I may have gotten just a little carried away with this chapter but there was no way to chop it into 2 so….here's 9k words. Two more chapters remain to close out everything. I'm not exstatic about how all of this turned out but practice makes perfect so here's to learning. I had so much fun righting this chapter (I've had like 18 different versions written out and this one was completely different from all of them). I've been waiting since day one to share this chapter with you so thanks for reading, stay safe, tell me what you think and as always, enjoy.
Chapter 20
Alex tried to push herself up but the pain in her arm made it impossible. She had broken bones before, her leg, multiple ribs, her shoulder and very nearly her back. The pain had been immense then, this was ten times worse, the more she moved the more the bone twisted and the more it hurt. She needed Maggie to help her up, to get her out of there. Her wife was on the ground twenty feet away, groaning softly probably having hit her head. Kara had stopped moving completely except for the rise and fall of her chest. She would bleed out before they could get help, Alex had known this would be a one way trip. Her only regret was that it had to end this way.
Someone stepped over her, being careful not to step on her. Her vision was swimming but she could see the red and teal shimmer of armor, and a silver staff scraping the floor. Alex dug her nails into the concrete trying to force herself up again. Kelly couldn't be here, Alex had told her to run.
"Kelly…you can't…" She reached for her daughter, trying to stop her only to miss.
"I've got this handled," Kelly said. "No one else is getting hurt today."
Alex could hear the start of battle as metal clashed against metal. Kelly and Warden were blurs of red and yellow as they danced around the room. She couldn't even find Donovan any more, he had seemingly moved out of the way of the two kinetics fighting. Maggie was rolling onto her side having finally come too. She was going to be suffering from a concussion and wouldn't be paying attention to her surroundings. Alex needed to get to her but the nausea was feeling was getting worse. She knew she was going into shock and would be useless the longer she went without help. If she could just get to Maggie maybe they do something, maybe Maggie could do something.
XXXXX
Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. She wanted to scream, to throw something, part of her even wanted to throttle someone. It was one thing that her sister-in-laws were hurt but her wife? She had come to terms with the fact Kara would get hurt, it was part of being a hero. It didn't mean she liked it. She hated it, seeing Kara bloodied and broken, seeing her in pain. What kind of person wouldn't be phased by that sort of thing? Maybe she couldn't see Kara or know how badly how she was hurt, but hearing that Kara wasn't responding pissed her off. She felt useless, unable to help, she had always felt like that. There had been times that she had helped Supergirl, creating a suit to protect her from Kryptonite or having her powers drained, but she had never stood directly beside her and fought. Not like Alex had, or Maggie, or even Kelly. She was the only one to not be on the frontlines when everyone else was.
"Brainy what's the status on the teams?" Lena felt a headache coming on one she knew she wasn't going to shake.
"Both on their way back to the DEO," Brainy said. "Both are reporting several casualties and multiple injuries."
"And Flare?"
"Radio silent, much like the Director and the others."
She could have thrown something if she had something to throw. How could they ever think this plan would work? They were more organized, and had larger numbers than they did. Hell they even had a Photokinetic three times stronger than Kelly even with her enhancements. They had underestimated the determination of a Luthor with nowhere to go, with nothing else to do. Lena cursed under her breath. She should have done more. It was pathetic how little she had contributed to the group. From the analysis of the alien venom to creating Kara's new suit (which had done nothing to protect her) she hadn't done a thing that helped them at all. She had failed as much if not more than the rest of them and she was on the brink of losing everything because of it.
"Is there something you want us to do Lena," Brainy asked, pulling her out of her own thoughts. "Should we involve the local police?"
"No," Lena said. "Kelly requested for medical to be on standby, that's what we'll do."
"If that's what the Director wants."
"Excuse me?" Lena had no idea what Brainy was talking about.
"Alex made the request that Kelly be made acting Director of the DEO should she become…incapacitated. She had gone silent, therefore I must assume the worst."
Lena knew what Brainy meant by incapacitated but she wished she hadn't heard it from him. She refused to believe Alex was gone this early, they had no way of knowing and until she had tangible proof she wouldn't believe any of them were gone. Kelly needed her functional.
"Lori I need you to-" Lena stopped mid-sentence when she realized her daughter was no longer in the command center. She turned to Brainy, "where did Lori go?"
Brainy glanced over his shoulder for a brief second before shrugging, "Unsure. I had not realized she left. Perhaps she is in the locker room?"
She doubted it, but she also knew she needed to check, she hoped he was right. The alternative was something she didn't even want to consider. Lena left Brainy to gather medical personnel while she went looking for her daughter. Lori could only be in so many places and it wouldn't take Lena that long to search them all. She moved methodically in her search being careful not to slip (the DEO's floors were not heel friendly). As more and more areas came up empty the pit in her stomach grew.
Her search was becoming desperate when both interrogation rooms turned up empty. It left only one place left where Lori could be – the training room. If she wasn't there Lena knew she was nowhere in the building. She prayed to Rao that that wasn't true. Her heart was pounding when she pushed open the door into the training room, then it stopped beating all together. Lori wasn't there, she was gone. She wanted to blame Kelly for her own daughter's actions but knew it wasn't Kelly who had talked Lori into whatever she was doing. Lori had made this decision on her own. She made her way back to the command center to rejoin Brainy. Her earpiece sat on the desk in front of her so she picked it up.
