Hidden Lives ~ Winn Schott [1]

Chapter 5 - Becoming The Hero

Ring.

Ring.

Ugh, Lily thought as she turned over, woken by the noise. Who's calling at this time of night? The clock on the nightstand blinked harshly in her face, 12:34. She almost ignored the call, but when she saw it was Alex calling she couldn't help the fact that it might be important. With a sigh, she picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She grumbled.

"Lily," Alex jumped straight into an explanation, "we found Vartox. I convinced Kara to help us fight him, but I need your help to convince Hank."

"You're lucky I love you," Lily grumbled into the phone as she kicked the covers off her. It took her a few minutes of searching to find an outfit, she was unwilling to turn on the lights just yet. Not wanting to deal with the harsh glare of lights on her hungover brain.

"Great," Alex responded, "because we're outside."

Lily rubbed her forehead, sensing a headache coming on. "'We' being...?" She trailed off into a question.

"Kara and I."

Lily freaked. "You really think a covert op at one in the morning is the best way for me to meet your sister?!" She whispered harshly into the phone.

"Technically you already met her," Alex argued back, coaxingly.

"Oh yeah," Lily's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'm sure kidnapping her made a great first impression."

"Oh stop whining. You have five minutes before I get Kara to kick your door down."

Lily sighed as Alex hung up. She slipped on her clothes relatively quickly, grabbed a pair of sneakers, and crept past the couch where Winn slept. It had been late when they'd finally finished talking, too late for her to feel safe sending him back to his apartment alone, and she'd been too tired to walk with him. So, she'd offered him the couch and he'd responded gratefully with an awkward blush.

She didn't turn on any lights as she moved through the living room toward the front door, scooping up her purse along the way, so the light of the apartment hallway was harsh on her eyes. She closed the apartment door, careful not to make a sound. She blinked rapidly, the light only making her headache worse.

"This is the last time I do anything nice for you, Alex," she rubbed her forehead as she spoke.

Alex spoke softly from her sister's side, "are you ok?"

Lily nodded, "just a headache." She was unwilling to tell Alex she'd been at the bar again, that was a rebuttal for another day. Her gaze wandered as she rubbed her head again, taking in Alex in the same outfit as before and Kara in her super suit.

"Hey, Kara." Lily finally said awkwardly.

For a person as open as Alex had described her to be, Kara's face was scarily unreadable as she sized Lily up and down.

"Hi." She finally replied. That was all, but Lily could sense the note of approval. "Alex has told me a lot about you."

Lily shot Alex a glare as they walked down the hall to the stairs. "All good things hopefully."

Alex shrugged, smirking.

"I'm sorry about how we had to meet." Lily did her best to apologize.

Alex spoke before Kara could, "that wasn't you, that was Hank." Her gaze shifted to her sister. "And we are going to show him how wrong he was."

Kara smiled mischievously and Lily recognized a bit of Alex in her. Maybe we could be friends, she wondered as they walked. When they reached the floor of the apartment building Kara flew them to the mountain, one at a time. The whole process took a couple of minutes, at most, and was both frightening and exhilarating.