DAY TWO

The next day, they had plans. All of them. Kara was going to the Fortress to find data about the gem. Alex and Brainy were going to work on Liz's blood samples to see if they could find a way to dampen her powers to make them easier to deal with by creating a device. Kelly and Nia were busy with work. And Lena and Liz needed to be in the Tower in half an hour to meet with Kara.

Lena looked at her watch and groaned. She rushed in the living room to grab Liz's coloring pencils and the book she started to read on the road the day before, to put them on the little pink backpack with an L sewn on it. "Liz, are you done? We're going to be late." She shouted through the apartment.

Liz was taking a bath. The six-year-old was old enough to stay in the water alone for several minutes and since Lena had already washed her hair and body, she used the time Liz wanted to play in water to prepare her bag. It never stopped Lena from worrying though and she had made the rules clear the first few times. Don't go out of the bathtub by yourself. Don't touch the light switch. Answer when mom calls after you. But Liz didn't answer so Lena rushed to the bathroom with a frown on her face.

"Liz, everything okay?" She called as she neared the bathroom. Looking inside the room, there was no trace of her daughter. Lena's heart went directly to her throat. "Liz!"

The girl irrupted from underneath the water at the same time Lena approached the bathtub. "Mom! I can breathe under water!"

Lena's mouth stayed agape, her hand on her heart. Not because her daughter's abilities were shocking but more because she just got the fright of a lifetime. She exhaled heavily and put herself together. She grabbed a towel and extended it. This child would never stop surprising her. "Good. Can you come out now?"

The girl leaned on Lena's arms to slip out of the tub, babbling about how she discovered her new power. "The voices in my head became too loud again so I went under the water to stop them. And then I stayed and it was like I was a fish, Mom!"

Lena schooled her features to show no reaction but the gear in her mind kept working. It wasn't one of Kara's powers. She knew Supergirl had a great stamina. She could run miles without tiring and stay under water for a really long time. But breathe under it? That was unprecedented.

"We'll have to see what changed since yesterday." Lena said, preparing Liz subliminally to endure other tests. She didn't like the idea of her daughter becoming a guinea pig but they needed answers and Liz's powers were expanding very quickly. Too quickly for them to keep up.

"Do you think Kara will be happy to see me and you?" Liz asked suddenly, shyly. Lena took the time to process the question, pushing Liz's shirt above her head and helping her with the arms. She grabbed at her daughter smooth wet face and caressed her cheeks with affection. "We say you and I, love. And I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you." She placed a kiss on her nose. Liz's light smile was everything she needed to see as a reply.

The sky and the ocean were mixing up together in shades of blue as the sun started to rise away in the horizon. Kara quickened her pace, pushing her power to the limit. She liked the freedom of being so up in the air she couldn't hurt anything and do whatever she wanted. Usually, she would stop in the middle of the sky to watch just above the sea of cotton-like clouds, where there was not a noise to disturb her peace, not an urgency she needed to fix. That was her solace. The peace there couldn't be equalized anywhere. Not even in the Fortress.

She didn't have the time to enjoy it this morning though. Lena and Liz were waiting for her in the Tower and she couldn't wait to tell Lena what she had found about the gem. When she landed light steps on the Tower's balcony, in her full freshly updated Supergirl attire, the first thing Kara recognized was music. Not only music. Mozart. This was the most Luthor thing she had ever noticed Lena doing.

Descending the stairs, Kara found Liz scribbling on a paper on the dining table and Lena observing one of the walls on the right. Liz looked up and her mouth fell open. Kara waved awkwardly but decided to let her be and walked to Lena.

"Good morning." She whispered, Lena startled. "Hi. This is…" She pointed at the wall but didn't seem to find what to say. Kara took a look at the wall in its entirety. This was her investigation wall. It was where she would pin every clue she had about Lena's disappearance. There were photos of women with black hair, blond hair, wigs. There were photos of places Lena could have been seen. Post-its with questions written on it. Maxwell Lord in Africa. Morgan Edge during conferences. Lillian's death certificate. Reports on Lena's cousins in England and Lionel's brother in Germany. It was seven years of investigation.

"I never stopped searching for you. It was always doppelgangers. I never found anything." Kara explained, hands on her hips, never once meeting Lena's eyes who she knew was observing her expressions. The woman nodded. "I wore wigs at first. Then I gave up the whole disguise thing. I just wear a cap when I go out and the glasses are enough."

Kara accepted the explanation for what it was. Lena wasn't apologizing again but it helped to know what was happening on her side. Had Kara thought about Ireland and Lena's mother, maybe they would have an entire other discussion, but she didn't. She remembered the frustration, though. And the melancholy. Because she always felt like she was this close to found Lena but it was always a false hope. But all of this was in the past, now. It had to. Lena was next to her. Beautiful and charming and

the perfect contradiction of stubbornness and tenderness and they had a daughter together and… "The glasses look good on you."

The blush on Lena's cheeks and her beating heart were enough to burst Kara's bubble. She had said this out loud. Recognizing her mishap, she opened big eyes and cleared her throat. "Hum… So Mozart? Is it a Luthor parenting thing?" She asked playfully. Lena rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Oh don't mock me. I wish she'd like other things. I'm traumatized by Lillian's piano lessons." She sighed, the remnants of her childhood clear in her eyes. "But she discovered it at school, they have this music class during which the teacher let them wander through the instruments and the CD's."

"CD's? You're kidding." Kara exclaimed and Lena chuckled, shaking her head.

"No! They have a bunch of them and Liz really likes classics. She likes the sound of piano, actually. It's part of the things that calm her. You know, when there's too much noise."

Kara nodded and glanced at Liz who was still happily coloring her drawing, not caring about their discussion. "Oh, I see. And she needs it now?"

"She was overwhelmed this morning so I thought you wouldn't mind." Lena pointed to the small speaker on the counter.

"No, no, you're right." Kara confirmed then tilted her head. "That's funny, I would go to the music store in Midvale, when I was younger, to listen to music too when I felt overwhelmed."

Lena smiled and shrugged. The similarities between Kara and Liz would probably go beyond those facts.

Kara remembered all the little things she used to do to trick her mind and make her focus on her homework instead of the neighbor's dog barking two farms away or the music Alex was listening to in her headphones. She liked walking on the beach, taking long paths in the dunes, listening to the waves crashing together.

"She liked to be under water too, because it stifles the sounds and makes her secure. But for obvious reasons, we can't do that all the time." Lena rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, not practical." Kara scrunched up her face. There was an awkward beat during which Kara observed Lena's pupils expanding and retracting, her chest heaving rhythmically. Conscious of her staring, the blond cleared her throat again. "Anyway, did you have breakfast already?" She asked walking to the kitchen to sort out clean pans and plates. Thankfully, she had cleaned her weeds of dishes the day before.

"No, we didn't. But do you want me to cook?" Lena asked pointedly. Kara threw her an annoyed glance. "I can cook." Lena hummed and didn't add anything. She approached Liz and praised her drawing.

Kara looked above her shoulder to watch them discuss. Lena looked so at ease with Liz, it was endearing to watch her take her role as a mother so naturally. Kara remembered how Lena had welcomed Esme when the little girl arrived with all her traumatic baggage already at such a young age. Surprising everyone, Lena was the one, outside from Alex and Kelly, to go out of her way to play with her when they were all out in a mission. And ask Esme questions about her day and give her hugs when she felt worried for her mothers.

Lena had always been thriving around children. Always ready to please them, to comfort them, to make sure they had everything they needed. Kara went once with her to the Children's hospital. Lena insisted to go there and read to the kids at least once a week. The side of Lena she discovered there was engraved in Kara's heart. The CEO wasn't there anymore. It was just a little girl grown up in a beautiful woman who understood the level of attention a child needed and knew exactly how she could make them feel special. Lena's disturbed childhood couldn't shine more on this day and Kara had realized then that Lena wasn't cold or distant to others because she wanted to. She was cold and distant because once she would let people in, there was not a chance they wouldn't discover how sweet and loving she was. And she was scared they would take advantage of that.

"Kara! The stove!" Lena shouted. Kara turned around instantly and discovered the burning pancakes in the pan. "Oh, shoot!" The pan was plunged in the sink in a flash and the incident was avoided but Kara couldn't avoid Lena's piercing gaze. "I'll cook." She said, walking beside her to take the new pan Kara already got from the closet. "Yeah, you're right. I think it's best you do it."

"That way you can tell me what you've found in the Fortress." Lena said, her voice getting more serious as she flipped a new pancake in the pan. Kara had totally forgotten about the gem. It had been a day since Lena came back and she was already distracted.

"Right! So the gem is actually Platinum Kryptonite." Kara rubbed at her neck, the necklace dangling from her other hand. Lena turned around fast. She tried to retrieve her necklace, but Kara kept it out of reach. "What are the effects?" Lena asked immediately, suspicious, and probably worrying about what the stone could do to Kara.

"Not much on me, don't worry. It had effects on humankind. Did you notice anything while you were wearing it?" Kara inquired sheepishly. Lena looked thoughtful. She spread batter on the pan and twirl it a bit.

"During my pregnancy, I… got levitating problems?" Lena said, not sure if she could say it like that. "I would levitate while sleeping and woke up a foot above the bed." Kara hummed but said nothing. It wasn't surprising. "I was always hungry too, but I thought it was Liz, you know, fast metabolism and all." Lena shrugged. "Some of the strength I had at the time stayed after Liz was born. And again, I thought it was just my body using some of the strength it had soaked up from her."

Kara nodded. She was searching for the right words but there wasn't a lot of different ways to say it. "The Platinum Kryptonite gives Kryptonian powers to humans."

Lena's eyes bulged out of her socket. "Excuse me?"

"Since you wore it for years now, you must feel a difference. It's been more than twelve hours since you gave it to me." Kara's head tilted on the side. Now that she focused on the details, she could pinpoint some differences between the Lena in front of her now and the Lena she saw yesterday. The shadows under her eyes, for instance, and the way her shoulders seemed to be heavier.

"I feel…" Lena furrowed her brows, watching her hands. "I feel tired since I woke up but I didn't think much about it."

"Well, now you know why. It probably helped you give birth too. Do you want to have it back?" Kara held out the necklace again. Now that Lena knew what it was, she could choose what she wanted to do. Kara thought a lot on her way back about what consequences it meant for them if Lena had powers the same types as hers. Of course, there was the typical Super against Luthors' debate and Kal would no doubt not condone Kara's decision, but she trusted Lena. The woman had spent years with the Kryptonite around her neck without losing control and destroying half of the planet so Kara was certain Lena could deal with it by herself. The brunette didn't seem so sure though.

"I shouldn't." She shook her head, keeping her hands close to her heart. "It's not natural and I have already enough power for myself. You should keep it." She finished in a nod, certain of her decision.

