Reign has escaped L-Corp and the DEO, recruiting two more Worldkillers for her destructive crusade! Alex and Lena try to support each other while J'onn and Kara make a shocking discovery on their journey to locate more Harun-El! Will Kara make the wrong choice when presented with all she thought she'd lost? And can Alex stay strong, even as hope for she and Sam fades away?
Failure.
Its stench hung heavy in the brightly lit room, swiftly crushing any hope left to be had. The entire DEO stunk of it. Alex was sure she couldn't take much more of this...
She shifted on the med-bed, fiercely biting her lip to keep from crying out. Her bruised sternum throbbed mercilessly and her cracked ribs grated against one another. The agent had no doubt that there would eventually be a nasty bruise blossoming across her skin, blood vessels burst in the exact pattern of Reign's boot.
Of her beloved's boot.
She could no longer be certain where Reign ended and Sam began. It was a terrifying thought; also a sobering one. What if this was the moment her overconfidence would cost her? Alex had never felt so helpless... so...stupid. How could she have missed it?
"We all missed it." Lena muttered from the doorway. Alex startled at the intrusion, her broken bones immediately protesting! "Careful!" Lena fussed at the agent's frantic movements.
"How...how did you -?" Alex managed to gasp, shifting in an attempt to ease her discomfort.
"I know that look..." Lena ruefully replied. "I've been wearing it quite a bit myself lately. How are you?"
"Bruised sternum, cracked ribs..." Alex mumbled in response, still unable to find any relief from her injuries.
"Well that covers the physical." Lena joked with a gentle smile. "But I think we both know that's not what I meant."
Alex nodded, swallowing thickly before turning away. "I...um, I'm not ready... to go there... yet. I can't, not until this is over. I'm not strong enough, Lena."
The brunette scoffed and moved back into Alex's field of vision. "You and Sam are the strongest people I know, besides Kara, which makes the two of you together pretty damn indestructible! I know you're not giving up Alex and so does Sam. She's in there somewhere and it's up to us to get her out."
Alex nodded numbly but didn't respond and Lena fell quiet after her proclamation. Both women settled into a contemplative silence, unsure and unable to comfort one another further. Their predicament had grown more dire by the day with no signs of an upturn. Reign had escaped, leaving Sam trapped in some endless nightmare valley; a place she now shared with two other women, one innocent, one much less so.
Purity and Pestilence. A trilogy of destruction instead of merely one Worldkiller wreaking havoc.
"Any word from J'onn or Kara?" Alex asked, grasping for any tiny thread of hope.
"Not yet."
As a desperate last resort, J'onn and Kara had flung themselves into uncharted space, chasing down some enigmatic mineral that could cure Sam and the others...or kill them...the final results were still unclear based on the few files Kara found at the fortress.
Damn Kryptoninan's and their riddles!
"It should have been me. I should have gone."
Lena let out a bitter laugh as she eyed her friend. "And leave a Luthor in charge of the DEO? I think not, Alex. Plus, there is that pesky business of being able to breathe in outer space. I've learned you are capable of many things Agent Danvers, but that is not one of them."
"Shut up." Alex muttered with no real malice, earning her a small smile in return.
"Just stating the facts."
Alex's continual shifting eventually led to a series of pitiful whimpers. No matter how badass the agent was known to be, it was clear her current injuries were extremely painful. Lena rolled her eyes before moving to help the stubborn woman, laboriously pulling her to her feet.
"Where are we going?" The agent asked in confusion as her leather jacket was tossed over her shoulders.
"No sense in waiting around here." Lena explained calmly, leading her to the door. "I have a soft couch, an ice pack, and a tablet with all our data waiting on you at my penthouse. So, if you would kindly get your head out of your ass, I could use your assistance."
Alex laughed harshly at the crude phrase coming from the ever-prim Lena Luthor but nodded her head in agreement. "Throw in some scotch and you've got a deal."
Kara stood outside J'onn's ship in awe.
There was no way what she was seeing could be real.
It was impossible for her to be standing on the soil of her childhood, before a familiar shrine bearing a language even Kal-El struggled to speak.
