Supergirl landed in the lot near the abandoned building. There were already two police cruisers and an ambulance there. As she walked by the unmarked car, Supergirl was fairly certain it was Maggie's which made sense given who had called her. X-ray vision led her to the people within the building, a tight cluster of emergency response folks with grave faces in the middle of a serious discussion.

"Detective Sawyer!" Supergirl lifted a hand as she raised her voice in greeting.

Maggie gave a little chin nod in response, breaking away from the group and heading to meet the hero halfway. "Hey, thanks for meeting me here, Supergirl."

"Anytime. How are you doing? I didn't think you'd be back at work so soon. You were only released from the hospital three weeks ago."

With a bright smile, Maggie looked around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard. "Yeah, if you could not mention seeing me on site to your sister, that would be great. I'm supposed to be riding a desk for another three weeks, and she's a cruel mistress."

"No problem." Supergirl smiled broadly in response. "I won't tell Alex if you don't tell her the grocery store wasn't out of double chocolate brownie ice cream last night. I ate it all waiting for her to get back with dinner. She got into some argument with the guy at the restaurant where she was picking up our takeout and took forever getting home, so I got hungry and ate it."

"I didn't even know about that."

"You do now," Supergirl said, elbowing the detective while continuing to grin. "Hey, thanks for coming by and checking on Lena. The nurses said you've been by the hospital a few times now. Somehow, I keep missing you."

Nodding, Maggie rubbed her arm. "Yeah, lousy luck there. You'd think we'd have run into each other. You there a lot checking on Lena?"

"Oh, me? Eh, nah. You know. Not…really. Some but…Why am I here now? Why did you call me?" Supergirl asked.

"Follow me, kid. We've got something we'd like you to take a look at, but you should know, it's pretty alarming."

Placing a hand on Maggie's good shoulder and squeezing gently, Supergirl replied, "Maggie, I've seen a lot. You know that. I'll be fine."

"Yeah, uh…not like this."

"Really?"

Maggie nodded. "This is…it's…just try not to inhale. The smell stays with you."

"Well, okay then. So, what is this about?" Supergirl asked. "It's not a Lillian Luthor thing, is it?"

"Not as far as we know, why? Is she still calling you?"

"A few times. It's still the same things. She tells me to stay away from the police, or maybe from certain areas of town. You've gotten the information every time I've heard from her. Could this be from Lillian?"

"We're still piecing this together whatever it is," Maggie admitted, leading Supergirl around a few twists and turns where an unpleasant odor grew stronger. "I got a call from a CI early this morning. I headed down and got some pictures, called in a few more folks and the lab techs. The rate of decay has been astounding. We have no idea what's causing it. Maybe you can tell us."

"Decay?"

As they reached a door, Maggie pulled it open, and the smell hit Supergirl straight on in the face. The hero staggered back, unprepared for the full effected. It was warm, sweet, foul, nauseating and overpowering. It struck Supergirl almost like a physical force and seemed to cling to her. She retched and gagged, the hero falling back as she tried to place some clean air between herself and the offending room.

"Yeah I, uh, tried to warn you about that," Maggie said, coughing a bit as she pulled her jacket over her own face. "Man, I think it's gotten worse. You okay? Hey, kid, you okay?"

"Great Rao above!" Supergirl leaned against a far war, battling against her stomach's contents desires to leave the way they came. "That's foul!"

"Yeah, be warned. It pretty much looks like it smells," Maggie said stepping into the doorway and gesturing for the blonde to follow when the other woman finally made eye contact. "You going to be okay?"

"I…" The hero nodded. "Yes, I just feel like my food wants to do eating but backward."

"Yeah, the smell is pretty nauseating. Try not to breathe it in through your nose," Maggie advised.

"Oh, that's nausea?" Supergirl nodded, grabbing at her cape and pulling it up to protect herself from the odor. "I have no memory of it. I think I'll remember that for a while. Stay food. I can't afford to replace you. Okay, I think I'm a little better. Let's go."

In a far corner, on and partially in what might have been a mattress in another lifetime, was a pile of bubbling goo. The colors went from tan to bright red with several shades along the way. It was thick and popped and gurgled up as if it were slowly boiling. The consistency was not unlike a chili, lumps and all. Solid pieces, mostly white, seemed to be floating around in the stew. It ran mostly the length of the mattress with brown at either end.

