Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sky was red and flashing ominous thunders, birds… or shadows of them, falling from the sky and crashing onto the floor like rain on a forest which trees looked each time more and more like the buildings of National City. The floating dark silhouette of Supergirl in the middle of it all, impassive, dark cape full on display while directly facing at the clouds… at something in the clouds.

The vibrant deep sound of an enormous presence darkening all lights in the city, shaking the ground, turning the clouds green and smokey, almost radioactive… The scream of a woman, a cry.

Nia woke up in the middle of the office at CatCo, agitated and confused, with a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. It was that dream again, it’s been the same dream every now and then for a few days now and still she can’t figure out what it’s trying to tell her.

Something is going to happen, that’s for sure, and it isn’t something good.

She has spent the last days researching the possible meaning in the books borrowed from her sister without much success and it is starting to frustrate her since this dream, for some reason, left her breathless and feeling like there was a weight directly pressing her chest. It felt too real, too close, too dangerous.

She took a deep breath and stood up to walk into Kara’s office, knocking softly on the open glass door. Kara looked up from her laptop and immediately smiled.

- Can we talk for a moment? In private… - Nia asked still looking a little disheveled. The blonde immediately nodded and stood up.

- Close the door, we can talk here. – Nia entered the office, closing the door behind her. The sun was setting and most of the employees were out already, so there weren’t many ears to listen anyway.

It’s been a bit more than 7 months since their encounter with Nyxly and Lex, since the reveal of her identity to the world, and her promotion to Editor-in-chief at CatCo. Many things have changed since then and for some reason everything feels like it’s still changing around her. Like her life is still rearranging and settling into place, finding its new rhythm.

Taking off the figurative mask and finding herself has been a longer process than she originally expected.

- What’s going on? You look worried, is everything okay? – Kara asked with preoccupied expression while taking a seat on the sofa in the seating area of her office and patting the space next to her for Nia to take.

- I had that dream again… - Nia let out an exasperated sigh – Almost exactly the same just this time the sky turned green and there was a new cry at the end. – Kara shifted in her seat while paying attention – I feel something big is going to happen and I know this is probably the key to be prepared, I just can’t understand all of it. Though the parts I think I have deciphered don’t reveal any good news. – Kara softly placed a hand on her shoulder.

- Don’t put that much pressure onto yourself, I’m sure you’ll figure it out and we’ll be ready for whatever it is. – There was a soft reassuring smile in her face, but it did nothing to relieve the stress in Nia’s features.

- I just… I can’t shake this feeling… that something really bad is going to happen if I don’t understand what this vision trying to tell me. – She covers her face with her hands in frustration.

- Alright, this is what we’ll do - Kara stands from her seat, walking to her desk to pick up her phone and turn off her laptop – You go to your apartment and pick up those books you have been using to research, I’ll go get takeout for dinner, and we’ll have a research-pajama party at Alex’s. I’m sure working together we can figure it out, okay? – It was more of a rhetoric question; the blonde was already walking to open the door for them to leave. – Maybe with more eyes on the matter we can understand the whole picture. – Nia isn’t particularly convinced, but it could be a good idea to approach it from different angles. So, she stands up and follows Kara to the exit.

Kara wasn’t trying to be dismissive of the worries of her friend, but she knows by experience that frustration and stress don’t particularly help to think clearly, and if she has gotten any grasp of Dreamer’s powers along this time, a clear mind it’s quite necessary to understand the puzzle pieces her dreams present.

She considered for a moment inviting Lena since she probably could offer some interesting insight to the possible interpretations of the vision with her now vast and still growing knowledge in magic and the folklore that surrounds it, could be a refreshing point of view, helpful, not any other reason, but discarded the idea after remembering the CEO has been quite busy since her return as head of L Corp, its developments and researches, now with not only the children hospital, but also the foundation under her guide, not counting her personal research to top it all. She surely didn’t have time for this.

Their twice per week lunch reunions (cause they weren’t dates, they were friendly meetings), the occasional invitation to a gala or event, their weekly game night gatherings with all their friends and the at least monthly interview she still refused to assign to anyone but herself, because they were close friends and who could be better to interview her and get the most of it than herself? That was definitely the only reason.

So yeah, probably not a good idea to suddenly invite Lena over for this, even if she would like to spend more time with her.

Things have been a little hectic at the start, when she took her new position at CatCo, there was a bit of chaos that – thankfully – Cat has been willing to teach her tame during her short stay at the beginning of the transition. Not even counting the whole Supergirl thing. It took her almost 2 months to fully embrace her new role as Editor-in-chief and make the machine CatCo was run at the pace she marked, a pace she didn’t know she could manage. It’s been a rewarding discovery of her own capabilities, and the benefits of being the boss haven’t gone unnoticed, as neither have the responsibilities.

When she started her job at CatCo, almost 7 years ago, she wouldn’t have ever imagined herself in the position she was now.

Who would have thought shy Kara Danvers would become the second most influential woman in National City, only behind Lena Luthor herself. “Quite the power duo” has said Cat Grant once, talking about them when she interviewed Lena in her return as CEO of L Corp. A coy smile formed in her lips as she was picking up her order at the restaurant near Alex apartment.

There were so many things about herself she hadn’t taken the time to question, and still, maybe, wasn’t ready to face the answers yet.

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To say the research-pajama party was any productive, would be a flattering exaggeration.

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After everything that happened with Lex, taking back the reins of Luthor Corp and do again the rebranding of the company as L Corp felt like starting all over again, now in this earth, with the only difference that this time she could be sure there was no other Luthor to try and destroy her advances. It was a fresh start for the company and herself.

It’s been months after months of going over every detail of the past and on-going researches at all the different facilities, shutting down those clearly designed for Lex plans. Cleaning after the mess her brother left, as she has always done. Only this time it felt… different.

Relieving, maybe.

Was she a bad person for feeling relieved her brother was trapped in a place far away in the universe where he probably would never be able to come back?

Maybe.

But it was relieving nonetheless.

After everything he and Lillian had put her through, it was a natural response, her therapist has said, you are not bad for what other people makes you feel with their actions, neither are you responsible of how they feel with your reactions to it. You are a person; you have the right to feel.

It was such a foreign concept at the beginning, but as months have passed, it has gotten easier to understand.

She has fully accepted and embraced the magic inside her, just as much as she once embraced her intellect. Magic has turned out to be very similar to science in a weird unexpected way, under its own set of rules that nothing has to do with physics, and has ignited a new interest in her to explore the possible uses magic could have combined with science. It has become her personal research, a secret, of the sorts, since no one outside the “superfriends” and the DEO really knows she can perform magic at all, and at the moment have really led nowhere but to learning more and more about what magic can and can’t do, which is, after all, the beginning of any research.

That aside she would dare to say her life is going better than ever. For the first time in her life she feels everything is right how it should be… well, almost everything.

Things with Kara had gotten back to normal, better than they were before the whole Supergirl fiasco actually, the secrecy and excuses are gone, there is this feeling of trust and transparency she didn’t expect to find in anyone, especially after feeling so betrayed, but exploring the whole situation with her therapist, disguised under different circumstances and names to protect Supergirl’s image even if there was an NDA signed, she had finally come to terms with the fact that she was completely and absolutely in love with Kara Danvers, and that was the main reason why all of what happened and how it happened had hurt so much.

She has also come to terms with the fact that Kara is straight and there is no hope for anything to happen between them but this beautiful friendship they have, and that’s all she can ask for. Unrequested feelings will fade, eventually. Keeping herself busy is part of her work on it.

What if she was weak enough to agree to see Kara almost half of the week, what if she was self-indulgent enough to still occasionally shamelessly flirt with the blonde girl just to see her adorably stammer, that was just part of her process to let the feelings fade, though it might be having the opposite effect, she would find her path when she was ready to let go.

There were things she still wouldn’t dare to say to any of her friends, and that’s definitely one of them. Though she was pretty sure the oldest Danvers has picked up on it, just has been kind enough to don’t mention it to her. Which led to what she has denominated Schrödinger’s Kara, cause she either knew or didn’t know about her feelings, there was no way of knowing but talking about it but seeing how often the word friend is thrown at her she has seen no point in seeking that answer. Things don’t need to become awkward; everything is good as it is right now.

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It was the middle of the night in National City when the scream of a very scared Esme waked everyone in the apartment. She was agitated and babbling words that didn’t make a full sentence. Scared and shaking, tears flowing through her face.

Kelly and Alex were at her sides comforting her.

- I think it was a bad idea to stick around… seems like she had a vision. – Nia spoke from behind Kara, feeling guilty of sharing, unwillingly, her powers. – And for her reaction I can imagine which one. – Kara tensed at the thought feeling guilty for not considering that possibility beforehand.

It took them around 20 minutes, some stuffed animals and a mug of hot cocoa to calm down the child enough for her to speak about it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the same vision Nia have had.

- I saw aunt Kara fighting in the sky with someone I don’t know – the child spoke, holding tight her stuffed friends - aunt Lena was crying… - the kid leaned into Kelly’s chest – she was very sad and I wanted to hug her but I couldn’t. – the embrace of her mothers tried to calm her.

- It was just a nightmare – Kelly said, not even convincing herself.

That’s all they could get from her, she couldn’t remember anything else, and it was enough to create a knot on Kara’s chest. Not for the fight, that wouldn’t be anything new, but the thought of Lena being endangered or hurt by any of the damage this… looming situation could cause.

National City has been pretty much out of big dangers since their fight against Lex, of course things have happened here and there, but most of it has been handled by the citizens themselves, the human heroes. Without all those enemies in the way, the fear of her revealed identity putting in danger her beloved ones had proven to be mostly unfounded. Excepting a couple of attempts… but fortunately, nothing Supergirl – and her superfriends – couldn’t solve.

Maybe she should go check on Lena, just to be sure she’s okay.

The buzz of her phone vibrating on the couch she was sleeping in caught her attention. A call from J’onn she picked immediately.

- We have a situation that might require Supergirl – his voice was serious but not particularly worried.

- What’s happening? – She asked, and Brainy’s voice took over the phone.

- There is a strange disturbance in a specific area of the aerial space on the outskirts of National City, readings show unusual particle activity that has been increasing in the last thirty minutes. In few words, something is forming there, and we don’t know what it is yet.

- I couldn’t get hold of Alex – The voice of J’onn came back into the line - if you can reach her, tell her to come to the DEO too.

- We are together, we’ll be there. – The call cut, and the knot in her chest only tightened. – Alex, they need us at the DEO – Alex nodded and looked at Kelly apologetically, and kissed her kid’s forehead telling her to go back to sleep and briefly kissed her wife goodbye. Could this be the beginning of whatever vision Esme had? Hopefully that was really just a nightmare.

When they left, Nia tagged along on Alex’s bike while Kara arrived first flying into the building full on her, now rarely on use, Supergirl suit. Brainy gave her a device to wear for the mission as soon as she entered the monitoring room.

- This is a satellite camera, it will transmit a live video of whatever is in front of you, we’ll need you to wear it so we can accompany you on this mission– Kara pinned the device to the hasp of her cape.

- What exactly is this mission? – she asked while securing the device.

- We are not sure yet – J’onn spoke this time – there was a sudden peak of energy surrounding this specific area a few hours ago, then disappearing. Brainy came in to check on the information we could gather to find out what caused it, and around 30 minutes ago a new kind of fluctuation started. – he looked at Brainy for him to take on the rest of the explanation. In the screens in front of them he showed a topographic map of a forest area on the outskirts of the city, near the ecological park, and the increasing colors surrounding it.

- This is atomic energy generating particle movement in unusual patterns, like they are… vibrating. The results of the residual energy previously detected imply there was negative energy as a result of dissolving cosmic strings. – He took a pause – that technology doesn’t exist in this century yet, at least not in this planet, so is suspected that whatever is causing it is not from this world. – At that moment Alex and Nia joined them. They heard most of the explanation.

- So, what is it? Like a portal? – Alex questioned, looking at the map on the displays.

- I suspect so, yes. – Brainy looked at Nia who was distracted observing a monitor showing the forecast predictions. It has started raining outside.

- I think that’s what I saw, in my dream. – She said, concern creeping into her voice, pointing at the screen showing the view of the sky from the ecological park weather observatory, as a mass of clouds started to move in a suspicious spiral, lighting crossing in between.

- I’ll go there – Supergirl said, immediately flying out.

- Press the button on the top side of the device so we can see what you see – J’onn instructed via comms, and Kara obliged. Brainy showed the image full size merging all the displays as one.

It was dark through the area; there weren’t any residencies around and clearly the lights of the park have gotten off. Only the lighting made anything visible for brief moments.

- The energy is growing exponentially – Brainy said alarmed.

- I can see it – The voice of Kara sounded through the DEO’s comms. She didn’t dare to say it but getting so close to thunderbolts still made her feel very uneasy.

It was when she stopped and floated in front of the cloud mass that they could see it. The energy gathering all in the same spot, the sky turning purple for a slight moment as a rupture opened in the sky and something fell out of it, rupture closing immediately after.

- What is that? – Alex voiced everyone’s question.

- The falling birds – Nia said, and the black figure was on a free fall from far away, they couldn’t really see much of it.

Then there was a wave of light that quickly ran all over the figure and Kara used her super-vision to see it better.

- That’s a person – she whispered barely audible before launching to catch, whoever this was. There were little possibilities of survival if they touched the floor at that speed, even for an alien.

- Be careful, it could be a bait for a trap. – Alex warned, always considering the worst possibility.

- I don’t think it is – Supergirl replied, hurrying to catch them, barely swooping the woman before reaching the floor. It was then that she noticed there was no heartbeat. – I think she was struck by lightning, I don’t hear her pulse, I’m coming quick, be ready to try to reanimate. – Was the last thing she said before heading back to the DEO as fast as she could.

Things happened fast once she arrived at the HQ, the emergencies team of doctors was ready to take the unexpected patient in, Kara was soaked from the rain and Alex offered her a towel.

The first thing they discovered about the mysterious woman, was that they couldn’t penetrate her skin with a syringe, not even with a kryptonite suppressor, so applying adrenaline to spurt the heart was off the table, and also the possibility of said woman being human or even kryptonian. The only option they had to work with was defibrillation, and so they did.

When the regular rates of power didn’t get the job done, they took the risk of frying her by going above the recommended for humans, she wasn’t a human, clearly, so probably would require more.

Kara stayed outside the medical bay, looking at the procedure through the window, towel over her shoulders, looking at the woman. She seemed young, clearly in her 20’s, in human years, dark long hair, slightly muscular body and pale skin, probably paler for her current state. Her clothes where simple, black leggings, no shoes, a black plain t-shirt now ripped open and a ring on each of her fingers they tried to remove but couldn’t. She looked so human and vulnerable in that state.

There came the heartbeat, weak and spaced, more than it should, but it was there and that’s all they needed. She was alive, whoever this was, they soon would know.

They found out a little more information on the patient during the next couple of hours, neither kryptonite or other alien power suppressors helped penetrate her skin, so there was little hope the power suppressing shackles would work on her, which meant they either had a powerful ally or a very dangerous enemy right at the core of the DEO.

They also learned that the sunbed accelerated the recovery of said girl, it was good to know but also, they still didn’t know what would be the best method to contain her once she woke up.

And she woke up faster than expected.

Her consciousness came in a rush, like waking up from a nightmare, she was wearing a hospital gown and looked like a wild animal scared and caged. They had moved her recovery to one of the prison cells, hoping it would be enough to contain her. The girl took in her environment silently while still agitated but more conscious of her state, noticed the power suppressing shackles in her wrists, was she a prisoner? She saw a shocked guard rushing out of the area, to inform of her awakening, she supposed.

She wasn’t sure if she was in the right place, but she could only hope.

Three people entered the area soon after, J’onn, Alex and Supergirl, the woman was sitting on the edge of her bed, with closed eyes, trying to control her breathing apparently, she looked scared and Kara could hear the rapid heartbeat on her chest.

The girl opened her eyes to see them, surprise written on her face, she could hear her breath hitching before her heart started to slow down. For some reason, seeing them seemed to calm her fears.

- Supergirl – The girl spoke, voice hoarse and weak in almost a whisper.

- How do you know me? – Kara questioned, so far, she didn’t seem to be much of a threat, but clearly wasn’t fully recovered yet.

- I’ve heard stories about you, many stories. – The woman smiled weakly, her sky-blue eyes shinning under the light of the cell. And Kara could see almost a hint of admiration? In the girl’s eyes.

- Who are you? What are you? Why are you here? – Alex questioned, without much patience. The girl looked at her, tilted slight her head and showed her a little smile.

