The snap

Vasquez’ parents’ visa finally comes through. They don’t even complain about it taking two years. She doesn’t know whether she should admire their patience or be infuriated by such resignation. Scratch that: she’s angry, angry on their behalf. About how long it took, how powerless they must have felt, how painful it must have been to check that “Post-Snap visa following a loss” box. Worse: about being asked to provide proof (of loss, of filiation). Endless, senseless bureaucracy.

A trip to National City becomes unavoidable. They could of course wander the streets on their own, but after staying in touch so rigorously, it’s assumed they’ll finally get to meet her in person.

It happens to fall around the same time as Kelly’s yearly “thing”, the one Alex so successfully dodged in previous years. Which means she can’t reasonably get out of that either, now. 

Ugh.

Although, to be fair, she is looking forward to seeing Lucy again. They speak about once a month on the phone and she’s found herself enjoying these conversations more and more. Lucy’s pushy, presses her on information on her roommates, pokes fun at their lack of anything resembling a sex life, in a way Sun would never dare. She regales her with funny anecdotes on the boys’ latest exploits and overshares on her own occasional hookups with the local fauna. (Night and day compared to her calls with Maggie, so much left to be read between the lines there, but the increasing mentions of a certain Gotham socialite, Kate Kane, sure haven’t escaped her notice). 

She packs lightly, the dread growing with each additional item she puts away. On a whim, she wraps Kara’s folded glasses in with her clothes and slings her bag over her shoulder. 

She catches a ride in Lena’s private jet. (There’s something to be said for some luxuries.)

Her host is already on board and she can tell from the get go that Lena’s broody, already on her second if not third glass of scotch. She sits down in front of her, startling her out of her musings.

“Where’re my manners: would you like a drink, Alex?” 

“God, yes please.” 

“What are you in the mood for? The usual or something different?”

They’ve spent enough evenings together by now, for Alex to know Lena’s got her scotch neat down to the t.

“You know what, surprise me.”

“Adventurous, I like that” Lena replies with a fond smile. “Let me see…” She sets her sights on some ingredients at the well-stocked bar. 

Alex nods towards the heavy pour: “What’s got you so nervous?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

She nods, where’s this going?

Lena grimaces: “I hate flying.”

What? That can’t be right. “You’ve been flying in and out… You even did it every day in the beginning when you first joined us.”

“What can I say, I do what I must” Lena replies with flair, handing her a bright yellow drink. 

She takes a sip: oh, this is good. “Don’t you have like… a pilot’s license?”

“Been reading up on me, have we? I do, something about facing your demons, I believe. Anything resembling a weakness was not tolerated in my family.”

She sits up straight: “Jesus, Lena… I didn’t know.” She has the sudden urge to reach out, but doesn’t.

“That would be on purpose. If there’s one thing the Luthors did get right, it’s that the less my weaknesses are known, the better” she reveals, returning to her seat. 

“But…” Did Kara know about this? “You flew with… Supergirl countless times. Then too?”

“Sadly. It’s not something I can just switch on or off. Although believe me, I’ve tried.”

“Can I do something to help?”

Lena lifts her own drink, the ice clinking inside: “Good scotch helps” and adds with a smile: “Good company’s an added bonus.”

She’s not flirting, of course (ha, wouldn’t that be a thought), and still, Alex can’t help the blush that blooms on her cheeks.

“What about you, you didn’t say what you’re returning to National City for.”

Here we go, it was bound to come up sooner or later. “It’s a long story.”

“You’re in luck, we’ve got plenty of time.”

(She did walk right into this one.) She looks anywhere but at Lena, takes a deep swig, savouring the flavours that linger on her tongue: honey, lemon, a delicious scotch and traces of… ginger? Yes, ginger. The lights down below are shrinking rapidly. 

“I… um… I lost a close colleague a couple of weeks after the Snap. In an op. Vasquez, I don’t know if the two of you ever met. I guess not. It must have come up in your research, though. Then again, maybe not. I spoke to her parents when it happened and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. They live in a rural area in Venezuela. They didn’t manage to travel at the time: the borders were closed, then they had to jump through administrative hoops at home to obtain valid travel documents, then the US visa process took ages. Fast forward to now: they’re finally able to come. They want to see where she – Vasquez, their daughter – used to work, where she used to live, where she…” she swallows, “her grave. And well, they don’t know anyone there and only speak a little bit of English. So, I offered to fetch them at the airport – they’re flying in tomorrow – and show them around for a few days.”

