"Ok we're good, I found the kid ! Max's here too !"
Lena does not take any time to think. She does not even fully take in the figure that steps out of the portal, does not waste enough time to register the full sentence that comes out of the woman's mouth ; no, before anyone can react, before even Kara can get up, she's jumped between the portal and Taylor, body tensed in a shitty fighting stance.
A commotion can be heard from inside the portal, a gasp, the tell-tale sound of someone floundering up and tripping over a chair ; and a voice that sucker punches Lena in the face.
"Where are they ?" A rasp, a whisper. "Taylor ? Taylor ?!" A very distinctive Irish drawl. "Love are you alright ?!"
Lena Senior losing her shit some twenty-five years into the future.
Lena, present Lena, feels her legs jellying beneath her and wearily prepares herself to hit the ground. Kara is here to catch her however, like she always is, and she instead staggers back into a pair of solid arms.
"You can't come out," the woman says in a strong assertive tone that reminds Lena of someone though she can't put her finger on it.
"Let me see my kid," another voice groans, also painfully familiar because it's Kara's. She sounds angry and scared and exhausted and Lena sinks back into the embrace of her current version, hoping what little comfort she can offer will reach through time to wrap itself around her.
A bright red knee high boot appears, cutting through the bluish glow of the portal and disappears just as fast when the first woman elbows Kara the Eldest back to the future.
"I said you can't come out," the woman says. "You're here. We're not risking the fabric of space-time just because you're impatient."
"I don't care about the fabric of space-time !" Finely Aged Kara roars before she lets out a sound akin to a wail, and her younger version tightens her hold on Lena, a tremor running through her body. "Please. Let me see my kid. Taylor. Lor-El. Are you okay ?"
Now would be a good time for Taylor to regain the use of speech but they still stand frozen for a good thirty seconds, staring ahead as the woman stands guard, arms spread across the portal.
"Yeyu ?" they finally quiver. "Yeyu ?" they repeat, tumbling off Max's lap in a flurry of movements. "Mum ?"
A heartbreaking yelp fills both sides of the portal and Lena hears a more seasoned, more battered version of herself completely breaking down at the sound of her child's voice.
"Let me through," Taylor mumbles, stumbling towards the light. "Ruby let me through."
Ruby, because it is Ruby, Lena can see it now, steps away from the portal and Taylor rushes through, two sets of hands reaching out to grab at them in a gentle but hurried manner.
"Sorry about that," Ruby chuckles awkwardly, the outline of Lena's currently fourteen years old niece reflecting in the frame of a slender and muscular woman dressed in what can't be described as much else than a supersuit, though it's a bit too big for her, like it's been borrowed. "You know how you are."
Lena does know how she is ; dramatic. But she's willing to cut her future self some slack because this situation is a special type of mess that absolutely no one is equipped to handle, and certainly not her.
They stand in near perfect silence, the only sounds coming from the other side of the portal, for long minutes, seconds trickling by as Lena observes Ruby with sharp eyes. She remembers distantly, almost like it happened in another lifetime, how weird Sam was over the phone and as she stares at this aged up version of her niece, pieces of the puzzle start falling in place. She once told Sam that she was back to being a 100% human, but Sam was never human to begin with, and neither is Ruby. Head already full to the brim, she chooses not to dwell on it. Ruby doesn't seem particularly maladjusted, though she certainly looks bored.
"It was either me or Jem," she says after a while, answering everybody's silent question. "Aunt Lena found the message in the book and then I grabbed the short straw of the two people that had the less chance of accidentally encountering themselves in the past."
"The book ?" Lena asks just as Kara mumbles, "Jem ?"
"Taylor's wicked smart," Ruby answers. "They left a message for you in a book. You found the book and I've been exploring the sweet year of 2019 since then. Could have been Jem, but he's an impulsive piece of shit and nicely admitted he didn't trust himself not to rescue his baby self from his traumatic childhood."
"Jeremiah Junior," Maxima supplies from the sidelines with just a hint of snark at Ruby's half-assed explanation. "He's Alex's son. Really nice, for a man."