"Where the hell is my daughter Kelly?"
"Now is not a good time Lena." She could hear Kelly struggling, her niece was short of breath but Lena wasn't going to let this go, not until she knew for sure.
"Where is she?"
"Fuck," Kelly shouted. "She's safe alright? It's too late to do anything about it now."
"Goddamnit Kelly I swear if anything happens to her."
"She won't. I won't let anyth-"
Kelly never finished her sentence, there was the sound of metal shattering, someone grunting in pain and then Lena couldn't hear anything.
"We've lost all contact with Flare," Brainy informed her. "She's completely on her own now."
Lena hung her head, she had distracted her niece. Now what do I do…?
XXXXX
The entire right side of her helmet had buckled against Warden's axe before shattering completely. The jagged edges had sliced up her face very nearly hitting her eye and completely destroying her helmet's comm system. She felt the blood rolling down her cheek to her neck, it wasn't going to heal quickly. She felt the burning of the venom in the cuts already. Warden had taken measures to ensure she could be injured.
Warden only gave her a second to breathe before lunging at her again. She barely had time to bring up her staff to catch both blades before they tore into her armor. Kelly had no idea what the blades were made out of but it was strong enough to tear through the Nth metal her suit was constructed from. She was surprised her staff was holding up against the axes after her helmet shattered. Kelly realized she was in serious trouble if she wasn't careful.
She was so distracted by Warden that she didn't even notice Donovan coming up from behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her partly off the ground. Given his age Kelly was surprised by his strength, but then again her mom could almost could still lift her with no problem. She struggled but couldn't find the leverage to get free, even with her superior strength. Warden took the opportunity to charge at her again but Kelly took the opportunity to plant her feet on Warden's chest. Using Warden's chest as leverage she flipped over Donovan so she was behind him pulling her staff against his throat for a second before planting her foot on his back and kicking him into Warden causing them to collide.
Warden fell unable to catch herself because of the suddenness of the move. Kelly used the moment to break away from them. She grabbed Maggie who was now on her knees and drag her over to Alex. She had just let go of her mother's arm when an axe flex by her, slicing through her pauldron. By the end of this (if she was still alive) Lena would be making her an entirely new suit.
"You're not making this easy," Warden sneered.
Why the hell would I be? Kelly wondered. It wasn't like Warden was going to make it easy her. In fact Warden was making this whole fight extremely difficult. Kelly didn't use anything that could be lethal, that was one of her mom's biggest rules (of course Alex broke it a lot) but Warden had two war axes both very lethal. How was she supposed to handle that? Donovan was part of the problem. She wasn't exactly worried about him but he was becoming a nuisance.
He was the next one to throw a punch. Kelly easily moved out of the way, catching his fist and twisting it to the point she nearly broke it.
"Do you really think you're a match for me old man?" Kelly teased him, finding some humor in the fact that he thought he could hurt her. "You can't even touch me."
She brought her knee to his face, dropping him like a fly. As long as he stayed down Kelly could focus on Warden. She just needed to waist enough time then she could signal Lori. Warden didn't wait she was on Kelly in an instant. Kelly fought back having to jump over Donovan so she didn't trip. Warden was relentless completely determined to hurt her.
"Just give up Flare," Warden shouted between swings of her axe. "It's over, they're dead and you will be too if you don't join us."
"Kiss my ass."
Warden swung at her out of blind rage. It was the opening Kelly was looking for. She brought her staff around hitting Warden square in the jaw knocking her back. As her back hit the ground Kelly smirked using the light energy she had to pin Warden to the ground. By now Donovan was on his feet but moving slowly. All Kelly had to do was bring her hand up forming a spear from the light directing it at Donovan. Laughter bubbled deep in her chest. All she had to do was piss Warden off enough to distract her. She found it exceptionally pathetic.
"It's over," she said with a deep growl. "You're both under arrest."
Warden was struggling against her restraints but was unable to break free. Kelly had her trapped and had no intention of letting her go. Donovan was almost cross-eyed watching the spear that was only inches from his face. She hadn't won yet but she still felt relief that it was finally going to be over. The moment was short lived. Behind her a slow rhythmic clapping began, slowly moving closer to her.
Kelly risked a glance over her shoulder to see where it was coming from. Thorul was slowly making her way over to Alex and Maggie. Unfortunately Kelly could do nothing to stop her, all of her focus was on Warden and Donovan. She didn't have enough control to handle Thorul as well. Warden began struggling harder, pulling against her restraints hoping Kelly would be distracted by Thorul's presence.
"You never cease to amaze me Kelly," Thorul said. "You are remarkable for someone so young."
She was so calm and collected that it put Kelly on edge. This wasn't a woman who was about to lose. This was a woman who was about to pull out her ace in the hole. Thorul smiled a gun appearing in her hand seemingly out of thin air. She pressed the barrel against Maggie's head the calm expression never leaving her face. Kelly growled but was unable to move least she let Donovan or Warden free.
"Let me make this very simple for you, I do not care who lives and who dies. These two mean nothing to me, but I know they mean a lot to you. I will gladly let them live, I only ask for one thing in return."
"You can't buy my loyalty," Kelly warned. "The only way this ends is with you in cuffs."
Thorul laughed. "I am not asking you Kelly, you will join me one way or another. Your family will live, so long as you come willingly. All I want in return is for you to kill Warden."
"What?"
