Attraction

Attraction: A type of decoy involving a sacrifice of minor or major piece on a square next to the enemy king, forcing the king to recapture and abandon the defence of another square

"You are my hero"

The words, said in a slightly lower tone than her previous statements made Kara laugh, noticing how, after a few seconds Lena followed her, a small blush dusting her cheeks. She could hear the steady heartbeat of the brunette and so, as she moved forward, not really sure how to properly answer the CEO's compliment, she focused on the chessboard in front of the two of them; the polished angles of every piece standing against the black and white tiles. Lena followed her gaze as her smile died down on her lips and for a second they both seated in complete silence. Something, they both noticed, hadn't really happened ever since they had met each other.

"I…" Started the brunette, uncrossing her legs, straightening her posture in the process. Lillian had always been adamant on how proper she should behave and years of studying in the poshest schools -as Lex always put it back when they had been just teens wanting to achieve freedom from overbearing parents and a Legacy they truly didn't want- had left and imprint hard to erase. However, as she glanced at Kara the brunette felt completely at ease instead of the carefully applied mask of efficiency she always wore inside the corporation. "I mean it." She ended, arcing her lips, trying to recreate the lopsided smirk she had already done before. The truth behind her statement, however, was unavoidable and so she kept staring at Kara as the blonde let her head fell, soft looking tresses obscuring her features for a second before the reporter looked back at her, a sudden look of doubt crossing her irises. "You stood up for me." Lena continued, adamant on make her point across. "Even when there was a video… even when the police came to me. That's… not something you normally get to see. Supergirl wasn't there, you were."

She could see a reply bubbling on the blonde's lips, on the way her breath seemed to hitch for a moment as they both look at each other, hands resting on their knees, closer than before. However, Kara ducked down her head again and fidgeted with her hands, the movements slow, her fingers playing and reshaping the shadows casted down on her palms due to the office white lights. Lena looked at them and sighed inwardly, suddenly conscious of the weight of the necklace she wore, on the way the now warm metal dig ever so slightly on her collarbones.

"You are not your brother, or your mother." Kara answered, waking her up from her reverie. The blonde's eyes were shining as Lena looked at her again and the brunette smiled despite the sudden chill she felt running down her spine like every time someone mentioned Lex. Lex, who had been there for her when she had first started to show interested on science, on technology, on biology, who had been there for her incessant questions and her even more incessant will to play. Kara's next statement, however, made he pause. "Lillian… seems to think that you can stand by her side and be him, a version of him. You are not that."

The intensity in which Kara spoke made Lena nod, hands now pressed tightly against her knees as she tried to iron creases that weren't there to begin with.

"I miss him." She finally spoke, eyes darting a quick glance towards the blonde before they focused on the chessboard, not really sure what to say after that. "Another version of him at least. The one I knew."

Kara nodded at her side, her fingers stopping for a moment as she let her hands rest. From the corner of her eyes Lena saw the sudden tremble on the tendons of the reporter's right hand, the movement alone making her look away from the chessboard only to focus on it, on the way that those hands were still folded on the blonde's lap as the silence stretched.

"I…" The blonde started, rising that same hand only to push her glasses further up her nose bridge. "I think that we all can miss people even if we know that they have done wrong things."

"Do you? Miss someone like that?" Lena asked, knowing that she should retreat, that she should back away from a talk like that. Kara was a friend, one that had stood up for her, that had looked pass her surname just like Lena didn't come to care who Kara may be but who she was. The conversation, however, as it was, threatened something else than the status quo they had both achieved and for a moment she was tempted to call the question off. Kara, however, was quicker and nodded, slowly and deliberately, showing something darker on her pupils as she glanced at her, lips turning into a slightly thinner line. Lena sucked her bottom lip as she watched the very careful transformation the reporter went through in front of her eyes; a shadow covering her features just enough for Lena to see a turmoil just below the surface, one that made her close her own hands into fists for a moment before relaxing her posture again.

"You are not alone. "Kara finally said, tucking a strand blonde tress behind her ear. The repetition of the statement made Lena think back on cold handcuffs and Kara's hardened gaze.

"I know." She found herself answering, the truth beneath her words scorching enough for her to try to smile, to keep her words afloat as Kara kept looking at her, staring at her just for a moment longer before seeming to glance at Lena's own hands, still on her knees, still unmoving.

For a second the CEO wondered on how she could say what she hadn't before; on how the blonde was truly a hero not only for fighting against what her own name entailed, something not even Lena knew how to do properly, but also on the way she kept coming back, not really caring about anything else but being just her.

"I'm not used to have… friends." She finally said, thinking back on the conversation they both had been having. "But… as me, you are not alone Kara. You can count on me."

Her fingertips itched, she realized, as she looked at how the blonde smiled, red coloring her cheeks while she pinched her own cardigan as she raised her chin, face now alight with softness. The itch made her close her hands, folding them up her lap, not really sure what to do, how to behave, as Kara moved towards her, warm fingers tracing down her forearm for a second before they closed around it, the feeling making Lena's breath hitch.

"I know." She heard and for a second both women stilled, a moment too long as Lena's eyes darted down, a nanosecond in where she saw Kara's lips tremble, in where she felt hers moving as well before Kara move backwards, fingers leaving her skin.

Smiling and recovering her composure just quick enough to see Kara doing just the same she looked back at the now closed magazine in where her picture -one that, if she remembered correctly, had been done a few months ago, back when she had been in Europe- stood, the white bold letters depicting her as "Innocent" shining through.

As Kara stood, seeming ready to leave the office, she did too, her arms raising on her own accord as she circled the blonde's frame, the hug transforming into something more complicated as she noticed the perfume the blonde used, on the way she also squeezed her tightly as if wanting to pass a similar hidden message Lena felt like tracing on the back of the reporter's back in letters so intricate that no one could ever understand them.

"Bye." She heard and so she answered accordingly, her hands now back at both sides of her body, white and black pieces looking at her from the corner of her eye as Kara turned towards the door.

Attraction. She thought while seating back at the couch, eyes settled on the game just like Kara had been doing before. Her fingers were still itching and so she rubbed them against each other, the memory of Kara's smile returning back to her, on the way she had glanced at her lips, on the way they both had stood and hugged.

Picking up the knight she squeezed it between her fingers, remembering Supergirl's words.

"Kara Danvers believes in you."

Placing the knight just next to the queen she crossed her arms, looking through the windows in were the lights of the city reflected themselves in an array of whites, reds, blues and yellows. She only needed a heartbeat before she stood, walking towards the glass.

Supergirl's quick shadow crossed the nocturnal sky a few moments before., the movement too quick for Lena to see her face but slow enough for her to realize that the blonde superhero stopped just a second in front of the window before flying away, her cape the last thing Lena saw.

"I know Supergirl." Lena whispered, tongue licking her bottom lip.

"I know."