"Alright. I'll keep it for you. We still need it anyway." Kara put the necklace around her neck. "It's also a memory stone and we need a player because Kelex can't read it."

"How so?" Lena asked while putting pancakes on plates and shutting off the stove.

"It's one of the last the Science Guild conceived. That's why I'm the only one capable of opening it. As Krypton was dying, they needed to secure their research so the Council wouldn't find it. They created this type of memory stones. You can only open it by putting it in a memory player made for it. The player will only read it if the DNA put in it matches the DNA the stone was programmed with." Kara explained patiently.

"Okay." Lena seemed to absorb the information. "Can we build one or find one?" She asked, already planning what materials she would need.

"My mom has one on Argo." Kara revealed and she saw the moment the realization hit Lena on her face. "Oh."

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about it. I can't ask her to send it without explaining what's going on."

Lena seemed to deliberate silently. Kara waited patiently for her to reply. It was a huge decision, telling Alura what happened and explaining to her she had a granddaughter now. Kara wanted to give Lena the choice to backpedal if she thought it was too much too soon for their daughter. She knew Liz better than Kara.

They walked together to the table and Kara helped Liz arrange her pencils by shades of color before putting a plate in front of her. Liz articulated a thank you before taking a small bite of her pancakes. The little girl kept shooting Kara weird glances and it took several minutes for the blond to finally realize it must have something to do with her attire. Kara pressed down a button on her wrist and the nanobots of her suit worked to reassemble themselves in a bracelet, revealing daily clothes underneath the Supergirl disguise. Kara threw a wink to Liz who was watching her bracelet in wonder then dunk in her plate when she realized she had been caught. "What was that?" Lena asked, as astonished as her daughter.

"Well, Liz seemed a bit impress with the suit so I thought I should tone it down a bit." Kara shrugged sheepishly. "Brainy linked the nanobots to a wristband instead of the glasses because I didn't want to wear them anymore." She explained because she knew science-nerd-Lena needed to know how everything worked. The woman just shook her head and smiled as she saw her daughter's cheeks reddening. "Liz is your number one fan."

The girl threw an outraged glare to her mother who chuckled. Kara looked at them, amused, and leaned on the table to be closer to Liz. "Do you want to know a secret?" She whispered just loud enough Lena could hear too. The girl nodded eagerly. "I'm your number one fan too." The grin that split Liz's face at that moment couldn't be brighter. Kara had just made her day.

They started eating in silence, all three of them enjoying the moment. Kara kept watching Lena as if it was a miracle the woman was in her apartment. She had searched for her for so long and now she was just next to her. Kara couldn't believe it and needed to make sure from time to time. In case Lena would vanish into thin air again. And take their daughter with her.

"Are you my mom too, now?" Liz asked suddenly with a cute little confused face and Kara was so surprised she didn't know what to say. She choked on her mouthful of pancakes. It turned out kids had the most versatile little brains out there, Kara noticed, and could feel the elephant in the room from miles away.

"I…" She looked at Lena, asking for permission or for her opinion, or anything really. Lena just smiled and shrugged. Tilting her head, she motioned with her chin for Kara to go ahead. Kara turned back to Liz. The girl was patiently waiting, her eyes all shiny and blue, her teeth digging into her bottom lip, just like Lena would do when she was feeling vulnerable. Kara almost got distracted by the cuteness of it all.

"I would like to, if it's okay with you." She finally answered tentatively. "Mom says my eyes looked like yours." Liz shrugged, as if it was enough explanation for Kara to be her mother. Kara chuckled and caressed Liz's cheek without thinking. "It's true! And you look a lot like her too."

Liz shrugged again but a smile grew on her face. "Do you want to see my drawing?"

Kara looked at Lena again. Who knew a child could be that easy to talk to. The woman gave her a tightlipped smile. "You don't want more pancakes?" Lena asked to Liz.

"No, I'm good, thanks." The girl replied politely. Kara smiled then. "I'd love to see your drawings."

Liz ran without further questions to the coffee table where they had put her drawings and pencils and came back to show Kara. "It's me and mom and Snowflake." She pointed out on the paper. She was leaning on Kara's arm and Kara didn't know what to do at first then realized she could just take Liz on her lap. She pushed her plate away – it was empty already – and put her hands under Liz's arms to lift her up. The girl didn't seem to mind and she continued to show the details of her drawing.

"And this is Miss Calloway, but I don't see her anymore. And this is Flo." She explained with her little fingers brushing the paper. The drawing was clearly representing Lena with her long black curly hair and weirdly large glasses, wearing black tee and pants. Kara recognized Liz too as a little girl just like Lena wearing a yellow skirt and a tee sporting the El symbol. There was a cat next to them, the only color being his blue eyes, and two women, one with a big hat on her head wearing a red dress and the other with frizzled grey hair wearing a green attire. Kara wasn't really suited to judge children drawing skills, but she was pretty sure it shouldn't be that good. She could decipher the shapes and the faces. The cat had four legs and was in proportion. It was quite impressive.

"You draw really well! How did you learn to do that?" Kara exclaimed, shooting a glance to Lena for explanations. "I don't know. I just can." Liz simply said.

"She got this from you too." Lena explained and Liz looked at Kara as if she had just landed the Moon. "You can draw too?"

As a reply, Kara brought her hand up from under Liz's arm, her bracelet dangling on her wrist, and pointed to the wall facing them. "See the painting there, I made it. It's a memory from my former planet." Both women watched as Liz was taking in the purplish colors and the strange animals painted on the canvas. They shared a knowing glance above her head. Kara had explained several years ago that sometimes it would ease her mind to paint the last memories she had from Krypton because she was too scared to forget. As one of the last survivors who could remember it, she felt like it was her responsibility to represent her lost planet.

"Is it Krypton?" Liz asked, turning on Kara's lap to face her. Kara nodded sadly. "Mom always shows me where it was when we drink hot chocolates in the garden." Liz explained and turned back to look at the painting. It was a fact so simple yet unbelievable. Lena had talked to Liz about Krypton and explained to her where it was in the sky, where Liz was partly from. Kara didn't even know Lena knew where it was. She threw a glance through wet eyes at Lena and mouthed a thank you. Lena shrugged with a smile. The blond cleared her throat. "I'll show you other paintings later, if you like."

"Yes, please." Liz smiled. "The colors are so beautiful." She added in a sigh, leaning entirely against Kara as she watched the painting. Kara bit her lip to stop the gasp that wanted to escape and, with hesitation, leaned her head against hers. Her eyes met Lena's and there were tears in them too. It was so little yet so monumental for the three of them to finally be reunited.

"You should tell your mother." Lena declared with a raucous voice, the sign of her emotion. "She needs to know."

Kara nodded. She would ask her mother to send the memory player. Or to come back to Earth for a little while. She wanted her parents to meet Liz.

Alex appeared in the middle of Kara's living room in the Tower. Lex's watch was still used at times for them to go from one place to another without wasting time. And since the Justice League satellite wasn't what you could say near, they used portals to go in and out of it. Alex walked immediately to Lena and extended a newspaper to her. "Hey! Have you seen that?"

Lena's jaw went slack as she was reading the paper. "How did they know?"

"I don't know but you're not MIA anymore, which means you're in danger."

"What's going on?" Kara asked as she came next to Lena with her famous Supergirl pose.

"Freaking paparazzi. They know I'm back." Lena said, giving the newspaper to Kara. It was mostly blurred pictures of Liz and Lena quitting the building Lena's rented apartment was located but we could clearly decipher both of their faces. The article was wondering who the little girl was and attributed an old fake romance between Lena and some prince in Europe to Lena's disappearance to give birth.

"Crap! We need to move you from your apartment. The pictures were taken just on the front door."

"Kara's right." Alex chipped in. "You can come to our house or even stay here if you want to. There's still J'onn's old furniture down there." She pointed to the floor, meaning the first story of the Tower.

"No, it's cool." Kara shook her head. "You can stay here with me."

As the sisters were making plans already, Lena's face changed. She had that face of mischief, of calculating threat that Kara hated.

"No." She said with authority. Alex and Kara looked at her, confused. Lena sighed. "I think it's for the better. They know and that's fine. I'm here to know who abducted me seven years ago. Being openly in public should bring them out."

"You want to play bait." Kara realized and Lena nodded. "I think it's the best way to know who did this. They will probably come at me again."

"No!" Kara exclaimed. "No way! What about Liz? You'll put both of you in danger!"

"But you're here to protect us. And I can tell you I'm not as defenseless as I used to be." She seemed confident in her abilities, Kara would give her that. It hadn't always been that way.

"I appreciate your trust and I know you have powers of your own but I am not okay with this. Alex, tell her." Kara looked at her sister, certain the woman would take her side.

"I… actually don't disagree entirely." She had the decency to look guilty.

"What? No!" Kara groaned.

"Listen, Lena is right. It would certainly speed up our search. We need to start somewhere."

"By throwing them to the wolves? Have you lost your mind?" Kara was shouting now and pacing the room furiously. Seeing Liz perked up from the book she was reading on the couch, she lowered her voice though. "It could be the person responsible for this. Or it could be some maniac wanting revenge for what the Luthors did to their family. How could we know?"

"I can handle the maniacs." Lena's cockiness was as inappropriate as fake. She was scared, Kara could tell. Of course she was. She had spent seven years hidden in the middle of a forest in Ireland. Six of them protecting their child. Kara saw right through the stubborn poker face. She sighed heavily. "Even if I disagree, you'll follow through anyway, so why bother, uh?"

Lena's cocked eyebrow confirmed Kara's thoughts. "Exactly." Lena said with half of a grin. "Now to the next topic of the day." She turned to Alex again. "What did you find?"

"Right." Alex grew back in a business posture. "Liz's blood is a perfect mix between your type of cells and Kara's. We were able to isolate the cells that react to the Sun's radiations. Magic is different. It's linked to her classic human cells. As if it was part of her body from the very beginning and whoever did that just added Kryptonian cells to the mix."

"It may give us clues on how they make this work." Lena exclaimed, brushing the air with her hand between Kara and her. "They created a normal baby and made them Kryptonian."

"But this baby already had magic." Kara chipped in, understanding their reasoning.

"That's it." Alex confirmed, pointed two index fingers at them. "So Brainy thinks he can do something for her powers but not for magic. He wants to create a suit for Liz that could dampen her capacities. One we could regulate the dampening from. And then she would get a suit like yours." She pointed to Kara, clearly hyped by the idea. "Once she's ready." She shrugged. "No dampener, no restraint. Just protection."

Kara's mind went directly to the imagination zone where scenes of Liz and herself flying in the Sun in matching super suits were into focus. Harboring the House of El's symbol proudly. They were laughing and the air was warm and there were just birds chirping and windy noises around them. It was a pleasant image. Her heart warmed just thinking about it.

"That's a good idea." Lena agreed. "I'm curious about how he'll do that."

