Hey heyyyyy! So I guess I'm making up for the long wait on the last chap now, with this lightning-fast update...don't expect another one in two days, I just had both the last chap and this chap planned out together in my mind, and once it's rattling around in there I become slightly possessed and have to get it all out asap. Now it's intermission. Enjoy the gooey Kalex goodness, and another update soon (just not, two days from now soon!) ;-)

…...

I'd Carry a Plane for You

Part 5: El Mayara

…...

Kara was soaring through the clouds above the rolling mountains outside National City, two huge heat-seeking missiles targeting her flight trail. She glanced back to assess their trajectory, and at the very last minute, she rocketed straight up so fast that the missiles collided with each other.

"Nice," Alex grinned proudly on the ground, watching her girlfriend's field test through a pair of high-powered military binoculars.

"How am I doing so far, chief?" Kara asked Henshaw through her earpiece. "Is all this testing really necessary? Or is it just because I'm"—

"It's not because you're a woman, Ms. Danvers," Hank said gruffly. He was in fact very impressed with the young Kryptonian's prowess in the sky, but he was afraid to express it because he didn't want her becoming overconfident or complacent. She was still brand new to this game, she needed to be sharp every minute, no matter what came at her. "The DEO requires rigorous physical and psychological testing for all its field agents."

"I was going to say alien, sir. Or do you make your other female operatives dodge airborne missiles, too?" She was teasing him now, and they all knew it. He held back his smile, still worried that she was getting way too cocky way too fast. He wasn't going to let her get hurt.

"We have to make sure you're in full control of your powers before we send you into the field, Ms. Danvers. The Fort Rozz aliens you'll be up against have had years to hone their powers. You haven't. Strength, agility, speed..." As he listed her most critical attributes, she narrowed her eyes down at her human team on the ground; and with a little smirk, she rocketed past them so fast, the clear plastic dry-erase board covered with Alex's physics equations that compared Kara's testing results to the Fort Rozz criminals shattered into a million tiny pieces.

"What the hell was that?" Henshaw demanded.

"My girlfriend just broke the sound barrier, sir," Alex grinned smugly. Kara shot straight down from the sky and landed next to her, not even looking winded.

"So, do I pass the test?" The blonde girl asked brightly, addressing the DEO Director, who did not look nearly as cheerful as Kara and Alex did at her impressive display in the sky. "I do have a day job, you know. Ms. Grant isn't exactly known for keeping a loose schedule."

"You pass. For now," Hank nodded, looking up at her from his thick sheaf of paperwork. "Stay sharp, Danvers. I know this seems like fun right now, but remember how you felt when Vartox nearly killed you last week." That took a little of the shine from Kara's blue eyes. "We need to be prepared for anything, any threat, any enemy. And there won't always be time for preparations."

"I understand," Kara nodded seriously, the playful glint gone from her eyes now. "So...can I go to work now?" Hank waved her off, silently dismissing her. Kara turned to Alex and gave her a little half-smile, unsure whether or not to be proud of herself.

"You did great, bluebird. Don't worry about Hank. He's impressed, I can tell. He just doesn't want to see you get hurt. And neither do I," Alex added, wrapping her arms around the blonde girl's neck and kissing her lightly. Kara kissed her back, pulling the dark-haired girl in closer by her hips.

"I like going to work with my girlfriend," Kara grinned against Alex's lips.

"Me too," Alex murmured, winding a lock of Kara's long hair around her finger. "Now go, get to the office before Ms. Grant goes into latte withdrawal and starts firing everyone she makes eye contact with." Kara giggled a little, and with one last kiss, she shot up into the sky. Alex was still smiling smugly to herself when Hank approached her from the open flap of the field tent, his expression all business. The young DEO agent immediately snapped back into professional mode.

"Grey, Vasquez, Henderson. We just got a report of an attack on a chemical processing plant just outside the city, possible extra-terrestrial involvement. Suit up for forensic recon immediately."

"Yes sir," Alex nodded, glancing over at her team as they all pulled on their fake (but undetectably so) FBI jackets and holstered their guns, which looked normal but actually had several different settings for engagement with nonhuman opponents. Even if they were just going on recon, they always had to be prepared for anything—just like Hank had told Kara. "All right people, let's lock and load."