- I am here to help – she said, almost cryptically, ignoring the other questions – something very bad is going to happen soon… I think you already know it. I know you don’t trust me, didn’t expect you to, but I can prove what I’m saying and my intentions – she shifted her sight to J’onn - all the answers I will soon provide, I will answer to all the questions you have – the girl straightened her back, now looking directly at Kara – and I will allow to run all the tests you need to corroborate what I’ll say, with one condition only.

Alex didn’t like how all of this was sounding, J’onn remained in silence with a serious expression on his face.

- What condition? – Was Kara the one to question.

- There is only one person I can allow to do it, and if I’m in the right place, you surely know her – Kara didn’t react openly, but a frown formed on her face.

- And who would that be? – Alex asked, getting exasperated already with the tranquil and suspicious attitude of the alien.

- Lena Luthor. – The girl replied. Shivers ran through Kara’s spine and her jaw tightened, she turned around, unwilling to continue this conversation. It wouldn’t end well considering all she wanted right now was to punch the truth out of this woman, and that didn’t seem like a very reasonable thing to do.

- You are not in position to demand anything – Alex said, following her sister.

J’onn stayed back in silence, they hold the stare for a moment, before he turns around and walks out. He tried to read her mind but something was interfering it leaving a white noise as all he could reach. There was something familiar about it, but he couldn't quite place what exactly.

Chapter Text

Lena arrived at the DEO in the wee hours of the morning, J’onn had called her, against Kara’s wishes, saying it was best to put Lena full into context, dreams and visions included, so she could decide if taking the risk and going in. “Besides she might know this alien, we don’t know, might be an old acquaintance”. He spoke.

Kara knew her well enough to know Lena would take the risk if it meant helping them, no matter exactly what the risk was, and that was exactly what she was trying to avoid. Lena walked to her side in the command center; wearing a black pencil skirt and an emerald green blouse that made her eyes look even more magnetic than usual.

- To think you wanted to keep me in the dark about all this – Lena said playfully. The blonde lowered her head feeling a little guilty.

- I’m sorry… I just… - she looked up at Lena’s eyes and all words seemed to slip from her grasp, falling into silence.

- I know – Lena smiled warmly and Kara swallowed at the sight – I understand you are worried by… all of this – she said, vaguely pointing at the screens still showcasing the relevant information of the on-going ordeal – but I can assure you nothing will happen to me if I do this. – Kara sighed almost like a chuckle, a weak smile on her lips.

- How can you be so sure of that? – Supergirl looks at her once again, concern visible in her face. Lena smirks in that enticing way she always does so effortlessly.

- Because I have Supergirl at my side. – she replies, softly nudging Kara’s arm with her own. Kara is certain of the blush creeping up her cheeks and is glad no one in the DEO has superhearing because her heart is racing so hard. She smiles in return.

- Always. – and that answer makes Lena’s smile wider.

- We are ready whenever you are Miss Luthor – J’onn walked in distractedly, not noticing until too late that he had interrupted something. Lena nodded, slightly fidgeting.

- What kind of powers does this alien possess exactly? – she asked, trying to understand what kind of process or lab studies she should prepare for while they walked down the hallway, towards the contention area.

- That’s one of the problems – J’onn said calmly – we don’t really know.

He handed her a clipboard with all the notations made by the medics and the reports of the few agents that had interacted with her. No name, no species or origin planet, no intentional displays of power only passive abilities for now, refusing to answering any question until she could talk to her, promising to let them run any kind of test they wanted and answer any sort of question if she was the one doing it. The main question on her mind being… why?

When they entered the room the woman inside the cell was already directly looking at Lena, as if she could see her coming through the walls, and that was certainly a possibility. Kara noticed the face of the brunette illuminating at the sight, eyes open in awe, mouth barely agape. She heard the sharp air intake followed by the rapid thump of her heart. Blue eyes shining brighter than before. She didn’t like a single bit of this.

- Miss Luthor – The woman in the cell spoke and just stared at her with a level of fondness a stranger shouldn’t have.

Lena was puzzled, she certainly has never seen this person before, yet there was something about the smile on her lips and those eyes that somewhat felt… familiar.

- Do I know you? – She asked, and the girl in the cell smiled warmly at that.

- Not yet, I’m afraid. – Supergirl’s jaw tensed. She definitely didn’t like any of this. The girl looked at her now, smile still intact on her lips now directed at her, then going back to Lena, Kara remained serious, expressionless. She was playing bad cop today.

- Why did you ask for me then? – Lena couldn’t help her curiosity.

- Because I know I can trust you – that answer only left Lena with more questions, if well it is true that since the crisis the Luthor name doesn’t hold the same bad reputation as it used too, an alien saying this confidently that she trusts her is still quite unexpected, almost shocking, especially considering that right next to her was no one else but Supergirl, the friendliest possible option for a foreigner on earth to trust… probably, even if she didn’t look like it right now for some reason. She looked sideways to the blonde who seemed tense, with a visible frown, maybe the previous interaction of Supergirl and the stranger was worse than explained in the report. – I know you will understand… - the alien continued - I’m sure running some tests on me will give you most of the answers you need to know, and I can answer any questions you have after that. – she said calmly, keeping a warm expression on her face.

- I’ve made aware syringes aren’t particularly effective in you – Lena mentioned, overlooking at the clipboard once again – How do you pretend to make that work? – the girl chuckled.

- I will allow it, so you can run whatever tests you wish – she added, as if that gave any kind of explanation. – You’ll see.

Who was this? And why was she here? That was the moment Lena had decided she needed to call her assistant to clear off her schedule for the day. She had too many questions that needed answers and if this… girl, was willing to be submitted to the microscope, she would find all the answers today.

- Alright then… we will proceed to the lab, with one condition – Lena made a pause, the girl tilted her head with curiosity, almost like a puppy – Supergirl will stay nearby, for my safety. It’s that or I leave, up to you. – her business voice on point to give no space for negotiation. The young woman looked at the blonde, who looked slightly surprised but tried to remain expressionless, even if her heart wasn’t so obedient. A little grin formed on the lips of the girl and she nodded.

- Seems reasonable, even though I can assure you, I’m not of any danger for you, nor enemy of anyone here. As I said, I came here to help… but I can understand the mistrust. – Her voice was calm and collected, tone polite, something Lena took note on.

She looked at Kara, who gave her a nod, and they turned around to leave. The lab would be ready soon.

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Brainy has been looking at the charts for hours, there was relevant information hidden there in the patterns the energy of that portal made, something he has seen before but not exactly like this, and he couldn’t figure out what it meant yet.

Nia was sitting close, lost on her thoughts.

- Do you think this levels of electronegativity are… - The question he was about to ask died in his throat as soon as he noticed the worried face of his girlfriend. – What’s wrong? – Brainy asked, sliding his chair closer to her to hold her hand.

- I still can’t decipher the rest of the dream – she said, sight still looking at no specific point on the floor – I think the incoming danger is directed to Supergirl, and it will affect the city, but I don’t know if that danger comes from this unknown girl or she really is here to help and the danger is something else. Which isn’t particularly helpful – She finally looked at him, letting go a deep sigh – I’ll go there again and try to see more this time.

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Soon the stranger girl was lying down on a stretcher, arms and legs secured to the metallic structure with power suppressors, she behaved perfectly with the guards that brought her to the lab, willingly accepting all and each restraint put on her with calm, keeping a little smile on her face and stealing glances at the scientist preparing her tools. Supergirl was out of the lab, looking through the glass, by Lena’s request, intently observing everything like a hawk, superhearing every move, ready to jump into action at the minimal suspicion of danger. She could hear both hearts, Lena’s was slower but definitely going faster than usual, she hid her nervousness well, poker face in place.

- So where are you from? – Lena asked in casual tone, preparing a couple rows of tubes for the sampling recollection.

- I was born and raised on Earth – the girl replied with calm voice. – National City, actually.

Lena hummed at that, there were many aliens in this area, that was no surprise, it explained why she knew her name, even if it didn’t explain the particular way she appeared on that side of the city.

- What is your species? – Lena asked, now preparing the syringe for the procedure.

The girl looked briefly at the window, then back at her. Before the silence, the scientist looked up at her, eyebrow raising reaffirming her question. The girl lowered her gaze to the syringe.

- I’d rather answer to all your questions in a private conversation after the studies are done, if you don’t mind… Miss Luthor. I’m certain after it the conversation will be more productive. – She said, not looking directly at Lena in any point while speaking.

Fair enough, she thought. Clearly said alien wasn’t completely comfortable around Supergirl, and it seemed mutual.

She placed the tourniquet on the girl's bicep, two sets of blue eyes following her every move.

- I'll start with the blood withdrawal – Lena said, looking at the girl’s eyes intently looking her back. The girl nodded in agreement. Syringe went in with no more resistance the skin of any human would put. Interesting. Blood running freely into the tubes one after another. Nothing seemed different in her blood at first sight, same color, texture, density. Of course, under genetic and biochemical scrutiny it would show clear differences.

Kara frowned from the hallway, she has seen the syringe bend to the touch of her skin before, why it worked now? Was it something she could control?

- Do you have a name? – Lena asked, finishing her recollecting of samples. The girl smiled once again.

- Elizabeth – she said, the scientist tilted her head and briefly looked at her with a bit of surprise in her green eyes.

- That’s… a beautiful name – she replied, taking out the syringe and cleaning the pinch with a cotton – it was my mother’s name actually. – there was no trace left on the skin, not a droplet of blood or a point in the skin. Accelerated healing seemed to be one of her powers. She looked at the window and nodded at Kara, got what she needed, the guards could come back to take her, Kara nodded in reply.

Elizabeth was smiling warmly at her.

- You can call me Liz if you want, that’s what everyone used to call me – she said, sounding almost hopeful.

- Alright Liz – Lena said, the eyes of the girl shinning at the nickname – thanks for sharing it. We are done for now, you’ll go back to containment until I finish with the tests, then we’ll have that conversation. – The girl nodded and in the middle of the silence her stomach grumbled soundly. Lena looked back at her with an amused smile; Liz was looking a little mortified.

- I’m sorry, I haven’t eaten anything in quite some time and I’m really hungry. – She explained, almost shyly.

- Don’t worry, I’ll ask them to bring you something to eat – Lena said, as the guards entered to take her.

- Thank you – the girl replied, sounding relieved.

- No problem – Lena looked up from her clipboard to face her and, as Liz was sitting now with her back to her while the guards placed the shackles in her wrists, she could notice a brown patch of skin on the base of the spine, a birthmark.

Kara could hear Lena’s heart picking up the pace, she looked at the brunette only to see her looking surprised at the bare back of the girl through the hospital gown, then quickly looking away, thoughtful. What was that?

The guards took Elizabeth back to her cell; 5 whole pizzas came soon after and they were quickly consumed.

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Kara was debating if going into the lab and ask Lena what that reaction was or leaving her work in peace because it was probably a weird question to ask, but the question caused an uncomfortable feeling in her.

Her phone started vibrating. That was the answer of fate, probably, her presence was required at CatCo. She quickly dismissed herself from everyone and left. She forgot the 9 am meeting in today’s schedule and was running a few minutes late.

---------------------

It was a sunny dawn, to feminine figures, one with cape, were fighting in the distant sky. That must have been what Esme saw in her dream, but there was no trace of Lena. Then the sky turned dark, cloudy and there was that image again. The silhouette of Supergirl, floating in front of a giant group of clouds that now looked like an enormous foggy spaceship.

The deep rumbling of the ground, trembling, growing cracks across the city.

Clouds shining green, threads of light forming between the clouds, extending to Supergirl who stayed impassive. Said threads settling into her wrists like chains.

The scream of a woman, a cry, she could recognize this time as the voice of Lena.

“Don’t do it!” piercing and desperate.

Nia couldn’t see her and soon after the ground swallowed her. She woke up in the breakroom, agitated and with a knot in her throat, once again. She was pretty sure that other figure in the sky fighting with Kara must be the girl in containment, but it didn’t mean the cloud ship that seemed to be the bigger menace was related in any way to her. Maybe it would be a good idea to pay her a visit.

----------------------

Lena was running the first round of testing, checking the general structure of the DNA in comparison with the DEO’s data base of alien DNA to get a match, it took some time to process it. In the meantime, the image of that mark in the back of the girl came back to her mind, it was concerningly similar…

A beep of the computer interrupted her train of thought, a partial coincidence.

Kryptonian DNA.

She would need to process the fully detailed DNA sequence to do a more precise comparison. It would take some time for the machine to process it, so she started with the next reasonable set of tests; if she was part Kryptonian, why the registers said Kryptonite didn’t cause a reaction?

----------------------

He finally cracked part of an answer, or so he thought. Brainy was focused, reviewing various files simultaneously.

The registers in the DEO systems about the types of portals opening in the different earths before the crisis was probably tampered by Lex’s manipulation of reality and not a trustworthy source of information, at least not from anything before said crisis, but after, there were a few portals opened and they left a similar, yet not equal, trace of residuals. The trace being what the Legion’s ship left behind after any trip. The energy of the stormy portal was similar, with raw and wilder use of energy, very inefficient use of it to be honest, and other type of residue he couldn’t really trace to anything else.

Nia came by secretly from behind.

- I need to talk to the prisoner – She whispered, trying to be discreet.

- Why are you whispering? – he asked, unfortunately loud, as usual in the worst moments. Alex turned from the command console and gave them a look. Nia smiled nervously at her and pulled her boyfriend by the arm.

- Because I don’t think she’s supposed to receive any visitors… but I got new information and I need to ask her something – she said still whispering while slowly trying to snicker away in direction to the containment area. – Would you come with me? We still don’t know her powers, so it might be better to don’t be alone with her, even if she is contained. Besides, if they catch the both of us, at least I’d feel better not being the only one reprimanded. – She smiled.

Brainy sighed, but agreed, there weren’t many requests of Nia he would say no to anyway.

---------------------

It was really interesting to see under the microscope, she wasn’t sure how regular kryptonian blood would react to kryptonite, decaying and destroying the cells, she assumed for the physical reaction she has personally seen on Kara. Maybe she should ask the blonde to run some studies on her, now that she thought about it.

In any case, she was sure the reaction wouldn’t be anything like this.

Instead of decaying or contaminating, like a poison would do, the cells were absorbing the kryptonite, without any visible change to them. Processing it as if it was some kind of nutrient.

It was fascinating. She has only seen something similar on Reign and it wasn’t even close to this level of efficiency.

The computer beeped again, the full detailed DNA sequence on display, she could recognize part of the pattern. It wasn’t so surprising, after all she knew, thanks to Kara, that Superman was able to procreate a child with his human partner, so the fact that there was human DNA present here wasn’t an impossible thing.

She ran the sample against a human one, just to confirm.

Partial coincidence. So, Liz was a hybrid, alright, that could explain some things, but not others.

Was she the lost child of Superman? Maybe a fling from his teenage years? Back when he was friend with Lex he wasn’t much of a girlfriend or going out kind-of-guy, at least not that she remembered.

She narrowed the matching process. There were four kryptonian samples registered in the database; Sample 1, registered in the early 90’s, Sample 2 registered in the early 2000’s, Sample 3, registered almost 7 years ago and Sample 4 from a bit more than 3 years ago. No identifying name for any of them.

She accessed from her tablet the files from L-Corp to compare against the samples in the database, L-Corp had DNA of two Kryptonians, Superman, collected by Lex, and Reign, collected by herself. They were quickly matched to the system. Sample 1 being Superman, and Sample 4 being Reign. By the dates she could assume Sample 3 was Kara’s, almost 7 years ago when Supergirl appeared for the first time and started working with the DEO. Therefore, the only unknown would be the Sample 2, that was more than enough information to draw conclusions in case of a match.

She ran the match for the sequence and there were coincidences, multiple. Three of the four to be precise. She was definitely part of the super family.

Report 1: 0% coincidence with sample 4. Not related to Reign, those were good news.

Report 2: 12.5% coincidence with sample 3. Which would mean, cousin of Kara? A lost sister of Superman?

Report 3: 6.25% coincidence with sample 1. That ruined the hypothesis.

Report 4: 47% coincidence with sample 2.

It didn’t make any sense. What could be related to both, Kara and Superman so lightly and be the daughter of a stranger. It would have to be… if sample 2 was a half-sister of Kara, from her father’s side, that could be the relation. There was a nagging thought in the back of her mind but it didn’t have any logic so she pushed it back.

She ran now coincidences between the 3 kryptonian samples in the system.

Report 1: 0% coincidence between samples 1 and 3.

Report 2: 12.5% coincidence between sample 1 and sample 2.

Report 3: 25% coincidence between sample 2 and 3.

A chill ran through her spine. How could this be possible…

Unless there was some messy drama in the House of El, sample 3 couldn’t be Kara’s. Sample 2 was, confirming it to be cousin of sample 1 AKA Superman. Sample 3 being either a mother’s side half sibling or an aunt/uncle of Kara.

