Updated chapter 22! Hope you enjoy!

Skye is chatty when she's nervous – which Kara would be perfectly fine with, if not for the fact that this isn't exactly the time for talking. Every minute that passes is a minute she might be too late to save Lena from Titanium Man – and it's not like she doesn't trust Peter to protect her, but this is a supervillain, a foe on the same playing field as most of the Avengers, a much bigger ask than the criminals he's used to dealing with. She's so worried she vocally considers leaving Skye behind, or giving her a flying piggyback ride, but Skye tells her in no uncertain terms that it's impossible – the tunnel is rigged to blow if anything larger than a stray rat passes through the threshold unauthorized. Kara's confident she could just punch her way through the potential wreckage, but Skye raises a very good point: an explosion of that magnitude could cause catastrophic damage to the city above.

So, mad scientist tram it is.

The hacktivist, at least, is an easy person to like. She's got a bit of a motor-mouth going on, but from what Kara can parse, she's something of a vagabond, spit out by the foster care system through no real fault of her own, other than her obsession with finding out about her origins – which, in fact, led her to developing her skills as a hacker, eventually joining the Rising Tide, a 'computer activism' group dedicated to exposing government secrets. Kara's heard the name before; the Rising Tide has been a thorn on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s side for years now, because they keep trying to unveil the evidence of superhuman activity Fury's agency tries so hard to keep on the down low. Everybody knows that people with powers exist, of course – hard to miss the mutant boom of the sixties and seventies, or the (sporadic but very much public) costumed heroes that have been a staple of American culture ever since Steve Rogers became Captain America – but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intention, right up until the Avengers became a thing, had always been to downplay the phenomenon.

All that being said, Skye is very much a fan of superheroes – she may have no powers or physical training of her own, but she does identify with that je ne sais quoi that prompts a person to, upon seeing injustices committed, put their life at risk in order to right those wrongs. She's a huge Iron Man fan, particularly, even taking a break from a life on the move, in constant skirting of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s watchful eye, to put together an Iron Man cosplay for a contest at Stark Tower last year. She didn't win – it was, in her own words 'kind of shitty' – but Tony gave her a participation award, still proudly displayed in the van she lives in.

"I'm just about done." –she says, furiously typing away at her aging laptop. "We'll still need to ride the tram, but at least the system will let us pass without blowing up."

"Did the mercs not have permission?"

Skye shakes her head. "This was kind of a rushed op. It's a pretty thorough ID system – facial recognition, monitored biometrics, the works – so it's not exactly easy or quick to add new entries into the guest list. I'm not even going that far with us, just fooling the system into believing the tram is empty."

Kara hums. "Smart. We can bring back Lena and Spider-Man if necessary that way. Though...I don't get how they got through in the first place."

She points to an ID scanner. "Miss Luthor apparently has Norman Osborn's clearance and overrides. Probably an oversight, honestly – there was no reason to believe she would've found out about this place on her own – but it would've gotten her and Spidey through. Maybe eve Titanium Man too, if he was quick and careful enough. Really, I'm just surprised she was able to pull the same trick twice in one day. Centipede must have some shoddy IT guys."

The tram comes to life, finally, and Skye invites her aboard. Kara obliges, crossing her arms with worry. "So, how did you end up with Centipede, anyway?" –she asks, as the trip begins.

"Well, I found Matt first." –she says. "I guess you could say the Rising Tide 'assigned' me to his case, a couple years back. You know how he can be – brutal, just shy of deadly. We thought he might've been a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative of some kind, especially when he started battling some of the more...esoteric criminal groups in New York."

Kara raises an eyebrow. "'Esoteric'?"

"I'm talking undead ninjas and dragon bone trafficking." –Skye says, deadpan.

The Kryptonian purses her lips. "Right."

"Anyway, once I dug up everything I could on him, it was pretty clear he wasn't in cahoots with the suits." –she says, sounding all too proud about her rhyme. "I got in touch with him and offered to help him out whenever he needed my particular talents. I, um...obscured his info from the Tide, too. As necessary as it is to expose the shady shit our governments get up to, sometimes putting information out there can hurt the wrong people. I'm not about that."

"So why dig up stuff on the Avengers? That could put us in danger, too."

Skye winces. "Well, for one, there's never been anything like you, Supergirl. A whole-ass team, y'know? One with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s seal of approval, no less."

Kara shrugs. "Never been anything like the Chitauri, either."

