As much as I wish I did, I do not own Supergirl or any of the characters.

This story has brief graphic mentions of blood in terms of a medical setting. If you would like to avoid that, both are mentioned during the parts where Alex and Eliza are operating. Otherwise, enjoy and please leave a comment. This story is currently a one-shot, but I am currently considering writing more.

Lena Luthor hates Christmas.

She has experienced 23 Christmases in her life. The first three were spent with her mother, a woman who was nothing but a vague memory of warmth and safety. But her mother died and Lena found herself in the Luthor household. Her next 17 Christmases were spent being paraded around as a trophy, a testament to the Luthor family's kindness and philanthropy. Lex had made the first few bearable, but then he went off to college and Lionel died soon after, leaving Lena to contend with Lillian's spite alone. The once unbearable Luthor Christmases became utterly insufferable. Eventually, Lex went mad and Lena found herself thrust behind the CEO desk as she tried to salvage the mess he had created in his single-minded quest to destroy Superman. That was the first Christmas that she spent alone behind her desk with a glass of red wine and a plate as Christmas carols softly played on the radio. She spent the next two much the same way, one in Metropolis and one in National City after she had been given full control of Luthor Corp. The last 23 Christmases had brought the youngest Luthor nothing, but heartache and loneliness. Lena had hoped that the person who had already brought so much light into her life would also change her relationship with Christmas. Lena had hoped that this year would be different.

Three months ago, her best friend had saved her from certain death and finally confessed to the worst kept secret in National City. Kara had finally admitted that she was Supergirl, much to Lena's relief as she had been getting tired of having to pretend to be oblivious. The shininess of the new relationship hadn't begun to wear off yet, so the two were in a blissful bubble… until now.

Until this moment where Lena is watching her girlfriend falling from the top of a skyscraper. Where Lena is watching as the blur of blue and red (too much red) … fall to the ground with anearthshattering (and equally sickening) crash. Where Lena is running, surging forward toward the crater, trying to get to the bloody, broken body in the hole. Where Lena is screaming for Supergirl (and internally for Kara) as she scrambles over the mangled concrete to get closer to the love of her life as she lies there, unmoving in that hole. When Lena finally reaches Kara, she searches for a place to touch Kara without hurting her as her eyes find the charred, blackened crest of the Great House of El, now just as broken and burnt as the bearer of its crest. She gently cupped Kara's bruised faces and whispers her name as tears splashed onto Kara's face and left pink spots in the sea of red. So once again, for Christmas, Lena got nothing but pain.

Alex Danvers could count on one hand how many times she had seen her sister bleed and still have plenty of fingers left over. It made the scene in front of her all the more jarring, but Alex didn't have the time to contemplate that fact, especially now, not with Kara lying there in that hole bleeding, the life leaking out of her. The world seemed to screech to a halt and zoom past her at the same time, deafeningly silent and booming all at once as she ran forward, aching to get closer to Kara. Alex dropped to her knees when she finally reached Kara's pale form, dimly disappointed that the concrete didn't crumble under her, too. The blood pounded in her ears as Alex called for a gurney and checked Kara's faint pulse with trembling fingers. She hadn't even noticed Lena Luthor kneeling over her sister much the same way, tears dripping onto the fallen hero's face, creating small patches of pink in rivers and oceans of red (so much red). It wasn't until the CEO whispered her sister's name in a voice that was so utterly broken and reached out to touch Kara's cheek ever so gently that Alex even noticed that she wasn't alone in the crater. It wasn't until they had loaded Kara into the ambulance, ripping through the streets to get to the DEO that Alex's brain had a split second to process thoughts other than medical facts and her horror at the events of the battle that Alex realized that Lena knew.