How…

The nagging feeling came back stronger this time. It didn’t make any sense, but she had to do one test more, just in case of the remote possibility…

-----------------

Kara was zooned out once again, she’s been quite distracted this morning, her thoughts constantly going back at the events of this morning. The look of adoration Elizabeth had anytime she looked at Lena was almost sickening to witness. Not that the CEO didn’t deserve it; to be fair, she was an absolute sight to anyone who had the pleasure to be in the same room as her, but it was annoying nonetheless.

It wasn’t technically anything wrong, nothing that revealed this girl to be a sort of villain or a threat, but it made her feel utterly pissed, for some reason. The worst part probably was Lena not seeming annoyed or disturbed by it, she was just her kind self with the girl, and that was, somehow, bothering her.

Alex promised to inform her of any relevant news and there were no messages from anyone at the DEO so far, she could only wait and try to regain focus enough to get work done.

------------------

Luck seemed to be on their side, apparently after posing no threat during her transfer to the lab and return, they left her in containment without a permanent guard. Nia made sure to wait until the one doing the occasional rounds was gone and they sneaked in.

They were barely in the area when Brainy looked at the prisoner for the first time, staying in shock for a brief moment in which said prisoner smiled lightly at them.

- Hi – she said, her voice calm.

Brainy reacted quickly, taking Nia’s wrist and dragging her out as fast as he could. Nia protested, but was ignored. He was rambling in murmurs she couldn’t fully understand.

- Why did you do that? – she screamed-whispered when they finally stopped in one of the interrogation rooms of the hallway.

- I… should have come to see her before, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that, that explains the energy… but not completely. It would have saved me hours just to walk around where she was, I should have known… - he was whispering to himself in a scolding tone.

- You know her. – Nia concluded, finally stopping his rambling. He looked at her with a solemn expression and nodded. – Who is she?

- I… don’t know if I can tell you that without causing any damaging consequences to the future, but I can tell you, she is indeed not the enemy. She is actually an ally, a very important one for the development of the future. – Nia wasn’t convinced on not knowing the stranger’s identity, she barely could see her. – Right before you came to… snatch me from what I was doing, I had just identified the residual energy of the portal that brought her here to be coincident, at a level, with the energy used on the time-travel technology used by the Legion. Even if there is something else as well, that I still haven’t figured out, I can confirm, specially now seeing her, that she is a time traveler, and if she came all the way here, it means whatever is going to happen is more dangerous than we might have imagined.

--------------------

To say she was nervous would be an understatement.

Lena was obsessively looking at the display in front of her, green eyes intensely glaring at the loading bar of the on-going process. Swallowing hard, jaw clenched, heart beating fast and her mind rushing and stumbling over every possibility.

The beep of the results finally came.

50% coincidence.

How… the fuck… was this possible.

Who did this? When did this happen? How? Just how?

It was more than obvious this didn’t happen naturally, it couldn’t, to begin with. Only someone with the technology and access to DNA could have done this. Was this one of Lex’s doing? It couldn’t be, she would have found a trace of it and there was nothing nowhere.

How could there exist a daughter of hers and Kara’s.

She stood up from her seat, closing all programs, she wasn’t sure any of this was meant to be known. Now she understood why the girl asked specifically for her. Was she here to blackmail her or something?

She walked out of the labs, all information in her clipboard and tablet, no copies left behind.

She needed answers, and she needed them now.

Chapter Text

- I still think we should talk with her – Nia spoke still annoyed-whispering while quickly walking back to the breakroom on the opposite side of the facilities. Brainy following close. – If someone came from the future to this specific time, when there is this… looming danger coming maybe soon… or not. Then she must know exactly what’s coming and when, maybe even how to defeat it – Brainy was thoughtful and didn’t reply immediately.

- I suppose she knows, yes, that’s the logic conclusion. – He kept his lips tight trying to avoid going back to the conversation of who is she. It was a sticky situation. Nia was right, they should talk to her, surely she would have all the information needed to understand what was going to happen and how to stop it if she was here to share it, but maybe it would be for the best to don’t do it behind the DEO’s back, when Elizabeth is clearly trying to earn their trust. It was a better choice to just follow her plan, whatever it was.

That’s when it hit him.

She asked for Lena, specifically, and for her to run tests on her, so she probably wasn’t going to keep hidden her identity at all… at least not from Lena, but from everyone else? That was a different story.

-------------------------

Kara was growing impatient by the minute and since she had a couple of partnership meetings scheduled before lunch, she couldn’t move to leave and go to the DEO herself, opted for sending a text to Alex.

“Any news at the front about the friendly stranger?”

She was hopping the reply wouldn’t take long to come, as the people for her appointment entered her office guided by her assistant.

- Thank you for making time for us Miss Danvers – A woman with curly hair said while extending her hand – I’m sure between running this empire and being Supergirl you are surely short of it. – Kara smiled politely, that was one of the usual comments she received at almost every business reunion.

- No problem at all, I saw the brief of your proposal and we are interested in hearing more about it – She said shaking the woman’s hand, then doing the same with the guy next to her and slightly pointing at the seats in front of her.

Her phone vibrated with Alex’s reply and she checked it discreetly.

“Not that I know, Lena is still working on it” then another text.

“I’m not at the DEO right now, meeting in Esme’s pre-school, I’ll tell you when we know anything” She sighed, patience would be the only route.

--------------------------

The click-clack of her heels echoes in the hallway, she’s trying to keep calm as the containment area is now in view. Unguarded, apparently. A deep breath before stepping in closing the main door behind her.

Liz was looking at her with a soft smile in her lips that slowly faded and turned into a surprised face.

- Oh… - She took a deep breath, listening to Lena’s quick heartbeat and the way her hands were clenching at the clipboard she was holding. - you know it already. – The girl stood up, slightly pacing in the cell. – I should have known you would figure it out quickly, but honestly, I wasn’t expecting this quickly wow – there was a big smile in her face when she looked at the scientist, she was impressed and proud.

Lena stepped closer. Liz was no longer wearing the hospital gown, just black pants and a grey plain t-shirt, training clothes they must have provided. Still barefoot, still shackles in place.

Looking at her under the light of the new information she could see it; long dark hair, like hers but in soft waves like Kara’s. Blue shinny eyes, exactly like Kara’s, and that smile, even if with lips more like her own, too bright to come from the Luthor’s side. Her cheekbones but Kara’s jaw. Broad shoulders and muscular arms, like Supergirl, but hips like her own. Her pale skin mirrored in the girl, even the mole in her neck she hasn’t noticed before.

It was almost impossible not to see the resemblance now. That’s why she felt so familiar.

Lena’s face was unreadable, she was just observing attentively every one of her features, Liz was starting to grow nervous.

Was her mother disappointed of seeing her?

Then the woman clenched her jaw and furrow grew in her brows.

Oh no… she was pissed.

- Who made you? – She asked almost spitting the words, voice deeper than normal. Liz looked taken aback. – Why? Who sent you here? What are you exactly? A customized clone? A twisted experiment my brother left behind? – Lena turned around facing now the door, trying to breathe out her rage. Closing her eyes, focusing on breathing, she needed to remain calm if she wanted to get any answers. When she felt a hand softly on her shoulder she jerked away. There she was, out of her cell and power suppressing shackles now forgotten on the bed in the cell. Liz raised her hands as an offer of peace. – How did you release from that? – Lena was surprised, agitated and slightly scared.

- Oh, that’s definitely not enough to contain me – she replied with a soft smile that quickly faded, noticing the fear in Lena’s eyes – I’m not here to hurt you, nor anyone – she tried to reassure. – I can see you know the what but not the how and I can explain you everything if you are willing to hear it. – Liz stepped back, hand extended to the cell barrier, a hole opening in it letting her pass through before closing, Lena recognized what it was… magic. The girl then placed the shackles back on. – I have willingly accepted this conditions to prove I’m not your enemy – she said, standing behind the barrier now, chin up, dignified – I think the least I deserve is for you to hear me before assuming the worst of me.

Lena swallowed, that stand and attitude definitely reminded her of herself. She crossed her arms across her chest.

- Speak then.

-----------------------

It’s not that she wasn’t paying attention. She was definitely listening something about the budgets for the proposal they were presenting, far back in the background. She was just not fully present because her mind was somewhere else.

Worried, slightly, for the lack of reply from a text she sent to Lena right after texting Alex, even if she was trying to convince herself everything was fine and she probably just was nose deep into analyzing every detail in the blood of the girl and hasn’t noticed the message yet.

Kara nodded at the man asking her if she would like to know more about whatever he just mentioned, and he continued with the next slide.

If Lena was so busy in the laboratory, maybe it would be a good idea to bring her something for lunch so she doesn’t forget to eat.

----------------------

- To answer the question that is bothering you the most, no, I am not a clone or a project made by Lex. – Liz answered with serious voice – I actually am lucky enough to have never met him. He was gone a few years before I came to existence. – Lena visibly let out the air she was holding – I wasn’t exactly made… - she paused, trying to organize her ideas – Let’s start from the beginning: I don’t exist yet, I come from the future, a future I can’t really tell you how far it is cause since I woke up here I haven’t seen a single calendar – she said, with a little of frustration – How long ago was Alex’s wedding?

- Almost 7 months ago – Lena replied, trying to assimilate the information just received. Time traveling wasn’t a new concept for her; the Legion was proof of it.

- That’s earlier than I expected… Ok, we are talking of almost three decades in the future then. – Liz tilted her head with a puzzled expression – Wait so… that means… you and jeju-kah aren’t even together yet? – Lena’s mouth was agape, eyes wide open, she knows those words, kryptonian for “my mother” - That was supposed to happen a year after the wedding… Fuck, am I going to ruin my own existence? I should have asked the year before even asking to see you. – Liz took her hands to her face and rubbed them in frustration. – Anyway – she said, trying to recover composure and looked at Lena, who was visibly shocked. – I probably shouldn’t have said that, right? Sorry… first time time-traveler.

The green-eyed shook her head.

- No, I mean, it’s unexpected? I didn’t think she felt… - she was feeling way too many things to word it.

- Ah right, you thought she was only into men before that happened. – Liz replied thoughtful, she had completely forgotten about that part of the story. – Can you try not to do anything you wouldn’t have done before knowing that? To change it as little as possible… - She said, knowing it was pointless, her mere presence here was all the change needed for the future to become a completely different thing, and that was the point of her trip. Lena nodded anyway, heartbeat loud in her own ears.

She had no idea how she was going to even look at Kara now with that knowledge in the way.

- Getting back on track… - Liz voice called her attention – Way farther in the future, I’m talking about millennia, the Legion faced an enemy they couldn’t beat. Said enemy is a race of aliens, the Myzekaran, planet conquers, known for exploitation of their resources and its species, wanted intergalactically for their crimes against several forms of life. Apparently, they found a way to use kryptonians as a power source for their arsenal to expand their dominion around the universe, a non-renewable resource they consume until ashes, and since there aren’t many left in the future, they stole the device in the Legion ship that allowed them to time travel and have been altering the timeline at several points in their hunt for them, altering the future. – Lena was listening attentively, frown in her face, if all of this was real that meant Kara was in danger – I don’t have memories of a different future than the one I lived, but a version of brainy came to see me the day before the time I was able to finish the portal, and explained to me the future he knew was supposed to exist… a completely different version from the one I went through.

There was sorrow in her face now, and Lena wondered what kind of future she lived, but remained silent, waiting for her to continue, there would probably be a better time to know about that.

- That’s when I knew there was hope to change it all. They have stayed in my future for longer than others because they receive a stronger signal from me and had taken me as a holy grail of the sorts. After several years, I could finally beat most of their army, but the mother ship escaped, so when I made the portal, I set the time to follow the trace of them with a searching spell. That’s how I ended up here. Which means they are here, somewhere in this time of the universe. – Lena tried to process all the information as quickly as she could, then nodded and asked.

- The future you came from, did they attack in this time then? – Liz denied with her head.

- In the future I came from they were supposed to attack in around 5 years from now. – She lowered her head, was it important to retain information from her own mom? She came here to make sure the future she knew never exists anyway – I am supposed to be born half a year after that.

Be born…

- In the future you came from… do they harm Kara? – Lena swallowed when she left out the words, she needed to know. The posture of Elizabeth tensed.

- In the future I came from, I am the last known kryptonian to be alive since the moment I was born. – she replied with deep voice darkened by her feelings, keeping her eyes low, she didn’t want to see the expression those green eyes would hold. She could still hear a sharp breath intake and the deafening race of a heart beating. They remained in silence for long minutes.

- Who made you? – Lena asked, suspecting already the answer.

Elizabeth raised her face to look at her, with a soft expression in her eyes as she replied.

- You, both of you.

----------------------

Alex came back to the DEO walking directly to J’onn.

- Any news? – She asked, handing him a bag with a cookie from the pastry shop next to Esme’s school. She came bearing desserts for the dining room. – Kara wants to know.

J’onn took the bag with a smile and shook his head.

- I haven’t got any information from Lena yet; she must be still working on it. – He was busy checking on reports of a sighting of a group of aliens that escaped jail a few days ago. They probably should send a team to verify the area.

- I’ll drop this and go see her then – She said, and J’onn nodded distractedly.

-----------------------

- I suppose they don’t know you are here talking with me, and if that’s the case, we don’t have time to continue this conversation. – Liz said, recognizing the voice of Alex and what she said in her brief conversation with J’onn. – Aunt Alex is going to look for you at the lab, you should go back, we can have the rest of this conversation later, in an official way. You are supposed to interrogate me later, right?

Lena looked at her with an expression full of so many feelings, but didn’t say anything else, just left hurriedly, mind racing. She’s supposed to give an answer about the results of the tests, how much of the truth was she supposed to reveal? She didn’t even know if any of what this girl just said held any truth.

She arrived at the lab just in time to sit down and fake scribbling something in the papers of her clipboard, Alex came to view seconds later.

- Hey – Alex peeked in from the door – Any info to share on the tests? – she asked, walking into the lab, noticing the equipment was off, so Lena must be done with it.

- Yes, actually… - the scientist tried to smile still figuring out what to say – I’m still working on the conclusions, but the results show she’s a hybrid.

- Of what exactly? – of course they would want to know that.

- Part kryptonian, part human. – she replied. There were enough kryptonians in the universe at the current time that they wouldn’t know which one was the one related to her.

- Then how is that she was immune to kryptonite? – Alex crossed her arms, frown in her forehead.

- That I don’t know yet, it could be the human part compensating, maybe some sort of evolution as a result of her kryptonian parent being exposed to it constantly, or it could be a genetic modification. – She looked away… it could be her own doing. – Maybe I could have the answer to that after the interrogation. - Alex nodded. – Her powers should be the same as any kryptonian under a yellow sun, that’s yet to be confirmed with her. Once I have more detailed information I’ll make a report, so everyone can access to it.

- Right, thank you for doing this, do you consider she could be dangerous to you in an interrogation one to one as she asked to have? – Alex looked slightly worried – We should wait to do that until Kara is available to stick around. – Lena shook her head.

- She seems to be here to help, I don’t think Kara would be required, but I would like J’onn to come around and check her mind to verify any information she gives me. – It was Alex who shook her head this time.

- He said he tried to read her while in the cell and he couldn’t get a single thing, just blank. Like empty. Doesn’t know why, and that’s not explained with the kryptonian or human thing.

Lena stayed in silence for a moment before speaking again.

- She has the same skin resistance than kryptonians, yet when I extracted her blood this morning her skin offered no resistance, maybe that’s something she can control as well. I’m sure if I ask that as my condition to listen to whatever she has to say, she will agree.

Alex was doubtful but nodded.

- I’ll tell J’onn, we’ll prepare the special interrogation room, so her superhearing won’t work anything outside of it. I’ll tell you when we are ready. For now, you should take a break, you look like all this took a toll on you – Alex said kindly patting her shoulder - maybe eat lunch…

- Did anyone say lunch? – Kara was coming through the hallway, carrying a couple bags of Big Belly Burger. Smile bright as ever. Lena fell her chest hurt at the memories of her previous conversation, she wasn’t expecting to see Kara this soon. Heart beating fast and strong, she hasn’t had time to even think how to behave around Kara yet.

- What did you get me? – Alex asked, extending a hand. Kara grimaced.

- You said you were having lunch with Kelly today! – she replied – so I only got you fries. – opened one of the bags and gave them to her.

- You wound me Supergirl – Alex joked, dramatically putting a hand on her chest, then snatching the fries from her sister’s hand, Kara rolled her eyes – talking about lunch, I’m leaving to meet my wife and kid, left cookies in the main dining room, hurry if you want to find anything. – She said, looking at both and then leaving in a hurry.