No, there was simply no way she could be standing at the gates of Argo City.
And yet she was...
"Who goes there?" An all too familiar voice called out, fortified with years of authority.
"Mom?"
"Kara?!"
A warm hand stroking her cheek gradually called Alex back to consciousness. The injured agent hadn't even realized her exhaustion had caught up to her until someone was attempting to wake her. She reveled in the moment for just a few minutes more; the warm blanket tucked around her, the soft couch beneath her, the feeling of being...safe. Alex hadn't felt safe in far too long, longer than she could remember, so she hung on to the moment with a white-knuckled grip.
"Alex..." A melodious voice called to her and the agent let herself believe if only for a moment. "Alex."
"Five more minutes, Sammy..." She mumbled, leaning further into the touch. Had she been more awake she would have caught the sharp intake of breath, recognized the hands that were too soft to be her girlfriends.
"Oh, Alex." Another soft palm pressed to the other cheek as the voice responded. "You need to wake up...I'm sorry...I'm not..."
Alex's eyes shot open when the realization finally struck her and she jolted away from Lena's gentle hands. "Hey...Lena... sorry, I fell asleep..."
The younger woman's heart went out to her friend as she watched the shame settle over the agent, the disappointment mixed with sorrow that she hadn't been waking to her love; that Reign was the nightmare and waking to Sam her reality. She quickly wrapped the woman in her arms because she knew from experience that Alex was more likely to run from her feelings than confront them. Lena expected the redhead to put up more of a fight but as soon as she pulled Alex close, the woman collapsed against her chest with gut-wrenching sobs!
"I thought...I thought you were..." Alex stammered, her words muffled by the soft cashmere of Lena's sweater. "I wanted it to be her...I wanted it so bad..."
"Oh sweetie, I know." Lena cooed, rocking the injured woman softly, rubbing gentle circles on her back. "I promise you we won't stop until she's back home with you. But we can't help her if we don't take care of ourselves, hmmm? Come on...let's get you to bed."
She pulled the agent slowly to her feet, noticing that Alex seemed even stiffer after having fallen asleep on the couch. They hobbled down the hall to one of the guest rooms where Lena gently pushed the door open so Alex could peek in on a sleeping Ruby. The teen slumbered on, unbothered by the intrusion. Pulling the door shut again, Lena steered Alex towards her room. She wanted Alex somewhere she could keep an eye on her and knew the bed would otherwise get little use, wired as she was.
Once the agent was changed into a soft pair of sweats and a tank, Lena cajoled her into taking a pain pill and a light sedative before tucking her in. Alex fell asleep almost immediately and it broke Lena's heart to note the tears silently slipping down the agent's face, even in slumber. She quickly turned back to her laptop, queuing up her DEO access, scanning obsessively for results, any results.
Nothing. Not a goddam thing!
Slamming her laptop shut in frustration she hazarded a quick glance at Alex, ensuring her outburst hadn't woken the woman. With a sigh she stepped onto her balcony, one eye still tracking the sleeping agent, before she glanced up at the stars.
"Please find it Kara," she whispered to the darkened sky. "We've got nothing else."
The past few hours had been a blur of emotions for Kara.
Elation at seeing her mother after so many years apart, suspicion and fear that Alura might still turn out be an imposter of some sort; guilt over the idea that, perhaps, she could just stay...live her life out in Argo as originally intended.
A strong hand on her shoulder brought her out of her musings. J'onn smiled down on her, a benevolent expression on his face. She knew the Martian couldn't actually read her thoughts, yet he had come to know her well enough, had experienced the same profound sense of loss just as she had, to know where her mind had wandered off to. Kara returned his smile, ever grateful for her "found" family, the most important of which being her sister.
Alex.
That's why they had come, regardless of what was discovered. She'd come for Alex, for Sam and Ruby, who had become her sister's whole world. Kara had grown to love Sam as well, and Ruby had brought a youthful spirit to all their lives, reigniting a spark none of them had noticed fading. No matter how deeply she wished to stay in this moment, she had a duty to Alex, to her new family on Earth. She'd vowed to protect them from threat, from harm.
