I was surprised to discover that there aren't any 'what if Peter David's Supergirl series had continued' fan-projects, at least as far as I could find. So I've decided to try to fill that niche. I felt that there was a lot of potential wasted by getting rid of Linda Danvers and her supporting cast when they did. This story is an AU of the post-crisis and pre-flashpoint DCU, which means that the Kara featured from 2004-2011 will also show up eventually.

Fred Danvers slumped in the seat outside of his wife's hospital room. He was a father...again. Both mother and child were doing well and were presently sleeping.

Fred wished he could sleep as well. Sylvia had gone into labor in the middle of the night, and the process of giving birth was stressful for the father as well as the mother. Fred may not have been as tired as Sylvia, but he was more exhausted than he had been since he recovered from a gunshot wound.

But exhausted as he was, Fred would know no sleep that night. Not when his first child, Linda, was missing.

Fred had left a note for his daughter at their house to let her know that he and Sylvia were at the hospital. Had she seen the letter Linda would have flown over right away.

Ordinarily Fred would not be so worried. Linda often disappeared to go stop a robbery or to save the world. And she always came back. What was the point in worrying about someone who laughed off bullets?

But Sylvia was convinced that Linda was in terrible danger. She had asked about her constantly while giving birth. And though he assured his wife that everything was fine, Fred could not help but share her concerns. At times Sylvia seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to Linda. If she thought their daughter was in trouble, then Frank could not dismiss it as paranoia or stress.

And so every time Fred closed his eyes to nod off, he saw images of Linda, bruised, bloodied, and broken.

Sometimes being the father of a superhero was harder than being the father of a delinquent.

"Mr. Danvers?"

Fred shot out of his seat. "Linda?"

But the young woman who stood in front of him was not his daughter. It had only been his drowsiness that made him think that it was.

"Kara? Thank goodness. Have you seen Linda?"

Kara was another super-powered youth Linda had brought to stay with them recently. She was wide-eyed, naive, and eager to help. However, now she could not look Fred in the eye.

Fred noticed that her eyes were puffy and she was sniffling. Kara had been crying very recently.

"What's wrong?" Fred took out several tissues and handed them to Kara. "Here, kid. Try to keep it down. People are trying to sleep."

To her credit and Fred's relief, Kara blew her nose quietly and without blowing a hole in the wall. Linda had done a good job in teaching the inexperienced hero-in-training how to control her powers.

But Fred's question still hung in the air. "Where is Linda?" he asked again.

Kara opened her mouth to speak, but instead began to sob. She turned away, holding herself tightly. Fred remembered how Linda had done the same thing when Sylvia was in the hospital for injuries she sustained in a car crash. "I just want a hug so bad." she had said then.

Hugs could wait. It was obvious that whatever was bothering Kara, it was connected to Linda, and Fred needed to know what it was.

"Where is my daughter?" he repeated firmly.

Kara fought back a large sob and regained her voice. And in that moment, Fred Danver's world came crashing down around him.

"L-Linda's going to die!" she screamed. "And it's all my fault!"

Supergirl was literally swept off her feet.

Superman had embraced her in a passionate kiss. To her surprise, Supergirl kissed him back just as passionately.

A flood of feelings washed over her, feelings she hadn't felt since she was with Richard Malverne.

Dick...her first true love...Dick...dead of cancer partially because of her actions...Dick...the pain of whose death caused her fall into the hands of the Carnivore.

"No."

She pushed herself away from Superman, who floated there, confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm sorry." she said sadly. "I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't?"

"I can't do this to you."

"I don't understand."

Supergirl almost laughed. Superman had assumed that she was an enemy from the start. She half-expected her vague explanations for rejecting him to cause him to reconsider whether he had not been right about her intentions all along. That he would not suggest it could only mean that he truly did trust her completely now.

How could she lie to him again? How could she deceive someone who trusted her so, who was willing to give her his heart? So much pain had been caused by her keeping secrets. And Superman was her only friend in this world.

"You wanted to know what my game was?"she asked sadly. "Why I came to this world?"

A single tear dripped from each of her eyes, running down her cheeks. Superman reached for her,but she pulled away again. She turned away from him, hugging herself.

"Clark, I-I came here to die."

