As soon as the supposed cure started floating through Reign's veins, Lena knew she had made a mistake. That wasn't the effect that she expected. She bet Sam's life on this piece of rock from Argo. However, instead separating the Worldkiller from her friend, Luthor only managed to make Reign stronger. Supergirl was doing her best to keep her enemy on the ground, her eyes focused on Lena; waiting for a solution. An orange glow appeared under Reign's skin, quickly spreading through the rest of her body. Based on the screams echoing between the walls it wasn't hard to guess how painful the process was. No one knew if Sam could feel the same pain right now, she was all alone in that Dark Valley. Mon-El jumped next to Supergirl trying to help with containing Reign then Lena saw it, a red light flickering in Reign's eyes and Sam was back. Back into one of the most agonizing moments of her life. In a split second, Kara released her grip on their now mortal friend. It wasn't helpful, the screaming gained intensity and since Sam was currently in charge of the body it was her voice ricocheting throughout the room. Tears were racing down her cheeks, practically non-stop, her pupils were turning orange.
No matter how much Samantha Arias tried, she couldn't do anything other than scream; scream for her life, scream for her daughter: Ruby. Lena was taking care of her, or maybe Alex was. Before she could think more about any of the small things, her back arched at an almost impossible angle. All the air left Sam's lungs, even Supergirl was thrown back by the force of the unexpected movement. But that wasn't everything that was happening at that moment; No one else could experience the overwhelming merge in Sam's body. Her senses were dull one second and extremely alert the next. Her body was in fight with Reign's mutations and her mind was in a fight with itself. Samantha considered giving in. She didn't know how, but she was on her knees now, elbows pressing against the hard, cold ground. The pain seemed to disappear and everything else slowed down. The sound of her own heartbeat was the only noise Sam could focus on. Her vision was blurry, but she still tried to move; to stand up. Lena sat on the ground in front of her friend. Sam leaned forward, noticing the orange glow on her arms. Her eyes found Lena's before the familiar red flicker appeared again. Last thing Samantha Arias heard except her own heartbeat was the voice of her counterpart reminding the mortal who was in charge.
"I will reign."
Kara didn't wait for anything, lunging forward between the Worldkiller and her friend. Luthor stumbled back, absolutely terrified by the presence of Reign. Atmosphere in the room Mon-El seemed frightened. Needless to say, that didn't stop the escalation of the fight. In a blink of an eye, Reign jumped forward and crashed into the nearest piece of lab equipment, pushing Supergirl in front of her. Kara couldn't dodge the next two attacks, thankfully it only encouraged her to fight back harder. Her enemy was thrown across the room, but as soon as the blonde got back to her feet Reign was already making her next move. Loud screeching sound of metal earned everyone's attention; the Worldkiller was clenching a massive table between her fingers, languidly dragging it behind her. The Daxamite was the first to react; He ran towards Reign, instead of jumping away. Mon-El avoided the fast swat of the table by sliding down on the floor, It was enough to distract their enemy. Supergirl flew directly into the Worldkiller, but her attempt was stopped by a sonic scream. Kara almost groaned when she reminded herself about Reign absorbing the powers of her evil sisters. It was an unfortunate outcome of already desperate situation. For a second, the Girl of Steel thought that everything was solved. They killed two of the Worldkillers but no, Reign got stronger and she continued terrorizing National City. Capturing her was another huge win, not to mention, finding Alura alive and Argo repaired; Harun-El was meant to end this madness. Kara was slowly realizing that nothing would ever go according to DEO's plans. They only made her stronger. Again. Mon-El jumped back up, preparing to hit the Worldkiller. However this time he didn't predict Reign's next move and ended up like an insect smashed with a fly swatter. Lena froze. Her eyes glued to Daxamite's now unconscious body lying under the debris of a wall. Her attention turned to a new threat. Reign didn't even bat an eye. Although she didn't walk towards Supergirl, she was going directly for Lena Luthor.