"He spoke about the nanobots but you'll have to ask him." Alex snorted. "We need a full body scan of Liz, to create the suit, though. So you should bring her to the HQ. Brainy thinks it could be done in two days, maybe less."

"We have to go to the satellite, anyway. I need to talk to my mom about what I found out on this thing." Kara said showing the necklace.

"That's right." Lena said. "What are we waiting for?"

Kara was sure she saw excitement glint in Lena's eyes at the idea of putting feet on the Justice League Head Quarters satellite. Or maybe Lena was thinking about the same things and was already imagining Liz in a super suit.

The satellite was impressive, and it had been four years since they moved in so Kara was sort of used to it by now. Or not. And neither was Lena who was mesmerized by all the gadgets she would come across to. Thankfully, it was pretty empty that day so they didn't come across other superheroes except for Flash's sidekick, Cisco, who they all knew already thanks to the Crisis situation. It gave them the opportunity to wander a bit around the different stories. Kara suspected Alex had taken the longest path just so Lena could admire the technologies they had available.

"What's in the Red Room?" Lena pointed at the heavily electronically secured door marked RED ROOM – ONLY AUTHORIZED MEMBERS CAN ENTER. Kara didn't even need to look at it to know. It was the Red Room they extracted from the S.T.A.R. labs secret basement because it contained the most dangerous alien technologies on Earth. Kara only had the chance to take a quick tiny look before she was shoved out of the door. "Uh, a room where your face would light up like a Christmas tree but, unfortunately, I'm denied access so…"

She had tried to school her features, not to grumble like a petulant child but Lena and Alex laughed anyway. "They think you're too clumsy to be in there, don't they?" Lena asked cheekily but she already knew the answer. Alex snorted, which was even more confirmation.

"I'm not that clumsy, I'm quicker than a bullet and sometimes it just causes more harm than anything." Kara corrected with a finger in the air. "All I'm saying is Cyborg shouldn't have a monopoly on the room just because his father used to rule it. It's unfair!" She finally grumbled like a petulant child and both women laughed more. "Yeah, he especially told you you weren't authorized to enter the room again, because you made two alien robots fight the last time. They almost burn the whole satellite. And you were in there for what, two minutes?" Alex chipped in.

"Okay, you see, it's unfair. I didn't know they could be activated by voice commands. And I helped put them back in the Room." Kara contradicted with wild hands gestures under the amused glances of Lena and Alex.

"Yeah, never mind. Here we are." Alex gestured to an entire room filled with medical and science materials. Liz, who had been pretty much silent the whole way, grabbed at her mother's leg and squeezed hard, too impacted by the size of the room. The satellite was very minimalist in its designs. All white and grey shades, it was mostly steel panels and aluminum rails. It was also cold large spaces, half decorated rooms and very high ceilings. More practical than comfortable. It wasn't the most welcoming to a six-year-old.

"Liz, you're hurting me." Lena groaned lightly, not moving to push Liz away neither. "Is it where we'll do the tests?" The little girl asked, her eyes fixed on the scanners where Brainy was waiting for them. Kara leaned down on one knee, her cape enveloping her shoulders and she put a reassuring hand on Liz's arm. "It is but you're going to be okay. Alex and Brainy need a full picture of your body to make you a suit just like mine. It will help you to control your powers. Is it okay with you?"

"We can go if you don't feel okay, baby." Lena added, brushing a hand through her daughter's black silky hair. Liz seemed to think about it hard, her face scrunched up, the little crinkle on her forehead the exact same one as Kara's. After what felt like minutes, she nodded and pushed away from Lena's leg. She took Kara's hand and together, they started walking to the scans again.

"Did they have to take a picture of your body too?" Liz asked Kara and the blond smiled down. The six-year-old was so cute and eloquent for her age, connecting the dots easily. "Yes, they had to. I have to do a lot of exams all the time to make sure I'm okay after I fight with a villain." She explained.

As they neared Brainy, Lena helped Liz on the scanner bed, removing her shoes and gloves. Liz furrowed her brows at that, not confident to be bare hands. Lena reassured her with a smile and kisses on both hands. "You're going to be okay, sweetheart. We're all here with you. I'm not going anywhere and Kara neither."

Lena waited for Liz's nod before signaling to Alex they were good to go. The woman approached to explain to Liz what they were going to do. "Alright, kiddo. I want you to keep your arms along your body and try to stay as still as possible. This thing here," She patted the metallic bed Liz was on. "Will slide under the big dome over there, and it will take pictures. Then you'll slide out and it'll be over. Do you think you can handle it?"

They all agreed Liz needed to be okay with the process every step of the way. They wanted to help her, not hurt her or upset her. The girl nodded again but her eyes turned to Lena's with a plea in them. Lena tried to reassure her by schooling her features with a smile. Fortunately, it seemed to work on Liz, even if all the adults, and especially Kara who was just in front of her on the other side of the machine, knew it was just for show.

Alex counted until three and pushed some buttons on a command panel some feet away from the machine. They all watched Liz slide underneath the electronical dome. All was normal at first. But the instant the scanner started to radiate Liz's body with UV rays – the only ones capable of breaking through Kryptonian skin – Liz started to convulse. Her eyes were now two gleaming purple pools. Her hands were brightened like two torches. Her small frame was levitating above the bed. The air was forming a storm inside the room and they were all trying to keep their balance.

"What's happening?" Lena cried out as Kara approached Liz and tried to touch her but got pushed away by an invisible force. "Alex, stop it!" Lena shouted.

"I'm trying!" Alex choked out, hung by the hands to the command panel. She finally reached the big red button and punched it without waiting. The scanner stopped and the bed slid out but Liz was still levitating in her trance. She started to babble an incoherent language. As they could all take their balance back, they approached in confusion.

"What is she saying?" Kara asked. They listened some more. It seemed to be an incessant sentence, as if Liz was repeating it endlessly. After several seconds, Lena's face lighted up. "It's Gaelic!"

"What?" Alex and Kara said at once. "Do you understand it?" Brainy asked. As a Coluan, he seemed really disturbed by his inability to translate it himself. "I think so." Lena leaned closer to Liz.

"Duine taghte le cumhachd mòr. Gaisgeach airson an dìon uile. Slaoightear ag èirigh gus am fear a thaghte a phutadh gu oir an dàn, agus ann an luaithre na Talmhainn, ceannsachadh no falbh leis a' chòrr den chinne-daonna." Liz repeated in a mechanic voice.

Lena's nose scrunched up. "Something about a chosen one. Destiny. A lot of power. I'm not that good at it, it's an old language." She said in a haste.

"It's fine. We need to pull her out of it." Kara said and put a hesitant hand on Liz's ankle. She wasn't pushed away this time. It was progress. With her other hand, she cupped Liz's face and caressed her cheek. "Liz, sweetie, it's... Kara. You need to come back."

The little body trembled and Liz stopped levitating but there was no other reaction. Kara watched helplessly at Liz's limp body in her arms. Lena hissed and started to pace. "What are we going to do?"

Kara could see the panic in her eyes, could hear the harsh beating of her heart. She had to try again. "Liz, please. Come back, it's okay." She tried, shaking the girl lightly.

"I think we need to shock her." Alex said in a wince. Lena snapped her fingers, putting herself together in a millisecond. Kara would later put this under the adrenaline effect. "You're right. Her cells were shocked by the UV rays. We need something as powerful. Kara, put her down."

Kara obeyed and put Liz back down on the scanner bed. She took two steps back as Lena and Alex worked quickly together to install the defibrillator on Liz's tiny chest. Lena counted to three and Alex charged. Liz shot up a bit. Her hands stopped burning. "Higher!" Alex ordered. Lena counted again. Alex charged on three and then Liz was back with them in a gasp.

"Oh thank God!" Lena cried as she stumbled on her knees next to Liz. The girl seemed disoriented for some time. She had blood running down her nose and ears. Her eyes met Kara's who had tears running down her cheeks too. "Why are you crying?" The girl frowned. Her little voice was raucous and out of character. Kara chuckled wetly and approached. "You scared us big time."

"I'm sorry." Liz choked out. "I'm thirsty." She turned to Lena who was still heavily crying. "Mum, I'm thirsty." She repeated, her Irish accent slipping in. Lena looked up and smiled through her tears. She helped her sit up and hugged her gently sideways. Kara gave her some tissues. She watched as Lena's main focus was on Liz's head leaning on her chest.

"There's water in there." Alex pointed to a mini-fridge in a corner. "I'll go get some blankets." She took Brainy with her as they walked out of the room.

Kara sighed as she wiped Liz's little ear and cheek. She went to retrieve a water bottle from the fridge and helped Liz take a sip. The girl's eyelids were fighting to stay open. "The world is too big." Liz declared tiredly. Her chubby hands went to her ears and she hissed in pain. "Try not to touch, sweetie. I'll go get Esme's old cancelling noise headphones." Kara said and she was gone and back in a flash. She placed the headphones on Liz's head as delicately as possible and watched as Lena was wiping mechanically at Liz's nose, sniffling as graceful as she always was.

When she was cleaned up, Lena sat down in a chair in a corner with Liz on her lap and rocked her from side to side. Kara hovered next to them. She didn't know what to do with her hands and was turning helplessly in the room. She noticed Lena was shivering so she unclipped her cap and tentatively enveloped Lena and Liz in it. She could hear Liz was fast asleep now as the beating of her heart had slowed down consistently. What a day, and it wasn't even 2 p.m.. Kara was wondering how Lena managed to do this all this time alone. The guilt and the worries were already playing with her stomach. How parents would stay cool and not envelop their kids in bubble wraps, Kara didn't know.

"It never happened before." Lena finally declared, her voice empty of emotions, her eyes staring at the wall. Kara took in her numb attitude, in her glassy eyes and the tear tracks on her cheeks. Lena never looked this tired. "We'll figure it out." Kara promised instinctively. It was more for Lena than for herself. The Paragon of Hope was that into hope at the moment.

"What if we don't?" Lena's green piercing eyes finally met hers. Doubts were gnawing at her. Kara had doubts too. She didn't know how to do this. She had never been in a situation where she had to teach a child how to use their powers. She had never been in a situation where the being she loved the most on the planet was in danger. Or maybe she was, but it was different. She thought she knew about love before but since Liz came into her life, as soon as it felt, Kara discovered her heart could love so much more intensely. And it was terrifying. Kara was terrified the girl would hurt herself, terrified she would reject her, terrified she wouldn't need her. The whole thing was just terrifying. But she couldn't say all that. Lena needed reassurance and if Kara had to be the strongest one of them both for the day, she would be. She would do anything for Lena.

"We'll figure it out." Kara repeated with more confidence. "I did it and I wasn't as smart as she is. She'll be okay."

"But Kara, she spoke in Gaelic." Lena whispered incredulously. "She was possessed! A chosen one? Destiny? What is this about?"