The utter shock in her voice startled Kelly. Warden had stopped struggling to stare at Thorul in disbelief. Kelly couldn't decide who was more confused; her or Warden. Thorul only sighed at Warden.
"You didn't really think that I needed both of you did you Warden?" Thorul sounded so indifferent that it was almost pissing Kelly off. "You were simply a placeholder until Flare joined me. You were never meant to be a permanent addition."
Kelly light the light fade away from Warden. She was confident that this realization would be just what Warden needed to turn on the woman she had pledged her loyalty to. Warden rose slowly, her fingers wrapping tightly around the handle of her axe. Behind her mask her eyes had begun to glow red, almost like what Lori had described Kelly's eyes doing. It was something Kelly had never seen before but was sure had something to do with their unique abilities. Kelly was surprised when she found the tip of the axe pointed at her.
"You did this," Warden growled. "This is because of you."
Maybe freeing the crazed psychopath who had nearly killed her cousin, aunt and both her parents was a very stupid idea. Perhaps once this was all over, if she was still alive, Kelly should undergo a psych eval to make sure she wasn't crazy. The spear dropped away from Donovan as Kelly jumped out of the way of a tendril that left scoring on the concrete. Kelly didn't see it but she heard Maggie being pistol whipped before Thorul handed her gun to Donovan.
"Ensure your daughter survives," she said before leaving. She had done the damage she had meant to do, her presence was no longer necessary.
Kelly felt a bullet fly by her face hitting Warden in the shoulder. Warden didn't even flinch completely fueled by rage and adrenaline. Kelly was taking the moment to regret the majority of her life decisions. She could have just graduated college, become a criminalist and gotten married. But no she had to become a vigilante and nearly get herself killed because a Luthor from a completely different Earth had gotten it into her head that Kelly was to fulfill some sort of idea she had.
"Don't you see what she's doing Warden?" Kelly shouted trying to diffuse the situation before she really got hurt. "She wants us to fight, stop this now and help me."
"Shut up!"
When Warden swung at her Kelly had no time to dodge out of the way because Donovan was standing so close behind her. The metal of her chest plate stood no chance as it was shredded from her shoulder to her hip. The blade only grazed her skin barely causing a scratch. It still burned like hell. She grabbed Donovan's arm forcing him between her and Warden, if he was so interested in keeping her alive he could act as a shield. Warden didn't even seem to notice him until her axe was buried in his back.
Donovan spit out blood, staining Kelly's armor. He fell forward into his daughter's arms, desperately grasping at her shoulders. She was in such shock that she dropped her staff to catch him without meaning too. Warden had paused, her eyes shifting between the axe buried in Donovan's back and the look of disbelief on Kelly's face. Donovan reached for Kelly's face grasping the back of her neck, latching on to her with the last of his strength.
"You will always…" he coughed out more blood, "be like me. You never had a choice…"
Kelly shoved him aside just as he spasmed, she had enough of his blood on her hands, both literally and figuratively. He would die alone on the cold, hard ground like he deserved. Kelly thought that she should feel something, anger, relief, happiness, just something but she felt nothing. She felt completely numb to his lifeless body on the ground. She looked at Warden who returned her confused look. They had both had a hand in his death.
They both moved at the same time, but Kelly was faster, tearing the axe from her father's back. She had crossed a line there was no turning back from. Warden wasn't going to go easily and part of Kelly was glad she wouldn't. She wanted blood. Not for her father, but her mom's, her aunt, her cousin. Everyone hurt by Warden's hands. The blade was light in her hand. She had never trained with a weapon like it but it felt right in her hands.
It sliced through Warden's armor like it was paper. Warden howled in pain as I sliced deep into her shoulder. Good… Kelly thought. I hope it hurts. She followed up by slicing Warden across the face, completely destroying her mask. More screams of pain followed as Warden clawed at her face blood seeping through her fingers. She glared up at Kelly her eyes no a burning crimson red. Kelly had never seen her face before then. If it were for the fresh cut Kelly had left her with Warden would have been a fairly good looking woman. With sharp angular features and piercing eyes (that Kelly had no idea what they could possibly be naturally). Kelly realized she was older, maybe in her forties but it was hard to tell.
Warden screamed something like a war cry before charging toward Kelly. She never saw it coming, Warden's second axe, long forgotten was back in her hand the two weapons clashed in a shower of sparks.
"I will tear you apart! Limb from fucking limb until there is nothing left of you!"
Kelly lost her grip on her axe as it went clanging to the ground, leaving her weaponless. She knew her armor was useless against the blades her only chance was just to avoid being hit in the first place. Warden was in a rage now, there was no thought between her attacks just blind fury.
"I served her for eighteen goddamned years!" Warden swung at her missing by a hair. "I gave everything to her and then you take her from me!"
When she swung at Kelly her blade got lodged in one of the support pillars. Kelly used the opportunity to break away to grab both her parents and drag them to relative safety. Warden was still struggling when she went to grab Kara. Her aunt was still breathing but was getting worse every passing minute. She barely had her hand on the back of Kara's collar when Warden got her axe free. Kelly ran to get her aunt to safety before returning to the center of the room. There was no way she was escaping without a full-fledged fight with Warden. She needed to find her staff before she ran out of room to navigate. Warden was proving to be a dangerous adversary to face alone.
