Back to the Right Future

“Two years ago?” Lena reiterates in disbelief. “How could-, but then that means…” She staggers out as she tries to comprehend the gravity of the situation and what this specific moment means for their relationship. What every moment they’ve shared over the past few days has meant for Lura, her daughter. “Two years is–”

“–An unbearably, fuckinglong time without you, Mom.” Lura anguished. Her tone laced with a disdain that is very evidently aimed at the cruel passage of time.

And Lena can’t stand it. She can’t stand the pain in the younger girl’s voice. She can’t stand the desperation in those sapphire eyes, tears overflowing like water off the edge of an infinity pool. Only there’s no drainage basin to catch her tears… but there is her mother’s hands, of course.

And in an instant, faster than Kara can fly and even Barry can run, Lena reaches out to grab her daughter’s face and wipe away her tears with the pads of her thumbs as she pulls the girl into her. With their foreheads pressed together and Lura clutching onto Lena’s forearms with a strength they both know will bruise by morning, Lena whispers apology after apology for something no other deceased parent will ever have the chance to.

“I’m sorry.” She gasps. “I’m so sorry for leaving you for so long, baby.” Her voice cracks on the pet name that comes so instinctually to her now. “You should never have had to go through that at such a young age.” She says as she shakes her head against Lura’s, trying her best to hold back her tears but failing miserably. “I’m sorry I left you, angel. I’m sorry-, I’m so, so sorry.”

And Lura can’t stand it. She can’t stand that her mom is apologizing for something that she should be apologizing for herself. Afterall it’s all her fault. At least that’s what she thinks and has thought since the moment Lena’s body turned to ash in her arms.  Her hands like a sieve, sifting through the ash, unable to find purchase on what remained of her mother.  

“Don’t,” She cries out as she pulls her mother closer to her. “Mom!” Her voice cracks with a sharpness one can liken to a dog who’s paw had been stepped on. She moves her arms over Lena’s shoulders, embracing her tighter than she knows she should, and cries into Lena’s neck. She has so much she wants to say but so much she can’t because she just can’t stomach it. So she just says the one thing she’s been dying to say (if the stars above ever did decide to grant the wish she whispers before bed every night). 

“I love you, mom. I love you, I love you, I love you.” She cries out ardently. “I’ve missed you so much.” She tries to catch her breath but can’t. She whimpers, “So, so much, mommy.” 

And then they both can’t stand it. Literally. Their knees begin to buckle under the weight of both each other and the world. As they begin to collapse to the ground they are suddenly embraced by strong Kryptonian arms, wrapping around them, holding them steady. For a moment Kara wonders if she’s misstepped and included herself in a private moment that should only be shared between family. However, her unease is quickly put to rest when both Luthors wrap an arm around the blonde Kryptonian, squeezing her just as tightly as they’re squeezing each other. It comes so naturally to the three of them, as if they’ve held each other like this before, through the bad and the good. It just feels so right. Like it’s where they’ve always belonged.

Kara, remembering they’re not the only ones in the room, looks around to the others and with a silent understanding they leave. Kara tries her best to soothe both crying women who have such an inexplicable vice grip on her heart. She presses kisses into both of their heads and rubs her thumbs placatingly over their skin where her hand makes contact; gently over Lura’s shoulder and tenderly over Lena’s hip. She tries to be strong for the both of them but she’s just as much of a mess as the two broken Luthors in her arms.

:::

After giving the trio some time (quite a bit of time) Alex enters the room to find the three of them seated on the couch, huddled together. Their faces are blotched red as Lura and Kara blow their noses, while Lena blots away the remaining mascara that streaks the apple of her cheeks. Alex clears her throat so as to make her presence known.

“Sorry, I know it’s been a helluva day but we really need to talk.” She says with as much sympathy in her voice as she can.

Kara sighs, “Alex, not now.”

“I understand.” Alex says as she raises her hands in a placating manner. “I know now isn’t ideal–”

“--Alex.” Kara says more determinedly but is quickly silenced by Lura’s hand on her thigh.

“It’s okay, let her talk.” 

Alex purses her lips and bites the inside of her cheek as she looks at Lura appreciatively. 

“I know this is all a lot right now, especially for you Lena but this, this Nemesis is still out there and we don’t know why he’s here now or how to stop him.” Lena and Kara both glance at Lura, who is seated in between them. Alex takes a deep breath, as if she doesn’t want to say what she is about to but has to anyway. “We need to know what happened in the future. Just how bad is it so we know what we’re dealing with and how he–'' She cuts herself off and hangs her head in defeat, or perhaps sorrow. Lura knows what Alex was about to say though.

