit in her seat. “Of course not,” Kara answers in a tone that says as much. “I’m Kara Danvers.”

Lena laughs a bit. “I’m happy to see your ego is fully intact.”

Kara acknowledges it with a tilt of her head, but her smile never falters. “So you’ll come?”

There’s an implication in the air of what else Kara getting playtime means. Lena can see that the excited look in Kara’s eyes isn’t entirely about basketball. Though Kara’s seemed well over her injury for some time now, there’s something more official about being cleared for a game. A selfish part of Lena can think only of what other activities Kara’s physically fit for and she feels a tad ridiculous that her mind goes quite quickly on a downward spiral.

“Sure,” she says, warming at the happy way Kara’s face reacts.

There’s a feeling of both exhilaration and terror about the prospect of being in Vegas with Kara again, of being with Kara again. It feels like a lifetime ago that they tangled together on the couch of Lena’s suite, a deck of playing cards and alcohol abandoned across the floor. So much has changed since then that Lena feels like they’re different people.

Which is ridiculous. Kara looks exactly the same, has the same irritating smirk on her face when she catches wind of Lena’s derailing thoughts, and lets out the same low laugh that makes Lena’s throat go dry.

“I don’t know how much we’ll be able to see each other. Cat can be kind of crazy in the playoffs,” Kara says, voice coming out thick and liquid against Lena’s ears. “But I’d still like it if you were there.”

Lena doesn’t trust herself to say anything more coherent than, “I’ll be there.”

--

Jack is thrilled when Lena has a courier deliver tickets to the games in Vegas to his office. He sends her no less than seven videos titled some variation of Lakehawks Playoff Hype.

“So I take it you’d like to accompany me?” Lena asks when he calls her later that afternoon.

He lets out a loud whoop that has Lena rolling her eyes. “Is Kara going to play?”

“You know I’m not allowed to tell you that,” Lena says, having already been in about six meetings that made it quite clear Kara’s injury status wasn’t something for public consumption.

“Oh, please, it’s me,” he counters. “Why else would you be going to Vegas?”

“Well, I own the team, don’t I, Jack? I thought I didn’t need an excuse,” she teases, amused when he laughs.

“We’ve come so far haven’t we?” Jack jokes through his laughter and Lena can’t help but smile.

“We have.”

--

It’s almost impossible for Lena to be in Vegas and not think of all the things she and Kara have done there. Of all the things Kara’s done to her and vice versa. It certainly doesn’t help that she’s in the same gigantic penthouse suite she’s stayed in before.

One look at the basketball court and Lena feels her thighs press together on reflex. What makes it worse is imagining what new memories they’ll make and the way her brain keeps looking at her future with Kara as something inevitable.

Kara calls her right as she’s pulling the covers down on one of the beds - the master, the one where Kara had made her come three times in a row before finally allowing Lena to return the favor. She answers out of habit, feels the thrill of their usual routine spark up her spine again.

“Hey,” Kara says, voice quiet.

“Hi,” Lena returns, feeling her legs shift through the sheets and wishing Kara was there, talking in her ear. It’s an odd longing, one that’s becoming familiar.

“I think I told you this already, but Cat has us on pre-game curfew,” Kara says, laughing a little. “Or else I’d come say goodnight in person.”

“Probably wouldn’t be wise anyway,” Lena says. Kara hums for a second before she speaks

“So, what are you wearing?” Kara asks.

“A chastity belt,” Lena replies, deadpan. Kara bursts into laughter that Lena can’t help but join in.

“Okay, okay,” Kara says. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow,” Lena says, and she can feel the deep well of happiness inside her that she’ll actually get to see Kara on a basketball court tomorrow. “Play well.”

“Oh, I intend to,” Kara says, voice low and happy. Lena falls asleep with a smile on her face and a steady thrum of arousal in her stomach.

