Chapter Text
Lena hit the redial button again. Why aren’t they picking up? Pick up. Pick up. Pick up! She held her breath as she heard the soft click of the call connecting, a faint trace of laughter in Alex’s voice as she answered the phone.
“Lena, hi! What – “
Lena didn’t let her finish. “Alex, it’s Kara…she’s been hurt.”
Alex’s laughter died. “What do you mean, hurt?”
Lena tried to steady her voice as she attempted to explain events, but her thoughts were all jumbled, and her mouth didn’t want to form the words. “I don’t know. We were… and then she was hurting… and she just…she collapsed.” Lena glanced in her rear-view before reaching back to clasp a lifeless hand, hands that were normally so strong, yet so gentle. That only a short while ago had been holding Lena, caressing her. Lena blinked, trying to clear her thought’s and focus on the road.
Alex’s tinny voice over the car speaker caught her attention. “Lena? Lena! Where are you?”
Knowing her own panic was rising with every minute that ticked by, Lena appreciated Alex’s calm directness. “We’re coming to the DEO. I’m in the car.”
A siren blared behind her, as Lena ran yet another red light. “Shit, shit shit!” she cursed loudly, slamming her hands in frustration against the wheel. She didn’t have time for this. Kara didn’t have time. Putting her foot down, Lena floored the accelerator, ignoring the digits rapidly climbing on the dash.
The sudden cursing caught Alex’s attention. “Lena what’s wro– are those sirens?”
“I’m not exactly following the rules of the road here Alex!” shouted Lena angrily, more at the world in general than at Alex. Lena heard some muttering as Alex turned her voice away from the phone. A few seconds later, she rang through loud and clear. “Maggie’s on it. What’s your ETA?”
Lena had been driving on autopilot. The route so familiar to her, her body and brain using muscle memory. Squinting at an intersection up ahead to work out where she was, she responded with some uncertainty, “4 minutes?”
4 minutes.
“We’ll be ready. Do you want me to stay on the line?” came Alex’s instant response.
“No, no. I’m fine.”
The tyres of the car screeched in protest as she spun to the left at the intersection, mounting the pavement as she turned the corner. Almost hitting her head on the roof, the jolt made her spare a worried glance at Kara lying on the backseat. Lena could hurt them both driving like this.
As if reading her thought’s, Alex added, “Lena, be safe.”
3 minutes.
The click of the phone filled the car with a sudden uncomfortable silence. A silence, that despite the sirens of what was now several NCPD cars, felt overwhelming to Lena. The roar of the engine brought Lena’s attention back to Alex’s words, “Be safe.” It wouldn’t do any of them any good if Lena crashed the car. Glancing at the flashing red and blues behind her, she took her foot off the accelerator, just a fraction, just enough for better control.
2 minutes.
“We’re almost there Kara. Alex will be there. She’ll fix this. And Maggie and Winn. They’ll all make you better.” Lena struggled to see the road through the tears in her eyes. At first Kara had drifted in and out of consciousness, enough for Lena to get her to the car when none of their friends at DEO. had answered their phones. But she had long since fallen silent, leaving Lena with barely enough sanity to keep driving. She tried to talk to Kara, through her tears, keeping her voice bright, just in case Kara could hear her. Just in case. “And as soon as you’re feeling better, we’ll get married, in front of all our friends, just like we planned, otherwise Maggie and Alex will never let us hear the end of it.”
1 minute.
Lena fell silent, straining to hear each breath Kara took. At some point the sirens had faded as the NCPD pulled back. She’d have to thank Maggie later. As the DEO loomed in front of her, Lena almost breathed a sigh of relief. Wiping tears from her face, Lena reassured herself, “It’s going to be okay.” she whispered. The sound of a ragged breath from Kara, made Lena’s heart catch in her chest. “Hang on Kara, please just hang on!” She gunned the accelerator again.
-----
Alex didn’t know what to expect. All she knew was Kara was hurt and Lena, who always had control of her emotions, was panicked on the phone, and that rattled her. She paced, glancing between her watch and where the ramp of the garage led to the main road, the access doors being held open by an alert security team. Maggie stood nearby, still, staring at the road and appearing the epitome of calm, save for the clenching of her fists by her side, in complete contrast to a minute ago when she had been shouting down the phone to her boss over at NCPD, pulling in every favour she could to call off the tail on Lena.
Alex looked at her watch again. “Where the hell are they?” she growled in worry and frustration. It had been longer than four minutes. No-one had an answer. Maggie continued to watch, the DEO medical team stood silent, detached, preparing for the task at hand.
The sound of an engine gunning, and the screech of tyres suddenly had everyone’s attention, as Lena’s Bentley hurtled into the DEO parking garage. Alex’s heart leapt in fear at how out of control the car looked, yet somehow Lena directed the vehicle to a shrieking stop right in front of them, six inches from a wall.
For a moment everyone just stood in a state of utter shock, the smell of burning rubber assaulting the senses. As the smoke from the tyres cleared, Alex moved into action, yanking the rear door open, only to immediately stop, her breath catching. Since becoming Supergirl, Alex had watched Kara be beaten to a bloody pulp, had seen her weakened by Kryptonite, had seen her unconscious under the Black Mercy, but nothing had prepared her for this. Kara, her sister Kara, looked like death. Alex struggled to take in the sight of her pale limp body lying inert on the back seat, unconscious, her breathing rapid and shallow, blonde hair stuck to her face with sweat, the sheet she was wrapped in soaked through.
