Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kaznia airspace, 

En route to National City, USA

Lena Luthor’s private jet

Lena left the cockpit and sat on the comfortable seat in front of her best friend. They looked at each other for a moment only, before Lena looked away, staring down at her hands, head hanging down in shame.

“I’m sorry I left you alone back there.” Lena looked back up at her friend, regret showing in her troubled eyes. “I put you in danger.”

Kara gave her a smile, slightly shaking her head. “I was fine.” Her smile grew. “I am fine.”

But Lena wasn’t reassured. She had to explain herself. “When I saw Eve, I just saw red.” Kara nodded, understanding. “It shot me right back to the initial betrayal. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me. I know how much she hurt you.”

But Lena wasn’t taking any kind of comforting words from Kara - not today. “Kara, I’m trying to apologize to you! That explosion could have killed you!” 

Upset, Lena rose from her seat and stormed to the minibar. It was almost as if she needed to keep her distance from the blonde, away from the comfort and understanding her friend always had available for her.

Kara’s lower lip trembled, a shaky breath escaping her lips. “It—It wouldn’t have,” she said, her voice shaking.

Kara inhaled deeply, briefly closing her eyes as if summoning her courage. Taking her glasses off, Kara held them tightly in her hand, while moving up from her seat. Standing so she could face her friend, the Kryptonian called out her name before she lost her nerve.

“I don’t let my guard down - ever!” Lena went on almost as if Kara wasn’t even there with her, so lost she was in her self-inflicted punishment.

“Lena!” 

Kara’s unusual loud tone forced Lena to stop her rant and turn around, concerned. The words died on her lips the moment she saw her friend without glasses for the very first time.

“Ka—" Lena’s eyes teared up immediately as understanding began to dawn on her. “You’re—"

“I’m Supergirl,” Kara whispered before Lena could finish, swallowing hard. “I’m Supergirl. I—"

“Why?” Lena stepped forward, her eyes angry and full of betrayal. “Why, Kara?”

“I—I wanted to protect you… and I—" Kara swallowed visibly, hot tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m sorry… I never meant to hurt you. I wanted to keep you safe and protect you, and…” A shaky breath left her lips. “I wanted to be me, just me. You let me be that, and I—"

Lena turned her back on her, covering her eyes with her hand, trying to stop the tears, but they fell anyway. “Why didn’t you trust me?” It came out almost as a strangled whisper. Angrily wiping away the tears with the back of her hand, Lena walked back to the minibar.

“It’s not like that, Lena! I did trust you! I do! I trust you!” Kara moved closer, clutching the glasses in her hand so hard, they cracked. “I do… Please, believe me…”

Lena poured herself a shot of whiskey and let out a laugh that sounded almost like a snarl. “Believe you…” Without a flinch, she drank the amber liquid in one gulp and poured herself another.

“Lena, please, I know you’re upset and… I wanted to protect you… I couldn’t stand to lose you. I—I don’t want to lose you. I can’t.”

Lena turned around, her expression cold and stony, every bit the Luthor CEO. “You should’ve thought of that before you betrayed me. I trusted you! I opened my heart to you like no other and in the end…” Lena gulped the rest of her whiskey. “In the end, you were just like everyone else. You lied and you used me.”

“No!” Kara stepped forward, a bit of anger flashing in her eyes. “I never used you. I have concealed my identity from you, but I never used you! I wanted to protect you! I already failed Alex; I can’t fail you too.”

“Your sister is fine, Kara. Don’t try to make a fool out of me! You won’t get away with it again!”

“Alex…” Kara looked down at her hands, her shoulders sagging as she finally let the tears come. “She had to have her memory of me erased, Lena, to protect my identity, to keep me safe.” She pursed her lips, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. “My sister sacrificed most of our memories together so she could protect me, and…” Her shoulders shook slightly as she inhaled, her breath catching. Her voice was hoarse and heavy with raw emotion. “I may never get my sister back…”

Lena stared at her, tears forming once more. Walking back to the minibar, Lena grabbed the whiskey bottle. “We need to bring down Lex, to stop him. That’s all that matters now.”

“Lena…”

“After we are done with him, I don’t want to see you again, Kara Danvers, or whatever your real name is.” Lena stared down at her empty glass, the frown back on her beautiful face. 

“Please, don’t do this, Lena. Please…”

Kara moved slowly until she was standing right behind the CEO. Raising her hand, she tried to touch the smaller woman’s back, but lost her nerve, letting her hand drop heavily by her side.

“I let you into places no one else ever had, and you hurt me like no one ever could,” Lena whispered, allowing the tears to fall this time. “I need to be away from you.”

Kara closed her eyes in silent desperation, clenching her jaw to keep her voice steady. “I will always protect you, Lena Luthor, even if you don’t want me too.” Despite her best efforts, her words still came out as a fierce whisper. “And even if you shut me off from your life and… decide that you can’t forgive me, you’ll still be my best friend. Always.” Opening her eyes, Kara dared to lean in and placed a gentle kiss on the dark-haired woman’s head, fresh tears spilling. “And my name is Zor-El, Kara Zor-El.”

Kara walked back to her seat, hiding her face in her hands as she sat down.

Lena squeezed her eyes shut, silent tears falling on her hand and on the bottle she was still grasping. Clutching the empty glass in a white-knuckled grip, she bit her lip hard to keep herself from sobbing.

##

Three months later, 

National City,

CatCo,

Kara Danvers and James Olsen watched in disbelief as the newly appointed President of the United States of America, Lex Luthor, addressed the nation.

Four months had passed since they had failed to expose Lex Luthor and his crimes against aliens and the nation.

Four months since former president, Phil Baker, had been exposed by Lex as an alien and had been shot down after resisting arrest.

Four months since the Senate had appointed Lex Luthor as President of the United States after all high-ranking staff members were killed during the attack on the White House.

“The government of the United States has decided to integrate as official patriotic government agencies, CADMUS and Children of Liberty. These groups of men and women fought relentlessly for our rights, for our values and for what makes this nation great. These patriots have been protecting this nation and its people for countless years, and it’s time we recognize their loyalty and dedication to this country.

These agencies will be tasked with Aliens Affairs, to control immigration and alien’s crime investigation. This country will not tolerate a minute longer the illegal invasion of alien races. They take our homes, take our jobs and our benefits.” The camera zoomed in on the President. “I will not tolerate a minute longer the disrespect of my fellow citizens and our nation’s values.”

“Bastard!” James dropped the remote on his desk.

Kara tore her eyes away from the screen, tuning out Lex’s annoying voice and the low murmuring from those watching the presidential announcement outside. She knew some of them were partial to Lex’s views. It was their right and she couldn’t fault them for having an opinion different from hers, even if she thought it was completely wrong.

Looking outside the office’s window, her eyes glowed orange just a trifle, a deep frown on her beautiful face. Too much had changed in so little time and she felt completely lost. They had failed to stop him once, but they couldn’t just stand idly by while he hunted down innocent people. How could they fix this?

##

National City, 

LCorp Headquarters,

Lena Luthor was reclining on her desk, remote in one hand and a glass of Ireland’s finest single malt in the other, watching with an unreadable expression as her brother, the President of the United States of America, delivered his bigoted speech on national television.

President of the United States… How had it come to this? Why couldn’t they stop him? Whatever came from this madness, was on them and their inability to stop him.

Shutting off the TV, Lena shifted and walked around her desk so she could reach her phone, punching a button on it.

“Carrie, connect me with Robert from Legal, please.”

“Yes, Miss Luthor,” her new assistant said. She was a bit too perky for her taste, but the woman was awesome at keeping people she didn’t want to see away from her.

She waited a moment before a deep voice came through the line.

“Robert, it’s Lena. I’m sure you’ve watched our President’s lovely speech.” She didn’t waste any time with pleasantries. She never did when she called him. 

“I have, and there’s nothing I can legally do about that, Lena. He’s the President.” His deep baritone voice sounded weary.

It made her smile, just a little. She knew she demanded the impossible out of him and, somehow, he always delivered, but even he had limits - legal limits.

“I am aware of that, Robert. I wasn’t going to ask you to impeach the President based on that speech.” She heard a relieved sigh from the other side. “I want you to set up an office here on LCorp, with legal aid for immigration and other alien affairs, free of charge. I want publicity out on the streets by tomorrow.”

Silence was all she heard for a moment. “You know he’s going to come after you for that.”

“It’s still a free country, Robert, and many of these aliens are free, law-abiding, legal citizens of this country and they have done nothing wrong. He’s starting a witch hunt and I’m going to stand in his way in every way I can.”

“All right, you’re the boss.”

The line went dead and she picked up her phone, selecting a number on her speed dial.

“Hey.”

“Hello, James.” They hadn’t seen or talked to each other in almost a week, and the fact that she didn’t miss him at all didn’t seem to bother her. It bothered her, however, that she was allowing his reasoning about her taking out her frustration with Kara on their relationship, to stop her from ending something she knew in her heart she should never have started in the first place.

“It’s been a while.”

“It has. I—"

“Listen, are you free tonight? We—"

“I have late meetings and that’s not why I’m calling.” She didn’t give him the chance to talk. She didn’t want to talk about them, about their relationship. Not today, but she would have to soon. “I’m sure you already know about the President’s speech. I want an article on that subject, about how the President is starting an unfounded witch hunt on aliens.

“All right, we can have out next week and—"

“I want it out on tomorrow’s issue.”

“What? But the printing outline has been sent already. Printing will start in less than five hours. I can’t—"

“Have Danvers work on it. I’m sure she can come up with something fast. This is non-negotiable.”

Lena hung up before James could reply. She wasn’t being very nice, she knew, but she was still miffed at him for not telling her about Kara. They all knew Kara’s secret but her.

All of them.

She was made a fool.

Sipping from her glass, she opened her top desk drawer, looking at the broken frame with the picture of her and Kara, memories of that day invading her mind before she could stop them.

“Come on, Lena! We don’t have a bestie’s picture!” Kara insisted, pouting. “We need one!”

Lena sighed. That adorable pout was her undoing every time. She knew she was going to cave, but she at least had to put up some fight. Her ego needed to be appeased, even when it came to beautiful Kara Danvers.

“Kara, I don’t do selfies. I can have my photographer snap a few photos of us and—"

“Lena!” Kara whined, shifting closer. “We are not doing a photo session for an article!” Kara wrapped an arm around her waist and raised her phone above their heads. “Now look at the phone and smile. Please?”

Lena sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. It wasn’t just Kara’s pout that was her undoing. The warm arm around her waist wasn’t helping either. “Fine, if I must.”

Kara grinned and kissed her cheek. “You totally must.”

Lena finally relented and chuckled, wrapping one arm around her friend and smiling at the phone.

She would get a copy of that photo and she would have it framed, and then she would set it on her desk, no matter how bad she looked in it. It would be her first and only personal picture to ever touch her working space.

“Say ‘I love potstickers!’” 

Lena grinned and Kara snapped the picture.

Three months since she had last seen or talked to Kara. Despite everything, she missed her friend, or former friend, or whatever it was that they were now. Still holding her phone in her hand, Lena opened her speed dial list. Kara had always been first on that list. She still was.

Hoovering her finger over the name on the screen, Lena almost pressed dial. All she wanted was to hear her voice, if even for a second, but she stopped herself in time, locking the screen before she could do something stupid.

What she needed was to delete her number, to remove her from her life for good. Kara Danvers meant nothing to her anymore.

And even as she tried to convince herself of it, she knew she would never be able to.

##

CatCo Magazine,

Kara blinked and turned around sharply, staring at her friend in surprise. She had never heard that much cursing from James before. Unfortunately, that could only mean one thing.

“Lena?”

James exhaled audibly and dropped his phone unceremoniously on his desk. Rubbing his face briskly with his hands, he nodded. “She wants an article on Lex’s speech.”

“Ok, I can do that.” Kara nodded her agreement, crossing her arms over her chest. Biting her lip, she stared down at her comfortable ankle boots. She missed Lena. Terribly. “I can—"

“For tomorrow’s issue.”

Kara looked back at him, her blue eyes wide. “What? But the outline—"

“I know, but let’s just go with it!” James dropped his hands at his sides and walked around his desk. He looked defeated. “I’m not in the mood for more fights.”

“How is she?” Kara asked, her voice softening unconsciously. She didn’t usually ask James about Lena; not that she didn’t want to, it was just too painful - for them both.

“She’s…” James dropped heavily on his big chair and glanced at his friend, frowning at the sudden paleness on the blonde’s face. “Kara, what’s wrong? You’re white as a sheet.”

Kara had her hand on her temples, her eyes closing against the sudden harsh light in the office. She was feeling dizzy and nauseous.

“I’m not sure. I—" But she knew well the dull pain that now flowed all over her body. “Kryptonite…”

“What?” James rushed to her side, taking her by the arm and leading her to the couch.

“There’s Kryptonite in the building…”

“Kryptonite?” And just as the words left his lips, Kara’s finger veins glowed green, like tiny filaments of fluorescent light. “Crap.”

Shouts came from outside the office and James straightened to see what was going on. Men with cheap grey suits and SWAT uniforms burst from inside the elevator, weapons ready to shoot at an order’s notice, and badges raised up in the air.

Kara groaned, trying to get up from the couch. The kryptonite was closer now, she could feel it a lot stronger, and the veins in her body were pulsing with the radiation emanating from the material. It was no longer a dull pain, but a slow searing in every inch of herself.

“Stay down!” He ordered, sticking out his hand to keep her down if he had to. He wasn’t strong like her or Clark, but the Harun in his body gave him enough strength to hold her down, especially if she was weakened by kryptonite.

##

“Step away from your desk and keep your hands in sight! I’m federal agent Alan McKenna and by Presidential order, CatCo is under investigation and will be shut down until further notice. Please, line up over there for identification.” The tall, balding man pointed to his right. “James Olsen and Kara Danvers, please, step forward!”

##

“Shit!” Knowing that they couldn’t yet see inside the office because of the reflective glass Lena had installed, he rushed to help Kara off the couch. “You need to leave now. If you go outside, you’ll blow your identity in a second.”

“But—"

“Go out to the roof, through the back door. It’s the only way out without them seeing you.”

Kara nodded weakly. It was hard to stand up straight and she was glad James helped her walk to the hidden panel behind the wall of screens. Dialing a code on a pad behind one of the screens, James looked behind them as the panel opened with a rustle.

“Go. I’ll stall them.”

James closed the door behind her without waiting for a reply. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders before grabbing his phone from his desk and walking outside his office as the orders were repeated louder.

“What’s going on here?”

The balding man gave him a suspicious look. “James Olsen, I presume.”

James nodded. “And who might you be? What’s going on here?”

The man showed him his badge and the warrant he held in his hand.

“Where’s Kara Danvers?”

James unfolded the piece of paper and read its contents quickly.

“This is outrageous!”

“Where’s Kara Danvers?” The agent repeated louder, his face hardening.

“Miss Danvers is not here right now. She’s away, investigating a lead.”

“That’s not what I was told.” The tall man stepped forward menacingly.

