Chapter Text
The old expression says a journey begins with a single step.
Or a text message.
The moment Alex checked her phone, her whole persona changed, the laser-focused danger coming to the forefront. Even having seen the transition before, Lena was fascinated.
In a flurry of activity, the women grabbed their things and headed for the door. The last thing to join them was a bulky pistol that Alex had hidden in the chair cushions of all the insane things. She either missed or ignored Lena's widened eyes in reaction. They were going to have a talk about that.
But for now, they were on. Over the course of her life, Lena had dealt with bodyguards before and knew how to take her cues from them. Without asking, she grabbed the largest suitcase with the big carryon strapped to the top, leaving Alex with the middle-sized case and the garment bag, both easily dropped and less likely to interfere with her movements. All she carried of her own was a black leather backpack slung close to her body.
It was a quiet ride in the elevator and a silent walk to the black SUV Susan waited beside. Bags were stowed and Alex got Lena settled in behind the driver's seat with a little squeeze to the elbow before walking around the car to sit behind the sleeping figure in the passenger seat.
As they left the complex behind, Lena was disconcerted that she found herself already missing Alex's apartment where she had felt so at home.
At four in the morning the city was only just stirring, even on a Monday, and they arrived at NCX(*) with ease. Lena directed Susan away from the regular routes of pickup and departure to more industrial areas of the gigantic airport. Signage separated them from the delivery trucks and buses to an officious TSA(**) checkpoint.
Still sound asleep, Kyra didn't stir until Susan gently prodded her as they slipped into one of the designated parking spots. "Come on, you. Time for the paperwork part of the morning."
"You're lucky you're cute," Kyra growled, completely forgetting they weren't alone. "And put away the cow eyes, Agent Badass, I'm up, I'm up."
Chuckles from the backseat made Kyra jump even as the doors opened and all she saw was a red felt coat and a fall of long, dark hair. Another stranger walked between her window and the blaze of lights from the surrounding airport, shortish hair tossing in the breeze.
Still half-asleep, Kyra wearily followed Susan and the strangers to where their luggage had been pulled out of the car and was being run through an x-ray machine. Distracted by going through the rigmarole of getting her ID checked and fretting over the pair of guitars brought along, Kyra only caught glimpses of the strangers. The hot redhead had to be the infamous Agent Danvers that Susan admired so. Now that she'd seen the woman, Kyra couldn't blame her girlfriend for that old crush. Yowza!
The other one, clearly their field trip sugar mama by her elegant dress and poise, was still a mystery. Though the glimpses of profile was nagging her memory. Why did she look so familiar?
The mystery was further pushed back when Kyra was treated to her girlfriend staring down some arrogant TSA yahoo who was trying to throw his weight around over the heavy pistols carried by both FBI agents. After that, they were quickly shuffled out and the bags piled back into the trunk as the police dog finished sniffing over the car.
"Agent Badass," Kyra teased warmly and leaned over to kiss the corner of Susan's smirk as she got them underway once more.
Moving past enormous hangars and outbuildings, Susan pulled up to one with the vast doors rolled back to reveal a trio of fancy jets in various sizes. The smallest was the rich cousin of a puddle-jumper and the largest the length of two large buses and twice as tall.
"Whoa, wait," Kyra breathed in awe. "Are we going on one of those?"
Susan and Lena chuckled lightly, but Alex was all business, hopping out of the car as a cheerful pair of employees poured from the building with carts to collect the luggage and escort them inside. A well-dressed manager of some sort zeroed in on the lady in the red coat to the exclusion of the rest of them, and it suddenly clicked with Kyra who she was. Susan looked innocent at the startled, accusatory look.
Alex caught the interaction of the other couple in her avid perusal of her surroundings, but ignored it. She was jittery this morning, just wanting to get Lena as far away from possible danger as possible, even as it rankled her to feel as though she was running away.
