Well it's been one hell of a ride but it comes to an end here. I'm so proud of what this story became. But the story of the Danvers family isn't over, they will be back with more stories and more adventures. But until then thank you all so much for reading and sticking it out this entire time, let me know what you thought and I hope you enjoyed. I know I have. Till next time.

Chapter 22

It had been three months since Warden had escaped. Three months since Alex, Maggie, Kara and Kelly had almost died. Three months of the most strenuous and painful recovery Kelly had ever had to go through. The pain had been hellish, the stress had given her ulcers and the PTSD she was suffering from had delayed her progress. But after three months Lena had gotten her on her feet. Her leg had started to heal and she had started to cope with the prosthetic. It was responding to the chemical and electrical impulses her brain was putting out allowing her to manipulate it like it was her actual limb. Three months of hard work, sweat and tears and she was currently in a headlock provided by her sixteen year old cousin who was apparently very annoyed with her.

"Give it to me."

"Let go."

"Not until you give it to me."

"Never."

Alex shook her head, for an adult her daughter was acting like a child. She was impressed by Lori's ability to subdue Kelly, for someone without training she was surprisingly nimble. Maggie leaned into her wife the smell of alcohol heavy on her breath.

"How long should we let this go?"

"Until one of them passes out." The two had been fighting for over five minutes, one of them was bound to give up eventually.

"My money is on Lori."

"Mine too," Alex agreed.

"Traitors…" Kelly sounded short of breath but Alex could tell she was still breathing normally. If she hadn't been Kara would have stepped in and forced the two apart.

"Give me my phone back," Lori was trying to pin Kelly put her cousin had gone stiff as a rock.

Kara had joined Alex and Maggie at this point. She was use to this kind of thing, having babysat Kelly a lot when she was younger. The two girls always found an excuse to wrestle, mostly resulting from one annoying the other. It was amazing that even at fifteen and twenty-one they were the same as twelve and six. The solution to diffuse the situation was the same as it had always been. Kara grabbed the back of her daughter's shirt and simply lifted her off of Kelly. At the same time Alex plucked Lori's phone from Kelly's hands.

"Alright enough of that," Kara said setting Lori down. "J'onn should be here any minute with food."

Kelly crossed her arms collapsing on the couch between her parents. She was glad her family was getting back to normal and that they actually had a night where everyone could get together and just have fun. However, if her cousin didn't tell her who she was so giggly about she was going to blow a gasket. If she couldn't tease her cousin about a crush or possibly boy/girlfriend (Kelly had no idea what her cousin was actually interested in) then what was the point? To be fair her cousin had been winning their little fight, Kelly didn't have the range of motion to get out of Lori's grip.

"Pizza is here," both Lori and Kara spoke at the same time having either seen or heard J'onn coming down the hall.

As if on cue, J'onn came through the door and was immediately swarmed by Kara and Lori who took the stack of pizza boxes from him. Lena sighed. She had gotten use to her wife and daughter's appetites over the years but sometimes it still surprised her just how much the two of them could eat. Her niece was the same way but she was better about it than the two Kryptonians.

"Two cheese, two vegetarian, two meat lovers and one supreme for the most well-mannered of my daughters," J'onn said giving Lena a one armed hug. "Nia and James are on their way up. Kelli apologizes but an emergency is keeping her at her office."

"Give me the meat," Kelly was over at the counter sliding one of the boxes towards herself. "Mom and I will split it."

"Yes," Alex was starving and Maggie rarely let them get a meat lovers pizza.

Alex pulled Maggie off the couch. She was still limping but was no longer feeling any pain. Her wound had torn tendons making her recovery fairly slow. She was slowly getting back into the office but had yet to be cleared for active duty. Alex was still refusing to return back to the DEO until Maggie was a bit better. J'onn didn't seem to mind, things had been quiet in recent weeks with only minor scuffles with aliens. Kara was staying busy doing the work her sister and Maggie usually did but she didn't mind.

"Hey save some for us," Nia elbowed her way into the crowded counter. "You guys always leave a piece or two but I can't share that with Jimmy."

