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“Absolutely not.” Alex narrowed her eyes at Lucy. There was no way in hell she was going to be declared a loser against a smug Lucy Lane without a fight.
Lucy just raised an eyebrow, continuing to smirk at Alex’s conviction. “No? Those were the terms of the contest we all agreed to—so now you end up with the ugliest sweater.”
“Uh, no,” Alex tipped her head and pointed at Lucy. “Those are null and void since you cheated.”
“You’re sure you wanna accuse me of cheating? Come on babe, you think I didn’t notice you sneaking around a couple days ago?”
Which—okay—one thing led to another, and Alex may have bent the rules a smidge past their breaking point.
“You really weren’t being that subtle,” Maggie added unhelpfully.
Alex sputtered. “Maggie, come on—I was just, you know—” At Lucy’s unconvinced expression she groaned, accepting her fate. “Well, you still cheated too. At this rate, Maggie should be the one who won.”
“Ah, but you admit it!” Lucy grinned, triumphant. “And no, I did what’s called a clever use of a loophole.”
Lucy Lane, always her with her damn loopholes.
“We really need to close that if we ever want to win,” Maggie said under her breath, glancing over at Alex.
Alex nodded. The contest to decide who got to wear the best winter sweater (and who got stuck with the worst) was always going to favor Lucy if they let her take advantage of loopholes.
“Alright, Lane,” Alex acquiesced. “You win and get the best sweater. Sawyer takes second.” Despite her loss, Lucy and Maggie’s pleased expressions drew a chuckle out of Alex.
“And you get to look properly festive in our least favorite one.” Lucy looked entirely happy with her victory, though concern flicked across her face after a moment. “You’re not actually upset, right?”
“No.” Alex ran her hands up and down Lucy’s arms, reassuring. “This is all fun protesting. And seeing you smile about it is a victory in itself.”
“Sap.” Lucy stepped in closer to kiss Alex, so soft she couldn’t help but melt into it. “And in that case, I’m going to have fun pushing your buttons the entire day,” she promised, lightly pressing a finger against Alex’s ribs.
Alex rolled her eyes. Tomorrow was going to be interesting. But Lucy’s delighted grin would make it worth it.
--
Kara burst into laughter the moment she saw Alex walk into work. “I see who ended up in last place.”
Alex pulled Kara off to the side, shushing her. “Can you use your super speed to get me to the lab?” she asked.
The sweater itself wasn’t even embarrassing, honestly. And she hadn’t lied yesterday about not being bothered. But still, the fact that she ended up dead last wasn’t something she was going to broadcast to the DEO. She had a reputation to uphold, dammit.
“Aw, cheer up, Alex. You won me twenty dollars! I’ll pick up donuts for us.”
“You bet against me?! I’m your sister!”
“Okay, one, the point of that was donuts,” Kara said, “and two… I might have bet on you if it was you and Maggie, but Lucy just kinda seemed like she’d win.” Kara shrugged apologetically. “But really, this is a good thing. And you can even get the special donuts that are decorated like penguins now!”
“What’s going on, gu—heeey is that my sweater I see?” Winn jogged over to them when he spotted Alex. He too had a winter sweater on—just about the nerdiest Star Wars sweater Alex could imagine—which he was wearing of his own volition. Maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised though, given the designs that Winn put on the three he made for Alex, Lucy, and Maggie. And given that this was Winn, after all.
“You know,” Winn leaned in. “J’onn said that if something happens today and the hidden weapons and armor in the sweaters are as useful as I said they’d be, he might just let me make more for next year.”
Alex was admittedly excited about the sweater-turned-pseudo-superhero suit, but also—
“Winn, are you hoping we get attacked today?”
Winn’s momentary flustered look was satisfying—at least Alex still had some edge while donning a ridiculous sweater.
“I’m just saying,” he said with his hands up once he recovered, “We could liven the place up even more next year! And for what it’s worth, the sweater you’ve got on maximizes both function and fun winter looks. I have no idea why you guys deemed it the least appealing of the bunch.”
Alex looked down at her sweater design. And then back up at Winn. “I don’t think you understand what my definition of ‘fun winter look’ is, but the ‘function’ part is nice to know.”
“Oh get this, I added some new features that you’re going to love to that one. I can show you them now if you want.”
The plan had been to spend most of the day in the lab where the least number of people other than Lucy and Maggie would see her, but Winn was eager, and this was about cool hidden features and weapons…
“Instead of going to the lab with you, I can run out and grab cute flightless birds made out of dough for us later,” Kara added.
Alex faked a groan just for the fun of it. “Fine, fine.” She smiled when Winn did a fist pump and Kara perked up. “But no eating my share this time!”
--
“Was I really that obvious?” Alex asked Maggie as they milled around Lucy’s office, waiting for her to join them for lunch.
“For a secret agent, you weren’t that sneaky, babe.”
Lucy stepped inside then, closing the door behind her and kissing Maggie before turning to Alex, eyes glinting dangerously.
The ugly sweater lit up in flashing lights when Lucy pushed a hidden button on the front. Maggie’s laugh egged Lucy on, her hands roaming around to locate another one of the switches.
“Not that one—” Alex indulged Lucy in her fun, making sure to steer her away from the new, more dangerous additions. “Yeah, that one’s also—it’s a mini grappling hook and rope Winn somehow incorporated. I’m not even sure how I’d use it.” Alex took Lucy’s hand, redirecting her to activate the music jingle instead.
“We should do a karaoke game night,” Maggie said as she watched Lucy entertain herself and Alex enjoy the attention. “Each of us sings along to whatever song our sweaters play.”
“That’s an idea I’m sure Winn would have fun with.” Whichever thing Lucy pushed next caused the front of Alex’s sweater to shimmer and then turn into a little animated sign of rotating seasonal puns, some courtesy of Maggie and Lucy, no doubt.
“You look cute in this.” Lucy took a step back to sweep her eyes over Alex and then looked back at Maggie. “Doesn’t she?”
“She pulls off the adorable-yet-deadly look perfectly,” Maggie agreed, dimples popping.
“It’s actually growing on me,” Alex admitted, smoothing her hands down the front. “Winn wasn’t kidding about the extra gadgets he fit in it, and it’s surprisingly comfortable to wear. I’m kind of enjoying it.”
Maggie stepped closer and adjusted the collar of Alex’s sweater. “Mmm, that’s too bad,” she said, glancing over at Lucy.
“We had plans,” Lucy continued, the playful gleam in her eye piquing Alex’s interest. “For after work, if you were tired of wearing it.”
“They might just involve us getting you out of that sweater…” Maggie’s hands trailed up to Alex’s face, angling it until their lips came together.
“And,” Lucy spoke low, her breath suddenly hot against Alex’s ear, “we’d love to get you into some rope—rope you know that we’re very experienced with using.”
Alex’s jaw was left hanging ajar when Maggie pulled back half an inch to let her speak. Images were already flashing through her mind. “That’s not fair, ganging up on me when we’re only halfway through the day.”
“I take it that you’re interested then?” Lucy said, her grin full of promises for the night to come.
“Only if I can get you both out of yours first.”
“We can’t wait.” Maggie kissed her again, slow and deep and perfect.
(It turned out that Alex did end up having to shed her sweater first, lest Maggie and Lucy’s wandering hands accidentally set off a litany of weapons and holiday music.)