Chapter 2
'Oh, shit'.
Alex groans the words quietly, though Kara's super hearing still picks it up, and she turns to look at her sister questioningly.
Alex flushes and looks away from the corner of the room where she'd just spotted a glimpse of the woman from the worst morning after experience she'd ever encountered stood talking to the Commander in Chief of the base, and into the curious eyes of her sister. She shakes her head to indicate that this is not the place to discuss it, and finds herself thinking back to that day.
After the woman had stormed out of her own apartment Alex had gotten dressed hurriedly, not eager to remain in the home of a woman she had just accused of something pretty serious, and walks out of the bedroom into the living area. The apartment is spacious, the living room and kitchen separated only by a breakfast island, and the far wall, which leads out to a private balcony, is a set of full length French windows.
Alex can't help letting out a low whistle at the sight, the swanky apartment far better than the one she currently has (she spends far longer hours at the D.E.O. than she does at home so figures it doesn't matter, and knows that whomever this woman is, she clearly has a pretty lofty position with the military.
Just as Alex is contemplating trying to find a piece of mail with the woman's name on it so that she can send her an apology letter once she's sobered up properly, a beep sounds from the answering machine, and the brunettes voice fills the air. "Hey, It's Lucy. You know what to do".
The beep for the person on the other end of the phone to start talking sounds, and a female voice comes through. 'Lucy, it's Lois. Look, I know you've said you don't feel comfortable talking to me, and I understand why, but please can you consider just giving me another chance. I would really like it if you would talk to me about the flying thing, off the record I swear, as I'd like to introduce you to someone who knows a little about what it might be like for you. If you do change your mind, just call my cell, or try me at the Planet. Thanks, bye'.
Alex stares at the flashing red light on the answer machine, trying to work out why Lois Lane, star reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis, is calling and asking, no in actual fact it sounded more like begging, this woman to talk to her about flying (is she a pilot for the military?).
The beep sounds for the end of the message, signalling that Lois has hung up, and Alex takes it as her cue to leave too.
Lucy. Her name is Lucy.
Alex would be lying to herself if she said she hadn't thought about Lucy in the four days since that morning, in fact it was pretty much the only thing she had done, as her subconscious seemed intent on making her relive every moment of their interaction as often as possible, and over the few days subsequent to their not so civil parting, Alex's memory of what had happened that night had slowly started to return.
Alex can feel Kara's eyes boring into her, no doubt dying to ask why she can hear Alex's heart going crazy inside her chest, and looks at the exit longingly. If she made a break for it now she could probably make it, just walk straight out the building and not stop until she made it back to the apartment she is sharing with Kara during her stay here, ignoring everyone and everything in favour of climbing under her duvet and just blocking out the world for the rest of the day.
It's a tempting image, and one that she wishes she could follow through on, but seeing as J'onn, Kara, and herself are here on a diplomatic mission to build relations between the D.E.O and the military, she knows that walking out of a soiree held in their honour would be seen as a snub. Instead she grits her teeth and straightens her spine, knowing that she will just have to avoid her for as long as she can, and act as unaffected by her presence as best as she can manage if she comes face to face with her.
The rest of the evening passes in a tense blur for Alex, her senses on high alert so that she isn't caught by surprise when she comes face to face with Lucy, but there seems to be no further sign of her, and Alex starts wondering if she left to avoid running in to her.
'Alex?'
A gentle but firm hand on her arm pulls Alex from her musings, and she looks up to see the worried gaze of her sister staring at her.
'I'm sorry, what?' Alex gives her an apologetic smile but avoids her eyes, vaguely aware that Kara hasn't left her side all night, and feels guilty that she is monopolising "Supergirl" instead of letting her network like she should be.
'Commander Lane here just asked if we wanted a tour of their Meta lab tomorrow'. Kara's voice remains jovial, her role of Supergirl not allowing her to break face and drag her sister to one side to grill her on just what the hell is the matter with her this evening, and indicates the Commander in chief standing next to her instead.