…...

By the time Alex and her team arrived at the murder scene in the chemical plant, the National City PD had already cleared out, giving them the opportunity to speak freely without being overheard by non-DEO civilians. They were just beginning to assess the scene and photograph the odd murder weapon sticking out of the dead security guard's chest, when Kara flew in through a shattered window and landed lightly next to Alex.

"What can I do to help?" she asked earnestly. Hank scowled.

"Who called Supergirl?" He demanded angrily. "I don't remember ordering anyone to call Supergirl."

"I did," Alex said defiantly, raising an eyebrow at him as if daring him to argue back. "We're hunting an alien, sir. She is one. It's an advantage we didn't have before."

Yes we did, J'onn J'onzz thought to himself with a scowl, but he couldn't say it out loud. As proud as he was of Kara for her bravery, for coming out to the whole world as Supergirl, it still irritated him to be forcibly reminded all the more of his own secrets, each time she used her alien powers openly in front of him. But, he reminded himself, that wasn't her fault.

"All right, all right. Look around, Danvers. Tell us if you see anything useful." Kara nodded, taking in the scene around her, the walls splattered with human blood, the dead man on the floor. As the forensic photographer knelt down beside the dead security guard to snap a picture of the murder weapon, Kara had a sudden, vivid burst of memory of the creature that produced the deadly, icicle-shaped spears from its huge, insect-like mouth. Her mother had sent one to Fort Rozz when Kara was just a child. It was a Hellgrammite. It was probably this Hellgrammite.

"I know what we're looking for," Kara frowned, gazing transfixed at the long, sharp spear being pulled from the dead man's chest. "It's called a Hellgrammite." Before she could say more, her cell phone buzzed in her inner boot pocket. It was Cat Grant's personal answer me now or you're fired ringtone. The blonde girl groaned softly.

"Go, Kara, it's okay. Get back to work, you've missed almost half the day already. We'll call you when we know more," Alex urged her, knowing how important Kara's normal human life was to her. Kara nodded, answering her phone and immediately shooting back into the sky through the broken window and streaking away back to CatCo.

…...

When Kara arrived back at her desk at CatCo just a few minutes later, having changed back into her sundress, cardigan and glasses with not a hair out of place from her neat braid, Winn was the one who looked like he'd just rocketed eight miles through high-altitude winds as he sat disheveled at her desk, desperately trying to handle three different phone calls at once.

"Please don't ever ask me to cover the phones for you again," he begged, looking up at her with an endearingly pitiful expression.

"Totally. Sorry Winn. You're my hero." She winked as she took the phone from his hand, and his stressed out expression was immediately replaced with bashful grin.

"Right, well. Phones, you know. They ring. A lot. What can you do..." He rambled adorably as he stood up and walked the few feet back to his own desk; and Kara sat down just in time to look as if she'd been there all along when Ms. Grant's personal elevator opened, and the demanding boss strutted across the lobby to her office, talking a mile a minute on her cell phone.

"Kira!" She chirped shrilly as she passed by her assistant's desk. Since Ms. Grant didn't actually stop in front of her when she called her name (or at least Ms. Grant's version of her name), Kara took the hint and followed after her boss into the large, glass-walled office, notepad at the ready for whatever instructions the ruthlessly sharp-witted boss had for her.

"Yes, Ms. Grant?"

"It's been a week since we ran the first exclusive photo of Supergirl, and James Olsen has yet to deliver the interview I requested. If the Daily Planet gets to her first, I will have him demoted to the mailroom for the next ten years. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Cat Grant raised one eyebrow impatiently behind her stylish glasses, arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about Supergirl giving out interviews..." Kara tried to laugh it off nervously. The older woman just glared at her in that not-quite-angry, but completely domineering way that somehow made Kara wilt like a neglected houseplant.

"It is not your job, Kira, to tell me what to be worried about," Ms. Grant snapped. "I want that interview, and I want it by the end of the day, or your friend Mr. Olsen will be on mailroom scut for the rest of his career."

"Oh—okay," Kara stuttered nervously. She'd thought that awesome photo of her carrying the ambulance would keep Ms. Grant happy a little longer than this. "So—so why are you telling me?"