Kara looked at her with those very blue and shiny eyes, smile back on her face.

- Lunch with me? – she asked, almost shyly, as if Lena would say no to that face. She couldn’t trust her own voice so only nodded in agreement and tried to smile. – Then let’s hurry, I want cookies. – Kara giggled and started walking at the door looking back to make sure she was going too, the brunette followed.

She wasn’t sure what was going on with Lena, but she could hear her heartbeat accelerated, and could see the tension in her face, eyes almost clouded by feelings she couldn’t define. She looked distracted, tired and nervous. Not a common look on her. Something was wrong and she could only hope Lena would be willing to talk about whatever it was.

----------------------

They went into the dining room to find only one cookie left. Kara took it after Lena assured several times she didn’t want it. Still gave her half of it.

----------------------

They ended up in one of the breakrooms, close to the training area, sitting in a couch, food spread on the coffee table in front of them, there was too many people in the dining room, and Kara knew the brunette wouldn’t open up about whatever was troubling her with people around, even if she insisted staying to eat there was okay.

Lena felt trapped, couldn’t really hold the blonde’s gaze, she knew Kara has noticed something was going on even if she’s being Kara and not pushing it.

- How are the tests going? – Kara asked, trying to break the silence that has formed.

There was one of the possible questions… How much should she tell her of what she knows? Probably nothing for now since most of it wasn’t corroborated to be true, maybe just tell her the same than to Alex.

- I have some answers and many questions – she replied, Kara’s face of confusion when she briefly looked at her told her that was way too vague of an answer and it made her chuckle – She’s part kryptonian, part human, and seems like there is some sort of resistance developed to kryptonite, but I don’t have conclusive results on the why yet. I’ll keep investigating. – Kara seemed thoughtful for a moment.

- I heard her saying she was from here – she said before taking a sip from her jumbo milkshake – is her family nearby?

Lena swallowed hard. She didn’t like hiding things from Kara but she didn’t have enough information to know what to share yet.

- Probably her family is here – she said, tone shaky – I’ll ask her about that later in the interrogatory.

- At what time will you do that? I’ll be here for it. – Green eyes posed on Supergirl, she’s always so protective of her, of everyone she always reminded herself, maybe that and her own fears of rejection from the most important person in her life had made too difficult to see there could be any other sort of feelings than friendship nested in Kara for her.

- We don’t know yet, whenever everything is ready, but don’t worry, J’onn will be with me – Kara frowned, but didn’t argue, and took another bite from her burger.

Maybe she should keep some distance from Kara, or at least avoid being alone with her, cause knowing her feelings could be accepted and reciprocated was making it really hard to hold back her wish to be closer.

She took a bite of her own food. Distance would be safer, unless until she had a clear idea of what was going on.

-----------------------

As soon as he saw Kara and Lena leave the dining room Brainy stood up and took Nia’s hand, signaling to go outside, she followed.

- What? – Nia asked, once they were out alone in the hallway, he just kept walking until they reached his usual spot in the console. He looked around to confirm there was no one coming their way and pulled out a tablet to show her.

The security cams in the containment area showed Lena holding a conversation with their futuristic prisoner then leaving quickly after, there was no audio, and he didn’t show the part where you would be able to see her powers. He took the video of this whole interaction out of the DEO’s servers, to protect Lena, mostly, but didn’t erase it, in case it was needed later on. Nia’s face was surprised.

- I think we should talk with Lena first. – He suggested, Brainy has learned if there was a human not to underestimate that was Lena Luthor, and by her body language in the video footage, he was sure she already has discovered who Elizabeth was.

-----------------------

Kara was very tempted to clear out the rest of her schedule and just stay and accompany her best friend, even if silently, while she went through the rest of her investigation. Something was definitely going on in Lena’s mind and she wasn’t willing to talk about it. Also, the idea of her going into an interrogation room with a barely restricted unknown kryptonian with her exact same powers and unknown intentions, wasn’t doing her any favor, even if J’onn would be there, it didn’t ease the increasing feeling in her chest. She wanted to be there, to make sure nothing happened to Lena.

She didn’t trust the girl. Maybe there are no reasons for it, but that didn’t change the fact.

The brunette was once again lost in her thoughts. Kara reached out and placed a hand over hers, startling her a little. Lena looked at her then, heartbeat growing faster. What was going on with Lena’s heart today?

- Is everything ok? – Kara asked trying to read any micro-expression available in her friend’s face. Lena looked at her hand, then at the wall in front of them, then back at her, weak smile on her face.

- Yes, just… I have a lot on my plate right now – she replied her sight going back to the wall, it wasn’t normal for those green eyes to avoid her this much they would usually seek her with a unique intensity – there are so many questions in my mind… that I can’t really answer yet. I’m just thoughtful, that’s all. – she finished with a smile she hoped looked more like her usual.

It didn’t.

- If you have any questions I could have the answers for, you know you can ask me anything. – Kara caressed the back of her hand with her thumb in a reassuring way. The touch sending shivers through Lena’s arm and back.

What do you feel for me Kara Danvers? She wished she could ask, but only nodded and flashed her a little smile in gratitude. There were more urging matters to attend and this wasn’t the way it would happen, if it really was meant to happen.

- I know, thank you, if I have any questions for you, I’ll take you on that offer. – Lena squished slightly her hand before letting it go.

Something felt off, Kara could feel it, but didn’t dare to push for it.

They parted ways in the hallway with a quick hug, Lena not looking at her when taking her way back to the lab and Kara feeling something she couldn’t really name while flying back to the office.

-----------------------

When she reached the lab quickly noticed something that wasn’t there before. On top of the closed with a lock drawer where she left her tablet and clipboard holding all the information, there was a black journal with battered pages. When she opened it there was a post it on the first page.

“You were made with love” signed by “Mom ♥” in her own handwriting. Her hands started shaking, a knot forming in her throat. She passed the tip of her finger softly over that last word.

Glued to the second page there was an article from a gossip magazine.

“The hottest couple confirmed” said the tittle followed by a blurry dark picture of Kara and herself in what looked like the balcony of L Corp, probably taken from a nearby building. They were holding each other and supposedly kissing, though from the angle it wasn’t that sure. Kara’s hands were clearly on her hips, dangerously close to her ass, while her own were around the blonde’s neck. Article dated 8 months in the future.

“After years of speculation, the so-called power duo from National City, Lena Luthor CEO of L Corp and Kara Danvers aka Supergirl, are caught sharing a private moment at the CEO’s office in late hours of the night, the now officially Power couple has been captured sharing warm moments…“

Fuck.

She didn’t stop to read it, just started to pass pages catching on words like “genetic engineering”, “gen editing”, “artificial insemination” and “pregnancy” without even trying to read it. Journal entry after entry from four years in the future for around a year. She knew what it was. It was the documented process of how Elizabeth was made. From her own hand.

A knock on the door made her jump, she left the journal back where she found it and turned to see her visitors. Brainy and Nia, looking more serious than usual.

- I believe we should have an honest conversation Lena – Brainy said, getting close, pulling out a tablet that showed a freeze frame of the security cameras in containment, of her previous conversation with Liz.

She forgot there was a camera there.

Lena looked at him, then at Nia who didn’t say anything but was looking at her very inquisitively.

- I guess we should. – She replied, keeping her voice as controlled as she was used to in the worst negotiations.

This was getting messier by the minute.

Chapter Text

They stayed in silence for a minute with Nia exchanging her sight between them eyes narrowed, both seemed tense, like card players trying to guess how much of their game was known, how many cards to show. Brainy faltered first, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh.

- I don’t know why she’s here, but I know who she is and I have a hypothesis on the what could have happened to make her come here, but I’m not sure if personally talking with her would be a good idea since she asked to talk to you, exclusively, so… - He looks at Lena, hoping she will explain her side. She relaxes visibly as exhales; arms still closed over her chest.

- So, you knew of her existence… - Brainy nods. Her voice sounds slightly altered, even if her face remains expressionless. That confirmation releases a knot in her chest she hasn’t noticed before, it means it is meant to happen… she and Kara, and that’s all she needs to know.

- As I know many other facts about the future that I must not mention due to the possible implications of affecting it. – He replies matter of a fact, looking at Lena drifting into her thoughts, this must be a confusing situation, emotionally speaking, for her. – It’s part of the rules when time traveling, disclosing unnecessary information can affect the timeline and necessary events to remain on track. – The CEO nods this time, understanding. Of course she understands, she’s not mad at brainy for not mentioning the future existence of her child with no other than Supergirl. In hindsight, such thing would have been impossible to believe some years ago. Hilarious even, and not because she didn’t find the Super attractive, of course she did, she wasn’t blind, but she being a Luthor and pining for young adorable reporter Kara Danvers… She would have laughed at the bad joke of anyone suggesting such thing.

- I know why she’s here, in general terms at least – she paused, considering if it was a good idea to share information before the interrogation – You are one of the reasons, apparently – if there was anyone who could understand and help others who would need to understand this, was Brainy. He was briefly confused before she continued – You went to her time to tell her about the future you knew was supposed to exist, which seems to be very different from the one she came from – realization falls over him, last piece of the puzzle fitting in – and she’s here to fix it.

- Would you mind including me in this conversation? – Nia speaks, they have been speaking in such cryptic way, saying a lot without saying anything substantial at all – Fill me in, please, who is she?

Lena looks at Nia, then at Brainy, so he hasn’t told her anything it seems.

- I believe Nia should know too, as much as possible, it would help her understand her visions and that would help us all. – He saw doubt creeping in her green eyes, if he wanted, he could have told Nia everything, but in the current situation it seemed to be more of Lena’s decision to be made – It will help her, we can help her, that’s why she’s here. – The scientist took a deep breath and spoke.

- She is my daughter – it feels so foreign to say those words - from the future, doesn’t exist yet, obviously – She is looking at Nia, there is surprise written all over her face and she can’t blame her - her name is Elizabeth… Luthor? I suppose.

- Elizabeth Luthor-Danvers – Brainy corrects - though she goes by Elizabeth Zor-El for intergalactic matters. – Lena takes in the new information, it makes sense… it sounds really nice actually, and she can’t help a little smile forming in her lips.

If Nia was surprised before she’s currently shocked. It’s obvious what that name is implying. Kara and Lena… well, that wasn’t particularly unexpected, they have been harboring feelings for each other for God-knows-how-long, even before she came into the picture, which means years. And now that she thinks about it, them having a child is not so unbelievable either? Could be an alien adopted like Esme, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that Lena, who could make a sun for Kara when needed, could find a way of actually having a child with her.

She needs to review her visions under the new light of this information.

- Does Kara know? – Nia asks, after a moment of silence. Lena shakes her head.

- I’m waiting to know more about the whole situation before telling her. All she knows is that her name is Elizabeth, and she’s half human half kryptonian – the question Nia didn’t dare to ask now had an answer, it was indeed a biological child - that’s all the information I had validated at the time we spoke, after the interrogation I’ll have more information to share. – Lena tries to sound calm, but her hands are sweating and fidgeting. She doesn’t really know how she’s going to tell Kara any of this. If she’s even going to tell her.

- I’m not sure that’s something Kara would need to know. – Brainy adds, like reading her mind – When it comes to the future, the less the involved people on making it happen knows, it’s usually the best to secure it happening. – Lena swallows, she suspected as much, even if she doesn’t enjoy the idea of keeping this from Kara. They promised each other to be honest, to avoid committing the same mistakes from the past, and she was a woman of her word after all.

- We’ll figure that out when we know more… now, would you mind sharing your hypothesis? – the CEO asks, changing the topic for her own sake.

------------------------

- Don’t you think is weird? – Alex asks J’onn with concerned voice – suddenly appearing out of nowhere and is a kryptonian? There is something suspicious about it, and the fact that is not even a full kryptonian makes it all even stranger. Where did she even come from? There are no humans in Argo, and no other kryptonians on earth than Kara and Clark, at least not that we know, so how is that a hybrid exists? – J’onn is thoughtful but agrees, something weird is definitely going on.

- If Lena is right and the mind barrier protecting her can be removed, then I’ll know, I’ll see everything once I have access. – he replies, still doubtful, the mere existence of a mental barrier was suspicious, as if whoever she was or whoever sent her here knew of his powers.

- We don’t really know the extent of her powers, mind barriers are clearly not something a kryptonian can do, what if she can manipulate what you see, how could we be sure anything there is the truth. – Alex has a point; they don’t really now what this alien is capable of. J’onn considers their options for a moment.

- I guess we can add a truth seeker to the interrogatory, for good measure. – He sighs, maybe it was an exaggeration but it was better to prevent them from being lied to in the face of unknown danger, Alex seems to agree.

-------------------------

- The flow of time isn’t linear, as you know – Brainy started, explaining things to Lena was always easier than to others, because she could actually understand – before the crisis, multiple dimensions existed at the same time, with flowing timelines and fluctuating realities. In that workflow of existence, a key event would result in a new reality, a new dimension created by the different possible consequences of said key decision. – Lena nodded, Nia clearly wasn’t following so well – For example, the key decision of Kara saving Alex’s plane, starting the existence of Supergirl. That’s a key event, and before the crisis, there must have been an alternate universe in which she decided to not use her powers, therefore Supergirl not existing and probably Alex not even surviving the crash, no cult to Rao ever happening – turning to Lena – You probably would have been assassinated by one of your brother’s attempts and you – he turns to Nia – Might have rejected your powers and never become Dreamer.

- Lovely possibilities – Lena comments, dryly.

- The point is, after the crisis, with Lex merging all dimensions and realities, the workflow of existence changed, or so I believe due to previous events and this one, which I would consider a confirmation but you will tell me. – He said to Lena - Instead of each key event branching into different realities, the joint existence of all dimensions as one has created a change on the future based on the probability on the key events as a single reality. Which means any change in the timeline to key events would directly affect all successive reality. I noticed that when Lex went to the future and that future was completely different from the one I knew, because in my future Nyxly was a menace contained by Supergirl that didn’t represent the danger she became for us, but the future changed when Lex interfered, and when Lex came back from that future trying to change it for convenience, he technically ruined it for himself, and when they were banished to the phantom zone, the future I knew was reestablished, with minor differences. – Lena was thoughtful, but all Brainy was saying made sense in a far-fetched way – My conclusion is the future I know it’s the one with the highest probability to exist and can only be changed by timeline interferences, like the one caused by Lex.

- That coincides with what Liz has told me – Lena agrees – she said in the far future there was a species of conquerors that stole the time-travel technology from the Legion and started causing a series of disasters through the timeline in a hunt for kryptonians. Her future being the result of their last interference, where they got Kara… and the superfamily.

- Do you know how they got her? – Nia asks, thoughtful, remembering the images brought by her last dream – Did she surrender herself?

Lena looks at her with a frown.

- I don’t really know that part, it was a brief conversation, I’m missing many details, but the interrogation will cover that. – She observes Nia looking down with a frown of her own – Why?

- In my last vision I saw Supergirl’s silhouette floating in front of a giant ship in green clouds staying still while chains were put around her… and I heard your voice screaming “don’t do it” – Lena’s worry grew, knowing Kara’s self-sacrificing nature it didn’t seem far from a possibility – The thing is, I had that dream maybe a couple of hours ago, so it would mean whatever has to be changed, hasn’t changed yet, not even with your daughter here.

Your daughter. It was gonna take a while to get used to that.

- Do you know why she came exactly to this time? Does she know how to defeat them? – Brainy asks, it was time for them to start to focus on the solutions.

- She traced them to this time, that’s why she’s here, and I sure hope she does know what to do. – It would be stupid to come all the way here without a plan, and coming from the combined minds of Kara and herself, she doubted Elizabeth would do that.

- So, they are here? – Brainy wonders, suddenly finding the answer to something else – There was a fluctuation in the particles a few hours before the portal opened, that could have been caused by them, but there was no portal, not here at least, if they are in this time, they must be in a different place.

They looked at each other with concern.

- I think we should hurry with that interrogatory, we might not have much time. – Lena said, turning to save the journal in the same drawer with the rest of her things. – I’ll go see if J’onn is ready to do it now.

- I’ll try to trace the energy alterations, might find where they went, if they are even here. – Brainy said.

- I’ll see if I can dream anything else. – Nia commented, all of them leaving the lab.

----------------------------

Kara was tense.

Her last interaction with Lena didn’t leave her at ease. Something was going on, she was certain of that, and didn’t know why Lena wouldn’t talk about it.

Was it related to Kara? Or to the mysterious girl…

Kara winced at the thought.

Whatever it was, it was troubling her mind, she could see that much written all over her face, clouding her green eyes. Lena looked like she needed to talk it out, yet was refusing to do it.

She hadn’t seen the brunette act this evasive with her in a while; it feels like a step back.