As one of the med team opened the opposite rear door, Alex kicked into action, climbing in the back, leaning over to check Kara’s pulse, her skin hot to the touch. It only took Alex a second to establish it was fast - too fast. She looked to where Lena was still sat in the drivers seat, staring through the windshield.
“Lena, what happened?” she asked, as she checked Kara’s breathing, taking the lead despite a medical team, far more qualified, standing by, assisting. More qualified in medicine maybe, but not when it came to Kara. Used to Alex’s response in these type of situations, they didn’t argue.
Lena didn’t respond, didn’t even acknowledge she’d heard Alex.
“Lena? I need to know what happened!” Alex said sternly, trying to reach the woman somehow, whilst at the same time, instructing the team to standby to lift Kara. When Lena still didn’t respond, Alex shouted desperately, “Maggie!”
“On it,” came the calm response from somewhere behind her.
Alex was vaguely aware of Maggie talking softly to Lena, as she and the med team, pulled Kara from the car and onto a gurney.
“Let’s move!” shouted Alex. As the team shouted instructions to one another, assessing their patient, Alex glanced back to where Maggie was coaxing Lena out of the car.
Catching her eye, Maggie gave Alex a reassuring nod, “We’re coming.”
-----
Kara screamed, her heat vision almost cutting them all in half, as she regained consciousness, her body rigid as her back arched off the bed, her fingers denting the metal frame as she gripped it’s sides.
Alex ducked next to the bed, gripping Kara’s wrist as she tried to avoid those molten eyes.
“Kara stop! You have to stop!” she shouted, doing her best to be heard over Kara’s piercing cry, as medical equipment exploded around them.
She caught the eye of one of the doctors crouched next to her, watching the figures on the yet undamaged heart monitor rapidly climb. If Kara didn’t calm down she was going to give herself a heart attack.
“Kara, please! Listen to me! We can’t help you if you don’t stop!”
Alex looked hopelessly around the wrecked room for any way out of this. Every doctor was pinned to the floor, doing their best to stay alive, whilst Kara, in her madness and pain, utterly destroyed the room.
As swiftly as the screaming started it stopped, a choked sound escaping Kara as she slumped back onto the bed, unconscious again. Shakily, tear tracks evident on her cheeks, Alex stood, nodding her thanks to J’onn who had phased into the room, sedative in hand.
The doctor next to Alex immediately sprung into action. “We need to get her heart-rate down!” She called giving instructions to her team, pushing Alex to one side to make room for them to work.
“Alex, you can’t be in here,” J’onn gently told her.
“J’onn I have to! She’s my sister.”
“And that’s why you can’t be here. Agent Danvers, you need to let the medical team do their job, and they can’t do that with you here. Go and help Maggie. Talk to Lena, find out what happened. Help us fight this.”
Alex knew what he was doing, trying to give her something to do, she would have done the same, but the thought of leaving Kara was almost too much to bear.
J’onn could see the conflict in her. Grabbing Alex’s bicep firmly, he squeezed it in an act of reassurance. “We’ve got this.”
Alex reluctantly relented, knowing someone would get her the second there was the slightest hint of change but still she only left the room when the beep of the heart rate monitor began to slow. The world outside the med-bay was silent, every agent frozen in their duties, unsure of how to continue after the sounds of Supergirl screaming had punctuated the night.
Alex didn’t notice. She walked gravely to where Maggie was clutching Lena, neither having made it further than the top of the stairs, their eyes fixed on the approaching agent.
Maggie spoke first, tightening her grip on Lena, in anticipation of what might come next. “Alex…” She couldn’t voice the question. They’d all heard the scream abruptly cut off, and the implication it held.
Ever in tune with Maggie’s thoughts, Alex responded, “She’s alive.”
Lena’s knees buckled. Alex moved in to help Maggie hold her up, Lena throwing her arms around Alex’s neck as she did. They stood for a moment, sobbing, supporting one another in the only way they could.
“I need to see her,” Lena said, pulling away as she regained some of her composure.
“I know, but not yet. We need to let the doctors do their job,” said Alex, echoing J’onn. “You can help her, by telling me what happened,” finished Alex as Lena tried to protest.
“Alex, I’ve got to -”
Alex cut her off. “Tell me what happened,” she said, firmly, guiding Lena to a seat in the vacant room next to them.
Lena blinked as she tried to recall the evenings events. She had to see Kara. She had to. But Alex was right, they needed to know what happened. Everything felt muddled. “I don’t…” Think. Breathe. What happened?
“Just tell us what you remember,” prompted Maggie, crouching next to Lena, hand resting supportively on her knee.
Dance with me.
Lena swallowed, hard.
You haven’t got any clothes on.
“Start at the beginning.”
What was the beginning? Lena was cooking. The wine bottle smashed. Kara kissing her. Kara pulling away.
I just remembered something I’d forgotten to do before the wedding.
Kara had pulled away.