'Oh, my apologies Commander, I was just thinking about ways we could merge our forces to build a more cohesive team for any future conflicts we may come up against'. Alex smiles politely at the man standing next to Kara, desperately trying to pull her thoughts away from the elusive woman somewhere in the crowd for long enough to not screw things up for J'onn. 'A tour of your Meta lab sounds intriguing, just what is it that you do there?'
'No apologies needed, Agent Danvers'. The older man smiles gregariously at her, his hand coming up to rest on her shoulder affectionately. 'I'm reliably informed that you are one of the finest bio-engineers the D.E.O. has to offer, and I am very much looking forward to seeing what that brain of yours thinks of everything our lab has to offer. As for what we do'- he stops and takes a sip from the glass of whiskey in his hand, grinning smugly at her. -'well I believe that we may show you something that gives Supergirl here a run for her money in the wow factor stakes'.
Alex raises her eyebrow in curiosity, the man's boast said so confidently that she starts to wonder what they have been cooking up in their lab that the D.E.O doesn't know about, and feels a tingle of apprehension start in the back of her mind. She pushes it aside, knowing that they will know soon enough, and forces a smile back onto her face. 'Well, I can tell you from personal experience that Supergirl takes quite some beating, so I look forward to seeing what it is you have that you think rivals her'.
Kara smiles affectionately at Alex, the pride she can hear in her voice warming her heart with the knowledge that her older sister is genuinely proud of her accomplishments, and then politely at Commander Lane. 'I look forward to it too Commander, a bit of help never goes amiss, especially when I'm dealing with something that has slime!'
The group all laugh at that, the lull in alien activity recently meaning they can afford to be jovial right now, but they are all aware that the status quo could shift at any moment, and was the reason for the friendly accord between their two operations.
People start to disperse not long after, the early starts the military loved to enforce making everyone wander back to the quarters long before a normal party would, and as soon as she is back in their shared apartment Alex can feel Kara's eyes on her.
Alex tries to avoid the talk by heading into the bathroom, striping off her evening gown as she goes, but by the time she has changed into her standard bedtime attire of black shorts and grey vest Kara has taken up residence on the middle of her bed with a determined look in her eye that tells Alex she is not going to be able to go to sleep without spilling her guts first.
She lets out a sigh of resignation as she crawls onto the bed, picking up one of the pillows to hug to her chest as a makeshift shield, and sinks her chin down into its softness so that she is looking at her knees instead of in Kara's soft blue eyes as she leans back against the headboard. 'Four nights ago I got drunk at Barney's, the bar over on Third right next to the library, and decided to go home with someone'.
'So, you're continuing the weekend habit you started back home'.
Alex looks up at Kara in surprise, seeing the knowledge that she was aware of Alex's nightly activities for sometime in her eyes, and looks back down in shame. 'Well, this was different, because it seems that it wasn't a mutual hookup. I...I don't remember a lot of the night, the amount I consumed has wiped most of it, but it seems that the person I followed home had actually turned me down in the bar'.
'You stalked a stranger to their house?' Kara sounds appalled at Alex, and she hugs the pillow even tighter as she continues.
'I wish that was all I did'. The memory of drunkenly throwing herself at Lucy (after peeling all her clothes off) had come back to her in all its horrific glory, as did the gentle but firm way Lucy had rebuffed her, and she knew that her cheeks were heating in mortified remembrance. 'However, I also forced my way into their apartment, threw my naked body at them; which they against declined, refused to leave, and passed out, forcing them to let me spend the night'.
'Oh, Alex'.
Kara's voice holds no judgement, merely concern, but Alex feels the sting of her own judgement cut her to the core. 'That's not even the worst part'.
'What...what could be worse than that?'
At any other time the surprise in Kara's voice would be amusing, but right now it just adds to the misery Alex is feeling. 'How about waking up and immediately accusing them of taking your clothes off while unconscious?'
