Hello there again! This chapter is quite long, and quite intense... so brace yourself! (Also Sanvers never broke up, so they are still together again in this story!)
TWO
CatCo Worldwide Media
"Ms...Ms Grant?" Kara asked disbelievingly.
"Well done Kiera, you can use your eyes properly," Cat remarked. "But, the question remains, what the hell has happened to my building?" Before anyone could answer, Cat walked up to Kara and put her Noonan's coffee in her hands. Kara tried to say something, but Cat cut her off:
"Look!" she exclaimed, pointing to the desks. "These desks are supposed to be in a pentagonal formation, not a basic triangular formation." Cat looked around her, seeing no movement. "Have you lost your ability to hear? Change it!"
The employees scrambled to fix the desks' arrangement as Cat walked into her old office. Lena came forward, warning her that the office was technically property of L Corp but Cat ignored her. Suddenly, as soon as Cat left the main area, everyone returned to their work stations. However, Cat gestured for Kara and Eve to follow her.
The media mogul sat in her chair, examining the armrests. She gazed around, a smile playing on her lips. "Ella!" She said sternly, and Eve raced forward, slightly scared.
"Get me one of those Moon-juice smoothies - I need to wash away the horrible taste of the doorman's perfume from my mouth." Eve scurried off, muttering 'Moon-juice smoothie' over and over again. Kara felt sorry for the assistant; Eve had evidently forgotten what it was like to constantly be afraid of being fired (James had been a rather lenient boss).
"Oh and Ellie, get me a Mediterranean Orzo Salad! With dressing!"
After Cat's demands, Kara found herself in a very awkward situation with her former boss.
"Ms Grant..."
"Oh yes, Kiera. I need to ask you something." Cat said softly, she gestured for Kara to close the door, which she did. "Sit." Kara sat down on Cat's sofa, her eyes wandering around the room. The TVs were playing the news: an assortment of Supergirl's most recent heroic activities.
"How has your reporting been? Or rather, how has your dive been?"
Kara was unsure of what to say. "Good."
Cat sighed. "Kiera, I did not come hundreds of miles to hear you say 'good'. I did not take a break from being the President's Press Secretary to hear you say that your dive into the big, wide world of reporting was simply 'good'. Good is vague. Do you think I got to where I am now by being vague?"
Words could not form in Kara's mouth as she was locked in Cat Grant's intense stare. However, secretly, Kara had missed Cat's little, witty outbursts.
"Um...no."
"Hm. That is agreeable."
"How was-"
Before Kara could continue, she heard sirens. They were far away, but she frowned. Looking up at the screen, Kara's eyes widened as she saw what seemed to be a huge explosion at the National City Airport.
"Sorry, Ms Grant...I...I have to go." Kara said, apologetic as she slowly approached the door, her eyes still on Cat. "James... Erm... He wanted me to help him with the... the magazine cover."
"Yes. Yes, Kiera." Cat said, waving her hand around nonchalantly.
Kara disappeared behind the office door, and Cat smiled.
"Go save them, Supergirl."
National City Airport
A huge ball of fire erupted from the Check-In Area. People flew backward before viciously hitting the ground. The floor was littered with bodies. It was pandemonium. Numerous sounds filled the air to such an extent that it was an orchestra of pure cacophony. One could hear the desperate screams and yells of the injured – calling for their beloved superhero and anyone else that could help them.
A plume of dark grey smoke rose into the air as the airport's alarms blared belligerently. Flames danced across the floors as rubble rained from above.
The explosion had severely damaged the ceiling of the airport, and it was at risk of falling.
Kara flew faster than she had ever done before, feeling the sun's rays on her back as she zoomed past the paper-white clouds.
The Kryptonian was in the airport within the next few seconds, and her heart broke at the sight she saw.
She was too late.
Havoc had been wreaked: there were people scattered across the floor, and the roof was slowly caving in. Smoke billowed and flames flickered. People were coughing uncontrollably as the ambulance crews invaded the scene.
Kara was shocked. How could this have happened? No: how could she have let this happen?
Clenching her fists in anger, she used her freeze-breath to extinguish the flames. Then, she flew around the smoke with insane speed, funnelling the fumes and causing them to rise. The smoke was soon gone. Next, Kara focussed on the most significant problem - the ceiling.
Watching the paramedics rush and assist those injured, Kara flew upward, examining the marred infrastructure. After many boring, but informative lessons in Physics with Ms Bolt in middle school, Kara knew that it couldn't be saved.