Maggie Sawyer was sitting at her desk at the NCPD, angrily filling out paperwork, when she saw the news. She had just finished a report about her latest arrest in an alien smuggling ring that she had helped stop when the breaking news alert came from the TV and a hush fell over the entire Science Division. Maggie looked up and saw something she never thought she would: a bloodied Supergirl being lifted out of a crater in the sidewalk and rushed into a black van on a stretcher with Alex leading the charge. She made the mistake of looking down at the headline. It read "Supergirl Dead?" as the ticker on the bottom described a mysterious figure clad in black that had been wreaking havoc in National City all day and had finally ended her day by taking down the Girl of Steel. She jumped up from her chair so quickly that it went clattering to the floor, grabbed her keys, and ran to her car, completely forgetting that it was below freezing outside.

Lucy Lane sighed as she poured herself a cup of coffee in the break room. She was stuck working Christmas again. It wasn't that she had anyone to spend it with, but being almost alone in the DEO command center all the way out in the desert made her feel all the lonelier. She sank down into a surprisingly comfortable plastic chair and flipped on ZNN. She watched as the anchor recap the day's events and mention that NORAD was "tracking" Santa for the 62nd year, bringing joy to children all over the world. She chuckled at the thought of children intently tracking Santa as he delivered presents. She was pulled out of reverie when the newscaster announced that there was breaking news. That was when she saw the footage of a mysterious woman dressed in black mercilessly beating Supergirl and shooting lasers at the sigil of the Great House of El sending Supergirl careening into the sky. The coffee mug slipped from her fingers as she saw the image of Kara lying broken and bleeding in a concrete crater as one brunette rushed to her, followed by another not long after. The screen read "Christmas Tragedy: Supergirl Presumed Dead."

The normally composed and stoic Army major barreled into the command center and began yelling for agents to get information from the base in National City. A single voice carried through on the line, Winn's, as Lucy demanded information. "We don't know, Lucy. This person has been terrorizing the city all day. Our visitors from the future are refusing to tell us anything," he said bitterly. "Alex is bringing Kara here soon. She might be able to tell us more later." Lucy grunted in acknowledgment and thanked Winn before ending the call. She turned to the nearest agent and requested a helicopter be readied to take her to National City so she could join her friends in the vigil that was no doubt forming.

James Olsen has seen a lot of things in his life. He has lived in not one, but two cities with superheroes so witnessing huge battles was nothing new for him. But seeing his friend being beaten so mercilessly, so savagely was. He was so shocked that he could nothing but stare as Kara fell from the sky and landed on the sidewalk just feet from him and Lena. The two CatCo CEOs had been out for dinner to discuss how to approach leading the company now that there were two CEOs at the helm. They had been walking down the street when the battle began and had seen Kara's descent from the top of a skyscraper as her body plunged to the ground. He had pulled Lena back and tried to hold her back from the crater, not knowing about the recent change in the relationship between Lena and Kara. Lena frantically tried to escape his arms as she begged him to let her get to Kara and as soon as he heard how her voice cracked, he let her go. But he stayed back, unsure of his place, too shocked to properly process what this all meant. When Alex carted Kara away to the DEO, James crept closer to the crater to find a broken Lena Luthor staring off into the distance as the sirens grew further and further. He heard Lena quietly whimper Kara's name as she hugged her and said, "Don't worry, Lena. I'm going to take you to her. Come on."

That was when he heard Lena whisper, "I love her. What if I don't get to tell her?" and suddenly he understood Lean's desperation, her fear.

"You will," he reassured her as he took the young CEO by the elbow and gently led to her to his car. He drove to the DEO as quickly as he could, avoiding the broken roads left in the wake of the faceoff between Kara and Reign. He screeched to a halt in the DEO garage and the pair jumped out of the car and rushed to the elevator. As soon as the elevator reached the top floor, James took Lena to the waiting room and went to the command center after making sure that Lena had everything she needed. He ran past the med bay and did not dare glance inside, afraid of what he would see. James took his place next to Winn as agents bustled around trying to get a handle on the mayhem raging in National City.