Warden took the opportunity to retrieve her second axe but was keeping Kelly from her staff. She didn't think her kinetics would be of much use; Warden would be able to counter whatever she did fairly easily even if it was completely chaotic. All Kelly was doing was dodging side to side doing everything she could to keep away from the duel blades.
"What is this Warden?" Kelly teased hoping to throw the brute off guard. "My grandmother has better aim than you."
"What does she see in you?" Warden sounded broken, almost on her last legs. "I stood by her through everything, I fought for her, I killed for her. I freed him for her." She roughly pointed at Donovan's body with her axe. "All of that and it meant nothing…"
Her eyes flashed, burning red again. "At least your death will have some meaning. She won't be able to ignore me with you gone." Warden kicked her staff in her direction, it came to rest at her feet. "Take your weapon, I may not be much of anything but I do have my honor. One of us will die here today."
Kelly picked up her staff, it suddenly felt heavy in her hands. She removed her helmet tossing it aside. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing Maggie tending to Alex, trying to get her wife on her feet. Maggie met her gaze screaming something that Kelly refused to hear.
"Alright Warden," Kelly said. "If this is how it has to be, I'll give it to you."
They charged at one another at the safe time. The axe blades caught on her staff, pressing down on her. Kelly pushed up sending Warden into the air, spinning to hit her in the chest with one end of her staff. Warden fell, unable to catch herself. Kelly leapt at her slamming her staff into Warden's face. Warden spit out blood, rolling onto her back before leaping to her feet. The next swing Kelly nearly failed to dodge sliced through her hair. She stumbled giving Warden the advantage over her.
This time when Warden hooked her blade around her staff, pulling Kelly towards her. It was the first time Kelly really noticed how tall Warden was. Kelly was taller than both her mom's but Warden was even taller than her. It was imposing to say the least. While Kelly was trapped Warden brought the other blade up straight through her staff, snapping it in half and sending Kelly to the floor.
She stared at the two halves of her staff for a moment in disbelief. Her grandpa J'onn had said it would never break, apparently he hadn't thought about other worldly battle axes when he said that. She scrambled to get back to her feet just as something hit her wrist. Kelly nearly dropped the piece of staff but kept her grip. She jerked around capturing Warden's arm forcing her to drop one of her weapons. Warden threw her head back slamming the back of her skull into Kelly's face. Kelly grunted in pain stumbling back as more blood started to leak from her nose.
They were both getting tired, neither would last much longer. Warden slammed her knee into Kelly's stomach causing her to drop one of her staff pieces. Kelly shoved her away unable to breathe. She couldn't fight much longer, she was starting to feel the venom in her veins making her weaker the longer they fought. Warden was about to capitalize on her momentary haze and raised her axe when a shot rang out, followed by another and then another. Kelly counted eight shots straight into Warden's back. Warden stared at her for the longest time before falling to her knees in front of Kelly, her axe slipping out of her hand.
Across the room Maggie stood with a gun raised still aimed at where Warden had been standing. The barrel was smoking lightly from the rapid fire of shots. Kelly smiled, unable to stop from laughing, even Maggie let out a chuckle as she dropped the gun, starting towards her daughter. They could get the others out together once she made sure Kelly was alright. She never got the chance. As she was moving forward Warden pushed herself up, catching Kelly completely off guard.
It was the most painful thing Kelly had ever felt. The staff had entered her side just below her ribcage, piercing deep inside of her. It burned like hell, having venom on the tip, transferred from Warden's axe. She looked down at Warden sneering up at her still pressing the staff deeper. Maggie screamed taking off at a sprint to do anything to save her daughter. She never made it. A red spear appeared from nowhere tearing into Maggie's leg stopping her in her tracks.
It was Kelly's turn to scream as she watched her mother fall, blood pooling around her. In her rage she found the strength to return the favor. Warden was too distracted to notice Kelly bring her half of the staff up until it was buried in her abdomen. She groaned as blood started to trickle out of the wound and over Kelly's hand. Both would have collapsed if it weren't for the fact they were supporting each other's weight.
"Looks like you lose…" Kelly said through clenched teeth. She held up a device, one similar to the detonator but smaller. "You underestimated my cousin."
"No…"
Kelly pressed the button. For a second nothing happen then the world exploded in flames. Lori was a blur of red and blue as she swept through the building grabbing both Alex and Kara before disappearing completely. Using what strength she had left Kelly shoved Warden off her hitting her with a right hook that would knock the woman out. She knew she needed to get Maggie out before the whole building came down on top of them. There was no time to remove the staff from her side and a voice in the back of her head was telling her she would only make it worse if she did.
She slowly made her way to Maggie, helping her mother up the best she could, supporting her on her uninjured side. Together they slowly started to escape through the flames, Kelly doing everything possible to keep the flames from reaching Maggie.
"We really need to stop doing shit like this," Maggie murmured sounding weak from the loss of blood.
"I don't know mom," Kelly said forcing herself to smile. "I don't think we know how to do anything else."
XXXXX
Lori nearly dropped her aunt the second they were outside the building. People were running all around them, remaining henchmen that had survived, they didn't even notice Lori or the two injured with her. Alex was more lucid than Kara but was still in pretty bad shape, her arm was resting at a weird angle and looked like it had suffered from multiple fracture. Her mother on the other hand was in really bad shape, for a moment Lori wasn't even sure she was breathing. It was only when Kara weakly grabbed her hand that she knew her mom was still alive. Lori was panicking, she had never seen so much blood in her life, she had no idea what to do. She could feel the effects of kryptonite radiating from her mom and realized that it was imbedded in her ribcage.
