2 weeks went by and I heard nothing from Lena. Eventually, I gave up staring at my phone and stopping by L Corp. I decided to immerse myself in my life as Kara Danvers, the reporter, and Supergirl. It felt great to have Snapper actually praise me about my articles and saving people helped me work through the emptiness I felt when I was alone. Maggie and Alex were extremely supportive and stood by my side. They would always invite me over to dinner, or lunch, or even breakfast. James, Winn, and Mon-El always invited me to game nights at the bar. And I would always go to them. I knew I was loved, and I wasn't going to pass on my family.
Winn, Mon-El, and I were watching Revenge of the Sith one evening. The movie ended and Mon-El went to clean up the kitchen from dinner. Winn yawned and stretched before flipping the tv to the news. I watched the screen and my jaw dropped in shock. Breaking News: Otto Binder Bridge Collapsing as Explosions Threaten Stability flashes across the screen. I could see the wires straining and the once level deck was buckling and jerking. I pulled on my suit and raced over to Otto Binder Bridge. The sun blinded me as it was about to dip below the mountains. I squinted and sped over to the twisting bridge. I landed down on the center of the bridge and the deck swung like it was following one huge wave after another. I saw a car that was on the deck, teetering ever closer to the edge. The people screamed as the car caught some air and finally fell off. I raced after it and flew it back up to the secure part of the road just before it turned into the bridge.
I continuously flew around trying to evacuate people from the bridge. I landed back down after moving a truck to safety when another explosion rocked the bridge. All the lights went out and the entire bridge went dark. I focused and saw that the deck in the center of the bridge finally gave out. A school bus was about to fall into the hole where the road used to be. I grabbed the back of the bus and pulled it away from the hole. The kids inside the bus cried out in relief. "Everyone stay seated. It'll be okay, just hold on." I commanded as I lifted the bus back to the end of the bridge.
After I placed the bus back down, I could hear the metal groaning as the bridge continued to flex and bend more freely due to the break in the deck. A bunch of empty cars fell into the water like dominoes off the bridge. I scanned around one more time to make sure that everyone got off the bridge in time. There, in the center of the bridge, I saw a man clinging to the concrete tower. I rushed over to his side. His eyes were slammed shut and he gripped onto the wall desperately. "Sir, reach out to me, I'm here to help you." I stated. Another explosion rocked the bridge. "NO!" He held the metal supports on the wall tighter.
"It's going to be okay. All you need to do is reach out, I will get you to a safe spot." He opened one of his eyes and looked at me. "I-I can't." He stated. "Yes, you can. Everything will be fine." He looked at me for an extra second, debating with himself. "O-kay." He began to reach out when the deck under me collapsed. He immediately flinched and pulled back. "OH GOD I'M GOING TO DIE!" I jumped up and floated above the spot where I just was. "No, you won't. It'll be okay, you can trust me."
He shook his head. "NO! I can't!" He cried. "I promise. You'll get back to safety." The bridge groaned again as it swayed unnaturally. The man whimpered as the tower started to lean. "You promise me?" He asked quickly. "Of course." I held out my hand and he reached out. I grabbed on and he let go of the wall. I held onto him tightly as he cowered into my shoulder. I flew back to stable ground and placed him down.
He immediately went to his knees and clutched the ground as he cried. The man looked back up to me. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I nodded at the man. "I told you, you can trust me." I smiled at him. EMTs rushed to the man's side. I looked over to the survivors and saw that the emergency responders were taking care of them. Another explosion and a metallic whipping sound cut into my concentration. Kara, you need to think of something, fast. The bridge is about to collapse into the water. If it does that, then more than 35,000 tons of concrete and 7,000 tons of steel will plummet into the bay. That on top of all the cars that are also on the deck. It'll cause its own tsunami and destroy a good portion of the city. And let's not mention all the oil and gas that are inside the cars. It'll destroy all sea life inside the bay, and the ocean surrounding National City. Winn reminded me.