"True, true. Desperate times, desperate measures. I get that. And trust me, we're all grateful not to be alien chow, or whatever they wanted us for. It's just...no one expected the Avengers to be a permanent sort of deal. Teaming up once, that's a miracle. Twice is a plan." –she gives her a meaningful look. "I know your intentions are good. Maybe I'm a little suspicious of the S.H.I.E.L.D. spooks on your team, but you've got Captain America, Nazi hunter extraordinaire, as a team leader. I don't expect you to turn your mightiness against us, but you gotta realize you guys are, like, gods. I think it's fair to worry about what you'll be doing going forward."

"We don't really have a mission statement. All we want to do is protect people from crises like the Chitauri invasion."

Skye raises her palms. "Hey, I believe you. But there's a lot of people out there you'll need to convince."

Kara sighs. "I guess so."

The silence that follows is uncomfortable – even the tram makes little sound, making use of a fairly impressive maglev system that hits Kara with a pang of longing for the technology of her doomed world. Before Kara can think to break it, though, Skye's curiosity gets the better of her. "So, um...how does one get abs like yours?"

Kara snorts. "What?"

"Dude, you're cut." –Skye says, blushing, nodding at her exposed abdomen. "Do you exercise, or are you just naturally buff?"

She chuckles, a little embarrassed. "No, I can't really claim credit for them. These just...happened." –she says. "Probably some side effect of my powers, since I've never gone to a gym. Not that it would do me much good; human exercise equipment can't keep up with me. If I try to lift weights, the metal bar snaps before I can actually feel the load."

"Humble brag, geez."

"I mean, there has to be some limit to what I can lift." –she says, just a little bit cocky. "I just haven't found it yet, I guess."

"What about Thor's hammer?" –she asks.

Kara tilts her head. "What about it?"

"Well, the hammer's magic, right? According to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, only Thor can even budge it."

Supergirl shrugs, a bit skeptical. "I couldn't tell you, I haven't had the pleasure yet. I'd love to give it a try, though."

"Oh, so Thor didn't stay?" –she asks.

Kara shakes her head. "He took Loki back to Asgard, I think. That, and the Tesseract. I haven't asked about him much, but I doubt he's coming back anytime soon. I could be wrong, but it seemed to me like a one-time deal, y'know?"

"That's a bummer." –Skye says. "He was so hot."

The blonde snorts. "And here I thought you were into me." –she jokes.

"Hey, I'm an equal opportunity beefcake connoisseur." –she retorts. "I can do both."

Kara laughs. It's not every day that she gets this kind of praise. "Well, I appreciate it. You're plenty cute yourself."

"Not as much as Miss Luthor though, right?" –she asks, her eyebrows rising suggestively.

The Kryptonian groans, chagrined. "Is it really that obvious?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. sure seems to think so. She's listed on your Index file's admittedly very small list of potential weak points. Plus, you get this look when she comes up. Some combination of fond, annoyed, and yearning. 'She's a pain but I don't know what I'd do without her' kinda deal."

"Yeah, well. I did do without her. Years, in fact." –she argues, though she sounds less determined than she'd like. "She made it pretty clear that she didn't want me around back then."

"I think she's made it pretty clear now that she does." –Skye counters. "If you think about it, calling you in was the riskiest choice she could've made. She could've – should've, even – called in the Feds. FBI, DHS...hell, even INTERPOL, or S.H.I.E.L.D. You're much more of a wild card. Could even ruin her career, if this goes south. Well, south-er than it already has."

"'South-er' isn't a word." –Kara grumbles.

Skye waves dismissively. "You get my point, though. She had her pick of people to ask for help and she still turned to you. I'm not much of a romantic, but even I can tell that's not nothing, Supergirl."

"I don't wanna get my hopes up." –Kara says, pained, but leaving no room for argument. "If Lena actually did the legwork...heck, maybe not even then. I'd consider it, but she had years to try, and she didn't. I'm not holding my breath – no matter what I might feel for her."

"Oh. I, um...I'm sorry. I have no business prying, do I?" –Skye winces. "I'll leave it alone."

"It's ok, Skye. I don't mind talking about it – even if you are kind of a complete stranger." –Kara teases.

"Well, we might've just met, but I've known you for a while. Your file, at any rate." –she jokes, awkward.

Kara narrows her eyes. "That's not better." –she says, deadpan.