A laugh starts bubbling at the back of Lena's throat ; she chokes a little trying to hold it back. She isn't sure if what Maxima said is genuinely funny or if she's officially losing her shit ; either way she doesn't get to explore it because just as her body starts shaking with her barely restrained laughter, the front door explodes.
Both Kara and Maxima jump into action with practised efficiency and without a beat being missed, Lena finds herself sheltered from the wreckage by two muscular aliens in sleepwear. She will have absolutely none of it. She is tired, she is angry, and she would very much like for random strangers to stop showing up at the worst times.
With little thoughts given to her gesture, she grabs the first thing she can, Kara's full chocolate mug, and lobs it in a graceless arc over her improvised bodyguards' heads. It lands a good foot away from her target, crashing into her previously pristine white wall next to a vaguely human shaped stack of rocks.
"Oi !" she calls out when this has absolutely zero effect on the grey living mountain, "Oi ! Get the fuck out of my home !"
This has much more of an impact. The pile of rock possesses two arms and uses one to throw a chunk of the door at her and the other to slam Maxima out of the way when she launches forward to stop it. Lena registers the sharp crack her body makes when she collides with the wall but she's much more concerned with the sharp piece of wood she's about to be impaled on.
She sees Kara turning back in horror, notices the utter terror in her eyes, her fingers skimming over the tail of the stake to no avail. She sees her mouth burst open, can vaguely hear the beginning of a desperate scream forming over the noise ; knowing how Kara will feel about her death hurts more than the wood piercing her skin. Or maybe it's because no piece of wood wreaks havoc on her internal organs. Another hand closes over the spike, stopping it a millimetre away from her torso, a hand that Lena knows intimately, because it is usually attached to her own body.
For the longest second of her life, she stares back at her own face, blood trickling down her older nose and sheer instinct must take over because she closes her eyes as soon as she understands who she's looking at.
She feels her stomach lurching to her throat, something gurgles inside of her, a bit like she's going to throw up or die, the latter just as likely as the former.
"Well," she hears herself saying, not herself herself but her older self, which is really fucking weird, "this is inconvenient."
"Ruby !" Taylor shouts. "Get her out of here ! Get her out of here ! Ruby ! She's going to die !"
For a very brief moment, that somehow still lasts for an eternity, Lena isn't sure which version of her Taylor is talking about, which one is closer to death. She certainly feels like her insides are being dismantled.
The person that "gets her out of her" though isn't Ruby. A Kara shaped person who doesn't smell like Kara gently slams against her and she opens her eyes to find herself on the other side of the room, sheltered from the chaos by a hunk of granite that formerly belonged to her countertop. Across from her, Maxima and Taylor are locked in intense close combat with the mountain man ; Taylor fluttering around him to avoid powerful punches and Maxima hacking at him with a long piece of gleaming metal, a sword, Lena realises with no energy to be surprised by it.
"You should really stop doing that," Ghim says, mouth pressed against her ear, arms wrapped around her body a bit too tightly. "You should really really stop doing that."
"I second that," Kara murmurs, materialising on her over side.
Lena wonders if her death is still imminent. If so, she wouldn't mind departing this realm in a Super sandwich. She hears one of the two Kryptonians cough and she really, really hopes she didn't say that aloud.
"Go," Kara then says, and Lena briefly considers asking where she's supposed to go before she realises she's not talking to her, but to Ghim. "I've got her. This is your chance."
Her chance to what, Lena doesn't get to ask, because in less time than it takes for her to ask this question, Ghim has joined the melee, fists a blur as she collides with the boulder impersonation.
"SUP-ER-GIRRRRL," the thing, which apparently can talk, groans.
"I am not her," Ghim corrects him, "and frankly, I am appealed that you would suggest in any way that I am related to her."
She then turns back, throws a fucking wink at Kara and pummels him back into the hallway, Taylor and Maxima in tow by virtue of having each been clutched in one of his gigantic fists.
"Is it," Lena starts, stopping to clear her throat and cough a clot of blood in her hand, "safe to assume that this is another of her Royal Highness' hitman ?"
"DEA-TH TO SUP-ER-GIRRRRL," sounds from the corridor.
