It is now a few days after New Year's, and Sam and Alex are just arriving at Kara and Lena's penthouse to come and pick up Ruby. After the New Year, where Alex and Sam got engaged, Kara and Lena offered to allow Ruby to spend a few days with them, so that the newly engaged couple could have some alone time to 'celebrate'. Ruby didn't seem to mind this one bit at all, because she got to spend a couple of days with Alura and Eliza, while also being in Kara and Lena's penthouse, with a swimming pool, which she absolutely loves.
"Hey, how are you guys?" Kara smiles, as she and Lena greet Sam and Alex.
"We're great." Sam smiles happily, her wedding ring sparkling in the sunlight.
"Yeah, we are." Alex nods, with a big smile too.
"I'm happy for both of you." Lena smiles herself.
"So, how as Ruby been these last few days?" Sam asks, "I hope she hasn't been too much trouble?"
"No. Not at all." Kara replies.
"Yeah." Lena agrees, "She has been having a great time with Alura. Although, admittedly it has been a bit of a challenge to get Alura and Ruby to actually go to bed, as they have both been staying up most nights, chatting with each other instead of falling asleep."
"Awwww.... That's nice." Alex smiles.
"Yeah.... I guess so." Lena says.
"Ruby was a bit sad when Eliza had to leave yesterday. But Eliza gave her a big hug and kiss, and promised to call her soon, and that seemed to help." Kara says.
"Yeah, well, Ruby really does like your mom." Sam smiles.
"Well, it probably didn't help that Eliza consistently kept calling Ruby her future granddaughter." Kara says, "Which likely gave Ruby a bigger attachment to Eliza."
"Awww that's really nice." Sam says, feeling very touched that Eliza said that to Ruby.
"Anyway, I'll go get the two trouble makers, and let Ruby know that you guys are here to pick her up." Kara says, "I'm sure the three of you want to talk about.... whatever.... you guys have been up to."
"Yeah, we want to gossip about how your sister railed me good with a strap these last few days." Sam smirks.
"AHHH GROSS!!" Kara groans, putting her fingers in her ears.
Kara then uses a limited amount of her super speed to leave the living room area, and heads upstairs where Ruby and Alura are. This leaves Sam, Alex and Lena down in the living room to talk.
"So... did you guys have fun?" Lena smirks.
"Yeah. We did." Sam nods, with a smile, "Let's just say.... we took full advantage of not having Ruby in the house with us."
"Uhuh." Alex nods, looking at Sam with a smile, "In fact, I'm pretty sure this is the first time either of us have worn any clothes in almost 3 days."
Lena chuckles upon hearing that.
"Well, I'm glad the two of you clearly had a very good time together." Lena smiles, happy for her best friend, and her future sister.
"Yes, and we are thankful that you and Kara were so kind as to take care of Ruby for a few days so we could do this." Sam says.
"Of course." Lena replies, "I know you two would do the exact same for me and Kara. In fact, we'll probably have to talk about it later, but for the first week of Kara and I's honeymoon, Alura is going to need someone to watch her for a week."
"And we'd love to have her." Sam smiles.
"Yeah." Alex agrees, "And I'm sure Alura and Ruby will get into all sorts of trouble together."
"Hmmm... I can only imagine." Lena smirks.
Lena, Alex and Sam are then interrupted by Kara, Alura and Ruby coming down the stairs, and entering the living room.
"Mom! Alex!" Ruby says, with a big smile, going running over towards Sam and Alex, and taking them in for a hug each.
"Hello, honey." Sam smiles, as she hugs her daughter.
"Hey, Rubes." Alex says.
"Are we going to go home now?" Ruby asks.
"Uhhh.... yeah..." Sam says, "Unless you and Alura are in the middle of something."
"No. We were just playing." Ruby smiles.
Alex and Sam both smile at Ruby, as they are so happy that the 13-year-old gets on so well, and is happy to play, with Alura, who is 8 years her junior.
"Alright. I guess that means we are heading home then." Alex smiles.
"Okay." Ruby nods, "Did you guys talk about when you are going to get married?"
Alex and Sam both chuckle at Ruby asking them that.
