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