“--How he killed my mom?” She says it so quietly Kara is surprised Alex even heard her. But by the redhead’s gentle nod she knows that she did.

Kara regards Lura briefly before resting a reassuring hand on her forearm and saying, “You don’t have to, not if you’re not ready.” Lura smiles appreciatively at the older Kryptonian and replies, “It’s okay. You deserve to know.” She says as she looks around at all of them, eyes landing on Lena’s last. Lena squeezes her hand in reassurance as Alex moves to get the others.

Once everyone is back Lura begins to tell them everything she knows. Everything about Nemesis and what he did, that is. Not about the other half of her lineage and the real reason as to why he was hunting her in the first place. She tells them everything that she can and hopes that it’s good enough for now.

“He first showed up two and half years ago. Made a big stink of it too. He terrorized the Young Aliens United Association, it’s like the YMCA but for aliens, obviously. They were celebrating their tenth year being open and had the local news stations and CatCo there, all reporting on the continued success of it all when suddenly the roof of the gymnasium caved in. They were playing SkyBall.” She says as she shakes her head, willing her voice to be strong. “I used to play there all the time with Esme and Jeremiah…” She quickly glances at Alex before continuing, “They’re my, uh, friends from school.” She looks down at her hands as she twists them in her lap, much like Lena does when she’s nervous or uncomfortable. 

“We were all there that day.” She takes a moment to compose herself and take a deep breath before continuing. “Essy, me, and Jeremiah were in the pool playing Marco Polo with some Pleadians we had just met, when we heard it. We thought it was some kind of explosion and I guess it was. And then-” She stops talking and her eyes blur with tears once again. Lena rubs her hand in soothing circles on Lura’s back while Kara gently squeezes the girl’s knee in support. “Then we heard the screams.” She bows her head as her tears fall, quickly wiping them away.

“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s too–” Lena insists this time but Lura again ensures them it’s okay.

“We’d never heard screams like that before. We looked up at you guys and I saw the look on your face, mom…” Lura looks at Lena. “I knew it was bad. Really, really bad. And before any of us could move, you” She looks at Kara “looked at mom, told her to grab us and get the hell out, and then you were gone. Headed right towards where everyone else was running from.”  Kara simply squeezes Lura’s leg tighter.

“They were kids. They were just playing, having fun…” She chokes on the last word. “The news said it was a bloodbath” Almost all of them gasp except for Brainy, Lena, and J’onn who are all too familiar with the sadistic nature of the atrocities only the truly wicked could commit. “But they were wrong. It was more like…like some fucked up game of Ring Around the Rosie an–and Freeze Tag. Everywhere you looked was either piles of ashes where children and parents were just standing, or petrified corpses frozen in fear. ”

“He was going after the ones that looked the most different from humans. Incinerating them without a second thought. Even before he gave his disgusting speech we could tell what he was doing, who he was really after. Those who were petrified, the ones that looked the most human, he said served as a reminder to show humility before their creators.” She shakes her head in disgust but pushes on. 

“Kara and J’onn were grabbing as many kids as they could, flying everyone out of the building and to safety. You were both moving so fast, I’ve never seen either of you move that fast.” Kara inhales sharply and looks towards Alex who clenches her jaw. Well I guess the cat’s out of the bag, she knows Kara is Supergirl. 

“Me, Essy, and Jeremiah were running out of the building with mom and all of you” She looks to Kelly, Nia, and Alex “Behind us shouting at us to run while trying to grab whoever you guys could that needed help.”

“Uncle Brainy you were already trying to fight him but he was too strong and you just kept missing the attacks from his staff, he almost incinerated you a couple times before Uncle J’onn or Supergirl could come help. You guys were trying everything but it just wasn’t enough. You took hit after hit, barely missing each blow of his lance when suddenly he flew up through where the roof once was and landed right in front of the camera crews. You guys ran out after him, battered and bruised, ready to fight even though you couldn’t because your powers had been blown.” She shakes her head again remembering how beaten up her Jeju and uncles looked. She feels the bile rising in her throat as she tries to repress the bloody images. 

