Again, thank you so very much for the favs, follows, and reviews they are greatly appreciated. Please note that I am not in law enforcement or any medical field and all errors are mine. If something isn't correct and I'm way off base, I apologize. And with that, enjoy Chapter 3!
What Choice Do I Have?
Chapter 3
There's silence in Cat Grant's office after she let out a blood curdling scream watching her Supergirl, her Kara disappear off the screen. Leaning against her desk, she slides to the floor with her hands over her face and she begins to sob. James, Winn and the rest of the staff outside her office are dumbfounded and no one has moved.
"MOM! MOM!" Carter yells coming off the elevator.
"Oh no, what am I going to tell him." Cat whispers. She gets up off the floor, wipes her eyes and turns toward a running Carter.
"MOM! Is she okay? I saw it downstairs. Did they find her? Please Mom tell me she's okay." Carter cries as he runs to his mother's open arms.
"I don't know darling, I haven't heard anything. I'm sure they're all out looking for her." Cat says rubbing Carter's back trying to soothe him.
Looking up she sees James and Winn standing still looking at the monitors in shock.
"James, Winn?" Cat calls out to try to bring them out of their stupor. "James, is there someone you can call to find out if she's okay?" Cat asks.
"I... I can try Lucy, I'll be right back." James says as he leaves the office needing a moment to be alone.
"Winn, are you all right?" Cat asks sincerely. She knew he had a crush on Kara even though she just wanted to be friends. Cat was pleased that he didn't try to pursue Kara after she turned him down. Cat didn't really want to fire him because of it.
"I'm... I'm just going to wait with James to see if he hears anything. I'll let, we'll let you know if we hear anything." Winn says quietly leaving the office with Cat holding a crying Carter in her arms.
"Carter, why don't you go sit out on the balcony, I'll be right out." Cat says quietly to her son.
"Ellie!" Cat calls out with a broken voice to her assistant.
"Y...yes Ms. Grant?" Ellie asks as she runs into the office.
"Make sure all of our helicopters are out helping with the search. Bring in more pilots if necessary. I don't want us to stop until Supergirl is found." Cat orders as she looks up at the screens. "We need to find her, there's no other option."
After regaining consciousness, Lucy watched Kara fighting the escaped alien on the monitors. When the explosion occurred, she was one of the first to board the chopper in search of her friend.
"Vasquez can you pinpoint the trajectory of the blast? We need to determine which direction they would have been thrown." Lucy asks as she and her agents are flying out to sea trying to find Kara.
"We're not seeing anything up here." Lucy said with frustration, "We didn't see anyone land in the water so where the hell is she?"
"I'm looking at the video of the... explosion, it's..." Vasquez looks down trying to control her emotions. "It's hard to tell because Kara was in a spinning motion when they flew up. She could have been blown any which way. The cameras lost them for a second then the... explosion; it's just too hard to tell."
"I know, Vasquez, I know it's not easy; we're going to keep searching until we have to come in. CATCO helicopters have orders to do the same. We will find her." Lucy says with a confidence she doesn't have.
Switching off her coms she goes back to her headset and tells the pilot to go out to sea a little further. Then they'll go back to the DEO, refuel, and come out again. They were not going to stop looking for Supergirl.
"Where are you Kara? Please be okay please be alive. Please." Lucy whispers.
Darcy Jordan walks through the woods gathering kindling for the fireplace and berries for a snack. Coming off medical leave, she decided to take a sabbatical and get the rest she needs from her work with the FBI. Using her uncle's cabin on the mountain range sixty miles outside of National City has been a Godsend. It's quiet, no one has used the cabin in years, and everything has grown up all around it making it almost impossible for anyone to find. Plus, it's too rugged for most people to hike which was another reason she chose it to get away.
After gathering enough kindling, Darcy grabs a container to get water from the nearby river. Stopping in her tracks after hearing what seemed like thunder she looks up out of habit but doesn't see any storm clouds so she continues down the makeshift path to the river.
Finally making her way to the riverbank, she fills the container with water then pours it over her head to cool off. She begins to fill her container again when she sees something red floating in the water. With the river not being deep, she quickly takes her boots and socks off then wades into the water and carefully makes her way over to the object.
Picking it up she realizes it's a piece of red cloth but nothing liked she'd ever felt before. She looks around to see if there's more of the material. No one ever comes here so she's not sure where the cloth came from but she doesn't find any more of it so she wades back to the river's edge and sits on its bank to put her socks and boots back on. She then fills her container with water and heads back to the cabin.
Stopping after a few feet, Darcy turns to look around again. Her gut is telling her something isn't right and her FBI instincts tell her to look around a little more. It was an uneasy feeling, not as if she was being watch, but more the feeling that something was out there. With her gun at the cabin, she decides to wait and come back a little later.