How ironic that the very threat facing her new family had been carelessly engineered by her old.
"I can't stay." Kara blurted out, cutting her mother off mid-sentence as the elder Zor-El rattled on about how best to announce her return. "I'm sorry...I'll try to come back but I can't..." Her shoulders shrugged helplessly as she stared at her hands.
"What Kara means," J'onn interjected smoothly, "is we've come for a very specific purpose. We were hoping to find a very rare mineral to defeat an evil that appears Kryptonian in origin. We had no idea this meteor was even inhabited."
"Yes, yes of course." Alura nodded, trying to hide her disappointment and failing miserably. "Of what mineral do you speak?"
J'onn quickly produced a small lead box from his cape and handed it to the woman. Alura's eyes lit up with recognition as she opened the lid!
"Here we call it Harun-el. It is a most precious resource."
Kara finally regained her voice to ask, "Could you take us to more? We need it to synthesize a cure for a very dear friend."
"It is not mine alone to give." Alura informed her daughter with a sad smile. "Though I can petition the counsel for an emergency meeting on your behalf."
"Thank you." J'onn offered the woman an appreciative nod as she moved to leave. He smiled to himself when Kara rushed forward to hug her mother quickly before allowing her to leave.
"We can come back, right?" She asked J'onn with a hesitant voice.
"I will do everything in my power to make sure you can come back as many times as you like."
"You really are the best, Papa Bear." Kara joked as the pair embraced tightly.
"Anything for my girls." J'onn replied fondly.
Outside the door, Alura gripped the handle tightly, surprised by the sentiments expressed on the other side. She'd hoped Kara would find a family; find those who would love her unconditionally as they had. Now she was faced with the bitter knowledge that Kara had outgrown her; outgrown Argo City and its traditions.
They had simply become a mean's to an end; a manner in which to save her new home...her new family.
Argo was no longer Kara's home, nor she her family.
Alura swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat, squared her shoulders and strode with purpose to beseech the counsel on a familiar stranger's behalf.
"I think you and Ruby should get out of the city." Lena announced the next morning when Alex emerged from her bedroom.
The agent noted that the normally put together CEO was still wearing the same sweater and jeans from the night before. An open laptop and sheets of equations strewn across the coffee table all pointed to a sleepless night.
"Lena, you know I can't do that." Alex sighed as she eased herself onto the soft couch, fighting the urge to flop down as she usually did. "With both J'onn and Kara gone, who would run the DEO?"
"Lane."
"Excuse me?!"
"Not the General!" Lena scoffed with a wave of her hand. "The Major, Lucy. Does she not run the desert base?"
"She does...but...I can't drop all this on Luce..." Alex sat up straighter, as she considered the possibility.
"I'm sure the Major would love to get out of that dingy cave. I can't imagine there is much action that far out?"
"No. That base is strictly containment...still..."
"Call her." Lena insisted, standing to bring Alex her phone. "Reign knows all about you and Ruby. If she truly wants to get rid of Sam, she'll know you two are the way to do it."
Alex took the phone but still hesitated. She knew Lena was right yet she couldn't quite bring herself to make the call.
With a sigh, Lena came and sat beside Alex. She laid her head on the other woman's shoulder, pleased when the agent gently pressed their temples together drawing some comfort, no matter how slight. Neither woman could have guessed merely a year before that they would now be one another's rock in the storm.
It had been enough of a coup when the youngest Luthor had managed to befriend a "super" but to somehow also become an integral part of the "super friends" as well? Unheard of! And yet, here they were. Lena reached over and gently plucked the phone from the agent's hand.
"I know you don't like handing over control to someone else," She began quietly. "You and are quite alike in that sense. But, I also know that Sam would want you and Ruby to be safe. That Kara would want you to be safe."
"Lena..."
"Lucy would want you to be safe. The major and I may not always see eye to eye but she cares about you. Call her."
When Alex continued to hesitate, the Luthor rolled her eyes as she sat up straighter. She fixed Alex with her patented "Luthor stare", a look designed to make grown men quiver.