“And then he introduced himself to the world, cameras rolling. He said his name was Nemesis, the Greek god of retribution. That he had been sent here to enact said retribution against those who succumb to hubris, arrogance before the gods.” Her lips curl over her teeth as she spits out that last part in a poor imitation of his hauntingly deep voice drenched in vitriol. 

“And that meant aliens because of their powers.” Alex replies as Lura seems to be lost in thought. She merely nods her head with a faraway look in her eyes. Lena’s hand moves up Lura’s back to the nape of her neck as she gently scratches the base of her skull. It’s something Lena’s done to Kara, only once after Mon-El was yeeted into space and something she hasn’t dared to do again. It seems to have its desired effect though as Lura sinks into the palm of her hand and snaps out of her daydream. 

“Yeah.”

“But that’s not when Lena–, that’s not how it happened right?” Alex is seemingly the only one brave enough to ask.

Lura simply shakes her head no. Kara soothingly runs her thumb along the tear in Lura’s jeans where her hand is placed just above the knee. 

“That was–, that happened later.” She takes a steadying breath and reaches for Lena’s free hand, intertwining their fingers and pulling their joined hands into her lap, right next to Kara’s hand. 

“You guys tried everything but he’s impossible to stop and even harder to catch. The working theory you guys have is that his staff is powered by something called the metatropeas gem.”

“I’ve heard of that.” Lena interjects. “In my Greek Mythology class at University.” Kara looks at her surprised and impressed. Lena blushes slightly before answering Kara’s silent question, “I needed an elective and with my schedule it was either that or Interpretive Dance.”

“Solid choice.” Alex commends. 

“Thank you.”

“So what is it?” Kara asks, wanting to know more about this gem.

“Legend has it that the Greek god of fire, Hephaestus, was commissioned by Tantalus to craft a stone that could wield the power of a god. He wanted to give it to a human so that said human could challenge a god for a seat on one of their thrones.”

“Why?” Nia asks curiously.

“No ones really sure but the theory is that it was some kind of prank as he was known as quite the trickster.” 

“A prank? In what world is giving someone limitless power a prank?” Kelly supplies.

“Apparently the ancient world. See tantalus was disgraced and shamed by the gods of Mount Olympus after he tried to feed the gods human flesh, his own son’s flesh to be exact–”

“--What is it with Greek gods and eating their children?” Alex asks in disgust.

“--Who knows. Anyway, before he was to be punished he went to Hephaestus and asked him for this favor as a last request, as they had once been friends, and the blacksmith owed him a favor so he agreed. As the story goes, Hephaestus found a crystal made from the crystalized tears of a Gorgon–”

“--That’s like Medusa, right?” Nia asks.

“--Correct. Folklore says that if a Gorgon sheds tears at the moment of her death and they then become crystalized they contain the power to petrify or turn a person to stone. But if you forge the crystal in a fire crafted by the god of fire himself, with his own blood, sweat, and tears, it can also transmute the power of the god or gods through intentions. Giving the person wielding the stone the power of its intention where the victim of the stone is petrified, or in this case incinerated into ash.”

She looks around the room at everyone’s slightly confused faces.

“Think of that, that show…what’s it called, the one with all the keys?”

“Locke & Key!” Kara all but shouts. “Good show.”

“Yes, that’s the one. You know how they make the keys with a drop of Locke blood and whoever forges the key must put intention into it so that the key acts as it is intended?” They all nod their heads having seen the show. 

“That’s what Hephaestus did. He crafted this gemstone at Tantalus’ request with his intentions in mind and created the metatropeas gem. However–”

“--Oh my God there’s more?!” Alex asks incredulously.

“I’m afraid so, but this is the funny thing. Tantalus never got the chance to use it. He was punished for eternity to wade in water up to his chin, too salty for him to drink, and with a fruit tree above his head, just out of reach for him to eat.”

“So what happened to the stone?” J’onn asks after processing everything Lena has said.

“There were theories that the blacksmith had no use for it and disposed of it in various ways. Some say he threw it into the ocean hoping Poseidon would bury it in his trenches. Some believe he melted it down in a sulfuric fire…but no one really knows.”

“So then how the hell did this Nemesis get a hold of it?”

“He was created with it, or for it, I guess.” Lura finally speaks up, confusing everyone even more. 

“What do you mean, Lura?” Brainy finally questions.

“You guys had all those pictures pulled up on the screens. You went through all known databases on Greek mythology, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t find anything on him?”

“No. I searched everything. This Nemesis isn’t mentioned in any of the literature, paintings, artifacts, nothing.”

