Author's Note: Once again, SORRY! But life – UGH! I had to split this because it was too long (again!) so (hopefully!) if you're all good I'll post the next one in a few days... Deal? Love ya all and please forgive the mistakes (also have fun with Google Translate and if you do speak Russian please don't hate me) ok lol bye
Kara fulfilled Lena's wish and brought her home, exactly six days, four hours and eleven minutes after Lillian's life-altering visit to the DEO.
Alex and Eliza gave them the all-clear after endless warnings and all sorts of tests to make sure it was safe for Lena and the babies to leave. Eliza would visit every two days to check on them and Lena had made a few phone calls to make sure Jess, Natasha, and Jonathan made her penthouse baby-friendly before their arrival, including stocking one of the rooms with state-of-the-art medical equipment to care for the children at home. Of course Jess had lots of questions, but, ever the professional, she just did as was told and kept her bewilderment to herself.
It was a strange experience for everybody. They should have been used to strange by then, but apparently, there was always something new.
For example, Lena's place was not what Kara had imagined.
And of course she felt beyond guilty when she set foot on the penthouse and saw that all the misconceptions she had created in her mind were terrible clichés.
For a long time, Kara had kept her curiosity at bay when their friendship was still a pleasant surprise and they were both taking baby steps towards trust and familiarity in each other's presence. Lillian's despicable plans had cut short all that, and although Kara knew Lena's address by heart, she never dared to break in, even when the guilt, the loneliness and the desperation of all those months without her were taking its toll on her sanity, craving any sign of Lena, any tiny, minuscule hope that she was still alive, any reminder that she was not gone.
In Lena's absence, she used to fly by the penthouse, listening, foolishly hoping to hear the heartbeat she had memorized from their first meeting, only to be welcomed by emptiness and silence.
All those feelings came back flooding when the doors of the private elevator led them into Lena's hall, an open concept of white walls that lead directly into the penthouse's living room, twice the size of Kara's entire apartment.
Then again, Kara didn't have much time to brood over the past, because Lena's personal entourage was ready to give them a warm welcome.
A tall, elegant blonde woman in her late 60s approached Lena rambling things in Russian. Behind her, Jess and Jonathan remained professional and collected, but Kara could see Jess' eyes watering when she caught a glimpse of the twins in their portable bassinets. Luckily, it was Kara holding them while Colonel Natasha Terranova tackled Lena Luthor with a crushing hug.
Meanwhile, Kara had a moment to take in her surroundings. Lena's apartment was predominately white, yes: white walls, white furniture, very Feng shui, spacious, well-lighted by wide picture windows that lead to a front terrace three times bigger than the one at L-Corp, two white couches forming an L (why, of course!) in front of the fireplace and TV… It reminded Kara of Lena's office, actually, and the fresh bouquet of plumerias on the kitchen isle made her smile to herself. So it wasn't Lena's own Fortress of Solitude as she had thought it would be, and Kara would've been tougher on herself if she hadn't been so awestruck by the way the light of day showered every corner thanks to the big balcony (Kara was beginning to wonder if Lena had a thing for balconies, and some part of her hoped it was a Supergirl-influenced feature). One could argue that it still had the same energy as an impersonal CEO office, but Kara could see there were boxes tugged on a corner, labeled with words like "Vinyls" and "Classic Books, IV" and she couldn't help to feel intrigued. Sadness hit her as Kara realized that Lena must've been in the middle of unpacking when Lillian took her.
Jess approached her slowly while Lena was still trapped in Natasha's over affectionate arms, and a shy smile appeared on the corner of the assistant's mouth.
"Hi, Miss Danvers. It's so good to see you."
"Oh my God, Jess! It's been such a long time."
Kara gently placed the babies' bassinets on the floor to take a step forward and reach out to give Jess a sincere hug, but the assistant already had her hand out to go for a polite shake.
Kara shook her head, she was having none of that.
"Oh, no, gimme a hug! And please stop calling me Miss Danvers, I'm Kara from now on."