The hangar, plane and staff were neat and professional and that clearly did much to reassure Lena as she dealt with the staff interactions and the other three stood back quietly. Alex had never seen this side of her lover, not completely at the forefront like this. With a seemingly effortless, cool elegance, Lena Luthor the rich, powerful CEO was in her element. The rest of them were merely entourage. Necessary, but jarring nonetheless. Hard to believe just hours ago, on her kitchen counter…
Alex shoved that thought away and hoped she wasn't blushing.
"She's even better looking in person," Kyra noted conversationally as they hung back out in the hangar, admiring the shiny jets and Lena where she stood beside the largest machine talking with the small crew of three. Startled, Alex almost looked over at the small redhead, but managed to fight the urge. Susan made a strangled noise halfway between admonishing and amused, trying her best to remain serious Agent Badass #2. Well aware that she was pushing, but characteristically unable to stop herself, Kyra was all innocence. "What? I'm just sayin'."
"You and your celebrity rags," Susan couldn't resist teasing quietly and they playfully bumped shoulders.
"Hardly," Kyra scoffed. "And half the time, you're the one that brings home Catco Magazine."
"Random personal connection," Susan taunted and then chortled over getting punched in the arm.
The Catco Magazine reference caught Alex's ear, but then the pilots were calling them over to board, promising warmth and comfort and hot coffee. But Alex remained wary, clearly unwilling to trap herself into a confined space with takeoff still an hour away. A hand in the small of her back, too close to the pistol nestled there, made Alex jump and half whip around, startling Lena.
"Crap, I'm sorry, Lee. I'm jumpy this morning."
Having that rattlesnake-fast menace turned on her, no matter how briefly, was unsettling and a little sexy. Rubbing a tense arm in lieu of the hug she really wanted, Lena quirked a quick smile that she suspected was more of a grimace.
"It's okay. Go prowl around to your heart's content. I won't let them leave without you."
For a long moment, Alex's game face was completely shot as she watched Lena turn away and stiffly climb the staircase that doubled as the door of the plane.
"You didn't tell me they were a couple," Kyra hissed in an aside to Susan, who instantly went from unflappable Agent Vasquez to protesting girlfriend.
"I didn't know! I didn't even meet Luthor until yesterday morning."
"So much for National City's Hottest and Edgiest Bachelorette, huh?"
"God, K, you are going to get me in so much trouble…"
Not for the first time, Susan wondered if she shouldn't be irritated at that evil cackle, but she still found Kyra's endless sass utterly charming.
"You're whipped," Alex stated dryly as Kyra scampered up the steps and Susan cringed in embarrassment. Not for the comment-- that she just shrugged and nodded at-- but that Alex had heard at least some of the exchange. Side by side, the two agents watched over the bustle of activity around them and guarded their loved ones.
Kyra didn't gawk at the luxurious interior of the plane… mostly. Mirror-shine dark woods were elegant contrast to the calm neutral colored surfaces and seats and the hangar's lights blazed through large oval windows. It was like something from a magazine and she couldn't even fathom what the price tag must be to rent a toy like this. There were a set of four seats towards the galley, facing each other in pairs with the aisle between. All the way to the back at a dark, shiny wall with a door in it, was another set of the same chairs and a couch. In the center was a table and four luxurious seats beside a sideboard and there sat none other than the famous Lena Luthor.
Oh yeah, this trip was shaping up to be a hell of a lot more interesting than she'd imagined.
Setting aside her guitar case and satchel on one of the most forward of the seats, she stripped off her coat and watched the elegant woman pouring over an oversized tablet. Kyra knew what anyone knew about her, the forefront of which would forever be the homicidal madness that had gripped her older brother. And there was a persistent rumor the family had been involved in the last batch of weirdness in that red-gold dusting over the whole city Saturday night.
The smell of freshly brewed coffee was a siren call away from her musings and Kyra drifted back to the galley area where a well-appointed coffee service was awaiting the hot brew. A carafe was gurgling to completion in its secure housing in the cabinet, so impulsively, she grabbed the insulated pot to set it on the tray and brought the service over to her travel companion.
