A/N: Welcome back!
"Maybe if we switched the polarity?" Alex suggested.
Lena pondered at it "it's worth the try" she started to work in the changes "Could you pass me the-?" she didn't have to finish before Alex put the right tool on her hand "yeah, that one, thank you"
Alex leaned into the table resting her weight on her elbows "It's been fun working in this" she mentioned.
"It really has" Lena agreed fondly.
"I just have to ask, thought…why me? You have a full building at your disposal with far more qualified geniuses that could help you. And I like doing this but it can't be just that I'm better fit than them, whom actually studied for this"
Lena's eyes traveled from one side to the other slowly "I…can be just me" she offered "I don't feel the pressure to act a certain way when working with you, it gives me the freedom to make mistakes and bounce ideas I otherwise would be coy to share. And you have some pretty interesting suggestions that I would never have thought. You don't think or reason like the rest of my team, that's why your input is valuable. It's unique" Lena smiled "Like you"
Alex smile grew wider "I would have settled with 'because I can drink and work' but I'll take the praise" she kidded.
"We can drink to our success, so let's manage to get this right so we can pop a bottle"
"I'm motivated enough now" Alex scooted close taking a look at the project "Say, when is this due? What's your deadline?"
"Next week" Lena admitted "I have postponed it three times already" she sighed "It's hard keeping up with everything that goes around here. I have seen Supergirl more times than my own therapist these last few months due to all the attacks"
"And why do you need investors? I mean, can't L-Corp fund this projects?"
"Most of the earnings of L-Corp go to the victims of Lex's attacks. Another big part to salaries, other to researches and of course to keep the engines running smoothly, so a lot of prototype projects run form my own pocket. Once it's profitable I get my investment back. Sadly I have failed a couple of times with big projects, so I really want a partner to back this one up" Lena explained while working on the project "…besides… the buyer said he wouldn't take it coming from me"
"What?"
Lena exhaled "The client wasn't fond of this being a 'Luthor managed project', so if I can have an investor by my side, someone that vouches for it, they'll buy it. And this" she pointed at the prototype "could help a lot of people, so it's worth the extra effort"
Alex exhaled "It stills amazes me how you put up with all of this" she commented "I guess I thought since you were the CEO you just waved your hair and boss everyone around"
Lena chuckled "It's like your gun" she explained "it's always with you, you have the power and jurisdiction to use it but you won't point it at someone just because they are looking at you the wrong way. It's a responsibility first"
Alex hummed "Fair enough point, Miss Luthor"
"Why thank you, Agent Danvers" Lena played along "Do the honors?" she asked leaving the tools aside.
Alex approached "All set?"
"Push the switch and we shall see"
The red haired woman did and suddenly the green light turned on and all systems began to be online.
"It works!" Alex yelled "fully operational, no setbacks, all commands are responding!"
Lena beamed with joy "We did it! It works, Lex" as soon as the name registered in her mind, a pained expression crossed Lena's face and unfortunately for her, it didn't went unnoticed by the other woman "I am sorry, what a terrible slip of tongue to have" she apologized averting her eyes, feeling ashamed "I meant to say Alex" she cleared her throat.
The older Danvers didn't flinch one bit by this mishap; instead, she gently laid a hand on her shoulder squeezing lightly "Hey, it's alright. I know if anything it was a compliment" she said soothingly "you worked side by side with him, I bet it triggered some memories, I know not all your past with him was bad" Alex said calmly.
Lena cleared her throat, ushering the tears to the sides of her eyes trying to provide a glowing smile "yeah…I could talk to him…I think I haven't really got that comfortable around another person in a while, it took me by surprise, sorry"
"Really, don't apologize" she emphasized "I mean, I was a letter away from being called that, anyone could have made the same mistake"
Lena laughed softly "Thank you, Alex, truly. All this means far more than I can express"
Alex nodded aware of it "It means a lot for me too"
Alex stared at her phone screen for a moment too long, ignoring her surroundings as a smile threatened to take over her features but she fought to keep it at bay.
"So then we had to evacuate…Alex? Are you listening?" Supergirl asked waving a hand in front of her face.
"What?"
"Hey, where are you these days? Because you are most definitely not here" Kara commented.
"Sorry, I was thinking of some other things"
Kara raised a brow "Well, if you need to talk…" she offered.
"Yeah, thanks. But I'm ok, really. It's been a good couple of weeks"
Kara smiled brightly at that. After the devastating breakup, she knew Alex struggled to cope and since their line of work was so stressful, her older sister couldn't have a moment to rest and recover, but somehow she seemed more at ease now.
"Hey, so-! We have to pay our debt to Lena. Pizza at her house tonight" Kara mentioned "I can't believe we are eating kale"
"I can't believe she's going to make the pizza" Alex huffed.
"So, at her apartment at 8, we can arrive together if the city manages to keep itself safe"
"Sounds good, I'll drop by the store to grab some drinks"
"I'll get dessert so there's something sweet we can eat afterwards" Kara added already frowning at the idea of eating said vegetable.