Jess blushed like a teenage girl and awkwardly held out her arms to receive Kara's body.
Kara whispered "Much better" and Jess couldn't help but smile. When they broke apart, Lena was waiting for her turn.
"Hello, Jessica," the young Luthor greeted her assistant, a closed-lip smile on her face. Kara wondered if Lena's impenetrable professionalism knew any limits because it was amazing to watch her metamorphose into Lena the CEO, as she tried to contain her emotions in front of her assistant. Jess, however, had shimmering eyes, trembling hands, and the only way she refrained from bursting into tears was by avoiding eye contact with Lena, even though they hugged and Lena even gave her a quick, affectionate peck on the cheek.
Jess stepped back and everyone in the room politely ignored her sniffles. Lena went on to greet the tall, imposing man in his late thirties wearing a black Armani suit.
"Jonathan Andrew Essen." She said with a smug smile on her face.
He mirrored her in every way.
"Lena Kieran Luthor."
They looked at each other for a brief moment as if they shared a secret no one else in the room knew, and Kara found herself strangely uncomfortable by the way they shook hands knowingly, not letting go while they spoke.
"It's been such a long time," Lena sighed, lifting her free hand to amicably touch his elbow. Kara gulped.
"Last time we saw each other I told you that if you ever needed anything, I'd be here. I'm surprised it took you this long," Jon said empathically.
"Well, I knew how much you keep old Bruce in balance so I really didn't want to steal you away from him. The circumstances have changed, as you can see."
"I'm here as long as you need me, Lena. Besides, no one tames Bruce like Alfred, and luckily, he's still around…"
"I'm glad to hear that. Oh, Jon, Natasha… please let me introduce you to my friend Kara Danvers… Kara, meet the dream team."
Finally!, Kara's brain cried and she immediately cringed internally. Where was all this coming from? She was nervous like a teenager who's introducing themselves to the most popular gang at high-school. Get a grip, Danvers.
And she did.
"It's so nice to finally meet you and I'm so grateful for your presence…" Kara began politely. "Lena told me you were the only people she trusted right now and – well, given the circumstances we really appreciate your support."
Colonel Terranova wasn't paying attention, as she was bent down over the babies' bassinets, cooing and gasping and covering her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from waking them up. Kara excused the gesture as she knew the twins were charmers even in their sleep.
Jon nodded respectfully at her and they shook hands solemnly. The reporter forced a smile while guilt sat on the pit of her stomach – Jonathan seemed genuinely pleased to see Lena, they were long-time friends and he had dropped everything to assemble a new security detail for her… Kara shouldn't feel this… uneasiness. It was obviously unfounded.
She was about to ask a polite question about Jon's life in Gotham when Lena chimed in, her tone spiked with the haste and anticipation of someone who hasn't talked to an old friend in a long time.
"Did Bruce give you a hard time about leaving him for a while?"
Jon shook his head and smiled fondly.
"Oh, no. In fact, I think he was kind of proud that you would think of the Wayne Industries security detail as the best in the world. Also, he said something about you owing him an all-you-can-eat dinner at Eleven Madison Park?"
"Ah, we'll make sure to send him some Pizza Hut, then."
They laughed and it all was lost on Kara. Rich people, right?
That was the moment Natasha Terranova chose to acknowledge her despite the irresistible presence of the twins.
Apparently, the Colonel was very tactile… She hugged Kara without a warning and gave her not one, but two kisses in each cheek. Kara let herself be moved around like a rag doll, thankful for years of training how to relax her Kryptonian muscles so she could pass for a human being, and finally, she couldn't help but smile at the woman's impetuosity.
Terranova murmured something in Russian to her, and Kara just stood there, puzzled. She looked back at Lena, asking for help, but only saw her friend frowning and shaking her head at Natasha.
"Um, Tasha? Remember what we talked about?" Lena cleared her throat, trying to gain Terranova's attention. When it seems like that wasn't happening, she turned her gaze to Kara.
"I'm sorry, Kara, the Colonel can be quite affectionate sometimes…" Lena uttered between slightly clenched teeth.