James straightened. The agent was tall, but James still topped him. “Then you were told wrong.”

The agent clenched his jaw and pointed to two SWAT team members. “Look in there.”

“Why do you have SWAT with you? We’re a magazine, not terrorists.” 

“We have information that you’ve been aiding and abetting Supergirl here.”

James raised both eyebrows while crossing his arms over his impressive chest, his arm muscles standing out.

“Supergirl isn’t here. She hasn’t been seen in months.” Looking behind his shoulder, James locked eyes with his assistant. “Anna, please call our lawyers right away.” He stepped away from the agent, walking to the middle of the room. “Listen up, everyone. No one talks to these people until our lawyers are here. We have rights.”

“It would be in your best interest to cooperate with us, Mr. Olsen,” the agent gritted out, the vein on his forehead now visible.

James turned around to face him, smiling coldly. “We fully intend to cooperate with you, Agent McKenna. Once our lawyers get here and I’m assured than none of my staff is being harassed.” 

The vein on the balding agent’s forehead pulsed dangerously.

##

DEO Headquarters

Alex Danvers paced back and forth in the DEO’s control room, pinching the bridge of her nose, knowing every single member of her team standing in that room was watching her, waiting for instructions.

They were headed for trouble, again. She was tired of trouble, tired of Lex Luthor and his evil machinations. He never relented - ever. She needed to call her sister. Maybe this time she could convince her to leave Earth for a while. Not to Argo, because she was sure Lex still had his eyes on it. No, she would not send her to where it was still risky. She couldn’t go to the Fortress either, Kara would go crazy there all alone. Maybe to Barry’s Earth. Or Kate’s. 

That could work and Kara would probably enjoy spending time with her friends. That was one problem she could solve, but what about her operatives? Many were aliens, what would she do? How could she protect them? She was glad that, before Lena and Kara’s fallout, they had started smuggling much of the DEO’s alien technology and weapons to the Fortress. She was sure it wouldn't take Lex much longer to take over the DEO and take possession of its files and tech, and that was a disaster waiting to happen. Everything on Krypton and known Kryptonians had been erased after being uploaded to the Fortress’ central computer. Maybe she should do the same with her operative’s files.

“Director Danvers.”

Alex was so lost in her problem solving, she completely missed the echoing footsteps inside the room. She stopped her pacing and turned towards Col. Lauren Haley’s voice, opening her eyes.

“Yes, Colonel? I—" She stopped when she noticed the dark-skinned woman wasn’t alone in the room.

The always stoic woman had a grim look on her face as she stopped in front of Alex, several heavily armed men with uniforms behind her. Stepping to the side, the woman gave her a quick apologetic look.

“Director Danvers, this is Sergeant Anderson. He has orders.”

The bulky man stepped forward and gave her a letter. “You’re suspended from active duty until our investigation is concluded. I will need your badge and weapons.”

Alex opened the letter. She was being investigated for suspicion of affiliation with Kryptonians and sharing sensitive information with them and other aliens.

Alex gave him a hard stare, but the bulky man didn’t seem fazed. Slowly reaching for her gun, she took it out of its holster and gave it to him, butt first. She then took her badge and did the same. 

“Am I allowed to collect my belongings?” She asked coolly.

The man nodded and called out two soldiers. “Escort Agent Danvers.”

Not Director Danvers. Apparently, she was demoted already.

She was about to step outside the room when she noticed Nia and Brainy being escorted to the cells’ block - they were both handcuffed.

“Hey! What did they do?”

“They’re aliens, and aliens are not allowed in our ranks,” the man replied calmly.

“Since when?” Alex asked heatedly, marching back straight at him, but Col. Haley stepped in front of her.

“Alex, please,” she whispered, placing her hands on her shoulders, “don’t make things worse.”

“Since today, Agent Danvers. Take your things and leave before I forget my orders and place you into custody too.”

Clenching her jaw, Alex stormed out of the room, closely followed by two armed guards.

## 

Kara tripped over in the narrow corridor leading to the backdoor that would take her to the roof, and freedom. The Kryptonite was making her weak very quickly, meaning there was probably a large amount in the building, and the narrow walls of the corridor and its dim light were not helping with her claustrophobia.

Her breathing was coming in short gasps and sweat was pooling on her forehead and upper lip, and she knew she was close to hyperventilating. Rao, she had to get the hell out of there. She was sure those walls were slowly closing in on her.

Stumbling against a wall, Kara fell on her knees, trying to force air into her lungs, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get enough. Leaning back, she pushed her feet against the opposite wall, trying to stop its movement.

There was a part of her that knew this was all in her head, but the other part, the one that was panicking, could not be reasoned with. The pain and numbing of the Kryptonite and being thrown inside a narrow corridor, with very little light to escape those wanting to hunt her down was too much to handle.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to concentrate on anything that could help her focus long enough for her to leave this damn place, but the noises around her were fuzzy and chaotic. Her powers were waning dangerously, and she couldn’t stay here much longer, but she couldn’t move either. Forcing her senses to extend, she let them wander to where they usually went whenever she needed reassurance. It was almost like they knew exactly where to search for.

A steady, familiar heartbeat slowly penetrated her senses, breaking through the chaos in her head, grounding her. Kara forced herself to take deep, slow breaths, until her heart slowed down a bit and her breathing steadied, somehow. Daring to open her eyes, Kara looked to her left and saw that the exit door was just a few feet away. All she had to do was make a quick run for it and she would be free from that suffocating place.

All she had to do was follow the heartbeat.

Focusing on it, Kara rose to her feet and sprinted to the door, yanking it open. Leaning against the wall of the now wide open and well-lit corridor, Kara closed her eyes, taking a deep, steady breath.

Opening her eyes again, she looked around. She was close to the door that led to the roof, it was just around the corner. Looking down at her greenish shaking hands, she heard footsteps echoing from close by. The panic attack and the Kryptonite were dulling her senses and she couldn’t tell if they were close or not, and she didn’t want to risk using her powers and draining her energy. She needed every little bit of it to fly out of there.

Deciding it was best to get away from there quickly, Kara licked her lips and shuffled to the door. She was almost there when someone called out to her.

“You there, stop!”

She could already see the door in front of her, just a few more steps. Ignoring the order, she willed herself to move faster, but the Kryptonite was getting to her; she was feeling it stronger now and she knew the searing pain would cripple her soon.

“Stop, or I’ll shoot!”

But Kara just kept going, finally reaching the heavy door that hid the stairway to the roof. Opening it quickly, she heard the cocking of a weapon and the sickly sequential popping of bullets exiting the weapon, hissing through the air at sonic speed. Kryptonite bullets. She could feel the burning radiation ripping through the air around her. More footsteps sounded from close by, followed by more popping.

Somehow, she managed to get away from every single bullet as she made her way inside and locked the heavy steel door behind her, so it really was a shock when a hot, intense pain exploded from her side and she staggered back, falling against the stairway railing.

## 

DEO Headquarters, 

Alex keyed in her code for her locker and yanked it open. She was pissed. Rao almighty, she was pissed. She grabbed her duffel bag and closed her eyes, her lips pursed. And now she sounded exactly like Kara!

“Agent Danvers.”

Alex glanced to her left, to the guard standing next to her. “What?”

“Sgt. Anderson has requested you to hand over your DEO issued phone.”

Alex glared at the imperative hand in front of her and reached her back pocket to hand him her phone, but not before covertly turning it off. They could have fun hacking her phone after Brainy upgraded Winn’s security system.

“Here. Have fun.”

Dismissing him without another thought, Alex started shuffling things inside the black bag. “Are you going to keep ogling me like a perv, while I put away my underwear and personal items?”

“I’m not ogling,” the guard growled indignantly, but Alex just raised an insolent eyebrow, daring him.

Grumbling under his breath, the man turned his head to the side and looked away, glaring at his snickering partner.

Satisfied, Alex reached for a hidden pocket in her pants, knowing the second guard couldn’t see what she was doing, and took her phone, quickly typing a text to Kara with the word ‘KRYPTONITE’. It was their secret code for Kara to stay away from the DEO and not to contact her. She would get in touch with her when possible. Of course, she knew Kara would freak out the moment she read the message, but she had to keep Kara away from here.

Turning the gadget off, Alex tossed it inside the bag, along with the rest of her belongings. Silently, she stormed outside the locker room without waiting for them.

She heard them cursing her, but she couldn’t care less. She was used to their type. Walking faster than they could keep up, Alex made her way to the parking lot, where Col. Haley waited for her by her bike.

“You can wait over there.” The tall woman pointed to the guards.

“But—"

“Do I have to repeat myself?” Haley straightened her shoulders, becoming every bit the respected officer that she was.

“No, ma’am.”

She waited until the guards moved out of earshot, watching as Alex shouldered her bag and climbed on her bike.

“Make sure not to leave town, agent Danvers,” she said loud enough for the words to carry out to the waiting soldiers. Giving Alex a meaningful look, she whispered, “The DEO is about to change status. Make yourself available.”

Alex nodded and started her bike, speeding her way out of her second home.

## 

Kara’s trembling fingers came up full of blood, her shirt stained deep red and her abdomen glowing green. She gasped in shock: she had just been hit with a kryptonite bullet. 

Her knees gave under her weight and she crumbled on the stairs, her bloodied, shaking hand once more covering her side. This was not like when Red Daughter shot her under the influence of Kryptonite. This was a completely different kind of pain, a completely different kind of injury. She could feel the kryptonite debilitating her powers, crippling her healing.

A loud bang against the door shook her off her stupor. Wounded or not, she couldn’t stay here. If they found her, weak as she was, they would kill her on the spot. Wrapping her free hand around the railing, Kara pulled herself up with a grunt and forced her legs to move, ignoring the banging and shooting on the door. She needed to reach the upper door so she could fly away from the kryptonite infested building.

Just as she was about to reach the roof’s exit, the loud banging ceased, and she knew they were about to blow up the door. Gritting her teeth, she unlocked the door’s code with trembling fingers and shuffled outside as an ear-piercing booming shook the upper floor, almost knocking her down. 

She was quick to close the door behind her. Being code activated, meant that they would have to blow that one up too, and that might just give her enough time to reach the edge of the building and fly away - if she was still able to. She had a piece of kryptonite inside her that might just get her killed before she could reach safety.

The distinctive sound of fast-spinning blades almost camouflaged the strident popping of guns going off. Before she had the chance to take cover, Kara fell hard on the concrete floor, unmoving.

## 

Alex Danvers apartment,

Alex quietly opened her apartment door, slowly walking inside with a gun raised and held in both hands. Examining every corner of her apartment until she was satisfied that it was secure, Alex holstered the gun and retrieved her bag before closing the door.

She was a DEO agent and paranoid enough to have spare guns hidden everywhere, even at her sister’s apartment, without her knowledge, of course, and it was best if Kara never knew about that.

Dropping heavily on the couch, she exhaled deeply and covered her face with her hands. The bastard was just getting started, she knew. She hoped Kara had seen her message and was keeping a low profile. She would be Lex’s next target, considering he hadn't made his move already, and she needed to warn her. And J’onn.

And Lena.

Despite everything, she considered Lena a friend and she needed to know what her brother was starting. Glaring at her phone, Alex dropped it on the couch, beside her. She couldn’t turn in on, not just yet. She needed to take precautions first.

Getting up from her couch, Alex walked to the liquor cabinet and opened it, removing two bottles of fine whiskey. Pressing her hand against the back panel, she waited.

## 

CatCo’s Headquarters,

The heavily armed man carefully approached the unmoving woman on the floor, blood slowly pooling by her side. Taking a step closer, he touched her with his booted foot, but she didn’t move. It didn’t seem like she was breathing.

Confident that she was at least unconscious, he lowered his gun and knelt by her side, but before he could touch her neck to check her vitals, a solid fist connected with his jaw and he dropped backward without a sound.

Groaning with pain, Kara turned on her side, using her hands and knees to push herself up, barely straight. Several bullets grazed her, but she wasn’t sure she hadn’t been hit again. Everywhere hurt, and where the bullets had scraped her, it burned like she’d been struck with blistering heat.

Her fading hearing picked on the sound of running footsteps and she ran as best as she could to the edge of the roof, not stopping until she was airborne and falling faster than she could remember. She wanted to fly, but her strength was leaving her, and she closed her eyes tiredly, letting herself fall. At least she would die her way and not put down like a dangerous animal.

Mocking laughter echoed from somewhere, as haunting memories of Reign holding her by her suit on the edge of a building and then dropping her without mercy forced her eyes open. It was Reign all over. 

She was falling to her death and no one could help her this time.

The familiar and steady heartbeat invaded her senses once more.

“Lena…”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Kara summoned what strength she had left and took off flying at breakneck speed, inches from hitting the ground.

##

Alex Danvers apartment,

A tiny red dot blinked on the panel, followed by tens of dots that scanned her hand in seconds. Recognizing her biometrics, the panel clicked and silently slid to the side, exposing several gadgets and weapons, neatly organized on steel shelves. Reaching out, Alex took a small hexagonal, bright blue gadget and walked to the middle of the living room.

Pressing a hidden button on the side, a virtual keyboard with alien symbols projected above the gadget. Alex pressed several keys and placed the gadget on the floor. The keyboard vanished and blue lines took its place, spanning out in a long-range spiral.

Now that her apartment was being scanned and debugged, there was nothing she could do but wait. Going back to the cabinet, Alex selected a sealed bottle of the amber liquid and grabbed a glass. Making herself cozy on the couch, she opened the bottle and sniffed its contents, a smile coming to her face for the first time in hours. 

Lena sure knew her stuff. 

Bless her.

## 

Somewhere on National City,

Kara flew as fast as she could, being careful about keeping close to the ground, on passerby’s level,  to avoid detection from the helicopters patrolling the area. She could hear the rotor’s muffled sound somewhere above her, but she couldn’t tell how far away they were. Whatever was left of her power was being channeled to flight and she hoped to Rao she could get to Lena before she solar flared in mid-flight.

Clutching at her throbbing side, she focused on her free hand, the one that was helping her steer through the several people she was surely scaring half to death right now.

Her eyes were blurring, and she almost crashed herself against cars and buildings on several occasions, but somehow, she always managed to avoid disaster. LCorp was just up ahead, she could already see the imposing building’s blurry contorts. 

Closing her eyes for a moment, Kara sent a silent prayer to Rao to give her enough strength to get to Lena. She knew Kryptonite was spreading fast through her body. She could feel it squeezing the life out of her.

Rao, she hoped she didn’t scare Lena.

## 

LCorp’s Headquarters,

Lena was staring outside, scanning the skies. It was another beautiful sunny day, yet something was missing.

She glanced at the door of her balcony. When had it been the last time she had stepped outside, that she had opened that door?

She focused on the faint reflection of herself on the double glass. She had lost weight and even her very expensive, and supposedly miraculous makeup couldn’t hide the bags under her eyes from all those sleepless nights.

Straightening her shoulders, Lena turned her back on the peaceful sky. Whatever it was her stupid heart was looking for, it wasn’t there.

Not anymore.