"What…? What is…? Maggie?"

"Doesn't look familiar to you?" Maggie asked, her face still pressed into her jacket interior.

Cape pulled over her mouth and nose and pressed closely; Supergirl shook her head. "Oh, Rao no. I've never seen anything like that. It's all bubbly and oozing and…What's that brown fuzz up there?"

"Hair."

"Hair? You mean like…hair?" Supergirl asked, pulling up some of her own hair and holding it out for an example.

Maggie nodded.

Still incredibly disgusted, but now a bit more curious than before, Supergirl crossed behind Maggie to get a better look at the thing on the mattress. She looked up and down the goo, leaning one hand on her knee as the smell, or maybe the thought of this thing, was making her feel ill.

Picking up her hand from her knee for just a moment, the hero pointed from one end to the other saying, "Wait, if that's hair, are these…shoes?"

"Think so," Maggie admitted. "This is the second one we found."

"Second?" Supergirl whipped around quickly, losing her balance and getting caught by the shorter girl.

"Whoa! Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah I…I…I'm not sure."

"You're not sure?" Feeling Supergirl slump into her arms a bit more, Maggie half-dragged the hero out of the room. "Kid, stay with me. Damn shoulder. I need some help over here!"

In less than a minute, Erickson showed up, slipping an arm around the hero's other side so they could help Supergirl outside. Quickly they had her sitting on the end of an ambulance, an oxygen mask held against her face.

When Maggie pulled out her cellphone, Supergirl shook her head.

"Kid, I don't want to do this any more than you want me to. She's going to chew my ass out for being here, but I need to call her," Maggie said.

Pulling the mask away, Supergirl said, "Don't call her, Maggie. I'm fine. I just feel a little woogy. I was just…ooh!"

"What?" Maggie asked. She looked over at Erickson, then pointed at him with a thumb. "Do we need girl time, kid? Should I ask Erickson to give us some space?"

"Hey, I thought I was an honorary lesbian," Erickson argued.

Maggie waved him off.

"It's not like that," Supergirl said. "I was out with the…FBI last week, and they found some unusual radiation readings. When I got around them, I felt woogy. This was like that, only worse, much worse. I think it's Kryptonite."

Erickson and Maggie shared a look of alarm.

After taking a few more drags of oxygen, Supergirl asked, "Okay, what did I miss?"

"Kid, you know how I told you we'd found another one of those goo piles?" Maggie asked.

Supergirl nodded.

"Well, we did a DNA test on the remains. That's how we knew it was a human."

"That's about the only way," Erickson mumbled.

Maggie nodded her agreement. "Anyway, we got a hit in CODIS on the DNA, and it was a local boy. You'll be familiar with the name: Geoffrey Banner."

Supergirl shook her head for a moment, and then her eyebrows shot up and she pulled off the oxygen mask and said, "You mean Banner the guy who was arrested with the girl in the trunk of his car and got off because of some evidence issue?"

Erickson grumbled, turning his head to the side before he spit. "Yeah, and then he went missing. We thought he rabbited, but then we find what looks like a melted pile of his remains. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy if you ask me."

Maggie shrugged and said, "So we got one dead pervert, no love loss on the department's end to crack the case quickly. We didn't exactly raise the red flags on that. We figured it was vigilante justice. Now we've got two…people turned to goo. That's concerning especially if there's Kryptonite involved. You sure it's Kryptonite?"

"I'm sure I didn't feel well, and only Kryptonite has ever made me feel that way. Also, the…FBI found Kryptonite readings in the area where I felt woogy."

"Was it Elm between 2nd and 3rd Avenue?" Erickson asked.

"Uh, that was in the search area, yes," Supergirl agreed. "How did you know that?"

"That's where Banner lived," Erickson explained. "Someone took him from there, and whatever happened to him apparently happened around there."

"Or he made his way back there," Maggie suggested. "Look, Supergirl, I've got to bring the feds into this. My Science Division is good, but we're not equipped or licensed to deal with Kryptonite. Understand?"

