Author's note : I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday. Here, a new chapter as a Christmas present for my awesome supportive readers ;)
Kara was sleeping soundly in her bed when her phone rang. She extended her hand to turn her alarm off but halted herself when she noticed that it wasn't her usual ringtone. Someone was waking her up before her alarm clock. If she was honest, it shouldn't be that surprising. Being her own employer, her waking hour could be considered a little late compared to most people with jobs, but still. She hated it when it happened. Kara growled and answered before even looking at the caller's ID.
-"What ?"
-"Hey, it's Winn. We have a problem."
-"So ? You can't fix it on your own ? Kara asked exasperated.
-"I think I can but I had to call you first, this is huge Kara, we've been hacked !"
-"What ? How... What did they do ? Kara tried to process as she sat up abruptly on her bed.
-"I came to the building early because I wanted to work ahead on the project we've been talking last week, but when I started up the computer, there was nothing. All the data, gone. Must be some kind of computer virus"
-"Wait, so... all our work is lost ? Kara inquired, her voice barely above a whisper.
-"Not really. I always keep backups at home" Winn reassured her. "I'm going to my place now and I'll come back to reinstall everything."
-"Thank you Winn, you're the best !" Kara exclaimed relived.
-"No problem Kar'." She was about to thank Winn and end the call when she realized something.
-"Wait, if you have everything under control, why call me ?
-"Because..." Winn started to reply, wondering if Kara was really expecting an answer from him. "When something that huge happens, you call the boss before doing anything else." At Kara's silence, he understood that she genuinely had no clue so he finished : "Kara, I don't know if you're aware of this, or maybe you haven't fully processed it yet but, you're the boss."
Maybe being the CEO of her own company had its perks like personalized working hours but Kara was now just beginning to see the downsides as well. Responsibility had never sounded so unpleasant.
-"Yeah. Thank you Winn. See you at work."
SC~SC~SC~SC~SC
After Winn's call, Kara went to Krypton Enterprise. She decided to rummage in the pile of resumes she had received while waiting for Winn to come back with the precious backups. Even if the Krypton App was a huge success, Kara didn't like to rest on her laurels. More than that, she loved to imagine, test new things, create. She had always been curious when she was little and if it was one thing she was sure would never change about her, it was that. She had thought about a new accessory for her app last week but this time, her biology expertise and Winn's IT programming skills wouldn't be enough. She needed a bio-engineer.
After a couple of hours, Winn was back.
-"Sorry it took this long, I had some trouble finding everything" Winn apologized, entering their office with a box full of hard-drives in his arms.
-"Don't worry, what matters is that we can get all of our data back now" Kara replied. "Do you think you can trace back who hacked us ?" she then added, her brow furrowed in concern.
-"Of course ! he answered, puffing his chest proudly. "It's actually the first thing on my list." He paused. "After reinstalling all of this" he sighted, looking at the loads of hard-drives.
-"Great !" Kara said enthusiastically. "Text me as soon as you find something." She took her trench coat from the rack and picked up her handbag.
-"Where are you going ?" Winn asked quickly. He had long hours of programming before him and he could have used the company.
-"I promised Mike that I would have lunch with him after his practice. I won't be too long."
-"Mike ? You didn't tell me anything about a new guy !" Winn exclaimed, feigning hurt.
-"That's because I only met him yesterday at the gym" Kara explained but Winn just let out a "um" and crossed his arms.
-"I will tell you all about him when I get back ok ?" Kara said to stop Winn's pouting. "For now, I don't know anything about him except that he's a professional soccer player."
-"What ?" Winn shouted suddenly, making Kara jump. "What did you say his name was again ?" Winn asked, remembering it perfectly but wanting to be sure before supposing anything.
-"Mike" Kara answered simply.
-"He wouldn't be Mike Daxam by any chance ?" Winn asked slowly, his eyes growing wide.
-"Yes that's it !" Kara replied. She remembered that his name was unusual but nothing more.
-"Oh. My. God" Winn said, putting his hands in front of his mouth in shock. "One mention of your name in Forbes and you're already dating a sports superstar ! James is right, you're truly a genius" he added, looking at Kara as if she was a goddess.
-"You know what ? Maybe you should go on this date. The guy has clearly quite the effect on you" she teased him, smirking.