Most TV stations in National City are reporting that Supergirl is dead, all stations but Catco. No one believes in Supergirl more than Catco, more than Cat Grant herself. After consoling Carter until he cried himself asleep, she covered him up and went back to her office. Straightening herself up Cat goes out to the bullpen calling attention to the employees.
"As I'm sure you have heard from the other stations, they are reporting that Supergirl is dead. Supergirl is NOT dead. They have no clue how to report the news and that is why we're number one. She's not dead; she's missing, most likely wounded, and can't make contact! Catco does not give up or give in. We search until we find what we're looking for and we will find Supergirl." Cat says as she looks around the bullpen at everyone who has stopped his or her work to pay attention to her.
"Do I make myself clear?" Cat barks out.
A chorus of "Yes Ms. Grant" is heard from her employees. "If I hear anyone at Catco say that they even think Supergirl is dead they are fired." Cat looks at everyone with a glare that would make a grown man cry. "Get back to work!" Cat calls out then walks back into her office sitting at her desk holding back tears, praying that Kara is alive and found soon.
Knowing that her speech may have helped her employees rally and keep up with their work and hope that Supergirl is alive, Cat knows that National City needs to give Supergirl a voice, to keep the faith and hope that she is alive and not to stop looking for her. Supergirl, whereever she is needs National City to help her, to find her and to bring her back.
"Winn!" Cat calls out to the IT hobbit realizing she's been using his actual name since the explosion. Something she will continue to do until Kara is found. It is the least she can do, a gesture if you will.
"Y...yes Ms. Grant?" Winn asks as he walks through the doorway.
"I need to you to set up another video broadcast. I need to let National City know that their hero needs them. It's our turn to help Supergirl; I don't want the other papers and stations to take their hero away before its time. The city needs to be reassured and believe in Supergirl, believe she will come back to us." Cat explains.
"I'll get right on it, Ms. Grant. I'll just get the... equipment I need. I... you want it set up here right? Umm...of course! I'll be right back!" Winn says excitedly and runs out of the office down the hall.
Lucy, arrives back at the DEO. Waiting for her chopper to be refueled she walks into the command room.
"Susan any more information as to what direction Supergirl might have been thrown?" Lucy asks walking up to Vasquez and giving her a hug. They all treasure Kara and are worried about the outcome of today's disastrous fight.
"Sorry Lucy there is nothing new. We keep running the videos and calculating what we can but it's unknown." Susan Vasquez points towards the map on the monitors.
"She could literally be anywhere within this 20 mile radius. He couldn't have had just a grenade; he had to have had more explosives on him. And if that's the case I'm not sure if we'll actually find her."
"Don't! Don't you dare say that Vasquez, she is not gone! We'll find her!" Lucy cries out then lets out a heavy sigh. "Keep looking Suz, we'll find her I know it." Lucy says before walking back out to the chopper.
"OK Timmy, let's get back out there and find our girl." Lucy says to her pilot. "There are a few small islands she may have washed up on. Maybe we can get down low enough or even set down on them."
Lucy suggest as she buckles herself in and puts on her headset.
Darcy Jordan is a decorated supervisory special agent of the FBI; she has seen and done many things she wishes she could forget. However, no matter where she is or what she's doing, she could always feel when something was off and ninety nine percent of the time, she was right. Finding that cloth out in the middle of nowhere was not sitting well with her.
Once she got back to the cabin, she grabbed her gun an FBI issued Glock 23, 20-calibre pistol, locked and loaded. She then grabbed a flashlight and her hunting knife. Biting her lip, she looks around the room then grabs her backpack and puts the first aid kit and a blanket in it then walks out back towards the river.
Keeping her eyes and ears open, she slowly makes her way to the river. On the riverbed, she looks around and notices something red a little ways down from her. Stooping down she picks up another piece of the strange fabric. She straightens up and looks around when she hears something towards the woods. Slowly taking out her gun and dropping her backpack on the riverbed, she crouches down and listens for the noise again. "It didn't sound like a bear that's for sure," she mutters to herself. Slowly she stands up and walks towards the woods keeping her gun at the ready.
Walking deeper into the woods, Darcy comes across another piece of fabric but this time it's blue and it looks as if there's blood on it. She stops and looks around then up and that's when she sees it. Something way up caught in the tree about 20 yards ahead of her. Pointing her gun up she walks towards the tree.
"Holy Shit!" Darcy says to herself when she sees a young woman hanging almost upside down, bleeding with clothing barely covering her. The injured woman looked as if she was in a fire or something. Unsure if the girl was still alive, she holsters her gun and begins to climb, slowly making her way up the tree to try to get the young woman down.