"Now, that's a phrase I never thought I'd hear," Kara chuckled.
But Terranova clearly had her own agenda. She looked in between the two women and clapped her hands once. She finally settled her eyes on Lena, looking rather… irritated?
"Oh, Lena, you, her, deti: beautiful sem'ya!"
Kara made a mental note to download Duolingo or some other app to learn Russian. She could tell it might be useful in her immediate future.
When Lena remained silent and blinked at Terranova, the Colonel only seemed to grow more exasperated.
She went full Mother Russia on Lena, not even a tiny vocal in English. What followed was a rapid exchange between her and Lena that Kara, Jess, and Jon witnessed with a rather polite level of incredulity.
"Она говорит по-русски?" (Ona govorit po-russki?)
"Я думаю, что не" (Ya dumayu, chto ne)
"Но ты идиот, она очень красивая!" (No ty idiot, ona ochen' krasivaya)
"Не делай этого, это грубо" (Ne delay etogo, eto grubo)
"Ты глуп, она идеально подходит!" (Ty idiot, ona ideal'no podkhodit)
Idiot!, Kara thought kind of triumphantly, there was the word idiot in Natasha's mouth, no doubt about it. But all the rest just sounded to her as unintelligible as Old Krypto-Daxamiam.
"Стоп, мы будем говорить позже. На английском языке!" (Podozhdite, my pogovorim chut' pozzhe. Na angliyskom yazyke!) It was clear that Lena was annoyed now, but she forced a smile as the exchange seemed to be coming to an end.
But the Colonel, of course, had the last word.
"Вы можете быть уверены, что мы будем говорить позже, мисси!" (Vy mozhete byt' uvereny, chto my budem govorit' pozzhe, missi!)
Kara noted the end of Natasha's phrase sounded like a reproaching "missy!". Anyway, she was pretty sure the Colonel had used "idiot" several times and she really hoped they hadn't started off with the wrong foot because she couldn't think of a damn good reason why Natasha would be insulting Lena. The Colonel stormed out of the room muttering to herself, but Lena seemed unworried so Kara just raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips at her friend.
"This is you getting back at me for speaking – uh… my mother tongue to the babies, right?" Kara tried to ease the tension, although she seemed to be the only one uncomfortable because Jess was staring blankly at the walls and Jon… he just stood there. As if he was the wall. Perhaps Kara wasn't trained as they were in the subtle art of discretion. She was a journalist and had super-hearing, after all, hard to develop that skill by now. "Uh, what just happened? Did I do something wrong?" Kara said to Lena with a shy smile. "And how many languages do you speak?"
Lena just smiled back, reassuringly.
"A few. I'm sorry, Kara. It's just it's been a long time and Tasha here was just telling me about –"
"My family!" Natasha appeared literally out of nowhere to put an arm around Kara's shoulder. Few people could sneak up on a Kryptonian, and Kara was beginning to understand why Lena thought an ex-KGB agent would be the best nanny ever. "I was explaining how my son is an IDIOT…" Natasha shot a glance in Lena's direction to then look back at Kara with a smile that showed a few golden teeth, "…because he lets all the good girls go and keeps only the bad ones."
"Oh." Kara could only mutter that word. From the corner of her eye, she could see Lena rolling her eyes. Living in this house was surely going to be interesting.
"Let's go, Miss Danvers."
"Kara, please."
"Miss Kara, da."
"No, I meant–"
There was no arguing. Kara looked back for a second while Natasha pushed her in front of her in the direction of the hallway. The Colonel took the babies' bassinets, one in each arm, and refused Kara's help, vigorously shaking her head.
"Let's go settle the deti, da? You'll see, they have a beautiful room. We have everything, everything." When Kara glanced back at Lena again, unsure of what to do, Natasha wasn't having it. "You can chit chat later, yes…You, me, deti, diapers! Come, come, Miss Kara!"
And so Miss Kara complied, but not before narrowing her eyes at Lena, who waved happily at them. Too happy.
Yes, their new life was going to be definitely interesting.