"Lori, I need you to set my arm," Alex said from beside her. "I can help her, but I need you to do this."
"I don't know how," Lori said. "And even if you talk me through it I won't I could make it worse."
"Don't argue. Either you do it or I do it," Alex said. "I know it's scary but she will die if you don't do this. Set the bone use my baton as a splint, think you can do that?"
Lori moved next to Alex taking her arm in her hands. Alex dug her wallet out of her pocket biting down on it before nodding to Lori. Her niece did exactly as she had explained manipulating the bone until it shifted back into place. Alex was screaming the whole time, almost passing out because of the pain. She held on for her sister, knowing there was no way Lori would be able to extract the knife blade. Lori tide off the remaining cloth on the makeshift splint.
"Are you okay," Lori asked her concern for her aunt evident.
"Not the most painful thing I have dealt with," Alex said.
Alex held her broken arm close to her chest as she moved over to her sister. Kara was worse than she initially thought. Not only was the Kryptonite slowly killing her, the venom Warden had doused her blades in was keeping Kara from healing. She needed to be at the DEO in the medbay, not lying on the ground outside of a burning building. Alex gently shook Kara to get the woman to look at her. She smiled down at her hoping to distract her long enough to extract the blade.
"Kara, hey do you remember when we were younger, and you got so excited you hugged me super tight," Alex said slowly positioning her hand at the wound site with Lori's guidance. "You broke my rib remember?"
Kara managed a weak smile but didn't have the strength to nod. She remembered, that day had been a good day. It was right after Alex had gone to college, before her spiral into self-destructiveness. She thought Alex was going to murder her but instead her sister had laughed and shared in her joy.
"Well this is payback for that."
The blade was long enough Alex didn't have to dig for it. Kara screamed and nearly broke away but Lori held her down. Alex knew it couldn't be easy for her to see any of this. She was the only one of them who had never actually been in a fight. She had been thrust into the middle of it and Alex couldn't shield her from it. Alex felt the blade at her fingers and grabbed it, pulling it from Kara's chest. She chucked it as hard as she could to get it away from her sister.
Kara groaned but felt the relief of the Kryptonite leaving her system. There was still burning from the venom but it was nowhere near as painful as before. She was still weak, and so tired. She wanted to sleep but she knew Alex would start screaming at her if she did anything as stupid as falling asleep when she was bleeding out.
With Kara out of immediate danger Alex's attention turned to her daughter and wife, neither which she had seen since Lori had pulled them from the building. From the looks of it Lori was thinking the same thing, it was taking Kelly way too long to get out. She would have gone in if it weren't for Alex holding out her arm. Lori looked and saw what Alex was looking at. Kelly was dragging an injured Maggie out of the building. She was also hurt but they had no way to know who was worse. Kelly raised her hand to wave at them, smiling through the blood that soaked her face. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. They may have been hurt but they were all alive. She was so relieved that she didn't even notice the glint of something metallic behind Maggie and Kelly.
"Behind you!" Lori was the first to react, running towards them.
She wasn't fast enough. Kelly shoved Maggie to the side, saving her from the axe that came flying at them. She wasn't so lucky the blade sliced deep into Kelly's leg right at the knee. Kelly screamed in pain falling to the ground as her leg was rendered useless. Warden stood behind her bloodied and smoldering from the flames. She moved towards Kelly with a purpose, grabbing her axe as she stood above Kelly. Lori's body react without her permission. In the blink of an eye she closed the distance between them.
"I don't lose," Warden growled, raising her axe above her head, preparing to kill Kelly.
"Yes you do," Lori shouted as she planted her foot next to her cousin's head.
Warden's axe never met its intended target. Lori hit her in the chest with all her might. She was a Kryptonian, she could have thrown her into the sun, but she settled for the burning building instead.
Alex ran over to them, sliding on her knees when she reached Kelly. Her calm demeanor was replaced with sheer panic. Kelly had multiple wounds, small cuts, she was impaled and her leg. Lori couldn't even look at what remained of her leg. Alex was shaking as she tried to decide what she needed to do first; pack Kelly's wound or get something on her leg to stop the bleeding.
"Lori get Kara to the DEO," Alex said. "Make sure they have medical on the way. Tell Lena to hurry, and not losing them."
Lori didn't argue, the amount of blood she was seeing was making her sick to her stomach. She ran to her mother picking her up before glancing one last time at her cousin and aunts. Part of her felt like she was abandoning her family but she knew there was nothing left for her to do. She wouldn't be able to stomach moving Kelly with the condition she was in. She would just have to hope that they would get help in time.
"Maggie are you okay?"
"Not really," Maggie said tugging off her belt. She needed to make a tourniquet or she would bleed out. "Do you need my belt?"
"No, I've got mine," Alex said. "But I'll need your hands."
Kelly tried to speak but Alex covered her mouth. "Don't even try it, you stay quiet," she ordered. Kelly knew it was because Alex wanted her to save her strength but she really needed to talk. The past hour had been spent in a combat situation she never wanted to find herself in again. She really wanted to talk to her parents. They were both hurt, she wanted to know they were alright.