Kara sighs, wipes a trickle of blood from her chin, her hand just a little bit rough. "I'm pretty sure it's a safe assumption, yes."
"Fuck me," Lena grumbles ; and in an unprecedented turn of events, Kara replies, "later."
Lena dies then, and ascend to Heaven for a full minute before being revived and brutally slammed back on Earth, she's sure of it.
Kara turns beet red, stammers, fumbles and whispers, "I'm not sure why I said that."
"Well it's said," Lena comments matter-of-factly, "so, will you ?"
"Will I what ?" Kara replies, looking around restlessly, refusing to settle her gaze on her.
"Fuck me later ?" Lena says conversationally, deliberately ignoring the wreckage going on in the background.
A hunk of plaster is thrown their way and Kara deflects it with a blow of her arm without even looking. Dust powders her face and Lena momentarily wishes later would be now before Kara has to shield her from an entire body which unfortunately redirects the conversation to less enticing matters.
"A little help would be nice," Taylor grumbles from where they landed before bolting upright again and out of view.
"On it !" Kara shouts back at them. She shoots up, dusts her hands on her trousers then focuses back on Lena with a scowl. "You stay put," she says firmly, "I'll be right back."
"Yes Sir !"
Kara blushes even brighter and Lena decides to pass out for a little while to spare herself from the embarrassment of such words bypassing her filter.
When Lena comes to, she's lying on her designer uncomfortable couch and she feels like she's been run over by a couple of freight trains. Her forehead is cold and humid, and it takes her an embarrassingly long moment to figure out someone must have put a damp cloth on it. She shuffles to get a bit more comfortable, her bare skin squeaking on the leather in a way that cannot be described as anything else than gross. She needs to change her couch, maybe buy one of these terribly plushy ones that swallow ones whole every time ones sit on it. It would be an abhorrent eyesore but the added comfort would truly be worth it.
She sighs. The firm pillow her head rests on moving in time with her and when she goes to grab it she ends up with a handful of Kara's thigh instead. She debates opening her eyes, but, considering she can easily picture Kara's worried frown without actually looking at her, ultimately decides to spare herself the visual.
"You're lucky I love you," Kara grumbles, softly carding her hand through her hair, "or I would lock you in an Nth metal box, away from any possible source of danger." She marks a soft pause, exhales sharply and Lena takes the opportunity to crack one eye open. "Maybe I should lock myself in a box," Kara continues, small, defeated, "away from you."
"Don't you dare," Lena spits as fast as she can, opening her eyes and levelling Kara with a glare that, given her current state, can't be more threatening than a newborn kitten. "I love you. I will remain at your side wether you like it or not."
"I can't deter you from this, can I ?"
"No. Ride or die. Or whatever the youngsters say these days."
Kara sighs again, long and slow, taking advantage of her incredible lung capacity to mark a pause in the conversation. "I just, I wish you'd stop getting hurt," she says eventually.
Lena attempts to shrug. "It's not like a do it on purpose."
"I beg to differ," Alex says, encroaching on their little argument by plopping down at her feet. "It's like the Grim Reaper has a crush on you." She frowns, wiggles her butt on the leather. "Your couch sucks."
"Yes, I'm aware," Lena mumbles dryly. She lets a beat pass, counts the slow comb of Kara's fingers in her hair then adds, "I'm not going to stop living and hide in fear. I can't. I'm not giving up on anything."
"I know you won't," Kara replies softly, leaning to lay a gentle, barely there, kiss on her forehead. "You're tenacious, and I admire you so much for it. I just worry."
"I know you do. I promise I'll try to refrain from antagonising mountains by throwing things at them."
At that, Kara chuckles, a small glint of amusement shining in her irises. "Thank you," she says. "I appreciate it."
"Where are they anyway ?" Lena asks, looking around not so much because she expects the pile of rocks to still be present but to take stock of the wreckage that might have been left behind. She finds her apartment surprisingly clean, save for a bit of dust and a lingering scent of burnt plaster. A fresh coat of paint has been applied to her entryway and her door replaced by a metal monstrosity that is no doubt everything-proof.