Lena levelled her gaze on Alex and Maggie. “I wanted to tell Kara how much I loved her, so I’d planned for us to have a special night together, but Kara came home early, before it was all ready. She’d seemed fine, but then we were kissing and she suddenly pulled away. When I questioned her, she said she had forgotten to do something for the wedding. She didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t press her. And then later, we were… we, we were in the bedroom when she just crumpled up in pain. I kept asking her to tell me what was wrong, but she couldn’t answer. I could see she was struggling. The sweat was pouring off her, and her eyes lit up the way they do before she uses her heat vision. And then, then she blacked out.”
Alex thought back to the devastation in the med-bay, and wondered if Lena knew how lucky she had been.
“I tried calling you all, but no-one answered. I got here as quickly as I could.” Lena’s voice broke.
“You did great,” assured Maggie, pushing down on the guilt of missing the call, as she knew Alex would be. Maggie marvelled at how Lena had even gotten Kara into the car. Sheer will, she supposed.
“She said she felt on fire, that it felt like Kryptonite.”
Alex stood up straight at hearing that ominous word. Kryptonite. But this wasn’t like any Kryptonite she’d ever seen.
Lena’s eyes welled with tears as she thought back to an argument long ago.
Do you know what its like to walk into a room and have your skin feel like its going to be seared of your bones? Supergirl had asked her. Or like nails are running through your blood?
Lena had never regretted more how much she’d hurt Kara that day. Given the same choice today, she’d rather let the world burn than allow such a substance to even exist.
Alex tried to piece together all that Lena had told them, Kryptonite? When would Kara have come in contact with Kryptonite? And why was it still affecting her? Normally the symptoms eased as soon as Kara was away from the radiating rock.
“I’m going to talk to J’onn.” Alex said, standing. “I’ll be right back with an update.”
She had hardly made it to the door when Lena called out to her, a stricken look on her face.
“Alex. I blacked out,” she blurted, only now remembering.
“What?” asked Alex, confused.
“This afternoon when I saw you, I’d blacked out. I left L-Corp at lunch and then, nothing, until you woke me.” Her eyes widened, reflecting Alex and Maggie’s, as an idea began to blossom. “What if I did something? What if I did something? What if I put Kryptonite in our apartment, and I hurt her?”
Alex could see on Lena’s face the panic setting in. She didn’t believe for one second that Lena would bring Kryptonite into her and Kara’s home. Alex had watched the two of them fall in love. She’d seen first hand how Lena had opened up with Kara, how she’d be vulnerable with Kara in a way she’d never been before. She defended Kara, protected and supported her every day. Alex tried to tell her there was no way she’d use Kryptonite against Kara, but Lena was having none of it.
“Okay, okay, look, I’ll get a team sent over. Just to be sure, okay?”
Lena nodded her consent.
“Let’s update J’onn. Together.”
-----
Whilst agents searched the apartment, the doctors worked on Kara doing their best to treat a patient with alien physiology and an unknown cause of illness. Within minutes of Lena and Alex being allowed to see her, the doctors pushed them out of the room as Kara went into a critical state. And so it went on.
The medical staff had found no wounds on Kara, no Kryptonite, but based on Lena’s information, Alex had ordered them to continue searching, and she was right to. Kara’s body was riddled with Kryptonite poisoning, but not in way they had ever seen before. It was infecting Kara, mutating, attacking every cell in her body, in a fight to take over it’s host. The DEO wasn’t prepared for this, so the team treated it the only way they knew how, with sun lamps. And it was helping, a little. The infection seemed to be slowing, giving Kara a chance to fight.
Alex wanted to help work on a cure, but she couldn’t leave Kara’s side. She’d called her Mom who was getting the next flight out. Eliza knew more about Kara’s biology than anyone on the planet, if anyone could help it would be she. Alex had related what she knew, knowing Eliza would stave off fear by using her time on the plane to work on a cure.
In the meantime they waited. Lena and Alex sat in silent vigil, any contact with Kara obstructed by the sun lamps. Lena wanted nothing more than to lie next to Kara, to comfort her, to let her know she was there, but she knew it was foolish. She couldn’t withstand the heat of the lamps, and at this moment in time, Kara couldn’t live without them. So instead she sat, and waited, the hours ticking by.
“Alex.” Maggie said softly from the doorway, indicting she wanted to talk outside.
Alex followed her into the corridor, leaving Lena to monitor Kara.
“The team is back.”
“And?” prodded Alex.
Maggie shook her head. “Nothing. They couldn’t find any traces of Kryptonite.”
Alex threw her hands up in frustration. “Then how did this happen? Did we miss something on one of her missions?”
Maggie shook her head once more, “Winn thinks he might have found something. You should come and take a look.”
Alex didn’t even know Winn had been called in. Reluctant to leave Lena alone, she grabbed a passing agent by the arm. “Taylor, I need to go downstairs. I want you to wait here, with Lena, and tell me if anything changes. Anything.”
“Yes Ma’am,” nodded the agent, immediately taking up his post just inside the door.
Alex followed Maggie to Winn’s desk.
“Hey Alex, I’m sorry,” Winn said, as she approached, hugging his friend in comfort.
“Thanks for coming in,” Alex said to him. “What have you got to show me?”
Winn grabbed his tablet flinging it’s digital contents onto the giant screens on the wall for all to see. “I’ve been trolling through the security footage at L-Corp and outside Kara and Lena’s apartment, trying to piece together Lena’s missing hours.”
Alex frowned, why?
“I asked him to,” said J’onn joining them.