The virtual conference is halfway through and she’s still wondering how necessary is her presence for the rest of the day. Not that being around Lena would warranty her opening up on what’s bothering her, but it might make her feel better?

It would make Kara feel better.

The blonde sighs, hands fidgeting under the desk, mind wandering away. Ever since they met for the first time something has felt different about Lena Luthor, different than it felt about anyone else in her life. At first, she thought it might be the fact that she was a Luthor, to begin with, and the complicated relationship between that family name and her own, but it rapidly proved to be wrong.

That something different, was something warm and welcomed. Something that had grown, without a name to it, and kept growing and adding feelings to itself.

She decided to call it friendship, even if it wasn’t like any friendship she ever had.

Lena understood her in a way she couldn’t explain, yet they were quite different from each other. So similar and opposite at the same time, it was complicated… but it felt right.

They started to call each other their best friend in some point into their friendship and it felt adequate since the friend label quickly fell short to what they meant to each other. Even if it wasn’t fitting either.

Kara can’t really point the moment in which Lena became so important, almost the most important person in her life.

Lena reserved her true self for a selected few, and she always felt honored to be one. That was the same reason it was so hard to keep hiding her secret identity from her, and why she understood how much that truth had hurt her.

There was a time, during them being on opposite sides, in which Kara actually lost hope of ever recovering any bit of her relationship with Lena, and it hurt, it burned like kryptonite itself flowing from inside her very own heart, it had hurt so much that she couldn’t take it and would look for forgiveness again and again.

Falling apart felt like losing a part of herself, and she wasn’t capable of understanding why she couldn’t just let Lena go…

She has lost friendships before, people grow apart, life happens. It’s never easy but it was never this hard.

And then Lena came back, and all those feelings resurged even stronger, and Kara was mad, because Lena had hurt her, on purpose, and she knew she deserved it for hurting Lena, because even if she told her, told everyone and told herself all she did was to protect her, she knew it wasn’t completely the truth, and she was mostly mad at herself for that.

Bestfriend became too little to cover the extent of what Lena meant to her and she started to call her family. It wasn’t in the same sense she called the others family, unlike the father-daughter relationship she had with J’onn, or the sibling one she had with the others. It was different… it has always been, it didn’t have a proper name but it was there, Lena was there, close to her, and that was all that mattered.

- Miss Danvers? – A voice asked from the speaker, and Kara came back to the present, completely lost on what they were asking her. Her face must have said it as well. – The proposal from Jet Sports you reviewed today.

- Ah yeah, yes – The blonde mumbled a little, coming back to her senses – The proposal is solid and definitely would widen the audience for Catco, the first collaboration is programed for next weekend, the assignations for scheduled events will be sent to the team today. I’ll send you the full proposal so you can add any comments or questions for the next steps. – They seem pleased with that answer and she tries, with all her will, to stay focused in the present.

-----------------------

Lena was waiting in the interrogation room. Guards were coming with the prisoner, J’onn was holding the door open for Alex to bring something in. She saw the container and recognized the content.

- A Vertullarian? – She asks confused; it wasn’t requested by her. Alex nods once.

- Just to be sure – she replies, leaving the container next to J’onn. It seems a bit extreme for the CEO to have a truth seeker and a mind reader both to work together in the interrogation, but she guesses everyone is a little distrustful after all the calm from the previous months and the sudden appearance of a stranger bearing bad, terrible, news. Alex leaves whispering something to J’onn and Lena is suddenly nervous, maybe is not the best idea to disclose all of this to him? It probably will end up reaching Kara, but she doubts they would trust Elizabeth, let alone release her, if J’onn isn’t on board. She doesn’t really see other choice.

Liz is brought to the room and she dedicates a little smile to her while the guards leave her in the seat and leave the room closing the door behind. The girl looks at J’onn, then at Lena.

- I thought the conversation would be private… – She says with a raised eyebrow, and for a brief moment it’s like seeing herself in a mirror.

- He’s staying – Lena replies, straightening in her seat – if you want to be released and trusted, you’ll have to disclose everything to him.

Liz licks her lips nervously.

- Alright – She says, placing her restrained hands over the table – I will need to take this off then, would you allow it? – She asks looking at J’onn, he doubts for a moment before nodding, searching for a key in his pocket but it proves to be unnecessary when Liz shakes her arms together and the shackles fall open to the table. J’onn freezes for a minute and looks at an unfaced Lena.

- I know you have been trying to read my mind since I came here – the girl says calmly – so I’m guessing that’s what you want now. – J’onn remains silent so she turns to Lena for confirmation, she nods. – You might recognize these, though I don’t know exactly at which stage of development you might be with them currently. – She extends her hands to Lena, showing the rings on each of her fingers. The CEO recognizes one of them and the symbols in several of them.

- I’ve just started working on this project, I haven’t developed any of it yet. – She answers slightly surprised by the sight of her own project fully finished.

- Well, they will work wonders – the girl flashes a grin at her mom – anyway, Mr. Mars – she says, now turning to J’onn – you might recognize this one. – she extends her right hand to him, showing the thumb. J’onn gets closer to see and he indeed recognizes it.

- Where did you get that? – He asks incredulous, this artifact was long lost from the martians, a mind barrier made artifact long ago.

- You gave it to me. – She replies, while retrieving her hand to take off said ring. – well… you will. Once it’s off, you’ll be able to see anything you wish, and see that I say the truth. – She takes it off and it’s like a veil falling, like a curtain opening and light showering a dark room. He can finally see.

- Don’t you want to place the truth seeker before we begin? – Liz said, resigned to the conditions placed before her and she wondered how many times the lies of someone put them in a hard situation for them to be this cautious about her. Lena doesn’t move, she’s not completely comfortable with the idea, but won’t disagree if that’s what J’onn wants.

He does place the container next to her, for her to introduce her hand and let the tentacles embrace her. She complies.

- So how is it going to work? You ask and he double checks? – She asks looking at Lena who just shakes her head.

- He sees… everything, then we talk – It’s the reply.

- You don’t believe me – There is a hurt look in her blue eyes, and Lena holds back the need to extend a hand to comfort her. Those eyes are so… Kara.

- I believe you – Lena replies warmly, trying to be comforting – this is just the easiest way for what you’ll need… trust me. – and somehow those words seem to have the desired effect. The girl relaxes and takes a deep breath before looking at J’onn.

- I would recommend you to take a sit, it’s going to be a wild ride.

--------------------------

They weren’t around, he was almost sure of it, even if not a hundred percent, there was no trace of any other portal open anywhere around earth, not that the satellites captured it, and for what Nia says, the ship was giant, it would be unmissable for radars.

Brainy kept searching, if there was anything to be found, he would find it. It was as if they changed course in the last second and that was why the particles reacted but it turned into nothing. Were they escaping from her?

The extended system couldn’t find anything either, so they probably have a bit of time to prepare. At least.

--------------------------

- That’s what changed everything – It was Brainy who was speaking with her. J’onn could see the conversation, from her eyes, in her memories. – There isn’t much my presence could change if I go back to warn them – there was sorrow in his eyes, pain – but your power could change everything.

- Are you sure I wouldn’t make it worse? – Brainy stayed silent for a moment brushing a finger against his chin.

- The probabilities of that are low. – He answered. She took a deep breath and nodded.

- That’s good enough, I guess.

////////////

In the aftermath of a battle there was only destruction left, piles over piles of debris, of what a few signs still standing signal was once National City.

////////////

Going further into the past was bitter, uncountable fights and loses in each of them. He could feel her pain, her sadness, her anger… and the growing hollowness of loss, frustration and disappointment.

One by one, all of the members of the family he made on earth fell, including himself. Emotions were nauseating, overwhelming.

///////////

The fuzzy broadcast coming from a radio sounded in the background, there were interferences and the ground was trembling. The alarmed voice of a man was speaking fearfully trying to warn anyone who was listening.

- They are back, they said they would leave earth alone with the surrender of Superman and Supergirl, but apparently it only granted us 9 years. I don’t know if there is a safe place on earth... God might take us to his side friends. It’s been a pleasure talking to… - the broadcast cuts off into white noise. J’onn turns it off.

The bunker around them is holding strong, but he can see cracks starting to form.

- Alright my dear – Lena left the workbench, kneeling to be at the same height as Liz, a child. She’s been working on this for a while, sadly couldn’t finish it on time to prevent what was already upon them. – This will keep you hidden for a good time. – She said, putting around the child a necklace and securing it in place – It was your mother’s – there was a fond smile in her lips – and before that it was her mother’s – she flattens a hand over her chest, holding the necklace close to her. – Then it was mine and now it’ll be yours. – Lena moves her hand to cup the child’s cheek – don’t take it off, okay? I put my magic in there – she winks and smiles trying to keep the mood light. Liz nods.

Another wave of tremors comes over and her expression hardens. They are running out of time.

- Are you sure this is a good idea? – He sees himself question the scientist as now she’s rushing along her desk, putting books and trinkets inside a bag.

- It’s the only idea we have. – She replies, her voice deep and uncertain.

- You know it’ll be almost impossible – he cuts off looking at the child, then whispering the rest of his sentence - for you to get out of this once they are here, it’s a suicidal mission – he tries to convince her but she doesn’t budge.

- They are weaker to magic than to technology, if anyone can buy you time, it’s me. – She looks determined – besides… She needs time, all the time we can get. What else am I supposed to do? – J’onn lowers his head and remains silent, they really had run out of options. – Here is everything she’ll need to know – she puts the bag in his hands – and instructions for everything in here, for you. – she hands him a letter that he puts inside the bag.

They hug, and it feels like a goodbye.

Lena conjures a portal.

- You will go with grandpa J’onn, okay? – the woman says kneeling again, trying to hide the emotions running through her. – Everyone is waiting for you in a safe place. - Liz nods.

- Will you come with us mama? – Lena gulps, trying to keep her smile. She hugs the child tightly and caresses her hair.

- I will always be with you. – She whispers, struggling to keep tears from forming. She doesn’t want to cry. Her jaw is clenched and she lets go of the hug, cupping her child’s face in her hands. – I love you, more than anything. – She says and places a soft kiss on Liz’s forehead. – Your mother loved you too, never forget it. – Liz nods, eyes sad now, understanding the weight of those words. – No matter what happens, never lose hope things can get better… you can make things better. Promise? – Liz nods once again.

- Promise. – she says in thin voice. They hug again and another tremble reminds her they are running against time.

Lena stands, holding the kid’s hand in hers, walking her to be close to the portal. J’onn joins them, taking Liz’s hand as she slowly lets her go.

- El Mayarah – she whispers with a sad smile looking at them – keep her safe… please.

J’onn nods solemnly, this is not how he would have liked things to go, but there’s nothing left to do. They cross the portal.

/////////////////

After the surrender of Supergirl and Superman they took Jonnathan even when he was still a child, without their protectors National City and Metropolis quickly fell into a chaos that only grew when the news was known across the universe. Earth became a target for alien invaders, many superheroes perished protecting it, and when most of them were gone, resentment was too high to tolerate and a war between earthlings exploited, it wasn’t just humans versus aliens. It was countries on favor of space refugees and countries against.

Without their beacon of hope, earth started to destroy itself.

Chapter Text

A tear ran over his cheek while his eyes remained closed, exploring, reviewing every experience she’s been through.

Lena looked at J’onn, first with curiosity trying to decipher what he might be seeing just by his facial expressions, but as his face contorted in pain and sadness her desire to be able to see what he was seeing only grew. She looked at Liz, still sitting in front of her, eyes closed with a frown clearly marked. Her free hand clenched in a fist, body tense. Whatever they were seeing, wasn’t something pleasant, she knew.

There was only silence for a few minutes and then he was back out of her mind, panting and looking at the girl who was now breathing deep and slow, trying to keep her emotions in check when a couple of tears were falling, refusing to cooperate.

No one said anything for what felt like an eternity. Lena couldn’t help this time and extended her hands over the table, palms up, as an offering of comfort. The girl didn’t hesitate extending her free hand, warm hands holding her tightly. Liz shyly raised her face to see her, eyes still watery, blue clouded in so many feelings Lena couldn’t really name each of them. A little smile forms in the girl’s lips as she finally speaks.

- I’m very happy to see you again. – She says, voice hoarse and thin with feelings, and Lena isn’t sure why it hits her so hard, her own throat struggling when she replies.

- It’s nice to meet you. – She squeezes the hand holding hers and smiles, a gesture that widens the smile of Liz in return, and suddenly she looks bright and happy, genuinely happy, like Kara usually does, and the knot on Lena’s throat tightens at the sight.

- I’m happy to see you again too Grumpa’ – Liz says, turning to J’onn, smirk full on display to the nickname of her teen years, before she lost him, like she has lost everyone else.

J’onn chuckles and walks to take a sit next to Lena.

- I knew there was something familiar about you – He says, distrust and hesitance fully gone from his eyes. – I probably wouldn’t have guessed why. – He looked at the hands intertwined, then to Lena. – I suppose you know who she is already. – The CEO nods.

- That’s pretty much all I know – Lena explains, deciding it’s better to keep their little chat off the record to listen with calm the full story under oat of truth, turning to face him, hands staying in place. – Blood tests can only tell so much. – J’onn takes her word, even if suspecting she knows more, there is no point in pushing it. He can understand better now why she asked for him to be there, besides the obvious – Shall we begin with the interrogation?

J’onn agrees, Lena retrieves her hands and Liz lets her go, reluctantly.

- Let’s start with what brought you here. – her mom indicates, and she prepares to repeat her explanation, even if they both already know it.

------------------------

Kara arrived at the DEO as soon as she finished her last meeting of the day, she was hoping to be on time for the interrogation to pretty much bodyguard Lena, and was clearly annoyed when Alex informed her it had started about 30 minutes before. She was even more annoyed when she tried to super-hear her way into it and was muted out, just for Alex to also inform her the interrogation was taking place in the special room, to keep their guest from listening out. Little detail it also kept Kara from eavesdropping.

 - J’onn is there, and Lena is not precisely defenseless, you know that – Alex said, not fully understanding the annoyance of her sister. Kara frowns, she knows it’s true, but a kryptonian isn’t something Lena has fought before, even if her use of magic has exponentially improved since their last big encounter with an enemy, there is no warranty she could take on someone as powerful as a kryptonian under a yellow sun, maybe they should train together one of these days… – there are also guards right outside of that door, but all seems to be right, no need for Supergirl to disrupt the interrogation. – Kara’s frown deepened and she was about to speak when an alert on the monitor sounded.

- The fugitive aliens from three days ago are causing disruptions near east harbor, the NCPD is asking for our help to contain them – Brainy came explaining the alert.

- Now that’s something for Supergirl – Alex said, tilting her head in that sister-knows-it-all way she sometimes did and Kara sighs – We have it all handled here, don’t worry.

- Alright, but if anything happens there, no matter what I’m doing, you call me immediately – Alex looked at her with a smirk and nodded.

Hesitantly Kara leaves to offer her helping hand.

------------------------

- … so, I am here to change that. Restore the future, as it was supposed to be. – Liz said, after explaining the same story she has told Lena earlier, if with more details to add to the context - My original plan was to go to the point that originated the future I came from, but they left my time before I could travel back, and according to my conversation with Brainy, that wouldn’t really solve the problem, since they keep going farther and farther back in time. Therefore, fixing the event that created my future, wouldn’t fix anything because they are existing in a sort of paradox by now. I need to find them before they create a new timeline and stop them once and for all, that would correct all future events. – Lena and J’onn look at each other, when Nia first mentioned her visions, they didn’t expect something this big. That’s when the brunette remembered Nia’s question.

- Do you know how they got her? – Lena asked, thoughtful – How they trapped Kara, I mean. – Liz’s jaw clenched as she looked away, staring at a wall, she was clearly bothered.

- She surrendered herself – Lena swallowed at the confirmation, gaze intensely fixed on her daughter - both did, she and Superman made a deal to keep earth safe, a peace offering. They really thought Myzekarans would keep their word to stay away to keep the planet safe… – She looked at Lena then – to keep us safe. – She looked down at her hand on the table – It clearly didn’t work. That didn’t stop them from taking Jonathan no long after, and when they burned through their power, they came back for me.

Lena had so many questions about all that.

- Do you know why they surrendered instead of fighting? – she asks, maybe knowing that would be a good start to know what to change exactly.

- For what you all were willing to tell me about what happened in that time… – Liz paused, looking at both of them – which wasn’t very detailed, for my age, I suppose – she looks back at Lena – and what I have gathered myself in my encounters with them. – she explains – the mere presence of their ships was destabilizing for earth. The type of propulsion they use is quite powerful and causes rather destructive earthquakes in the planet after hovering for a few minutes at a certain altitude. The longer they stayed, the more destruction they were causing. It seems you tried to fight them together, but the defenses of the ships seemed impenetrable, and their attacks were costing innocents lives. Thousands of them…

Lena frowned, of course those two would surrender themselves for something like that.