"Subject has been identified as Solomon Grundy failed scientific experiment and regular nuisance of Metropolis," Alex says flatly. "He's been released recently by the MPD and had been mostly keeping to himself until he barged in your apartment."
"So not another time traveler ?"
"No. Which means that if he indeed is another hitman, the higher-up is already here so time tracking is not an option. Brainy's organising a transfer to the desert facility for interrogation. For what little use it will be."
"Fuck," Lena grumbles. "Fuck," she says again, turning her head to bury her face against Kara.
"That's the general consensus yes."
"Fuck," Lena says again, because she can. "Where is Taylor ?"
Kara stops combing through her hair for a brief moment then resumes the motion with a near robotic precision. "In their room," she says. "I don't think they're okay."
"The portal...?"
"Closed." Kara gulps. It makes her stomach move against Lena's face in a very odd way. "They. I think they chose to stay behind for now."
"Fuck," Lena repeats for the fourth time in such a short span of minutes that she half expects Lillian to pop up to berate her for her bad language. She doesn't really have much more to say. She's not ready to say goodbye, probably never will be even if she gets her mind wiped, but Taylor staying here after being so close to getting home twists her stomach in a way she cannot articulate.
An immeasurable, unthinkable, amount of time passes before they finally manage to stop crying ; and by then, they feel like pure shit. They've found refuge in their long term temporary bedroom, first curled up on the comforter then under it to escape Max's watchful gaze. She hasn't moved once, hasn't left their side at all, abandoning all strategising and war meetings in favour of carding a hand through their hair softly.
"At least she's alive, right ?" they sniffle at some point, when they've managed to get most of themself under control. "That's what matters. That she's safe, that they're both safe."
Max hums softly in response.
"Please, please tell me I've made the right choice," Taylor presses on, too exhausted to be ashamed by their desperation.
"You've made the right choice," Max replies very quietly. "But that doesn't mean you're not allowed to be angry or in pain. I understand that. I used to feel that way a lot after I left home."
"Our situations are different," Taylor snaps involuntarily, jolting from their cocoon to sit up in a flash. "When this is all over, I can go home. You can't."
"Which doesn't mean you're not allowed to feel pain," Max points out, ever so wise. "Your pain does not take anything away from mine. That's not how it works."
Taylor sniffles again, gawky and graceless ; and instead of being rightfully disgusted, Max drags them closer in a warm hug, washing everything away with her mellifluous hair.
"Thank you," they say, words half lost to Max's bulky shoulder. "I really needed to hear that."
"I know," Max whispers. "I know."
They stay like that for a long moment, memorising the sound of her heart, marvelling at her endless capability for gentleness, and only when they feel like they won't fall into pieces if they open their mouth do they speak again. "I need to let them know I'm staying," they say, fumbling to unstrap the watch from their wrist.
They fiddle for it for a second, trying to gain access to a little used setting and when a holographic keyboard pops into the air, they type the only sentence they can muster.
Is Mum ok ?
Straight to the point.
The answer is immediate, like someone has been sitting next to the watch since Taylor leaped back through the portal.
She's fine. A bit shaken up but fine. You saved her.
Taylor takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly.
I need to stay behind.
They can picture their Yeyu's face perfectly, brow sullen, mouth hanging open in a little disappointed oh ; it breaks their heart.
The lack of response has them typing again with urgency. Please understand.
I do understand.
Taylor wishes they could hug her, tell her again how sorry they are. They start typing again, whisking up an explanation but another message interrupt them.
I suppose we can't keep the portal open ?
Taylor squeezes their eyes shut, holding back tears that are so angry they burn the inside of their eyelids. When they open them again, Max has mercifully typed out a reply.
We can't.
Ok.
For a moment, these two letters hover sadly above the watch and Taylor doesn't know what to do with them. Ok, can't possibly be the only thing their Yeyu has to say.
Alex says don't die, pops up a minute later ; then, Mum says she loves you. And I-
Nothing again for a handful of seconds, tears start trickling down their face and something deep inside of them fractures irreversibly.
And I'm proud of you.
