Chapter Text
ACT ONE
2017, January
Her heart pounds against her chest as she runs. There’s no time to slack off, what with the Olympic trials happening in five days. It would be an understatement to say she was worried about it. She’d made it through preliminary trials, and although that was a boost to her confidence, it did not guarantee her a place in the team.
She finishes her run eventually and heads back to the flat she shares with her roommates. They’re all watching the news, and to no one’s surprise, it’s talking about Lena Luthor again, who is pretty much guaranteed a spot in the US team. The presenter then shifts over and starts talking about Kara, no different from what they were doing yesterday, and the day before. In fact, they’ve been talking about Kara and Lena ever since Ava and Alex had announced their retirements.
The news had blown up when Ava Sharpe and Alex Danvers had announced their retirement. Alex was retiring to pursue a PhD, and Ava was retiring to become a coach for the team.
The two of them were the top two contenders for the team, and since both Ava Sharpe and Alex Danvers had retired from the team, there was a very real chance that the both of them could fence in the Olympics. Kara drowns out the noise from the TV as she heads to the bathroom. She’s sweaty, and her clothes are sticking onto her skin, and she tries not to think about Lena.
Kara and Lena were no strangers to each other, having fought each other in regionals, and later on in nationals. They’d never had a conversation with each other though, and their interactions consisted mainly of handshakes, nods, and fencing.
Her roommates cheer as she walks out of the bathroom, and Kara grins sheepishly, before heading into her room to work on school work. She’s about to graduate college in a year, and although she doesn’t really need her degree if she’s going to be fencing for the United States, she’d made it this far, and would really like to complete it.
There’s not much to do for the next few days. She goes over her technique, goes over her footwork, until her coach tells her she needs to stop before she injures herself. That scares Kara enough into complying, and she spends the next few days analysing film of herself and her competition.
She gets a call from her sister the night before the trials, and Alex tells her that she’ll be there, watching, along with the current team. Kara knows this, of course, but she still gulps in panic as she remembers that she’ll be judged by the US team.
She’s met them before, what with Alex being on the team and all, and Sara and Ava had been nice to her, telling her to keep up with her fencing, but they’re still world class fencers, and Kara can’t deny being slightly terrified of them.
She wonders if Lena is feeling terrified about tomorrow as well, but she doesn’t dwell on it too much, and eventually falls asleep.
–
The trials go smoothly, and her preparations don’t go to waste, as she beats the other candidates over and over again, until she gets to Lena. They shake hands, put on their masks, wait for the beep, and fight.
It’s a thrilling fight, more exciting than the others she has just won. Lena wins the first bout, Kara wins the next, and they go into overtime when the time runs out and they tie. The floor is silent, and she can feel all eyes on her and Lena. Neither of them make the first move, and they dance on the piste like their lives depended on it. Lena lunges, and Kara parries, lunging for Lena’s foot. Her heart erupts as she hears a beep, signifying her victory.
There’s a pause, and then Lena shakes her hand, removing her masks, says a congratulations, and it takes Kara a few moments to remember to shake back, and tell her that it was a good match.
Lena nods in reply, her eyes scanning the crowd for someone. The floor is silent for a while, and then Kara is brought back to reality when she’s ushered to her next match.
The rest of the trials go by quickly, and Sara Lance tells them that they’ll be receiving emails from them in two weeks, confirming whether they’ll be in the team or not.
Alex is driving her home, so Kara waits in the reception area until Sara Lance walks out, grinning at her and clapping her on the shoulder.
‘Way to go, little Danvers!’ Sara says, ‘Good job out there.’
Kara grins. ‘Thanks Sara.’
Sara asks her about college, and Kara moans at her about the amount of schoolwork she has, and they wait for Alex to arrive.
Alex walks out eventually, and they say a goodbye to Sara and head towards Alex’s car. They don’t talk about the trials, but Alex tells her she’s proud of her, no matter what happens, and drops her off at her flat.
Her roommates are waiting in the living room when she arrives, and they jump at her, asking her how it went, and congratulating her. Kara smiles and tells them she thinks she did alright, and that she’ll know if she gets in within two weeks.
They go out for drinks that night, and Kara gets absolutely hammered. She goes home at 3 am (she thinks) and wakes up at 2 pm the next day, with someone in her bed. She doesn’t remember taking anyone home, but they’re both fully clothed, so she doesn’t think anything happened.
The other girl wakes up eventually and excuses herself, and Kara beams at her, waving goodbye. She’s still riding on the high from yesterday, albeit the horrible headache that’s nagging her.
The week flies by fast, and Kara twirls her fingers anxiously as she waits for an email from the US Olympic team. At this point, she’s on her emails more than her social media, and she thinks it’s the same on Lena’s end.