"I don't know. It sounds like a magic thing to me. Kryptonians don't believe in destiny. The Matrix chose our path for us and we just had to stick with it. Nothing heroic." Kara reasoned even if she wasn't sure it was helping. They had all these things falling on their lap and they didn't have any idea how to handle them.

"I don't understand." Lena said, confused. She scratched her forehead and it made Liz move in her sleep. "Can you take her, please? My leg is numb." Kara rushed to take Liz out of her arms and Lena stood up. She wrapped Liz back up in the cape.

"I should ask Florence if she knows anything. Or at least work on a translation." Lena said, caressing Liz's cheek with the back of her fingers. Kara nodded as she watched her movements. "We should go home, anyway. She needs to sleep in a bed."

Lena looked slightly surprised but Kara didn't have the time to address it. Alex and Brainy walked in the room with blankets in their arms and Alex softened at the sight of Liz's tired body wrapped in Kara's cape. "How is she doing?" She asked as Lena enveloped her daughter in the warmer blankets.

"She complained about the noise and passed out almost immediately after." Kara replied. Alex's eyes met hers and she could see all the fears and how sorry her sister was feeling for the little girl. "Poor little one."

"Yeah, she's tough though. She's impressive." Kara added because it was true. She didn't know how Liz was able to create a storm on a satellite which was supposed to only contain pressurized air. And she didn't know how Liz could be that selfless, worrying only about Lena and her crying rather than worrying about what happened and why she was bleeding. Kara was astonished and impressed and mesmerized. This girl was everything. And terrifying too. Again. Because Kara wanted to protect her with every cell in her body but couldn't and it was slowly driving her mad.

"Let's go back to the Tower. Dick should be there by now anyway." Alex said, pushing away.

"Oh, right. Grayson." Kara said through gritted teeth. She totally forgot about the arrogant acrobat. She saw her sister roll her eyes but nobody said anything. They were all deep in thoughts as they walked out of the scanner room. Kara took a look at Liz's sleeping form in her arms. The day wasn't finished yet and she felt like there were other surprises waiting for them.

Dick Grayson wasn't in the Tower yet when they arrived. His plane had been delayed or something like that and he had texted Lena he would be there in a couple of minutes. Texting? Who knew they were that close? Kara didn't even have Lena's new phone number.

"He's downstairs." Alex said while looking at the screens playing the camera footages around the building. J'onn had set them up expressly for them to know whoever would come and go from the Tower. This helped chasing teens who liked to play smart and throw eggs just to see if the Manhunter would come out. And he always did.

Kara threw a last glance at Liz who was sleeping peacefully in her bed, her little hand pressed gently into Lena's. The woman looked at her and they nodded at each other in acknowledgement. Liz was safe here.

As the elevator doors opened, the whole team was waiting for Grayson to walk in. Kara kept her arms crossed. The man was wearing casual clothes, a backpack on his shoulders. His brown hair and boyish features as charming as ever. Lena hugged him immediately. Kara felt something burn inside her stomach but it was probably all the stress caused by their situation. She leaned sideways to whisper to Alex through gritted teeth. "I still don't trust him."

"Shush. We need him." Her sister took a step to shake the man's hand. They knew each other. Dick Grayson was also known as Nightwing, the leader of the Titans and was often seen in the Justice League satellite. His adoptive father owned it after all. But they were all acquaintances and the Super Friends didn't know if Lena knew the extent of Grayson's night activities.

"Welcome to the Tower." Alex said. Dick looked around and smiled to Lena. "This is way cooler than the Titans Tower."

"Oh, please. We just got back from the satellite. The Tower pales in comparison." Lena replied with a chuckle. Kara had never seen her this at ease with any man other than Jack or James. Oh.

Squeezing her fists tight, the Kryptonian cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we go straight to business?"

They all looked at her. Kara thought she heard Nia coughing a fake "Awkward" but all she was focusing on was Dick's hand on Lena's lower back as they positioned themselves around the tiny kitchen table. Dick started emptying his backpack. A heavy looking binder and a laptop were most of the things he had in the bag. He flipped the binder open and the first page showed a picture of a location in a jungle.

"So this is regrouping all the investigations I've done until now." Dick explained.

"It's quite the binder." Brainy commented. "Never heard of a computer?"

"Brainy." Lena scolded, furrowing her brows. "The safest data is paper data. You should know that."

"Even with Wayne's means?" He replied, cocking his brow too and Kara could kiss him right now.

"Hum, I don't have access to Wayne Enterprises techs. And as Lena said, it's safer that way." Dick intervened before Lena could come to his defense again. "Anyway, starting over to the very beginning." He said while putting his password in his laptop. "The last time Lena was seen in National City was August 20th 2021. She was leaving the parking lot of the Foundation."

He turned the laptop around and they all could see a video footage of Lena walking to her car, going in and driving out of the parking lot. Dick turned the laptop back to him. "After that, there's no trace of what happened. The biometric security on her apartment door clocked her in at 6.48 p.m.."

"I went to the penthouse around 11 p.m.." Kara added. "So we know Lena was abducted during that time."

"Yes! I hacked the cameras in the street. Not a soul entered the building after her. I interrogated the security guard in service that night, he said he remembered seeing Lena walk in and nobody after." Dick explained.

"So they must have already been in the penthouse." Alex said, gesturing to the laptop.

"No, I was alone because the shield would have detected intruders. I remember having dinner and taking a book to read in bed. My last memory is me walking in the bedroom with a glass of wine and a book under my arm." Lena added, her arms circling herself to form a shelter. "It was around 9 p.m.. I woke up six months later."

A chill passed upon the group. Kara noticed goosebumps run down Lena's bare arms. She wanted to reach out. To reassure her. To glide her hands along those arms and tell her they would find who did that. But she couldn't. They weren't that close anymore.

As the gravity of the situation was hitting everybody in the room, Dick followed on his explanations, not bothered by the heavy silence that just fell upon the group. He shuffled through his binder and aligned several photos on the table.

"This is where Lena was supposedly sequestrated. It's in Malaysia. Thankfully, she had a bit of signals so we know exactly where this was. I went back there and found nothing. There was a huge old military facility there but it had been razed before I got there." He pointed at one of the pictures. "I researched the facility and, I don't know if you're aware, Kara, but this is close to where Zod's ship crashed when he came to Earth."

Kara opened wide eyes. She hadn't heard about Zod since her cousin retold his old battle story. Kara wasn't even on Earth yet when it happened. She'd asked questions though, because she needed to know. Kal had never talked about where Zod had crashed or what had happened there.

"I didn't know. But I guess there's a link." Dick nodded eagerly. "The samples I got from the ground there revealed Kryptonian and lead materials. They didn't want you to find them." Grayson knew Kara could see through lead. She kept that in mind for later. It was still astonishing to her how Kal shared information about them so easily. "My theory is that, whoever did this to Lena, they needed Zod's ship because of the incubation chambers in it."

Kara's eyes expanded wider. She stopped herself from asking how Dick knew about the chambers too. If there was a thing nobody should know, it was how they could make Kryptonians. But apparently Kal didn't think it was that important. Knowing his friendship with Bruce Wayne, it was explanation enough. She didn't like it, though. Too much people knew facts about her culture and her original planet. And about their weaknesses. It was dangerous and out of control. Kal trusted too much people Kara didn't trust herself.

"But Zod's ship was in the army's hands. That's why there was a facility there. I saw some files about that when I started at the DEO." Alex said, confused.

"Really? You never mentioned it." Kara replied, turning a quizzical face to her. Alex just shrugged. "It was in the past. The government was dealing with it and you didn't need another reminder about how your people wanted to harm the humankind."

Kara nodded in understanding. Alex's priority always had been to protect her, fore and foremost.

"The thing is," Dick lifted a finger. "The ship disappeared mysteriously in 2020."

"What?" All of them gasped in stupefaction. Even if no threat had been registered since then, it was still alarming. "How do you know that?" Kara asked.

"I hacked the government's files. Well, I didn't, Oracle did." Dick clarified, rubbing at his neck, a bit guilty to confess the clearly illegal things he'd done to investigate on Lena's disappearance.

Kara knew about Oracle. Nobody knew the face behind the skillful hacker but she knew they were working closely with the Bat family to eradicate crimes in Gotham. It was a legend in the street. A mysterious figure working in the shadows for the greater good. Kara could live with that.

"What happened to the ship then?" Dreamer asked curiously. Dick looked up to her. "Nobody knows. There's a report dated from October 2020 stating a portal sucked the ship up and they didn't know where it went."

"And now, did you find a trace of the ship since Lena's abduction?" Alex inquired. The man shook his head. "There's no trace of it anywhere. But I'm sure it was in Malaysia the whole time Lena was there."

"How can you be so sure? After all, Lena woke up pregnant. If they had used the incubation chamber, the baby would have stayed in there until the very end." Kara reasoned. She was probably the only one in the room knowing how the incubation rooms worked. She hoped so.

"Because, when I woke up," Lena intervened in a small voice. "The papers on the tables in the bunker were referencing multiple tests before insemination."

"What are you saying?" Kara asked, sensing her instinct telling her it wasn't good. She feared her intuition was right.

"They had to test the compatibility of our cells together before they inseminated me with them. They tested the mix with several babies in the incubation chambers." Lena clarified, her hands slightly shaking but Kara knew she was the only one able to see it. If Lena was telling the truth, it was horrifying.

"You mean there're other children like Liz?" She approached Lena but stayed at arms' length. All of this was starting to be confusing. If Kara could have a headache, she was sure she would be having one.

"No. I mean they terminated the incubations just after they discover it was viable, around the fourth month. It seemed they wanted it to be a girl too." Lena finished in a whisper, a somber expression on her face. It took some time for Kara to absorb what she had just said. She threw a look around the room. Alex was looking at her shoes, clearly uncomfortable and touched by what happened to Lena. Kelly had stayed close to her, their shoulders brushing as she was shooting reassuring small smiles to whoever needed them, her arms encircling herself like Lena's were. Brainy had put his arm around Nia and was caressing her back reassuringly as the young woman was biting her thumbnail. And Dick was looking at them with a pitying look on his face which Kara could have done without.

"You're sure?" She asked Lena gently.

"I am." Lena nodded. "I didn't take the files with me when I got out, I was panicking and really confused. But I remember it well. There were drawings of the experiments and graphics with the results. There were red sun lamps in a corner too. I guess they expose me to it during the whole time I was there."

"To dampen the strength of the baby." Alex nodded. "That makes sense."

"Sense?" Kara exclaimed. "This is horrible!" She turned her back to the group to collect herself. Lena had been abducted by some crazy maniacal freak who decided to play God and used their genes to experiment on fetus who never saw the light of day because the whole scheme was to violate Lena's body and put a Kryptonian witch baby in her. She pinched her nose to prevent the angry tears to fall. No wonder Lena had fled. It was terrifying and horrible and disgusting and awful. She couldn't stop thinking that over-sharing was what started Lena's predicament in the first place. Over-sharing may have led them to their actual situation. Because it seemed somebody used the chambers against them. Somebody who knew about them. Kara's mind was going hectic, going over all the people knowing, all the possibilities. Her body was warming up from consternation and trepidation. Who had dared betray them?