--

The stadium is electric. Even though it’s not their home court, it feels like the Lakehawks have managed to make a presence. Lena’d been told it’s extra difficult to get an away crowd during the playoffs, but it seems Lakehawks fans are exceedingly passionate. Jack has somehow come up with a Lucy Lane jersey to wear under a blazer, and Lena had only just barely stopped him from painting his face. By the time they get to their seats across from the Lakehawks bench, the arena has mostly filled in, the music thumping as the two teams finish up warmups.

Kara looks good, though it’s clear that Cat has told her to not push so hard in the shootaround - a bit of gamesmanship, Lena’s sure. She’s ambling up and down the center line, occasionally getting into a jog, dribbling a ball with her. One of the trainers takes her through a series of stretches near the scorer’s table that Lena has to look away from before Jack starts to tease her.

When the timer runs down on their warmup time, the Lakehawks start to congregate at their bench, but Kara’s lingered at half-court, dribbling a ball idly as the clock winds down. It feels like most of the arena - Lena included - have their eyes on her as she casually launches a shot towards the hoop. It swishes, the sound drowned out by the loud buzzer indicating the end of pregame. Jack chortles at the display and Lena can’t help but murmur show off good naturedly.

She hears an Ace fan behind her mutter to his friend: That’s not good.

Kara’s not starting the game, but Lena’s not surprised. Kara’d mentioned that Cat had merely told her she could dress for the game and getting any playing minutes would depend on how the game went. That seemed to be the theme on Kara’s return – don’t risk her before they need to. Kara had been very vocal as to how much she hated that mentality.

The game tips off and Lena’s eyes can’t stop wandering to the end of the bench where Kara’s sitting – dressed in her uniform and warmups for the first time in what feels like forever and an intense look on her face that Lena’s body reacts to of its own accord.

It’s exciting. Lena can’t deny it. It’s like the whole crowd is hyper aware of everything Cat does as if waiting for the moment she calls Kara’s name.

It happens towards the end of the first quarter. Lucy goes to the line to shoot free throws and Cat turns towards her bench. Lena can tell it’s going to happen seconds before it does – Cat has a small smile on her face as she props her hands on her hips and calls out a simple KD.  

Kara’d already been halfway out of her chair the second Cat had turned towards the bench and she jumps up, reaching for the back of her warmup and pulling it off in a swift motion.

The stadium noticeably reacts and it’s as if a hushed whisper of Kara’s name spreads like wildfire around the crowd. Lena finds herself swept up in it as Kara takes instruction from Cat and walks towards the scorer’s table, tucking her jersey into her shorts and checking in.

“I think I might die I’m so excited,” Jack whispers, sipping at his gin and tonic like it’s a lifeline.

“Calm down,” Lena says, swatting him on the arm. The crowd absolutely roars when the buzzer sounds and Kara comes jogging onto the court, low-fiving Eve when she comes out. It’s a mixture of boos from the Aces fans and loud screams from those dressed in Lakehawks blue. If Lena stands to lend her own clapping to the cacophony of sound, it’s only because she gets caught up in the moment.

--

Kara plays as if she never spent a second away from the game.

It takes one trip down the court for Kara to score her first basket, a quick cut through traffic leading to an easy layup. It’s nothing flashy, but the second the shot drains in the net, the Lakehawks section of the crowd goes wild.

Jack erupts in applause so abruptly that he jostles Lena, enough for her drink to spill. Though she glares at him, he just shrugs and gestures to the court where Kara’s jogging backwards to play defense.

The team clicks so quickly it’s like Kara never left. A series of perfectly arced passes between Danvers sisters has the team up by eight in a short minute and by the end of the half, the Lakehawks have pulled significantly away.

The players retreat into the locker room and on their way, Kara catches Lena’s eye and acknowledges her with a lift of her chin.

Not too long ago the look might have thrown her heart into a terror filled drumline, but right now it’s pulsing warmth throughout her extremities and she smiles back.

In the end, the Lakehawks pull off a game one win by twenty points. Kara tallies a cool thirty-four points in her return that has Alex grabbing her in a headlock by the end of the game to congratulate her with a scruff of her hair.