She wakes up at 12:02 am one night to a notification on her phone, and she blinks the sleep out of her eyes when she realises it’s an email. She takes in three deep breaths, clicks on the notifcation, and nearly screams when she sees the word ‘congratulations.’
She re-reads the email over and over, triple checks that it’s addressed to her, Kara Danvers, and that she’s not hallucinating. When she decides that it’s real, she calls Alex, who picks up immediately, and before Kara can get a word out, she’s bombarded with congratulations from Alex and Sam, and then she hears Sara and Ava telling her congratulations.
Alex tells her that they’re at her’s and Sam’s place, waiting for Kara’s call, and Kara laughs uncontrollably. They hang up eventually, Alex telling her that she’s got to go to sleep, and Kara tells her goodnight, and goes back to re reading the email.
She gets another email then, telling her to meet at the arena in next Friday, and it’s addressed to her and one other email. She checks who it’s addressed to, and she’s not surprised when she sees the name ‘Lena Luthor’.
–
They meet each other in the reception, and they wait in silence until Ava Sharpe comes to meet them. There’s the customary congratulations, and then they get sized up for their kit. They get a tour of the facilities, and they get shown where they’ll be staying for the next few months, and a surge of excitement runs through Kara’s bones.
She’s waited and trained for this for years, and now that she’s actually here for herself and not just to visit Alex, it feels different. A quick glance at Lena’s face shows that she’s not the only one feeling thrilled, and it’s clear Lena wants this just as much as Kara does.
2017, June
Kara is escatic as she walks up on stage and receives her diploma. She loves college, she really does, but she’s happy to be able to focus on fencing and fencing only.
She’s gone back and forth from college and the fencing arena in National City for the past few months, and she’s about to move in to the dorms there. She’s very excited about that, considering she’d be getting her own room.
She looks out into the crowd and she sees Alex and Eliza, as expected, then she squints and sees Sara and Ava, cheering at her. Her smile widens, and she gives them a wave, before walking off-stage.
They go out for drinks that night, and Kara moves into the dorms the next week. She moves into Alex’s old room, and Alex sighs wistfully as Kara unpacks.
‘Would you care to help?’ Kara asks, throwing a sock at Alex, who just stands there.
‘Let me soak it in, my little sister is in the Olympic team!’ Alex replies, catching the sock and throwing it back at Kara. She does help, eventually, until she leaves to catch up with the rest of the team, as if she’s away from them for more than two days at a time.
Kara gets it though- she’s always been close with her teammates, and already misses them like crazy. She gets texts from them daily, telling her that she’ll be great, and to not forget them when she’s famous.
She hopes this team will be like that, but Lena’s here, and well, they’re nowhere near close.
2017, August
It’s been two months since she moved to the fencing headquarters, and Kara Danvers is exhausted.
Alex tells her that she’ll get used to it eventually, but Kara can’t help but wonder when. She’s used to vigorous training, but nothing compares to what she’s going through right now.
She smacks her alarm when it beeps, waking her up at 5 am, and she gets ready. It’s Tuesday, which means a morning 10K run with the team, then breakfast, and then two hours of training. She thinks it’s footwork today, and then a few matches against each other, and Kara has to remind herself she loves fencing.
She makes her way, half asleep, to the track, and is met with Lena, who is already there and someone looking fresh and awake, and they wait in awkward silence for Sara and Sam to appear.
Lena doesn’t try to hide that Kara is competition, so Kara doesn’t try to hide that either. They’re both here to be the best of the best, and although they’re in the same team, they’re both competing individually as well, and it’s clear Lena is determined to win gold. It’s the same for Kara, so she doesn’t care much, but it’s definitely extremely awkward when they go out for team dinners and barely talk to each other.
They have matches, and they end in more ties than before, and Ava tells them they’re both doing very well, but Kara doesn’t want to be doing well. She wants to be the best, and so she trains and trains and trains, and Lena does the same. She knows, because they get pulled aside by Ava and Ava tells them that they need to learn how to relax. Apparently, they’ve logged in more training hours than any of the other fencers, and Ava tells them they need to do something other than fence.
2017, November
Nothing much happens in November. Kara continues to train and train, albeit less than before, and Alex is right, she does get used to it. Her body wakes her up at 4:55 am every day before the alarm can go off, and running in the mornings is no longer as miserable as it used to be. There’s a noticeable improvement in her footwork and technique, and she gets closer and closer to winning against Sara every day.
