We still on for tonight?
Frankie stopped. In all the heat of losing Carter and making sure Kara didn't murder her for losing Carter, she had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be meeting Brad.
Oops.
She quickly typed out a response, trying to make it sound as though she hadn't forgotten that he was taking her out. She was lucky her Saturday nights were the least eventful nights of her week.
The previous night had been a long one. Kara had given Frankie an earful. It was all the usual crap about responsibility and trust, and she was at least eighty seven-per cent sure she had heard the exact same speech from Eliza at least twice.
But Carter was safe, and Kara hadn't been fired and Winn had somehow managed to escape any form of punishment from her, so Frankie didn't really see what the big deal was.
Leaning back in her chair, Frankie wondered what the hell she was getting into with this date. She'd only met this guy once. He seemed nice enough, but there was always a chance that he wasn't.
Ah well, she thought. As the great Einstein had probably once said, "Take risks and don't stuff up."
Frankie picked up her phone and sent a text to Alex.
Come over when you can. I need help.
Then, as an afterthought;
It's not an emergency.
Only a few minutes went by before she got a message back.
I'll be there in twenty.
True to her word, Alex arrived twenty-two minutes later, picking her way through the groups of people gathered around desks.
When she reached Frankie, she plonked her bag down and crossed her arms.
"What's up?"
"You know Brad?"
She nodded.
"He's taking me out tonight and I have no clue what to do."
Alex sighed, a trying to hide a smile.
"I don't know why everyone keeps coming to me for dating advice,"
"Because you're the nicest person on the planet and you have an amazing fashion sense."
"Keep saying stuff like that and I might just consider helping."
Frankie pulled back in her chair, stretching pointedly.
"Well, when you put it like that."
Alex glared at her.
"You're not funny, Frank."
"I was under the impression that I was the absolute epitome of hilarity, Alex."
Alex laughed, leaning down to shove Frankie gently.
"I miss this."
"Huh?"
"I miss just being able to laugh and be stupid with each other."
And it was true. Ever since Alex had started working for the DEO, and especially when Kara had gotten in on the action, the two had become more distant. Not that Frankie and Alex had ever been particularly tight, but after the longstanding childhood dramas of being the youngest of three had worn off, they had definitely been closer.
"Oh, that reminds me. My director and I have been talking." Alex started, reaching into her bag.
"You have a director?"
"My boss, Hank. We just have to call him director."
"That's kind of bossy, don't you reckon?"
"We've been talking," Frankie grinned to herself. Even after so many years, there was still something so satisfying about making Alex pissed. "We decided that it's not really fair that you have to be kept in the dark about this whole Supergirl thing."
"Preach sista'"
"Please never say that again."
"Gladly." Turning back to her desktop, she resumed typing at the case she was working on. Relieved to finally have something to do again, Frankie was eager to get it done. Although,
"Please continue what you were saying, I liked where that conversation was headed."
"Anyway, Hank and I figured it might be time to, you know, give you some clearance."
"Clearance? Like unlimited access to all the clearance sales at J-V's?"
"No, Frankie. Like clearance at the DEO."
"Wait, really?"
Smiling, Alex nodded. "Mhm. Although," her expression dropped conspiratorially. "It is only for emergencies. You wouldn't get to just waltz in when you wanted too without someone on the inside saying you can."
Frankie pulled her best grin out and flashed it clumsily at Alex.
"That's amazing."
Alex pulled a folder from her bag and handed it to Frankie.
"All the details are in here, so,"
Frankie looked back at Alex, still smiling. She stuffed the manila folder into her bag.
"When do you get off?"
"Fifteen minutes."
Alex checked her watch, then nodding, pulled a spare chair to the desk and sat down.
"Also, why are you here?"
Glancing over, Frankie frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Why are you working? It's Saturday."
"Well, it's not my fault my boss is a workaholic and decided that 'weekends were for the weak.' Plus I had yesterday off and needed to catch up." Frankie said sarcastically.
"Right then, smarty-pants."
Sighing, she looked back to her computer, but she figured she couldn't concentrate anymore. She had been plagued by one question since the previous night. She opened her mouth to talk-
And Louise came rushing over.
"Frankie! You'll never guess what just happened."
She stopped dead when she noticed Alex, and a smile grew on her face.
"Alex! It's been such a long time."
Standing up, Alex offered her hand out to Louise but she pushed it aside, instead reaching over and pulling Alex into a tight hug. Alex stared at Frankie over her shoulder, a clear save me! look on her face. Frankie just laughed and pushed her chair back away from her desk.