“And you won’t find anything because he was created, by a human.”

“How is that possible?”  Kara asks.

“Well it took you guys ages to find anything on him. The reason he’s so difficult to find or catch is because when he disappears he doesn’t just disappear to a different location on this Earth or even this universe but rather a different dimension. A place between time and space. Brainy, future Brainy was able to trace some elements of his residual energy. We think he comes from, and disappears to, the twelfth dimension.”

“Twelfth?! Jeez, and I thought Mxy’s fifth dimensional energy was bad enough.” Kara says in slight horror.

“It’s supposedly more of a shadow realm. From what we’ve gathered we think that someone, somehow, accessed the twelfth dimension and the energy of Rhamnousia, daughter of some other Greek god, also shamed and shunned but wanting to prove her loyalty to the gods made it her soul’s mission to bring retribution to those that show hubris before them.” She says trying to explain as concisely as possible as this is already a very convoluted storyline that she has unfortunately had to live through. 

“Her energy attached itself to the gemstone so now the gemstone holds the power of the gods along with her intention to pay retribution. BUT–”

“--Oh my God there’s a but?! I feel like I’m in Lena’s Greek Mythology class!”

“Alex, this will go much quicker if you just shut up.” Lura says with no mal intent behind her words but rather a simple observation.

Alex takes no offense and just huffs out a breath and mimics zipping her mouth shut, locking it, and then throwing away the key. 

“As I was saying, but since she’s purely energy she needs a human body a.k.a this guy Nemesis, to carry out said plans unto humanity, particularly–”

“--Aliens.” Everyone says in unison. Lura breathes out a huff of relief as she realizes everyone has understood this completely hellish reality that honestly sounds like a plot-hole-ridden story line from a CW show. *wink wink*

“So who is this person?” Kara asks.

“Nemesis or the person that created him?”

“Both.” Lena and Kara say at the same time.

“Damien Graves is the vessel Nemesis inhabited.”

“Graves? As in–” Alex inquires.

“--Yes. He is Otis Graves’ son. Which is why I don’t understand how it’s possible for him to be here now considering he hasn’t even been born yet.”

“Hmm, and the person that accessed the twelfth dimension, the one that created him?” Brainy asks, taking a step towards Lura.

Lura sighs and stands up, she paces a few times rubbing the back of her neck. A habit she picked up from her Jeju. 

“We’re not entirelysure but we have a pretty good theory.”

“And?” Kelly pushes.

“I’ll give you one guess.” She says as she looks at her mother knowingly.

“Lex.” Lena says as her blood runs cold and her eyes fill with fury. “Of course. Of course it’s him. He’s the only other person on this planet capable of such an atrocity. Retribution is his whole shtick. How many times have we heard him call aliens unnatural imitations of gods? All the vitriol and hate that’s poured from his biggoted mouth, spewing nothing but promises for vengeance of a crime as benign as being born on a different planet.” Lena is now standing with her hands clenched into fists by her side, making her knuckles turn white with the force. Kara stands next to her and gently reaches for Lena’s clenched fist, smoothing her thumb over the older Luthor’s knuckles. 

“He also has the tech to do it.”

“That’s what you were looking for in his lair on Olympus.” J’onn states, now understanding.

She nods her head in affirmation and replies, “The Quantum Dimensional Extrapolator. Uncle Brainy deciphered another code in Lex’s most current journal that suggested it’s what he used.”

“Jesus, this guy writes more journals than a thirteen year old girl!” Alex exclaims.

“Wait but how did you get a hold of Lex’s personal journal? I had to break into a secured military facility just to get the ones that were confiscated from the first raid.”

Lena bows her head and bites her bottom lip in shame, reminded of how she used the blonde to carry out her cruel intentions.

“Well it was easy once we found out that Lex had broken out of prison and seemingly left behind his journal in a rush.”

“No, Lex would never do that. He wanted you to find it. He’s teasing you, taunting you. Hoping you’ll make his twisted game more exciting.” Lena says as she now begins to pace, analyzing everything she has learned in the past couple of days. 

“Whoa, hold up! He’s in a super secured, high-max. containment cell made of Nth metal steel, buried a hundred yards deep somewhere in one of Earth’s deserts. It’s location so secure not even the DEO knows it! That’s what I was told by the directors of the CIA, NSA, and Homeland Security.”

“He was, or is at this current time but in 2040 Damien Graves becomes his personal, maximum security correctional officer.”