Reaching out to feel for a pulse, she hears a groan coming from the young woman. "Okay, so you're alive this is good. I'm going to try and get you down, okay. This may hurt but I'll do my best to get you down gently. Can you hear me, Miss?" Darcy asks quietly.
Hearing nothing from the girl, Darcy reaches for her knife and starts to cut the girl free from the tangled branches and what looks like a cape, the same red fabric she had found earlier. Holding the girl up with her shoulders, Darcy finally cuts her free and is trying to maneuver her over into a firefighter's carry.
Taking what seems like forever Darcy finally manages to get the injured woman into a better position, now seeing just how badly she was hurt. "Shit, what happened to you? I'm so sorry but this is going to hurt, just hold on for me." Darcy says to the unknown woman.
After a slow descend, Darcy makes it to the ground with the young woman. She was badly injured and bleeding profusely. Darcy quickly takes off her shirt and puts it over the stomach wound to staunch the bleeding when she sees the symbol on what's left of the outfit.
"Oh my God, it's Supergirl!"
"People of National City, as you have seen earlier today, Supergirl was fighting another alien who wanted to harm her and this city. As always, Supergirl fought bravely for us, keeping us safe. What happened today was terrifying and what has happened to Supergirl is unknown, but do not give up on her. The agency she works with to keep this city safe has not stopped looking for her and neither should we. We cannot give up on Supergirl; she would never give up on us. She fights for us each and every day and now it's our turn to fight for her. We need to keep the faith that she is alive and will come back to us." Cat implores to the people of National City.
Once Cat is finished the news video, she turns to Winn "Okay, play that on a loop with our phone number running across the bottom."
"Ellie!" Cat yells out to her assistant. "Make sure the extra lines that the phone company has issued us are working. In addition, call in all Catco employees who weren't in today. We need every available person working today and throughout the night until Supergirl is found." Cat barks out.
"Yes Ms. Grant" Ellie replies and is about to go back to her desk when Cat begins talking again.
"Oh and order food for everyone, hot drinks, snacks. It's going to be a long day, Ellie." Cat orders and walks back to her desk.
Needing to get the young woman back to the cabin, Darcy runs back to her backpack and uses what supplies she has to keep pressure on the wound. Lifting Supergirl in a bridal carry, Darcy begins to make her way back to the cabin. Stopping once at the river to give the girl a drink and checking the wounds hoping the bleeding has slowed down some as she rests a minute before continuing.
"Hey there, can you hear me?" Darcy looks down at Supergirl whose eyes are barely open. "My name is Darcy and I'm going to get you back to my cabin and try and patch you up enough to take you to a hospital okay?"
Supergirl only lets out a groan of "no" before closing her eyes and slipping back to unconsciousness.
Finally, they reach the cabin and Darcy quickly lays Supergirl on the bed to administer first aid. The wounds are deep but what catches Darcy attention are the fragments of a glowing green substance. Slowly and precisely, Darcy removes the particles from the wounds to the young woman's abdomen, shoulder and legs before stitching up what she could then covering the wounds with gauze and bandages.
A few hours later after Darcy has thrown out the bloodied clothes and used bandages she is able to take a deep breath to settle her nerves, the adrenalin of the day has faded and she now sits and tries to figure out how she's going to get Supergirl down the mountain to her truck.
Pacing back and forth outside the door, Darcy starts to mutter to herself. "Moving her now would not bode well and possibly kill her before we made it half way. Leaving her alone and going for help is not in the cards either. I just gotta keep her wounds clean and keep her comfortable for a few days and hopefully she'll wake up and we can try something then."
Hearing a loud cry in the cabin, Darcy runs back inside.
"Ms. Grant?" Winn called out to Cat in her office. "We've been receiving a lot of calls about K...uh Supergirl since your initial broadcast but most are crack pots hoping to talk to you or something. The few good leads we've forwarded to the police, the DEO and our pilots."
"I was afraid of that; I'll do another broadcast asking those with pertinent information only." Cat sighs looking back at the wall monitors.
"Do you think that's wise? I mean... the more you broadcast the more false calls could come in." Winn questioned.
"Do I think it's wise? Of course I do! I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't believe so." Cat says to him with a glare, "The people of this city need to do their part and help with the search and if one good lead comes out of hundreds of fake ones then so be it!"
"I know, Ms. Grant, it's hard not knowing, harder still being here and not out there helping to find her."
"You're doing what you do best, Winn right here at Catco. You may not think it but it is. I don't say it often enough if at all but thank you, Winn I appreciate everything you've done especially today."
Winn is a little caught off guard with what Cat just said to him so he just nods his head and goes back to the phones out in the bullpen along with James and other Catco employees.
