i'm back!

don't ask me how i got the idea for this fic, because i truly have no clue. but it was in my head, and i couldn't help myself.

so back in the supercorp abyss i go.

now, read, ponder, and enjoy!

"Did you hear about the new girl?"

"Sam, I still haven't finished my coffee."

"But did you?"

Heaving a sigh, Lena took a bracing sip of her piping hot black coffee, shouldering past Sam to head into her office. Of course, Sam was close behind, but the raven-haired woman could ignore her for as long as she wanted.

It had been a long week. And even the weekend couldn't really be counted as a weekend, what with her slumped over her desk to look over the new case that Lucy had dropped on her last Friday. They were right to say that you shouldn't work with your close friends, but apart from their friendship, Lucy had been a pretty decent boss so far, so Lena couldn't complain.

So anyway, that last week had stretched into this week, hence a long week. It was two weeks into one. Lena counted that as one week. Fuck actual math.

"We get new people all the time. I don't see how that's a big deal," Lena said, once she had hung up her bag and turned on the computer, pulling out files from drawers and references from the shelf.

"Not here. The defenders."

"I still don't see how that's a big deal."

"Well, she's the opposing counsel on your current case."

"I won't lose."

"She clerked for Cat Grant."

Lena looked up from the file she was studying – a file she'd been studying for three days straight. The details were all memorized in her head, and she could recite them backwards, but it wouldn't hurt to revise before her court date this afternoon.

Still, clerking for Cat Grant was something else. That woman was known to be the best US Attorney this country had ever seen. Before that, she owned a private firm that had almost nil failure rate, training the best lawyers this country had ever seen and giving the most blistering lectures whenever she had the time.

"You should have led with that," Lena grumbled. Sam smirked. "What's her name?"

"Kara Danvers."

"Get out of here."

Sam did, apparently considering her job done.

Lena closed the files. After all, she had everything memorized. Kara Danvers, on the other hand, she knew nothing about. Hence, she input the woman's name into her search engine and started pulling up all she could find on her new opponent.

The district court building was, per usual, busy. Bodies milled about, going from one place to another. Winn, the court clerk, was his usual bubbly self, handing out assignments to public defenders and federal prosecutors on duty alike. Lena was used to it and greeted familiar faces as she walked past them.

However, no amount of research or familiarity could have prepared her for what confronted her once she entered the appointed courtroom. She was early, so there was no one else in the room, except for one blonde sitting at the defender table.

When the heavy doors swung close behind her, the blonde at the table stood around and faced her. Lena wanted to get out as soon as possible, if only to take a deep breath and warn the gayness in her to stay clam and be fucking professional, for the love of god.

"Hi, you must be Ms. Luthor."

Sure, Lena could, peripherally, discern that Kara Danvers was an attractive woman based on the pictures available online, however scarce they were. But she had been too busy gawking at the woman's curriculum vitae to truly appreciate her beauty.

No, handsomeness.

But anyway, the pictures online wouldn't have done the blonde justice anyway, because the woman was so handsome in real life. Unrealistically so; Lena had to take a second to wonder if she had traveled into an augmented reality.

The prosecutor inhaled deeply and cleared her throat, forcing her legs to take steps towards the main area of the room, pushing past the little door that separated them from the gallery. She nodded at the blonde with a polite smile – or at least, she hoped it was a smile – ignoring as best as she could the bright blue eyes and the hair and the fitted pantsuit that did Kara Danvers a lot of justice.

"Yes, and you must be Ms. Danvers. The new girl," Lena said.

"You heard about me."

"So did you."

"Who hasn't heard about you?"

Goddamn, Lena couldn't really tell whether the blonde was flirting, but she had to admit Kara had game. Or maybe it was just her natural predisposition, given how fucking bright she was even though they were standing on opposite sides.

"Should I be flattered?" Lena asked, tilting her head slightly.

Kara hesitated for a moment, and Lena took pride in that. She could still catch people off guard, apparently. "Should I?"

Pinning green eyes on the defender, Lena studied her for a long while. Handsomeness aside, Lena could at least distinguish the intelligence that lingered behind those glasses.

She wouldn't call the friendliness a front. She didn't know enough about Kara Danvers to make that judgement. But the smile and dimples couldn't cover up the intellect even if Kara had tried. No one who clerked for Cat Grant would be stupid. Cat would never accept that.