"Yeah, it's- um. Great to see you too Louise."
When they broke apart, Alex wiped her hands on her jeans, coughing pointedly.
"I'll be back in a minute." She turned on her heel and headed in the direction of the bathroom.
"You know Alex, she doesn't appreciate physical contact unless it's from the blankets on her bed." Standing up, Frankie hugged Louise herself and she smiled smugly.
"What was it you were going to tell me?"
"Oh, that. It doesn't matter now." Louise said, waving a hand distractedly. Frankie sighed. She was never going to hear it now. "What does matter though, Alex is looking great these days."
"Lou, no."
"Come on, give me a chance. Those jeans were sexy."
"Lou, just because you haven't had a girlfriend in a whole month doesn't mean you can think about my sister like that. It's gross." Sitting back behind her desk, she turned off her monitor. Jumping up onto her desk, Louise laughed.
"Besides, Alex isn't gay." The sound of feet behind her made both of them jump.
"You ready Frank?"
Nodding gratefully, she loaded everything from her desk that she needed into her bag and slipped her shoes back on. Hauling it onto her shoulder, she turned one last time back to Louise.
"The answer is no." Turning back around to walk with Alex, she heard Louise cackle behind her and she shook her head.
Looking confused, Alex asked, "What did I miss?"
"Nothing important, trust me."
Heading out of the building, Frankie avoided eye contact with Alex, hoping she wouldn't push further.
"So where are you two going tonight?"
"I actually have no idea. He'll come and pick me up."
Alex smirked. "So you let him pick the place?"
"Yeah?"
When Alex laughed, Frankie turned around to face her, walking backwards.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. I just thought you would've wanted to choose yourself."
Frankie stopped a good few feet in front of Alex.
"Shoot. I still need to tell him where I live."
Alex burst out in hysterics.
Arriving at her apartment, Frankie opened her door and frowned at the mess it had been left in.
"Didn't realise you weren't able to clean a room."
"Shut up. I'm sure yours is worse."
Alex scoffed, dropping her bag on the couch. Frankie spent a minute running around and trying to clean up all of the clothes and junk on the floor. She thought back to the one question she'd had since the day before.
Well, there's no point beating around the bush.
"Why did you say I had to leave the station yesterday?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Frankie said, snatching up a bra that had somehow managed to make its way under the couch. "You told me to leave the station even though you thought there was a bomb at the airport."
"Because I knew something was going over there, we just didn't know it was a bomb."
Alex didn't give her an opportunity to reply because her phone rang and she answered.
Frankie didn't really pay attention to the conversation she was having, something about telling Demos (whoever that was) that it would have to wait.
When Alex put down the phone, she stood up, finding her way into Frankie's fridge and to the collection of beers that sat in one of the trays. Frankie frowned but didn't say anything about it. Her mind spun into action all of a sudden and she was reminded of the folder stuffed into her bag. Pulling out the basic brown envelope, she opened it, revealing several pieces of paper stapled together. It looked like a pretty bog-standard contract.
Her legal brain jumped into action and she scanned it quickly, but stopped at a point about half-way down the page, frowning.
"It says on here that immediate family are permitted to know. Al, is there something you want to tell me?"
Alex swallowed. "I worked so hard trying to protect Kara. I'd been doing it since I was a teenager and it was basically drilled into my bones. And when she decided she wanted to come out and save everyone from aliens and crap, I thought I had failed. She wasn't going to be safe fighting crime and therefore I wasn't being a good sister. She was going out of her way to put herself in danger."
"You couldn't have possibly stopped her though."
"No. I couldn't have." She laughed drily. "She's just as stubborn as you are. But then I realised that I hadn't failed completely just yet. I don't know if you realised, mainly because I never git the chance, but when you were born, I was told that when you grew up, you'd need someone by your side. Then Kara happened and all of my productive energy was focused on her. Even if I had anything left, you were a hundred miles away at some posh high school."
Frankie thought back to the grand, prison-like building she had grown up in. "God, I hated that place."
"Seemed terrible. Mum tried to send me there for a while, but I was never gonna make it work."
Smiling, Frankie looked back to the folder in her hands. Something about the way Alex had phrased that made her think. Never in a million years did she imagine that Alex would put her life on hold to protect her, even now that they were older. Especially now. She thought that may have been a deeper reason behind it, but didn't push it.
"I can take care of myself, you know?" She asked, a soft question rather than a biting retort.
