The jet lands in a remote area, soon followed by the jet of the tactical team that has followed them to the neighboring state. Alex frowns, annoyed at a message she's apparently just received and Kara looks at her questioningly.
"Superman is being delayed," her sister explains.
"Then we'll go without him," J'onn decides.
Lena has mentioned the railroad a couple of miles away, and she's given Winn enough details so that he could use satellite images to pinpoint the likeliest location of the bunker. Kara loses no time in grabbing her sister and Lena, and she flies them there. J'onn follows suit, an arm around Guardian and the other around Mon-El. Together they stand, looking around to try and spot the entrance of the bunker. The silence is eerie in the desert, oppressive. She doesn't like it.
Kara's right arm doesn't let go of Lena's waist and she ignores Mon-El's amused look. She knows it must look weird that her arm is basically hugging nothing, because Lena's invisible, but she needs to feel the other woman close to her. She has a bad feeling about what's going to happen in the next hour or so.
In the end, it's Lena who moves away from her and Kara tries to quell her apprehension. Nothing can happen to Lena if Lex doesn't see her, and the battery of the ring is full thanks to the solar lamp they've brought on the jet. She needs to focus.
Kara closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
She hopes nothing will go wrong.
In their search for the entrance of the bunker, which mostly consists in kicking at tumbleweeds and rocks, Kara comes face to face with a camera. It's staring at her, from below, mocking her for not anticipating this.
She tells the others right away, tells them they should expect a welcoming committee. Guardian finds another camera and smashes it.
"Kara, we need to find the entrance now, before he gets more time to gather weapons."
"I know," she replies.
Concentrating, she uses her x-ray vision to scan their surroundings and finally finds what they're looking for.
"Over here," she calls.
"He's alone," Lena says, somewhere on her left.
"Let's go," J'onn nods.
"The place is huge," Kara describes as she takes in the space below.
There are several corridors and rooms, and Kara can't spot Lex in any of them.
"I'm not sure he's here," she says.
"He is. He knows we're here. He's hiding," Lena explains.
"Then you need to kick down that door," Alex tells Kara, her gun already drawn.
Kara looks at J'onn for confirmation and he nods. It's time.
Everything goes wrong.
The bunker is booby-trapped, much like the island Lillian had sent them to. As soon as Kara takes the trapdoor and tears it off, there's an explosion that sends them all flying backwards. Kara is soon on her feet and looks around frantically until she feels a hand on her shoulder.
"Breathe, Kara," a voice whispers in her ear.
It makes Kara shiver.
"Stay behind me," she whispers back, hoping Lena will obey.
J'onn leads the way inside, followed closely by Alex. Down the ladder, the corridor is split in three directions. With one gesture of the hand, he sends Guardian and Mon-El to the left while he and Alex take the right. Kara is left alone and heads straight ahead. She wonders where Lena has gone and if she's still following her or if she's opted to go in another direction.
It's barely a minute before Kara hears a cry coming from her left. She freezes, and suddenly every light is out. Her x-ray vision is her favorite power right now, and through walls she can see two figures struggling on the floor.
"Shit," she says under her breath.
There's blood. Kara doesn't need light to see it. She smells it. In the dark, she lets herself be guided by the grunts and groans she hears. Her hands find James' helmet first and she grabs him and pulls him away.
"What's going on," she asks him, panicked.
"There were traps," he gasps, "in the walls. Arrows. I think we crossed a motion sensor or something? I—Shit. Mon-El?"
"Right here," the Daxamite lets out in a hiss.
Both of them are hurt; small arrows and knives embedded in their legs and thighs. Mon-El seems to be bleeding a lot; his lack of body armor a weakness Guardian doesn't have.
"Can you still stand?"
"I can, I don't think they've reached far into my skin. I might just be bleeding a bit," James replies truthfully.
"Take Mon-El back out. Get out of here."
"Supergirl, no—"
"You're no use to me if you're dead. Mon-El needs medical help. Our comm line isn't working."
She's just noticed that, and it does nothing to reassure her.
"I need you to carry him out and then get him to the unit so he can receive medical attention right away," she orders.
James doesn't argue and he hoists himself up with difficulty. He waits a second to steady himself and then reaches down to grab Mon-El and help him stand. The Daxamite collapses against the wall; his legs unable to support him.
"Supergirl, I don't think I can carry him up the ladder," Guardian admits.
"I'll do it, but then you get the hell out of here as fast as you can."
Mon-El hisses when Kara sweeps him off his feet. Through the sleeves of her costume, she can feel the dampness of blood and she hopes her friend won't bleed out before he can be patched up. She rushes out, knowing Guardian can find his way back on his own.