Warily moving away from it, Kara used her X-Ray vision to see if anyone was trapped under the huge mountain of rubble. She could see the rough outlines of three people and immediately, she dove forward, her hands easily moving the blocks of concrete and bits of glass out of the way.
After moving a couple of them, she saw a bloodied face. Eyes widening, Kara hastily removed the rest surrounding the person. Their eyes were closed. Kara gently tapped the man's face, but there was no response. Pushing down sorrow and guilt, Supergirl carried him gently to the paramedics. They thanked her and hurried to save the man.
As Kara was looking through the rubble for the other two people, she heard one of the paramedics yell: "We have a pulse!"
Kara sighed with relief.
She had found the second person soon after: a woman who was howling in pain. But now it had been five minutes and she had still not found the third person.
After what seemed like an eternity, Kara found the third one after moving a piece of rubble.
Suddenly, before anyone could react, the ceiling inevitably fell.
Huge boulders rained from the sky as Supergirl yelled vociferously: "Get down!"
The Kryptonian shielded the third person, but screamed in abject agony when one of the boulders crashed onto her leg. Another raw scream was ripped from her throat, but she prevailed and used her cape to protect the third person. Dark spots clouded her blurry vision, and she gritted her teeth. Looking behind her, Kara could see that the rocks had created a barrier between her and the paramedics. They were trapped.
Cursing, she attempted to lift the immense rock from her leg, but alas, it was a futile effort. Kara screamed in anguish, as her attempt caused the rock to shift its weight slightly.
Instead, she set her eyes on the third person.
The sight before her was ghastly.
It was gruesome. The poor soul's face was caked with blood, their eyes half open. Underneath all of the crimson, Kara could see a young face. As Kara moved the rest of the pieces, her heart broke. The person's legs were mangled and Kara gagged as she saw bone. She tried to stay strong. Kara slowly picked the person's head up, and Kara recognised the person as a girl.
Gasping in shock, Kara's eyes widened as she scanned the rest of the girl's body for injuries. A huge flood of melancholy hit her as Kara laid her eyes on the girl's torn shirt – with a huge stone protruding from it.
Kara horrified. This girl was no younger than seventeen yet she was in such affliction.
"Oh Rao," Kara said in a shaky voice. "What can I do to help?"
Her breathing was ragged, and Kara could see the life being drained from her. Before she could ask for help, Kara heard a small voice.
The Kryptonian looked down, seeing two warm, brown eyes. Eyes that were too similar to Alex's. The girl's mouth opened slightly, and from it came a raspy voice: "Supergirl."
Kara fought back tears. She gently put the girl's head on her lap, moving her blood-matted brown hair out of her face. "You're going to be okay. Don't worry. You're going to be okay."
"Am I?" The girl asked, fear evident in her eyes. Her chocolate eyes welled up with tears: "I don't want to die Supergirl. I don't want to die."
"You're not going to die." Kara said with some confidence. Part of her was dubious, but she had to believe. She had to. "What's your name, sweetie?"
The girl smiled, but this caused her to whimper in pain. Kara calmed her down, trying to distract the girl from her anguish. "Claudia." She said softly.
"Hey, Claudia." Supergirl said with a smile. It disappeared as Claudia grimaced, huge waves of pain engulfing her. "Don't worry, Claudia. You'll be fine." However, it felt as if Kara was not trying to convince the poor girl, but herself.
"What school do you go to, Claudia?" Supergirl asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
"National High School. Although, my mum..." Claudia coughed. "My mum and I lived in Midvale until I was ten."
Midvale. A tear escaped Kara's eye. She felt as if she was holding Alex.
"Do you have any siblings?"
"Yeah... My brother, Taylor." Claudia said weakly. "He's twenty-five. He's been caring for me since my mum died of cancer."
Kara gazed at Claudia. This girl had suffered through much trauma in her life and yet still was so brave. After a few moments of silence, Claudia looked up at Kara with her prepossessing eyes. Even in such agony, Claudia remained young and pure and innocent.
"I'm going to die, aren't I?" she said shakily.
"You're not, silly." Kara said, but in her heart she knew otherwise.
Claudia's eyes widened when she saw Kara wince. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. And you will be too. They'll get us out of here."
Claudia offered a small smile. Unfortunately, it was broken by a fit of coughing. Blood erupted from her mouth. The young girl's breathing became slowed as Kara soothed her.
"You'll be fine." Kara said with evident uncertainty.
"You don't have to lie, Supergirl."
Kara looked at Claudia with teary eyes. "You don't deserve to die. You're not dying, Claudia."
"Everyone has to die." She said. Kara was in awe of Claudia – she had made peace with dying despite her age. Kara hated this. Claudia was meant to have her whole life in front of her. And now, Kara feared that the world would lose such a sweet, yet important soul.
