It's been six months since Sam and Alex began dating and they are no closer to finding the cause of Sam's blackouts. meanwhile, Reign is still wreaking havoc across National City with no end in sight. When Sam takes off and leaves Ruby alone at the ice-skating rink, Alex heads to L-Corp in search of answers. Will she be able to handle the ugly truth that Lena has discovered? And will Lena's deception drive a wedge between her and the family she's always wanted?

Alex pulled up to the front of L-Corp with a heavy sense of dread coiling in her gut. The tracker that she'd placed in Sam's watch after her first string of disappearances had gone black for most of the previous day but was pinging brightly now. The agent didn't want to stop to think what that might actually mean. After all, Sam knew the tracker was there, had agreed to the placement for both of their piece of mind. She also knew how to turn it off. That part bothered Alex the most.

She hadn't had much of an opportunity to dwell on it though, as she'd been spent the entire night before comforting Ruby; the teenager understandably distraught after Sam had abandoned her in the middle of a crowded ice rink. To top it all off, Sam hadn't come home last night and despite Lena's assurances that the tall brunette was fine, Alex was loath to believe her. With great reluctance, she had left Ruby with J'onn and headed straight to L-Corp in search of answers.

Whatever was going on with Sam, the agent hoped beyond hope that it could be fixed. She and Sam had just reached the six-month mark in their relationship and Alex couldn't imagine what the rest of her life would be like without the other woman; she didn't want to imagine. She hadn't worked up the nerve to say it yet but she knew deep down that she had fallen madly in love with the brilliant, dorky, soccer mom. Sam had made her dreams of a family a reality, given Alex the life that her confused younger self had been terrified to hope for. There was nothing Alex wouldn't do to keep their little family together.

The redhead caught sight of herself in the elevator's mirrored doors and winced. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair a mess, the normally pristine DEO uniform creased and wrinkled from sleeping. None of that mattered. All that mattered was Sam and for some unknown reason, Lena was trying to keep them apart.

No more.

Before she realized, she was rounding the corner to Lena and Sam's shared office. Jess jumped to her feet as Alex stomped toward the door, moving to intercept the angry agent but a withering look from the redhead had her quickly retreating to the safety of her desk. Alex slammed the door open and took small satisfaction in the startled reaction Lena gave her from behind the large marble desk, one corner chipped away.

She noted that the younger woman looked equally worse for wear. Though her hair and makeup were still impeccably done, a form fitting dress flawlessly in place, there was no way for Lena to disguise the fatigue in her normally sparkling eyes. The young Luthor was just as distressed as Alex, possibly more so since the rumpled blanket tossed over the couch told the agent she had been sleeping in her office.

"Alex!" Lena gathered her wits and moved towards the middle of the room to meet her. "Is everything alright? I...I wasn't expecting you."

"Where's Sam?"

"She's safe, Alex. I promise you but-"

"No buts." Alex growled, crowding the younger woman's space. Lena's eyes immediately fell to her shoes and Alex felt her anger grow. "I don't want your promises Lena, I need to know where Sam is and I know you can take me to her."

"I don't think that's a good idea Alex." Lena stood taller at the statement, so sure in her rightness but Alex would not be denied.

"I don't give a damn what you think, Lena. I spent the whole night consoling Ruby, our daughter, because Sam went missing again. I had to hold her while she cried for hours!" Alex yelled at the younger woman, unable to keep it together any longer. "I don't care what's wrong with her, I'll be there, no matter what, but I have to see her Lena. Please."

Lena couldn't stand to see the pain reflected in her friend's eyes and she knew for a fact how poorly Sam was dealing with her isolation. It was a risk, letting a government agent so deep into L-Corp, even one she considered family. But she wasn't sure how to truly help Sam and the love for her friend showed true in the redhead's eyes. Perhaps if she and Alex worked together, maybe Sam could be saved? She had to try, knew Alex would never give up on Sam either.

"This way." She turned and headed towards a private elevator knowing instinctually that the agent would follow.

As soon as they entered, Lena pressed her hand to a previously hidden bio-pad and Alex watched her with suspicion as the screen lit up brightly, Access Granted, flashing quickly across the screen before the lift began to descend downwards. The air in the lift was stifling; Lena could feel the anger rolling off Alex in waves yet there was an undercurrent of fear, of helplessness. Lena felt it too, but perhaps together they could save the person who meant so much to them both. When the lift stopped, Lena led Alex into her lab. She walked directly towards the containment area before she stopped and turned to face the agent.