## 

The sound of the helicopters was getting closer, but she couldn’t worry about that now. She could hardly see anymore and was flying towards the building on instinct, trusting Lena’s fading heartbeat to guide her to safety.

Steering to the south side of the building, where Lena’s office was located, Kara pushed herself up, flying almost against the concrete wall and shattering several windows in her wake. If her powers failed her before she could reach Lena’s balcony, she had a tiny chance of trying to hold onto something. Plus, it helped keep her out of sight of the helicopters. She hoped.

She could feel warm blood running down her arm and hand. Where else had she been hit? Everything was numbing and hurting, and she couldn’t tell anymore. She was about to solar flare, she knew. If she didn’t reach Lena’s balcony in the next few seconds, she would fall, and she would die.

And she would die without saying goodbye to anyone, without apologizing to Lena… 

Nononono…

Gritting her teeth against the intensifying pain in her body, Kara tried to make sense of what she was seeing up ahead and almost cried out loud when Lena’s balcony came into view, just within reach.

Letting go of her bleeding and throbbing side, Kara grabbed the pristinely white railing and tried to push herself up. She couldn’t fly anymore. She had reached her limit.

“LENA!”

## 

Lena rubbed her eyes and blinked tiredly, staring at the report in her hands, reading the same paragraph one more time. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t focus today. Lex’s bigoted speech had unsettled her.

A sudden noise from outside made her look behind her shoulder, her heart beating fast. Half expecting to see Supergirl, she swallowed, disappointed when there was no one there. Not that she wanted to see her anyway, and Kara wouldn’t come to her unless the world was coming to an end, and she had an article to write and send to printing in less than five hours, so…

Maybe she was more tired than she thought.

Dismissing the noise, Lena focused again on her report. Maybe she should have another cup of coffee.

## 

“LENA!” Kara called out until her voice was hoarse and spent, but Lena wasn’t coming. 

She couldn’t hear her, and now her hands were slipping, and everything hurts. She had to get Lena’s attention. She knew the CEO was there.

Using her feet, she scrambled up, crying out at the effort and the pain shooting from her side, but it was her last chance, she couldn’t hang on for much longer. Managing to get her head above the railing, Kara summoned the last of her strength and shot a feeble beam at the glass. She couldn’t see it; she couldn’t see Lena and couldn’t even hear her heart anymore…

“Lena…”

## 

Lena jumped from her chair, her heart pounding in her chest. She reached for her phone to call security, noticing the slightly burnt glass, but she could see nothing outside, no one, no…

She took a step closer to the door as she noticed flying blonde hair and bloodied hands hanging on to her railing.

“Kara…” Dropping her phone, Lena opened the balcony’s door and ran outside, catching the Kryptonian’s arms as her fingers started to slip. “I’ve got you!”

Kara gasped. “Lee… I can’t—"

“You can!” Lena tried to pull her up, but Kara was damn heavy. “C’mon Kara, I can’t do this without you! Come on!”

Kara grunted, trying to wrap her arms better around the railing. “Pull on the loops of my jeans…”

Lena dared release one of Kara’s arms and grabbed the belt loops, pulling up, while Kara tried to push herself up. Letting go of the other arm, Lena had both hands pulling on the alien’s jeans, her heeled feet planted against the wall to give her leverage.

She would never know which one of them did it, but before she noticed, Kara was being pulled over the railing and falling hard on her balcony, Lena falling with her. Quickly scrambling to her knees, Lena stared in shock at her former best friend. Kara’s veins had a sickly green color to them, one that she knew too well, and her shirt was soaked in blood, and her arms and legs were peppered with what appeared to be bloodied cuts.

“Who did this?”

“Lee—" Kara moaned, opening her kryptonite infected eyes. Shakily raising her bloodied hand, she tried to touch Lena. “I can’t see you…”

Lena took the shaking hand in her own, tears blurring her vision.

“Lena…” Kara whispered weakly.

“What happened?”

Helicopters sounded from close by and Lena peered over the railing, seeing two black helicopters headed their way.

“Lena… Please… Help me.”

Lena stared at the helicopters closing in on them.

###

TBC

Chapter Text

LCorp’s Headquarters,

Pursing her lips, Lena carefully pressed Kara’s hand down on her bleeding wound, forcing herself to look away from the fast-approaching aircrafts. Kara whimpered at the contact, her greenish face contorting in pain.

“Stay here, Kara. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

Lena didn’t wait for an answer. Carelessly discarding her stilettos, the CEO quickly crawled to her office’s door, making sure to keep out of sight - she had enough experience with that. Straightening upright once she got inside, she sprinted to her desk, silently patting herself on the back for deciding to keep her 6 am gym classes. Pressing a button under her desk, the CEO watched as a red glow spread from sensors on the walls, forming a protective shield around her office and balcony, locking it down. No one could get in or out of that shield, not even Supergirl - she had made sure of that. 

Flying her fingers over her keyboard, the CEO opened a software window and typed rapid commands. Whoever was coming for Kara was completely blind to them now; they couldn’t even scan their biometric data.

Rushing back outside, Lena watched for a moment as the black helicopters flew near her building, surrounding it like hunters about to close in on its prey. But they wouldn’t get their hands on her - not today.

A pained whimper caught her attention and Lena ran to the fallen alien.

“We’re safe now. I activated the shield,” Lena said, dropping to her knees by Kara’s side.

“You finished it…” Kara whispered breathlessly.

“Yes.” Lena frowned. “I need to get you inside.”

Kara nodded and tried to move, but all she managed was a grunt of pain.

“Right…” Lena sighed. How was she going to get Kara inside? The Kryptonian was too weak to be any serious help and too heavy. “I’m going to help you sit but I need you to put your legs under yourself. Can you do that?”

“I’ll try…”

Lena nodded, slowly lifting the Kryptonian by the shoulders until she was in a  sitting position. Kara gasped at the movement and her head dropped heavily on Lena’s shoulder, seeking comfort. Panting, she grasped at Lena’s button-up shirt, clenching the smooth fabric in her fist.

Lena blinked, not expecting Kara to do that; not expecting the emotion that came from it. Closing her eyes for a moment, Lena touched Kara’s head with her hand, smoothing her disheveled hair soothingly until her panting subsided.

“Now, the hard part, Kara. Ready?”

Kara nodded and gritted her teeth while Lena shifted and slipped her arm around her shoulders, holding bleeding side with her free hand.

“On my count: 3, 2, 1!” With a powerful pull of her legs, Lena forced them both up, placing her right leg slightly forward to keep them balanced.

Kara cried out in pain, the sudden stretching of her abused abdomen making her lose her balance, but Lena was ready and kept them upright, more out of stubbornness than actual strength.

“Damn, you’re heavy…” Lena grunted, steering the Kryptonian to the balcony’s door, to take her inside.

“Sorry…”

Lena dropped Kara on her desk chair, trying her best not to jar her side. The blonde grunted in pain at the movement, her eyes squeezed shut. She looked outside her balcony, relieved to see the helicopters pull away from LCorp. Whatever they were looking for, they hadn’t found it.

“I need to call Alex.”

Kara nodded, her head dropping back against the back of the chair. “M’ phone…”

Glancing at the soaked shirt, Lena pushed down the feeling of uneasiness that was starting to churn inside her, and ran to her private restroom, grabbing several clean towels before rushing back to Kara. “I have some towels here and I’m pressing them on your side to stop the blood, but I need you to hold it in place.” When she failed to get an answer, Lena touched a sickly green cheek with slightly trembling fingers. “Kara! You can’t pass out on me!”

Kara moaned but forced her eyes half-open.

“Did you hear what I said?” Lena gently pried Kara’s hand away from the wound and lifted her blood-soaked shirt, gaping at the horrid wound on the toned abdomen - she was not mentally prepared for that. There was a bullet hole on her left side and most of her abdomen was covered in bright green and gooey red, spread out almost like a spider’s web. “Oh, Kara…”

“N—no… Sorry…”

Forcing herself to focus on the task at hand, Lena put a warm towel over the gaping wound, ignoring Kara’s hiss of pain. Taking the alien’s hand, she placed it over the towel, to keep the pressure on. “I said you need to stay awake.”

Kara mumbled something unintelligible and Lena grabbed her phone, pressing Alex Danvers’ number. “I mean it, Kara.” Lena frowned when the call went straight to voicemail. Now what? What would she do now? She couldn’t call the DEO. Maybe J’onn? No, that was too dangerous. “Damn it… Kara, I can’t get a hold of Alex. Who do I call?”

Silence.

“Kara!“

##

Alex Danvers’ apartment,

A low beeping sound caught her attention and Alex looked up from her glass as the blue spiral laser retracted, and a 3D blueprint of her apartment surged in its place.

“This is so cool…” Alex’s dark eyes widened in delight at the sight before her, and for a moment she completely forgot why she was using this in the first place. Several red dots blinked on the blueprint, apparently scattered all over her apartment. “I’m impressed. They aren’t taking any chances.” She stopped in the middle of the virtual projection, blinking at the red dot in her bathroom. “Now, that’s perverted!” 

Touching the side of the small gadget, the virtual keyboard materialized again, and Alex pressed the alien keys, making a mental note to thank Kara for this. It was not Kryptonian, but it was one of the many alien objects apprehended by Superman that was icing away at the Fortress. She wondered if she could convince her or Brainy to tweak it to certain parameters…

Looking around, she watched gleefully as the red dots became green, one by one. Chuckling under her breath, Alex pressed several more keys. “I bet even Lena Luthor would have a nerdy fit over this one.” More keys were pressed, several of the green dots now changing colors to yellow. “Now, to loop the system… See if you like being deceived by alien tech, asshole.” 

Rubbing her hands together, Alex went back to her comfy spot. She had to wait a little longer before she could turn on her phone and call her sister. She hoped she wasn’t doing anything foolish.

##

LCorp’s Headquarters, 

“Kara!” Lena forgot about her phone and lightly patted the blonde’s cheek, not feeling the steeliness she knew she would feel if Kara was fully powered. “Come on, Kara, wake up!

Kara stirred with a groan. “Lee…”

“Who do I call? I can’t reach Alex!” Lena was now holding her face between her hands, desperately trying to get the alien to focus on her. What was it about Kara Danvers being hurt that always made her lose her cool? “Kara?”

“I need to get… bullet out…”

“And how are you supposed to do that, Supergirl? Do you have some hidden power that you haven’t shared yet?” Lena closed her eyes briefly, regretting her outburst immediately. Kara was right, the bullet needed to come out if she had any chance of survival. Apparently, even on the verge of passing out from blood loss and Kryptonite poisoning, Kara was better at keeping her head clear. That was embarrassing. “Sorry…”

“Mom… call mom…” Kara cracked her eyes open, dazedly looking at Lena. “I can’t… see…”

“I know, I know…” Lena frowned at the new color in Kara’s eyes - they were turning grey. What was happening? Why were her eyes turning grey? Wh—

“You… Want to see… you…” Kara slurred, her eyes closing again.

Hot tears blurred Lena’s eyes and she slipped Kara’s good arm over her shoulder. She couldn’t just let Kara bleed out to death before her eyes. She wouldn’t! “You’ll see me again, Kara, but you have to stay awake and you have to help me, ok?” No answer. “Kara Zor-El!”

Kara’s lips twisted in a tiny smile, keeping her eyes closed. “You sound… like mom…”

“We’re getting up now.” Lena took a deep breath and hauled Kara to her feet, wrapping her free arm around her waist. Kara cried out in pain, swaying dangerously, but Lena had a firm grip on her. 

“I’m sorry, but I need to take you to the lab while you can still walk,” Lena grunted out. “Do I want to know what sweet Kara did to get her mother to yell at her?” How the alien was still conscious was a mystery, but she had to keep her talking, had to keep her awake.

“Testing… powers…” Kara gritted out.

Lena led her to the wall behind the couch, keeping a tight hold on the Kryptonian’s waist. Kara could now barely take a step forward and her left leg was starting to give out.

“What did you do? Blow up the roof?” Damn, this was hard. Kara was heavy and was leaning most of her weight on her, but from the wheezing sound of her breathing and the tiny grunts of pain, Lena knew she didn’t have much time left. She had to take her to the lab.

“K—kinda…”

“Kinda? Did you take off flying and forgot the roof was there?” Lena stopped by the couch, touching her fingers on a spot behind it.

“Nightmare…” Kara gasped, swaying. “Couldn’t… control… S-shot…”

Kara started to lean forward as the wall opened in front of them, revealing a well-lit corridor.

“No, no, no, Kara! Stay with me! Just a few more steps!” Lena released the arm she was holding over her shoulder so she could shift and half place herself in front of Kara, to stop her from falling.

“I-I can’t… Le—"

“Yes, you can! Yes, you can!” Lena’s voice cracked as she stared at the pale, blood-stained face, touching her chin with trembling fingers and forcing eye contact, even if she knew Kara couldn’t see her. “I’m looking at you, Kara. Yes, you can. You can, for me. Please?”

Kara leaned on her hand. “For you…” She nodded once.

“For me… Come, just a few more steps.” Lena shifted back, taking hold of Kara’s arm. “Almost there.”

Kara grunted, her breathing faint, but stubbornly shuffled forward with Lena, the fake wall closing soundlessly behind them.

##

CatCo’s Headquarters, 

James was frowning, cold sweat running down his back. He was pretty sure he had just heard gunshots and he couldn’t stop the faint popping sounds from making him want to hide under his desk.

“I thought you said Kara Danvers wasn’t in the building!”

Agent McKenna’s angry voice was a welcome and much-needed distraction.

“She isn’t. At least not that I’m aware of. This is a magazine, I don’t keep tabs on my staff’s clocking in and out,” James replied, willing his voice to remain steady. They were shooting at Kara? With Kryptonite bullets? He needed to get rid of this half-assed agent. “We’re reporters!”

Agent McKenna stopped his furious pacing, shooting him a hard stare. “I’m bringing you down for questioning! You’re und—“ The man’s phone rang with an annoying old-fashioned ring and he picked it up, cursing under his breath. “What?” The prominent vein on his forehead started pulsing. “What do you mean, you lost her?”

James covertly closed his eyes in relief. All right, so not all was lost. Kara had managed to get away. She would find a way to get in touch later and…

“You shot her? Why aren’t you following the blood trail, idiot? She can’t be far!”

Shot? Kara was shot? James paled suddenly, memories of his own shooting months ago clouding his judgment. He had to call Alex! And Lena! She needed to know what was happening.

“I’m surrounded by idiots…” The balding man grumbled, putting away his phone. “Come, Mr. CEO, let’s have a nice little chat in my office.”

James stood still and quirked an eyebrow at him. “Am I under arrest, agent?“

The vein pulsed again. “No.”

“Then I’m not going anywhere with you, agent McKenna, not until my lawyer gets here. Besides, it seems that you’re shooting my staff for no reason at all. I need to make sure no one else gets hurt.”

The vein started throbbing, the agent’s dark, beady eyes following as the tall CEO walked back to the chair behind the desk and made himself comfortable.

