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Chapter Text

Instead of Lex immediately luring Lena in with promises to help with Non Nocere, Lena promptly abandons Non Nocere in favor of getting Lex out of power.

In Lena’s office, she confronts him.

“I don’t know what you’re planning, but I swear I won’t let you get away with it–”

But instead of looking concerned, Lex simply lifts his finger as though remembering something.

“Oh, and there’s one more thing I forgot to mention…”

As if on cue, Jack Spheer walks into Lena’s office, his smile bright and ecstatic to see her. Lena’s breath catches in her throat, and for a moment she forgets to breathe.

“Jack…”

“Morning, sweetheart,” he greets her with a kiss and a hug. Lena’s come up to wrap around him on instinct, but her hands soon press against his back as though to affirm he’s really there. After a moment, Jack leans back to offer Lex a brisk handshake.

“Congratulations,” Jack says, without a hint of disgust. His smile remains genuine and warm, and in her heart Lena knows that he is as innocent to Lex’s machinations as the rest of this new reality. “Great speech, as always.”

“Well, I can’t take all the credit for that,” Lex brushes off with a charming smile. “I’d be helpless without my speechwriter here.”

He gestures to Lena, and Jack’s arm squeezes her shoulders affectionately. Lena blinks against the burn of tears.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay long,” Jack explains, turning to face Lena. “I just wanted to stop by and say hi. We’re still on for dinner tonight?”

“Y-yes,” Lena stammers breathlessly. “Of course.”

Jack smiles and kisses her again. “Excellent. I’ll see you then.”

When he leaves, Lena can only stare after him for a long moment before she turns her gaze to Lex in horror.

“What have you done?”

“I gave you both a second chance at happiness,” Lex replies. In an instant, he steps in close, gripping Lena by the side of the neck as his gaze darkens dangerously. Lena freezes, every muscle in her body locking in fear.

“And if either of you try reaching out to Supergirl, or any of her friends… I’ll put a bullet in his head faster than you can say Jimmy Olsen.”

Lena feels the breath of his menace against her skin, and she knows he’ll follow through. Either she helped him, toeing the Luthor party line, or she loses Jack all over again. She was his.

Accepting her wordless defeat, Lex releases her, his features brightening into a smile. “Don’t say I never do anything for you!”

Lena watches him go with a bounce in his step, legs beginning to shake as soon as he disappeared out the door. All she can do is brace herself against her desk, struggling to pull one trembling breath into her lungs after another as the real truth of Lex’s reality sets in.

She was trapped.

Chapter Text

When Supergirl visits, desperate to clear the air between them, Lena’s heart lodges in her throat. Will Jack die anyway?

All she can do is send Supergirl away and hope that if Lex is watching, she can prove that she’s willing to play ball.

“Your brother–”

“Save your breath,” Lena replies coldly. She rises from her seat, pulling herself to her full height. “I remember everything.”

“Y-you do?”

Kara can’t quite hide her disappointment, as if she’d actually hoped they might get a do-over. The realization curdles in Lena’s stomach, and the chill that edges into her voice isn’t entirely fake.

“Lex may be a lot of things,” she purrs, “but he’s not one to let me forget how my best friend lied to me for four years.”

“Lena–”

“Leave, Supergirl.” Lena glares at her. “There is nothing for you here. It was foolish to believe there ever was.”

Supergirl leaves with tears in her eyes, and when she vanishes so does Lena’s anger. She sinks heavily into her chair, trembling in the aftermath of the confrontation. It’s less than a minute before her phone buzzes with an incoming text.

It’s from Lex.

Well done.

Hopelessness swells in Lena’s chest. She buries her face in her hands, fighting the urge to sob.

—

And so Lena works with Lex. She writes his speeches, stands at his side during press releases, and though Kara is disappointed and hurt, she leaves Lena to her choice. Lex doesn’t utilize Lena in any of his real plans– he leaves her with LuthorCorp, where she can be monitored without any risk of sabotage.

It eats away at her, slowly but surely. As the weeks pass, she loses weight and sleep from the stress, and though she pretends everything is fine, it’s not long before Jack confronts her.

“You’re not happy,” he says one night, having waited in the living room until late in the night, when Lena finally returns home. He stands with his hands in his pockets, eyes concerned but shoulders hitched defensively.

“Of course I am,” Lena starts, only for Jack to take her by the wrists and gently look her in the eye.

“Give me some credit, all right?” he says softly. “I know you’ve been avoiding me–”

“I haven’t–”

“You have.” Not accusing, not outraged– just concerned. His thumbs trace soft circles against her wrists. “Ever since Lex’s Nobel ceremony, you’ve been different. You’ve pulled away from me.”

“Jack.” Tears burn at Lena’s eyes, and she ducks her chin to hide them. But Jack lifts her chin again with a gentle touch.

“I love you, Lena. I don’t want to be the cause of your unhappiness.”

Lena blinks, and her tears spill over. She grips his hands tightly, even as she shakes her head. “No,” she whispers hoarsely. “It’s not you–”

“But it is something.” Lena’s only response is a shuddering sob, and then his arms wrap around her, holding her close. “Tell me.”