"Aunt Nia!" Kelly wrapped her arms around her aunt lifting her off the ground. "You look good. Did you cut your hair?"

"I did," Nia confirmed flipping her hair with a smile. "How's it look?"

"Awesome," Kelly said finally setting her down. "How do I look? Legs not to flashy is it?"

"Just the right amount for you," Nia said with a laugh.

"Sweet," Kelly grinned. "Hey Jimmy, want in on this? We got two meat lovers."

James grinned rubbing his hands together. "You know it." He stopped to hug Lori, ruffling her hair slightly before taking the slice offered to him. They rarely saw James because he was so busy running his The Calvintown Gazette. When he did make it in to town it was usually to assist Kara with something at CatCo. He worked well with William Day, who was rarely invited to family events even though he was great friends with all of the original Superfriends.

"What's the special occasion?"

They did do nights where the entire Superfamily got together, but it was usually reserved for holidays and special occasions. They had decided not to celebrate the night they failed to take down Warden and Thorul. Instead Alex suggested they celebrate something else. Something actually worth celebrating.

"Tonight is in honor of Kelly dropping out of college," Alex said raising her beer for Kelly to clink.

"Hear, hear." Kelly said. It was a stupid thing to celebrate but they had their reasons.

"Is there a reason we're celebrating that specifically?" Nia asked.

"Well aunt Nia I have taken a full time position as head of security at L-Corp and after a couple years I'll be entering training at the DEO," Kelly said with a grin. She was excited to have more responsibility at L-Corp but hated she had to wait to join the DEO. "Fuck College, Alex never finished either."

"We've celebrated weirder things," James said with a shrug. "Cheers to kid Danvers."

"Cheers," everyone repeated raising their respective drinks up.

After everyone had eaten the night began to heat up some going from casual conversations to one of the most intense games of Jenga Kelly had ever witnessed. They had decided to play teams, Alex and Kara had teamed up beating Nia and Lori as well as Lena and James. They were currently in the middle of a game against Kelly and Maggie, both of which were just as skilled as their opposing team. Kelly was attempting to slide out an edge piece that was getting stuck, part of it being load bearing.

"If I hit it fast enough it's not going to fall," she said. It was all about strategy at this point, there was no way she was losing to Kara and Alex.

"No using powers, that's cheating," Alex argued. "Kara isn't using hers."

"I'm wearing a dampener," Kelly said. Her focus remained on the piece still stuck in the side of the tower, she could smack it like a cat and probably be okay.

She slammed the jenga block as hard as she could, nearly hitting Alex with it in the process. The tower swayed but didn't fall over. James tossed her the piece she had launched at Alex for her to place on the top. If she managed to do that without toppling the tower they had a good chance of winning. She dropped the block in place watching the tower teeter again before settling. She and Maggie had this game in the bag, there was no way Alex could pull a piece without toppling the tower.

Alex attempted to slip out a middle block but it was stuck tightly within the tower. There would be no easy way to quickly rip it from the rest of the blocks, she would have to take it slow and hope that it didn't knock the tower over. Kelly and Maggie were already celebrating. Alex couldn't get the piece out and all of them knew it. They were proved right when the tower collapsed around Alex's block. Normally sportsman like conduct was expected but when Kelly, Alex, Maggie and Kara got going sportsmanship went out the window. Maggie Jumped on Kelly in excitement, her daughter lifted her up laughing and cheering at the win they had accomplished. Kelly very rarely won when it came to her parents so when she beat one of them it was huge.

"In your face," Maggie said still laughing at her wife's expense. "Now drink."

Alex was muttering something under her breath but obeyed the rules they had set and drank. Out of all of them Alex was the most competitive and the one who hated losing the most. She wasn't a sore loser by any means, she just really hated when she lost.

"Alright I'm calling it, no more drunk Jenga tonight," Lena said taking the shot glass from her sister-in-law. "You two still have to drive home."