"My name's Kara." Supergirl said. She ignored the throbbing of her leg and focused all of her attention on Claudia.
"Kara." Claudia said softly, her eyes wandering. "That's nice."
Her breathing was much slower now, and her movements were limited. Kara couldn't help but cry. It was so unfair. It was so damn unfair. Why did Claudia have to die? What had she done to deserve such an excruciating demise?
Kara could hear the child's heartbeat. Right until the moment it stopped.
Tears were freely falling down Kara's face as she cradled Claudia's lifeless form. The teenager's eyes were still open. She looked as if she had been frozen in time.
A few minutes passed, Kara's crying the only audible sound. Suddenly, light spilled through the rocks, and Kara looked back with ruddy eyes. She saw Alex.
Her sister rushed forward, pulling Kara into her arms. Kara still cried.
Even when the rock was lifted off her leg, she cried.
Maggie emerged from the crowds of paramedics and police officers. She hurried forward, enveloping Kara in a huge hug.
Taylor, Claudia's older brother, was relatively uninjured. He ran to the group of paramedics and DEO agents around the rocks. He didn't care about them, so he pushed through the crowd asking:
"Where's my sister?"
CatCo Worldwide Media
Five Hours Later
The sun was beginning to set, the colours mixing in the fiery sky. The gilt light of the sun was slowly vanishing behind the horizon as darkness plagued the sky.
The time was right. Lena Luthor was in Cat Grant's office. Alone.
The man felt the gun in his hand, before placing it on the table. The table sat on the roof of CatCo. He smiled broadly as he admired his array of weapons before him. Suddenly, he felt a wisp of wind.
Concealing himself behind the table, he saw Supergirl land on the rooftop. He cursed – the explosion he had set at the airport was supposed to get rid of her! Then he would be allowed to kill Lena Luthor without any interruption.
It didn't matter. He could kill the self-righteous Kryptonian with one green bullet. However, what he didn't expect was Supergirl to change into her normal clothes in the blink of an eye. She had not thought that someone else was on the rooftop. She had not realised that she had possibly given away her secret identity. Raising his eyebrows, he looked at Supergirl.
The man recognised the seemingly normal woman - it was the reporter Kara Danvers, one of Lena Luthor's friends! He smirked as she disappeared down the steps.
Folly mistake, he chided. He grabbed the gun with the Kryptonite bullet and chuckled.
"A Kryptonian and a Luthor will die today. Oh, how wonderful tomorrow will be."
Cat Grant's Office
Lena had watched the whole thing. She was speechless.
The elevator pinged, and from it, came Kara Danvers. Lena darted to her. "Kara!" she exclaimed, "where the hell have you been?!" Worry was evident in her voice. "I thought you had been caught up in the explosion!"
"I'm fine." Kara replied emotionlessly, pushing past Lena.
Lena frowned: her usually bubbly friend looked like someone had run over her cat. "No! Kara." She insisted, catching up to her friend. They were creating lots of commotion, but luckily it was dusk and most of the employees had left the building.
"I…I just need to pick up my file on the Sprites drug gang story."
Lena seized Kara's arm. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I'm fine!" Kara yelled with annoyance. "Leave me alone. Please."
"Kara." Lena said strictly. "I know when you're not okay. Come on, tell me."
Lena lead the reporter to her office and Kara reluctantly sat down on the sofa. "You know Ms Grant's going to freak out about you using her office."
The CEO smirked. "Technically this is my office."
"Technically, this is Cat Grant we are talking about." Kara managed a smile as she said that.
"What do you mean she wasn't helping you with the magazine cover? James!" A distant voice said. Kara's eyes widened when realised that particular voice was Cat's.
"Oh no." She muttered under her breath. "I'm so screwed."
"I tell you Ms Grant, she wasn't with me." That was James' voice. They were getting closer.
"Lena." Kara said seriously. "Hide me."
Lena laughed. "Sorry, Kara, this is all you."
Kara grumbled. James and Cat opened the door to the office and came in. Cat looked extremely vexed. James made an 'I'm sorry/I can't really do anything/Oops I messed up' face to Kara.
"Kiera! What on God's good Earth have you been doing for the last five hours?!"
Kara cleared her throat, "Well, Ms Grant..."
Before she could finish, the lights went out.
Suddenly, a voice boomed from the speakers, and a wave of terror engulfed the four people. They stood at a complete standstill.
"Welcome to CatCo, my friends. Or should I say... welcome to your tomb!"
TBC...