“So here she is, at least I think it’s her, leaving out one of the service doors of L-Corp at 12:38pm. Someone bumps into her and she goes out of view. So, I tried a different camera and saw this,” he paused, bringing up a new camera angle of the same area, although further away, “she and mystery man both go to a car.”
A sick feeling was developing in Alex’s stomach.
“Now granted the footage is grainy, but I don’t think she’s walking unaided to said car. I think he did something to her.”
“Did you run the plates?” asked J’onn.
“Of course I did! This isn’t amateur hour J’onn. There was no record of them. But, the same car, drives past the apartment three hours later., and I could be wrong, but who does that look like?” Winn zoomed in on some new footage, a rear view of the same car, and a woman turning round in the back seat.
“Lillian Luthor,” affirmed Maggie.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” said Winn. “So Lena gets in a car with her mother, possibly by abduction, a mother who no-one has seen for several years I might add, then disappears for several hours on the same day Kara gets sick. Coincidence? I think not.”
“Winn, it sounds like you’re accusing Lena of something.” Maggie warned him.
Winn’s eyes went wide, “Oh god! No! We all know Lena would never hurt Kara, but Lillian? It’s just, the two things can’t be unrelated, right?”
Winn was right. Lillian had made repeated attempts on Supergirl’s life over the years, and there was no way this was a coincidence. Lillian had known long before Lena about Kara’s secret identity, even though she kept the information from her daughter. Why? As a threat to hold over Kara most likely, but that threat had gone once Lena knew Supergirl and Kara were one of the same. Lena had expected a fallout from her mother and her brother Lex, when her engagement to Kara was leaked, their xenophobia towards aliens having never abated, but it had never come. Until now, maybe. But if Lillian didn’t plant Kryptonite at the apartment, why take Lena?
Alex was trying to rearrange the pieces to see the overall picture, when agent Taylor shouted down to them.
“Agent Danvers, she’s awake!”
-----
Lena almost didn’t hear the small "hey,” Kara croaked out, as her eyes fluttered open. Bolting out of her seat, Lena turned off the sun lamps, pushing them out of her way. Beautiful blue eyes met her own, and Lena’s heart clenched at the sight.
“Hey,” she replied softly, stroking Kara’s face.
“Are we married yet?” Kara asked, tiredly.
Lena choked on her tears, “Not yet darling, but we will be soon. I promise.” Aware her tears were dripping over Kara, Lena leaned in to kiss her forehead.
Kara gave Lena a small smile. “Good, because I want to marry you,” she said slowly, her words slightly slurred, her tongue lazy in it’s formation of words.
“And I want to marry you,” replied Lena, leaning in to kiss Kara once more.
“Lena, stop!”
Alex’s shout reverberated around the med-bay, pulling Lena up short.
“You need to step away from her,” Alex told her firmly, trying not to focus on the look of pain on Kara’s face.
Lena didn’t know what to say. She looked in confusion to Maggie, J’onn and Winn who stood in the doorway.
“Alex, what are you doing?” asked Maggie, just as confused.
Alex ignored her, focusing on Lena, not even Kara, just Lena. Moving closer, she pulled Lena’s hands off Kara, as she tried to guide Lena away from her sisters bedside. Lena resisted, looking in confusion between Kara, Alex and their friends.
“Lena, look at me.” Alex waited until Lena’s gaze rested on her own. “You need to step away.”
Something in Alex’s eyes, in Alex’s voice reached Lena, she stopped resisting and let Alex gently lead her a few feet away.
Alex gave her an encouraging nod. “Wait here, I’ll explain everything in a minute. Maggie, stay with her.”
Maggie took Alex’s place, wrapping an arm around Lena as they watched Alex move to Kara’s bedside.
“Alex.” Kara pleaded through a clenched jaw, her body once again rigid with pain, eyes glowing like fire.
Alex almost cracked at the sight. “You’re going to be okay,” she said, gently stroking Kara’s hair, holding back her tears. “You just need to keep fighting, just for a little longer. Can you do that for me? For Lena?”
Alex hated herself for saying it, for putting that burden on Kara, her guilt compounded by her sisters acceptance, her nod almost imperceptible as a shuddering breath tore through her. “Winn, help me get the sun lamps back on.” Winn hurried over, assisting with the positioning of the lamps. “We’re all right here, okay?” Alex kissed her, trying to keep her voice bright, as she stepped away and positioned the final lamp.
“Lena, come with me.”
“What? Alex I’m not leaving her,” said Lena, outraged at the mere suggestion.
“We’ll just be outside, I promise.” Alex left the room. After some hesitation, Lena followed, the rest of the team close behind. A wall of glass now separating them from Kara, Alex watched as her sister visibly relaxed.
“Alex, what is this all about?” asked Lena.
Alex sighed, her reluctance to speak visibly showing. “Lena,” she paused, trying to decide how best to explain what she was thinking, “I think…”
Alex stalled, not wanting to say it.
Lena’s chin lifted, her back straightened the way it always did when she was facing bad news. “Just say it, Alex.”
Alex knew she couldn’t shield Lena from this. It didn’t make it any easier to say. “I think, Lillian’s trying to kill Kara, and she’s using you to do it. You’re what’s making her sick.”