She gets pulled aside by Ava one day, and Ava tells her that she’s doing great, and improving quickly. She sees Ava do the same to Lena a few days later, and she feels happy for Lena. It’s clear that Lena is improving as well, and they’re clearly evenly matched. She keeps track of how many times she’s won and lost against Lena, and it’s almost a 50% win and lose.
She’s at the pool on a Wednesday night for a late night swim (instead of fencing, as per Ava’s orders) when the the door opens and Kara peeks her head up from underneath the water. It’s Lena, and when she sees Kara, stops dead in her tracks.
She waves at Lena, who tentatively waves back, and awkwardly hovers around the pool for a moment before deciding to slide in. She doesn’t seem to want to talk to Kara, so Kara goes back to swimming.
The room is filled with quiet splashing, and when Kara checks her watch, it tells her that it is nearly 2 am, so she pulls herself out of the pool and says goodbye to Lena, who sticks her head out and says a goodnight.
She doesn’t think much of it until it’s Wednesday night again, and she arrives at the pool’s changing room and sees Lena standing there, naked.
Kara yelps, and closes her eyes, a blush running across her face. After a moment, Lena tells her that she’s dressed, and that she can open her eyes again. Kara opens her eyes and stares at Lena’s face for a moment, until Lena tells her that she’s heading towards the pool.
Kara can only nod at Lena’s retreating figure, and tries to erase the image from her mind. It’s not that Lena isn’t pretty, quite the opposite, in fact, but they’re not even friends, and it’s weird that she just saw her not-friend’s naked body.
She ends up in the pool eventually, and they swim in silence until 1 am and this time Lena leaves when Kara does. They walk back to their rooms together, in silence, and Lena mutters a ‘goodnight’ just as Kara does the same.
Next Wednesday, Kara knocks on the changing room’s door, just in case. She doesn’t hear anything, so she pushes open the door, peeking through. She doesn’t see Lena there, but her clothes are there, so she assumes Lena is already in the pool.
She’s right, and Lena is already swimming when Kara enters the pool area. Lena peeks her head up from the water and gives Kara a wave, and Kara waves in return. They swim again in silence until it’s 1 am, and then they leave together.
It’s become a routine, and nothing between them changes- they’re still trying to be the best, and they still don’t talk to each other, but they swim together every Wednesday night, and Kara thinks she can get used to this.
2017, December
It all goes to shit in December. Kara doesn’t know for sure, but she’s pretty sure Lena is avoiding her. It’s been three Wednesdays since Lena stopped showing up at the pool, so naturally, Kara decides to go to the pool every day of the week to see when she shows up.
She finds Lena on Thurday at 11 pm, and Lena gets out of the pool when she arrives. Kara tries not to be offended, but when she sits next to Lena during a film study and Lena gets up and sits somewhere else, Kara squints after Lena.
Sara sends her a questioning look, and all Kara can do is give her a shrug in return. She doesn’t know what’s going on, but if Lena wants to avoid her, Kara isn’t going to question it. Or, at least, that’s what she tells herself.
She breaks that vow the next time she sits next to Lena at lunch, and Lena is about to stand up and walk away when Kara touches her arm.
‘Why are you avoiding me?’ Kara asks, and Lena turns around to face her. There’s no point beating around the question, and Lena seems to have the same thought when she replies.
‘You’re a distraction. We’re not friends. There’s no reason for us to spend any time together.’ She says, staring at Kara, and walks away.
Kara shrugs. That answers that question, and she doesn’t think much of it. If Lena doesn’t want to be friends, they don’t have to be friends. As long as she isn’t sabotaging Kara, she doesn’t particularly care. It’s not like Kara wants to be friends with her, anyway.
Kara stops going to the pool on Thursdays, and returns to her normal schedule of Wednesday swims, and that’s the end of that. She tries not to think of Lena as she walks back, alone, to the dorms. She pretends to not hear the sounds of Lena’s door opening and closing on Thursday nights, and decides she doesn’t care.
They’re cordial towards each other, and nothing more. They train together, and Lena tries to beat Kara, and Kara tries to beat Lena, and they mostly always end in a tie. Neither of them are able to beat Sara or Ava yet, and Kara vows to be the first one who does.
Alex tells her that they need to figure their shit out, because they can’t be arguing with each other and fencing together, and Kara tells her that they’re not arguing, and Alex sighs, and that’s how the conversation goes every time.
Sara tries to get them to be friendlier, but Lena won’t try, and so Kara won’t either. She overhears Ava telling Sara to give it time, that that’s how they were in the beginning, and Sara replies that they weren’t like that, because she hated Ava at first sight, and that at least they were talking, and then Ava bends down to kiss her, and Kara stops listening.
Nothing changes, and they leave the facility for Christmas, ready to meet up and fence again in three weeks.