Cat gets up and goes over to the sofa where Carter is sleeping. She kneels down and gives him a kiss on the forehead. He had refused to leave telling her he wanted to be with her when they got any news about Supergirl and Cat gave in and allowed him to stay.
Standing up, Cat walks back to her desk to write another segment to address those of National City. Hoping this will help find Supergirl and not impede the search with information which is of no use for the officials still searching. Superman had arrived shortly after the blast and has been searching for Supergirl as well. The people who thought they could wreak havoc on the city while their superhero was missing sidetracked him.
"Not knowing what the physical property of the explosive he had or the power of the energy delivery, the fragment projection, air blast, or the high-velocity jet there are so many variables we have no idea where they might be. We haven't found any fragments of the explosives to know what he had on him." Vasquez explains to Lucy when she arrives back to the DEO.
"We've only been searching for Supergirl, I'm not sure if anyone has been looking for the explosives. I'll call the Coast Guard and see if they'll send a few boats out to scan the water for any remnants of the explosives." Lucy replied.
"What did they find at the stadium? Wasn't he setting explosives there before Supergirl caught up to him?" Kal -El asked walking into the bullpen.
"Kal-El!" Lucy welcomes him with a hug. "All they found were a couple of grenades. It was just a diversion to get Supergirl in a one on one fight."
"I'll go out and scan the water for particles, anything to do to help right now. I've flown over the city and areas even out towards the mountains and nothing. I can't feel her either." Kal-El says with his head down.
"Hey, hey she's not gone. I know it I feel it. She's too pigheaded to go out this way and you know it." Lucy says with her hand resting on Kal's arm.
Kal lets out a sigh, "I know I'm sorry it's just so frustrating, we should have found her by now."
"Have you heard from Alex or Hank yet?" Lucy asks Vasquez.
"Nothing yet, we've notified Mrs. Danvers and she's on her way here but she hasn't heard from Alex in days and they haven't been in contact with any of our associates." Susan replies.
"Let me know when Eliza gets here, I'm going out to look for debris." Kal -El states and leaves the DEO.
With Supergirl's head resting in Darcy's lap, she dabs the girl's forehead with a wet cloth. She has a fever and is in and out of consciousness and Darcy is worried she's in shock or developing an infection.
"Stay with me, Supergirl, just stay with me. You're supposed to be invincible how can you have these wounds and a fever?" Darcy asks aloud mostly to herself.
"Sun." Kara croaks out then falls unconscious again.
"What? Son? Or sun? Sun. Why don't I know more about Supergirl? Dammit! Well it's evening and the sun is just about down." Darcy says looking down at the injured girl. "First light I'll have you outside I promise. Just make it through the night Supergirl, just hold on for me." Darcy says then sighs deeply.
The night was a rough one for Supergirl as her temperature continued to rise. Darcy had to make a couple of trips to the river to get more water to try to keep Supergirl cool. With the sun rising, Darcy puts together a makeshift bed in the small clearing outside the cabin. Praying that the sun is what Supergirl meant and that bringing her outside in her condition is the right thing to do.
"Okay Kiddo, this may hurt but I'm going to take you outside to get some sun. You did mean the sun in the sky, right? Please say yes... please say I'm doing the right thing here." Darcy whispers.
Gently lifting the superhero into her arms, Darcy makes her way outside. Slowly lowering her down onto the bed Supergirl's eyes shoot open and she cries out in pain.
"Shhhh Shh it's okay, Supergirl, deep breaths if you can... breathe through it." Darcy pleads with the injured girl.
"Gr..gr..green" Supergirl sputters.
"Green?" Darcy asks. "Green? Do you mean that stuff that was imbedded in your wounds?"
"Gr...green out... need out." Supergirl groans.
"I did! I took it all out. At least I think I got it all." Darcy replies.
Gasping for breath through the pain, Kara slowly moves her arm to her stomach. "Gr...green."
"Shit there's more in there?" Darcy asks worried that that means she'll have to open the stomach wound, and try and find it. "This is not good, Supergirl, I don't know if you'll be able to handle me opening up your wound."
"Gr..een far, sun heaaa.." Supergirl barely gets out before falling unconscious again.
"Green far, sun heal?" Darcy repeated confused, "What the hell am I supposed to do?" She says as she stands up and looks to the sky hoping for a miracle. Taking a deep breath, Darcy goes back into the cabin and brings out the things she'll need to reopen the wound and find the green substance causing this poor girl so much misery.
The sunlight is not enough to see into the wounds so Darcy uses her pen light to see more clearly. Forcing herself to cut away the bandage and the stitches, Darcy closes her eyes with doubt then opens them with sureness. "What choice do I have? I have to help her. Let's do this."