Chapter 42

Alex stares at the crossbow in awe. She reaches out without looking away, patting her sister's arm. "Kara, go get Winn. He's going to want to see this."

The whoosh of air tells an enraptured Alex that her sister's gone to do just that. After what seems like just a few seconds, she's back with an annoyed sounding Winn.

"Seriously, Kara?" Winn complains. "I was in the middle of transcribing something. What's so important that you didn't wait to explain before you picked me up bridal style and carried me to your room?"

"Winn," Alex's serious voice cuts him off. She drags her eyes away from where she's been examining the crossbow.

"What? What's wrong?" Winn asks, panicking.

"Nothing. Get over here."

Winn nervously does what Alex said and looks in the box, where her gaze is once again trained. His eyes widen and his mouth drops open.

"Dude," he breathes out. "That's so awesome! How does it work? Does it have an automatic reloading system? Does it-"

"We haven't looked it over yet." Lena says. "One of the assassins that tried to kill Kara and I had this."

"Dang. Who made it, do you know?"

"Probably Lex." Lena answers, trying to hide the fact she feels a hole in her chest that aches whenever she thinks of him. "It looks like something he would design."

"How would you..." He turns to look at Lena and blinks. "Oh. You must be the elusive Lena Luthor."

He sticks out his hand and Lena shakes it after a moment of hesitance, not used to this kind of reaction to meeting her.

"And you're Winn Schott. I've heard a lot about you." She replies politely.

He grimaces. "I hope you've heard good things. I know a lot of people still don't trust that I'm not my father."

Lena chuckles. "Trust me, I know the feeling. And no, nothing bad. It's Kara that has told me about you, and she doesn't have a mean bone in her body."

"She really doesn't. So why were you talking about me?" Winn asks curiously.

Lena glances over at Kara, who nods. "She's my girlfriend, so she told me about her friends."

Winn chokes on nothing, his eyes bugging out. "Girlfriend? You're gay too?"

"Pansexual," Kara corrects. "But yeah."

"Alright. Okay. Then I'll have to introduce myself again. Hi, I'm Winn and if you hurt Kara, I'll... Do... Something bad!" He threatens.

Lena uses the skills the Luthors have taught her in order to keep a straight face. "I wouldn't expect anything less. I can't promise I will never hurt her, because that's not realistic, especially with our families. But I can promise I will never hurt her on purpose."

Winn nods. "That's all I ask. Welcome to the crazy Danvers family, Lena."

She smiles and ducks her head slightly. "Thank you. And it seems that except for J'onn, I've met everyone in the Danvers family. Now, shall we take a look the crossbow?" She questions, changing the subject.

"Yes!" Winn pumps his fist in the air.

Lena chuckles and carefully pulls out the crossbow, setting it down on the table beside the box. She takes out the bolt and sets it away from the crossbow. Kara hands her a notebook and a pencil. Lena gives her a swift kiss and murmurs out a thank you.

She opens up the notebook and keeps open on the first blank page. As Alex and Winn study it without touching, she starts sketching the crossbow from different angles.

"Wow, you're good." Kara murmurs. Her unexpected voice makes Lena jump. "Sorry, Lee."

"It's alright." Lena gives her a peck on the lips. "And yes, I have to be in order to sketch out comprehensible blue prints. But I'm nowhere near as talented as you are."

Kara blushes and stammers, making Lena chuckle and kiss her again, this time for a bit longer.

"So what do you think?" Maggie asks her girlfriend, her gaze switching between the weapon and Alex.

Alex purses her lips. "I think I really want to open this up and take a look at what's inside."

Maggie grins at her girlfriend and joins her in studying it. She knows more about science than most people expect from her, but she's by no means an expert on engineering or whatever field it is that helps understand the inner workings of a crossbow.

"What do you think keeps it drawn back?" Winn questions. "It doesn't look like it's something that's held back. And how does it aim properly? How does it gather enough force to go anywhere?"

Alex reaches over without looking and pats his shoulder. "We'll figure it out." Her curiosity's getting the best of her so she looks up as she speaks again. "Hey Lena, do you think we- Ugh, seriously?"

