So, this is how she dies.

Belatedly, Lena wonders if having paid attention all these times Lillian dragged her to church, if having been a more active devout, could have ensured her a less abrupt departure from this plane of existence. Deep down though, she knows it wouldn't have changed jack shit. She's already too far on her way to becoming a human pancake, flattened against harsh concrete after a fifty feet free fall. At least she won't die from suffocation which is a small relief if not much else. She would like to say she refuses to close her eyes and stares death right in the face but it would be a lie. What she does is screwing her eyelids shut to conjure the image of Kara in her mind. She might be about to die like a coward, but at least she'll do so with a smile on her lips.

Surprisingly, or not, who is she to know anything at this point, she doesn't die. Her body doesn't splatter against the muddy ground of the docks and her brain isn't impaled on the fragments of her own skull ; instead, someone snatches her by the waist after an infinite fall and she finds herself launched across the sky, anchored to a body that her own body doesn't yet recognise. She peeks one eye open, identifies Taylor, and closes it again immediately. The ground is much much too far below her feet for her to be comfortable about it.

"I've got you," her child says. "I've got you. Don't you dare fucking die."

Lena takes stock of her body, notices that her heart is already two steps beyond tachycardia, that her throat burns and her lungs seem fixated on not working properly. Her brain is probably also too far gone because what she settles on saying is, "language," in a small rough voice that doesn't bear a single trace of reproach.

"Shut up Mum. It's your foul mouth who taught me how to swear, you have no fucking ground to stand on."

Lena's slug-like brain is overtaken by the need to point out the accuracy of this statement, her feet are indeed very far from the ground ; but Taylor cuts all possibility of a reply by gently setting her down extremely high up next to a pair of hands that turn out to be Alex's, who hauled herself up an entire pile of containers using only the strength of her arms. Lena is mildly impressed and then, she passes out.

It's not so much that Kara would rather be anyplace else but here, there is, truthfully, nowhere she'd rather be in the universe but at Lena's side ; but she would admittedly pay a hefty amount of money to be in any other situation.

"Next time, I will be involved in this," Ghim says her voice dragging menacingly.

Not, I would like, or even, I want to ; but, I will.

She's staring at her dead in the eyes with exactly zero room for discussion, and Kara is trying very hard to keep her mind from drifting to the memory of the time this absolute puppy, former death machine, successfully killed her for a good five minutes.

"This was a difficult situation," Kara explains, refusing to falter in this staring match. "We, I, thought it best to keep you out of it."

"I was trained by a dictatorial army, I am very good at getting rid of difficult situations."

"That's what I feared," Kara admits. She wants to avert her eyes to her hands, or to Lena, to look at anything but at Red Daughter, but she hangs on. "I've only ever fought you, never with you, and I feared you'd lack restrain. I didn't want you to be a liability when she was in danger."

"I understand," Ghim says, her voice suddenly small and pitiful. She's the first to break the staring contest and Kara wants to backtrack at the speed of light, to take back everything she just said and instead wrap her in a hug that will fix everything. "But I want to protect her and I hope you will let me show you what I am capable of so that shall the need arise, she will always have someone."

"I think that's fair," Kara agrees softly. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance."

Ghim nods. "It is worth a lot," she replies in that weird and ancient tone she sometimes employs. She often sounds both terribly wise and horribly young and Kara can't help but wonder how such dichotomy can reside in a single soul. Is she like that too ? She doesn't feel particularly wise.

They let the moment settle, both leaning back into the chairs that frame Lena's hospital bed. She'll be okay ; they arrived just in time and she herself put up one hell of a fight. It doesn't prevent Kara from feeling scared and terrible and anxious. She hates seeing her like this, small and frail, almost swallowed by the thick grey covers of the DEO's med bay and she struggles to keep her mind off what could have happened if Taylor hadn't been here, if they hadn't recognised magic, if they hadn't caught her when she fell.

She shudders, squeezes her eyes shut and opens them again to gaze around the room. With how much time they spend in it, the white clinical space could really use some decorating. A couple of candles and throw pillows, softer lighting to melt the sharp edges, maybe a framed picture or two. And a secret drawer for a secret snack stash.

"I am in love with her too," Ghim says suddenly, picking up the thread of a conversation she seems to have held with herself only. "I will not come in between the two of you, I know it is you that she loves." Kara forces her gaping mouth to close shut, shaking herself away from a near perfect imitation of a fish out of water. "But when I awoke there," Ghim continues, shuddering to a phantom cold than only she can feel, "I only knew two things. That I needed to find Alex. And, that I was in love with Lena. This knowledge has kept me warm ever since."

