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They’re all standing in a huddle outside the National City Animal Shelter and it might be the most ridiculous thing Lena has ever participated in.
What she knows is they all drank enough last night to agree on this plan, but not enough to forget about it, and somehow there was no Saturday morning disaster to divert their attention elsewhere.
So here they all stand, coffees in hand, as Kara goes over the plan for the third time while barely keeping herself from floating away in excitement.
"Okay! Does everyone have their notepads and pencils?! "
Everyone does.
Because Kara handed them notepads branded with their individual names on them as they walked up ten minutes ago.
"Great! Rule number one! Everyone splits up!" Kara says.
She looks directly at Lena then Alex then back again and honestly, Lena is a bit offended. She and Alex are quite capable of doing things separately. Alex didn't even sleep over last night... which is a perhaps a strange thing to say about your friend, but ever since they decided to be besties, it's just worked out that it's easier on their schedules if they simply hang out at one of their apartments and have a sleepover.
Alex rolls her eyes in response to Kara's stare, but Kara is already moving on.
“Rule number two! You must look at every dog available because we want all of them to have a fair shot at getting adopted! Rule number three,” she rushes on, “each person must write down their top four dogs! Four only! This is very important!"
"Are you trying to convince us or yourself?" James asks. Lucy hides her chuckle with a sip of her Americano while Nia diligently takes notes.
“Rule number four! After round one, we will see which dogs are on everyone's list, rank them and then go visit the top three dogs! We will do this until one dog has been chosen!"
"Kara, if I may," Brainy begins, "This is a very complicated manner of achieving this goal. I perused the shelter’s website this morning to look at the available canines and based on my calculations--"
Kara superspeeds over and covers Brainy's mouth. "No spoilers!"
Brainy nods until Kara removes her hand and Lena has no idea how this particular set of people have become her people. Or how she's actually the one, after one glass of wine too many, who suggested they all share ownership of a dog.
It made perfect sense at the time. They're all too busy to properly care for a pet by themselves, but shared custody solves that problem.
Lena's always wanted a dog, but dared not ask as a child. She admitted that to Alex during one of their Sunday brunches, which is why Alex immediately agreed that sharing a dog sounded like a great idea.
Alex has been doing that a lot lately - giving into things Lena wants. Lena’s still getting used to the idea that people give because they want to and not because they want something. It's quite intoxicating, actually.
So this is how Lena Luthor finds herself walking into the National City Animal Shelter with her friends, giving Alex a wink as they separate, and falling deeply and madly in love with the first dog she sees.
She’s six months old and shaggy and her name is Bubbles. More golden retriever than anything else, but there’s something else mixed in that Lena can’t quite identify. And she’s bouncing off the walls. Literally. She’s using all four paws to catapult herself off the walls in an epic athletic display of pick me. Lena knows that whatever else happens today, she’s going home with this dog.
But since Lena would prefer not to have Kara frowning at her for breaking the rules, she makes her way through the rest of the shelter adding a five year old chocolate lab mix named Blu, a three year old Rottweiler named Squid, and a six year old chihuahua named Sir Lawrence to her list.
When they all meet up for the first round of voting, Lena’s not surprised that Bubbles is on five out of seven lists. Lena has impeccable taste and Nia and Lucy clearly don’t know the best dog when they see her.
“So Bubbles, huh?” Alex says right before they break for round two. “She might be a bit much, a little more than we bargained for, don’t you think?”
“More than I bargained for is always what I want from the good things,” Lena says. It comes out a little flirty and she definitely doesn’t mean it that way, especially since Alex is meeting Aaliyah’s siblings at dinner tonight. Alex’s only real experience with meeting the family was the disastrous one with Maggie’s father. Lena has spent the last week trying to calm Alex’s mounting anxieties and convince her Aaliyah’s family will love her and there’s nothing to worry about.
“Fair enough,” Alex says. “I’ll see you at the end of round two.” And because Alex is a bit of dork, which was a glorious discovery as their friendship has grown, the badass secret agent who knows over one hundred way to kill a man, bows deeply and with the seriousness of a knight before battle. “May the best dog win the honor of being more than you bargained for.”
Lena laughs loud and warm until Alex rounds a corner out of sight. She makes her way back over to visit Sir Lawrence, who is currently in third place, which Lena knows is mostly because of his name. He’s handsome and Lena loves that he carries himself with the imperiousness of a cat, but Bubbles has already won her heart. Instead of visiting the rest of the contenders, she walks back to the meetup point and calls her assistant.