By the time the final buzzer sounds, the Aces fans in the building look absolutely dejected in a way that makes Lena feel triumphant and perversely happy.

Despite not being at home, there’s a quick spell of applause as Kara walks off the court, and she waves out in appreciation. Her eyes find Lena’s again, zeroing in on her as she passes by into the tunnel. The smug, victorious look of Kara’s smile sends a thrill down Lena’s spine and Jack leans in close to her.

“Should I assume you won’t be joining me at the slot machines tonight?” Jack asks, tone amused enough to have Lena elbowing him in the side.

“Shut up, Jack.”  

--

When Lena makes it back to her hotel, Kara’s already there in the lobby. Lena spots her easily enough, standing at the front desk in a pair of soft looking jeans, a Lakehawks-blue button down and a familiar leather jacket that Lena’s always found dangerously attractive.

Jack’s already left her side in favor of finding Lucy at some restaurant on the strip and Lena certainly hadn’t put up any resistance to their parting. It means that when her eyes meet Kara’s across the lobby, she doesn’t have to hide the way her breath skips.

Lena continues her journey towards the elevator bank, but lets her gaze linger on Kara until Kara’s expression lifts just enough to be noticeable.

As Lena reaches the long row of elevators and calls one with a push of a button, she sees Kara say something to the concierge before pushing off the counter and heading Lena’s way.

This time, Kara makes it into the elevator just as Lena’s pressing the button for her floor. Kara follows suit before turning to lean against the wall next to Lena as the doors close.  

“Good game,” Lena murmurs, shifting closer as the car starts to ascend upward.

“Yeah, it was,” Kara agrees, sounding lighter and more free than she has in weeks.

“How do you feel?” Lena asks, looking up into Kara’s eyes. They lock on to Lena’s with an intensity that grips at her throat, the air in the small elevator going thick. “Your back and everything.”

“Really good,” Kara says in a low, soft voice that pours like liquid over Lena’s ears. “Like it never happened.”

The elevator doors ding open and Lena knows it’s Kara’s turn to get off even if Kara doesn’t tell her in a soft whisper, “This is my floor.”

“I know,” Lena says, intentionally as she can, and she reaches out to press the close doors button without saying much else, eyes still connected to Kara’s.

The closing of the doors draws a slow, playful smile on Kara’s face and Lena’s body already aches with what it knows is about to happen. Kara turns to face her, coming close enough that Lena feels heat swell between them.

“You sure you’re totally healed?” Lena asks softly, still hesitant at the idea she could do anything to hurt Kara. The Lakehawks playoff chances aren’t exactly the top of her priority list in this precise moment, but the professional in her tries to keep her brain in control.

Kara’s palm comes up to prop against one of the elevator walls and it effectively traps Lena between the wall and Kara’s body, their faces getting close. “I assure you, I’m in fully working order,” Kara says in a low voice that pools low in Lena’s stomach. “And really eager to celebrate a good day at work.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” Lena protests, the last of her hesitation dripping out of her. Her fingers grip at the sides of Kara’s jacket.

“I can handle you,” is Kara’s answer and damn if that doesn’t break Lena’s resolve completely.

The elevators ding their arrival to Lena’s floor and she’s silently grateful. A few more seconds and she’d likely have put them in a compromising position right in the elevator car.

They break apart as the doors open and Lena leads the way. It’s silent in the kind of way that’s deafening to Lena. She feels sensitive to every movement Kara makes, to the way she lingers behind her as Lena slides her keycard into the door and pushes it open.

The door is barely shut when Kara’s hand is at her hip, turning her around and pressing in close. There’s a beat of a hesitation where they just observe each other. “You okay?” Kara asks in a whisper that warms across Lena’s lips. All Lena can think to do is nod. “Nervous?”

The question pulls Lena’s head back a bit so she can look more clearly into Kara’s eyes. It certainly sounds more like Kara’s nervous than Lena is and that’s clear as day when their eyes connect.

“No,” she says quietly, unable to stop the soft laugh that curls around the word. “We’ve done this a few times before.”

