Hey guys, I know it's been a while, but I've been having a bit of a mind blank on how to write this chapter. But finally, it has been completed!
I really appreciate all the support given to me for my first story, and I got to say that these follows and reviews and favourites really mean that world to me. And thank you so much for sticking with me for this story, and I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have!
Have a wonderful day! :)
NINE
Parking Lot of the Abandoned Lord Tech factory
Lena watched the sun rise.
Gilt light flooded the parking lot, illuminating everything in the sun's sights. Huge shadows were cast across the ground. The yellow light lit up Kara's face, almost making it seem as if Kara was still alive.
But she wasn't.
Lena stared into the distance, a tear rolling down her cheek. She held Kara's hand tightly, trying to squeeze some life into her friend.
Her friend? No, Kara was more than that. She was her soul, her light in the darkness.
Lena realised that she was referring to Kara in the past tense and sobbed.
Fate had torn them apart cruelly only when their relationship had started. How was that fair? After everything they had been through, did they not deserve a happy ending?
Questions plagued her mind, and Lena feared that this over-thinking would drive her insane. All she wanted was Kara. That was it.
Her eyes wandered to Sam's limp form, laying a couple metres away from them.
She gritted her teeth.
Then Lena let out the most agonizing scream. All of her emotions were realized in a huge torrent of noise.
Lena grabbed fistfuls of the grass beside Kara's dead body. Her knuckles turned white, as she sobbed. She cried and cried: it seemed like that was all she could do.
The scientist let the grass pieces to slip out of her palms as she reached forward to caress the face of the dead female body in front of her in a futile attempt to wake the woman from her slumber.
One word escaped Lena's full lips, "Sam."
"How could you do this? Why did you do this?"
She moved her shaking hands from the dead Kryptonian's face and clenched her fists tautly.
A minute passed and she felt the air behind her tickled the back of her neck. She turned around, and with a hoarse and broken voice, she said: "Please. Help her. Help me!"
Alas, she was yelling at the wind. No one was behind her.
The breeze intensified. Lena looked around, bewildered, but then she noticed the black helicopter hovering over her.
Once the helicopter had landed, agents clad in black uniform went over to Lena.
Medics came rushing onto the scene, shouting commands. Other agents were whispering in disbelief as they set eyes on the body of Supergirl. Shock was etched upon their faces. All of the noise was simply background noise to Lena. She didn't care about them. She cared only about Kara.
She didn't want to leave Kara's side. Lena wanted to stay by her best friend's side forever.
The agents tried to pull her off.
Lena screamed in protest. She tried to fight off the hands that were grabbing her and Kara, pulling them apart. Lena clawed at the agents with her hands, kicking and yelling. As Kara was taken from her side, and Lena cried out.
All she could see were hands. Everything blurred into one mess. Gasping and crying, Lena pushed herself off the people, trying to find Kara.
She saw Kara being put on a gurney. Medics were trying to revive her.
She's gone, Lena wanted to yell. She wanted to tell them, but she couldn't. She couldn't find her voice.
The medics' hands were caked in blood.
Breathing fast, Lena looked at her own hands. They were caked in blood. Lena felt bile rise in her throat.
This was Kara's blood.
Lena closed her eyes – she wished that this was but a nightmare, and that the action of closing her eyes would jolt her back into the sweet reality.
It didn't work.
She felt herself being hoisted upward.
Concerned faces came into her vision. A green man came into vision. Lena gasped.
"Ms Luthor..." someone said.
The image of Kara's dead body kept coming into her mind.
Shaking, Lena closed her eyes again, trying to escape this madness. But she kept on seeing her best friend's dead body in her mind.
She was lying down on... a gurney? There were people standing over her, and Lena wanted to scream. Nothing was wrong with Lena. They should be helping Kara! So why were they tending to her?
Lena tried to push herself off the gurney, but two robust individuals held her down.
"Stop!" she yelled.
Suddenly, Lena had all of these emotions inside of her that she need to let out. Her heart was thumping in her head. She felt sick.
"Lena..." someone whispered.
Through teary-eyed vision, Lena searched for that familiar voice.
"Lena..." the voice called again.
The scientist looked up. So many faces... so much hurt...
The world was spinning.