"No. We didn't." Sam says, "We only just got engaged."
"Yeah. Plus, I think we have to let aunt Kara and aunt Lena get married first. We don't want to step on their toes." Alex says.
"Damn right." Lena says.
After this, Kara, Lena and Alura say their goodbyes to Sam, Alex and Ruby, with Alura being pretty upset that Ruby had to go. However, Lena and Kara soon made sure that Alura was put back in a good mood, by the three of them spending some quality time together, cuddled on one of their couches, watching a bunch of different movies, having a great time.
Later that evening, once Lena, Kara and Alura are all in their respective beds, with Kara and Lena being cuddled together, the two future wives chat to each other for a little while. The two are mostly talking about nothing, just something to fill the quietness, as neither of them are that tired yet, and nor are the two that interested in filling this moment with a bunch of sex. However, eventually Kara has a thought that she knows she has to talk to Lena about.
"Lee?" Kara says, being the one cuddled to Lena, and resting her head on the CEO's chest this evening, whereas usually things are the other way around.
"Yes, darling?" Lena purrs, glancing down to look at Kara, who has moved her head to look up at her, in her eyes.
"I know that we have been really busy with our wedding planning and everything, but Alura's birthday is in a few weeks' time, and I know we won't forget about it or anything, but I want to make sure Alura knows that we are thinking of that too, and we can plan something special." Kara says.
"Of course." Lena nods, "I've actually been thinking the same. We should probably discuss with Alura what she would like to do for her birthday."
"She'll probably say she wants to go to Disneyland." Kara chuckles.
"Hmmm... yeah." Lena agrees, "Maybe we should come up with some options or something for what we can do?"
"Yeah.... well.... obviously we could do something like everyone coming over here for Alura's birthday, and I'm sure she'd be fine with that.... but we can do that anytime.... I think we should do something special." Kara says.
"Agreed." Lena nods, and then falls silent, growing a thoughtful look on her face, "How about.... we do a bunch of small things... like.... we could go play mini golf together, or go to the arcade, and then we could go to a petting zoo, and then finish off the day, in the afternoon, all going horseback riding?"
"Oooo.... Yeah, that sounds like some good ideas." Kara smiles, "Alura loved the zoo at Animal Kingdom, so I think she'll be very excited about that one. Although, it should be said that I have no idea how to ride a horse."
"Really?" Lena says, "That surprises me for some reason."
"Why?" Kara asks.
"I don't know." Lena replies, "I guess.... I thought that seeing as you grew up in Midvale and everything, a rather small town, that maybe horseback riding would have been something you'd have done."
Kara chuckles.
"It wasn't a small town where we had to ride a horse to school, Lena." Kara chuckles.
Lena scoffs at that.
"You know what I mean." Lena says.
"Hmmm... yeah.... I get it." Kara nods, "When Alex and I were kids Eliza did offer to take Alex and I horseback riding one time, but Alex wasn't really interested, and I was kind of scared of the idea?"
"Scared?" Lena asks, intrigued.
"Yeah." Kara nods, "Horses, here on Earth, they kind of look very similar to an animal we had on Krypton.... or.... at least an animal there used to be on Krypton, many years before it exploded. I never saw one thankfully."
"What were they called?" Lena asks.
"Zenrudars." Kara says.
"Zen...ru...dars?" Lena says, trying to pronounce the name.
"Yeah." Kara nods.
"What where they? Why were you scared of them?" Lena asks.
"They.... used to be an animal on Krypton that hunted its prey by pretending to be a rather docile and passive animal.... However.... as soon as other things would make the mistake of approaching a zenrudar, that is when they would strike. They had incredibly fast reflexes, and massive hidden teeth, like vampire fangs, while their 'hooves' were basically retractable claws." Kara explains, "An animal would have to be very very lucky to survive a zenrudar attack."
"Wow." Lena says, extremely fascinated by this.
"Anyway.... for many years zenrudars didn't harm kryptonians or anything.... They mostly stayed deep within forests, or mountainous areas.... However.... and I don't know if this is true.... because zenrudars were hunted to extinction long before even my parents were born.... But apparently one day a little boy went wondering into the forest... and he came across a zenrudar..... He fell for the docile looking nature of the creature, and approached it..... his body was found a few days later.... Or, at least what was left of it." Kara says.