"Lena," Alex squinted as she peered at the opaque shield before her. "What is this? Why do you have a secret lab and where the hell is" Lena dropped the barrier's opacity and Alex gasped. "Sam?"

She quickly hastened towards the barrier, stopping short when she found it see-through but solid. Sam sat up on the hospital bed at the sound of her lover's voice, eyes wide with fear and unshed tears. Alex was here? She shouldn't be! Sam was far too dangerous. With shaking legs she rose from the bed and moved closer to the barrier.

"Sammy, what's going on baby? Why didn't you come home?" Alex was just barely hanging on, her voice cracked with emotion.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Alex." Sam whispered, staring longingly at her. "But you can't be here. It isn't safe. I'm not safe."

"I don't understand... Lena," Alex spun to the younger woman who up until that point had remained silent. "What's she talking about?"

"Alex," Sam tried to interject.

"No, Sam! I want Lena to tell me why she has my partner trapped behind a force field in her secret underground lab?!"

"I'm trying to help Sam, same as you." Lena told her quietly, taken aback by the agent's outburst. "It's just until we find a cure."

Now Lena had Alex's full attention. "A cure for what? I ran every test, consulted every expert I know. None of us could find anything wrong with her."

"Perhaps you weren't looking in the right place?" Lena asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Don't." Alex warned her, the authority in her voice causing Lena to shrink back. "Don't play all high and mighty with me Lena. Just tell me what you found that I couldn't."

"A parasite. That's what you missed, what we all missed." Lena told her quietly. "The blackouts, lack of memory, nightmares, fatigue...they're all side effects of the parasite. Of Reign."

Alex stared back and forth between Lena and Sam before she let out a strangled sob. It couldn't be. But surely some part of her had suspected? The timing was too coincidental and if her line of work had taught her anything, it's that coincidences simply do not exist. She sucked in a few shallow breaths trying to calm herself, manage her panic. In the background she could hear Sam sobbing alongside her, apologies falling from her lips like raindrops.

"Drop the force field." She told Lena in between shaky breaths, her eyes never leaving Sam's.

Lena wanted to protest. They had no idea how long Sam would remain before Reign tried to take over again but Alex wasn't giving her any choice. The agent stood stalwart, grim determination on her face as she waited for the field to be dropped. Lena did as she was told and Alex charged into the containment area, gathering Sam into her arms!

"Alex, Alex!" Sam could seem to form only one word at the moment, all her senses filled with her love, her scent, her almost crushing grip, the steady beat of her heart that Sam had memorized over the months even before she knew how she truly felt about the redhead.

"It's okay! I love you, Sam. We're gonna beat this, I swear!" It hadn't been the way Alex planned on telling Sam but the moment demanded raw honesty and Alex would be damned if she wouldn't take every moment from here on out repeating it. "I love you so much."

"I think I knew the first time I saw you. I've wanted to tell you for so long..." Sam whispered against her collarbone, unable to release Alex just yet.

"Me too, Sammy. Me too."

"Ruby?"

"She's okay baby, she's safe. Worried as hell about you but safe." Alex assured her as she guided the pair to sit on the stiff hospital bed.

Sam kept her arms locked tight around the agent's waist; surprised by how touch starved she had been spending just a few nights apart. She was absolutely terrified that Lena wouldn't be able to fix this, that Reign would take over and this time she wouldn't just hurt Alex or Kara but kill them outright. Even if she regained her humanity later, Sam knew there was no way she would be able to live with herself if she was the reason the world lost a light as bright as Alex Danvers. And what about Ruby? Her precious girl whom she'd done everything to protect since she was a child herself. How could she go back to her daughter after she'd been the reason her mentor was no longer with them?

"I need you to promise me something Alex?" Sam whispered, voice muffled by Alex's shirt as she clung to her.

"Anything." Was the only word Alex uttered, reverence wrapped around every syllable, bringing more tears to Sam's eyes.

"If you can't fix this..."

"Sam!"

"If you can't fix this," The taller brunette steamrolled Alex's objection, sitting up to stare her in the eyes. " I need to know that you'll keep Ruby safe. Even if that means keeping her as far away from me as possible, even if that means I'm not around to see her become the beautiful woman I know she'll be."

"I can't... Sam, I can't raise her without you..." Alex had never looked so small, so fragile before, so unsure.

"Of course you can, Alex. You're her hero...you're my hero." Sam cradled the redhead's face gently in her hands, pressing the softest of kisses to her lips. "You are my strength and my light, Alex Danvers. I trust you with my daughter and my life."