-"Me ? Yeah ! I mean, no, no, I just, I'm a ladies' man you know that, Kara..." Winn tried to explain his outburst but Kara had already excited the office laughing.
SC~SC~SC~SC~SC
The next day, when Kara arrived at Krypton Enterprise, Alex and Winn were already there.
-"Hey guys, what's up ?" Kara greeted them, hanging her coat on the rack.
-"Winn is trying to locate the source of the hacking right now" Alex explained. "And you ? How it is going with your new project ?"
-"I have trouble finding an engineer with the skills I need" Kara replied, plopping down on her chair ungraciously.
-"Maybe if you weren't going around interviewing soccer players you would find someone qualified soon" Alex said, smirking and making Winn snicker behind his computer.
-"Winn !" Kara shouted. She couldn't believe her best friend had rattled her to her older sister in less than a day.
-"I didn't said anything !" Winn defended himself.
-"He didn't have too" Alex intervened, putting her phone in front of Kara's face, showing her a picture of Mike and Kara eating at a restaurant.
-"What ?" Kara exclaimed, surprised. "Are you following me ?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at her sister in mistrust.
-"No, but some journalist did apparently" Alex answered, putting her phone back in her pocket.
-"Argh !" Kara groaned, leaning on her elbows and burying her face in her hands. "First the hacking and now that ? Can't people leave me alone one second ?" She sighed, resting her head on her hands. "I'm just a nerd, I'm not that interesting."
-"You may be a nerd but you're also the CEO of a successful company now" Alex started to say, "so I'm afraid that this kind of things will keep happening to you in the future."
-"For what it's worth, I'm proud of you" Winn intervened solemnly, making both women look at him questioningly. "Your first Page 6" he then added, his eyes all teary. Kara rolled her eyes while Alex slapped him at the back of his head.
-"Don't you have some tracking to do ?"
SC~SC~SC~SC~SC
Half an hour later, Winn obtained a result.
-"There it is !" he shouted triumphantly, leaping out of his chair. "The source is a computer at..." He paused for dramatic effect, which made both women roll their eyes at the same time.
-"LCorp !" he finished, pointing both of his index finger at the screen.
-"LCorp ? Kara asked confused. "Why would they..."
-"Doesn't matter" Alex interrupted. "Winn, print all the information you found : time, IP address, etc"
-"Yes madam'" Winn replied with a military salute and started executing himself immediately. Meanwhile, Alex took her leather jacket she had left on Winn's chair and put it on. Then, Winn handed her the paper with all the information.
-"I'm going to take care of this right away." Alex said, taking the paper and looking at Kara to assure her that she could count on her big sister.
-"Wow !" Winn said at Alex's words. "You're not going to do something... drastic ?" he asked wondering if he would like the answer.
-"Like what ?" Alex inquired, having absolutely no idea about what Winn was talking about.
-"Hum, like, hurting someone ?"
-"What ? Who do you think I am ?" she asked him incredulously. "A secret agent or something ?"
-"No ! I just..." Winn replied lifting his hands up in surrender. "Wait, are you ?" he then added, squinting his eyes at Alex suspiciously. The older Danvers just rolled her eyes at him.
-"Winn, turn down your conspiracy theories for now, I'm just going to the police station so they start investigating LCorp. This is attempted sabotage."
In the meantime, Kara hadn't moved a muscle. She was still wondering why LCorp would do something like that to her. She was just a 24 years old who launched a trending app. The antonym of threatening.
-"Wait !" Kara shouted, grabbing Alex by her wrist as the older sister passed by Kara. "No need to go to the police."
-"The sooner we take care of this, the better, Kara" Alex stated and tried to leave the room again but Kara stopped her.
-"I think we shouldn't go to the police just yet."
-"And why not ?" Alex said a little exasperated.
-"I don't know, this whole thing doesn't make sense" Kara explained, "maybe we should go to LCorp and see what's going on before dragging the police into it."
-"Kara, it's the police's job to investigate, not ours" Alex replied swiftly, crossing her arms as a sign of her growing impatience.
