Exs & Ohs

Later that night, Kara sat having movie night with Alex and Maggie. The trio were curled up on Kara’s couch when her phone rang.

Alex pauses the movie. “Who is it?”

“I hope it’s not Mon-El. That guy bugs me.” Maggie mumbles, standing up and heading to the kitchen for a refill.

“I don’t know. It’s a blocked number.” Kara steps out onto the balcony, pulling the door closed behind her. “Hello?” she answers.

“Kara?” Lena’s voice lacks its usual confidence, but is still unmistakable.

“Lena? Hi. Is everything okay?” Kara is immediately concerned. Is Lena in danger? Did she need to contact Supergirl?

“Everything’s fine. I’m sorry to call so late. I just had an idea I wanted to run by you. If you have a moment, that is.” Kara glances back into her apartment. Maggie had returned to the couch, her arm around Alex’s shoulders. Her sister rested her head on the other woman’s chest and they both laughed at something Alex had said.

“Of course. What’s up?” she tells Lena, turning away from the window. Lena hesitates and through the phone Kara can hear her nervously chewing on a pen.

“Well,” Lena begins “it’s something of a favor, I guess. Or a proposal, really.”

“Oookay. What is it, Lena? I’m always happy to help.”

“You remember, meeting Lydia Tate today at lunch? I told you our companies do business together?” Kara instantly goes ridged. Of course, she remembered. Her encounter with Lena’s gorgeous, intimidating, rude ex-girlfriend was gonna be hard to forget.

“Yes, of course.” She tried not to sound too irritated.

“Well, that may have been simplifying the situation a bit too much. See, Tate Industries and LuthorCorp use to do a lot of business together. But since Lex...went away, our companies haven’t collaborated. So this week we are negotiating a Co-Op to sort of get the relationship back on track, and begin working together again on new footing.”

“I see…” Kara urges her on.

“Anyway, my idea was that perhaps you would be interested in doing an exclusive piece on the Co-Op for Catco.”

“Oh.” Kara is surprised. She was so sure something was wrong. So sure that this phone call was somehow about Supergirl, or Lillian Luthor, or Cadmus. It hadn’t really occurred to her that Lena might be in need of regular old Kara Danvers. “You want me to cover a story?”

“Yes, exactly. I would allow you full access to the negotiations, the meetings, and major players. You’d get a first look at all the joint projects we have planned and what exactly this partnership will mean moving forward.” Lena sounded so excited. Kara knew L-Corp meant the world to Lena, and repairing damaged business ties couldn’t be easy. This partnership with Tate Industries must really be a big deal.

“Lena, I would love to help. That sounds incredible! And so generous of you.” Lena must have heard the hesitation in Kara’s voice.

“But…?” Kara bit her lip. But she didn’t know anything about business. She didn’t know what this Co-Op really meant. Was she the best person to write this article? Would she even be allowed to write the article? Lydia Tate hadn’t been completely wrong when she’d said Catco was known for gossip and fashion advice. Not to mention Kara would probably have to see that woman again. But of course, she would get to spend alot of time with Lena too. She’d really get to see the CEO in action, doing what she does best.

“But…” she tells Lena “I’d have to get my boss’s approval first. I can’t spend a whole week working on a story without his permission.” Lena sighs in relief.

“Right, right, of course, Kara. Do you think he’d go for this?”

“I’m not sure.” Kara answers honestly. “He can be a bit…prickly.”

“Oh…” Kara hates to hear the disappointment in Lena’s voice.

“Hey, listen, I’ll do some research and pitch it to him tomorrow. All he can do is say no, right?”

Lena gets excited again “Oh, Kara, would you? That would be...I would really appreciate it. Thank you.”

This makes Kara smile. “Thank you for the opportunity. It sounds like it could be an important story for both of us. I’ll text you tomorrow as soon as I have his answer. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect. This is my private number, by the way. About time you had it anyway. I look forward to hearing from you.”

“Goodnight, Lena.”

“Goodnight, Kara.”

She heads back inside, feeling a little dazed.

“Who was that, Little Danvers?” Maggie asks. Kara hesitates to tell them. Kara knew Lena’s stunt with Medusa really went a long way with Maggie. Saving all those aliens was enough to earn the detective’s respect. But Alex remained suspicious of Lena. Alex still didn’t understand why Lena took matters into her own hands. Or perhaps it was the Luthor name clouding her sister’s judgement.

Despite all that, Kara says “That was Lena Luthor.” Alex sits up, instantly alert.

“Is everything alright?” her sister asks.

Kara comes to sit beside them on the couch. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just sort of a weird, well at least unexpected…”

“What is it?” Alex asks, impatient.

“She wants me to write an article on L-Corp’s sort of partnership with Tate Industries.” Both brunettes are quiet for a moment, processing.

“That’s not really Catco’s thing is it?” Maggie asks. Kara shrugs her shoulders.