"We're going to have a lot of fun, Kara Danvers," she decided.

"I'm sure we are."

Kara's grin had widened. This time, it wasn't pure friendliness; competitive too. That was alright – Lena liked a bit of challenge, even if she knew she would definitely defeat Kara and rub Cat in the face with it.

The gallery filled up. Juries started piling out and taking their seats, numbers pinned on their chests like they were prisoners when they were actually the deciders. Assistants came bumbling in with more files, taking seats next to the prosecutor and defender respectively with additional information that could be pertinent.

And then, the judge.

Let the battle begin.

In the hours of them questioning witnesses and reviewing evidence, there was no denying that Kara Danvers, under the glasses and the pantsuit and the very pretty smile, was a beast in the courtroom. It was obvious in the careful way she curated her questions and statements. It was apparent in the words she chose to get to the case's core.

This was a simple case, really. Man got drunk. Man ran down a pregnant woman and caused a miscarriage, almost killing the mother but didn't. Man was claiming he was drugged. Anyone could see how this case would end, even Kara.

But what Kara was fighting for here wasn't acquittal. Even a two-year-old could see that acquittal was never on the table. Instead, she was arguing for a lighter sentence, on account of a guilty plea and true remorse as expressed by the defendant.

And judging by the looks on the jury's faces, there was a high chance for Kara to succeed.

But Lena wasn't just going to take it. Man killed a baby, albeit unborn, but he was a murderer nonetheless. A lighter sentence wouldn't cut it. Lena could hear the husband's pleas for her to put this man in his proper place, and she was going to execute it.

He shouldn't have gotten drunk in the first place.

More greetings. Some pats on the back. A muted congratulations from Lucy. That was it. That was the job of an assistant district attorney. They were supposed to win for the government.

Lena took it all in stride and swooped into Sam's office, refraining from slamming the door behind her. Sam sat behind her desk, hand over her mouth as she scrolled on her computer, but it was easy to recognize the shit-eating smirk on her face.

"You could have warned me she's hot," Lena barked, crossing her arms and leaning back against the door.

Sam lowered her hand, displaying a shit-eating grin. "Where's the fun in that?"

Groaning loudly, the raven-haired woman practically collapsed on the couch by the door. "I wanted to run out the moment I saw her."

"I would have thought Google warned you."

"I was too busy looking at her resume to pay attention."

"That's on you."

Lena lifted her head and literally snarled. Teeth bared and all that. Sam chuckled and waved a hand in the air, dismissing Lena's anger easily.

"You owe me a drink."

"Did you win?"

"Of course I did."

"Then I'll buy you a drink. Now get out of my office."

Lena groaned again and lifted herself from the couch. She headed out the door after making Sam promise to bring her out to the bar tonight, and made her way back to the office.

As expected, there was a new case file sitting on her desk, alongside another congratulatory note by Lucy that accompanied a reminder that she had to keep crunching regardless of how many victories she collected in the courtroom.

The job of a lawyer, a federal prosecutor getting paid on the government's dime. She sighed and grimaced. She needed another coffee.

Compared to the one earlier today, this case was comparably more complicated that Lena would have liked it to be. She almost wanted to break her promise of drinking with Sam tonight, but the temptation of drinks after one long week in two made her decide that there would be time tomorrow to study more.

The bar was lively for a Monday, but the usual table was empty, so she and Sam snatched it up before they lost it. And then she made her way over to the bar to order their drinks. As she waited, she leaned back against the bar and watched the scene.

As there were cop bars and firefighter bars, there were also lawyer bars. And this was one of them, closest to the district court. Despite their animosity in the courtroom, both federal prosecutors and public defenders alike tended to congregate here, though they kept to their own cliques mostly.

Before she knew it though, someone had sidled up next to her before the drinks were ready. And when she turned around, a hot defender was standing next to her, watching her. Admiring her, if Lena dared to go there.

"Hello again," Kara greeted.

Lena squinted. "You're not supposed to talk to me when we're not working."

"I don't think that's an actual rule," Kara replied with a mock grimace. She shifted to lean sideways against the bar, facing Lena. "I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. You do not disappoint your reputation, as it turns out."

The prosecutor shifted as well, mirroring the blonde. "Thank you. You were a worthy opponent."