Maggie cried out in pain as she the tourniquet on her leg just above her knee. If she had it on to long she would lose her leg, that wasn't exactly appealing. Once she had tended to her leg Maggie dragged herself over to Kelly and Alex. She had very little medical training except for being certified in emergency first aid. Alex had way more training, almost that of a combat medic but at the moment with her broken arm and the fact that it was her own daughter needing medical attention. Alex didn't look like she knew where to start. Kelly's wounds ranged from minor to serious, even Maggie wasn't sure what to do but she guessed they should start with her leg.
"Can you get a tourniquet on her leg just about the knee, like yours," Alex directed her once she gained her composure. "Once you've slowly the bleeding I need you to keep pressure around the wound. I need to keep her awake and once you start with her leg I don't know how much longer she'll stay awake."
"This is gonna hurt ain't it," Kelly asked.
"We'll you've nearly died before," Alex said trying to keep her tone light. "I'd say slightly less painful."
Kelly laughed one to groan in pain. The staff in her side was really starting to hurt the longer it was there. Moving only made it worse. She realized a little too late that Alex was using her dark humor to distract her from what Maggie was doing. The sharp pain that radiated from her leg when Maggie pulled tight on the tourniquet was unbelievable. It was a knee-jerk reaction to kick at Maggie which only caused the pain to worsen, whatever happened to her leg was severe.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Maggie said. "Breathe Kel."
"Remember that time, it was when I was like ten or something," Kelly was doing her best to keep them all distracted while they waited. She was sure her cousin wouldn't be returning to help them. "You took me on a trip, Alex was on one of her top secret meeting things…" Kelly waved her hand she couldn't exactly recall why Maggie and her had taken a trip out of town.
She could hear Maggie smiling. It had been a weird weekend, Kelly had still been getting used to having people who cared. Maggie had still been learning how to be a mom. It had been four years but going from never wanting kids to having one that was ten was a huge leap. It was one of their favorite memories because it was one only the two of them had.
"We ended up staying in the hotel all weekend because it was too damned cold to go outside," Maggie said, moving to apply the pressure Alex had asked for. "I've never watched so many movies in two days."
Kelly groaned blinking a few times. She had dealt with extreme pain before. When she was sixteen and nearly died the pain she had been in had been horrible. So horrible she had been placed into a coma. This was painful but nothing compared to what that had been. Maybe telling this story would distract her from the pain the fact that all she wanted to do was pass out. Alex had never heard it before. Maggie had made her promise she never talk about it to Alex, it was supposed to be their thing. Their solitary moment to share.
"Mom started talking in the middle of Alien, something you never do," Kelly prefaced smiling up at Alex, knowing her mom would remember how cranky she use to get when Alex would disturb her watching her favorite movie. "It was the first time she admitted to me that she never wanted kids."
"And it was the first time I realized how smart our daughter was," Maggie said, he was starting to feel extremely weak but she knew Kelly's situation was the more important one.
"What did she say?" Alex was genuinely curious. She had never heard about any of this. She had known Maggie had taken Kelly out of town for some, what Maggie called 'bonding' but they never talked about it.
"I told her, 'doesn't matter now, you've already signed the paperwork, you have to like me it's your job'." Kelly laughed again, it hurt less now but her vision was starting to go dark and she was starting to not feel her legs.
"Then she told me to be quiet because I was ruining the movie."
"Shoulda…picked a better time t-to talk…" Kelly was quickly losing the ability to fight off her fatigue, even next to the burning flames of the building the world was getting darker and colder.
Her slurred speech startled Alex. Her daughter was still losing a lot of blood and she couldn't even hear the ambulances. She was starting to wonder is Lena had even sent any. Even Maggie was starting to struggle to stay awake. She had been bleeding for much longer than Kelly, it was really a miracle that she was still as lucid as she was. Alex shifted so she could support Kelly's head, she didn't like the idea of her daughter lying in the dirt. Kelly stopped her, grabbing her arm but when she spoke it was directed at Maggie.
"S'ok…you can stop," she said. "Lena isn't gonna abandon us."
Maggid hesitated, she knew that she needed to keep the pressure on and that Kelly was feeling the effects of the blood loss. Or she thought she was because Kelly reached down forcing Maggie's hands away from the wound. Alex realized Kelly wasn't going to let her do anything more to help (though if Alex pushed Kelly would have no choice). She moved over to Maggie who didn't argue when Alex forced her to lie down. Kelly reached back to take Alex's hand, she would never admit it to them but she was scared. She wished that she was warmer, even the venom wasn't burning any more it was now just a dull throbbing throughout her body.
"Kel?" Maggie turned her head to look at her daughter. "What were you talking about with Warden about your cousin?"
Kelly held up the device she still had in her hand. "I told her to wait for my signal. Don't think anyone realized I was actually just calling someone." Alex was the one who started laughing this time. Warden had never expected the youngest of the Danvers family to be there, let alone be the one to destroy the building. Kelly had used her device as a quick distraction, while also calling for back up. It was brilliant.
"Grandpa should be here any minute."
J'onn had been away for over a month having gone to Mars to meet with the White Martians and M'gann M'orzz to discuss relations. He had given Alex the device Kelly had in case there was an emergency they just couldn't handle. Alex hadn't even thought about calling him back, but now she was wishing she had. They could really use him since it didn't look like anyone else was coming.
"Maggie are your comms still working?"
"I think so…" Maggie wasn't sure she hadn't tried to use them since storming the building with Alex.
