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LENA: lunch?
KARA: you read my mind
LENA: pick you up at 1?
KARA: you’re my favorite
Lena smiled, remembering the day she said the same thing to Kara. Their friendship had only grown these past few months, and she had fallen in love. She thought about saying something, asking Kara out. She knew that even if Kara didn’t feel the same, their friendship wasn’t at risk. She would never lose her. She felt oddly peaceful about their relationship, no matter their label. So she was content to wait for the right moment.
…………………
1:15
Kara waited outside, leaned against Catco. It wasn’t like Lena to be late. She decided to give her a few more minutes before texting. Discretely lowering her glasses, she stared through her pant leg at her thigh. The tattoo of a chess piece had appeared the day she met Lena. At first it hadn’t made sense, but she came to understand that chess was a crucial part of Lena’s upbringing.
Soulmates were rare on Krypton, special. Earth didn’t have them at all. She had been beyond excited when the soulmark had appeared, thanking Rao for blessing her with a perfect match. Even though Krypton was gone, Rao still shone down on her. Smiling, she pulled out her phone, checking the time. Her smile faded, realizing Lena was now thirty minutes late. The CEO never forgot about her.
KARA: hey, everything ok?
When Lena hadn’t responded after a few minutes, Kara tried calling. It went straight to voicemail. Quickly ducking into an alley, she changed and flew straight to Lena’s balcony. It was empty. Beginning to panic, she ran out of the office to check on Jess.
The secretary lay unconscious behind her desk. Kara scooped her up and flew to the DEO as fast as she could with her fragile cargo. She landed too hard, stumbling a bit.
“What happened?” Alex asked, running to Kara’s side, quickly followed by several agents. They took Jess from her arms, carrying her off in a rush.
“I don’t know, Lena didn’t meet me and I got worried. She wasn’t in her office, and then I found Jess like that at her desk. We have to find her, now!” Kara voice cracked. Alex stepped back, eyes wide, her hands out.
“Ok… Supergirl, you need to calm down.”
“We have to find her, Alex!” Kara shouted, panicking.
“And we will, but you have to calm down, ok? Your eyes are glowing, and you’re freaking people out.” Alex spoke in a soothing voice, moving closer and resting a gentle hand on Kara’s shaking shoulder. Kara looked around, noticing that yes, people looked freaked out. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and trying to calm down.
“Sorry, I just… I need to find her.”
………………………..
“Really, mother?” Lena struggled fruitlessly against her bonds. “This is becoming a little ridiculous.” Looking around, she found herself tied to a chair in an empty warehouse. Several of her mother’s goons were loitering, and her mother paced in front of her. “Honestly, a warehouse? This is just… laughable.”
“We aren’t staying long. Just long enough to set the stage.” Lillian motioned to one of her men, and he hurried to set up a tripod and camera. Pointing it toward Lena, he nodded. Lillian stepped up behind her bound daughter, addressing the camera.
“This is a message for Supergirl. I warned you to stay away from my daughter. Now you’ve turned her against her family, against her own kind. She is a stain on the Luthor name, and now, because of you… that stain must be scrubbed clean.” Lena’s heart began to race. Surely her mother wasn’t really going to kill her?
“You only have yourself to blame for this. Lena’s blood is on your hands.” Lillian nodded to the man behind the camera, and he stopped recording, speaking into a walky talky.
“It’s time. Do it and bring her in.” His voice was cold, and he glared at Lena with hard eyes as he began to untie her. Apparently the boys at Cadmus were growing tired of Lena’s resistance.
Lena jumped when she heard a gunshot from outside, and the man jerked her up, forcing her to stand as he retied her hands. Soon after, the door slid open and two men carried their cargo in, carelessly dropping it into the seat Lena had just vacated.
“Mother… what have you done?” Tears filled Lena’s eyes as she looked at a perfect copy of herself, lifeless in the chair. Blood poured from the gunshot wound in her chest, her skin already deathly pale. Another goon began tying the body to the chair.
“What I had to. Supergirl has too many resources, she always finds you. So this time, we’ll let her. As far as anyone knows, you’re dead. I need time to bring you back into the fold. This guarantees I get it.” Lillian didn’t have an ounce of remorse in her voice. “The girl is a shape shifting alien. She fell into my lap, and I think I’ve put her to good use, don’t you?”
…………………………….
