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Chapter Text

The sound of plate glass shattering jerked Lena out of her reverie. She sat at her desk in her home office, one hand curled gently around a glass of single malt, the other splaying open one of Lex's journals. At first, she thought she'd imagined the sound she slipped out of waking reality. It wouldn't be the first time that dreams had seized her against her will. Ever since Lex had ripped out her heart, sleep had been less a sought-after companion and more a twisted enemy in which she was locked in perpetual battle.

At first she tightened her grip around the tumbler of whisky, wondering if she'd nodded off and knocked it off the desk to shatter on the floor. When she found it intact, she frowned, then froze when she heard footsteps in her living room, and the sound of more glass breaking, coming from her balcony.

Her balcony on the thirty-sixth floor.

Lena's hand whipped to the top drawer of her desk. She pulled open slowly, wincing at the barely audible scrape of wood on wood, and closed her hand around the cool walnut grips of her revolver. It had been a gift from Lex when she turned twenty-one, and she trained with it regularly and held a carry permit. Lena brought the gun in front of her, holding it low-ready, and stalked quietly to the office door.

She'd left it half open, and ducked against it so the banker's lamp on her desk wouldn't throw a shadow across the open kitchen. Her thumb went to the hammer of the gun and she listened.

Heavy, rasping breathing, and footsteps. The intruder stumbled, pushing into a chair. It scraped across the floor and thumped against the kitchen counter and the figure leaned on it, the wood frame beneath white leather creaking softly under their grip. Their back was turned.

Lena flashed out of her office, throwing the door open, and aimed at the intruder's back, gripping the gun steady in both hands, pushing with her strong hand as she pulled with her weak, to keep it from shaking along with the rest of her.

"Stay right there," she managed to say evenly, "I've called the police, they're-"

"Lena?"

The gun dropped slightly in her grip as Kara turned. She was dressed in her Supergirl uniform, and she was covered in soot and grime. Lena let the gun fall, but not entirely. Something was wrong.

Kara's hair was full of broken glass and her eyes were wide, frightful. Usually, when Kara wore her super-suit she was all strutting confidence, barely restrained power, and flashes of righteous anger bubbling to the surface at every slight. Supergirl had already been so confusing with her insistence that they be friends one moment and harsh lectures against Lena's pragmatic decisions the next, on top of being strong and tall and devastatingly gorgeous.

Knowing that this godlike being was also Kara Danvers, soft, potsticker-scarfing, cardigan wearing, Lena-hugging Kara Danvers, made it ten times worse. Especially now when she looked at Supergirl's damned house crest with Kara's aching, miserable expression above it, locked on her.

"Lena?" Kara croaked. "Is it you?"

"It's me, Supergirl," Lena said, forcing her voice stern, keeping up the charade.  "Why did you break into my apartment? What do you want?"

Kara rushed at her, a little too fast, and Lena dropped the gun in alarm. It thumped heavily but harmlessly at her feet and suddenly Kara was there, filling her vision. Fingers that could etch steel slid tenderly over the bare skin of Lena's cheeks and eyes that could kill with a glance locked on her own, wet with tears as Kara's oh so soft lips trembled.

"Are you okay? You're okay, right? Please, you have to be okay."

Lena brought her hands to Kara's, instinctively running the pad of her thumb along Kara's knuckles. "I'm fine, Supergirl, though I wonder why-"

Lena finally saw it. A tinge of green in Kara's eyes, shot through the blue like some sickly fungus floating on an ocean oil slick. Faint green glowed in lines from her eyes and nose and mouth, and glittered in tiny speckles all over her skin and uniform, and in her hair. Her eyes studied Lena, searching.

"I have to tell you something," she breathed, still cupping Lena's face. "I'm Supergirl."

"Ah, what?" said Lena, blinking.

Kara gave a quick shake of her head. "I mean I'm Kara. Lee it's me, I'm Kara. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you but I have to because I thought you were dead and and and-"

Lena barely heard her, the words falling beside her ears. It was like she was underwater, and Kara was yelling at her from dry land. She just... blurted it out. After all of Lena's stewing and brooding and scheming, she just blurted it out.

"I'm sorry, I was so scared, but I didn't know what scared was," Kara babbled on, now gently stroking Lena's jaw with her fingers. "He hit me with it and I was just sure you were dead and I had to know, I came right here and I had to know you're okay, but you're okay-"

"Kara," said Lena, carefully brushing a stray lock away from Kara's eyes. "Easy. Calm down."

"I c-c-can't," Kara choked out, "I need help. It's too much, I can't c-c-control my senses right now, oh god what if I hurt you-"

Kara jerked away, and Lena was stunned by how keenly she felt the absence of soft, steely fingers touching her face. She grabbed Kara's wrists and felt, just for a moment, the inhuman, terrifying power in those limbs. Hands that could shatter granite without effort.

"Tell me what happened," said Lena.

"We were... we were looking for..." Kara choked out, "The DEO I mean, we were looking for someone selling a new drug, and it was Johnathan Crane, Sc-Sc-Scarecrow, from Gotham city. He hit me with a p-powder. It hurts, Lena. It hurts being scared."

"Shhh," said Lena, "Easy, Kara. Come this way."

Gently, Lena put a hand on Kara's shoulder and guided her across the apartment to the guest bath.

"You should c-call Alex," said Kara. "She can help."

"I have to get that substance off of you first," said Lena. "If I'm guessing right, Scarecrow bonded it to Kryptonite somehow, so it would have more of an effect on you. I need you to stand still right here, okay?"

"Lena-"

"I'm alive and I'm fine," said Lena, "I'm not going anywhere, I just need to get a sample of the toxin before you wash it off. I'm going to get my things, okay?"

"O-o-okay," Kara whimpered, tugging her cape in her hands.

"I'll be right here where you can see me."

Keeping her bedroom door open, Lena ducked into her own en suite and found some cotton swabs and an old, empty prescription bottle. Kara relaxed when Lena returned and swabbed some of the substance from around her nose and mouth, placing the swabs in the bottle and closing the lid.

"Do you hate me?" Kara murmured.

Lena looked up sharply, her jaw clenching. For what felt like an eternity, she looked into those stained blue eyes, barely able to breathe. A part of her screamed yes, I hate you, you traitorous, deceptive bitch, but with Kara in front of her, suffering, it was...

"No," Lena whispered, "Of course I don't, Kara. I need you to do something for me, alright?"

"Okay."

"I'm going to take you to my lab, but first, I want to you to get that stuff cleaned off. There's a shower in the bathroom. Go ahead inside, keep your suit on."

Kara stepped into the shower cabinet and Lena turned the water on all the way, immediately bathing them both in steam. Water sluiced down Kara's suit and wetted her hair to her neck and scalp.

"Look into the spray and just stand there, okay? We need to rinse it out," said Lena. "I'm going to get you something to wear."

Darting out of the bathroom, Lena struggled to keep her breathing even as she ducked into the bedroom. Kara was lean but she was bigger than Lena, so she grabbed an old MIT sweatshirt and old, soft sweats for her to put on, carrying them back to the bathroom. She placed them on the counter by the sink, then froze as she heard a wet plop on the floor.

When she turned, Kara had pulled the shower door shut. Lena's heart jumped into her throat, its beat like fingers pulsing around her jugular. Kara, soaking wet and staring at the shower head, was just on the other side of the frosted glass, a blurry outline that still showed absolute perfection.

Kara was beautiful, Lena knew that, and they'd been to spin classes and group exercise (where Kara must have been pretending to be winded; Lena couldn't believe she never noticed that her best friend didn't sweat while she was exercising) but seeing Kara's perfectly sculpted body, even blurred by the glass, was something else. Lena stared, and knew she was staring.

"That's enough, I think," said Lena. "I'm going to step out-"

"Please don't," Kara said, shutting off the water. "Please don't leave me."

Lena swallowed. "Alright, if you insist. I'll just turn around."

She did, and closed her eyes for good measure. What happened next was agony. The soft swing of the glass door. The tiny, wet sounds of Kara's bare feet on the tiles. The rough caress of a towel, loud and scratchy in Lena's ears, and the soft whisper of cotton as Kara pulled on the clothes.

"You can turn around now."

Lena's breath caught when she opened her eyes. Kara's golden hair spilled wet about her shoulders, falling over Lena's sweatshirt. Something in that was fiercely possessive, somehow more taboo than her nakedness moments before. Kara worried her fingers together and wriggled her bare toes on the tile.

"My suit," she said.

"We'll get it later. Come on, I want to get you to my lab."

I should take her back to the DEO, Lena thought. Make her Alex's problem. They'd always kept her at arm's length now, Lena realized, Kara's little circle. Excluded her. They all knew, of course, but she did not.

Kara made a soft, fearful sound, and reached out. Lena looked at her, momentarily baffled, before taking her hand and holding it. Her delicate, slender fingers trembled in Lena's grip.

After letting her slip on a pair of borrowed shoes that thankfully fit, Lena guided Kara to the penthouse elevator, bringing the sample in her pocket. In the garage, Kara curled up in the passenger's seat of Lena's Aston Martin, still-damp hair pulled over one shoulder. Without her suit she was neither meek Kara Danvers nor bold, brilliant Supergirl.

Yet, Lena recognized her. She was just the pretty girl that always wanted to eat lunch with her and cuddle on the couch and say things like what are friends for and profess her love with an unspoken, parenthetical platonically attached to it, now looking at Lena like she was the only safe thing in a nightmare.

"Kara," Lena said, as she twisted the key in the ignition. "Why me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did the fear toxin make you come looking for me?"

"I don't know," she said. "As soon as I breathed it in, I was sure you were dead. I just knew it. It felt so real. When I came into your apartment I was absolutely sure that I'd find you dead on the couch with a bullet wound in your head and a suicide note telling me you hated me for betraying you."

Lena swallowed. "It's not far to the L-Corp tower. Just close your eyes."

Kara did. "I'm okay. I can control it if I have something to focus on."

"Focus on?"

"You," said Kara. 'Your breathing, your heartbeat. I can block out the rest of it as long as there's you."

Something in Lena slid closer to a precipice, something hard and brittle that would shatter when it struck the ground. She ignored it, feebly thinking little boxes, little boxes, knowing this time that there was no box for this.

She drove, not as fast or as sharply as she wanted to. Parking the car in one of her reserved spaces, she guided Kara out of the passenger's seat and, arm around her waist, led her to the private elevator that took her down to the lab.

Kara didn't say a word as they approached the containment room where Lena had kept Sam while she was possessed by Reign and guided her to the bed. That bitter, cruel part of her whispered you have her now. She thinks this is fear? She's helpless. You can do whatever you want. Make her feel what you've felt. The betrayal, the insult.

"How long have you known?" said Kara.

"How long have I known what?"

"That I'm Supergirl," Kara said, trailing a hand down Lena's arm. "I shouldn't have been so stupid. I should have known you knew."

Lena blinked. "What?"

"You already knew when I told you in the apartment. You weren't surprised."

"Kara-"

"When did I give it away?" said Kara. "It was the bus thing, wasn't it?"

"The what?"

"W-when I came to your office that first time, after I met you with Clark. I said I flew there on a bus."

Lena stared at her, and the memory came slamming back to the forefront of her mind. Kara had said that. And when they flew to Kasnia, she suggested they fly on their own, because Kara could fly faster. All at once, every moment when Kara had talked about flying as if she could fly came boiling out of a hundred little boxes in the warehouse of her mind, and Lena gasped.

"Oh God, Kara. I didn't figure it out."

Kara frowned. "Oh. Oh no. Please don't tell me Lilian told you."

"Lilian knows?" Lena gasped, "She never-"

She knows who Kara is, Lena thought with a sudden pang of fear, forgetting, for the moment, her own betrayal.

"Lex," Kara whimpered. "Oh no. Oh Lena, I'm so sorry. I was... I was too scared."

"I don't want to do this now," said Lena. "Kara, just let me fix you and we'll worry about the rest later."

Kara grabbed the collar of her shirt, and Lena realized the other woman was starting to hyperventilate. "Please, Lena. Don't hate me. Please don't hate me. I was trying not to hurt you. You have to believe me, I'd never hurt you, not you, not ever, just don't hate me."

Tears boiled out of Kara's eyes, and Lena noticed with a start that they were steaming ever so slightly. The salt water ran down Kara's skin, tinged with green. There had to be more of the toxin in her than Lena realized.

"Kara," Lena said, "It's alright."

"You're angry with me," said Kara. "I can tell. Your jaw is doing that thing it does when you're angry."

Kara traced a finger along the angular curve of Lena's quivering jawline, as if to illustrate the point.

"Kara, you have to let me work," she said, gently pushing her to the bed. "Lay back. You'll be able to see me."

"This is where you kept Reign," Kara said. "Good. I think I'm getting worse."

"Kara, I didn't bring you in here to imprison you," said Lena.

"I know you'd never hurt me."

A choked sound escaped Lena's throat. "Just lie back, darling. Try to relax."

"I can't," said Kara. "My heart is beating so fast. Here, feel."

Lena's mouth went dry when Kara took her hand and pressed it to her own chest. She was right; Kara's heart was pounding, too fast. Lena drew her hand back with a shudder, skin remembering the heat of her, as Kara fell back in the bed.

Hurriedly, Lena attached leads and put a band around Kara's chest. Taking her blood pressure proved impossible. The cuff wouldn't compress her arm at all. Lena could feel her racing pulse, though, and the blood oxygen sensor worked.

"I'll be right there at the table where you can see me."

Lena set about preparing the sample. She needed to know what she was dealing with before she could break it down.

"Lex told you," Kara said.

"Please, Kara, not now," said Lena. "Do you think you can sleep?"

"No," said Kara. "I don't really sleep anyway. I just snooze."

"Of course," said Lena. "I wasn't thinking. I suppose you don't actually need to eat, either."

"Oh, I do," said Kara, staring up at the ceiling of Reign's cell. "Yellow sunlight makes my m-m-metabolism even faster so I have to eat more."

"Okay," said Lena. "I don't, it's just-"

"You don't trust me anymore," said Kara. "I can feel it."

"Kara," said Lena, moving the sample to another table so she could work on breaking it down. "Please try to relax."

"I can't. Talking makes me feel better. Hearing you talk makes me feel better."

"Kara," said Lena, "I really don't think that will help either of us."

"Why?"

"Because I'm trying really hard to sort out my own feelings and I can't do that and save you at the same time. Your heart rate is increasing. I think I need your sister, too."

Lena slid on her chair to her desk, grabbed the phone, and dialed Alex's number. It was a civilian line, Lena knew; she had no idea how secure it was, so when the voicemail prompt came, she decided to be vague.

"Hey, Alex," she said, "It's Lena. Your sister dropped in on me unexpectedly. We decided to have an impromptu movie night, but I got called into work and she decided to hang out with me here. Give me a call or drop by, I'm sure she'd love to see you."

Lena hung up and went back to her work.

"You're mad at me," said Kara.

"Yes, I am," said Lena, trying to focus on the sample. "Kara, I really need you to stay calm. Trying to talk this out now is just going to make it worse, for both of us."

"Whatever it is, however I've hurt you, I'm sorry," said Kara. "This is my worst nightmare."

"That's the toxin talking."

"It's not," said Kara. "I've lost everything," Kara said, her breath heaving. "I lost my whole world."

"That's not true. Argo-"

"I was terrified on Argo," said Kara, her voice raw. "As soon as I tried to stay I knew I wasn't Kryptonian anymore. Not really. I've lived longer on Earth than I have on Krypton. I remember more of Earth than Krypton. Sometimes it feels like that life belonged to another person."

Lena took a sharp breath and closed her eyes. "Kara, I don't think this is helping."

"I've always been afraid of losing everyone," said Kara. "I lost my family. My father is dead, my adopted father is dead, and I've brought nothing but misery to my Earth family," Kara's breath came in ragged gasps, "and then you came along and... and..."

"And what?"

"Everything I've done since I met you has been about not losing you," Kara gasped.

Lena watched her; Kara looked past her, as if she were seeing something distant for the first time time. "The first time I saw you I just knew I needed to be your best friend. I don't know how, I just knew, and the whole time I've tried to be that for you, I've known there was an expiration date."

Lena stood up, leaving the sample in a centrifuge. Kara's heart rate was skyrocketing, bordering on tachycardia, and her breathing was too sharp and shallow. She sat up in the bed, trembling.

"I've done it, haven't I," said Kara. "I finally drove you away."

"Kara-"

"I lied to you," Kara rasped out, "I lied to you every day and you must think it was because of your brother or your name but it wasn't, I promise it wasn't."

"Then why?" Lena blurted out, wincing at the venom in her voice. "Then why did you do it, Kara? Why couldn't you just trust me?"

"I needed you," said Kara. "I needed you, so I lied. I was scared you'd be scared of me. I was scared you wouldn't want anything to do with Supergirl. I was scared I'd resent you if we fought. I was so scared of everything that I was happy to see you with James, that I... I lied to everyone that I was in love with Mon-El until I believed it, too."

Lena froze, only her finger twitching. "What?"

Kara started to say something, but an alarm began to bleat, shrieking in Lena's ear. Her heart was beating over two hundred times a minute, and her blood oxygen level was dropping rapidly. Kara's eyes rolled back white and she let out a piercing, gurgling scream, flopping back into the bed so hard that one of the side rails sheared off and went flying, clattering past Lena where she stood.

A buzzer went off, but Lena barely recognized until she heard Alex's voice over the intercom.

"Lena? Lena, answer me, damn it, are you in there?"

Lena rushed to the desk and hit the button, opening the doors. Alex rushed inside, followed by J'onn and Brainy. The three of them bolted to Kara's side, Alex leaning down over her.

"Get back!" Lena shouted, almost too late.

Alex jerked away just in time, twin beams of white hot light lancing through the air where her head had been a moment before, cutting a burning, glowing channel in the ceiling over Kara's head before she pressed her eyes shut again.

"Lena?" said Alex. "It's fear toxin, but we-"

"I've started working on an antidote, but I've barely started."

"We have to calm her down," said J'onn. "She's going to die if we don't do something."

"She may not," said Brainy. "Her physiology may be able to endure this indefinitely."

"Brainy," said Lena, "Not now."

Kara shot up and J'onn seized her, grunting with effort as he pushed her back down.

"Kara, listen to me," he said, "You have to focus. Get control, you-"

"Look out!" Alex shouted, but she was too late.

Kara's arm lashed out and caught J'onn in the belly, sending him flying across the lab. He crashed into the far wall, knocking loose chunks of masonry, groaning as he rolled.

"Lena," said Alex, "Can't you turn on red sun lamps in here?"

"Yes, but what if that makes it worse?"

"Don't," Kara choked out, "Please don't, Lena-"

"What is she saying?" said Alex. "Lena, what did you do to her?"

"Me? Me?" Lena snarled. "You accuse me? Now? Here?"

"I'm sorry, I-"

"I killed my brother for her," Lena said. "I'm not going to let anything happen to her, Alex. Jesus Christ."

Alex jerked back, blinking.

Kara lifted off the bed, stumbling to her feet, tearing loose from the sensors. Her arms looped around Lena, and Lena stood stock still as Kara held her in the lightest embrace, trembling, burying her face in Lena's neck.

"I'm so sorry," Kara wailed. "I'm so sorry. Please, Lena, please."

"Alex," said Lena, "The equipment you need is on the tables and I'm purifying the sample now. Step out of the chamber."

"But-"

"Just do it," Lena hissed. "Now."

"What are you going to do?"

"I want the three of you to work on the cure. I'll stay with her in here. Activate the force field."

"Lena, you can't be serious," said Alex.

"Do it, Alex. Please."

Alex looked at Brainy, who studied Lena briefly before nodding. J'onn, one hand still resting on his stomach, placed the other on Alex's shoulder.

"Do what she says."

Lena began gently dragging her fingers through Lena's hair.

"You're alright,"she murmured. "You're fine, Kara. I'm here."

Alex activated the force field, and blocked the rest of the lab from view. Kara looked around.

"Easy," said Lena. "Be careful not to use your x-ray vision. The scatter field."

"I know," said Kara.

Lena rubbed her back, feeling her heart rate slowing. Good. Maybe the toxin would work its way out on its own, and they'd just have to find a way to inoculate her against it. Lena guided Kara to the bed and they sat down, Kara's face still buried in Lena's shoulder. Hot tears soaked through her blouse.

"Lena, I..." Kara started.

"Kara, hush," said Lena. "We'll be okay. I'm angry with you but I don't hate you. I'm not leaving you. We can work this out."

"I have to tell you," said Kara.

"Kara, don't, you're stressing yourself, making it worse."

"No, I have to," said Kara. "It think it's the only way it'll stop. I have to confront it."

"Confront what?"

"My worst fear."

Lena took in a sharp breath. "I know, Kara. You don't want to be alone."

"I can't say it all. There's too much."

Lena pressed her fingers gently to Kara's throat. Her pulse was still quick and erratic, but it had slowed. Lena swallowed hard.

"Try. I think it's working."

"On Krypton, relationships weren't like they are here. We didn't date. Matches were assigned by a computer and children were born artificially. It was all very... very sterile. They can't hear me, right?"

"No, Kara. No one can hear anything inside the scatter field."

Kara swallowed. "Real love was treated as an incredibly precious thing. Most Kryptonians never expected to feel anything more than friendship for their spouse. Genuine, true love is unbelievably rare, being mated to someone you love even moreso."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I tried being like a human," said Kara, "being carefree about it, but I can't. I just can't, and it hurts. I'm not Kryptonian anymore and I'm not human, either. I'm alone."

"Being alone is scary," said Lena. "I know that."

"That's just it, I'm not scared of being alone anymore. I'm scared that I'm going to ruin my only chance not to be. If I haven't already."

"Kara-"

"I try not to think about these things. I try to make it stop. I tried to find another way so I wouldn't have to ruin it, but I can't. I've been hiding everything that matters about me because I'm so scared that if you know the truth, you won't want me even as a friend and I was okay with that, I was resigned to just be in your life any way you'd have me but we were getting so close and then I was scared I'd just be someone else betraying you, that I was already responsible for James betraying you."

"Kara, what are you saying?"

"I love you, Lena," said Kara. "I'm in love with you and losing you because of it is the most frightening thing I can imagine."

Kara's heart raced under Lena's palm, and her eyes blew wide, irises shrinking to tiny, pale blue rings. She trembled in Lena's arms, lips quivering, tears streaming hot down her face.

"I followed Lex to his hideout after you beat him," said Lena. "He wanted me to join him, so he showed me surveillance footage of you using your powers. He showed me who you are."

Kara sobbed into Lena now, her body shaking. Her skin was too hot, Lena realized. She was running a fever, a bad one. Sweat beaded on her sun-kissed skin and Lena shuddered, stroking her hair.

"He hurt me more than anyone has ever hurt me before. It was the most painful thing that has ever happened to me, even when he had me tied to a chair while he was ranting about taking over the world. It was worse than when my father died. He always wanted to prove to me that he knew better than I did and that was how he was finally going to do it, by hurting me with the only person I ever truly trusted other than him."

"I'm so sorry," Kara said. "I didn't mean it. I just wanted... I just wanted you for me. For Kara, not for Supergirl. I need you, and now I've lost you."

Kara's shoulders hitched and her pulse raced. A small cough bubbled out of her lips and Kara fell back in the bed, quivering.

"No, no, no, Kara, no you haven't," Lena said, cupping Kara's face in her hands. "Lex was just trying to show me someone I let myself love betraying me. What he showed me instead was that I let myself love you. I love you too! Kara! Kara!"

Kara convulsed, and Lena held on for dear life, gripping Kara's ribs to avoid being thrown into the ceiling.

"Kara, Kara snap out of it! Kara please, don't!"

The scatter field dropped, and J'onn seized Lena around the waist, hauling her off the ruined bed. Red light bathed the cell, and Lena screamed.

"Don't, without her powers the toxin will kill her-"

Brainy pulled her back as J'onn forced Kara down, her powers already fading from the intensity of the red sunlight filling the chamber. J'onn grunted as he forced Kara onto her side.

Alex rushed in behind him, carrying an auto-injector pen. She yanked down the collar of the sweatshirt Lena had given Kara and rammed the needle into the meat of her deltoid, the pen clicking as the spring-loaded mechanism pumped Kara full of whatever Alex had put together.

Lena held her breath, waiting. Kara went limp under J'onn's grasp, collapsing into the bed, her eyes fluttering shut. Sprawled out and sodden, she lay in a puddle of her own sweat, breathing shallowly.

"We should move her to the DEO," said Alex. "To one of the med bays, and then to the sunbed if she needs it."

Lena nodded. "Do it."

"You're coming, too," said Alex.

She did. Lena ended up riding in the back of a plain black cargo van that concealed a secret ambulance, sitting next to Kara as she lay on the gurney, the others packed in around them. When they reached the DEO, Alex and a team of agents rolled Kara into the medical bay. Alex stepped back as the DEO medical staff began hooking Kara up to the monitors.

"You should get some sleep," said Alex. "Lena, it's seven in the morning. You've been up all night."

"Have I?" said Lena.

"Yeah," said Alex. "It's done, I injected her with an antidote. She's going to be okay."

"How did you do it so fast?" said Lena.

Alex folded her arms. "I called in some help from someone who's familiar with the Scarecrow's work. He's coming in to check on her as soon as he can."

Lena nodded. "Guess I'm wasn't the one who gets to save her this time."

Alex cocked her head, giving Lena an unreadable look.

"Are you sure about that?"

Lena sighed and rubbed at her eyes.

"Get some sleep," said Alex. "That's an order."

"I don't take orders from you, Agent," Lena said, bitterly.

"That chair folds into a bed," Alex said, sighing.

Alex left her alone with Kara in the room, and Lena felt a strange, heavy sensation and felt her knees sag. Alex trusted her enough to leave her alone with her sister, Lena realized. Licking her dry lips, Lena leaned down by the head of the bed and gently took Kara's limp hand in her own.

"You better be okay," she said. "You can't just drop something on me like that and then... and then..."

Kara's hand squeezed, ever so slightly, and her lips curled into a thin smile before her face went slack and she drifted into a deeper sleep.

Lena half-stumbled to the chair, leaning it back, and awkwardly curled up sideways beneath a thin blanket.

When she woke up, the lights were out. Kara lay in the bed on her side, and Lena sucked in a sharp breath as she stood, carefully and silently approaching the rail. She let out a slow sigh of relief when it hit her that Kara was lying on her other side, now, having turned in her sleep. She lay curled, peacefully, one hand pillowed beneath her head. The monitors showed a perfect, normal heart rhythm, steady pulse, and a mild fever.

No, Lena corrected herself. That wasn't a fever. Kara just ran hot.

The temptation to wake her was unbearable. Lena brushed the loose hair back from Kara's face and watched her, sleeping, looking strangely small and vulnerable here for all her strength.

A shadow passed over her.

Lena jumped, pressing a hand to her chest, only to clamp her own hand over her mouth as she thumped back against the wall. She had enough presence of mind not to scream when she realized who had spoken.

"You must be the expert Alex called in."

Looming in the doorway, the Batman nodded. He strode into the room with nearly inhuman grace, dark cape billowing behind him. He fussed over the monitors and Kara's IV drip, checking where the needle was taped to her hand. Lena blinked and looked up, realizing they were bathed in partially red light.

The huge, silent figure spent a few more moments looking over Kara. He finally turned away.

The Batman regarded her for a moment, then nodded and left silently, disappearing from view. Lena wondered if Alex even knew he'd been here.

"Lena," Kara murmured.

Wearily, Lena stood and moved to Kara's side, taking her hand.

"My head hurts."

"I know, darling. It's going to be alright."

"Will it?" Kara whispered, her eyes heavy with unasked questions.

Lena bent down and pressed a soft kiss to Kara's warm forehead.

"Yes."

Chapter Text

People had been telling Kara about heaven ever since she'd arrived on Earth.

Humans, she had decided, were a terribly morbid species. The human cultures she'd experienced seemed fixated on death and spent so much time obsessing over eternal rewards or eternal punishments, justifying or condemning each other by the promise of unseen eternities. Kara was a scientist from a scientific culture, or at least, she'd been raised that way until she was an adolescent.

Now, as she opened her eyes, she understood why the idea of heaven mattered to humans so much: This was heaven, here, now. Even though she woke to every muscle in her body aching as if it had been pounded by a meat tenderizer, a dull ache in her chest, and a throbbing in her temples, Kara found her vision filled by the soft, beautiful face of a sleeping Lena Luthor, curled beside her in the hospital bed.

Soft ochre light hued her skin and lips, giving a rusty cast to her inky dark hair. She was sound asleep, face half turned into the pillow shared with Kara, both hands wrapped around one of hers. Kara didn't dare move, barely breathed. She wanted this moment to last forever.

In a way, it would. When people asked her what it was like, what it meant to be Supergirl to be Kryptonian, they wanted to know what it was like to fly or pick up a fire engine or run faster than thought. They wanted to know what bullet impacts felt like (they still hurt) or if she could breath in space (she couldn't). They never asked about the important things.

Things like being able to see almost the full electromagnetic spectrum, or watch the people around her flush with life and color, to hear sounds so soft or so loud or so high or low pitched that they were lost to humans.

Or what it was like to have a truly eidetic memory.

One of the first changes Kara experienced when she fell to earth was the perfection of her memory. She simply stopped forgetting things as the normal fatigue and stress her brain experienced just stopped, though she didn't realize that at the time.

This moment, here, now, would be hers forever. No matter what happened when Lena woke, Kara would always have this one moment of bliss, waking up to her after telling her the truth, feeling the soft embrace of their hands, full of promise, as if Lena thought Kara might melt away in the night if she let go. She would be able to keep this forever.

Or would she?

The creeping feeling came back again.

Nothing is forever, a tiny voice whispered. Not even your memory. How much capacity does your brain have? How many memories can it hold? What happens when you run out of capacity? What happens when she's old and gray and you're not, still sun-kissed and twenty-four and perfect. What happens when you have to bury her?

Kara blinked the thoughts away, trying not to stir, trying to wake Lena.

Yes, she could keep this moment forever.

But there were others, too. This felt like heaven, but Kara had seen hell.

"Supergirl, slow down," Kara's earpiece chirped, as she circled the building.

"Why, what's he going to do, jump out and shout 'boo' at me? He's a guy in a mask, Alex. I don't know why these Gotham villains keep thinking they can just show up in my city."

"He's extremely dangerous," Alex said, "Just be careful. Take it slow and wait for backup."

Kara kicked her feet down and descended, landing on a second floor walkway that ran along the outside of the building. NCPD had traced a drug trafficking operation to this warehouse just as the DEO had run down a source of a new, dangerous street drug, called "Drop."

It made people feel like they had superpowers, and sometimes it seemed like they did. Everyone reacted differently. There had been accidental overdoses, deaths, public incidents. This had to stop and Kara was going to put a stop to it now, tonight.

She walked along the catwalk and bathed the area in her x-ray vision, sweeping the building and the surrounding structures. Inside was a modest, professional operation. Twenty or thirty workers moving product, a dozen armed guards, and overseeing it all from the office above the production floor, the target.

Johnathan Crane.

The Scarecrow.

The Gotham Police had sent their files on him, and a detective named Renee Montoya had flown across the country to join the hunt. Kara looked back over her shoulder and saw the DEO team and local SWAT mounted up and ready to hit the building.

"Remember the plan, Supergirl," Alex said. "You go in through the front door and give the tac teams cover-"

"He's just sitting alone in his office," said Kara. "Why can I just grab him? He's just a guy with a burlap sack over his head, Alex. I don't even see any weapons."

"He's not some thug. He's smart. He's given the Batman trouble, Kara."

"The Batman isn't from Krypton," Kara said, wryly. "Look, I just want to get this over with."

Alex sighed, a tinny rasp in Kara's ear. "What's with you, lately?"

"Nothing, it's just... Lena has turned down my last three lunch invites. She never turns me down."

"Kara," said Alex, "Maybe she just needs some space, after everything that happened with her brother."

"Something's wrong, Alex, I just know it," said Kara. "We can talk about this later. Where is everybody?"

Kara was practically tapping her foot in annoyance, arms folded over her chest. She paced the catwalk.

"Moving in now. Remember the plan. We cover the exits and take the building floor by floor."

Kara looked again, focusing her vision through the walls, watching the heart beat in the Scarecrow's human chest. Sweeping the building, she froze when she heard a tiny sound. She hadn't noticed before, but there was another room off the main production floor where they were making and packaging the drug.

It almost looked like a nursery. There were babies. One of the workers walked inside and scooped up one of the kids.

"Alex, hold off," said Kara. "There's kids in there."

"Okay, Kara, stand down, wait for us to-"

"I'm getting him," Kara said.

"Wait!"

Kara punched down with her heels and the catwalk shuddered with a metallic squeal as she lifted off, the world see-sawing beneath her before she dropped down, crashing through the roof, into the third floor of the factory. She strode along the walkway to the foreman's office and casually slapped the door out of the frame, sending it splintering across the room.

The Scarecrow sat in a chair, facing away from her, unmoved.

"I suppose you're here to arrest me," he said, without turning. He was counting money, putting stacks of bills into an automated counting machine. Bills continued to flick as it tallied them.

"I'm putting you out of business," said Kara. "You're going to rot in a jail cell."

She slapped the cash off the table and spun his chair around. He squealed as she did, recoiling in the seat, a skinny little man in a burlap mask, the eyes and mouth sewn shut with heavy yarn. A noose dangled down his chest in place of a necktie.

His voice was soft, amused.

"I'm afraid not," he giggled, and thrust out his hand.

A puff of green-white powder hit Kara, fluffing over her face and neck, stinging her eyes. She jumped back.

"What is this?" she said. "This isn't going to work on me."

"Oh, I made that just for you, Supergirl," said the Scarecrow, standing. "With a little help from my friends."

Kara blinked, swiping the powder from her eyes. It stung, gritty beneath her eyelids. She blinked a few times, trying to well up enough tears to get it out, but it was stinging her nose and tongue, too, burning on her skin. When she pulled her hands back, she saw the telltale glow of Kryptonite poisoning beneath her skin even as the itch began to spread, burning down her body.

"Wh-what is this?" Kara gulped. "What did you do?"

"Kara?" Alex said. "Kara, what's happening? Kara, did he douse you with something? Kara?"

Her stomach clenched, closing in on itself like a trembling fist. Kara took another step back, sagging to her knees. A nameless, formless dread spread in her belly, and she pressed her eyes shut as her vision began to blur.

It hit her all at once. Not a voice in her head or nightmare imagery, worse than that. An absolute, total certainty.

Lena Luthor is dead.

Kara knew it. She just knew it, like she knew that today was Tuesday or her name was Kara or Alex's favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner was the apple crumble, she knew it like she knew she could fly or that the sun would rise tomorrow or that another breath was coming. She knew with absolute, terrifying conviction that Lena Luthor was dead.

From nowhere, Kara's mind blanked and she was in Lena's apartment, standing there in her supersuit, and Lena lay before her, a perfect round hole in her temple streaked with dried gore, her perfect dark hair in a sticky hard fan from the blood, a note in one hand and a gun in the other...

Kara opened her eyes, and stumbled backwards. The Scarecrow moved towards her, growing with each step. As he approached, maggots boiled from his mouth, straining at the thread holding his pallid lips shut, and the burlap was gone, his mask now a strange pale leather hanging in loose folds as thick black blood ran in runnels from his sewn-shut eyes, and his voice was like a razor blade on fraying violin strings.

"Tell me, Supergirl? What are you afraid of?"

Kara screamed, turning, lashing out. She might have killed him, she might have just shattered a wall.

