"Hey, Kara. How...How are...How are you doing today?" Alex said into her phone, pausing and starting again between loud sounds in her apartment.
"Alex, what is that awful noise?" Kara replied.
"Oh, um...That's Maggie. She isn't feeling too well this...this morning. She called in sick for work."
"Oh, God...Oh, God..." Maggie moaned in the background before she dry-heaved.
"Great Rao above, she sounds miserable. I can hear her without the phone."
Alex gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, she is pretty loud."
"No, I'm serious, Alex. You forget my hearing. Now that I know to listen, I can hear her without the phone. What's wrong with her? Do you want me to come over? I can't get sick."
"No, no. It's not catching," Alex assured. "I was just calling to check in on Lena. How's she..." Alex winced at another loud noise from her fiancée. "How's she doing?"
"Lena's fine. Why would you ask?"
"Did she make it into work on time today?"
"I guess. I have no idea what time she comes in, but she was here before me."
"Really. Huh. What time did you get in?"
"A little before eight. Alex, why are you asking about Lena? Should I be worried?"
"No, it's just that she and Maggie were out last night and they both were drinking." This time Alex stopped entirely at Maggie's vocality. "Sorry about that. Maggie had a lot more to drink. Lena brought her back basically passed out, but Lena was pretty tipsy, and it was after 2:00 AM. I expected her to wake up hungover and probably come in late. She's okay?"
"She looks fine to me," Kara replied, an obvious smile in her voice.
"Well that's...good. Okay, I'm just checking. She was very sweet last night, took good care of Maggie. You know, I really like her."
"Me too," Kara agreed. "I'm glad you're getting on board with Lena and my friendship. She's important to me. Thanks for being supportive."
"Oh, I'm supportive. I'm incredibly supportive, Kara. You have no idea how supportive I am."
"Why are you being weird?"
"I'm not. I'm being...supportive."
"O-kay. So nothing's going on with Lena that I should know about?"
"No. Nothing is going on with...actually, there is a little something."
"What is it?" Kara asked, her tone serious.
"It could be nothing."
"That means it might not be."
"But it probably is nothing."
"Probably isn't definitely, Alex. What's going on?" Kara asked, more concern bleeding into her voice.
"Kara, relax. Right now it's just chatter. We just picked up Lena's name in some communications, and we're following up on it."
"We the DEO we?"
"Yes, we the DEO," Alex confirmed. "Like I said; it's nothing right now. For all we know, someone just referenced her when talking about Lillian, or maybe they're talking about L-Corp. Hey, this could even be something old that just surfaced, something from a few months back. Like I said, totally nothing. But..."
"But...?" Kara echoed.
"Until we know it is nothing, just keep an eye on her. Why don't you have lunch with her today, maybe even see if she wants to have dinner. She's supposed to be learning about the media biz from you. Maybe you could suggest you make it a working lunch?"
"I could do that."
"Not too much working though," Alex quickly added. "Just the right amount of working with the right amount of socializing added in. Can you do that?"
"Uh sure. Lena's my friend. We always socialize. I'll see about lunch and dinner with her. Good ideas. Thanks, Alex."
"Great and I'll...ugh." Alex turned toward the bathroom again. "You okay sweetie?"
"...kill...me..."
"Yeah, I've got to go, before Maggie finds where I hid her service revolver and takes the easy way out of this hangover."
"Yikes. Okay, keep me in the loop about what the DEO finds out about Lena, okay?"
"Will do. Bye, little sister."
"Bye, and thanks again, Alex."
Disconnecting, Kara put her phone down on the desk and turned to look through the glass wall of James' office where Lena was going over photos for the next magazine with him. She looked back and forth between them, smiling to herself. With a big breath, hiking her shoulders up and letting them fall, Kara rose and almost bounced as she came to a stop just outside the entrance to the office.
"Knock, knock," Kara said as she stood smiling at the open doorway. "Do you have a moment?"
Both people turned to her, but it was James who said, "Sure, Kara, what do you need?"
Stepping into the office, Kara replied, "Actually, I wanted a moment of Lena's time. Lena?"
"Oh, certainly. What do you need, Kara? Something about a story?"
"No. I mean, not exactly. It's more like..." Adjusting her glasses, Kara slid a bit closer. "Do you have lunch plans?"
"Not in particular," Lena admitted.
"Great. Have lunch with me?"
Checking the time on her wristwatch, Lena replied, "Isn't it a bit early for that? I know you have a healthy appetite, but I don't even put cream in my breakfast coffee."
Kara snorted with laughter. "Cream...breakfast coffee. Lena, you're funny. James, isn't Lena funny?"