Alex reached over the table and took Frankie's hands in her own. "I know. I know you can. And now that you're getting tied into this, you're gonna have to."
"I'll be fine, Alex."
Alex looked up, her eyes sparkling with tears and smiled.
"We've still got a couple of hours left if you wanna chill out?"
So they settled on the couch, blankets and pillows arranged carefully. Frankie flicked on a re-run of Raymond, but neither of them were really watching it. They both just enjoyed each other's company, sitting together for God-knows how long. It took a while before Alex checked her watch. She jumped.
"Uh, you should probably start getting ready, you don't have that much time left."
"Oh shit."
Heading to her room, she pulled away clothes from the rack as Alex followed behind her.
"Want me to take a look?"
Frankie nodded and Alex began looking through her options, frowning every now and then.
"How do you manage to get by with nothing formal."
Frankie shrugged. "Office code is business casual. I can get by with some nice pants and a shirt."
"Well nice pants," Alex held up a pair of sweatpants. "And a shirt are not going to get you past a first date."
"Shouldn't I just be wearing what I'm comfortable in?"
Alex sat down on the bed.
"Frankie, you tell me. Would you feel comfortable going on a first date with someone who probably owns a penthouse in sweatpants?"
"Fuck off."
A half hour of stressing and broken hair ties later and Frankie looked presentable; a state that given the time limit had seemed completely unattainable.
"I think you're ready to go."
Looking at herself in the mirror, Frankie smiled. She wasn't wearing a dress, the only suitable one she owned had been the one she'd worn to the gala. So they'd gone with a simple pair of black jeans ("Hah! Told you I could wear pants." "Yeah, well it's not my fault you only own one dress."), a white blouse and leather jacket that Frankie was pretty certain she'd stolen from Alex at some point.
Alex had wanted to cut Frankie's hair shorter but she insisted that, no, we don't have time, and, no Alex, that really isn't a good idea. So Alex had settled for straightening it and leaving it down.
"You look amazing." Alex appeared over her shoulder, grinning proudly.
"It's all your doing, Al."
A sudden knock at the door made them jump slightly.
"Sounds like your date is here."
Frankie her purse from the counter and almost sprinted to the door. She stopped dead in front of it and swung it open in the most inconspicuous manner she could.
She was glad she was dressed down because Brad had clearly had the same idea. Nothing fancy, but not too underdressed for a first date. His white oxford shirt was neatly pressed, matching his black hair almost perfectly. A brown blazer was thrown over his shoulders and he looked to be mostly prepared.
"Hi."
She realised she hadn't said anything yet, and felt her cheeks heat up. She quickly blurted out a reply.
She could feel Alex hovering behind her awkwardly and so turned around, letting him see into the apartment.
"Um, this is my sister Alex. Alex, this is Brad."
They both walked forward and shook each other's hand. Frankie could see Alex gripping his hand a little bit too tightly.
Frankie walked up behind her, elbowing her in the back. Alex let go of his hand altogether, glaring when she turned back around.
Brad seemed eager to get going after that and Frankie didn't exactly blame him.
"I guess we should probably get going."
He nodded his agreement hurriedly and Frankie slipped out of the apartment, not without getting a glare at Alex in first.
Shutting the door, Frankie smiled apologetically at Brad.
"I'm sorry about Alex, she's a bit over-protective."
"Nah, it's cool." He assured. "I get it. My brother would've been the same."
They started walking back down the corridor. It was very casual, but Frankie didn't miss the past tense he used. He must've noticed her brief pause because he explained.
"He's not dead. That's not what I meant. We just don't really talk much."
"Oh, that's good."
Brad turned to her, looking at her strangely. Frankie backtracked.
"No, I didn't... it's not good that you don't- I mean, not that it's terrible-"
"I get it. Don't worry." He said, smiling.
Way to blow your chances, idiot.
"I'm just hoping you're one of those people who laugh when other people say stupid things."
"I think, maybe we could just move on from it."
Relieved, Frankie grinned. "Yeah, I think we can."
They took an Uber downtown, which was already a good start.
"You know, down here, they have the best Thai food-"
"Well, I'm glad you said that." Brad pointed out the window.
Confused, Frankie looked. She felt her face light up. Not only had he managed to guess which restaurant out of the few thousand there happened to be in all of National City, he seemed nice enough.
What a catch.
He got out carefully and opened her door for her, holding out his hand. She grinned and took it, letting him lead her into the restaurant.