The pair embraced again, Alex overcome by Sam's words and the other woman pouring all her love into the moment. She needed Alex to believe she could do this because there was no way Sam would be able to face what was to come if she didn't have the agent by her side. Lena watched the pair from afar, eyes glassy, knowing that she may have sabotaged her chances of having something similar with the younger Danvers because of her deception.

The CEO hated to interrupt the heartfelt moment between the pair but the sudden blaring of alarms did it for her. She grabbed the nearest tablet and her eyes widened in panic!

"Alex!" Lena rushed towards the containment area. "I need you to step out here...NOW."

"What? Lena..."

"Now, Alex!" The CEO lurched forward, practically dragging the agent away from Sam, before she activated the barrier once more.

"Sam," Alex moved back to the barrier, banging her fists against it. "Baby, it's gonna be okay..." The agent watched in horror as Sam stood from the bed and stalked towards her, eyes dark and menacing.

"So, Samantha's mate has finally come for her?" A voice so like Sam's, but so alien, purred as those dark eyes roamed over Alex's frame. "Do you think you can succeed in banishing me when the child heiress has already failed?"

Alex remained frozen as her brain caught up to all that had transpired in the past few minutes. She drew herself up taller, trying not to allow herself to shrink under the alien's taunting words.

"We're going to save Sam." She pronounced with more strength than she felt. Reign simply smirked in response.

"You will try." She responded, eyes glowing bright. "And then I will kill everyone that Samantha loves, starting with her," Reign pointed at Lena, "Then you, the child that derailed my arrival and finally the false god."

"If you so much as touch Ruby-!" Alex lurched forward but the other woman remained unbothered.

"Your threats are useless. I have already bested you and the false god you call a sibling. There is no use fighting this. There will be judgment and I will Reign."

Before Alex could respond the barrier grew opaque once again and she could hear the alien roar in frustration from the other side! She turned to look at Lena who had a small, self-satisfied smirk on her face.

"Reign can be a bit of a broken record." She explained with a shy smile. "The barrier blocks both her sight and hearing. It keeps her from getting in your head."

"Lena...I, uh, I just need a minute to process all of ...this..." The agent gestured around the lab, her eyes landing on the barrier with her alien-possessed girlfriend just on the other side. "And then I really need to call this in."

"Alex..."

"You have a secret lab and you're harboring a dangerous alien, Lena! And don't think I didn't see the Kryptonite emitter on Sam's chest. I know you're just trying to help but we need more backup on this. Trust me, okay?"

Lena considered the agent's plea and begrudgingly nodded her agreement. She couldn't really doubt Alex after the heartfelt expressions she and Sam had just made to each other mere minutes before. There was, however, a misgiving that the CEO simply couldn't shake.

"Are you going to tell Kara?" She asked quietly.

"I think that should come from you." The agent answered honestly.

Lena was left to contemplate that statement as Alex went about making the calls that would bring the DEO directly to her basement. She wanted to believe that Kara would understand, that she would be able to see the good intentions behind her deception. Yet there was still a small part of her that felt she'd just lost one best friend in a desperate bid to save the other.

"Please state your name for the record."

"Lena Kiernan Luthor."

"Is it true that you have been in possession of the alien entity known as Reign, subduing her with a controlled substance?"

Lena glared at J'onn, offended by his question, by the mere nature of these proceedings. She was only trying to help and yet here she was facing an inquisition. Next to the Martian, Alex shifted uncomfortably in her chair no doubt still reeling from the revelation that Samantha Arias and Reign were one in the same.

The woman she loved and the woman who had nearly killed her sister; snapped her bones like dry spaghetti.

Anyone would be overwhelmed by news of that magnitude, which was why Lena didn't take it personally when Alex didn't immediately jump to her aid. Her heart truly went out to the agent and Lena was determined to get past the unpleasant nature of this current meeting so they could get back to the task of saving Sam.

"Ms. Luthor?" J'onn pressed, arms crossed tightly over his massive chest.

"Yes. I have been working on a cure for my friend who has been infected by the parasite Reign. And yes, in order to contain the violent nature of said parasitic entity, I employed the use of Kryptonite."

"Where did you get it?" Lena almost flinched as Kara's voice cut through the tension in the room. Up until this point, the Super had done little more than scowl, the 'Danvers Crinkle' prominent on her brow.

"When I acquired L-Corp, I discovered that my brother had many hidden labs working on anti-Kryptonian projects. It was in one of these abandoned sites that I encountered the Kryptonite."

"And you didn't think to turn it over to the proper authorities?" J'onn inquired angrily.