Lena now grows a very grim look on her face.
"After that, it is said that the zenrudars then realised that kryptonians could be their prey too, and many more zenrudar attacks on kryptonians happened. They mostly were isolated in towns and villages in remote regions. However, one day a prominent kryptonian was visiting a village and he and his whole security team ran into a pack of zenrudars while hunting, and they were massacred. After that the government of krypton decided that zenrudars were too dangerous to be allowed to continue to exist and threaten kryptonians, so they hunted them to extinction." Kara says.
"Wow.... that.... sounds all so terrible.... on so many counts." Lena says.
"Yeah." Kara agrees, "But, like I said, it happened so long before I was born that nobody knew if it was really all true or not. That didn't stop people coming up with scary stories about running into a zenrudar though. They were kind of used as a thing on krypton to scare kids, I guess a bit like ghosts or werewolves here on Earth."
"I see." Lena nods, "So, because of that, you didn't want to ride a horse?"
"Yeah. Well, as you can guess, I was pretty terrified of the prospect of riding an animal that looked like the description of a deadly creature from Krypton." Kara says.
Lena chuckles.
"I guess that makes sense. But you have no qualms about riding one now?" Lena asks.
"No. I'm not a kid anymore, and have lived here long enough. I know they are not like zenrudars.... or.... at least if they are.... they are just playing a really long game of it." Kara says.
Lena chuckles again at Kara saying that.
"Fair enough, just, it's probably best if you don't mention the whole zenrudars thing to Alura.... or at least not before we go horseback riding, if she says she wants to do it for her birthday." Lena says.
"Sure. I'm not stupid, Lee." Kara smirks.
"I know that, darling." Lena replies, with a loving smile on her face, and then presses a kiss to the top of Kara's head.
"So, I take it you have done a lot of horse riding?" Kara asks.
Lena laughs.
"Of course, I have. It's a rich person thing really, isn't it?" Lena says, "Lillian certainly made sure that both Lex and I knew how to ride horses. I actually quite enjoyed it, because I liked the tranquillity it offered, but Lex didn't. Lex absolutely detested it, and he could never really manage to master it, which infuriated him even more. In fact, there was one time where the horse wasn't doing what he was trying to get it to do, so he kicked it with both his feet. The horse then bucked, and Lex went flying off, and landed in a pile of shit which the horse had just done."
Kara laughs hysterically upon hearing that.
"Oh, Rao, Lena! That's the best story ever!" Kara smiles, happily.
"Yeah, it is a rather amusing one." Lena smiles back.
After this, Kara and Lena continue to cuddle and chat for a little while, but they both eventually grow tired enough to fall asleep, entangled in one another as usual.
*********************
It is now a few days later, and life has returned to normal after the Christmas holidays, with everyone going back to work, including Kara and Lena. Right now, that means that Kara is currently working on a new article at CatCo, while Lena is doing her own work as CEO at L-Corp, with Alura being at school.
Kara is soon approached at her desk by the mail delivery person, who hands out mail to all the staff. Most of the time, for Kara, her mail is just a bunch of stuff she has sent off for for articles, or sometimes a few personal things she has ordered and doesn't want Lena to know about, just to surprise her. So, most of the time Kara doesn't actually pay her mail much mind, but today that is different.
"Uhhh.... Kara?" The mail delivery person says, as he approaches Kara's desk.
"Yeah?" Kara replies, looking up at the mail room guy.
"I have this package for you...." The mail guy says, holding it up for Kara to see, with it being a brown medium sized envelope shaped package, which clearly has bubble wrap inside.
"Do you need me to sign for it or something?" Kara asks, confused.
"No... I just.... this is really weird..... as I have never got this before....... but I have like..... instruction for you.... once you have received that package...." The mail guy says, in a very confused voice.
"What?" Kara asks, now being just as confused.
"Yeah." The mail guy nods, and hands Kara the package, "It says..... open the package in private...... turn it on..... and then wait 15 minutes.... After that.... throw away the contents."