"Okay, Maggie. Call Agent Danvers so the…FBI can look into this. Just don't tell her I felt woogy. You know how overprotective sh…the FBI gets."

"Uh-huh. I'll make the call, and you should sit here for a few minutes and just relax, Supergirl. I think dead guy fumes got to your head. Okay?"

"No, I'm fine. I actually need to go to the hospital. Someone's heading home today, and I promised—" As she swayed slightly, a hand rested on Supergirl's shoulder, gently urging her back to her spot at the base of the ambulance.

"You can't fly yet. Give it ten minutes, okay? I'm going to make a call to the FBI, enjoy that gentle feeling of having my ass used as a chew toy, and then go supervise the techs while they gather some evidence. I'll get a uniform to watch over you while you take in the sun and some clean air, agreed?"

Nodding up at Maggie, Supergirl said, "Agreed."

As they walked back toward the building, Erickson cynically asked, "She always pause like that before she says FBI?"

"Speech impediment," Maggie replied. "I'm going to call Agent Danvers of the…FBI and see if she wants to come down and take a look at our latest goo pile. If it is Kryptonite, we'll lose custody of Banner's remains also."

"Great," Erickson said with a sly smile. "Our little lesbian trio can be together again."

Standing on the sidewalk, her jacket zipped up tightly and her favorite Supergirl bandana covering her head, Emily stood staring at the sky. She'd been watching for over fifteen minutes now, but still, no one had appeared.

"Emily—"

"She's coming, Dad."

The man looked down at his wife that sat in the car, both of the adult's eyes soft and pained, before he looked at his daughter again. He tried to reason with Emily again saying, "Sweetie, I'm sure she'd be here if she could, but—"

"She promised," Emily said plainly still staring up.

"I know, sweetie, but she has a lot of important things to do. Maybe there was an emergency."

Her face drifting away from the sky, Emily stared at her father for several seconds before saying, "Supergirl keeps her promises." Then she looked skyward once more.

Looking over at his wife again, he said, "She's stubborn. She gets that from you, you know."

"I know," The woman replied smugly. "Stubborn is why she's going home, so thank you."

With a sigh, the man walked around to the driver's side of the car and got in, starting it up and turning on the radio.

"You don't think we're going someplace, do you?" His wife asked.

"Apparently not," he replied, "But I can at least catch the Angels game while we wait."

It was about ten minutes later, and Emily had gotten excited by spotting more than one bird and airplane above her, when her patience finally paid off. One of the objects streaking above her finally turned her way. It zoomed closer, then slowed as it turned and finally came into focus right before landing before her on the ground.

"Supergirl!"

"Emily!" The hero responded as she ran the few remaining steps to the girl slowing down and stopping. Kneeling, she said, "I'm so sorry. The police called me and—"

"It's okay," Emily said with a broad smile, her hand on the hero's shoulders. "You were just running late. I knew you'd be here. I believed in you."

"Oh you did, did you?" Supergirl replied with a grin. "I'm glad you believed in me. What did I do to deserve that?"

"Easy, you believed in me when I didn't believe in me," Emily replied casually with a head tilt.

"Oh…I…" When the little girl folded into her arms for a gentle hug, Supergirl had to look up to keep in tears that burned along the backs of her eyes. Swallowing hard, the hero turned to her right seeing Emily's mother watching her with a sweet smile. Standing with the child in her arms, Supergirl asked, "Ready for your official maiden voyage?"

"Yes!" Emily replied, squirming slightly. "How high are we going to go?"

"That's up to you. I can go pretty high." Supergirl laughed.

"I want to touch the clouds!"

"Okay, maybe not quite that high. That high is for inside the airplane flying," Supergirl informed the child before turning to the car. "What's your address?" When the mother told her, Supergirl nodded and asked. "Do you mind if we take the scenic route?"

"We're not in a rush," Emily's mother replied. "It's isn't every day you get to fly with Supergirl."

"No, it is not," Supergirl replied balancing Emily on her knee as she pulled the girl's hood over the child's head and tied it closed. "It gets windy up there. Ready for takeoff?"