Alex didn’t register the shock on her friends faces, instead she watched Lena. Lena who faced bad news head on time and time again, and Alex saw every bit of the Luthor in her when the only sign she had heard Alex, was from a slight twitch of her eye. After a moment, Alex thought maybe she was wrong, maybe she hadn’t seen that tiniest of acknowledgments but then she watched as Lena’s face turned to stone.
“Are you sure?” asked J’onn.
Alex didn’t take her eyes off Lena who had turned her face to where Kara was lying. “Not completely,” Alex answered, “but a few tests will be able to confirm the theory.”
“Do it.” Lena ordered tightly. “Right now. I want the tests done right now.”
-----
Lena had wished they were wrong, but from the moment Alex had uttered those words, she knew in her heart she was the cause. It explained why Kara had kept pulling away from her, and why her sickness had come on so suddenly. It explained Kryptonite poisoning when no Kryptonite had been found, and why she couldn’t remember yesterday afternoon. And Alex was of course right. Her human body unaffected by the virus she carried, her own body laced with Kryptonite, put there by her own mother.
Her whole life Lillian and Lex had been taking things from her. Whenever she had the slightest hope of happiness they destroyed it, and now they had taken Kara too. She’d been foolish to think they’d let her marry Kara, a female and a Kryptonian. They would never stop. Even if Kara found a way to pull through this, it wouldn’t be together, with Lena. It couldn’t be. There wasn’t a cure, Lillian would have made certain of that.
She watched whilst Alex explained to Kara why Lena was stood outside. Why she wouldn’t come into the room. Why she couldn’t. Lena watched Kara’s denial, her rage and then finally a kind of acceptance, Alex coaxing, calming and supporting her sister through every step. As Kara’s tears fell, so did Lena’s own, blue eyes never leaving green.
“I love you,” Lena saw her say, although she didn’t hear the words.
“I love you too,” whispered Lena, uncertain whether Kara would hear her.
A small smile from Kara told Lena she did.
It was a small mercy that the physical pain had lessened enough for Kara to hear those words. Lillian did this. Lillian would always be doing this. She’d always be trying to kill Kara, and now Lena couldn’t be there to protect her.
A cold fury settled over Lena. “I’m sorry,” she told Kara before walking away.
-----
“Alex you have to go after her,” said Kara, through gritted teeth, her fight against the pain all too visible.
Alex stared at her sister incredulously. “Kara I’m not leaving you, and neither is Lena.”
“Alex!”
She had no idea what her sister had seen in Lena’s expression, or maybe what she’d heard, but the fear on Kara’s face was undeniable.
“Okay, I’ll talk to her,” Alex said swiftly, uncertainly.
Before leaving, she made sure the sun lamps were giving Kara’s body the best coverage possible. Kara was clearly still in pain, but the lamps at least gave her some relief.
Alex chased after Lena’s retreating back, calling out to her. Lena either didn’t hear or chose not to, but she stopped when Alex grabbed her arm. Alex was taken aback at the look on Lena’s face, the spitting image of one she’d seen on Lex’s. That was what Kara had seen. It was murderous. Alex didn’t grace Lena with the question she could already see the answer to.
“I’m coming with you,” she simply said.
A flash of emotion flared in Lena’s eye’s. “You won’t stop me, Alex.”
“I don’t intend to, but I am coming you with you.”
Lena didn’t respond, instead walking away, leaving Alex to follow in her wake.
-----
As Maggie walked past her room she could see Kara once more under the lamps, restless, but no sign of Alex. Or Lena.
“Kara, are you okay? Can I get you anything?” she asked, poking her head around the door.
“Where’s Alex?” asked the younger woman, desperately.
Maggie moved closer to Kara’s bed. “I’m not sure.”
“What about Lena? Have you seen Lena?” Kara cut in before Maggie could go any further.
Unsure of where this was going, Maggie shook her head, “Not for the past few minutes. Why? Woah, Kara, you need to lie down.” Maggie added as Kara unexpectedly tried to get out of bed.
“I’ve got to stop her,” explained Kara as she tried to resist Maggie, but it was futile, Kara didn’t have the strength.
“Stop who?”
“Lena. She’s going to kill Lillian, and I think Alex has gone with her.”
-----
Lena and Alex sat in silence as they sped across the city, Lena driving with a little more care than she did the night before. Lillian would wait for her, of that much she was certain. Luthor’s always had a flare for the dramatic, and Lillian was not one to scurry away into the night. She’d want to see Lena. She’d want to remind Lena, who had the power in their relationship. Well not this time. This time Lena would hold the power, she had to.
Lena glanced at the clock on the dash. 4:48am. How had so much happened in so little time? Just yesterday she and Kara had been talking about their wedding, making plans for the future. And now? Now there was no future.
Alex remained silent. She hadn’t spoken a word since they left the DEO. Lena would have preferred to confront her mother, no not mother, she was no mother to Lena, she would have preferred to confront Lillian on her own, but she knew it was useless to argue with Alex. Alex would follow on her own terms, had Lena left her behind. Lena wasn’t convinced Alex wouldn’t try to stop her, in so many ways like her sister, but Alex shared Lena’s pain, and that pain was a powerful motivator. They’d just have to cross that bridge if the came to it.
Lena parked directly outside L-Corp, the roads still quiet. The building security team leaped to their feet at the site of their boss striding through the front doors. It wasn’t unusual for Lena to be at L-Corp this early, but everyone was under the impression she was now on leave, making the final preparations for the wedding.
