The pandemonium that once engulfed the DEO finally settled once the Samaritans touched down in a secure air base. Alex and company waited for them to arrest Eagle and the militia once Lena remotely ejected them from the suits. After that it was a matter of bureaucratic debating about red tape and national security before L-Corp was able to bring the battle suits back to their facility. Lena accompanied the technology the whole way, determined to dismantle each of them herself the second they got back. Alex coordinated with the FBI to detain the mercenaries, giving each of them the stink eye as they were dragged away into the black SUVs. They were going to be locked up for a long time.
Back at the DEO Brainy was forced to use his Legion ship to re-establish the satellites in orbit so they could fix what the EMP destroyed. Without the satellites air traffic, TV, internet and a few dozen other worldwide networks had been disabled. Alex was already fielding calls from the White House and other world leaders worried about the planet infrastructure being crippled permanent. Brainy was efficient though, repairing the damage and sending instructions to the right people around the world. The public will barely notice anything happened.
He had his own motives to do this however. Once the DEO satellites were re-established he set them to track the last known trajectory of Supergirl and Cyborg Superman. He found them in the desert several miles out, radioing Alex the coordinates. She got in her convoy and raced out to intercept, her white knuckles gripping the steering wheel as she put her foot down as far as it could go.
The convoy crossed the desert and reached the coordinates within three hours. It was a long and bumpy journey. Then they arrived they found a massive crater up ahead, a clear sign of a meteoric impact. Alex peered through the dust and sand, the dusky air illuminating the wasteland as the sun dipped closer to the cliffs. She found the epicentre of the dunes which rippled outwards, a body lying in the middle. Her vehicle skidded to a stop a few feet away and she stared at it, hints of blue and red catching in the light. She gulped in concern, grabbing her gun and shoving the door open leaping out into the desert running towards the body. Behind her more agents pulled up and got out of their cars to follow.
She had her gun drawn when she stepped over the body and found Hank Henshaw lying there, his metallic body broken and leaking fluids, armour plates dented or snapped. His flesh was charred and his organs appeared to have ruptured. But as she stood over the cyborg she saw the faint wisps of air escaping his jaw, gears and pumps grinding sluggishly. She cautiously knelt down and examined him. Sadly he was still alive. A part of Alex wanted to leave him out here to die, but she knew she needed to be better than that. She stood up and nodded to her agents, signalling them to come over and detain him. She stepped over his broken body and scanned the desert, souring the horizon for a clue to her sister.
She found it fluttering a few yards away, a glint of her blonde hair as her red cape billowed in the breeze. She walked forward, holstering her weapon as she approached the young woman sitting on a rock staring at the horizon. She had her knees pulled up hugging them tight, her eyes fixed ahead of her. When Alex grew close she finally turned her head and looked at her. She appeared perfectly fine. "J'onn?" she asked. "M'gann?"
"They're okay" Alex told her. "On Mars getting treated for their injuries. They're fine." She sat down beside her, staring at her comfortingly. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know what came over me" she confessed, looking at her hands like they were still glowing. "My body was so full of energy, it felt like I was riding a wave across the cosmos. It felt good. It felt…" she looked back at Alex guiltily. "I could've destroyed him. I could've destroyed everything."
"But you didn't" she told her, taking her hand squeezing it tight. "You didn't" she repeated, making sure Kara heard her. Supergirl nodded, relief in her exhale as she looked back over the horizon. "I would've thought you'd have left by now" Alex muttered resting her head on her shoulder.
"I used up most of my powers in that last flare" she explained. "Had enough to subdue Hank for good. After that…I thought I'd take a break to recharge. How long has it been?"
"Three hours, give or take" she replied.
Kara sighed wistfully. "It was quiet for those three hours. Peaceful. I forgot what silence was like" she whispered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
Alex smiled, sharing the view with her sister giving them both a moment to relax before they were needed back in the world. "I'm sorry I went behind your back about Jake" she said quietly.
Kara squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry I snapped at you're the way I did."
"I deserved it" Alex confessed.
"Yeah, you did" Kara agreed. "But I don't want us to keep fighting" she added. Alex agreed, looking at her sister with affection. "But so we're clear…"
"I'll stop running background checks on your boyfriends" Alex promised. They both chuckled, glad to be loving sisters again as they watched the sunset.