And she does.

Lena tells him everything– about the change in realities, how he didn’t follow her to National City until it was too late, and how he died. How Lena killed her brother, but even that wasn’t enough– how Lex was resurrected and now has her under his thumb. How she’s afraid, every moment of every day, of losing Jack all over again.

When she finishes, Jack simply stares at her for a long moment. Then, wordlessly, he takes her in his arms again, hugging her tight.

“We’ll stop him,” Jack promises quietly. “Together.”

For the first time since waking up in this new reality, Lena feels the tension bleed out of her. They aren’t in the clear yet, and there’s no guarantee they’ll succeed. But one thing has changed.

She’s no longer alone.

Chapter Text

Lena is at the DEO when it collapses. Lena’s working deep in the building, on a secret project for Lex (ie, trying to sabotage it per her and Jack’s secret plan to undermine Lex) and none of the Superfriends know so when the building implodes they think everyone made it out.

Until Jack comes on the scene, out of his mind with panic as he shouts for Lena. Supergirl intercepts him, her own panic tugging at her ribs.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” she says, trying to calm him down. “What’s wrong?”

“Lena! She was–”

“Lena was here?” Kara’s panic grows because she knows she didn’t see Lena leave the building.

“She’s been working on a project for Lex, and–” Jack’s eyes flick to the pile of rubble that was once the DEO, and tears spill down his cheeks. “Oh my god.”

“I’ll find her–” Kara stammers, heart now thundering in her chest. “I’ll find her!”

She leaves Jack with a silent please on his lips, as Alex comes to escort him away from the site. He resists, and ultimately she moves on, after he promises not to move any closer. Supergirl sifts through the rubble, eventually finding a stairway to the underground levels partially intact. She goes in alone, and eventually finds Lena sheltered in one of the labs, injured and barely conscious, but breathing.

Kara skids to her knees beside Lena, scanning her for injuries. The power is out, the room is dark, and in the shadows Lena takes the only opportunity she’s ever going to get.

“He threatened to kill Jack if I came to you,” she says faintly. “I’m so sorry, Kara. I couldn’t risk losing him again–”

Kara understands in an instant, and issues a quaking sigh of relief. “I promise we’ll stop him. But right now, I need to get you somewhere safe.”

Scooping Lena up in her arms, Supergirl brings her friend to the surface. Lena falls unconscious by the time they get there, just in time for Lex to arrive and stand witness. As Kara lays her on a waiting gurney, Lex shoves her out of the way.

“Don’t touch her!” he snarls. “You did this! If she dies her blood will be on your hands!”

But as the medics wheel Lena towards the ambulance, Jack offers Supergirl a nod of gratitude.

Kara watches them go, her features inscrutable. When Alex approaches a moment later, she does so hesitantly, as though she can sense the storm brewing in her sister.

“What was all that about?” Alex asks.

Kara scowls, eyes flinty as she watches the ambulance pull away.

“We have a new problem.”

Chapter Text

Jack doesn’t leave Lena’s side for a moment. She recovers quickly, and when she finally returns home, she quietly confirms that Supergirl knows the truth. It’s small comfort though, as they still can’t speak with their new allies, or know of any plan that may be brewing across the divide. Lex doesn’t suspect a thing, especially when Lena suggests that they issue a press release condemning the vigilantes that run amok in their city.

Lena herself makes several appearances to address the images printed in the newspapers– of Supergirl lifting her from the rubble like an ascendant god.

“Supergirl saved my life that day,” Lena responds when one interviewer asks, “but the fact remains that I wouldn’t have been in danger at all if it weren’t for her. The DEO has done its best in recent years to curb the worst of her carelessness, but I fear it only made the situation worse. These vigilantes can no longer act with impunity.”

It divides the city, and to Lena’s surprise and delight, a quiet majority supports the heroes. LuthorCorp’s stocks dip, and Lex grows more and more livid with every day that passes. With his focus on the Superfriends, Lena and Jack finally have room to make a move.

“I don’t feel right about this,” Jack says. Lena is helping him pack, but she pauses at his heavy tone. Setting her shirts aside, she steps up to meet him, resting her hands against his chest.

“This is the only way,” she reminds him quietly. She reaches up to press a kiss to his lips. “I have to keep you safe.”

Resting one hand on her hip, Jack cups her cheek with the other, holding her close. “At least come with me.”

Lena shakes her head. “You know I can’t.”

“This isn’t your fight, Lena. Let Supergirl and her friends go at him–”

“It is my fight.” Lena’s voice is sure and firm. She knows what she needs to do. “It always has been.”

Pulling the trigger all those months ago only sealed her fate– she would always stand between Lex and the world. She’s the only one who can.

“Please be careful,” Jack breathes, wrapping her in a hug. “Promise me.”

Lena sighs into the embrace, resting her head against his shoulder.

“I promise.”

—

Jack leaves the following morning before the sun rises, paying cash for a flight to a location Lena doesn’t know. The apartment feels cold without him, but Lena warms herself with the knowledge that he is safely out of the line of fire. Now, she can get to work.

