Alex closed the conference room door, sighing as she looked at Sam, Maggie, Kate, and Winn. "We have a mole."
Winn's brows went up. "That's impossible, everyone signed a liability contract, like yellow dog contracts from back in the Gilded Age, and tons of NDAs from HR."
"Things change, Winn. How else would Lillian be able to escape with Mon-El yesterday? Or before?"
"So what the hell do we do?" Maggie asks, crossing her arms as she leans back against the table, shrugging. "Just wait till they declare themselves the traitor?"
"No, we can't be that out in the open." Alex takes her DEO phone and types on it, showing a creature that definitely looks out of this world to the four with all of its tentacle glory.
"Well, that looks pleasant," Kate murmurs. "What is it?"
"Think of it as a lie detector," she explains. "Except the more you lie, the tighter it squeezes onto you and sucks the truth out of you. Literally."
"Wait, we have that," Winn stutters, pointing at the screen. "At the desert location."
"And I put in an order to have it here as soon as possible, so within the next two days or so. For now, we stay vigilant and only trust the Super Friends, am I understood?"
They all look at each other in silent agreement, dead serious glances. "In that case, burner phones are a possibility?" Kate asks
"I'll look into it. For now, stay on your toes."
"Wait, you're... leaving?"
"Long vacation, to be precise," the elder woman clarifies to her protege, sitting down on a couch and gesturing for the two to sit across from her. "I just... need a change, you know? Want to clear my head and take a bit of a break from all of what National City is."
"Well, this is a way to start off the new year." With realization, Kara looks over at the brunette, who was fidgeting with her fingers. "Is this the meeting you were telling me about yesterday?"
Lena looked up with a bashful expression and smile. "Surprise?"
"But.. what about L-Corp, the DEO?"
"Of course I'm still going to be there, at both of the places, but Ms. Grant was already slightly thinking of this a little bit before Christmas."
"Lena, you didn't have to do this."
"Yes, but I wanted to," the businesswoman said, placing her hand on her partner's knee, the blonde's hand instinctively going on top of it, both of them getting entranced by each other. "I know how much this means to you and how hard you've worked to be here."
"God, you two are absolutely revolting," Cat scoffs with distaste, making the couple jump a bit at her voice as she got up to fetch herself a drink. "Oh, that reminds me." She smirks as she leans against the bar with her glass in hand. "I fired Snapper."
Blue eyes went wide behind her frames. "You did what now?"
"Not someone who should be in charge here," she admits with a shrug, keeping eye contact with the young one to make sure she understood what she was saying.
Once the message hit the girl, Kara's brow furrowed as she stood up to face her better. "Ms. Grant, with all due respect, I just don't think I'm fit for Editor in Chief. I mean, you've seen my articles—"
"They've improved with every step and action you take not just by being a Danvers, but being a Super."
Lena's famous eyebrow went up in question. "Since when does she know?"
"About a month or so ago, it's fine," the younger one says with a wave of her hand and going back to her mentor. "You really think I can handle it?"
Cat smiled with a hint of a smirk in it. "Oh, Kara. I've seen you grow from the small, bashful, timid assistant to a strong, independent, and courageous writer and superhero." She shrugs modestly. "What makes you think I don't think you can handle it?" The reporter runs a hand over her slicked back bun, thinking for a moment before she sees the boss in front of her, offering a hand out. "So. Are you in?"
Once back on the outside, everyone was walking or jogging around, looking for someone, especially since Cat was getting ready to leave in a few days, so everyone had their part to play, especially with the current news. Lena was still in the office, talking about something else with Ms. Grant, probably CEO things.
Only slightly confused at the hubbub, Kara walked over to James' office to break the news. On the way, she looks up at one of the television screens to see what everyone was scuffling about.
"—meanwhile question is still up in the air for National City's residents: Who is this new Super? Where did they come from? Clearly, whoever they are, they're doing a lot of good with our city hero Supergirl and semi-new vigilante Batwoman from Gotham. Reasons as to why she's in our city are still unknown."
She adjusts her glasses with a small smile and moves on and once he sees that she's entered, he gives her a look. "Really? Another Kryptonian?"
Kara closes the door to let all the buzzing of the bees happen outside. "James, where the hell have you been? You've been MIA for months."
"So have you."
"Oh for crying out loud, we've all been busy," she scoffs as she walks up to his desk. "Not only saving the city but protecting my family."
"Where did they come from?" he asked, ignoring her statement.
"You know, if you have actually been paying attention and not letting your views of Lena in the way, then you would actually know what's been going on."
"I do not—"
"Yes, James. You do. It's obvious. You haven't been around any of us just because she's back. I don't understand what's changed, she's the same girl we knew as teens."
"No, she's not Kara, she's a Luthor."
"She's ALWAYS been a Luthor!" she yells at him. "Someone's last name doesn't define them. Just because I'm a Danvers doesn't mean I'm going to be a doctor, I'm a fucking reporter. Just because I'm a Zor-El doesn't mean I'm going to blow up the planet. Just because two went dark doesn't mean she's going to. And you don't get to take it out on the rest of the group just because of one person. So either fix your shit together or don't even bother with us anymore."
James stared at her as he stood up slowly, approaching her stopping a foot in front of her. "Who are they?"
"By how you're acting and how you obviously haven't given a damn, I'm not telling you. Kryptonians deserve their privacy! I had mine— Oh wait. My cousin told you. That wasn't his secret to tell."
"So go blame it on him."
"Are you still going to keep up the disappearing act?"
"Why does this suddenly turn on me?"
"You've always made it turn on me. You thought I had to tell you who the DEO is. You thought I had to include you in my little charade with Winn before joining the DEO with Alex and J'onn. You think I have to tell you that Lena is good when she's proven it multiple times! And now you want me to tell you who the new Kryptonian is?" Kara shakes her head with a small laugh and walks back toward the door. "No way. Make up your damn mind, Olsen. Be a part of this family or not." She storms out and weaves through everyone back to her office, Lena standing next to the door as she opens it and lets her in first, locking and sighing as she pressed her forehead against the door.
