Lucy didn't hate flying in an airplane but flying through the air holding onto the person that is flying you is absolutely terrifying. J'onn couldn't fly as fast as Kara so this was better than the one-time Kara had to fly her out of a sticky situation during one of their DEO missions. When they had landed it took a lot of effort to keep the contents of her stomach from coming back up. J'onn also had a smoother landing than Kara. Lucy had forgotten that she and Alex had been on a date when they landed in the DEO. The looks that a few of the agents gave them reminded Lucy that she and Alex were dressed in attire that the agents of the DEO weren't used to seeing them in.
But right now, she couldn't worry about what the DEO agents were thinking. Right now, they had to get to Kara and assess the damage. Lucy had never seen Kara this bad. Alex and Lena were discussing the various tests Lena had been able to complete. From what she could gather they were going to attempt a blood transfusion but would have to do something to Clarks blood to make it compatible for Kara. Lucy knew she wasn't going to be any help in the med bay, so she made her way to central command to bother Vasquez.
"You're looking exceptionally stunning tonight Lane and judging how Alex was dressed this attack on Kara interrupted a date for you two."
"It did and probably ruined my chances for tonight, but Kara is more important than hot sex with my extremely sexy girlfriend."
Vasquez could only shake their head. But deep down she knew this was the first time since Lucy came back that they had been able to go out as a couple. Things had been that crazy since Lucy came back and they deserved a night out just the two of them. But the universe had other plans. "When was the last time you actually had hot sex with your girlfriend?"
"Few days ago, actually but before that it had been awhile. I think sometime after we started figuring out about all the things my father was doing. Tonight, was going to be an epic date night but when your future sister-in-law is dying that takes precedence over any plans with my girlfriend."
"You think this might be the time Kara doesn't bounce back?"
Lucy shivered since finding out the news she hadn't entertained the idea that Kara wouldn't make it out alive. "I don't even want to think about it. If she doesn't make it Alex won't be the same and it would be my fault partially. I come back into her life and everyone she and I care about start getting attacked because my father and his minions are out to get me."
Vasquez agreed with everything Lucy said. They needed to hurry up and figure out who all the players were in this game, so they could end this nightmare. "Honestly if Kara doesn't make it, I don't think any of us will be the same. Maggie is already beating herself up over all of this and it wasn't even her fault."
As if on cue Maggie sat down next to Lucy looking very much defeated and broken. "Any update on Kara?"
Maggie ran her hands through her hair before leaning back in the chair and letting out a deep, heavy sigh. "Lena has figured out that it is a new form of synthetic kryptonite that stems from Max's original earth-based kryptonite. I can't explain all the science behind it but the green kryptonite he originally manufactured is missing one element that could only be found on krypton, so he found the closest thing to it on earth. That kryptonite could never kill the supers. Somehow, he, or someone else at CADMUS found a way to make a form of kryptonite that could kill them but slowly. Alex has her stabilized and hopefully the process to make Clark's blood compatible for Kara won't take long. Whatever they are doing to stabilize her will only work for so long."
This was worse than Lucy had thought. She was beginning to entertain the idea that she would pay her father a visit while she was here and see if she could get any information out of him. Maybe even do her own digging and see if she could find any info on Max herself.
"Has my brother-in-law arrived yet?"
"Not yet. He understands the severity of the situation but he's dealing with some trouble in Metropolis. If it didn't relate to CADMUS Alex would have demanded, he get his ass over here to help save his cousin."
"Sounds about right. I'm going to check on Alex and Lena."
"I've gotta arrange the move of Lillian and should probably go through Alex's files on Max and see if it contains any useful information. Vas keep me updated on anything you think I should be updated on. I'm going to hide in Alex's office."
Vasquez gave her a salute but kept their eyes on their computer screens.
Lucy missed this. The friendly banter and the crazy antics of her friends but safety first. She made her way back to the med bay and still received some stares. One of the rookies that had been checking her out earlier was doing it again. "If Director Danvers catches you staring you probably won't know what your name is anymore."
"Why would she care if I'm admiring a beautiful lady such as yourself. Yes, I'll admit it is rather rude of me but your outfit screams "look at me".
"Your right it does as was its intent. But the intent wasn't for a dashing gentleman such as yourself it was meant for Director Danvers who happens to be my girlfriend, but you couldn't know that, so I'll give you a pass. Just don't let it happen again."
Lucy walked away without waiting for a response. He really wasn't a bad looking guy. Was maybe even one of the nice ones but any man that had ever out right stared at her always got under her skin. When she got to the med bay, she was going to raid Hamilton's stash of t-shirts and sweats. She entered the med bay to find it empty except for Kara. She walked up to what she was guessing was some form of stasis pod and placed her hand on the side near Kara's face.
"You have to come out of this Kara. The world needs Supergirl but we need Kara. Alex needs you so please hold on and give it the best fight you've got." Lucy stepped away from the pod and went to Hamilton's office to grab a change of clothes and make her way to the lab. If Alex and Lena weren't here that was the only place they would be.