They all nodded in agreement, though none of them really wanted to quit. For once they were having fun, not worrying about anything else around them. It was getting late though and eventually the party would break apart and everyone would go their separate ways for the night. Even Kelly was starting to get anxious about going home. She had a lot she needed to do before the morning.

Kelly noticed Nia was quieter than usual. She was had her eyes closed like she did when she was in one of her dreams. Kelly cocked her head watching her closely. No one else had noticed Nia had slipped into one of her visions most of the too drunk or just to absorbed in their own conversations to tell. When Nia came out of it her first instinct was to look at Kelly which told her everything she needed to know. Kelly should have known she would never be able to get past Nia, it was a risk in the first place but of course Nia had seen what she was planning.

"I need some fresh air, excuse me." Nia left without much of an argument from anyone. Kelly waited for everyone to return to their conversations before following after.

Nia burst out of the building sucking in a huge breath of fall air. She was trying to process the information she had just gained but was having difficulty because it was the complete opposite of what Kelly was telling everyone. Why would she lie about all the plans she was making when she could just tell them the truth? Surely the rest of the Superfamily would understand.

"Nia." Kelly said from behind her catching her attention. "You saw something didn't you? You saw me leaving?"

Nia sighed turning to face to woman behind her. She looked so different from the last time Nia had seen her. Everything about her was older, more tired, and more mature. Nia could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice, Kelly was no longer the gung-ho girl she had been before her run in with Warden. It didn't surprise Nia, not after what Kelly had been through, but it was a stark difference from the girl Nia had seen grow up.

"I did," she admitted. There was no point in lying to her.

"So why didn't you say anything?"

"Why haven't you?"

Kelly shrugged. Nia knew it wasn't her answer, it was just her way of showing she was unsure of how to explain herself. Kelly would tell her exactly why she wasn't telling her family. She had no reason to hide anything from Nia. Her cover was already blown, Nia knew all of the plans she had been making were just for show so no one would think something was wrong.

"They don't need to know," Kelly said eventually. "Telling them would only hurt them, I just wanted them to be happy for a little while before I took that away."

"You're giving them false hope."

"I'm giving them something to hold on to," Kelly argued. "If I were to tell them they would try to help, to get me to stay here. I just can't do that."

Kelly hung her head partially out of shame. Lori had promised her she was nothing like her father but her cousin had been wrong. She could feel it deep inside of her, an anger that he had stoked the flames of that she couldn't shake.

"I need time to sort myself out, to figure out who I am, who I'm meant to be and I can't to that here."

Nia could tell there was no talking Kelly out of her decision. If she really needed to leave to figure out her place in the universe Nia wasn't going to stop her. She had done her own soul searching after Brainy had broken up with her. She hadn't been the only one, both James and Lena had taken time to find themselves and their places within the Superfamily. No one had stopped them, knowing it was what they needed. With Kelly though, she had just recovered from a traumatic even. She was right in thinking her parents would do everything in their power to stop her.

"I won't say anything," Nia said earning Kelly's attention. "But you need to be sure about this. It is going to hurt them."

"I know," Kelly said. "They may even hate me for it, but they'll understand eventually."

"Maybe we should get back inside," Nia suggested.

"Yeah probably," Kelly agreed opening the door for Nia. "After you."

When they entered the apartment together Kara nearly fell on her. Her aunt had been leaning up against the door, not eavesdropping just standing. Kelly caught her, setting her upright. She could tell her aunt was a little bit intoxicated. She patted her on the shoulder and went to join her parents on the couch. They were in the middle of an intense game of Unstable Unicorns with Lori, Lena and James.

"Want to take over for me?" Maggie handed Kelly her cards not waiting for an answer. "I need to get another beer."

"I could've grabbed one for you," Kelly said. "But grab me one while you're at it."

Kelly glanced over at Nia who was having a quiet conversation with J'onn about nothing important. She would keep her word and keep quiet. Kelly had her own role to play, she could give them all one night, to be happy before she left. She owed them that much, after all they had gone through one night wouldn't kill her.