Kara’s lips quirk up, but the darting of her eyes betrays her. “Yeah, I know.”

Lena waits a moment before pulling back a bit to ask, “Why are you nervous?”

“I’m not,” Kara denies immediately, but her hand twitches at Lena’s hip and when Lena just stares at her, expectant, Kara relents, “I don’t know.”

Not sure what to say, Lena remains silent, hovers in the warmth of Kara’s presence.

“Should it feel different?” Kara asks after a moment, her expression screwing up into a mixture of embarrassment and confusion.

“Should what feel different?” Lena asks, but even as she says it, she realizes what Kara means and can’t help sounding incredulous when she adds, “Sex?”

“I don’t know,” Kara says, the words sounding frustrated. “Shouldn’t it?”

It occurs to her why Kara might think that way - that with their feelings out in the open something about all of this should feel so different. But Lena finds it doesn’t feel different at all. And she’s fairly sure she knows exactly why.

Hesitating when vulnerability starts to itch at her throat, Lena flicks a finger on one of the buttons of Kara’s shirt, her eyes darting away a moment as she tries to find the right words. “I guess, it doesn’t,” she says, looking up into Kara’s eyes and hoping she understands. “Not for me.”

Blue eyes search her face for a moment and Lena feels naked. “No?”

Lena shrugs, decides nothing bad can come from being honest. Not anymore. “I mean, maybe I’m a little less scared of the way you make me feel now, but other than that…”

Kara licks out against her lips and it’s distracting, Lena shifts closer at the sight of it, considers just kissing Kara and coaxing all the nerves out of her that way.

“Sometimes I feel really stupid for not seeing it before,” Kara says in a whisper that feels loud when it beats into Lena’s ears. It’s not hard to figure out what it means and Lena’s chest feels like it might crack open. Her fingers flex where they reach up to wrap in Kara’s jacket.

Lena breathes in against the moment before giving into the inevitable and pushing upward towards Kara’s lips.

It’s like something snapping after being held taut for so long.

It only takes a heartbeat for Kara to react and when she does, she kisses Lena so completely, she feels devoured by it. A noise escapes her but gets swallowed by the insistent slant of Kara’s mouth as Lena’s walked backward swiftly. Her fingers move listlessly over Kara’s body, pulling her in close and sliding inside her jacket.

It feels like ages since she’s had her hands on Kara with any kind of promise of it going anywhere.

There’s approximately zero finesse in how they claw at each other’s clothing. Kara’s leather jacket hits the ground somewhere just inside the front door and Lena’s purse drops so thoughtlessly she thinks she hears its contents spill across the floor.

Then it’s shoes kicked off and Kara’s shirt flinging over a nearby lamp while Lena’s fingers fumble with her belt buckle. Kara doesn’t even bother with Lena’s dress, just hikes the hem up when they fall on the couch and lets her hands travel north.

“I feel like I haven’t touched you in years,” Kara all but groans into Lena’s neck, her fingers slipping black lace down Lena’s thighs.

Lena’d agree with Kara, but her voice gets lost in the choking feeling of Kara spreading her legs open and slotting between them. There’s an impossibly tight feeling low in her gut that feels liable to explode at any second.  

A hissing sound escapes through her teeth when Kara presses down in just the right spot and Lena’s fingers clench at Kara’s shoulders. “Fuck,” she breathes out, her legs spreading even wider, knee hitching against Kara’s hip.

It feels quick. Kara doesn’t seem keen on wasting any time and for that Lena’s grateful. She’s so worked up at this point it feels like she could come just from thinking about what’s about to happen.

But no amount of imagining, of trying to remember what Kara’s fingers feel like, has really prepared Lena for having the real thing after so long. It pulls the breath right out of her throat, her eyes hot as they roll upward and she’d think to be embarrassed about the satisfied noise she makes, but can’t summon the strength.

Kara’s lips are right below her ear and Lena can feel them stretch into a smile there. “Feel good?”