"I'm sorry," Kara gulps, frozen, perplexed, and completely at a loss for what else to say.

"Do not be. It is marvellous that you are loved by her."

They lapse into silence again after this confession, Kara sensing that Ghim will not be open to further discussion. The scarred Kryptonian extracts a Russian book from her satchel and Kara elects to take a nap, moving only to take Lena's hand in her own. She doesn't fall asleep, she's much too aware of every single menial thing going on around her for that to happen, but she does close her eyes, letting time pass her by, and she knows at least a good hour has elapsed before others start trickling in the med bay.

Taylor comes in first. They've changed out of their weird amalgam of tactical gear and make a beeline for the armrest of Kara's chair. They sit on it hesitantly and an entire lifetime passes before they curl in on themself and against Kara's shoulder, exhausted. In and of itself, it's a simple gesture, but Kara can't fathom life ever being the same after.

"You okay there aonah ?" she asks softly.

Taylor breathes out, very very slowly. "I'm fine Yeyu. I'm fine."

Alex comes in shortly after that, Kelly in tow. They make for an awkward sight, having merged in the past hour in a single creature with two heads, two functional arms and four legs. They limp, clumsily, Alex's broken limb getting in the way of every step. They stop and scowl in tandem but it's only Alex who speaks, producing a short and unwelcome sentence.

"She's not awake yet ?"

"Should she be ?" Kara asks back, heartbeat rocketing into the stratosphere.

"I don't know," Alex answers, her shoulders rising above Kelly's in a shrug. "I'm not the magic expert. She seems as fine as can be to me but she was deprived of oxygen for a while and then went through the stress of being dropped fifty feet so that has to be taken into account too." A strand detaches from her carefully gelled hair and she blows on it, letting out steam and trying to get it out of her face at the same time. Kelly brushes it away from her eyes for her and after a beat, she speaks again. "Can you tell us anything more ?" she asks, specifically to Taylor. "Was this covered in class ?"

At that question, Taylor promptly bursts into tears.

A black hole opens in their chest and now would be a very good time for it to swallow them whole. Instead, snot and tears dribble down their face as Taylor embarrassingly sobs and sobs like a fucking four years old. Why now of all moments ? Why in a room full of people ? Why couldn't their body just wait five more minutes, or send a nice little warning sign before releasing their soul in undignified wails ? It hurts ; and they feel wretched and broken and like nothing will ever be okay again even as Kara cradles them against her, rocking and blabbering reassurances in Kryptonese.

"You're okay," she murmurs, "you're okay. And Lena's going to be okay too. I promise. Your mum is going to be okay."

But Taylor is not okay, not even remotely. Every single event of the past few weeks comes crashing down on them in a wave of indistinguishable feelings that makes them want to die. They suffocate, their chest constricting unnaturally as they try to suck in ragged breath after ragged breath still weeping like all the pain in the world is unloading through their eyes. They feel utterly worthless. It was beyond stupid to think they could be of any use here, in this time.

This gives them pause, and they realise that even now, when the only clear thought they can grasp is that they want to go home and to be held by older arms, they won't activate the time beacon. They need to stay here, need to help, need to fix this ; because even if right now it feels like their world is crumbling all around them, they know with a strange, and just the tiniest bit frightening, clarity that it would downright explode if they were to go back to the future. So they hold on and they cry, bawling their eyes out against Kara's shoulder with not a shred of dignity as she whispers comforting lies in their ear.

A long moment passes, or maybe time ceases to exist entirely, during which they try to bury themself into their Yeyu, to crawl back into a metaphorical womb they weren't born from with the single minded purpose of being shielded from everything forever. Eventually, their tears abate, which is nothing short of a miracle, and they regain a semi-consciousness of the people around them. There's snot on Kara's suit, which is embarrassing, and Alex has disentangled herself from Kelly to kneel in front of them, hand on their knee, her eyes shining with something that isn't quite pity, but a unique tinge of sadness that might be even worse.

Crassly, they wipe the bodily fluids off their face with the sleeve of their hoodie, sniffling to get the leakage under control. Suffice to say, they feel like shit. But somehow, even with their obvious current state, they still find it in themself to lie, a laughable testament of having been raised by Lena Luthor.

"I'm fine," they say, slipping in a wet laugh for good measure, "really."

"With all due respect," Alex says, her hand temporarily leaving their knee to wipe a stray tear on their face in an unfathomable gesture, "you're not. What can I do to help ?"

