Life – Part 15

Hey All! Just so you know, this "Life" arc is almost finished. I have maybe one or two more parts left and I'll probably close it off then. Thanks so much for your support and beautiful feedback. It's been fun writing about the Danvers family and sorry if there are any inconsistencies between parts! Superficlets will continue as long as I'm inspired though!

It had been over fifty hours and Lena had barely gotten any sleep. Alex was working with her, tired eyes carefully cataloging results and gloved hands performing test after test.

"Let's try this frequency. I think we might still be too low in the range," the LCorp CEO muttered.

"Mmmm," Alex replied. Then she lifted her head. "You know what? As much as I hate to say this, we need Supergirl to test this for real. We don't know if our readings are completely accurate. We could have solved this already."

"But… it could hurt her," Lena replied, surprised.

"I'm the last person who would ever put Supergirl in danger," the agent said softly. "But there's a lot at stake here. She'd want us to ask for help. It'll be her decision whether or not to give it."

Lena nodded her agreement and Alex tapped the comm device in her ear. "Supergirl, come in."

"Go," Kara replied. She was patrolling the city, looking for crime, but it was pretty quiet.

"Can you come by LCorp please? Lena and I need to talk to you."

"On my way," the hero replied and moments later she was striding into the lab. "Wow, you guys look exhausted," she said worriedly.

"We're ok," Alex said with a smile. "But we think you could possibly speed things up for us."

Kara crossed her arms and tilted her head. "What can I do?"

Alex stepped closer to her. "We need you to test the scattering field for us."

"Oh, of course. I can do that," Supergirl replied with a bright smile.

"If it works, it's going to hurt you," Lena said softly, reaching out to caress the hero's arm. Alex's brow scrunched into a frown.

"It's not going to kill me, right?" Kara replied, slowly easing her arm away.

"No." Lena shook her head. "But your optic nerves will send signals to your brain that are going to hurt like a bastard."

The hero's face sobered. "I know how to deal with pain," she said. "Let's get started."

Xx

Two hours later…

"Ooowwwww… crap!" Kara pressed her hand to her forehead and groaned. She was lying flat on her back on the floor. "Ok, that worked. Good job."

"Wow," Lena and Alex said in unison as they quickly crossed the lab to kneel next to the prone superhero.

"I didn't expect it to be that affective," Lena said in wonder. "It knocked you right on your ass, Supergirl."

"Yes, I know. I was there," the hero replied dryly. With Alex's help, she dragged herself up off the floor and onto her feet, feeling slightly dizzy and nauseated. "If it's even half as effective on Reign, it'll definitely give us a few moment's advantage. We're certain it'll work on her?"

Lena and Alex looked at each other. "As sure as scientists can possibly be with new technology," the agent replied with a shrug. "Certainty is a huge word in our field."

"I get it. So, we're ready for our next step. Thank you so much, Lena and Alex." She hugged each woman in turn and then smiled. "I've gotta go." She met the agent's eyes then. "See you later, Alex."

"Later, Supergirl."

Alex watched as the hero left, leaving a little wave behind. Then she turned to her friend. "So…" She cleared her throat. "You… um… like her, huh?"

Lena chuckled. "Of course I like her. She's a kind and sweet person. Everyone likes her."

"Um… no, I meant… you LIKE her."

The CEO shrugged. "She beautiful, kind and strong… and blondes are my type. But don't worry, Alex. I'm not trying to muscle in on your girl."

The agent shook her head. "Supergirl isn't… mine."

"Well, the two of you do a great approximation of it then," Lena disagreed. "Look, Supergirl told me that she doesn't date and she never lies, which leads me to believe that you're in… something… with her alter ego. You obviously know who she really is."

Alex didn't want to lie and she was sorry she brought up the subject. "I… yes, I do know who she is and yes, I'm in a relationship with her… but you know I can't…"

The CEO held up a hand. "I know. It's ok. It's Supergirl's decision to tell me who she really is, if she wants to."

Alex shook her head. "You just need to know, Lena. It's not a matter of wanting to. She wants to. But telling you everything would expose you to so much danger. And she doesn't want that. She cares too much about you to let anything happen to you."

Lena smiled at that and cleared her throat. "Well, good talk, Danvers. Guess we just need a plan to lure Reign to us now."

"Come back to the DEO with me. We can brainstorm with the rest of the team." Alex gathered her gear together as Lena agreed with a nod, and began to lock down the lab.

Xx

Kara was back at her apartment, sitting quietly on the sofa as she held Ally in her arms. So much had been happening that felt she hadn't had enough time with her daughter and she needed that time like she needed air.

"I love you, Alura", she said softly into the baby's hair. "I really want you to know that, because I don't know what's going to happen with this bad guy." She breathed in a deep breath of sweet baby smell and tears rose to her eyes. "I'm so scared," she whispered. "If I can't beat Reign, she'll kill me and I'll miss all the milestones in your beautiful life. I won't be there for your first day of school or your first kiss. I won't get to teach you how to use your powers or to nurse you through a broken heart. And God, I want all that so badly. I promised your Mom I wouldn't kill Reign. And I don't want to. But, if I have to…" She trailed off as tears spilled down her cheeks. "I don't kill, Ally." She stroked the baby's cheek. "I know it's going to sound cheesy but it's true. With great power comes great responsibility and I have to be the one to teach you that so, I promise you. If it comes down to the wire, I will choose you and your Mom over her. I will kill her."

Just then her phone rang and she grabbed it out of her back pocket, wiping at her eyes and sniffing back her tears as she answered it. "Hi, Alex."