Lena doesn’t answer, just grabs for Kara’s forearm with one hand and lets her hips chase the feeling Kara’s expertly pulling through her body. Her other hand takes purchase on Kara’s neck, nails digging into the skin there enough to make Kara jump.

For a long moment all Lena can hear is the slick sounds of Kara’s fingers and her own breath panting up into the air. Pleasure goes racing through her, spiraling downward so quickly she knows it’s going to snap between her legs at any moment. Something about the shaky way she grips at Kara’s neck, her back bowing to bring them in closer, must let Kara know just how close she is because she pushes their foreheads together and smirks.

“Don’t come yet,” Kara whispers, pushing into Lena relentlessly and if Kara really wants Lena to stave off the orgasm racing down her spine then she should not say stuff like that.

“Kara,” she says, drawing her name out in a plea, barely able to keep it from sounding like a whine. “Please.”

“Don’t want it to be too fast,” Kara says, slowing her pace and ramping up Lena’s frustration.

It prompts her to crane her neck and pull Kara closer, their mouths hovered together. “Fast first,” she says against Kara’s lips, biting softly at her bottom lip when Kara’s fingers curl just how she likes it. “Fast first, slow second.”

“Slow - ” Kara starts to say but Lena shakes her head, her fingers moving to tighten in Kara’s hair.

“It’s been months. Stop talking and make me come,” Lena orders, a bit startled to hear how firm the words come out, but feeling so desperate for the tension in her gut to uncoil.

The chuckle Kara lets out is low and liquid and stokes the fire tugging at Lena’s clit. “Yes, ma’am,” she says quietly, kissing Lena as she presses in so deliciously. All it takes after that is an expert twist of fingers and thumb and Lena feels her thighs shake where they’re being held open by Kara’s hips.  

The cry she lets out is lost in the wet of Kara’s mouth.

Lena’s body goes tight and then limp, falling back against the couch and pulling Kara with her, knees still tight against Kara’s hips. It feels so good she might laugh, but breathes deep instead and finds the energy to reach between them for Kara’s pants.

“What do you need?” Lena asks softly, pulling apart Kara’s belt, and the top button of her pants to reach inside and find her hot and wet and wanting.

Kara’s laugh is shaky as is the way she presses forward into Lena’s hand and drops their lips back together. “Just touch me,” she says into their kiss and Lena’s helpless to obey.

--

It slows down after that but not by much. After Kara comes with a broken cry pressed against Lena’s lips, they both realize they’ve managed to stay nearly fully clothed as they groped each other on the couch and laugh a little.

The second time, they actually make it to one of the beds in the room, Kara kicking her pants the rest of the way off and Lena stripping her dress off on the way.

Lena gets bent over the mattress, cries out when Kara presses back into sensitive flesh and she feels overstimulated with Kara’s mouth against her spine. It’s too good. It’s always been too good and it’s not better necessarily, but Lena feels so much more uninhibited than she ever has before.

A quiet I missed this escapes her lips when Kara flips her back over and presses in close. Kara’s lips are drawn up into a smile where they’re hot against Lena’s neck and she barely catches the sentiment repeated back to her there. It pulls tightly against her chest and there’s heat behind her eyes, but it gets lost in the way Kara’s fingers are strong against her hips, pulling her closer.

Not for the first time, Lena spares an idle wish that she’d packed a few more things in her suitcase in anticipation of this event, but Kara rips the thought away from her with her tongue swiping strongly through heated flesh.

Lena cries out, doesn’t think twice about tangling her fingers in Kara’s hair and letting her know just how good it feels. Kara laughs hotly between Lena’s legs and damn is it possible to get nerve damage from this kind of overstimulation?

“Stop, stop, stop,” Lena breathes out, tugging Kara back up. She doesn’t want to come. Not yet. Not before she’s had a chance to push Kara back into the mattress and reward her for a good game.

“What?” Kara asks when she slides back up Lena’s body, the hard cut of her abs pressing in against wetness that steals the breath out of Lena’s throat. “You don’t like it?”