"Uh, hysterical." James smiled oddly at Kara. "It is pretty early for lunch, Kara, even for you."
"Right. Not lunch, not now I mean. Later though, would you like to have lunch with me later, Lena? I thought we could go over some notes I've taken on past articles. We could discuss the stages of an article...if you wanted."
"Well, that sounds lovely, Kara. I can have Eve get us reservations at—"
"No." Head shaking, Kara smiled nervously. "We'll get more done here, don't you think? I can pick up our usual lunch order from Noonan's, and we can eat here around noon?"
"Sounds lovely. Is there anything else?"
"That's it. Good luck with your photo spread."
"We don't need luck. We have Jimmy's photographic genius," Lena said reaching over and gently touching James' forearm.
"Jimmy?"
James nodded. "Talk to you later, Kara."
"Right, talk to you later...James." Heading back to her desk, Kara sat and watched Lena and James return to the photos as she muttered to herself. "Why is she calling him Jimmy? I thought he hated that nickname."
<><>
The knock on the door of Alex's apartment went unanswered. After maybe twenty seconds, there was a second knock. There was another pause, then a jangle of keys. Kara let herself in, looking around the apartment.
"Alex?" Glasses slid down her nose, Kara peered a bit then headed to the bedroom where she knocked gently on the door and whispered, "Alex?"
Lifting her head from the pillow where she lay next to Maggie, Alex said, "Oh, hey, Kara. What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see if you knew anything on the Lena situation."
"The Lena situation?" Brows creased, Alex took a moment to recall then said, "Oh, you mean the chatter at the DEO. Hold on. Let's go into the living room so Maggie can sleep."
Alex grabbed her cellphone from the table, and the two women made their way into the living room. Kara made a pitstop in the kitchen, grabbing some leftover pizza on the way.
"You want any?" Kara asked, holding up a slice.
Alex held up a hand in response. "I'm good. Maggie had pizza for dinner, and I got to see that make a comeback. It wasn't pretty."
"I heard. How much did she have to drink?
"From what Lena said, half the bar. Apparently, a lot of women were buying Lena drinks, and Maggie was drinking anything that women were sending to Lena."
Lowering a slice of pizza back into the box, Kara asked, "Why were women buying Lena drinks?"
"Because she's hot."
"Um...so?"
Grinning, Alex said, "Kara, Lena and Maggie went to Pandora's Box, a lesbian club. By the time they made it to the bar, someone had already bought Lena a drink. Some women think she's hot. Go figure."
"Yeah, go figure," Kara said with nervous laughter. "Hey, do you don't think James does, think she's hot I mean."
"James and Lena, no I don't think that...uh, maybe. I could see that. He's a good-looking guy, c-suite level, and they work closely together. Sure, that could happen." Alex watched her sister closely. "Have you seen anything that makes you suspicious of them?"
"Not usually. I didn't think James even trusted Lena, but he's letting her call him Jimmy. I thought he only let Clark and Lois do that. Doesn't that seem suspicious?"
"Actually, it does. Maybe he's up to something."
"Something romantic?" Kara asked.
"It...could be. If anyone else is interested in Lena, I think they should do something about it now. It's kind of a 'speak now or forever hold your peace' kind of moment. You know what I mean?"
Kara examined her hands for a long moment, nervous fingers making troubled paths over each other and across her palms. Finally, head lifted and fingers stilled, she asked, "So, learn anything on the Lena front?"
"Well..." Alex pressed the button on her phone, lighting the screen. "Actually, Winn should be here any minute with an update for me. I'm surprised to see you here this early. I thought you'd still be at lunch."
"Oh, well, I worked through lunch, a working lunch with Lena I mean, and then I was chasing down some information for a story. I got what I needed for that for now, so I thought I'd drop in on you, check up on the Lena situation, and see how Maggie's feeling. How's Maggie feeling?"
"She'll live though she was swearing otherwise a few hours ago." Alex grinned. "She's sworn off alcohol for life."
"That won't last."
"Agreed, though maybe we'll get a designated driver for a few nights. She really did have a lot to drink. Apparently, Lena is really popular with the ladies. That's quite the surprise, huh?"
"Yeah." Kara took several large bites of her pizza, fitting most of half of a slice in her mouth.
The Kryptonian was still chewing when there was a knock on the door. "That would be Winn. I'll get it." Her sister only nodded, shoving more food in her mouth, in response, and Alex rose and answered the door. "Hey, Winn. Thanks for coming by with the update. Look who was able to join us. It's Kara."
Waving excitedly from the couch, Kara smiled with a mouthful of pizza.