Kara dipped her head in humble acknowledgement. "Cat warned me about you, you know." Lena blinked – she hadn't seen Cat in close to a year. "I think she specifically told me to tell you that if you don't call her before the month ends, she will sic Carter on you."

"She wouldn't."

"I think we both know Cat Grant is capable of exactly that. And probably more. She's very intimidating," Kara commented with a mock shudder.

Lawyers and politicians – they kind of ran in the same circles. After all, most politicians rose from a law background, though some of them seemed to have completely forgotten about law school, judging by how utterly moronic they had been behaving lately.

And when Lillian Luthor was one of the most renown senators in the country, it wouldn't be curious for her to get to know Cat Grant, especially when they went to Harvard together. And somehow, they got close enough for Lena to have a godmother in Cat, go figure – not that they really publicized that relationship.

Lena already had the Luthor name attached for the rest of her life; she didn't need Cat to hover at her back and intimidate everyone into giving her leeway just because of their relationship. That was why she opted to continue down the law path, instead of entering politics like the rest of her family did.

"Where were you before National City?"

Kara narrowed her eyes, not in a distasteful way. "I think you know."

As a matter of fact, Lena did know. She was exceptional at doing her research after all, which was half the reason why she'd hardly lost a case. But she wasn't going to show her hand this early, whatever hand that was.

Kara had only shown up in her life for a day and she was already confusing the fuck out of Lena. This had never happened before.

Lena smiled and nodded in thanks at the bartender, who had finally handed over her drinks. "We're going to have a lot of fun, Kara Danvers," she reiterated her words from the courtroom.

"I'm sure we are," Kara echoed with a teasing smile.

Offering a perfunctory nod, the raven-haired woman ambled through the crowd to return to her best friend.

All the while, she couldn't stop thinking about the way Kara's eyes roved over her throughout their interaction. Studious but also…hungry. As if she saw something she really wanted and was already devising ways to get it. And Lena was certain that Kara always got what she wanted.

"What was that?"

"Nothing you should concern yourself about."

Sam huffed and took the drink from Lena, taking a generous sip. Lena wasn't concerned – Ruby, according to her fellow ADA, was at a sleepover with a friend.

"She was making bedroom eyes at you," Sam said. Lena hummed nonchalantly, sipping at her own drink. "Like…I think she's still making bedroom eyes at you," she added once she took a perfunctory glance of Lena's shoulder, where Kara was presumably at.

The raven-haired woman was doing her most to not follow Sam's gaze. Instead, she opted to look down at the worn patterns of the table they were sitting at, drawing inconsequential circles over the water stains.

Even without Sam saying it, she could somehow feel those eyes on her. Electrifyingly blue and all too dangerous in their directness. It didn't seem that Kara was capable of hiding her emotions, or maybe she chose not to. She did maintain a calm composure not unlike Cat Grant's in the courtroom in earlier, despite the jibes that Lena had been throwing at her to tear down her arguments.

"You know it's not against the rules, right?" Sam whispered, leaning closer over the table.

"What?"

"Hooking up with one of them," Sam said, tipping her head in the direction of the public defenders, who were seemingly celebrating Kara's first day in the circuit.

"I know it's not a rule, but it's my rule," Lena retorted with a warning glare at her best friend. "You saw how messy things got with Siobhan Smythe when she was sleeping with Willis."

She could still remember the chaos of it all. The extra tension that pulled taut between opposing counsels in the courtroom, even when they had nothing to do with the debacle that pretty much drove those two away from this district just to stop seeing each other.

Lawyers, sly as they were, valued loyalty when they worked together in one office, and that applied to government-employed attorneys too. So when one did another wrong, their colleagues wouldn't hold back bars too, even for someone as neutral as Lena.

"Those two were a league of their own. Leslie Willis was pretty much a bomb encapsulated in a single person, and Siobhan was loud. They would never have worked out."

"It's still a lesson to be learned. Plus, my mother would never want me seen with a public defender. It's bad enough that I didn't go private, as it is."

"All Lillian Luthor wants is grandchildren. So does Lionel. They told me that themselves. They don't give a shit who you sleep with. Unless they're a criminal, which would never happen."

"It's disturbing how close you are with my parents," Lena groaned, running pale fingers through her hair. "Can you please block them?"

"Out of the question. I even have a group chat with them."