Kara now grows an even more confused look on her face, as that is a very strange request.
"That really is weird." Kara says.
"Yeah." The mail guy nods, "But.... our guys checked it out and everything, so it's safe."
"Thanks." Kara smiles.
The mail guy then nods his head, before leaving Kara's desk. Once the mail guy is gone, Kara looks around, to make sure no one is looking at her, and when she is sure no one is, she lowers her glasses and x-ray's the package. Upon x-raying the package, Kara sees that a disposable cell phone is inside. Kara assumes that maybe someone has read one of her articles or something, and wants to tip her off to something to write about, and is just being very very careful about things.
A few moments later, once Kara is confident that the package is not a threat or anything, Kara does as the package says, and leaves her desk and heads for the roof of the building, where she knows no one will disturb her. Plus, Kara also thinks that if she is wrong about the package being safe, at least this way no one else will be hurt.
About 3 minutes later, Kara arrives on the roof and then opens the package, pulling out the disposable cell phone. Kara then follows the instructions again and turns on the phone, and waits. Kara waits, and waits, and waits and waits, and nothing happens. Soon the 15-minute time period is almost up, and Kara is just about to throw the cell phone away, but it then rings. Upon the phone ringing, Kara looks at the number, but to no surprise, it's a restricted one.
"Hello?" Kara answers.
"Hello, Kara." The familiar voice of Lillian Luthor answers.
"Lillian!" Kara says, very surprised now.
"Oh, don't sound so shocked. Surely you must have suspected it could be me? Or perhaps I over estimate your abilities." Lillian says.
"I thought it could potentially be a CatCo source who wanted me to write an article and was being all secretive." Kara replies, "But it's good to see you are back to your snide comments."
After Kara says that Lillian sighs.
"I apologise." Lillian says, much to Kara's surprising, "spending so much time here.... with Leviathan.... has put me in a mood.... I shouldn't have been rude to you."
"Okay...." Kara says, still surprised, "So.... why are you calling me? Surely you would much rather speak to Lena."
"Yes. I would." Lillian says, "But I cannot."
"Why?" Kara asks, confused.
"I cannot speak to Lena because I need you to do something that she will not approve of." Lillian says.
"Do what?" Kara asks.
"Later this evening, at midnight, I want you to fly to Brazil, to the Christ the Redeemer statue, and meet me there. I have something to give you, which needs to be taken out of my hands, and away from Leviathan's reach, as soon as possible." Lillian says.
"What is it?" Kara asks.
"An artifact. I don't want to say more until we can speak in person." Lillian says.
"Okay..." Kara says, "But..... I don't like keeping things from Lena..... especially this..."
"I know you don't, and you are a good girlfr..... fiancé for being that way.... But Lena cannot know about this, at least not until you have returned back to National City..... as if you tell her beforehand.... she will want to come with you...... so she can see me.... and not take no as an answer..... and if she sees me..... I doubt she will refuse to leave without me..... I know my daughter too well." Lillian says.
Kara is now the one to sigh, because Lillian is right.
"Okay..." Kara says, after a moments silence, "But..... I'm not coming alone. I'll have J'onn with me.... He can just hover.... while we talk... and you give me the artifact."
"That's acceptable." Lillian says, "But be prompt. I'll only be able to sneak away from the Leviathan agent who is watching me for about an hour or so. Now, I must go. Remember, meet me at midnight, National City time, at the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil."
The phone call then ends before Kara can even say another word.
"Oh, Rao." Kara mutters, before then throwing the phone up into the air, and quickly using her laser vision to destroy it.
*******************************
It is now just before midnight in National City, and Kara is currently cuddled in bed with Lena, like she does most nights. Kara honestly absolutely hates this. Kara knows that she can't tell Lena about who she is going to see, but at the same time, Kara lying to, or at least deceiving Lena like this, makes her feel sick. Kara knows that when she does finally tell Lena about everything, her fiancé is going to be mad at her; Kara just hopes she isn't too mad.
Kara carefully checks the time on her phone, which is by her bedside table, and that is when she sees that it is about time for her to leave. Kara then slowly slips out of bed, untangling herself from Lena, being ever so careful not to wake the CEO. Eventually though, Kara successfully gets out of bed, and away from Lena, without waking the brunette up, which causes the superhero to breathe an internal sigh of relief.