“We’ve just got something from Cadmus!” Winn shouted excitedly, hunching over his computer. Alex and Kara were behind him in a moment, and he played the video.
“Can you find out where it’s coming from?” Kara asked just as Lillian began to speak. Winn typed furiously, and all Kara could do was stare at Lena, tied to that chair. The CEO looked disgusted as her mother spoke.
“This is a message for Supergirl. I warned you to stay away from my daughter. Now you’ve turned her against her family, against her own kind. She is a stain on the Luthor name, and now, because of you… that stain must be scrubbed clean.”
Kara watched as Lena’s face contorted in disbelief, then fear. Her heart broke for her Soulmate. Her life was being threatened by her own mother. Kara couldn’t begin to imagine what Lena must be feeling.
“You only have yourself to blame for this. Lena’s blood is on your hands.”
Kara’s pulse thrummed in her ears so loud she could barely think. Would Lillian really kill Lena? She could feel herself shaking again, and her grip on the desk tightened, metal warping beneath her hands.
Her own anger scared her, triggering a memory. The Soulmate bond… On Krypton, when one lost their Soulmate, they were broken, their own soul crushed. They became crazed; violent, nearly always taking their own lives when it became too painful.
It didn’t matter, she wouldn’t let Lena die.
“She won’t do it.” Alex assured her, but Kara could hear a hint of doubt in her voice.
“You don’t know that!” Kara growled. “Where is she, Winn?”
“One… more… second…” he mumbled as his hands flew across the keyboard. Kara roared, shoving herself away from the desk and pacing furiously. She couldn’t wait, Lena was in danger! It began to take extra effort to hold in her heat vision, her feet barely touching the floor. Just as she turned to yell at Winn to hurry up, he threw his hands up.
“There! Warehouse on 29th and Dalemere.”
Kara grabbed Alex and was gone in a blink.
…………………….
Lena still felt nauseous half an hour later, sitting in the backseat of the town car beside her monster of a mother. Apparently the man who had glared at her earlier was named Eric, and was her mother’s favorite minion. He informed Lillian when the video was sent and received. Now he was just staring at his tablet screen.
“She’s there.” He handed the tablet to Lillian, and Lena realized that there seemed to be a live audio/video feed in the warehouse.
…………………
Landing outside the warehouse, Kara raced ahead of Alex, ignoring her protests to wait for backup. She slowed to a jog as she entered, stopping in her tracks twenty feet in front of Lena.
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. It was like her entire being ground to a halt, and all she could do was stand there, staring. Alex finally caught up, gasping when she saw. The agent quickly ran to Lena’s side, reaching out to feel for a pulse. Feeling came flooding in, and Kara took a menacing step forward.
“Don’t touch her!” she snarled, lip curling. Her eyes heated and Alex froze, slowly pulling her hand back as she wearily watched her sister. “Get away from her!” Kara shouted, her fists clenching.
“Kara… I’m so sorry, but you have to calm down, ok?” Alex begged, backing away from Lena. She watched as Kara’s eyes slowly darkened, starting from the iris and moving out, until even the whites of her eyes turned black. Visibly shaking, Kara began slowly rising to hover a few inches off the ground.
“Calm down?” Kara shook her head in disbelief. “Calm down?” Her voice rose, nearly screaming now. “Look at her!” She pointed at Lena, rising higher.
“Kara, if you just calm down, we can find Lillian and arrest her-”
“Arrest her?” Kara shook her head, anger reaching its peak as she thought of Lillian. “I’m going to kill her!” Her vision flared, and Alex barely ducked out of the way in time to avoid the scorching beams. She scrambled back, watching as Kara lost control.
Now ten feet off the ground, Kara began to scream. The sound chilled Alex to the bone. It was pain,yes. But more than that, it was pure rage, a roaring declaration of war. Kara’s back arched, body strung tight, her heat vision tearing into the walls and ceiling.
This wasn’t her Kara anymore. Alex ran.
……………………
Lena replayed it over and over again in her mind. Supergirl’s, no, Kara’s… Alex had said her name… Kara’s unending scream echoed in her head, shaking her to the core. Even her mother was shaken. Lena didn’t remember a time when Lillian had shown fear, but she was afraid now.
She could still see Kara’s eyes; completely black… she had looked soulless, demonic. She didn’t look like Kara anymore. She didn’t even look human.
