Chapter 6
“Lena? Can you open your eyes for me?”
Lena had a vague idea that Alex was talking to her, but her voice seemed so far away that it might as well have been a dream.
“Lena, come on. Open your eyes.”
Lena sighed and did as she was told. It was harder than expected. Her eyelids were heavy like they had weights attached to them.
She blinked a few times until the light stopped being to bright.
“Lena? Can you look at my finger and follow it?”
Really? That’s what you woke me up for?
Lena sighed again and followed Alex’s index finger from left to right.
“Very good.”
“I …”
She forgot what she was going to say halfway through, but nodded when Alex held cup of water to her lips and asked if she wanted to drink.
Somehow her throat burned.
“I had to intubate you. Your oxygen levels took a sudden dive. But you’re fine now. We found the cure to the virus and you’re body’s getting rid of the thing as we speak.”
“Kara?”
“I’m here, Lena!”
Kara appeared behind Alex and took hold of her hand.
“Rao, I’m so glad to see you awake.”
Lena was glad as well, but there was something on her mind. Something she thought she should ask, but she didn’t quite know what it was. Her brain was too foggy.
“I love you”, she said instead and saw Kara’s eyes widen.
“Should have told you … earlier”, she managed to add and was almost proud of her eloquence.
“I love you, too”, she heard Kara say, but her eyes were already closed again and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
—
A groan woke Sam from her nap. She opened her eyes and saw that Lena was twisting in her bed. Her hands reaching for something that wasn’t there.
Sam was up before she could think about it. The room was spinning a little when her feet reached the ground, but she could manage the way to the chair next to Lena’s bed. She reached out and took her hand.
Lena’s eyes flew open and Sam smiled.
“Hi there. Sorry, it’s just me. Kara is out with Alex, doing Supergirl stuff, I guess. … How are you feeling?”
“Groggy”, Lena said and remembered that there was something she had wanted to ask earlier. Something substantial.
“What happened”, she finally said, hoping that Sam would understand the implications.
“Your brother lied. The virus was contagious. Luckily I found out before I keeled over and we were able to arrest him.”
“You were sick?”
“Only a little.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Alex took his blood and found a cure, so everything is peachy.”
“He had antibodies.”
“Yes.”
“Is he …”
“He’s in a cell somewhere.”
“Kara … did she …”
“I promised I wouldn’t let her kill him, remember?”
“Thank you.”
Lena squeezed Sam’s hand.
“I’m not sure I would have survived this without you.”
“Yeah, just remember that when Christmas is coming up.” Sam laughed.
“So you’re staying?” Lena sank deeper into her pillow.
“Yes. At least for a while. … There’s something I have to figure out.”
“And what might that be?”
Lena seemed tired, but she still had them focused on Sam.
“Alex and I ...”
“Oh?”
“We’ve known each other. From before I … died.
“You mean before my brother shot you.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry about that, too, by the way.”
“It’s not like you pulled the trigger.”
“I still feel like I should have stopped him somehow.”
“I distinctly remember hearing him shouting something about you shooting him.”
“Yes. That was … unpleasant.”
Sam chuckled.
“Why don’t you tell me all about that over a glass of very expensive whiskey?”
Lena grinned.
“I really think we’re going to be very good friends.”
—
“Mind wiping?” Lena looked from J’onn to Kara.
“Yes. J’onn did it with Alex last year when Colonel Haley was hell-bent on finding out Supergirl’s identity.”
“You forgot that your sister was Supergirl?” Lena seemed perplexed when she looked at Alex, but then she nodded. “That explains why you were so convincingly annoyed with her.”
“Lena, I’m really sorry …”
“It’s okay, Alex. I’ll need some time to wrap my mind around all of that. And we’ll talk about it. But not right now, okay?”
“Of course.”
Lena looked at J’onn.
“So, when you say ‘mind wiping’ … what exactly do you mean?”
“I can wipe out the negative memories he has surrounding Superman and replace them with something mundane. … I can also keep him from hurting others.”
“You can?” Kara looked up.
“Well, it’s not easy and it is certainly not something one should attempt lightly, but I think it can be done.”
“But what good would it do?”
They all turned around to look at Sam.
“The world knows what Lex Luthor has done. You can’t get rid of everbody’s memories of him just so you can keep the new, improved, non-homicidal version of Lex running around free.”
“We won’t set him free. He has earned every day in prison he was sentenced to”, Lena said. “But maybe, if he was a little less his charming, homicidal self, he would see no point in breaking out again. Maybe he would actually understand the damage he has done and accept the consequences.”
“But we’d do it against his will …”
“Well, I shot him and I was pretty sure that I actually killed him, so how bad is mind wiping him really?”
Sam quirked an eyebrow at her.
“So either we leave him the way he is and keep him locked up here or J’onn messes with his mind and when he’s all bunnies, rainbows and butterflies we ship him back to Stryker’s?”
“Yes.”
Sam sighed. “Maybe you should just flip a coin.”
“He would be your brother again.” Kara looked at Lena. “The one from before. You would still know what he has done, but he would be there and you would be able to talk to him.”
“Yes.” Lena’s voice was very low.
Kara took Lena’s hand in hers. “Maybe that is something to consider.”