Lena's dead, Lena's dead, Lena's dead, Lena's dead, lenasdeadlenasdeadlenasdeadlenasdead...

Her body parted brick and glass and iron like rotten wood and she was out in the open air, flying in a direction she hoped was up. Alex spoke in her ear but the words were swallowed in pained screams and shrieks and voices, so Kara ripped the comms out and threw the little earbud as hard as she could, until it cracked the air like a bullet.

When she opened her eyes, the world was boiling. Vast rents in the earth tore through National City, vomiting great gouts of green flame that seared her skin. When she looked at her hands she saw the flesh melting away, white bone poking through putrid green rot as the massive wave of k-rads boiled through her. The ground bucked far beneath her feet and in the distance, the world rumbled and a vast geyser of green flame erupted.

Oh Rao no not Earth too

She needed help, she needed... Lena.

Kara flew, trying to tell herself it wasn't real, but it was real, she knew it was real, she could feel the burning.

No, no, it couldn't be, if this was real she'd be dead by now. It couldn't be real. Lena. Lena would know what do. Lena would help. Lena always figured things out, Lena always saved her. Lena would make some gadget or serum or something. Lena would fix it.

No, wait. She couldn't. Lena was dead.

The air pressed in around here. Kara pushed up, high above the city, faster now, the air a gale in her ears. She felt the sudden press as the air grew turbulent, tighter, then expanded in her wake in a terrific blast. A sonic boom.

She had to slow down. She remembered to slow down, landing almost lightly on Lena's balcony. She didn't remember flying here, even; it was all automatic. She tried to open the door but tore it apart instead, shattering the glass.

Stumbling inside, she bumped into something, then stared at the green boils on her skin, trying to blink them away.

"Stay right there," a voice said, "I've called the police. They're on the-"

"Lena?" Kara rasped out.

It was her. She was alive. Kara blinked, staring at Lena, wishing she could see herself as Kara saw her: a being of radiance, alive with light. The pale glow of the light from her office, the bloom of heat on her skin, a glow of a thousand hues Kara had no words for. She was a raven-haired angel with a revolver, the most beautiful thing Kara had ever seen. Alive, and real. Kara blinked.

If she's alive, then it's not real.

Kara almost laughed.

"Is it you?"

"It's me, Supergirl. Why did you break into my apartment? What do you want?"

Supergirl. There was so much venom in those three syllables. Lena hated Supergirl, and it was Supergirl standing in her apartment, now. Supergirl the sanctimonious, Supergirl the judgmental, Supergirl the intruder. Supergirl who abandoned her dying world and was forgetting her culture, Supergirl who ruined everything.

Everything that has ever mattered to you dies, and now this. She hates you, you utter fool. Why would she help you? Why would she care?

"Are you okay?" Kara wheezed. "You have to be okay."

Kara's heart pounded in her chest, hammering against her ribs, faster, faster, faster, making her hands shake even as she let her fingers ghost gently over Lena's skin.

"I have to tell you something," she croaked out.

Kara jerked awake as Lena's knuckles ghosted down her cheek, smoothing the hair away from her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to will back the hot sting of tears that fell anyway. Lena was propped on one arm, watching her.

"You fell asleep," she said. "It must be the red sun lamps."

Kara wanted to tell her how beautiful she was in this pale imitation of Rao's sacred light, but she sensed other presences in the room. She rolled onto her back found Alex infusing a syringe into the intravenous line running into Kara's arm.

"What's that? What's going on?"

"Easy," Alex said, gently pushing Kara down into the bed. "It'll take some more time for the toxin to completely work its way out of your system. This is an antidote."

Kara blinked a few times. "I feel fine," she lied.

"You probably do," a soft voice said.

Kara jerked when she saw the figure filling the doorway. Massive and solid, the caped figure paced into the room, standing behind Alex to look over the monitors and examine Kara's chart.

"Uh," said Kara, "Hi, um, Batman."

He looked at her sternly. "She should be fine tomorrow morning, but simply flushing out the toxin doesn't erase the mental effects."

Alex nodded.

"Where's the Scarecrow?" said Kara. "Did he get away?"

"Batman and Nightwing brought him in," said Alex. "He's in a holding cell now."

Lena sat up, folding her legs beneath her. Kara noticed she'd changed her clothes. Her hair was down and she'd removed her makeup, and was wearing an oversized sweater and leggings. Just the sight of her stole Kara's breath, and that was before she rested a protective hand on Kara's arm.

"What's going to happen to him now?" said Lena.

"He goes back to Arkham," said the Batman.

"Not yet," said Lena. "I want to know how he managed to tailor the toxin to Kara's physiology and successfully bond it to a modified version of Kryptonite. I read over his work. This is outside of his capabilities."

The Batman stared at Lena, and she stared back.

"He's in a holding cell. I'll talk to him."

"We'll talk to him," said Lena.

Kara could practically feel the staring contest taking place in front of her, and sank back into the bed. Alex cleared her throat.

"Let's give them a little more time to rest."

There was a strange emphasis on the way she said them, and her gaze lingered on Lena for a moment. If she had an opinion on Lena having slept in the bed beside Kara, she didn't offer it. Instead, she followed Batman out of the room, turning to take one last look at Kara, then at Lena.

When they were gone, Lena slowly fell onto the bed, leaving Kara lying next to her, both of them staring at the ceiling.

"I'm still mad at you," Lena said, matter-of-factly.

"I know," said Kara. "I'm really sorry, Lena, I am. I should have told you. I wanted to and I had so many reasons not to and I-"

"Did you mean it?" Lena said, softly, cutting her off.

"Which part?"

Lena turned and looked at her. "The part where you said you were in love with me."

Kara froze, her throat tightening. It was hard to talk, hard to form words.

"Yes," she said. "When the fear toxin took effect, it was like everything I was ever afraid of was happening at once. I saw Earth starting to explode like Krypton, and Kryptonite burning off my skin, and just every awful thing there was, but what scared me most was that I was so sure I was never going to see you again, that I lost my chance. I love you."

"Kara-"

"I love you," said Kara.

"I know," said Lena, sighing.

Kara let out a brief, contented sigh. Shew knew. She knew. No matter what happened, at least she had that. At least Lena knew.

"I've been very angry with you," said Lena. "You lied to me. When Lex told me, all I could think was all the horrible reasons you must have had to keep it from me for so long. I could understand hiding it for weeks, or months, Kara, but years. Years! We were best friends! I told you everything about myself, and you were pretending to be two different people. It wasn't fair."

Kara winced at the was, not sure what we were best friends meant, but she forced herself to stay calm, worrying at her fingers to keep her hands from trembling.

"That was messed up. I know that."

"Why? Why'd you do it?"

Kara struggled, working her jaw silently, trying to form the words.

"I was scared," she said. "I knew you liked me as Kara and all I wanted was for you to like me. To want me."

"I do," Lena said, very softly. "I always have."

"Lena?" Kara said, sitting up. "What does this mean? Where are we now? What are we?"

Lena looked away from her, staring down at the bed.

"I wasn't hit with Scarecrow's poison, but I got a taste of my worst fear last night, too, Kara. I thought your heart was going to burst in your chest. You were dying in my arms."

Kara reached for her, then stopped herself, hands falling away from Lena's frame.

"You mean everything to me," said Kara. "I was stuck. Every choice I had would hurt you. I tried to tell you on the plane, when we were leaving Kasnia. I tried to tell you before that. I wanted you to know. I think I was dropping hints without realizing it, trying to get you to guess so I wouldn't have to do it myself."

Lena swiped at her eyes, and Kara realized, with a painful hitch, that she was crying, trying to hide it.

"While you were out, I thought about something," said Lena. "Remember when Morgan Edge tried to poison the city?"

"Yes," said Kara.

Lena swallowed. "I had to jump up and grab your hand, remember?  You couldn't hold both ends of the plane at once."

"I could," said Kara, "But the metal was tearing, and-"

"Kara," said Lena, cutting her off. "Please. Just tell me the truth. If I hadn't made it, if I'd fallen or I couldn't make the jump, would you really let that load of chemicals fall into the water?"

Kara swallowed hard, trying to wet her dry mouth. "Yes."

"I wouldn't want you to do that," said Lena.

Kara sat up fully and leaned in, tentatively reaching for Lena. When she didn't pull away, Kara gently pressed her hand to Lena's cheek, feeling the softness and warmth and velvety comfort of her skin, breathing out a sigh.

"I would have frozen the reservoir with my freeze breath, or flown around and around it really fast and carried it into space, or something. No matter what, I would never drop you. I will never give up on you. I will always be there for you, as long as you'll have me."

"Even if I'm not worth it?"

"You'll always be worth it," said Kara. "You're so good and you try to so hard to be good, and I ever failed to trust you, that was wrong. I should have been honest from the start."

"Kara," said Lena. "I need... I don't know what I need. I can't just... I can't just stop being angry."

"I don't want you to," said Kara. "You don't owe me anything. If you decide you don't... that you don't want me, then I will respect that. I don't want to hurt you ever again. I've done enough of that already."

Lena shifted her weight, turning in the bed, and slipped her arms around Kara's waist.

"I do want you. I want this. Us. Kara, I... I never imagined that you might be attracted to me. I thought it was entirely one-sided."

Kara smiled into Lena's hair, burning her fingers in the soft curls. "That makes two of us, I guess. I didn't think I could be that lucky."

"What do you want?" said Lena.

"I want to be with you. Completely. Honestly. I just don't want to be Supergirl all the time. Everyone else sees me as Supergirl first. Even with Alex I'm the weird alien that dropped into her life when she was a teenager, no matter how much she loves and protects me."

"Well," said Lena, "It's Kara that I love. Supergirl is kind of a bitch, to be brutally honest."

Kara winced. "That was me, Lena. We... Rao, listen to me. I am the same person. I'm just one person. The suit just makes me a little..."

"Sanctimonious?" said Lena.

"Yeah," said Kara, "Yeah, maybe. When I put on that crest I'm representing an idea. It's a legacy. I'm not just me, I'm the last daughter of Krypton, I'm the last Super on Earth. It's a lot."

"I hadn't thought of that," said Lena. "With Clark on Argo, you must be all alone here now."

Kara blinked, stiffening.

"Oh," she said.

"Yes, I figured it out. When you mentioned that bit about flying to my office on a bus, I remembered how it was Clark that introduced you to me, as his cousin. Clark Kent, the reporter with a bodybuilder physique, dark hair, and blue eyes, has a blonde-haired blue eyed cousin, and since Superman is Supergirl's cousin... I really was blinded by how hard I fell for you."

Kara shivered. "Really? Even then?"

"Maybe a little," said Lena. "Or a lot. You really are adorable in your preppy little outfits, Kara."

"Oh. Oh."

"Sexy, even," said Lena. "I always thought it was in my head, but you really were checking me out, weren't you?"

Kara swallowed.

"And you really like it when... wait."

Kara swallowed. "What?"

"So you're Supergirl."

"I thought we were over that."

"You have x-ray vision," Lena said, sitting up a little. "And you keep staring at my chest!"

"Lena!" Kara blurted, "I wasn't... I wouldn't..."

"Kara, I definitely noticed you staring at my boobs. That time at the gala, or on the Daxamite ship..."

"I didn't need x-ray vision on the Daxamite ship!"

"Kara!"

"Lena, I swear, I never used my powers to check you out. I was just looking like a normal person."

"So you were looking."

Kara swallowed and nodded, trying to read Lena's enigmatic, smirking expression.

"Did you go to spin class with me just go get me all hot and sweaty?"

"No," Kara said, swallowing thickly. "I just wanted to do friend stuff with my friend."

"That's why you weren't sweating, isn't it? At all?"

Kara nodded, sheepish. "I don't really need to exercise."

Lena sighed. "I hate you."

Kara tensed, sucking in a sharp breath.

"I'm teasing," said Lena. "God, it's so easy to just be this way with you. I almost forgot how angry I am."

"What if you just do that? Forget being mad at me."

"That wouldn't be very Luthor of me."

"Lena, what if we're just Lena and Kara. No Luthor. No Danvers, or Zor-El."

"Is that your name?" said Lena. "Your real name?"

"Kara Danvers is my real name, just as much," said Kara. "But on Krypton I was Kara Zor-El, daughter of Zor-El and Alura In-Ze."

Lena studied Kara's features. "So you take your father's name as a surname? Superman's real name is Kal-El, isn't it? I remember reading that in one of his interviews with Lois Lane. So is that the family name? El?"

"Male children just take the family name," said Kara. "It's tradition."

"So if I married you, what then? I'd be Lena Zor-El or what?"

Kara blinked, and her mouth fell open. "If you what?"

"The look on your face," said Lena. "Let's not rush things. We haven't even been on a second date."

"I didn't know we were on a first date."

Lena smiled sadly. "I think we were on the longest first date in Earth history, Kara."

Kara sighed, pulling Lena closer. She shivered, tucking her chin into the crown of Lena's head.

"What's wrong?" Lena whispered.

"I keep thinking this is going to be some kind of cruel fear toxin dream, and I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone. Dead or hating me or..."

Lena squeezed Kara, hard, tugging her into a tight hug. "It's over now."

"It's not," said Kara. "Those fears were all there before, I just learned not to face them. He didn't make me fear anything new, he made me afraid of what was already there."

"You're strong, Kara. You'll survive this."

"All I want now is to spend the rest of my life making up for hurting you, Lee."

"All that matters right now is that you're okay," said Lena. "Are you going to be alright if I leave for a while?"

"Why?" Kara said, sharply.

"I need to talk to the Scarecrow."

"I'd rather you not go anywhere near him."

"You can't protect me from everything, Kara."

"I can try," said Kara. "I wish you weren't so involved in these things already. I don't want you to get hurt by being dragged into my world."

Lena snorted against Kara's chest. "That's what I was thinking when we were running through L-Corp, dodging bullets. And there you were, catching them to protect me."

Kara tensed. "I'm sorry-"

"Stop apologizing," Lena said. "Stop it right now."

"Okay," said Kara.

Lena shifted, rolling on top of Kara. "I'll be back."

"Okay," said Kara.

"I want you to get some more sleep."

Kara nodded, tensing. Lena studied her, green eyes flickering as they took in Kara's features, settling on her lips.

"Is this okay?" Lena said, very softly.

"Yes," said Kara.

Lena bent down and pressed a closed-mouth kiss to Kara's lips, and Kara arched under her, eyes wide, before letting them drift closed. Lena's soft kiss lingered, offering just a hint of more before drawing away, leaving Kara suddenly, achingly breathless. She was reluctant to let Lena go, her hands falling from Lena's waist.

"I'll be back soon. I promise."

"They might move me to the sun bed," said Kara.

"I'll find you," said Lena. "I'll always find my way back to you."

Chapter Text

"It this supposed to scare me?"

Lena watched through the one-way glass as the Batman loomed over Johnathan Crane, now dressed in a DEO prisoner's jumpsuit and bereft of his mask, which hung from the Batman's hand like sloughed-off skin. The skinny little man stared defiant at the hulking, caped figure.

"Oh, Batman," he said. "I know how this ends. I get shipped back to Arkham until I escape again, and you go back to brooding on a gargoyle somewhere. You don't scare me."

"Why are you in National City?" said the Batman. "You could have gone anywhere. Why here?"

Batman slammed his fist onto the table, and Crane didn't even jump. They'd been at this for hours. Alex stood to one side, leaning against the wall in the interrogation room, arms folded under her chest, looking bored.

Lena paced the room, padding softly in the sneakers she'd hastily thrown on before taking Kara to the lab. There was a file folder on the work table. Lena leafed through it. The DEO lab had broken down samples of the Kryptonite-laced toxin and analyzed it. Lena skimmed through the pages, looking for something without quite knowing what.

Crane looked past Batman, into the glass. If Lena didn't know better, she'd think he was looking at her.

"Is she out there, right now?"

"No," said Alex.

"She is, isn't she? What did she see? What's the goddess so afraid of?"

Lena's jaw tensed, until her teeth began to ache. She looked around the room, scratching at her chin.

"It was so magnificent to see her squirm," said the Scarecrow. "I put so much effort into tailoring the toxin to her unique physiology. Seeing the Girl of Steel just turn into a quivering wreck in front of me was... well... something. It must just be my masterpiece."

Lena saw red. Fire surged in her chest, and her jaw clenched so hard she feared her teeth might crack. Lena snatched the file from the table and carried it back out into the hallway.

That bastard didn't just hurt Kara, he delighted in it. It was almost...

A shive rolled down her spine as she stared at the pages. As she suspected, Crane's work was ingenious, but the more she read, the more she began to see indications. Fingerprints. He'd had help.

Someone must have provided him with the Kryptonite, for one thing.

Stepping back to the doorway, Lena peered at the interrogation room. Batman was still looming, but Alex had stepped in to play good cop, circling the table and talking to Crane, who followed her with interest, eyes roaming.

"I've had enough of this," Lena muttered.

She found what she was looking for in the medbay.

Searching through a supply cabinet, she found what she needed. Lena carefully poured some talcum powder into a glass specimen vial and tightly closed the lid, and hurried back to the interrogation room.

There, she slammed her fist onto the buzzer beside the door. Alex looked up from her reverie and stepped out into the anteroom.

"Lena?" she said. "How's Kara?"

"Sleeping, I hope," said Lena. "She was fine when I left her. I don't want to be gone long. She's still nervous."

Alex nodded. "Just because Crane's poison has left her system doesn't mean the fear will," said Alex. "She has super-memory too, Lena. It's going to take her time to get over something like that."

"I know," said Lena. "We'll be there to help her with it."

Lena subtly emphasized the 'we'.

Alex nodded.

"I need the room. Give me five minutes alone with Scarecrow."

Alex frowned. "Why?"

"Trust me."

Alex tensed, visibly. Lena glared at her, until she softened and rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

"Please, Alex," said Lena.

"Fine, why not. It's not like we've been getting anywhere with him."

Stepping back into the room, Alex whispered in the Batman's ear, standing on her tip-toes to reach. The hulking figure nodded once and followed her out, leaving the door standing open. Lena suppressed a shudder as he passed, deliberately not meeting his eyes.

Once they were out, Lena stepped inside. Crane was cuffed to a u-bolt in the middle of the table, though he didn't look like much of a threat to anyone either way. He was be about ninety-five pounds soaking wet, scraggly and drawn, like he'd skipped a few dozen meals. Lena had to remind herself that this man had been fired from his university post for psychologically torturing students until they required hospitalization.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Should I?" said Crane.

Lena picked up her chair -Crane's was bolted to the floor- and wedged it under the doorknob behind her. Alex immediately rushed to the small window in the door itself, and Lena met her frantic gaze with a small nod. Alex looked at her with concern, but nodded back.

She turned to Crane.

"I'm Lena Luthor."

Crane smirked. "Of course you are. I should have realized."

Lena stepped over to the table and dropped the file in front of Crane.

He looked her up and down and quirked his thin lips in a mirthless smirk. "So, the rumors must be true."

Lena ignored him.

"I read over this. It's fascinating. The way you bound the fear toxin to the Kryptonite is crude, but creative. What really piques my curiosity is how you were able to tailor the formula so precisely to Supergirl's brain chemistry."

Crane tilted his head to the side, locking gazes with her.

"You're a scientist, aren't you? Of course you are, just like big brother. MIT?"

Lena said nothing.

"You STEM types like to dismiss psychology and psychiatry."

"I respect psychiatrists. The brain is an intricate, complex system that we're only just beginning to understand. You're not a psychiatrist, Crane. You're a cheap knock-off Mengele with a goofy costume who uses your gimmicks to rob banks. I'm not impressed."

"And here I thought I might be speaking with an intellectual equal, but I an see you're just as crude as the rest of these brutes. Maybe you should give some of my products a whirl," said Crane. "Then we'll see who's a cheap knock-off."

Lena smiled. "I'm not worried about that. I already inoculated myself against it."

Crane snorted. "For now. My work continuously evolves."

Lena pulled the small vial out of her pocket and put it on the table.

"What's that?" said Crane.

"I had a chance to play around with your formula a little bit," said Lena. "After collecting a sample from Supergirl. I knocked out the Kryptonite, of course. Don't need that for it to work on a human subject."

Crane eyed the vial nervously, his gaze frequently flicking to Lena.

"I refined it, also," she said, collecting the vial from the table. Slowly, she began to twist the lid open. "I increased the strength about fifty times."

"That's insane," said Crane. "At that level of potency, the subject would be dead within hours..."

"Three hours," said Lena, "three hours of the most agonizing terror you could possibly imagine, give or take."

Crane licked his lips.

"You get off on it, don't you?" said Lena. "I'm a quick study. I looked at your original research back when you were with GCU. How did you justify exclusively female subjects to the ethics board?"

"I was too smart for them," said Crane.

Lena circled him, lazily dragging her finger around the cap on the bottle. "You're all the same, you know. You villains with your silly costumes and your toys. You're all just little boys in playsuits taking revenge on your mommy."

She leaned down. "So what was it? Did mommy lock you in the closet when wet your bed?"

Crane jerked towards her in a wordless snarl, rattling his handcuffs.

Lena held out the vial.

"Ah ah ah," she said, "Wouldn't want me to drop this. It'd be nasty if I spill it."

"You'd die too," said Crane.

"I already told you, I'm protected. Did you really think I'd bring this in here if there was any chance it would harm me?"

Crane stared at the little bottle, a bead of sweat sliding down his brow.

Good, Lena thought. Good.

"You needed data on Kryptonian physiology," said Lena. "I want to know where you got it."

"I'm not telling you anything."

"Spiders?" said Lena.

"What?" Crane blurted.

"Is it spiders? Rats? Heights? I just want to know what you're going to see when this starts shredding your brain."

The door jerked, and Lena saw Alex pushing against it, staring at her through the small window.

"You're not going to do that."

Lena smiled at him, sitting on the table at his side. "They wouldn't, of course. The agent is a cop. She wants evidence. She wants to investigate. Batman is a superhero. The heroes are all the same, even Supergirl. They puff themselves up on self-righteous arrogance and mistake it for moral purity. The same supposed moral purity that leads them to let murderous psychopaths like you live."

Crane swallowed.

"You're locked in a room with a Luthor and a vial of concentrated fear toxin. The only thing between you and this," she shook the bottle, "Is my goodwill. So I think you'd better start answering my questions, Crane."

"I was hired," said Crane. "It was confidential. Everything was done through an intermediary. They set up a transfer to an outpatient facility so I could escape, gave me a file on Kryptonian brain chemistry and a supply of Kryptonite, and paid me to set up shop here."

"Must have been a big payday to make you go after Supergirl."

"Five million up front, another ten when I finished the job. Enough to disappear and get out of the game."

Lena smiled. "So you're just another mercenary."

"Oh," said Crane, "no. A friend of mine once told me, if you're good at something, never do it for free. I didn't mind the chance to see what my creation would do to her. It was magnificent, miss Luthor. Watching Supergirl cower in fear was..." he sucked in a breath that reminded Lena of a connoisseur, savoring the finish of a fine wine. "It was, frankly, erotic."

Lena's face fell.

"The best part?" said Crane. "Now I know who Lena is. That's what she kept saying, after I hit her with it. Lena, Lena, Lena. You must be very special to her, and here you are, Lex Luthor's sister, all fraught over Supergirl. My, my, my." He looked her over. "I can see why."

Lena's jaw clenched. She marched to the door, yanked the chair free, and pounded her fist on the door.

"Get me out of here," she snarled.

"She really is a peach," Crane said, grinning behind her. "Does she wear the outfit for you? Whose idea was the skirt?"

"Shut up," Lena hissed.

"Are the rumors about Batgirl true?"

The door buzzed, and Lena shoved the chair aside.

"You think I'm the only one?" said Crane. "Someone paid me a lot of money to give your little girlfriend a scare. I'm not the only one. This is just starting, Luthor. This is just starting. You have no idea who's coming for you."

Lena stared at him for a moment, then casually flicked the lid off the jar and threw the vial at Crane's chest, dousing him with a cloud of powder.

The Scarecrow screamed, thrashing against his bonds, howling in terror for a solid half minute before he settled down, panting, staring at the white powder covering his chest and arms.

"Is this... is this baby powder?"

"Oh," said Lena. "Did I scare you?"

She turned her back on his stream of curses and threats and slammed the door, panting. Tossing the file on the desk, she sagged against it.

"Did you get all that?"

Alex nodded. Beside her, the Batman turned to the one-way glass, stroking his chin with his gloved hand.

"Any idea who'd have hired him?"

"Someone who has it out for Supergirl," said the Batman. "Not a short list."

"It shortens considerably when you factor in fifteen million dollars, and the connections to get Crane out of Arkham. I'd start by looking at that outpatient transfer he was talking about."

The Batman said nothing, turning to leave. He paused in the door.

"I'll look into it."

Then he was gone, disappearing into the hallway.

Lena turned to Alex.

"Jesus, Lena," Alex whispered. "Holy shit."

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt Kara," said Lena, meeting Alex's gaze evenly. "Understood?"

Alex nodded slowly. "I... I have a lot to apologize for, Lena. I'm part of the reason she didn't tell you earlier. I practically ordered her not to, the first time she told me she wanted to."

"Why?"

"She's my little sister. She's an invincible alien from another galaxy, but she's still my little sister."

"I'm more than my family name," said Lena, coolly.

Alex nodded. "That wasn't the only reason," said Alex. "I'm not stupid. I know how she looks at you. I was worried she'd expect telling you to take things in a certain direction, and I was afraid you might not be open to that."

"You need to work on your gaydar, Agent Danvers," said Lena.

Alex snorted. "I didn't even ping myself on gaydar, Lena. But yeah, it sucks. I had no idea."

Lena just smirked. "There's a lot about me you have no idea about."

"Eww," said Alex, "eww, I am not having sex chat with my little sister's girlfriend with the Scarecrow in the next room."

Alex glanced over at the glass.

Lena smiled at that, glancing at the frothing, furious Scarecrow, his voice muffled now that the microphones in the room were shut off.

"Lena," said Alex. "Please don't hurt my little sister."

"Alex," said Lena, "you don't have to worry about that. I'd worry about me hurting whoever it was that set all of this up, because when I get my hands on them..."

Alex's jaw tightened.

"Now I have to worry about you, too, don't I?"

Lena snorted.

"I don't want there to be bad blood between us," said Alex.

Lena looked at her evenly. "Then you shouldn't have talked Kara out of telling me the truth. I was starting to hate her for it, you know. I was starting to spiral."

"Look," said Alex, "we don't have to be friends, but for Kara's sake, I don't want us to be enemies."

"We don't have to not be friends, either," said Lena. "We could start with you not ordering me around like I'm one of your agents."

Alex looked thoughtful. "As long as you start explaining things to people instead of strutting around like this is L-corp. Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you."

Lena pushed down a surge of anger, for Kara. "Fine, fine. Truce."

"By the way," said Alex. "Did you really buy a multinational media empire for the girl you were crushing on?"

Lena blinked.

"She's the one who was going to drop a plane load of deadly chemicals to save my life."

"That wasn't the only time she saved you," said Alex. "Remember when Edge poisoned you with cyanide? Kara flew you here in her civilian clothes and risked exposing her identity to save your life. You'd be dead twice over without her."

Lena swallowed. "It's a lot more than twice. I can think of three more times off the top of my head."

Alex smirked. "Good."

"I hate you," Lena muttered, but there was no heat in it.

"Go see her. It should be time to get her onto a sunbed."

"I thought you said you were going to stop giving me orders."

Alex threw up her hands. "Fine. Please, miss Luthor, if you would be so kind as to go see your girlfriend before we pump her full of solar energy, I would be much obliged."

"I think I will," said Lena, "And for the record, I do not strut."

Alex snorted. "If you say so, Luthor."

Lena stopped in a bathroom to scrub a bit of talcum powder off her hands before she returned to the medbay and found Kara snoozing on her side. She immediately perked up when Lena entered the room.

"What happened?" she said, groggily.

"I had a talk with the Scarecrow. He was paid by someone to lure you in and attack you, Kara."

Kara sat up, swinging her long legs over the side of the bed. "Any idea who?"

"Not yet. Batman is on it. I didn't know you were friends, by the way."

"We're not, really. He's Clark's friend. They team up and now and then, you know how it is."

Lena's brow arched. "I know how it is?"

"Nevermind," said Kara, slipping off the bed. "They came by and took the IV out while you were gone."

Lena took Kara's hand, running her fingers over the back of Kara's palm.

"There's no sign of the wound," said Lena.

"I heal really fast, even under the red light."

Lena looked up, meeting Kara's gaze.

"I'm insatiably curious, but I don't want you to feel like some kind of specimen. You're still my Kara."

Kara jerked slightly, visibly startled. She smiled wistfully and started to dart forward, then caught herself, looking a little confused. It was adorable.

"Here," she said, then leaned in and kissed Kara.

Kara froze in place, then kissed her back, softening. Touching her, running her hands up Kara's sides, she was surprised. She'd hugged and been hugged by Kara, of course, but it had always been reserved, chaste. Side hugs and awkward embraces with hips far apart. This was nothing like that. Kara broke from the kiss and molded into Lena, sliding her hands up Lena's back.

"How are you so soft?" said Lena. "Bullets bounce off of you but you're soft."

Kara flexed a little, taut muscles working under Lena's hands.

"Okay, not that soft," said Lena. "Have I ever told you that I love your muscles?"

"No," said Kara, "but you're welcome to start."

"Well, I do," said Lena. "So, apparently you need to lie on a sunbed now?"

"Lying under these red lamps has weakened my powers," said Kara. "Walk with me?"

Lena nodded and took Kara's hand, letting their fingers twine together.

"Is it hard, controlling your strength? You're always so gentle when you touch me."

"It's not so hard now, but it used to be when I first started to develop powers," said Kara. "I had to be very careful and it was difficult to do anything. I'd break or bend everything and I was constantly worried about hurting people. I could barely tolerate being hugged."

"Really? You?"

Kara smirked, shooting a sheepish look at her feet. "It wasn't just that. Physical contact is... less common on Krypton. I come from a culture that's much more reserved."

"You could have fooled me," said Lena. "You've been hugging me ever since we met."

Kara looked at her, and Lena realized she wasn't wearing her glasses. Her soft curls were pulled over one shoulder, and she was the most beautiful sight that Lena had ever seen. Lena looked, really looked, and wondered how much of it had been denial. Kara was Kara. Supergirl was Kara in a costume.

When they reached it, Lena decided that the sunbed didn't look very comfortable at all. Kara would be lying on lamps as well as surrounded by them. With a resigned sigh, Kara climbed on and fell back, folding her hands on her stomach. Alex, who'd been waiting for them, urged Lena back before turning on the system. The light was unbearably bright.

"How long does she have to stay in that thing?" said Lena.

"At least a few hours," said Alex, turning to Kara. "I want you off Supergirl duties for a few days, unless there's an emergency, so you can have some time to charge up naturally."

"But whoever hired the Scarecrow is still out there," said Kara.

"Right, but going out and getting caught up in another trap isn't going to help track them down, Kara," said Alex.

"But I can't just do nothing," said Kara.

"She's right, darling," said Lena.

Two things happened at once, and both of them involved the Danvers sisters staring at her. Kara looked taken aback that Lena had so casually agreed with Alex, and Alex just stared at Lena and mouthed darling? with a quizzical look on her face.

Lena met the elder Danvers' gaze levelly, then turned back to Kara.

"Maybe there's more you can do than go charging in somewhere to throw a punch, Kara. I know you're intelligent and crafty. Why don't we use that brain of yours instead of your fists?"

"What do you have in mind?" said Alex.

Lena looked from one Danvers to the other. "Were either of you really planning to just sit here while a man in a bat costume does all the investigative work?"

"No," said Alex.

"Good. Kara, you stay here and rest. I'm going to go with Alex, and we're going to get to work."

Kara frowned, but Lena quickly added, "If I set foot under those lamps, I'm going to burn to a crisp."

"She has a point, Kar," said Alex, smirking.

Kara shifted uncomfortably on the bed, staring plaintively at Lena. Lena stepped closer, ducking briefly under the lights to press her lips gently to Kara's cheek.

"At least four hours," said Alex, her voice oddly tight. "Got it?"

"Got it," Kara muttered, folding her arms.

In the hallway, Alex said, "I'm going to have to get used to this."

Lena eyed her. "Get used to what?"

"You being so... affectionate," said Alex. "And Kara being with someone again. It went poorly last time."

"You mean Mon-El," said Lena. "She... talked about that."

"I still feel guilty for pushing her into it," Alex admitted, "Then for trying to push her to get over him instead of grieving. Then he showed back up here again and she got all twisted up about it. She's had a rough time with relationships."

"Is this your way of starting the 'if you hurt my sister I'll kill you' conversation?" said Lena.

"No, if I wanted to say that I'd just say if you hurt my sister, I'll kill you," said Alex, cheerily.

Lena quirked an eyebrow.

"Where's Brainy?"

"At his desk," said Alex.

"The DEO has covert and probably illegal access to all sorts of data, doesn't it? I want to get to work."

Alex muttered something to herself, but nodded. "Fine, let's go."

They found Brainy at work at his computer terminal, engrossed in something. Alex cleared her throat and he spun around in the chair, looking from Alex to Lena and back again.

"Director Danvers. Lena."

"Brainy," Lena said, "The Scarecrow was transferred out of Arkham and escaped during the transfer, I need to know who-"

"The transfer order was for an outpatient procedure," said Brainy, turning back to the monitors. "I began gathering data on this as soon as I was informed. Crane was to be moved from Arkham to an outpatient surgical facility in Metropolis."

"They couldn't do that in-house?" said Alex.

"Normally they would, but Crane was to see a specialist at the Luthor Memorial Hospital."

Alex glanced at Lena.

"I know the one," said Lena. "My father built that one, when Lex and I were children. I remember the grand opening."

"I accessed appointment records for the practice in question," said Brainy.

"That's definitely illegal," said Lena.

Alex shot her an annoyed look, but ignored the comment. "And?"

"There was never any appointment at the office for Crane, but when I pulled his records, I found that one of the physicians did sign the order, so it was genuine. This man, Dr. Emory Moser."

Brainy brought a file up on screen.

"What do we know about him?"

"Moser has a gambling problem," said Brainy. "He was almost certainly bribed. Last month, he bought two season passes to Gotham Generals football games. Or, they were purchased in his name."

"Why is that significant?" said Lena.

"Money laundering," said Alex. "He could make a lot of money selling those tickets, especially if they make it to the playoffs this year."

Lena snorted. "Right. Where'd the money come from?"

Brainy turned back to the computers. "As far as I can tell, the funding for the season tickets came from a sale of cryptocurrency on a foreign exchange, which was then transferred through a series of shell companies with seemingly random names."

"Give me a list," said Lena. "I want to see the names."

Brainy nodded, printing them out for her.

"What do we know about the escape itself?" said Lena.

"Crane was broken out during the ambulance trip, by three men who were assumed by police to be part of his gang."

"What ambulance service?"

"Gotham Medical Transport Services, LLC. They're clean," said Brainy.

"Are they?" said Lena. "Who owns them?"

Brainy turned back to the computer and typed.

"Pulling up the corporate records now. Hmm. Turns out they're owned by another LLC, probably a shell company. One moment."

Lena folded her arms and tried not to look as anxious as she felt.

"GMTS is owned through several shell companies that trace back to an offshore company called Bucephalus Enterprises."

Lena glanced at Alex.

"That mean something to you?"

"Bucephalus was the name Alexander the Great gave his horse."

"Lena, a word?" said Alex. "In private?"