It doesn’t take long for Lex to corner her in her lab one night, entering on silent feet to smack Lena across the cheek when she turns around, so hard that she staggers and falls. Lex is on her in an instant.

“Where is he?” he snarls, hand gripping her hair to force her to look at him. Though his assault had been unexpected, Lena is no longer afraid.

“Out of your reach,” she says, spitting blood in his face.

Lex releases her with a shove, pacing furiously as he seethes. Lena carefully withdraws the pistol she’s kept in the pocket of her labcoat.

“And now it’s over–”

Before she can pull the trigger, Lex presses a button on his watch. Electricity courses through Lena’s body, searing pain and fire across her senses. She drops the gun as her muscles spasm, for long painful moments until Lex releases the button and the current stops.

As Lena gasps for breath, Lex leans over her with a smirk.

“Fool me once, shame on you,” he says, “fool me twice… You didn’t really think I’d let you live without having a failsafe, did you?”

He kicks the gun away from her sluggish, grasping fingers. “It was simple, really. Subcutaneous control device, administered by a single injection before you woke up.”

Lex sets his foot against Lena’s chest, slowly pressing. Lena whimpers under the building pressure, struggling to breathe. So this was how it ended.

“Oh, no, Lena,” Lex delivers, seeing the defeat in her eyes. “We’re not finished yet.”

As Lena’s vision starts to dim, rapidly losing consciousness, Lex’s voice is the last thing she hears.

“We’re only just getting started.”

Chapter Text

When a knock comes on Kara’s front door, the person she expects to see on the other side is Lena.

“Lena?” Kara tugs her inside, checking the hallway to see if she’d been followed. Lena moves stiffly under her hands, visibly uncomfortable. “I thought– where’s Jack?”

“Gone,” Lena says. Her eyes scan the room, taking in the sight of the rest of the Superfriends sitting around the coffee table, clearly in the midst of a game night. She turns back to Kara. “It was too much of a risk for him to stay, so– I sent him away.”

“But he’s safe?” Kara insists.

“As far as I’m aware.”

“That–” Kara stammers slightly, pushing her glasses up on her nose before squaring her shoulders, Supergirl taking over. “That’s good.”

“What are you doing here?” Alex demands. She’s on her feet already, distrust written clearly across her features despite Kara’s warning glare.

“I have information regarding Lex’s plans,” Lena intones. “Together, we might be able to stop him.”

Alex stares at her, not quite buying it. But Kara takes Lena’s hand eagerly. “We will stop him. We can talk–”

“Not here,” Lena cuts in swiftly. She extricates her hand from Kara’s, who understands the message loud and clear. They’re not friends.

Kara swallows thickly. “We’ll go to the Tower.”

Once there, Lena explains what she knows. “I traced Lex’s money trail to a warehouse in the desert, part of the old DEO facility. I believe he’s building a weapon.”

“Do you know where this facility is?” J'onn asks.

Lena nods. “I can give you the exact coordinates.”

“We can go there and interrupt their operations. If there is a weapon there, we’ll find it and destroy it.”

“Not you,” Lena bites out. When the others stare at her in surprise, she continues, softening. “Lex has numerous kryptonite traps at his disposal. You won’t be able to get anywhere close to it. They’ll have better success if you stay here.”

“How do you know that?” Alex asks.

Lena looks her in the eye. “Because I helped build them.”

There’s no trace of guilt anywhere in Lena’s countenance, but Kara finds herself reaching out to her anyway. “It wasn’t your fault…”

“You’ll stay here too,” Alex declares, holding Lena’s gaze. “We don’t need any loose cannons out there.”

Lena nods. “Of course.”

Though she’s effectively grounded, Kara can’t help but feel a sense of relief to finally have some time alone with Lena. Maybe, finally, they could really talk.

The rest of the group prepares and heads out, leaving Kara and Lena alone in the tower. After a few awkward minutes of silence, Kara clears her throat.

“Lena, I– I just wanted to tell you again how sorry I am. You’re my best friend, and I lied to you. I know–”

She turns away, starting to pace.

“I knew it would hurt you, to learn the truth, but every time I tried to come clean, I was just so scared–”

“Kara!”

The sharp panicked shout from behind her whirls Kara around, just in time to lift her arms against the blow from Lena’s kryptonite blade. The slash lacerates both of Kara’s forearms, burning and searing upon contact. The familiar agony swiftly spreads to engulf her whole body, but it’s the rage in Lena’s eyes that hurts more.

“Lena, what–”

Lena slashes again, this time pressing forward as Kara scrambles to put distance between them. Her surprise makes her clumsy, and Lena is swift in her determination, slipping under Kara’s guard to slip the blade between her ribs.

Kara chokes, tripping away from the blade. She goes down hard, and in an instant Lena is on top of her, straddling her chest as she draws the knife over her head and plunges the blade down towards Kara’s throat.

Kara blindly reaches for Lena’s wrists, catching just before the blade touches her skin. She can feel the proximity of the kryptonite, the heat of it burning against her skin. She pushes through the pain to look Lena in the eye, only to see a stranger glaring down at her.

“Lena… what are you doing?”

“Ridding the world of you once and for all,” Lena snarls, her face a mask of murderous rage.