J'onn J'onzz was at a loss as he stood in the DEO watching the screens as they displayed the almost apocalyptic battle taking place. Unfortunately, any attempt to help Supergirl would likely end with Reign beating the life out of anyone who came to help. The stoic Martian was at a loss about what to do as he watched Kara drop from the top of the building. He prayed that she would pull herself up and stop herself from plummeting to the ground. He gasped when he saw the dust cloud rise and the image of a bloody Supergirl in a crater in the street. As he watched Lena rush to Kara's side, followed by Alex, he began to issue orders to his agents. Calls were placed to the President's Chief of Staff, the desert base of the DEO in an attempt to get in contact with Director Lane, and to the NCPD science division to put them on high alert. Just as he got off the phone with the desert base, having learned that Director Lane was on her way, J'onn heard the commotion coming from the elevators and turned in time to see Alex rush Kara into the med bay followed by several other agents and Dr. Hamilton. J'onn realized that they needed one more person at the DEO to help save Kara's life and so he ran to the balcony and took off.

Eliza Danvers was enjoying a quiet evening as she sat on the couch and flipped channels trying to find something to watch. As much as she enjoyed Christmas, she didn't feel up to watching Christmas movies. They made the sting of losing Jeremiah for the second time hurt just a little more and Christmas was not for mourning and pain. Eliza Danvers did not know just how wrong this assessment was. As she flipped channels, she accidentally landed on ZNN as they had begun reporting about the fall of Supergirl at the hands of a mysterious villain. Eliza jumped up from the couch and rushed to the kitchen to get the phone. Just as she was trying to decide whether to call J'onn or Alex, she heard the fluttering of a cape and the thud of boots before a knock sounded from her front door. She opened it to see an unusually emotional J'onn J'onzz on her porch. "Eliza... It's Kara—," he began.

"I know. I saw what happened when I accidentally turned on the news. Take me to National City, J'onn. They need me."

"You have no idea how right you are, Eliza. Let's go," the Martian said as he offered a hand to Eliza.

At the DEO…

Alex stood over the head of Kara's gurney as she looked at the monitor. She yelled out for an intubation kit as Kara's oxygen levels began to drop. "Get me the paddles! Her pulse is getting weaker; we're probably going to need them." Alex was, unfortunately, correct in her prediction and Kara's heart stopped just as the cart was wheeled in. "Charging to 200! Clear!" Alex shouted as she shocked Kara. The blonde's back arched upward and her body flopped back onto the gurney. "Again! 250!" Alex tried again with no success. "300!" Kara's body sagged onto the gurney once more. "350!" The faint beeping that came from the monitor told Alex that she had been successful. "We need to get her into surgery now!" Alex yelled as she got ready to move the gurney across the hall to the surgical suite.

As the group exited the room, Alex was surprised to see a windswept Eliza standing anxiously in the hallway. "Oh god. Kara," she gasped as she first laid eyes on her adoptive daughter. "How can I help?" she asked, her eyes searching for Alex's.

"Mom, thank god, you're here. She needs surgery and I am going to need an extra set of hands." Eliza nodded and ran into the surgical suite with Dr. Hamilton to scrub in. As Alex began rattling off Kara's multitude of injuries, the last detail caught everyone particularly off guard. "She's solar flared. I don't think there's any solar energy left in any of her cells. She used it all to stay alive, otherwise, her injuries wouldn't be this severe. They would have shown some indication of healing, but there isn't any."

"What does that mean, sweetie?"

"It means that- well, Kara's completely human, which means we're gonna have to treat this as though anyone else who works for the DEO got injured. In fact, we have to take extra precautions. She has absolutely no immune system right now and we have to use extra sedation and pain meds. She has no pain tolerance since before today, no one has ever been able to do this to her without a solar flare first. Honestly, this is the worst thing I have ever seen happen to her or anyone. No one else could have survived this level of damage, but now we have to keep her alive long enough to be able to get her to heal and the only way to do that is surgery. We're going to have work fast.