National City. Earth-Y.
L-Corp Building Research Lab
(Ground 0)
August 8th, 2042.
The firing of the cannon had created a temporary quantum singularity so it couldn't be called an explosion, per se. Most buildings were intact, and the only sign of the death and destruction that had struck the city by surprise two months ago was just… silence. The unbearable silence of a city once brimming with life, now condemned to be a memory inhabited by had cleared the downtown district for survivors and their families to come back and collect their belongings only a few days ago. There were no nuclear residuals, no radiation, no significant structural damage to the buildings, not even any physical proof of the Anti-Monitor's attack since his equipment and his minions had burned out in the sky. There were only empty cars and silent streets. It was unclear what had happened to the Anti-Monitor himself, but most hoped that he had been sent straight to to the nature of the singularity, there were no bodies to bury, no remains for the families to mourn, so accepting they were gone was hard for many people, stuck in denial, lost in their pain.
Alex Danvers knew this, but that was exactly why she had agreed to drive her nieces and nephew back to the place where the memories would hit them all, unforgivingly. For Alex knew Kara and Lena would have wanted their children to say goodbye, to understand the impossible choice they had faced: sacrifice National City and in doing so, their lives, so Earth could have a shot at survival… or hold on to naive hope and probably doom Humanity to extinction. Had she been in their place, Alex would have made exactly the same choice. Still, she could understand why Luna, Liam, and Addie were having trouble coming to terms with the fact that their parents had sacrificed everything in order to save them, and Alex had to be the voice of reason now they were gone. That's why she had agreed to take them back to ground zero, she really needed to make them understand Kara and Lena had not abandoned them: they had died protecting them because they loved them above anything else.
The lab was a shadow of what it once was. The dome was open, as Lena had left it before joining the battle, and the sounds of chilling air made the place look even more battered. Luna and Liam stepped in quickly, trying to turn on Lena's computers and equipment, looking for – what? Alex didn't know. Answers, perhaps. But she knew they wouldn't find them there. The answer was that a parent's love knows no limits, and if they hadn't understood that by now, they wouldn't understand it by raking up their mother's files.
"Auntie? It's so cold."
A tiny whisper drew Alex back to reality, and she quickly turned to her younger niece, who was shivering and hugging herself over the sleeves of her National City Lakehawks sports-sweater.
"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. Here, take my jacket."
Alex kneeled in front of her niece and put her leather jacket over the shoulders of the eleven-year-old. That's when she noticed she was sniffing.
"I miss them."
Alex's heart broke in a million pieces.
"I know, sweetie. Me too," she said, failing to conceal the lump in her throat.
Alex took Addie in her arms and hugged her closing her own eyes, trying to keep herself from crying. She put her hand around the girl's head, caressing her beautiful, short dark curls and fighting her own breakdown. It was the last thing they needed now, and she had to be strong, for them, for what was left of her family. Lost in her own thoughts, the former black-ops agent didn't notice how her niece's body went still and the cold air of the morning shifted with electricity.
"And I hate them," Addie whispered, her voice absent and colder like Alex had never heard it before.
The now grey-haired woman stepped back and looked her niece in the eye, frowning.
"Adele Lucille Danvers-Luthor, what did you just say?"
Addie's eyes began to glow with a purple tint, so did the Phorian birth-marks in her temples.
"They should be here," the little girl yelled while the papers and machinery around them began to make circles in the air. "Why did they leave us?," Addie cried, "I want them to come back!"
Before Alex could blink, Liam and Luna appeared by their side. While Liam flew his aunt away from harm's way, Luna tried to calm her little sister, though she had to raise her voice above the shifting air and flying papers.
"Addie, I know you're hurting, we all are! But Mom and Ieiu wouldn't want you to hold on to this hurt. They loved us, little sis, and that love won't die, no matter what."
The ground beneath their feet began to shake as Addie's body levitated. Her big sister's words only seemed to fuel the girl's grief.
"How can you say that? They're dead! They can't love us if they're dead!"