“Ms Luthor!” exclaimed the head of security, eyes nervously darting to Alex and the gun in her hand. Agent Danvers was a familiar face at L-Corp, that wasn’t what was unsettling. The sight of a federal agent, with a gun, in the middle of the night, suggested something was amiss. It suggested the security team had not done their job efficiently.
“Cortez,” said Lena sternly. “Any trouble?”
“No, Ms Luthor,” came the quick response.
Lena stared at him for a minute. She trusted Cortez. He’d been a valid member of L-Corp’s security team for a number of years now, but even the best could be coerced.
“No, unusual visitors?” pressed Lena, whilst Alex’s eyes darted around the very exposed lobby.
“None, Ms Luthor.”
“How’s your family?”
Cortez smiled. “They are very well Ms Luthor, thank you for asking.”
Lena nodded. If Cortez didn’t know of Lillian’s arrival then she had found another way into the building, and she wouldn’t be in Lena’s office, as Lena had thought.
“Ms Luthor, is everything okay?” Cortez called after her, as Lena made her way to the elevator, Alex close behind.
“It’s fine, Cortez. Continue as usual.” Poor man, thought Lena as she stepped into the elevator, in a few hours, his job was going to become a lot harder.
-----
Alex was at war with herself. She genuinely didn’t know what she was going to do. Her rage on Kara’s behalf, on Lena’s, was unlike anything she’d ever felt. Both had fought so hard to find happiness, they didn’t deserve this. The memory of Kara’s screaming reverberated through Alex, Kara’s pain echoed in her. Lillian had found the cruellest way possible to put an end to Supergirl. Alex had hope they would find a cure, if Kara had taught her anything it was to have hope, but even if they did, Lillian would try again, and keep trying until she destroyed Supergirl.
She wouldn’t try and stop Lena, Alex hadn’t lied about that, but Kara’s terror at the thought of Lena hurting Lillian kept replaying in Alex’s mind. Alex needed to protect Lena, for Kara’s sake she needed to make sure that no matter what happened, Lena didn’t go down for this. Maybe she’d take the shot herself, maybe she’d help Lena cover up the evidence, or maybe she’d take the fall - she really didn’t know.
And she still didn’t know when the elevator doors opened, and Lillian’s back was revealed to them across the roof.
-----
Lillian didn’t turn around as Alex and Lena approached her, both training guns on the woman’s back. Alex wasn’t even sure she was aware of their presence until they were half-way across the roof.
“Lena darling,” said Lillian, still staring out across the city, not even glancing at Lena or Alex, “How lovely of you to join me. You’re just in time to watch a new day dawn on National City, one where the Luthor’s will reign once more, not the Supers.”
Lena didn’t say anything. She didn’t care to. Lillian could say whatever she wanted, it wasn’t going to change anything.
Lillian watched as the sky began to brighten. When Lena didn’t speak, Lillian turned to her, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the gun in Lena’s hand.
“A gun, Lena? Really?” Lillian sighed. “I thought I’d taught you better. If you point a gun at someone you shoot, you don’t hesitate.” She looked to where Alex was standing just a few feet from Lena. “And you bought a Danvers with you, the better one, no less. I wonder why. Could it be the other is indisposed?”
Alex’s finger twitched on the trigger. She wanted so badly to pull, but that was Lena’s decision, not hers. The sound of the elevator doors sliding opening had Alex’s eye’s flickering to the newcomer, ready to point and shoot if needed. Maggie. Alex felt a piece of herself break. Having Maggie here was going to make this so much harder.
“Detective Sawyer, what a surprise,” drooled Lillian, rolling her eyes indicting it really was no surprise at all. “Lena, I have to say, I really think you need to find some new friends. A detective, a DEO agent, and a Kryptonian are hardly the right company for a Luthor. Thanks to me, at least one of those won’t be a problem anymore.”
Lena’s hand betrayed her, the gun shaking ever so slightly as she tried and failed to portray a cool exterior. Lillian’s eyes flickered at the sight, her eyes missing nothing, her smile, knowing.
“Alex, Lena.” called Maggie, as she slowly advanced towards the scene, keeping an eye on Lillian but her attention on the two younger women. Maggie’s glock was at the ready, but lowered, there was no way she was going to point a gun at her wife. Not unless she absolutely had to.
“Maggie, you shouldn’t be here,” called Alex, keeping her gun leveled at Lillian, willing her wife to leave them.
“I can’t let you do this,” said Maggie, stopping a few feet from Alex and Lena.
“Oh dear, trouble in paradise?” asked Lillian, tauntingly. “Take it from me, marriage is really not all that it’s cut out to be. The sooner you learn to cut out the personal, and keep it purely professional the easier it all becomes. Marriage is a contract, a business contract. I had thought you were a woman of business, Lena, but clearly I was wrong. Imagine my surprise when your engagement was announced to a reporter, and a Kryptonian one, at that.”
Lillian held Lena’s gaze, daring her to defy Lillian and take the shot.
“Still, I was rather disappointed at not being invited to the wedding, I am your mother after all. But I’m plain hurt you have yet to invite me to the funeral.”
The crack of three guns releasing their bullets at Lillian tore through the air. Not one of them hitting their target as Lillian was knocked across the ground in a tumbled blur of red, blue and gold, the impact so hard she almost rolled over the edge of the building.