"Oh, Kira," Ms. Grant sighed, shaking her head as she gracefully seated herself on her comfortable office couch. "Are you really so innocent...or so gay...that you don't notice the effect you have on men? Really, Kira?" The older woman raised an eyebrow. Kara felt her face heating up with a bright red blush.

"I, I don't—I didn't—James, he's, he's my friend..." Kara stuttered worse than ever. Cat Grant rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, James is your friend. And that handsome little hobbit who sits at the desk across from you is your friend. And do you really think, if your sexy FBI Barbie were out of the picture, they wouldn't both be tripping over each other to see who could ask you out first?" Ms. Grant tapped her foot. Kara stared at her in absolute befuddlement.

"Ms. Grant, I...I'm not really comfortable discussing my personal life with you..."

"Calm down, Kira, I have no interest in my employees' personal lives. This is business."

"Um...how is this business, exactly?" Kara raised an eyebrow in honest confusion. Cat Grant sighed.

"James Olsen is Superman's only known human friend. Now, I don't know what kind of relationship Superman has with our Supergirl—maybe she's his sister, maybe she's his girlfriend..." Kara wrinkled her nose at that thought, but Ms. Grant was ranting and didn't notice. "But they are connected somehow. That S they both wear isn't a fashion statement, it's a team logo. James can get to Superman. Superman can get to Supergirl. And you, dear little Kira, can get to James." Ms. Grant smiled smugly.

"Oh..." Kara sighed softly.

"Yes. Oh. Mr. Olsen has yet to deliver, so now the buck passes to you. I want a sit-down with Supergirl by the end of the day, or you and your friend Mr. Olsen can both enjoy the next decade of your chipper young lives sorting mail. In the basement. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Ms. Grant. Very clear," Kara nodded nervously. An interview with Cat Grant...she would just have to pray that the flowing red cape and the giant S blazed across her chest would continue to disguise her from the sharp-eyed older woman in person, as well as it did in photos. She unconsciously reached up and straightened her glasses, as if to make sure they were still there, keeping her hidden in plain sight.

…...

Back at the DEO, Hank and Alex were still trying to figure out what an intergalactic insect wanted with the chemical bomb components he'd stolen from the plant. They'd been going in circles for over an hour when one of the biotechs came racing excitedly into the control room to announce that they'd identified the creature's DNA through a small blood sample, and discovered that his species was not carbon-based like humans, but chlorine-based. Alex's dark eyes widened with dawning comprehension, like she'd just been smacked across the face.

"He's not stealing the chemicals to make a bomb," she gasped, looking at Hank with absolute certainty. "He's eating them."

"Sodium Hydrochloride and Ammonium Nitrate? Sounds delicious," Hank rumbled sarcastically, raising an approving eyebrow at his team's sharp wit and quick thinking. "If this thing is hungry, let's roll out the buffet. Henderson, get on the line and get us a tanker full of those chemicals. Grey, you're on point, assemble a field team. Two Humvees, fully loaded, and six agents."

"And"—Alex began, but Hank cut her off.

"Not Supergirl. She spent the whole morning in field tests, even she has her limits. If we send her out at less than a hundred percent she could get sloppy, her DEO training has barely begun. I know you don't want to see her get hurt again. Do you, Agent Grey?" Hank folded his arms expectantly over his chest.

"No, sir," Alex sighed. "Vasquez, with me. Let's go." She ran off towards the weapons locker to get the biggest air cannons she could find that would fit inside the military Humvee.

…...

Forty minutes later, Hank and Alex and their field team were driving down a long, deserted stretch of highway far in the hills outside National City, where there were no civilians to injure in the trap they were setting for the Hellgrammite. The two Humvees zipped along the highway on either end of the giant chemical truck, waiting in silence for the hungry, intergalactic insect to make his move once he smelled his food source.

Sure enough, the Hellgrammite landed with a thunk on top of the chemical barrels and opened his huge, frightening mouth to feed. Alex leaned out the window of the racing Humvee and began shooting. Her aim was excellent, but his skin was apparently as bulletproof as Kara's; the bullets only served to annoy him and get his attention. He looked around for the Kryptonian he had been ordered to capture; but she was nowhere to be seen. He decided the annoying human shooting uselessly at him would have to do instead.