"I don't understand. Why would somebody do that?" Dreamer wondered aloud. Lena scoffed. "Who's the strongest being you can clone?"

"Right."

"It doesn't explain why they chose you." Alex interjected. Lena lifted her arms in frustration. "I don't know, because I'm a Luthor." She seemed as outraged as Kara felt now.

"It can't be that simple." Brainy said pensively, her tone too calm to be empathetic. "Why did you keep Liz? If you knew it was some kind of experimentation, why keep a baby you knew could have been any sort of-"

"I'll advise you to be very careful with your next words, Querl." Lena interrupted him with a threatening finger. The Colluan reclined behind Nia, scared somehow of what Lena could do. Kara turned back around in a haste. She wasn't really thinking. She was just running on impulsiveness. "No, he's right! Why keep the baby? It could have turned into a monster for all we know. Like Kal's clone your brother made."

Kara saw Lena's face becoming as hard as stone. She saw her cock an eyebrow. The atmosphere in the room grew tense and cold. Even Kara felt the shiver that fell on the room. A thick sweat started to pool at the base of her neck. What had she just said?

"Should I remind you I was around six months pregnant? Would you have taken the responsibility to kill a baby already formed?" Lena expelled in a clipped tone. She was marching slowly towards Kara. "Because I'm not the monster my brother was but I'm sure this isn't what you're implying, right?" She tapped her finger on Kara's chest. The blond shook her head eagerly.

"Of course not!" She replied. It was the only thing she could say at the moment. Her throat was enclosing on itself. Lena hummed, her piercing eyes never leaving her face. She was so close to Kara, the blond could see a yellow gleam swim around her pupils. Magic. Lena was so furious her powers were resurfacing. It was beautiful and scaring at the same time. She took a step back. "I just don't understand why you would run away after seeing all this. They kept you in a coma for months. The first thing I would do would probably go back home."

"I was scared, Kara!" Lena exclaimed in frustration. "I wasn't ready to be a mom, okay?!" She started to pace, her hands moving wildly around her. Kara wasn't used to see Lena out of her depths. "When I realized it was a Kryptonian baby, a being with so much power…" She stopped to face Kara again. The blond could see all the despair Lena must have felt at the time on the mother's face. She finally realized her tone had been accusing even if she didn't want it to be. "I knew the persons responsible for this would want it back eventually. And I wasn't willing to lose the baby. Because, yes, I wasn't ready to be a mom, but, hell if I wanted to be one! I wanted to keep her, Kara. And I'm sorry it wasn't in your plan because it's yours too and you didn't have a choice in this but-"

Kara reached out to take her hand and stop her in her rant. "You didn't have one either." She said gently. She watched as a single tear roll down Lena's cheek. The woman wiped it quickly. She seemed to realize where she was and what she had just said. She sighed heavily and Kara could swear she saw all the fight present before in Lena quit her body.

"I will never apologize for keeping her." Lena finally whispered. Kara nodded and squeezed her hand. She was the one who needed to apologize for putting her foot in her mouth and reacting without thinking. As she was about to open her mouth, Alex cleared her throat and their eyes met. Alex shot her a pointed glance. Now wasn't the time. Lena must have received the message too because she turned around and stepped voluntarily away from Kara and the group to collect herself.

"Did you have any suspects?" Alex asked Dick who was still staring at the two women. He shook himself out of his thoughts and cleared his throat too. "Yeah." He nodded. "I suspected the Luthors first, for obvious reasons."

"Kara searched there too. It led nowhere."

"Same results here. They do questionable things, they're into abducting people and doing weird experiments but not into violating their bodies." An awkward silence fell upon them. Dick must have realized it wasn't the right time to use irony so he continued. "I then searched towards Kara's known enemies. Superman's too. Nothing. They are whether in prison or dead because of their experimentation or into the Phantom Zone concerning Lex." He sighed, finally showing how it affected him too. "I assumed the operation would require a lot of means, medical supplies, computers, you name it. But there wasn't any theft reported that could be huge enough to be linked to Malaysia. So it had to be someone who already has it all. Who works in a lab or who's a surgeon. I was actually hoping you would have new elements to add."

Alex nodded with a frown on her face. The team stayed silent. Grayson had researched every single possibility. Every angle. He had thought about everything. If he didn't find anything, how could they?

"Where are we going from there?" Kelly asked, her eyes scanning the group. "There must be something we've forgotten."

"There's still the letter and the stone." Lena replied, taking a step to reenter the circle. She kept her closed off demeanor though. "We didn't analyze the writing on the letter. Dick didn't have the technology to do it."

"And we still have to discover what's on the memory stone." Kara nodded, playing with the pendant around her neck. She swore she saw a spark of hope in Lena's emerald eyes but it could just be the light.

"Why? Did you find anything in the Fortress?" Alex frowned. Kara gasped. "Oh, yeah! I totally forgot to tell you guys." Her sister rolled her eyes but listened to her explanations anyway. As Kara was filling them on her discoveries in the Fortress, she threw a worried glance to Lena as she was stepping away from the group and isolating herself in the kitchen. Kelly went to help her prepare tea and coffee for everyone and bring each of them a fuming mug. When Kara finished her explanation, she put her half-filled mug on the table and her hands on her hips.

"Is there anything you guys can do?" Kara asked, throwing pleading glances to the members of her team, her family. Nia shook her head. "All I dream about is two purple butterflies glowing in the dark. I searched for interpretations but it could either mean hope and new beginnings, things like that." She brushed the air with her hand. "Or the butterfly effect."

"Why the butterfly effect?" Alex frowned. "I don't know yet." Nia shrugged. Kara thought about it. Purple made her think of Liz and how her magic was presenting itself. If Liz was representing as one of the butterflies, who was the other one? Lena couldn't be, her magic was mostly yellow. But the butterfly effect could only mean one thing. They needed to prepare themselves for what was coming their way.

"What about you, Brainy? Anything from the future?" Kelly asked hopefully. The Colluan hadn't dared saying anything since the last time he had spoken, it resulted in Kara and Lena fighting. As he shook his head hastily, Kara felt doubts and frustration reignite in her system. She approached suspiciously, Alex close to her with her eyes pinched. "What aren't you saying, Dox?" Alex inquired.

"No-nothing." He stammered. He was walking backward but stopped when the back of his knees hit the couch. "Hey, leave him alone." Nia tried to stop their prying. Alex lifted a halting hand towards her.

"I think you know something." She said dangerously close to his face. "If you're retaining information, Querl, I promise you Dreamer will not be enough to contain me. This is extremely important. So spill."

Brainy looked slightly offended by the fact Alex didn't think he was taking the situation seriously. "I know this is important. I just don't think it's relevant."

"Brainy, anything you know can help up." Lena stepped in. "What do you know?"

Kara saw his eyes traveling between Lena and her. Finally, he sighed and fell on the couch. "It's possible it has changed since Crisis. And I shouldn't say anything, it could break the space-time continuum."

"Crisis?" Dick asked behind them. Lena turned around rapidly. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Spill, Brainy. What is it?" Kara insisted. Brainy opened his mouth several times, lifted his hand then let it drop back down in his lap. "I…"

"Seriously, Brainy, it can't be that horrible." Alex groaned.

"You were married." He blurted out. His eyes went wide and they traveled back from Kara to Lena with panic. Kara felt her mouth hung open. She heard gasps around the room but mostly all she registered was the buzzing in her ears.

"Married." Lena repeated numbly. Kara saw Brainy nod eagerly. "Yes, and you were known to have children but I don't know exactly their names. I could do a quick research if you want to know."

"No, no, it's… Children as in plural?" Lena wondered aloud with something close to astonishment in her voice. Alex chuckled. "I guess it's not that hard to imagine now."

Kara didn't have to try too hard to imagine it, indeed. A teenage Liz taking piano lessons and picking her little brother from school. A blond boy with green eyes running in the house in his karate attire babbling about his brand new blue belt. Lena coming home after work and kissing her soundly on the lips, playing with their kids, helping Liz with her maths. Family dinner with Eliza and Alura and Zor-El. Her children running in the gardens on Argo. Tiny little Super suits…

Kara shook her head when she heard a laugh. Alex was having a blast. "Come on! You don't need to both look that struck. It didn't happen yet." Kara scoffed and turned back to Brainy with anger on her face. "You knew all this time and said nothing!"

"I couldn't!" He exclaimed, lifted his hands in surrender. "It could break the space-time continu-"

"If you say space-time continuum one more time, I swear to Rao-"

"It's not his fault." Lena interrupted Kara's threat. "What's done is done." She threw a pointed look to Kara and, to everyone's surprise, it worked. Kara put her hands on her hips with a huff. "But maybe you have an idea about who did this?" She asked Brainy in a calmer voice.

"I know there was a hero with powers similar to yours." He gestured towards Kara. "I know she could use magic but I never thought… It was a long time ago."

Kara started to pace in frustration. They didn't have any clue about anything. Irritation and hopelessness were mixing up inside her. She was boiling. But with Lena's stern look on her, she focused on keeping a grip over her emotions. "So you don't know how she happens to exist in the first place. Who created her."

"I don't." Brainy confirmed. "It was way before the Legion was created. I'm searching the data but all I have is this image." He pushed a finger to his head then threw his hand to one of the screen and everybody turned towards it. It was a picture of a hero. Not only a hero but the woman looked like an older version of Liz. Close to her twenties, she was looking proudly at the camera with a serious face. Her dark red suit was covering the entirety of her body, up to her fingers. Her eyes were covered with a black mask. There was no symbol on her suit. Nothing that could show she was part of the House of El. "She worked a lot with the Titans. That's all I have." Brainy threw his hand at the screen again and a group picture appeared with Liz in the center, her arms around two other young women, one of them was wearing a similar attire as Wonder Woman. The other looked partly animal.

"Oh I can see that now." Dick stepped next to Lena, smirking knowingly with his arms crossed. His face was showing he was already thinking about enlisting Liz. Lena turned sharp eyes to him, her whole body falling into a protective pose. "Not over my dead body, Grayson."

"Okay, okay." He surrendered easily. "I don't have a death wish, anyway." His face kept its amused expression. Kara watched the interaction and wondered how they could possibly know each other and form a friendship. They were both so different.

"So, we know Liz existed in the future already. We could ask Winn if he knows anything." Alex proposed. Kara nodded, a finger on her chin. It was a good idea. Winn could know if they would face an important enemy in the near future or any other thing that could be helpful.

"You're right. We have to try. I have to go talk to my mom, I'll go to the satellite with you." Kara said.