Lena and Kara are pretty much making out at this point. They pull apart at Alex's words. Kara's face is red and she awkwardly adjusts her glasses while Lena just looks smug.

"Nice, Little Danvers." Maggie remarks, leaning over the table slightly to high five Kara. Kara complies with the action, still blushing the entire time.

"Maggie!" Alex hisses, batting her girlfriend's arm.

"What? Like we're any better. Remember the time you-"

Alex presses her hands over Maggie's lips so her words come out a muffled, indistinguishable mess. "No. Nope. We are not talking about that in front of my little sister and brother."

Alex is too focused on keeping her girlfriend quiet to notice how brightly Winn beams at her words.

Alex yanks her hands back with a disgusted expression. She wipes her hand on Maggie's shirt. "Really? What are you, five?"

"Actually, I'm your girlfriend. And you've never complained about my tongue touching you before." Maggie winks.

Kara's squeak brings everyone's attention to her. "Maggie! I really don't want to know that!"

"I meant like in her mouth, Little Danvers. But it's nice to know where your mind immediately went." Maggie says, giving Kara a wink that makes her blush even harder.

"Can we not?" Alex asks, exasperated.

Maggie nods and gives Alex a kiss. Quick enough where they don't get lost in each other like Lena and Kara did, but long enough to make Alex relax. When Maggie pulls away, she reaches down to hold Alex's hand.

"Yeah, rub it in my face that I'm the only one here without a girlfriend." Winn complains with an exaggerated pout.

Alex chuckles. "Just ask out Lyra and you won't have that problem."

Winn sputters, blushing, causing the women to laugh.

"You really should, Winn." Maggie encourages.

"I turn into a mess around pretty people." Winn whines.

"That's why he had a hard time talking to Kal when he came here." Alex teases.

"Guys," Winn sighs. "Er, ladies. I'm not going to ever live that down, am I?"

"You asked him to sign your arm so you could get it tattooed, Winn." Alex reminds him, amusement coloring her tone. "You. Tattooed."

"He's awesome, okay?" Winn says.

"Don't tell him that, his ego's big enough." Alex nudges Winn playfully. "But seriously. Ask her out."

"I'm just going to stumble over my words." Winn sighs, looking dejected.

"And if she's good for you, she won't mind." Maggie chimes in. "She might even find it cute, like I find Alex cute when she does the same thing."

"You..." Winn squints at Alex. "She's made you stutter and stuff?"

Alex huffs and crosses her arms, a blush creeping up her neck. "Pfft. No."

Winn beams. "Sure you don't. Thanks, guys. Now onto more important things, like this weapon."

Lena looks over her sketches. "It appears that it's spring loaded and has some sort of releasing mechanism."

"That's what I was thinking, too." Alex leans in closer. "So what's this metal bit here?" She muses aloud.

Lena lifts the crossbow, pressing the butt to her right shoulder. She raises it, aiming it at the wall behind Alex and Maggie, who automatically take a step away from it's projected target area.

Lena closes her left eye and nods to herself. "It's a sight. A way to aim."

"Smart," Alex murmurs. "But it looks pretty bulky. I wonder if we can find a way to make it lighter..."

"We can work on that after we've discussed my mother tomorrow." Lena says, putting the crossbow back down. "But first I would like to shoot it, see what kind of accuracy we're dealing with."

"Oh, can I shoot it too?" Winn asks excitedly.

"Tomorrow. We can all take turns." Lena says. "But judging by Kara's far-away expression, it's dinner time. So lets go before she starts drooling."

Kara flushes again, earning a kiss on the cheek from Lena. Lena smiles to herself, placing the crossbow and the bolt back in the box and locking it. She puts the key in her pocket and takes Kara's hand.

Kara practically pulls her along, excitedly leading her towards the dining room, talking about the best foods the chefs make. They're followed by Maggie, Alex, and Winn.

Next chapter, the dinner! Finally! With surprise appearances from characters that haven't shown up that often (oops)! Can you tell I love the idea of Winn and the Danvers sisters as adoptive siblings? Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!