"What do we do, J'onn?" Alex crossed her arms and looked at him, waiting for guidance.
…..
She had been the first one to find her, Supergirl, unconscious and a dead Superman next to her. She took the bloodied crystal and placed them in a bag. Alex was giving the coordinates to other agents when she heard Kara mumbled something. She crouched down and shook her sister awake.
"Alex?" Her voice small, showing as much vulnerability as the Girl of Steel was capable of. "Is Lena okay? Is the baby okay?"
"They're both okay, Kara." She left the part of him arriving early, and she knew as a fact, that Kara knew she was lying by the way her heartbeat sped up.
"What is it Alex?" She asked more confident while standing up.
"Not now, Kara" Kara recognized that voice. Alex only talked to her in that voice in a handful situations, when she had abused her powers without wearing the cape and Alex had to cover it up, or when Alex was so tired of everything that decided to delay her duties for later. "J'onn, I need an extraction team to get Superman's body, I'm taking Supergirl with me" She informed through the intercom, and placed the green lighted cuffs on the blonde's wrists.
She heard a grunt in response as she carried her around to the van waiting at the exit. They didn't talk on their way to the DEO, neither one of them found it necessary when there were other things to do, other people to worry about.
Kara had lost count of the times she had arrived in the DEO, either as Supergirl or as Kara Danvers, but none of those times had been like it was then. She looked around at the agents, registered their angered glances and cold stares, but she kept her head up high for everyone to see. She was shoved in the same cell she remembered her aunt Astra had been in, after discovering she had killed countless kryptonians. And there she was, with the same crime weighing her down. She then understood the logic behind Astra's actions, she had been protecting her family, after all. And so, had she.
But it worried her, what was going to come next. She knew for certain she was never going to be Supergirl again, no one in their right mind would trust her with her life as they had been doing for years. And she knew she would have to explain her actions, but to whom, she did not know. Nor she cared. Because after all, Kal-El was not human, and therefore, his murder would not be ruled by Earth's standard, and she was the only one who would know how to punish this crime.
She thought of Lois. How was she going to tell her? How was she going to look at her in the eyes and whispered her condolences when she had been the cause of her pain? Yet, when she thought of Lena and their child, nothing else mattered. Everything faded away and she no longer cared she had been kept in a cage by her sister, she did not care about anyone else's pain. He had threatened and hurt her family, and Kara Zor-El, would always defend her family. To death if necessary.
She saw J'onn stepped into the room, in his true form.
"If you're here to tell me I should be ashamed of my actions, I'm not" She declared.
"I'm not one to judge anyone's actions, Kara. I'm just here as support." She looked at the floor, focusing her gaze on her boots. "How are you, Kara?"
"I want to see Lena" She let out a breath and looked at him in the eyes for the first time since he stepped into the room.
"Congratulations are in order, then." And she smiled for the first time since she heard the scream that started all.
"What?" She was beyond herself and as fast as she could, she rushed to the door of the cell. The cuffs maintaining her wrist together, keeping her from doing anything.
"You're a mother, Kara Zor-El." He smiled back at her, and sensing her worries, rushed to assure her. "He's fine, he had to be delivered early as to not endanger his life, Lena's alright too, knocked out from the meds. But fine."
"Can I see them? Please, I need to make sure they're okay." She begged him, implored him.
….
Kara had entered the hospital room in her normal clothes, they wouldn't let Supergirl in after they heard the news. She looked back to the two DEO agents posing as feds, and cursed J'onn. She understood he wwas doing his job, that he was answering to the President's wishes, but she couldn't help but feel betrayed at his actions. She jumped when she heard her wife stirring, and looked back at the woman on the bed. She was paler than normal, her head resting on the numerous pillows that had been arranged, her hair messy and her eyes wandering, heavy due to the drugs.
"Hey, Lee" She sat down and smiled at the woman. Took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "How are you, have you seen him?"
"I'm alright now that I know you're safe. What happened to Clark?" It wasn't a secret that Lena didn't stand Clark, and much to Kara's disappointment, it was mutual.
"He will never hurt you again, Lena. I made sure of that" She looked at their joined hands and when she looked up to the familiar green eyes, she saw how the meaning of her words dawned on her wife.
"Kara, is he…?" The superhero nodded and for the first time since she exited the Fortress of Solitude allowed herself to cry in front of someone. "Oh, darling. I'm so sorry" She enveloped her wife in a hug, the blonde getting into the tiny bed to be able to reciprocate it.