Frankie knew the interior all too well, she'd eaten there on many occasions, but tonight was different. Maybe it was the fact that the entire room was candle-lit, or that everyone eating there seemed to be on a date, or maybe it was the soft jazz music playing in the background.
Maybe it's because you're actually here with a date, dumbass.
When one of the waiters walked up, he showed them not to a table, but through a back door she'd never actually seen before. They went up a dim, musky set of stairs and he opened a door that lead onto the roof.
It was beautiful.
There was only space for a few tables, but there were no other diners there. The sun had long since set, but there was still a pinkish glow emanating from the surrounding sky. There weren't any candles - kind of pointless on a rooftop - but there were very cliché fairy lights strung up around the low walls, which did manage to give a romantic ambience to the whole place. The music wasn't continued out here, but it didn't need to be. The sounds of birds and leaves and cars were absolutely perfect.
"Dude, how did you do this?"
"I'm uh, friends with the owner."
"Well, it's amazing." She said, laughing.
"Yeah?"
"Mhm. Very romantic." Frankie moved over to one of the tables by the edge that had been made up and sat down, waiting for Brad to follow.
"There we go."
This is gonna be fun.
Alex had made the decision to hang out in Frankie's apartment. She didn't really feel like going back to her own place, and so took a seat on the couch, opening Netflix on the tv. She took a sip of her beer before she felt her phone go off.
Kara, I swear if this is about the potsticker again-
She answered.
"Alllleeexxx." Kara drawled.
"Yes, Kara?"
"James is really hot."
Alex had to admit, not what she'd been expecting, but a welcome change from the potstickers argument nevertheless.
"What is up with you guys? First Frankie and Brad, and now you and James-"
"But he's just so nice. And you said that you thought he wouldn't get back together with Lucy."
"I also said I thought Luke was dating Leia a long time ago."
"You suck, you know that right?"
Alex smiled. "Ok, but what's really going on."
"He's just, the way he acts, it's like he knows that I like him. He's just respecting my feelings. And he always makes sure I'm ok after I go out, and he's a really good photographer. Plus he's all buddy-buddy with Kal, so I know he'd approve. He's really funny as well. And he's super strong, like have you seen him? And-"
Alex stopped paying attention after that. Sure, she knew Kara had fallen hard for this guy, but she always had trouble relating. Out of the three of them, Kara had always been more at home in relationships, and Frankie (on the rare occasion that she liked someone) somehow always ended up taking a permanent residency in the friend-zone. Alex was not really acquainted with either.
"Alex, are you listening?"
"Yeah?"
"Where did you say Frankie was tonight?"
"I didn't say where Frankie was tonight."
"Ok, so where is she? She isn't answering her phone."
"She went out with Brad."
"Oooh, Brad from Brankie Brad?"
"Yeah, him."
"Can we stalk their date?"
"No Kara, we can't."
This was going to be a long night, Alex thought.
"So, where did you say you went to school?"
Frankie smiled, looking down at her plate. This day was not gonna let me live it down.
"I actually went to an out of town all-girls private school."
"Did you have a uniform?"
Frankie frowned. Men. "Ok, laugh all you want, but I liked it better than having to stress out about what to wear every day."
"Alas, I admit it, one of the tougher things I dealt with in high school." Brad took a sip from his glass, winking. They sat in silence for a minute, both smiling to themselves before he spoke again.
"So, tell me about Alex."
"Oh, well when we were younger, we weren't really ever tight. Like we never spoke really. She was smart and got a lot of attention, you know?" He nodded. "And then when I was eleven, my parents adopted another kid, Kara. She needed, a little more help to settle in so they sent me off to a rich, uptight all-girls boarding school so I was out of the way."
"Jesus."
"It wasn't as bad as it sounds. It was actually kind of fun. But I mean, what about you? Were you a playground kid or a library kid?"
"Please. Look at me, I was totally a library kid. I learnt my basic stock skills trading Pokémon cards and pogs."
"Really? Pogs?"
"Don't tell me you're too young for pogs,"
"I'm not too young they were just, going off the scene a bit."
Their laughter lasted a long time, and it was difficult to stop. But when they did, Frankie sighed.
"I'm having a really great night tonight."
"Yeah, me too."
A smile, a laugh and that was all it took. She liked him.
A/N
Going to Canberra for a week. Which means 10 hours on a bus. Which means a Hamilton marathon.
This was very much late and very much a filler. I'm really sorry about that, I just haven't had really any motivation lately with exams and stuff.
K bye.