-"I know but I want to try this" Kara insisted. "Please Alex trust me on this one." As Alex was still deciding if she should let her little sister handle this issue on her own, Kara picked up her trench coat on the rack and added : "If I don't get any result or if some of our data is leaked in the meantime, you go to the police ok ?"
After a few seconds that felt like minutes to Kara, her sister finally unfolded her arms and sighed :
-"Fine."
And with that, Kara was gone.
SC~SC~SC~SC~SC
When Kara arrived in front of the L Corp building she got struck by how tall it was. This concrete monster must have at least thirty floors, Kara thought, impressed. She couldn't help to feel a little intimidated either, comparing the huge L Corp building with her sixth floor in the little multi-company structure located at the town's limit.
When Kara finally got rid of her initial stupor, she entered the building, which did nothing to ease her stress. The inside was as impressive as the exterior. While Kara was still gaping at the ceiling height, she was pushed around several times by employees in a hurry. The place was buzzing with so many people often with their nose buried in a file or their mind absorbed by a phone conversation that they failed to notice Kara in time to avoid her.
At least, Kara finally located the reception desk and pushed her way towards it, trying not to bump into anyone in the process.
-"Hi" Kara greeted the receptionist, a little out of breath from all the dodging.
-"Hello. What can I do for you ?" the young man asked smiling.
-"I would like to talk to Lena Luthor please."
-"At what time is your appointment Miss..."
-"Danvers. And I... uh... don't have an appointment" she admitted guiltily.
-"In this case there's nothing I can do for you Miss", the receptionist apologized shaking his head. "Miss Luthor doesn't see anyone outside of scheduled visits, I'm sorry."
-"You don't understand" Kara tried again, adjusting her glasses nervously, "I have to see her now". The receptionist shook his head no again. "It's important !" Kara said, raising her voice.
-"Miss, I'll ask you to leave now" the young man replied sternly, looking at the growing line behind Kara. She was wasting his time.
-"NO !" Kara all but shouted, making the receptionist push his chair back a little. She cleared her throat, trying to calm down. "I had all my data stolen by someone in this building and I'm not leaving until your boss gives me some explanation, is that clear ?" she finished, starting to feel exasperated.
The receptionist gulped nervously. Kara's outburst has drawn a lot of unwanted attention judging by the people now looking at them, trying to understand what was going on. The receptionist valued his job so he couldn't let this girl shouting what must be a false accusation all around the great hall but at the same time, she seemed determined to stay until she got some kind of answer.
-"Wait a moment please, I'm going to check this with my colleague" the young man said, his voice quivering slightly. In his defense, Kara did look a little frightening right now, half hunched over the counter with her eyes boring into his menacingly. He took the desk phone quickly. Jess would know what to do.
-"Jess ? There a Miss Danvers at the reception desk who claims to have been hacked by L Corp and want to see the boss." He glanced at Kara's and noticed that she still supported the murderous look in her eyes. So he picked the phone up and took it as far away as the wire could allow him to go before adding in a hushed tone : "I tried to make her leave but she refuses categorically. What do I do ?"
-"Send her to me" his co-worker replied matter-of-factly. He glanced swiftly at Kara again. Oh my God does she even blink ?
-"Are you sure ?"
-"You would rather she tells her story to the police, or worse, the press ?"
-"Ok, I'll send her in right away." The receptionist put the phone down slowly and took a deep breath before turning to face Kara again.
-"Miss Luthor's assistant asked me to let you up while she tries to fit you in between two appointments."
-"Thank you" Kara said smiling. She regretted to have lost her temper for a short time, especially seeing how the young man couldn't look her in the eye anymore, but she couldn't come back empty-handed. Alex's lack of trust in her little sister's judgment was pretty high already.
-"There. Take the elevator to the top floor." The receptionist said, holding a visitor badge with the tips of his thumb and index finger, his hand shaking lightly.
-"Thanks" Kara replied, snatching the badge at the speed of light. "Have a good day !" she then threw over her shoulder at the receptionist who couldn't shake the feeling that he just lived a near-death experience.
The elevator was so crowded, Kara was having difficulty to breathe. She still managed to reach the top floor button and press it. This attracted some curious look form the other people in the elevator but Kara thought none of it. The ride was taking forever. People came and went at almost every floor and the elevator was still crowded, but as they reached the last but one floor, Kara found herself alone. Now she wondered if that was why people had looked at her curiously earlier. Maybe I didn't hear the receptionist well, maybe the last floor is closed for repairs or something Kara thought when the "ding" of the elevator brought her back to earth.