"It needed to be done, Lena." She said once her sobbing had gone down to hiccups. "There was no way of knowing if he would try again. And I'll always put your lives above anyone else's even Alex's or mine."
"Have you seen him?" Lena inquired and Kara shook her head. It didn't feel right to her to meet their son before Lena, who had been unconscious throughout the whole delivery.
"Can you bring me a wheelchair, I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to stand on my feet"
"I think Winn took care of that for you. He's been here since you got out of surgery" She informed the CEO, dropping to the floor to extract the wheelchair from its hidden spot in the corner of the room.
"Then, I'm ready when you are" Kara took Lena in her arms and gently levelled her down to the chair.
They were met by a nurse who showed them the way to the ICU, where they would find their child. Kara was wheeling Lena, who started shifting in the chair as they approached the door. She looked back at the blonde, who stopped. The nurse long gone.
"What is it?" Kara took Lena to the side of the hallway and kneeled in front of her.
"I just…I don't know how to care for a baby, Kara. I'm his mother and already freaking out."
Kara knew it had been there all along. The doubts, the uncertainties, the fact that Lena didn't have a great role model growing up. She had voiced them once, she had been three months into the pregnancy and had managed to find a little bit of solitude at home, while Kara was off chasing criminals. She had remembered what her mother had once told her about being a mother, that she had to do everything to make sure her children were alright. But she also knew that by "children" she meant Lex, the golden boy, the apple of her mother's eye, while she was just an extra mouth to feed, to clothe and to take care of.
"Lena, baby. Listen to me. Our son is going to love you from the moment he lays eyes on you, just like I did. He's going to need you as much as he's going to need me and you need to know that I'll be there the whole time, making sure everything's fine. And if we have any problems, we'll figure it out together, as a family. El mayarah, Lena"
"Ukiem khap rrip, Kara" Lena declared in Kryptonese.
"Tá grá agam duit freisin" Kara answered in Irish.
And as she began wheeling again, Lena turned her head. "So, how many languages is he going to speak before he turns ten?" She asked, a smile on her face.
"I don't know, we are both awesome at languages, so I don't think it would be a problem." She smiled and placed her hand on Lena's shoulder, entering the ICU.
…
Maggie and James made their way to the DEO, already noticing the way some agents were looking at them. They didn't find Alex nor J'onn on site, and the agents who were hanging around, didn't seem to be giving them the directions any time soon, so they went searching. They heard all the grunted whispers, all the confessions, even the bets some agents had placed during the battle. It made them sick. Kara and Clark had been fighting for their life and these agents had been betting in who would murder who.
They found them in the surveillance room, Alex with tears in her eyes and J'onn arms crossed staring at the screen. They had infiltrated the hospital security system, Winn's doing, and they had all the surveillance footage showing. There was Lena's room, and the ICU. Maggie managed to spot Lena and Kara in the hallway, the latter kneeling in front of the other woman.
"Alex" She called out for her partner who ran to her, once she recognized the voice.
"She killed him, Mags. There was nothing we could do to save him." She was sobbing on her shoulder.
"Why don't we take this somewhere else, then?" She looked at J'onn, who nodded his approval and left the two men in the room.
They entered the training room, and sat down on the benches near the wall.
"I don't know what to do?" Alex confessed. "All my life I've been looking out for her, but now I don't know what to do"
"Alex babe. You're too hard on yourself"
"When she was in high school, there was this girl, Belinda. She was mean to her and more than one time I shoved her in the lockers to tell her off. She made fun of Kara, who at that time, was struggling to get accustomed to another planet. She had just lost her world and Belinda-the-bully wouldn't leave her alone."
"Wait, you guys called her Belinda-the-bully?" Maggie asked, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Kara named her that. Well, after I shoved her in the lockers, she went off and told everyone I had a crush on Matt, a guy from my Algebra class that drove all the girls crazy. And when Kara found out what had happened, she went nuts and made me promise to never do that again, but I told her that as her older sister, it was my job to take care of her. And from then on, I just did it. It became a part of my life that I knew I had to do, and now… Well, I don't know what to do. She has killed Clark, she's not thinking clearly right now, Lena was threatened and their kid arrived earlier than expected. But once she's had time to think, she's going to break down. Kara's capable of multiple things but killing is not one of them."
"But Alex, she did kill Clark Kent. And there will be a lot of people who won't be happy about it, and will push for a trial"
"She's not human. They can't judge her." Alex defended her sister.