The air around them increased its speed and, had she not been a super, Luna would have been blown away by its force. Supergirl kneeled in from of her Phorian sister, trying to keep her balance.
"They did it to save us–" Luna yelled, trying to break through her little sister's pain, but Addie was not listening.
"No, they abandoned us!"
Tears ran down the girl's cheeks, and Luna grew anxious.
"Addie, stop! You're gonna get hurt! You're gonna hurt Aunt Alex!"
"I want them back! I want my Mom and my Ieiu!"
Luna looked behind her to see Liam protecting Alex with his body, his eyes concerned and shocked. Alex was holding tight to Liam's waist, trying to stay on her feet.
"Sing to her!" Alex yelled, suddenly.
Both Liam and Luna frowned and exchanged confused looks.
Alex shook her head, now grabbing on to Liam's shirt for her life.
"Sing to her, like Kara used to do with you both when you were little!" Alex explained to Liam, then she patted him on the back and pushed him away, "Go!"
Liam nodded and flew to Luna's side, Alex already on the ground holding on to the heaviest table around.
"Loo!" Liam shouted, "remember that tune Ieiu used to sing when we were upset?!"
Luna scoffed at her brother.
"You mean the motherfucker Danvers classic of all classics?!"
Liam pointed at Addie and nodded.
"She used to sing it to her too, to calm her down!"
Luna's eyes went wide with realization, and she nodded back at her brother.
Liam and Luna gently floated around Addie and flanked her. They locked eyes and Liam gave the signal…
"Ok, you go high, I go low… on one, two, three!"
And the Danvers-Luthor twins began to sing in a beautiful harmony that missed the voice of their Ieiu, with whom they shared a love for music and classic movies.
As they circled around Addie in the air, approaching her carefully to rock her back to reality with their voices, Alex watched, mesmerized, feeling her sister's presence in the room with them, in every note that came out of Liam and Luna's throats. Kara might be gone now, but every part of her lived on in her kids.
"Moon River, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style someday
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way…
Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend,
Moon River, and me."
The song worked.
It touched something sacred deep within Addie's brain, the place where she stored memories of tenderness, the warmth of their home, the love her mothers had shown her since they had taken her in – the happiest days of their lives. The girl collapsed on the ground, exhausted and finally out of her trance. She looked disoriented and scared for long seconds. Her brother and sister reached out to her and tried to calm her down, Luna kissing her temple, Liam holding her hand. Alex finally came to their side, and the girl started crying, ashamed as she realized what had happened.
"I'm sorry…" Addie murmured in between sobs.
Alex took her in her arms and held her tight.
"No, no, no, you listen to me, Adele. This is not your fault. This is not your fault, sweetie, never, just… just let it go, baby. Let it go."
Luna and Liam looked devastated as their little sister wept freely in their aunt's arms. With everything that had happened… none of them had had the time to grieve. They had been so focused on helping survivors, standing tall as Supergirl and Superboy in such a catastrophe, becoming the beacon of hope everybody needed to hold on to… that they had neglected their own family's affliction. Their own pain. They were all hurting, but their little sister didn't have the responsibility of playing superhero for the rest of the world, and they had forgotten that.
Alex shot a quick look in the twins' direction. Guessing their thoughts by the look in their eyes, she just nodded at them, implying they would talk later, once Addie had calmed down. With a sympathetic look, Luna touched Liam's shoulder, and they both went back to examining the lab as Alex rocked Addie, whose sobs were slowly decreasing and becoming long, deep breaths.
Alex held her tighter and whispered reassuring words.
"You're grieving, we all are, and sometimes we snap and we cope in ways we can't control. You didn't hurt anyone. All this – it was the pain, not you. We get it. We love you. None of this is your fault." Alex planted a kiss to the top of her niece's head and sighed.
The girl turned her head to look up. Puffy, red eyes greeted Alex and God, she just wanted them to be safe. She wanted to be able to say some magic words and make it all better.
What would Kara do? What would Lena do? Alex didn't know how they would survive this. But they had to. They would.
"I love you, Auntie."