"And I'll go make research on Gaelic witchcraft." Lena added, determined. Brainy lifted his hand. "I have Liz's jabbering on record, that way we could translate the whole sentences."

"Good, come with me." Lena said, tilting her head toward the stairs. Dick was following them by instinct, his backpack on his shoulders. Lena stopped just in front of the doors though. "Is anybody staying?"

"Don't worry. I'll keep a look on Liz." Kelly reassured her with a smile. She put her phone back in her pocket. "Esme's coming to join us."

Lena thanked her. Kara watched as they hug. She was glad Lena had Kelly in her corner. The woman had gone through so much. Kelly was the best person to have around for this type of situation.

"I'm going to pick Ambrose from daycare. See ya." Nia said, kissing Brainy lightly on the lips before slipping by the elevator doors.

Lena stayed behind as the boys were on their way to go downstairs. She looked hesitant and was biting her lips anxiously, addressing Kara sorry glances. Kara was watching her closely, waiting for her to say anything. They had so much to say, really. Sorry. I didn't want to. We shouldn't fight like this. But Kara didn't know where to start. Finally, Alex pulled on the blond's wrist and she didn't have any other choice than to turn away. She threw a last glance to Lena and tried to express all her apologies through her eyes. I'm sorry. We'll talk later.

Lena nodded as she put herself back together. The last thing Kara noticed before passing the portal was her tight smile and the determination in her eyes.

Facing her mother wasn't something Kara had been anxious to do since a long time ago. But since the situation was particular and Kara was about to tell her she had a child, she felt like nervosity was a normal feeling.

Walking in the hologram room, alone and thoughtful, Kara repeated in her mind the speech she had prepared. Alex had said she wanted to check some stuff before contacting Winn but Kara knew her sister just wanted to give her privacy. The blond was now waiting for the signal to reach the other end and for her mother to accept the call. It was archaic comparing to what Krypton's communications used to be but it was still better than nothing.

As Alura's figure appeared in front of her, Kara smiled. It was as impressive as the first time for her to see her mother well and alive.

"Kara, my love, how have you been?" Alura cooed in an almost perfect English accent. She had insisted on learning from Zor-El, both of her parents competing in their new skill.

"Good! I… I missed you." Kara smiled again. She didn't speak to her mother as often as she wanted to. Argo was far away in space and the signal wasn't always reaching. It wasn't her first thought either, to go to her mother for advice. Usually, she would go to Alex or Eliza but again, it had been a long time ago. Lena's disappearance had left her so lonely and frustrated and depressed that she pushed away everyone who tried to pull her out of her funk.

"I missed you too, my daughter." Alura said mechanically, the signal turning her voice into a robotic one for a second. "I feel that there is something bothering you."

Kara watched as her mother tilted her head on the side. She knew she did the same thing when she was curious or puzzled. It was a family trait. Curiosity and the ease to read people. But where should she start? The speech she prepared on the way suddenly felt weird and inappropriate. Kara sighed and sat down on the floor in a huff. She could feel Alura's eyes on her.

"I… I don't know where to start." She admitted dejectedly. The weight of the past few days' events was finally hitting her. So many things had changed in the last two days.

"From the beginning, my love." Alura smiled. Kara observed the comforting face of her mother, warm and compassionate. She watched as her mother seemed to sit down too, waiting patiently for Kara to be ready. Kara imagined her sitting at the table in her house on Argo, with the red Sun gleaming through the windows. She imagined herself facing her, cups of juices between them, enveloped by flowery scents and her mother's perfume. Kara started right from the start then.

It started with Lena and her beautiful green eyes, her bright intelligence, and her endearing vulnerability. It started as friendship and it became so much more. Kara had been so entangled in her lies and her secrets that she almost had lost who she was, always split between two different identities. Then, there was the fight and Kara felt her heart break all over again recounting how she had hurt the woman she loved and how she had been hurt in return. How long it took them to forgive. The rivalry, the resentment, the trust issues. The weight of both of their inheritance. Kal and Lex's rivalry tarnishing Kara and Lena's friendship. Poisoning them like venom.

Kara recalled what it felt to be in the Phantom Zone again. How desperate she had been to get out. To come back to her family. How frightened she was to be stuck there without the chance of saying goodbye. Of saying all the things she had been bottling up to Lena. And how thankful and happy and so so in love she had felt when Lena helped save her from the Phantom Zone, bringing Zor-El back in their world with her. Mesmerized and in wonder in front of such a strong woman. Grateful to be able to squeeze her in her arms and never let go.

But Lena disappeared just as they were getting back where they used to be in their friendship. And Kara had been lost. And sad. So sad. And so angry. Her whole world had turned upside down. Lena disappeared and she had no idea what had happened. She disappeared and Kara couldn't do anything about it. Frustration. Anger. Depression. Sadness. Despair. And resentment towards all the people who were still there. How could they continue their lives without Lena? Why couldn't she? So she had pushed them away. They wanted to pursue their lives. She wanted hers back. Those seven years had felt like a blur. One instant she was moving mountains to find Lena, the other she was eating breakfast with Lena and their daughter in her kitchen.

Kara heard a gasp and finally, she looked up to see the emotions on her mother's face. She was crying silently, her mouth covered by a delicate hand. Now that Kara was coming back to reality, she realized she had been crying too. It had been a hell of a few years. Not only the last seven, but probably the last fifteen.

The anxiety came back as a ball in her stomach. Kara realized she had blurted out the news to her mother without even noticing. And she had told her she loved Lena. Oh Rao.

Kara stood up in a haste, ready to explain herself, to defend Lena, to do whatever it would take for her mother to understand. "Mother, I'm…"

"Did you say daughter?" Alura interrupted. She seemed to have put herself back together too. Alright, if it was the thing they were focusing on.

"Yes, she's…" Kara sighed, not knowing what facts to say about Liz first. There were so many things she could tell about Liz. "She was unexpected." She settled on, her face scrunching up.

"I'm sure she was." Alura replied, amused, and Kara relaxed a bit. "If I understood everything correctly, Lena and you aren't…"

"No, we're not… together." Kara confirmed. It almost hurt to say it. Her mother stayed silent for a beat. Kara didn't know what to expect. She kept fidgeting with her fingers.

On Krypton, sexuality was only a way to expand families and spread the House. When Kara was little, babies weren't made naturally anymore. Kal-El was actually the first one since a long time and it had been done behind the High Council's back. Kara herself was born in an incubation chamber and her marriage was already arranged before she was even born. Homosexual behaviors and sex in general were called depravity. That was why the proud Kryptonians despised the Daxamites that much.

"Will I be able to see her?" Alura asked gently, her lips turning up. Kara analyzed her mother's face, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Alura wasn't that authoritative but Kara remembered her as a very traditional woman.

"Hum, yes, of course. I'll have to ask Lena. Maybe you could visit some time." She shrugged, trying not to raise her hopes up too soon. But Alura nodded eagerly. "I would love too." She admitted. "Your father will too. I understand why it is bothering you. It is a lot."

Her face was back to neutral and Kara winced, hearing her tone lowering. Here it was. "Aren't you upset?" She asked, hesitantly.

"Upset? Why would I be?" Alura frowned.

"I just told you I… love a woman. And I have a daughter without us being married or even in love." Kara clarified. She was expecting chastising in a bossy tone, reminders of Kryptonian customs and what she was destined to be. She got a light chuckle instead.

"I am not upset, my love. Is this why you seemed scared?" Kara's nose scrunched up again. Alura rolled her eyes, amused. "Kara, we lost our whole world. I thought I would never see you again. The High Council can go to Azarath with its old-fashioned customs. You are in love. And with a beautiful smart woman, I would say. I can't wish you nothing more than happiness."

Kara exhaled a sigh of relief. A small smile spread on her lips. Her mother's opinion shouldn't count that much. As a grown-up woman, she was free to make her own choice. But as a Kryptonian, she was entitled to fall in her parents' steps and try to continue their customs even away from their original planet.

"I am certain your daughter is as smart and wonderful as Lena and you are." Alura's eyes seemed to be watering but Kara could be mistaking. It was hard to say through the hologram. The blond's face split in half with a bright grin.

"She is." Kara agreed in wonder. "She has powers like me and magic like Lena and, Mom, she's so powerful! It's scary and impressive! We don't know how to handle her. That's why Lena came back."

Alura acknowledged Kara's explanations with a serious face. They never could escape the situation for long. Kara suddenly remembered the Platinum Kryptonite.

"I'm calling to ask for help. Lena found this piece of Kryptonite with her when she discovered she was pregnant." Kara eluded. She already had explained the whole thing to her mother, she didn't need to remind herself how horrible it was every time they would mention it. "I need a memory player, you know, the one that works with DNA. I know there's one on Argo."

Alura looked thoughtful for an instant. Then, she nodded. "I see what you are talking about. I can send it to you but it will take at least a week to reach you."

"Can't you send it through a portal?" Kara wondered. It was true they used a ship to transport their luggage when Kara and Alex were going to Argo but she knew Kal used to visit through portals. Alura scrunched up her nose and Kara smiled seeing her own favorite expression mirrored in front of her. "I am afraid it would damage the technology. It is the last one we have in our possession. I am sure Lena or your friend Brainiac 5 should be able to replicate it, though."

Alura was right. They couldn't risk damaging the player. It was also Alex's main reason why they used a ship. She didn't want to damage her phone or laptop. The distance between Argo and the Earth was too big to risk it.

"You're right. When do you think we should receive it?" Kara asked. Alura thought about it and her face brightened. "The Council is voting for new representatives in two days. Your father and I should be able to travel back to Earth after that. We will stay for a week or two."

"That way you'll meet Liz and you'll have the chance to talk to Lena without a crisis on our hands." Kara reasoned. Alura's smile spread wider. Kara had just confessed she would like her parents to know Lena without actually telling it. Their mother-daughter relationship wasn't all that solid so it was progress. Kara had even more to fix with her father.

"Do you think Father will be okay with this?" She asked hesitantly. Her mother softened. "Of course, my love. He knows how much life and love are both lawless values. You did not expect a daughter, but a daughter you have and it is our responsibility to cherish her and raise her now. In Rao's light."

"In Rao's light." Kara repeated with a fast-beating heart and glistening eyes. They were silent for a while, just staring at each other peacefully. A knock on the door frame brought Kara out of her daydreaming. Alex's head passed through the door. "Can I come in?"

Kara chuckled at her sister's antics. Alex had been nervous too, not knowing what to expect from Alura since she didn't know her that much. Kara waved Alex in and her sister greeted the hologram awkwardly. Alura greeted back warmly, telling Alex it was nice to see her. Kara listened as they both talked a bit. Their discussion ended with Alura asking Alex to take care of Kara and keeping her out of trouble.

"Don't worry. This has been my life since she came to Earth." Alex joked. Kara punched her shoulder playfully and Alura shook her head at the both of them.