"Do Alex and I need to hide the body?" Kara chuckled and relaxed under the touch of Lena's hands on her shoulders. "Kate can knock him out and we can do the rest."
"You're hilarious, Lena Luthor."
"Oh, I know I am. You know what else was hilarious?" Kara hummed in question. "James standing up to you and really thinking he could win a staring competition." That made the blonde chuckle again, turning around and leaning against the door, holding Lena's hands. "I honestly thought for a quick minute that I had to intervene but then I remember that my girlfriend can handle anything, even down to the smallest of envious men."
"Why do you suggest he's envious?"
"Because he doesn't have the friendship, matter of fact, relationship with any one of us anymore."
The reporter's eyebrows went up once in thought. "Could also be narcissistic."
"Very true. What was he trying to get out of you, anyway?"
"He wanted to know about Ruby. Supergirl Jr, or whatever we're calling her, I have no idea."
Lena sighs, fidgeting with her necklace in front of her loose, green blouse. "Damn it. I'll talk to him. And get word of the name somehow."
Kara grabs her arm before she tries to leave, straightening up. "You know he's still convinced you're a bad Luthor, right?"
"Obviously," she scoffs in disgust. "Honestly, what man doesn't think that?"
"Winn, J'onn—"
"J'onn had his doubts for a moment."
"Whatever you say, love. Hey, speaking of Winn, do you think he'd know anything about James?"
Lena backs up from the door, shrugging as she crosses her arms in thought. "I mean, it's completely possible, they live kinda close, we should've looked out for that. I can talk to him at the DEO today just to check and I'll reconnect with you."
"Sounds good. Dinner tonight? My place at seven?"
"Yeah, see you then." Kara smiles warmly at her back before she lets go of her so she can walk to his office to confront him. "Be safe, love."
"Always."
"Winn."
He turned and smiled from the top of the stairs. "Oh, hey, Lena!" He went back to his tablet as they walked down the stairs together at the DEO. "Anything new?"
"Do you have any connection or communication with James?"
"W-why are you asking me?" he stuttered out. "If I had anything, you know I'd report it to Alex."
Lena scoffs as they turn a corner near the mainframe to check on inventory of tech. "You're Winn Schott. The guy in the chair. The IT."
"True, true, all wonderful titles, one of them including my name—"
"You didn't answer my question."
Winn scoffs. "I don't know anything. Okay?"
Lena grabbed him by his collar and pushed him against the wall of the hallway, his eyes wide as hers remain calm. "Winn, don't think just because I'm a pretty CEO doesn't mean I'm not dangerous. Have you forgotten I'm a Luthor?"
"Lena, he would kill me if I said anything," Winn whimpered.
She tilted her head back with an eyebrow raised. "So you know something."
"Lena, he's dangerous," he hissed. "You guys can't go near him. He'll kill us all."
"Danger is apart of our lives now, Winn. It's always been for all of us." Winn sighed as he looked around at anything but Lena. She pushed him against the wall harder so that she got his attention back. "I'm waiting, Winn."
"Lena, I swear, if I could tell you something, I would. But I can't, or he would kill me. And I'm not joking."
"Did he disable his trackers?"
Winn sighed again with a small nod. "I-I might've been pressured to do that," he says in a small voice.
"Are you kidding me?" Lena sighs as she lets him go in favor of pinching the bridge of her nose. "There's nothing else you can tell me, huh?"
"S-sorry, Lena."
Lena sighed again, straightening out her blouse. "Hopefully Kara's doing better with her search."
<><><><>
"Hey, Rubes?" Sam glanced up from her computer and scoffed when her kid kept nodding along to her music as she typed something out on her own screen on the floor as she did homework after school. So naturally, she threw a pen at her to get her attention and it landed right on her hand.
"Hey!"
"Had to get you back in the real world somehow," she muttered as her kid took off her headphones, closing her computer as well. "C'mere."
Ruby narrowed her eyes slightly as she did what her mother said. "Am I in trouble?" she asks as she sits on the armrest.
She tilted her head back and forth, squinting as she thought. "Yes and no."
"Do I have a reason to be in trouble?"
"That depends on if you deny it or not. So..." Sam smirked as she leaned back in the chair. "You and Sara, huh?"
Ruby's eyes widened as she turned a shade of scarlet red, trying to hide it in her hands as she groaned, "Oh, God."
She lightly chuckled at her daughter's reaction, ruffling her hair as she comforted her. "Relax, hon."
"This is torture," she groans, her voice still muffled in her hands.
"What, you talking to your mother about relationships? Baby, you knew this had to happen at some point."
Ruby removed her hands from her eyes and rested them on her cheeks. "You saw," she stated, knowing there was no escape now.
"I saw," Sam confirmed, nodding. "I'm not mad."
"So what are you feeling, then?" Ruby asks, a bit shyly. "I know you feel something whenever it concerns me."
"And you're not wrong," the mother said, stroking the girl's hair back. "I'm a little hurt and a little upset, but happy and proud."
Ruby tilted her head, acting so much like Kara as she furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why?"
"I'm hurt because you never talked or hinted to having these feelings and not talking about it to me or anyone else in our family." Sam caught her chin softly with her thumb and index finger to bring her head back up so she could look her in the eyes as she expressed, "But I'm happy that you found someone to be who you are around and to display your feelings to."
"Like you with Alex and Kara with Lena?"
"Exactly. I am so so proud of you finding out who you are and who you'd want to be with in the future. It can be difficult for kids your age to find out who they are and what they want at your age. All of us were those kids. I am so proud of you and I will always love and accept you, no matter what." By now, both were damn close to tears as they welled in their eyes.