"And whom might that be?" Lena challenged, one eyebrow angled high. "Why would I turn L-Corp's assets over to a government agency that has already left itself defenseless by removing the one thing that can bring Reign to her knees? You forget Director; I am merely a consultant here. Neither I nor L-Corp has any obligation to the DEO and my first and only priority is Sam."

J'onn looked ready to argue the point further when Kara stood abruptly from her chair. "Enough." She stared around the room before she continued. "This isn't getting us any closer to saving Sam or defeating Reign. We need Ms. Luthor's research to stop the other World Killers and she could use our help in keeping Reign contained. That should be our focus."

"Very well." J'onn agreed with a curt nod. "Reign will remain in containment at L-Corp while Ms. Luthor and Agent Danvers work on a cure. The DEO will continue to track the other World Killers. Hopefully, with L-Corp's technologies we will be able to contain them as well. Ms. Luthor I trust you will be more forthcoming with any future developments?"

"Of course, Director. As I said, my only concern is Sam." Kara gave an undignified snort at her words but failed to comment further.

Everyone filed out the conference room leaving only Kara, Lena and Alex behind. The agent had yet to speak, staring blankly at her hands. Her eyes were fixated on her new tactical watch; one Sam and Ruby had gotten for her birthday a few weeks back. The inscription on the underside felt like it was burning into her skin. "El Mayarah" it read "Forever, Ruby and Sam."

Predictably it was Kara who broke the fragile silence.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" She eyed Lena with a suspicious look.

"I honestly don't know, Kara..."

"You don't know?!" The blonde roared, fists clenching.

It was obvious that she was lashing out over Lena's perceived betrayal. Kara Danvers had never raised her voice to Lena. Unfortunately, she wasn't dealing with Kara at the moment, she was dealing with Supergirl. Lena found it odd to suddenly be so aware that her best friend was in fact two very separate entities, much like Sam.

Where Kara was soft lines and warmth, Supergirl was sharp edges and cold detachment.

"Kara..."

"Do you have any idea what it feels like for me? Every time I'm even near Kryptonite, I can feel my skin crawling, the nausea, and a burning agony that won't fade; the last remnants of my planet, toxic to me in every way. That's what you have in your lab, Lena. My destruction..." Kara's eyes were so filled with hurt that Lena had to turn away. "We're supposed to be friends, Lena."

"I am your friend!" Lena couldn't for the life of her understand why she was yelling, more than likely a build up of emotion from the last 72 hours. "But Sam is my friend too Kara and I won't let Reign destroy her just because you dislike my methods."

Before Kara could offer an angry rebuttal, Alex was between them, shoulders slumped in resignation. She had one hand placed flat against her sister's chest, the other clutched Lena's hand in a silent plea. Both women felt the fight drain out of them as tears made their way down Alex's cheeks, muffled sobs escaping despite her best efforts. Lena felt truly awful as she watched the normally stoic agent fall apart and she could tell Kara felt equally as bad, if not worse, for losing sight of their objective.

"It's gonna be okay." Kara whispered, pulling Alex into her as the elder sibling's sobs intensified. "I'm sorry, Alex. I'm so sorry..."

Lena closed in on the agent's other side, leaning her forehead gently against her shoulder offering as much quiet support as she could. This was what they were fighting for, their little 'found family', broken as it may be. And Sam was part of that. Not just part of it but Alex's other half, her equal in every way. The agent had been devastated when she'd lost Maggie but losing Sam would surely destroy her.

They couldn't let that happen.

No more words were spoken as Alex drew strength from the two women beside her. She knew they would never give up and she wouldn't either. Sam had trusted her to solve this, to protect Ruby. With a shuddering breath inward, Alex pulled away, hastily drying her tears.

"That's enough feeling sorry for myself." She stated, voice still shaky with emotion. "The only way we're getting that parasitic bitch out of Sam is if we work together. Are you with me?" She turned to face both women with a serious look.

"Sam was the first person to see past my last name." Lena proclaimed with a watery smile. "I'll not let Reign be her legacy."

"Kara?"

"Of course, I'm with you." The blonde assured her sister, lacing their fingers together. "Sam and Ruby are your family now, which makes them mine too."

Alex nodded as both women took their leave, still tense around each other. When she was finally alone, the agent pulled out her phone, the security feed from Reign's cell appearing as soon as she entered her pass code. Sam was on the hospital bed, sedated after her last Reign attack, resting peacefully for the moment. Alex traced her fingers over the image, strengthening her resolve.

"We're not giving up Sammy." She whispered. "So you don't either."