Kara slowly makes her way to their bedroom balcony door, and carefully, and quietly, opens it. Kara then activates her Supergirl suit, with it quickly appearing over her body, due to the nanotechnology that Lena made it from.
"Where are you going?" Lena suddenly says, in a sleepy voice.
Kara quickly turns around, and that is when she sees that Lena has clearly woken up.
"I uhh.... I didn't mean to wake you.... there is..... a Supergirl thing.... that needs doing...." Kara lies.
"Okay....." Lena nods, tiredly, still laying in the bed, "It was the breeze that woke me."
"Sorry about that...." Kara replies, awkwardly, "I'll uhmmm..... I'll be back in a bit."
"Yeah." Lena nods, tiredly, already snuggling her head further into the pillow, "Be careful.... Love you."
"Love you too..." Kara says, and then closes the balcony door and takes off into the air.
As Kara flies, she once more feels so guilty for lying to Lena. Kara hates that Lena was just so caring and everything, telling her to be careful, and that she loves her, and now she is going to betray Lena by meeting with Lillian without telling her. Kara completely and utterly hates this, she just hopes this will all be worth it.
Kara proceeds to fly up and above National City, before opening her comms and calling J'onn.
"Yeah?" J'onn says.
"It's time." Kara says, having arranged everything with J'onn earlier.
"Okay." J'onn replies.
A few moments later, J'onn appears by Kara's side, in the air, in his full Green Martian form.
"I'll make sure to follow you from a distance." J'onn says, "Lillian probably won't be able to see me, but I'll be there."
"Okay." Kara nods, "Thank you for doing this, J'onn."
"Of course." J'onn nods, "I'm just glad that you told me about this and asked for my help."
Kara nods her head in response to J'onn, and then begins her flight towards Brazil, with the Green Martian following closely behind.
It only takes Kara about 2 minutes to fly from National City to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil, with about 45 seconds of that time being taken up by Kara having to slow down to specifically find the statue, as it's not like she has the whole Earth mapped in her brain after all.
Eventually, Kara gently lands at the foot of the statue, making sure not to cause any damage in the process. The last thing Kara wants, or needs, is for there to be a whole story about how Supergirl damaged one of the most historic and icon statues in human history. After this, Kara takes a few seconds to look around, and admire the statue, which is lit up, letting people from miles around still see the statue in the middle of the darkness. Eventually, though, Kara's admiration of the statue comes to an end when she hears the clicking of high heels behind her. Kara turns around, and that is when she sees Lillian Luthor.
"I see you made it." Lillian says.
"I did." Kara nods.
"And Lena?" Lillian asks.
"She.... doesn't know I'm here." Kara replies, awkwardly.
"That's good." Lillian nods, "And the Martian?"
"He's around.... Watching from above." Kara says, while slightly gesturing with her head.
"Hmm." Lillian hums, and then proceeds to walk closer to Kara.
As Lillian walks closer to Kara, the superhero sees that the Luthor matriarch is carrying a small wooden box in her arms.
"Is that the artifact?" Kara asks.
"Yes. It is inside the box." Lillian explains, "My Leviathan team were close to finding it, but thankfully I scooped it up before any of them could. No one knows that I have it."
"Right." Kara nods, "Have you looked at it?"
"Admittedly, yes." Lillian says, "Purely out of curiosity, not out of any nefarious means, you don't have to worry. It appears to just be some sort of necklace. I couldn't find anything of note about it. Although I do have very limited scientific tools here."
Kara nods her head.
"But you're sure this is the artifact?" Kara asks.
"Yes." Lillian nods, "It was found in this box, and from the information that Leviathan has provided me, some of the writings on this box are from an alien language."
"Can I see?" Kara asks, holding out her hands.
"Of course." Lillian nods, and then hands Kara the box.
Kara takes the box from Lillian, and then begins to inspect the alien writings. Once Kara does this, she grows a strange look on her face.
"What? Can you read it?" Lillian asks, noticing the look on Kara's face.