“Lena, please…”

“Hold still, and I’ll make it quick.”

Lena presses more of her weight against the hilt. Her energy quickly sapped by the kryptonite and her wounds, Kara’s arms tremble to keep the blade from plunging down. But as Lena continues to push, Kara feels her center of balance shift, and in a move that would put even Alex to shame Kara rolls them both.

Lena smacks bodily into the floor, her head bouncing against the concrete upon impact, dazing her. Kara quickly moves to pin her, trapping one hand above Lena’s head. Lena’s other hand tangles in the collar of Kara’s suit, but Kara barely notices in the split second before she sees the expression in Lena’s eyes– fear.

“Lena?”

Panting for breath, Lena’s gaze darts wildly about, before landing on the blade in her hand. “Stop me,” she gasps.

Kara doesn’t hesitate. In the instant it takes Kara to cock back one fist, Lena’s face twists back into a mask of rage, her hand tightening on Kara’s collar as Lena snarls. In the next moment, Kara snaps her fist out, exerting just enough force to knock Lena unconscious.

When her friend goes limp beneath her, Kara sags. Laboriously, she flings the kryptonite away and incinerates it with a blast of heat vision. Rolling onto the floor beside Lena, Kara stares up at the ceiling, wondering what on earth she was supposed to do next.

Chapter Text

By the time the others return from the desert to report an absolute bust, Lena is secured in the infirmary and Kara has hastily wrapped her injuries in messy piles of gauze.

Alex takes one look and immediately shifts into medic mode. “What happened?”

“Lena, she– she tried to kill me,” Kara murmurs. Her gaze shifts to her friend, still unconscious where she’s strapped to a gurney. Despite what happened, all she feels in concern.

“She almost succeeded,” Alex tells her, prodding the stab wound in her side. Kara groans. “Good news is, you’re already starting to heal.”

She sets Kara on a stool and wheels over a sunlamp. When she clicks it on, Kara sags under the relief it provides.

“It wasn’t her fault,” Kara tells Alex. Alex shoots her a look, but Kara insists. “It wasn’t! She– she tried to warn me. And then–”

“You’re right,” J'onn says, pressing two fingers to his temple. “Her mind has been corrupted.”

“How?” Alex asks.

Kara scans Lena with her xray vision, and her blood runs cold when she locates two inorganic devices: one in her neck, the other at the base of her brain stem.

“Brainy–”

Kara describes the devices to the best of her ability. Brainy’s eyes alight with understanding.

“It would seem Lex has covered all his bases,” Brainy explains. “The first appears to be a small capacitor, capable of delivering an electric current. The other is an inhibitor of some kind, grafted onto her central nervous system. There would be no way for Lena to fight whatever mandate Lex installed.”

“Can we remove them?” Nia asks.

Brainy considers that for a moment. “The first would be quite simple to remove. However the inhibitor is a different story. Even assuming Lex has not rigged the device with a failsafe, attempting to remove it could render Miss Luthor comatose, or dead.”

Kara releases a shaky breath. “Then what can we do?”

“If we could deactivate the device, I could reverse whatever mandate Lex installed,” J'onn offers. “Her mind would be her own again.”

“How do we deactivate it if we can’t remove it?”

Brainy perks up. “An EMP could render the device inert. There is a chance the device could be reactivated, but doing so would require physical adjustment.”

“And I’m not going to let Lex get anywhere close to her again,” Kara declares.

J'onn nods. He looks to Brainy. “How soon can you have a device ready to deliver the EMP.”

“A few hours at most. I shall begin immediately.”

Brainy goes off, and Kara turns to Alex. “Can we keep Lena sedated until it’s ready?”

Alex eyes her. “You sure?”

Swallowing, Kara nods. Though partially driven to spare Lena the discovery of being strapped to the bed, more fervent is the need to never see the hate in Lena’s eyes again.

“Yeah.”

Alex nods. “Okay.”

—

The hours pass slowly. Kara spends them under the sunlamp, refusing to leave Lena’s side. Alex uses the time to fish the capacitor from Lena’s shoulder, and Kara fights the urge to vomit when the small device clinks to the bottom of a sterile basin.

Seeing her distress, Alex offers her a steadying smile. “She’s going to be okay.”

Kara gazes at Lena, unable to banish the apprehension coiling in her gut. “Yeah.”

When Brainy finally returns, they clear the infirmary of anything electrical. At Kara’s nod, Brainy activates the device. The wait as it beeps once, twice, three times, then falls silent.

Awkwardly, they wait for something to happen, but nothing does.

“Brainy?”

“The EMP has been delivered.”

Lena doesn’t stir. Kara looks at her sister in concern. “Alex…”

“The sedatives should wear off any minute.”

The wait in anxious silence until Lena finally begins to stir. Kara steps forward, taking Lena’s hand in hers. “Lena?”

Lena’s eyes open, rolling slightly before squinting against the overhead lights. She groans, then pries her eyes open to look at Kara.

“Kara…”

Lena breathes her name, smiling at the sight of her, her features soft and relieved. Kara studies her, and feels her heart fall.

Alex moves to unfasten Lena’s other hand.