"Well, what about the immigrants? They're not from here, but they are judged by our laws. I don't think Kara will be able to get out of this one" She was concerned about her wife, it was the first time that there could be a chance of Kara ending up in jail, right after seeing her firstborn.
"No, I'll make sure she never ends up behind bars. I swear to you both that I'll keep my family safe." Alex leaned into Maggie, kissing her. She let her hand wander to Maggie's stomach where their baby was growing.
"When are we going to tell them the process worked?" Maggie wiped her wife's tears away, covering Alex's hands with hers.
"Once this whole thing is handled, then we'll throw a party to let them all know" She smiled, getting herself together and exiting the room. Maggie following closely behind her.
…
The first moment they saw him, they were utterly and deeply in love with him. Their baby, who had arrived ahead of time, worrying them to no end, and who with only his eyes could take their breath away. His green eyes wide open were the same color as Lena, and the few blonde hairs on his head made his mothers swoon.
"Oh, Rao. He's perfect" Kara exclaimed, tears running down her cheeks.
"He certainly is, darling. And he doesn't have a name yet" Lena added, smiling as the baby sneezed.
"How about Alexander? After Lex and Alex." Kara suggested.
"Alexander Winslow, if we are doing a sibling tribute." She nodded.
"Alexander Winslow Luthor it is, then." Kara lifted Lena from the chair and sat down herself, letting Lena sit on her lap, so they could see their son.
"Have I told you that I love you?" Lena broke the silence.
"Only a couple of million times" She smiled as her wife kissed her on the cheek.
"I love you, Kara Zor-El."
"I love you too, Lena Zor-El" Kara grinned like an idiot when she looked back to the baby in the incubator. "Lena, I need to know you will be safe, if I'm sent away" Kara looked at Lena to see if she was listening. "There is a high chance that they will find me guilty of murder, and I can't reveal my identity to them" She added. The reason behind her logic clear as day. "There's also the fact that even if I'm not sent away, I won't be able to live in National City. People might recognize me" She added as an afterthought.
"Then, we'll move to another city, we'll go to another country if it's necessary. I married you, Kara. I married the CatCo reporter who went by Kara Danvers, I married the last daughter of Krypton, the last daughter of the House of El, and I also married Supergirl or the Girl of Steel. I married you, and I stand by what I said that day. I'll stand by your side even if everything disappears, even if we're forgotten-"
"And the world falls upon our feet." Kara ended the vows Lena had shared with her years ago.
"Even if it means raising our son in Paris or a village in Germany. Even if I must give my company to someone else, I'll do it." Lena adamantly addressed. "You will not be alone when you face justice, I'll be beside you all the way, keeping you safe."
"I know. I never doubted you." Kara muttered, her words muffled by her wife's shoulder. "We'll make it, Lena. And once we're done, we'll spend our days worrying about Andy" She glanced at their son, who was long asleep.
"Andy?" Lena inquired.
"We're not going to call him Alex or Lex. It would be too confusing, and I'm sure Eliza would have a stroke if she heard someone called her grandchild Lex Luthor. So I took the Ander from Alexander." She concluded, asking for approval in a way only Kara Luthor did.
Lena let out a soft laugh. Leave it to her wife to find a way to make her laugh in that situation. "Well, I guess we'll have to ask him once he wakes up again and starts asking for his Mommy"
…..
Samantha Brooke was one of the best attorneys in the States, she had graduated top of her class, and had managed to stay afloat when her colleagues were struggling. She had represented dangerous people who had committed heinous crimes against humanity, she even got offered to defend the Joker. She also knew how to take care of herself when it came to people asking for favors or trying to hire her, which usually ended up with her being kidnapped, taken into a van, made to sworn secrecy on her client's secret identity and therefore, not being able to rant about her cases to Jason.
What she hadn't expected was for the DEO, to reach her. And being a secret federal organization, they had a hand-on approach. The two women had taken her to an interrogation room, where she felt so intimidated, that they had to move it outside. So, there she was, in a cafeteria, talking with a federal agent and a cop (she still had to figure out what did she had to do with her current case) about how to defend Supergirl in her upcoming trial.
"Well, Agent Danvers, there isn't much to do if I don't have all the information." She looked pointedly at said agent who sighed and looked at her untouched coffee.
"I can't give you that information without confirming it with Supergirl. And even then, it wouldn't leave you anywhere" She added.