Too excited to speak, Emily nodded, but her smile made her feelings clear. Slowly, Supergirl launched herself into the sky; the little girl wrapped tightly in her arms. They didn't pick up much speed. The wind and pressure would be pretty severe for the child if they did. Still, even going slowly it felt like blasting through the air at 100 miles an hour to Emily but in a good way. She was on top of the world.

Supergirl flew by Emily's school when the little girl pointed it out. They even hovered outside windows, Emily sitting on Supergirl's stomach and waving to classmates who pointed and stared in amazement before the duo took off again. They stopped off at an ice cream truck to get ice cream, though this was Supergirl's suggestion because "Who doesn't love ice cream!?" They stopped off at a park and played on the swings together for a little while. Finally, they took to the air on the final leg of their flight.

Landing in Emily's driveway, Supergirl said, "Well, this is your stop."

"Home," Emily said.

"Yup, you're home."

"Home," Emily repeated, looking up at Supergirl with tears in her eyes. "I made it home."

"Oh, sweetheart." Kneeling, Supergirl wrapped the crying child up in her arms again, not anxious to end the embrace and not able to keep the tears from her eyes either. When Emily finally stepped back, Supergirl asked, "Would it be okay if I stopped by sometime."

"If you want." Emily sniffed. "My birthday is September 21st."

Pulling out her cellphone, Supergirl entered that date into the calendar. "I'll be here so long as I'm not putting out a building fire."

"Or dealing with an alien invasion."

"Will there be birthday cake?"

Emily nodded.

Smiling, Supergirl said, "I'll invite the aliens to partake in the ancient Earth ritual of the eating of the birthday cake. You'd be amazed at how many situations can be resolved peacefully once you introduce food to the equation."

With a smile, Emily hugged Supergirl again. "Thank you so much."

"Oh, you're so welcome, sweetheart." Looking over and seeing Emily's parents waiting by the front door, the hero said, "I think there are two people who are pretty anxious to see you come home."

Seeing her parents, Emily nodded and hurried over to them, stopping once to turn back and waved goodbye to Supergirl.

Supergirl waved back, waiting until the family was all together before taking to the sky again. She had one more stop to make and one more journey to take with someone. This was a busy day, though this time it wouldn't be Supergirl who would be doing it.

"Good afternoon Kara," Lena said as Kara entered her hospital room. "You're late."

"Traffic."

"Traffic," Lena repeated back to the blonde.

Kara nodded.

"You were stuck in traffic."

Kara nodded again.

"Kara, you don't have a car," Lena pointed out.

"I came here on a bus. Buses get stuck in traffic," Kara said with a shrug.

"Oh, you came here on a bus, did you?" Lena quipped one eyebrow and stared at the blonde.

"Why are you giving the kid a hard time?" Kalia asked handing over Lena's largest and smallest bag to Kara. "Buses get stuck in traffic. If you'd ever seen the inside of a bus in your lifetime, you'd know that."

"Thank you, Kalia," Kara said with a smirk. As Kalia walked over to grab another bag, Kara stuck out her tongue at the woman in the wheelchair.

Whispering so quietly that only Kara could hear it, Lena said, "Don't start with me. I know you flew here."

Kara opened her mouth to reply, but Kalia showed up and handed over another bag and then held out Lena's crutches.

"Oh, uh…" Putting the strap for the bag over her shoulder, Kara managed to get the crutches in the same hand as the small bag. "By the way, there are reporters downstairs."

"Why?" Lena asked.

"Someone must have leaked that you were getting out today," Kara replied.

"It was me," Kalia replied. "They offered me lots of money. You need to pay better, Miss Luthor."

"You told them—!?"

"Kara, she's joking," Lena said with a head shake. "Maybe they're not here for me."

"Kid, get the door," Kalia said as she stood behind Lena's wheelchair.

"My hands are full. They're full of stuff you gave me to carry," Kara replied, holding up her full hands as way of example.

"And mine are full of patient," Kalia replied, turning her hands over on the ends of the wheelchair. "Figure it out."

"I…" Kara sighed, putting down one of the bags and opening the door before picking the bag up again. "There."

"Thanks, doll," Kalia said as she pushed Lena's wheelchair through.

