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Lex had always been prone to bragging.
To the point where Lena mostly ignored him, well-trained ears tracking his words for cues to respond should she need to. Mostly that would be the actual science and engineering, though sometimes sheer fury would smash out her filters.
"Max has such a boner for her it's hilarious!"
Lena wouldn't trust Max Lord if heavily armed and armored. The bastard was wily, persistent and dangerous, particularly to the female of the species. Fuck knows he'd tried shit with her. The memory of the sound he'd made when she tasered him still brought her great pleasure.
Oblivious as always of everything outside himself, Lex was outright laughing now. "Dangers kicked his ass, literally. Nearly broke his wrist and left him with rug burn on his face. He's still sulky-salty about it, but she's got the blackmail on him. I respect that."
That startled Lena out of her rage over Max fucking Lord. Respect? Her genius brother respected few. Who was this woman?
Busy with her double doctorate and heading off the worst plans for her twenty-first birthday from several directions --Andrea being the wildest of course-- any thought of Lex's 'Dangers' pal wasn't even on her mental radar.
But the name kept popping up.
Years of rooming together in boarding school had cemented the polar opposite heiresses into their own little family unit, Andrea geared to the machinations of running a business empire and Lena to hone her own genius brain to the extraordinary.
But at last she delivered her thesis, navigated all questions and critiques and now it was in the council's hands to whether or not she lived up to the sky-high Luthor standards. Lena had no intention of moving her leaden body from her faceplant into bed for at least twelve hours. Or until her stomach or bladder took control.
"Oh stop being dramatic," Andrea teased as she stepped out of the ensuite, toweling out her hair. Lena didn't even react to the nakedness, having seen it all nearly daily for a decade. "I met your brother's sidekick today."
That made Lena's brain perk up, though she did little more than shift her head so she could peer one bleary green eye out.
"Quite the firecracker," she chuckled as she primped in front of Lena's huge mirror. "Little prickly for my tastes, as you know I prefer flirty over brainy. Unlike you, nerd."
A poke in the butt earned a weary glare from Lena.
"But she makes quite the impression, sharp and intense. So for the hell of it, I invited her over to hang out as I knew you would be useless for any sort of fun tonight."
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaandrea," Lena whined and found the energy to roll over and rub her face, resisting the urge to kick her legs like a toddler. "I don't have the energy or braincells to entertain!"
"Oh, chill, you. This one hates formality like she's allergic to it. For fuck sake, she was wearing a vintage Star Wars shirt, chucks and khaki pants with a Minion patch on the knee. Oh, and a very serious lab coat and glasses." The sly grin Andrea flashed made Lena distinctly nervous. "Just your type."
That mischievous smile had brought endless trouble to Lena over the years. And the most fun.
Having primped to some standard only known to herself, Andrea flounced over and blew a noisy fart-kiss on Lena's upturned cheek, earning a giggle.
"Now! I promised you the full pajamas and junk food binge with movies of your choice, now didn't I? I intend on delivering. And Dangers seemed to like the idea."
The perkiness might be more terrifying than the mischief.
"Does she even have a real name?"
The question was left unanswered as Andrea cheerfully turned to her warbling phone, walking out of the room still stark naked.
Sigh. Lena supposed she best get showered and dressed then.
Weary to the point where she very much felt like a zombie, Lena lost track of time and the inline water heater didn't help any. It wasn't until Andrea pounded on the bathroom door and yelled friendly obscenities at her did Lena snap out of her sleepy haze.
Still in a daze, part of Lena wondered if she should be wary of the bundle of clothes Andrea had left out with a smiley face Post-it note. At least the lemon yellow t-shirt complimented the baggy fleece pants spattered with Toy Story characters. Not really in the mood for the false warmth of alcohol, she went for fuzzy socks and her battered shearling boots as well as the purple sweat shirt.
She felt like she was back in grade school…
Laughter and chattering voices greeted Lena when she finally stuck her nose out of her room. Was that really only two or three people or was she going to have to barricade herself in her bedroom? Peeking around the corner of the hallway into the open plan living space, she was relieved to see what was indeed only three people. And to her delight, she knew the tall one, who unexpectedly met her peek around the corner and grinned in welcome.
"Sam Arias? Hi! I haven't seen you in ages? How have things been in finance?"
Sam's lankiness made her moderate tallness seem more than it was, but it was the smile that got you. Warm and encompassing, she made you feel like the center of her attention with that smile.
And Andrea couldn't keep her eyes off it.
Weary or not, Lena filed that away gleefully for the promise of future teasing.
"It's been wonderful! I'm so happy to be able to fully concentrate on only one job now. I finally have some time to spend with my daughter just in time for her to be grown up enough to spend a night away…"
Lena noted the words, but her attention was on the shorter woman at Sam's side. Relaxed in patterned flannel and a slouchy beanie, she looked to be better-brand hipster, helped along by those chunky glasses. Dark, dark eyes were warm and very curious, matching the crooked little smile.
"You must be Dangers," Lena could have slapped herself for saying lamely. Because of course she'd default to 'idiot' when meeting an attractive woman who gave her a spark…
The little lopsided grin became a sigh and a facepalm. "I'm never going to shake that one, am I?"