With a lighting-fast leap, he shot from the chemical truck to the roof of the Humvee, shooting his slimy insect-daggers from his mouth and inner arms through the roof of the military vehicle. One hit Hank in the chest, diverting all his attention to simply keeping the Humvee from crashing; another shot deep into Alex's leg. She barely had time to scream before the roof above her was ripped open, and the ugly alien grabbed her by the back of her field suit and shot away into the sky with her. She heard Hank yelling her name in the brief moment before she flew high into the sky and over the mountains in the Hellgrammite's clutches. Hank was not looking forward to the phone call he was going to have to make next.

…...

"Why wasn't I informed?!" Kara yelled—Hank had never heard her yell, but she was yelling now—as she stalked into the DEO, eyes blazing, red cape sweeping behind her. "I was the one who told you what the Hellgrammite was in the first place! Why would you send your team out without me? If you had just trusted me, maybe I could've stopped this! Maybe Alex would be safe!"

"Or maybe you'd be captured or killed, too," Henshaw said grimly, in a much quieter voice. Kara's tense stance softened slightly at his tone; he wasn't angry, he was worried. He cared about Alex's safety too...and about hers, she realized.

"No. Alex is not dead," Kara shook her head viciously, her body blazing with far too much adrenalin to cry. "If he'd wanted her dead, he could have killed her right then and there. He took her somewhere, for a reason."

"Kara, I promise you, we've got every satellite over half the country tracking her," Hank said seriously, putting a hand on her shoulder in silent solidarity. It was the first time he'd called her by her first name.

"And now you've got me," Kara said simply. "You know, Director Henshaw, back on Krypton it was an honor to ask for help, not an embarrassment. Everything we did, we did together. Do you know what this symbol on my chest is?" She pointed to the big red S that wasn't really an S.

"It's your family's coat of arms. The house of El," Hank nodded.

"Yes, but it also symbolizes our family motto—one of the oldest sayings in all of Krypton. El mayara—stronger together." He nodded, and she took his hand, squeezing it as hard as she dared.

"Stronger together," he repeated. "We will find her, Kara."

"Yes we will." Without another word, Kara bolted out of the DEO and up into the sky, closing her eyes as she flew low over the city, listening for the sound of Alex's voice through the noise of four million people, TVs, radios, and airplanes...she tuned out everything, it was all just white noise. Talk to me, Alex, she prayed silently.

While Kara searched, Alex was dumped unceremoniously on the floor of a dirty, abandoned warehouse in front of a woman dressed all in black. Panting, bleeding, the young agent looked up in confusion and disbelief at the figure standing over her. It couldn't be...but it was.

"Alura?" She said in a shocked, pained voice. "How...how can you be here..."

"How do you know that name?" General Astra demanded, caught off guard by this frail, bleeding human who knew more than she ought to.

"I saw a hologram of you...it came in the pod that brought your daughter to earth," Alex panted, the pain in her bleeding leg throbbing horribly, though she refused to cry. She was also clearheaded enough not to say Kara's name, not to let on that she had a personal relationship with Supergirl to their enemies; it would just be one more thing to be exploited. General Astra smiled coyly.

"Kara is not my daughter...she is my niece. Twins on Krypton were rare; Alura and I took great pleasure in confusing our parents."

"Astra," Alex gasped, her face going even whiter than it already was from blood loss. "You...how..."

"You are very brave, young one," the older woman observed as she knelt down and examined the blood flowing from Alex's wounded leg. "Braver than most of your kind. But no less fragile, I'm afraid."

"Supergirl will find me," Alex snarled. Astra smirked and stalked into a darkened corner without a word. Moments later, as if at Alex's summons, Kara crashed though the ceiling and landed directly in front of her.

"Alex! Thank God you're alive," Kara smiled, her blue eyes huge with relief.

"Kara, run, it's a trap"—Alex didn't even get to finish her sentence before Astra crashed into her niece and sent her flying across the room, gouging deep ruts into the concrete floor.

"Look how you've grown, little one," the older woman purred. Kara's face was so shocked, for a moment Alex thought she wasn't going to fight back.