"Why are you upset then?" asked Ruby, her voice quavering.
Sam clicked her tongue, stroking her hair and coming to a stop as she rested a hand on her cheek, stroking that in favor, finally letting her tears flow as she gave her daughter a small smile. "Because I have to come to sense that my baby's growing up."
<><><><>
Alex's day was over at six and she got back home at half past thanks to traffic. She sighed as she walked in through the house, putting her things down at the door. Once disposed of her shoes, she walked to the living room, flopping down on the couch, closing her eyes with a sigh.
"Hey, Alex."
"Holy—" Alex almost fell off the couch and looked over to see Ruby giggling. "When did you get here?"
She shrugged. "After school, I went to L-Corp with Mom for a while before going to the DEO. Kate told me you were busy with stuff so she helped me hit stuff around before she sent me home maybe an hour ago?" The girl shrugged again. "She flew me here knowing you were gonna come back soon since school is back up."
Alex nodded as she scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and resting her head on top of hers. "Makes sense."
"Hey, Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"How do you identify as?"
Alex furrowed her brow together as she leaned back a bit to look at her. "Gender wise?"
"More like sexuality wise," Ruby says quietly.
The redhead took in a breath, shrugging as she knew this conversation would come soon enough, looking at particularly nothing as she said, "I'm a lesbian and your mom's bisexual."
Ruby nodded. "Okay."
Alex tilted her head at the girl. "Is there something bothering you?"
There was a small piece of silence before she spoke quietly. "I knew I felt a certain way for a while, I just didn't know how to talk about it." She looked down and fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke again. "I guess one time when Mom picked me up she saw me kissing Sara." Ruby sighed as she shook her head. "I didn't want to hide it, I just..."
"You were scared," Alex finished for her, making Ruby look up in surprise. "I know. I've always kind of buried my feelings. Or just... didn't know I had them for the same gender. But when Maggie talked to me about it, I finally understood and realized it was normal and that it's okay to be who you want to be and kiss who you want to kiss." She looked down at the teen and thumbed a stray tear away. "You found what you felt was right; you found what's going to make you happy. I'm proud and happy for you, and I have no doubt that your mother is, too."
Ruby nodded as she wiped the tears away with her sleeve. "Yeah, she is. She talked to me about it earlier."
"C'mere." Alex pulled her in for a hug. "I love you, Rubes. Everyone in the family does. No matter what."
Ruby hugs her back with a muffled, "I love you, too" and looks up with a small smile. "What's for dinner?"
Alex slightly rolls her eyes and ruffles her hair with a smile. "Your mom's right, you are becoming Kara." She gets off the couch and goes to the kitchen to find something to make in the fridge. "Tortellini or tacos?"
"Tacos!" Ruby hops to the kitchen, eyes bright as she looks in the fridge with her. "Can I help?"
"Of course. Your mom's probably gonna be home later, so might as well get started." Ruby grins as she gets all the necessary ingredients for the meal. "Wash your hands!" Alex tells her from the sink as she washes her own. Ruby runs upstairs and comes back down in less than a minute. "With soap." She lightly huffs as she speeds up and down again. "Did you dry them?" She rolls her eyes and shakes out her hands.
"Ready!"
"Let's get to it."
"Lucy, I need to know if he's been in contact with you." It was late in National City, 9:23 to be precise. Kara was one of the only ones left upstairs in the normally busy offices, but it was now quiet, calm, and very peaceful as there was a dark hue across the office, small to limited chatter making it seem like a true office and not a newsroom. Quite the opposite as of what it was during the day.
"Sorry, Kara. Haven't heard from him in ages."
Kara sighed. "Alright. Thanks, I'll catch up with you soon." She ends the call and scratches off Lucy's name on her list, going onto the next as she scrolls through her contacts. I have two more sources I can ask, she thinks to herself. Clark and Lois, then Perry White.
"Hey, Kara! What's up, how are you?"
"I'm alright, hey, I'm actually calling about a case."
"Shoot."
"Have you or Lois talked to James recently?"
"I haven't, I don't know if Lois has. Why?"
Kara sighed into the phone as she paced around her office. "Rogue situation."
"Really? Jimmy?"
"Complicated," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she came to a stop. "Can you ask Lois? And if he does try and make contact with either of you, do not engage. That's not James anymore."
"So ominous and dark."
"Clark, I'm being serious."
"Don't worry, I got it." Kara hears a muffled voice in the background before Clark comes back. "Lois says hi and no. Sorry, cuz. Good luck."
"Thanks." Kara hangs up and drops her phone on her desk with an irritated groan, leaning back against her wall that was conveniently a bookshelf. "Fuck, there's no way to get leads now." She sighs and her eyes fly across her mess of a desk that had all of her work on it to furrow her brow and find that her clock was missing under all of the papers and files.
So she checks her watch and curses in her home language, cleaning up her office in a blur and heading out of the office quickly.
Alex's phone rings with an annoying ringtone of NSYNC from the counter after their dinner at the Arias house after Sam came home. "Can you get that?" she asked as she put the dishes in the sink and ran them underwater. "That's Kara."
Sam picked up her phone and answered the call, placing her on speaker. "Kar, you're on speaker. What's up?"
"We have a problem," Kara said, sounding frantic with background noises of what sounded like the DEO.
"There have been many, define—"
"Someone took Lena."
"What?" Alex asked, picking up her head and turning off the water at her words. "How? When?"
"I-I-I don't know. I was working while she dealt with James then I had to handle the robbery, once I came back, my soon-to-be-replaced secretary said she was gone. I lost track of time while working and called her on my way back, nothing, both office and personal phone."
"Did you call Jess?" the couple asked simultaneously.
"She said after she went for her own lunch break, she didn't come back, she thought she was at CatCo. Winn, trackers. I swear Lillian is going to rot in hell."
"Where do you need us to come in?" Sam asked.