“That’s very kind of you.” Lena reaches out, giving her knee a slight squeeze. The touch, albeit surprising, is not unpleasant.

“It’s the least I could do. Vasquez…” she stops short, shaking her head. “We worked together for a long time before… You know.” She refuses to choke up. “Anyway.”

“A rather emotional weekend ahead.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” She rolls what remains in her glass around: “You could definitely say that.”

“Where’re you staying, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I haven’t booked anything yet. I’m thinking of taking a room in the same hotel as Vasquez’ parents. More practical that way.”

“Alex, you should have said something! Come stay at mine.”

Oh. “I… It’s… Thank you for the offer, but… I couldn’t…”

“Why not?” 

If it were for just one night? Maybe. But they’re talking about five, here. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

She waves her off: “Nonsense. You wouldn’t. The penthouse has four extra bedrooms.”

“I… Lena… I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say yes. Besides, you’d be doing me a favour.”

“How so?”

“I’d rather not be alone this weekend.”

“The business dinner you mentioned?”

“Ah, Andrea… yes.” There’s a fond undercurrent in her sigh. “Andrea Rojas, you may have heard of her. No? She’s the founder and CEO of Obsidian North.”

“The company you just took under your wing?”

“Exactly.”

“You mentioned high stakes?”

“I have you to thank for this, you and Jess’ little not so secret campaign: I now have to convince Andrea to come on board as official COO and unofficial acting CEO.”

Oh. “And it’s not in the bag?”

“Andrea and I… have a complicated history, to say the least.” She gazes at her drink. “But it can’t be helped: I need someone I can 100% depend on and now that the merger is signed off on and underway, there’s no one else I’d trust with ensuring L-Corp remains on top in my unofficial absence. Well,” she adds as an afterthought, “there’s no one else left.”

She must be thinking of Sam, the last person she entrusted with running L-Corp’s day to day. And whenever Sam comes up, thoughts of Ruby are never too far behind. Alex polishes her drink off. This trip is already depressing enough as it is, she doesn’t need to think of yet another person they’ve lost.

“Then I hope she says yes.”

Lena waves a hand: “She will. The question’s more how long she’ll drag it out for and how much I’ll have to beg.”

“I was under the impression Lena Luthor doesn’t beg…”

And ok… she didn’t mean for this to come out the way it just did. 

Lena blinks and looks at her curiously, looks almost tempted there, for a second. “Andrea’s only part of the reason. If last year’s commemoration for James is any indication – no offence to Kelly, of course – this year’s event won’t have nearly enough alcohol to see me through it.” 

Fuck. Lena’s going to that? “Wait. You’re also attending Kelly’s thing?” 

“Of course. I go every year”

She dated James for close to a year, saved him later on with the Harun-El. The two of them went through quite a lot. So yes, it would follow that she’ll be in attendance. And yet, Alex had assumed she wouldn’t.

“I figured you’d be too busy…”

“Oh, it’ll undoubtedly be a busy day. I have to show my face at the city’s official commemoration and will then host L-Corp’s. I’ll drop by afterwards.”

It’s jarring, to realise that hadn’t she left the DEO, she’d no doubt have a similar schedule. A glimpse into another life. It reminds her of those days when one funeral would chase away another, when she’d shake so many hands the faces would just coalesce into one big blur.

“It’s very nice of you to make the time. I’m sure Kelly appreciates it.” 

“It feels important. James and I… we weren’t meant to be, but I cared about him and I know he cared about me. Showing up once a year is the least I can do.”

Not for the first time, Alex feels a tad ashamed for not attending the previous years.

She leans her head back and closes her eyes. “God, I’m so not looking forward to this. Is that… Can I say that without… sounding like an asshole?”

“You can. And that would make two of us.”

“This calls for a toast, then!” Alex offers.

“To…?”

“To making it through this terrible idea of a weekend?” Alex suggests, once Lena returns with her second surprise cocktail of the ride.

“Together” Lena finishes, as they clink their glasses.

“Together” she echoes, looking at her. The pilot, afraid of flying. The Luthor trying to save the world. She likes catching these different facets of Lena, her hang-ups and contradictions, feels almost privileged Lena feels safe enough to share them with her.