"Convince her to talk to Lena. They wasted enough time already." Alura lastly advised.

"Mom!" Kara exclaimed. Alex just laughed and agreed, waving the older woman goodbye. "Bye Alura! Say hello to Zor-El."

"Goodbye you two. I love you, Kara. See you in two days." And with that, her mother's hologram was gone and Kara was left alone with a laughing Alex. Kara pouted. If her mom and Alex were ganging up on her, she was done.

"Don't look so offended. She's looking out for you." Alex shoved her on their way out. Kara hummed pensively in reply. "She just doesn't realize Lena doesn't feel the same way."

Alex chuckled again. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"What?"

"Nothing." Alex singsang while walking in the corridor leading to the main room. Alex never sang. Kara rushed after her.

"Alex!"

"Hurry up! We'll miss Winn's call."

Kara groaned. It would have to wait. She wasn't so sure she wanted to know anyway.

It was close to dinner time when Kara appeared through a portal back in her living room. She was exhausted. Well, as exhausted as her sun radiated body could get. She felt like the day had been extra-long. Super, extra, mega-long. And she missed Liz already. And Lena. Rao, Lena. She had to apologize for what she said. She didn't think Lena was like Lex or that she should have given Liz up. She had to tell her.

Taking a shower in a flash, she rushed out of the balcony and followed Lena's now familiar heartbeat to find where she lived. Kara was walking on thin lines, she knew it. If Lena didn't want to see her, she would go.

Stepping on the balcony, she wondered why Lena didn't rent her old penthouse back and chose to live in a middle-class suburb instead. Thinking about it, the Lena she used to know wanted her mother's approbation before anything else. Now, Lena seemed more balanced, humbler. She didn't seem so much into appearances anymore.

Through the window, Kara could see the kitchen and the living room but it looked empty. As she knocked on the glass double doors, the blond saw a little face perked up from the couch. Liz jumped out of it and ran to open to Kara, who just took a step in the room, no further.

"Mom is in the shower." She said in a haste, nervous to explain. Kara crunched down in front of her and caressed her cheek. "It's okay, I can wait. How are you feeling?"

She was concerned. Liz had shadows under her eyes and her smile wasn't as present as Kara used to see. She looked pale. The girl shrugged, not saying anything. Kara wondered, not for the first time, the extent of the comprehension her daughter could have on the situation. It was already confusing and unnerving for the adults.

She poked Liz's side, trying to make her smile. The girl giggled and took her hand. "Where were you?" She asked in a small vulnerable voice, a little frown on her face. Kara's heart melted. "I was on the satellite. You know, where we were this morning. I had… Things to do there."

"Oh." Liz seemed sad or disappointed, Kara couldn't tell. She didn't know her enough.

"Did I miss anything?" Kara queried. She was curious to know why Liz was asking in the first place. Did she miss her? No, it was too soon. The girl shrugged again.

"Mom wants me to eat all my plate because I need strength." She explained with her hands brushing thin air between them. Kara loved food. She could talk about food.

"And you don't want to?"

"No!" Liz exclaimed. "I hate avocado." She said, throwing her head back in a pure dramatic gesture. Kara chuckled.

"No, you don't!" Lena said, walking in the room while drying her wet hair with a towel, wearing yoga pants and a baggy shirt. Kara stood up immediately. She had seen Lena do this an immeasurable number of times but it never stopped to amaze her. The water drops sliding on Lena's skin. Her glowing moisturized face. Was that a tattoo on her arm?

"Yes, I do!" Liz replied back and Kara opened her mouth, shocked to see the little girl show so much personality.

"Elizabeth." Lena warned calmly. "Go back to the couch to finish your plate. You didn't even start yet. You could watch TV while eating if you ate the whole plate, it was the deal."

The little girl groaned and stumped back to the couch to retrieve her bowl still full, Kara could tell, of what looked like yummy avocado and chicken bites. Kara chuckled watching her, astonished to notice such a dramatic behavior. Lena walked up to her and grumbled. "She can have quite a temperament when she wants too."

"I can see that." Kara agreed, smiling. When her eyes met Lena's, her smile fell away though. She rubbed at the back of her neck in a nervous gesture. She knew she just had to rip the bandage off.

"I came to apologize."

"Oh." Lena looked honestly surprised. "I thought you came to retell what your mother said."

"That too." Kara quickly corrected herself. "But first, apologies. I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't want to imply you were capable of getting rid of a baby or that you should have done it for Liz. I'm…" She sighed, focusing her eyes back into Lena's emerald ones. The green pupils were so bright and genuine. Now she couldn't do anything less than confess. "I'm very happy and grateful to have her in my life and to have you back. Even if it's out of necessity. I shouldn't have implied I knew better than you, because I don't. I lost it over there."

She reached out for Lena's empty hand and the brunette let her. "I can't imagine what it was like. You've carried this huge burden on your own for so long and I… I just want to help you and be able to know Liz and just… Enjoy your company." She finished in a pleading voice, so scared Lena would push her away. But Lena just looked down at their intertwined hands and exhaled a tremble sigh.

"I understand what you meant. I just felt very vulnerable and I hated it. I'm not used to feel like that anymore." She pulled on Kara's hand and guided her to the kitchen. Kara sat down on a stool and Lena stood next to her, leaning on the counter. She was forming random shapes on Kara's palm with her fingers.

"Liz wasn't an experiment to me." She whispered. "She was a baby. From the very beginning. And I needed to protect her from the psycho who'd violated me. It was that simple. A survival instinct."

Kara nodded and squeezed the soft hand in hers. She was glad to hear it because she wanted to do the impossible to protect Liz too and she wouldn't expect anything less from Lena. "I know now you did what you needed to do to get out of there and protect you both. I just want you to know you're not alone anymore."

Lena nodded but a light smirk spread on her lips as she looked up. "You're sure you want to deal with that?" She pointed to the living room where Liz was so engrossed in her cartoons, she didn't notice they were talking about her. Kara looked above Lena's shoulder and chuckled. "Now, I may reconsider." She joked. Lena chuckled too and stepped back to round the counter.

"Have you eaten yet?" Kara shook her head immediately. Lena gasped, falsely worried. "Darling, you must be starving!" Kara giggled because only Lena could joke about the amount of food she needed to absorb without paying the price of it. It was refreshing to be around Lena and to banter like they used to. Their rash words from earlier already forgotten. It was good to have her back. "I may be famished. Just a little tiny bit." She showed with her fingers.

"Great! I presume avocado isn't enough for you." Lena was looking in the fridge and pulled eggs out, some steak and a leftover of mashed carrots and potatoes. "I…" Kara didn't want to abuse her welcome. "I'll have whatever you're having."

"Well, I'm having avocado and chicken so…" Lena threw her a wink. "I'll go then. I don't want to be a bother." Kara was already turning on her stool when Liz's head rose from behind the couch. "You're leaving?" The girl asked at the same time Lena said "You should stay."

Seeing how Liz seemed to be disappointed, Kara smiled and walked back to the kitchen stools. Lena busied herself with cooking. "This is the first time I see you prepare a sophisticated meal." Kara declared as Lena was chopping an onion to put in the pan. "That's because you're used to the CEO me." Lena smirked back.

Kara's mind wandered back to the times Lena used to come have dinner and watch a movie at her place. All those times they bought take-outs and cuddled in front of the TV. Well, it wasn't voluntarily cuddling, per say. Lena just happened to fall asleep on Kara's shoulder and Kara would just never complain about it. She would lean back and circle her arm securely around Lena so she didn't have a sore back the next day. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"By the way, what do you do now?" Kara wondered. She knew Sam contacted Andrea after Lena's disappearance to help her rearranging some things for the Foundation. She was now in charge of it but Kara didn't know if Lena had something to do with it or if Sam had risen to the challenge by her own accord.

"Mom reads mountains of books!" Liz exclaimed, running through the room on socked feet and throwing herself to Lena animatedly. The woman just laughed at her daughter's antics and leaned down to kiss her on the head. She shoved her back gently towards the living. "Go eat, munchkin." She then threw a side glance to Kara, a small shy smile on her face. "I'm a translator. I work from home most of the time."

Kara's brows rose. She knew Lena spoke several languages, dealing with international clients and all that, but deciding to pursue a career in it was something else. It suited her though. The intellectual aspect of it. Kara could imagine her working on a desk, devouring books after books, piles of dictionaries next to her, eager to find the right words. Yes, it wasn't that hard to imagine. Lena could do whatever she put her mind to, anyway.

"Don't look so shocked." Lena chuckled. "I know it's nothing close to what I used to do but I always liked linguistics."

"That's… That's awesome, actually. What language do you work on?"

"I mostly translate from Russian to English. But sometimes I have French works to play with, it's fun. I like it." The delighted grin on Lena's face was a clear proof of that statement. She seemed less tense and in complete adoration of her work.

"I can see that. It must be less stressful than your former job."

"It is. There're still deadlines to respect but it's fine." She made a pause as if she was pondering her next words. She turned completely around finally. "I still have my hands on what the Foundation is doing too." She admitted, turning a wooden spoon in the air. "Sam handles the whole relations part but I handle the financial aspects from afar."

Sam knew all this time, Kara realized. The serious expression on Lena's face showed that she expected Kara to connect the dots and probably resent her for making Sam lie to all of them. To be honest, Kara was a bit mad at Sam for not telling anything, for choosing to follow Lena in her lies and hidings rather than telling them where she was. She could have prevented them from hurting for so long. But she preferred to believe in Lena and follow her in her wobbly plan.

Kara sighed and rubbed at her face with her hands. She didn't want to fight with Lena again. "I didn't leave her the choice, if it's what you're wondering." Lena interjected. Kara looked up and watched her, really watched her. She was biting her bottom lips. Her hands were clasped on the counter so hard her joints were turning white. Kara could hear her heart escalating in its beatings. Lena was afraid of her reaction. That wasn't what Kara wanted, ever.

"I just… All of this is a huge mess. I try to understand and respect your choices, but really, Sam? She came to Nia and Brainy's wedding. She knew I was desperate to find you but all this time she lied to us." Lena nodded, accepting and understanding Kara's arguments.

"She disagreed all along. But she felt like she owned me one for the time I helped her as Reign and, honestly, I wasn't thinking clearly enough to refuse at the time." Her tight lips and frowned face showed how she regretted using Sam. But what was done was done.

"This is…" Kara sighed again. She turned her head as she heard quick footsteps on the linoleum.

"Look, Kara! It's Snowflake!" Liz interrupted them, shoving the white cat in her arms under Lena's snort. Kara had to say the cat was beautiful in all his furry fluffiness. She settled him on her lap and scraped behind his ear. The cat started to purr loudly and Kara had to admit it was relaxing. As always, Liz seemed to sense the atmosphere in the room and had decided to act on it. Kara could see the remnants of their serious discussion drifting away already.