"I love you too, honey."
Alex's heart broke a little and filled with hope, all at the same time, no matter how contradictory it could be. Love can make you overcome everything, even if it was unthinkable for Alex to keep on living in a world without her sister…
"Um… Alex?"
Luna's hesitant voice called her attention, and Alex just hoped it wasn't more bad news.
She looked up as some monitor screens came alive, and Luna and Liam watched trying to decipher what they were showing.
"Seems like we triggered something… because of the song, maybe?" Luna murmured looking puzzled.
Liam typed some code into the consoles as the lights turned on around them.
"Backup power supply it's turning up on its own…" Liam said. Then, he saw something in the computer logs. "Wait a minute, there's like trillions of hidden data here, what the –"
A low, metallic hum startled the four of them, and a panel on the floor opened up to show what was unmistakably Kryptonian technology: a white data crystal vertically placed on a steel pedestal. Suddenly, the crystal lit up, and from it, Kara Zor-El appeared in hologram form, dressed in a blue ceremonial dress and a golden belt, looking so much as her mother, Alura, with the House of El symbol beautifully embroidered in her chest.
The hologram stood silently, a gentle smile on her face, as if it was awaiting instructions, or as if it knew its presence would shock everyone on the room and it was giving them time to let the situation sink in.
"Ieiu?"
It was Addie's sweet little voice, trembling, hopeful.
"Hello, Adele." The hologram smiled back at her.
It looked so real, it looked so much like Kara. But Alex knew it wasn't.
Alex stood up and took Addie's hand on hers. Memories came back flooding to her as she relived the moment she had shown Alura's AI to Kara… she shook her head and tried not to be swept by emotion.
Alex inhaled deeply and looked down to her younger niece, and explained with similar words to the ones she had told Kara so many years back.
"Sweetie, this is Kryptonian technology. It's an interactive artificial intelligence program that has Ieiu's memories. It's not really her…"
Addie's face looked so sad and disappointed, but the little girl understood immediately.
"Liam, Luna…" Kara's hologram turned its attention to the twins, "I've been programmed to pass on the knowledge and history of our family to all of you. Whatever it is you could ask Kara, you may ask me."
Luna looked at her brother, melancholy painted all over her face.
"Ieiu told us the story, remember?"
Liam nodded and sighed.
"With grandma Alura. She asked for a hug and–"
"And Alura's hologram told her it wasn't programmed for that," the hologram finished for him, then proceeded, "a fault Lena and I corrected in our own version, though I can perform the gesture of hugging but… not having a body prevents me to give you the physical comfort you might be seeking."
"So what's the point, then?" Luna snapped bitterly.
"How did Mom and Ieiu kept this from us?" Liam ignored her sister and looked in Alex's direction.
"I don't know," Alex shook her head, wondering to herself how many more secrets Kara and Lena might have kept to themselves.
"Your mother and I argued a lot about this, politely, as we always did," the hologram explained, attentively. "This is the way of Krypton, but not the way of Earth. There were a lot of ethical implications. Lena thought that, when the time came, you should be able to move on – grieve and let go of the past. However, in Krypton family legacy means everything, so although I agreed with her, I wanted to honor my own family by respecting our traditions. That's why it's only me. Your mother didn't map her memories. That doesn't mean that she didn't leave behind an insane amount of data and recollections of her life…"
Luna was highly skeptical. "But how did the data survive?"
The hologram smiled, "Rao praise L-Corp's cloud storage servers."
"Is there any possibility that some other data might have survived? The blueprints for the accelerator? What about Telle?" Luna asked, a little too anxious.
"I don't know, you will have to go through the data to find out."
Luna groaned, exasperated, and Liam crossed his arms over his chest. He asked a direct question, then.
"How do we undo it?"
The hologram looked puzzled, if that was even possible.
"What, exactly, is what you want to undo, my son?"
Liam didn't pause.
"The Anti-Monitor. Your deaths. How do we bring you and mom back?"
"I'm afraid I don't have the knowledge to answer that question."