Lena nodded, and followed her into a conference room. Alex closed the door and sagged against it.

"While Kara was sick, you said you killed your brother for her. What, exactly, did you mean?"

Lena's face fell, but she schooled her features quickly. She weighed her options, glancing past Alex at the DEO agents working on the other side of the glass.

"After Lex used a portal to escape when Kara disabled his Lexosuit, he traveled to one of his hideouts. I was already there waiting for him. He had video of Kara. Surveillance footage. It showed her using her powers. He exposed her identity to me."

Alex swallowed. "I see."

"He threatened her. He wanted me to join him. He expected me to be heartbroken and angry that I'd been lied to, and help him hurt her. Kill her. I was angry, Alex. I was incredibly angry, and very hurt. I wasn't thinking clearly. Part of me thought about hearing him out, and then he made it clear that he was about to dedicate his life to hurting Kara the way he'd dedicated his life to hurting Superman. I couldn't let that happen again. I couldn't let that happen to her. So I took the gun he gave me on my twenty-first birthday and I shot him five times in the chest and killed him in cold blood."

Alex studied Lena, her features blank and unreadable. Then, she took a single step forward and embraced Lena, throwing her arms around her. Lena stood stone still for a moment before haltingly returning the hug, blinking hot tears from her eyes as she began to shiver in Alex's arms.

"I'm so sorry," said Alex. "You shouldn't have had to do that."

"I did it," said Lena, "and I'd do it again. I'm just glad that I was knocked out of my spiral before I let it eat me alive."

"Does Kara know?" said Lena. "Has she mentioned it?"

"She hasn't," said Lena. "I don't want to tell her. I wish I hadn't said anything, but I was almost ready to lose my mind with fear, Alex. Kara was dying. She almost died in my arms."

Alex drew back, folding her arms.

"So what are we thinking?"

"Lex loved his contingency plans," said Lena.  "What if it's him?"

Before Alex could answer, there was a knock at the door. Brainy was standing outside, holding something in his hand.

"This was just delivered to the lobby. We have the courier in custody."

Brainy held out a small package, wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine. An address label was slapped on the paper, reading only SUPERGIRL.

Alex and Lena looked at each other.

"I don't want Kara anywhere near that," Lena said.

At the same time, Alex said, "Has that been checked for explosives?"

"It's clean," said Brainy. "It appears to be a cardboard box containing a VHS cassette."

Alex looked at her, and Lena frowned. "Do you have anything that can play that?"

"In the lab," said Alex. "Let's go."

J'onn joined them. In the lab, he donned a pair of heavy gloves and carefully opened the package, first cutting the twine before carefully removing the wrapping paper, unfolding one part at a time.

"Should we get Kara?" said J'onn.

"Leave her be," said Alex.

Lena nodded in agreement.

The group stood around Lena, tension heavy in the air as Brainy slipped the tape into the VCR. It made a thumping noise, and the video played on the monitor beside it.

Lex appeared on screen, dressed impeccably in a dark suit and power tie. He was seated in their father's study in the Luthor Mansion, one leg thrown over the other, hands resting on his knee. He looked almost giddy.

"Hello, Supergirl. I hope this message finds you well. You won't be for long. If you're watching this, then I am dead. Perhaps I underestimated you, and you had the guts to finish me off before I destroyed you. Or it could have been Lena. I always suspected she'd turn traitor for a pretty face and winning smile. Are you there, beloved sister? Did you bury me? How was the funeral?"

"Turn this off," Alex said quietly.

"No," said Lena. "We need to watch it."

"I swore I'd destroy you and save the world from alien domination," Lex went on. "I'm not so arrogant as to think that I might never fail. I prepared a contingency for that eventuality. A dead mans' switch, if you will. If I don't transmit a signal to a network of my agents at regular intervals, the contingency will be put into effect. If this tape has been delivered, then the plan has already gone into action, and there is nothing you can do to stop it... Kara."

Alex froze. Lena looked at her, and everyone in the room looked at the two of them.

"I'm going to take you apart. I'm going to ruin everything that makes you you, Kara. I'm going to take everything away from you, just like you and your wretched cousin have done to me. My vengeance will be swift, total, and brutal. I've arranged to direct all of the vast resources at my disposal to destroying you. And then..."

He looked directly into the camera and smirked.

"I"m going to kill you in every way that matters."

"Brainy," said Alex, "Get back upstairs. I want all hands on deck. Call everyone in, right now. I need you deep diving into anything that could potentially be connected to-"

Lena grabbed Alex's wrist, and looked at the screen.

Lex peered through the camera at them.

"I think we'll start off with a bang," Lex said. He glanced at his watch, in an expansive, theatrical gesture. "By the time you've inspected and played this tape, the opening phase of my magnum opus should already have been initiated. I call this opening act, 'The Gwynplaine Protocol'."

The tape ended, leaving them looking at each other.

"What the hell is a Gwynplaine? Lena? Does that mean anything to you?" said Alex.

Lena swallowed, hard.

"Gwynplaine is a character from a Victor Hugo novel," said Lena. "Called The Man Who Laughs."

Chapter Text

Kara was pacing when they came back for her. The sunbed had done its job; she could feel the energy soaking her cells and longed for the real thing, to feel the brilliant touch of Sol's light and absorb her gifts. She needed to feel strong again, to fly again. So, she was off the sunbed and pacing the room anxiously when Lena came back with Alex.

"Kara," said Lena, "My brother is behind the attack."

Kara's stomach dropped. Lena's lips thinned and her nostrils flared, her eyes growing watery. The beat of her heart sped up, and tiny muscles in her forearms quivered, joining those around her eyes.

"Can I have a moment alone with her?" Lena said, turning to Alex without looking at her.

Alex met Kara's eyes and nodded, her own heavy with concern. Something in the way she looked at Lena, sad and protective, made Kara's heart lift a little. She wanted peace between them. She wanted more than that.

As soon as they were alone, Kara stepped forward, then caught herself before resting her hands on Lena's arms, keeping her distance. Lena was working herself up, steeling herself.

"There can be no more secrets between us, Kara," said Lena. "From now on, we tell the truth. Always."

"Always," Kara promised, without hesitation.

She would make any promise, swear any oath, meet any condition. She knew Lena wouldn't ask her, that she would only demand this. She should demand it. It was her right. Kara had lied so long and so hard for so long that Supergirl was almost a different person in her head.

"There's no easy to way to admit this," said Lena. "I don't know if you heard me or not, when you were suffering from the fear toxin, so I have to make sure you know, and understand. I killed my brother, Kara."

Lena's voice cracked as the words escaped her lips, and she punctuated them with a tiny shake of her fists, the tears escaping her eyes. Kara hesitated, unsure what to do, whether she would be welcome. All she wanted in the world was to wrap her arms around her best friend, but she waited.

"Lena... can I... may I..."

Lena answered the question by stepping into Kara's arms, wrapping her own around Kara's waist. Kara embraced her immediately, squeezing just a big harder than she ever had before, burying her fingers in Lena's hair as she was wracked by silent sobs, exploding into Kara's shoulder. Kara said nothing, standing still and stroking Lena's back.

"I killed my brother," Lena said again, as if to convince herself.

"Lena, I'm so sorry."

Lena's gaze shot up, and Kara froze.

"Why?" Lena choked out, her fists tightening in the material of Kara's sweatshirt. "Why do you have to be so goddamn understanding? You're a superhero! Tell me there was another way! Tell me I was wrong! Tell me I'm a murderer and I deserve to be in a cell!"

"Lena, I..."

Kara's mind flashed back to that night years ago, when Morgan Edge was so hellbent on destroying Lena that he was ready to kill a city to do it, and Kara was ready to let him if it meant keeping Lena in the world.

"He was going to kill you eventually," Lena rasped against her shoulder. "He expected me to betray you and join him. He would never let me go. We could never just be us as long as he was alive. I had to do it, Kara. I had to!"

"I know," Kara whispered, so very softly.

"If I was anyone else, you'd arrest me," Lena shouted, shoving Kara back. Kara let herself be shoved.

"Maybe," said Kara. "I don't know. It doesn't matter if it's you."

Lena hissed, drawing in a pained breath. "It didn't even matter. I killed him and he's still coming after you." She let out a choked, sad little laugh. "This is almost funny. Isn't it?"

"Lena-"

"You lied to me for years, for years, to protect me, wasn't that your excuse? You're the one who needs protecting, Kara! You're in danger because of me!"

Kara rested her hands on Lena's shoulders, pulling her in.

"I'll be okay. I'm always okay. I'm... I'm Supergirl, Lena."

Lena crushed herself against Kara. "Will you? Will you be okay next time? How many times have you almost died, Kara? Just since we've met?"

Kara swallowed. "I've been in trouble a few times-"

"I was there," Lena said, suddenly, eyes flying wide with shock. "I was standing there with James when Reign almost killed you. I was right there when you crashed into the pavement, Kara! You almost died right in front of my eyes!"

Kara's throat tightened. She had no idea what to say, what advice to offer, how to make it make sense for her, so she just held on and let Lena rage against her.

"You could have died that night and I'd never have known," Lena said, pulling away enough to look into Kara's eyes. "Don't ever do that to me again. Ever."

Kara brushed the back of her knuckles across Lena's tear-tracked cheek, cupping the warm skin against her palm.

"I will always come back to you. I promise. You killed your brother, Lena. I don't care. I don't care because it's you."

Kara said the words, but something nagged at the back of her mind. If she would kill Lex, her brother, that little voice said, what else is she capable of? Kara dismissed that voice as best she could, tamping it down. She wasn't sure if it sounded like Clark or Alex or perhaps both, but she didn't like it one bit. She bit her lip instead and gently ran her fingers through Lena's soft, dark hair, bending to press a kiss to the top of her head. Lena pressed into her.

"Promise me, Kara. Promise. No matter what it takes."

"I promise."

Lena sucked in a long, shuddering breath, and exhaled against Kara's neck, the warmth tickling her flesh.

"What happened?"

"He sent us a message," said Lena. "A threat and a boast, in his usual style. Apparently he planned for his own demise and those plans have gone into action." Lena snorted. "I am already sick of this bullshit."

"What bull..." Kara started to say.

"Were you going to say bullshit?" said Lena. "You were, weren't you?"

"Golly, no," said Kara. "What do you mean, Lena?"

"Heroes and villains. All of it. I'm so tired, Kara. I'm tired of assassins and monsters and alien invasions."

The thought came to her on its own, bubbling up in the back of her mind. That was the problem, wasn't it? It was never Kara that hurt Lena, it was Supergirl. It was her other half. It was her duty. A sick twist churned her stomach.

There was a knock at the doorway. Kara tenderly brushed Lena's hair back into place and released her, letting Lena brush at her cheeks until she merely looked tired and drawn, her soft lips curled into a weary frown. They both turned to Alex.

"We have a problem," said Alex.

"What kind of a problem?" said Kara.

Alex hesitated, shot a quick glance at Lena and said, "A supergirl problem. There's, uh, a tyrannosaur tearing up the National City Museum."

"Jesus Christ," Lena muttered, under her breath.

"I'd better go," said Kara. "Uh, my suit?"

"Lena let me send agents for it while you were out, Kara. It's ready. Here."

Lena quirked an eyebrow at the paper Trader Joe's shopping bag that held Kara's suit. She shifted uneasily on her feet, looking from Kara to Alex and back again, before stepping beside Kara's sister. Kara almost wanted to invite her to stay.

"It's clean?" said Kara, taking the bag. "No Kryptonite?"

"It's clean," said Alex. "Lena? We can wait outside."

Once she was alone, Kara shed her DEO sweatsuit and began putting on her Supergirl uniform. It felt strange, suddenly. Normally she felt powerful when she put it on, when the cape fell from her shoulders, but now it was as if it was weighing her down, dragging on her back when she stepped out of the sunroom and met Lena and Alex.

Alex looked on as she always did, with a touch of worry and even more pride, folding her arms. Lena looked at her intensely, her expression almost unreadable before the soft tremble of her lip gave it away. She glanced around the hallway and stepped in quickly, and before Kara knew what was happening, Lena was pressing a soft, chaste kiss to her lips.

There was no corny line, no banter. They just looked at each other and Kara nodded, giving Lena a lingering look before she walked to the control center and to the balcony, feeling the eyes of the agents on her. J'onn and Brainy watched her, the former looking on solemnly.

"Comms?" Alex said.

Kara accepted the earpiece and tucked it into place. Arms folded, Lena watched, finally turning away as Kara ascended to the balcony and pistoned her legs, rising into the brilliant rays of the afternoon sun.

The flight to the museum took only a few minutes. Kara circled the complex once, scanning the building in her x-ray vision. There was, indeed, a dinosaur tearing its way through the Kryptonian exhibit, full of artifacts donated by her cousin, some from the Fortress itself. Kara frowned, watching the creature pick up a diorama of the Science Council chamber in its jaws and fling it across the room.

"Kara?" Alex said, in her ear. "What do you?"

"It's a dinosaur," said Kara, "Except..."

She focused harder, and frowned in confusion. The dinosaur had no bones. In fact, it seemed to have no internal structure at all, like an undifferentiated mass of biological goo.

"...except it's not," she finished. "It's some kind of shapeshifter. No bones or internal anatomy."

"Be careful," said Alex.

The National City authorities had set up a perimeter, and the museum had already been evacuated. Kara set down outside and walked in through the lobby, just in time for the tyrannosaur to bellow at her, turning and spreading wide its huge jaws, filled with dagger teeth. It took an earth-shaking step forward, roaring again, then bent low and lunged with astonishing speed for such a massive animal.

Kara braced, sliding her booted feet apart, and punched it in the jaw as it surged forward, jaws wide. Her fist connected with rough, leathery hide and the animal's jaw slammed shut, its head snapping around with a meaty whap.

Eyes full of strange intelligence, it turned with the blow and swung around, thick muscular tail swiping towards her. It struck her square in the stomach and carried her off her feet and into a concrete wall, shattering it with the force of the blow. Kara grabbed the tail and pulled, dragging the animal around, frustration surging through her limbs. She was not in the mood for this.

It stumbled, the massive black claws on its feet tearing gouges in the tiled floor of the museum, and its head smashed into a replica of Kal's pod, ripping it from the cables that suspended it from the ceiling. The broken spaceship went spinning across the room and the tyrannosaur roared.

Razor sharp rakes over invulnerable skin, digging into her flesh as its jaws closed around Kara, picked her up, and threw her. The world spun crazily as she smashed into another wall, the ground shaking as it charged.

Kara shot up, teeth bared in rage. She'd had enough of this. Whatever this thing was, she was done with it. As it tore across the open ground of the museum atrium, Kara brought her hands together with all her might, the shockwave blasting exhibits off their pedestals as the dinosaur was thrown back, toppling over its own mass.

It was thrown back, swinging up, and fell. Its feet went out from under it, and it landed with a titanic crash, shaking the ground beneath Kara's boots. She started forward, but as soon as the animal hit the ground, it melted, its shape collapsing into a mass of pale, brownish goo, almost like wet clay. Kara skidded to a stop as the mass reformed, elongating and twisting into a new shape, and suddenly there was a fifty foot long cobra rearing up over her head and striking at her.

Kara dodged.

"Alex, what is this thing?" Kara shouted into her comms.

On the other end, Alex sucked in a breath. "That's Clayface!"

"Claywha-"

It twisted, bending around her, and Kara was caught in its coils, arms pinned her to sides with shocking strength.

Only for a moment. She shoved the coils apart, gritting her teeth.

"Whatever you are," she snarled, "Surrender now, or-"

The massive snake laughed, fangs quivering with mockery. It simply melted again, this time surging in on her from all sides, thick, weirdly muscular muck sliding up her arms and legs, crushing her chest. It swallowed the light as it closed in, and suddenly Kara was enveloped, completely surrounded and compressed by what seemed like endless mud. It forced its way into her nostrils and pinned her jaw shut, and she could feel it moving and sliding against her.

A scream bubbled in her throat but could not escape, bubbling the gummy muck in her nose. Pure panic surged through her. Too close, too small, too dark. Kara twisted and swung her fists and kicked but nothing she did would free her.

"Wonder how long you can hold your breath?" a distant voice rumbled, bubbling with mirth.

It pushed in closer, squeezing, trapping her. The mud shoved into her ears, swallowing all sound. Panic surged in Kara's chest, pushing bile into her throat. Too small, too small, too small.

"Kara!" Lena said, her voice distant through the comms.

Kara's eyes snapped open, stinging from the mud, and the monstrous thing screamed in shock and agony, the muck tearing away from her face as Clayface retreated from her heat vision, the entire muscular mass of the creature hurling her in a single, massive compression of tissue. Kara tumbled, sliding across the floor, and crushed a concrete column to powder.

Clayface's gurgling, muddy mass swirled together, rising in a column from the floor as he took shape, a hulking, bestial approximation of a man made of fluid earth. He roared.

"That hurt!"

"You think that hurt?" Kara snarled. "I'm taking you in. Stand down now before I have to hurt you."

"You'll have to catch me first," Clayface bellowed, and he disappeared in a whirlwind of mud, compressing down until a little girl was running from Kara, pigtails bobbing as she ran towards the waiting police line.

"Help! Help!" the little girl called.

"Wait!" Kara shouted, darting out of the building. "Get back, that's-"

Clayface shapeshifted again, form exploding and reshaping itself in a whirl, and suddenly there was a fifteen foot tall, insectoid alien shrieking at the crowd through slavering, doubled jaws, inner teeth lashing out and snapping as it kicked and stomped through the police lines.

The milling crowd broke out in a panic, running in all directions, screaming, trampling each other as the police rushed to keep order, and failed.

The alien loomed over a real little girl, rearing up, clawed hands spread wide to strike.

"Get away from her you... jerk!"

The alien's head caved into a crater of mud as Kara punched it aside, driving it away from the crowd. Cheers erupted from behind her as Kara drove it back with blow after blow, but it was like punching the earth itself. Every blow simply cratered his claylike form.

Clayface dropped the pretense, morphing back into himself, only to swing one huge slabby arm, his fist morphing into a wall of bricks that crashed into her and shattered as he sprouted more arms, lashing out at her with blades and drills and hammers, pounding her this way and that, shredding her cape.

"Kara!"

It was Lena.

"Kara, freeze him!"

Kara's eyes shot open wide, and she pulled in the biggest breath she could, and blew. The superchilled air in her lungs surged out, washing over Clayface, encasing him in ice.

Kara hovered for a moment, then came to a landing, heels thudding on the ground.

Bent back by the force of her breath, Clayface was frozen solid, covered in a shimmering layer of frost.

"Kara," said Alex, "We're on our way. We'll get him in a containment unit. Just keep him chilled."

It took another twenty minutes before the DEO arrived. Kara had to blow on the muck monster several times, keeping him frozen while agents cut him apart with power saws and loaded the frozen chunks into containment to cart him away. Kara ended up standing by the truck with her fists on her hips, looking at the pavement.

The museum was wrecked, the milling crowd was still terrified, and emergency services were tending to people injured in the panic. Kara rolled her shoulders, steeled herself, and walked into the crowd, trying to reassure as best she could. She took pictures with people, hugged little girls, and did her best to assure everyone that it was alright.

It wasn't the same. Half of her was somewhere else, it seemed. Lena hadn't come with Alex and the agents, and now that the action was over, Kara was gripped by a ghost of that certainty, a shade of the feeling that she was in mortal danger or dead, refusing to uncoil itself from the back of her head.

"You need to go," Alex finally said, "so go."

Kara raced back to the tower, rocketing across National City before landing on the balcony, harder than she meant to. Lena was sitting at a workbench with Brainy, but jumped to her feet and took a few halting steps before stopping, as Kara wearily trudged back inside. Lena stood up when she saw Kara land.

She then took a half step, then stopped.

Kara held up a hand. "Wait. Let me get cleaned up. I think I still have some Clayface on me."

Lena, and several agents, grimaced at that.

"Go get cleaned up," said Lena, trying to hide a tremble in her voice, betrayed by her quickened pulse.

By the time Kara had thoroughly washed her hair and changed back into a DEO tracksuit, Alex and J'onn had joined Lena in the command center.

"Okay," said Kara. "What was that about?"

"I was wondering the same thing," said Alex. "Why was Clayface attacking a museum in National City? His usual MO is mercenary work, bank robberies, fraud. He's hooked up with other villains before, but..."

Lena winced when Alex used the v-word, but Alex didn't notice.

Lena wrapped her arms around her ribs and drummed her fingers on her arms.

"Lena?"

"I'm trying to think like my brother."

Alex shot Kara a look, and Kara scowled back. Not now, Alex.

Lena must have noticed, but she was kind about it, at least.

"I played hundreds of games of chess with Lex," said Lena. "I know how his mind operates, and that was before I read through his journals."

Kara stepped close to Lena, almost reaching for her hand before catching herself.

"Listen to her," Kara said, to no one in particular.

"If Clayface was there to steal something," said Lena, "a big public display like that makes no sense. Clayface is a shapeshifter; he could have been in and out of the museum without anyone even realizing he was there. He literally could have turned into the museum curator and walked out with anything he wanted."

"So you think he was luring Kara there on purpose," said Alex. "He did try to suffocate her. Maybe Lex put a price on her head."

"He almost certainly has," said Lena.

To Kara's surprise, Lena reached out and ran a reassuring hand down the length of Kara's arm.

"But, Lex would know that someone like Clayface doesn't stand a chance against her. Eventually, Kara would have stopped holding back, and brought him in. Brainy?"

Brainy "A diversion?"

"A diversion?" said Alex.

"To lure me there and keep my attention away from somewhere else," said Kara. "Brainy, did anything happen while I was fighting Clayface?"

Brainy turned to his terminal. "Nothing significant, at least... wait. An alarm system was tripped across town at..."

"At what?" said Kara.

"At an offsite lab belonging to L-Corp," said Brainy, turning to Lena.

"Which one?"

Lena rushed to the terminal before he could answer, and Kara pressed in behind her.

"What sort of lab?" said J'onn.

"Research and development for a wireless data transmission project the company is working on," said Lena. "Better cell phones, basically. Nothing groundbreaking. The lead researcher doesn't even report directly to me, she reports to my head of R&D. It's nothing dangerous or significant."

Alex scratched her chin. "Let's operate under the assumption that it is significant," said Alex. "What does this tech do?"

Lena shrugged. "Incorporate quantum entanglement into communications signals for instantaneous communications," said Lena, "but at this point, it's a curiosity. It doesn't exactly fit into a cell phone. The research equipment takes up an entire building."

Alex glanced at Kara, then at Lena. "Is there any chance that Lex has agents or loyalists inside L-Corp, Lena?"

Lena sighed. "I've done everything I can to root them out, but I can't guarantee there aren't. Everyone working on the advanced projects and in sensitive areas of research is vetted and then vetted again, and I review their backgrounds myself. I'm well aware of the danger of Cadmus infiltrating L-Corp, but we don't develop weapons or military technology anymore."

"And your lab?" said Alex.

"A fortress," said Lena. "I doubt even Kara could get in, if I didn't want her to. Only I can access it. The entrance requires a retinal scan, biometrics, DNA, and a passcode."

"Luthor DNA?" said Alex.

"My DNA," said Lena. "No other Luthor could open it unless they share my exact DNA. Not even Lex could have gained access. In any case, there's nothing dangerous in my lab. I destroyed my research on Kryptonite after Reign was defeated."

Kara nodded, meeting Lena's gaze. She tried to show her trust in her eyes, but Lena looked away.

"We need to get people down there and find out what happened," said Alex. "Let's keep a low profile. I'll take a team."

Kara shifted on her feet. Lena looked at her briefly, then away.

"Then..." Lena began. "Right. I'm going home."

Kara looked at Lena, then Alex, and glanced around the room. A cold ball coiled in her stomach. Lena glanced at Brainy, then at Kara, unconsciously worrying at her lip with her teeth.

"Come with me, Kara."

"I should change, first," said Kara.

Kara's heart was pounding while she slipped out of the supersuit and pulled on DEO sweats, having nothing else to change into. Lena seemed to relax when Kara rejoined her, carrying the suit folded in a bag.

"Your cape is torn," Lena said, looking straight ahead.

"Oh, yeah," said Kara, and sighed. "I'll have to see about fixing it."

Neither of them spoke as Kara followed Lena to the motor pool, and an agent drove them back to L-Corp. Kara hesitated, only for Lena to motion her to her car. She drove them back to Lena's penthouse in silence, seemingly lost in thought.

When they were finally inside, Kara wanted to relax, but the balcony door was still shattered. Kara stared at it, rubbing her arms. To Kara's surprise, Lena found a broom and dustpan and began sweeping up tinkling glass while Kara stood by, awkwardly.

"I'm sorry about your door," said Kara.

"I'm a billionaire," said Lena, "I can afford to fix it."

Kara just stood there as Lena dumped the broken glass into the wastebasket, her throat growing tighter and tighter.

"Lena," said Kara.

"You have clothes in the guest bedroom," said Lena. "Change out of that. Please. I need you to be Kara right now."

Kara swallowed, trying to relieve the pressure and breathe easier. In the guest bedroom, which rivaled Kara's entire apartment in size, Kara found some of her clothes left over from a movie night of times past, and changed quickly. There was a hair tie in the adjoining bathroom, and Kara pulled her hair into a messy ponytail.

When Lena saw Kara, she visibly relaxed, letting out a soft sigh, but then she stopped, staring.

"Oh. Your glasses."

"They're at my apartment," Kara said, weakly. "I could... I could go get them, if you want."

"No," Lena said,  "No, Kara, it isn't like that. I just...  I need a break from it all for a minute. Can you help me?"

Kara could have done it for her faster than the eye can see, but she restrained her powers as Lena hung a thick blanket and fixed it in place over the broken door. Kara stood beside her, arms folded around herself, as Lena made sure there was no draft.

"Do you want to talk?" Kara said, very softly.

"I want to scream at you," Lena said, turning sharply to Kara, "and I want to latch onto you and never, ever let you go. I don't know which one I want more. Maybe both. Maybe I should do neither."

Kara said nothing, worrying at her fingers. She waited, as Lena regarded her cooly, every inch the CEO.

"How many times, Kara?"

"How many times..."

"How many times did you fly off and almost not come back?"

Kara looked down at the floor, sighing. "I don't know. That's the honest answer. I can think of a few off the top of my head, but there's probably some I forgot about. What does that tell you?"

Lena said nothing. Instead, she tugged at Kara's threadbare, comfy old sweatshirt and avoided her eyes.

"The first time we ever met," said Kara, "I saved your life."

Lena looked up. "If you think-"

"No," Kara said, taking Lena's hands. "No, Lena. I don't think I've earned you, or you owe me something. I'm just saying... I know what it's like to worry about someone. I've spent so much time worrying about you that I've memorized your heartbeat, so I can just listen and know you're okay."

"That's not fair," said Lena. "I don't get to do that."

"Come here," said Kara.

"What?"

"Lena, please."

Lena looked at her for a moment, then nodded. Kara gently guided her forward, taking Lena's head to her chest, pressing Lena's ear to her breastbone. Lena was quiet for a time, and wrapped her arms around Kara almost unconsciously. Lena's eyes drifted shut, and she listened.

"It is soothing, isn't it," said Lena.

"I have a hard time with my senses," said Kara. "I have to consciously filter everything out. I use sounds to help me concentrate. I've always used Eliza's heartbeat, after she taught me how, or Alex's. But now I mostly use yours. You're my anchor."

Lena let out a choked sound. "You were dying in my arms."

"That seems to be a constant for us," Kara said, sadly. "Being my friend is never going to be easy, Lena. Especially now that you're in on the secret."

Lena looked up sharply.

"Kara," said Lena, "Let me be abundantly clear. I don't want to be your fucking friend."

"Oh," Kara said, a deflated gasp that barely escaped her lips. Her heart seized and her stomach dropped through her knees, and-

Lena crashed her lips into Kara's, with such force that Kara just barely remembered to flinch with it, to keep Lena from hurting herself. All thoughts followed that one into a void as Kara was enveloped in the realty of kissing Lena Luthor, of the softness of her lips, the heat of her breath, the needy, probing intensity of her tongue. Pure passion radiated from Lena into Kara and her knees went weak at the sudden reversal from absolute dread to elation.

Without even realizing it, Kara had scooped Lena from the floor, lifting her into a bridal carry.

"Oh Jesus," Lena blurted, breaking from the kiss. "I forgot you could do that."

"I've done it before," said Kara, "a couple of times when you had too  much wine. I carried you to the bed."

Lena looked at her through her lashes, her voice low and syrupy. "I thought I dreamed that."

Even as Lena spoke, her hands were not idle, caressing and squeezing. She seemed particularly fascinated with Kara's arms and shoulders, the sweep of her neck and the cut of her jaw. Before Kara knew what was happening, Lena was kissing her again.

"Lena," Kara said, breathless.  "We should stop."

"What?" said Lena. "Why?"

"This is... this is fast," said Kara. "I don't want you to regret... being with me."

"Presumptuous much?" said Lena.

"I'm serious," said Kara. "We've both been through a lot, and I don't want to rush this. I want you to be sure. I want things to be solid between us. I want it to be more than suddenly blowing off stress because we know we can."

"Kara, I've wanted to kiss you for years," said Lena.

"So have I," said Kara, "we can wait a little longer. Please, Lena. Besides, there are... we need to talk first."

"Then set me down," said Lena. "Carrying me around like this and expecting me to control myself is incredibly unfair."

Kara nodded, and gently placed Lena's feet on the floor.

Lena poured a glass of wine, waiting for Kara to nod before offering her one.

"Does this even do anything for you, Kara? The wine, I mean."

"It tastes good, that's all," said Kara. "I hate that brown stuff you drink."

Lena sighed.

"I can get drunk," said Kara. "It just takes something stronger. Usually alien. I'll get hammered with you, if that's what you want."

Lena turned the tumbler of wine between her fingers. "I don't know what I want. I just know I want you, somehow. What do you need, Kara? Do you need to take the lead? Do you want to be swept off your feet?"

Kara bit her lip.

"I... we don't have to do anything any differently from what we've always done. We were already so close, it just seems like... we don't need to complete a checklist before we can be more than friends. That wasn't what I want to talk about."

Lena rested a hand on Kara's.

"I do want to be sort of swept off my feet, though. I always have to be the hero..."

Kara winced, painfully aware of how badly she'd stuck her foot in her mouth, but Lena smiled sadly.

"You don't have to be with me."

"Thank you," Kara said.

"I still like the muscles."

"Well, yeah," said Kara. "That's umm... I'm worried about doing anything physical with you, Lena. I've never actually been intimate with anyone but..."

Lena's face pinched. "Right. Mon-El, because he was as strong and durable as you are."

"Almost," Kara corrected. "Daxamites aren't quite as powerful as Kryptonians."

Lena took a sip of wine. "If that isn't a ringing endorsement of a guy's skills, I've never heard one."

Kara barked out a laugh. "Lena!"

Lena shrugged, genuinely smiling at Kara in what felt like the first time in an eon.

"I want this with you," said Lena. "I want my Kara."

Kara's breath caught. She wondered, again, if Lena understood the full import of those words, what they'd have meant in Kryptonese. Lena was studying her eyes.

"You like it when I say that. My Kara."

Kara nodded, knowing she was blushing.

"How do you do it?" said Lena. "How do you just... go home and have a glass of wine, after fighting a ten foot tall mud monster, Kara? I don't understand how to deal with this. You were just off fighting for your life."

"Not really," Kara said, quickly. "I totally had him. I'm just a little claustrophobic, and when he..." She shivered.

Kara sighed. "Most of the time, I'm not really scared of getting hurt. Most of these fights aren't a threat to me at all. I'm worried about hurting someone else, losing control. I could really hurt someone without ever meaning to."

Lena's hand tightened around hers. "It's okay. My Kara doesn't have to be brave every second."

Kara nodded, gratitude welling hot in her chest. Gratitude, and something else.

"So, taking it slow," Lena said, seemingly reading her intentions.

"Taking it slow," said Kara. "I think we were just about in the right place a few minutes ago."

Lena put down her glass of wine, and was across the couch in three heartbeats.

Kara counted.

Chapter Text

This... Lena thought, this is everything.

She'd thought her heart had fully melted overnight, when she'd awoken more than once to find Kara in her bed. Not Kara Danvers, not Supergirl, just Kara, curled on her side, one hand stretched across Lena's six hundred thread count sheets for protective fingers to curl over Lena's palm. Kara was small in sleep, and it was everything that Lena could do not to slide across the bed and envelop her in whatever feeble protection she could provide. In the dark, Kara was no longer the pinnacle of otherworldly might, but a battered, resilient girl who had lost everything a person could ever lose and had still lost even more.

Now, she was in Lena's kitchen, somehow cooking turkey bacon without the benefit of any flame from the burners. Rather, Kara carefully swept her gaze back and forth, heating the meat until it sizzled just by staring at it.

Oh. My girlfriend is Supergirl.

Kara, still dressed in one of Lena's old sweatshirts, turned from the frying pan when Lena padded quietly into the kitchen. She had three eggs sitting on the counter beside the range. Eggs, Lena noted, that were not the same color as the organic, free range eggs that came delivered weekly to her penthouse.

"Kara, did you go out and buy eggs?"

Lena had to wonder if Kara heard the thud in Lena's chest when she smiled, beaming across the kitchen. "They're from the Kent farm, in Smallville."

"Smallville... wait, in Kansas?"

Kara winced. "Oh. Should I not do powers? We can have a no powers rule if you-"

Lena turned to the kitchen island, where Kara had placed a freshly procured selection of pastries. At first, Lena assumed that they must have come from Noonan's, but when she opened one of the boxes...

"Kara," Lena said, slowly closing the lid. "Did you... where did..."

"Everywhere," said Kara, sidling up beside her. "And anywhere you want."

Lena swallowed, willing her treacherous heart to slow, to avoid betraying the curious, queasy mix of excitement and nervous energy that coiled deep inside her.

"You don't need to do things like this," said Lena.

"I didn't do it because I needed to. I did it because I want to. I've alway wanted to do this. I even thought I might..."

"What?" said Lena.

It was Kara's turn to fidget. "I was going to do something like this when I told you. I wanted it to be something happy with you. Just sharing another part of myself with my best friend. I used to..."

Lena thought back to the DEO, what Alex had said... that she'd warned Kara away from telling Lena out of fear that Lena might not be as open to broadening their relationship as Kara hoped.

Turning quickly, Lena curled three fingers under Kara's chin to trap her in place and leaned in to deliver a quick kiss to her lips, not as deep as those they'd shared in the bed last night, but more than a peck. Kara lit up, looking at Lena in brief awe before schooling her features.

Part of Lena didn't want to believe that Kara was so hooked, and yet.

"Let me do the eggs, darling," Lena said.

After they cooked, they ate in companionable silence. It was so very, incredibly domestic. Lena would have thought they'd been doing this for years, not just from the comfort in each other but in the little gestures, like Kara tapping her bare heel against Lena's calf to get her attention, or the way they didn't need to negotiate over who took what from the boxes Kara had brought.

It made something in Lena hurt. Ache for more of it.

She had forgiven Kara, she realized. It was exactly that, a realization, not a decision. She didn't need to weigh the issue, didn't need to feel out the pros and cons or do a cost/benefit analysis.

As she sipped her coffee, another realization struck her. Lex had stolen something from Kara, too. She'd wanted The Reveal to be a moment. Lena could picture it perfectly: Kara bringing her breakfast at the penthouse or guiding her to the rooftop of her loft or talking her into a totally platonic romantic outing that ended with Kara taking those glasses off and asking Lena to see her.