"Connected Agent Kane to the line," Winn reports. "Lena's tracker is offline somehow and Lillian was spotted up north, guys," Winn says over comms.
"I'm going to have a nice chat with her—"
"No, you're not, Kara."
"Alex, she—"
"Kara, the kryptonite in her, whatever she has planned, it could kill you! Do not go towards her, that is an order, Supergirl." After a beat of silence, Alex's eyebrow goes up. "Do you copy?"
"Yes, ma'am," she reports back in a salty tone.
"I'll go check her out, Sam, Batwoman, Kid, I want you at L-Corp to scan Lena's office for any leads. Supergirl, I want you in the sky, listening for anything." The Arias' nod and they both go get their gear. "Let's go, people, we're not letting these bastards taking anyone from us."
Supergirl sighs over the phone. "Get here quick." The line goes dead, leaving the phone to beep as she grabs it to rush to the front door, seeing her belt of gear waiting on the table thanks to her partner.
"Go make sure she doesn't murder Lillian, even though we all want to," Sam says, getting their separate keys for their vehicles.
"Very true there." Alex grabs her helmet, keys, and gun from the safe in the closet, kissing her on the cheek before running to the garage, and soon everyone's on the road.
When Alex rolled up on the empty street, she spied Lillian through her narrow eyes in the helmet, yet took it off to be aware of her surroundings. "Lillian Luthor. Always a displeasure to see you."
The woman was leaning back on a lamp post. "Mm, you as well, Director Danvers."
Batwoman zipped around the city on her cycle ahead of Sam in her car, racing to L-Corp and using one of the vigilante's ziplines to get up to the balcony with her and the kid vigilante.
"You're up to something with someone," Alex states, stepping closer slowly. "And I'm going to figure out what it is."
"You all are so pathetic with your love. It's fake."
Supergirl flew up high above the city, listening for her girlfriend. She closed her eyes, blocking out all the sounds of the city, trying to focus on one heartbeat, a similar way to calm her senses if it was all overwhelming. She couldn't lose her. Not again. Not ever.
"What I have with Sam, what Kara has with Lena, I know is as real as hell, since you're the reincarnation of the Devil himself." Alex grabbed her by the front of her collar and raised her up off her feet. "I'm done playing nice. Now. I'm going to ask again. Where. Is. She?"
Supergirl blocked out the cars, the phones, the dogs, the people, the television screens, all of it. Only focusing on the wind as it soothed and urged her to focus.
Lillian chuckles. "Ever the hero. Even if it was Supergirl who saved me, all of you are pathetic little creatures playing dress-up. Like some silly little kids at a tea party."
Batwoman's eyes caught something on the floor as Sam looked around the office. She walked to the door, crouching down at the floor and picked up a small tube with a needle sticking out the end. "Drug." She turned the tube over in her fingers, looking over it, trying to analyze it with her mask.
"We will find her. We're not going to let Lena die, none of us will. I'm not leaving until you tell me where the hell my friend is." The click of a gun cocking made Alex curse under her breath. "Damn you."
"Alex, just because we almost got married does not mean I won't shoot you."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding," she scoffs.
"Well, this is interesting," Lillian hummed. "Two exes, one a cop, one a director of a secret organization turned against each other—"
"Oh, shut up." Maggie fired a blue ray that shot the Luthor in her neck that wasn't covered by Alex's body, making her go limp in her grip as Maggie ran up to her. "Going in on a dangerous psychopath alone with no backup, are you insane?"
Alex grinned at her as she cuffed Lillian. "I knew someone had my back."
"Last location of Lena's tracker was L-Corp before it was disabled," Winn's voice says in everyone's ear.
"Security footage," Sam muttered, going to Lena's computer, finding the secret data from her hidden cameras, her brow furrowing at the scene she saw from lunch.
Supergirl heard it. Faint, but there. She sped off and contacted the DEO.
"I've got something," both Supergirl and Sam say together.
"Hit me," ordered Alex.
"Batwoman found a sedative at L-Corp," Sam says. "Pulled up security footage and you'll never believe who took Lena."
"Who?"
"Some weird dude in a metal costume."
"You're fucking kidding," Maggie muttered, not only at the statement but the lights from down the street. "Alex, we got company." Red beams glowed and shot forward and nearly missed Maggie as she ducked, avoiding a cyborg blast.
"I got something, too," the Super tells them. "I have a faint beat, I'll send you coordinates. Alex, do you copy?"
Maggie nodded at her as she got out her regular gun in her other hand. "Go!" Alex dodged the cyborg's blasts and hopped on her motorcycle, speeding away. "Winn, send me some backup."
"On the way!"
"Winn, let's gather the troops," the director said. "Have squad teams Alpha and Expecto gear up, I want them ready as soon as possible to meet me and Supergirl at the known location once she stops."
"On it, stay safe!" Winn wishes them as they go to the basement for their ride with the teams. "Oh, Supergirl, I don't know if Lena told you, but your suit—"
"I'm here." Supergirl landed outside of the city, observing the abandoned warehouse that she was led to. If it was Lillian's MO, it didn't seem like it. She walked up to the door, seeing a heavy-duty lock on it, and breaks it with her hand. The Super tried to pull on the door, but nothing. Pushing and lifting didn't do anything either. With her x-ray vision, the building was built with lead, so nada.
"Strange," she mutters. The screeching of tires behind her got her attention and Sam and Batwoman came from their respective vehicles, Ruby in her suit with her mom.
Sam slams her door, tying up her hair. "What've we got?"
"Traced in lead, so I can't hear or see inside," she reports. "Tried to open it up, but wouldn't budge. Don't know what's on the other side."
"There are sensors on the floor right behind the door," Batwoman says with her x-ray mask. "Winn. Any way to get inside without being detected?"