"Try to raise Lena," Alex said. "See what's taking so long."
"Lena, you there?"
Maggie waited for what felt like an hour before her earpiece came to life. "I am, sort of, ambulances are on their way but there's been a delay." It wasn't the news that Maggie wanted to hear but at least it meant someone was coming. "Car accident about a mile from your position, ETA forty minutes?"
"Forty?" Maggie repeated. "Kelly won't make it forty, neither will I."
"We'll get to you Maggie," Lena said. "I promise."
Alex shook her head glancing at Kelly. She was doing her best to stay awake she was clearly losing the battle. Maggie was right, neither of them would make it forty minutes. Their only hope was J'onn but with each passing moment it seemed like he wouldn't make it.
"Look," Kelly was weakly pointing to something in the distance, but Alex could barely understand her. "I told you he'd be…"
The hand Kelly had been holding Alex's with went limp. Alex shook her daughter trying to get her to wake back up but she didn't respond. It was only a slight relief that she was still breathing.
"Perhaps I should take her?"
Alex glancing up and realized what Kelly was talking about. J'onn kneeled down between Kelly and Maggie smiling at the woman who had quickly become like a daughter to him.
"I'm sorry it took so long, I had to clear the road," he said. "I'll take Kelly, it will be faster than waiting. Will the two of you be okay until the ambulance gets here?"
"How far are they?"
"Five minutes."
"Keep her safe?"
"Of course."
J'onn carefully gathered Kelly in his arms, careful not to touch the staff in her side. Kelly was completely unresponsive and her breathing was beginning to get shallow. He hoped he hadn't been too late.
When J'onn and Kelly were gone Alex pulled Maggie closer to her. The bleeding from her leg had almost completely stopped but the tourniquet had been on for a while, much longer and she would lose function in her leg. Maggie smiled up at her.
"I think we need to rethink what we consider dates," she said jokingly.
"Oh is that what this is?" Alex decided it was best to play along. "Pray tell, what would you rather do on a date?"
"Stay home, curl up on the couch, watch a movie," Maggie said before laughing. "Remind my wife how good I am in bed?"
Alex snorted sending a waves of pain through her arm. "I don't need reminding Maggie," she said glad that Maggie was still trying to make her laugh. "It has been a hot minute hasn't it."
"You would think with Kelly out of the house it would be easier," Maggie agreed. "But no she has to be like your sister, dropping by unannounced at all hours of the day."
"At least we have a good relationship with her," Alex said. "I know neither of us had the greatest relationships with our parents."
Maggie fell silent. She definitely had to agree with that, not that she had wanted a relationship with her parents after everything they did to her. She was just glad that Alex had been willing to take her back, to try again and let Maggie be a part of her family.
"Thank you Alex, for everything," Maggie said. "You and Kel are the best things to ever happen to me."
Alex smiled, brushing the hair out of Maggie's face. "I love you, Maggie Sawyer, I always will."
"You too," Maggie said. "I think I hear sirens."
Alex nodded, she could hear them too. "Think you can walk?" She figured they should at least try to help the ambulance find them.
Maggie nodded, "if you help me." Alex maneuvered Maggie off her lap in order to stand up. It took some doing because of her broken arm but she eventually got Maggie to her feet. Together the two of them headed towards the access road the EMT's would be arriving on. It was slow going because Maggie was dragging her one leg and Alex was exhausted but they made it to a clearing just as the first red and white vehicle pulled up. The first EMT out of the bus was one Alex new a friendly guy named Dylan.
"Never a dull day with you Danvers girls," he said helping another medic Alex didn't know get the stretcher out of the bus.
"Someone has to keep you guys in business," Alex was glad he was in his usual chipper mood.
Dylan took Maggie from Alex shoulder and with the help of the other medic lifted her onto the stretcher. Maggie didn't argue allowing the two men to do their jobs, a rare occurrence for her.
"You riding with? I can look at your arm while we go?" Dylan said ignoring the other medic furiously shaking his head. Apparently he had heard just how difficult of a patient Alex was.
"I'm not leaving her," Alex said.
"Hop in," Dylan said as he helped load Maggie into the bus before offering his hand to Alex. "Alright boys, let's go."
Alex felt a wave of relief. Things were far from over, agents still needed to comb the ruins for the bodies of Donovan, Warden and Thorul. Maggie and Kelly weren't out of the woods either. Both would need surgery and Alex was sure they might recommend her for surgery as well since Lori set her broken bones.
The bus lurched forward as it started moving, taking them away from one of Alex's biggest failures. Maggie reached out searching for Alex's good hand. Her wife gave it to her smiling to herself. She had no idea what the actual number of casualties were but as long as none of them were her family…no that wasn't true she just wouldn't be able to mourn them until Kelly and Maggie were in the clear.
"We did it Mags," Alex said.
"I think Kel should have most the credit," Maggie muttered. "If not for her the three of us would be dead."
"I'll bake her a cake."
"Please don't," Maggie chuckled. "I don't think I could handle a fire in our kitchen right now."
Alex smiled, maybe they would be okay. Maybe.
XXXXX
Lena had found herself wishing that the DEO had spent a little more of their budget on chairs. She was standing next to Kara's bedside waiting for her wife to wake up. So far Kara and Alex were the only ones in stable condition. J'onn had brought Kelly to the DEO only a few minutes ago and she had immediately been rushed to surgery. Not long after she had gotten confirmation that Alex and Maggie had been picked up and were on the way to the hospital. Lori had gone with J'onn. Her daughter was shaken from the events she had witnessed and Lena thought that maybe talking to J'onn would help.