"What would you have said?" Lena near-whispered, setting her coffee aside.

Kara paused, looking like a woman crossing rotten ice. Lena rested a gentle hand on her arm to calm her, and she let out a slow breath.

"I'll never know exactly. I'd probably have tripped over my tongue or gotten choked up and forced myself to say it after trying over and over or something. Whatever it was, I know what I would have been trying to say: I haven't fully been myself with you, and I want to be, and I am in love with you."

Lena swept a hand up to caress Kara's cheek and ended up swiping a way a tiny particle of sticky jam that clung to the corner of her mouth. Kara just as gently took Lena's wrist and pressed a sugary kiss to her palm.

"Kara," said Lena, "We both need to go to work today. Stop temping me back into the bed."

Kara's expression grew clouded, just for a flickering moment, but she nodded.

The only awkwardness came when it was time for them to get ready. There were barriers that hadn't been crossed yet. For one, the clothes hadn't come off, to be perfectly blunt about it. Hands had roamed beneath them, but that river remained unforded. Lena ended up bumping hips with Kara as they brushed their teeth in the same bathroom, only for Kara to finally realize she didn't have anythign to wear to work in Lena's apartment.

"Lena," Kara said. "Will you be okay? I have to go."

"You can't be my bodyguard for every minute of the rest of my life, Kara," said Lena. "There will be extra security escorting me to the building today, and I know you'll be listening for me if I need you."

"There's..." Kara began. "There's something I need to give you, too, but I don't have it with me. I can bring it with me the next time I come over, if you want, or I can just drop it off..."

"Kara," said Lena, "Don't be so cagey, it doesn't suit you. There's no reason to be shy about it, or fish for an invite. You can sleep here, unless you don't want to."

"I want to," said Kara, "I just, um, I don't want to push you into anything-"

Lena folded her arms and arched her brow as sharply as she could, every inch the CEO.

Kara did not wilt. Rather, she seemed to gain a few inches in height, her chin tilting up when before it would have sank, her eyes bright and clear without those obfuscating lenses.

"Okay," she said.

She seemed to be weighing something, a look of decision in her eyes.

"I love you," said Kara. "I'll see you tonight."

This time she crossed the barrier, and this time Lena tried to deepen the kiss, only for them to meet somewhere on the far side of the line between chaste and hungry.

Watching Kara leave her apartment -via the balcony- was a sight she was yet to fully get used to, or even comprehend, but Kara vanished from the railing in a flash of speed, quickly accelerating so fast that she'd have barely been visible to the eye.

Lena went about the rest of her morning routine in a half daze, dressing on autopilot in suitably expensive couture and choosing a pair of black Loboutins because she had, once, suspected that Kara stared at her ass whenever she wore them.

There was some normalcy returning by the time she met Frank, her driver, at the front door to the building, and nodded to the additional security team she'd quietly asked Jess to hire, more for Kara's sake than her own. There would be a lead and trailing car behind her own, bulletproof sedan. Lena climbed inside, and for the first time in days, felt truly like herself when Frank began to negotiate National City traffic and she opened her laptop atop her thighs and began catching up on what she'd missed in the time since Kara had demolished her balcony door.

"Miss Luthor," Frank said, "There's some police blocking our normal route. I'll have to take an alternate one to the building."

Lena nodded, too swept in updates on the upcoming product launch to worry about the specific path she followed to her office. National City traffic was a snarl that not even the Girl of Steel could unbend, and it rarely took less than half an hour for Frank to pull into the garage.

She didn't noticed the first armored car, but she did notice the second.

"Frank," she said, glancing up. There was a full on armored car, the boxy sort used to carry money, flanking her own on either side.

"I see them."

"I may be paranoid, but lose them. Radio the other drivers."

"Miss Luthor-"

Lena shoved the computer out of her lap. A car cut sharply in front of them, cutting Lena off from the leading escort. Frank had no room to maneuver, but to his credit, he tried with every ounce of skill. Lena had taken him on as a driver because he had VIP protective experience, a background in the Marines, and had worked private security for half a decade, and his sister was in the Metropolis police department. He was good.

It didn't matter.

Both armored cars swung in at once, crashing into the sides of Lena's car with a resounding shriek of metal on metal, then turned in unison. Lena was thrown hard to the side, seat belt yanking painfully against her chest and hip.

The two truck drivers were nosing their vehicles together. If Lena had been riding in an ordinary car, they'd have crushed it like a discarded soda can, but she was surrounded by nearly six tons of reinforced steel, reinforcing struts, inch-thick bullet proof glass, and lightweight composite panels of her own design that made the car a virtual tank.

Still, this would absolutely destroy the finish.

When the drivers realized they weren't going to pulp her by crushing the car, they turned at once, forcing Lena's car down a side street.

Frank let go of the now useless steering wheel and grabbed the case he kept on the side seat, up front. Throwing it open, he slapped a magazine into his MP5 and dropped the bolt with a loud snap, and Lena's throat tightened.

The trucks forced the car to a stop, and one of them rocked, scraping against the side of Lena's sedan as it moved. Frank reached for the wheel, only to realize there was nowhere to go; the road ahead was blocked by steel pylons. Grimly, he hit the emergency services button on the dashboard again and grabbed the gun, holding across his chest as he freed himself from his belt.

Lena saw his eyes go wide as he saw something in the rear view mirror and the look of confusion and fear in his eyes made her heart leap. She twisted in her seat, sucking in a breath.

Emerging from the back of the armored car was the biggest human being Lena had ever seen, in every possible dimension. He had to be at least seven feet tall, and half again as broad as largest men she'd ever met, or even seen. Massive muscles rippled, bare arms exposed, one adorned by something around his wrist with tubes running to the back of his head.

He seemed to look directly at her, despite the window tint, with sharp, strangely intelligent eyes in a face otherwise hidden by a wrestler's mask. Lena instinctively freed herself from her seat belt and scurried to the far side of the passenger compartment, away from the hulking figure. She fumbled in her briefcase and pulled out her daily carry piece, a well-tuned Glock she'd spent hours practicing with, but it felt like a toy in her hands.

"Oh my God," Frank said, "It's Bane."

"Who?" Lena choked out.

"It doesn't matter. Hurry, we have to get you out. Climb through!"

Lena started to pull herself through the opening into the front seat, only to hear a wrenching shriek of twisting metal. The masked man had grasped the trunk of Lena's car, ripped it loose, and was tearing it free from the frame with his bare hands. In stunned horror, Lena watched as he grasped under the rear window frame and the bulletproof glass spiderwebbed with cracks as he began to tear open the car itself.

"That's impossible," Lena said, panic filling her voice, "He can't be that strong, no one is that strong-"

Frank rolled down his window and was already trying to climb out, only to shrink back with a curse as gunfire raked the side panel, pinging off the metal. They were surrounded. Bane snarled with effort and his huge hands parted the metal, raising up the roof like a clamshell as metal shrieked, rivets popped, and composite armor shattered.

Lena raised her gun in the same moment that Frank pulled up his and the gunfire stabbed at her ears as she pulled the trigger until the gun kicked back empty, the slide locked back over her hand. The bullets seemed to do no more harm to Bane than harsh language.

Frank stood up in the wreckage of the car, swinging his weapon like a feeble club. Bane slapped him aside with sickening ease and a wet, broken crunch. He tumbled out of the car and Lena scrambled, only to be yanked back by a hand so huge it seemed it could have crushed her ribs on its own. A ham-sized hand closed around her throat until she felt her pulse in his grip, but could still breathe.

"Do it," Bane said, his voice strangely calm, almost... urbane. "Call to her."

"What?"

"You're not my target. She is. Call to her."

Lena's eyes wide went.

"Never," she hissed.

Bane took hold of her wrist in his other hand and twisted, and Lena shrieked in pain as the bones in her forearm stopped just short of snapping like rotten wood.

"She'll come sooner or later, one way or another. The only question, Lena Luthor, is how much pain you let yourself endure before you call to her."

The pain in her arm grew excruciating, and with each bit of pressure he added, she was sure her arm would break.

Finally, Lena's courage reached its limit, and almost without thinking, she screamed at the top of her lungs, the words a dry rasp in her throat.

"SUPERGIRL!"

There was a moment of silence. The world compressed, pushing in around her. Bane's grip tightened and she saw stars, a hint of the world starting to iris in from the edge of her vision. He looked this way, then that, then glanced at the device on his arm, a motion that made Lena want to laugh for its comical resemblance to checking his watch. She might have laughed, if she could breathe.

A gust of wind swept over Lena, chilling her. No, not a wind, a blur of motion. Kara was just there, tattered cape hanging from her back, fresh rips still marring the flank of her suit. She was no less regal for it, fisted hands at her sides, molten fury crackling in her eyes.

"Let. Her. Go."

"As you wish," Bane said, and tossed Lena.

For a horrifying moment, Lena was in the air. She landed hard but she rolled with it, onto her side, and then onto her hands and knees, before crawling up to her feet. She ran to Frank's motionless form, silently pleading for him to be alive. He groaned when she reached him.

Lena looked up, waiting. She expected Kara to at least say something, offer to let Bane surrender, condemn him, anything, but her eyes smoldered with molten fury and she hauled off and punched him in the face without hesitation, her first connecting with his jaw.

The mercenary stumbled to the side with the force of the blow, rubbing at his jaw.

"You hit harder than once would expect," said Bane.

Kara stormed forward. "Next time I won't pull my punches."

Bane brought his hand to the device on his wrist. "Good. I was worrying this would be too easy."

Kara let out a cry of fury as Bane twisted the knob, and it began pumping something into him, a black ichor running through the tubing into his body. He swelled, black veins stretching at his already straining skin, as his gargantuan, grotesque muscles swelled to even more inhuman proportions.

Something tickled the back of Lena's mind and she cried out as Kara threw a punch.

Bane caught it, her fist meeting his palm with a meaty slap. Kara jerked, surprise plain on her face, and then he seized Kara by her collar, yanked her from the ground, and slammed her face-first into the brick wall beside him.

"I thought you'd at least pose a challenge," said Bane, flexing his hands into fists. "Now that my new serum has made me invincible, killing Batman will be too easy. But, business before plea-"

Kara screamed, her fury shaking the ground itself as she threw a punishing uppercut. Lena knew, even before she felt the shockwave in her chest, that Kara hadn't pulled her punch. Bane's head snapped back and he stumbled, only to grin beneath his mask and charge.

Lena turned back to Frank.

"Can you move?" she said. "Come on, we have to go."

She tried to pull him up, but his leg was clearly shattered, and Lena cried out in alarm. Bane wasn't alone; and there were more than just drivers in the armored cars. They were dismounting now, carrying weapons. Lena may not have been the target, but she wasn't beneath their notice, either.

Lena pressed her eyes shut, wondering if Kara would stop the gunfire. Someone did, but when Lena opened her eyes once more, she was surrounding by a shimmering shield of blue energy and met with a costumed woman standing over her.

"I'm Dreamer," she said, "Hi, Miss Luthor. We need to get you and your friend out of here right now."

She was joined, moments later, by J'onn J'onnz. He wordlessly gathered the wounded Frank in his arms and looked at her.

"Move!"

Lena felt so helpless as they took her, almost dragging her away from the fight. Kara and Bane were laying into each other, and Lena was still dimly trying to process how he was able to stand against Kara at all.

The world went mad around her. The blows traded behind her as she ran, beside J'onn and Dreamer, shook the ground itself. She heard stone grumble, glass shatter, and steel twist. Smoke and dust from crumbling buildings rose up behind her.

"Kara-" Lena said.

"You can't help her," Dreamer said, seizing Lena's arm. "You'll only distract her. She'll beat him if she knows you're safe. Come on."

It all happened so fast, Lena was simply bewildered. The NCPD set up a perimeter, and she wondered at how strange this was, that the police department was so practiced at dealing with keeping the public from the devastation when Kara fought someone. They loaded Frank into an ambulance and sent him off, but escorted Lena to an armored vehicle where she met Brainy.

By then, she'd figured it out.

"Harun-El," Lena said, breathless.

"Of course. Bane's strength-enhancing serum must be vastly improved if he can actually fight Supergirl. It stands to reason that-"

Alex appeared, cutting him off. "Got it, I'll relay that to her."

Lena started towards the fight again, only to be stopped.

"You have to sit this one out," said Dreamer.

"I can't even see what's happening," said Lena, stunned by the pleading in her own voice. "What's happening? Is Kara alright?"

"She has him on the ropes," Alex said, "J'onn joined her, they'll take him down now that they know where his weak spot is. Just sit tight, Lena."

Brainy put a gentle hand on her arm and guided her into the APC and Lena sat with him in the cramped compartment, watching Kara and the fight via drone, with local news feeds playing on smaller monitors. Lena wondered if they thought she was hysterical as she sucked in panicked breaths.

He was hurting her. Kara stumbled every time Bane hit her, and Lena could see real fear on her face when he seized one of her limbs and wrenched her around.

"Supergirl!" J'onn was saying, "Take him down!"

"That's ENOUGH!" Kara bellowed, so loud that Lena heard it on her own, without the feed. She worried at her finger with her teeth as Kara put her head down and laid into Bane, raining her fists into him so hard that Lena could feel it even at this distance, throwing her whole musculature into every blow. It still wasn't stopping him.

Finally, he swung at her in a savage backhand, and Kara caught his arm, boots skidding on the pavement, and her eyes lit up with alien fire. The box on Bane's arms melted and exploded, and Kara tore the tubing loose, casting it aside as it sprayed black-streaked foulness.

Kara didn't stop.

She hit him again, driving an uppercut into his ribs, her face a mask of rage. Bane lost his bravado as she pummeled him, raising his hands in an ignored protest before Kara hit him straight in the chin and knocked him across the entire street into a brick wall. She was on him as he collapsed, seizing the collar of his vest and drawing her arm back for another hit. Lena's heart leapt to her throat; Kara might punch his head right off his neck.

It was J'onn that stopped her, with a hand on her arm and words Lena could not hear. Kara looked at him, her expression burst with shock, and then her face fell. She took a stumbling step back, looking at her own hand before rocketing into the sky.

She came down a moment later, not far from where Lena sat. Lena jumped out of the seat and ran to her, throwing her arms around Kara without thinking. Kara hugged her back, a little too tightly at first, then softer, but still firm. She shook as she held Lena.

"You didn't do it," Lena whispered, stroking her hair. "You stopped yourself, Kara. You didn't do it."

Kara drew back and looked at Lena, eyes smoldering, and Lena started. Kara had a black eye, and a split lip. She was injured in other ways; Lena could feel it in her movements.

"Oh my God," Lena breathed.

Kara leaned in, stopping herself when Dreamer blurted, "Kara! People can see us!"

Lena pulled back suddenly. She knew the secret, but who else did? Who saw them embrace? Oh God. Kara looked at Lena, hurt and longing.

"We're containing Bane now," said J'onn. "Kara, Lena, go back to the Tower. Now. Get out of sight of cameras, now."

To Lena's surprise, Kara didn't fly. She climbed in with Lena, almost flopping into the seat. The black eye and cut lip were fading even as Lena watched, the swelling visibly vanishing as Kara's face returned to normal.

Almost.

She looked broken, defeated, even though she'd won. Lena wondered if this was how she herself had looked, the very day they'd met, when Supergirl caught her crashing helicopter and saved her life. Lena looked around and saw Dreamer sitting beside her, Brainy facing her, and knew it was safe.

Kara gathered Lena in her arms.

A storm of thought and emotion besieged her. If Bane had been enhanced with the Harun-El, then Kara had just been in a real fight, feeling every blow. The fear in her eyes had been real, and Lena winced at the thought of Kara feeling her bones grinding in Bane's grip. She stroked Kara's hair without thinking, murmuring nonsense words.

By the time the reached the Tower, Kara was sitting up, her expression, if not her usual sunny self, a least less fearful and more pensive.

"This is what I was afraid would happen," she finally said. "He used you to get to me."

"We don't know that Bane knows your identity," said Lena. "He probably doesn't."

"He hurt you because of me," Kara said, gently taking Lena's hand. "Lena, you're bruised."

"I bruise if someone looks at me side-eyed," said Lena. "It's alright, Kara. You came. You saved me, just like you said you always would."

Kara's limp trembled and she turned back into Lena's shoulder.

In the Tower, Alex escorted Kara to the medbay, and she didn't offer a word of protest when Lena joined her, as a matter of course. There was a subtle shift in the air, as if everyone suddenly saw her as next-of-kin rather than a barely welcome interloper, begrudgingly invited to share tech or expertise because they were desperate. Lena ignored the looks of sympathy, taking up residence at Kara's side as Alex examined her.

"You're almost fully healed already," said Alex. "Take some sunbed time anyway, Kara. Lena, a word?"

Lena looked up sharply, then joined Alex in the hallway. They walked together.

"I don't want you to leave her alone for long," said Alex. "She needs you."

Lena blinked.

Alex sighed, halfway to rolling her eyes before she schooled her features. "Alright, look. So, Bane got himself pumped up on Harun-El."

"He said 'business before pleasure'," said Lena. "He was paid to kill Supergirl."

"To try, anyway," said Alex. "He didn't stand a chance."

It didn't look that way to Lena, but she said nothing.

"Can you get me a sample of that performance enhancer he was using?" said Lena. "I want to make sure we know everything about it that we can. Anything we can use to aid in tracking down whoever is orchestrating all of this."

Alex nodded. "This is too complex even for Lex to have carried it out with posthumous instructions. Someone is calling the shots."

"Yes," Lena agreed.

"Your mother?" Alex said, softly.

Lena nodded. "She's the most likely candidate."

Kara emerged from the infirmary.

"Alex, where's the watch?"

Alex glanced at her, furrowed her brows slightly, then nodded. A moment later, she brought Kara a small box. Kara opened it reverently and drew out a clunky and frankly hideous wristwatch. Lena would have winced if not for the intense solemnity with which Kara strapped it to Lena's wrist, very carefully closing the clasp for her before lightly touching Lena's hand with both of her own. She started to murmur something, that Lena first thought she couldn't make out. Then, Lena realized it wasn't English; she'd started to say something in her mother tongue, only to stop herself.

Kara flipped up the watch face.

"Push this button if you ever need me and I will be there," Kara said, suddenly intense. "No matter where I am, no matter what I'm doing."

Lena nodded, swallowing thickly. "I will, Kara. Thank you."

Despite its odd looks, Lena felt a little better with it about her wrist. She touched the band, testing it, feeling its weight. Kara took her hand and wrist again, sighing lightly.

"I'm going, I'm going," Kara said, when Alex glared at her.

Kara returned to the sunroom, and Alex led Lena to the command center, walking her to the balcony where Kara flew into the sky.

"That felt like it was a much bigger deal to her than giving me a way to call her," said Lena. "I mean, she didn't look so intense when she texted me her number."

Lena tried to keep her voice light, but it came out breathy and heavy, the question already half-answered.

"I shouldn't tell you this," said Alex. "I should let her explain it." She sighed, looked out over the city, and said, "Kryptonians had their own version of engagement rings. They used bracelets."

Lena stared at the watch, vowing she'd never take it off unless Kara asked.

"I see," she said, thickly.

"How... how are things?" said Alex. "With you and her."

Lena looked away. "They're... she spent the night, and I basically invited her to move in this morning."

Alex looked at Lena for a pointed moment, then motioned for Brainy and Dreamer to join them on the balcony. She then slowly unfolded a U-Haul brochure, and hand it to Lena.

Lena snatched it from her hand.

"Oh, very fucking funny," Lena muttered, balling it up. "I need to get back to her."

Alex actually smiled, and Lena felt herself blush as she brushed past.

"It may not always feel like it," said Alex, "but we're on the same team, and I've given you a bad rap, Lena. I'm sorry."

Lena nodded, swallowing hard.

She found Kara sitting up under the sun lamps, chin propped on her fist. Lena stopped in the doorway and watched her for a moment, sure she'd been noticed already, but Kara was deep in thought, her eyes locked on nothing. She finally noticed Lena.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," said Lena.

Moving into the room, Lena sat down next to Kara, turning her head to shield her eyes from the brilliant lamps. She ran a hand up Kara's back, rubbing soothing circles into the muscles. Kara relaxed under her touch, tilting her head to lean against Lena.

"I'm going to take a leave of absence from L-Corp until this is over," said Lena. "I'm going to have Sam take over for me. I'm also going to tell James that you're no longer required to maintain the illusion that you're an ordinary employee in the bullpen. If Snapper has a problem with your schedule or hours, he can take it up with me."

"You don't have to do that," said Kara, tenderly touching her forehead to Lena's. "I like trying to fit in, Lena."

"I know, but I want you to have one less thing to worry about. I can tell James to crack the whip on you later, if you want. Anyway, you're being considered for a Pulitzer Prize, Kara. You deserve some flex time."

Kara sighed, her breath warm and soft against Lena's neck.

"I should probably get you some sunscreen," Alex said, from the doorway. "Before you end up looking like a lobster from the sunlamps."

Lena snorted.

Alex frowned. "We have a problem."

"What is it this time?" said Kara.

Alex let out a slow, quiet sigh. "While Kara was fighting Bane, there was a breakout at Arkham Asylum."

"Who escaped?" said Lena.

"You should see this for yourselves," said Alex. "Come with me."

Kara slowly stood. She seemed tired, weary in a way that Lena had never seen before. She gave Lena a weak, reassuring smile, and Lena took her hand.

"When are you going to fix your suit?"

"I usually don't do it myself," Kara admitted. "Winn actually made this, and since he's not here... I don't know. I guess I can superspeed it."

Lena thought about that for a moment and said, "Let me."

"You?"

"Yes, let me. Please. Let me fix it. I can probably make some improvements while I'm at it."

Kara contemplated that for a moment, then gave Lena a short nod, smiling.

"Okay," she said, "If you want."

Alex glanced back at them thoughtfully, lightly biting her lip. Her eyes briefly met Lena's and there was something silent in the exchange.

"In here," said Alex, leading them into the conference room. Brainy was waiting inside; there was a call active on the conference speaker in the center of the table and paused video on the screen at the end of the room.

"We're here," said Alex.

"Good," a voice said, from the speaker. Lena knew that soft, growling tone instantly. "Play the video."

Lena turned to the screen; Brainy hit the unpause button and the video played. It was a surprisingly clear, high quality surveillance view of the outside of a large complex of buildings, centered around an old, looming Gothic edifice, surrounded by a variety of other structures ranging from Brutalist, fortified blockhouses to open, airy glass constructions that looked like they belonged at a modern, well-equipped hospital.

Something large moved over the side of the view, looming in the air. It shimmered, difficult to make out as more than a blurred shape blending with the daytime sky. Wing-shaped, it was very large, the size of a small passenger jet.

The black shadow unfurled, peeling back from the skin of the craft.

"Some kind of cloaking device?" said Lena. "Invisibility?"

"The craft has a visual cloaking system, yes, and it's undetectable on radar or other means of detection. This is Arkham Asylum."

Lena winced as the huge machine fired a missile into the side of the main building and descended, smoothly descending. Doors on the underbelly swung open and ropes dropped; a dozen men in black tactical gear and masks descended into the courtyard and rushed in several directions.

Another figure followed them, not taking a rope down but simply jumping, landing in the courtyard with a shockwave. The figure stood to its full height, dressed in black metal armor ridged and shot through with glowing circuits, alive with a dull red light. It looked this way and that and pointed, barking orders, before firing energy blasts from its fists.

"Is this a prison break?" said Kara.

"Yes," said Batman. "This is an unprecedented breach. Several inmates escaped from the maximum security wing and are now loose in the Narrows. Several others either boarded the craft, or were taken by force."

"Taken by force?" said Lena. "Who?"

"The information I have indicates that Victor Fries, Temple Fugate, and Killer Croc went willingly. It appears that Jervis Tetch was forced to join them at gunpoint. Harvey Dent, Pamela Isley, and Harleen Quinzel escaped into Gotham, along with about a dozen others."

"That's... Mister Freeze," said Kara, "I know who Killer Croc is, and Jervis Tetch... who's Jervis Tetch?"

"The Mad Hatter," said Lena. "I'm familiar with his work; he gave a few guest lectures at MIT before he went insane and nearly killed one of his graduate assistants by trying to use mind control technology to force her to fall in love with him."

"What about Fugate?" said Alex. "Even I've never heard of him."

"The Clock King," said Batman. "He's more dangerous than you think. There's more," said Batman. "The Joker was already missing."

"What?" said Alex.

"The security logs had been falsified and there was another man in his cell," said Batman. "He's normally kept under the strictest security, with extremely limited access and visitation privileges. The man in his cell was his lawyer. Presumably, they were able to exchange places and fool the guards somehow."

"How long has he been out?" said Alex.

"At least a month," said the Batman. "I have my hands full here. I'm sending Robin and Batgirl to National City to assist you."

"It's bad over there," Alex added, looking at Lena and Kara. "The governor has already deployed the national guard. The federal government might get involved."

Kara swallowed. "Do you need my help? I can get back and forth between National City and Gotham pretty fast."

"I already briefed him on the threat that Lex made," said Alex.

"Stay where you are," said Batman. "My people will be there by tonight. If the Joker makes a move, try not to engage him until they've arrived, unless there's imminent danger. I cannot emphasize enough to you how dangerous he is. He may have been provided with Kryptonite or other weaponry by Lex Luthor's agents. With the Joker, expect the unexpected."

Kara nodded. "We'll be ready," she said.

Lena heard the shake in her voice and wondered if they could be.

Chapter Text

Kara stalked the halls of the DEO while Lena paced in a conference room on her cell phone, talking with Samantha Arias. Kara felt her hackles raise as the thought- she liked her, but Sam had been entangled in one of the worst periods of Kara's life, when she'd been beaten down in every way, physically, mentally, and spiritually, forced to make hard choices and face hard truths.

Sam didn't didn't deserve that. Kara knew she was looking for somewhere to channel her own fury and hurt. A red haze threatened to boil behind her eyes every time she saw the bruising around Lena's throat, where Bane had seized her and forced to call for Kara's help. Kara's fingers twitched as she watched Lena, only to tear her gaze away.

She was dressed in a DEO tracksuit, now. The fight with Bane had left her suit too damaged to wear around casually anymore. She was still sore from the fight. Kara's enemies rarely seemed to have any technique or fighting skill; anyone strong enough to really challenge her seemed to fall into the same patterns she had, the ones Alex had always tried to break, relying on strength and speed.

Bane had been a true combatant, a fighter, not a brawler. Kara could still feel phantom impacts to the side of her head and her ribs, the way her elbow had creaked when he seized her in a joint lock. It wasn't the memory of the physical pain that haunted her now, though, nor the shocking power behind those blows, power that had -albeit momentarily- bruised her invulnerable skin and even split her lip.

It was the rage.

Kara had just left Noonan's, latte in one hand and bag of maple bars in the other, when her super-hearing naturally, instinctively tuned in on Lena shrieking for Supergirl, for help. She'd dropped the food and blasted, heedless, into the sky, shedding her work attire on the way, sloughing off Kara Danvers like a second skin to become Supergirl.

Except, Supergirl hadn't lasted very long. At the sight of Lena's tiny, frail form bending beneath ham-sized hands, the look of consuming terror in her eyes, Supergirl vanished and it was Kara that slammed into him, driving him away from her. The fight had raged across three city blocks, with Kara hammering on her opponent with more and more fury as Alex and J'onn desperately trying to convince her to at least use some tactical sense and end the fight.

J'onn approached her now, the quiet wisdom in his eyes undercut by a grim severity. He nodded to her.

"Kara."

She felt small, the way she often did under his appraising gaze. Kara hugged herself and nodded to an empty room. "Can we talk?"

J'onn ushered her inside and closed the door. Kara looked away from him, pacing the room with her arms around her body. He waited, patiently, as ever.

"I'm scared," she finally said.

"You've had reason enough to be," said J'onn.

"I'm scared of myself," said Kara, looking up. "I remember when I had to fight Clark, during the Daxamite invasion. He told me I was stronger than he was, but not just... physically. He said if he had to choose between the world and Lois..."

"I know," said J'onn.

Kara shook her head. "I would have killed him if you hadn't stopped me."

A heavy silence hung between them, a springy tension pushing at them.

"I don't think you would have," said J'onn. "You always remember who you are in the end. Supergirl doesn't kill."

"Supergirl doesn't," said Kara, "but that wasn't Supergirl. That was Kara, protecting Lena. It scares me how ready I was to put my fist through his head."

J'onn put a hand on her shoulder. "Good, Kara. Good. Remember, fear isn't a bad thing. We just can't let it cripple us, or trap us. That fear is what makes you, you. When it stops scaring you, when you stop worrying you might go too far, then I'll worry about you."

Kara smiled weakly and nodded.

"On that note," he said, "Bane is in a containment cell. You might want to join us."

Kara let out a soft sigh and nodded. "Maybe I should sit this one out. I don't have my suit."

"The suit doesn't make you who you are."

Lena was talking with Brainy as Kara passed. She looked up and smiled, and Kara winced again at the bruises. J'onn slowed and Kara stopped, drifting over to lightly tug back the collar of Lena's blouse and look at the marks.

"It's nothing," said Lena, her sharp green eyes locking on Kara, almost in challenge.

"It's never nothing to me," she said, very softly. "I promised I'll always protect you."

"And you did," Lena said, resting a hand on Kara's wrist. "I'm fine. They're just marks, they'll fade. I bruise easy."

Kara swallowed. "Okay," she said.

Lena turned back to Brainy as Kara left, the two of them talking animatedly. Kara followed J'onn to the holding cell, meeting Alex along the way. Kara's sister shot her an appraising, sympathetic look. Kara met her eyes evenly, trying not to betray what was happening behind them, and probably failing.

Bane sat on the narrow cot in his cell, a hulking mass of a man who, now stripped of his technology and trademark mask, looked like little more than a common thug; he had plain, almost nondescript features; the most noteworthy thing about his appearance, besides his inhumanly muscular proportions, was a nose broken in several places and ears swelled with cartilage from repeated blows. He looked little different from any of the common street toughs who threw their guns at Kara after they ran out of bullets, as if they expected it to suddenly harm her.

Kara folded her arms, standing Super-girl tall  in her black tracksuit, while Alex stepped closer to the barrier.

"Let's talk," she said.

"Of course," said Bane, in his lilting accent. "What would you like to speak about?"

Alex and Lena looked at each other. J'onn remained stony, impassive and unreadable.

"Who hired you?"

"I was contracted via a dark web forum used by free agents such as myself, and those seeking to pay for the services we provide. You must understand that for professional reasons, I cannot disclose the exact details."

Alex let that pass. "Who paid you to attack Lena Luthor?"

"The contract was negotiated and delivered via encrypted email using a one-time key which has now expired. I was paid via funds wired from a numbered account in the Cayman Islands to my own account in the Seychelles. I have no way of identifying the client, nor do I especially care to. And my target was Supergirl, not Lena Luthor."

"Where did you get the enhanced serum and delivery system?" said Alex.

"It was provided to me via a dead-drop." He shrugged again. "I can provide you with the location, but I doubt it will do you any good."

"How much were you paid?"

"Five millions upon acceptance of the contract, with the promise of twenty millions more upon completion of the mission. One billion if I were to kill her."

The way he said it, completely flat and casually, chilled Kara; he was talking about murdering someone; that it was her barely registered.

"Wait," Alex said, sharply. "What do you mean, completion of the mission? What mission?"

"I fulfilled the terms of the contract," said Bane. "I will be paid."

"We'll see about that."

Bane smiled, but the expression was mirthless, borderline inhuman. "The funds have already been moved by my people. You will not be able to find, much less recover them."

Alex glanced at Kara, then looked at Bane.

"You had to know you had no chance. She's Kryptonian, and even with your fancy steroids, you're just a roided out thug, Bane."

"You would not be so forward," Bane said, weirdly cheery, "Were you not standing with two aliens, and behind a pane of indestructible glass. I would twist you in half without a moment's thought, woman."

Alex's schooled expression remained neutral.

"What's the extraction plan?"

Bane smiled. "That I cannot tell you. Call it a professional courtesy."

"You're just another goon," said Alex. "You can't tell us anything useful."

She turned to leave, and Kara followed, then J'onn, who lingered for a moment, considering. They regrouped in the hallway, Alex releasing a slow, lingering breath. She folded her arms.

"What are we going to do with him?" said Kara.

"Keep him in containment with Clayface and Scarecrow," said J'onn. "We can't risk keeping him here, if there is an extraction plan at play."

"Bane is a mercenary," said Alex. "This is a job to him. No way he'd get himself thrown in prison with no way out like this, not for so little money."

"A billion dollars?" said Kara.

"He wasn't supposed to kill you," said J'onn. "Scarecrow wasn't either, even if he came a lot closer, and Clayface had no chance, either. I feel there's a purpose here that we're not seeing, that these attacks are part of a pattern, trying to accomplish something in stages that they couldn't do on their own."

"Maybe you should read his mind," said Alex.

J'onn looked at her, gravely.

"I doubt that will do us any good. He may look and seem like a common thug for hire, but his mind is extremely sophisticated, and I suspect that he's telling the truth, and he's carefully avoided even learning any information that could actually be useful to us, and that's on top of the ethical issues. No, Alex, I don't think that would help."

Alex nodded, turning to Kara.

"Kara Danvers needs to put in an appearance at CatCo," she said, "Especially after you very nearly exposed your identity to the regulars at your favorite cafe."

Kara frowned, but nodded. She kept her eyes on the floor as she made her way to collect a spare outfit. When she found Lena and Brainy in the lab, Lena stepped away from their work and pressed her soft lips to Kara's cheek. The warm touch against her skin was a balm, and tension slid out of her muscles at the contact.

Kara needed her so much. She couldn't help but rest her arms on Lena's hips, stepping into her space, still tensing slightly. For so long she'd dreamed of that, of easy, casual contact, of feeling Lena's warm comfort against her, and had to hide it just as much as she'd hidden her identity. Denying it had become second nature to her.

"I'm fine, I'll be here until you get back," said Lena. "Sam is flying in from Metropolis tonight with Ruby and they'll be staying in National City so she can run L-Corp. I'm going to have my public relations team put together something to explain my absence."

"Just don't treat this as just another assassination attempt," said Kara, sighing with distaste at what she'd just said. "I... Lena..."

Lena brushed her fingers along Kara's jaw. "What is it?"

"There shouldn't be just another assassination attempt," said Kara. "I promise, by the time this is over, there won't be any more. I've been listening to Alex for too long. The DEO may have limits on what it can do, but Supergirl has no jurisdiction. I'm going to make sure that Cadmus or whoever else is coming after you stops."

Kara sucked in a breath, struck by the simmering anger behind her own words. She took Lena in a tender embrace, using her height advantage -Lena had put on a pair of borrowed sneakers- to get a lungful of her scent from the crow of her head, and press a kiss there.

"I will always protect you," said Kara.

"I know," said Lena. "And I will always protect you, Darling. Someone has to."

"I'm going to CatCo for a while. I'll probably have to write another article about myself."

"Stay safe," said Lena. "Please. Text me when you get there."

"Lena," Kara tried to laugh, "I'm invulnerable. I'll be fine."

Lena said nothing. Instead, she touched the tip of her finger lightly to the precise spot where her lip had briefly bled after taking a punch from Bane. Kara pressed a kiss to the digit and the two of them stared at each other for a few beats, until Brainy called to Lena, and they broke apart.

She watched them for a moment. Lena started to say something, but Brainy was agitated, going over the security footage from Arkham Asylum. He looked up from it quickly with a silent look of consideration on his face, before they began to chat.