##

LCorp’s Headquarters,

Halfway through the short corridor, Kara had already forsaken her blood-soaked towel, the hand used to apply pressure on her injured side now helping her keep her balance against the pristine wall, leaving a trail of fresh blood behind.

She was leaning heavier on Lena, making them stumble often, but  Lena stubbornly held them both upright. The Kryptonian’s breathing was slowly fading into a barely heard wheeze, urging the CEO to move faster, but despite her best efforts, Kara was slowing down her pace.

“Lee…”

“Almost there, Kara, I promise. Just a few more steps,” Lena gritted out. She refused to believe what her logical mind was telling her, that they wouldn’t make it to the lab; that she wouldn’t be able to save Kara. “I can’t make this without you, Kara. Just a little longer.”

But Kara was just too weak, too exhausted to take another step and the Kryptonian stopped abruptly. Her weight shifted and she slowly slid down against the wall, dragging Lena with her.

“No, no, Kara, no!” Lena tried to hold them upright, but the alien was just too heavy, and she fell on her knees. “Dammit, Kara, now it’s going to be harder to get up!”

“M’sorry…”

Lena was still holding the alien’s arms over her shoulders. “You need to get up, Kara! Now!” She tried to haul them up once more, but this time Kara didn’t budge, and Lena stumbled forward, almost falling over the alien. “Come on, Kara! I—"

Trembling fingers touching her cheek stopped her train of thought, and she looked down at the injured woman, tears blurring her eyes. Kara’s eyes were closed, and her face was now completely covered by green veins. Smudges of her own blood tainted her skin and parted lips moved slowly, almost as if she was trying to talk.

“Kara…” Lena moaned. Nonononono… 

Kara smiled, just a little. “Wanted… See you…”

The hand touching her face slowly dropped, falling on the Kryptonian’s lap, unmoving.

“Kara?” Lena whispered, tears falling without permission. “Get up…” Lena grabbed the blonde’s shoulders, roughly shaking her. “Get up, Supergirl!” A sob escaped and she shook harder. “Get up!”

But Kara remained silent and unresponsive, and Lena cried out loud. Letting go of her shoulders, Lena gently cupped Kara’s face with both hands, trying to clean some of the blood with her thumbs, but only making it worse. Bringing the woman’s head closer, to rest on her chest, Lena hid her face in those blonde tresses that always smelled so nice and fresh, sobbing harder.

“Get up… Please… Get up!” She cried, clutching the woman’s head to her chest. “You can’t leave… Please… I’m not done yelling at you!”

But silence was her only answer.

##

DEO’s Headquarters,

Col. Haley stared intently at her computer screen. Several of the blinking lights went off and she let out a breath of relief. Good, Alex had found all the bugs. Smart girl.

Haley had peeked over the sergeant’s shoulder while he typed away his very simplistic password and now, she could access his security system. If he was under her command, he would be on his way to being promoted to latrine duty for being so careless with security. Not to mention the password - a set of numbers that resembled a birthday, probably his own. 

Now she just had to be quick enough to reset the bugs to her neighbor’s apartment and make it look like they were still monitoring every one of her movements at home. She started typing away, being mindful to keep him in her peripheral vision. One of her operatives was harassing with complaints about alien staff, keeping him distracted as she hacked the security system. Amateur. Definitely not DEO material.

The screen glitched and all of a sudden, all the bugs were rebooting before her eyes. Haley blinked, baffled. What was happening? They had a backup system?

Shit.

##

LCorp’s Headquarters, 

Heart-wrenching sobs filled the hollow corridor. “No…” Lena whimpered, holding the unresponsive alien in a bruising embrace. “Don’t go… Please, don’t go… You can’t leave me!”

She was so lost in her pain, it took a moment for her mind to register the warm breath tickling her collarbone. Popping open tear-filled eyes in disbelief, her breathing caught in her throat. Pulling Kara slightly away from her, Lena pressed shaking fingers to her neck, a loud gasp of relief escaping her lips when she felt the soft thumping under her fingertips.

“How?” She whispered, confused. “How are you still alive?”

Pulling her back into a tight embrace, Lena kissed the blonde head on her chest, forcing her brain to start working. She was a Luthor, CEO of LCorp and perfectly capable of facing off and bending hostile boards to her will. She had faced death and critical situations too many times to crack under pressure, so why was she doing it now?

“Ok, ok, I can do this…” Lena wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, gently easing Kara against the wall. “We can do this.”

Ok, so yelling at the alien may not be the best solution, especially because the woman was currently unresponsive. “Think, Luthor, think!”

She needed a plan, even if it meant performing surgery on Kara right there on the hall! Mumbling under her breath, Lena glanced at the door to her lab as if it was trying to tell her something. “The prototype… I can use the prototype, Kara!” Looking back at Kara, Lena cupped her face reverently, whispering fiercely. “Don’t you dare die on me, Kara!”

Pushing herself up, Lena ran as fast as she could to the door at the end of the corridor.

##

Deo’s Headquarters,

Looking around, Haley spotted Vasquez walking inside the control room and texted her quickly. The agent checked her phone, staring at it for a moment. Putting it away, Vasquez made a quick detour.

Haley pointed to her screen and they quickly swapped places, always mindful of the sergeant’s whereabouts. “She debugged the devices, but they rebooted right after.”

Vasquez cursed under her breath. “I can try to deactivate them remotely…” The agent typed quickly, looking over the screen to check on the military.

“Focus on this, I’m keeping an eye on him.”

“Yes, ma’am… What the…” Vasquez frowned at the screen.

“What?” Haley kept her eyes on the man, but Vasquez’s unexpected chuckle had her look down at woman, scowling. “Something funny, agent?”

“The bugs didn’t reboot, ma’am,” Vasquez smirked. “Danvers looped the system. I recognize the signature reading from the Sel’Gur debugger.”

Haley exhaled, relieved. Damn smart girl. “Go rescue Andy before he’s thrown in a cell too.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Vasquez?”

The agent turned, looking at her questioning.

“Good job.”

Vasquez gave her a small smile and walked away, smoothly interrupting her colleague’s ranting. The look of relief on the military’s face was painfully evident. Idiot.

Haley logged out of the system, thinking it was a good thing they were finally on the same side. She was sure Alex Danvers would prove to be a formidable adversary of Lex Luthor.

##

LCorp’s Headquarters,

Lena punched in a code on the digital pad on the side of the double glass cabinet, where a shiny black exoskeleton was exposed. Quickly removing the armor, she put it on hastily but quickly found a problem: her pencil dark shirt would hinder her mobility. Cursing under her breath for her poor decision on wardrobe that morning, Lena grabbed a sharp scalpel from a nearby table and sliced her skirt on the sides, all the way up to her hip. Better, much better. Attaching the bottom piece of the exoskeleton to her legs and hip, Lena activated the central system from a virtual pad on her wrist, watching it come to life with a soft humming, green LEDs lighting up along the sides of the structure.

It was far from being done and it still had a number of glitches she needed to fix before she could take it to the next level, but all she wanted right now, all she needed was for it to work long enough for her to pick up Kara and bring her inside the lab, where she could actually do something to help her. 

“Please, don’t let me down…” She pleaded as she ran outside the lab three times faster than she was physically capable of.  This was usually the moment she would be grinning like an idiot, naively proud of herself, but not this time. This time she had a life to save and it depended on her unfinished project to work long enough to get Kara inside.

Stopping in front of the slumped Kryptonian, Lena knelt by her side, hesitantly touching her neck. “Good girl…” She sighed, relieved when she felt the faint thumping against her fingertips.

Carefully placing her arms under Kara’s knees and back, Lena gently swept her up, sprinting back inside.

“Hope, set lab on lockdown!” Lena barked, gently placing Kara on the gurney.

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.” Came the pleasant voice. 

That was another ongoing project. She was tired of backstabbing assistants. If she couldn’t have Jess back, she would build her own assistant. At least she knew she could trust this one.

Ripping Kara’s shirt off with a powerful yank, Lena clenched her jaw at the sight of the woman’s visible injuries, tears blurring her eyes again. Besides the obvious bullet wound, Kara’s torso was covered with lacerations that resembled small burns and there was another bullet wound on her left shoulder, but this one looked like it was a clean shot. Carefully lifting her shoulder, Lena peeked at the injury, seeing the torn flesh on her back that indicated the bullet had exited.

“Dammit, Kara, you’re not making this easy…”

After checking her for more injuries, Lena turned on the monitors that surrounded the gurney, placing several of the wires attached to them on Kara’s chest. She needed to keep an eye on her vitals. The monitors came to life with Kara’s vital information and Lena frowned, unhappy with the readings. 

“Not good, Kara, not good at all.” Lena placed an oxygen mask over the alien’s face, her fingers brushing her stained cheek in a tender caress. “I see I’m going to have to find a way to keep you safe from Kryptonite… Just because the world needs Supergirl, and nothing more.” 

Picking up her phone again, she tried again Alex’s number, but it went to voicemail once more. “Bloody hell!” Glancing down at Kara, Lena searched her right back pocket, knowing that’s where she kept her phone when she was not wearing her jacket.

Not wasting time trying to hack the phone herself, Lena hurried to her central computer and plugged it. “Hope, hack this phone and video call Eliza Danvers. Contact could be under ‘Mom’.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”

“And turn on the sunlamps and direct them over the gurney to give Kara as much exposure as possible.” Lena rushed back to Kara’s side, opening a drawer with pristine surgical instruments inside and everything she needed to remove that bullet. Taking out gloves and antiseptic, she busied herself with cleaning and disinfecting Kara’s abdomen. Despite those rock-hard, well-defined muscles, it was surprisingly soft. “How much longer, Hope? Kara’s running out of time here!”

“Kara Danvers’ phone is unlocked. Video calling ‘Mom’,” Hope replied in her pleasant voice.

“Thank God… Send the feed to the main screen and activate the mobile camera. Zoom in on the gurney.” Lena moved so that she was standing in front of the camera, hiding Kara from view. She didn’t want Eliza Danvers to see her daughter like that, not without warning.

“Hey, sweetie.” Eliza Danvers’ bright smile faded from her lips before it was fully out. “Lena? Where’s Kara? Why do you have her phone?”

“Mrs. Danvers, thank God you answered.” Lena knew she was on the verge of tears, but she really didn’t care at this point. Kara was badly injured, and she needed help. “Kara’s been shot with Kryptonite and Alex is not answering her phone and she’s bleeding to death! She lost too much blood and she’s in shock and the kryptonite’s poisoning is spreading too fast and…”

“Lena!”

Eliza’s stern voice stopped her rambling at once. “I’m sorry. I—” Why was she acting like this? She was always able to function under pressure. Always! Why wasn’t it working now?

“Is she there?” Eliza’s voice softened, but the firmness was still there. Lena nodded. “Let me see.”

“Mrs. Danvers—"

“Lena, if I’m to be of assistance, I have to see the damage.”

Lena swallowed and stepped aside to reveal Kara’s bloodied form. For the longest time, the only sounds inside the cold, spartan room were the soft humming of machines and Kara’s ventilator.

“I’m sorry…” Lena whispered, shying her eyes away from the horrified look on Eliza’s face at the sight of her injured daughter.

“That bullet needs to come out now,” Eliza’s voice cracked, “or the Kryptonite will kill her before she bleeds to death.”

Lena closed her eyes, her hands clenching in white knuckle fists at her sides. “I can’t do it…”

##

Alex Danvers’ apartment,

Alex quickly scanned the final sweep report, pleased to confirm that all bugs had been located and reprogrammed into a loop.

They would eventually find out the rouse, but hopefully, it would give her enough time to prepare for whatever it was Lex Luthor was scheming this time.

She made sure to leave some of the bugs with live feed, such as the building’s main doors. That would buy her some extra time.

Now, all she needed was to upgrade her home security system and she could finally turn on her phone and call Kara, J’onn and Lena.

And mom. He probably had her under surveillance already and that made her feel uneasy.

Bastard!

##

LCorp’s Headquarters,

“Why not? Lena, Kara can’t wait any longer and I’m too far away.”

“But…”

“Lena, please, look at me.” Eliza softened her voice, her blue eyes searching Lena’s. There was no recrimination there, just gentle pleading. “Kara has no time left. She needs you.”

Lena glanced over her shoulder at the prone woman on her gurney, her sickly green covered torso, stained with blood, and the faint rise and fall of her chest. Kara needed her…

“I’ve done minor surgeries before, but never like this…” Lena admitted, looking away. She knew that image would haunt her forever. Her shoulders slumped. “I need you to guide me.”

A relieved breath escaped Eliza. “I will, Lena, I will.”

Taking a steadying breath, Lena grabbed the last piece of exoskeleton from the glass cabinet, a metallic wireless band that she placed on her head. Touching a key on the virtual pad, a light went on, activating and connecting the headband with the rest of the metallic structure. “Hope, forward live feed from Prototype 01 to Eliza,” Lena ordered. “This will allow you to see what I see, Mrs. Danvers.”

“Good, and Lena?”

“Yes?” Lena glanced at the tray of surgical instruments.

“Live feed on Prototype 01 ready, Ms. Luthor.”

“Call me Eliza.”

Lena nodded. “Hope, send my private jet to Midvale and a car to pick up Eliza. Now.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”

“How long until your jet gets here?”

“Hope?”

“31 minutes and 02 seconds.”

“All right, let’s get this started then. I will be guiding you on the go and I’m taking two units of her blood with me,” Eliza sighed. “God, I wish Superman was here…”

“Blood?”

“She needs a transfusion, Lena, and human blood is not compatible, only Kryptonian.”

Lena blinked, clutching the scalpel in her hand. “From any Kryptonian?”

“Yes, why?”

“Sam…”

“What?”

“Sam! She’s a Kryptonian. I still have a unit of her blood here!”

“Oh, thank God… That could be enough to hold her until I get there. Get it now, Lena.”

Lena ran to her vertical refrigerator and removed the bags with Sam’s name.

“Is she on Earth?”

“Yes.” Lena hooked up the bag, inserting the needle in Kara’s arm.

Lena could hear muffled noise from the other side and could only imagine the older woman was getting ready to be picked up by her town car. She was so glad she had upgraded her jet’s engines before Kaznia.

Kaznia… that had changed everything, hadn’t it?

“Do you have any reports on her blood? I need to see them.” Eliza asked.

“I do.” Lena glanced at the blood dripping slowly into Kara’s arm and picked up the scalpel she had left on the tray. “Hope, do as Eliza requested.”

“Sending reports to ‘Mom’.”

“Mom?”

Lena looked up at the main screen, noticing Eliza’s surprise. “That’s how you’re listed on her contacts.

“Oh! I didn’t know that…” Eliza mumbled. “All right, let’s get this started.”

Apparently, Kara had little secrets from everyone. Shaking her head slightly, Lena clenched her jaw, hoping she was up to the task. Kara’s life was in her hands now.

“You’ll do fine, Lena. We’ll keep her safe.”

Keep her safe. Right.

##

Lena had just removed the kryptonite bullet from Kara’s torn flesh, tossing it carelessly into a nearby tray, when the line on the heart rate monitor went flat, a beep going off. Lena looked up sharply, staring at the screen, frozen in place.

