Chapter 5
Sam wasn’t sure how exactly she ended up in the DEO med bay. She must have passed out at some point.
She felt groggy, like waking up from a really bad hangover with the additional feeling of having run three marathons back to back. When she lifted her head ever so slightly she saw Lena on the other bed. She seemed to be sleeping soundly. No tube or oxygen mask.
Good, Sam thought. That’s good.
“Sam?”
Alex must have a stealth mode or a superpower to be able to just appear close to Sam without her anticipating it. She stood at the foot of the bed and looked at her like she was waiting for something.
Sam sighed.
“Mhm”, was all she could come up with. Maybe her brain had been scrambled by the virus. Either that or she was just dead tired.
“How are you feeling?”
Alex came closer and sat down on the side of the bed. The closeness of her brought up memories. Pleasant ones.
“Tired.”
Alex smiled.
“What else? A headache?”
Sam nodded. Big mistake.
“Yes. Like Phil Collins is playing the drum solo of ‘In the air tonight’.”
“That’s oddly specific.” Alex chuckled.
“How are we doing?”
Alex looked around the room. “We were lucky. And just in time. You were right about Lex. I was able to find a cure. Nothing the FDA would approve of, given the fact that I had no chance to test it, but when we came back Lena was in a really bad state. So I had to risk it.”
“I’ll blame you when I develop a second head as an after-effect.” Sam smiled. “So, how is Lena?”
“I took the tube out an hour ago. She hasn’t woken up yet, but her vitals are improving steadily. My professional opinion is that she’ll be fine. Considering that her brother used her as a human carrier of some kind of plague …” She looked at Sam. “She was lucky that you were there.”
“I could have caught on a little earlier.”
“You caught on fast enough.”
Sam nodded. Again. Big mistake.
“Where is your sister?”
“She’s having a talk with Lex.”
Sam sat up and groaned.
“You left her alone with him?”
Alex’s hands found their way to her shoulders and gently pushed her back down.
“No, I did not. J’onn is with her.”
Sam sighed.
“What’s going to happen to Lex? You know that if you get him back to prison he will just escape again, right?”
“I know.”
“Alex …”
“I won’t let you kill him, Sam. I can’t … I can’t let you do that. I can’t … lose you again.” Alex bit her lip.
“What?”
“You heard me. … When we met. Last year … There was something between us, wasn’t there?”
“Yes.” Sam hated how much her answer sounded like a whisper.
“I liked you. No, I like you. … When I got the call … when they told me you were gone … I mourned. I felt like a part of me had died. And I know that we didn’t spend that much time together, but it just felt … right … at least to me.”
Alex wiped a tear from her eye.
“I don’t want to scare you. I just need to get this out, okay? I like you. And I don’t want you to kill that bastard, because I want you to hang around. I don’t want to have to hunt you down for murder or visit you in prison. I want you here.”
Sam took a deep breath.
“Wow … I …”
“You don’t have to say anything. I probably embarrassed myself here. I’m sorry.” Alex got up and was about to go, but Sam caught her hand.
“Can I say something?”
“Yes?”
“I would like to … hang around. And I’m tired of running and chasing Lex. Put him back in prison for all I care. If he breaks out I can still shoot him.”
She sat up a little and pulled Alex closer. “So, if you’ll have me … I would like to stay and spend some time with you. Get to know you again. … Maybe we shouldn’t continue exactly where we left off …”
Alex grinned. “You remember where we left off?”
“Oh, I definitely remember where we left off. It was … memorable. … But maybe we can start a little more PG–13. Maybe this would be okay?”
She pulled Alex down and gently kissed her lips.
Alex hummed. “Hm, that would be a good start, I guess.”
The fingers of Sam’s free hand found the back of Alex’s neck. She kissed her again.
“Oh, I definitely remember now.”
“Excuse me? Director Danvers?”
Alex almost jumped when Brainy cleared his throat, while Sam silently chuckled.
“Yes?”
“Ahm, J’onn and Supergirl asked for you to join them in the conference room. … If you’re free that is.”
“I’m free!”
“Are you”, Sam asked and Alex blushed when she saw her smirk.
“We will talk about this later”, she answered and – with a smile – she retreated.
—
“Alex, we need to talk about …” Kara stopped and frowned. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Why”, Alex answered with a kind of breathlessness that suggested otherwise.
“You look … flushed.”
“I do not.”
“And you’re voice has a higher pitch.” Kara stared at her.
“Oh, Rao! You kissed Sam!”
“What? I …” Alex bit her lip. “Yes. Yes, I did.” She was well aware that she sounded giggly and she saw J’onn frown at her. “But this is not important now. We have other things to deal with.”
“Exactly. Lex Luthor.” Kara nodded, her mind still clearly on another topic.
J’onn cleared his throat.
“Can we focus? Please? We have Lex in a cell and we have to decide how to proceed.”
“Have you given him the antidote?” Alex looked at him.
“Yes. And it worked.”
“You sound like you weren’t sure it would.”
“Well”, he said, “to be honest I wasn’t sure if Agent Arias even had a functional antidote.”
“Fair enough, I guess”, Alex answered and sat down on one of the chairs. “But what are we going to do now? Putting him back into prison seems to be only a temporary solution given the fact that he always manages to get back out.”
“What are you suggesting”, J’onn asked. “That we keep him here? He’s human.”
“That’s debatable,” Kara shot back.
Alex shrugged. “I mean, he has been sentenced to life in prison anyway.”
“I’m not sure you have the authority to keep him here.” J’onn sat down. “But there might be another way to contain the problem.”
“J’onn?” Kara looked at him. “What are you saying?”
“He wants to change his mind. … Like …. literally.” Alex stared at him. “Is that even something you can do?”
“I can make him forget.”
“Forget what? That he hates Superman?”
“Yes. I can make him forget why he chose the path he’s on.”
“J’onn, he’s a sociopath. Do you really think that would change the outcome? And isn’t changing his memories even worse than keeping him in cellblock D?”
“It’s not our decision.”
“What?” Alex looked at Kara.
“He’s Lena’s brother. If it was up to Sam and me he would end up somewhere he would never see the sun again. … Oh, don’t look at me like that, Alex. If he had succeeded in killing Sam you wouldn’t think twice about sending him to the phantom zone.”
“Probably not.”
“But he is Lena’s brother. And she should have a say in this.”
“You expect her to sentence her own brother?”
“No. I want her to be able to say what she thinks about this and then we will come up with an answer together”, Kara said. “ …. She shot him once before, you know?”
“She what?!”
“Lex said something like that … It’s not like we had the time to discuss it.”
“Oh man, this really is a mess.” Alex sighed and put her head in her hands. “I feel like I haven’t slept in a week. And I’m in desperate need of a shower. And a beer or two. All of that. In no particular order.”
“Tell me about it.“ Kara fell into the chair next to her. “And I can’t even remember the last time I’ve eaten.”
J’onn looked from one to the other and suddenly he started to laugh.
“How about we adjourn this meeting until your needs are met? It’s not like Mr. Luthor is going anywhere.”