Kara felt a weight in her chest, like water in her lungs, as she made her way to CatCo. She walked, briskly, passing Noonan's on her way into work, where she saw an assortment of office workers, Bohemian hipsters working at their laptops, and a man in round spectacles who clicked a stopwatch as she passed.

When they were inside, he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her over.

"Are you alright?"

"Everyone is so worried about me," Kara sighed.

"How's Lena?"

"Safe," said Kara. "She's at the DEO, and I gave her a signal watch if she needs me."

James' eyes went briefly wide, and then he nodded. "I see."

Kara fidgeted, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"I feel like I should say something," she said.

James leaned back on his desk, folding his powerful arms across his chest. He looked at her evenly, waiting.

"Lena and I are together," said Kara. "After what happened a few days ago, I... it's a long story, but I told her everything. Including that I have feelings for her. I just... I hope..."

"That it won't be weird to see two of my exes dating each other?" said James. There was quiet smile to his words. "No, Kara. Frankly, it explains a lot."

"It does?"

He nodded. "Your heart was never in it during our little, ah, thing, and Lena and I were always a brittle thing. If we weren't, I'd never have agreed to check in that vault for you. I think even then, I knew. You both had this sense about you... like you were waiting for someone."

Kara swallowed. "Oh. I see. Um. Thank you, I-"

James cracked a smile. "You know, I was there the whole time that Clark and Lois and were doing the will-they-won't-they, and I have to say, now that I know this... I should have seen it."

"Seen what?"

He stood up. "You catch a surprising number of people from falling to their deaths, Kara, but you never look at any of them quite like you look at Lena when you're carrying her. And there was that day right here in this office, when Edge poisoned her and you almost exposed your identity, flying her back to the DEO."

Kara shifted her on her feet, feeling her cheeks heat. "I guess you're right."

"I've been terrible her to her, both before and during and after we were together," said James. "And she never once deserved it. I'm happy for you, Kara. She looks at you the same way. Though I do wonder what the two of you hooking up says about me. Maybe I should see if any of more my old girlfriends are together."

Kara snorted. "I don't think it's you, James. I think it's her. She's irresistible."

"Or maybe, everyone who knows Kara Danvers falls for her in their own way," said James. "By the way, did Alex say anything about her date with my sister?"

"Her what?" said Kara. "When was this?"

James looked at her. "You didn't know?"

"I've been busy," said Kara. "That's actually why I'm here. I need to get some work done. Keep up the ol' secret identity, and do my actual job."

James smirked. "I knew that you'd told Lena your identity before you got here."

"How? Oh," said Kara. "Oh, right."

"She told me make sure you can come and go as you need to, but some actual work would be appreciated. I can keep Snapper off your back for a while, but I think some Kara time would do you some good right now."

Kara sighed. She did feel more normal, being here, even if she was still fretting over Lena in the back of her mind.

"By the way, I have someone you should meet," said James, gesturing for her to join him as he left his office. "We've hired a new investigative reporter."

James led her to another desk, where a clean-cut man stood to greet Kara, offering his hand and a smile. He spoke with a British accent.

"William Dey," he said. "You must be Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Kara Danvers."

Kara took his hand. "I'm being considered for the Pulitzer," said Kara.

"Is she that busy?" said Dey, looking at James.

"She really keeps her nose to the grindstone," said James. "Kara, haven't you heard? You won. We're already organizing a celebration in your honor."

Kara stared at James for a moment, briefly forgetting that Dey was actually there. She felt her chest contract, warring emotions clashing within her. She should be overjoyed, elated.

Instead she simply said, "That's great."

"She sounds enthused," said Dey.

"I'm just... it's been a hectic week and it's a lot to process. I should text Lena."

"Lena Luthor?" said Dey. "Why would you be texting her about your prize?"

Kara blinked, pushing down the simmering anger she felt when he mentioned Lena. There seemed to be a faint distaste to his words, a subtle twist to Luthor and Her, like Kara was somehow seedier by association.

"She's my friend," said Kara. "She's a wonderful person."

"Your friend?" said Dey, his voice flat. "And yet you seem to cover her quite often for CatCo. I recall quite a few interviews she's given you."

"It was nice to meet you, too, William," Kara said, quickly and dismissively, as she headed for her own desk. James remained for a moment, coolly regarding Dey before returning to his own office.

Kara dropped into her chair behind her computer and plunged her head into her hand, sweeping her fingers back over her hair. Her reflection in the monitor looked tired and a little unkempt. She sent Lena a text.

I won the Pulitzer Prize.

Of course you did, Darling. Congratulations.

I'll be waiting for you at the DEO after you finish work.

Brainy and I have something for you.

Kara sent back a heart emoji. Lena replied with three.

She then texted Alex.

Alex, I won the Pulitzer Prize and James says they're going to be a thing to celebrate and I don't know what to do!

Alex texted her back, but by then, the steady flow of well-wishers had started to arrive, people swinging by her desk to offer her congratulations. Nia was among them, though her expression was brittle, eyes edged with worry. Kara took her aside as soon as she could.

"How are you doing?" said Nia. "After..."

"I'm fine," said Kara. "I'm just... rattled, Nia. I'm so worried about her that it's all I can think about. I keep trying to write something, and my brain just fuzzes."

"You came in, everyone saw you," said Nia. "I think you have an excuse. Just thank everyone and say you're a bit overwhelmed and go."

Kara nodded. "I think that's a good idea. I might just slip out right now."

"I have an interview in a little while," said Nia, "but I'll swing by the DEO later. You don't have to be Lena's bodyguard, you know. Your friends will help. James will too, if you ask him."

Kara nodded. "Thank you."

All in all, she was at CatCo for less than two hours. By the time she returned to the DEO, Alex was waiting for her.

"James has to call the whatever it is off," said Alex, as Kara walked with her. I pulled Brainy away from working with Lena to help me scour the Dark Web for anything we could find, and it's worse than we thought, Kara. You and Lena both have prices on your heads."

"Supergirl probably always has a price on her head," said Kara.

Alex stopped.

"No, not Supergirl, Kara. You. We take down every site we can find, and they're not as safe as they think, not from Brainy, but we've already found five postings targeting Kara Danvers."

Kara froze, her mouth suddenly dry. She flexed her fingers.

"Does Lena know about this?"

"No," said Alex. "I figured it'd be best to tell her later, after she finishes her project. She's making something for you."

Kara nodded. "Okay." She swallowed.  "Okay."

"Lena's used to having a price on her head," said Alex, deadly serious. "She'll be okay."

"Well, she shouldn't be used to it," Kara snapped, "I'm tired of it, and I'm going to stop it. Who's behind it? Do you know?"

"Not yet," said Alex, gently. "We're taking down the hosting and going after the server owners, but we're hitting dead ends on the origins of the actual posts. Whoever is doing it is taking physical, real-world precautions to keep from being found. They're logging on from public wi-fi in coffee shops and things like that. If it's the same person, they're mobile. We've traced the origins back to public hotspots in ten cities around the world."

Kara started to pace, flexing her hands into fists.

"Kara-"

"This is so frustrating," said Kara, gritting her teeth. "Someone is out there trying to hurt my Lena, and there's nothing I can do."

"You can help us," said Alex. "You're more than a pair of fists, Kara. You're capable and intelligent and you'll help us solve this. Right now, we need Kara Danvers and her big, Pulitzer-prize winning brain more than we need Supergirl to punch something really hard."

Kara sighed. She started forward, but Alex caught her arm.

"Kara, wait," she said, her voice very low.

"What?"

"You called her your Lena," said Alex. "In Kryptonian, that would be-"

"I know what it means," said Kara. "I slipped, okay? I'm just tired and cranky and I want to fix this, and I don't want another lecture about trusting her-"

"I do trust her," said Alex. "I wasn't going to try to talk you down. I was going to tell you to make sure that she understands what she means to you."

Kara looked up sharply, meeting Alex's eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments, before Kara nodded.

"I was almost the reason why you lost her," said Alex. "Why we all lost her. I was wrong, Kara. I admit it. I'm protective when it comes to you."

"Then be protective when it comes to her," said Kara. "I need to know she's safe."

Alex nodded sharply. "I will be. I am. I'm going to organize a real protection detail for her, and Sam Arias, too."

Kara looked at Alex for a moment, wanting to ask her about Kelly, but sighed.

"What do we do about this pulitzer thing?" said Kara. "I can't, like, not go."

"Are they doing something for you?" said Lena, striding into the command center with a bundle on her arm. She'd put on DEO sweat pants and was still wearing her blouse from that morning. Kara tried not to look at the ugly ring of purple and yellow around her neck and instead focused on the bulky watch on her wrist, worn so casually and yet with such weight. Kara's heart fluttered.

It wasn't a bracelet, it was a watch. It was just a practical device, for communications. The fact that it was a band around Lena's wrist carrying Kara's family crest was incidental. Incidental and heady, making her feel a little lightheaded for a moment. She had a brief flash,  a mental image of Lena in white, a more delicate adornment on her wrist, perhaps blued steel and red gold twined together...

"Kara?" said Lena.

"Yeah," she said, sheepishly. "James said there's going to be an event to celebrate. I didn't get a lot of details. I felt pretty stifled and I had to get out of here."

Lena hesitated, just for a moment, before bringing her free hand to Kara's cheek in a movement of unchecked affection, lightly caressing Kara's cheek and brushing back a loose strand of golden hair. Lena looked at her with such tenderness that Kara thought her heart would be burst.

"Why don't we go somewhere," said Lena. "The two of us, and have a night in."

"I'd like that," said Kara.

"We need to talk first," said Alex. "And you'd better give that to her."

Lena glanced at her, nodded, and motioned Brainy over. They stepped away from the main command center and closed the door in another room, where Lena placed the bundle on a table and undid it, pulling back the cloth.

Kara gasped; they'd made her a new supersuit. Carefully, she lifted it, letting it unfold in her hands. The fabric was heavier, and it had-

"Pants," Kara breathed.

"And pockets," said Brainy. "Lena insisted."

"I guess I won't have to shove my phone in my boot anymore," said Kara.

The new suit had no skirt, instead giving her full coverage. It looked more like her cousin's, but distinct in its own way. The crest was bigger on the chest and had the full gold field behind the red s-curve, and the colors were darker, deeper. It was more serious looking, somehow, and Kara knew it would be more comfortable than her old suit, which, to be brutally honest, had been the most revealing thing that Winn could talk her into wearing in public.

"Try it on," said Lena.

"Um," said Kara, "I can't really change in front of all of you, and besides, where's the zipper, exactly?"

"There isn't one," said Lena, smirking. "The suit doesn't needed it. It's made of nanites."

"Nanites?" said Kara.

"Put your hand on the crest and speak a phrase in Kryptonian," said Lena. "The suit will recognize it and put itself on you. Do the same thing to take it off. If you need to switch between your clothes and the suit during the day, you can just put on or take off your glasses, respectively."

Kara swallowed, then rested her hand on her family crest.

"Zhao," she whispered.

Lena blinked as if she didn't know what it meant. Kara fought panic as the suit melted, feeling weirdly cold as the shimmering nanites flowed up her arm, gliding across her chest and down her body and legs. Once it coated her, the material shifted, resuming its static form. She was in her new supersuit.

The cape was longer, she noticed, and the fit flawless, like it was tailored to her every measure. It was a lot more comfortable than her old suit, besides being more practical.

When she put her glasses back on, it quickly left her wearing the powder blue shirt and slacks she'd had on when she returned from CatCo. She looked around the room with a grin on her face, feeling genuinely happy for the first time since she'd left Lena's apartment.

"This is incredible, thank you," Kara gushed.

"There's more," said Lena.

"The suit is partially Kryptonite resistant, and can deploy a full anti-Kryptonite suit with the addition of more nanites. Lena and I are working on further applications of the nanite capabilities. It is also self-cleaning and self-repairing."

"There's one more thing," said Lena. "Can I have a moment alone with Kara?"

Brainy and Alex shared a glance. Alex hesitated briefly, then left the room.

When they were alone, Lena pulled something from her pocket; it looked like the communications earpiece that Kara wore when she was in the field. Lena offered it to her.

"What's this?"

"Listen," said Lena.

Kara brought it to her ear, and heard the swishing thump-thump of a heartbeat. It took her a moment to admit she didn't know whose it was.

"Who is that?" said Kara.

"It's you," said Lena. "So I can listen to your heartbeat whenever you're wearing the suit."

Kara stared at her, wide-eyed, gripped by awe. She carefully placed the earpiece back in Lena's hand and closed her fingers around it, moving in swiftly to press a soft, shaking kiss to her lips as tears welled in Kara's eyes. As she did, she blinked, feeling an unexpected weight on her wrist.

"What's this?" said Kara, gingerly touching the chunky band of shiny silver links around her wrist.

"That's actually the suit," said Lena, her voice soft and delicate as she cradled Kara's hand and wrist. "It compresses down to that bracelet when you're not fully wearing it."

Kara's head went fuzzy and she stared.

Lena made her a bracelet.

Lena made her a bracelet.

It had to be a coincidence, it had to be. Kara started to say something, the words only half formed in her mind, when an ear-piercing warbling sound shot through her skull. She stumbled, touching the side of her head.

"Kara? What is it?"

Kara looked at Lena's wrist, at her watch. It wasn't her.

"It's not you," said Kara. "It's a signal watch, but it's not you. Who-"

Kara yanked her glasses off, and the suit materialized around her before she stepped back out into the command center. Alex looked up.

"We need to talk about the surveillance footage from the Arkham attack. Brainy has something he needs to-"

"Someone activated a signal watch, and it's not Lena and it's not you."

"Who else has one?" said Lena.

"James," Alex whispered. "Kara, wait, we need to-"

Kara was already at the balcony and lifting off.

"Stay here," she said, twisting in the air to look back at Lena before taking off.

She rose into the late afternoon sky, speeding away from the DEO and higher over the city, so she could fly fast without causing any property damage. She followed the sound like a tether, even though she knew where to go. It was coming from the CatCo offices.

Alex spoke in her ear.

"Nia wasn't there. She's on her way. I'm bringing backup, Kara. Slow down and think about this."

"It's James," said Kara.

The signal watch was coming from deeper inside the office. Kara landed with a thud on the office balcony and threw the door open, wrenching the lock out in the process. Slowing, she stalked into what was once Cat Grant's office. Squaring her shoulders, she walked out into the bullpen, and froze.

Every CatCo employee in the building was on their knees, with guns pressed to their heads. Kara fought down the fury welling in her chest. The henchmen were all dressed... as...

As clowns. Painted faces, striped shirts like old style circus strongmen, and guns pointed at the heads of her friends and coworkers. Seated in the middle of it all, with James kneeling in front of him, was a gaunt figure in a purple check suit, orange shirt, and green string tie.His face was turned down, obscured by the broad-brimmed gambler's hat resting on his head.

James looked at her with his jaw set, eyes wide and lips pressed in a thin line. A thin trickle of blood ran down to his chin and dripped onto his shirt, from where a razor-sharp stiletto touched the corner of his mouth.

The gaunt figured looked at Kara with a mirthless grin, yellow teeth rimmed by cracked red lips and bone-white skin. His jaundiced eyes locked on her and a tiny giggle escaped his throat.

"Hello, Supergirl," said the Joker.

Chapter Text

Kara remained stock still, barely daring to breathe. With a quick flick of her eyes, she scanned the area with her x-ray vision. There were sixteen hostages besides James, including Snapper Carr, and Kara knew them all. By some dark miracle, Nia wasn't here. She must have been out on assignment or conducting an interview or perhaps had simply stepped out for some innocuous reason. It itched the back of Kara's mind, the timing.

No significant injuries. No bombs, no weapons other than what they carried. The Joker himself carried only a revolver under his coat and the switchblade he was stroking against James's cheek, as if giving him an expert shave. His mirthless eyes bored into Kara.

"What do you want, Joker?"

His voice bubbled with glee. "My face on the one dollar bill."

James flinched as the blade drew a fine line across his cheek, tiny drops of blood bleeding along its length. Kara sucked in a breath.

"I wonder," said the Joker. "How much is Superman's Pal worth to Superman's Cousin? What's ol Jimmy's measure? Your editor? The new guy? Beth from accounting?"

"Let them go," said Kara. "They have no part in this."

"They were here," said the Joker. "Luck of the draw."

"If it's me you want, I'm here."

"You really think I'm going to throw away my insurance policy?" said the Joker. "I know you're fast, but how fast? Faster than a speeding bullet, but what about ten? Twenty? Can you catch them all and stop me from putting a smile on his widdle face?"

For emphasis, the Joker clamped his free hand on James's chin and gave it a shake. James kept his expression flat, neutral. He practically ordered her: Stop him, don't worry about me.

She didn't dare move.

"Are we going to stand here all night, or are you going to get to the point?"

"You talk a big game," said the Joker, "but you've got a lousy poker face, Supergirl. You've got a tell. Crinkle." He tapped the center of his forehead.

Kara schooled her face still, fighting the revulsion swirling in her stomach.

"I'll ask you again. What do you want?"

The Joker's rictus grin went slack, pulling his features in a clownish, maudlin frown. "Oh, you think this is about a ransom? Okay, fine. I want two billion dollars, a Rolls Royce Phantom II, two helicopters, and an egg salad club with a slice of tomato and bacon. Oh, wait, that's Harvey."

He giggled.

Kara took a step forward. "Don't test me, clown."

"Oh, you see, that's why I'm here," said the Joker. "This isn't about money, Supergirl. I'm not here to rob banks. I'm here for a deeper purpose. A favor to an august colleague, taken from us before his time. ROSCOE!"

One of the Joker's men stepped forward and began, badly, playing a violin.

"Poor Lex Luthor. Can you imagine the ignominy, the shame? After all the work he put into being such a perfect archenemy, the big blue boy scout just dumps him and leaves. Now, I ask you, did Lexie-Poo deserve to be Super-Ghosted? Imagine what must have gone through the poor guy's head. Not only did his rival fob him off on you, the distaff counterpart, you weren't even the one to finish him off! Lex Luthor, the Great Alexander of Our Time, the Man of Tomorrow, genius philanthropist playboy scientist and fully functioning homicidal artist, shot dead by a woman who got the drop on him. Lex, killed by... her."

Kara's blood froze in her veins, and the world tilted around her. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

Did he mean Lena? How did he know that?

"Oh yes, I know," said the Joker. "Lex left me a bequest, to be laid at my feet in the event of his untimely passing. A great treasure, a bounty of secrets that are mine, and mine alone."

Kara swallowed, or tried to, and found her throat going dry.

"Say, how's Mom, by the way? Did she make it to your last Earth Birthday?"

Kara's heart began to pound in her chest.

Alex spoke in her ear. "I'm sending a team to get to Mom right now, Kara. Focus."

"How are your friends at the DEO? Are they listening in? Is she there?"

Kara's jaw clenched, and she knew she'd given it away.

"You Supers are so easy," he chortled. "But I digress. I had a vision, Supergirl. So many friends and colleagues dead or reformed or locked away forever. Such a dull world you and your cousin and your friends are making. Can you imagine it? Living peacefully in an age where all the great battles have long ago been won, all the great miracles long ago performed?"

He snorted, stifling his own laughter.

"What did you think was going to happen? That you would get to retire to some little cottagecore fantasy life with your Gal Pal and be awkward sexless roommates forever?"

Her fists clenched, and she felt the heat building in her eyes. It would be easy to end this, she knew. He's just a man. If she took care of him, his men would scatter, no longer bound together by loyalty or fear or whatever drove them to follow this madman. The temptation was always there, and she always ignored it. There was a better way. She had to be the better way. She was Supergirl.

"A world without supervillains," said the Joker. "How boring."

"Kara," Alex said, "I'm leading a tactical team. We're heading up now. J'onn is outside in the air, ready to move. We need to hit them hard and simultaneously. Wait for my signal. You worry about James and the Joker. We'll get the others."

The Joker cocked his head. "Let me guess, your boss is on her way with backup and Marvin out there is waiting to bust through the glass. That's the wrong idea, Supergirl. I already know all your moves. We've been watching you for a while now."

"We?" said Kara.

The Joker's grin split wider. "Wouldn't you like to know. Anyway, on to tonight's entertainment. Roscoe! Enough with the shitty violin!"

The Joker's burly goon hurled the instrument aside, and it broke apart with a loud twang. Two more of his crew wheeled an old television forward on a wheeled stand, while another carried a CatCo camera, still wired in to the studio at the far end of the floor. The green light glowed.

"We on?" said the Joker.

"Yes, boss," said the clown-faced henchman, aiming the camera at him, then at Kara.

"The revolution will be live," said the Joker. "Show her."

One of his men turned on the television, and Kara let out a yelp of shock, her chest seizing. Great merciful Rao.

The Joker turned James's head, savoring the widening of his eyes and the wordless sound in his throat.

Kelly sat on a chair, bound with ropes and duct tape. The screen was illuminated in greens- night vision. Wherever she was, it was pitch black. Kara edged closer, stopping only when James let out a soft sound as the Joker pressed the blade to the corner of his mouth. Kara looked at James, then at the screen. Kelly was seated next to a cartoonish-looking bundle of dynamite, wired into a clock shaped like the Joker's own head, the digits clenched in his yellow teeth.

"Take me instead," James said, ignoring the blood that welled at the corner of his mouth. "Let her go and-"

"Shut up," the Joker hissed, "You're ruining it." He looked up at Kara. "She's wired up with enough explosives to level a city block, and you'll notice she's sitting on a pressure plate. Anybody but you moves here, Supey, and they'll get blown sky high with her. It's gotta be you. Which one will you save? Jimmy or Kelly?"

"Where is she?" said Kara.

"Oh, is that your choice?"

The Joker's gloved hand whipped, viper quick, to press the razor edge into James's throat, pressing into his skin so hard that even the slightest pressure would part the flesh and open his veins.

"Wait!" Kara screamed. "No, don't-"

"Oh, so the sister, then?" said the Joker. "Lawrence! Hit the detonator!"

"NO!" Kara bellowed, clenching her fists.

"Oh pish posh, make up your mind!" said the Joker. "Which one, Supergirl? The lady or the Guardian?"

"Me," James rasped. "Supergirl, choose me."

"Why the timer?" said Kara. "Why is there a timer if I have to pick?"

"Oh, finally she starts to wise up. There are rules, Supergirl. Here they are. The game ends if you choose- Kelly or Jimmy. Or you can wait and receive a special bonus surprise!"

"Which is what?"

"Would it be a surprise if I told you?" the Joker snarled. "It's like you don't get this at all."

"Kara," Alex said, "We're in place, J'onn is outside."

With a resigned sign, Kara touched the comms with her finger. "Don't breach, Agent. He has Kelly Olsen."

Alex let out of a soft, pained sound, then whispered. "Oh. Oh God."

"Talking to your sister-in-arms?" said the Joker. "Why don't you invite her up? Slowly, and have them leave their guns. Do it now, or they both die. And lest you get any ideas, the detonator Lawrence is carrying is a deadman switch. And I'm not telling you which one of them is Lawrence."

Kara swallowed. "Alex. He wants you all to come up, unarmed. If you don't, he'll set off the bomb next to Kelly."

"Fuck," Alex snarled. "This is not going well."

Lena broke in, finally.

"Kara, keep him talking. Brainy and I are tracing the connection to the camera feed where he's keeping Kelly. We'll let you know as soon as we run the trace. We need a minute or two."

Kara said nothing.

Alex led the way out of the stairwell, hands raised. The Joker wolf whistled when he saw her, looking her up and down appraisingly. Kara tensed, her teeth grinding. Alex stared him down with her best Director Danvers Death Glare, but there was something missing from it, something broken in her eyes. She recoiled when she saw Kelly on the screen, hands flinching.

"What, you too?" said the Joker. "Is your whole secret government agency just a big lesbian knitting circle?"

"That's pretty homophobic, boss," said one of the clowns.

"Shut up, Bob," said the Joker. "If I want an opinion from you, I'll give you one."

"Joker," said Alex. "Let Kelly Olsen go free and unharmed and we'll get you three hots and a cot and a ride back to Gotham."

"Oh, am I supposed to be intimidated?" said the Joker. "How about this: You don't open your pretty little mouth again and I don't turn your girlfriend into chunky salsa. Unless Supergirl picks Jimbo here."

Kara saw J'onn moving closer to the window from the corner of her eye. The Joker spared him a glance.

"Go ahead and try me, Marvin. My brain isn't a fun place to spend a weekend."

There was a soft crackle in Kara's ear. Alex flinched; she heard it, too.

"Supergirl," said a young woman's voice. "This is Batgirl. Try not to react. Robin is with me. We're two minutes out in the Batwing."

Kara kept totally still; Alex schooled her features, and unlike Kara, she did have a winning poker face.

"So is that the game?" said Kara. "I either stand here for an hour-"

"Forty-seven minutes," said the Joker.

"Or I choose?"

"Or you choose," said the Joker.

"I thought you were a great criminal mastermind," Alex taunted.

Kara shot her a pleading look, but Alex ignored her.

"This is like something the Riddler would come up with and then toss in the slush pile for being too simple. Where's the pizzaz? Where's the joke?"

"The Riddler stole my act!" the Joker snarled.

"Let me guess, there's a sadistic twist," Alex went on. "Like, whoever she picks, you kill the opposite. Or Kelly is already dead."

Kara flinched at the words.

"That better not be the joke," said Alex, "because that's the only thing stopping me."

"Alex," Kara said.

The Joker looked at Alex. "I like this one. You've got fire. Too bad you bat for the wrong team, toots. You'd be fun after a dip in a chemical vat."

"From what I hear, so does Harley."

The Joker's face twisted into a frown. "You shut your mouth."

"Kara," said Lena, in her ear. "Thirty seconds."

"We're a minute out," said Batgirl. "We're close, Supergirl. Just keep him busy a minute longer."

"What do you really want from me?" said Kara.

"I want you down off your high horse," said the Joker. "I want you to show us who you really are. Look at you. The perfect woman who came from the sky to do only good. Such a beautiful lie. You'll reveal your true self. Maybe not tonight, but eventually. You're going to show the world more than the name on your driver's license. The one that expires on your Earth Birthday. Right, Roscoe?"

"Right, boss," he said, aiming the camera at Kara.

"Oh, I forgot," said the Joker. "There is a way you can eat your cake and have it, too. Just look into that camera with your baby blues and tell the whole wide world your real name."

Kara swallowed.

"Kara," said Lena. "We almost have the trace. Kara... you're on television. He's broadcasting it and the major networks have picked it up."

Kara heard it first, the news helicopter thumping by outside, shining a light past J'onn into the room. There were more coming in; Kara could see them through the walls. Police were massing outside, not just surrounding the building but holding back crowds.

"Where is Kelly Olsen?" Kara said, deadly soft.

"Tell us your name," said the Joker, "and they all go free. No strings attached. No wordplay. I let everybody go and you can cuff me and throw me way down in the hole where I belong."

"You can't," Alex said, flatly. "You'd be putting more people in danger."

"Oh, are those people more important than poor Kelly?" said the Joker. "Boy, are you going to be in the doghouse."

"We're going to save her, and you are leaving here in cuffs," said Alex.

"How are you planning to accomplish that?"

"This is Batgirl," the girl spoke in Kara's ear. "We're here."

Kara spared a glance to the side, where she saw a sleek, black flyer coming to a hover, bristling with weapons. The canopy slid open, and two figures emerged, taking positions on the wings.

"Ready to deploy nonlethals."

"Kara," said Lena. "Kelly is in a warehouse near the docks. I can give you an exact location."

"When I give the go," said Batgirl, "Supergirl, you take the Joker and the one with the detonator. We'll fire nonlethals into the room and breach through the windows. We have to make this fast and precise."

Kara nodded, ever so slightly.

The Joker frowned, twisting his lips. "Wait," he said.  "You're up to something. Game o-"

"Breach," said Batgirl.

Kara didn't wait. The world slowed, the normal timeframe of its human inhabitants left behind as everything around her stretched. She scanned the room with her x-ray vision, immediately spotting the detonator in the relaxing hand of one of Joker's men. She saw the wiry muscles tensing along the Joker's arm as he initiated the motion of sawing into James's neck, and saw J'onn, slightly faster than the world around him, streaking towards the melee.

Outside, a stream of tiny darts and gas canisters launched by the Batwing sliced languidly through the air towards the glass. Batgirl, cape spread, swung towards the windows, and Robin beside her, in a hooded, colorful costume, both of them throwing bat-shaped grenades that hung in the air, gently spinning.

Kara Danvers was the fastest woman on Earth. She was the fastest thing on Earth, and she moved with all her speed. She raced at the speed of sound, caring little for the air pressure building against her skin and in her ears. She took the knife first, twisting it out of the Joker's hand, crushing the blade without a care. All around her, sears disengaged and hammers began to drop. Kara tore through the air in a flurry, dancing between statues at the very limit of her speed, slapping guns away, ripping them from hands.

Finally, she closed her hands around the detonator, uncaring for the bones that cupped it, wrenching it from the thug's hand without letting the button free. Some part of her, dimly, was apologetic for his broken fingers, but a greater part of her didn't care.

Kara flew. The glass of the windows parted like silk and she blasted past Batgirl and Robin in a blur, too fast for them to see. She arced up, above the city skyline, and in microseconds ripped through the sound barrier, plunging herself into a wordless, chaotic void as she dragged a thunderclap in her wake and rocketed towards the docks.

She was too late. The bomb was going off.

Kara stood between ticks of a clock. She shattered the wall, bits of brick and mortar hanging motionless in the air around her. Kelly sat in the dark, eyes wide, a screen frozen on her face, the sound stretched in the infinity of Kara's alien time. The bomb was going off; it had shattered, its explosive blast an ever-expanding supernova in miniature, casting a halo of shrapnel that was only an instant away from shredding into Kelly's flesh and snuffing out her existence like a puff of air to a candle flame.

There was only one thing she could do.

Kara wrapped herself around Kelly, throwing her cape around them both, turning her body towards the blast. Once she had Kelly, time resumed.

The explosion hammered Kara, staggering her with its force, and the entire building was just gone, its remains groaning as it fell on on them. Kara twisted and shouldered into the falling superstructure, clutching Kelly to her chest as she let out a bellow of fury and rage and threw herself up, hurling the wreckage from her back.

Kelly lay in her arms, motionless, lifeless. For a sick, broken moment, Kara's thoughts pressed against the limits of time and she imagined it in superspeed, telling Kelly, telling James, telling them she'd failed, that sister and girlfriend had died, that Supergirl hadn't been fast enough, hadn't been good enough, that this time it was in vain and she'd finally been beaten.

Then Kelly sucked in a ragged breath and her eyes flew open, comprehending.

"Kara?" she choked out.

So, she knew. Or figured it out. No time for that now.

"I have to get you out of here," said Kara. "Close your eyes and hold on to me."

She gave Kelly a quick scan- she had bruises and cuts but no broken bones. Kara took off, shielding the terrified woman with her cape, and moments later she was landing on the mezzanine balcony at the DEO, shouting for medical attention, laying Kelly on a stretcher while Lena rushed to her side.

"Kara," Lena breathed.

There was no time. Kara had an ocean of words crashing against her lips and the only way they could escape was a kiss, breaking on Lena's lips like water on rocks. For a bare second, Kara held her, willing Lena to feel it, the need, the fear, the pain. Lena hugged her back and let go at once, knowing, understanding. Kara thanked Brainy, silently, for catching a stumbling Lena as Kara took off.

When she rocketed through the windows into the CatCo office, Kara's boots thudded on the floor. She destroyed the camera with a glance and ignored everything but the Joker.

Alex had been at him: he had a missing tooth and bled freely from his mouth. James lay to the side, one of the DEO agents dressing the cut on his throat as he lay on the floor. All around Kara was chaos and desolation and fear, and she saw only red.

Seizing him by the collar, Kara yanked the Joker bodily from the floor and lifted him high with a casual iota of her strength, hefting him in her iron grip by his throat. She stormed to the shattered window, holding him out over the edge.

"What was it you said?" Kara snarled, a deep hate crackling in her voice as fury boiled in her eyes. "A world without supervillains?"

"Hehe," Joker giggled, "Hehehehe..."

"I think I'll start with you."

"SUPERGIRL!"

Kara flinched, halfheartedly trying to tear her arm from Alex's grip. Alex grabbed her bicep with both hands, feebly trying to dig human fingers into a bicep harder than the strongest steel, rigid with tension.

"Don't do this," Alex begged in a low voice, just for her. "You can't do this. Supergirl can't murder a man in front of the world."

"When does it stop?" Kara said, her voice high, cracking with tension, girlish. She sounded like she was caught in a thunderstorm, on a hot August night thirteen years ago on a strange world. "When does it stop? How many more people does he get to kill and maim before somebody stops him?"

"A lot," the Joker rasped, "I'll never stop... Kara. Maybe I'll pay your little girlfriend a visit next."

Her grip tightened; all she had to do was squeeze. She could feel the blood surging beneath her fingers, the taut stretch of his tendons, the papery, weak resistance of his vertebrae. A squeeze and the Joker would be falling to the ground in two pieces, to kill and maim and torture no more forever.

All she had to do was squeeze.

"Kara," a soft voice murmured in her ear. "Kara," Lena said, "Don't do it." She was on the comms.

"Why?" Kara croaked. "Why not? What if he comes after you next?"

"You'll save me. You always save me."

"What if I can't?" Kara said, tears boiling in her eyes, steaming down her cheeks. "What if I'm too late?"

"You're Supergirl. You can do anything. I believe in you. Don't let him ruin do this to you."

Kara choked back a sob, and tossed the Joker to the ground. The DEO agents swarmed him, pinning him to the ground.

"Coward," the Joker snarled, "You miserable weakling. Do it! DO IT!"

"No," Kara whispered. "Take him in."

"You think this is over?" said the Joker. "You really think this is all I had up my sleeve? I'm just getting started, you self righteous little trollop. I always have the last laugh."

The agents hauled him to his feet, dragging him away.

"Get him to a holding cell," said Alex. "I want him locked up in our most secure-"

"No!"

Batgirl stepped forward, grabbing Alex's arm. "Don't take him to wherever you normally take prisoners into custody. That's where he wants to go. He was planning to be caught."

"How do you know?"

Robin looked over, regarding them with blank eyes hidden by his mask. "He would have had an escape plan if he didn't want to be caught. He wants you to take him back to your base of operations. Don't give him what he wants."

"Then what the hell do we do with him?" said Alex.

"NCPD has a major crimes unit. Take him there. Have him strip searched and clear a cell. No visitors, no one talks to him until we move him back to Gotham," said Batgirl. "Trust me. The Joker always has a backup plan, and a fake plan, and a real plan. Whatever he's really up to here, it's contingent on you moving him to the DEO."

Alex considered for a moment.

"Trust her," said Kara. "Please."

Alex nodded.

"How bad is it?"

"J'onn is already on his way to get Mom," said Alex. "He picked up his car first. She'll be at the DEO in less than an hour. Nia was in the suburbs following up on a lead, and she couldn't make it here in time. She's on her way in now."

Kara cleared her throat. "Is anyone hurt?"

"The Joker's men," said Alex. "You broke that one guy's arm, and, ah... Kara... I'm sorry..."

"What?" said Kara. "Alex, what is it?"

"Snapper's been shot. The bullet grazed his side. He's bleeding badly. He's already on his way to the hospital."

Kara paced, scrubbing her fingers through her hair.

"I..."

Alex reached up and touched her ear. "Lena, you there?"

"I am," Lena said, softly.

"I'm sending her to you."