It, unfortunately, did not have the desired effect. She should have known, really. If Alex could withstand Kara's pout, then she could stand just about anything!
"Fine." Lena huffed when calls were still not being made. "I'll just hack your phone and the call the major myself. I'm sure once se hears the whole story she'll forgive the breach in protocol."
That got Alex's attention!
"You cannot hack a secure government network and call up a high ranking officer like that!"
Lena shrugged. "If it keeps my friends and family safe...The Luthors are guilty of far greater crimes."
"Alright, alright," Alex grumbled. "I'll call Lucy but only because I don't wanna explain to Kara how her 'not-girlfriend' got arrested for treason."
"I am NOT Kara's 'not-girlfriend'!"
"My mistake." Alex drawled as she watched the color creep up Lena's neck in an embarrassed blush. "So you ARE her girlfriend?"
"What? No! Alex!" Lena was fully flustered at this point and it made Alex smile; the normalcy of their teasing banters.
"Relax, Lee, I'm just yanking your chain." She explained with a lazy smile. "You're right, of course, I'll call Lucy."
"Thank you." Lena hugged her quickly, still blushing furiously. "I'll go wake Ruby for breakfast."
Alex watched Lena go with a wistful smile, knowing that bringing Lucy in was the right call but hating it all the same. The phone barely rang twice before an angry voice boomed through the earpiece!
"Danvers! What the hell took you so long to call?!"
Alex laughed out loud at the Major's antics even though her bruised body protested. "I missed you too Luce...I missed you too."
Alura knocked gently on the door, only entering when her daughter's voice rang out to beckon her in. She still found it hard to reconcile this Kara with the frightened child she'd last seen so many years before, the child she thought long dead.
"The counsel has agreed to the meeting." She announced without preamble knowing her guests had been waiting impatiently for her return. "They will send for us when ready."
"Thank you for all your help." J'onn replied sincerely.
"Of course. I don't wish to be a poor hostess but..." Alura hesitated, her gaze to flicking to her daughter then back. "If I may have a moment with my daughter?"
"No need to apologize, I imagine you must have a lot to talk about. I'll wait for word of the counsel in the garden."
J'onn dismissed himself with a warm smile and then only the women of the House of El were left. The elder moved closer to her daughter, settling tensely beside her, unsure of how to start.
"I've missed so much..." she began wistfully. "Tell me about your life on Earth."
"Well, um, I already told you about Kal-El. Living with him wasn't really an option so I got adopted by the Danvers, Eliza and Jeremiah. I have an older sister, Alex."
"A sister?" Alura cut in with surprise but quickly backtracked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"It's okay, Mom." Kara told her sweetly, holding one of Alura's hands between her own. "I want you to ask questions, I want you to know everything about me. Now where was I? Oh, duh, I was talking about Alex!"
Kara then preceded to regal her mother with a plethora of adventures ranging from the Danvers sisters youth up till just the previous week. With each story told, Alura could see how much her daughter idolized her adopted sister. According to Kara, Alexandra Danvers was loyal and brave, fiercely intelligent and almost obsessively protective of her nigh indestructible little sister. It warmed the elder woman's heart to know this fierce warrior of Earth had taken her little girl under her wing, shaped Kara into the hero that now bore their family crest with honor.
"She sounds like quite a woman." Alura mused as Kara finally took a breath. "I am anxious to meet her; to thank her for caring for you when I could not."
"Would you?" Kara asked, eyes wide with hope.
"Of course I would thank her."
"No, I meant, would you come to Earth? To meet my other family?"
"I would like nothing more." She assured her daughter, drawing her into her arms.
A sharp knock on the door interrupted the quiet moment and the pair reluctantly separated. Alura rose and opened the door to find J'onn, an apologetic look upon his face, waiting on the other side.
"I hate to interrupt but the council has sent word."
"Then we must make haste." Alura replied firmly, reaching a hand back to her daughter. Kara bounded forward, eagerly grasping her mother's hand.
As the trio travelled to the council's chambers, Kara steeled herself to face the rulers of her old world in order to save her new one.