"Lena?"
She looked down to see piercing blue eyes looking up at her. Kara was reaching for her hand which Lena immediately gave her.
"Shh, darling you're safe," Lena did her best to soothe her wife the second she realized Kara was about to panic. "You're at the DEO."
Kara pulled on Lena's arm, careful not to hurt her, but hard enough to force Lena to join her on the cot. She couldn't keep herself from crying. Kara had been so sure she was going to die in that building. The pain had been intense but nowhere near as intolerable as the pain of knowing she would never see Lena or Lori again. The only comfort she had as she felt her life slowly slipping away was that she had been able to hug her family one last time.
"I'm so sorry," Kara sobbed into Lena's shoulder. "I'm so, so sorry."
Lena held Kara as close to her as she could manage, rubbing circles on her back. The last time Lena had seen Kara this broken was right after Lori was born. She had been terrified about failing her daughter and her wife Lena had wondered if she was suffering from PTSD from losing her family again. It had been a strange experience, it had been one of the happiest days of their lives and Kara had fallen to her knees, shaking in tears because she wasn't sure she was capable of raising their daughter. She had been proven completely wrong but today proved that even the Girl of Steel wasn't invincible. Kara knew what it was like to lose her family and her daughter had nearly suffered the same loss, even if it would have been on a smaller scale.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Lena assured her. "You fought like hell, we just couldn't foresee every possibility. And you're here, alive because of how resilient you are. And I love you so much."
Kara nodded into her shoulder, unable to bring herself to look at Lena. She had gone down faster than both Maggie and Alex. She had every advantage and had still lost, but there was Lena telling her that she had done nothing wrong.
"Is Lori okay?" Kara asked suddenly. "Where is she?"
"Easy my love," Lena said. "Lori is relatively fine, she's with J'onn right now."
"She's not hurt is she?" Kara vaguely remembered holding Lori's hand at one point but wasn't sure if she had been hallucinating or not.
"No. She's the only one of you to actually come out of that building without a scratch," Lena said. "However she is grounded until she's thirty so take that as you may."
"Good," Kara said. "But I think thirty is too lenient."
"We can make it fifty."
"What about the others?" Kara finally pulled far enough away to look Lena in the eye. "My sister? Kelly? What happened?"
Lena sighed. She should have known Kara wouldn't be able to focus on herself for very long.
"Alex suffered minor injuries, a broken arm and some bruises. Maggie has a severe puncture wound to her left leg just below the knee, she's in surgery but is expect to be alright," Lena stopped herself before she got to Kelly. She wasn't sure her wife needed to hear about her niece at the moment.
Of course Kara didn't let her pause go unnoticed. "Lena, what about Kelly?" She remembered hearing Kelly enter the fray but couldn't recall anything about what had happened. The entire time she had been in and out of consciousness.
"Kelly lost a lot of blood from a puncture wound to her abdomen," Lena said with a loud sigh. She couldn't believe she was telling Kara this. "The staff had traces of the alien venom she fought earlier this month making her healing factor virtually useless. And well… she suffered severe trauma to her right leg, it was nearly amputated at the scene, again her healing factor didn't kick in. She's in surgery but her condition is still critical. We aren't sure whether or not she'll pull through."
It was a stark reality but it was what they were facing. Kelly always seemed to be the one getting into the worst of trouble. It seem unfair and unbelievable but to Lena it was the only reasonable outcome. Lena had always been the one to put herself in harm's way to protect her family, even though both her wife and daughter we tough as steel. She couldn't count the time since Lori was born that she had put herself in a situation she should have died in. All because her wife was a hero and people still saw her as one of the bad guys. Kelly was the same, she felt she owed her family with her life because without them she would have been something else. Possibly the exact same thing Thorul had wanted her to be.
Kelly owed her sense of self – that selflessness all of the Danvers women had – to Alex and Maggie. It wouldn't have mattered what the outcome was likely to be. Kelly would have put herself in harm's way because it was the right thing to do. Lena was aware her own daughter would eventually be the same way as her cousin, her aunts and her mom. None of them would ever be capable of walking away because that just wasn't who they were as individuals.
"I need to see my sister."
"No, you need to rest. I'll keep tabs on everyone."
"Lena…"
"Don't argue with me, you won't win, not this time." Lena untangled herself from Kara trying her best not to wrinkle her clothes but failing. "I'm going to get your daughter and J'onn to keep an eye on you."
"That isn't fair."
Lena leaned down so her lips brushed against Kara's. "You job is done my love, let me do mine." Kara wanted to argue but Lena pressed her lips against hers stopping the words on Kara's tongue.
"I don't say it enough, but I love you. Now rest, please."
Kara nodded, already missing Lena's warmth. "I love you too." And I'm so proud of you… She couldn't say all she was thinking just yet. But she would once everyone was stable. Lena would just have to wait to learn just how important she was to all of them. Kara was sure her wife already knew. She had always been proud of Lena, but in that moment nothing compared. She watched Lena leave, her heart aching to be walking next to her. They had won but at a cost. But they never would have made it that far without her. Kelly may have been the hero everyone talked about, but Lena was the only reason they had all survived.