“Kara,” whispered Lena taking a step towards the familiar form, worried when the hero didn’t immediately get up. Kara was here, that meant she was better. The Kryptonite must be out of her system. Even as she thought it, Lena’s heart was telling her it wasn’t true. Kara had crashed to the concrete and now she was struggling to stand. Lena felt a hand on her wrist, Maggie stopping her from getting too close.
As Kara untangled herself from Lillian, hands shredded from the impact, Lena was filled with sadness. Kara was trying to stop her, and Lena didn’t know if she had the strength to defy Kara.
“Supergirl, get away from her!” yelled Alex in concern as Kara staggered to her feet. Flying had taken more out of her than she’d care to admit, but still Kara stood to face the two people she loved most in the world. She had to.
“Alex, Lena, Maggie, please don’t do this.” pleaded Kara, whilst using her body to shield a slightly shocked and dishevelled Lilian. Kara’s breathing was laboured, the pain slowly entwining it’s way through every nerve in her body. She knew being this close to Lena was dangerous, that part of the pain she was feeling was from the Kryptonite radiation Lena now carried with her, but it didn’t matter. Kara couldn’t let them do this.
Lilian stood slowly, making sure to stay behind Kara. “Supergirl, what an unpleasant surprise. I thought you’d be in a body bag by now.” smiled Lilian.
“Don’t you dare talk to her!” screamed Lena, finally letting her feelings show, trying to keep Lillian in the sites of her gun, but unable to point it at Kara. Torn between wanting to kill the woman she’d once called mother, and just getting Kara out of there.
“Now, now, Lena. You were taught better than to have tantrums.” tutted Lilian over Kara’s shoulder. “Yet another example of how you’ve weakened her.” she whispered in Kara’s ear.
Completely ignoring Lilian, Kara focused on Lena and Alex. She knew she was putting herself at risk, having Lilian at her back, particularly in her weakened state, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the bigger threat right now. The threat of Lena and Alex and Maggie.
“Please, listen to me. You can’t do this. If you kill Lilian, there’s no turning back from that.”
Alex was coiled with tension, ready to spring. “That’s kind of the point Supergirl. As long as Lilian is alive, you are in danger.”
“Alex I’ll always be in danger!” protested Kara. “What will you do once you hit Lilian? Kill everyone who threatens me? The body count would be astronomical.”
Lena couldn’t tear her eyes off the woman who’d raised her. The woman who had spent the whole of Lena’s life, destroying her happiness.
“She almost killed you Kara, and she used me to do it.” whispered Lena, devoid of emotion once more, her Luthor training dominating the situation.
“Lena, look at me,” Kara said gently. “Look at me.” she added more firmly. Lena reluctantly tore her gaze from Lilian to meet Kara’s eyes. She looked tired, sicker than she was letting on and all Lena wanted to do was take her home and never let her go. But she couldn’t and even if she could, Lilian would try again and again, until one day, Lena wouldn’t be able to see that smile, or gaze into those beautiful blues, and kiss the woman she loved. Tears began to well in her eyes at the inevitable future the site of Kara at once weakening her resolve.
“Lena,” said Kara gently, ignoring the pain behind her eyes, the fire in her veins, “I’m okay. She didn’t kill me. I’m here, I’m alive. You and me, we’re stronger than Lilian. Stronger than anything she can throw at us.”
Lilian snorted, causing Alex to snarl at her, catching Kara’s attention. “And you Alex, you’re the strongest person I know. No matter how much she tries to hurt Me or Lena, she won’t weaken us because we have you and Maggie. We’ll deal with Lilian, but not like this. If you kill her,” she addressed them all now, “she’s won. I’ll lose you. I’ve already lost one world, I can’t lose another.”
The sadness in Kara’s voice was like a dagger to Lena’s soul. If it was just her decision, she’d kill Lillian, but it wasn’t. Kara was in this too. They were a team, and what one did affected the other. How could she cause Kara more pain? She couldn’t. As ever Lillian had been right, point and shoot. That's what she should have done. Lena slowly lowered her gun, Alex and Maggie doing the same, letting it hang loosely from her fingers.
Lillian stepped around Kara, pushing the ever weakening woman to the ground, discarding her without a second thought. Lena rippled with anger but didn’t move, knowing she’d only make it worse. Lena was grateful to see Alex run to her sister’s side.
Maggie, tensed, tightening her grip on her gun, leveling it once more as Lillian stepped closer to Lena.
Lillian slid her hand over the gun dangling from Lena’s fingers, taking it in her own, holding it up for Lena to see before tossing it on the ground. Supergirl was as good as dead, and this pathetic trio wouldn’t kill her, she had no need for bullets.
Lena tried not to cry, but she could feel her eyes filling with tears, knowing Lillian had won. Knowing Lillian would live, and try again another day.
She didn’t flinch as Lillian hissed, “Weak,” slapping Lena across the face with enough force to make her lip bleed, her face stinging from the impact.
The punch that left Lillian sprawled across the tarmac, rendering her unconscious before she’d hit the ground seemingly came out of nowhere, too fast for the human eye. Lena blinked back tears as her vision was filled with Kara, swaying alarmingly in front of her, eyes drooping in tiredness. She’d given everything she had left to that punch.