"Coffee?"
Humming something affirmative, Lena didn't even look up until Kyra sat opposite her and started pouring a couple of mugs. She looked canny and dangerous for a moment before her expression cleared.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You're the other passenger from the car, yes?"
"Kyra Hart, Susan's livelier half, pleased to meet you. Thank you for the invite."
"I wouldn't deny… Agent Danvers," the pause on the title was an obvious one, "having backup, nor Agent Vasquez the opportunity to bring her partner along."
They were a newish thing then, Kyra guessed sagely, still trying to figure out one another and their boundaries.
"You're a musician," Lena noted at the sight of the battered guitar case leaning into the backward-facing seat by the galley.
"My bread and butter. Don't let me distract you from working."
Lena sighed and paused in pouring too much creamer in her coffee. "No, I appreciate the distraction."
"I make an excellent distraction."
So, they chatted to pass the time and Kyra was pleased to see a bit of the tension in the other woman ease. The crew flitted in and out, the single attendant looking startled at the missing coffee service before inquiring if they needed anything.
Then there was a sudden shift in energies, the attendant calling in the pair of agents, collecting their loose bags to stow as they filed in. Kyra was grateful to see that both of them blinked and gawked for a moment at the plane's interior. Good, it wasn't just her then.
"Looks like Thing One and Thing Two are done prowling around like wolves, so I'm going to go sit forward for takeoff so that I can properly ogle the whole experience of this." Kyra's teasing tone made Lena smile and this time the expression was warmer, reaching her eyes. "See you when we hit altitude?"
"Thank you, Kyra, that will be great."
With a shuffling of bodies, Susan and Kyra took the forward-facing of the foremost seats and Lena shifted towards the window so that Alex could sit beside her. The noise from outside vanished with a muffled thump and the whole plane shuddered very faintly around them as it began to move.
"Hey," Alex greeted her lover quietly, pleased when Lena intertwined their fingers tightly under the table.
"I'm glad you're with me, Al."
With the others on the plane facing away, Alex took a dare to press a lingering kiss to Lena's sleek scalp.
"I'm glad to be with you."
Greg the flight attendant cleaned up everything loose in the cabin and ran through the obligatory flight and safety information, before lowering the cabin lights and retreating forward. In the dull pre-dawn, the big Gulfstream G550 was taxing along busily now towards its destination.
"You okay?" Alex asked quietly, relaxing now that they were finally getting underway. Lena was staring out the window at the vast stripes of concrete marred with black rubber streaks from endless landings. A faint, awkward shrug made Alex lean over the armrest separating them and she nuzzled at Lena's dark hair. "Do you not like flying?"
The whisper was little more than a hot breath over her scalp and there was no stopping the jolt of sensual reaction that raced down Lena's spine. Torn between that visceral pleasantness and her fear, it took a moment for her to respond.
"No, I really don't."
The words belied the soft, breathy tone and Alex's felt a flare of arousal. She knew that sensual pitch. Eyes darting to the back of Susan and Kyra's chairs, not six feet away, she impulsively threw caution to the wind. The plane was turning to face down one of the runways, setting up to launch into the cloudy skies.
"We'll be okay," Alex reassured Lena, pressing their intertwined hands deeply into her lover's lap to trail teasing fingertips along the inside of her thigh. The way Lena caught her breath made Alex grin against her bowed neck and Susan, on the diagonal to them, to glance over her shoulder… and very quickly faced forward again, shaking her head at Kyra's curious look.
(*)= National City International Airport as a direct substitution for Los Angeles International Airport or LAX. I've always assumed the X is for the airplane shape on a map.
(**)= Transport Security Administration. We've all been through some version of sending all our loose carryons and shoes through the x-ray machine and providing proper documentation. In this day in and age, I'm assuming being rich doesn't save you from the hassle, it just makes it go much faster.