“It didn’t work,” Kara snaps, freezing Alex in place.

“The EMP was delivered–”

Kara pegs him with a sharp glare. “It didn’t work!”

On the bed, Lena’s grin deepens to something menacing, and a giggle pours out of her. Her grip on Kara’s hand tightens, fingernails digging into Kara’s skin like claws until Kara jerkily pries herself free.

“Nice try, Supergirl,” Lena taunts. “But you can’t change the truth: you’re a menace–”

Alex silences her with a sharp jab of a syringe, administering another dose of sedative. In moments Lena is out like a light.

Thrusting the sunlamp away from her, Kara stalks to the side of the room, then paced to the other in furious agitation.

“Why didn’t it work?”

Brainy thinks for a long moment. “It’s possible the device is in fact biomechanic in nature. The nervous system is effectively one large conductor, carrying electrical impulses from the brain to the rest of the body–”

“The device could be powering itself using those impulses,” Alex jumps in, catching on quickly.

Brainy nods. “It would be impossible to power it down completely so long as though impulses are present.”

“So there’s no way to save her?” Kara asks.

Brainy tilts his head, catching Alex’s gaze. “There is a way…”

“But it would be risky,” Alex finishes.

Kara stops pacing and looks at her. “How risky?”

“If we’re right, and the device is powered in part by Lena’s own electrical impulses, then we would have to suppress those impulses long enough for the device to run out of juice, then hit it with the EMP.”

“And by suppress her electrical impulses, you mean–”

“All electrical impulses. Zero brain activity.”

Kara’s mouth goes dry. “You mean kill her.”

“Only temporarily,” Brainy points out. “As soon as the EMP is delivered, we would be able to revive her, and she will be herself again.”

Sensing Kara’s distress, J'onn places a hand on her shoulder. “It’s risky, but it may be Lena’s best chance.”

Kara takes a deep breath, her mind racing. Losing Lena this way terrifies her, but in her heart she knows the decision Lena would make if she could. She wouldn’t want to live like this– she wouldn’t want to be Lex’s puppet.

She nods.

“Let’s do it.”

—-

It takes almost an hour to prepare. Alex preps the drugs she’ll need to slow Lena’s heart, and the drugs she’ll need to restart it. She collects a crash cart as well, just in case. In lieu of more advanced technology, which they don’t have in the tower, J'onn will monitor Lena’s brain waves to determine when it’s safe to administer the EMP.

Kara can only watch it all with a lump in her throat, praying to Rao that she hasn’t made the wrong decision.

“Ready?” Alex finally asks.

Kara nods. She steps up to Lena’s bedside, taking Lena’s hand in both of hers. She watches as Alex administers the first syringe, listening as Lena’s heartbeat begins to slow. She prays silently as the thumps comes farther and fewer between, then cease entirely. Looking at J'onn, she waits with tears in her eyes as the seconds tick by.

“J'onn…”

“Not yet…”

Dread pours through Kara, filling her swiftly and completely. She shakes her head. “It’s been too long. Alex…”

“Kara, wait–”

“Alex!”

“Now!” J'onn shouts. Brainy activates his device. The thing beeps slowly– once, twice, three times.

Then

“The EMP has been delivered.”

Alex surges into action. With sure, swift movements she uncaps the second syringe and plunges it into Lena’s chest. Without waiting, she vaults onto the gurney, straddling Lena to begin delivering chest compressions.

“Alex…”

“We just have to keep her blood moving until the drugs kick in,” Alex pants. Counting softly, she shoots a look to Nia. “Nia, rescue breaths, now.”

Nia obeys without hesitation. Kara’s tears spill over as she watches them work on Lena, unable to do anything more than stand idly by. As the minutes pass, Kara feels her hope dwindle.

“Brainy, the crash cart,” Alex barks finally. She climbs off the stretcher while Nia breathes air into Lena’s lungs. Brainy wheels the crash cart closer.

“Kara, let go.”

“Alex–”

“Let go!”

Kara steps back, and Alex presses the paddles against Lena’s torso. “Clear!”

Lena’s body spasms as the current courses through her, only to fall limp when it stops. Alex presses two fingers to Lena’s neck, seaeching for a pulse. Delivering another round of compressions, she then waits for Nia to perform the rescue breathing before shocking Lena again.

“Clear!”

Lena spasms again, and Kara has to turn away, covering her sobs with one hand. For a long moment, there’s nothing but heavy silence before Alex calls out.

“I’ve got a pulse!”

Chapter Text

Lena doesn’t wake for three days. Kara stays with her, watching for any sign of life beyond the steady beep of the heart monitor. She’s almost when she hears a rustle against the sheets, and bolts upright when she opens her eyes to see Lena’s head turning towards her against the pillow.

“Lena? Can you hear me?”

“Kara…”

Lena’s gaze is blurry, struggling to focus on Kara. Kara takes her hand, doing her best to ignore the straps still buckled around it.

“It’s okay, Lena, I’m here.”

Blinking, Lena’s eyes clear a little, and Kara’s heart soars when she sees confusion rather than the cold, cruel regard she’d last seen. It had worked. She knows it in her bones.

