Chapter Text
Alex is up before the alarm starts blaring, J’onn’s voice shouting over the comms system as she opens Winn’s door. He’s more flustered than usual, head popping up from behind his bed to ask Alex if she’s seen his gun. She gives him her patented unimpressed stare.
“Five minutes.”
Lucy’s next, and if Alex puts a little extra force behind throwing the door open who can blame her. Predictably, Lucy is still a lump under her covers, hair sticking out at shocking angles, one foot dangling off the side of the bed.
“Lucy,” Alex says with absolutely no edge of whining in her voice, “Come on, J’onn is freaking out.” The alarm continues sounding in the background, J’onn’s voice cycling through increasingly urgent warnings as Alex rolls her eyes. Lucy grunts in response, starts moving under the covers. Alex pauses in the hallway, sticks her head back in the room. “And no hookups upstairs.” If she slams the door behind her, it’s just because she’s in a hurry. Still, she can’t help but hear a muffled thump, then Lucy’s sleep rough voice saying “And take your clothes with you! I don’t do laundry.”
The hall phone rings, and really? It’s 7am and Alex is fully prepared to take her frustration out on whoever is dumb enough to be calling right now.
“DEBS, Danvers speaking.” She might have angled the phone to catch J’onns now screaming alarm.
“Is Kara there?” and oh, of course it’s this idiot. Alex hangs up the phone, Kara’s dumb boyfriend should know better than to call the house line.
Alex pops her head into Kara’s room just in time to see her comms watch light up. Kara frowns before answering “Seriously Mike this is not a good time.” Kara’s tone and words have every one of Alex’s big sister senses tingling. It’s definitely because of that she fully steps into Kara’s room, and not because she heard Lucy’s door slam behind her. She quirks an eyebrow as Kara meets her gaze, but all Kara does is shake her head in response. Alex can hear Mike whine something but Kara just hangs up the comm.
Alex has never, ever seen Kara hang up on someone. She wants to ask more, but the alarm is getting perilously close to J’onn’s screaming countdown. At least Winn found his gun, and all four DEBS are finally locked and loaded (even if Lucy’s uniform is wrinkled and her shirt only half buttoned. That’s Lucy’s problem and Alex doesn’t care. She doesn’t .)
Kara’s comm phone rings again on the way down the stairs, and Kara growls at it, and okay this is a sister conversation that’s going to have to happen sooner than later. Kara answers and cuts immediately into Mike’s ramble “Please stop calling. Goodbye Mike.” Kara hangs up the comm and doesn’t answer when it starts ringing again.
Alex manages to wait until they’re all situated in the Wrangler, top down under the bright National City sunlight (until Kara is trapped and can’t escape her questioning. She is squad leader for a reason ) to ask “So, Mike?”
Kara’s infamous crinkle appears so quickly Alex would laugh if she weren’t a little worried.
Kara mumbles something too quietly to hear over the wind and the truly excellent 90s pop radio station but Lucy pipes up from the back seat, “Mike fucking sucks.” Which is one thing Alex and Lucy can agree on. If their eyes briefly meet in the rearview and Lucy smirks and Alex quickly redirects it’s because she’s worried about her sister.
“What was that, Supergirl?” Kara huffs, either at being prodded or the use of the nickname she doesn’t exactly love.
“We broke up.” Kara is still mumbling, still has her trademark crinkle, but she sounds sure . She sounds more like herself than she has since they started dating.
Winn, traitor that he is, has the audacity to say “Aw, but he’s so cute!” Alex is a very safe driver and always keeps her eyes on the road but she can still reach back to slap Winn upside the head. Lucy might snort out a laugh, but it’s not like Alex is paying that much attention so who knows for sure.
“Good.” Kara still looks, well not sad , but, like maybe Alex could add a little sensitivity to her approach. “Are you okay?” Alex’s face grows dark. “Did he do something? I can make sure they never find his body.” From other sisters that might be a platitude but Alex would . And she’s got the training for it.
“No, no nothing like that. Just. Y’know.” Alex does not know. The rest of the sentence is lost as Alex takes the turn to Noonan’s on 3 wheels, Winn yelping and Lucy cussing and okay, maybe Alex is not, actually, the safest driver.
Lucy glares at Alex but addresses Kara “I don’t know, so spill.”
Kara’s answer coincides perfectly with Alex cutting the radio, so when she says “I just want to be in love!” it’s loud enough to turn heads across the parking lot. Winn looks like he can’t decide whether to be confused or concerned when he asks “Why are you yelling?” Kara makes a noise that can’t rightfully be called words as she flings open the door and scrambles out.
Lucy does not need to use Alex’s shoulder as leverage to hop right over the side of the jeep, but that doesn’t stop her doing it. Alex definitely does not feel every single point of contact between them or notice that Lucy has had her skirt shortened an absolutely unfair amount. It’s fine. Kara finally broke up with Mike, there are pancakes and coffee in her immediate future, which will probably cover up the smell of Lucy’s stupid perfume.
Kara has a head start to the door but Alex manages to catch her and pull her into a tight hug, whispers “sister time later” and kisses her temple. They might be elite special agents but Alex will always be a big sister first. Kara doesn’t say anything, but she does squeeze Alex so tightly she wheezes before letting go.
Noonan’s is the same as always, DEBS plaid covering every vertical surface, DEBS tucked into corners studying (or crying, there’s a lot of crying over pastries during finals). Alex slides into the center booth beside J’onn and Lucy slides in right next to her.
The waitress is there before Winn has even had a chance to sit and Alex jumps at the opportunity for sweet, sweet carbohydrates. Kara beats her to it, because of course she does.