The tram begins to decelerate, as they enter an older section of the tunnel – much older than the subway-like design of the tracks closer to OsCorp, looking like something out of National Treasure. Skye picks up a discarded assault rifle from the metal floor – it's much too big for her, and from her awkward handling of the weapon, Kara would bet she's never held a firearm in her life, much less a high-powered automatic rifle. The tram stops, though it seems like there's even more to the tunnel ahead. "Looks like this is our stop." –Kara says, taking point as they exit onto a deserted platform, which looks much, much more modern than the tunnel itself. "Just where are we?" –she wonders.

"Upstate a ways. A black site of sorts." –Skye explains. "There's a lot of quote-unquote lawful secret labs under OsCorp – projects for the US military, mostly, which Centipede isn't. That's more of a 'take over the world' sitch."

"No guards, though?" –Kara notes.

Skye points at a sort of upside down dome above the entrance to the checkpoint. "It's all automated security here. That's a concealed, high-caliber sentry turret; we passed a few dozen on the ride here. Between my magic and Lena's override, they probably won't activate." –she surmises. "Centipede only employs human guards at sites they can pass off as legit. A bunch of goons running to and fro a revamped Cold War bunker would draw too much attention, I guess."

"And the scientists?"

Skye shrugs. "Skeleton crew rules, I guess. Loose lips sink ships, and all that."

Kara hums. She taps her earpiece, but the line crackles, nonresponsive. "I wouldn't bother." –Skye says. "We're too deep underground, and even if Stark's borderline magic tech can overcome that, Titanium Man will probably intercept the signal."

"Oh? What else do you know about the guy?"

"Well, the man under the hood is a mercenary. An older Soviet-era commando who goes by Andrew Stockwell – which, y'know, not exactly a common name back in the Motherland." –she says, sarcastic. "He's your typical 'no questions asked as long as you pay me' sort of guy. Kind of agreeable when you get to know him, but I'd bet my non-existent salary that he's committed his fair share of war crimes. The armor's a lot more fun to talk about, honestly."

"Salvaged from S.H.I.E.L.D., right?"

Skye raises an eyebrow. "I see you guys had a chat. Yeah, I guess S.H.I.E.L.D. dug up the Iron Monger from the rubble of Stark Industries, deranged multi-millionaire corpse and all, and kept it for themselves."

"Guessing they didn't let Tony in on that little detail." –Kara sighs.

"Got it in one." –Skye says, sardonic. "They couldn't figure out how to get the form factor Iron Man-sized, so they just grafted on a more durable titanium alloy to the frame and added a Tesseract-powered power core, instead. Don't ask me the specifics, but it basically gives it an infinite energy source, so they don't have to rely on arc reactors, unlike Iron Man."

"Wait, really? I got close to breaking the shield, though. At least, I think I did."

Skye shrugs. "It's still limited by hardware. The energy conduits can only handle so much energy at once. The source is endless, but if you can punch harder than the output can cope with, you're golden." –she says.

"Huh." –Kara mutters, as they come upon a reinforced blast door, a biometric scanner off to the side. Skye inspects it for a moment, before declaring it'd be quicker if Kara just forced the lock. She gently overpowers the mechanism, opening it for them. "Y'know, you know a lot more about Titanium Man than I expected."

"Well, I spent a good couple weeks getting cozy with the suit." –she jokes. "Centipede recruited me for cyberwarfare, but they let me stay because I managed to whip up a quick OS to run the armor's more advanced functions. S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't gotten that far yet – honestly, it's a miracle that Stane wasn't crushed inside that thing the minute he tried to move it. The Iron Monger's OS was as barebones as it comes, totally rushed and unfinished. The more finalized functions were cannibalized from the Jericho missile platform, which helped with the flying and targeting systems, but moving the damn thing? The code was all buggy, and totally unfinished. I had to pilfer and reconfigure the proprietary code from the Air Force's database, which they scavenged from the suit they and HAMMER Industries turned into the War Machine."

It's something of a long winded explanation, which serves as a way to pass the time as they cautiously walk into the facility. The place is kinda cramped, a series of narrow corridors, all a fairly sterile white and silver, leading to either a) more passageways, or b) small laboratories. At least the place is easy to navigate with clearly indicated room marquees and maps on every level. They've gone down a couple floors by the time Skye's done explaining about the armor.

"I know the merc you were under said otherwise, but I have to believe Centipede knew we were coming." –Kara mutters, shaking her head. "The girl with the whips, Titanium Man, the HAMMER drones outside...I get wanting to make sure you secure the Serum no matter what, but this is just overkill."