When Kara exited the elevator, her stress got back full strength. There was only a long hallway and at the end of it, a miniature replica of the reception desk from the great hall downstairs. Kara then understood why nobody else got off the elevator with her. Lena Luthor's office was the only one on this floor. The whole of Krypton Enterprise could fit on this floor Kara thought nervously. She was definitely not in college anymore. This was the big leagues. Maybe I should have let Alex handle this. No. I made it this far, I can't chicken out now. But as Kara was walking toward the assistant's desk, she couldn't help but feel like a fish in shark waters, waiting to know which one of Krypton Enterprise or L Corp was going to feast or be eaten.
SC~SC~SC~SC~SC
Lena was studying projects proposals from her research department to asses which ones deserved to be pushed forward or abandoned when her personal assistant, Jess, called her :
-"Miss Luthor ? Miss Danvers from Krypton Enterprise is here. She has proof that her company suffered some kind of computing sabotage and I thought you would like to deal with this matter personally, so should I sent her in or do you want to come out here ?"
At her assistant's words, Lena arched a brow in curiosity. The name didn't ring a bell but mostly, it would be the first time ever that someone would confront a Luthor directly and not through the medias. Despite the amount of work she still had ahead of her, Lena decided to take care of this unexpected incident right away.
-"Send her in" she told Jess from her intercom.
When Kara entered the office, Lena recognized her from the CatCo photoshoot and stood up to great her but the blonde beat her to it with an avalanche of words :
-"Hi, I don't know if you remember me, I'm Kara Danvers, we met at the..."
-"CatCo photoshoot" Lena finished smiling. "Yes I remember" she added offering her hand. Kara took it and they shook hands over the Luthor's imposing desk.
While Lena winced internally at Kara's firm grip, the Krypton's CEO took a quick look around. The place was huge. In addition to the impressive desk, there was a white couch, a large glass coffee table and, last but not least, a balcony with one of the best view of National City. All of this reminded Kara of the tiny office she shared with Winn which made her insecure again. She started fidgeting with her glasses, a nervous habit from her childhood she never got rid of, while wondering how to address the hacking without sounding too accusatory.
-"So, my assistant told me your company has been hacked by L Corp ?" Lena inquired, massaging her right hand discreetly.
-"Yes. All the data from our computers has been erased and my IT programmer was able to track back the hacking to your building" Kara replied, shoving her hands in the pocket of her chino pants to stop herself from fidgeting with her glasses.
-"I'm sorry. I hope there's not too much damage done" Lena apologized wondering who could have done that. There was absolutely no interest for L Corp to do that. Quite the contrary.
-"Nothing that can't be fixed, don't worry" Kara dismissed with a wave of her hand. "I came here to give you this" she added, reaching for Winn's paper in her pocket. "These are the IP address used for the hacking along with the day and time of its occurrence" she said, unfolding the paper and handing it to Lena.
-"It definitely comes from a L Corp computer" Lena stated, reading the information.
-"I thought that you would like to track down whoever did this within your company and take the disciplinary action that you see fit rather than drag the police into this and make the headlines for nothing."
-"It's... very thoughtful of you" Lena stammered uneasy. This was the second time that Kara surprised her. Lot of people would have jumped on the occasion to tarnish the Luthor name once more with a golden proof like that. "Thank you" she added and meant it.
-"No problem, us women CEOs gotta stick together, right ?" Kara replied laughing lightly. She was so glad to have resolved this issue on her own. Alex will have to get off her back now.
Once Kara was gone, Lena decided to investigate. After a few minutes of research she discovered which computer was used for the sabotage and checked the security camera footage. Lena didn't know every L Corp employee by name nor by sight but she was certain she hadn't seen this man with "Corben" written on his name tag before. She verified the employees register and didn't found him. That meant only one thing : her mother had given him her pass to access the building and the computer room. Seems like she did good on her promise to make the first move to show Krypton Enterprise who's the boss. Lena sighed. Apparently, she would have to speak to her mother for the second time this week, which was two too many.