Lena put the recipe book down humming to herself. Making pizza should be easier than creating a homemade bomb and still, Lena could figure those out in mere seconds, this on the other hand…
A knock in the door called for her attention, she happily went to let in the two Danvers sisters.
"Hi!" Kara launched for a hug.
"Hey, you are surprisingly early" Lena greeted.
"We had…fairly good traffic" Alex said sharing a complicity look with her sister, knowing that 'by traffic' they meant air traffic.
"Well, I'm glad. Your nightmare is still on the oven but I'm not confident I've done the whole process right" she admitted.
"That's a lot more than we bargained for"
"Too late to back down now" Lena countered with a smile.
"Well then, I think I'll stuff myself with doughnuts first" Kara showed the big box she was carrying.
"I can take dessert first" Lena smiled while they went into her TV room to watch a movie in the meantime. Not surprisingly, the smell reached them soon enough, it was a terrible time for Kara to have that sense overly developed.
"I better check on that" Lena stood up from under the cover.
"I'll give you a hand" Alex followed.
"I'll enjoy my taste buds one last time before that" Kara grabbed her fourth doughnut that night.
"Fair enough" the other two went to the kitchen.
Lena put on the mitten before taking her masterpiece out "Well…I hope it tastes better than it looks" she chuckled.
"And that's saying something" Alex teased getting a playful smirk in return.
Lena put the plate down ready to cut the slices "So, I've been waiting to tell you" Lena started, getting Alex's full attention "about our little project…"
"And?" she asked eagerly.
"It got approved! We got the investors!" she said without concealing her smile.
"Lena, that's great!" she hugged her tightly.
"I know!" she embraced her as well taking little jumps of joy "It couldn't had been possible without your help" she freed her from the embrace without letting go of her forearms "And I can't thank you enough for that" she smiled sincerely.
"Um, hey!" Kara approached from the side awkwardly "what are we celebrating?" she asked after hearing from the distance how they got overly excited.
"Lena got the investors she needed" Alex praised.
"Oh! That's great!" Kara smiled joyfully giving Lena a hug as well.
"Thank you!" Lena said heartedly, then turned back at the older Danvers "And, as I was saying, it couldn't had been possible without your help, so I was hoping you could attend the inauguration as my guest of honor, so I can publicly give you the recognition you deserve"
"What?! No, that's not necessary, you did all the hard work, I just threw suggestions into the mix"
"Until one of them proved to be right! People should know about it" Lena insisted.
"Come on sis! It's a great thing!" Kara encouraged her "How often does things like this happen? You deserve the spotlight once in a while, you always work behind the curtains"
"Kara is right" she took a step closer "We are both stepping out of the shadows, aren't we?" she asked in complicity, leaving Kara wandering what they were talking about "This wasn't a Luthor managed project, it had Danvers in it. I would like the city to acknowledge that. Plus it would mean a lot if I didn't have to be up there alone. And if nothing else it's an open bar and I'll let your sentence be reduce to just half a slice of kale pizza" she added with a cute smile.
Alex giggled getting her hands in her pockets "If it means that much to you that I attend then…sure, I'll be your date" she said smiling before being strongly embraced in the CEO's arms.
"Thank you, Alex!"
The red head smiled and rested on her shoulder for a moment too long until Kara's phone filled the room with NSYNC. "It's aem- , I should, I need to take this call" she walked to the other side of the room listening to a debriefing of an upcoming mission.
"The pizza is getting cold" Lena served the slices handing Alex hers.
Kara came back looking altered "I-I need to fly-! I mean, yeah, race out of here, James needs my help with something urgent, I-I'll be back before you know it"
"Did you go through this much trouble just to avoid eating kale?" Lena teased with a smirk.
"Pft! Of course not, I'll head back after solving this little issue, save me my slice…" she eyed the pizza "or not, eat if you'll like! Who am I to leave you starving while I already ate doughnuts?" she reached for the door "I'm really sorry, Lena"
"Don't worry, you leave me in good company" she assured.
"Ok, Alex, if you go head home tell me" she asked.
"Sure, now go fly away from here" Alex raised a brow.
"Yeah see you in a jiffy!" she closed the door and dashed to save the day.
Lena grabbed her plate and headed back to the coach where both women enjoyed dinner.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but it actually tastes really good" Alex said utterly surprised.
"Guess I'm not such a bad cook after all"
"Lena, I haven't find a thing you are not good at yet"
"I can name a few" Lena took a sip "making friends is one of them so…I'm glad you are here with me, since that's what we are now, right?, Friends?" she asked hopefully and with a hint of nervousness.
Alex pursed a smile on her lips "Yeah, friends" she raised her glass "hopefully, lifelong for that matter"
Lena happily complied and gently clashed her glass to hers "I'll like that"
Until next time! I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for the support!