Once they're in the daylight again, she sees the small rods of metal stuck in Mon-El's body and she winces. It looks painful and Mon-El's already very pale. To her relief, the comm line seems to be back on and she requests a medical team to come and meet James halfway. He emerges behind her, and she can't see his expression but Kara guesses he is pissed. At himself and at Lex.
"I'll get him," she promises as she lets him take Mon-El from her arms.
"Be careful," he says before he walks away as fast as he can.
Kara loses no time in heading back inside.
She doesn't know if Lena is here with her. Her x-ray vision is thwarted by the invisibility ring, and Kara thinks it would be too risky to call out her name so she keeps quiet, but the sinking feeling in her gut tells her Lena's wandered off on her own and she prays she can get to Lex before her.
The bunker is bigger than any of them had expected and Kara wanders through the corridors that seem to lead nowhere in particular. Most doors are locked and it's only thanks to her superpowers that she knows where to go. The comm line is down again, has been since she re-entered the bunker, and it makes Kara's heart beat faster. She has no way to contact Alex and J'onn, no way to reach Lena either or their tactical team waiting a couple of miles away.
She walks cautiously in the dark and soon enough, the lights are back on and she wonders if Lex decided that or if someone else got to the circuit breaker. Lena, her gut tells her. Barely a minute later, gunshots ring out and Kara freezes.
No, she thinks, please no.
Everything is a mess.
"He ran this way," Alex points at the corridor on her right with the arm that's not currently holding her thigh.
Kara hesitates; her sister is bleeding on the ground and J'onn took a bullet as well though she's not as worried for him.
"Go," Alex orders her through gritted teeth. "I'm okay, just go get him!"
"Where the hell is Superman," J'onn mutters under his breath but Kara hears him anyway.
"Get Alex out of here; she's too vulnerable to stay. I'm going after Lex," Kara says, her voice allowing no protest.
In a heartbeat, she's gone, rushing to catch up with Lex Luthor.
When she finds him, he is standing in the middle of an empty room save for the many paintings on the walls, and multiple screens that Kara realizes are showing the surveillance feeds from the cameras outside. On the control panel, she sees a gun, but Lex makes no move to grab it. His back is turned, and Kara approaches him silently, slowly.
"At last we meet, Supergirl."
Lex startles her. Kara didn't think he'd notice she was here. She stands a bit taller, fists pressed on her hips and chin up.
"Mister Luthor."
"Oh please," Lex says as he turns to face her, "that's my father. Call me Lex."
He smiles at her—smiles—and Kara knows she's missed something here. Because he isn't afraid, he doesn't look perturbed and he should be, because she's here to send him back to prison (or kill him, she hasn't decided yet.) But then she thinks of Lena, and of how Lena can seem absolutely unfazed by everything even when she's upset. She remembers Winn telling her that the Luthors are good actors and she wonders if this is it, if this is the Lex show. Something tells her it isn't.
"I'm surprised to see you, I admit," Lex continues. "I expected your cousin to be the one to find me. I was almost looking forward to it."
She sees a bit of Lena in the way he carries himself, proud and unwavering. She shakes the thought away. Lex is nothing like his sister.
"Superman has better things to do than waste more of his time on you," she spits out.
"So he lets his cousin, a mere girl, come after me?"
His smile turns into a rictus. A shame, Kara thinks, because Lex was certainly once a handsome man but the hatred and anger that have consumed him over the years have taken a toll on his features. Lex's short hair and beard are unexpected. In all the pictures she's seen of him, he was always clean shaven. There was no delirious glint in his eyes either; the sign of a madman that Kara has learned to recognize over the last couple of years. She's dealt with far too many to count.
"I'm not a girl," she points out.
"Not quite," he concedes. "With those powers of yours, you're a super girl."
Kara has a bad feeling.
"But what are you without them?"
She knows she's doomed the moment she sees him press on a button on the operation panel behind him. Too surprised to stop him, Kara doesn't react. There's a loud noise at the door and Kara's head whips just in time to see a wall of steel erect from the ground. Barely two seconds later, Lex activates something else on the panel and the room starts to glow a faint green. Kara feels sick. She should have known better. Now she's stuck in a room with a madman and her strength is fading fast.
"Kryptonite," she manages to say.
"Yes," Lex confirms as he takes a step closer.
Kara feels powerless and she sinks to her knees as her legs start trembling too much to hold her up. Lex, very much like a shark, walks in circles around her, studying her. The gun is still on the control panel and Kara wishes she could just get up and run to it.
"You were Lena's friend, yes?"
She's not sure where he's going with that, but since he knows, she sees no point in denying it.
"I was," she says, "before you killed her."
He pauses for a second and Kara's eyes flicker to his face where she detects a hint of sadness. He resumes his walking when he realizes Kara is staring.
"Yes, well, dear sister should have known better than to go up against me."
Kara wonders about Lena, if she's still in the bunker or if she got out, if she knows Kara is in trouble and if she's alerted the tactical team.