As it turned out one night might just kill her. Their family had never been extremely rowdy, they were competitive and got a little loud sometimes but never rowdy. It was one of those night completely full of celebration. They were able to have a night where they could forget everything else. It was great for a while, it had been years since the last time they were all this happy. But it wasn't going to last. Kelly knew that she would have to leave tonight, with them happy. It would be a good memory to leave them with, it was the least she could do for them after all they had done for her.

"Alright," Kelly yawned. "I'm going to head out, I've got a lot to do tomorrow."

"You sure Kel?" Alex asked. "I'm sure your boss could give you a break."

"Not my boss, my doctor," Kelly said hugging Alex tightly. "She gets testy when I'm late."

She grinned turning towards Lena who was glaring at her. Kelly was going to miss all of them but it was for the best. Maggie waved her over to get her own hug which Kelly did, squeezing her extra tightly. It would be the last time she saw any of them for who knows how long.

"You mind keeping the cat for a few extra days?"

"Fine but only a few."

Maybe when her parents got tired of him they would pawn him off on Kara. Her aunt could never say no to any furry companion. Kelly wasn't sure how Lena managed to talk Kara out of adopting every stray animal she found. She sighed going over to hug both her aunts, not nearly as tight as she hugged Maggie but fairly close. She would miss Lena a lot, her aunt was part of the reason her recovery was going so well and without her constant reminders and check-ups Kelly didn't know if the leg would hold up.

"I'll see you two later," she said.

James gave her a one armed hug patting her on the back. J'onn was after that giving her one of his grandpa hugs, he lifted her up slightly. He could have easily read her mind, realizing that she was only going to stop by her apartment to pick up her bag before skipping town. He could have stopped her, but J'onn never read any one's mind without permission. It was the only reason she felt like she could leave without any trouble.

"Be careful getting home."

"I will," she said smiling. "Love you gramps."

Kelly turned towards Nia offering her a hug, not knowing if she would accept, knowing what was really going on. Nia was all too happy to hug her as tightly as she could. She would be the only one who would get to say her actual goodbye. Kelly hugged her back just as tightly, she had never been super close with Nia but at that moment she was closer to her than anyone else in the room.

"Thank you," Kelly said quietly.

"Don't thank me," Nia said. "Just do what you need to do."

"Yeah…" Kelly nodded. "Guess I should say bye to Lori…"

Lori jumped on her as soon as she came up to her. Kelly almost dropped her, which wouldn't have been bad, just funny. If it wasn't for the fact her cousin was great at tempering her strength she would have snapped Kelly in half with how tight she was hugging her. She almost pushed her cousin off but decided against it. She wouldn't hurt her like that, she was already going to hurt them all enough.

"You're gonna break my ribs Lori," Kelly could barely breath let alone speak.

"Sorry!" Lori said letting go of her. "I'm just happy that you're smiling again."

Kelly ruffled Lori's hair causing her cousin to swat her hand away. She may have been happy that Kelly was smiling again but she was tired of Kelly messing up her hair. It was also annoying that Kelly was still treating her like she was ten. Then again her cousin had nearly died so Lori would give this to her. She was proud of her cousin, not just for surviving against Warden but for her recovery. She was doing better than the rest of them both physically and mentally. Lori had no idea how she was doing it.

"I'll see you later kid," Kelly said. "Stay out of trouble."

"You planning on going somewhere?"

"No I'm just talking," Kelly said rubbing the back of her neck.

She hugged Lori again, tightly. Part of her knew Lori would be the last to forgive her. She was abandoning her family, the people who had stood by her side during her recovery, because she felt lost. Leaving was the only thing she could think of to help her figure everything out. Maybe the solitary journey was what she needed to rid herself of her father's shadow. Or maybe it was exactly what he had wanted. Maybe he had known she would go off on her own and realize she would be better off without them.

"Alright I'm out, see you guys later."

She could feel the lump in her throat growing as she left. The longer she stayed the harder it would be to leave. She just had to keep telling herself that this was the only way. If she didn't leave she would lose herself to him, she could feel it, that pull. A piece of her that wasn't entirely her. She had felt it since the night she helped kill him a darkness that never really went away eventually it would swallow her whole.