"Yes, you do!" Luna cried, her voice a little too loud. "You have Ieiu's memories. Over the years, she fought the unthinkable and always won. She time-traveled to save mom, once." Luna paced around the room visibly frustrated, she turned to Alex then. "She brought you back from twisted realities, Alex, more than once! She defied all odds, and always, always came on top, because she was Supergirl… Superwoman."
Luna closed her eyes, emotion creating an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. Alex couldn't bear to see her like this.
"Loo," Alex began, softly, "I don't think this is the way to–"
Luna shook her head violently and snapped back at the hologram.
"In all those memories… in all those quests… there has to be a way. Search her memories, dig deep, and tell us!"
There was a long moment of silence. Alex didn't know what to say to prevent things from escalating.
Then, the hologram answered, but there was no trace of Kara in its voice this time. It spoke as a machine would: "A moment, please. I'm gathering information online to compare it to my own database."
The twins were anxiously waiting for the hologram to give an answer and they looked as if they were about to fry someone with their heat vision if they didn't get it any soon. And Addie… the little girl just squeezed her auntie's hand tighter, the tables turned now, as if now it was Addie's turn to keep her aunt grounded.
"The Anti-Monitor said he had fought me in other realities, that I almost killed him…" Kara's hologram spoke finally, solemn and grave, "…and he said it wouldn't be the last time. He was also obsessed with hurting me through Lena and my progeny… So you will find him in a reality where you both exist, no matter your age. He's hunting the Zor-El family across the Universe."
Luna rested her hands on her hips in a gesture inherited directly from Kara that they both used when they were upset.
"Well, that narrows down the search," Luna clenched her jaw as she looked to her brother. "It's time for the hunter to become the prey."
Alex almost had a heart-attack. She gently released Addie's hand and took a few steps until she was eye to eye with Luna.
"Hey, hey! What are you talking about?" She muttered to her niece trying not to raise her voice, but she already suspected this was going to be a heated argument.
Luna looked down to her feet and then she took a deep breath, gathering the courage to confront her aunt.
"Wherever he's going next, Alex, he's not expecting us, we have an advantage over him. I mean… he's not expecting us, who have already fought him! And we almost won! We could save other worlds, millions of lives, with the knowledge we have now." Luna's tone was pleading… pleading for Alex to understand, to let them do something.
"Are you insane? I'm not letting you cross realities to go after an unbeatable-dark-matter-monster that wants to kill you both!" Alex scoffed at the nerve Luna had sometimes… then she paced around the room and threw her arms out in the air trying to fucking calm down. She did not achieve it.
"Besides, advantage? You have nothing! You have a devastated city and the pain of losing your parents which is obviously clouding your judgment! What if he comes back to finish what he started? What if you leave for other Universes in search of a chimera, and he ends up here when the planet is at his mercy, huh?!"
"It won't happen," Liam spoked, awfully calm. Alex shot an annoyed look at her nephew, who always kept his cool and applied logic to everything. Luna had Kara's temper, but Liam perfectly embodied the cerebral side of Lena. They're so much like them… so much it hurts, Alex thought to herself, but she quickly had to snap back to reality because after all they've been through, it was obvious that what was left of her family was about to step into danger for the umpteenth time. She needed to prevent it. At all costs.
Alex closed her eyes for a second and rubbed her temple. Then, she turned back to Liam.
"How do you know it won't happen?"
Liam pointed at the hologram in the room, patiently observing the scene.
"Because he's after Ieiu. Now that she's… gone, he will track her down in a different reality."
"That's the most plausible scenario, yes." Kara's hologram added without being queried this time. "It's likely that now that he's fought you he'll attack a Universe where you're still young, infants even. That will give him a physical and psychological advantage over any version of me or your mother."
Alex was about to swear like a sailor and give them all a piece of her mind, but Addie's presence prevented her from going all Badass-Motherfucker-Director-Danvers on their niece and nephew.
"Just by going there, we'll even the odds." Luna chimed in. "Mom taught us everything about parallel universes… quantum mechanics is on our side. She perfected Cisco's devices for inter-dimensional travel, and we'll have everything we need. Long live Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, the Planck constant and the Observer Effect!"