Fred could only stare in shock as Kara recounted her story. The farther she got, the harder it became for her to keep going. He raised his hand to his forehead when Kara reached the part where Linda told her to fly back to Leesburg while she tried to work things out with the Spectre and the Fatalist. It was obvious to him what Linda would do next, far more obvious than it had been to a naïve girl like Kara.

"And when I was flying back, I heard her voice telling me to always find ways. That's when I realized she had decided to take my place. I went after the rocket. I tried to stop her. But I c-couldn't. I wasn't...wasn't fast enough."

She sat down, continuing to cry. "I thought being a hero was supposed to be fun. I thought I could be like Superman...and like Linda. But I was wrong. I'm not a hero. I just froze when it counted...while Linda...Linda didn't hesitate to sacrifice herself for me. I'm nothing next to her."

Fred wanted to scream. "Damn right you're not! You're not one tenth of the hero she was! You're not fit to shine her boots! It should have been you and not my daughter!"

But deep down Fred knew that that was the last thing Linda would have wanted him to do. She would have wanted him to comfort Kara.

But what words of comfort could he possibly find when he felt like his heart had been torn out of his chest and mutilated beyond all recognition?

Fred bit his lip, trying to restrain his rage. He sat down next to Kara. He did not put his arm around her. He could not temper his anger that much. But he was able to-with great difficulty, speak calmly.

"You're not." he agreed. "But neither was Linda, once upon a time."

That seemed to distract Kara. She stopped crying and looked up at him, confused.

"Linda used to be one of the most selfish people I've ever known. She only thought about herself, and she wouldn't lift a finger to help anybody. I was ashamed of her. She was really as unheroic as you could imagine.

"But then things changed. She gained her powers and became Supergirl. And suddenly she was like a completely different person. She started helping around the house. She argued less. And she became really concerned with helping people."

Kara was amazed. "I-I didn't know."

"Linda was ashamed of her past." Fred explained. "Who wouldn't be? The point I'm trying to make is, no one is born a hero, knowing exactly what to do. Not Supergirl. Not even Superman. All the heroes had to learn from their mentors, from their parents, from experience. Linda learned everything she needed to the hard way. You still have to learn these things if you want to be a hero like Linda."

Kara sniffed and looked at Fred hopefully. "I think I'm starting to understand. But I still don't want to die."

"No one wants to die. Being afraid is ok. You have to be able to look past the fear."

Kara nodded. "Thank you."

Fred forced himself to smile a fake smile. "Just do me one favor, ok? Choose a name other than 'Supergirl.' I don't think Sylvia-"

Kara stopped paying attention and bolted down the hall.

"Hey!" Frank yelled after her. "Where are you going?"

He found Kara looking out of the nearest window with shock on her face.

"There you are. What's the problem...now."

Fred's voice failed him as he looked out of the window with Kara. Where there should have been a black night sky, there was instead a red haze spreading from the horizon over the town.

"I heard people screaming about the sky." Kara said. "I don't understand what's happening."

"I don't either." Fred said. "But there's one thing I do know. This is a job for a hero."

"Right."

There was a burst of wind, and Kara was gone. Fred shook his head and asked "Do they all do that?"

He looked out of the window again. The sky was turning a deeper shade of red.

Despite everything he had said, Fred couldn't help but think that he'd feel a not safer if it was Linda out there trying to save the world instead of Kara.

Surprisingly, the farther Supergirl got into her story, the easier it was to continue. She explained how she was from a different world, how the real Kara Zor-El had been plucked out of her own world and into Linda's world, how the Spectre explained that she had to go back to her own time and that her death would save the multiverse from destruction, and how Linda had taken her place rather than send Kara back to certain death.

Superman sat in silence the entire time. His eyes occasionally flashed with surprise or concern, but otherwise his face was as still as a statue.

Supergirl took a deep breath as she finished. "And that's why I can't do this. When my time comes, I can't put you through that pain."

"It won't happen." Superman said firmly. "I won't let it."

"Don't you see?" Supergirl insisted. "I've accepted my fate. I've made peace with it."

"I haven't." Superman said. "And I refuse to accept it. You won't fight anymore-"

"Oh no you don't." Supergirl interrupted. "I'm not going to spend my remaining time sitting around while other people save the world. And besides, anything powerful enough to kill me is something even you are going to need help with.

"Please," Supergirl begged, "let this go. I know what it's like to lose the one you care about. I don't want you to go through that too."