“I don’t know. I’ve already written a few articles on L-Corp’s rebranding and the alien detection device. I think, Snapper is trying to expand our content a bit.”

“So you’re gonna to it then?” Alex’s voice is neutral, she doesn’t sound angry, but she doesn’t sound encouraging either. Kara nods slowly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I have to pitch it to Snapper in the morning but, I think, it could be good for me to write about something other than Supergirl and aliens, ya know. I need to branch out anyway. And Lena offered me full access. It’s really very generous of her.”

Alex’s shakes her head, uncertain. “Yeah, why is that? Kinda weird for a CEO to invite the press into a private business deal isn’t it.” Before Kara can answer, Maggie chimes in.

“I think, she likes you.” The detective takes a long drink from her beer, and both Danvers sisters are too afraid to ask what she means.

---------------

Kara stays up half the night researching. By the time she walks into Snapper’s office the next morning she’s knows all she needs to about Tate Industries, LuthorCorp, their partnership, and what this deal could mean for L-Corp going forward. Apparently, Lydia’s grandfather Marshall Tate was the CEO and founder of Tate Industries. He and Lionel Luthor were boyhood friends, who grew into friendly competitors as both their companies took off. When Lionel died and Lex took over the company, Tate Industries and LuthorCorp’s relationship became less competitive and more cooperative. The two companies worked well together, sharing resources and connections in order to rise even further into power. However, after Lex’s arrest Tate Industries (as well as the rest of LuthorCorp’s business partners) pulled away to avoid the scandal.

She also knows way more than she’d like to about Lydia Tate and her relationship with Lena. Lydia was raised primarily by her grandfather. Her father was never in the picture and her mother spent most of her time in rehab. Lydia and Lena probably spend much of their childhood attending the same boring business events with their guardians. Then, of course, as Lena said, they both attended Wilding Academy for 6 years. There’s no record of the two women ever actually being in a relationship. However, plenty of tabloids have snapshots of the two heiresses partying together throughout their twenties.

Kara may have looked a little too long at one picture in particular. A grainy snapshot from several years ago,of a drunken Lena leaving a club. Her arm draped casually around Lydia’s shoulders. She was smiling, whispering something in Lydia’s ear. The other woman was laughing hysterically and holding Lena’s hand, pulling her towards a waiting car. Lena looked lighter than Kara had ever seen her. Happier. This was before the weight of her family’s legacy fell on her shoulders. Kara had looked at that picture just before she called it a night, and as she laid in bed, trying to fall asleep, it was all she could think about.

Now, standing in front of Snapper, the photo was the furthest thing from her mind. Her boss doesn’t look up when he bellows. “What do you want, Danvers?” Kara jumps a bit, startled.

“Can I-um- run something by you?” she clears her throat and rights her glasses on her face.

Snapper still doesn’t look up from his work. His red pen scribbling furiously on someone’s article. “I’m listening...sort of.” Kara takes a deep breathe.

“Right, okay. So Lena Luthor invited me to do an exclusive in-depth article on L-Corp’s upcoming Co-Op with Tate Industries.” She pauses waiting for a reaction. Snapper’s pen stops moving.

“Continue…” he says.

“Okay, so back when L-Corp was LuthorCorp, the two companies were really involved. They’ve got a long history together going back to Lionel Luthor and Marshall Tate. But of course, when Lex…”

“Tried to murder America’s favorite alien?” Snapper says, finally looking up at her.

“Yes. When Lex went to jail, Tate Industries understandably stepped back. But now, that Lena is CEO and she’s rebranded it looks like the Tates are ready to jump back in with both feet.” Snapper says nothing, rhythmically tapping his pen on the desk. Kara lets him think.

At last, he says “Luthor came to you with this? Why?” It was the same question Alex had asked, and Kara still didn’t have a good answer.

“I think, she wants the world to know that the company is getting back on track. If this deal with the Tates goes smoothly, maybe more companies would be willing to do business again. Besides, from what she told me, it sounds like there is alot of good to be done that neither company can do alone. Lena’s excited about what kind of doors this will open for L-Corp.” Snapper nods, seeming to accept this.

“Listen, I can’t guarantee I’ll print it. Business dealings like this could just put our readers to sleep. But...if you wanna go write it, see what you can get…” A huge smile breaks across Kara’s face, she starts bouncing up and down excitedly. Snapper shakes his head, discouraging her bubbly behavior. “I’ll take a look at the finished product, Danvers.  But no promises! Make sure Luthor knows that!”

“Yes, Boss! You got it! Thanks, Boss!” The blonde skips out of the room excitedly. Snapper sighs, seemingly exhausted by her enthusiasm. Kara immediately texts Lena.

To Lena: Snapper gave the green light. No guarantee he’ll print it tho. Still in?

It takes a few minutes then Lena texts back.

From Lena: Absolutely! I’ll see you at my office first thing Mon morning. Thank you again, Kara

Kara finds herself smiling the rest of the day. But in the back of her mind she can’t help but wonder what exactly she’s gotten herself into.