"I'll be here."

"Go," said Alex. "Go back to the tower. We can handle it from here. We'll join you shortly. Go back to the tower, change, and get cleaned up. Hug your girl. That's an order."

Kara hesitated, then let out a slow, shuddering nod.

"Check in on Kelly for me."

Kara took a few stumbling steps and took off, rocketing past the circling police and news helicopters, up into the sky before diving back down to obscure her flight path. She stumbled to a shaky landing, boots thudding on the concrete floor.

Lena was already there, throwing herself into a hug, filling Kara's face with her soft, wavy hair and sweet flower scent. Kara choked back a sob as she took Lena in her arms.

"Is Kelly alright?"

"Yes. Brainy is with her now. Come with me," Lena whispered, "Come on."

Kara let herself be led by the hand, ignoring stares from agents and analysts. Lena must have had this planned; she led Kara to the changing rooms in the barracks, extracted Kara's glasses from her pocket, and slipped them on her face. Her suit dissolved, collapsing into the heavy bracelet around her wrist, and Kara held the weight in her hands, turning the links around her wrist.

"Shhh," Lena murmured, "Come on."

Lena led her into the showers, turning the knob all the way up.

"I'll get you a change of clothes," Lena said, demurely.

She stepped out, leaving Kara to discard her rumpled, sweaty clothes. She had perspired not from heat but from tension, soaking her powder blue button-down. It plopped on the floor as she dove under the hot stream, wishing she could really feel it.

Eventually, she toweled herself dry and found a folded set of clothes outside, pulling them on. Kara put her glasses back on and pulled her damp hair back into a ponytail, stepping out of the locker rooms to find Lena waiting for her.

"I need you," Kara whispered.

"I know. Over here."

Lena led her to an empty room in the barracks and closed the door. It was small, barely big enough for someone to grab a nap during a rotation, but it was enough. Kara collapsed onto the bed with her head in her hands and Lena was there, enveloping her in softness and warmth, murmured comfort into her shoulder and soft, chaste kisses on her jaw.

Kara broke, and let herself break. She started to sob into her hands, then into Lena's shoulder as Lena held her, rubbing gentle circles into her back while Lena cooed into her hair, offering wordless, instinctive comfort.

"I almost killed him," said Kara. "It was even worse than Bane. I was so close, Lena. I couldn't think of any reason not to."

"You weren't going to do it," said Lena, squeezing her arm. "I know you Kara. You're never going to do something like that."

"How do you know?"

"Because," said Lena. "I know that at the very core of it all, when you take away else away from Supergirl, there's only one thing left. You don't want anyone else to die."

Kara was silent for a moment, staring. She felt both seen and exposed, welcomed and shattered, healed and raw. Lena had seen the deepest truth of her soul so easily, so lightly.

Kara loved her so much.

And she sobbed, finally breaking fully and sobbing hard into Lena's shoulder, freely. She cried as Kara, in the arms of Lena, and for a few moments, nothing else mattered.

Kara didn't remember lying down on the thin, government-issue mattress. It just seemed to happen, as if she'd always been lying there, with Lena whispering soft comforting words and lightly stroking fingers through her unbreakable hair, cradling her invincible body in her soft, warm arms.

After some time, the door opened. It was Alex. She appraised them briefly.

"You've got her, Luthor?"

"I've got her, Danvers."

The two women looked at each other, some silent understanding hanging unspoken in the air, and it gave Kara a touch of comfort even as it felt like she was cracking apart inside. Lena held her tighter.

"I've got her," Lena assured Alex.

There was a heavy, meaningful pause.

"I know," Alex finally said. "Stay with her."

"You know I will."

Kara, against her nature, fell asleep in Lena's arms. It was an easy thing, falling into the darkness. The night passed quickly and she soon found herself lying on her side, with Lena pressed tightly to her back, their bodies slotted together as tightly as the finest joint of a master carpenter, two made one with such artistry that there was no place where Lena ended and Kara began. She could have laid like this forever.

Forever would have to wait. Lena stirred a moment after Kara did.

"One day this is all going to be over," said Lena. "I don't know if it means a cottage and cats, but I want a future with you, Kara."

"Me too," said Kara, her voice tight.

"And it definitely isn't going to be sexless," Lena added, a soft purr to her voice.

Kara smiled. "We still need to work that out."

"Later, Darling. They need Supergirl."

"They need Lena Luthor, too. We're a package deal now."

"We are," Lena agreed, and despite it all, Kara's heart did a little pitter-patter in her chest.

A soft knock came to the door.

Alex stepped inside. She clearly hadn't slept, and Kara felt a fresh wave of guilt.

"Mom's here, and we have surveillance on every place that's meaningful to either of you. Jess even has a protective detail, Lena, and we have agents stationed in Snapper's hospital room. Batgirl and Robin are waiting for us upstairs with a briefing."

"Let's go," Kara said, wearily.

Lena took her hand. They sat on the thin bed, hip pressed to hip, Kara's shoulders hunched. She twisted the bracelet around her wrist, feeling its weight.

"I'll be upstairs in the briefing room," said Alex.

Kara looked at the bracelet, then glanced at Lena's bulky watch. She swallowed thickly, all the things she wanted to say rising to the forefront, jumbling over each other. She was so tired, she found herself thinking in Kryptonian, something she barely did anymore, and a part of her wrenched at the thought that her first language was shifting away from her mother tongue, that she thought like a human, something she'd thrown in Kal's face more than once in an argument.

"Kara," Lena said, "Before we go. Earlier, you said..." Lena furrowed her brows. "You've said something in Kryptonian a few times. It sounded like zhao."

"Zhao w rrip," Kara blurted.

Lena blinked at the soft, trilling phrase as it flowed off Kara's tongue.

"Is that what spoken Kryptonian sounds like?"

"Yes."

"It's beautiful, Kara. Would you like to teach me?"

Kara's chest swelled, the stress and fear gone for a moment, replaced by the warmth growing hot inside her.

"We'll start with that phrase. It means 'I love you.' Sort of."

"Kara, I..." Lena said, "I'm not good with these things. I'm not good with letting people in, or expressing my emotions, or trusting. Sometimes I..."

"It's okay," Kara said, taking her hand. "It's alright. I know we jumped pretty far in right away but we don't have to rush this."

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. Maybe they did. Maybe one or both of them would be gone tomorrow. Some selfish part of Kara almost wanted to be the first one, so as not to be left alone, but a greater part of her was shamed by her own cruelty, at the thought of leaving Lena.

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm not always going to be good at saying what I mean and I tend to blurt it out with actions, instead. Like filling your office with flowers," Lena said, moving her fingers to the bracelet around Kara's wrist, "or making this, after Alex told me what bracelets signify on Krypton."

"Wait, the flowers were..."

"Kara," Lena sighed, "It's not just your muscles that are dense, sometimes."

Kara laughed a little, though it was brittle, and she felt a bone-deep weariness.

"I want to love all of you, including the alien parts, if you want to share them. I want you to tell me about Krypton."

Kara sucked in a breath. "I... yes, I would like that."

"Me too."

"We should go. They're waiting for us."

"We should go," Lena agreed, but neither of them seemed eager to move.

Finally, Kara stood and pulled off her glasses in a quick motion, the suit assembling itself around her. Lena watched, and Kara felt the sweeping of her gaze as keenly as she felt the suit tightening against her skin.

"There she is," said Lena. "Now, let's go."

Chapter Text

Lena, still, was not used to this. It was still something of a shock when she looked at Supergirl and saw Kara, her Kara. Now she was in a room with three such people. Alex, by contrast, looked almost boring in her usual black uniform; the heavy alien pistol at her hip didn't even faze Lena anymore. She was, she realized, getting used to this, and she wasn't sure what that meant.

The group was seated around a table. Brainy sat next to Alex at the head of the table as she looked over something on a tablet, both of their brows furrowed. J'onn stood sentinel near the door, arms folded over his broad chest.

Batgirl sat next to Alex on the other side. Lena felt a strange twist when she realized how casually threw around these secret identities and false names, like it was normal for someone called Batgirl to be seated a few feet away. Much to Lena's shock, the girl -who had to be college-aged- had thrown back her cowl, baring her face.

Her companion did not unmask. He leaned against the wall, one foot against the concrete, arms folded, head constantly turning, eyes flicking this way and that behind the silver lenses of his mask. His arms were folded over his chest, but one hand repeatedly dipped towards his belt, sometimes fingering one of the pouches.

"What's the situation in Gotham?" said Kara.

She paced behind Lena, looking haggard and tired in her suit.

"Contained, for the moment," Robin said, in a terse voice. "The national guard has been mobilized and the rioting was confined to the Narrows. A couple of Arkham inmates helped to contain it."

Lena raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at Kara, but said nothing.

"Everything I've gathered points to the Joker being loose for at six weeks," said Batgirl. "His behavior has been extremely unusual. His pathology is complex, but fairly well understood. If he's been free, but quiet, for over a month, it means he's planning something big."

"Like showing up at Supergirl's job and holding Superman's best friend hostage?" said Kara. "Not much of a plan."

"That's not his real plan," said Robin. "There's always a real plan."

Kara scrubbed her hair back from her eyes. As she sat down, Lena reached over beneath the table and grasped her hand tight, and Kara squeezed back in her tender, delicate way, as if she were cupping a baby bird in her grasp.

"What do we know so far?" said Batgirl. "These crimes are all connected. Someone contracted the Scarecrow to expose Supergirl to his fear toxin, then hired Bane to attack Ms. Luthor, and put out contracts on Ms. Luthor and 'Kara Danvers'. During the attack on Ms. Luthor, while Supergirl and the authorities were distracted, a group of thieves quietly stole experimental communications equipment. Subsequently, someone, presumably the same someone, broke Mister Freeze, Killer Croc, the Mad Hatter, and the Clock King out of Arkham, the latter apparently against his will, and turned the rest of the asylum loose on the city to cover their escape."

"They also kidnapped my mother. Lillian Luthor," said Lena. "Or broke her out of prison. I suppose it's semantic at this point."

Batgirl nodded. "Based on everything here, she's our number one suspect. She has a motive, she certainly has the means, and she has connections in the criminal underworld. Most importantly, she knows who Supergirl really is, and leveraged that information more than once in the past."

"So we find Lillian, we put a stop to this," said Alex, looking at Brainy. "Where are we on that?"

"I have been searching for patterns," said Brainy. "But I think our best option is to consider possible Cadmus facilities that Lillian could be using as a base of operations."

"I've given you the most complete list that I have," said Lena.

"There are others. We simply have to identify them," said Brainy.

Alex grimaced and pulled out her phone. Her brows rose and she brought it to her ear.

"Hello?" she said, hesitant. "I... yes. I'm fine, listen, I don't really... oh. Right." Alex swallowed. "Okay. I'll get on that."

"Who was that?" asked Lena.

Kara, who most likely heard both sides of the call, looked at Alex sympathetically.

"That was Maggie Sawyer. She, ah, arrested Lena that one time. We also dated for a while."

"Yes," Lena said. "I remember her."

Alex looked away, awkwardly. "Anyway, that was her. She just called me to tell me to get the Joker out of her lockup before he causes a riot." She turned to Batgirl. "Can you transport him back to Gotham?"

"Yes," said Robin. "We should move him right away, before he has a chance to implement whatever he's got planned. If we contain him, he won't be able to send signals or give covert orders."

"Then let's go," said Kara.

"I'd like to join you," said Lena.

Kara frowned for a moment.

"You'll keep me safe," said Lena.

Sighing, Kara nodded.

Lena ended up riding to NCPD headquarters in a van with Alex. J'onn drove, and Lena rode in the back in a seat usually used by a member of a DEO tactical team. Robin and Batgirl sat opposite her, the latter holding her hands folded primly in her lap.

"I've always wanted to meet you," Batgirl said, quietly.

Lena smiled weakly, not sure how to take that.

"Double PhDs by 26 is pretty impressive," the girl added. "The work you're doing in cancer research is amazing."

Lena felt herself relax a little. "Thank you. I'm just trying to undo some of the damage my family has done."

Kara, flying overhead, dipped down and skimmed along beside the van before rising out of sight again. Lena realized she'd been staring.

Robin touched his ear, listening intently. He looked up.

"We're going to have to take the Joker to Blackgate for holding when we return to Gotham. Arkham is still a mess."

The van rolled to a stop and Kara landed beside them with a thud, resting her hands on her hips heroically while the others climbed out. When she emerged, Lena found herself approaching a building that had prepared itself for a siege. The National City Police had their tactical squads milling about out front, heavily armed and visibly anxious. They'd set up concrete K-rails in a barricade around the building, with the front rams of heavy breaching APCs pushed up against them.

"All this for one man?" Lena said.

Robin shot her a look of annoyance, but said nothing. Batgirl dipped her head slightly.

"There's a history there you don't know," said Robin.

There were reporters, too. The National City press had turned out in force, surrounding the barricades with news vans and clusters of reporters and crew. As soon as she stepped out into the open, they zeroed in on Lena.

Kara stepped in front of her, glaring, and the press stepped back.

Inside, Maggie Sawyer met them in the lobby. She was as Lena remembered, dressed in dark jeans and a leather jacket. She regarded Lena cooly, but seemed to forget that Lena even existed when she saw Alex.

"Hi," said Alex.

"It's been a while," said Sawyer. "Hi. Right. Get this thing out of my fishbowl and take it back to Gotham."

"Fishbowl?" said Lena.

"Interrogation room," said Sawyer. "It's the best way to keep him isolated from the rest of the population in holding. We're not taking any risks. We've got the members of his gang you arrested in separate cells. I want them all gone before they move onto whatever he's planning next."

Alex nodded, curtly. "We'll move him as soon as possible. Can you take us to him?"

"I know where he is," Kara said, her voice soft and cool. A faint blue glow rimmed her eyes, and Lena shivered. X-Ray vision.

"This way," said Sawyer.

She led them deeper into the building without batting an eye at the costumed new arrivals, though she did take a long and rather... appreciative look at Batgirl while ushering her into the elevator. Alex gave her a stern look and Sawyer shot one right back at her, softened by a smirk.

The elevator carried them below ground. Kara rubbed at her arms in the tight space, visibly tensing as they descended below street level. Finally, the doors opened, and Kara sprang out first. Lena was close behind, followed by the others. Sawyer rushed ahead of them.

"There he is."

Lena stopped in front of a one-way mirror. On the other side, the Joker sat at a metal table, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and unlaced sneakers, with no socks. The jumpsuit's short sleeves bared long, skinny arms, corded with wiry muscle beneath pale skin that reminded Lena of a dead fish. He stared straight ahead, the permanent rictus on his face horrifically twisted into a frown.

"I want to talk to him first," said Kara.

"There's no point," said Batgirl. "Anything he tells you will be to further his goals."

Kara looked at Sawyer, who shrugged. "You won't get anywhere. We tried."

Kara's jaw clenched. Sawyer finally relented, unlocking the door.

"He's been searched," Sawyer said, distastefully. "He doesn't have any Kryptonite up his butt or anything, but be careful anyway."

Kara nodded and stepped into the room. Sawyer closed the door behind her, staying close by as the group tensely watched Kara walk into the room.

The Joker looked up, suddenly animated. "Ah, there you are. It's about time... Kara."

Lena's stomach did a backflip. She felt the others flinch, especially Alex. Lena forced herself still. Something off, jumping out at her about his demeanor. He leaned forward over the table, folding his cuffed hands together above the metal eye bolt that held his handcuffs.

"I want to know who put you up to this," said Kara. "I want to you to tell me everything you know."

"Everything I know?" said the Joker. "Okay, let's start with the basics. When I was in fifth grade, I caught some of my piss in a cup and poured it into Mrs. Fenstermacher's coffee before class because she wouldn't let me join the Young Felons of America chapter. The sum of the squares of the legs of a right triangle are equal to the square of the hypotenuse. Batman smells, Robin laid an egg... or wait, he didn't lay an egg, I bashed his brains out with a crowbar. Oh, Poison Ivy has green-"

Kara burst forwards, blurring as she grabbed the cuffs and snapped the shackle chain that held him to the table and hauled him to his feet one handed, swinging him around painfully by the wrists.

"Tell me who sent you."

The Joker grinned at her. "Nobody sends me," he rasped.

"You're going back to whatever hole they keep you in," said Kara.

"Aren't you supposed to be a reporter?" the Joker snorted. "You just ended a sentence with a preposition."

"Enough," Kara snapped. "Who else have you told about my identity? Who knows?"

She shoved him across the room and he stumbled into the wall, sliding to sit on the floor. He looked up at her, pursing his lips.

"Oooh, aren't we spicy today. Tell me something, does Luthor's sister like being tossed around like that? She looks the-"

Kara let out a strangled cry of fury and tore the Joker from the floor, hauling him into the air one handed.

"Who. Knows."

The Joker stared down at her. "You were doing so good until now. So smart to realize that I wanted to be caught, so dumb to fall for the obvious."

"What are you talking about?"

He grinned wider. "Very smart, don't you think? Bringing me here, locking me away, far away from your treasures... while you keep them all somewhere else. Somewhere safe where no one could ever harm them."

"What do you mean?"

Lena looked at Alex, and they both said "The DEO" at once.

"I told you, Kara. It's about time," said the Joker.

"Time," said Lena, looking at the others. "The Clock King."

"What the fuck is a Clock King?" said Sawyer.

"The Clock King, the Hatter, Croc, Freeze..." said Robin.

Kara looked through the glass at them, and casually tossed the Joker aside. He hit the wall with a grunt as she moved for the door. Sawyer rushed to unlock it before she smashed it off the hinges, slamming it shut. The Joker curled in the corner, chuckling wetly to himself.

"We need to get back to the DEO right now," said Kara. "He said all my treasures..."

"Eliza. Kelly," said J'onn. "Kara, go. I'll stay with-"

Kara winced, turning on her feet. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" said Alex.

"It was an explosion- another," Kara said. "Bombs! J'onn, take Lena somewhere safe. Now."

"Wait-" Lena began, but J'onn had already wrapped his strong hands around her arms and was leading her away from the interrogation room while Kara rocketed down the hall in a red-blue streak, crashing through stairwell doors and straight up.

"What's going on?" said Lena.

Alex rushed along beside them, holding her fingers to her earpiece.

"Multiple large explosions around the city. It sounds like he planted incendiary devices before he hit CatCo. There's casualties and fires." She pulled out her phone. "Brainy, lock down the building right now, no one in or out. What do you mean-"

Alex stopped walking.

"What is it?" Said J'onn, pausing beside her.

"Back at the DEO. Shift change," said Alex.

"We're changing shifts here, too," said Sawyer. "What does-"

"The Clock King," said Alex. "He works by studying movement patterns, schedules, timing. Let's go, I need to get upstairs and we need to get Lena somewhere safe."

"I can help," said Lena.

"The best thing you can do right now is keep your head down so that Kara doesn't have to worry about you," said Alex.

Lena fumed, but contained herself. "So where do you propose that I go, if the DEO isn't safe?"

They stood silently for a moment.

This one, the heard. There was a shuddering boom and Lena felt a roll in the ground beneath her, and thin streams of dust tumbled from the tiled ceiling.

"That was close," said Sawyer. "Move!"

Lena tensed.

"J'onn, take Lena to safety," said Alex. "We need her off the field."

"Can you take me to my lab? At L-Corp?" said Lena.

"Is it safe?" said J'onn.

"It's the safest place in the city outside the DEO. Just trust me, we need to get there right away."

He nodded, and led her into the stairwell. The elevators had shut down, and they were going to have to walk. Lena was glad she'd abandoned heels for DEO-issue boots as she ran, panting, up the steps. She was going to have to start doing more spin classes with Kara, whether Kara got anything out of it or not.

J'onn stepped out of the stairwell, leading Lena into chaos. Alarms sounded, and police were running everywhere; a uniformed cop, with a thin streak of blood running from his dusty scalp, jogged up to them.

"Lieutenant Sawyer, one of the bombs went off upstairs. The building is on fire, we're trying to clear-"

Another cop walked over to them, eyes blank, and pulled his gun. In a single fluid motion, he aimed, fired, and hit the first officer in the back, dropping him instantly in a spray of gore. Lena flinched, too surprised to scream, as the man turned his gun to aim directly at Lena.

Everything happened at once. J'onn stepped in front of the gun just as the cop fired, deflecting the bullet with his back, before turning around in a fluid snap and pinning him into the wall. Alex forced the gun out of the man's hand even as he twisted his arm and wrist, trying to take another shot at Lena. As the jostled, his hat toppled off his head, and he blinked, crying out in pain.

"What the hell?" he said. "What... oh my God what just... how did..."

J'onn reared back, in alarm. Sawyer and Alex were on their knees, attending to the cop while Sawyer screamed for a medic.

The hat had landed at her feet. Lena crouched and picked it up, turning it in her hands, and a coiling dread tightened in her stomach. The band was lined with circuitry, with two pads positioned to press against the wearer's head

"The Mad Hatter," she said.

Alex was bloodied to the elbows, trying to staunch the fallen man's bleeding. "What?"

"Alex. The Mad Hatter. This hat."

Alex looked up.

"Fuck," she snarled.

J'onn pressed his ear.

"Kara, yes. I have her, she's fine. We're heading to her lab. I'll tell you when we're there. Yes, I'll stay with her." He turned to Lena.

"Lena. I'm going to have to ask forgiveness rather than permission for this one."

Before Lena could protest, J'onn had grabbed her and they were rocketing out of the building, Lena screaming into his shoulder as he took flight. When she opened her eyes, he'd shapeshifted into his Martian form and they were flying low over the city, heading the L-Corp tower.

When they landed, Lena stumbled away and put her hands on her knees, struggling to hold down the acid in her empty stomach. She stumbled a bit, only to lose her balance as she stood. A shockwave rolled through the ground beneath her feet, followed by a rippling series of low booms.

People were running everywhere, in and out of L-Corp. As she turned to look around, Lena saw columns of smoke rising around them everywhere in the city, the glow of fires lighting the early morning twilight like false sunrises.

"Let's get you inside," said J'onn.

Lena led him through the security measures, entering via her private elevator in the garage. They went down, not up, to where Lena's personal labs lay buried beneath street level. Once there, Lena used her palm and retinal scan to open the heavy vault door, then closed it behind them as J'onn stepped inside.

"Lena," he said, "Why are we really here? I can sense that you're hiding something."

She looked up. "I think my brother is alive, and he's responsible for all of this."

"From what you told us, that's not possible."

"I know," said Lena. "I shot him in the chest and killed him. I know I did. I checked for a pulse! He was dead! But it has to be him. Who else could it be?"

"Lillian," said J'onn.

Lena shook her head. "I don't think it's her. This... this isn't her. We have to... I have to think. Kara's in danger."

"Kara is in danger?" said J'onn.

"This is about her," said Lena. "If it's Lex, it's about taking revenge on her. He probably hates her even more than Superman, now. Superman was his rival, but Kara took turned me against him."

"He did that himself," J'onn said, coldly.

"Yes, he did," said Lena, "but that's not how he would see it."

"What are you planning to do?"

"I have an idea," said Lena. "From working on the modified performance enhancer that Bane was using, and looking at Crane's modified fear toxin. It just popped into my head. I need your help. You know your way around a lab?"

"I can help," said J'onn. "As long as I know what we're helping with."

Lena walked to the far side of the lab, to her storage vault. She'd kept her samples of synthetic Kryptonite here, but they'd long since been destroyed. She had something else, however.

Carefully, she opened the hidden compartment, a secret safe within a vault within a vault, and extracted a canister containing the last of her supply of Harun-El.

"What are you planning to do with that?" said J'onn, tension sliding into his voice.

Lena thought for a moment. There wasn't a way to say this without it sounding suspicious.

J'onn turned, pressing his fingers to his ear. "Alex? Yes? Oh." J'onn turned back to her. "Killer Croc just hit NCPD headquarters. The building is on fire and someone turned everyone in the holding cells loose, and we have other problems."

"Do they need you out there?"

He grimaced, staring at her with red eyes.

"J'onn. I'm one person. You can't stay here babysitting me when other people need help."

"You're Kara's person," said J'onn. "And you matter just as much as they do, Lena. You're worth more than what you can sacrifice for other people."

Lena stared at him, stunned. He gave her a nod and turned to the door without another word, phasing through the steel.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out.

"Lena," Kara said, panting. "Where are you? Are you safe?"

"J'onn brought me to my lab. I'm behind a vault door. I'm okay."

"I wanted him to stay with you."

Lena sighed. "Kara. We both know that won't work. You need his help. What's going on out there?"

"Fires. Explosions. People are hurt, some are probably dead," her voice was cracking. "I'm working on it."

"I love you," said Lena.

She heard Kara's breath catch on the other end. "Zhao w rrip. I have to go."

"I know."

The connection broke, and Lena found herself staring at the phone, choking back the welling feeling in her chest as tears gathered in her eyes. She shoved the phone in her pocket and found the earpiece another one, and stuffed it in her ear. When it activated, she could hear Kara's heartbeat, strong and steady.

Adjusting the volume down, she turned back to the lab bench where the Harun-El sample waited. She brought up her data from her previous attempts to turn it into a stable serum and began comparing it to the work that been done to integrate it into Bane's super-steroid. On a third screen, she scrolled through the way that Kryptonite had been bound to Crane's fear toxin to make Kryptonian physiology susceptible to it.

Kryptonian physiology was profoundly complex, and yet so strangely close to human that Kara could likely pass a physical and be taken for a member of the same species. Even Lex's copious notes revealed that the main differences were some additional bones in the hands and feet, a curious ability to rapidly tighten and relax the muscles in the throat, and structural differences in the brain. It still wasn't clear how Kara metabolized solar energy or why Kryptonite weakened her but had no short-term effects on human, or even how she could fly or deflect bullets. She had denser muscles and bones than a human, but it still made no sense that...

Lena blinked, forcing herself off her mental tangent.

The answer was right here, in front of her, the whole time. She suddenly understood why her experiments had failed.

She had work to do.

So, she set about it, moving from station to station, keeping her eye on five processes at the same time. She let the steady thrum of Kara's heart in her ear keep her steady, keep her on track. Kara was alright, it was going to be alright. As long as that beat held steady, everything would work out. Lena just had to keep moving.

She had five different processes going at once. A new batch of nanites accepting programming in one chamber, a sample of synthetic Kryptonite crystallizing in another, the Harun-El purification at a third station, and she was in the middle of it all, finalizing the calculations.

In her ear, Kara's heart began to race. She reached her phone, stopping when she realized she was shivering. She puffed out a breath, surprised to see the vapor in the air in front of her. Looking around, she realized she'd grown cold suddenly, without any apparent cause.

As she turned, a rime of frost began to spread across the internal surface of the lab door, followed by a faint, whining crackling sound as the metal chilled and contracted. The door shuddered, shedding tiny chips of the ice that now sheeted its interior surface. It vibrated again, rattling in its heavy steel frame, and Lena moved to her feet, stepping back from the workstations. There was only one way in or out of here, and it was in front of her.

With a ripping crack, the door swung open, the heavy locking lugs on the vault door shattering in a rain of frozen metal. As it opened, a wave of cold rolled over Lena, bringing her arms to wrap around her shivering frame. She glanced around, hoping to find a weapon, but she had none, and her work wasn't done yet.

A giant in whirring metal armor walked into her lab, his face obscured within mists contained by a bowled glass helmet. He regarded her with eyes hidden by red goggles, scanning the room.

Lena ran for her lab bench. She didn't have much time. She dropped the chip of synthetic Kryptonite into a vial and pulled out the purified Harun-El extract, pouring it in, followed by the vial of reagents she'd prepared. She capped it and shook it as the armored man stalked forwards, his footsteps shaking the ground beneath her.

"Were I still capable of emotion, my scientific curiosity would be piqued," he said.

"Doctor Fries, I presume," Lena said, her teeth chattering.

Another figure joined him, boots crunching on frost and broken metal. Lillian strode into Lena's lab as if she owned the place, frowning. She looked around, her eyes falling on Lena and her work.

"What are you up to?" she said.

"Oh, you know, the usual," said Lena. "Meddling with powers beyond my ken. Are you here to kill me, Mother?"

Lillian shook her head. "No, Lena, I'm not going to kill you. We want you alive."

Lena stared at her, then at Mister Freeze, who held his massive weapon across his chest.

"Oh, so you're going to g-g-give the j-join me sp-sp-speech," Lena said, shivering against the cold.

In her hand, the contents of the vial swirled, the black and green mixing as silvery-white crystals formed and dropped to the bottom. She clutched it close.

"Lex is alive," said Lillian. "He broke me out of prison."

"Tell me something I didn't already figure out," said Lena.

Lillian's sad smile fell.

She undid the front of the long, black coat she wore and spread it wide. As she did, it bared the ring of dark metal in her chest, and the chunk of Kryptonite embedded within it.

Lena nearly dropped the vial that she held.

"Metallo," Lena said. "He used the Metallo protocol on you."

"He did," said Lillian. "After I used it on him. He insisted we should be a matched set."

"That's how he survived," said Lena.

"That's right. He used your own process for synthesizing Kryptonite to produce enough to fuel himself and another ridiculous suit of armor."

Lillian simply sounded tired.

"Just get to the point," said Lena, glancing at the vial.

"Luthor provided the Joker with a weapon of my own creation," said Freeze. "He intends to use it to blackmail Supergirl. What he does not know is that Luthor concealed the true nature of the weapon's function from him. Once it begins a buildup to detonation, it cannot be shut down. The process has already been initiated."

"Once it goes off, it will instantly freeze everything in a sixty mile radius," said Lillian. "It will instantly kill everyone in National City and the surrounding suburbs, and the sudden extraction of so much heat from the atmosphere will cause chaotic storms around the world."

"Why are you telling me this?" said Lena.

"I can't exactly approach Supergirl with a chunk of Kryptonite in my chest. In any case, she's likely so enraged that she'd throw punches first and ask questions later. Lex's plan has been to exhaust her, physically and emotionally, before deploying the weapon."

Lena looked down. The last of the material was precipitating, and the silvery crystals had begun to glow.

"Call her and tell her," said Lillian. "The bomb is beneath that children's hospital of yours. If she doesn't stop it, millions will die."

"How can she do that?"

"Heat," said Freeze. "The reaction can be stopped by extreme heat."

"Her heat vision," said Lena. "Of course."

Lena clutched the vial in one hand, pulling out her phone with another.

"Lena," said Lillian. "If you try to warn her, Freeze will shoot you."

He raised his gun for emphasis, and simply having it pointed in her direction made Lena shiver even harder.

Kara answered without hesitation.

"Lena," she said, panting, "Oh God, Lena, the DEO... the Mad Hatter was controlling people. Clayface and Bane are loose. The Joker broke out when that lizard guy attacked police headquarters. I have to stop-"

"Supergirl, there's a bomb. It's beneath Luthor Memorial Children's Hospital."

On the other end, Kara went still.

"Oh Rao," she whispered. "How-"

"There's no time to explain," said Lena. "It's a freeze bomb. If it goes off, it'll destroy the city. You'll have to use your heat vision to stop it."

There was a beat of silence.

"Lena, why did you call me Supergirl? Are you alone? You're not, are you? Who's there?"

"Go get the bomb. Please. I'll be okay."

Another moment of silent hesitation.

"I'm going. I'm sending Alex and J'onn for you. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Zhao w rrip," Lena whispered, knowing she'd mangled it.

"I'll see you soon," said Kara. "Zhao."

The line went dead, and Lena put the phone on the table.

"That was very good," said Lillian. "Perfect."

The crystal in the vial was glowing a fierce, bright white. It wasn't much bigger than a large grape. The jagged edges threatened to open her skin as she dumped it into her hand and pressed her fist closed around it.

Warmth spread up her arm as she turned, sweat beading on her forehead as the shivering stopped. The crystal burned in her hand.

"What is that?" said Lillian. "Did you think I didn't see you fumbling with whatever that is in your hand? Is it a weapon?"

Lena sighed. "No, Mother. It's useless."

"Put it on the table, slowly."

Lena complied, placing the crystal on the lab table with a soft, metallic clink. When she took her hand away, she saw gray metal smeared on her palm and a chunk of the same resting on the table.

She knew it would have a very short half life, and the quantity she created would go critical as soon as the reaction finished. She just hoped it had been enough.

"Is that lead?" said Lillian.

"I was going to try to shove it into your reactor."

Lillian looked at her, skeptical. "Raise your hands."

Lena began to bring her arms up, but quickly jerked and typed in a command code in the nearest terminal. Lillian sighed.

"Whatever it is, it won't-"

"I don't know what you want from me, but you won't get it," said Lena, "and you'll never crack the encryption I just put on my files. I won't either. I don't have the key."

Lillian shook her head. "Time to go. Now. Move, or I'll have Freeze blast your legs, and we'll carry you."

For emphasis, Freeze aimed his weapon at her, pointed low. Lena let out a resigned sigh and stepped forward, hands raised, head bowed. She didn't feel any different. Not yet. She knew it would take time to take full effect, but not how long.

Lillian forced Lena's hands behind her back.

"Why are you sweaty?" she said. "A moment ago, you were shivering. What did you do?"

Lena grunted. A faint tingle spread up her back, and she coughed.

"Your skin, why-"

Lillian was interrupted when J'onn J'onnz landed in the hallway outside Lena's lab, phasing through the ceiling. He stood to his full height.

"Lillian," he said.

"Alien," said Lillian.

"You and I will have words."

"Freeze," said Lillian.

Mister Freeze brought up his cannon and fired, throwing back harsh light as a beam of pure cold cut through the air. J'onn's body crackled with red energy as he phased through it.

"You turned these monsters loose," J'onn said, softly, as Freeze took a halting step back, turning to look at Lillian for instructions.

Lillian started to look panicked.

"You brought this hell on my adopted home," he said.

He surged forward, moving almost as fast as Kara, and more decisively. He tore the gun out of Freeze's hands and ripped it in half, tossing the sheared metal chunks aside. Freeze swung an armored fist, but it simply passed through J'onn, who stepped to the side and struck the side of Freeze's helmet with a sharp jab. The glass cracked and vapor hissed through. Freeze stumbled, clutching at his helmet, staring at a display on the cuff of his armor. J'onn shoved him aside and he toppled, choking sounds grating painfully through the speaker grille at the base of his helmet.

He turned to Lillian.

She bolted, trying to run past him, but he seized her arm and threw her roughly into the wall. She grinned, grabbing his hands with her own, forcing his arms back. As she did, her coat fell open. J'onn looked down at the Kryptonite with contempt.

"I believe there's a human expression about bringing a knife to a gun fight."

His wrists phased through her hands and he pushed her into the wall, thrusting one hand forward to wrap his fingers around the mass of Kryptonite in her chest.

"What happens if I pull this out?"

Lillian stared at him.

"Do it, alien," she spat.

"J'onn."

Alex walked into the room, gun drawn, with Brainy and Nia.

"Where's Kara?" said Lena.

"She flew off and wouldn't tell us where she was going," said Alex, her voice unsteady. "Jesus, Lena. It's... the DEO... it's a madhouse out there. Bane, Clayface, and Killer Croc are out there tearing up the city, no one can find the Joker, there's dozens of criminals on the loose, every fire department in the city is trying to contain the fires, and... and the DEO is gone."

By the time she finished, she was panting. Lena swallowed, hard. She'd never seen raw panic in Alex's eyes, not like this. Then her eyes flicked to Lena's lab benches, practically locking on the green crystals.

"You made more Kryptonite," Alex said, her voice low and unsteady, edging toward fury.

Lena just stared at her.