She sighed, and looked at the files in front of her. They were a copy of the confidential files the President had on her desk, which made her question the legality of the meeting. They described the fight between Superman and Supergirl, the damages done to the city, the number of people injured and killed due to the destructive pattern of the fight, there were a handful of witnesses' account of the case, and the official account of the DEO, signed by Director Hank Henshaw.
"What is your relation to Supergirl?"
"If you want all your questions answered you have to agree to take the case." Maggie deadpanned.
"I'm sorry, who are you? Last I knew the feds didn't work with cops."
"I work at the Science Division" She showed her the badge.
"And were you appointed this case? Or are you just here because of her?" She pointed at the other woman.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex inquired.
The attorney sighed and looked at both women. "I didn't mean to offend you, but you're pretty obvious, plus the matching wedding bands give you away" She threw a pointed look their way. "Look, here's the thing; if you want me to defend Supergirl on court, you have to give me all the information. I need to know why she did what she did, who was in danger, and if she knows that her planet's law is useless here." She stared at them, waiting for an answer.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to arrange a meeting with Supergirl and if she's up to it, she might give you the information you seek."
"I think we have a deal, Agent." She smiled and got up from her seat, extended her hand for both women to shake and left. "You know where to find me. Text me the details, and I'll be there." And she was gone.
Alex let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and looked at Maggie who wasn't better off. She leaned on her shoulder, and stood there, drinking in the moment.
"Kara?" Alex answered the phone as soon as it started ringing.
"Alex, would you guys like to meet your nephew?" She sounded happy, elated even. Alex knew that it was because if the arrival of their baby, and that as soon as they got into a routine and Kara was taken to court, it was going to be over.
"We'll be there in 20." Maggie answered for her, gathering their stuff and urging Alex out of her seat.
…
"Madame President" J'onn addressed the woman at the other side of the screen.
"Director" She cordially extended her greetings.
"I don't think taking Supergirl to court will solve anything." He defended his position. "She's an alien who by the law of her home planet was doing good"
"It may have been legal in Krypton, but you keep forgetting that Krypton is no longer, and the other person with enough knowledge about their legal system is the person she murdered." She took a sip of water and continued with her explanation. "She's an alien and we both know they are entitled to the same rights as we do, and as such, Superman's murder must face justice"
"She's a Goddess. You cannot bring Supergirl to court because she killed Superman. He threatened her family, Madame President. And besides, she has more than enough resources to scape justice and hide." He counteracted.
"Perhaps. But as you mentioned earlier, she also has a family who is not going to be able to follow her around at the pace she would mark."
"Still, my point still stands. She's not a human being and therefore, she shouldn't be judged as such."
"Olivia Marsdin warned me about this possible outcome. You must not let your personal relationship with Supergirl cloud your judgement." She informed him. "What I see, is a murder with multiple witnesses and a murderer who must and will face justice with the same rights as you and me. You, out of all people must understand this, Martian."
"How do you judge a God?" He asked her.
"That is not my concern, but the judge's." She simply answered.
"Madame President, Supergirl has done nothing but help the city since she came out. She saved us from an invasion and from multiple threats."
"Need I remind you the one who ended the invasion before it was too late was none other than Lena Luthor. And what about Superman? He was seen as a God, too. Are you going to let loose his killer?" She took another sip of water. "And what about Clark Kent? He's dead too, and he was a citizen of this country under the eyes of our laws."
"Clark Kent threatened Lena Luthor and her unborn baby. She was taken to the hospital so the baby could be delivered in time." He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to come up with the winning argument. "He threatened her wife and unborn child, isn't that self-defense?" J'onn pressed.
"What will happen to Martha Kent? Or Lois Lane? Who will take care of Clark Kent's funeral?" She fought back.
"He knew what he was doing, Madame President. He knew that she was expected to kill him. He knew that even before breaking into their home, and still he didn't stop there."
"Alright, Director. I will take this new information into consideration. But as of now, Supergirl has been declared a criminal and therefore, she has 24 hours to turn herself in. If she doesn't abide by this order, a more offensive strategy will be taken into action." She saw him nod. "I expect you to follow your orders, Director. If not, you and your direct team will be actively harboring a criminal and thus, declared as such" The call ended.
He picked up his intercom, and with great hesitance, made the call.
"Agent Danvers, you have 24 hours to get Supergirl to surrender. If by then, she's not cooperating, further action will be taken"
"Roger that, sir." Was heard, followed by the coos of a baby.