I flew under the bridge as I saw the stiffening girder about to snap away from the abutment. I pushed it back and used my heat vision to melt it back into place. I flew back up to the deck and saw a few cars that had caught on fire from the explosions. I rushed over to them and used my freeze breath to extinguish the flames. I hovered in the center of the bridge as I thought that the worse was over.
Suddenly, I heard another noise that sounded like a metallic crack of a whip. I was thrown out of the sky as pain struck my back and something wrapped around my body tightly. I cried out in pain as I crashed into the water and the air was knocked out of my lungs. I gasped in shock and took an unexpected breath of water. Kara are you okay? Can you hear me? My throat burned as the salt scratched at my vocal cords. The water around me turned dark as I realized that I was bleeding. The salt dug into my open wound on my back like a fire.
I pulled myself out of the entanglement and pushed out of the water. I landed back onto the deck and gasped for air as the water left my lungs. I glanced around and found the culprit of the attack. It was the suspender cables that were snapping left and right. It must've caught me off guard and wrapped around me. Kara? What happened? "I'm fine Winn. I was just caught off guard by the suspender cables. What do I do? They're all snapping."
Umm, there's nothing much you can do. The bridge is about to give way. The only thing you can do now is to get ready to stop a tsunami. I scoffed. "You're kidding, right? How in the world am I supposed to do that?" Winn started to talk into the comm, but I ignored him as an idea came into my mind. I raced around the bridge, moving all the cars away from the high stress points. I was carrying a car when another cable snapped. I heard it break, and I anticipated it, but one of the smaller wires still caught me. I cried out again as it tore through the suit. Kara! What are you doing?
"What does it look like?" I asked through clenched teeth. The car above me wobbled as pain coursed through my body. I used my heat vision to detach the wire from the bridge. As I placed the last car, the bridge seemed to calm down. The deck stopped twisting and crumbling into the ocean. I used my heat vision to strengthen the frayed wires and cracked metal.
I took a breath and scanned the bridge one more time before flying weakly back to the DEO. Winn and Alex rushed to my side and helped me to the med bay. Winn cut off the wire that was still wrapped around me while Alex got Dr. Hamilton.
"You're lucky you have fast healing Kara." Dr. Hamilton stated and picked out the fragments of metal from my skin. "I don't feel very lucky right now." I deadpanned. "Are you kidding? Do you know how thick those cables are? They're steel wires inside a steel casing secured by steel clamps. They're crazily strong and thick!" Winn prattled. "Yes, Winn, I think she gets the point." Alex stated as she watched me. We all sat in silence for a few minutes.
I flinched as Hamilton pulled a piece from my skin. I looked over to my discarded suit and up to Winn. "Hey, I'm really sorry about the suit." I apologized. "You don't need to be. I can make another one. I'm just glad that you are okay." Winn smiled at me. "Thanks." I stated and smiled back. He had a creative gleam in his eye. I saw Alex shift her weight and cross her arms in the corner of my eye.
I looked over to her and raised my eyebrow. "Something-ow- wrong?" I asked as Hamilton pulled another piece of metal. "Why didn't you listen to Winn when he said that the bridge was going to fall?" She asked.
"Because I wasn't just going to give up. I knew that I needed to stop it." I answered. She stared at me. "How? Our resident genius couldn't even figure it out." She stated mockingly and Winn interrupted. "Hey! I am a genius! That's why I'm here." His eyebrows furrowed after a second. "But yeah, how did you?"
"Lena. She had plans to update Otto Binder Bridge a few months ago. I helped her look over the plans before she brought it to the National City Board but they rejected her idea."
"That must mean that Lex must've set those bombs. He probably wants the Board to think that Lena did it." Alex concluded. "Yeah, I assume so." I stated. She looked at me expectantly. "Well, aren't you coming with me?" She asked. I shook my head. "No." I answered simply. "Today took a lot out of me." I added after a few seconds. Alex opened her mouth, and I knew exactly what she was going to say. Aren't you going to defend her? Aren't you going to try to talk with her?
But instead, she just nodded and left the med bay. Winn left shortly after. "Kara, there's a piece of metal that is lodged in your lower back. I need you to lay down on your stomach so I can get it out without tearing more skin. Okay?"