It was early evening when Kara and Alex finally made it back to National City. Supergirl opted to hitch a ride with the director in her car instead of flying, enjoying the view from the passenger seat for a change. There was nobody else in the vehicle with them so Alex pointed her to the clothes she brought and let her change in the backseat. Hank was loaded into a van in the middle of their convoy which would take him to Iron Heights prison. With luck he would remain uncurious for the duration of the journey. He was too flanked by armed personnel at all times until he was safely in his cell. Alex peeled out of the convoy to drop Kara in the city. She suggested her apartment but the woman wanted to see their friends.
With J'onn on Mars, Lena preoccupied with securing the Samaritans at L-Corp and Brainy working around the clock at the DEO, Kara arranged to meet Olsen and Nia at the bar. She wanted Alex to join her but she had her duties as Director to attend to so they bid goodnight. She entered the residence in her civilian attire and found James and Nia sitting by themselves already with drinks. She placed her order at the bar and join them hesitantly, only for Olsen to climb out of his chair and embrace her. "You had us worried for minute there" she said to her while they hugged. "When you went into that sun…"
"I know" she interrupted. She had been warned how tense things got down here after she became supercharged and felt the need to apologise to everyone. "You know I would never have done anything to hurt you, or these people right?"
"Of course" he said. "I just want to make sure you're okay."
She nodded in assurance, relieved she hadn't terrified the planet into fearing her again. She didn't know if she could handle the people she cared about thinking she was a monster. It put the argument she had with Jake into perspective, the way he snapped at her. How must he have felt when he accused him of killing his fiancé? She sighed. She had much to apologise for. "I heard Lena managed to stop the Samaritans from destroying Mars."
"Yeah" he nodded, leading her to their table were Nia was sitting silently staring at her untouched drink. Olsen took his seat and helped Kara into hers just as the waiter brought her drink to the table. "According to Brainy Hank purged the suits of the original virus. We don't know why but it removed the firewalls and the countermeasures for both you and Dreamer."
"So Hank weakened himself in order to…what? Prevent the Reckoning from hacking his army again?" she wondered.
He shrugged, just as perplexed. "According to my contact at the FBI none of his men are talking so we may never know" he said, sipping his drink. He looked at Kara and quietly added "I have to admit, seeing you throw that guy around space like that did bring a level of satisfaction that should be unhealthy."
"I know what you mean" she whispered, the memory of all that power etched into her mind. Her potential waiting in the heart of a star. It was scary. "Clark never mentioned experiencing anything like that?" she asked him.
He shook his head. "Superman never had the courage to try flying directly into the sun" he laughed.
"I didn't exactly fly" she muttered sipping her drink.
"Whatever, at least you survived. You gave a few of us a panic attack when you came diving back to Earth though" he confessed, looking at Nia who hadn't looked up at Kara since she sat down.
Kara turned to the subdued young woman sitting next to her, putting on a smile saying "I'm sorry if I scared everyone. But I promise I would never harm this planet. It's my home." Nia remained silent, her gaze averted, so Kara reached out an affectionate hand. "Nia, I just want to make sure you're…"
Nia's arm flinched away from her hand as she leapt out of her seat, her drink tipping off the table smashing against the floor. They one froze and turned to her as she stared back at Kara with wide eyes. Kara could hear her heartbeat racing in her chest as her breath shortened. After a moment she blinked and looked down at her spilt drink. "I'm sorry" she gasped, her voice squeaking like a mouse as she grabbed a rag and tried to clean it up. "I'm sorry, I..." she stammered as Kara and Olsen bent down to help her, but she pulled away from Kara again. "I'm sorry" she whispered, staring at her mentor nervously.
Kara stared at her wondering what was wrong, seeing the fear in her eyes. Nia was afraid of her. She hadn't realised her actions fighting Hank would've triggered such a reaction, not in her friends. It as unsettling. Yet she could also tell Nia was genuinely apologising, and not for the drink. For the fear. "Nia, its okay" she said but her approach just made the girl tense up again. She backed away. She had never known Nia to be scared of her.
Olsen took Nia by the arm but she stepped away from him too. "It's been a long day" he said, looking between her and Kara. "Maybe we should get some rest" he suggested.