"I had to. I needed it to make something to save Kara."

Alex stared at her for a hard moment, then at the Kryptonite, then back to Lena.

"Okay," she said, barely more than a whisper. "Okay. I trust you. Do you know where she is?"

"By now, Lex has her," Lillian cut in, laughing, "and whatever little scheme Lena was cooking up no longer matters."

Lena coughed, wincing as she glanced down at her hand. Faint green lines traced along the blood vessels under her skin.

"I need a minute," she said, coughing again. "Just a moment."

"Lena, what-"

She stumbled over to the table, where she extracted her other project from the centrifuge. There was just enough; she drew it into the vials and inserted them into the auto-injectors. She almost stuck the needle in her thigh, but capped it instead and stumbled past Lillian, feeling relief spread through her as soon as the thick walls of her lab blocked of Lillian's kryptonite core.

It was too early; if she gave herself the inoculation now, it might interfere with the effects of the Platinum Kryptonite radiation spreading through her body.

"Let's go, Alex," Lena rasped. "We're getting our girl back."

Chapter Text

It was dark. Kara opened her eyes and found the world swallowed whole, leaving her even unable to tell if her eyes were open or not. She began to shiver, realizing that a cold was creeping through her limbs, climbing up her fingers and toes like a wave of creeping, slithering things. Then she tried to turn her head, and found it immobilized. Her neck strained, muscles pulling taut, but her head refused to move.

Blinking a few more times, she tried to sort through the pain throbbing in her head. The pain was the only thing that was real to her; she began to wonder if she was dead, and the afterlife was not the warm embrace of loved ones in Rao's light, but a splitting headache in a cold black void forever.

No, it wasn't. She remembered. Lena's voice on comms, telling her about the bomb; shattering the sound barrier to reach the hospital, storming through its halls searching with her x-ray vision to find the weapon before it went off. The shimmering blue cold of the core, an endless primordial hunger, annihilation crystalized into solidity by the work of a twisted genius. How it had consumed, greedily drinking her heat vision until there was nothing left and she was kneeling in the cold, a crust of frost clinging to her skin, stinting ice in her eyelashes and snow in her hair in the basement of the hospital. She did it. She saved them.

The cold was inside her, eating. Then the impossible voice, his voice.

"Hello, Kara."

She began to scream, unsure if she was hearing or remembering. She thrashed against whatever held her, her own voice crushing back into her ears. There was no escape, no movement, no heat, no light. Why was this happening to her?

"I know you can hear me."

She thrashed harder, for all the good it did. There was no light. No energy, no glorious warming gift of power from an alien sun that embraced her and nourished her and made her Supergirl.

"Not fond of enclosed spaces, are you?"

She screamed her throat raw, until there was nothing left but hitching breaths.

"Are you done, then?"

"You're dead," Kara said, breathless. "You're dead. How are you here? Lena killed you."

"She did, Kara. She did indeed. I should thank her for it. Dying brings a certain clarity... you know, I was almost tempted to let bygones be bygones. After all, my Snowbird killed you for a while; it's only fair, really, a death for a death. Mine killed you and yours killed me."

"Leave her alone," Kara rasped out. "You have me, leave her be. Please. Do whatever you want with me, just leave her out of this. Just leave her alone."

In the darkness, Lex Luthor chuckled. "You Kryptonians do love to sacrifice yourselves, don't you? It's alright, Kara. I'm not going to hurt her. It may have been her hand that held the gun, but it was your will that pulled the trigger. Very clever of you, using my sister as a weapon against me."

"I never used her," Kara spat, defiant. "That was you."

"Do you really expect me to believe that? Please, Kara. No more secret identities. No more lies. I know exactly what you did. I've been watching you since the start. The way you forced your way into her life, bludgeoned down her defenses, made her dependent on you, convinced her of your innocent trust while you gaslit and manipulated her."

"No," said Kara.

"Yes. What do you call poisoning her relationship? Did you really need Jimmy to check if she had any Kryptonite, or were you just upset that someone else was shtupping your pet? How it must have galled you to play second fiddle to Superman's Pal. How about when you'd shout at her in your ridiculous costume and then snuggle up to her in your little cardigans and slacks? How convenient that must be."

"I didn't... it wasn't like that... I trusted her, I was just scared... I knew she wouldn't-"

"You were afraid of her slipping your control. Having a failsafe against you."

"That's not true."

Lex laughed at her. "You must be so salty that I spoiled your game. What was the plan, Kara? A tearful confession? Were you going to admit your love at the same time? Get her all keyed up and push her into bed and make her think she wanted it, just like you twisted and manipulated every circumstance to make her think she wanted you more than her family? More than her species?"

"Shut up!" Kara shouted, or tried to. The words came out hoarse and ragged, tearing at her dry throat.

"I mean, your cousin can at least use the Lane woman as a brood mare. What good is Lena to you?"

"When I get out of here-"

Kara cut herself off with a gasp. The darkness parted, the doors of her metallic coffin parting as the dense steel sarcophagus that held her still retracted away. She blinked away red light and shivered before opening her eyes again, painfully adjusting. The glow of red sun lamps bathed the room.

Immediately, she felt a tingle.

"Apologies," said Lex. "I'm afraid that the damage I suffered makes me even more dependent on Kryptonite than Corben."

As her vision cleared, she saw a figure standing at the end of the slab where she lay bound, steel cuffs holding her wrists and ankles in place. Looming larger than any man and clad in black steel, the figure gazed down at her through an impassive, mirrored visor.

Until the helmet retracted. Kara let out a startled gasp.

His face. Lex was still Lex, but there was precious little of him left. A jaundiced eye set in sallow, lifeless skin. The entire right half of his head and his jaw were gleaming steel, set with yellowed human teeth. His teeth. When he spoke, his voice -at one time changeable from shrill to mellifluous- came out with a metallic, artificial crackle, as if it were coming from a speaker, the movements of his jaw merely an artifice.

"I must look a fright. Being dead for several days before you're revived does that to you."

The burning was starting. She didn't need to see the Kryptonite, nor did he need to retract the shield that covered his power core. The pain began beneath her nails, scratched at her eyelids, spreading across her skin like the first sting of contact with a hot burner. She refused to give in, to let him see her squirm, but she was already so cold, and soon she was shaking.

"How?" she said.

"I always have a contingency plan, Kara. I put resources in place, but it took some time for my backup plans to come into effect. It was rather curious to wake up and find out I was legally expired and all of my dead man switches had been set off. I decided to take advantage of the situation."

He raised a dark steel hand and dragged unfeeling fingers down the side of his chromed skull, making a harsh, metallic squeal. "I may not have much left, but I can still fulfill my life's purpose. I can still save the world and have my revenge against you."

"You never cared about saving the world," said Kara. "You've never cared about anything or anyone but yourself. At least now you're as much of a monster on the outside as you are on the inside."

He smiled then, the remnants of his face twisting horrifically against a metallic facsimile of bone.

"Trying to provoke a quick death? As tempting as it is, I started this to destroy you, not kill you."

He paused for a moment.

"I'm still going to kill you, I'm just going to take everything away from you first, just like you and your cousin did to me."

"You killed innocent people, you lunatic!" Kara screamed, thrashing against the table. "No one took anything away from you."

"Your cousin took my company, my reputation, and my freedom, and you took my sister."

"You did all of that yourself. Clark was your friend. He wanted to work with you, to help mankind."

"Help us be your slaves," said Lex. "Help us by making us your subjects. I saw right through him. Now, it's time for me to show everyone the truth. Doctor Tetch, if you would."

Kara snapped her head to the side as she heard footsteps. A small, stoop-shouldered man in a threadbare lab coat shuffled over to the table. He looked like he'd been awake for several days, with bags under his red-rimmed eyes. His hands shook as he carried something to Kara's side.

"I'm sorry," he said. "He kidnapped Alice- Alicia before I was taken from Arkham. He'll kill her if I don't help him."

"Tetch," said Lex. "Careful now. If you do anything to disrupt my plans, I'll have the woman in a black van in five minutes and dumped in Gotham Harbor by nightfall."

"I'm aware of that," said the Mad Hatter, his voice soft and broken. "I'm so sorry."

Kara saw what he was carrying, and terror coiled in her stomach, twisting within the pinprick agony of the Kryptonite. He carried a crown; an open, plain circlet of red metal, adorned only by a small El Mayarah in the center. The inside was lined with circuitry, glimmering faintly in the crimson light.

'"Forgive me," Tetch whispered, as he slid it into place on Kara's brow.

A tingling, shuddering sensations swept through her limbs, and then a deadness, a sense of weighty loss that had her thinking she'd been paralyzed. No, though. This was worse.

Lex raised his arm and pressed a button on his wrist. The restraints holding her in place unclamped, and Kara tensed, willing herself to move, to get up, to run, to attack him, anything, but there was only accursed stillness.

"Get up," said Lex.

Kara's legs and body moved on their own, swinging over the edge of the slab. She rose and stood rigidly in place, not a single muscle twitching.

"Very good. Very good. Stand on one foot."

Kara's left leg rose and she wobbled, unable to use her powers to steady herself. Her other leg quickly began to throb, her foot bare against the cold tile floor.

"Kneel."

Kara's stomach churned as she sank to her knees, prostrating herself before Lex Luthor. She could grit her teeth, but every other muscle in her body ignored her. She would have vomited on his feet if she could, but her body was no longer her own.

"Get up."

She rose smoothly.

Lex pressed another button and with a heavy thump, the lighting changed from red to the bright white-yellow of Earth's protective mother star. She felt the power infusing her immediately. Lex adjusted something at his wrist, and Kara began to shake, her heart hammering in her chest.

"I'm using the good doctor's lovely device to give you a burst of epinephrine," said Lex, "since that reactivates your powers. I'm tempted to leave it until your heart explodes."

Kara's heart thudded faster and faster in her chest, and her throat felt closer, tightening around herself. Her vision began to swim, and yet she stood stone still, unable to even whimper.

Lex pressed another button and her heart began to slow, the fading red haze retreating from her vision as she began to breathe again.

Kara blinked as her powers began to reactivate, a swirling cacophany of sounds filling her ears, followed by the chaotic swirl of colors and auras until she restrained her vision again.

"I've been dreaming about this," said Lex. "I've been living for it. Take off your suit."

Kara would have flinched, but instead she tapped the El Mayarah over her chest and the nanites began to gather themselves into the bracelet around her wrist.

"So, she made you a nanite suit. Interesting."

Lifitng her hand, he studied the links around her wrist.

"Curious. Tell me something, Kryptonian. Does Lena know the significance of giving you a bracelet? Answer me. Speak."

"Yes," Kara's lips moved, forming the words.

"I see," said Lex. "There, on that table. Dress."

Kara walked to the table, unable to defy him. Lying on the cold metal was a white leotard; when she lifted it, she found that it had a hole in the chest, and when she pulled it on, it bared the inner slopes of her breasts. It left her legs bare as well, and she immediately loathed it. Next she put on a short, red half-cape and a belt with the El Mayarah as a buckle.

"You must be wondering why," said Lex. "You are, aren't you? Answer me, Kara. Speak freely."

"You know what?" said Kara. "Fuck you, Lex."

He laughed, a rasping, artificial sound. "Oh golly gee gosh oh my, Kara Danvers said the F-word. You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Kara growled, grinding her teeth.

"I like you better when you stop talking," said Lex, and Kara immediately stopped, her mouth no longer her own. "Over there, in front of the camera."

Kara's body walked across the room and stood in front of a camera. Behind her, her crest hung on a blue banner. She looked into the camera, and Lex looked at Tetch.

"Are you ready for her closeup?"

"I'm ready to carry out your orders, Mr. Luthor. Forgive me, Supergirl."

"You know, that's the absurd part. She will. I'm sure she'd even forgive me. Or pretend to."

No, Kara thought. Not this time.

She blinked, even though there were no tears to hide. Then-

She blinked. Consciously. Her eyes swept over to Tetch and he briefly locked his gaze with hers, smiling just slightly.

Kara looked at the camera. When the light blinked from red to green, she started to blink rapidly, even as her mouth moved.

Blinkblinkblink, blink blink blink, blinkblinkblink

"People of Earth," her voice said, the words like bile in her mouth. "For too long, I have remained passive of permissive of your failings. The chaos in Gotham and in National City has finally shown me what I must do. While it has always been my intent to guide your primitive species away from the fractious savagery that you inflict upon one another, and to erase your inferior, superstitious, unenlightened culture and replace it my own, I have chosen to lead by example as my cousin has. I can see now that you will never be ready for my people to emigrate from Fortress Argo and take our rightful place as your lords and masters."

Kara's fist raised, clenching at her side.

"Today I bring you into the light of the one true god, Rao. Your petty rivalries and pathetic cultures. You will submit unconditionally to my rule, or I will show you no mercy. Look to these cities as an example of what I am capable of. The criminal element of National City will serve as an example to those of you would seek to defy me."

Oh Rao, what is he going to make me do? Rao please, don't let this happen-

"These are my commands. You will stand down your military forces, gather your representatives at the United Nations, and await my commands. If you cooperate, I will rule you benevolently from my Fortress. If you do not, you will be severely punished."

Off camera, Lex's face twisted into something like a grin.

"I am no longer 'Supergirl', nor will I hide behind my civilian identity-

No! NO PLEASE DON'T-

"Kara Danvers, Catco News Reporter. I am Kara Zor-El, of the House of El, Queen of Terra and first Empress of the New Kryptonian Empire!"

Kara wanted to scream, but her body refused to cooperate. The camera clicked off.

"Speak," said Lex, stalking closer. He loomed over her.

"What did you do? What did you do?"

"I just transmitted that, live, to the entire planet. No more hiding, Kara. No more secrets. No more lies. Everyone knows now. You took everything from me! Everything, you disgusting alien bitch! How does it feel? How does it feel?"

Kara closed her eyes. "If you're going to kill me-"

"I am going to kill you. I'm going to save the world from you. I'm going to be the world's greatest hero, get myself a nice new body, and sleep in a pile of naked women atop an even bigger pile of money for the rest of my probably immortal life, with your head mounted on my wall. But first... do me a favor, darling. Go kill the Joker."

For the briefest moment, Kara's body hesitated, muscles clenching on themselves. If there was one command that even her bones would refuse, it was that one, and yet...

And yet Kara turned and walked out of the room, through a set of double doors that divided onto some remote, cold wilderness.

"National City is south," Lex called. "Just fly, you'll find it. I'll be behind you shortly, ready for my big entrance."

The cold didn't bother her, but she was still acutely aware of this hideous outfit he'd stuffed her into, and her teeth ground briefly. Kara's boots left the ground and she rose into the sky, bathed in Sol's healing, life-giving light, and she flew.

Kara closed her eyes, hoping that, somehow, if she could not see, she could not find, but when she opened them again, she was in the upper atmosphere and it was easy to pick out her destination. Kara dove, speeding towards her adopted home, every cell in her body demanding to scream, but her voice had been stolen.

A voice crackled in her ear. Soft and hesitant, ringing with forlorn apology.

"Miss Danvers, if you can hear me, I am sorry," said Jervis Tetch. "I tried to weigh everything he would make you do against her life, but I couldn't make that choice, after I'd already caused her so much pain and trauma. The trade was not mine to make.

"If you're hearing this, then I am either dead or Luthor has locked me out of the control system, but it no longer matters. The control is not absolute. You can overcome it, you must simply find the will."

The world spread out below her. Kara burst through the clouds, the cold of altitude giving way to the warmth of her home. National City called her home, and National City was burning; fires threw columns of smoke into the sky, sirens wailed, and everywhere she heard screams and cries and pleas for help. Every fibre of her being cried out to fly, to save them, to catch the bullets and quench the fires, but her body defied her. If she could just get this thing off her head, and yet-

One sound caught her attention, demanded it as her focus was forced onto it. Shrill, shrieking, maniacal laughter. Kara rocketed towards it, diving past columns of smoke and weaving past buildings, ignoring the cries and pointing fingers of people below.

The pavement cracked when she landed, shaking the ground, and stormed forward.

The Joker and his men were firing at the National City police in a frenzied gun battle, bullets flying both ways. Kara felt them slap her skin and tumbled away a she walked between them.

Lex's voice crackled in her ear. "Make it public and brutal, Kara."

She fell upon them like a storm, casting the Joker's men aside with effortless ease, now that she moved without care for their lives or limbs. She heard bones shatter and ribs crack, but the circlet around her skull would only let her focus on the madman himself. He raked her with useless gunfire.

Words that were not her own tumbled from her lips.

"Let's put a smile on that face," Kara's voice said, in a lifeless monotone.

Shrieking in sudden terror, the Joker ran. He turned on his heels and bolted, but of course it was pointless. Kara was there, moving faster than a human eye could see, hauling him by his collar. She scanned the area, bathing the world in her x-ray vision, until she spotted a news camera a ways off, a few blocks from where she stood.

"Supergirl," one of the police called through a megaphone, "Stop right there!"

Kara turned and the device exploded in his hands, coming apart in ribbons of molten aluminum and burnt plastic, destroyed in an instant by hear heat vision.

"Speak to me in that tone again and see what happens."

Kara will herself not to move, begged herself not to move, but she did anyway, lifting off and over the rooftops.

The news van was covering the rioting; the camera man had his equipment trained on a reporter as she monologued into a microphone. Kara dropped the Joker onto the hood of a car behind her, from twenty feet up. The woman screamed, running and piling into the van as the cameraman turned and pointed the lens at Kara.

"Look at me," she commanded. "Look at this thing."

At her feet, the Joker moaned through his rictus, looking up at her with a strange kind of excitement in his eyes.

"This is the fate of all who breach the peace of my new order. This is what happens when you break my laws."

Kara leaned down.

No, no no no no nonononono-

She forced her fingers into his mouth, pushing it open, and grasped his jaw in her other hand, and she felt the movement as it began, as she started to tear his jaw loose.

"Kara, STOP!"

That voice.

That voice.

It cut through her like a knife, a wave of cold shivering down her limbs. What the hell was she doing?

"Kara! Kara!"

Her arms relaxed, and the Joker's stinking breath tickled over her fingers, his eyes turning as Kara did. Alex and both walked towards her, terrified looks on their faces. Lena.

Lena.

"Kara," Lena said, "Let him go."

Kara wanted to scream, to cry out, to explain.

I can't! I can't stop myself you have to RUN!

Lex's voice in her ear. "Let the Joker go."

Kara released him. He wasn't going anywhere; his left femur was shattered and he had a broken arm from the fall. Kara turned and stepped down from the hood of the car.

"I want them to think they can reach you, reason with you. I want to savor this," said Lex. "This is going to be glorious."

She took a few steps towards them.

For Rao's sake, run!

"Kara," said Alex. "Just hold still, okay?"

"Alex," said Lena. "Let me handle this."

Alex looked at her, then at Kara.

"Kara?"

Lex's voice in her ear. "The sister. Alex. Alexandra. Al-ex-an-dra. Mmmm, yes. Kill her, and do it slow."

Kara started towards, and Alex's eyes widened.

"Kara-"

Kara burst forward, and her fingers were around Alex's throat, pinning her against the side of the news van. Alex's eyes bulged as Kara's hands closed, pressing in her throat.

"No, no, no," said Lex. "Ease up."

Kara's hands relaxed slightly, enough for Alex to suck in a whining breath.

"This has to be done properly. I want you to rip her ribcage open and tear out her heart."

Tears burned down Kara's cheeks as her hand, trembling, moved from Alex's neck and her fingers pressed into Alex's chest. Kara choked out a sob, the movement so painful that it made her freeze, just briefly, and-

Lena's hand closed around her wrist.

"Kara," Lena whispered, "I'm sorry, but I have to stop you."

What? Kara thought.

"What?" said Lex.

Lena pulled, turned into Kara, and shouldered into her. Kara went flying, hurled bodily across the street, where she slammed through the brick facade of a shop and rolled a few feet, landing on her side. Slightly dazed, she began to rise.

That's not possible. How did she-

"I don't know how she did that, but you will incapacitate her. I don't care if you break her spine, but I want her alive. She's going to-"

Lena simply... appeared, reaching for the circlet on Kara's head.

"STOP HER NOW!" Lex screeched, sounding tinny and unreal.

Kara threw her arms up, wedging her hands between Lena's arms and thrusting them apart. With a thrust of the heel of her palm, she landed a blow that should have turned Lena's torso to jelly, screaming inwardly.

Lena grunted and took a few stumbling steps back, then shook her head and pulled in a sharp breath.

"Ow," she said.

"How?" Lex demanded, in Kara's ear. "What did she do?"

"Lena," Kara's voice said, "What did you do, you traitorous little bitch?"

"Lex," Lena spat, "Disable the mind control device and I promise we'll bring you in alive."

"And if I don't?" Lex said, speaking through Kara's mouth.

"I'm putting you back where you belong," said Lena.

"Enough," he said in Kara's ear, "As much as I want to enjoy punishing her, I have a plan for wold domination to execute. Kill her, and make it fast."

Kara lunged forward, and Lena dodged, spinning out of the way. She hooked her arm around Kara's waist and just threw her, straight through the back of the building and onto the next street over.

"J'onn!" Lena shouted, so loud it blew the windows out of every car on the street, "J'onn I need you here now!"

Silent, face slack, screaming inside the prison walls of her own skull, Kara stalked forwards, casually lifting a by the bumper and tossing its entire mass at Lena.

Lena brought her arms up and caught the car, turning as it struck her, and shoved it aside. It landed in a crash of rending metal and breaking glass, and Lena surged forwards, again reaching for the crown.

Kara seized her wrists and they struggled. The pavement beneath their feet cracked and buckled with a great tearing sound as Kara's arms quivered with effort at keeping Lena's hands from her head. Kara lifted off, dragging Lena with her.

They rose, higher and higher, the city falling away beneath them. Kara slapped Lena's hands away, grabbed her by the collar of her DEO uniform jacket, and threw her into the ground.

Almost.

Lena slowed, throwing up her hands, and came to a dead stop without touching the ground. She rolled onto her back and looked up at Kara.

"That's impossible!" Lex snarled in Kara's ear. "How-"

Lena rocketed into the air, catching Kara around the waist, pulling her into the sky before dragging her back down.

They hit the middle of the street, striking so hard that the asphalt split from one intersection to the next, and great segments of the roadway folded up before collapsing down around them.

Kara landed on top. Seizing Lena by the collar, she slammed the other woman's head into the broken pavement, again and again, then raised her fist to plunge it down and shatter her skull. When she twisted to throw the punch, her arm stopped. Blue energy circled her wrist.

Nia!

Kara looked up just in time to see J'onn streak towards her, bowling her over and off of Lena.

"Get the crown off her head!" Lena cried, rising and hurling herself back into the melee.

Lena fell on Kara and pinned her, while J'onn threw himself on her legs and held her down. Nia raced over, curling her fingers around the crown, about to pull it off.

"You're holding back," Lex snapped at her. "Kill them all!"

Kara twisted, kicking J'onn off and throwing Lena aside. Nia jumped back with a yelp, skidding her backside across the pavement with her legs as Kara rose, killing blaze building in her eyes.

I'm so sorry! Nia! Nia no don't please-

"Zhao."

Kara jerked, as if she'd been struck by a physical force. Her heart hammered in her chest and she looked away from Nia, the heat still burning behind her irises, the captive red-sun fury read to immolate and destroy.

"Don't do this, darling," said Lena. "You can fight him. I know you can. If anyone can, it's you."

Kara faced her, and the tears turned to steam as they escaped her eyes.

"Y-you h-h-ave to r-r-run," Kara managed force out, every muscle in her body twisting against every other.

"Shut up and kill her!" Lex demanded.

"No," Lena said, very softly. "No, darling. I'm not leaving you."

Kara screamed, the sound so loud that it rocked Lena back a few steps and even J'onn covered his ears. Stumbling, she twisted and shuddered as she dragged her arms up. It felt like moving her limbs through molten rock, the pain unbelievable, like her muscles would shear and her bones crack from their own force. Somehow, she brought her hands to her head, and pushed.

It was heavier than anything she'd ever moved. Heavier than Alex's plane, heavier than Lena's, heavier than the spaceship, the submarine. She pushed with all her might, screaming with effort, a strained lioness cry that shook the ground beneath her feet.

And then, all at once, she was free.

The crown tore loose from her head and Kara bowled forwards, thrown off balance, and stumbled into Lena.

Tenderly, Lena caught her and let Kara lean against her body, sliding one arm under to hold her up as she grabbed the crown and lowered them both to the ground. Lena brought the crown up, studying, briefly, the circuitry before her eyes ignited, and the crown melted in her grasp, falling to the ground in a slap of molten slag.

Panting, Kara threw herself into Lena. She didn't know, she didn't care, the only thing that mattered was that Lena was holding her, arms like steel cables in an embrace that would kill a lesser being, and Kara gave it all back, holding Lena like she was her last lifeline from the jaws of the Phantom Zone.

"I'm sorry," Kara wailed.

"Hush, darling. I know. I know."

Carefully, Lena pulled the small device from Kara's ear.

"I know you can still hear me," Lena said, almost a whisper. "I will end you for this. I will utterly destroy you, Lex Luthor."

Lena pulled Kara to her feet, crushing the comm bead between her fingers. Kara leaned into her as J'onn and Nia crowded in. Kara heard Alex calling to them as she pulled up on someone else's motorcycle.

Kara didn't even get to catch her breath before Lex's ship shimmered into existence over their heads, sliding out of the void as its cloaking device deactivate and the cargo doors opened.

Lex landed with a crash, rising as his armor bared the ruins of his face. Kara stood and squared herself up, moving to stand in front of Lena and her friends, to shield them.

Lena grabbed her hand.

"You are going to destroy me?" Lex cackled. "That'll be a sight to see."

Lex's chest spread open, heavy plates sliding apart to reveal a basketball sized chunk of Kryptonite. Emerald light blazed over her, and Kara stumbled back, emerald fire burning through her, the seething agony of-

Lena stepped in front of Kara, slapped her fist into Kara's shoulder, and pushed down on the plunger of an auto-injector pen as the needle bit through Kara's skin. It felt cold at first and then she felt...

Nothing. No unreal heat shearing skin from bone, no agony, no sudden emptiness in her lungs or weakness in her limbs. Just... nothing.

Lena turned back to Lex, discarding the injector.

"Let's go," she snarled.

Chapter Text

"Let's say," Lex told her, "for the sake of argument, that two players sit down to play a game." He peered at her across the chessboard, watching her fingers as she lightly turned her black queen between them, contemplating her next move. "Let's say, further, that they both will play a mathematically perfect game of chess. What decides the outcome?"

Lena shrugged. "If they're both perfect, then the white player should win by default, since they set the progression of the game in motion."

"That's why Dad always used to make me play black," said Lex.

"He always let me play white," said Lena.

His lips curled slightly, not quite into a frown.

"Do we need to start playing with a chess clock?"

Lena made her move, taking his bishop with her queen. She would have him in check in six moves. The game was over. Across from her, Lex scanned the board.

"There's part of me that always wanted to let you win," he said, as he surveyed the pieces, picking up the knight he'd taken from Lena earlier in the game, and fiddling with it in his palm.

"I wouldn't want you to," said Lena.

"Why not?"

Lena looked up and met his eyes.

"Dad always said I could never show my weaknesses. I have to be strong, aloof, project power. If you let me win you'd just be fostering weaknesses."

Lex smiled. "Right."

He moved a pawn, and Lena frowned. The carefully laid out progression of moves that she'd plan collapsed in her mind. Lex had broken her attack, countering with a bold offensive of his own. He'd have her king in three moves. Lena felt her bottom lip quiver slightly and forced it to stop.

"You've lost," said Lex.

"Yes," Lena agreed.

"Do you know why you've lost?"

Lena shook her head.

"You play too conservatively," said Lex, "and you think a little too far ahead. You're getting lost in your idea of how the game should go, not how it's going."

Lena frowned, unsure of what he meant. She looked up.

"We need to go," said Lena. "Mother will be waiting for us."

Lex nodded gravely. When Lena stood, he adjusted the collar of her dress and tugged her veil properly into place. In the town car, Lena sat beside him while their stone-faced mother ignored them both. Lena schooled her features and kept her hands from shaking. Barely.

Lex would have to return to his classes after the appropriate period of mourning passed. When he did, his protection would be withdrawn and Lillian would be all the crueler, in retribution for Lena taking shelter in her brother's kindness. She hated how Lex doted on her, how Lena was the center of his attention during school breaks and visits home, while she was virtually ignored.

Lena walked into the service behind Lex and Lillian, the former sliding his arm through the latter's to guide her to their seats in the front pew. The service was bombastic and ruthlessly Protestant. After the grand congregation moved from the church to the Luthor family plot, eulogies were delivered. Businessmen and civic leaders praised Lionel, spoke of his goodness and charity. Lex spoke last, delivering a lengthy pean to his father, at times sad and funny and triumphant, bracketing embarrassing stories with sincere tales of his father's advice and comfort and bravery.

There was a great deal he omitted. Bruises around Lillian's neck, Lex's own split lip, drunken stupors and intoxicated rages. He made Lionel Luthor sound like a fallen saint, a pillar of the community and a grand philanthropist, not the head of a quasi-criminal business enterprise who abused his wife and son and terrified his daughter, who once wrecked a Rolls Royce into an oak tree on his own property and convinced Lena that she was being sold off after she scored a "B" in a third grade math class.

When it was over, the grand casket descended into the waiting earth and Lena let out a sigh of relief. He was really gone, and as spiteful as Lillian would be, her power over Lena was now limited; Lex was the sole heir and Lillian a dowager queen, given only what influence he afforded her.

Yes, Lena breathed a little more easily.

For a while.

There was little left of the man that Lena knew in the thing that approached her. It was his skin, or something like it, stretched over a chrome skull and frozen in a perpetual sneer above yellowed human teeth set in metal jaws, and those were his eyes, but stripped of whatever semblance of humanity or compassion he'd been able to imitate before she shot him in the chest and killed him.

Lena had Kara in her arms, her eyes wide with terror and fury in equal measure, her fingers wrapped tightly around Lena's collar, trying to pull them together, make them small. Lex had dressed Kara in a revolting costume, another insult piled upon injury and insult. It was to humiliate her, and she could tell that Kara loathed it.

Pulling away the cape that Lex had attached to Kara, Lena tapped the bracelet and let the nanite costume flow over Kara's body, covering the humiliating outfit Lex had dressed her in. Lena looked over at her brother, seething.

"Why are you doing this?" Lena demanded, twisting in the chair.

She'd met with Lex for their weekly Friday lunch; she was going to start in the company soon in the research and development department, and Lex kept her abreast of all the details of the business as he groomed her to take a more active role in actually running the company in the future. The last thing Lena remembered was thinking that her glass of single malt tasted a little odd and the table rushing up at her as her neck went boneless.

Now she'd woken up slumped in an office chair, tied down with ropes, set in Lex's office to look out over the city and found herself in the light of a red sun. Lex stood beside her, sipping his own drink blithely.

"It's for you, Lena."

"Me? Me? I don't want anything to do with this!"

"It's for all humanity, then," said Lex. "He has to die."

"What? Why? He's done nothing but help-"

"Help? Help? Help. Help make us weak, make us dependent on him, so that we end up living in his shadow. Pfff, the 'Man of Tomorrow'. The only tomorrow he can bring us is servitude and slavery."

Lena blinked the red haze away. She remembered the first time she'd heard that phrase, when Luthor Corp passed out of control of Lionel's trust and Lex had taken over. The Daily Planet had called him the Man of Tomorrow in a glowing puff piece about the bright future his genius promised for humanity.

Listening to him rave, she finally understood something that had eluded her from the start.

"How are you still alive?" Lena said, looking up at him.

"Alive is a relative term," Lex said, his voice tinny, artificial.

Without thinking, Lena's vision shifted and the world exploded in indescribable hues, colors for which she had no name. As she looked at Lex's towering new form, she saw machinery and circuitry, but no heart, no spine, nothing but a brain in an armored case within his skull.

It took effort to tune out the spectacular riot of color. When she'd first emerged into National City with Alex, Lena had spent several minutes curled into a ball, tucked in on herself and shaking as a wave of sound and light exploded through her brain. She hadn't anticipated the overstimulation; how had Kara done this?

By focusing, Lena had realized. She used her own hearbeat as a focus, listening to the swirling thud in her chest as she drove her attention to it. Now, the world had another beat- Kara's, in Lena's arms.

"There isn't even enough left of you to call a corpse," said Lena.

"Interesting," said Lex. "You've given yourself x-ray vision."

Lena pulled Kara to her feet, the other woman sagging heavily against her. Her breath was ragged and her heartbeat too fast, the muscles in her back quivering under Lena's palm.

"I'll kill you again if I have to," said Lena.

J'onn moved closer, and Nia circled in the opposite direction, the pair moving to flank Lex as he faced Lena. As he looked at them, his eyes let out soft whirring sounds; they were mechanical, too.

"Did you really think I'd stake my master plan on a fistfight with superpowered aliens?" said Lex. "I learned my lesson about that already."

"What do you want?" said Lena.

"Want?" Lex barked, hunching towards her. "What do I want? What do you think I want? Look at what you did to me!"

Alex wrapped her arms around Kara's waist, taking Kara's weight on her shoulder. Lena stepped between them and Lex, forcing herself to be steady.

"You took everything from me," Lex went on. "I'll never again feel a warm breeze on my fast, or taste a delicious meal, or touch a..." he snarled. "You little bitch. I raised you up. I protected you from our father, I protected you from my mother, and how do you repay me? You trash my company, destroy my legacy, turn on me when I need you most, and consort with that thing. I'm surprised you didn't fuck the alien in my bed just to rub it in."

Lena's jaw clenched. She met his inhuman gaze, her fists tightening as power coursed through her body. She had so many questions for Kara, the first of them being, is this how you see it?

She saw Lex. Clearly.

"You didn't protect me from Lilian," said Lena. "You played mind games, pitting us against each other so we'd both be dependent on you. I didn't trash the company. It was in the red the entire time you were running it, and that was before you started throwing everything into your sick obsession. And you keep throwing my love for Kara in my face because her cousin rejected you."

Lex let out a crunching, mechanical sound, half growl and half scream.

"You wanted me to be afraid of you. Dependent on you. Weak and malleable so you could use me for your own purposes. That's over, Lex. The first time I killed you, I didn't finish the job. This time I'll make sure I put you down for good, so we can all be free."

Lex laughed.

"As I said, my master plan doesn't hinge on a fist fight with you. Surprise."

"What the hell is that?" Alex shouted.

Lena looked up. As she did, a missile streaked overhead and burst over the city in a white flash that stung her eyes. Lena took a half step back, shielding herself with her hand. She turned back to Lex.

"What was that? What did you do?"

"I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to hurt you."

A fine white dust, like the barest hint of snow, wafted from above, dancing like motes of dust in a sunbeam. Lena felt a slight burning in her eyes and tasted something acrid in her nose.

"What is it?" said J'onn. "This substance, is it some kind of-"

Alex jerked back from Kara in a panic, eyes wide. Lena watched, stunned, as Alex began to scream and drew her gun, aiming at Kara's head.

Lena pulled her out of the way in the last second, pulling Kara to her chest. Alex missed, the shot going wide. Alex stumbled backwards, dropping her weapon.

"No, no no no not again, let me out!"

Lena snapped around to Lex.

"What did you do?"

J'onn seized Alex, restraining her flailing limbs. He pulled her into a bear hug and guided her to the ground.

"She's terrified," he said. "It's like she's having a nightmare."

"Fear toxin," Lena snarled.