I laid down on my stomach. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I felt Hamilton grasp the last fragment of the metal wire. I heard the door open, but not before Hamilton pulled the metal out from my back. I cried out loudly and squeezed my eyes shut. "Holy Rao." I whimpered.
Suddenly, there was a cooling sensation on my gash. "Like I said, you're lucky you have faster healing, but even with this, it'll take a few hours to heal. I'm putting a disinfectant on now just to make sure that it will be okay. I know it's hardly possible for you to get an infection, but I want to make sure. We can't afford you to be out for long." Dr. Hamilton explained.
She quickly worked and wrapped up my back. I decided to stay on my stomach, as I would imagine that laying down normally would hurt too much. I breathed in deeply and I smelled the disinfectant the med bay used. I started to drift off when I heard the softest voice. "You're okay."
I knew that voice immediately. I wanted to turn around quickly, but my back protested. I bit my lip and turned around slowly. Lena stood in the doorway, hair thrown up in a messy bun, wearing grey sweats and my blue Midvale Academics Club t-shirt.
Her arms were wrapped around her torso, almost protectively. I reached over and pulled a black DEO t-shirt over my bandages and sports bra. "Yeah, I am." I answered. Her green eyes studied me carefully. I easily stared back at her, watching her gauge me. The tension in the room was high and I could hear her heart pounding. She took a step forward. "I saw you on the news. With Otto Binder Bridge." She started.
"Yeah. I'd imagine so. The bridge was collapsing." I stated blandly. Lena swallowed and took a breath. "I was worried. It looked like you were really hurt. Especially after the suspender cables started snapping. And after the lights went out, I couldn't see you anymore." She explained. "Well, I'm alive." The med bay fell into another tension filled silence. Lena broke it again after a few more seconds of watching me. "I-I read your articles. They were amazing." She complimented. "Yeah. They were good. Snapper said so. We celebrated." And you weren't there, I wanted to add, but instead, I took a breath.
She frowned and took another step to me. "Kara-" She started, but cut herself short. She bit her lip and looked away from me. I exhaled quickly and decided to pull the band aid off. "What are you doing here, Lena?" I asked.
She seemed to shrink under my gaze. "I-I came here to apologize." I bit my lip, but stayed silent.
"I should've done something. I shouldn't have locked you out. I should've listened to you. I should've responded to your texts, your attempts to get into my office. I should've let you in after you came to talk to me. I realize that I made a major mistake, and I don't blame you if you won't forgive me."
Her voice cracked and I saw a tear fall down her face. "I don't even think I can forgive myself. I acted selfishly and I hurt you in the process. And I'll go, if you want me to, but I must say something first." She took in a brave breath. "I didn't answer you because I was afraid. I'm afraid that if you stay with me, I'll kill you bit by bit. That's what I do to those who love me. Why, I'm not sure. But how can I offer anything to you? You can literally touch the skies. You'll soar high and I'll just drag you down. That's how it is with me. I've never felt loved, ever. Not with my mother, my father, or even Lex. I was just- there." She turned away from me.
"I'm afraid that I can't give you the same amount of love that you offer me I want to be with you. But, I'm afraid. I'm afraid to be happy. Because, when I do get to be happy, something always happens that strips away any sense of joy. I feel like my life is sucked into a black hole and I have to start again." She turned back around, her eyes red. "And I just got you, Kara, and I don't want to start again. My heart can't take it if I can't have you. You are my life. I see that now." She finally finished. Her eyes searched mine, hoping. I looked away from her eyes.
"You can be angry at me forever. I'll stay out of your way." She added, almost inaudibly.
Hey guys! So as some of you may know, and may even celebrate, that this Thursday is Thanksgiving. Which means bouncing from one side of my family's houses to the other all in one day(which is extremely tiring). And of course, I have a tournament for my basketball team the day after Thanksgiving until next Monday, so I highly doubt that I will be updating this coming weekend. I'm so so sorry in advance. If I did update, it would probably be extremely short and I don't want to cheat you guys because you're the best readers ever! Anyways, thank you all for your reviews and I guess I'll see you guys in the next chapter. ~Raya Kor-El