XXXXX

Alex laughed as she stumbled through her front door with Maggie closely in tow. The gathering had gone on a lot longer than they had expected with James and Nia leaving an hour after Kelly, J'onn an hour after that and finally them two hours later. They would have stayed longer but Lori had been starting to wear out and Kara and Lena were getting to the point of drunk. It didn't help that when Alex and Maggie got drunk they both got a little handsy, they figured they should get home before anything escalated.

"I'm going to get us something to drink then we'll finish what we started in the car," Maggie said with a chuckle as Alex nipped her lower lip.

"Don't keep me waiting," Alex said with a coy smile giving one last tug to Maggie's collar.

Maggie was grinning like a fool, she adored Alex and at times like this she remembered just how much she loved her wife. Alex sauntered off down the hall to their room leaving Maggie standing in the door way alone. She stepped into the kitchen with Ghost close on her heels. He normally followed Alex but tonight he was pawing at Maggie's leg which wasn't like him. She scratched behind his ears as she dug for the bottle of scotch she and Alex had to hide so Kelly didn't take it. She finally found it pulling it down along with two glasses.

She was pouring Alex glass when she noticed something on the counter. It looked like a note in Kelly's hand writing that hadn't been there when they had left. That's odd… she thought. She set the bottle down and rounded the counter to pick up the piece of paper. Her heart broke as she read through the lines. She couldn't have been reading this right.

"Mags, everything alright?"

Apparently she had been taking long enough that Alex felt the need to come and check on her.

"Maggie what happened?"

Maggie shakily held out the note for Alex to take. She was finding it hard to breathe, what had they done wrong? Alex took the note with a concerned look spreading across her face. She read part of the note then looked back at her wife. Maggie nodded prompting Alex to start reading the note out loud.

"I wish there was a way to explain this to you that you could understand. I've gone back and forth trying to figure out if I really needed to leave and the only answer I've ever been able to come up with was yes. I hope you can forgive me for not saying goodbye in person. I just knew if I did that I would have never been able to leave…

"It isn't because of anything you did, this has to do with Miles Donovan and me. He said something right before he died and I can't get it out of my head, like he still has a hold on me. I'm really sorry, I love both of you so much I didn't want to hurt you but I know I have. I promise I'll be home once I figure everything out. Again love you both – Kelly."

Alex was shaking almost as bad as Maggie but unlike her wife she went straight for the glass of scotch. They had two options, go after her or let her go. Alex didn't know which option they should take. Kelly was struggling and it was something none of them had realized and clearly she didn't think they could help her. Alex could understand that, both her and her sister had had moments where they felt like being alone was better than having someone to lean on. They had always come around in the end, either going to one another or one of their friends. Kelly was different, she was somewhat of a loner, much like Lena. She might change her mind and turn around or she might continue down a solitary path until she found her answers.

"We have to go after her," Maggie said with a sudden urgency Alex had only ever seen in her once. "She doesn't know what she's saying, if we just talk to her she'll realize we can help."

Alex said nothing as Maggie started pacing and speaking her thoughts out loud. Maggie was trying to formulate a plan but Alex was trying to drown her out. She needed to think. They wouldn't be able to find her, she would have left her cellphone, removed the tracking chip all DEO agents had and would be masking her powers. The only way to follow her was to follow her credit card. She was smarter than that, she would have drained her account and set up a new one they would really have to look to find. She would be in the wind, like Alex had always taught her incase Donovan ever returned and Alex wasn't around to protect her. She had given Kelly everything she would ever need to disappear. They had to accept that.

"Maggie stop…"

"Stop? Alex our daughter needs to be here," Maggie shouted throwing her arms up. "We should be out there looking for her."

"We won't find her, I know that and you know that," Alex said calmly. "She'll come back. She just needs time."

"Alex goddamnit, how can you say that."