"If it helps at all, the order to include the superpowered units came from the top. Last second, too." –Skye says. "If they figured out you were coming, it was a close thing."

"The problem isn't when, it's how." –Kara says, worriedly. "I trust the Avengers with my life, but I think someone close to us might be leaking information to our enemies."

The third level opens up to a larger chamber – testing grounds of some kind – which makes Kara's stomach drop. The ceiling has caved in, and judging by the rain pouring in through the gaping hole, it goes all the way up to the surface. The place has been trashed, covered in high caliber bullet holes, scorched grenade launcher craters, and Spider-Man's webbing. Fortunately, there isn't any blood that she can find, but it's clear that Titanium Man has caught up to Lena and Peter.

"You ok? Your eyes are, um...glowing." –Skye asks.

Kara takes a deep breath. "Fine." –she says, though she doesn't mean it. She's so worried that she almost misses the crackle of her comms. "Supergirl here."

"Kara? Where are you? What's the situation?" –Rogers' voice asks.

"I'm a few kilometers outside the city. Took the tram at the basement, tracking down Lena and Spider-Man. It looks like Centipede's beat us to them, too." –she tries to explain as succinctly as possible.

"Roger. Got your location. Hold tight, reinforcements en route."

Kara purses her lips. "Gonna have to defy those orders, Captain. I can't let them get hurt. Catch up when you can."

After a pause, Steve clicks the comlink twice for 'acknowledged'. The pair jog through the battlefield, following the trail of destruction. There are several monitoring stations surrounding the arena, but the fight goes through yet another corridor. Kara's hearing almost immediately picks up sounds of battle ahead. The blonde turns. "Keep yourself safe. I'm going straight at him."

Skye nods. "I'll look for the server farm. Should be close by."

"Holler if you need me." –she says, giving her the radio frequency they're using.

Supergirl then floats, and putting her fists before her, flies straight towards the action, punching through two walls and a broken but very much present reinforced blast door. She barely has time to take in the scene – an underground VTOL platform of sorts, upon which Titanium Man and Spidey are duking it out, Lena nowhere to be seen – adjusting her trajectory just enough to slam into Titanium Man, Peter barely leaping away in time, her knuckles stung by the flaring energy barrier, taking him off the platform and straight into a concrete wall. The mercenary groans in pain, even with all his protection, but manages to backhand her away. Kara's not messing around this time, though – mid-air, she rights herself up, and slams her shoulder against the armored supervillain once more. The barrier flares even brighter.

"Where is she!?" –she roars, her eyes blazing with fury.

Titanium Man chuckles, and points behind her and to the side. Kara turns, and her eyes glow, even hotter, seeing Peter kneeling over an unconscious Lena. She's bleeding profusely from the head – something to be expected, the logical part of Kara tries to pipe up, but all she can see is Lena, hurt.

The mercenary grabs her, then, with both mechanical hands, and starts squeezing, but Kara's having none of it. With little effort, she overpowers the armor's hydraulics, and kicks at his midsection, freeing herself. She then grabs one of his arms, and pulls him out of the wrecked concrete wall, slamming him down on the platform, careful not to rain debris on her friends. Titanium Man tries to swipe at her with his free hand, but she slaps the massive arm away, and begins punching at his solar plexus, once, thrice, fifteen times, time slowing down just as it did in her fight with the Hulk. The energy shield burns at her fists – not in a physical way, as she remains unharmed, rather more like every hit she delivers chips away at the Tesseract's power, clinging to her.

According to Karen's monitoring, as perceived through Spidey's lens, it takes one-hundred and seventeen blows for the barrier to break. It does so explosively, pushing Kara away and causing Peter to protectively hunch over Lena's prone form. In a final bid, the armor's core glows, trying to blast her again, but she moves out of the way in time, the beam carving a hole in the ceiling that lets the thunderstorm inside.

Undeterred, Kara dives back in, and shoves her fingers through a seam below the armor's neck, right between the clavicles. The metal gives easily, broken bolts and jagged metal shards popping away, and she rips the torso open, the helm groaning open to reveal a terrified man in his late fifties, gruff and bloodied, who desperately covers his face and awaits the killing blow.

Kara grabs his bodysuit, easily tearing him out of the damaged armor. He kicks and punches at her, one final surge of defiance in him, but all he really does is hurt himself. Thunder rings out above – she vaguely realizes she must look terrifying, eyes blazing in the darkness, interspersed with flashes of lightning. "Do it, Kryptonian! Finish it!" –he taunts.