"There's a hole or window up on the roof, get up there but be wary if there are comms blockers, but Supergirl, as I was trying to say—"
"I'm going in," Supergirl interrupts, starting to hover off the ground as she tells the two, "Scan the perimeter and wait for backup." She flies up to the roof and into a small window, landing softly on top of a catwalk. A couple lights weren't lit, one was flickering lower in a smaller room, but it definitely gave off an eerie vibe.
"Super... do you... me?"
"Damn, comms blocker," she murmurs, dodging the cobwebs above. She heads to the flickering light, hearing a small heartbeat closer to it and goes further on the catwalk to get a closer look and saw Lena herself. Her head was downcast but Kara could see the glistening of her tear-stained cheeks. Her clothes and hair were a mess, wrinkled and dirtied with small specks of blood on them.
"Lena," she whispered. She looked around and saw no threats, no guards, so she flew over the catwalk and down to the bars, quietly saying her name again.
Her head turned sharply and her eyes widened at her savior even in the darkened shadow. "You need to go. It's not safe."
"Why, what is it?"
"James."
Supergirl's brow furrowed. "Then it's just James, no big deal."
She shook her head and true fear in her eyes. "That is no longer James. Hope, activate sunrays."
"With pleasure, Ms. Luthor."
"What the hell?" With that command, Supergirl automatically felt the additional strength coming to her inside of the suit.
"It's a computerized—" Lena's voice fell deaf on her ears as Supergirl heard swift movement and turned around to see the man himself in a silver suit, masked with only his eyes through a slit.
Her fists balled up and eyes glowed red in anger at him. "What the hell did you do to her?"
"Nothing as painful as what you're going to get." He lunged at her, but she dodged, yet felt a faint twang at her, but not doing any damage.
Her eyes widened at her realization. "Oh, no."
"Oh, yes."
"Batwoman, I can't reach Supergirl."
"Comms blockers?" the Bat asked the IT.
"That's one thing, there's kryptonite radiation inside."
Batwoman murmurs, "We gotta get in there."
"How?" Sam asked.
Batwoman fishes around in her belt and pulls out what seems like a laser pointer and she shrugs. "Got this."
Sam raises an eyebrow as they go towards the door before. "What are you gonna do, blind whoever it is?"
"Not everything as it seems. Kid, you remember swooping bat?" Ruby nods and takes a grappling hook up to the roof as the vigilante presses the button and a laser shoots out onto the wall, burning through it. "Just like a lightsaber."
"Oh, that would've been helpful five minutes ago!" Batwoman cuts a rectangular shape, turning off the cutter and throws two bat-a-rangs that beep over and over, faster and faster and she covers them both with her cape before they explode.
The smoke clears and the wall falls forward with a huge CRASH, letting the moonlight shine through the darkened room as the two charge in, stopping at the sight of a man holding a gun to Supergirl's head, another pointed towards them as he keeps his eyes on the Super.
The man's mask was thrown off to the side a while ago and he turned around to see the two sisters there, staring him down and holding their stances and weapons, the blood trailing down his face shining in the moonlight. "James?"
"Oh, him?" He laughed, slightly wincing at the small cut on his face when he made the move. "Yeah, he's gone."
"What the hell did you do?" Sam asked gravelly.
"Just took what was most valuable to you all," James says, gesturing to Lena with his gun. "And to get my point across."
"If you have one, you're not making it very clear," Batwoman said darkly, intimidating.
"Let's make this clear then. You let me have Lena Luthor and I'll give your precious Super back. If not, I'll just kill Kara to make it easier."
The two agents looked at each other and then over at Supergirl, who was shaking her head that glowed green from her veins, mouthing something that Batwoman nodded small at.
"Stall," Alex says. "ETA is two minutes."
"Plan Streak," Batwoman mutters.
"Do not provoke, Agents, that is an order."
"Why did you join her?" Sam asked. "What did she have that could benefit you more than we could to you?"
"I know you're stalling, so I'll give you the short version: I found my way to the Supers. I know their strengths, which so happens to be their weaknesses. Now let's cut to the chase." James cocks the gun in his left hand, pointing one at the superhero in front of him and the other at the woman behind the bars, looking back and forth between the two agents. "Make a choice or I kill both of them."
"Agents Arias and Kane, stand down."
"NOW!" Batwoman throws down something to the ground and it explodes and flashes with smoke. With the distraction and all of her strength, Supergirl finds the end of the gun and twists it from his hand, kicking the kryptonite-infested villain in the leg, who staggered back.
He waved his hand, trying to see through the smoke but all it did was create more of a hassle for himself. "You can't hide forever!" he yells out to wherever they are. "She will escape, and then we'll all come for you."
Supergirl used her superhearing to hear the vans that were about a minute out, Alex detailing the plan. She shuts them out pulls something out of her belt and x-rays around the room to see where everyone was.
Her vision was flickering thanks to the kryptonite, but it was okay. Sam and Batwoman were finding the way to the cell silently thanks to Batwoman's night vision. James was turning round and round in circles trying to find some movement to go off of. And Lena in the cell was right in front of her.
With the tool she grabbed out of her belt, she throws it over towards James and he squints down at the flashing light that increases its speed before pulling out a shield from his forearm, protecting himself from the explosive.
"Kara!" Lena cried out at the noise, giving Sam and Batwoman the quicker direction to her.
"Hang on, we got you, Lena." The vigilante gets out her tool again, starting to cut through a bar.
Now that he was farther away, Supergirl inhaled some of the smoke so the others could see clearly once the agents arrived soon, but that was a mistake. She got punched in the stomach and the wind was knocked out of her as she fell to the ground, the smoke coming out of her lungs as she coughed, the sunrays flickering inside from the impact.
"Sunray performance at thirty percent."
Sam turned around at the noise of her collapsing, training her gun on him as he held her in a chokehold, laying the gun right to her temple. Kara's eyes fluttered as she tried to fight consciousness. "Put her the fuck down, bastard."