"You do not."

"Uh-huh, we totally do. It's where we complain about you never having a permanent partner."

"I hate you so much."

The session lasted a little over two hours. They were still aware that it was a Monday, which meant an early workday tomorrow, and both of them would like to not show up as an extra of The Walking Dead in the morning.

Kara was gone by the time Sam settled the tab, not that Lena was paying attention. She was not; she just happened to have taken a glance around the room and noticed the absence of a certain blonde amidst the other blondes that had filled up the bar. Nothing unusual. She was simply being observant.

Except Kara wasn't truly gone, evidently. She stood outside the bar, leaning against the wall, hands in her pockets, seemingly with no purpose at all. She pushed away from the wall once Lena exited with Sam, eyeing Lena purposefully.

What the fuck.

Sam took one look at the blonde, then another at her friend. A grin spread over her face, knowing and cunning. Lena still wasn't sure what was happening here, utterly perplexed at the different looks Sam and Kara aimed at her. And before she knew it, Sam took her leave and walked the other way, leaving Lena alone with the new defender.

"What is happening?" Lena asked with a frown.

Kara shrugged. "I was just hanging out after a long first day." Lena tilted her head suspiciously.

"Right, well, I should head home," Lena said hesitantly, turning on her feet slowly to walk down the streets. Her apartment was only a couple of blocks away, and Lena could use the fresh air.

She had only made it a few feet before she realized footsteps behind her. Okay, this was National City, fairly safe compared to places like Gotham or New York, but there was still crime. Otherwise, Lena would be out of a job.

As subtly as she could, she reached into her purse to feel for the electric baton her brother had given her as a graduation gift – he meant it as a gag gift, but she'd always felt a little safer with it around. She hastened her footsteps, prepared to whip it out at whoever dared to attack an ADA in public. Near a frequented bar, no less.

"Relax. It's just me."

Lena whipped around to find Kara in pace with her. "Are you – are you stalking me now?" she questioned, gaping at the woman.

Kara scoffed and shook her head. "My apartment is this way," she answered, extending her arm down the sidewalk. "Are you always this paranoid?"

"With strangers, yes."

"Sorry." Kara dipped her head for a moment before lifting insecure eyes at Lena. "Am I – I can take the long way if you really do feel unsafe. But my apartment is really this way, and I think two women walking together is probably safer than you walking alone. But, like, I can still go. I can walk five steps behind if you don't wanna talk to me."

Lena blinked at the woman still walking beside her, albeit a little slower with reluctant steps, as if she really was going to take the long way if only to avoid annoying Lena. In any other cases, Lena probably would be annoyed.

This Kara was different than the Kara she'd met in the courtroom. Slightly less confident, and apparently very good at rambling. A total dichotomy that Lena hated to admit that she found fascinating. Like, seriously fascinating. She wanted to know every nook and cranny that made up Kara Danvers.

"Lena?"

The raven-haired woman blinked again before shaking her head. "No, it's fine," she whispered and released the tight grip on the baton.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

And then Kara beamed again, and Lena was sure that she could have lit up the whole street if she could. Who needed streetlamps with a smile like that?

For the entirety of one block, not a word was spoken between them. Just Lena and Kara taking the same route. Two people presumably on opposing sides in the courtroom, hardly acknowledged.

"Well, I'm this way," Lena pointed to her right.

"Oh," Kara said haltingly. "I – okay, I'm the other way," she added, pointing in the other direction. "I guess I'll see you in court?"

"After today, I'd think you'd wanna avoid being in the same courtroom with me again," Lena teased.

Kara chuckled, and Lena tried to not allow the warmth spread further than her belly. She failed, of course. "If you wanna be the best, you have to go up against the best. I have it on good authority that you are the best."

"Do you hear yourself sometimes?"

"What?" Wow, she really was clueless.

"Never mind," Lena dismissed with a wave of her hand. "I'll see you in the courtroom."

Kara nodded. "Have a good night, Lena."

"Sweet dreams, Kara."

Lena practically had to force herself to turn the other way and keep her legs functioning. For a moment, she swore she could feel hot blue gaze on her back, but soon, it disappeared. And she made it home safely.

Kara Danvers was going to be trouble.

i wanna say this will be a short one, like less than ten chapters

but knowing myself, it'll probably be more than that