Samantha was back in the Dark Valley. Air was filled with wailing of everyone Reign killed. It was hard to endure. Sam curled closer to the rock with Ruby's name written all over it. She repeated the name of her daughter like a mantra. As her voice gained on intensity, attempting to drown the wailing, the exact opposite was happening. It felt almost like the cries were right inside her head. Sam started crying, her fingers tangling into the brown hair. Ruby. She tried to force her mind to form an image from her memories. Something to keep her sane. She had to stay sane. She had to fight. Frustration of not being able to form the image was getting the best of her. It was also fueling Samantha's urge to win back her body. Muscles in her legs warned her about the amount of strength she had left. Doubtful feeling crawled into her guts and suddenly Sam felt weaker than ever. Before her knees could give up on her, she forced herself to ran. Directions were the last important thing now. Sam just wanted to get away. Away from the darkness. Away from the noises. It was working, she could feel the relief that her mind was experiencing, but before she could get to enjoying it, bright light flashed in front of her. Next time when Samantha Arias opened her eyes, Lena was stumbling away from her. Her body was feeling sore and something extremely heavy was pulling her hand down. Small, electronic device in Luthor's hand indicated the situation. Reign was about to kill Lena. Lena was about to increase the dosage of Kryptonite to kill Reign. There was only one issue, killing Reign wouldn't happen without killing Sam too. That was something the CEO would not do unless it would be absolutely necessary. Sam looked at the object in her hand, her eyes flew wide open upon realizing that she was holding huge metal table. With a deafening sound, the metal ended back on the floor. Samantha opened her mouth, wanting to apologize, but nothing came out. She was standing in the middle of L-Corp's destroyed lab. Her close friend was horrified. Sam turned around, Supergirl was cautiously walking closer to her; even the National City's finest seemed scared. Ruby. Samantha looked around, the fact that she didn't see her daughter anywhere calmed her down. It was one thing when Reign was destroying the city, but entirely another if she'd do it near young Ruby Arias. Sam would never forgive herself. She knew that even forgetting those incidents will take forever. If they will even manage to save her life.
"S-Sam?" Lena exhaled.
"I…" She tried, but her voice failed her again.
Samantha's knees hit the ground in front of her friend. At that moment, Luthor didn't even consider her safety. She quickly ran to Sam's side, holding her close. Somewhere behind them, Mon-El regained his consciousness. He limped next to Supergirl, eyes fixed on their enemy. It was understandable that Kara was trying to help instead of just capturing the Worldkiller. It was even more understandable after she found out who was hidden behind the black mask yet the Daxamite didn't trust Sam. Her ability to control Reign was a bet and Mon-El didn't like the odds they were playing with.
"We have a chance now." He whispered to Kara.
"Chance?" Lena looked up at the heroes, slightly horrified. "Supergirl?"
"I know she is your friend, but Reign getting immune to the kryptonite is not a good thing."
"Supergirl?" Luthor repeated. Kryptonian was the only one who still didn't say anything.
"I won't be able to stop her…" Girl of Steel admitted the truth.
"Lena?" Sam's voice interrupted the conversation.
"I am right here, right here…" CEO pulled her friend even closer, her fingers drawing soothing circles against the abnormally warm skin.
"Is-is Ruby…" It was getting harder to breathe.
"She is perfectly fine, Sam. I promise she is." Lena assured her.
"Help me, Lena…" Samantha sobbed, her fingers clutching the dress Luthor was wearing.
The awkward silence filled the room. Supergirl turned to Mon-El, her eyes showing the hopelessness inside. He softly shook his head, letting her know that he also has no idea on what to do. Reign was adapting to everything that they threw at her. Kara was right, soon she won't have any chance of defeating the Worldkiller. Longer they waited, the harder it got. Kryptonian looked back at the two women on the floor. Lena didn't have a lot of friends and even implying that she would have to kill Sam brought her to tears. Samantha wasn't moving. Her shoulders were slightly shaking from the occasional sobs, but nothing indicated Reign's return. Kara wanted to call Alex. She needed help with this decision, it could affect the future of National City, but potentially, it could affect the future of the whole planet. All of their usual allies were gone. Maggie moved away and with that, they practically lost the NCPD. J'onn was hurt and it was out of question to have Guardian in this fight. Supergirl took a deep breath. In order to save Sam's life, containing Reign was the top of the list.
"Sam, I need you to tell me more about the Dark Valley…" Supergirl broke the silence.
"What do you want to know?" Her voice sounded better, although it was still a bit raw from all the screaming.
"Anything that you can remember." She sat down next to Lena, letting her hand rest on Sam's shoulder.
"Why were you writing on the rocks?" Luthor suddenly asked.
"I couldn't remember things. Things from my past. Neither could the other one-"
"Julia?" Mon-El interrupted.
"Yes." She nodded and shifted in Lena's arms to get a better view. " Julia. We were writing everything down before we would forget...and then you came in."
"What else?" Supergirl pushed her to reveal what she had to face there.
"It's like the worst place." Pain and fear in Samantha's voice were almost tangible. "I could always hear them, you know? All the people she-I...killed. My mother…"
"Sam, it's not your fault." Lena planted gentle kiss on top of Sam's head.
"Did you notice anything... different in the Valley? Something that looked like it didn't belong there?"
"Clear water." Sam whispered, pulling away from Lena. "There was a place with crystal clear water. I wanted to drink from it, but…"
"But?" Supergirl was patiently waiting, although she was aware of the time issue they were all facing.
"Patricia stopped me."
"Your mother?" Luthor seemed surprised.