The sharp intake of breath lets Alex know that Kara agrees it is worse than just passing out in a strangers place, and she feels the bed shift as the young hero moves to envelop the older girl in a comforting hug. Alex lets herself be cuddled, turning and burying her head in Kara's shoulder to breath in her sister's familiar scent, and closes her eyes as she relieves the moment she wishes with all her heart she could take back. 'I saw them again tonight, just for a moment, and I suddenly didn't know what to do. I really wanted to go over and apologise, to try and explain my actions, but I'm pretty sure there is no apology big enough for what I did'.
Kara huffs lightly into her hair, her lips brushing across Alex's temple lightly as she talks. 'Isn't it the alien that's meant to suck at human interactions?'
Her words force a laugh out of Alex, Kara's unfailing ability to say just the right thing helping to ease her sisters worry, and she hugs her tightly in gratitude. 'Unfortunately being a screw up is what I'm best at, and it seems I'm still winning all the awards for most incompetent Danver sibling'.
'I'm pretty sure I'm still the reigning champ for missing mom's birthday last year when I blew out my powers over Guatamala and was forced to ride in the back of a cattle truck for two days before I found a phone'. Kara hugs her sister as tightly as she dare, knowing that Alex only gave in like this when she was feeling particularly down, and wished she knew exactly who at the party had affected her so much. She knows Alex has been struggling with something, her one night stands so out of character that she had actually followed her on several occasions to make sure she was safe, but had hoped that she would confide in her when she was ready.
Alex lets out a half chuckle half sniffle sob as she remembers how pissed their mom had been when Kara had turned up three days late, smelling like a bog, and with only a handful of flowers as an apology. 'She wasn't pissed with you though, that was the problem. She gave J'onn such an earful when he came to collect us that night that I thought he was going to fly back to Mars just for some peace and quiet'.
Alex had gotten over her mothers preference of the younger girl to herself a long time ago, knowing that she would pick Kara over anyone in this world too, and had since turned it into a game. 'She made him promise to GPS your suit in future so that he would never not know where you were again'.
Kara pulls back with a horrified look on her face, clearly worried that the entirety of the D.E.O now knew that she spent her nights hovering outside Cat Grants apartment block, and Alex feels a genuine smile pull her at her lips at the look. 'Don't worry, Supergirl, I make sure to deactivate it when you're not on official D.E.O business'.
Alex had known about Kara's crush on her boss for some time, her constant hero worship of the woman so over the top that she didn't know how Kara could stand it sometimes, but was content to let the super-powered woman live in her delusion of platonic feelings while she dealt with her own sapphic leanings.
This secondment to the bio-weapon and defence branch of the military was meant to be a distraction for them both; some time away from Cat's constant demands (under the guise of a long awaited family holiday) for the younger girl, and a chance for Alex to flex her science side for a change. Alex had jumped at the opportunity, always eager to find new ways to help protect Kara in her daily fight against the worst the universe could throw at her, and keen to explore what advances could be made in the endlessly fascinating world of technology.
Kara gives Alex a grateful smile, knowing that her big sister is looking out for her even when she isn't aware of it, and cups Alex's cheek gently. 'Anyone stupid enough to turn you down is clearly not worthy of you, so I suggest that if you do ever see them again you keep your head held high and your confidence up, because it is their loss not yours'.
Alex feels her heart warm at Kara's words, grateful that she gets to call this amazing woman her sister, and leans forward so she can press a kiss to her forehead. 'I'm not so sure that's true, but thank you for saying it anyway'.
Kara releases Alex as she feels the girl start to wiggle down in the bed, moving to stand from the bed, but is stopped by Alex's hand on her arm. She looks down at Alex questioningly, thinking that maybe she had read the signs wrong and she wasn't wanting to go to sleep now, but sees the tiredness in her eyes.
'Stay?'
The question is tentative as Alex knows that Kara is always hesitant to share a bed with anyone due to her fears that she will injure them in her sleep, but Kara can also see that Alex really doesn't want to be alone tonight, so simply nods and climbs under the covers without complaint. Alex heaves a sigh of relief, glad Kara didn't make her ask again, but resists curling up against her frame like she wants too.
She goes to bed that night less fearful of her dreams, though still drifts off thinking of nothing but the angry brunette with the beautiful face.