"You don't get to call me that ever again," Kara snarled, blasting her laser-vision at her aunt before the older woman could attack again. Alex tried to get up, to go to Kara's aid; but then the Hellgrammite was back on top of her, obviously acting on Astra's orders to distract her, and suddenly the two young women were both fighting for their lives. The pointy end of the Hellgrammite's self-made dagger was inches from Alex's throat when she managed to knee him in his alien balls, and when he doubled over, she flipped his arm around so he impaled himself on his own dagger, dead before he hit the floor. Across the room, Kara had just sent her aunt flying through the air so hard she crashed out the window at the opposite end of the warehouse. They limped over to each other, Alex trailing blood from her injured leg.

"Are you okay?" Kara choked, wrapping her arms fiercely around her brave girl.

"Yeah," Alex nodded, breathing hard, holding onto Kara just as tight. Then the strongest, iciest wind Alex had ever felt in her life was blowing them off their feet, sending them crashing into the opposite wall again. Astra was back.

"Perhaps I misjudged you, niece," the older woman smiled smugly. "You fight well. You are strong, brave. Come, join my cause little one. Let us be a family again."

"She is my family," Kara snarled, jumping back to her feet and standing protectively over Alex, who was still battered and shivering on the cold concrete floor. "And if you ever touch her again, if you even look at her, I swear to Rao I will make you wish you'd died on Krypton with the rest of them." Her blue eyes blazed. Astra shook her head sadly.

"Your alliance with the humans is misplaced. I do not wish to kill you, Kara..." Before Astra could carry out her threat, the huge double-doors to the warehouse burst open, and the full DEO field team charged in, guns blazing, with Hank at the lead.

"No weapon you have can hurt me, human," Astra laughed, cocky and self-assured.

"We'll see about that," Hank smirked, unsheathing the glowing green Kryptonite blade that Astra herself had ordered to be forged for Vartox to kill her niece. Hank plunged it into her arm, and with a look of pained shock and horror, Astra streaked away into the sky. Kara knelt back down on the floor, pulling Alex snugly into her arms. The dark-haired girl was still shivering and ice-cold from Astra's freeze breath, and probably a little bit from shock and blood loss, too.

"Where's the med team?!" Kara yelled, pressing her hand over the gash in Alex's leg to staunch the bleeding.

"It's okay, Kara. I'll be f-fine," Alex tried to stutter through her shivering.

"Yeah, that's gonna work on me about as well as it did when I tried to tell you the same thing last week," Kara teased gently, not caring about the tears of relief that were streaking down her face as two DEO medics rushed over to them. "What's my line now...? Oh, yeah—stay still and let me rescue you, you big dumb jerk." She smiled, and Alex laughed a little, despite her pain.

"I knew you'd find me," The dark-haired agent grinned weakly. "El mayara..."

"Stronger together," Kara repeated in English, leaning in and kissing her before the DEO medics lifted Alex up and gently laid her on a stretcher, cutting away the fabric of her pant leg around the gash to assess her injury. But Kara couldn't help noticing how cold Alex's lips were when she kissed her; she was still shivering like she'd just gone swimming in the arctic. Her lips were turning blue. That damn freeze breath had really done a number on her.

"Lowry, can you please make sure my girlfriend doesn't get hypothermia?" Kara asked one of the medics anxiously, holding one of Alex's cold hands in both of her own and rubbing it gently to warm it up.

"You're embarrassing me," Alex grumbled; but she was still smiling weakly, holding tight to Kara's hand.

"Live with it," Kara smirked back, climbing onto the stretcher beside her shivering girlfriend—on Alex's uninjured side, of course—and wrapping her in a tight hug, trying to share her body heat. Alex closed her eyes and pressed her face into Kara's hair, unresisting. No one was stupid enough to try to separate them as the stretcher was wheeled out to the waiting helicopter, and flown back to the DEO.

…...

Kara was still fussing over Alex in the med bay at DEO headquarters when her cell phone rang again—it was James, reminding her that it was time for her to go "pick up" Ms. Grant for her interview. "Shit," Kara hissed under her breath, pacing back and forth in front of Alex's stretcher as she spoke quietly on her phone. "I can't go now..."