What… “Eliza?”

“She’s crashing, Lena! Get the paddles!”

Lena dropped her instruments like they were hot and reached for the paddles nearby, quickly applying the gel and then placing them on Kara’s torso as Eliza instructed.

“Now!”

Lena pressed both buttons on the paddles at the same time and pressed on Kara’s chest. The released energy jolted the Kryptonian’s chest, but the line remained flat.

“Increase by 100 joules!”

Lena adjusted the energy and pressed the paddles again. The line remained flat. “It’s not working!”

“Increase for maximum energy.”

Lena stared at the older woman. “But…”

“She can take it! Do it!”

Lena adjusted again and repeated the procedure. “Come on…”

The line on the monitor changed to its regular movement and remained stable.

“Oh God…” Lena placed the paddles back on their hooks, her hands shaking visibly. Biting her lower lip nervously, she stared at the monitor in front of her, clenching and unclenching her trembling hands.

“Lena, you need to close the wound, sweetie.”

“I—I don’t think I can… My hands…” Lena looked at her trembling hands. She needed a moment to recover from what had just happened. She needed to sit down and have a shot of whiskey, and… She might need to throw up too.

“Take a deep breath, Lena. You can do this.”

Lena closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, Kara’s sweet smile flashing before her eyes hauntingly. Pressing a button on the virtual pad, she felt as thin metallic claws extended from the wrists’ bracelets and covered her fingers, thin rings wrapping around them and stopping her trembling instantly.

“That is amazing…” Eliza whispered, marveling at the technology.

“What now?” Lena asked. She didn’t feel anything was amazing right now.

“Let’s close the wound,” Eliza said. “Where’s your Kryptonian friend?”

“Metropolis,” Lena replied curtly while picking up her discarded instruments. She was still reeling from Kara’s cardiac arrest.

“How fast can she get there? Can she fly?”

“Yes.” Lena focused on making sure she was closing the wound right. She refused to look up at the heart rate monitor, no matter how badly she wanted to. It was still beeping steadily, meaning Kara was stable for now. “Hope, call Sam Arias.”

“Calling Sam Arias.”

“She needs more blood and she can get there before I do, and I can’t get a hold of Alex. God, I hope she’s all right.”

Lena wasn’t so sure of that. Knowing her brother, Alex Danvers could already be sitting in a cell at the DEO, but she couldn’t worry about that now.

“Sam doesn’t know Kara is Supergirl,” Lena warned, willing her voice to remain impassive. She would not let anyone know how much saying those words out loud affected her.

“Connecting Sam Arias.”

“We have no choice, Lena. She can be trusted, right?”

“Hey, boss!” Sam’s perky greeting sounded loud in the silent lab. “How are y—"

“Sam, I need your help.”

“Lena, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“It’s Kara.”

“Kara?”

“She’s been shot and she’s in pretty bad shape.”

Sam was silent for a second. “How can I help, Lena. I—”

“She needs your blood.”

“What? Lena, have you gone mad? I’m a Kryptonian! My blood would kill her!”

Lena sighed, never taking her eyes from her work. She wanted those sutures perfect, even if Kara wouldn’t scar. “Kara is Supergirl.”

Shocked silence. “What?”

It was almost funny, the irony of it all. So many secrets. “Sam…”

“Are you telling me I almost killed one of my dearest friends?”

“Sam, I need you to fly here now. If she crashes again, I’m not sure I can bring her back this time. Please!”

“I’ll be there in 10 minutes,” Sam said tersely, disconnecting the call.

“Why did she almost kill my daughter?”

Lena cringed. She completely forgot Eliza was still on video.

Today was not her day.

###

TBC

Chapter Text

Alex Danvers’ apartment,

The soft beeping from the alien gadget caught her attention and Alex set her book aside, quietly padding towards it. Checking the final report, the redhead turned it off and put it safely away.

All right, so now her apartment had a new security system, with the alien protocols J’onn had insisted she installed in case an emergency like this, and her phone was safer than Fort Knox. She felt better now.

Funny how things worked. She had brought this gadget home to protect herself and Kara from Haley, and know the insufferable woman was a much-needed ally. Alex sighed and picked up her phone from the coffee table. She hoped she would remain a reliable ally for a long time because she had a feeling that things could get bumpy again from now on.

Going through her new security measures with her phone took longer than she expected, but it was as safe as Lena Luthor’s own phone now. Finally turning the gadget on, she almost dropped it on the floor with all the notifications going off at once.

“Holy shit… What the…”

Apparently, everyone and their mother were trying to call her, but it was Lena Luthor’s several attempts to reach her that caught her attention. They hadn’t talked in months since her fallout with Kara, so why was she calling her now? Frowning, she pressed the dial button on Lena’s contact.

The phone rang twice before it was picked up. “Lena? Hey! How are y—”

“Alex, thank God!” Lena’s shaken voice sounded from the other side. “Kara’s hurt and it’s bad, Alex, it’s very bad. You need to come to LCorp now!”

“What?” Alex jumped from the couch as if she’d been bitten, her heart pounding in her chest. 

“I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Alex?”

Alex stopped dead in her tracks, surprised to hear her mother’s voice. “Mom? Mom, where are you? What’s going on?”

“I’m arriving in National City.” There was a pause. “You need to hurry, Alex. She’s in bad shape.”

“I’ll be there in 15 minutes!” Alex grabbed her bag and keys from the single-seat couch, her voice clipped.

“Call me when you get here and I’ll clear you,” Lena said, her voice sounding somewhat relieved.

Alex disconnected the call and stormed out.

##

National City airspace,

Samantha Arias checked the area from high above, using her enhanced vision to make sure there were no helicopters or drones around. Halfway through her flight from Metropolis to National City, Lena’s AI, Hope, called her to warn her about that.  She had to be careful.

She had been paying more attention to the news since Lex Luthor was elected President, her concern growing each day. His current anti-alien speech scared her, frankly, especially since her Kryptonian DNA was no longer latent and that was another troubling matter she had yet addressed properly.

Sam closed the door behind her with her foot, leaning against it for a moment, her eyes closed. She was bone tired. After five straight hours of intense arguing and pitching over a new client, she was ready to move to Mars for a whole year! Her fiercest competitor was a rotten bastard, with no sense of honor or fair play.

Exhaling audibly, Sam pushed herself away from the door and shuffled to the dark living room, dropping heavily on the couch. God, she was tired. Maybe it was time to take that vacation Lena kept insisting she needed. That sounded wonderful right now and Ruby would love it. Spying the bottle of malt whiskey over at the minibar, Sam smiled lovingly at it.

“It’s you and me tonight, buddy.” Sam rose from her comfy spot, taking her dark jacket off. “Remind me to thank Lena for you.” Sam strolled to the minibar and opened the bottle with a soft pop. “Know who would love you too? Alex…” Her smile faltered. She missed her more than anyone else in National City. Pouring a shot of the amber liquid in a clear glass, she walked back to the couch, allowing her head to fall on the back of it. “I must be losing my mind if I’m talking to a bottle of whiskey.” 

Taking a sip, Sam chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Please, don’t answer, because if you do, I might need a forced vacation.” Snorting, she raised her glass in mock salute. “Here’s to a very messed-up day.” Her phone was by her side on the couch when it beeped with an email notification. Opening her email and reading its contents quickly, the glass shattered in her hand with a splash of whiskey before it could reach her lips. “Son of a bitch! We lost the contract?”

Without thought, Sam closed her glass-covered hand into a tight fist and punched the couch angrily, carving a deep hole in it. Staring speechless at it for the longest time, Sam carefully removed her hand from the hole in the couch, watching it closely. Where there should be cuts and blood, and scrapes, there was nothing.

Shaking, Sam rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the heaviest pot she could find. Placing her hands on both sides of it, she pressed just a little, watching in horror as the hard metal bent and twisted in her hands.

“Oh, God…” Terrified and on the verge of panic, Sam grabbed her phone and pressed a number. When a cheerful voice came from the other side, she almost lost her composure. “It’s back…”

Feeling safe that the airspace around her was clear, Sam flew towards the imposing building at Kryptonian speed, heading for a back alley conveniently hidden from view and that very few knew about.

Lena stared at the screen in front of her, grimacing. “The Kryptonian DNA is overpowering the Human DNA. We didn’t account for it to be this aggressive without the World Killer cells.” She turned around in her chair, regret in her green eyes. “You’re becoming Kryptonian again.”

Sam closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands, groaning. “No, no, not again!” Looking up, she had tears in her eyes. “No! I can’t become Reign again, Lena! I almost killed Supergirl!”

Lena moved away from her chair and knelt beside her friend. “You won’t, Sam. Reign is eradicated, Supergirl made sure of that.” Looking back at her screen, Lena frowned. “I need to run more tests to be sure, but I think you’re just becoming a regular Kryptonian.”

“With World Killer DNA, Lena!”

“Sam…”

“I need to warn Alex! And Supergirl!” Sam hastily grabbed her phone from the nearby desk.

“No!” Lena stopped her, placing a placating hand on her arm. “No. Not until we are certain of this, Sam, please. Alex is up to her eyeballs with the anti-alien movement in National City and so is Supergirl.” Lena pleaded. “Just until we have the full report.”

Sam closed her eyes. Lena was right, she knew. There was no need to sound the alarm until they were certain of what was happening, but she was scared. And how would she break the news to Ruby? Would this nightmare never end?

“Until the final report, Lena.”

Lena nodded, relieved.

That had been over six months ago and Lena was still the only one to know she was becoming fully Kryptonian again. The test results took forever and then Lex showed up, and then it was never the right time to address the issue. ‘One crisis at a time’, Lena had said, begging her once more to let her handle Lex first, to understand what was happening at the DEO’s takeover by the militaries. No one was safe until Lex was behind bars again.

At least her condition seemed to have become stable. So far, besides super strength and enhanced vision, only flight ability had manifested recently, and she had yet taken the time to test it properly. Not that she wanted to. She just wanted a normal life with her daughter. Was that too much to ask for?

Biting her lip in concentration, Sam tried to control her descent, hoping for a smooth landing, but she was coming down with too much speed and crashed heavily against a nearby tall wall instead, knocking down a large section of it. “Dammit…” She couldn’t control her landing, and surely Lena was going to kill her for destroying her property, but it was her own fault anyway. She knew she had no practice in flying since Reign.

Dusting herself off as best as she could, Sam waved at the hidden camera, glad that the alley had a separate security system, one only Lena and herself had access to.

Searching along the wall for the hidden biometrics' reader, Sam stopped close to the steel door that lead inside and pressed her hand on a tiny grey dot on the wall, waiting. A few inches to the right of the steel door, the wall slid sideways, and the Kryptonian slipped inside.

##

LCorp Headquarters,

Lena cleaned up the sweat from her brow with her arm. She was never sweaty, but the heat generated from the sunlamps was getting to her. She was tempted to have them turned off, they didn’t seem to be helping Kara anyway. The alien’s vitals were still erratic, and her skin was still glowing that sickly green, but she thought better of it.

The sunlamps always helped Supergirl recharge and she would just have to endure it. She probably should use the sunblock she always carried in her purse, but she needed to tend to Kara first.

Sam was on her way and so was Eliza, and she finally had a bit of silence around her. Lena finished dressing up the shoulder wound and glanced at the bloodied gauze piling up on the metal counter by her side.

“You’re a mess, Kara…” Lena grumbled, picking up a pair of scissors from the tray. Using it on the Kryptonian’s shirt, Lena removed what was left of the ruined fabric, briefly marveling at the beauty of Kara Danvers. Why did she keep herself hidden under such conservative outfits? Was it to hide her identity too? “They did a number on you, didn’t they?”

“Hope, how much longer until Eliza gets here?” Lena asked, never taking her eyes from her current wound. There were so many cuts and burns scattered on her arms and torso and she knew there had to be more on her legs. She needed help to tend to them all quickly before they had to deal with the risk of infection on top of everything.

“Eliza Danvers has touched down and is currently on her way to LCorp. ETA eleven minutes.”

“Eleven minutes?” Lena’s head snapped up, confused.

“The pilot tried the new jet propulsor and was able to gain twenty minutes while en route.”

Lena’s heart skipped a beat. That was a good thing, right? Eliza was a medic and she would know what to do to help Kara. Plus, her new propulsor had done so well in an unscheduled test and that was fantastic news. It would revolutionize aviation. She should be thrilled, right? So why wasn’t she? Why did everything seem so meaningless now? “And Sam?” 

“Samantha Arias is entering National City’s airspace. ETA four minutes.”

Lena exhaled. Good, that made her feel better. She wanted Sam here with her when Eliza arrived. She didn’t want to have to face Eliza’s scrutiny all by herself. She could handle it any other time, but not today.

“Send an email to Carrie letting her know to clear Eliza Danvers the moment she arrives and have her sent up to my office.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”

“And keep me updated on their ETA.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”

Glancing at Kara’s greenish face, Lena noticed that her cheeks were still smudged with dry blood and her trademark glasses were nowhere to be seen. “I should clean your face before your mother gets here, Kara, but there’s just so much to do.” She frowned. “Were you just standing there waiting for them to shoot you? Because it looks like you were the target in a firing range.” Lena dabbed the gauze in her hand with antiseptic and cleaned around a deeper gash on the alien’s right arm as gently as she could. “We really should talk about this. I know you’re virtually indestructible, but you can’t just stand there and make yourself a target. This is what happens when you get hit by something that has the power to hurt you.” Lena sighed. This one was going to need stitches. “And where are your glasses? How are you supposed to conceal your identity without them? Stupidest disguise I’ve ever seen…” Lena stopped her grumbling, staring down at her hands for a moment. “Stupid but it sure fooled me…”

“Update on Eliza Danvers’ ETA: three minutes.”

Lena blinked, her stomach clenching. “Three minutes? But—” Was the older Danvers Kryptonian too?

“The town car took a shortcut and the traffic has decreased fifty percent in the past five minutes.”

“Great, just great… What about Sam?”

“Samantha Arias ETA:  Two minutes.”

Ok, she could do this. Sam would still be here when Eliza arrived, though she had no idea how the woman would react to Sam. Finishing the suture on the gash in Kara’s arm, Lena wrapped it with a bandage and removed her gloves. After making sure the kryptonite bullet was secure in a lead box, and as far away from Kara as possible, she washed her hands in a nearby sink and left the lab, but not before glancing back at the injured alien. “Be good. I’ll be right back with your mother.”

##

Eliza Danvers hurried inside LCorp’s spacious lobby, heading straight for the reception.

“Good afternoon, ma’am. How may I help you?” The reception clerk smiled politely at her.

“I’m Eliza Danvers. Lena Luthor is exp—”

“Dr. Danvers?”

Eliza Danvers turned around at the sound of a perky voice from very close by. A petite woman with short dirty blonde hair and kind hazel eyes smiled at her, extending her right hand in greeting. “I’m Carrie Michaels. I’m Ms. Luthor’s personal assistant and she asked me to escort you to her office.”