"Are you ok? No aftereffects from the scattering field?"

Kara chuckled. "I'm fine, really. I was just…" She looked down at Ally. "Reading the baby a story."

"Cool. I miss you guys. Can you bring her by if I can't get home later?" Alex asked.

"Of course… but Alex?"

"Mmmm?"

"I'd rather you would just come home. I… I really need you right now." Kara did her best to not cry but Alex still heard the upset in her voice.

"Hold on," the agent replied. Kara waited while she heard voices conversing in the background. "Ok, I'll be there in thirty minutes. And Kara?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you too, Love."

Xx

It had only been a few days since Kara had proposed to Alex but the agent had found that it was on her mind a lot. She was in the locker room, quickly changing into street clothes, and her mind wandered to thoughts of ring shopping. It seemed so insignificant in the wake of everything going on with Reign but then Alex sighed and shook her head. It wasn't insignificant. It was damned important. She wanted Kara to be her wife and she wanted it now, before the dark Kryptonian could do anything to make it impossible in the future. She knew she'd made Kara promise not to kill Reign but she got how her girlfriend was feeling. And she knew that, if it was necessary, she'd take the shot herself.

"Alex?"

The agent glanced up to see Lena's head poked through the door. "Hey, Lena."

"I was thinking about how to trap Reign. We already know that the containment cubes here can hold Supergirl. If we could reinforce one of those in the field, place something as bait into it and then lure Reign in, we could hold her inside it and place the scatter field around it. Reign would be blind and confined. Then we could transport her back to the DEO. That would give us time to decide what to do with her."

Alex nodded. "That sounds like a very plausible plan. What would we use as bait?"

Lena looked down. "It would have to be Supergirl, since Reign seems to be most interested in her. And she'll have to get back out of the cube before we get the containment field up. Otherwise, she'd be trapped inside with Reign."

The agent considered this for a moment. "Ok, I'll talk to her about it."

Lena nodded, then closed her eyes. "Alex?"

"Yeah?" the agent looked up from tying her boots.

"Maybe… I should be the bait? We can't risk Supergirl, she's out last line of defense."

But Alex stood up and shook her head. "No way, Lena. If you got trapped in there with Reign, you'd be dead in an instant. At least Kara has a chance against her."

"K-Kara?"

Alex eyes widened. "Shit," she said softly. She dropped back onto the bench, her head in her hands. "She's going to kill me."

Lena slowly came across the room to take a seat next to her friend. "Kara is Supergirl? You're in a relationship with Kara?" Alex just nodded. "Is… is Ally yours?" Alex nodded again. "Wow. Ok. That's a whole different conversation." Lena took a deep breath. "I guess it all makes sense now. This changes everything."

"I'm sorry, Lena." The agent took her hand, meeting her eyes. "You know neither Kara nor I would ever do anything to intentionally hurt you."

The CEO nodded. "I know. It's ok. I'm not angry." She smiled then. "You should go be with your family."

Alex gave her a hug and then stood. "Kara's upset and I think she's scared. She asked me to come home."

"Completely understandable. Tell her I love her, ok? And that I'll see her for our lunch tomorrow. She promised to bring Ally."

"I will. Thanks, Lena." The agent got up, slipped into her leather jacket and with a final wave, headed out the door. Kara was waiting for her, rocking Ally gently in her crib and got up to hug her hard when she came in the door.

Alex gasped a little. "Kara… too hard."

"Oh…" The hero eased back on the strength. "Sorry, Honey."

Alex pulled back a little and met her eyes. "So… I fucked up."

A blonde eyebrow lifted. "Oh?"

"Lena knows you're Supergirl."

"WHAT?!"

"I know. It's totally my fault." A rush of explanation spilled from the agent's mouth. "She and I were talking and she suggested that she use herself for bait for this plan she has and I said 'Kara would have more change against Reign' and it just slipped out and I'm sorry."

Kara sat back down on the couch, her eyes on the rug at her feet. "Is she upset?"

The agent shook her head and sat down beside her. "On the contrary. She gets it, Kara. I told her you were just trying to keep her safe. She said to tell you that she loves you and that she'll see you at your lunch tomorrow." Kara still seemed upset though. "Shit, Kar, I'm really sorry. It's your secret to tell."

The hero looked up then and smiled. "It's ok. It's almost a relief actually. I hated keeping secrets from her." Then she snuggled into Alex's chest. "Can we talk?"

"Of course," Alex replied tightening her arms around her. "Actually there was something I wanted to talk to you about too."

"Me first," Kara chuckled. "I've been thinking a lot today. Ally and I had a long talk about everything this afternoon."

"Oh yeah?" Alex grinned.

"Yep. And she and I have decided something. Even though all this Reign stuff is going on, our family is the most important thing in the world. So. We want to go ring shopping with you so that you and I can get married as soon as possible."

Alex blinked and then shook her head, a slow, wry grin spreading across her face. "Somehow, Supergirl, you've just managed to steal my thunder for the second time!"

Kara's forehead scrunched. "Huh? How?"

"Well, first of all, I was going to propose but you beat me to it. Today, I was going to ask you to go ring shopping me with so we could get married as soon as possible…"

"Oh." Kara winced a little. "Sorry?"

Alex laughed. "As long as we end up where we both want to be, it's ok with me."

"Are you sure?" Kara asked hopefully.

"Absolutely positive. Get your jacket. I'll get Ally into her stroller."

But before Alex could move, Kara slid into her lap and wrapped her arms around her neck. "I love you, Danvers," she whispered.

"I love you too, Danvers," the agent replied and they lost themselves for a few intimate moments in a passionate kiss.