"Mom, can I have some eggs too?" Liz asked with a pout. Lena observed her for a moment then sighed. "You didn't eat the avocado."

"I told you I didn't like green things anymore."

Lena rolled her eyes. She looked pointedly at Kara who was lightly chuckling. The blond fell serious as Lena pointed a knife in her direction. "This is definitely your daughter." She said with an amused glint in her eyes. Kara gasped and laughed louder. "No way. I eat everything possible. You're the picky one, Miss Luthor."

"I wouldn't call that eating." Lena grumbled to herself, knowing too well Kara would hear it anyway. "Hey! I heard that."

"I know." Lena grinned back. She turned back to Liz who was staring at them with her mouth agape. "You eat your egg and some mashed potatoes. It's important, okay?"

The little girl agreed easily, climbing on a stool. Kara almost stood to help her but decided it was better to let her try by herself. She could catch her in a flash anyway.

"How was the talk with your mother?" Lena asked from her place in front of the stove. Kara threw a glance at Liz who was listening closely while leaning on her elbows. "Hum, good. She's… good."

"What does she look like?" Liz asked, curiosity written on her face.

"She has blond hair." Kara showed her own hair. "And honey eyes. And she's very loving and smart."

"And what's her name?"

"Her name is Alura." The little girl gasped and put her hands high cheerfully. "Like my middle name!" Kara chuckled. "I know! Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful! And what's your dad's name?"

"His name is Zor-El." Kara watched as Liz frowned deeply, confused. "But this is your name too."

Kara laughed and nodded. "I know, it's difficult. On Krypton, daughters take their dads' name as their last name."

"Like Walsh?" Kara could see the gears turning in the girl's mind, her face looking like Lena's when she was focusing on something. "Yeah, like yours is Walsh."

"It's Walsh Danvers." Liz corrected a bit petulantly. Kara rolled her eyes playfully. "Count on your mom to put her name first."

"Oh come on!" Lena chipped in, pointing a wooden spoon towards her now. "Danvers Walsh is harder to say."

"Alright," Kara upped her hands in surrender. "I'll give you that."

"But I don't have a dad." Liz said sadly and Lena looked at her closely. She leaned on the counter with her arms crossed. "No, Liz, but you have two moms. We talked about that, sweetheart." She replaced a lock of black hair behind Liz's ear. The girl looked thoughtful, thinking hard about it.

Kara hadn't taken the time to think about what Liz's young life had been for the last six years and what Lena had already taught her. The girl was polite and talked with a great vocabulary, forming sentences with correct grammar for most of the time. She was smart too, reasoning easily and putting the dots together like nobody. It seemed that she was intelligent enough to understand the world around her and ask questions about it to Lena. Obviously, Liz would see the difference between her family and the other kids' families from school. Kara wondered what the consequences had been on Lena and Liz's life since they weren't a classic family. Was their life harder? Did they suffer harassment or discrimination?

"Yes, but I can't take my name from my dad if I don't have one." The little girl reasoned and, again, Kara was impressed to see how clever she was. She understood she was partly from Krypton and wanted to respect the customs. It seemed to bother her that she couldn't though. Kara leaned towards her and placed a gentle hand on her back. "Hey don't worry. That's okay."

"But grandpa will be sad. Because I don't have his name."

Kara's heart fell to her feet. Hearing Liz acknowledge their family links so simply, because it was that simple in her head, made Kara feel warm and excited for Liz to meet her parents. She looked at Lena who had a small smile on her face. The brunette was depositing plates in front of them and leaving Kara deal with Liz the way she wanted to.

"Oh, believe me he won't be bothered by that." Kara reassured, clearing her throat. She threw a glance to Lena who was eating silently so she took her fork and started to eat too. "He'll want to know what you learn at school and what you can draw. He'll teach you how to grow space fruits too or fix an engine when you'll be older."

Kara was reminiscing of her father and what he had taught her. The hours spend in his lab helping him on his works, passing tools and testing his new inventions. It was pleasing memories. It didn't hurt anymore like it used to.

"Really?" Liz exclaimed. "What about grandma?"

Kara thought for a moment. Her mother was a strong woman. A true leader. A woman of justice. A woman who taught her to never give up. But she had been so caring too. Reading stories every night to Kara. Taking walks with her in the gardens and teaching her the names of flowers, their significations. Kara's eyes softened. She knew her mother would cherish Liz like her own.

"She'll teach you all about Krypton. She'll ask if you have a lot of friends and tell your stories about Rao and ask you if you eat all your vegetables." Liz scrunched up her nose at that and Kara and Lena laughed.

"They won't ask about my name?" The girl asked with a little tremble in her voice. Kara cupped her cheek and caressed it gently. "You have the name that is yours and you can be proud of it." She saw Lena nod in the corner of her eyes.

"This is the name of the strongest woman in the universe." Lena praised with a wink. Kara felt her cheeks blushing. Liz just gave her a shy smile. Kara shook out of her head. "And the name of the smartest woman on Earth." She added, gesturing towards Lena with her chin. Lena gave her the same shy smile Liz did a minute ago.

"You'll be okay, sweetie." Kara caressed Liz's cheek one last time. "Now time for eating." She pointed to Liz's plate with her fork. Liz accepted her fate and started eating silently.

Later, Kara found herself on Lena's new couch, a cup of tea in her hand and the Wizard of Oz playing in the background. Lena was just casually sitting sideways next to her. Liz was normally reading in her bed. Kara could hear her heart slowing into a sleepy rhythm. Lena had a hard time putting her to bed, the little girl was too excited to pass time with Kara. The woman of steel had been very surprised to see Liz was able to read at such a young age but knowing Lena's learning capacities, she accepted it easily.

"Do you think she'll fall asleep? She slept for two hours this afternoon." Kara remarked. It was common knowledge that children shouldn't sleep too much during the day, right?

"I think so. She was really tired when we got back here." Lena took a sip of her tea and kept staring into space. Liz wasn't the only one who was tired. Lena had tense features and was harboring a pale face hidden behind her glasses. Kara thought she was flawless in her shirt and yoga pants but worried the stress of the situation was keeping Lena up at night.

"So, I talk to my mom." She exhaled. Lena looked her in the eyes with a serious face. "How did she take the news?"

"Hum." Kara recalled all the things she had blurted out to her mother. The nervousness she was feeling before that. The relief just after. "Well, I guess. She wants to meet Liz."

"That can be arranged." Lena smiled easily. "Sorry she ambushed you, earlier. She doesn't have any grandparents, she doesn't know how it is."

"No, it's fine and totally normal. She wants to know me better, I understand. I want to know her too."

Kara was pleased to see Liz was mostly curious about her and not afraid or impressed like she used to be the day before. She hoped she could form a bond with her and make Liz understand she was more than the superhero the girl saw on TV.

"Did Alura say anything about the memory player?" Lena asked, depositing her empty cup on the coffee table.

"Yeah, she knew about it. They have some elections planned on Argo in two days but she said my father and her would make the trip after that. They should be here by the end of next week."

Lena nodded. It was their last chance. If the memory in the stone wasn't revealing who did this to Lena, Kara didn't know what they were going to do. Wish the person at fault denounce themself? Grayson had searched every corner possible, had pulled on all the strings. If the son of the most renown detective wasn't able to find the truth, who could?

"I'm curious but…" Kara leaned to put her mug on the table too. She tried to keep a neutral face but it must have betrayed her. "How did you meet Dick Grayson?"

Lena snorted and a disgusted pout grew on her lips. "I know what you're thinking." She said making a flourish with her hand toward Kara's face. "Dick and I have a common past. He lost his parents when he was younger and got adopted by a rich man who wanted to control his movements." She explained. "We used to see each other in galas when I was still in Metropolis. He hated this life of appearances. I hated to be underestimated. We bonded over that."

Kara noticed the fondness in her voice. Lena had a true respect for Dick. And Lena wasn't the type to give her respect and trust to anyone. People had to work for it, to prove they were worth of it. It was surprising and a bit hurting, if Kara was honest, to realize Lena trusted Dick instead of her when her life had depended on it. "You trusted him." She sighed, looking at her hands.

Lena had all the rights in the world not to trust her, Kara knew that. Even if their rivalry was in the past, even if they had reconnected, Kara understood that Lena would never trust her on the same amount again.

"No, not at first." Lena disagreed. Kara looked at her. The sadness on her face, the tension in her shoulders. Everything felt heavy and somber, suddenly. "I knew he had… feelings for me so I used him." Lena confessed without daring to look at Kara.

The burning in Kara's stomach came back and this time she knew she couldn't put it on the gravity of the situation. It was jealousy. Because she had been right to be suspicious. Grayson was interested in Lena and wasn't helping her out of kindness. But who was she to say anything? Lena and her shared a child now, but it didn't authorize her to have an opinion on the people Lena surrounded herself with.

"I used him because I knew he had the resources to investigate on what happened to me seven years ago." Lena looked up through her eyelashes. She wasn't proud of it, that much Kara could tell. "He was so kind and devoted. I knew he had been harboring feelings for me since we were teenagers so I used them against him." Her chin was trembling as if she was trying to rule in her true emotions. "When he met me in Ireland to show me what he'd found, he also tried to make a move."

Kara's fist tightened on the back of the couch. The side glance Lena gave Kara at that moment glued her on the place. Kara kept her focus on Lena's face, marveled by the complexity and the vulnerability of the woman in front of her. She was listening with rapt attention, because if Lena was sharing that much, it was supposed to mean something.

"I was lost. I just got Liz and he was asking me too much. Attention I couldn't give him at the moment or ever. I didn't have feelings for him. So I told him and…" She threw a side smile to Kara. "He stayed anyway."

Kara considered what it meant about Grayson. He was a man of justice and value. He seemed to be a good friend too and a not-so-bad leader to the Titans. Kara knew she couldn't see eye to eye with him from time to time but his investigations had been helpful. And he was there for Lena when she couldn't. "I'm glad he helped you. At least you weren't alone."

Lena softened and intertwined her fingers with Kara's on the back of the couch. "I'm not proud of it but I needed answers. I apologized later. I'm glad he stayed my friend and never resented me for it."

They both contemplated their discussion in their own heads. Kara focused on the sensation of Lena's hand in hers, on her fingers mingling between hers. Their skin touching, the softness and warmth Lena was emitting. The beating of her heart accelerating each time Kara's thumb was passing on hers. Kara understood Dick Grayson better now. Who couldn't fall in love with Lena Luthor? Kara had failed too. Lena was scarred and vulnerable and so smart and interesting. Kara's heart never stood a chance.

A/N: Hey, just wanted to say thanks for the love on this fic. Also, just so you know, I'll try to stay consistent in the update. This fic is really easy to write compared to my other ones so maybe you'll be lucky and I'll update regularly, but I make no promises. Work and life often gets in the way.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Take care.