- so, as you may be guessing with that information, when there was no real plan to defeat them, they gave up fighting… – she looked bothered again, jaw clenched, free hand in a fist. – You tried to rescue her – she almost whispered, looking back at Lena - and found out their shields were breakable with a specific combination of spells. I don’t know exactly what happened, you never told me this, all aunt Alex told me is that they barely got you back in time.

Lena wasn’t exactly surprised by that, if well, she normally was cunning and strategic, in a situation like that she would definitely tend for her reckless bravery. Her safety never has been relevant when the matter at hand is Kara’s life, and she has never been particularly good at watching and not doing something to help.

- That means you know how to defeat them? – J’onn asks this time, they don’t really know how much time left they have before the encounter.

- Yes – Liz answers, voice determined – I have already defeated most of their army in my timeline, the problem is the mothership – she explains – their defenses are impossible for me to do it alone, and in my time, there weren’t many allies alive to help.

- Well, you’ll have our help now. Tell us what we need to do and we’ll be ready when they arrive. – J’onn says in his most Director of the DEO voice and Liz’s smile is back in her face.

After so many years destruction and losses, hope is finally back in her heart burning brighter than ever.

-------------------------

The fugitive aliens proved to be a little harder to defeat than anticipated, Kara was still working on it. They were only five but were giving a good fight.

- Do you want me to send reinforcement? – The voice of Alex came to life from the intercom.

- No, no, I got this – Kara replied slightly agitated, barely ducking a spittle of acid one of the aliens aimed directly at her in the air. – Not at the face! – she yelled, pointing accusatory at the alien now hiding behind some shipping containers. She could hear the laugh of Alex in the comms.

- I think you are getting too comfy behind that desk of yours, you are out of practice Supergirl. – Kara huffed at that and launched to catch him, freezing the next spittle he tried to shot and giving him a good punch in the guts that made him fly against a container nearby and fall unconscious. She took him to the NCPD patrols in the perimeter. That was three, there were two left.

- It’s not my fault the world it’s been easy on the crime lately – she defends herself, even if it is her fault she hasn’t been training properly since a few months. She sees suddenly a container flying directly at the patrols on the opposite side and flies to catch it barely on time, placing it down carefully in front of the officers, as a shield, when the other alien shoots thorns at them.

- I’m scheduling you training tomorrow at 6 am – Kara groaned, she’s been enjoying sleeping regularly and without interruptions - and I’m not letting you out of the hook, we know something is about to happen and we will need you at top shape – Alex commanded, and Kara didn’t argue because it was all true.

She flew up, getting the attention of the alien now shooting at her, she destroyed the projectiles with her heat vision to make sure they didn’t fall on anyone on their way back to the ground. The other alien threw a container at her; she caught it and threw it to the alien with the thorns. The police took care of him from there. That was four, only one left.

- Are there any news on the interrogation yet? – she asked, the sky has darkened already, soon would be time for dinner and she was hoping to catch Lena on time to invite her over for takeout and maybe, maybe, make her comfortable enough to talk in her apartment of whatever was bothering her.

- Nothing yet, but Lena is fine, don’t worry – Alex chuckled and Kara rolled her eyes, Alex didn’t understand her worry and she wasn’t going to explain it.

- I’ll be back soon.

The remaining alien was strong, clearly, and big, which wasn’t very good for his agility. He was trying to run away into a warehouse with explosive barrels; she could see him with her x-rays. Superspeed would do the trick.

In a blink he was knocked out and getting carried to the NCPD. Of course she was in perfect shape, just a little out of practice.

------------------------

J’onn left the interrogation room with the plan clear on mind. They would need to prepare a few things, and gather the people who would participate, have a meeting first hour in the morning to share the appropriate information with the team.

Limited information about their guest. They had decided, only the ones who already knew her identity would know, no one else for now. Unless it was extremely necessary, to protect her future existence and avoid altering the original future more than it already would be.

He left Lena to talk with Elizabeth, they both had many questions to make, he could see that even without mind reading.

------------------------

- I suppose you left the journal on the lab – Lena wasn’t exactly questioning; Liz smiled in return as a clear confirmation – Where did you have it? – she wonders, not remembering her having any belongings with her in the cell but what she was wearing.

Liz points to the ring on her left pinky.

- Storage – she says, as if that’s an explanation – can’t hold many things but it’s useful enough. Almost everything I have there are books and journals you left for me – there is a little smile in her lips - The only problem is that I can only invoke what I can bring from my memory, so if I forget I put something there, it’s pretty much gone - she chuckles. – unless until I remember it.

Lena smiles at that, her project with the rings definitely reached farther than what she was originally envisioning. The original idea was to make conjuring more practical, because it takes time and in emergencies is definitely a problem, so it was a project only she would be able to use. She never imagined the possibility of her very own descendance. It still felt surreal. Specially considering with who was that descendance.

There is silence for a brief moment. One of the guards enters to retrieve the truth seeker back to their archive, they both wait.

- Do you want to tell Kara? – Liz asked with curiosity once the guard was leaving.

Lena bit her lip in that nervous tic she has sometimes, waiting until the door was closed.

- I just don’t want to hide things from her. – She explained, not knowing exactly how much of their story Elizabeth knew.

- I understand… - she replies, contemplative – to be honest, a part of me would like to tell her as well, see her see me as her daughter, and ask her so many things… I never had the chance to ask. – there is a trace of sadness clear in her voice - It’s been very… intimidating to me. The idea of meeting her I mean. – she was fidgeting on the table, a soft smile playing on her lips. – You used to tell me so many stories about her, I never thought I would have the opportunity to meet her myself – the smile grew and she looked at Lena, who was attentively watching her. – I’m quite nervous for that, she doesn’t seem to like me already.

Lena huffed.

- Nonsense – she says confidently, a fond smile growing on her lips – if there is anyone in this world who would accept you with open arms without even knowing who you are, that’s Kara. – Liz chuckled at that, her posture relaxing a little.

- It’s gonna be nice to see you two together – blue eyes are sparkling and there is a bright smile on her lips. – well, not together-together, because you aren’t together yet, but you know, together sharing-the-same-space – she was rambling like Kara now - being close, talking maybe, I don’t know, I always wondered how that would be. – Lena laughs at that. – Can I ask you something? – Liz is looking at her with a little grin.

- Sure, ask what you want. – green eyes attentive at every gesture, noticing more and more similarities.

- What gave me away? – grin growing – what made you run a DNA test on yourself? cause I guess that’s what you did. How did you know I was yours? – it’s the genuine curiosity on her face what makes Lena smile in return.

- The birthmark on your lower back – she said tilting her head, had little memories of her infant years, and that was one of them – It was…

- Grandma Elizabeth’s mark – she complements sighing with her head down, deflated, like disappointed on herself for not figuring it out before, everything making sense now, and Lena giggles at her rather dramatic reaction - when did you see it though?

- In the lab, when you were prepping to get back to your cell. – Liz nods, that explains it. – My turn to ask. – She makes a pause, doubting if is a good idea to say what she has on mind, but she wants to know. – I am guessing in your future, for how you have spoken, I’m not alive anymore… - she saw the smile on the girl’s lips banish and Lena regrets the topic immediately.

- No, you are not… no one is, actually. – Liz looks like she has more to say, but the words are stuck on her chest, so she falls into a not very comfortable silence.

- How old were you? When I… - She can’t even say it. The girl slouches in her chair.

- Eight. – her voice is low and dark, and Lena wishes she hadn’t asked. It was a bad idea. The sadness filling her own chest is proof of that.

She extends her hands again over the table and Liz takes them, softly brushing her thumb on the back of her mother’s hands, it’s been so long since she could feel her warmth. They remain in silence like that for a minute.

The door of the room opens abruptly and Kara is standing there in her Supergirl suit, looking at them, then at their hands holding for a second before Lena takes hers away, they both look nervous and Kara notices it. She can hear both of their hearts racing and doesn’t like the feeling growing in her chest at all.

- I’ve been told you are cleared from containment – she speaks to the girl; there is a frown in her own face even if she’s trying to smile and she can’t help it. She came here with the intention to be friendly and the unexpected scene wasn’t making it any easier for some reason.

----------------------

When she arrived at the DEO a few minutes ago J’onn was talking with Alex and she joined the conversation.

- That’s not something we need to know, the important thing here is the future she comes from needs to change – That was J’onn’s answer to Alex “who are her parents?” question.

- What do you mean the future she comes from? – Kara asked when landing. J’onn sighed, clearly not pleased with her intromission.

- She’s from about 30 years in the future, doesn’t matter much, what matters is that there is an enemy disrupting the timeline at various points and she’s here to help us stop them. We’ll talk about the details of that in the morning meeting. – He says commanding, trying to leave no space for questioning, but Kara is Kara after all.

- Why did she ask for Lena? – Kara it’s one of the many questions in her mind.

- They know each other. – It’s all he’s willing to say about the topic. That’s a little odd considering Lena didn’t mention it, Kara thinks – From now, she’s going to be released from containment as has proved to be an ally for the incoming danger and will be allowed access to general areas – He turns to Alex – Make sure everyone knows that, and also… we should prepare a test for her, we need to know the extent of her powers and she has to show us a few things we are going to need – Alex nods at the orders.

When Kara is about to question it a voice she barely recognizes as the one of the girl reaches her ears.

“Do you want to tell Kara?” voice is wondering, and as suddenly as it came, it’s gone.

- Where is Lena? – Supergirl is looking around, can’t see the elegant and easy-to-spot outstanding presence of the brunette.

J’onn hesitates. Alex narrows her eyes.

- They are still talking in the interrogation room, just having a private conversation, nothing to worry about – He barely finishes the sentence before Kara is already walking away.

It’s a shame she doesn’t remember exactly where the especial interrogation room is, so it takes her longer to reach it than she would have liked, pretty much checking all the interrogation rooms since there are no longer guards outside of any of them and her X-rays don’t work on the walls they made in this area. Lead.

When she finds the right one, she regrets opening the door so suddenly.

---------------------

- Sorry for interrupting – Kara says, softly scratching the back of her neck – I was just here to officially introduce myself and well… - why was she really here? Just to check everything was fine but she couldn’t say that. – Hi, I’m Kara Danvers, Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, all of the above – she said nervously with a smile, stepping into the room and extending her hand to the girl who was looking at her attentively while standing from her chair. The girl was almost as tall as her.

- Elizabeth… just Elizabeth – the girl smiles shyly but takes Supergirl’s hand responding to the firm grip offered. – It’s a true pleasure to meet you… Kara. – Her voice is filled with a sentiment Kara can’t really pin point. She limits to smile back politely.

- Also… It’s late, so I was wondering if you would be up for dinner? – She says facing Lena now, who looks slightly surprised – I had to fight some bad guys and I’m really, really hungry.

Lena knows Kara isn’t asking her out, she knows it, eating together is something they have done hundreds of times, since almost the beginning of their friendship. She knows it’s just Kara being her nice self, yet her heart refuses to behave like it and she hopes Kara doesn’t hear it.

- Sure – she finally answers after noticing Kara tilting her head questioning in silence. She looks at Elizabeth who has an endearing smile in her lips, eyes glistening. Like she has just witnessed a marvel of the world.

Kara is looking at Lena, then she directs her sight to what Lena is looking at, right… Liz is there too.

- You can come too – she says, in an effort to be polite with the stranger that hasn’t really done any wrongs - if J’onn allows you to leave the DEO facilities, of course. – and she feels guilty for secretly hoping J’onn says no.

Liz directs a wondering look at Lena, then looks back at Supergirl.

- Thank you, maybe another time, I don’t feel fully recovered yet and I would like to rest. – Liz offers, noticing this moment could be something important and it’s better for her to don’t interfere. The less she interferes on their relationship, the best. She does want to exist, after all.

- Is something wrong? – Lena asks with a slight worry in her voice, and Kara tries not to dwell on it.

- No, just tired – Liz replies with a smile. She looks at Kara who has an unreadable expression and she wishes to know what that face means. Lena nods.

- I just need to pick up my things from the lab and we can go – The brunette says, starting to walk out. Supergirl smiles at that. - Goodnight Liz – Lena says, turning around briefly – I’ll see you tomorrow.

Kara looks back at Elizabeth who’s staring at both of them and offers a polite “goodnight” before leaving to follow.

----------------------

When they arrive at her apartment Lena dismisses herself to wash her hands and make a quick call. Kara leaves the bags of food on the coffee table and goes to the kitchen for plates when she notices Lena left her tablet and a black journal there. It seems old, and she doesn’t remember seeing it before. The corner of something coming out of it catches her attention and she doesn’t want to pry on Lena’s belongings but it looks like a picture and her curiosity bests her.

She pulls it out slightly, without fully taking it out so it’s easier to return to its place. The picture is a polaroid of them. A candid shot in what looks like a game night in her apartment. Kara’s arm is around Lena’s shoulders in a casual embrace, and Lena’s hand in on her knee, they are smiling, Lena is looking at her with that look she sometimes has in her eyes, with all her attention, like there is nothing and no one else around, and Kara is looking at her back in pretty much the same way, even if the angle can’t let her see it exactly. They are close, so close, it looks so intimate and she can’t remember this exact moment ever happening. She frowns trying to remember, there is no way she could forget it…

The sound of Lena’s heels walking alerts her, and she returns the picture to where it was and walks to get the plates she was going for, but the image would remain on her mind as a question she might not have the answer.

It wasn’t important right now. She told herself. Just like the other feelings and thoughts around her mind didn’t matter in this moment.

The important thing was to help Lena relax from whatever was going through her mind, and if it was possible, making her feel comfortable enough to talk about it. That was tonight’s mission, and she was dead set on it.

Chapter Text

Lena was staring at herself in the mirror. Trying to calm her nerves with deep breathing, the tight hold on the sink revealing it wasn’t exactly working.

She was supposed to stay away from Kara, at least until she has figured out how she’s supposed to behave around her with the new knowledge hammering the back of her mind, heart pounding every time she thinks on the facts she now knows, knowing Supergirl would pick up on it and look at her with those wondering eyes she would hardly try to resist. Nonetheless, Kara asked her to join her and before she had the consciousness to consider it, she has already accepted.

She was weak to Kara, she has always been, and now was here in the blonde’s apartment to have dinner and chat about life, like any other day, but absolutely different at the same time.

Lena sighs, she can’t hide here forever, and reminding herself the promise she made of “trying not to do anything she wouldn’t have done before knowing” as a shield to regain composure for the night, she prepares to leave.

It was late to call the office, there would be no one there, so she would do that in the morning to rearrange a few things that would require adjustments while everything with Liz got sorted out… but for now, for now she just had to focus on tonight, on keeping herself together and behave as much as she could as if nothing was different.

As if there was definitely not a child of them in their future that was staying at the DEO.

Fuck, how was she going to do this?

Another deep breath was taken before she started walking to the door, chin up.

Whatever was going to happen, she could handle it, just like she always has.

Kara had the coffee table set, when she reached the living room, the food was on display, plates ready to serve, glasses of wine poured. The blonde was attentively scrolling through Netflix with her legs folded under her and a blanket on top, trying to find something to watch. A romantic comedy, probably, knowing her taste.

Lena stopped for a moment just to take on the scene, it was so… domestic. She could imagine herself arriving to this every day after work.

Home.

So warm and cozy. They have been doing this for so long, and still couldn’t wait for it to become her regular life routine.

She couldn’t help the fond smile forming on her lips. She wasn’t supposed to think on that, it wasn’t helping her heart. There was a part of her still refusing to believe that was actually going to happen, too afraid of being disappointed by reality.

She walked the rest of the way and took her righteous spot, next to Kara, where a blanket was ready to wrap around her. Kara brightly smiled at her and Lena wondered how has she been able to not kiss this woman for all these years.

- Are you sure you don’t want to change your clothes? You can borrow one of my pajamas – Lena shook her head, smile still on her lips, while kicking off her heels and taking seat.

- I can’t stay for long, have a few things to review tonight – It was true, and a good excuse.

Kara frowned a little and nodded as she looked back at the screen to press play on the show she chose.

- Just one movie then – she said with a grin before moving to serve the dinner happily. Lena watched her attentively trying to ignore the nagging thought of kissing that grin, night was just starting and it was proving to be difficult to hold back already.

--------------------

- How should I call you in front of the others? – The voice of Liz came from behind him, J’onn was about to go home for the night, just checking on some paperwork holding him back, the boring side of being the director. He turned around to look at her, memories flashing through his mind, knowing this girl right here has been like a granddaughter for him. Gives her a little smirk.