"I wonder how you must have felt when she died," Lex muses out loud. "Were you sad, Supergirl? Did you wish you could have saved her?"
It's a taunt, clearly, and Kara refuses to take the bait. She tries to focus through the pain the kryptonite is causing her and she hopes that the DEO will be here soon. She just needs to hold on. Lex stops in front of the screens; his back to Kara once more.
"Well well well, look who's finally decided to join us," he exclaims, delighted.
On one of the surveillance feeds, Kara recognizes a man. She recognizes the cape. Kal-El.
"Is that what you were waiting for," Kara asks, hoping to create a diversion to give her cousin the time to find her.
"Oh yes, it was," Lex explains. "I really wanted him to listen as I choke the life out of you, Supergirl. Shall we get to it?"
He stands menacingly above her, and Kara's survival instincts take over. With a leg, she kicks Lex in the knees and makes him stumble backwards. But she's underestimated the kryptonite and the effort of the kick alone drains her of her strength even more quickly. She knows she's in no condition to fight. Lex knows, too, because he smirks at her and steps closer again.
Kara hears muffled shouts outside the room and then there's banging on the steel that separates her from her cousin. She hears her name, over and over. She hears the threats Superman throws at Lex and she wishes she could just see him one last time.
"I'm afraid your cousin won't make it in time. The steel is laced with kryptonite so his punches are quite useless. He'll tire himself out but in the end he'll still be unable to save you. You're collateral damage, really. It's nothing personal."
Kara wants to reply, if only to tell him to go to hell, but suddenly Lex drops to his knees and brings his hands to her neck, squeezing and effectively cutting her air supply. Kara's fingers claw at his face, wrap around his wrists and try to pull him away but to no avail. Without her powers and surrounded by kryptonite, she's weak, too weak to fight a grown man. Lex is full of rage; she can read it in his eyes when she looks into them. She wonders what hers convey. Fear, probably.
"Kal-El," she croaks.
Outside, the blows on the wall double and she thinks she hears him shout her name, but she could also just be hallucinating. The lack of oxygen is starting to get to her brain. She hopes Alex and Mon-El are okay. She finds a little comfort in the knowledge that Lex will be killed as soon as he steps out of this room, or as soon as Superman and the DEO breach in. Her thoughts go to Lena and how she will be able to reclaim the life Lex has stolen from her once he's dead.
Her eyes, desperate and alarmed, find the control panel and the surveillance feeds where she sees the tactical team rushing in. Too late, she thinks. Too late.
And then a firearm goes off, close to her.
And Kara breathes again.
The oxygen rushes into her lungs and she coughs as she tries to take deep breaths. Next to her, Lex Luthor presses both hands to his stomach where blood is rapidly escaping. He looks terrified. Kara crawls away from him, still reeling. How?
One glance at the control panel provides her with the answer. The gun isn't there anymore. Kara looks around and realization dawns on her.
"Lena," she whispers.
As if summoned, Lena suddenly materializes. She stands next to Lex, towering over him. Kara watches as his eyes grow wide and his breaths more shallow. He blinks hard, twice, as if to dispel the image in front of him. But Lena remains, because she's real, she's flesh and blood and Kara feels relief coursing through her veins. Distantly, she hears cries from outside; everyone no doubt in panic after the gunshot.
"I'm okay," she says softly, well-aware that Kal-El will hear her.
Her eyes don't leave Lena's face. Lena seems impassible as she kneels down next to Lex and slides the gun far away from both of them and in Kara's direction. Kara can't get a read on her. She remains silent and tries to make herself as tiny as possible in that room.
"How," Lex manages to say, blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Lena simply lifts a hand in response, showing him the ring. Lex lets out a sound that is somewhere between a laugh and a groan. A lone tear escape Lena's eyes and she makes no move to wipe it off. She stares at her brother, whom Kara knows is dying. Her heart aches at the sight, despite Lex's very recent efforts to kill her. She simply wishes Lena didn't have to witness this.
"Y—you got me… sis…"
"I'm sorry," Lena apologizes.
Of all the things Lena could have said… Kara didn't expect that.
"S'okay," Lex slurs. "Sibling rivalry."
The joke makes Lena smile a watery smile. Her hands, so pale, find Lex's and she places them softly on his. He squeezes them, as hard as his fading strength allows him to. Brother and sister look into each other's eyes silently for another twenty seconds or so, and Kara sees the remorse on his face. She doesn't see a monster, but a broken man wracked with guilt. She imagines it's only for his actions toward Lena but still. Lex smiles at his sister.
Kara doesn't need her powers to know the exact moment Lex's heart stops beating. His grip on Lena's hands loosens and his head rests on the floor, eyes unfocused. She knows he's gone.
Over his body, Lena's eyes find Kara's.