Hurrying after the other women, Kara said, "The reporters are definitely here for you, Lena. I tried to come in the front entrance, and one of them recognized me, and they just swarmed. They started to take pictures and asked me questions about your health. I almost barreled my way through them; they made me so mad. I controlled myself and used a…different…entrance."

Shaking her head at Kara, Lena said, "Smooth."

"Reporters suck," Kalia said.

"Well, these guys did. They were so rude!" Kara agreed. "Getting the story is one thing, but there's no reason to be rude."

"I've never met a reporter that wasn't an asshole. That whole, 'the public has a right to know' thing is bullshit. They're all just a bunch of self-righteous, self-serving, glory hounds," Kalia said as they came up to the elevator. "Kid, hit the down button." When Kara just stared at her, Kalia repeated, "Kid, the button. Hit it."

"Kalia, Kara's a reporter," Lena informed her.

"You are?"

"Yes," Kara replied emphatically.

"Oh." Kalia nodded. "Down button."

"You waited outside my work for me one day."

"That building has like forty stories. Lots of companies rent there. Just use your finger and push. Just one finger. Extend it and push," Kalia urged.

"How did you not know what I do for a living? You've known me for like a month."

Kalia shrugged. "Are you going to hit the down button?"

"I know what you do for a living," Kara pointed out.

"Kid, you come to my work every day," Kalia countered. "You could be the worst reporter on the planet, and you would have figured that out. Now hit the damn down button already. Instead of telling how great you are for knowing what I do for a living, how about acting like you know?"

"I…Lena?" Kara asked as she stared down at the woman in the wheelchair.

Lena shrugged. "Well, I'd push it, but I can't reach it from here. Would you mind, darling?"

"Ugh." Pushing the down button, Kara stood silently refusing to speak again until they all piled into the elevator. "You should call your driver."

"Franklin?"

Kara nodded. "I can find us another entrance without reporters. Let's get you out of here without getting mobbed."

"Why?"

"Lena, they're going to take pictures of you and…" Kara shrugged.

"Is there something wrong with my makeup?"

"No, you look…" Kara eyed Kalia. "Fine. You look fine, Lena. You know everyone will want to ask you questions, though."

"Worried about losing your exclusive?"

"I was a witness. I can't interview you," Kara said with a sigh. "You know I wouldn't care about that anyway. Please be serious."

Gently squeezing Kara's wrist, Lena said, "I apologize. Kara, I'm a public figure. I lost my privacy the day I was adopted. It's not fair, but it's the truth. I don't care if people see me in a wheelchair. It's hardly embarrassing."

"But…" Kara paused, trying to articulate what was bothering her. "They're going to print things about you that aren't true."

"Daily," Lena replied with a laugh. "Kara, if you're going to be my friend, you'll see lies printed about me. Eventually, they'll stop bothering you."

"How can you say that?"

"Because I could read at four, and all these years later, the lies rarely bother me. I'm sorry if they hurt you. If you want me to sue anyone for libel, let me know. I have wonderful lawyers."

"Oh, I've met them," Kara said with a nod.

"Ah, not my finest moment. Sorry."

"Forget about that," Kara said stepping in the way of the doors as they opened. "Are you sure you don't want to take a different exit?"

"Kara, the lies they print don't matter. The truth we know does," Lena replied.

Kara caught sight of Kalia nodding and said, "Okay. If anyone gets out of hand, I'm moving them out of the way. Then they'll have some truth to print about me."

As the blonde stepped away and took the lead, Kalia pushed the wheelchair out and whispered, "You know, you could do worse than her if you did decide you wanted to date someone. I'm just saying."

"Even though she's a reporter?"

Kalia snorted. "To every rule, there's an exception."

Several feet in front of the other women, Kara smiled broadly. She stopped short of the exit from the hospital, the smile falling off her face as she turned to face Lena. "Ready?"

Lena nodded. When they got just short of the exit, she said, "Stop."

"There are a lot of them," Kara said with a knowing nod as she looked out at the crowd of gathered reporters. "We could just—"

"Crutches," Lena said, holding out her hand.

"What?"

"Kara, hand me my crutches," Lena said, snapping up one of her footrests with her foot.