"This is your weakness?" he asks, pulling her up a bit to observe her. Her head hung back and veins glowed green once again as her eyes fluttered, continuing to try and stay conscious as blood trickled from her nose. "Your best friend. Your love. She's no god. She has the same weaknesses some of us obtain. You all do. You are just as weak as us all."
The sound of broken glass comes from above and as he looks up to see what happened, he's punched in the face hard, making him let go of the hero and drop her to the ground. While in the same movement, she swiftly finds footing on his chest so that she can flip off him and stick the landing.
Super Jr. lands on her feet and balancing on the hand that wasn't suddenly pierced with green, standing up from her crouched position, seeing him sit up and see who his attacker was, blood dripping from both his open mouth and nose. "Also a badass teacher."
The madman laughs as vans screech to a stop outside and the final bar to the cage breaks, Batwoman helping Lena out. "You'll never escape us. We're everywhere."
"Don't think you're getting away with this," Supergirl groans from the floor, struggling to get up.
He smirks again. "We'll see about that." He throws a small grenade of some sorts down, making them all look away instead of getting blinded by the immediate flash. Once the smoke had cleared, he was gone, and all there was left was a single beeping disk in the center.
"Bomb!" Ruby yelled, getting Alex's attention as she runs in, alarmed at the scene before her eyes.
"Kane, cape!" Batwoman detaches hers and rushes over and putting it on top of the device, laying on top of it and bracing for an explosion.
Only after a few tense seconds, the director slowly opened her eyes and peered below it. "Faulty?"
"No, there must be something planned," Batwoman mutters, helping the Super sit up. A bit of static comes from underneath and grows once the redhead removes the cape, looking at it intensely and confused as it turns into a peal of evil laughter. "Speak of the devil."
"You all are some gullible fools, aren't you?" Alex opens her mouth to insult her but Lillian's too fast with her cold remark. "Choose your words wisely."
Alex's jaw grinds and instead raises her gun, cocking and aiming at the disc. "Give me one reason not to shoot this thing right now."
"You do that, Margarita and Winslow die."
"Sawyer," Alex orders and she gets silence. "Maggie!" On the other side of the conversation, Maggie's passed out, forehead bleeding as she's cuffed to the same lamp post Lillian was on. The cyborg was torn through but still working, which is how it was able to knock out Maggie and bring Lillian back from unconsciousness, who was standing there, smug.
Winn was just standing in the middle of the DEO, mortified at her voice through the comms as he said slowly, "The team that was on the way got sabotaged, Maggie never got back."
"You got out somehow for some reason, so the hell do you want now?" Batwoman asked in her disguised voice.
"A truce. My daughter and the Maiden of Might come to me and I'll never bother you again."
Lena scoffed, unimpressed as she leaned against Batwoman. "That's a lie."
"And what's not a lie is that I will kill you all if they don't come to me in forty-eight hours from now."
Everyone looks at each other, concern and thought in their eyes. "How will we know where to go?" Supergirl asks, sitting up weakly.
"Your phones will be buzzed in an hour prior, and at that time, my men will be watching you two to see what you do. If you don't move towards that location, then I guess I'll have to kill you."
"And if we don't comply?" Alex asked.
"Then you all die, anyway. Hope to see you there. I'll be waiting." The speaker goes dead and Sam shoots it for good measure, making everyone stare at the device in envy as she backs up in disgust.
Forty-eight hours
"We can't actually be considering this!"
"Sam—" Lena tries.
"She's been fucking with us for our entire lives and she really thinks we're gonna let her take the people closest to us away?!!"
"Okay hotshot, take it easy," Alex says calmly.
"I am—"
"Samantha." Her eyes go from glaring at her friend and ease up at Batwoman's calm ones through the suit's slit. "We're gonna figure it out. Let's do this back at the DEO after we disinfect everyone of kryptonite." Sam's eyes glance over at her kid nursing her hand while agents help Supergirl up and she nods, knowing it would be what's best.
Winn adjusted the fluid bag at the top so it could drip the fluids in the tube slowly into Lena's system as she sat on a med bed. "You did lose a bit of blood, so you're gonna be on the IV for a bit. Every other scar and whatnot is treated, only bruising should be left which will go away in a couple of weeks." Lena nods and glances over to Alex pulling out the shards of kryptonite from Ruby's hand slowly underneath a lamp and a magnifying glass. Maggie's forehead was treated by Kate, stitched and bandaged lightly with a few bashing words of stupidity.
"It's not your fault," Kara whispers, sitting down next to her on the bed.
"I know, but yet I still feel responsible," Lena mutters. "If I weren't here, none of this wouldn't have happened."
"Did he do anything to you?"
She stared off, slightly shaking her head. "Not much. Called me a traitorous bitch. I knew he worked for my mother right when he said that. Slugged me, giving me bruises and a bit of blood drawn, but.." Lena sighed heavily as she laid her head on Kara's shoulder, closing her eyes. "Being a Luthor has its consequences."
The blonde wraps her arm around her shoulders, giving her comfort. "Being a Super and a Zor-El has its consequences, too."
"I can understand the Super, but why a Zor-El?" She picked up her head to look at her girlfriend. "Aren't you proud to be a Zor-El? Just like how I'm supposed to be proud of being a Luthor?"
Kara sighed as she reminisced about Krypton and her parents' faults. "My parents weren't perfect. They were actually the ones responsible for Krypton's death. They knew it was coming, so they tried to save it. In the end, they only saved me and Clark." She paused for a moment in thought about the past and what traumas have happened to her, bowing her head down in shame. "Prisoners from Fort Rozz came after me when I revealed myself and became Supergirl. Then there was Myriad. Medusa was theirs, too." She shook her head, looking up at Lena in thought. "I am proud to be a Zor-El, but it does have its defects and shames knowing that my parents actually did that.
"Being a Luthor for you can be great, but also have its bad sides. You get threats. Your own mother and brother tried to kill you multiple times. You're a bit paranoid—"
"Am not!"