Neither Sam or Andrea held back on laughing uproariously and Dangers peeked at a shyly amused Lena and the hand she was trying to cover her smile with.
"It's cute."
Perhaps not Lena's best flirt, a compliment she could give a puppy or a small child, but the answering smile reassured her. As did the extended hand.
"Alex Danvers, a pleasure."
Her hand was warm, with fascinating callouses, gentle, but with a power behind it that was unmistakable. This Alex Danvers just got more and more interesting.
"Oh, now Dangers makes sense. I'm betting my stupid brother gave you that name, right? He's not nearly as funny as he thinks he is."
"Believe me, it could be worse. He talks about you a lot. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so used to everyone knowing who I am I didn't introduce myself…"
Alex just smiled and shrugged, a little shy, her hands jammed into the back pockets of her jeans.
"I didn't know you two were friends," Andrea said with well-practiced aplomb, but Lena knew her too well to be fooled. She was completely thrown off by Sam.
There was something in Alex's smirk that hinted that she'd picked up on the subtext as well, her reply cheerful enough to skirt teasing. "Recent, actually. But you told me to bring a support friend and as mentioned earlier, it just so happens that Sam's kid is at her first sleepover tonight, so excellent timing."
"Yes, well, a shame I didn't time my quarterly report with Ruby on purpose," Sam added in dryly. "It would have made me look like a miracle worker. Frankly, we both needed a break."
There was an edge of melancholy in Sam and Alex chimed in with deliberate cheeriness. "We met over the infamous cookies and that smile and who can resist either?"
"Cookies," Andrea said more as a statement than a question and Lena perversely waited a long moment before bailing her out.
"I know what you mean. A couple cram sessions might have resulted in mass casualties if not for them."
"I feel that! So, I hear we're celebrating your doctorate?"
"Double," Andrea bragged her up and Lena shrugged self-effacingly. "Just like your drink. What's your poison, guests?"
Lena sipped at her favored whiskey and watched Andrea schmooze the visitors like a pro. Sam was intrigued enough to try something light and fruity Andrea was describing as a specialty, while Alex gave Lena a soft side-eye.
"I'll have what she's having."
Were they flirting? She was so bad at this…
"So. Double doctorate, huh? God knows your brother won't shut up about it," Alex teased lightly and Lena was a little embarrassed by the praise and the heat she could feel on her ears. "Feels good, right?"
"It really does. Wait, did you do the same?"
"I did. MD and biology."
The little flame that was Lena's instant crush burned a little brighter. "Oh, so a real doctor then? Sexy."
A pause fell over the group for a moment, Sam and Andrea looking almost impressed with Lena's audacity. Alex hid a smile in her drink and hummed appreciatively over the fine whiskey. "Damn, that's good."
The carnal note in that voice made Lena's heart and hormones give a little kick. Whoo boy…
"A favorite of mine. Straight from Ireland."
There was nothing straight about what she was feeling for damn sure, and Lena felt like it was written all over her face.
"Umm… thanks for joining us, uh, both of you. It's nice to be a little social."
Alex seemed to sense that Lena was foundering and shifted her attention to Andrea, her smile gone a little wicked. "If you'd asked me this afternoon, I might have said I felt like I'd been manipu-tricked into this."
"And you'd be right," Andrea agreed merrily. "I'm an excellent wrangler of hot nerds."
If that was a wingman, Lena was grateful for it, even as she cringed. Alex took no note of the wince, her dark eyes warm when they returned to her.
"But now I'm glad for it."
"Me too," Lena agreed shyly.
"See, I knew I was right," Andrea was embarrassingly smug in her tease. "I knew you'd jockey Luthors well."
They all looked dryly at her for that and Alex's eyes sparkled with the challenge. Her tone was so blasé as to be a teasing threat. "At least this little slumber party might shut up the rumor mill at the lab." Her grin warmed again when she shifted her attention back to Lena. "Despite what your bestie there likes to imply, no, I'm not dating your brother. Gross, Andy."
Andrea's smug faltered beautifully in her shock at the familiarity. That reduced Lena to laughing until she could barely breathe. Clearly pleased with herself, Alex sauntered over to the couch and plopped down to take up enough space for three people.
Lena liked that, the self-assuredness of this stranger to take up space, to be bold. It was sexy.
They negotiated a movie that was quickly forgotten as Sam and Andrea flirted on the smaller couch while Alex asked after Lena's studies, keeping her engaged despite being so tired. Lena wasn't used to being this charmed by a stranger, always so careful to guard herself due to who she was. But this woman had cleared scrutiny with her brother, who was even more careful than she was!
So Lena embraced the giddy freedom of really jumping into the conversation, finding Alex attentive and engaging and so very smart. The movie passed without notice and none of them cared.
Eventually it struck Lena that maybe, just maybe, the little spark she'd felt right from the start with this intriguing woman really wasn't one-sided. And her lonely bisexual heart thrilled that finally, finally she was in a position to maybe do something about it. No punishing schedule or unfinished doctorate hanging over her, no pretenses to be a dignified Luthor. Alex worked with her brother, so there would be no shocks there, and Lena was in her pajamas, the ultimate in casual.
So perhaps she could try and find out what might linger in that sweet, crooked smile.
She was ready for a new beginning.