- J’onn, just that, like the rest of the family – Liz nods, she’s been attentively listening to her mothers to be sure they left before she came to talk. Family. She grins; it’s going to be a little weird to address him that way, but it’ll be funny just as much.

- Am I allowed to leave the facilities? – She asked, Kara’s statement making her curious of it.

- Yes… but not tonight – he left the papers back on the console, crossing his arms in an authority pose – Lena mentioned you are still in need of recovery from what your body went through, and since you haven’t been out on daylight, she suggested you spend some time on a sunbed, and by suggested I mean it’s an order – he raised his hands in surrender and sighed, he wasn’t about to go against the last standing Luthor. Liz chuckles while shaking her head, amused by her mom’s caring nature and dominant personality, even with the director of the organization, apparently – I’ll show you the way – He started walking and they made it into a hallway, he pointed to a door – This will be your temporary room, nothing fancy, but has all you’ll need to make it a living space for as long as you’ll stay.

- I don’t think I’ll be staying for long, but thank you. – she smiled in gratitude. They kept walking until the end of the hallway, to the medical bay.

 -  There it is, control is on the side, stay there until you feel recharged and then you can go to your room and get some sleep. – He turned to see her - Tomorrow, after we are done with the planning, you can go out wherever you want, I’ll ask Supergirl to show you around.

Liz smiled nervously to that. The idea of being around Kara and getting to actually know her still makes her feel way too many things to put into words.

Her thoughts were starting to spiral when she felt the weight of a hand softly pressing on her shoulder.

- She’s going to love you. – He knew exactly what was going through her mind.

- I’m not so sure of that… - she looked down to her hands – I’m not sure they could love me if they ever know what I have done… - her jaw clenched. J’onn took away his hand and remained in silence for a moment, not knowing exactly what to tell her. – You won’t tell them, right?

He shook his head.

- It’s not my place. – he turned around and before leaving her with her turmoil he spoke again, trying to give her some peace – They would understand if they knew… I do.

And after that he left her for the night, surrounded by the silence of the room she walked in.

---------------------

Lena has been so focused on the screen once the movie started that Kara starts to wonder if she’s liking the movie that much, except for the fact that her eyes look like she’s not really looking at it, it’s more like she’s zoning out. Probably has a lot going on in her mind after the day they all had.

Kara was trying to focus on the movie, she really was trying, but she would discover herself staring at the brunette elegantly eating next to her. She looks a little more relaxed, and she’s leaning back with the blanket over her legs, her green blouse showing just enough cleavage. Red lips sipping from her glass, both of them gulping at the same time… for different reasons.

The blonde tries to focus on the screen, more and more questions arising in the back of her mind, surfacing against her conscious efforts to ignore them. Most of them for herself.

Why sometimes she has this urge to get close, so very close, to Lena?

A faint voice in her mind questions how would it feel to kiss her. They are friends, more than that, much more than that… yet not enough.

The image of Lena holding Elizabeth’s hands and then being so nervous when found by her tightens her chest, not knowing exactly what that memory makes her feel. Her jaw clenches, and Kara shifts in the couch, calling the attention of the brunette.

There is a frown in Kara’s face and she’s suddenly hugging her legs, hands tight gripping each other. Lena wonders if something happened in the movie, she’s been so lost in her own thoughts to pay attention to it.

Then Kara is looking back at her, her features softening. Hands now fidgeting.

Since the secret identity being officially revealed she has noticed both sides of Kara merging into one, sometimes frowning sternly, others smiling brightly. Sometimes standing confidently, others nervously fidgeting. It was fascinating to see her being her whole self.

- How was your day at the DEO? – Kara asks, it’s been a while since they needed the help of the CEO, with threats being easier to handle since all that happened. Lena dedicated her a faint smile.

- It was… interesting – she replied, avoiding the blue gaze. This wasn’t a good topic of conversation, not to keep things secret at least. – How was your day at Catco? – Lena deflected.

Kara groaned.

- Boring, lots of meetings – she knew what Lena was doing, but didn’t want to pressure her to talk about the topic if she didn’t want to – I don’t know how you do it, to be honest.

The CEO chuckled.

- Years of practice, I suppose – she said with a smile – and maybe a bit of scotch – she winked as she joked and Kara laughed, even blushing a little. They fell into silence just looking at each other.

The magnetic pull Lena was feeling was stronger than ever.

What would happen if she kissed her right now? Would that ruin anything?

She looked at Kara’s lips, swallowed, and looked back at her eyes. There was a piercing shine in them. The silence was becoming dangerous, she could hear her own heart pounding on her chest and surely Kara could too, it was deafening.

- I should go now – she excused suddenly, putting on her heels and standing. Kara was taken aback and it took her a moment to react.

- I can fly you home – she offered, maybe too eagerly, with the hope of gaining some extra time. It wasn’t something Lena usually accepted, too self-sufficient to relay on her that much. The brunette smiled while picking up her belongings from the kitchen counter.

- I brought my car, remember? – She absolutely loves when Kara carries her like she weights nothing, but couldn’t imagine being carried home by her right now, she wouldn’t be able to hold back if that happened.

- ah yes, right – the blonde brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, nervously. – Well, thank you for accompanying me. – She looked at the journal in Lena’s hands, then back at her, after all the time they have spent together one would believe her nervous manners around the brunette would eventually fade, and they had, for the most, but at times she couldn’t help it. Maybe she should have a talk with Alex about all these… feelings. Maybe she has tried to avoid it for long enough – Will you come to the morning meeting at the DEO?

- I wouldn’t miss it – Lena smiled in reply and they started to walk to the door with the blonde following close. Before opening it, Lena turned and after a split second of doubt, she hugged Kara tightly, both arms around her shoulders, making Kara respond by hugging her waist.

It wasn’t a new thing, they would hug each other as a greeting or a goodbye almost every time they met, it wasn’t really a big deal, except for the fact that this time she couldn’t avoid focusing her senses on the feeling of Kara’s body fitting so perfectly against hers, so warm yet firm, her strong arms wrapping her almost protectively and the scent of her perfume, or her shampoo, she wasn’t really sure, maybe it was just Kara herself. They were holding each other tightly, and maybe just a little longer than what would qualify as a friendly goodbye hug.

There was something else in the air around them, this mixture of tension and yearning that have only been growing since the very first second they laid eyes on each other. It was becoming unbearable, almost painful.

It has been painful, for Lena at least, to fight her hopes and try to kill them each time they grew back, knowing… thinking, Kara would never reciprocate such feelings.

Kara felt her own heart pounding, and just as it has happened many times before, she had that feeling of not wanting to let the brunette go. Something was happening, she just couldn’t decipher what exactly.

They let go of the hug, briefly staring at each other before clumsily saying their goodnights. Then Lena disappeared behind the wall of the hallway to the elevator and the blonde resisted the temptation of using her x-ray vision to keep looking at her.

Just to make sure nothing happened to her on her way to her car, no other reason. She shook her head, that was probably too much. Maybe she should really talk with Alex about all of this. That usually helped her clear her mind, talking with Alex, or with Lena, which was off the table.

Kara was a bit disappointed in herself for not being able to make Lena talk more freely, but at least she looked a little more relaxed, that was a win. Now she just needed to put some order in her own mind, and her own heart…

She texted Alex to see if she was awake, but there was no luck. It would be a night with her own thoughts, hopefully tiredness would play on her favor and knock her out before overthinking takes the reins of her mind.

-------------------------

Her penthouse was silent and dark as Lena made her way to the mini bar to get a drink in hopes of easing her mind enough to review the emails waiting for her. She took a long sip and let out a sigh after it, relaxing her shoulders, extending her hand to pick up her tablet from the counter and considering for a moment if reading the journal first… She shook her head and took the tablet. It would probably be impossible to focus after reading that. It’ll have to wait, night was long and she never needed much sleep to function anyway.

After less than an hour all essential matters were attended, the rest could wait. She left the tablet back on the counter and cautiously took the journal, refilled her glass and walked to her room to take a shower and change before getting in bed to start reading. It was going to make things harder to hold back, probably, but she wanted to know everything she could.

Elizabeth clearly trusted her with that knowledge.

-------------------------

Kara was rolling on her bed unable to shut her brain. It wasn’t common for her thoughts or feelings to disturb her sleep, but tonight seemed to be the exception.

She was replaying her interactions of the day with Lena, trying to understand what was going on with herself. The image of the brunette looking at the alien girl with such… care. That soft smile in her lips, their hands holding over the table. The constant gazing of Elizabeth with something that, if she didn’t know better, would clearly call love.

Not that she was jealous. She wasn’t.

Was she?

Would that constraint in her chest at the memory be considered jealousy?

She couldn’t be.

They are friends. Lena and her are friends, only friends, well not exactly only that, they are family. Chosen family.

Kara swallows and covers her face with one pillow while groaning.

She really doesn’t want to think about it right now.

-------------------------

Lena took a deep breath before opening the journal, already tucked in bed, the room illuminated only by her reading lamp. The post it greeted her as she passed to the first page written by her, bits of it looked more like a dairy than a scientific record.

“We have been thinking for some time about this, and after a long consideration, we agreed on me and my team developing a more biological approach method for this purpose, since the kryptonian matrix isn’t exactly on my grace and Kara is really excited to experience pregnancy.

Cloning is out of the question, but I think the research of Baoyang Hu could be a good starting point after some refinement.”

She remembered that research, it was a Chinese experiment in 2018 about prevention of some genetically inherited illnesses via gen editing, they also explored the reproduction of same-sex mice due to illnesses related to a specific gender. Very interesting at the time but never explored further.

Fertility wasn’t L Corp’s business but she definitely could work on it and make it work in humans if needed. Never thought of it before.

“There would be some limitations I need to discuss with Kara, we actually have so much to talk about this still, but there is definitely a real possibility and we are very excited for it.

I never thought I would have this.”

Lena’s yaw clenched, that was true, she has long given up on the idea of having her own family. First because she was a Luthor and that seemed to be a curse for loneliness no matter the dimension, second because she didn’t have a mother for long enough to believe she could be a mother herself, and third because she was in love with someone she thought it would never be, and couldn’t imagine herself with anyone else yet and maybe never would.

She passed page and noticed there were some notes with blue ink here and there, with a lettering that wasn’t hers but she recognized as Kara’s. Little phrases in the margin or doodled hearts, stars and flowers, and Lena smiled.

“You are so smart!” “That’s my girl!” “I love you so much ♥!” Lena’s heart was racing in her chest, her stomach doing flips at the thought of Kara saying those things. She passed more pages and found a sketched portrait of herself with safety googles and lab coat “Sometimes I can’t believe you are real ♥” “so beautiful”

She stared at it for a few minutes, blushing. Kara was going to be the end of her with all that affection, and she will treasure it and return it with interest.

If it ever happens. She keeps repeating to herself. Nothing is written in stone. She kept reading, finding pictures of them and cuts of articles here and there. Little blue notes all over the place.

Apparently developing the method took several months. Extract the genetic material from herself and Kara, they have decided to alter said material to prevent a very important thing; kryptonian’s vulnerability to kryptonite, that was a big part of why it took months to perfect. It was on this specific matter in which gen editing and genetic engineering came in handy; she not only would eliminate the vulnerability but turn it into a strength, and being there she made another tweak for good measure and with Kara’s approval; their descendants would also be more efficient processing sunlight, cells would be more sensitive to the energy absorbing it better and faster, using it also more efficiently, which would make them not powerless under redlight sun, weaker, yes, but not completely powerless. At least in theory.

It was sad that she couldn’t provide the same advantages to Kara herself, but maybe she could develop a better suit for her, one that could compensate for that? Maybe.

These modifications also explained the odd number of genetic compatibility with Kara in the test for the DNA match.

To avoid the need of a donor to have the spermatozoids to work with, she made her own functional reproductive cells, not sperms per se, but they did the same. The artificial cell would only be the container for the modified genetic material and it would dissolve to release it once the egg is inseminated. After that the process is quite the usual artificial insemination. It worked well on animal subjects, but once they started with the trials on humans the problems started.

“Since the genetic material from Kara is modified, is easier to implant it in the artificial sperm than to return it to the egg without causing any damage to it, we came to the conclusion of using my egg then. The fertilized egg is reacting normal, as expected, nonetheless once the insemination is done it seems to be triggering an immune reaction, Kara’s body is rejecting it, dissolving it before it can develop. We have come to the conclusion that kryptonian female anatomy rejects human cells, or human cells aren’t strong enough to develop under the kryptonian biological conditions.

Kara is crushed. We both are, but she is devastated.

I know we’ll find a solution for this. I will.”

There were no blue notes after that for a few pages and she could only imagine the sadness clouding the blonde’s blue eyes.

The solution in the end was to change who was going to carry the baby.

Future Lena was not so trilled about it at the beginning, but she would do anything for Kara, morning sickness would be a little sacrifice for their happiness. It wouldn’t be the same than experiencing the pregnancy herself, but Kara seemed to be very happy for it anyway, if the blue ranting was any sign of it.

Lena smiled fondly at the long letter Kara wrote with lovely words for their baby under the pictures of the first ultrasound. They knew it would be a girl, even if it was just one month into the pregnancy, because none of them had any Y gens to work with, so they only could have a girl, and they were excited for it.

Kara was the one to chose the name, she thought it was a perfect way to honor both Lena’s biological mother and Eliza, her adoptive mother, who has pretty much adopted Lena as well.

According to the more dairy entries, Kara loved to hear the baby’s heartbeat, watching her with x-ray vision any time she could and caressing her not-at-all-developed belly, it was like that for the next two months, until the attack happened.

There wasn’t exactly an entry about it, just a skip of five months in the dates before the last thing written.

“I almost lost you too” it started.

“I almost lost you and I haven’t been this scared of anything in my life.

The last months have been the worst… I don’t know if you can feel my sadness, my pain, my fear… maybe that’s why you almost left me too… I’m sorry for it, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you with my feelings, you haven’t even been born and I’m already being a terrible mother.

I’m sorry Lizzy.

She’s gone, she’s been gone for so long I’m starting to doubt we will ever get her back.

I understand why she did it but still… I’m so mad at her at times, and so sad the rest of the time.

I’m sorry if you can feel it… I’m trying, I promise I am.

I am scared.

This isn’t how things were supposed to be. We were supposed to do this together and now I’m so scared of doing it alone.

I don’t know if I could be a good mother, I don’t know if I’ll be able to teach you how to be a hero, how to believe and hope like Kara would have taught you. I don’t know if I can do it without her…

But I love you, more than anything, and I will try my best.

Please don’t leave me. Please be strong and stay with me.”

Tears were trailing her face, this hasn’t happened, this will never happen, she would do anything to prevent losing Kara, but she could feel it… the loss, the pain, transpiring her words. Some tears fell on the page, she passed to the next, a blank page with just a photo glued there. The picture of a newborn baby, crying, wet red skin, dark blonde hair, she guesses it got darker over time, and closed eyes. “Elizabeth Luthor-Danvers” is written at the foot of it in blue ink. The baby was wrapped in a pink blanket embroidered with the House of El sigil and the Luthor’s family crest.

Lena looked at the picture for a moment, before taking a deep breath and closing the journal, then a picture fell on her lap from somewhere in the last blank pages. It was a picture of them, Kara and Lena during what seemed a game night. Clearly dating already since they were so comfortably close and looking at each other in such smitten way. That was enough to make her smile. She passed her thumb over the picture.

She would do whatever was needed to ensure Kara won’t have to leave this time.

Leaving the journal on her nightstand and turning off the light she checked the hour on her phone.

One hour of sleep would have to be enough.

Chapter Text

It was 5:30 in the early morning when Nia arrived at the DEO facilities, she needed to talk to Liz and with the coming meeting she knew there wouldn’t be time for that before she had to leave for Catco.

- No changes at all? – Brainy asked, following close behind her.

- Nothing, not a single thing, I don’t know why I can’t see more. – She was frustrated for it and it was noticeable in the way she was speeding through the hallways.

- She should be in this one. – Brainy stopped outside a door and Nia turned to walk back there. Was it too early to have that conversation? They just stood there for a moment staring at it.

The door opened before they even dared to knock.

- Sorry, I could hear you getting nervous out here and I decided to save you from it – she joked - Good morning - The girl at the doorframe was smiling brightly, her dark hair falling in waves around her face, blue eyes vibrant in contrast to her pale skin. She was clearly already awake for some time, ready for the demonstration, wearing a blue navy body suit with red details, long to the knee boots and gloves matching. Her super-suit, she guessed, even if it was missing the well-known sigil of the House of El in the chest. They definitely didn’t wake her up.

Nia was a little perplex at the sight, not only for knowing who the girl was, but for her resembling so perfectly her parents. She didn’t have time to see her previously. The smile slowly became a questioning face at the silence and the girl turned to see Brainy.