"You left because you needed to, I gave you time, I gave you space, I moved on," Alex said starting to lose her patience. "But you came back. We need to give her space, we have no idea what she is going through but I know my daughter and I know she'll come back."

Alex caught Maggie before she collapsed in tears. She knew it wasn't what Maggie wanted to hear but she also knew Maggie realized she was right. Kelly would come back, she would never leave without a reason. Their daughter was strong, she knew what she was doing and if this was the only reasonable course of action she could come to Alex wasn't going to question it. They would just have to wait for her to come home or show up on the DEO's radar, no matter how long it took.

"Come on," Alex said dragging Maggie to her feet. "I think both of us could use a long hot shower."

Maggie allowed Alex to lead her to the bathroom. Alex turned on the water before stripping down and helping Maggie out of her own clothes. They had a lot to think about. That night would be difficult for both of them but the next day would be even worse. Alex had no idea how to tell everyone that Kelly had left. She didn't think Lori would take it very well, not after the way the two of them had been teasing each other earlier that day. Alex knew she would be the one to tell everyone. She didn't think Maggie would be able to.

She sighed her tears being washed away by the hot water raining down on them. Alex held Maggie close, soothing her through her sobs. She knew how much pain Maggie was in because she felt it too, but there had been nothing they could do. Their only solace would be knowing Kelly promised she would return. They had to hold on to that hope no matter how long it took.

XXXXX

Kelly ran her hand through her hair her eyes scanning over the terminal in front of her. She had no idea where gate B21 was. The signs were confusing and the directions a worker had given her had only confused her more. She had been to an airport maybe three times in her life. She hated them, there were always too many people, and they were useless. She could fly, she didn't need to be locked in a tin can at 30,000 feet. She had finally had enough when she passed the same T.G.I. Fridays for the fourth time.

"Can anyone fucking tell me where Gate B21 one is?!"

Most passersby stared at her because of her sudden outburst earning them a glare from the annoyed metahuman. She just wanted to get on her flight and get out of the city. But she couldn't do that if she couldn't find her flight.

"Are you lost?"

Kelly turned to face a man roughly her height but definitely older than her standing behind her with a smile. His hair was short and graying but he had a friendly face, one that she felt inclined to trust.

"Extremely," she admitted. "You wouldn't happen to know where B21 is, would you?"

"I would actually," he said. "I'm on the same flight, we could walk together if you like?"

She almost considered turning him down. His friendliness was making her a bit uncomfortable, but she was probably being paranoid. He almost looked like Donovan, if Donovan looked less like a serial killer and more like the friendly grandpa who lived down the street. He seemed to notice her hesitation because he smiled again.

"My family is already at the gate," he said. "I can promise you I'm not a deranged individual trying to kidnap young girls in the airport."

"Weird thing to say."

"And yet you were thinking it."

Fair enough… Kelly thought. He was right she had been thinking it but that fact he called her out for it made her think she had him pegged wrong. She shrugged, even if he was some kind of freak she could snap him like a twig even without her powers. He nodded at her realizing she was agreeing to follow him. She walked in complete silence next to him as he relayed stories of his wife and three kids. They seemed like the perfect family, happy, content at least in his mind. While she listened Kelly found herself missing her parents. They had probably realized by then it would take a lot of their resources to find her. She knew how to hide herself from a Kryptonian and the DEO.

"So, young girl like yourself must be running away from something," he said catching her off guard.

"You could say that," she said chewing on the words. She wasn't exactly running away. "You'd be wrong. It's more like running towards something."

"I see," he said. "Well I wish you luck."

"Thanks."

"So what's your final destination?"

She hadn't really thought about it. She didn't exactly know what she was chasing, just that she wasn't going to find it in National City… Kelly smiled to herself, maybe that was what her final destination would be.

"You know," Kelly said looking up at the stranger beside her. "I think my final destination is what it's always been…"

She never finished her thought at least to him. He didn't need to know, he was just a kind stranger she had run into at an airport. She glanced out the window at the rising sun over the outskirt of National City. She knew what her final goal would be. When all was said and done, her final destination could only be one place…

Home…