Hope

4

"Alex I thought you were off for the afternoon." Winn questions, as Alex runs into the DEO with Naomi in her arms.

"I am but Naomi. I don't know what happened we were just at... and she got really sick all of a sudden." Alex rambles, setting Naomi on the hospital bed. Winn places an oxygen mask over her and helps her regulate her breathing. He rushes to find out what is wrong with her and Alex quickly makes a phone call to Kara.

"There are high levels of lead in her system, specifically her lungs, which caused the severe reaction."  Winn states.

"How? The lead in the air has never made an impact on her before." Alex wonders.

"Well thanks to Kara's Kryptonian genetics, her lead allergy is not as intense as Mon-el's was. But for months she's been breathing in the lead air and I'm assuming it finally made an impact on her." Winn informs.

•••

Kara stands in James's office as Lena is running her speech over with her. Suddenly she gets a phone call from Alex and ignores it. She lets Lena continue with the speech but Kara's phone rings once again.

"You can pick it up. It's fine."

"I'm sorry. It's probably just my daughter wanting to talk to me. Two seconds I swear." Kara apologizes. She walks over to the corner of the room and picks up the phone.

"Naomi I told you to stop calling me when I'm at-"

"Kara it's me. You need to come to the DEO now. It's Naomi, her lead allergy is acting up.  Kara it's not good."

"I'm on my way."

Kara couldn't believe the words she was hearing. Her child is now involved in this lead fiasco too. However, her child is different compared to the others. It only proves that something is off.

Before Lena even gave Supergirl the option of using the lead device on the Daxamites, they ran tests on Naomi to make sure she wouldn't be effected. And she passed it. Only extreme exposure to lead would harm her child and the lead in the air was never an issue before. Why would it be an issue now?

"Kara what is it?" Lena asks.

"Naomi... She's in the hospital. I have to go."

"Please don't tell me she is one of them."

Kara looks back at her best friend and brings her into a hug.

"It's not your fault Lena. But I got to go. Good luck with your speech." Kara states, rushing out of the building. She flies over to the DEO and runs into the hospital room. Looking through the glass, she sees her daughter laying in the bed, pale and unconscious. She walks through the door and the tears automatically start pouring down her face.

Naomi has never gotten sick before. She has the genetics of a superhero and a prince, the girl is basically indestructible. Seeing her weak and helpless, gives Kara the feeling of failure. Kara can't help her. She's Supergirl and she can't help her daughter. Naomi is suffering and she couldn't do anything but sit back and watch as it happens.

Slowly, she reaches for Naomi's tiny hand and interlocks it with hers. The coldness of it causes Kara to flinch a little and hold it tight. Naomi's eyes slowly open and smiles, knowing her mother is right by her side.

"Mama." Naomi whispers.

"Hey Baby. How you feeling?"

"Tired and really sick." Naomi coughs.

"Uncle Winn and Auntie Alex are doing everything they can to help you." Kara reassures. "Baby you're going to be okay, I promise. You just got to hang in there for Mama. Can you do that?"

Naomi nods and her eyes start to get droopy again. Kara tucks her into the sheets and plants a kiss on her forehead.

"Three beats." Kara smiles, holding out three fingers.

"Two of us." Naomi continues, holding two fingers.

"One heart." They finish, crossing their fingers with one another.

Smiling, Naomi falls back asleep and Alex comes into the room, discussing Naomi's condition.

"Kara I'm so sorry. I should've-"

"Alex don't beat yourself up, she's going to be okay that's all that matters. What's going on?"

"So she's not stably breathing on her own yet so we have her hooked up to the machine. She was underneath the water for awhile. But the exposure to lead caused her energy to just drain out of her. She'll be super tired for the next few days," Alex sighs. "Kara I've seen the news. Do you think this is Lena?"

"No. Naomi has been breathing in the air for months and hasn't had a problem. This is something else."

Kara's phone goes off and it's a text from Sam, telling her to meet up at her place.

"I have to go handle a few things. I'm getting to the bottom of this, whoever is going this is not going to get away with it. Keep me updated on Mimi." Kara states.

Kara flies over to Sam's house and double checks her makeup before walking in, not wanting the girls to worry about her. Sam swings open the door and signals her to the kitchen, where a very drunk Lena Luthor sits. Kara immediately takes the wine glass out of her hand and takes a seat next to her.

"Naomi's sick because of me right?"

"Lena..."

"She is isn't she? I'm killing my own niece." Lena frowns.

"Lena it wasn't you. I know it."

"How?"

"I just... know. Just give me some time and we'll figure this out." Kara sighs. "Now you're going to sleep. You've had a long day."

Kara helps Lena to the couch and gives her a blanket. She then meets up with Sam to see how far she's gotten with the research. They bounce ideas off of each other for awhile and Sam finally decides to pull up bank transactions. They find that the group of kids who were in the hospital were also all at Oktoberfest, all on the same day.

The two friends drive over to the rec center and break into the pool area. Kara uses her x-ray vision to look through the water and can't. She quickly takes out her sample device and sends a sample of the water to Winn.

"And got it. Woah. This is a synthetic compound that when combined with water, gives the same characteristics as lead."

"So you're saying that when this chemical is combined with water-"

"It becomes just like lead."

"Oh my god so she didn't do it. Thank you Winn."

Kara ends the phone call and informs Sam on what Winn had discovered. She sends her off to tell Lena the good news while she flies home, grabbing a few things before heading over to the DEO.

Walking into the hospital room, she finds Naomi still peacefully sleeping and breathing on her own again. Winn sets down his book and walks over to Kara, giving her a hug. He could tell by the look on her face she needed it, the day has been a tough one.

"So we ran a few more tests and because of Naomi's allergy to lead, her symptoms hit her faster than it normally should. But she seems to be doing good. Breathing on her own, she's gaining back her energy, and sang me a very lovely song earlier." Winn chuckles.

"Thank Rao." Kara whispers.

••••

Hey guys I'm back with another one. I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and wish you all a Happy New Year! Thank you all for reading and more to come soon.