She stared into the distance through blurry vision – into the sun and the morning sky.
Part of Lena knew that Kara was smiling from the world beyond: the peaceful world beyond the skies and horizon. And as the sun shone magnificent yellow, Lena believed that it wasn't the sunlight that was sending warmth through Lena's body – it was Kara, smiling from beyond the horizon.
DEO
Alex waited anxiously. Her fingers were drumming rapidly against the desk. It was the only way she could cope with the wait. J'onn and the other agents had gone to the abandoned Lord Tech factory to see whether Reign had been subdued.
"Alex."
Alex snapped her head up, completely alert.
"J'onn?"
"Alex, we've made contact with Reign, Ms Luthor and..."
A pause. Alex frowned, "J'onn? What's their status?"
"They... they are okay."
"And Supergirl?"
A long pause this time. All Alex could hear was static. She clenched her fist, breathing in slowly.
"J'onn!" she called. "What's the problem?"
From the other side Alex could hear soft crying. Why was J'onn crying?
Part of Alex knew why, but she didn't want to believe it. Alex's breaths quickened. She clenched both fists, breathing out. Why couldn't she breathe normally?
"Supergirl..."
More static. Alex blinked. It was an attempt to wake up from this ghastly nightmare.
"Alex,"
That feeling that Alex had had was welling up inside of her. As he spoke again, his voice cracked.
"Supergirl has been stabbed."
Those words hit her like a punch. Alex flinched.
J'onn's words began to slur. She couldn't hear them properly. All she could hear was Kara screaming. Over and over again.
Make it stop.
Why wasn't it stopping?
Alex tried to slow her breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
She clutched her black shirt and scrunched it up – trying to vent her emotions. Alex removed her hand, watching it tremble. The agents looked up with teary eyes and when J'onn spoke, she could hear his words as clear as day.
"Kara's gone."
Alex stared into the distance, a solitary tear falling down her face.
She gasped softly, feeling everyone's eyes on her.
The walls began to close in on her, and suddenly Alex couldn't breathe. It was as if all over the air was stolen from her.
"Agent Danvers?" someone asked, their voice dripping with concern.
Alex ignored them.
Leaning back in her chair, she let her hands drop to her sides.
A wave of emotions crashed on her. Alex refused to swim – she wanted to drown in her emotions and thoughts. She didn't want to save herself.
And then Alex's mind snapped.
And she screamed.
One Hour Later
Kara Danvers' Apartment
It was quiet. That was probably the most unsettling thing that Winn noticed as he walked into her apartment.
Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes, taking the first step.
A queer sensation ran up his leg, through his chest and to his head. Shaking it off, Winn opened his eyes.
The apartment was drab. The curtains were freshly pulled back from the windows – allowing the dull light to seep into the room. Like how fresh blood seeped from an open wound. Blood. Wound. Kara.
Winn squeezed his eyes shut again. He didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to think about her.
The blanket was carefully draped over the armrest of one of the couches; even the bright colours failing to light up the room and revive the life that once lived here. The TV was off, and Winn could see his reflection on its surface.
His eyes were ruddy, his hair disheveled and his tie loose around his neck. Winn gazed deeper into the image before him, enthralled by what he had become within the space of a single hour: showing how loss truly affected a person.
His expression solemn, he ventured further into the room, his eyes drifting over her belongings. As he approached the window, he could hear a soft sniffling sound emanating from the bedroom. Curious, he followed it, his eyes laying upon the hunched over figure of Alex Danvers.
She towered over a bunch of scattered photos, her hands hastily grasping at them at tearing them in two.
"Alex!" winn exclaimed, aghast at what she was doing. "What are you doing?"
Alex turned to Winn, her eyes bloodshot and filled with lakes of tears. Her hands were trembling, and her facial expression was one of complete despondency and brokenness.
"I can't handle this..." Alex muttered, her eyes wandering over Winn. She looked back down and tore a photo of a blonde teenage girl and a brunette – Kara and Alex – embracing each other with goofy smiles. "I can't live with this."
Winn reached a hand forward, an attempt to console the agent whose eyes were devoid of all hope. "Alex..."
She batted his hand away, screaming in fury at his action. "Go away!"