"And Kryptonian strength," Liam added.
"That, too," Luna smiled at her brother and raised her hand in the air for an imaginary high five and that, that was the last straw for Alex.
"Oh my God, would you please stop it you nerds, you frikking pains in my butt?!"
Alex didn't want to raise her voice like that, she really didn't. But sometimes, these two carbon copies of Kara and Lena were too much to handle. And now that their parents weren't here anymore, even though they were adults now… she had to protect them. Even from themselves.
"This is our planet," Alex spoke calmly now, trying to make them see her point, praying for them to see her point. "What's left of your family is here. It's not – it's not our war."
Luna took a few steps forward to take her aunt by the shoulders and speak looking her in the eye.
"Since when? There are other families out there. And we can help them," Luna reasoned. "Would Ieiu and mom have said that it's not our fight? Would they have looked the other way?"
Ah, touché. Alex should've known… there was no way of stopping them. Not with the willpower that ran through their blood.
"No. They'd go, those two stupid jerks would go and try to save as many people as possible," Alex swallowed hard, absolutely defeated. She yielded despite herself. "Just like you two stupid jerks. You're your parents' children, no doubt. I can't fight that. It breaks my heart, but I can't."
"Alex…" Luna began, trying to comfort her aunt.
"I'm just – I'm just sorry I can't protect you, kids…" Alex closed her eyes and fought back the tears. Not here, not now, they didn't need this…
Luna hugged her. And it was impossible not to return the hug and it was beyond futile to resist the urge to close her eyes and imagine, just for a weak second, that it was Kara who she was holding. That her sister was here with them. That it was going to be alright.
When they broke the hug, Luna's eyes were shimmering too.
"You can protect Addie," she muttered to her aunt. "You can protect this planet. Call Clark. Call J'onn. Build a resistance. We… we'll be alright. You know we can take care of ourselves."
Alex didn't have time to scoff in disbelieve or laugh bitterly because her nephew engulfed the two of them in a bear hug.
"And you know we love you, right?" Liam asked.
Alex sniffed and damned her luck for having this family of honorable, unselfish assholes.
"You little shits…"
"Auntie, language!"
The three adults glanced down to discover that Addie had somehow managed to sneak in between them, hugging Alex's waist now. They laugh at Addie's expression of annoyance, and, for a moment, there was no hurt, only family.
"I know, sweetie, I'm sorry," Alex hugged her niece back and they all stood there, enjoying each other's presence, trying not to think about what was coming.
But then, Addie's voice brought them back to reality.
"Loo? Li? Are you abandoning me too, like Ieiu and mom?"
"No, no, Pookie!" Luna shook her head vigorously and kneeled in front of her little sister, turning her around gently so they were eye to eye. "Listen, we'll come back. We're going to find a way to bring them back, or at least… at least we'll find a way to avenge them. Do you understand, little sis? We love you."
"Ok," Addie nodded without giving it much thought, "but please don't die. I don't wanna be an orphan again."
Everyone caught their breath and Alex felt the words like a punch to the stomach.
"Oh, Pookie, no, no, never!"
Luna picked up Addie in her arms and they all engulfed her; Alex ruffled her hair, Liam kissed her cheek and promised to take her out for a flight before they left.
Alex cringed at that. It was really happening. If Kara and Lena were alive, they would kill her. Probably.
Kara's hologram had turned itself off long minutes ago because even an AI knew when to give a family some privacy.
"You better come back in one piece, you hear me?" Alex threatened, never breaking their embrace. It didn't sound much like a threat, but they all understood what she meant. "Or I swear I will haunt you down across realities and I will bring your sorry asses back home in whatever state you're in just to beat you up myself, you hear me?"
Luna affectionally acknowledged the order. "Yep, Director Danvers, we hear you."
Gentle chuckles echoed through the lab and they all felt this was a defining moment, a memory they would treasure no matter what.
After all, they were about to try to undo the impossible.