Nia nodded. "Yeah, I should go" she whispered, picking up her back and walking hastily towards the exit. Before she left she looked over her shoulder back at Kara, apologising again before disappearing.
Kara stared after her before turning back to Olsen. "She'll be fine" he assured her, his confident smile relaxing her unease. "I'll make sure she gets home. I'm sorry to dash off like this."
Kara wasn't going to object. Nia clearly needed a friend and it seemed Kara wasn't the right person at the moment. She looked over his shoulder towards the exit where she saw another young man walk inside, his leather jacket unzipped and his motorcycle helmet in she hands. "It's okay" she told Olsen. "Check on Nia, I'll be fine" she said.
"See you tomorrow at work?" he asked her. She nodded, promising to be there. He kissed her forehead and left her at the table, dashing after Nia hoping to catch up with her.
That left Kara alone in the bar cautiously approaching the young man who was scanning the interior putting his helmet on the table. "Hey" she said nervously, gently announcing her presence to Jake who spun around in surprise.
"Hi" he said hesitantly, staring at her just as nervous. They stood there awkwardly for a moment until he was the first to say "I owe you an apology."
"No, I need to apologise" she insisted. "Alex should never have done what she did. It was out of line."
"It was" he replied. "But so was I. I should never had said the things I did the way I did. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too" she said. "I should've trusted you. I never should've let my sister get into my head."
He chuckled sadly. "She thought she was protecting you. You should be grateful to have family willing to look out for you like she does" he said, leaning against the counter wistfully. "Benefits of having siblings" he muttered.
She stepped closer joining him beside the counter, hesitant to ask "are we going to be okay?"
He didn't answer right away, his gaze falling to the find on his finger once more as he fell into silence. Kara took that as a sign she had a lot further to go to make it up to him. But then he told her "I don't think we can keep doing this."
"Doing what?"
"This. Whatever this is. Whatever it could be" he said, turning reluctantly to face her. "I don't think it's going to work."
She looked at him, frantically explaining "I know I crossed a line and made a mistake. But if you let try and…"
"It's not about that" he interrupted, taking her hands and stepping close so she could see the apologetic look in his eye. "As…pathetic as this is going to sound, it's not you. It's me. And I'm not just saying that" he clarified, squeezing her hand looking at his engagement ring. Kara looked at it too and then raised her head thinking she understands. "I'm not ready" he said guiltily. "I thought I was, thought I could be… I like you Kara Danvers. I didn't think I would, but I've really come to admire you."
"I really like you too" she replied, stroking his cheek affectionately not wanting him to continue, knowing where he was going with this talk. She didn't want it to end.
He stroked her blonde hair and fixed her crooked glasses, explaining "what we had together was incredible. But the closer I get to… the closer we get, the more it feels like I'm betraying her. And I realised I care about you too much to mess you around like this. I promise this isn't about our fight" he assured her. "But the argument did make me realise I still need to deal with all this."
She nodded. She understood. She hated that she understood. "Where does that leave us?" she asked.
He sighed with great sadness. "Five years I've been travelling" he said. "Moving from one country, one capital, and one job to the next. I've been everywhere in the whole world…except the one place I've been working hard to avoid. I think it's time I went home, faced some of those ghosts finally" he decided.
Kara nodded, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Will you come back?" she asked hopefully.
He looked at her glumly. "I don't know" he whispered. "Maybe, if I ever reach the point I can take this off" he said rubbing his ring. It wasn't a definite no, but it wasn't an optimistic yes either. Kara realised that. "I can't ask you to wait for me."
"I could" she said."
"You shouldn't" he replied. "That wouldn't be fair on either of us. You deserved so much better" he said, reluctantly stepping away to pick up his helmet.
Kara stayed where she was as Jake got ready to leave. "When?" she asked, even though it wouldn't make a difference.
"Tomorrow" he said. Their eyes met and they realised this would be goodbye. He stepped forward and planted an affectionate kiss on her cheek. She caught his head and returned it on the lips. She was going to miss him. "Goodbye Kara Danvers" he whispered.
"Goodbye Jake White" she whispered back, watching him slowly walk around and leave the bar in silence. She turned back to the bar and ordered the strongest drink she could afford, trying not to listen to the sound of her heart breaking.