"Anderson, go to the blood bank and get all the O- you can find. Vasquez, I need you to set up the solar bed for Kara so we can get her in there as soon as we close. Price, make sure the hallway is going to be cleared when we move her. And Demos, if we get any more visitors, which we no doubt will, direct them to the waiting room." Once Alex was done giving commands, the agents scrambled to do as she asked and the medical staff started getting to work on saving Supergirl's life. Alex grabbed the portable x-ray machine and scanned Kara's body to assess her injuries. Once the scan was complete, Eliza and Alex changed into scrubs and took positions on either side of the operating table. Alex picked up a scalpel, nodded her head, and began the incision (secretly sickened at how easily the steel blade sliced into the Girl of Steel's body). As Alex made the incision, blood began pouring out of Kara's body at an alarming rate, spilling onto the floor, splattering Alex and Eliza's shoes and scrubs. "Fuck! Someone get the blood ready!" Alex ordered, panic seeping into her voice despite her best efforts.

As Alex and Eliza began operating, Maggie Sawyer rushed through the elevator doors and immediately went to the command center to find J'onn. She found him standing in front of a bay of screens, each broadcasting a different news channel. Each channel was speculating on Kara's fate and about the identity of the woman in black. ZNN continued declaring that in a Christmas tragedy Supergirl was killed, while GNN and some local news channels thought that Supergirl was near death at a government agency that was desperately trying to save her life. The channels owned by CatCo were being conspicuously… hopeful, refusing to proclaim the Supergirl was dead or nearly so. Maggie took a moment to take it all in before approaching J'onn and drawing him out of his trance. "J'onn… is she… is Kara alive?" she asked the back of J'onn's head.

The Martian turned around to face Maggie and she could swear that his eyes were slightly red-rimmed. "For now," he sighed. "Alex and Eliza are trying to save her, but it doesn't look good, Maggie." Maggie gasped and nodded.

"Is there anyone here for her?" Maggie asked, vaguely hinting at her curiosity about Lena Luthor's presence.

"If you mean Lena, then yes." Maggie opened her mouth to say something before J'onn held his hand up and continued, "Before you say anything, yes, I am aware of what is going on between them and no, I don't have a problem with it."

"Is she in the waiting room?" As soon as J'onn gave an affirmative answer, Maggie turned and went to find the young CEO. She found herself walking past the med bay, but couldn't bring herself to look inside, afraid of seeing Alex and the state that Kara is in. She picked up her pace and walked briskly to the waiting room, stopping when she saw Lena with her head in her hands, shoulders quaking as quiet, restrained sobs left the young woman's mouth. "Oh Lena," Maggie whispered as she slid into the chair next to Lena's and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. If Lena was shocked at Maggie's sudden presence, she didn't show it. Maggie rubbed Lena's arm as she gently tried to calm the younger woman down.

Maggie didn't know how long they had been sitting there when Lena finally spoke. "What if she dies, Maggie?"

"She won't. You have to believe that, Lena."

"You didn't see her, Maggie. What that woman did to her- God. It was the worst thing I've ever seen. She dropped her from the top of a skyscraper like a plaything. She spent all that time tossing Kara around like a fucking ragdoll!" Lena began, her voicing getting louder with each sentence. "Kara isn't supposed to be able to bleed on this planet. She's not supposed to be able to get injured when she has her powers, but she did. She was bleeding from everywhere. Her forehead, her ears, her nose, her mouth. Her face was covered in it. So, no, Maggie, I don't have to believe that. Not with what I've seen."

"Little Danvers is tough, Lena. And she loves you. She won't go down without fighting until the end."

"That's the thing. She fought. She fought and she lost."

"She may have lost the battle, but she didn't lose the war." Maggie and Lena jumped as their eyes scanned the room for a source until they landed on its owner.