- I guess she knows who I am, right? – Brainy nodded – And you remember me?

- I remember the version of you from the future I knew. Which isn’t exactly you. – Liz nodded.

- We are going to fix that. – her eyes went back to Nia and she smiled to her. – I’m happy to see you again Nia – she looked at her hands – no married yet I see – she glared at Brainy questioning – S-sorry I… I don’t know exactly the order of some events. – she said awkwardly.

Nia chuckled, blushing slightly.

- Nice to meet you, Elizabeth. – Nia finally replied.

- Please call me Liz – the girl replied with a grin – Did you have a dream that involves me? I suppose that’s why you wanted to see me before.

- Yes, actually, I’ve been looking forward to talking with you. – Liz stepped out and closed the door of her temporary room.

- It’s too small in there for the three of us, where could we talk?

Brainy guides them to the nearest breakroom.

----------------------

Kara wakes up with the sound of her phone vibrating with a text from Alex. She groans, trying to shake the sleepiness from her eyes, she doesn’t remember when did she finally fell asleep. Grabs her phone from the nightstand to check.

“Sorry, I slept early last night, is everything ok?”

She sighs; the conversation she wants is not one to have over text.

“Everything is fine, do you wanna join me for coffee and donuts later?” she sends as a reply and Alex accepts immediately, she doesn’t really know how to have that conversation but she still has a few hours to figure it out.

----------------------

- Are you sure is exactly the same before and after I appeared here? – Liz asks to Nia, who is sitting in front of her.

- Exactly the same, nothing has changed, and I don’t know why even if I try, it doesn’t let me see anything else. – Liz is thoughtful at this.

- I don’t know exactly how it happened for my timeline, I just know she surrendered after Superman did, but I don’t have any details of how it happened, no one wanted to speak about it. So, I can’t tell you it’s the same. – she rubs her hands together – In essence it is… and I don’t understand why it hasn’t changed if I’m here. – She clenches her jaw at the thought of all of it being pointless, but it can’t be, there is no way. – You said she is staying still while the green chains restrain her?

Nia nods.

- She doesn’t seem to flinch, like she’s waiting for it. – Liz frowns, then seems thoughtful about it, but her shoulders relax as if she realized something.

- Don’t overwork yourself trying to see more – she says, with a faint smile in her lips – I’m sure there are several ways to prevent the worst from happening and we’ll find one that works.

Nia doesn’t fully relax but smiles in return.

- There is something I want to ask you, Brainy, about the future – He tenses, maybe sharing information with her wouldn’t be as dangerous as doing it with anyone else from this time, but still feels uneasy at the idea.

He’s barely opening his mouth to reply when Lena comes into the room.

- There you are, I’ve been looking for you – she says looking at Liz, then noticing Brainy and Nia – Is everything alright? – she asks, suddenly worried. Liz’s bright smile is back at full power at the sight of her mom.

- Everything is fine, we were just chatting about the dreams I’ve been having, nothing new, by the way. – Nia replies and Lena nods acknowledging it.

- I see… well if you don’t mind, I would like to have a conversation with Liz before the meeting – The pair stand and leave barely dismissing themselves. Lena turns to her daughter. – Is really everything alright?

Liz chuckles.

- Yes, really, we were just talking about that. – Lena smiles as she observes the girl now standing in front of her.

- Is that… your super suit? – Liz turns to show it off, like an excited child.

- Yes! – she smiles – it was your design and technology, an improvement of the one my mother used to wear, or that’s what Brainy used to say. – Lena smiles, and notices the shape of an empty diamond on her chest.

- Smart to take it off, so they don’t know you are from the same family – she points at the chest and Liz deflates, hands now fidgeting and looking away.

- Actually, I… I haven’t worn that symbol for… a while. – She says in almost a whisper, avoiding Lena’s gaze. There is silence for a moment and then a warm hand is holding hers.

Lena doesn’t say anything, doesn’t ask, doesn’t judge. She just squeezes Liz’s hand and looks at her with understanding eyes. Liz relaxes and squeezes back.

The girl doesn’t seem to want talk about it, but Lena doesn’t need it to understand perfectly the weight a family name can hold over you, she doesn’t push, just takes a sit and pats the space next to her on the couch. Liz sits down facing her but remaining in silence.

After a long breath she speaks again.

- The first time I wore this suit was almost 16 years after the Myzekarans’ fist attack, that symbol wasn’t seen for that long and when people saw me… they started calling me Supergirl too… - a little smile appears in the corner of her lips but quickly fades - It meant for the world much more than what I could do for them… - her eyes are watering and Lena shifts closer, passing an arm over Liz’s shoulders trying to comfort her the same way Kara used to do. The girl leans into her shoulder and turns to fully hug her, melting into it. She can hear the sobs and feel the wetness damping the fabric of her blouse, Lena places a hand softly petting her upper back as reassuringly as she can.

They fall into silence after that. It takes Liz a few minutes to compose herself and lets her go.

- I’m sorry for that, I… – she sits straight wiping her face with her forearms – I guess I missed your hugs more than I realized. – she chuckles awkwardly shifting in her seat, and Lena smiles.

- It’s alright – she might not have the best reference on how to be a mother, but she knows she would at least be more caring and loving that Lilian, or so she hopes. There is a moment of silence so Lena takes the word to say what she came originally for, pulling out from her purse the journal. - I read it – she says, holding it close to her chest, as if it’s something dear. – I… it… - she doesn’t really know how to express what she feels – It’s a lot to take in – she finally words leaving out a sigh.

- I know… - Liz is smiling, understanding – but I thought it would help.

- It does – Lena confirms, confidently – but it also leaves me with so many questions that probably, hopefully, will never have an answer because everything that went wrong will be different this time. – she swallows and there is a feeling of emptiness in her stomach at the thought of how things went in that future, her body is tense. Liz offers her hand in reassurance and she takes it.

- It will – Liz sounds determined – I’m here to make sure of that. – there is a squeeze on her hand - By the way, about that… - the girl looks down and smiles fondly – I know I asked you to don’t do anything differently from what you would have done before knowing about me, but… - she looks at Lena and takes a deep breath – the point of me being here is to change the future I know, so maybe, just maybe, there is no need to try and hold back.

Lena tenses and she can feel her face flushing.

- For what aunt Alex told me, Kara is slow to understand her feelings… in general, and realizing what she feels for you takes her a while. Nonetheless, there is no rule that says you cannot help her… figure it out. – she says with a smirk feeling the sweat of Lena’s palm before she retrieves her hand – I mean, I could see it yesterday.

- I’ll… think about it – Lena responds, more to finish the conversation than to really answer. This is not where she thought this conversation would go. - Can I ask you something?

- Sure, anything – Liz says sincerely and Lena takes a deep breath.

- But I need you to answer very honestly, ok? – she raises a brow as a warning and Liz bites her lips, trying to hold back a smile.

- Always – she answers reverentially. Lena narrows her eyes before dropping her gaze and looking at the journal in her hand swallowing.

- Was I… a decent mother? – she asks, almost in a whisper – I didn’t have the best… examples and I can read how afraid I was at the time, and I’ve been thinking about it and is such a scary thought… I just…

- You were the best – Liz cuts her off, widely smiling now – really, the best mother I could have asked for. – her words are sincere, Lena can tell – I’ve missed you, so much. – this time is Lena who squeezes the hand she’s holding.

- It’s good to know. – she smiles, a fear she didn’t know she had, being reassured.

A voice comes from the speakers of the room.

“All citated members of the DEO, report for the meeting in the main hall”

- We should go – Lena says, and Liz nods, it’s time to get to work.

-----------------------

The reunion takes long, J’onn controls most of the speech, sharing information carefully, making sure to exclude the mention of Liz’s parents or anything that could give away her relationship with anyone in the present beyond being an ally from the future, always referring to her as Elizabeth or Liz. He speaks about the menace they would face, the future they are going to try to fix, he particularly extends on the fact that after Superman and Supergirl gave themselves up the world went down on a self-destructive path, trying to make sure Kara understands no matter how tempting the idea of stopping what’s coming by sacrificing herself seems, it’s not a real solution to the problem. Kara’s mood is clearly dwelling on it as she lowers her face while listening, biting her lower lip in a nervous habit, feeling guilty for something she hasn’t even done yet. Lena observes her, from the opposite side of the table, wishing to be closer to discreetly reach out and offer some sort of comfort. Alex’s jaw is clenching and she’s frowning, understanding the relevance of the mission coming, seeing the presence of the stranger visitor under a new perspective.

Kara giving herself up sounds very Kara.

After this context, J’onn gives the floor to Liz.

- The enemy we will face is a species denominated the Myzekaran, they are twice as big as a human with an exoskeleton that makes them hard to kill. They are physically very strong and in a one-to-one combat mostly rely on brute strength. To get them into one-to-one combat it the hard part though, they are armed to the teeth and would personally attack only as a last resource. Most of their movement happens while they are in their ships. Those are heavily equipped with advanced technology both for attack and defense, protected with various layers of energy shields. – the panorama sounds intimidating and reality it’s even worse. – They also have special technology, designed with kryptonite in different states of the matter to capture, contain and control the kryptonians they get. – she looks at Kara hoping she understands that warning. The room is silent under the weight of the possibilities. Lena can’t help but imagine the kind of torture they submitted Kara in that future where she was captured. A shiver runs down her spine to the thought. – Fortunately, they aren’t particularly smart. For what I have gathered, their technology isn’t developed by them, it’s all stollen from their conquered planets or developed by the planets they are keeping slaved, so once something is destroyed, it’s destroyed for good. They could only recover or improve their weaponry by leaving and coming back time later, which is exactly what they did the last time I faced them. I destroyed enough for them to retrieve, which means, we need to take them down in one go.

- How are we going to do that? – Alex questions.

- The main problem when they first attacked in my timeline, was that it all was new, you had no idea of who they were, their weapons or weaknesses. Now you will know. They won’t catch you off guard this time and I’ll be here to help. – Alex looks at her with a serious expression, still not fully trusting her for the clear secrecy of her identity.

- First of all – J’onn spoke – we are going to deploy various squads across the city with DEO agents to evacuate all we can from civilians, in case we can’t prevent damage to National City.

- The propulsors of their ships are too powerful, if they get below a skyscraper altitude, the vibrations pretty much wreck the ground, so it’s part of our objective to remain high in the sky as long as possible to reduce collateral damage to the city – Liz complements.

- Those who can fly would be the main participants of the fight, and distractors for the ground team to be able to help. – J’onn continued. – Agent Danvers, you would be directing the ground team, while Supergirl, Brainy, Liz and I work with Superman on the sky – he looks at Kara – we need to talk to Kal-El about this, he needs to bring his family here so we can avoid a separate attack in which he would be more vulnerable. – Kara nods in agreement.

- They usually attack after sunset, knowing the sun makes kryptonians more resilient, so it’s almost sure the fight would be in the evening or the middle of the night. – Liz intervenes.

- I’ll have a reunion with the mayor today, to ensure the evacuation of the city and how it’ll be communicated. – J’onn continues. – We suspect the attack to take place tonight or in the following days.

- I’ll be monitoring ambient particle behavior to see any irregularities, the technology they use to time travel produces a slight change in the particles around where they will appear. – Brainy comments, already has been working on that. – It wouldn’t give us much time, but enough to deploy the teams for the fight. – J’onn nods.

- At the time I haven’t really found or created a technology that can disable their shields for a direct attack, but both their ships and themselves are highly affected by earthly magic. It makes them vulnerable. – She looks at Lena – Your help will be essential for this to work, I brought a book with the spells we’ll need and I consider it would be for the best if we practice them as soon as we can, so you can dominate them and be ready for the fight.

- She doesn’t need to be in the battlefield – Kara intervenes now, frown full on display. – It’ll be too dangerous to be around. – Lena knows Kara has always been protective, but seeing this display certainly has an effect on her.

- The spells we are going to need have a limited range; she’ll have to be somewhat nearby for it to work. – Liz replies commanding and calm, and before Kara can reply, J’onn speaks.

- The ground team requires Lena to be in the field, Dreamer would be in charge of keeping an energy field to protect the team while Alex and other agents keep up the guns in case of ground attacks. – That’s his way to say Lena will be safe, Kara knows, she looks at Lena who offers her a reassuring smile, then she turns to Alex, who just nods. Kara doesn’t say anything else on the matter, as much as she feels conflicted, as much as she would like to keep Lena as far away from the danger as possible, she has to trust them, and trust that she will come to the rescue if things go sideways.

Liz observes Kara’s reaction to that, she’s clearly worried, her shoulders are tense and every feature on her face screams she disagrees with this idea, but doesn’t argue it. She knows Lena is stronger than she seems, and they will keep an eye out for her no matter what.

- Our main goal is to destroy the mothership – Liz speaks, once again – last time I faced them I took down the rest of their ships, but each time I take one down, they come back the next time with twice as many, so it’s not sure how many ships there would be this time. In any case, they will be defending the mothership, it’ll be inevitable to fight them.

- Since all ships have the same defenses, we’ll need to keep impeccable coordination between the ground team and the sky team to communicate the targets. – J’onn says – In case any of the communications fails, which could happen with alien intervention, I’d keep a telepathic communication with both teams.

They all nod.

- The mothership has the size of a small city and it basically is one since they are nomads, it’s even more protected. It’s going to require all joined efforts to penetrate their defenses, – Liz’s voice is getting darker as she speaks. - the stolen time-travel technology is held there, at the minimum chance we get, we need to destroy it. That’s the top priority. After that they won’t be able to escape their end.

- Your plan is to kill them all? – Kara questions, expression between surprise and a frown.

- My plan is to stop them, for good, and I’ll do whatever is necessary. – Liz replies sternly.

- I’m sure killing their whole race isn’t necessary to get that done. – Kara answers, crossing her arms over her chest.

- With all due respect… Supergirl, you don’t know half of what they are capable to do, the damage they cause not only to this world but to others, worlds that you won’t be there to protect. No one will. – Liz is starting to raise her voice, trying to contain her feelings as she speaks. People in the room starts to shift uncomfortably as the atmosphere gets tenser with the ongoing conversation.

- There must be other way, an intergalactic jail? Some authority to bring them to justice – Kara maintains her posture, she’s against genocide, no matter the species.

- Are you talking about the intergalactic forces that have lost against them countless of times and allowed them to go on a destroying spree through time and space without being able to stop them? Surely the universe will be safe if we leave them in their hands! – Liz replies with sarcasm. – I don’t know how many lives you are willing to risk in the name of mercy, Supergirl – Liz’s voice is calmer and deeper – and you probably are not understanding that they have taken millions of lives in their hands and this is the opportunity we have to stop them, to prevent it, maybe the only opportunity… but I don’t care if you agree with me or not. I’m not taking any chances of things going wrong again. – Kara clenches her jaw, not knowing exactly what to respond, feeling the weight behind the words spoken to her – Don’t worry, you won’t have to dirty your hands, I’ll take care of that.

There is clear resentment in her voice. Lena is switching her sight between both of them, Kara is holding back and Liz is glaring at her. She needs to talk with the girl; there are unsolved issues now obvious there.

The room remains in silence for a minute before J’onn breaks it.

- Alright, everyone knows what to do, get to work. – People leave in a hurry, trying to escape the tension between the two kryptonians. The only ones left in the room are Kara, Lena, J’onn, Liz and Alex.

- I was considering the most efficient way of having Elizabeth to show us her abilities and for you – says Alex speaking to Kara – to have some training would be a sparring match between you two… but I’m not sure that’s a good idea anymore.

- Actually, I think that’s a great idea – Liz replies, voice calmer but tension still clear in her body language.

- I agree – Kara replies, arms still crossed.

- Look at that, we finally agree on something – Liz comments and Kara doesn’t flinch.

- We should get to it – the blonde replies, and by her expression Alex has the hunch that Kara won’t hold back.

Lena isn’t so sure this is a good idea.

A phone starts to ring cutting through the tension and the CEO excuses herself to take the call, her board meeting had to be re-scheduled and moved to be early today and they are requiring her presence as soon as possible. She was planning to go to L Corp today anyway but this is an unwelcomed change on her schedule and at a rather inconvenient moment.

Lena sighs and turns back to see Kara and Liz still glaring at each other, this is definitely not how she envisioned them interacting.

Things are going fabulous so far, she thinks sarcastically.

- I’m afraid my presence is demanded at my company – she apologizes for her coming absence – I have to go attend some matters, but I’ll be back as soon as I’m free to review those spells – she says to Liz – If anything happens, please call me – she directs the words to Alex, and hopes she understands is talking about those two.

She spares a glare at Kara that could only be read as a loud “Behave” and leaves the DEO through a transmatter portal, just as she came this morning, hoping, only hoping, they will find back their common ground.