Eliza shook her hand and gave her a little smile. She seemed nice enough, but she was just too worried about her daughter to be her pleasant self.

“Let me help you with those bags,” Carrie said, taking a heavy bag from her hands.

“Thank you.”

They walked to a nondescript elevator, that was already waiting for them. Carrie pressed a button engraved with two dark Ls and the door closed silently. “This is Ms. Luthor’s private elevator,” she explained politely.

“I see.” Eliza gave her a small smile, watching closely as the young woman texted something on her phone.

“Just letting Ms. Luthor know that you’re arriving.” Carrie smiled pleasantly.

Eliza nodded, staring at the changing numbers on the elevator’s digital display. With all of Lena’s technology, couldn’t this thing go any faster? She needed to see her daughter.

##

The elevator’s doors opened, and Sam left hurriedly. She remembered this place all too well, but she really didn’t miss it. At all.

Quickly walking through the long corridor where the private quarters and amenities were located, Sam made her way to Lena’s secret lab, pressing her hand on the side panel. The door to the lab opened with a click and she made her way inside.

“Lena?” Sam called out softly, looking around, but no one answered. Her eyes fell on Kara’s body, lying unmoving on what used to be her bed when she had been forced to stay here, while Lena was trying to figure out what was wrong with her. That was before she knew she was Reign, the most powerful of the World Killers; before she almost killed Supergirl and destroyed the world.

Looking around, Sam strode to Kara’s side, taking in all her injuries. Her exposed skin was covered in the bright green of Kryptonite and her torso was bare, only her black bra still on. Two large bandages covered the left side of her abdomen and her left shoulder and a smaller one was wrapped around her right bicep. Several still untreated cuts covered her torso and arms, and neck too, and she could only guess more were still unseen because of the dark blue jeans.

Taking her friend’s bloodied hand on her own, Sam closed her eyes, allowing the memories of savagely beating up Supergirl, of holding her by the hem of her suit and dropping her mercilessly from the top of that building; the thundering sound of her limp body hitting the ground and her own delighted laughter as she looked down on the broken body of Supergirl, her only real opponent; allowing the shame and the remorse to punish her for her atrocious actions.

She knew she couldn’t control Reign. She had tried with all her might, but in the end, the World killer won and took over with vengeance, with no one to stand in her way, and now, to find out that Kara was Supergirl… “I’m sorry…” She whispered brokenly, tears welling in her closed eyes. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. I’m so sorry I nearly killed you… You’re my friend and I love you like a sister, and I almost killed you… I’m sorry… Can you forgive me?”

But Kara’s uneven breathing was her only answer.

Sam opened her eyes and more tears fell. “You will wake up, Kara, and we will talk about this. I need to apologize when you’re conscious, not like this. Last time I almost killed you, but this time, I will help save you, I promise.” She squeezed the limp hand. “I promise, Kara.” Brushing her fingers over Kara’s greenish cheek, Sam felt herself suddenly swaying. Holding onto the side of the gurney to keep herself steady, the dark-haired woman shook her head to shake off the feeling. What the…

##

Lena watched from the small monitor on the wall as Carrie opened the door to her office and showed Eliza Danvers in. Her assistant said something to the tall blonde woman and left, closing the door behind her.

Eliza looked around her office, quickly focusing on the dark stains on the floor. Looking at the wall behind her, Lena cringed – Kara’s blood. She would need to have that cleaned up quickly. It completely slipped her mind, but it’s not like she could call the cleaning staff up there.

Pressing several buttons on the alphanumeric pad on the wall, Lena made a mental note to create a cleaning robot soon. Making sure that her office was once again on complete lockdown, Lena opened the hidden door and stepped inside her office.

“Eliza,” she called out softly.

Eliza turned around at the sound of her name, her eyes widening at the sight of Lena. “Lena…”

Lena froze in place, unsure of what to do. Why was Eliza looking at her like that? Feeling a bit self-conscious, Lena looked down at herself, her Luthor composure faltering as she realized why Eliza was staring at her. She was still wearing the exoskeleton prototype; her clothes were stained with Kara’s blood and in disarray; her skirt was ripped on both sides and she was still barefoot. Bloody hell... “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was this messy.” Unconsciously Lena smoothed down her ruined shirt. “I should’ve—”

Her nervous speech was abruptly interrupted by long arms wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her into a tender embrace. Her breathing hitched. “What—”

“Thank you,” Eliza whispered close to her ear. “Thank you for saving my baby girl, for taking care of her.”

Lena blinked, tears filling her eyes. This was not the reaction she expected from Eliza. Why wasn’t she being standoffish? “I—”

“She always said that you have your heart in the right place, that all you need is a chance to show the world how good you are.” Eliza’s hand tenderly touched the back of her head. “She never gave up on you, Lena, not even after your fight.”

It broke her Luthor façade, just a little. Lena’s arms wrapped around Eliza tentatively, her head resting on her shoulder for a moment, while she tried to get her emotions under control, tears spilling without her permission. Why was Kara doing this to her? Why did she still care? Why was she making her feel like this, angry and vulnerable and cared for, all at the same time?

“It’s all right, sweetheart, just let it out. I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Eliza whispered softly.

A sob escaped. “N—not even her?” Lena clutched at the older woman’s shirt. “Promise?”

“Not even her, I promise.”

Lena allowed Eliza to hold her until she managed to get her emotions back under control, quietly cleaning away the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. Was this what it felt like, to have a loving, supportive mother? Was this what Kara was having all the time that allowed her to always see the good in people?

Gentle fingers touched her face and cleaned away the remnants of her tears. “Better?”

Lena nodded, not trusting her voice right now.

“Good.” Eliza smiled. “Now take me to her, please.” 

Lena cleared her throat and moved to the wall by the couch. “This way.”

“Has your friend arrived?”

The CEO touched a spot behind the couch and the wall opened. “Probably. She was pretty close last I check on her.” Lena hesitated. “There’s… hum…”

Eliza peered inside the corridor. “Blood?” Lena winced. “Thank you for letting me know.”

Lena nodded and stepped inside, closely followed by the older woman.

##

CatCo’s Headquarters,

Agent Mckenna was pacing back and forth, checking his phone every twenty seconds. When it finally rang, he answered the call at once. Disconnecting the call just after, without uttering a word, he turned around to face James, his eyes full of irritation. “That’s it. You’re coming down with me.”

James, who was reclining on his chair, looked up from his phone and raised an eyebrow. “I thought I told you I’m not going anywhere with you without my lawyer.”

“Your lawyer can meet us there. Get up!”

James smirked, shoving his phone in his pants pocket. “Am I under arrest, agent?”

The agent’s nostrils flared. “Yes. Get up!” McKenna yanked the office’s door open and called out to two agents that were close by. “Read Mr. Olsen his rights and take him to headquarters. I’ll be there soon.”

“This is a setup!” James shouted while one the agent’s handcuffed him, the other one reciting his rights. “On what grounds am I being arrested?”

“Harboring a fugitive! Our main suspect was in the building and managed to escape with your help!” McKenna pointed an accusing finger at him. “I’ve read your file, Olsen. I know all about your vigilante wannabe attempt. Lena Luthor may have found a way to protect you before, but you’re not getting away this time, not on my watch.”

James’ nostrils flared, but he refused to take the bait. “How? I was here the whole time and so were you!”

McKenna stepped in front of him, looking up, his face set in an angry mask. “I don’t know yet, Mr. CEO, but I will find out. You can believe that.” He signaled his men. “Take him away.” He paused. “As discreetly as possible. We don’t want to start a media circus just yet.”

James just smirked.

##

LCorp’s Headquarters,

“Lena!”

Lena looked over to where the lab’s computers were located and smiled for the first time since what felt like forever. “Sam…” Lena ran to her friend and hugged her. “I’m so glad to see you.”

Sam hugged her back, smiling. “Remember you said that after you see the wall in the alley,” Sam said, her voice sounding apologetic.

“Hard landing?”

Sam nodded, gently pulling away from her friend. “Very. It’s bad enough that I still can’t control the turns, but the landing… Not as easy as it looks.” Sam glanced over at Kara’s bed, where an older blonde woman fussed over the Kryptonian, kissing her forehead and smoothing her hair tenderly. “She makes it look so easy…”

“The cape helps a lot,” Eliza said, never taking her eyes off her unconscious daughter, still gentling her hair. “And she’s had a long time to perfect it.” Eliza finally looked up from her child and offered a smile. “You must be Sam. I’m Eliza Danvers.” She hesitated for a second. “I’m her mother. Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“Anything for Kara,” Sam replied softly.

Eliza nodded, seemingly satisfied. “All right, let’s get started then.” Walking over to her bags, Eliza removed the units with Kara’s blood and gave them to Lena. “Please, store these. Let’s start with a direct transfusion. Can you set everything while I check on her stats? We need to make sure that everything checks before we proceed.”

Lena blinked, taking the units of blood from the woman’s hands without thought. She wasn’t used to being bossed around. Usually, she was the one issuing orders.

“Sam, is there anything we need to know before we proceed?” Eliza glanced over at her daughter’s bed, crinkling her forehead very much like Kara. “The amount of Kryptonite in her body might affect you if you get too close. Perhaps…”

“I’m immune to Kryptonite,” Sam interrupted softly, and Eliza stared at her. “It’s a long story, but I might be a bit sick to my stomach from the flight.” She shrugged, embarrassed. “Sorry, I don’t usually fly. Not like that anyway.”

Eliza nodded. “That’s all right. I’m sure Kara will be happy to teach you, once she’s up and about.”

Sam swallowed and looked down at her fidgeting fingers. “She will be all right, won’t she?”

Eliza moved closer until she was able to touch the younger woman’s arm. “She will, Sam, with our help.”

Sam nodded slightly, giving her a tight smile. She wondered if the older Danvers would be so nice to her if she knew the truth; if she knew she had almost killed her daughter. She opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it, whispering instead, “El mayarah…”

“El mayarah.” Eliza smiled and patted her arm. “Go with Lena. We can’t waste any more time.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

##

National City,

Alex jumped off the emergency staircase on the back of her building, landing on the concrete floor with a soft thud. Making sure she was still undetected, the agent sprinted to the dumpers by the brick wall, climbing on top of one and easily making her way over the wall and onto the other side.

Adjusting her backpack and slipping her sunglasses on, Alex casually strolled out from behind the neighboring building and hailed a cab, giving the driver the address of a street, several blocks away from LCorp. She had just hacked and manipulated their system into making them believe they were still monitoring her every move, but she had to be careful about field agents on her tail.

Always making sure she wasn’t being followed, the agent strolled down the busy street where the cab dropped her, quickly selecting a nondescript car. Expertly picking up the lock, she slipped onto the driver’s seat and hotwired the car, driving away as quickly as possible. The signal her phone was emitting allowed her to walk around undetected by security cameras. It was almost like wearing Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak. God, Kara loved that movie. 

“You better make sure you wait until I get there before you decide to do anything stupid…” Alex grumbled worriedly. “Don’t die on me again, Kar…”

A few minutes later, the stolen car was abandoned a block away from Lena’s building, close enough for her to get there quickly on foot. Alex looked around before covertly slipping into the back alley of LCorp, the one very few knew about. Taking her phone from her pocket, she disabled the video camera blocker and texted Lena, impatiently waiting while looking around.

Her phone beep a few seconds later and she walked to the steel doors, following Lena’s instructions. Finding the grey dot, Alex pressed her hand over it and a wall panel slid in front of her.

“We should really recruit her to the DEO,” Alex mumbled, stepping inside.

##

Obsidian North Headquarters,

Kelly Olsen was pacing back and forth inside her office, her phone in her hand and her eyes on the large screen on the wall.

She was worried sick. She’d been trying to contact Alex for almost two hours now and her calls kept going to voicemail. James wasn’t answering and neither were Kara nor Nia. News on TV had been reporting incessantly about disturbs at CatCo and gunshots being heard somewhere in the building.

Breaking news flashed on TV and a camera zoomed in at the entrance to the building of CatCo, a reporter stepping in front of the camera as people were seen leaving the building. Grabbing her remote from her desk, Kelly turned on the sound.

“As you can see behind me, James Olsen, CEO of CatCo Magazine, is being escorted out of the building by the FBI, in handcuffs. We’re still trying to get more information on what’s happening at the magazine and why its CEO is being taken into custody. Our sources assure us that the gunshots have stopped for some time now, but there might be casualties inside. I—” The reporter stopped talking, taking the microphone away from her as she pressed her ear, obviously getting information. Her eyes widened slightly. “Anderson, I just received information from an anonymous source saying that there are in fact casualties inside the building and that Ace reporter, Kara Danvers, might be amongst those injured.”

“What?” Kelly stared at the TV screen in disbelief.

##

Sam laid down on the extra gurney, close to Kara’s bed and kept her eyes away from Lena as she prepared everything that was needed for the blood transfusion. She hated needles.

A fleeting thought brought a smile to her face as she remembered Alex taking a blood sample from her not that long ago. She almost let herself believe for a moment when their eyes met, after Alex gave her the lollipop, that there had been something there, something that… but she quickly dismissed that. Alex was just being nice to her, like always, and she had a fiancé. There was nothing there, but figments of her imagination.

Feeling dizzy again, she covered her eyes with one hand, willing the feeling to subside. What was wrong with her? Was she coming down with something? But that was not possible, right? She was a Kryptonian under a yellow sun, she would never get sick unless she was powerless.

“Ready?” Lena asked softly. “I know you hate needles, so just look away, ok?”

Sam nodded, focusing instead on Kara and the erratic rise and fall of her almost bare chest. Eliza was expertly patching all her visible injuries, patiently checking every little scratch. She could see that the older woman was softly talking to her daughter, but she couldn’t make out the words since her super-hearing hadn’t developed yet. She was probably talking nonsense, but she could certainly understand Eliza’s need to communicate with her daughter, hoping to get a response that would reassure her everything was going to be all right, even if she knew Kara wouldn’t reply, not for a while anyway.

Even with all the Kryptonite infecting her veins and the smudges of dry blood, Sam could see the unnatural paleness of Kara’s skin. Her heart clenched. Who had done such a horrible thing to her friend and why? Flinching at the prickling in her arm, Sam closed her eyes. She might as well try to get some rest.

“Alex is coming up,” Lena announced quietly.

Sam’s heart pounded, her eyes opening in surprise. Alex?

##

Alex sprinted out of the elevator before the doors were fully open, making her way through the corridor as fast as she could. Bursting the lab’s unlocked door open, Alex ran inside, only stopping in front of Kara’s bed, staring horrified at the sight of her sweet sister. “Kara…” 

“Alex…” 

Alex turned around at the sound of her mother’s voice. “Mom… Mom, what happened? Who shot her with Kryptonite? How are you here? I—”

“Alexandra Danvers, calm down.” Eliza rested her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “We don’t know who shot her, Alex. All we know is that she managed to get this far and was very lucky Lena was in her office and helped her. She’s somewhat stable for now, but I need your help because she has multiple minor injuries. All right?” 