It had been 36 hours since the shape shifter’s body had been discovered, and Supergirl was on a rampage. All over the news, there were reports and clips of her threatening the lives of dozens of citizens. Lena realized she was slowly climbing the ladder, each “victim” closer to Cadmus, to Lillian.
She was hunting Lillian down. It was only a matter of time before Kara found her, and Lillian seemed to realize that. They were in a safehouse now, halfway across the country.
“Are we sure we’re locked down?” Lillian asked Eric for the third time in an hour.
“Yes, Ms. Luthor. As tight as it gets.” He nodded, tapping away at his tablet.
“Not tight enough.” Lena muttered. Lillian glared at her. “She’s going to find you, mother. Even if you left Earth, she would find you. You saw the same thing I saw. She won’t stop until you’re dead.”
………………………
She found her. She was going to tear Lillian Luthor apart. She flew as fast as she could, landing outside the safehouse hard enough to leave a crater and announce her arrival. She would give the bitch a chance to run.
She took a step toward the house, suddenly freezing. Something was wrong… she needed to go to the DEO… But no, Lillian was right here! It was time to finish this. She took another step and stopped abruptly, as if she had hit a wall. Glowering at the building, she fought herself, trying to keep moving. There was something niggling in the back of her mind, trying to make her leave… She couldn’t just leave!
She fell to her knees, struggling to get back up. She had to kill Lillian, now! She pictured Lena tied to that chair, lifeless. She nearly had her feet under her now. Lena was so good! And her light had been snuffed out, her life taken like she was nothing. She finally managed to stand, taking a few steps forward. But… if Lena was good… she staggered, stopping, no longer fighting to get to Lillian.
What was she doing?
………………….
Inside the safehouse, Eric put up a video feed from a security camera outside. Lena held her breath as they watched Supergirl struggling. She kept pausing, sometimes falling to her knees for long periods of time before rising again.
“What the hell is she doing?” Lillian asked, bewildered and afraid, but just stubborn enough to stand her ground. All her men were armed with Kryptonite bullets, but Lena knew that wouldn’t be enough, not this time. This would be Cadmus’ last stand.
She’s trying to stop herself! Lena thought, watching Kara fall to her knees one more time. After a few moments, the blonde’s head bowed, and she slumped, her shoulders shaking.
……………….
On her knees in the dirt, Kara’s anger drained away. She slumped forward, tears rolling down her face as she began to weep. She grieved for Lena, unaware of the passage of time.
She didn’t notice the sound of the helicopters blades at first, until it became a cacophony. Finally looking up, she saw dozens of agents swarming out of several choppers, surrounding the house before bursting in. Alex approached cautiously, watching Kara closely. Her eyes were still black, but her face no longer held the rage Alex had seen in the warehouse.
“Kara?”
“I’m so sorry!” Kara sobbed. Her sister rushed forward, dropping to her knees and hugging Kara tightly. “She was my Soulmate, and I just… I went crazy, Alex! It was like I wasn’t in control… it was worse than the RedK. The anger… was everything.” Kara began to weep again, ashamed.
“We figured that out. Kal took me to the Fortress, and Kelex recognized your… symptoms… as Soulmate sickness. Kara… you shouldn’t have been able to stop yourself.” Pulling back, she took Kara’s face in her hands, looking into her dark eyes. “Lena would be so proud of you.”
…………………
“I am.” Lena whispered, stopping ten feet from Kara and Alex.
“Lena!” Kara breathed, standing slowly, as if she was afraid that if she moved too fast, Lena would disappear. Staring for long moments, Kara finally flapped a hand at Alex to get her attention, never looking away from her. “Please tell me this isn’t a symptom. I can’t take anymore…” she whispered, clearly terrified of the answer.
“It’s her.” Alex confirmed, stunned. Behind Lena, she saw the agents leading out men from Cadmus. It appeared they hadn't put up much of a fight. Kara was holding Lena faster than she could track, and she found herself cradled in strong arms like she was something precious and fragile.
Kara whispered. “I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.” Lena promised, watching as Kara’s tearful eyes slowly shifted back to blue. Leaning in, Lena kissed her with every ounce of love in her body.
She would live a long life, and spend every moment of it with Kara. Humans might not have Soulmates, but Lena knew that her heart belonged right where it was.
With Kara’s.
Tada!!!