"Yes you can, dummy. I'm fine," Alex rolled her eyes, giving Kara a big, shiny smile as she pointed to her stitched-up leg, that was now being swabbed with antibiotic ointment before getting bandaged up. Her lips had returned to their normal color, and she wasn't shivering anymore, thanks to the warm saline dripping into her veins from the IV beside her stretcher, along with another one hanging beside it giving her a blood transfusion. "Go save your career, babe. I am not gonna listen to you bitch about being stuck in the CatCo mailroom for the next ten years."

"Are you sure, Lexie?" Kara asked anxiously, dropping the phone in her hand as she paced back over to where Alex sat on the edge of the bed, running her fingers lovingly through her girlfriend's dark hair. "You're hurt, you lost so much blood...I don't wanna leave you like this..."

"You're not leaving me, Kar. See all these people? They're pretty good at their jobs. You're pretty good at yours, too. So go do it."

"Okay, okay..." Kara sighed, taking Alex's face in both hands and giving her a very gentle, tender kiss. Then she turned to the DEO medics, her expression suddenly very stern. "Do not let her off this bed until you say she's ready, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am," the lead medic nodded emphatically, eager not to get on Supergirl's bad side. Not to mention, he was awfully fond of Alex, too, and not about to let her walk away with anything less than the best medical care the US government could provide. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of Agent Grey."

"Agent Grey is right here. I'm Agent Grey," Alex grumbled crankily, annoyed at being spoken about in the third person as if she couldn't hear them. "I can decide for myself if I'm okay or not."

"Yes dear," Kara grinned sarcastically, giving her one more slow kiss, grazing her thumb across Alex's cheek. "Be good. Rest."

"Yes dear," Alex parroted back, smiling with equal sarcasm. Then in a flash, Kara was gone.

…...

It was late by the time Kara got home from her interview with Ms. Grant; but not so late that Alex wasn't still waiting up for her, curled up on the couch with her laptop and a cup of hot chocolate. "Hey, you should be sleeping," Kara frowned as she flew in through the window and landed lightly in front of her girlfriend. "And you definitely shouldn't be working."

"Will you stop fussing? I'm fine, Kara. The DEO wouldn't have let me out if I wasn't," Alex huffed impatiently, glancing up from her laptop for a moment and then immediately back down again. "Anyway, I have a shit-ton of paperwork to file on the Hellgrammite bust, and you know it's better if I do it right away while the details are still fresh in my mind." She sniffed and rubbed her nose absently for a moment. It was a tiny sound, to the normal human ear; but not to Kara.

"The paperwork will still be here tomorrow, stubborn girl. You are recovering from a major stab wound, a blood transfusion, and minor hypothermia. And you're catching a cold. No more work." Kara pushed Alex's laptop forcibly shut. Alex scowled at her.

"I am not," she huffed moodily, opening her laptop again. Kara rolled her eyes. Alex rarely got sick, but when she did, she was awfully grumpy about it.

"You remember the whole thing where I can see inside your body, right?" Kara asked smugly, crossing her arms over her chest. Alex rolled her eyes and made a whiny sound that wasn't actually a word. Kara was ready to keep arguing; but instead she just narrowed her eyes for a moment, sat beside Alex on the couch, and handed her a tissue from the coffee table with a self-satisfied smile.

"Why are you..." Alex trailed off as her eyes snapped shut, and she sneezed breathlessly into the tissue.

"Bless you Lexie," Kara cooed sweetly, leaning in and kissing her girlfriend's forehead. Alex whined and blew her nose.

"Stop using your x-ray eyes to look at my snot," the dark-haired girl grumbled moodily behind her crumpled tissue. "You know I...*snf!*...I hate that."

"Only if you put your computer away, go get into PJ's, and let me take your temp," Kara smiled smugly again.

"You suck," Alex whined quietly; but she dropped her head against Kara's arm, with a pathetic little sniffle. Kara stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Can we watch Orphan Black?" Alex asked in a vulnerable, defeated voice that was for Kara's ears alone.

"Yes, baby, we can watch Orphan Black. I'll even let you tell me again why Cosima is sexier than all the other clones even though they're all Tatiana Maslany."

"Okay..." Alex sighed, lifting her head with a pouty, sheepish little smile. "You don't suck."

"I love you too," Kara smiled, leaning in and giving Alex one more kiss, savoring the warmth of her lips that were definitely not hypothermic anymore. "Now scoot. Pajamas. Now."