"It's too late for that." Superman said. "I already care."

Superman stared at her with the most serious expression she had ever seen on his face. "I will find a way to save you and the world."

Supergirl didn't know whether to laugh or cry. For the first time since she arrived in this world she was having second thoughts about dying to save the universe.

"All right." Supergirl moved close to Superman and hugged him. "We'll find a way...together."

Linda and Kara were different people the next time they met. Neither felt any pride or satisfaction in defeating Xenon. Kara wasn't sure they had won at all.

"The sky's still red. I thought beating Xenon would make everything back to normal."

"Only you can do that." Linda said.

Kara looked from Linda to her rocket ship. "I still have to go back?"

"I tried. But it didn't work. We're too different for me to take your place."

"But I'm different too! I don't want to die! Everything I do will be to not die!"

"Not if you don't remember that you were here."

They turned to see the Fatalist standing before them. Behind him was the Spectre.

"With Xenon defeated my mission is over. Should Kara Zor-El choose to return to her proper time her memories of this universe will be all but erased. They will be nothing more than a passing dream."

Kara looked at Linda. "I won't remember you."

"That's your main concern?" Linda asked. "Not dying?"

"You taught me what it means to be a hero. I won't remember anything I've learned."

Linda sighed. "Right now I feel like I don't know anything about being a hero either."

"Time is short." the Spectre said. "And free will cannot be denied. What is your decision?"

Kara looked at Linda, who nodded. "All right." she said. "I'll do it."

She hugged Linda tightly. When they pulled away she asked "Was I really worth giving up your own life for?"

Linda smiled. "Of course you are. Any hero would gladly give up his life for you."

Kara climbed into the rocket. Linda gave her a thumbs up and said "Go get 'im, slugger." Kara gave a thumbs up in return. "Maybe we'll meet again."

"Not in this universe." Linda said to herself.

The rocket blasted off into space. As the craft faded from view, the sky finally reverted to its normal color. Linda was alone with The Spectre and the Fatalist.

"After all that bullshit about free will," Linda said with venom in her voice, "we never had any choice at all, did we?"

"Free will isn't about finding the best solution." The Spectre said. "It is about choosing between right and wrong. You and Kara always had the freedom to make the wrong choice."

"Xenon said that I imprison him in the future. How do I have free will if I'm destined to fight him?"

"That future is not set in stone. No future is. If you so choose, you can avoid fighting him. There are many possible decisions you can make that would result in your never facing Xenon again."

"And what about our deal?"

"Your daughter lives. The child of Superman and Supergirl becomes a renowned hero in her own right."

"Thank you." The Spectre and The Fatalist faded from her plain of existence, and Linda was left all alone.

Linda did not remember flying back to Leesburg. Her thoughts were on all she had lost. Even if they still lived, she would never see her husband or her child again. And Kara's fate was sealed.

She found her home empty, the note left by her father lying on the couch where Kara had left it. So she knew to head over to the hospital.

When she walked into her mother's hospital room, Linda's father literally lept for joy. He pulled her into a hug so tight that she thought that if she didn't have her invulnerability he'd have cracked a few of her ribs.

"I thought...I thought..." he began.

Linda looked at her mother, who was holding her new baby brother. Sylvia's eyes were just as full of joy as Fred's were. She didn't need to jump and scream to express that joy.

"Welcome back, dear."

"Kara was here last night." Fred told her. "She said you-"

"I'm here, Dad." Linda assured him. "And I'm not going anywhere."

"How is she doing? She took your stunt pretty hard."

Linda closed her eyes and sighed. "She's gone."

Frank nodded, and Sylvia said "I'm sorry, Linda."

"Kara's gone." Linda repeated. "And I'm here."

Linda Danvers had lost her husband and her only child. She tried and failed to save a friend, one of many such failures in her superhero career. The pain and the guilt were now a permanent part of her existence.

But she still had a family that loved her and friends that needed. And her parents would require her help in taking care of hr baby brother Wally.

Leesburg still needed its resident hero, and the world still had many threats that only superheroes were up to facing.

And Supergirl would be there to face them.

Author's note: I was fine with Linda punching Kara and putting her back into the rocket, but since my story requires Linda to stay, certain changes had to be made. And I was disappointed that Kara never had the chance to show that she had learned anything. Hence her talking to Fred Danvers instead of just moping around an empty house.