Chapter Text
CHAPTER ONE: REQUIEM
(Tuesday, May 24, 2022)
It had been no less than six months since Lex and Nyxly were taken into the phantom zone, and a number of things had changed.
Alex and Kelly were married and their careers were flourishing, Esme was too, Nia had her outreach center and had publicly revealed her identity last month, Brainy was helping her at the center, J’onn was managing the new DEO, Lena was at L corp and had recently gotten with Sam Arias who had just returned to the city.
Kara’s other friends were okay, Barry was training a new team of speedsters, though his recent divorce wasn’t helping. Cisco came back to assist the team, Frost was brought back. Team Arrow fractured after he passed and they all left the hero life for other pursuits. The legends continued to guard time and now also multiversal incursions, Clarke had now created a team of his own and they guarded most of the other cities that didn’t have heroes, Jeffery and Ryan both continued to work in their cities, her city was okay now too, since she empowered them to be their own heroes.
Kara perched atop the DEO’s highest observation deck, the city humming beneath her. Streets once desperate for heroes now moved in orderly chaos, ordinary citizens stepping into roles she had long filled. And yet… she felt hollow. Six months after victory, after Lex and Nyxly were gone, after her friends had flourished, left her with the question; where did she fit now?
She hadn’t donned her cape in almost a month, she hardly had reason to.
Her most pressing achievement was helping Barry get over Iris, hell she was surprised to hear Barry was now dating, of all people, Caitlin Snow….not that it was unfounded.
Unbeknownst to Kara though, Nia, Kelly, Lena and Alex had entered her home.
“Kara…kara….KARA!” she heard someone shout.
Which caused her to turn around and see the four women in her apartment.
“What?” She asked
Alex looked at her oddly, brow furrowing with the "something’s wrong” look
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Kara grabbed the alien beer brand she’d now only drank at parties, and tipped the bottle back again, chasing the warmth as if it might substitute for purpose
“No….I am not” She said
The group frowned and Nia stepped forward.
“What’s wrong?” she asked
Kara looks about ready to cry, even if the buzz is small.
“Cat sent me home today because I got stressed out, I’m not going out as Supergirl anymore since we empowered the planet and…well there’s everyone else on the team….hell i have spent the past week playing dating coach to Barry fucking allen….the flash needs me to get a date, which is weird, I can cross galaxies, I can lift continents, but apparently I can’t keep a relationship!” Kara rants
“I’m bi and somehow still catastrophically alone….pathetic” Kara chuckles lowly
“Okay…” Alex said, knowing there is more
“We hooked up once, does that not count ?!" Lena exclaims
“Not the point” Kara says
Meanwhile the other 3 look at the two shocked
“You what!? sense when!” Kelly asks, annoyed she didn’t know.
“Lena,” Kara snaps, not loud, but sharp enough to cut. “That wasn’t yours to weaponize.”
Lena frowns “I’m sorry Kara I hadn’t meant-”
Kara cuts her off “I did spend 4 years lying to your face, I had it coming”
Alex steps forward first. She always does.
“Kara, that’s not… you saved my life more times than I can count. You don’t get to rewrite yourself as the villain.”
Kara gives a small, tired smile.
“See? That’s exactly it. I’m either the hero or the liar. There’s no in-between.”
Nia’s voice softens. “You’re allowed to be both human and powerful.”
Kara shakes her head. “I don’t even feel powerful anymore.”
Kelly crosses her arms, steady. “You don’t need to wear a cape to matter.”
“That’s not what this is,” Kara snaps…then immediately deflates. “I empowered everyone. That was the point. But now… I don’t know who I am without being needed.”
Lena steps closer, worried for her friend. “Kara… you don’t have to earn your place with us.”
Kara looks at them, a single tear sliding down her face….as she looks so inexorably human, not like the blue and red protector with a heart of gold.
“I know. That’s what scares me.”
Kara sets the bottle down and walks to the window, her hearing picking up on the lack of sirens and the slow lull of the world she saved moving on without her.
“I think I need… space.”