Kara fumbles to unfasten the buckle on the strap, only to jump when Lena stiffens and pulls away.

“Don’t,” Lena says, her voice suddenly sharp. Kara looks up, only to find fear looking back. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Reaching for Lena’s hand again, Kara doesn’t let her pull away. “It’s okay. The device is inert. It can’t control you anymore.”

Lena’s breath hitches in her chest, her eyes filling with tears. “I hurt you…”

“I’m okay,” Kara promises.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” Lena begins to cry.

Kara leans down, pressing her forehead to Lena’s in comfort. “It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault. There’s nothing to apologize for.”

What Kara doesn’t give voice to are her own apologies. For not telling her the truth sooner, for letting Lex rewrite the universe, for not pressing harder when Lena banished her from LuthorCorp. She should have tried harder. She shouldn’t have let Lena go through this alone.

When Lena’s tears finally subside, Kara pulls back to begin unfastening the restraints. Lena lets her this time, taking a moment to look around the unfamiliar room. “Where– where’s Jack?”

Panic jabs suddenly through Kara’s chest. “You– you said he was gone,” she stammers. “He left…”

Lena pauses, then slumps in relief. “He did. He left– that was true. It was the only way I could confront Lex.”

Kara breaths a quiet sigh. At least Jack was safe.

“We’ll stop him,” Kara tells her. “We’re going to stop Lex, I promise.”

Lena looks at her, unable to keep the hopelessnes from her features. Kara takes her hand again.

“We’ll stop him together.”

Finally, Lena nods.

“Together.”

—

When the confrontation with Lex finally happens, Kara and the rest of the Superfriends face him alone, buying Lena time to finish a lexosuit of her own. Only Kara can go head to head with him– the rest of them handle the goons on the ground.

Only Kara can keep up with Lex, but the modifications to her suit to protect her from his kryptonite only lasts so long before the device ultimately fails. The Kryptonite saps her strength, making her sluggish even as she struggles to fight through the pain.

When Lex finally grabs her by cape and flings her to the roof of LuthorCorp, Kara struggles to rise again. She can’t. Lex steps on her back, pushing her to the cracked rooftop.

“You and your cousin are too late,” he says. “Earth already has its hero– me.”

Kara hears his weapon charge, but when the whine terminates in an explosion of sound, the weight suddenly disappears from Kara’s back. She looks up to see that Lena has finally joined the fray, hovering in her own mechasuit.

Lena sets down and helps Kara to her feet, her helmet retracting to reveal features dark with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Kara pants, staggering slightly. Lena helps to steady her. They turn to face Lex as he too rises, wiping blood from his chin. He glares at his sister.

“So you did survive,” he remarks. “I had wondered what they did with you.”

“You failed, Lex,” Lena returns, her voice steady. “And you’ll fail now.”

Lex’s features twist into a scowl. “We’ll just see about that.”

He fires a burst of kryptonite from his blasters, forcing them to duck and cover as he flies off. Lena takes the blast on her shield, but grounds Kara with a hand on her shoulder before the hero to soar after him.

“The others need help,” Lena says. “Go.”

Kara catches her armored wrist. “Lena…”

“Go.” Lena offers a reassuring smile. “I’ve got this.”

Kara wants to protest. She wants to gather Lena up and ferry her down to street level as well. She wants to be the one to take Lex down– Lena shouldn’t have to do it a second time.

But Kara feels her weakness keenly, and knows shes on the verge of a solar flare. She doesn’t have the strength to succeed where she knows Lena will.

She nods.

“Be careful.”

Lena’s faceplate descends with a clank, shielding her face from view before she launches into the air and goes after Lex. Kara returns to her friends, determined to help as many as she can, even as her heart weighs heavy.

Lena is on her own.

—

Lena pulls up her hud, tracing Lex’s energy signature through the city. She’s so focused that she doesn’t notice the trail curling back on itself until something collides with her from behind. Sensors wailing, Lena tumbles out of control, spinning dizzingly for long moments before her reserve thrusters engage to course correct.

Lex doesn’t wait for the world to stop spinning. He blasts her with another burst of kryptonite, then fires a rocket that explodes against her shoulder. The armor holds up but Lena’s control of the suit slips as she spins out to collide with a building. Punching through the glass windows, the collision proves to be the reprieve she needs.

When Lex comes looking for her, Lena explodes out of the building, wrapping her arms around Lex bodily. He has better control, having piloted the suit multiple times before, but Lena’s got the edge in structural integrity. His attempts to grapple his way out of her grip scrapes off her hull– she returns each blow by searching for the weaknesses in his suit, tugging at punctures and joints even as they climb higher and higher.

Finally, Lena’s armored fingers close on something important. When she yanks, Lex’s boot thrusters sputter out. In her moment of victory, Lex elbows her in the side of the head. Her grip slips, and he slides out of her grasp.

She expects him to flee– to retreat to a safe distance and fire another rocket. Instead, he cocks his fist back and lunges towards her. There’s a squeal of metal shearing, and then all Lena can feel is a sharp burning in her abdomen.

