Chapter Text
“Lena, put the gun down. Please.”
Lena didn’t, though her hand continued shaking. She just laughed bitterly, scary.
“What, Supergirl, you are afraid to die? Yes, of course, how could I forget? You can’t stand kryptonite. This strange substance, the only thing on Earth that can kill you. You are so afraid of it that you’re eager to search your “friends”’ laboratories behind their backs, aren’t you?”
“Lena, please stop. I have already said that I’m sorry, I really am. I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I swear. Please come with me, and I’ll help you.”
Kara tried her best to maintain a calm, confident posture, tried to keep her voice confident. But inside her was panic. No, she wasn’t afraid for herself – she was afraid for Lena. Her best friend was one step away from the abyss. From madness. Abandoned. Broken. Without the right to redemption. Yes, that’s exactly what Lena thinks. She thinks she has nothing more to lose, and her possible future will be either death or life imprisonment in the DEO. But Kara couldn't let that happen.
“Help me?”, Lena wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks with her free hand and shook her head. "Nobody can help me now, even you, Supergirl. I am a murderer! A terrorist! I,” she hit herself in the chest, touching her beautiful dark blue expensive jacket. “I’ve outdid my criminal step-mother in cunning. And my sociopathic brother in cruelty. I have blood on my hands, and I can never wash it away. I’ve become a villain I always feared to become, and I'd rather die than live with it.”
“Lena, don’t say that,” said Kara. She barely paid attention to the gun pointed at her and the green light in its muzzle, which even at such a distance and in such a small amount made her body weak. “I'll take you out of here. I'll tell Alex you disappeared. That I couldn't find you. Let's fly far away, to the other end of the planet, hell, to another planet, another galaxy! Let's hide you. Time will pass, and we’ll come up with something. Together. Let's fly away. Just give us a chance, please!”
Lena stared at her in disbelief mixed with mockery.
“Really, Kara? Are you going to break the law for me? Haven’t you always fought for a just cause, for the truth? And now you’re telling me you’re going to destroy it with one wrong move? Let a criminal of my level escape? Hide me from justice? Are you?"
She took a step towards Kara pointing the gun straight at her heart. Faint green streaks began to spread over Girl of Steel's skin.
“I am”, Kara stubbornly stared at the floor, avoiding Lena's eyes. “If it’s about you. And if it helps”.
“What is that I hear?” Lena began walking around the room not lowering her gun. “The great Supergirl covers terrorists and murderers.”
“You're not a murderer!” Kara looked in Lena's eyes, desperately searching for the old, kind and sweet Lena there, the one who they spent the best evenings in the world, game nights, lunches with, and it seemed like she could still find her old self in the depths of now mad green eyes. “Not yet. You asked if I was afraid of death. No, Lena, I'm not afraid. Not from your hand. I'm afraid for you. You are not a murderer, and not just another Luthor. You’re just Lena. Awesome, caring, my friend. And I won't let you kill someone. Won’t let you throw your life away like this.”
At these words, Lena laughed even harder than before, even crazier. Her tear-stained face became even redder.
“You don’t want me to be a murderer, do you, Kara? But you're late. I’ve become one long ago.”
Lena froze, waiting for a reaction. Kara also froze in shock, not understanding what this was about.
“What are you talking about?”
"I am responsible for the death of my test subject two years ago. He was young, good and was trying to help me to open the properties of Harun-El while I was trying to save my brother and James from death. I didn’t stop him and continued the dangerous experiment. And then...” her voice was shaking, just like the gun in her hand. “And then, Kara, I killed my brother. Yes, I put a bullet in his chest so he wouldn't hurt anyone else. That's when he told me that you were Supergirl.”
Kara gasped, her legs buckled. She leaned against the wall to keep herself from falling.
“Yes, Kara. This is who you want to save. A monster, a murderer. A Luthor in a word. So why worry? Just give me at the mercy of your sister. Let her lock me in the DEO. Or just kill me. You can. No bullet beats your super speed. Kill me while you have a chance before I kill you.”
“No.” Kara hit the concrete wall with her fist. Huge ugly cracks crept across it from the force of her hit. “Whatever you say now, whatever you do, I won’t give up. I won’t hurt you. I promised you to always be there, by your side, and nothing changes. Do you hear me, Lena? Nothing!”
Kara tried to approach her, but Lena shouted, "Stop!" and fired a warning bullet somewhere past Kara. It was as if a sharp knife passed by a millimeter from her skin without touching.
“Stay where you are!”
“Lena, I won't leave you. What should I do? Do you want me to get down on my knees? Because I will.”
Kara’s knees hit the concrete floor.
Lena stared at her in confusion, not knowing what to do next: Supergirl had never kneeled in front of anyone before, at least willingly, never groveled.
“I beg you, Lena.”
“You are doing that on purpose. You’re trying to make me change my mind. Want to betray me like everyone else!” Lena cried, but still didn’t put down the gun.
“No! Lena, please! I will fight for you because...”
Kara took a deep breath.
“Why, Kara? Why did you stop talking?” Lena pressed.
“Because I… love you. I’m in love with you, Lena. And I’d rather die than see you destroy yourself.”
“No, you're lying! It is not true! Another lie!”
Lena pressed her back against the wall trembling like a leaf, as if in an attempt to find shelter. It felt like if another second passes, the weapon would fall out of her hand.
“No! I am not lying. So kill me or let me help. The choice is yours. I'm not going anywhere. Lena...”
Suddenly they heard some muffled sounds behind a solid door made of titanium– the DEO.
Lena slid down the wall, squatting down, and gave Kara a strangely tender look, then pronounced almost inaudibly:
“Forgive me, Kara.” Kara closed her eyes instinctively. “I loved you so much, darling”
A shot was fired, and Kara cringed, expecting an unbearable pain to pierce her body. However, nothing happened. She opened her eyes and died inside from the things she had seen.
Lena's pale motionless body was slumped on the concrete floor. The ill-fated gun fell out of her hands. Kara flew up to Lena immediately. On her chest, in the heart area, she found a huge open wound with dark red streams of blood draining out like rivers; Lena’s cheeks wet from tears. Dead green eyes have now captured a void forever.
- No! Noooo! Lena! LENA!
In a split second Kara dropped on her knees and hugged the dead girl's body, shaking with sobs. No, she couldn’t believe it’s true. He would never believe that Lena was no longer there. That she chose to kill herself and not her. After finally telling Kara how she really felt.
The DEO’s agents broke into the bunker half an hour later. Shocked Alex saw a horrific scene: pool of blood, dead body of the younger Luthor and her sister half sobbing half mad of grief lying on it, covered in Lena’s blood. At that moment, the world changed for all of them forever.