That is exactly where she found them. Lena was hunched over a microscope and Alex was setting up what she guessed was the equipment they would need to make Clarks blood compatible for Kara. Lucy didn't want to interrupt what Alex was doing so she just sat next to Lena and observed them both.
Alex and Lena were very similar when they were deep into lab work. Very focused and oblivious to things around them. Lucy could probably start changing her clothes right now and neither of them would notice. Alex was still in her suit from their date. God Lucy had forgotten how sexy Alex was tonight. Alex had taken the time to appreciate the effort she had put into her appearance, but she hadn't properly taken in the effort Alex had put in. Alex never took long to get herself ready which always surprised Lucy because regardless of the situation Alex always looked stunning.
Tonight, was no exception. Alex had kept her hair the way she normally wore it but had done something different with her makeup. She hadn't noticed before but whatever Alex had done it accentuated her gorgeous hazel eyes. Lucy always got herself lost in those if she wasn't careful. She was brought back to reality by a very frustrated Alex throwing a clipboard across the room.
Lucy watched as Alex placed both hands on the edge of the table and took a few deep breaths. Whether she wanted to or not Alex was going to walk away from this for a few minutes. Lucy quietly walked up behind her girlfriend and pulled her away from the lab. Lucy was surprised Alex didn't protest. Lucy lead them to one of the empty labs and locked the door.
Alex broke down almost immediately. "I can't lose her Luce."
Lucy took Alex in her arms, "I know, and you won't ok. Kara is going to fight this. As soon as Clark gets his ass here and you work your magic in the lab Kara will be as good as new. We aren't losing anyone today."
Lucy continued to hold onto Alex as she shed more tears. After a few minutes Alex pulled away and leaned against the wall by the door. "Your right Kara is going to fight like hell to survive but looking over the samples Lena had taken it doesn't look good. If the transfusion doesn't work, I don't know what else would work to purge the kryptonite from her system. I know we don't have proof that Max did this, but it has his name written all over it. Let's get back to Lena and see if your brother-in-law has arrived yet."
Lucy was really at a loss. There was literally nothing she could do. She couldn't help saving Kara she couldn't take the pain away from Alex. They turned the corner and thankfully Clark was standing there. Alex practically ran to Clark took him by the hand and lead him to the room they would use to draw his blood.
Lena was still in the lab. She decided Lena would make better company than anyone else at the DEO right now. Besides she still needed to change out of her dress and the t-shirt and sweats were still in the lab.
"You figure out what the deal is with the kryptonite that is slowly killing Kara?"
"I actually have. I'm 99% sure I can connect this to Max which means we might be one step closer to figuring out where CADMAS is currently operating which means we'll have one more piece of the puzzle put in place to your situation with your father."
Lucy was confused as to how all of that worked but despite not knowing Lena well, she trusted her judgement. "If you don't mind my asking how you can connect this to Max and CADMUS?"
"I won't know for sure until I have Vas run some info for me but there is a very specific ingredient in this form of kryptonite that only CADMUS would have access to. While I know my mother would have some of the best scientist on CADMUS payroll not even, they have successfully made 99% pure replication of kryptonite. Maxwell Lord has."
Lucy already knew how smart Lena was, but this information was blowing her mind. She knew Alex hadn't been able to break down the chemical components of the red kryptonite Kara had been hit with years ago. Not only had Lena gotten the chemical components of Max's kryptonite broken down but also managed to get the form Kara was just hit with broken down in a few hours.
"I'm impressed, wish we had you as a consultant years ago."
Lena smiled behind her microscope. She wasn't sure how to take all the praise from her new group of friends all the time, but she loved it. Growing up with Lillian she had very rarely received any kind of praise.
"If I had been living in National City then I wouldn't have hesitated if offered. Growing up I never wanted to take over the family business. This was the kind of work I wanted to do. If Lex hadn't gone mad, he would have run Luthor Corp and I would have worked in one of the labs. But he became friends with Clark Kent and eventually found out he was Superman and well, you know how that turned out."
Lucy did she wasn't talking to Lois at the time, but she kept an eye on the news in Metropolis. She hadn't known Clark was Superman until almost 3 years ago when Kara had flown him in to the DEO, unauthorized, and Alex had called him Clark.
"It's a good thing my dad has no idea that his daughter is married to Superman or Clark would be a dead man. I don't understand why people have such hatred for aliens. Or even humans that have a different color skin than they do. I mean on the one hand I get why people are against some of the aliens. They just cause problems which is why the DEO was started. Most of the dangerous ones are locked up at another facility but the aliens like Kara and Clark only want to help us or in the very least just live out their lives in peace.
"But people like your mother and my father for some reason can't let them do that and it doesn't make sense to me. Same with Maxwell Lord. His parents were killed because of one of the bad aliens and Superman had been seconds late because of another alien he was dealing with. Because of that my future sister-in-law might die all because of some stupid prejudice."
Lena quirked an eyebrow and looked at Lucy, stopping what she was doing, and walked over to the other side of the table and sat next to her. She didn't know Lucy Lane well and had only really gotten to know Alex over the last year. What she did know was how much Alex had missed Lucy once she had ended her engagement to Maggie. The few observations she had of the two of them together she saw the connection the two of them had.