"You are and I know it; you can't hide stuff from me. But being a Luthor can have its perks. You're the CEO of your own multi-billion company, you now own CatCo, you can make men wither under your glare—"
Lena chuckled. "Yeah, that's pretty great."
"You're part of a super-secret organization." Kara nudges her slightly with her elbow, making them both smile. "And my partner. Through and through. You're an amazing friend, aunt, and girlfriend, all of the above. And I know that everyone here can say the same about you."
Lena looks over at Alex and smiles as she sees her take the last piece of kryptonite out of Ruby's knuckles and whisper soothing words to the girl as she bandaged it up. "Never imagined her actually being okay with me coming back into your lives."
"Well, believe it. 'Cause you're here and you're helping all of us. There's nothing negative that you bring to this."
Lena rested her head on Kara's shoulder again. "I don't know what would've happened without you guys."
"Well, we don't have to worry about that now. You're safe. That's all that matters."
She nods against her shoulder. "Thanks, Kara."
Kara smiles and chuckles a bit at herself. "Guess I owe you that dinner date, huh?"
Lena softly laughs and puts her chin on her shoulder to smile up at her. "I'd take any spontaneous day that doesn't involve one of us getting murdered."
They both giggle together as the blonde kisses her forehead. "I'd love nothing more."
"Go rest, kid," Alex tells her as she finished wrapping her bandage around her hand. She nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her so all the adults had their privacy as she went to relax in a conference room.
"We're not giving you up to her," Sam states, staring in the eyes of green strongly. "No way."
"What if it's the only way?"
"Bullshit," Maggie exclaims, her girlfriend moving out of the way to let her rage. "Kara, we all know you're a problem solver. For crying out loud, you're a fucking superhero, we all are in some way, so we have to figure out another option."
"We can't just have everyone die just because of my mistake," Lena said.
"Lena, how is any of this your fault?" Winn asks tenderly. "Just because Lillian's here and being meticulous doesn't mean this is on you."
"No, Winn." She closes her eyes and sighs, admitting in a strong voice, "It is."
Kate furrowed her brow, looking around at everyone. "Care to share with the new student and the rest of the class?"
Lena looked up at Kara and the blonde offered out her hand for her to take, giving her a squeeze when she does, giving her the strength she needs as she lets out a breath. "When we were in high school, Lillian learned about the relationship I had with Kara back then. Before my early graduation, she came to me and told me I had to break up with Kara and never speak to her again. Lose all communication and go off the grid from her with no explanation. And I had no idea back then it was just because she was a Kryptonian."
"That's awful," Kate marveled in disgust. "Why would she—"
"She's never wanted me to be happy. Ever since I moved in with the Luthors." Lena looked up at them, shaking her head mildly. "The more I've been around you all, the worse everything's gotten. And I'm deeply sorry for that. I never wanted to endanger you all. Ever. Not then and certainly not now."
The room is silent as the audience of Lena's speech looks around at each other in thought. Half of them already knew the story from the getgo, and the other didn't, but they're still her friend.
"Then we put an end to this," Alex orders, crossing her arms, looking back and forth at everyone before back at Lena. "We're family. We've all been through our hells, and right now, this is our hell that we have to face together."
Maggie nods, going over to the Luthor and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Familia para siempre, hermana."
"We're not just gonna let Lillian get away with this," Winn says. "We fight. Together."'
Kara squeezes her girlfriend's hand to get her attention and she smiles down at her. "You jump, I jump." Lena nods and they both look to the director. "You're the boss. What do we do?"
"Been meaning to put every agent through a test to see who's who," the director says, pushing her weight back and forth on her feet as she sways side to side. "Since things have been on top of each other lately, been putting it off, but now we have to since there could be more than one mole in here. Maggie, tell Demos to get the Truthseeker from the alien containment section and bring it up here." Thumbs up from her as she goes off.
"Winn, make an announcement to all agents that they report downstairs in two minutes for mandatory briefing."
The man types on his tablet sending the message out to the overcomm system. "Aye aye, capt'n." And in seconds, an automated voice is coming through, repeating her words.
"Kane, turn on the kryptonite trackers just in case anyone tries something, I want a radius out to LA."
The woman taps on the small screen on the inside of her wrist back and forth as Maggie comes back in the room. "On alert and connected to the systems."
"Good. I'll go make the announcement, the rest of you come up with a plan. I know we all can be trusted, us as in everyone in this room..." Alex hesitates to say the next part but does with a sigh. "But rules are rules."
"No one in this room has something to hide, do they?" Maggie asks, looking around at everyone slowly, landing her eyes on Sam as she leaned back against the wall. "Arias—"
"I kissed and screwed Alex when we were kids, are you happy?"
The Latina smirked over at her ex who looked away at nothing in particular. "Knew it."
"Not the point," Supergirl reminds before nodding to her sister. "Go, we'll come up with an idea." She nods and pats her shoulder on her way out with Winn and everyone takes a breath silently or audibly.
"We can't lose you both," Sam mutters, shaking her head absently as everyone hears her utter those words. "Not again."
"Yeah but Lillian wants what she wants."
"No way in hell are we losing you again." Kate shrugs, standing over with her sister. "Yeah, we know kidnappings are going to happen cause hey, life of a hero, but losing each other?" She shakes her head a definite no. "Not in any way."
"So what do we do?" Maggie asks. "It's not like we can hand you both over willingly."
Kara's brow furrows as she thinks. "Or maybe we can." Inquisitive eyes all go on her as she grins, looking down at Lena. "I've got an idea."
"Hey, kid." Ruby glanced up and grinned at Kate in her suit. "I got something for you."
"Please tell me it's a bat-a-rang."