"Yes, I-uh-she was like, like a ghost and she said that...that Reign was drinking from the other place."
"Other place?"
"It has water too inside." As soon as Sam tried to stand up, the wave of pain in her side threw her back into Lena's arms. "T-that water doesn't look too h-healthy." She managed to crack a smile.
"Alright." Supergirl nodded. "Drink that one next time you are there. If she drinks that, maybe it will help?" It sounded like a logical solution.
"That's risky." Mon-El deadpanned. "What if it only makes the mutations stronger. We would purposely add more power to our enemy."
"We don't have a choice."
"Sam?" Lena checked on her friend, partially because she wanted to know Sam's opinion and partially because she was really quiet and motionless. However, she didn't get an answer. Instead the conversation between Supergirl and Mon-El gained her interest.
"Can you do it, Lena?" Kryptonian was staring at her.
"Do what? I am sorry, I was-"
"Can you keep Sam sedated in a way that Reign won't be able to trigger the mutation?" Kara repeated the question."I might, but not for long. What do you have in mind?"
"It will buy us more time than doing nothing."
"What if there isn't a way to separate them?" Daxamite asked out loud the only question that they tried to avoid.
"Let's not focus on that." Lena refused to answer.
"No. That is the problem." He stopped them from avoiding the conversation. "You are only focusing on separating Reign from your friend."
"What does that-" Supergirl wasn't catching up.
"Oh god." Lena chuckled and almost her arms locked tighter around Sam; which earned her an annoyed groan. "Maybe we don't have to separate them, maybe we just need to find the right-"
"Balance!" Kara finally understood what Mon-El had in mind.
"Yes, if we can find a way to give her the edge over Reign she can learn to control the mutation. What do you think about that, Sam?" Luthor's voice was blooming with hope.
"But we still don't know how to do that…" Kara started pacing around.
"Sam?" Lena tried again. Another groan was the only response she got.
"What about the Harun-El?" After spending some time in the future, Daxamite acquired a lot of knowledge. That was one of the things Kara was really grateful for.
"You saw what it did, we can't put her through that everytime Reign would decide to come out and play."
"Perhaps, instead of injecting it, we could make a necklace from it." CEO offered. "We don't need to hurt Reign, we just need to make her weak and the rock seemed to do the trick." Her gaze fell down on her friend; still motionless, still quiet.
"How long will you need?" Supergirl decided that the new plan is worth the shot.
"An hour."
Everyone seemed more relaxed since they figured out a plan that appeared to be bulletproof. Mon-El immediately proceeded to fix some of the equipment, preparing space so Lena could start working, Supergirl wasn't far behind. They worked fast, it was only a matter of minutes until the lab didn't look like a place during the apocalypse. But even few minutes could be way too long in this situation. When everything was ready and Luthor was about to stand up from the ground, Samantha's fingers grasped the fabric of Lena's dress again and forced her to lean down. Lean down closer, closer than Kara liked. It maybe didn't look like that, but Supergirl's gaze never left Sam and Lena. All of the sudden, everything went quiet. Mon-El stumbled under the influence of the power wave. Kara was dazed, but she knew. She knew it was time and Lena was way too far away.
"Lena!" Samantha screamed and rose to her knees.
Luthor dared to grab her friend, her fingers framed Sam's face forcing the human to look directly at Lena. Another power wave shook up the room and Kara was reaching a new level of rage. She couldn't hear. She couldn't move. No matter how hard she fought, whatever Reign was doing, couldn't work better.
"Sam, Sam listen to me. Sam I need you to look at me. Remember who you are." Lena understood she didn't have much time. "Remember Ruby. Sam, remember your daughter." At that point, the orange glow again covered most of the visible parts of Samantha's body. "Samantha Arias, say it with me… you can't give up now Sam…"
"Sa-ma-Lena!" Her attempt turned into something very painful to watch. Luthor could feel it right beneath her fingertips. Sam's face was changing. It was hard to see the gentle brown eyes when they were covered by the orange. The range of emotions currently showing in Samantha's eyes, showed Lena that her friend was fighting.
It stopped as fast as it started. Sam's body crashed forward, her face safely in Luthor's hands. Kara waited, her body was back under her control and the residues of evil were disappearing from the air. It was time to take a breather. Lena felt how weak the body in her lap was. Samantha's muscles were completely slack. Her body was heavier and heavier, forcing Luthor to shift uncomfortably. Mon-El smiled and nodded at Supergirl, feeling relieved that the situation was under control. Sam's breathing became erratic. Her fingers wrapped around the CEO's arm, pulling herself up. Intensity of the fear in her eyes was overwhelming.
"L-Lena…" Sam's voice was barely above whisper.
"What?" Luthor leaned in.
"Run."