Disclaimer: I do not own The Defenders, or anything to do with Marvel. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Author's note: This fic takes place after Season 1 of The Defenders and contains a very minor spoiler, at least for that season.
*****
Karen Page couldn't remember the last time she had female friends. Well, she could, but it felt like several lifetimes ago now. Even back then she preferred the company of men, and during most of her life her friends had been exclusively male, at least up until now. Hopefully that was about to change, because as much as she loved Foggy there were things she just wasn't comfortable discussing with him.
Although there was one thing she could only discuss with him, and Matt who was probably dead now, which was all things Daredevil. Thankfully she could discuss it with these women, as they were all in some way part of the vigilante team protecting New York that had been nicknamed The Defenders.
Most notably there was Jessica Jones, a private investigator with incredible super strength, and an intimidating attitude. Trish Walker, a radio host and former child star, who probably wouldn't be here if she wasn't Jessica's best friend, although Karen was very grateful she was as her presence seemed to soothe the super strong beast.
Then there was Misty Knight, a bad ass Detective with a robot arm and her best friend Colleen Wing, two women who weren't officially part of The Defenders, but they should have been, and Karen definitely wanted to get to know them better. Then there was a woman she knew the most, and ironically like her wouldn't be here it wasn't for her connection with other superheroes, that being Claire Temple.
As soon as she had arrived Claire had given her a big smile, a welcoming hug, and most importantly of all a beer which helped with Karen's nerves. Then after more greetings and small talk they settled down to watch Netflix, at which point Karen started noticing some strange behaviour.
For one thing the mighty Jessica Jones was sitting on her best friend's lap because allegedly there wasn't enough space, but there was another chair no one was sitting on. Almost as weirdly Colleen was sat in between Misty's legs, and about five minutes into the movie Misty started playing with her hair, which made Colleen preen happily. And Claire seemed to be watching her more than the movie, which suddenly made the couch feel very cramped.
So Karen finished her beer and made her excuses, "I'm going to get another drink. Anyone want anything."
There was a chorus of 'nos' and then Karen jumped up and headed for the kitchen. Once there she leaned against the nearest wall, took a deep sigh, and looked back into the room. Then she felt stupid. Everything seemed normal, and if anything she was the one being weird. She needed to turn her reporter brain off and stop seeing things that weren't there and just concentrate on having fun.
Nevertheless she finished the beer on her own in the kitchen, which of course prompted her thoughtful friend Clare to come check on her, making Karen feel really embarrassed about her behaviour. Although then she found out something which would change her life, or at least the rest of the night, dramatically.
"Hey, are you okay?" Claire asked softly.
"I'm fine." Karen lied, and when Claire gave a look like she knew it the reporter defensively asked, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, it's always weird being the fifth wheel." Claire pointed out, "But hopefully it'll be easier now we have each other."
"What do you mean?" Karen frowned.
For a few long seconds Claire just stared at her, before smiling, "Take a look in there. Tell me what you see."
Karen frowned, but did as she was told, "Erm, four women watching Netflix?"
"Yes." Claire nodded her head, "And?"
Another few long seconds pause, and then Karen shrugged, "Nothing."
"No, not nothing." Claire leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "Four women, two couples."
Yet another long seconds pause, and then Karen looked at her friend wide eyed and said, "Oh my God, I'm so dumb."
"You're not dumb." Claire chuckled.
"I am!" Karen insisted, "I'm supposed to be a reporter! Oh my God!"
"Hey, you at least half expected something, right? Jessica is in Trish's lap when she doesn't have to be, for God sakes. You must have noticed that." Claire attempted to soothe.
"Yeah, but... I still didn't figure it out." Karen grumbled.
"I'm sure you would have done eventually." Claire reassured, before smiling, "Although I kind of wish I hadn't said something now, just to see how long it took you."
"Clearly not quickly enough." Karen whined, before frowning, "Wait, they were together before, weren't they?"
"Jessica and Trish were. They're just incredibly good at hiding it, at least in public." Claire explained, "Apparently they've been on and off since they were like 15, but had been off since that whole mess with the mind control guy started, and now he's finally dead Jessica trusts herself enough to be with Trish again."
"And the other two?" Karen asked out of curiosity.
"Oh, that's all thanks to me." Claire grinned proudly, "See, I hooked up with Misty, and then Colleen, and then spent like more than a minute with them so I knew they had feelings for each other. They just needed a little push in the right direction, so one threesome later, there we are."
"One threesome with who?" Karen asked without thinking, before blushing, "Oh."
"Well, it wasn't just the one." Claire admitted with another wide grin, "One definitely did the trick, but they were so grateful they invited me back a few times. We're not dating... but, every so often, we have a night like this."
"A night like this?" Karen parroted, becoming pale.
Claire nodded, "You know, to Netflix and Chill?"
"Oh..." Karen blushed.
"But only if that's something you're interested in." Claire added quickly, "We're happy just to drink a few beers and hang out for a while, and save the sex for after you've gone. Well, Jessica will probably whine and complain, but don't worry, we can handle her."
There was a long pause, then Karen asked, "What, what makes you think I'd be interested in that?"
"I don't know..." Claire sighed, "I just get the right kind of vibe from you, sometimes. Other times? I'm not sure, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask, right?"
Another long pause, then Karen blushed, "Well, I'm flattered, but... I, I've never..."
"Never? Really?" Claire questioned, and then when Karen just nodded she reassured her, "Well of course you don't have to do anything you don't want to do, but... just think about it? Okay?"
"Okay." Karen promised, quickly finishing the beer she'd grabbed and then taking several more as she was confident that she wouldn't be able to think of anything else for the rest of the night.
Not that she was given a chance to do it, because as soon as they walked back into the living room Jessica blurted out, "So, is she in?"
"She just needs to think about it." Claire reassured.
"Well do yourself a favour honey, and think fast, because the answer should be simple."Jessica grinned wickedly, before looking at Trish, "It was for us."
"Jessica, honey, don't pressure her." Trish scolded her girlfriend, before turning to Karen, "Seriously, no pressure."
"Right." Karen grumbled, before asking out of curiosity, "So, how exactly did you guys get involved with this?"
"We were asked." Jessica grinned.
"It wasn't quite that simple." Trish protested, and then when everyone else was giving her a look she pushed, "What? It wasn't! We'd just got back together, and we weren't sure this was right for us."
"You weren't sure." Jessica corrected her.