Lex tugs his arm free with another squeal of metal, withdrawing the blade that’s just pierced through Lena’s armor. The blade pulses green with kryptonite, but Lena’s greatee concern is the oxygen leaking from her suit in the high atmo, and the blood swiftly soaking through her gambeson.

“I always win, Lena,” Lex calls, his voice tinny over the comms channel. “You might as well accept it.”

“Not this time,” Lena grunts out. Her vision threatens to start spinning again, though her readouts confirm she’s hovering steadily. She knows she doesn’t have long.

“Then you’ll die,” Lex snarls.

He jets towards her using the pulse thrusters in the palms of his gauntlets. Lena dodges the thrust of his blade, again hooking her arms around his waist. Without hesitation, she engages every rocket she has and aims towards the ground.

Time to finish this.

—

Kara hears the roar of imminent collision mere seconds before it hits. When she looks up, she sees a glimpse of two armored suits interlocked mere moments before both slam into the ground. The earth shakes with the impact, and a cloud of dust rises thick and heavy from the cratered earth of the impact site.

“LENA!”

Kara charges towards the crater, moving against the flow of fleeing citizens. Her strength all but gone, she coughs heavily, pausing at the rim of the crater to peer through the dust. All she can see is a deep shadow at the center of the crater, and she pelts towards it without a second thought.

“Lena!”

The shadow she sees resolves itself to be a mess of fractured pavement. Struggling to move them aside, she catches sight of Lena’s armor.

“Lena!”

Sparks fly as Kara desperately heaves the heavy exosuit into her arms, levering Lena out of the pit and onto a slab of broken pavement. The mangled mess of Lex’s own lexosuit remains where it is, unmoving.

“Lena, Lena please…” Kara’s fingers scrabble under the chin the of the face plate, searching for the release. When she finds it, she presses it twice, prompting the entire suit to disengage. As each panel separates, Kara pulls them apart, flinging them aside until Lena is fully exposed.

Through the dust, Kara sees the stain of blood on Lena’s side. Her blood runs cold.

“No…”

“Lena!” A new voice shouts from behind them. Kara hears the scrape of shoes against the rubble as someone climbs down to join them. She doesn’t realize it’s Jack Spheer until he falls to his knees beside Lena. “Lena!”

“Jack…” Kara blinks at him, stunned to see him. Lena had said he’d left, but the sweat and blood and grime on his face told a different story. He was here, in National City.

“Is she breathing?” Jack asks. Kara is too slow to respond. “Is she breathing!”

“I-I don’t know.”

Jack leans in close, listening for any sounds of life. When he presses his ear to Lena’s chest, he pulls away in relief. “Her heart is beating. She’s alive– Lena! Lena, sweetheart, can you hear me?”

He cups Lena’s cheeks with both hands, not quite daring to move her. Beneath Kara’s hands, Lena twitches.

“Jack…?” comes the faint murmur. Jack gasps a shuddering sob.

“I’m here,” he says, kissing her forehead in blatant relief. “Lena, I’m here…”

“S'posed… t'go away…”

“I couldn’t–”

“How touching.”

The rubble shifts at the bottom of the crater. Lex staggers into view, eyes bloodshot and glinting with deranged menace.

Kara stands to face him, stepping between him and the others. “It’s over, Lex. Even if you win here today, your reputation is ruined. Everyone knows who and what you truly are. Surrender yourself, and I promise you’ll get a fair trial.”

“It’s not over until I say it is!” Lex bellows. His armor is broken and mangled, yet somehow functional enough that he’s able to prime his plasma cannon. “If I’m going down, then I’m taking you with–”

Before he can finish, a pulse of bright hot energy sears past Kara’s sense to detonate against Lex’s chest plate. The explosion that follows blasts Lex off his feet, throwing him back a dozen yards before he skids to a stop with a singed, smoking hole in his chest.

Kara doesn’t need to listen for a heartbeat to know that he’s dead.

She turns, and finds Lena with her own plasma cannon outstretched, her aim guided by Jack’s hands. When the cannon retracts, Jack rips the guantlet off, tangling his fingers with Lena’s.

“Nice shot,” Kara tells them both. Jack barely glances at her. Kara looks at Lena, meeting her bleary, exhausted gaze. “It’s over.”

Lena nods. Her eyes close, her relief plain to see. Kara takes her free hand, offering a gentle squeeze. Lena squeezes back.

They did it.

Chapter Text

Lena’s kamikaze descent to earth results in several broken bones, but it’s the stab wound that causes the doctors the most concern. They admit her for several days, and in that time Jack never once leaves the building. Kara comes and goes as Supergirl is needed, but Jack remains, waiting patiently through Lena’s surgery before finally being allowed to join her in a private room.

Kara is grateful for his presence, glad that Lena has someone who cares so deeply for her. And he does– Kara can see it in the lines of his face, and in his eyes when he gazes at Lena while she sleeps off the sedation.

She never got the chance to know Jack Spheer before he died, and she finds herself grateful for the chance to truly meet the man Lena had cared so much for.

“Lena said you’d left National City,” Kara says one afternoon when she comes to visit.

Jack nods. “That was the plan. But as soon as I got to the airport I knew it was the wrong decision. I couldn’t leave her.”