It was a little after 11:30 pm when Lucy Lane's helicopter finally arrived at the DEO. She quickly hopped out and sprinted down the stairs until she reached the command center three stories down. "J'onn, what is going on?" Lucy asked as she walked up to the silent man. J'onn simply shook his head, at a loss for words as he tried to catch up her up.

"It's bad, Lucy," Winn said as he spun around in his chair. That woman beat Kara like she was nothing. I've never seen anything like it. I mean, it wasn't even this bad when Kara fought Superman back in April. Even Superman couldn't make her bleed, but she did."

"Is Alex with her?"

"Yea, Alex and Eliza are operating on Kara now with Dr. Hamilton. It's been about an hour and a half now. They won't be done for a while. Maggie and Lena are in the waiting room if you want to go there."

"Wait, Maggie?" Lucy asked, the shock permeating her voice.

"Yea she showed up about 15 minutes ago. She's sitting with Lena."

"I'm shocked that she came after everything that happened between her and Alex. Also, you keep saying 'Lena' like I'm supposed to know who that is."

"I think that Maggie came to be here for Alex. No matter what happened between them, Maggie still loves her and she knows what Kara getting hurt does to Alex. I'm surprised that you haven't heard about Lena. She's a pretty big name, she owns CatCo, L-Corp. You know, the big CEO lady."

"If I didn't know any better, I would think that you mean that Lena Luthor is in the DEO holding vigil for Supergirl. But that's crazy, right?" Winn shook his head. "Wow, Little Danvers has interesting taste in friends. But I mean, a Luthor, guys!"

"She's helped us more than I can count. All without asking for anything in return. Lena is very different from her family," J'onn explained. Lucy shrugged and nodded.

"If you guys trust her, so do I. I'm going to go join them," Lucy said, hooking her thumb to point behind her. "Don't want to have too many cooks in the kitchen. Plus, I have a feeling that I'm needed elsewhere right now."

As the group in the waiting room continued to grow, Alex and Eliza were struggling to save Kara's life. Rivers of blood continued pouring out of the blonde body on the operating table as the mother-daughter duo tried to find the source of the bleeding. "If she keeps losing this much, she won't make it."

"I know, sweetie," Eliza whispered mournfully. Eliza was much more unnerved by the feeling of her adoptive daughter's hot blood covering her hands, her scrubs, her shoes than she let on, but if she didn't hold it together, Alex would fall apart and they had to save Kara. They were able to find the bleed eventually, but not after having to transfuse 10 pints of blood into Kara's veins. Alex got to work repairing the damage done to Kara's organs as Eliza took a step back, allowing Dr. Hamilton to step in for her. Eliza made the mistake of looking down at herself as she took a deep breath and was hit with the sudden urge to vomit as she took in the sheer amount of blood covering her clothes. She took several sips of water to tamp down her nausea. It was another hour before Alex declared that they had done all they could and now all they could do was watch. Eliza looked up at the time and saw that the clock read 1:07 am. It's Christmas, Eliza thought. What a way to celebrate. Mother and daughter parted ways as Eliza went to shower and Alex decided to simply change into a fresh pair of scrubs as she had to go update everyone.

Alex Danvers quietly walked into the center of the DEO as the agents around her continued to try to get a hand on the confusion in National City. She walked up to J'onn and was about to fill him in on Kara's condition when she finds him staring at the TV. ZNN was broadcasting footage of a small candlelight vigil forming around the crater where Kara's body had fallen several hours ago, now a pile of bouquets lay there in place of her sister. The audio filtered in and she heard the people sing Christmas carols as they slowly swayed.

"And when those blue snowflakes start falling… That's when those blue memories start calling..."

Alex had forgotten that it was December 25th…. That it was Kara's favorite holiday. But Kara wasn't here to celebrate this time. She was in a coma that she might never come out of instead.