Grabbing him roughly by the shoulders, Alex pushed Winn out of the bedroom and against the glass, before returning back to her bedroom, whimpering and murmuring.
Slight pain throbbed in his shoulder, but he refused to let it overwhelm him – Alex was in evident pain and he couldn't let her suffering prolong.
"Stop. Alex. Stop." He said, his voice urgent as he watched Alex gather all of the photos, and dump them carelessly in a rubbish bin.
"She left me." She said, her voice cracked and filled with despair. "I can't live with myself..."
Ripping something from her pocket, she looked at Winn with fiery eyes of madness and heartache. Winn's eyes widened, as Alex revealed lighter from the palms of her hands. She flicked it on, and the warm orange glow radiated throughout the room – the silence piling on like layers of tension. Even the seemingly relaxing glow failed to light up the room: it still felt as if something was missing. Someone was missing. Kara.
No, Winn told himself, don't think about her. You musn't think about her. It'll only make it worse.
Alex stood over the bin, her lighter alight, her eyes trained on Winn. Tears were falling, falling, falling. The image Winn saw at that moment – Alex, a broken clock that could not be mended without its hands - stayed with him until his dying day. He had never seen her this devoid of all light and goodness in the world. And then he realized, the only thing that is... was good and beautiful in the world was... Kara.
That name. Why did that name come up so many times?
Winn shook his head, trying to avoid that name. That name would now only bring misery.
He held his hand out, like Supergirl had done many times. Supergirl. Kara. Again the shaking of the head, the denial.
"She left me." Alex said.
"I should've found a way to save her."
"It's my fault."
"Why couldn't it have been me?"
Looking helplessly at Winn, she continued: "I don't know what to do now...I don't-"
"Don't burn them. You'll regret it. You'll have lost Kara forever then." As Winn said that name, he felt something break inside his chest. Grief started to seep out of the crack in his heart, threatening to swallow him whole. Nevertheless, he carried on.
"If you burn it, Kara won't exist anymore."
"SHE'S DEAD! SHE ALREADY DOESN'T EXIST!"
Alex stood there, taking in quick breaths, her gaze locked with Winn's. "I don't want to live in a world without her, Winn. I can't."
"This'll give me closure."
She dropped the lighter into the bin.
Winn's eyes widened in shock, he lunged at Alex, crying out: "Alex!" Alex stood motionless, watching the flames dance on the pictures, burning them to a charred crisp. A plume of smoke rose into the air, setting off the fire alarm, which blared in disagreement.
Searching frantically for water, he got a cup of still water and threw it over the bin. There was a hiss, and the fire was quenched. Panting, he looked up at Alex, who was staring intently at the photos. The fire alarm became silent. Once she had realized they had stopped burning, Alex looked at Winn with fury.
"Why did you do that?"
"I needed closure. Why did you do that?"
"If you cared about Kara then you wouldn't have done that!" Alex screeched.
At the sound of Kara's name, Winn let all of his emotions out – the feelings that had been building up inside of him, ever since Kara died – and let them out in a huge torrent of anger.
"How would Kara feel seeing her sister like this?" Alex did not speak. "She would feel heartbroken. Somewhere – wherever the hell she is – she'd be crying at seeing you in so much pain. Burning things is not going to help!" He took in a deep breath, "you need to face the truth, Alex. She's gone. There's nothing we can do now, but accept it. You think... You think I don't miss her? I just want her back! I want to see her smile, hear her voice...I want to hear that stupid laugh, I took for granted..." He started to cry. "Look what you've Alex, you've burnt the only memories you had left of her. You... you... can't..."
He broke down, sobbing. Alex helplessly looked at Winn with teary eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
They enveloped each other in a huge hug. Gripping tightly onto each other, if they let go, they would succumb to the denial and grief.
"I just want my sister back."
Winn let out a shaky breath, "I know, I do too."
"I just want her back, Winn, why can't I have her back?"
"I don't know, Alex. I don't know."
They cried together.
National City cried together.
The world cried together.
The only time the entire world was truly united was when they were mourning the loss of their beloved Supergirl.
But somewhere, there was a group of people not mourning Supergirl – mourning their friend Kara Danvers.
The hero behind the mask.
The hero no one knew even existed.
The End