Lena caught Kara as the hero’s legs crumpled beneath her, her body at last giving itself over in a fight she couldn’t win. Kneeling on the ground, clutching Kara’s fevered body, Lena whispered, “Don’t you leave me.”
Kara lifted a hand to Lena’s face, her finger wiping at the green tinged blood trickling from Lena’s lip. “I promised to kiss you every day of our lives,” she said, as the warmth of the rising sun continued to break over the city.
“And you will,” cried Lena. “We’ll find a way to fight this. We’re stronger than Lillian, remember?”
She was cut off as Kara lifted her head, softly pressing her lips against Lena’s. “I promised,” Kara said as she slumped in her arms, Lena’s own tainted blood smeared across her lips.
-----
In the aftermath of Lillian’s destruction, an unimaginable darkness had filled Lena’s days. The world around her became muted, soiled, black shadows encroaching on every side. She felt as a ghost in the world of the living. Her friends ensured she ate, although she never really remembered doing so; they encouraged her to sleep, but Lena couldn’t find a way to rest; after several days they pushed her towards the shower, insisting it would make her feel better. They kept her going. Minute by minute they pushed her into the next.
After a few days, the brilliant minds of Alex and Eliza combined had found a way to rid Lena’s body of the Kryptonite. As ever, Lillian had underestimated them, or maybe she hadn’t. Maybe she’d known they’d crack the code, eventually.
Of one thing Lena was certain, Lillian had underestimated Kara. Her brilliant Kara, who always had hope, who never gave up no matter what the fight, who even now was sleeping, seemingly peacefully, under Lena’s watchful eye, body free of infection.
“No change?” asked Alex as she entered the room, asking Lena, but looking at Kara.
“Not yet,” replied Lena.
Alex looked to where Lena sat in a corner of the room, her legs tucked underneath on the chair that had become her home. She seemed smaller than she used to be, as if Lillian’s actions had diminished her somehow. “You can sit closer, Lena, you’re not going to hurt her.”
Lena shrunk in on herself a little, just the thought of such an action frightening her. Alex smiled sympathetically. “Here,” she said, taking Lena’s hands in her own and gently tugging her out of the chair. Slowly she steered Lena to Kara’s side. “Touch her,” instructed Alex, letting go of Lena’s hands just above Kara’s skin.
Lena hesitated, hand shaking. The last time she’d touched Kara, Kara had died.
Alex covered Lena’s hand in her own, and ever so tenderly pressed Lena’s hand to Kara’s face. They stood like that for a minute, one protecting the other, ensuring a feeling of safety.
“See? She’s fine. You won't hurt her,” said Alex, making sure Lena connected with the knowledge she hadn’t caused Kara any pain.
Lena let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, her hand relaxing into the touch, melting into the feeling of Kara’s soft skin beneath her own.
Alex pulled a chair over, parking it behind Lena for when she would need it, certain Lena wouldn’t leave Kara’s bedside. Not wanting to leave them alone, but equally not wanting to intrude, Alex sat in the chair Lena had just occupied, reflecting on the scene in front of her. Alex didn’t know of two stronger women than Lena and Kara. They’d get through this, Alex was sure. She had hope.
-----
That was how Maggie still found them, many hours later, the sun having long settled on another day. Alex curled up in the corner, dozing, Lena sat by Kara’s bedside, holding her hand. She smiled at that, Lena touching Kara, it hadn’t gone unnoticed how afraid Lena had been these past few weeks, even with the clear test results. It was such a small gesture but such a large one at the same time, a hint of healing.
Maggie sat on the edge of Alex’s chair, startling her out of her sleep.
“Ssh,” whispered Maggie, giving her wife a kiss. “I brought you some tea.” She placed the mugs of hot liquid on a nearby table, before turning her attention back to Alex.
“Is she-?”
“Not -,” began Maggie, cut off by a small shout across the room.
“Alex!” cried Lena, excitedly, standing so suddenly her chair fell over. “She moved.” Alex and Maggie jumped to their feet, rushing to the bed. “She moved, her hand, it moved. Kara, darling, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes for me?” asked Lena, frantically stroking Kara’s face.
All three women watched as Kara’s eyelids slowly fluttered, her mouth twitching.
“I’m here sweetheart, you can do this,” coaxed Lena, stroking Kara’s face, “I’ve got you, I promise. Can you open your eyes?” she asked again.
“Lena,” croaked Kara through cracked lips, mouth dry from weeks of not speaking. One word. One word which ignited the room.
“It’s me Kara, I’m here,” cried Lena with relief.
Kara lifted heavy lidded eyes to look at where Lena’s voice was coming from. Lena is here. “Am I dead?” rasped Kara, confused by Lena’s presence, confused by the peace she felt.
Lena couldn’t speak, her throat too swollen with emotion.
“No Kara, you’re not dead. You’re very much alive.” Kara turned her head to the new voice. Alex.
“Alex,” smiled Kara.
“I’m here, Maggie too.”
“Hey little Danvers. It’s good to see you awake.”
Kara smiled more, returning Maggie’s infectious smile. They’re all here, thought Kara, lethargically. Alex, Maggie. Lena’s here.
Head lolling over to shine her ever increasing smile on Lena, she lifted a hand to her face, to Lena’s own hand. Squeezing it, she asked, “Can I please, marry you now?”