Alex nodded, turning around, her eyes never wavering from her sister. “We hum… How much blood did she lose? Did you bring the spare units with you? I could try to smuggle some from the DEO’s vault. Only I and J’onn can access it, but…”

“Alex, I brought the spare units, and Samantha has kindly offered for a transfusion.”

Alex blinked. “Who?”

“Sam,” Lena replied from behind her. “Her Kryptonian DNA has overpowered her Human DNA. With everything going on, I neglected to tell you and Supergirl.” The CEO lifted her chin in defiance, clearly expecting a rebuke. “Sam is fully Kryptonian for some time now. Her powers haven’t all manifested yet, but I can assure you that there is no trace of the World Killers’ DNA.”

Alex tried to make sense of what Lena was telling her, of what her mother was telling her, but it was too much to handle right now. Stepping away, she pinched her eyes closed. She needed to get her act together, for her sister’s sake. She was a veteran DEO agent; she could do this, but… 

Sam was a Kryptonian again?

Sam was here?

Opening her eyes, Alex turned around, finally seeing the taller woman lying on a gurney next to her sister’s, uncertainty in her kind hazel eyes.

God, had she always been this beautiful? “Sam…”

###

TBC

Chapter Text

Chapter Four

Obsidian North Headquarters,

Tired of not getting answers, Kelly snatched her bag from a close by chair, quickly striding to her desk to get the rest of her belongings. She was going to get answers, and now!

She was about to turn off the TV when the name Kara Danvers popped on the screen. Turning up the volume, she listened intently as the anchor talked about Kara.

“President Lex Luthor just announced that CatCo’s ace reporter, Kara Danvers is now considered an enemy of the state for affiliating with Supergirl and helping her escape authorities. It’s not yet clear whether or not Kara Danvers was injured in the shooting at CatCo and her role in it, but the FBI has confirmed that she’s now considered a wanted fugitive.” A photo of Kara flashed on the right side of the screen. “If you have any information regarding…”

The reporter kept on talking but Kelly wasn’t listening anymore. “What is going on?” Kelly unlocked her phone and tried Alex again. It rang this time, twice, before the call was disconnected. “What the hell, Alex?”

Kelly was on the verge of throwing her phone against the nearest wall when the notification for a text message beeped and she hurried to open the app.

Can’t talk now. Call you back as soon as possible.

Kelly frowned at her phone and texted back. What’s going on? Are you ok? Why is James arrested? And what’s going on with Kara? But the phone remained ominously silent. “Arrggg! I hate it when you that!”

Tossing her phone inside her bag, the psychiatrist glared at the TV before stomping out of her office. She hated not knowing what was happening.

She really did.

##

LCorp’s Headquarters,

Sam’s tiny wave didn’t even register in Alex’s mind as she found herself rooted to the ground, staring blankly at the beautiful woman on the gurney next to her sister’s. Her heart was pounding so loud in her chest, she was sure everyone in the lab could hear it, but that was impossible, right? That… Oh shit, she’s Kryptonian, she has super hearing! Shit, what do I do? I—

“Sweetie, it’s rude to stare…” Her mother’s smooth and somewhat amused voice sounded in her ear, almost making her jump off her skin. Alex cleared her throat, embarrassed.

Glaring at her mother for a second before forcing herself to move, Alex blatantly ignored her mother’s knowing smirk and Lena’s raised eyebrow, and made her way to the apprehensive looking brunette, a smile coming unbidden to her lips. “Hey…”

Sam visibly relaxed when Alex smiled down at her and hugged as best as she could, given that she was on a gurney with a needle and a tube attached to her arm. Sam’s warm hand on her back sent chills down her spine, again. She had forgotten how good that always felt. Not good, Danvers, not good…

“It’s so good to see you…” Sam whispered close to her ear, hesitantly holding her closer.

Alex smiled and was about to answer when her phone rang. Scowling, she mumbled an apology and snatched her phone from her back pocket, cursing under her breath. Glaring at the offending gadget, she blinked, almost as if she was suddenly aware, forced into reality by the name displaying on the screen.

Kelly… Alex swallowed, letting it ring one more time before she made a quick decision and dragged her thumb up, pulling up the quick reply option. Selecting a predefined message, Alex locked her phone and put it back safely in the back pocket of her black jeans.

Looking down, she smiled at the beautiful hazel eyes eagerly gazing up at her. Why she hadn’t answered Kelly’s call she didn’t know, but right now, it didn’t seem important.

##

Lena caught from the corner of her eyes as Eliza shook her head ever so slightly, smirking at her oldest daughter, almost as if she knew something Alex didn’t.

Her eyes returned to the nasty burn on Kara’s muscular thigh. Eliza, being the efficient and experienced doctor that she was, had already cut the Kryptonian’s jeans away, leaving her perfectly shaped legs exposed. Fortunately, her legs hadn’t sustained as much damage as her torso, but she still had some serious looking burns that needed immediate attention.

An amused smile slipped, unbidden: Kara might kill the one behind her attack just because of her jeans. It was her favorite pair and she was always so careful with it.

“Do you have the Kryptonite scan report close by, Lena?” Eliza’s low voice interrupted her thoughts.

Lena glanced her way, a little startled. “Let me finish this and I’ll give you the tablet.” Lena liberally applied the lotion over the burn. “I’ll give you access to her stats and the equipment.”

“Thank you, Lena.”

Lena didn’t look up from her task, but she could hear the smile on the older woman’s voice, just like she did so many times before with Kara. She wondered if Kara was even aware of how much she and Eliza were alike. “Is there something wrong?”

Eliza sighed. “The Kryptonite should be clearing her system now that the bullet was removed, but it doesn’t look like it.”

Lena frowned and looked up from the wound. “I know I checked the result thoroughly, but…”

“We both did, Lena.” Eliza was quick to reassure her. “But we were too focused on the bullet wound. Maybe there’s something we missed.”

Lena’s frown deepened. “What are the odds of both of us missing something on that scan?”

Eliza smirked. “Very slim.”

Lena hurried to dress the wound and rushed to where the main server was, removing her gloves on her way there. Typing rapid commands on the keyboard, Lena granted Alex and Eliza access to the lab’s health system. They would need full access in order to monitor Kara.

Making sure that all the data was transferred to the tablet on her hands, Lena quickly scanned the results once more, finding nothing different from her previous assessment. Maybe they should scan her again.

Slowly walking towards the gurney, Lena looked up from her tablet, swallowing hard at the breathtaking sight of Kara’s athletic body. God, she was beautiful and perfect, and…

And.

##

Realizing that she was staring once more, Alex shook her head just a little, a chuckle escaping. What the hell was wrong with her today? Glancing to the side, she watched her sister’s inert form for a moment. That’s where she should be, taking care of Kara, not here, staring at her friend as she had never seen anyone like her before.

“Alex…”

The soft voice pierced her mind like a spell, and she was helpless to escape its gentle tug. She needed to go to Kara’s side before she would do something stupid because she had the feeling that she would. She needed to go. Now.

“I’m sorry… I should have called you, to tell you about what was happening, but we weren’t sure and—”

Alex’s hand moved out of its own accord, resting on Sam’s arm. “Don’t, please,” Alex said softly, not missing the goosebumps erupting on the woman’s skin at her touch. Biting her lip slightly, she said, “we can talk about this later if you want, but… You have nothing to apologize for.”

Sam nodded, gratitude shining in her hazel eyes. “I want to.” The Kryptonian blinked up at her. “Talk about it, I mean. Later.” She lowered her eyes. “I’ve been wanting to call you…”

Alex’s thumb traced the fine hairs on the taller woman’s arm, distracting herself for a second with how smooth her skin was. “Why didn’t you?”

Sam swallowed visibly. “I—I was afraid that I was overstepping a—and…” Her stutter was interrupted by a grimace, her hand going to her face.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, her brows knitting in concern.

Sam rubbed her eyes forcibly. “It’s nothing…” Sam shook her head and offered her a tentative smile, her lip upper lip contorting slightly.

“Sam…” Alex gasped, her eyes going wide at the sight of green tainted veins in Sam’s hand, neck, and face. Sam’s head dug forcibly into the pillow under her head, her body becoming rigid. The Kryptonian’s hazel eyes rolled to the back of her head as her arms and legs convulsed out of her control. “Sam!”

##

FBI’s Headquarters,

Agent McKenna smirked as James took his seat in front of the sparse desk in the interrogation room, only a microphone sitting in the middle of it.

“Now, you’re on my turf, Mr. CEO,” the agent said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. 

Leaning back on the uncomfortable chair, James crossed his arms in front of him, his hands no longer confined by the cold metal of the handcuffs around his thick wrists.

“I’m guessing that you’re not recording this yet.”

McKenna raised an eyebrow, pulling his chair away from the desk and turning it backward, so he could sit and rest his arms on the back of it. “Is there something you need to tell me before I turn this on, Mr. CEO?”

James inhaled. The irritating man was getting on his nerves. “Just a question.”

Both eyebrows were now raised in surprise. “A question?” The agent indicated the room with his arm raised. “I ask questions here, Mr. CEO, not you.”

James shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m not answering any questions without my lawyer.”

McKenna nodded. “You realize that only makes you look even more suspicious, that your little stunt with the reporters outside your trashy magazine only made it worse for you?” He shook his head, almost looking disappointed. “I thought you were smarter than that. If you want any help from me—”

“I don’t need your help, agent, especially when I’m innocent of whatever foolish charge you have against me.” James smiled at him. “And I didn’t call the media, agent. The perks of running a successful magazine such as CatCo is that we’re a close bunch. We protect each other. Any of my staff could’ve tipped the media.”

McKenna nodded once more, a patronizing look on his pale face. “Like you protected Kara Danvers when she ran away?”

“I told you before; if Kara Danvers was at the building at that time, I was not aware of it.” James shifted in his chair, uncrossing his arms quickly and resting them over the cold table, leaning over it, towards the FBI Agent. “Now, you’ve been harassing my staff on unfounded grounds, shooting the people I work with and damaging Miss Luthor’s property. I’m guessing her lawyers are already preparing the lawsuit.” James smirked at the throbbing vein on the man’s pale forehead. “Amazing how fast the Luthor’s legal team works, isn’t it?”

“Lena Luthor, your… girlfriend, right?”

Girlfriend? Was that what she was? He wasn’t sure they had ever been a real couple, to begin with. Somehow, having people call Lena his girlfriend didn’t sound right anymore. James leaned back on his chair again. “My personal relationship with Miss Luthor is none of your concern, agent.”

McKenna chuckled, amused, and shook a knowing finger at him. “Now, that’s where you have it wrong, Mr. CEO. From now on, everything that concerns your life, concerns me.”

A knock sounded inside the small room and the metal door opened, a young agent poking his head inside.

“Agent McKenna?”

“What?” McKenna spat, looking up sharply.

The man gave him an apologetic look. “Mr. Olsen’s lawyers are here. We have to release him.”

James slowly rose to his full height, his smile never reaching his eyes. “Have a nice day, agent McKenna. I’ll be sure to mention to my lawyers about your little… harassment game.”

“You’re not going anywhere until I tell you to, Olsen!” McKenna snarled, practically jumping off his chair.

“My client won’t stay here a minute longer, agent.” A tall, sleek-looking man walked inside the interrogation room, leather briefcase in one hand and a thick envelope in the other one. Dropping it on the table unceremoniously, the lawyer stood fearless between McKenna and James. “Have a nice day, agent. You’ll be hearing from us soon.”

James was now sure the vein in his forehead was about to burst open. He winked and followed his lawyer outside the interrogation room, hearing one of the chairs being kicked against something metallic once they left. “Temper…”

##

LCorp’s Headquarters,

“Son of…” Alex’s brain froze for a moment before her medical training took over and she held the convulsing woman down by her shoulders. “Mom!”

Eliza looked up from her task, her eyes widening in shock. Dropping the piece of gauze in her hand, the older Danvers rushed over.

Lena looked over from her tablet and ran to Sam’s side, stunned. “Sam…”

Eliza rushed to Sam’s side and held down the arm where the needle was stuck, quickly snatching a piece of gauze and bandage. Calling out to Lena to hold Sam’s arm steady, the older Danvers’ expertly pulled out the needle from the Kryptonian’s vein, being careful about pressing the gauze down on the bleeding puncture. “Hold on to this for a bit, Lena. I need to secure the blood in this bag.”

Lena nodded quietly, her emerald eyes gawking in concern at green veins in her friend’s neck.

Alex was only half paying attention to what her mother was doing, though she was fairly sure she was removing the needle from Sam’s arm to prevent injury. Sam’s hands clenched, her neck extending and becoming rigid, small grunts escaping her contracted lips.

“I thought she was immune to kryptonite!”

Eliza’s voice broke her concentration. “She is! Or was! I don’t know anymore!” Alex was just as baffled.

“This is not possible…” Lena mumbled, still uncomprehending. “She’s immune to Kryptonite! The residual World Killer DNA protects her still!”

“Maybe it’s all gone now. Maybe—”

“It’s not,” Lena interrupted, giving Alex a knowing look. “You know it will never fully go away.”

“It’s damaged and inert, Lena!”

“But not gone!”

“If you two are done arguing, I think it’s best if we just keep Sam away from Kara for the time being. Her seizure is not slowing down and I’m guessing the kryptonite in Kara’s body is to blame.” Eliza gently pushed Lena’s hand away from the bleeding puncture and quickly wrapped Sam’s arm.

“But this shouldn’t be happening. She’s not in direct contact with kryptonite!”

“But Kara is emanating it and it's not leaving her system.” Eliza gave them a meaningful look. “Sam needs to leave this room, now!”

Acting more on Eliza’s commanding voice than anything else, Alex jumped on the gurney, holding down Sam as best as she could. “Where can we take her, Lena?” Alex asked, urgency in her voice.

“This way!” Lena pushed the gurney towards the inner door. “Hope, unlock the door to the quarters.”

“Yes, Miss Luthor. The door is unlocked,” Hope replied.

“Good thing I’m still wearing the exoskeleton…” Lena grumbled.

Alex held on to the still convulsing woman, worry marring her features.

##

FBI’s Headquarters – Outside,

James stepped outside the imposing building, walking side by side with his lawyer. Several reporters waiting outside spotted James and rushed over.

“Mr. Olsen!”

James sighed as his phone went off.

“I can send them away, Mr. Olsen,” his lawyer said, watching the approaching reporters. “Just say the word.”

James looked down at his ringing phone. “No, just… I just need to take this first.”

“Sure, I’ll stall them for you.”

James gave him a grateful smile and answered the phone. “Hey, Kelly. I—”

“What the hell is going on, James?” Kelly all but yelled on the other side of the phone.

“Kelly—”

“Alex is not answering the phone and Kara is a wanted fugitive! What the—”

“Kelly!” James raised his voice to get her attention. He was having a very aggravating day and having Kelly yell at him on the phone was not helping. “I don’t know what’s going on with Alex. Meet me at CatCo in thirty.”