"You can't do anything," Taylor replies, their tone childlike and unnerving to their ears. "I just want Mum to wake up."

They might have found it in themself to lie the first time but in this instant, there isn't a single cell in their body that cares anymore about hiding the truth, or about the slip.

"She's strong. She'll pull through I know it."

"I'm so tired. So tired of her having to be strong all the time. Aren't you tired ?"

They turn to Kara as they speak but it's Alex who answers, voice so soft it might as well be a figment of their weary imagination.

"I am," she says. "I'm tired of everyone around me suffering and getting hurt and still having to get up in the morning. And I'm scared. I've let Lena become another sister to me and now I'm scared all the time." She stops, sighs and then chuckles bleakly. "That girl goes through assassination attempts like I go through beer cans. Please do not mention my drinking problem right now. But I can't let it stop me. I can't let the fear and exhaustion stop me. And I'm sorry, but you can't let it stop you either. Tell you what, why don't we set up camp here tonight ? We have enough blankets lying around to make it comfortable and Brainy can set up a little something so we can watch a movie, or four. I promise I won't force you to go home until she's awake."

Taylor ponders over this for a minute, there's not much of a choice to make however and they answer, scratching their throat to make themself sound less pitiful : "can we watch The Abyss ?"

"Rao, again ? I hate this movie," Kara mumbles behind them, her own voice rough and tear-filled.

She doesn't protest much more, and once Taylor has decided to reverse back to being an adult and get out of her lap, she gets up, set on pulling her weight with the sleepover's preparation. She doesn't make it very far before her sister grabs her by the wrist and, tugging at her with surprising strength for someone whose arms should be liquified by now, brings her into a hug that Taylor can only describe as bone crushing. The sisters stay entangled like that for a long, immeasurable moment, heads tucked in each other's shoulders and arms snagged around each other's body in a vigorous yet tender grip.

The world slows almost to a stop. Kara knows it's only her perception of things going a little wonky, knows it's only because she's exhausted and terrified and the only thing she can focus on is Lena who seems to be suspended in a dark and unknown limbo. She knows it's not real, but it doesn't prevent her from feeling like the universe is about to stop existing. Even her own heart seems to be beating slower, an infinity stretching between each pump, and she wonders each time if there's going to be another one.

She pays no mind to the movie playing on the screen, the third of the night, focusing instead on the clock on the wall to make sure each second correctly ticks by ; anchoring herself to the simple act of a hand moving around on a simplistic time giving device to make sure that things are running correctly and it's only her brain that's messed up. It's not that she doesn't trust Alex to keep all of them safe, that she doesn't trust her when it comes to finding a permanent housing solution for their new magical foe ; but it's hard to turn of the part of herself that permanently expects everything to blow up, especially when it comes to something she holds little advantage against.

What if Selena manages to break out of her power dampening cell ? What if she can slow down time ? What if she destroys Kara's world and she has to stand there frozen and watch ?

Her heart takes its next beat. She isn't frozen in time, no one is. Nia is feeding Brainy popcorn and Alex is snoring loudly against Kelly's shoulder and Ghim is mouthing along the characters on the screen and Taylor is fiddling with a stray thread on their blanket, their eyes intently following the movie. Kara waits for another second ; her heart does its job, so does the clock on the wall. Beside her Lena sighs, and she buries herself deeper against her frail sleeping form, knowing she herself won't sleep until she wakes up. She can't bear the idea of closing her eyes on a sleeping Lena to open them on a corpse.

Because, what if she doesn't wake up ? What if she isn't sleeping but only on the premise of her death ? What if Kara stops paying attention and Lena slips away from this realm ? What if, what if she simply dies ?

She can barely compute the thought without her body verging towards complete shutdown. The world, the universe, wouldn't make sense without Lena in it ; and for this simple reason, Lena can't die, and she will wake up.

A lithe hand clumsily wraps itself around hers and she immediately stops picking at the mattress she's been slowly destroying without meaning to. It takes her thirty stupidly long seconds, thirty ticks of the hand of the clock, to realise that her newly held hand is not the one that was destroying DEO property in the first place, but the other. Her head whirls to look at Lena lightning fast and she finds her staring back at her with bloodshot eyes, the tiniest most radiant smile cracking her parched lips.

She opens and closes her mouth several times, wetting her lips and struggling to move her jaw like massive unfathomable words are trying to come out of her. Kara wants to do something, wants to help, but she's rooted to the spot and all she can do is stare and stare again until the smallest of croaks reaches Kara's ears and Lena whispers almost inaudibly, "I love you."