“Can I get a farmer’s daughter tall stack, over easy, extra bacon, and a sticky bun please?” Kara aims her megawatt smile at the waitress, who, like everyone who has ever met Kara, is halfway in love with her. Watching people blush and grin at her sister is kind of gross, kind of funny, but often useful so Alex doesn’t complain. Kara gets a lot of free pastries, and sometimes she shares.
“Same. And a coffee.”
Winn orders some tofu smoothie that Alex would really rather not contemplate at this hour. Lucy asks for “Coffee. Black.” Alex narrows her eyes, if Lucy thinks she’s going to steal her sticky bun she’s got another thing coming.
Sometimes Alex wonders how deep J’onn’s patience runs. Outside of the pre-programmed DEBS alarms, she has never seen him raise his voice, never seen his face anything but calm and impassive. She’s seen him smile exactly twice, when Kara earned her stripes and when Lucy and Alex earned theirs. So she’s a little concerned that he looks concerned, waiting for the waitress to be safely out of earshot before he begins.
“We have a special guest with us today.” He pauses, letting it linger. “Ms. Grant.”
Kara almost chokes on her water. “Ms. Grant never comes down here!” Alex is torn between curiosity and delight, Kara’s cheeks are already red and she’s refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. She knows absolutely none of them have forgotten her drunken monologue on the many virtues of one Cat Grant.
The telltale chime of the DEBS teleporter forestalls any further conversation as Ms. Grant herself steps out of the portal. Alex is always surprised by how slight she is. Her presence in the lives of the DEBS (and in the international intelligence community) is so massive it’s hard to imagine it all being contained in such a small person.
Kara manages not to stutter at all when she meets Ms. Grant’s eyes and says, “It is such a pleasure to see you.”
Ms. Grant lets her eyes linger briefly on Kara, and Alex is almost positive she sees a smile, although there is no humor in her response.
“No time for pleasantries.” She looks to J’onn, but Alex sees Kara’s crestfallen face and feels a pang of sympathy. “Mr. Jonzz, a matter of some urgency has come to my attention.” Dramatic pauses must be included in the DEBS leadership training manual. “Lena Luthor is back in the states.”
The news sparks audible reactions from the whole table. Lucy and Alex’s tandem “Oh shit,” Winn whispering “oh my god.” Kara’s reaction isn’t shock, but a bright, “I’m writing my thesis on her!” which brings a longer look from Ms. Grant, this one more appraising. Kara perks up under the attention, straightening up from her slouch and bringing her shoulders back. It doesn’t last long. Ms. Grant turns back to J’onn to say “I expect to be kept in the loop on this one” before teleporting back to… wherever it is that Ms. Grant teleports back to.
In the stunned silence following Ms. Grant’s abrupt departure, J’onn clicks on a holographic slide. Luthor is rarely sloppy enough to be caught on camera, the picture on the screen is blurry and from a strange angle. Even so, Alex is momentarily surprised by how pretty the woman is. And how young.
“Lena Luthor, last surviving member of the Luthor crime syndicate. Her family did battle with the Lords in a vicious blood feud that lasted a decade. After her brother died, she inherited the keys to the kingdom. Illegal arms running, smuggling, gambling, and her specialty, diamond theft.”
J’onn clicks a button and Lena’s face is replaced with a handsome, grinning man. It looks like a LinkedIn headshot. She’s almost as curious about where this picture came from as she is about the man behind it.
“She’s protected by a loyal band of mercenaries, led by this man, Jack Spheer. It is believed that Lena Luthor was behind the Myriad plot in 2018. Three attempts have been made to apprehend her, all failed. She went underground after the Myriad incident and has not been heard from since.”
Winn puffs out his cheeks. “Yikes.”
“That’s not even the worst part,” Lucy says, grinning at him, eyes sparkling with challenge (not that Alex is paying any attention, whatever). Winn gulps.
“What’s the worst part?” He asks, eyes shifting around the table. Lucy leans forward to whisper conspiratorially.
“Nobody has ever fought her,” Lucy pauses. Alex is really, really tired of dramatic pauses and it is only 7:30 in the morning. “And lived to tell about it.”
The drama of the moment is ruined when the waitress drops off their breakfast, plates and cups clattering to the table. Kara wastes absolutely no time in tearing into her pancakes. Lucy waits for Alex to start in on her own before reaching over to grab the sticky bun from her plate. Alex is fully prepared to use every one of her elite DEBS skills to recoup the pastry, but is distracted by Kara, talking with her mouth full. (Definitely not because Lucy winked at her, smug is not a good look on thieves, Lane).
“Why’s she back in town?” J’onn somehow ignores her talking through her food. Maybe he’s gotten used to it after four years. Alex has had 10 and it still grosses her out.
“Intel suggests she’s here to meet this woman.” A striking blonde replaces Jack on the holograph. “Leslie Willis.”
Winn puts down his tofu smoothie. “Wait. Leslie Willis like Livewire Leslie Willis? Didn’t we put her in jail last year?”
“She had a good lawyer. Got out on appeal last month. They’re scheduled to meet tonight, 1900 hours. Find out what Lena is up to. Surveillance only. I don’t want to see any heroics.” He glares at each of them in turn, landing on Alex.
“Alex, you’re in charge. Lucy, you’re second.” He looks around the table once more, and his face softens. “and DEBS? Be careful.” He teleports out before Alex or Lucy can complain about their duty assignments, leaving the DEBS with the opp information. Kara is studying the folder intently, interested enough that she has mostly stopped eating.
“What does a reclusive criminal mastermind want with a murderous meta-human?”