"I uhhh.... sort of...." Kara says, "The..... the language this is written in.... I'm.... unfamiliar with..... but.... there are some words here.... that look very similar to kryptonian..... But.... I can't be sure if they even have the same meaning."
"What do the words translate to?" Lillian asks, intrigued now.
"I uhh...." Kara says, looking up at Lillian and hesitating.
Lillian notices Kara's hesitation.
"I understand if you still do not trust me, and don't want to tell me." Lillian says.
"No.... it's.... not that.... it's just.... like I said.... the words..... they might not mean the same thing..... this isn't Krytonian..... after all." Kara says, awkwardly.
"The words mean something bad, don't they?" Lillian asks.
"I uhhh..... I can only translate like 3 of the words..... and.... uhhh..... one of these is very similar to the kryptonian word dhehraogheld, which means.... death...... and this next one..... says.... uldif.... which translates to forever.... or eternal.... And then the final one I can read says..... zhehiod.... which means life...." Kara says.
"So, the words you can translate mean... death, eternal, and life?" Lillian asks.
"Yeah." Kara nods.
"That doesn't sound good." Lillian says.
"No. It doesn't." Kara replies.
"Well, it's a good thing that Leviathan don't have this then." Lillian says.
"Yeah.... I guess it is." Kara nods, being a bit shaken from what she has read from the language carved into the box, "I'll take this to the DEO to be secured in a vault."
"No." Lillian quickly says.
"No?" Kara asks, confused.
"I believe that Leviathan has people within the DEO. Give this to Lena, for her to store safely." Lillian says.
Kara takes a deep breath after Lillian says that. Kara had already figured that it was likely Leviathan had people within the DEO, but now it's basically confirmed, and that makes Kara even more uneasy than she already was.
"Alright." Kara says, "I guess..... I'll.... do that now..."
Kara then makes a move to take off.
"Wait!" Lillian says.
Kara, once more, looks at Lillian.
"How..... how is Lena?" Lillian asks.
Kara sighs.
"She's doing a bit better now." Kara says, "After you first.... 'escaped' she was a bit of a mess..... but she eventually came back to her normal self.... even if she still worries about you every day. The letter you sent her on Christmas Eve helped though." Kara says.
"That's good." Lillian nods, "I'm glad that she hasn't allowed what I'm doing to take over her entire life. She doesn't need to worry about me."
"But she still will." Kara quickly says.
"Right." Lillian nods, "And.... uhmmm.... how is.... your.... daughter..... Alura?"
After Lillian asks her this, Kara is honestly surprised, but she quickly recovers.
"She is doing good. We.... have been helping her to control her powers.... Lena has Alura wearing a power dampening bracelet so she doesn't accidentally trigger her powers and hurt someone...." Kara says.
"That's good. That you are teaching her to control her powers I mean.... not that Lena is dampening her powers with a bracelet." Lillian says, awkwardly, before then collecting herself, "Your.... daughter.... has two good mothers.... to make sure she is safe..... I'm glad."
"Thank you." Kara says, not sure what else to say.
There is then an awkward silence between Lillian and Kara.
"Well...." Lillian eventually says, "I.... need to go now..... If I don't return back to the house we're staying in soon... someone might notice my absence....."
"Of course." Kara nods.
"Please.... tell Lena that I love her.... and that I'm okay." Lillian says.
"I will." Kara says, "But.... just please be careful, Lillian. If something does happen to you, now that you and Lena have finally reconnected.... or I guess maybe connected for the first time, Lena would be a mess. She doesn't deserve to go through anguish like that again, of losing a mother. One time was enough."
"Yes.... I promise I'll be as careful as I can be." Lillian says.
"Okay then." Kara nods, "Good luck."
Kara then takes off into the air, and flies away from the Christ the Redeemer statue, joining J'onn about half a mile away.
"Did you hear all that?" Kara asks.
"Yes." J'onn nods, "It was all very troubling. But I'm most concerned about the agents that Leviathan may have in the DEO. We need to route them out, as otherwise any progress we make on Leviathan will be given away soon after."
"Yeah..." Kara nods.
J'onn and Kara then begin their flight back towards National City.
*************************
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