"Has there been any change?" Kara asked when they returned to the hospital to find that Kelly had returned from visiting Alex and James and Winn had joined them.
"She's currently in the middle of her second surgery, though I do have some good news." Kelly said.
"And that would be?" Kara asked, desperate for some good news.
"Alex said yes." Kelly said with a smile, which Kara shared as she rushed forward and hugged her future sister-in-law and the other Legion members did the same.
"Congratulations." Kara said.
"Yes to what?" Winn asked.
"Before the shooting, I asked Alex to marry me and while she was shot before she could answer, she just did while I was seeing her, so, once she can walk again, we're going down the aisle, which makes it even more important that Lena and Brainy find a way to fix her spine." Kelly said, looking at their resident nerds.
"Anything I can do to help I will." Winn said.
"Thank you Winn, but technically, you are working for my competitor now and whatever we do come up with, I don't plan on letting it be stolen by one of my biggest competitors." Lena said, since she knew that Winn worked for Kord Industries and while they were friends, Lena wasn't going to risk letting something that could potentially be a huge medical breakthrough fall into the hands of Ted Kord.
"Worth a shot. Though you know I wouldn't leak something like this to Kord." Winn said.
"I know, but still, it's not worth the headache with the lawyers when Ted accuses me of stealing one of his employees." Lena said.
"Fair enough. But let me know if you change your mind." Winn said.
"Speaking of things that need to happen before the wedding, you need to find Jeremiah soon, since Alex wants him at the wedding to walk him down the aisle. No offense J'onn." Kelly said to the Martian.
"None taken, I'd rather Jeremiah be able to walk Alex down the aisle too." J'onn said.
"Wait, Uncle Jeremiah is alive?" Courtney asked, reminding them all that there was family who didn't remember the old reality in the room in the form of Barbara and Courtney, along with Courtney's girlfriend Yolanda.
"We thought that Jeremiah died saving my life years ago. But we recently discovered that he and the man whose identity I assumed, Hank Henshaw, were both rescued by a now rogue government organization called Project Cadmus and they've been holding Jeremiah prisoner ever since." J'onn said.
"What is Project Cadmus?" Barbara asked.
"It's an organization that treats aliens and likely metahumans like lab rats, experimenting on them, dissecting them, even weaponizing them." Clark said.
"Wait, that's a real government organization?" Courtney asked.
"Not anymore. Based on our intel, they went rogue when they sent their metal man to attack Lena and Alex which I stopped." Kara said.
"And they're run by my evil stepmother Lillian Luthor. Not that I can prove that quite yet." Lena said.
"Wow, so both your mother and your brother are horrible people. No offense." Yolanda said.
"None taken. They're family only in name. I hate them almost as much as Kara and Clark do." Lena waved her off.
"Anyways, we've been searching for Jeremiah ever since." Kara said.
"And now we're going to step it up." Lena said.
"Agreed." Kara said.
"And now that Kara's back, I have an announcement of my own to make." Eliza said.
"And that would be?" Kara asked.
"I've decided to sell the house in Midvale and move here to National City to be closer to my girls, especially since you'll need help taking care of Alex." Eliza said.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Kara asked, since she knew how much Eliza loved her job and the house in Midvale.
"I'm sure. I was thinking about this even before the incident. Things have honestly gotten dull in Midvale and National City is where my family is. Besides, the house has felt lonely with no one else in it." Eliza assured her.
"Then for right now, you can stay in the guest room in our apartment until you find your own place." Kelly said.
"Thank you. I just hope that Alex won't mind or think that I'm there to babysit her. Even though I guess I kind of am." Eliza said.
"Well, hopefully it will only be temporary, since we will have Alex walking again before long." Lena said and Brainy nodded, though Nia couldn't help but notice how quiet he'd been since they'd arrived at the hospital, almost like he was feeling guilty about something.
"Brainy, can I talk to you for a second?" Nia asked her boyfriend, who nodded and followed her to a sideroom.
"What is going on with you? Ever since Alex was hurt, you've had this look of guilt on your face and I don't know why." Nia said.
"Because of what I let happen." Brainy said.
"What do you mean?" Nia asked before it dawned on her.
"You knew Alex was going to be shot didn't you?" Nia asked.
"I didn't know it would happen tonight, but yes, I did know that it would happen." Brainy said.
"How could you not say anything?" Nia demanded.
"I had no choice." Brainy said.
"Speak quickly." Nia said.
"Nia, the only reason I know that this was going to happen is because of how significant it is. Alex being shot led to the development of the one the most groundbreaking pieces of medical technology that is the basis of technology in the 31st century. I couldn't interfere without jeopardizing the timeline." Brainy said and Nia looked so angry her eyes were literally glowing with blue dream energy.
"I can't believe you." Nia said.
"Do you think it was easy for me to keep this secret? Because it wasn't. But I had to. I could not jeopardize the space time continuum." Brainy said.
"And you made the right call." Kara said as she joined them.
"How much did you hear?" Brainy asked.
"Enough to know that you were in an impossible situation and while I'm not happy about it, I understand why you did it, since the job comes first." Kara said.
"Kara, how can you say that?" Nia asked.
"Because it's the same kind of call I had to make during the Daxamite invasion. I made a choice that went against my happiness, but was best for others and Alex would say the same thing. Especially since messing with time is something for Barry and the Legends to do, not us. And now Brainy is going to make up for what he did by giving Lena the plans for the device that cured Alex's paralysis. After all, I'm assuming that L-Corp created it?" Kara asked.
"They did and I've already prepared a drive with all the data Lena will need. But she can't just immediately present it to Alex. It has to go through the proper process otherwise people will get suspicious." Brainy said.
"I can live with that. And while I'm not happy about it, I understand why you did what you did." Kara said as she left them alone.
"I understand why you kept it a secret, but that doesn't mean I'm not pissed at you for keeping it a secret from me, since I thought we promised no more secrets between us." Nia said.
"Nia, knowledge about the future is dangerous." Brainy said.
"You do remember that seeing the future is one of my main powers right?" Nia asked.
"Nia, I didn't want to burden you with this information." Brainy said.
"Brainy, I get it, you were in a shitty position and you were trying to keep me from being in one too. But did it occur to you that we might have found a way to keep the timeline intact without letting Alex get shot?" Nia asked.
"I ran simulations on that very thing, hoping that one of them would work, but I couldn't. What happened to Alex is a fixed point. It can't be prevented without a lot more people getting hurt, since fixed points are protected." Brainy said.
"What do you mean, they're protected." Nia asked.
"They have a designated fixer, someone who's charged with protecting the fixed point at all cost, making sure that moment happens no matter what. I think the only way to get around the fixer is if a speedster time travels and the consequences of disrupting a fixed point are too drastic. It was the only option." Brainy said and Nia nodded.
"I understand, but still, I think we need a break. We're not done, we just need some time apart while I wrap my head around this." Nia said.
"I understand." Brainy said sadly.
"I'm sorry Brainy. But I just need some time to come to terms with this. That's just the way it is." Nia said.
"I understand." Brainy said.
"I'll see if I can stay with Kara or something." Nia said, since she and Brainy had been living together since she returned to National City.
"Luckily in this reality my loft has two bedrooms, so yes you can crash with me." Kara confirmed.
"Thank you Kara." Nia said, though she wondered how often she'd actually see Kara there, since it was clear that she and Lena were sleeping together.