Disconnecting the call before she could complain, James turned around and proceeded to stand by his lawyer. Kelly would be fuming now, but he would worry about her reaction later. His sister was difficult to handle sometimes, and her temper tended to flare at the worst possible moments. Dr. Kelly Olsen was not as collected as everyone thought her to be and he had a feeling Alex had yet to find that out.

“Mr. Olsen! Why were you taken by the FBI? Are you being charged with anything?”

“Can you tell us what happened at CatCo?”

“Is Kara Danvers on the run?”

“Is she hurt?”

James raised his hand to try and silence them. So, this was what it was like to be on the other side… “This, ladies and gentlemen,” James pointed to the building behind him, “is just the beginning of the President’s ridiculous witch hunt.” He smirked at the camera in front of him, knowing Lex would see this; knowing he was only making it worse for himself, but he didn’t care.

Lex Luthor was a lunatic and had to be stopped, one way or another.

##

LCorp’s Headquarters,

The door closed behind them with a thud and just as quickly as it started, Sam’s seizure subsided.

“It’s working!” Alex exclaimed, relief in her voice.

Lena frowned, still pushing the gurney as far away from Kara as possible, even if she knew the lab became isolated the moment the door closed behind them. “But she shouldn’t be affected by it!” She insisted stubbornly. “I tested her again just two weeks ago!” Lena stopped in front of a closed door and rushed to open it. “It makes absolutely no sense, Alex! We’re missing something!”

Now that Sam was no longer convulsing, her breathing coming in short, rapid intakes of air, Alex jumped off the gurney, helping Lena push it inside the medium-sized room, that she quickly realized was to be used as a kitchen and living room.

“Not now, Lena,” Alex hissed, her eyes focused on the slowly regaining conscious Kryptonian.

Sam groaned softly, cracking her eyes open. “Alex…”

“I’m here. You’re all right.” Alex smiled down at the brunette, taking her hand and pressing it against her chest.

Lena watched them quietly for a moment, scowling. Something was not right, and she suspected it had something to do with the Kryptonite in Kara’s body. The sickly green on Sam’s neck and face was fading quickly, exactly how it was supposed to happen when she was away from it, but Kara’s Kryptonite was not fading, and Sam wasn’t supposed to be affected by it! She had to go over that scan again and quickly.

“There’s water and food in that fridge. You should help her drink some,” Lena said quietly. “I need to go back to the lab.”

Alex nodded absentmindedly, without ever looking back at her. Her focus was solely on Sam and if Lena was a betting woman, which she was, she would bet Alex Danvers had a healthy crush on her CFO. In fact, she was absolutely sure if Sam hadn’t left for Metropolis, something might have happened between them, with or without Maggie Sawyer in the picture.

##

Back at the lab, Lena went over the first test results with Eliza’s help, reading every single piece of information thoroughly - twice.

“I find nothing different, Eliza,” Lena said, rubbing her eyes, frustrated. If she kept this up, she would have to get her glasses soon. Kara would like that. She always had a goofy smile on her face when she saw her wearing her glasses.

“It looks cute on you!” Kara exclaimed, blushing slightly.

“My dorky glasses?” Lena chuckled, amused at her best friend’s reaction. Kara always managed to make her feel good about herself, even when she was wearing her dorky glasses, with no makeup on and her hair up in a messy bun. She looked absolutely horrid, but for some reason, she felt beautiful. “I look like a nerd, Kara!”

Kara stifled a snort, giving her goofy look. “Lena Luthor is a nerd. I’m shocked.”

Lena grinned, going back to her reading while supporting her head on her head, but the soft sound of shutter going off caught her attention and her head snapped back up, seeing Kara holding up her phone with a mischievous grin on her full lips. “Kara, did you just—"

“This one is going to my album.” Kara kept grinning. 

“Nonono, you have to delete that.” Lena sat up straight, gauging the distance between her and the adorable blonde. “Kara…”

Lena lunged over the table, trying to snatch the phone from the blonde’s hand, but Kara was damn fast and ran off, cackling. “Already uploaded to my cloud, Lena, and its DEO issued, you can’t hack it without Alex breathing down your neck!”

Lena laughed quietly at the silly woman that was her best friend. She was so amused with Kara’s goofiness, she never once stopped to consider why a CatCo reporter needed a cloud with DEO encryption. 

Who would have thought sweet Kara Danvers was such a brat. 

Eliza sighed, finally dressing the last of the largest and nastier burns on her daughter’s skin. Now, there were only minor cuts and burns. It would be faster now. “Me neither, but something’s not right, Lena. The Kryptonite levels are not going down and it’s probably affecting your friend too.”

Lena nodded, doing her best not to look at the half-naked, unconscious woman on the gurney or the screen displaying the erratic rate of her heartbeat and uneven breathing. Kara was still in danger, she could still die.

“We should scan her again, Lena, now that the bullet is out. Maybe we’ll get different results this time.”

Lena nodded. “I agree. I’ll take care of it.”

Eliza smiled, reaching out to touch Lena’s arm. “Thank you, Lena. You have no idea how much I appreciate everything that you’re doing for her.”

Lena glanced down at the hand on her arm and blushed, mumbling a strangled ‘thank you’. Her usual cockiness was gone, and she felt completely unbalanced. If she had to be honest with herself, she was feeling unbalanced ever since Kara told her the truth about her identity, but today… Today had changed everything. Again, and she was tired of change.

Keeping her eyes glued on her tablet, Lena hurried to the server to start the second scan. She didn’t want to fall apart in front of Eliza Danvers again. What would the woman think of her?

##

“God… What happened?” Sam groaned, her free hand covering her eyes and forehead.

“We’re not sure yet, but… it seems the Green K in Kara’s body affected you,” Alex replied softly.

Sam peeked from between the fingers covering her eyes. “That’s impossible,” she said, the hand falling from her face to reveal a deep frown. “Lena tested me again only a few weeks ago and—”

“I know, she just told me,” Alex interrupted, fighting the urge to smooth the offending frown out of the Kryptonian’s forehead. “She’s on it, don’t worry, ok?”

Sam’s hazel eyes softened.

“Thank you for doing this, Sam, for helping Kara,” Alex’s brown eyes shone with undisguised gratitude.

“Of course. I—” Sam looked away, her eyes troubled. “I’m sorry, Alex… I didn’t know. What I did to Kara… I—"

“Sam, no one is blaming you for that, especially not Kara. What happened to Kara was Reign’s doing, not yours.” Alex gave up and just stopped fighting herself. Touching the Kryptonian’s cheek, she brushed her fingers over the smooth skin, catching Sam’s barely disguised swallow. Glad it’s not just me. “She will kick your ass if you keep apologizing.”

Sam choked out a laugh, a tear rolling down, but Alex caught it with her finger before it touched her cheek. “I’m guessing she’s going to be out of commission for a while. Please, don’t make her exert herself to set the record straight. Because she will try and then mom is going to yell at her, and it’s not going to be pretty.”

Sam chuckled and nodded, her trembling fingers squeezing the hand holding onto hers.

“Good,” Alex smiled down at the Kryptonian, her heart skipping a beat when she felt those long fingers pressing against hers. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. “How’s Ruby?”

Sam smirked, clearly relieved for the change of subject. “Your typical teenage self. She enjoys scaring her friends with The Shining.”

Alex chuckled. “Good girl!”

“Not ‘good girl’, Alex. I have parents calling me to ask what the hell is wrong with me for allowing my teenage daughter to watch something like that.”

Alex bit her lip to keep quiet, but she could tell Sam was not upset. “And what do you say?”

Sam’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Her favorite babysitter is an FBI agent and approves of her movie choices.”

Alex barked out a laugh. “That she does. Where is she?”

“At a friend’s house, one that’s not scared of the movie,” Sam replied, blinking tiredly.

“Good,” Alex smiled down at her. “But you should consider bringing her over, Sam. Soon. If Lex gets wind that there’s more Kryptonians in the US, he will hunt you down. We should consider a long-term solution, but Ruby should be close.”

Sam looked worried. “This is serious, isn’t it?”

Alex nodded, caressing her facing in a soothing motion, reveling in how right it felt to do so. She was in trouble and she knew it. “I was suspended today from the DEO for affiliation with Kryptonians and I’m sure Lex Luthor is behind whatever happened to Kara. Dark times are coming, Sam, and we need to stay close.”

“El mayarah…” Sam mumbled with a smile, closing her eyes.

“El mayarah…” Alex smiled, feeling butterflies in her stomach when Sam’s fingers entwined with her own. “I need to go check on Kara and you need to rest for a bit. Kryptonite drains your energy. Even Kara, after all this time, still feels depleted.”

Sam nodded sleepy, her eyes closing. 

“Sleep…” Alex whispered, keeping her soothing caress until she was sure Sam was asleep.

Feeling very out of sorts, Alex left the room, worry marring her features. What was she doing?

##

CatCo’s Headquarters,

James stepped outside the elevator the moment the doors opened and stopped in his tracks, too stunned to move at the standing ovation he was getting from his staff.

He smiled, his heart swelling with pride at his staff, at himself. Finally, it seemed like he was doing something right, like he was finding his way.

“Thank you!” He couldn’t stop smiling as he trod over to his office, shaking the outstretched hands of his staff. Damn, that felt good!

“Mr. Olsen,” someone called out to him and he turned around. “Is it true what they’re saying about Kara, that she was shot by the FBI? That she might be dead?”

His heart clenched at the thought of his dear friend being hurt. “I don’t know, Roger, but I intend to find out. Now, please, go back to your desks. We have a special issue coming out tomorrow. What happened here today will not go untold.”

Another round of applause and whistles greeted his words and he grinned, but his smile dropped the moment he saw his sister inside his office, sitting in his chair and looking furious. “Kelly.”.

“What the hell, James!” Kelly rose from his chair in one smooth motion. “No one is talking to me and I want answers, and I want them now!

James sighed tiredly, closing the door behind him with a click. He felt somewhat relieved. If Alex was not answering the phone, that meant she was probably with Kara and whatever injuries the alien might have sustained were being taken care of.

Dropping his jacket on the couch, he walked over to his desk and grabbed a pen and paper, scribbling the words ‘it’s not safe’. “I’ve told you before, I don’t know why Alex is not answering the phone, Kelly.” He handed her the paper and kept on talking. “And I don’t know what’s going on with Kara either. Some say she was shot, others that she’s on the run…” He raised his hand only to let it drop heavily, hoping Kelly would play along and not give him any trouble. “All I know is that the FBI and SWAT invaded my magazine and were using my staff for pot shot practice, and then had the audacity to arrest me under false pretenses. I’m going to get to the bottom of this, and they’re not going to like it.”

Kelly dropped the note on the desk, her big brown eyes still glaring at him. “Something is happening, James, and I have a bad feeling about this.”

James nodded. “You’re not the only one.” Grabbing his jacket from the couch, he motioned to the door with his head. “Come on, let’s go get a bite. I’m starving and I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”

Kelly stomped past him, heading out. James exhaled. “And a long dinner too. Should’ve just ordered takeout.”

Shaking his head, he followed his furious sister to the elevator.

##

LCorp’s Headquarters,

Lena was looking intently at the screen in front of her, carefully analyzing every bit of information the machine scanning Kara’s body was sending to her feed. There had to be something they were missing, something that was stopping the Kryptonite from leaving Kara’s body.

Lena pulled another screen, checking Kara’s vitals for the third time in twenty minutes. There was no change. Her vitals were still erratic and unstable, and Eliza had just set up the second unit of blood. They would need to get another transfusion from Sam soon, but what if it wasn’t enough? Could Alex get what was stored at the DEO?

She was fretting in silence, something that had never happened before today when she caught sight of Alex standing by Kara’s side. The redhead kissed her sister’s head, tenderly touching her cheek, careful about the oxygen mask on her face. Whispering to her, Alex cleaned a tear rolling down her face while taking Kara’s hand in her own and kissing her knuckles.

Lena felt like she was interrupting a very private moment. She envied that, their close relationship, their friendship, their connection. She didn’t before when she believed she shared a similar bond with Kara, a bond that nothing could destroy. How delusional she had been. She would never have that kind of bond with anyone, ever. She wasn’t worthy of it and life had no qualms about reminding her of it.

Lena pulled back the screen, forcing herself to focus on the data scrolling up for the ongoing scan. It would take a while still to get the result, but maybe she could spot something before it was done. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Lena?”

Lena jumped a little, not expecting someone to call her name from so close by. Turning around, she was faced with a frowning Alex, just a foot away from her. Thinking that Alex was about to accuse her of something, Lena let her hard mask fall in place. She was in cold CEO mode and there was no getting to her now.

“What happened to you?” Alex’s frown deepened as she gestured to Lena’s figure.

Lena looked down at herself, at the ruined skirt and exoskeleton and blinked, completely caught off guard for the second time that day. Why wasn’t she yelling at her?

“She hum… She passed out on her way here and I’m not strong enough to carry her, so I—”

Alex’s warm hand touching her arm stopped her rambling at once. Lena looked up from the hand on her arm, seeing brown eyes full of understanding and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Neither am I. She’s heavy as hell, but don’t tell her that. She’s very self-conscious about her weight.”

Lena tried to stifle a smile at the silliness of Kara, a Kryptonian, worrying about something mundane like that, but she really couldn’t. She wanted to stay mad at them, damn it! At her! But no one was making it easy for her. The smile dropped her face when strong arms pulled her into a warm hug.

“Thank you for saving her, Lena.” Alex pulled her closer, burying her face on her shoulder. “She trusted you and you didn’t let her down. You never do.” Alex pulled away before Lena could react, her brown eyes full of tears. “Please, take care of yourself, Lena. You’ve lost too much weight.” Alex smiled. “She’s going to freak out when she sees you. You know how she gets.” Kissing her cheek, Alex walked away.

Lena stared at the retreating agent, rattled. Why did they keep doing that? Treating her like they cared; like she mattered? Couldn’t they understand that she was angry at them? She wanted them to stay away from her! So why did they keep staying around?

Her eyes fell on Kara and her greenish face, and her stomach lurched. Alex and Eliza were talking by her side in hushed tones, but she caught on some of it. Alex was warning Eliza about the possibility of Kara having a seizure because of the Kryptonite, and how in her current state, with the blood loss and the gravity of her injuries, it could be too much for her to take. Right now, the Kryptonite in her body was her biggest enemy and the next 24h were vital.

It was too much to take, too much to handle. Her stomach churned again, and she felt the bile rise in her throat. Mumbling an excuse, Lena rushed out of the lab, running to her room as fast as she could and going straight to the small restroom there. Dropping heavily to her knees, Lena leaned over the toilet, throwing up.

##

White House, Oval Office,

Lex Luthor, President of the United States of America looked away from his phone. He had just read James Olsen’s tweet about the presidential witch hunt on aliens.

Reclining in his big, comfy chair, he took the glass of whiskey from his desk and spun around, so he could look outside the window behind him and enjoy the setting sun peacefully.

“Well played, Jimmy, well played. Didn’t think you had it in you.” Releasing a deep, cleansing breath, he saluted James with his glass. “Guess I’ll have to adjust my plan for you.”

Satisfied, Lex sipped from his glass, a smile playing his lips.

###