"Not yet, kiddo, but something cool." The woman reaches behind her cape and pulls out a rectangular box. "It'll be useful soon." The kid opens it up and it's a molded mask, the base blue and highlights around her eyes and the edges red, almost like Green Arrow's or Black Canary's. Why did all the superhero's from Earth-1 have a color in their name?
"No way," her niece breathes. "This is for my suit?"
"Hell yeah, little gem. You've always been a SuperBat, so might as well go with the iconic superhero way. And come up with a name."
"But Kryptonians don't wear masks."
"Are you Kryptonian?"
"No, but it could happen by accident, or, y'know, Lena."
"Okay, well not yet, we'll say for now, so you can try it on and if you don't want it, you don't have to wear it." Ruby glances back up and sees the Bat backing up with a shrug as she leaves the room. "Your choice, kiddo."
"Listen up! As you know, we've all been recently in danger with the threat known as Cadmus, aka Lillian Luthor, the head." Director Danvers raises her chin up as she looks over all her agents. "So, you all will be going under a lie detector. And not just any old detector, an alien detector that forces you to tell the truth." She nods at Demos and he holds up the species trapped in the cylinder tube, grey, like a small octopus. "This is a Vertullarian. It forces you to tell the truth and if you do not, the tighter it will squeeze. You will all go in alphabetical order, and there is no way to avoid this. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," all agents respond, some nodding instead of verbal response.
"Good. Agent Schott will notify which agents are next over intercoms. Dismissed." All agents go back to their stations and Sam comes up to her in the mists of that. "Hey, what is it?"
"Kara and Lena figured out a way so you're gonna have to test them and us first just in case."
"Well, what's the plan?"
"I'll explain in a minute but first, we need Ruby."
Sam goes off towards the stairs and her counterpart stands confused at the mainframe. "What does the kid have to do with stopping a crimelord?"
The brunette grins as she turns around. "VR, baby."
"Alright, we're tested and good to go on with the plan." Alex takes the slimy creature off Maggie and she shakes off the weird feeling as it goes back in its container. "Oh, almost forgot. Lena, Sam." They both look towards their boss and she smiles. "Lena. Meet your new bodyguard who so happens to be your CFO so you'll have her around whenever one of us isn't ."
"Haha! You have to be babied," Maggie laughs in a sing-song voice.
"And by the mother too." Sam smirks when Lena playfully scoffs and shoves her while flipping Maggie off. "Kara, take Lena to the room and after you configure that out, do what you can with L-Corp and Kryptonian technology."
Lena's slightly confused as to what the eldest Danvers means as the youngest helps her up. "Room?"
"Kryptonian room," she briefly explains, holding onto her free hand so she has support as she rolls the IV with her outside, feeling Lena's inquisitive gaze on her as they waited for the elevator. "Um... when I first landed, apparently there was a crystal in my pod that I didn't know about. When I revealed myself and Alex told me she was DEO, she showed me what it was."
The elevator arrived and Lena asks, "An all-knowing technology of some sorts?" as they go down the lift quickly.
Kara shrugged with a small smile when the doors opened. "You could say that."
After unlocking it with a retinal scan and protected password, the two walk in and a hologram turns on. "Hello, Kara. What can I help you with?"
Lena stares curiously at it as they edge closer to the brunette woman in a light blue dress, hands linked together as her hair flowed over her shoulders. "Is that... your mother?"
"Yeah," the blonde whispers. "Alura Zor-El."
"I can see where you get your looks from. Definitely a momma's girl, huh?" she teases with a small hip bump, making her girlfriend laugh.
"Somethin' like that. The crystal down there," Kara says, pointing down at a little rectangle that has a white glow to it in the middle of the rim, "was in the pod and well, stores all the information I need to know about Krypton, space, and Earth itself."
Lena grins at the hologram, eyes lighting up at her words. "So I could literally ask her about anything involving science and space?"
"Yes, which is why I wanted to give you access here, too." Kara smiles small at the slow turn from her words and watches her face go into admiration.
"Kara..."
"Lena, you're one of the smartest people I know," she claimed, holding onto her other hand. "Everyone in this building is smart but you beat them all, even Alex."
"But does even Alex have access here?"
The Kryptonian shook her head. "She understood my privacy and let me guard it how I wanted to. And now I want you to be able to learn from my mother too. Not just about the stars and our language, but about our culture and stories, all of it, more than I can just recall from my memory."
Lena's smile came back to her face, a jubilant one. "Are you sure?"
"I've been wanting to share my story with you since we've met. I'm positive." Kara smiled wide when the green eyes she loved so much change to a brighter and joyful shade and kissed her knuckles in an affectionate manner. "Khuhp ukiem rraop, Lena."
The scientist smiles fully at her words, looking back and forth between her and the hologram. "Maybe, if it's okay, I can incorporate a bit of Alura with Hope, increase the tech in your suit. Which I failed to mention before you started wearing it more, but a computerized voice made to assist you and your battling needs. Possibly thinking L-Corp could develop some new technology with this too, that would be—" She stops midsentence and smiles at Kara's eyes looking at her with admiration. "What? Was I rambling too much?"
"No, I'm just really proud of you and your genius little mind, I love you," Kara says with a kiss to her forehead. "Let's talk about that later and focus on the problem at hand. The crystal portrays Alura right now, but we can configure it to portray us, since we were slightly more advanced than Earth."
"No need to brag, Ms. Krypton," she teases. "So like a telegraph hologram of sorts?"
"Exactly. Alex and Ruby went to Earth-1—"
"Wait, the theory is true?"
"You nerd, I'll explain later," Kara laughs at her energetic smile. "Barry and his friends there have VR tech and we could modify it to make it more real and not glitch out. Think we could stir something up?"
"I know we can."
"Let's get to it, Ms. Luthor."
HI. I'm sorry it's taken a while to publish a chapter for here, I've been busy with literally everything going on in my life. I hope everyone's doing well and that they're staying safe, and if you need to talk to someone, I'm always here guys.
Love, Jay