Maggie and Lucy had both received calls from their respective jobs and have to step away to take them, leaving Lena to sit alone. Alex walked into the waiting room and saw Lena sitting in the corner, her hand in her hands and her shoulders slumped under the weight of her grief. Alex crouched down in front her and gently placed a shaking hand on Lena's shoulder. "Lena?" Alex asked carefully as though she was afraid that Lena would fall apart. Lena looked up with red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes that looked like a storm was raging as her emotions warred with each other. She didn't say a word as she carefully straightened her back and wrapped her arms around her waist.

With a blank face, Lena asked, "Is she dead? Is Kara dead?"

"No. She's still alive. Barely, but alive nonetheless." Alex paused and swallowed before beginning again, "Lena—"

The news that Kara was still alive caused something to break in Lena as her eyes welled up and her lips quivered almost imperceptibly. "Alex, please, don't make me leave. You may not understand or approve of our relationship, but I love her. God, I love her so much that it hurts. Everyone in my life has left. Except her," Lena's voice broke. "I can't leave her. I know she's unconscious and she doesn't even know that I'm here, but I just can't," Lena said as tears began streaming down her face once more. Alex sat down next to the young woman and gathered her up into a hug, letting Lena cry onto her shoulder.

"Lena, I would never do that. I would never make you leave. I've seen the way you two look at each other. You look at her like she hung the moon and stars in the sky. I'll never be the one to take you away from her or her from you. I figured that you would come here. I saw James with you before and again in the command center, so I had a feeling he brought you. I wanted to see how you were holding up. None of that could have been easy. I want to know if you're okay and Lena Luthor, don't you dare lie to me." Alex heard Lena take a shuddering breath before answering.

"No, Alex, I am not okay. Far from it, but I will be much better when we catch this psycho."

"Do you want to go sit with her? The techs will move her into the med bay when they're done bandaging her up, which should be in a few minutes." Alex stood and helped Lena up before taking her to a chair near the sunlamps that were waiting for Kara. As Alex walked away from the recovery room, she bumped into a face she hadn't seen in weeks. "Maggie…" Alex whispered.

Maggie gave Alex her signature smile and greeted her, "Hey, Danvers. How's your sister?"

"She's in a coma that she may not come out of."

"Oh."

"Hey, can we talk?" the two women asked at the same time. Alex nodded and led Maggie to an empty conference room a few yards away.

"Do you want to start?" Maggie asked Alex, secretly hoping that her ex would say the same thing she was thinking about.

"Maggie, do you know what Kara almost dying has made me realize?" When Maggie shook her head, Alex continued. "Life is short and I want to have what Kara and Lena have, I want what we had back."

"Alex-," Maggie began.

"I don't want to have kids, if it means that I can't have you in my life," Alex interrupted, her voice thick with unshed tears.

"No, Alex, we'll have kids. We'll have all kinds of kids because I can't live without you and our 10 kids. These last three months have been miserable and I—."

"Maggie, I don't want to force you into this."

"You're not forcing me, Alex. This is a decision that I made. Alex, after today, I realized that there are scarier things than having kids. I was so afraid of being a bad mom that I wouldn't hear you out and pushed you away instead of talking it out like we usually do. I was afraid I was too damaged to be a good mom, but our kids will have you, and Kara, and your mom, and the rest of the superfriends." Alex chuckled at that. "Lena had the worst mother in the world and look at how she turned out. How much worse of a job could we possibly do? I want you back, Alex. Please."

"So, do I, Maggie. More than anything." Maggie surged forward and captured Alex's lips in a searing kiss. Alex put her hands on Maggie's face as she deepened the kiss and was somewhat sad when they had to part for air. As they stood with their foreheads touching and arms around each other, Alex whispered, "Just to be clear, we don't need to have 10 kids. Two will do just fine," and for the first time in weeks, Alex and Maggie laughed with actual joy instead of bitterness. As the newly reunited couple walked out of the room hand in hand, Alex felt for the first time that there was some hope this Christmas.