She was a little envious of the relationship. Up until the end she had been envious of the relationship Alex had with Maggie. Towards the end the issues that they hadn't discussed before getting engaged. It would seem Alex and Lucy were moving at a quick pace, but it didn't look unhealthy in any way. Lena figured that was because they had been best friends before they became a couple.
"I wouldn't be too worried. Your girlfriend isn't as smart as I am, but she does know more about alien biology than any of us. Specifically, kryptonian biology. Kara is also a fighter she will come back to us."
Lucy knew Lena was right but referring to Alex knowing the most about kryptonian biology triggered a memory, "When you called to get Alex back to National City, she said she would talk to you later about knowing Kara's secret identity. I didn't misunderstand that did I?"
"I chalked it up to the stress of the situation combined with everything else that has been going on since you came back into her life. She knows I know about Kara's identity. She even gave me a whole stack of papers from Pam to fill out because I knew."
Lucy nodded her head in agreement, "That's what I was thinking. Kara and I are the only two people that make her lose her mind when we're hurt. Speaking of we should probably go check on the progress of our favorite kryptonian." Lucy held up the t-shirt and sweats she grabbed earlier, "Let me just change first. I'm tired of the agents staring and to be honest this dress is only comfortable for a few hours." Lucy glanced at the clock on the wall and looked back at Lena, "Alex should have had this off me an hour ago if we were still hidden away Colorado."
Lena watched Lucy saunter off to the bathroom Alex had in her lab. She could only shake her head. She couldn't wait until all of this was over and done with because she definitely wanted to take Lucy out for a drink one night. It seemed like she would be a good drinking partner. Plus, she could get some dirt on the Danvers sisters.
"Let's go Luthor." They walked toward the med bay and ran into Maggie and Vasquez making their way there as well. As they approached the med bay Lucy noticed Clark was standing outside the room Kara was in and looking a little woozy. She motioned for everyone else to go in. She may not like Clark that much but that was more because he seemed too good for her sister even before she found out he was Superman. They were already family but one day they would become family x2, so she would have to put her differences aside about the farm boy.
"How you holding up Clark?"
He turned toward Lucy and was surprised to see her, "Lucy what are you doing here? I thought you were still away on some secret mission."
Right the last time she had talked to Lois was to tell her to keep an eye on their father as best she could. She had casually mentioned she was going on a secret mission and wasn't sure when she would be back. Why she had felt the need to tell her estranged sister that she was going to be gone indefinitely she still didn't know.
"I've been back for over a month and you know very well why I haven't talked to Lois. Not that I haven't wanted to. Some things from our past have come to light since my father tried to forcefully bring me back to Washington and strangle me to death once we had brought him into DEO custody for attacking me wrongfully in the first place."
Lucy had to take a deep breath. This wasn't Clark or Lois's fault. Well some of it was Clarks fault because he was Superman, but her dad didn't know that. "Sorry Clark I don't mean to lash out at you. It's just a lot has happened since I've come back, and I want nothing more than to spend some time uninterrupted with my girlfriend and because my father is an alien hating sociopath, I haven't been able to do that. None of that is your fault and I'm sorry."
"Well some of it is my fault for being an alien, but I get what you mean. Lois has had a change of heart and would love to reconnect with you. Your father called her not that long ago. I'm guessing it was when you came back. She pissed him off as usual and actually defended you and your decisions to defend the alien community which might be the reason he came after you. She told him I was Superman and that you knew Supergirls identity. Not sure what happened after that because he hung up. Lois said he sounded mad but wasn't concerned because that was how he typically acted around her. If she had known that he had almost strangled, you I'm sure she would have contacted you sooner."
Lucy tried her best to contain the eye roll and only half succeeded. She saw the hurt and frustrated look on his face she put her hands up, "Clark you know better than anyone how my relationship is with Lois. I get to be skeptical of her sincerity but right now I don't want to argue. I'm going to check on Alex and Kara.
On a good day her brother-in-law was too much for her. On a night like tonight her limit was being pushed with his charming Mr. nice guy attitude. She approached the med bay cautiously, not sure of what she would find. She relaxed a little when she saw Alex sitting next to Kara's bed, eyes laser focused on the monitors. Lucy took a stool next to the door and positioner herself on the other side of Kara. Her hand was so cold, an unusual feeling coming from the always warm kryptonian.
"How's she doing?"
Alex jumped a little at the question she hadn't heard Lucy come in. She looked at her briefly and gave her a tight-lipped smile, "She stabilized a few minutes ago. Lena is looking for a way to remove the kryptonite from her blood now. The transfusion with Clark's blood was only half of the solution. She should be to close to 50% better by morning but this stuff isn't going to disappear on its own and because of the side effects her body won't be able to purge it from her system like it does with normal kryptonite. We're looking at a long recovery depending on how long it takes Lena to figure out the solution."
Lucy let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. From the way Alex was talking it sound like Kara wasn't going to die. Which was a good thing but the recovery from this attack was going to be a long one.