Kara’s response stills on her lips when Lena stirs, rousing from her nap. She instead leans forward, reaching for Lena’s hand. “Hey…”

Lena focused on her, then smiles. “Hey. You okay?”

“Says the woman in the hospital bed,” Jack quips, already in possession of Lena’s other hand. Lena turns her head to face him, and her smiles softens.

“Hey,” Lena whispers. Her eyes warm, crinkling at the corners. “You’re here.”

“Yeah,” Jack echoes, his voice cracking. “Not even wild, megalomaniacal horses could keep me away.”

Lena huffs a laugh, her eyes closing for a long moment before turning to Kara. “You–”

“Time for a dressing change!” chirps the nurse as she enters, wheeling a cart in behind her. “You both know the drill.”

Kara and Jack both rise from their seats, preparing to give them the room. They wait outside as the nurse gets to work, and it’s not long before Jack catches Kara staring at him from the corner of her eye.

“Sorry,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It’s just–”

“Lena told me, about what happened,” Jack returns. “The multiverse, Beth Breen, everything. Must be pretty strange, seeing me back from the dead.”

Kara nods. “A little,” she says sheepishly. “In a good way, though?”

Jack grins good naturedly, and Kara can’t help but think that Lena was right– he really was a charmer.

“What are you going to do next?” Kara asks. Having a new lease on life could be exciting for someone like Jack, with the money and incentive to do whatever he wants.

But Jack’s gaze turns thoughtful as he tucks his hands in his pockets. His shoulders lift in a small shrug.

“From what Lena’s told me, the first time around I didn’t follow her when she first moved to National City.” Jack scoffs incredulously at himself. “I can scarcely fathom it, but… that’s the life Lena knows.”

Kara’s heart lurches in her chest. With Lena’s memories in tact, she didn’t remember anything that happened in this new reality Lex created. Would Jack miss the Lena he knew and loved? Would he mourn her when he looked at who Lena is now?

“I think…” Jack continues thoughtfully, “I think I’d like to show her a world where someone did choose her, over everything else.”

Tears lift to Kara’s eyes, partially out of guilt, partially from sudden gratitude. She nods, swallowing thickly.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Chapter Text

In the months that follow, Lena makes a complete recovery, and resumes her rightful place at LuthorCorp. This time, the rebranding process is punctuated not by restless nights spent alone in her office, but curled up on the couch with Jack. He remains a stolid presence at her side, with Spheerical Industries among the first to partner with the newly branded L-Corp. Together, they help rebuild the city alongside its heroes.

Six months later Lena is honored by the city, with a charity gala thrown in her name to benefit an organization of her choice. Cameras flash when Jack helps Lena exit the limosine.

Together they make a striking couple, he in a dapper brocade tux and she in a dress that hangs long and fluid against her skin. She still bears the scars of her fight with Lex, both visible and not, but all anyone can see– all Kara can see– is her radiant happiness as she smiles and greets the crowd.

When Supergirl drops in to make an appearance, Lena’s smile somehow broadens. She sweeps Kara into a hug, eschewing any professional boundaries they’d previously maintained in the public eye.

“Congratulations,” Kara murmurs. She pulls back to look Lena in the eye. “You deserve this.”

“I couldn’t have done it– any of it– without you,” Lena counters. Her hands grasp Kara’s gently. “You believed in me from the very beginning.”

Kara nods. It’s taken a long time to heal from the fallout of her secret, and longer still for Lena to believe that their friendship until then hadn’t been a ruse. But they’ve come back together, both publicly and privately, and Kara knows she’ll never take their friendship for granted again.

“Always,” she promises. She looks to Jack, meeting his gaze with a solemn nod. “Both of you.”

“You still on for dinner on Friday?” Jack asks. “I’ve got a new recipe I’ve been keeping in reserve I think you’ll like.”

The fact Jack could cook had come as a surprise. Kara had assumed he would be as preoccupied as Lena, too busy to do anything more than order take out from the swanky restaurants around the city. But having already experienced the spoils of his labor, Kara beams with anticipation.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” she promises. “And game night next week?”

“We’ll be there,” Jack confirms.

They’d both seamlessly integrated into the Superfriends game nights. Jack proved to be personable with everyone he met, and it wasn’t long before he and Brainy had struck an unlikely bond. And Lena… Lena should have been included long ago, Kara now realizes. She belonged with them, in every way that matters.

“Have a good time tonight,” Kara told them both. She looks to Lena. “Save me a dance?”

“Sorry, Supergirl, I’m afraid my dance card is already quite full,” Jack quips with a grin, earning a light smack on the arm from Lena.

“Don’t be a stranger, Supergirl,” she says warmly. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

“Tonight is your night,” Kara reminds her. “Embrace it.”

Lena smiles, leaning into Jack with a happy, exasperated sigh. Jack wraps an arm around her shoulders.

“Congratulations, Lena. I mean it.”

Lena’s smile softens. “Thank you,” she says quietly.

When Supergirl launches back into the air, her heart is full. She has her friend, her family. Lena has Jack in her life, a continuous source of love and adoration. For all that they had been through, all it had taken to get them to here…

Kara wouldn’t change it for the world.