"Lena, no," Kara replied, shaking her head. "This isn't PT. There's no safety rail and no spotter, and your car looks…gosh. It looks really far away."

"Kara, I promised you I'd walk out of this hospital. For better or for worse, a Luthor keeps their word. Crutches," Lena repeated.

"Lena, you don't have to."

"I know," Lena assured Kara. "I'm doing this because I want to. I'm doing this because I told you I would, and I…" Lena's gaze met Kara's and held it for several moments before she said, "Keeping my word matters, but keeping my word to you matters more. You matter. Now, give me my crutches."

Kara waited until she got Kalia's nod before she handed the crutches over to Lena. "I still don't like this."

"Under protest. Understood, Miss—" Lena startled when her wheelchair tipped backward, raising her feet, and then slid forward.

As she looked back, Kalia said, "We can get you five feet closer to the door, Miss Luthor."

Lena nodded. "Thank you. I expect I'll appreciate those five feet by the end of this jaunt." When the chair stopped, she snapped up the other footrest and pushed off the wheelchair arm rests to stand. Slipping the crutches over her forearms, Lena made sure she was steady before taking any steps.

"Kara," Kalia gestured toward the wheelchair. "Stow the luggage here and stay with her. Spot her."

"Oh! Yes," Kara said, quickly putting the bags on the seat of the wheelchair before taking off after the CEO.

As they got outside, Kara found herself taking the lead. Reporters circled, and Kara moved quickly from side to side, making sure that Lena had a path. Questions came at a furious buzz. Lights shone in the CEO's face, and cameras flashed.

One reporter called out, "Miss Luthor, are you expected to make a full recovery?"

Another yelled, "Lena, will you be returning to L-Corp, or turning things over to the board?"

Yet another asked, "Lena, what's your connection to Supergirl? Do you have a comment to her reaction to your being shot?"

Through each question, Lena kept her head high and concentrated on each step. She'd spent a lifetime dealing with this sort of questioning. The reporters continued their barrage, and though Lena seemed unaffected, Kara was nonplussed. The blonde seemed just about ready to get physical with the press of the press when a horn blared, and Lena's driver brought the car closer, causing reporters to flee or be struck. They wisely chose the former option.

Pulling the door open, Kara took one of Lena's crutches as the woman released it to grab the car and lower herself in. Closing the car door, Kara grabbed the wheelchair and luggage from Kalia, stowing it in the trunk quickly.

Holding the other door open, Kara looked at Kalia, but the nurse shook her head and said, "I'm taking my car. I'll need it. See you at the homestead, kid."

Nodding, Kara slid into the car and closed the door, closing out any reporters who tried to snap anymore photos.

Lena and Kara sat in the car next to each other. Palms pressed closely together; both studiously ignored the flash of cameras and the oppressive mass of reporters outside, all eager to get one more image of the stalwart CEO on her way out of the hospital. When Lena's driver had finally managed to maneuver his way out onto the road without making any of the reporters into a resident of said hospital, both Kara and Lena breathed sighs of reliefs.

"How are you doing?" Kara asked, breaking the silence that hung between.

Eyes still closed, a smile ghosted along Lena's lips. "Fine. Tired. If I fall asleep, wake me when we get home, won't you?"

"Home," Kara replied, returning that slight smile, then she managed a strangled, "Sure."

Turning to her side, the CEO opened her eyes and furrowed her brows as she asked, "Kara, are you crying?"

Nodding, the blonde pulled off her glasses and scrubbed at her eyes with the back of one hand.

"But, why? I hope you're not crying over me. I mean, I'm fine. I'm going home and—"

"Don't," Kara said interrupting someone who was a friend but had become so much more in the last month plus. "That's exactly why I'm crying, and I'm going to cry, so don't tell me to stop. You're fine, and you're going home. That's worth crying over. You're going home, Lena."

After several moments of silence, Lena said, "Oh." Gently pulling her hand free from Kara's, she put her arm around the other woman's shoulder and said, "Come here, darling."

Curling into Lena, Kara wrapped an arm around the other woman and repeated, "You're going home."

"Yes, I am," Lena agreed. For the first time since this all began, Lena just relaxed into someone and let herself feel it all, and let herself cry.