"Kara. Kara is here, on your couch, joining us for this briefing. Alex, I did not know Kara was joining us. Did you know Kara was joining us?" Winn stared nervously at Alex.
"Nope. She just dropped in unannounced." Patting Winn on the shoulder, Alex closed the door behind him. "It's convenient though, right? Now you can brief us both at the same time."
"I...I...I can do that. Sure, I can do that." Winn nodded, face falling forward as he scratched at the back of his head. He sat on the couch and pulled his laptop out of his bag. "Now keep in mind this is all still really preliminary, so I'll have more information eventually."
"But there's information to be had?" Alex asked.
"Uh, yeah." Winn popped open his laptop, powering it up and typing, bringing up several windows. "What does Kara know so far?"
"Basically nothing," Kara admitted. "Alex told me you guys picked up some information with Lena's name, but that it just might be old stuff. It's not old stuff?"
"It's not old stuff," Winn agreed. "Ever hear of Ognjen Janković?"
Kara shook her head.
"Wait." Alex shuffled forward slightly on the loveseat. "Serbian assassin, died three years ago in Detroit? That Ognjen Janković?"
"Yes, but he's not dead," Winn replied.
"Uh, yes he is. I was on that mission, Winn. Janković was in that house when it blew up. I saw him go in, and we had the place surrounded. The thing was a fireball. We recovered the body. He was dead."
Winn shrugged. "We recovered a body, but Janković never left any DNA evidence at any of his kill sites. We have him listed as dead, but based on the information I'm tracking, the payment history I recorded, and this picture, Ognjen Janković is very much alive today."
Winn turned his laptop, showing the image of a man with a strong jaw with a light scruff, low brow, gray eyes, fairly closely cut hair that was a dirty blond, and obvious broad chest. He looked up into the camera with a glare while people bustled in the background.
"Holy fuck." Alex wiped her hand over her mouth. "That's Ognjen Janković. Winn, when was this taken? Where was this taken?"
"Metropolis Airport, just this morning."
"And you're sure this was—"
"Alex." Winn nodded. "Someone made a very large cash transaction to an account Janković accessed the day before, but he's since moved the money out."
"How large?" Kara asked.
"Quarter of a million dollars," Winn replied.
"Great Rao." Kara tossed the pizza box, pizza and all, onto the table. "And he's an assassin?"
"One of the deadliest," Alex confirmed. "I don't understand how this could have happened. I saw him go into that building. There's no way that...I..."
"Alex, there were a dozen other agents on site. Everyone confirmed he was dead. I read the report," Winn said. "This isn't your fault."
"He's headed to National City now?"
"He may already be here."
Jumping to her feet, Kara yelled, "What!?"
"Kara relax. These guys, they don't do anything until they get the rest of their payment. The initial payment got him out of hiding. He won't make a move against Lena until he has payment in full."
"But she's the target," Kara confirmed.
Winn glanced over to Alex, waiting for the nod in return before he looked at Kara and said, "She's the target."
"I've got to get to her!"
"Kara, just wait a second," Alex began.
"No time! Lena needs protection!" As Kara ran up and over the loveseat on her way to the windows, and she said, "Thanks, Alex! Love you, Winn!" Throwing open a window, Kara took to the sky on her way back to Catco.
Trotting over to the window, Alex shook her head and closed the open window. "She's flying around in a cardigan and tan slacks."
"I think she got excited."
"Tell me about it. She got us confused at the end there."
"Hey, Kara-bear loves me," Winn argued.
Sitting back down on the loveseat, Alex pointed at the image on the laptop. "Okay, I'm about halfway to jumping out the window after her. Tell me you faked that somehow and Ognjen Janković is not alive."
"This image is very much real and came from Metropolis Airport as of this morning," Winn smirked.
"Winn." Alex's tone was a warning.
"Okay. It's M'gann. She did pose for the picture out east this morning. She looks scary, doesn't she?"
"She scared the shit out of me," Alex agreed. "Did you give James a head's up?"
"No. Think we should?"
"We should but..." Alex grinned. "Yeah, we have to. Right now, Kara is going to be even less capable of forming a cohesive sentence than normal, and James doesn't want to help us with this. I'll call him." Pulling out her phone, Alex brought up her contacts and scrolled for James. "Oh, and Winn, sorry for dropping Kara on you like that. She just dropped in on me. You did a great job."
"Thanks," Winn replied with obvious pride. "I was a little surprised to see her. I thought I'd just be updating you, not performing for an audience."
As the phone rang, Alex smiled at him. "Well, you're a great thespian."
Brows creasing, Winn frowned. "I'm a what?"