“Elena, I need to you to purchase everything a fifty-pound dog could need. Seven versions of each for everyone’s apartments, then a lean version for my office, Jame’s office, the main DEO base, and the desert base. Also, call Cesar and see if he can come out for a quick training session. And have Tanisha draw up a package that creates a trust for the National City Animal Shelter so that they remain fully funded. Actually, let's look into a larger piece of property for them. Something ranch style so the animals can have space to run around. And do they train emotional support dogs here? Find out, and if not, let’s add that as well. I’d like a report on my desk by Monday.”
“Are you serious, right now?”
Lena hadn’t even heard Alex walk up. “Thank you, Tanisha.” She ends the call and turns around as sheepishly as a Luthor is capable of being. “L Corp is very committed to animal welfare and giving back to the community ”
“I can’t believe I thought Kara was the one I had to worry about.”
“No need to worry about me, Director Danvers. I’m a responsible adult capable of going to an animal shelter and only leaving with one dog.”
“What if I like worrying about you?’
And Lena doesn’t know what to do with that, but she does know she helped Alex secure a reservation for tonight’s meet-the-family date with Aaliyah at Old Roxy Lane, a trendy new bowling alley that’s managed to get a Michelin star for its wood-fired pizza.
Luckily the rest of the gang shows up and saves her from answering.
“Okay everyone,” Kara claps. “Hand over your selections for round two, please.”
“Kara is this really necessary?” Lena begins. “We all know which dog is the best and—”
“And Lena’s already ordered new supplies for Bubbles to be delivered to everyone’s homes and offices.”
“What?!” Everyone, except Kara, says.
“Great. Because I kinda already did the paperwork and they’re going to bring her out in a few minutes,” Kara adds.
Alex doubles over in laughter. “I cannot believe you two are my favorites.”
“What I can’t believe is that you made us go through this whole charade just so you and Lena could break the rules,” Lucy says.
“I’m sorry! I was just afraid that someone would get her before us!” Kara says.
Everyone looks at Lena, expectantly.
“I’m… not sorry,” Lena shrugs.
“We could all be at home already with this,” Brainy pauses for dramatic effect like he always does when he’s acquired twenty-first century slang, “doggo if you’d just listened to me hours ago.”
“Brainy, sometimes it’s nice to be surprised,” Nia says.
“Yes. You are correct, Nia Nal. For instance, two nights ago when I walked into my apartment and you were there wearing—“
“Wow! Okay! Here comes our new dog!” James interrupts.
They all turn around as Bubbles excitedly bounds up to them, her energy barely contained by her leash.
Brainy uses physics to avoid a sloppy face lick. What remains of Lucy’s Americano spills all over the front of her t-shirt when Bubbles jumps halfway up her body for an enthusiastic hello. James bends over to pull Bubbles away from Lucy, but she’s too fast and gives him a lick across his head before running over to Nia for a belly scratch. Kara is actually floating. Just a little bit. Not enough for a stranger to notice, but there she is, floating around and buzzing with joy.
“Are you happy?” Alex asks.
She and Lena stand just outside the group watching their new dog run circles around her new family.
The question gives her pause.
Is she happy?
She looks at everyone’s smiling faces and listens to their laughter and she’s momentarily shocked.
“Is this what it feels like? Happiness?”
“Yeah, Lee, it is.”
“Lee?”
“I’m trying it out,” Alex says with this mix of confidence and shyness that does things to Lena she hasn’t been able to put into words yet.
She pulls Alex into a tight hug and breathes her in, breathes this moment in, and lets it settle warmly in her chest. “Yes, I’m happy,” she whispers. The brush of Alex’s lips right under her ear is so light Lena almost thinks she’s imagined it, but when Alex pulls her closer, she knows it was real.
“You guys!” Kara says so closely to their faces they startle apart. “Come say hi!” She’s off again before Lena’s heart rate drops back into a normal range. Alex grabs her hand and pulls her toward the group.
They kneel down to greet their new dog and before their knees fully touch the ground, Bubbles runs up and knocks them both over in an outburst of puppy love.
Lena can’t escape the puppy kisses and she’s only half trying. Then Alex tries using her Director Danvers voice to get Bubbles to calm down. It’s a complete and adorable failure.
Lena is deeply in love with every second of it.