"Enough to poison the entire city," said Lex. "They'll start tearing each other apart any minute. As entertaining as this is, I do have a master plan to execute, and killing both of you is a pretty important step.'

"Lena," Kara panted, grabbing her arm. "Look out-"

Lex's arm snapped up and a device unfolded from his forearm. Turning to shield Kara, Lena caught the full force of the blast. A wave of shrieking, ear-splitting noise washed over her, and Lena cried out, clutching her ears as Kara writhed against her in pain. Forcing her eyes open, Lena saw a thin trickle of blood from Kara's ear.

The sound was unbearable, a shrieking nail driving into Lena's ears. She clapped her hands over them in reflex, Kara slumping against her. Kara was screaming, her cries of pain lost within the ripping, shredding wail.

Lena forced her eyes open and turned. Teeth clenched in fury, she leapt forwards, the world blurring around her as her fist met Lex's metal chin.

The impact shook its way up her arm to the shoulder, his head snapping back, followed by his body as his entire form went flying, tumbling head over heels through the air. He slammed into a parked van and folded it in half, tearing through the sheet metal before burying himself in the brick front of a brownstone apartment building.

Lena raced back to Kara, carefully pulling up until she was standing. There was nothing but a ringing in her ears, and she heard nothing even though Kara's lips moved and J'onn was calling to them. Alex was convulsing on the ground, her face twisted in a scream as she punched and clawed at J'onn

All at once, Lena's hearing snapped back into existence, rocking her on her heels until she adjusted to the chaotic rush of sounds. Kara's breathing and heartbeat, Alex's screaming and J'onn's voice, Dreamer rushing over to help them. Lena shook her head and clamped her hands over her ears, trying to filter it out, to focus on the sounds that mattered.

"Hey," said Kara.

Lena let Kara pull her hands away from her ears.

"How do you deal with this?" Lena panted. "I can't, it's too much, I-" She clenched her teeth. "No. No, I can do it."

Kara looked at her. "Lex just dumped fear toxin on the entire city. People are going to get hurt. We need you to stop it. You're the only one who can."

"I'm not leaving you."

A few feet away, Alex began screaming about water and drowning. As soon as Lena heard the words, the wall of sound crashed in again, and her vision exploded in a wild confusion of colors.

"Why isn't it affecting us?" Lena gritted out, forcing herself to concentrate.

"I'm immune," said Kara. "Whatever you did to yourself must have made you immune, too. Nia is half alien and J'onn is Martian. But Alex."

"Nanites," said Lena. "We have to get back to my lab. We can program nanites to scrub the toxin from the atmosphere. It'll only take a few minutes to-"

Lex wrenched himself loose from the debris that buried him an stumbled out, fixing his hateful gaze on Lena.

"No, no, you won't get away that easily."

"J'onn," said Lena. "Can you put Alex to sleep? Help her somehow?"

"I'm trying," J'onn said.

"Take her to Lena's lab," said Kara. "Nia, go with him. We'll be right behind you."

She looked at Lena.

"We have to end this."

Lena nodded. "I'm with you."

Lex laughed. "You think the sonic cannon was the only trick I have up my sleeve? Believe me, Kara, we-"

"Shut up," Kara said, her voice low, but as loud as a thunderclap. "I'm tired of you. You tried to kill my cousin. You tortured his best friend. You manipulated and murdered my clone. You've been tormenting the woman I love for years, sending assassins and thugs after her and trying to force your sick schemes on her. Do you have any idea what you've done to us?"

"No," said Lex. "Tell me, Kara. Tell me all about it. Let me savor your pain."

"I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her! You took that from us!"

"Aww," Lex cooed. "How sad for you. What about what you've done?"

"What I've done?"

"Yes, what you've done, you and your pathetic, foolish cousin. Look at all the chaos that follows in your wake. You could have lived normal lives, left humanity alone, been grateful for the sanctuary you've been given, but no, you  have to stick your noses in where you're not needed while lording that damned crest of yours over all of us, like a conqueror's banner." He jabbed his finger at her.

Kara's eyes smoldered, turning red with blazing heat.

"Lena," said Kara. "You don't have to watch this."

Lena touched her shoulder.

"Together."

Lex let out a crackling, tormented mechanical sound and stormed forward, stomping towards them. Kara lunged, Lena just behind her. As Kara charged Lex, he seized her by the throat, yanking her off the ground. Kara screamed, her body going rigid as electricity surged from Lex's hand, lighting arcing down her limbs and sparking between her fingers. He turned in a full-body motion and threw her, cratering the pavement as she landed.

Groaning, Kara forced herself to her hands and knees.

"As much as you prattle on about Kryptonite, you really must think it's your only weakness. I've been studying all the different ways to-"

Lena, screaming, slammed her shoulder into Lex's side, driving him off his feet. There was no skill in her attack, no artistry. She was not a warrior, not a martial artist, not a fighter like Kara or a soldier like Alex. Her place was in the lab, the library, not throwing punches and kicks.

None of that mattered now.

"Leave her alone!" Lena screamed, "Just stop hurting her!"

Lex slammed his palms into the sides of Lena's head. The impact jarred down her spine, but it didn't hurt, not exactly. That came after, when the burning, stabbing agony of the electrical blast locked open her jaws in a silent scream and torqued every muscle in her body against itself. It felt like her body was going to rip itself apart, snap its own bones and rip loose its own tendons.

He threw her down and jammed the heel of his armored foot into her stomach, forcing all the air out of her lungs.

"Kryptonite, of course," Lex ground out, his voice quivering with amusement. "Magic, but I'm afraid I can't manage that one. But she's vulnerable to a strong enough electrical current, and so are you, and of course you both need to breathe."

Lex slammed down on her, driving his knee into her chest. Pain flared through her body as he leaned down and wrapped his huge hands around Lena's throat, the electronics in his fists grinding with effort as he jammed his thumbs into her windpipe. When she strained for a breath, no breath would come.

She scrabbled and flailed at his arms, but he pressed her down and squeezed even harder, until dark tendrils began to swirl in the edges of her vision and her lungs screamed for air.

"I want her to see you die," Lex rattled, "I want her to see your lifeless corpse before I kill her."

Then, there was a wind. No, not a wind, but a blur of motion. A red and blue streak moving so fast that all Lena could see was brief flashes of fists and heat. Lex's hands went slack.

Lena tore a ragged breath into her lungs, surging to her feet. She could only stare.

Kara hammered Lex with blows so fast and so fierce that it seemed as though she had taken on a multi-armed form, like some ancient war goddess. Her eyes burned with red-sun fury and she was screaming curses in English and Kryptonian.

Lex stumbled back in retreat as Kara's blows cracked and cratered his chest plate. He seemed almost feeble as he tried to get ahold of her to shock her again. She folded out of the way, moving so fast that it cracked the air with sonic booms.

She slowed only to wind up and drive the heels of her hands into his chest, launching him the length of a football field before he slammed to the ground, shattering the pavement, and rolled to his feet.

"From the day I landed on this planet, I've had to control my strength," said Kara. "I've had to learn to temper every movement I make, soften every motion, control every twitch and blink. If I stare at something too hard, it'll catch on fire. If I hold someone too tight, it'll kill them."

She flexed her hands, closing her fists.

"I have so much anger. It hurts so much. Every time I hear someone complain, I think about how I watched my planet blew up. Every time someone bitches about their commute I think about how my pod was stuck in hell. I lost my parents and my world and my culture and my people and my language and I lost my Earth father, too, and you think that you can... just... take Lena from me?"

Lex rose, doubt flaring in his inhuman eyes.

"All that pain," said Kara. "I've been saving it for you."

Kara leapt at Lex, rearing back to drive her fist through his heart, screaming her wordless fury. When her fist struck his chest, the metal folded in with a shriek and the surface cracked. Driven backwards, Lex flailed as he was tossed through the air by the force of the blow.

Lena... moved. The world around her slowed to a crawl, so it seemed that only Kara was really moving; everything else drifted through existence, as if they were suddenly underwater. Lena passed Lex, noting the confusion in his eyes as she crossed his vision.

Then, he was coming at her, flying backwards toward her. Lena threw her arm back and hurled an awkward punch, but it didn't matter. The impact crumpled the armor plating on Lex's back and hurled him forward, right into Kara's fist.

Suddenly they were battering him between them, Kara's precision, trained strikes knocking him about as easily as Lena's clumsy, flailing movements.

Lex deployed some kind of blade from his arm, sliding from between armor plates. He slashed at Kara, but she dodged the swing and caught his wrist. Lex cried out, more in shock than pain, when Lena brought her elbow down on his shoulder joint and sheared the mechanical limb free from his body. Kara hurled it aside and together, they drove him back.

They hammered at him, driving him along a widening gouge in the pavement.

"Lena!" Lex cried, his voice strained and screechy. "She's going to kill me! Stop her!"

Kara dragged the ruins of his mechanical frame from the ground.

"What makes you think I can?" said Lena.

Kara did hesitate, though. Even now, her pretty features twisted with rage, she waited, hands trembling as she gouged her fingers into Lex's armored skin. She glanced at Lena.

"Put him down," said Lena, imploring Kara with her eyes.

Kara... stilled, briefly, then let Lex's broken shell fall to the ground. She took a step back, shoulders heaving, tears boiling in her eyes, each breathe edging into a sob.

Lena thew her foot over Lex and stood over his chest, leaning down to pull him up by the top of his cracked, dented breastplate.

"She's not a killer," said Lena. "I won't let you take that from her, too."

Lex's mechanical eyes stared at her.

"But I was right before," said Lena. "She'll never be safe as long as you're alive."

"Lena-"

"Shhh," Lena whispered. "Be still."

Lex began to protest, so she wrenched open his mouth. His bottom jaw came loose as she did, opening too wide. He screamed, though she didn't think he really felt it. His brain was isolated, running on its own power supply. Lena focused all her attention on the joint where his artificial spinal column joined his body, channeling all her fury into her stare.

It didn't take much effort for her gaze to ignite, burning into Lex's open mouth and down his spine. Wires burned, and the metal links of his spine turned red hot, then white, then softened and melted.

Gravity did most of the work. His body fell away and then Lena was holding Lex's jawless severed head in her hands. His eyes locked on hers, staring at her in mute appeal.

"You're going to wish I'd killed you," Lena whispered, before tucking Lex under her arm. "My lab," she said, to Kara. "We have to go."

"Then let's fly," said Kara.

"I'm still a little shaky about that part," said Lena. "It's hard to control."

Kara, as beaten down as she was, offered her a hand. "Take my hand and I'll show you."

Lena closed her hand around Kara's, and they flew.

When they landed in front of L-Corp, they descended into chaos. The toxin seemed to be affecting everyone differently. Some were curled up and trying to hide wherever they could find shelter, while others were lashing out at imaginary monsters, or throwing themselves at other people.

Kara cleared a path as gently as she could as they rushed inside. When they reached the lab, Lena realized that Freeze and her mother were still there; the latter sat leaning against a wall, wheezing as the temperature in his suit slowly rose, and J'onn had twisted pieces of structural steel to bind Lillian.

When she saw what was left of Lex, Lillian let out a strangled cry. Her chest plate snapped open, as if in reflex, and bathed them in green light. Kara just looked at her with contempt.

Kara spotted Alex, lying on one of Lena's lab table with her jacket folded under head for a pillow, and rushed to her sister's side.

"We gave her a mild sedative," said Nia, "and J'onn calmed her mind. She's asleep, for now."

"I'll start preparing the nanites," said Lena. "Kara, I need an air sample. Dreamer, J'onn, I want you back outside. Try to find anyone who's unaffected and do what you can to minimize the damage."

Lena tensed for a brief moment, before the three of them nodded, and stormed out of the lab. Lena watched them go before carefully placing Lex on a side table and turning to her work.

"You really turned against your own blood for that alien," said Lillian.

Lena looked at her.

"Mother. Shut the fuck up."

She smiled at Lena. "I see it gets under your skin."

Lena sighed, then turned and raked the wall beside Lillian's head with a blast of heat, scoring a scorched line along the wall. Lillian stared at it, eyes wide.

"I'm not Kara. Don't test me."

Lena turned back to her work.

"He's still alive in there," said Lillian.

"If you're trying to convince me to help him, then having a chunk of Kryptonite shoved into your chest must have given you brain damage, Lillian."

"How can you be that cruel?"

"How can you be so pathetic?" said Lena, as she worked on the scrubbing algorithm for the nanites. "Did you never realize what he did to us?"

"Which was what?"

"He played us off each other, to make each of us that much more dependent on him, Lillian. He was manipulating us both. I'm done with that. I'm done with you. Now, do be quiet."

Kara returned shortly with the sample.

"What's going on out there?"

"J'onn, Brainy, and Nia are doing what they can," said Kara. "Batgirl and Robin are out there, too, but we can't be everywhere at once."

"Can you bring J'onn back here?" said Lena. "We need everyone who can fly to distribute the nanites into the atmosphere so they can scrub it out of the air. I'll rig up something we can wear around our waists."

Kara nodded. "I'm going back out there. Call me when you're ready."

Lena caught Kara's arm, stood, and pressed a kiss to her lips, ignoring Lillian's disgusted groan. Kara pressed close for a moment, then left. Lena tried to ignore the stoop in her shoulders, the haggard way she moved, and found she couldn't.

Lex had hurt her. Lena glared at him for a moment, before turning back to her work.

When Lena had the nanites ready, Kara returned, with J'onn. Lena belted nanite packs around all three of their waists. Before they left, Kara shoved Freeze and Lillian into the containment chamber that Lena had used for Reign, and they headed outside.

J'onn split off from them quickly as Kara and Lena took off.

Lena was still wobbly as she took flight, clasping Kara's hand until they rose above the city, the world spreading out below them. Kara looked at Lena and Lena nodded back, activating the spreader pack on her belt.

They parted, and Lena flew, leaving a trail of invisible nanites cascading through the atmosphere. The three of them circled the city a few times, until the packs were depleted, then landed outside of L-Corp.

Lena stumbled as she landed, Kara gently catching her before she fell on her ass. Lena fell against her, the two of them sagging into each other.

J'onn stepped away for a moment, then turned back to face them.

"Brainy just signaled me. The Batman is here, and he's brought reinforcements."

"The toxin hasn't worn off yet," said Kara. "They need me out there."

"I'm grounding you," said Lena. "Everyone else can take care of this, Kara. Let's make sure Alex is safe, and then let me take care of you."

Kara looked like she was about to protest, but relented.

"Okay," she said, leaning into Lena's shoulder. "Okay."

Lena wrapped Kara in her arms and hugged her tight.

"I've got you."

"I know."

Chapter Text

Lena stared at the ceiling, knowing that Kara wouldn't wake for a while. Kara would lay in bed for hours, and Lena had put her through her paces last night. Turned on her side, Kara had a possessive arm thrown across Lena's waist, and tickled Lena's bare shoulder with her breath. Lena curled her own arm around Kara's hip, drawing the sleeping alien closer, for no other reason than to feel her skin.

They couldn't stay like this forever. Oh, Lena wanted to, but there was to much to deal with. The fallout from Kara revealing her identity against her will was the most pressing matter. That was the very reason they were here, in a small cottage that Lena had obtained in northern Idaho, using a series of shell companies to obscure the purchase. She'd originally purchased it as a safehouse in case one of Lex's assassins proved unusually tenacious or inventive and forced her into hiding, or if things went south with L-Corp and she needed a place to live. She'd spent a few nights here in contemplative solitude before, but she preferred Kara's raucous presence to the peace.

Kara surprised her and woke up not long after, sliding her long legs out of the bed. Once they had broken a few barriers, Kara was shockingly casual about walking around the cottage in the buff. Lena wasn't one to complain, rolling on her side and propping her head on her palm to enjoy the show as Kara stretched and turned on the shower to get the water hot. Kara loved scorching hot showers, and Lena loved sharing them.

Once they'd spent longer in there than either of them planned, they dressed. Lena sat in the small kitchen with her laptop, bouncing her signals through onion routing and VPNs to secure her location, and kept abreast of goings on back in the world while Kara went outside, rolled up her sleeves, and spent the morning splitting wood with an axe. They had plenty of wood for the fireplace and the stove, but that didn't seem to bother Kara.

Eventually, distracted by the rhythmic sounds, Lena would end up watching her, leaning against the door frame while Kara worked, pretending to be oblivious to Lena's presence while stealing glances at her.

"One day I'll have to take you to the Kent farm," said Kara. "You'll love it. The old farmhouse is so cozy, and there's a barn and there's so much land. Just all this space."

Lena sipped her coffee and kept on watching Kara, which quickly led to touching Kara, which quickly led to them in bed again and Lena waking up to afternoon pancakes. Kara worked the stove with furious concentration, and though she was no Michelin chef, she'd improved her skills dramatically over the last few weeks.

Kara served; she drowned her pancakes in syrup while Lena preferred marmalade. As she ate, she enjoyed one of the perks of her modified physiology: She could eat like Kara now, devouring food until she was sick of eating and gulped down protein shakes to meet her caloric requirements instead, much to Kara's chagrin.

They ate quietly; Lena was surprised how much time they spent in companionable silence, like they'd been doing this for years. Maybe they had, after a fashion. They didn't need to work things out like who took what side of the bed or what show to watch or what to eat, it just happened.

Kara looked up. She'd been pushing her pancakes around her plate, so Lena already knew there was something wrong.

"We have to face it eventually," said Kara. "The world knows who I am."

Lena nodded, looking down at her own plate. She put her fork down, gently, and reached across the table, taking Kara's hand in her own.

"J'onn offered to shapeshift into you for a press conference, and Cat will help us if we ask. The Queen of All Media can fix this, I'm sure."

"What if I don't want to fix it?" said Kara.

Lena studied her. "You don't?"

"I might not," said Kara. "I've spent so much time worrying about someone getting hurt because of my identity... and look what happened."

Lena sighed. "That was as much because of who I am as who you are, Kara. We're both people with targets on our backs."

"But we're stronger together," said Kara.

Lena smiled. "I know you've been thinking about this a lot. Hence the wood chopping."

"It helps me concentrate," Kara said, her defensive tone only half joking. "I'd have to make a lot of changes."

"Like what?"

"People have been complaining that it's unethical that I covered myself as Supergirl and quoted myself in articles. They're right."

Lena nodded.

"They're also right about the way I covered L-Corp. I was never going to be too critical of anything the company did, because I was quietly in love with the owner for years. I need to own up to that."

"What else?"

Kara looked away for a moment, then looked at Lena.

"I'm tired of having to be multiple people, and I'm tired of other people deciding who I get to be. I almost lost you because I just wanted to be Kara. I'm constantly lonely because anyone who sees me in the suit just sees Supergirl. I want them to be the same. I am both of those things."

"I can tell how happy you are that you don't have to hide anything with me anymore," said Lena. "And it's obvious how much you like being comfortable using your strength around me and just being free to be yourself."

"It's obvious how much you like watching me," said Kara. "I don't have to chop the wood that slowly."

"Or at all," Lena snorted.

The cabin grew quiet for a moment. Lena stroked Kara's knuckles with the pad of her thumb.

"I know one thing," said Lena. "I hope it doesn't upset you."

Kara tensed, just slightly. "What is it?"

"I don't want to be a superhero," said Lena. "I don't want to pick a name, put on a costume, and fight crime. I can do more good for the world by doing the things I'm good at."

"I see," said Kara.

"It's not like I'm going to let something happen to someone right in front of me," said Lena, "or I won't help if I'm really needed. And I'm not going to nag you to stop, either. I know you can't, and I don't want to change anything about you that makes you, you."

"I don't want you to be a supehero, either," said Kara. "I don't want to think about you burning out your powers in a fight, or them failing when you need them, or just meeting a stronger enemy. You already know that just because I'm immune to Kryptonite now, it doesn't mean I'm invincible. The same is true for you, and we don't even know if your new abilities are permanent."

"Kara," Lena said, I'm pretty sure they are. As in, I am 99% certain."

Kara sucked in a sharp breath. "I don't want to let myself hope."

"For what?"

She took Lena's hand in both of her own.

"That if you have powers like mine, you may have a lifespan like mine." Her voice quavered just a little, and Lena knew that she must have been struggling with these thoughts for a long time. "Alex, Nia, now Kelly, James... even J'onn. I might outlive them all."

"What if we get tired of each other?" said Lena.

"Maybe we will," said Kara, "but... think about it."

Kara stood and came around to Lena's side of the table, grabbing the stool next to her. They pressed in close, shoulder to shoulder, and Lena leaned her head on Kara's.

"I lost my whole world. I crossed intergalactic space in a tiny pod, and got lost in the Phantom Zone for decades. Think of all the things that could have happened during all that. My pod might have been blown off course or been pulled back into the shockwave as Krypton exploded. I could have been picked up by pirates and sold off into slavery or fallen into a black hole or been burned by a star. I could have landed on the wrong planet, or some anomaly might have dropped me on Earth in the far future or the distant past. Just think of all the thousands and thousands and thousands of things that had to happen the exact way they did for me to walk into your office and instantly fall for you. I can't believe things will always be perfect for us, Lena, but I know one thing."

"What's that?"

"My people were a scientific culture. We didn't believe in fate or the supernatural in any real sense. Even Rao worship was mainly for culture and community. We lived according to the will of scientists and councils and our mates were chosen by a powerful computer based on genetic and psychological profiles. After everything that's happened, I can't believe that I didn't meet you for a reason. This is real. As real as Clark and Lois. It's you for me, Lena. You're it. I could live a million years and it would always be you."

Lena blinked back tears, and Kara quietly, mercifully let her compose herself so that her voice was mostly even before she spoke.

"That sounded a lot like a marriage proposal."

"That's because it was," Kara whispered, her breath tickling Lena's ear. "I wanted to wait and make it special and perfect and fix all our problems first, but we're never going to fix all of our problems. The best time for me to ask you to join with me would have been years ago. The second best time is now."

Kara pulled one of the kitchen drawers open and picked up a small box. It was made from the wood of one of the local trees, Lena instantly realized. Kara had inlaid the lid with her family crest. Lena's hands trembled like leaves in a storm as she hinged it open.

The bracelet inside was made of rose gold and blued steel links, the clasp an El Mayarah inlaid with gold and an alien material that sparkled like the deepest crimson ruby.

"I made it myself," Kara said, proudly. "While you were sleeping."

"It's beautiful," said Lena. "It's absolutely beautiful. Yes."

"Yes?" said Kara.

"Yes," said Lena.

Kara let out a whoop of joy that shook dust from the rafters, taking Lena by the waist and spinning her through the air. Lena pulled her into a fierce embrace and they fell on the couch, the making of plans and solving of problems rapidly forgotten.

Later, much later, with Kara lying on top of her and the both of them under a wool blanket with the fire roaring on the other side of the small main room of the cottage, Lena let out a contented sigh.

"I hate bringing this up now," Kara said, "but it's been bothering me for a while. Lena, what did you do with Lex?"

"He won't be bothering us anymore," said Lena. "I want to forget about him. I want to forget about them. Tell me something."

"What?" said Kara.

"Tell me about Kryptonian marriages. How does the naming convention work?"

"Well," said Kara, "If I were a man, I'd be Kara El, not Kara Zor-El. Zor El is my father's name, so I took it as a family name. We'd keep our names and any boys we had would be First-Name El, and any daughters would be First-Name Kara-El."

"That's surprisingly patriarchal for an enlightened society," said Lena.

"Yes, but I don't expect you to change your name the way regular humans sometimes do."

"What if I want to?" said Lena.

Kara blinked, resting her chin on Lena's chest. "Why?"

"My father was narcissistic to the point of sadism," said Lena. "There's a clause in his will that if I change my name, I lose control of the company. The only loophole is if I get married."

"We have time to think about this," said Kara. "I just want you to know that I'll love you just the same no matter what you decide to call yourself. And if we..." she trailed off, turning away.

"What?" said Lena.

"If we have kids, you could choose their names. If you want. I don't want you to be erased."

Lena's eyebrow twitched. "Kara. We're both women. Though, I suppose we could adopt."

"Well," said Kara. "We do have options."

Lena sat up slightly and stared at her.

"What do you mean 'options'?"

"The Fortress has everything we'd need to recreate a birthing matrix. We could have children that are both biologically ours."

Lena could see it in the way her eyes lit up.

"You really want that, don't you?" she said, very softly.

Kara tensed, and Lena remembered something that Kara had mentioned to her in their time in the cottage: The issue of kids had been a dealbreaker for Alex and Maggie.

"Do you?" Kara said, and Lena knew that if she said no, no children, Kara would abide. She would be sad, she might even mourn the loss, but she wouldn't give up on Lena. Lena found herself saying it before she even really thought about it.

"I do if it's with you," said Lena. "You're Supergirl. You can do anything."

Kara sighed. "Do you think we need to go back?"

"I think I'm going to call Cat Grant in the morning and start making plans for the public relations side of our return, and I'm going to call my lawyers and square some things away, and we're going to talk about what we want to do when we return. Tomorrow. In the morning. Right now..."

Kara grinned.

The wheels squeaked as Lena wheeled the cart down the hallway, the casters grinding on the concrete floor. It had taken her an age to actually find the television set and DVD player. The TV was a tube model, over fifteen years old, and the player not much newer. She'd actually acquired them from a storeroom at an elementary school, of all places.

There was nothing in them to be manipulated. No wifi. No Bluetooth. Everything here was on its own systems, cut off from the outside world. Very cut off.

Lena unzipped the pocket on her jumpsuit and pulled out the keys she needed to enter Lex's chamber. He was behind three doors with actual physical locks, no electronics. She closed and locked each one behind her in turn, and would repeat the process when she left.

The cell itself was ten feet by ten, though in his current state, Lex hardly needed it. Lex himself occupied a lab bench.

What was left of him did, anyway. Lena rolled the TV cart in front of the bench and plugged it in, then grabbed a folding chair and sat down next to where Lex's remains sat.

It had taken great care and expense to transfer his brain from the life support system he'd designed to one of her own. She couldn't risk him having some final, last trick built into the bucket where he kept his gray matter, so she replaced the entire thing, and wired him up to a camera. He couldn't speak, but his thoughts printed out on an old CRT monitor next to his brain. He had slightly control over the camera, enough to track her as she moved around.

"Hello, brother," said Lena.

The words appeared in all caps on the screen. LET ME OUT OF HERE. LENA. YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME.

Lena smiled. "Don't wory, Lex. I brought you some entertainment. Look, Kara and I were on TV."

She pulled out the small jewel case she carried in her pocket, and showed Lex the handwritten label on the DVD she'd burned. It read, simply, Lena + Kara Cat Grant Interview.

Lena turned on the television set, put the disk in the player, and hit play, then adjusted the volume.

WHAT DID YOU DO, LENA?

"Shhh," said Lena. "Be a good boy and watch quietly and I'll get you popcorn. I don't know what you'll do with it, but I'll get you some."

She sat back, ignoring the profanities and invectives on the screen. It went still as an image filled the screen: Lena and Kara sitting in wicker chairs, a tropical beach behind them.

"Kiera, did you always move this slow?" Cat Grant demanded. "Get to your mark. We're going live in thirty."

"Cat," Lena said, cooly, "My wife's name is Kara. Use it."

The two women regarded each other, and Kara looked genuinely afraid. Lena sat down, adjusting the skirts of her sun dress, looking regal and queenly to Kara as Kara herself felt awkward and stiff.

Off to the side, the producer counted down silently. Three. Two. One.

"Good evening, America. We now sit down in a live, exclusively interview with Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers, aka Supergirl, in their first public appearance since the wave of attacks on National City culminated in Lex Luthor forcing a mind-controlled Kara to reveal her identity, and his spreading a chemical weapon over the city."

She quickly turned to Kara.

"So, Supergirl," said Cat. "The public has a lot of questions for you."

"I know," said Kara. "I'd like to start off by pointing out that my name is Kara, Miss Grant. Not Supergirl. Or Kiera."

Kara forced a laugh, hoping it didn't seem forced.

"So you're saying you're not Supergirl?"

"No," said Kara, "I am Supergirl, but that's not all I am. I'm not Supergirl all the time any more than a police officer or a doctor is a police officer is a doctor all the time. I put on my uniform one leg at a time, and when my work is done, I change into civilian clothes and go home to my partner."

Kara sighed, and looked at Cat, meeting her eyes.

"People have a lot of expectations of me, and I've tried my best to live up to them- even when it wasn't the best thing for me, or for everyone else. Since I first acted openly as Supergirl to save lives, people have worshipped me as a god, tried to use me politically, questioned my motives... it's all wrong."

"How so?" said Cat.

"Lex Luthor accused me and my cousin of being alien conquerers trying to win over humanity so we could steal your planet. That's not true. But I'm not a savior, either. I am not the perfect woman who came from the sky to do only good. I make mistakes, I fail, I hurt people without meaning to and sometimes make bad choices. Over the last couple of months, my friends have taken up the task of protecting people to give me time to think about who I am really am and who I want to be."

"And who is that?" said Cat.

"Kara Zor-El Danvers. I'm a woman who was born on Krypton and adopted by a family on Earth. I like Big Belly Burger and Christmas is my favorite holiday and I like to write and I can lift a submarine over my head. I'm all of these things, but none of them is all of me."

"Well, Kara," said Cat, "it's a pleasure to meet you. People have some questions, though. Some of them involving the ethics of your journalism career."

Kara adjusted her glasses. "Yes, those are valid questions, and I'm happy to answer them. First, let me say that I don't dispute the dubious ethics of the articles I wrote, both about myself, and in light of our relationship, about Lena's company. This is why I contacted the Pulitzer Committee and refused to accept the prize. I don't deserve it, no matter how powerful of an article I wrote, because I cheated. I used my position and my powers and my personal relationships to further my journalism career, and for that, I'm sorry."

Cat nodded. "I can't say I think you should get off that easily. Especially since you did some of that while working for my company."

"At the time, it was my company," Lena chimed in.

"I've also decided to leave the field of investigative reporting," said Kara. "Now that I'm publicly acting as Supergirl, it simply creates too many conflicts of interest."

"So what's next for you, then?" said Cat.

"I'm not sure yet," said Kara. "Call it a sabbatical. I'm going to take some time in my personal life to focus on my relationships and find myself. I'm still going to be Supergirl, but I'm not going to patrol the city every night anymore. I'm here to help, but not micromanage everyone's lives. When people call, I will answer, and I will still protect National City, but I can't let it consume my life. It almost took away everything that matters most."

"Some would call that selfish."

"If they want to call her selfish," Lena cut in again, "Let them be punched in the head by Bane after he's been hopped up on Krytponite-powered steroids."

Kara shot her a quick smile.

"Those people have a point, but I've come to realize that I've been dealing with a lot of trauma and guilt and I've been coping with it in an unhealthy way, looking for crusades and causes to throw myself into, to hide the pain from myself. I've been seeing a therapist and working through those issues with Lena's help."

"We both have a lot of issues," said Lena.

Cat turned to her. "There's a lot of gossip about the two of you and how close you've been lately. Your brother has repeatedly tried to kill Kara."

"To be fair, he's also repeatedly tried to kill me," Lena said, drolly.

"Still, with the pair of you being inseparable gal pals, it's sparked a lot of conversation. There's some strong Romeo and Juliet vibes there."

Lena regarded Cat with a frosty look for a moment.

"We are not gal pals," said Lena, taking Kara's hand. "Kara is my fiancee. She's the most important person in my world, the light of my life, my everything, my person. She's also given me the strength to come out, publicly, for the first time."

Cat actually stared at her, briefly.

"Well, this is a surprise," said Cat. "How long have you two been together?"

"A few months," Kara said.

"Four years," said Lena. "It just took us too long to acknowledge it. But I wouldn't change a thing, Cat. I'm the luckiest woman in the world."

"You have your fair share of critics and troubles," said Cat, looking to Lena. "Your detractors accuse you of-"

"My detractors accuse me of being a supervillain," said Lena, "because my brother was one, and because I'm a woman with power and authority. I would think that literally dating Supergirl would be proof enough that I am not a villain."

Cat looked at her thoughtfully.

"I've had a lot of time to think about things, too," said Lena. "Kara and I had a lot of long talks and heart to hearts about who we really are and what we want in life, and how to get there."

"What did you decide?" said Cat.

"I'm cleaning house at my L-Corp," said Lena. "We're going to reorganize and scrub the organization clean of my brother and father's legacies."

"Some people said you were doing that when you changed the name from LuthorCorp."

"I didn't go far enough with that," said Lena. "Though at the time, I didn't have anything better. I lacked the courage to fully disassociate myself from the Luthor name, and I lacked the inspiration. In honor of of a decision we recently made, I've decided to rename the company again, to reflect our new values."

"What decision?" said Cat, raising an eyebrow.

"We're married," said Kara.

Cat's head whipped to face Kara and she said, flatly, "What?"

"We married in a private civil ceremony two weeks ago," said Lena. "We held a small, quiet ceremony with friends and family to honor Kara's Kryptonian traditions and celebrate our union. We wanted it to be for us, not for the public, nor did we want some wannabe supervillain showing up to spoil the reception."

"You know that would happen," said Kara.

"I thought about who I wanted to be," said Lena. "I want to be Lena Kieran El-Danvers. I once dedicated myself to redeeming the Luthor name and legacy, but there's nothing to redeem. My father's name represents a family of thieves and war profiteers. If I'm going to make anyone's name mean something, it's going to be ours."

"And the company?" said Cat.

"L-Corp is no more," said Lena. "Supercorp stands in its place. We are stronger together."

Lena hit the pause button, turning to the screen.

It remained blank for a moment, then lit up.

LENA YOU BITCH

She threw her head back and laughed, standing.

DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE

"I'm done with you, Lex. We're all done with you. Do you know how close I am to unlocking a cure for cancer? MRNA vaccines for incurable diseases? Practical fusion power? We're going to save the fucking world, and all without you. Your name will be a footnote to our legacy. You're not going to be another Alexander the Great or Napoleon Bonaparte or Thomas Edison. You're going to be reduced to a couple of lines in a textbook about how the brother of Supergirl's wife tried to kill her and failed."

LENA

"Oh, don't worry," said Lena. "I don't want you to be bored."

Taking the remote, she started the interview clip over from the beginning, setting it to play on loop. To play, and play, and play, and play.

LENAAAAAAAAAAAA... the screen continued to print. Lena ignored it, walking down the hall to the entrance. Once there, she picked up her helmet off the hook and sealed it to the collar of her suit, and passed through the airlock.

In the airless void, Sol was distant, barely brighter than the surrounding stars. Lena looked at it through the plexiglass of her helmet for a while, then grabbed the massive boulder she'd rolled away from the door, and replaced it. She wondered if, when the power supply ran out in a few hundred years, there would be anything left of Lex's brain for it to support. She supposed not.

Activating her transmatter portal watch, Lena stepped into the garage. She removed her helmet and suit, carefully stowing them in a locker on the wall, and let down her hair. Yawning, she ascended the stairs to the first floor of their home.

Kara was in the living room, curled up in a recliner with a book propped on the dome of her belly, he glasses dangling from one free hand as she snoozed in the afternoon light. She'd grown more beautiful than ever; everyone said expectant mothers glowed, but Kara was like a walking sunrise. Lena stood there with a dopey grin on her face, watching Kara sleep for a while, before carefully collecting the book and draping a blanket over her. Kara mumbled something in her mother tongue in her sleep, and Lena brushed loose locks of spun gold away from her mouth.

Kara stirred, blinking her eyes open.

"Did you go out?" she said, through a yawn.

"Nowhere important," said Lena. "Everything that matters to me is right here."