"Get it right: I'm Supergirl." –she spits back. "And I don't need to."

She tosses him against the platform's safety railing, then rips the top metal bar at either side of the man and wraps it around his arms and torso, immobilizing him. Titanium Man is no longer a threat.

It takes a few breaths to calm herself, the glow of her eyes slowly subsiding. She turns, and relief floods her senses; Lena's sitting back up, holding her head. Kara jogs up to them, and kneels beside Lena. "Are you ok?" –she asks, worried sick.

"Concussed, I think." –Lena says, blearily. "Caught a chunk of debris before you got here."

"I'm so sorry. I should've gotten here quicker."

Lena shakes her head, though the gesture makes her pale further. "S'not your fault. You were right, I shouldn't have taken the Serum. Got in way over my head." –she says, then smiles. "I'm just glad you're here."

Kara blushes. Part of her is annoyed that she's ignoring her resentment so easily, but the relief of keeping Lena safe is completely overpowering. "I came in and I couldn't see you. I...I thought I'd lost you." –she admits.

"Is that why you almost incinerated the guy?" –she asks, raising an eyebrow.

Kara winces. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I almost lost it there, for a second."

Lena's gaze turns soft. "It's ok, Kara. I wasn't begrudging you. If I were in your place, I...don't know that I could've restrained myself as much as you did."

The blonde can't resist a smug look. "Oh? You trying to tell me something, Luthor?"

Peter rubs the back of his head. "I'll, um...go hunt for some ingredients for more web fluid. Long fight, fresh out, y'know? You guys talk amongst yourselves." –he walks off, a knowing smirk beneath his mask.

"Smooth, isn't he?" –Lena says, sarcastic.

Kara gives her a half shrug. "He's a good kid."

"Yeah..." –Lena trails off. "I, uh...I owe you an apology. Several, in fact. You're a much better heroine than I gave you credit for, for starters."

"It's early days, still. I could be just as dangerous as you feared someday." –Kara says.

"That's crap, and you know it. I know it. For all your power and might, you're still you. You're such a beautiful soul, Kara." –Lena whispers. "To go through as much as you have – to have lost it all and come out the other side as kind and selfless as you are, it's incredible. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it firsthand. And instead of learning and growing as a person from your example, I ruined our friendship – lost you, I thought, forever."

She shakes her head, bitter. "I let the prejudice I grew up with control me. I turned what could've been a beautiful moment between us into a nightmare that has haunted me every day since." –she says.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why wait so long?" –Kara asks. "Lena, I would've forgiven you. I knew about your upbringing. I was with you through those bouts of self-hatred. And yeah, you broke my heart, I stormed off without a word, and tried my best not to look back. But you never sought me out. You never tried to fix our friendship – and even though I desperately wanted to, it wasn't up to me to make things right."

"All I could think is that I'd fucked up. That you wouldn't ever want to see me again." –Lena painfully says. "And to be honest, I...didn't think I deserved your forgiveness. I still don't, not really. But that doesn't excuse the fact that I didn't try. You're right, Kara – this is on me. Maybe it's too late, but...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Kara can feel her carefully put up barriers crumbling as Lena breaks down. "No, don't...don't say those things. Of course it's not too late. I forgive you, Lena." –she says, then smirks despite herself, wiping a few tears away with the cleanest part of her costume's sleeve. "Rao, I told myself I'd make this tougher for you if you ever tried to fix things, but I just can't. I just want you back."

"You should make it hard." –Lena chides. "I can't expect to be welcomed back with open arms. I need to make it up to you, somehow."

"Lena, we've already spent years apart. I think that's punishment enough, don't you?" –Kara shoots back. "Besides...I'm sure we can figure out a way to make up for lost time." –she suggests, blushing.

"I'd tease you for thinking so highly of yourself, but I really did miss you." –she shakes her head. "Thank you, Kara. I don't know what I did to deserve this, but...thank you."

Kara hugs her, as tight as her superhuman strength will allow without crushing the object of her affection. Low enough that Lena won't hear it, she whispers. "I guess Skye was right – you are my weakness."

As always, thank you for your attention! Make sure to comment or message me if you have any questions about this story. Look me up on Twitter as Darthkvzn or Tumblr as darthkvznblogs if you'd like - and on Ko-fi, as Darthkvzn, if you like what I do and have a buck to spare.

Until next time!