“And no one thought that would be a fucking conflict of interest?!” Alex practically yells.

“Apparently the apple falls far, far away from the tree in Damien’s case. He’s a genius, with an intellect that could rival Einstein. He used one of his many aliases and infiltrated the system.” She says with a shrug. 

“Okay now that is something I definitely did not see coming.” Nia says in utter disbelief.

“So Damien helped Lex escape to get the Extrapolator, then Lex accessed the twelfth dimension summoning forth Rhamnousia; with the gemstone that he most probably found in 

Mount Olympus itself. And then he gave it to Damien to wield, who in turn became Nemesis!” Lena rants as though she is speaking to herself out loud.

Lura looks at her impressed, but not surprised. “Yeah, that’s the theory anyway.”

“But why wouldn’t Lex keep the gemstone and use it for himself? Why would he knowingly give away god-like power to one of his lackeys?” Kelly asks, trying to get a better understanding of the megalomaniac’s psyche.

“He wouldn’t.Unless of course he knew the stone would harm him, or better yet, kill him.” Lena suggests.

“Which it will. The power of the gemstone is too much for a human body to handle. Over time the radiation from the extra dimensional energy deteriorates cells on an atomic level. Damien’s become weaker. The last time he made an appearance was a little less than a year ago. He was slower, less powerful, for a second I thought we almost had a chance.” She swallows, “For a moment I almost thought he was gone for good. But then he sent us a message. His sigil, the scourge, burned into the charred remains of the Luthor Hospital for Alien Children. He’s coming back, we just don’t know when.” She says defeatedly. 

“Fuuuuck.” Alex says as she runs her hands through her hair.

“Yeah, what she said.” Kara says quietly, eyes blurry as she falls to the couch in devastation at the mention of all the innocent lives lost. She looks up at Lena and her heart aches at the thought that the younger woman will be one of them. No. She can’t let that happen. She won’t. She vows to herself, in this moment, that she will protect both Lena and Lura at all costs, no matter what. Even if it means her life.  

A heavy silence has settled upon the room until Lena breaks it. “And me?” She asks, looking at her daughter. Lura briefly looks at her in confusion before Lena notices pained recognition pass over her features. Her whole body physically becomes smaller, wilting under the weight of devastation and loss. Lura knows what she’s asking but honestly she’s just too emotionally exhausted to answer.

“I think,” She clears her throat and swallows, trying her best to not let her voice waver. Kara holds her breath, dreading the answer to Lena’s question. “I think maybe we should talk about it soon but I just–, I just can’t right now.” Her voice tapering off as her eyes begin to fill with tears for what feels like the millionth time today. “If that’s okay?” she asks timidly, looking into Lena’s understanding, viridian eyes.  

“Of course. Whenever you’re ready.” Lena says compassionately as she opens her arms, inviting the young girl into an embrace. Lura wastes no time and rushes into the arms of her mother. She buries her face into the crook of Lena’s neck and inhales deeply. Cherishing this moment as she subconsciously knows that her plan of coming back here and stopping Lex might not work…or perhaps, somehow…make things even worse. But that she really can’t imagine. 

“I think we should all go home, get some rest. It’s been an emotionally and physically taxing day on everyone. We’ll regroup in the morning and figure out our next move.” J’onn suggests, empathizing with everyone’s emotions that he can actually, physically, feel. Everyone murmurs in agreement as they grab their things, hug their goodbyes, and make their way out of Tower.

Kara, Lena, and Lura are the last ones remaining. Slowly gathering their things, lingering as if none of them wants to say goodbye. At least Kara doesn’t, not yet. That’s why she offers to fly them home to Lena’s penthouse.

“Oh you don’t have to. George can come pick us up.” Lena replies, not wanting to burden the blonde any further.

“Please, I don’t mind. I insist.” Kara responds earnestly. 

“Are you sure?” Lena asks timidly.

But before Kara can reply, Lura beats her to the punch.

“Of course she’s sure! After all, it’s not like we’re heavy or anything.”

“Right. So about that…you obviously know that I’m–”

“--Supergirl? Yeah. Context clues from earlier should have given that away but if they didn’t you also did just offer to fly us home. And didn’t even try covering it up with some bullshit excuse about piloting lessons.” She finishes with a smirk.

“Okay missy, drop the sass. You’ve been hanging around Alex too much.” Kara jokes fondly.  

“Yeah and watch the language.” Lena adds with an amused smirk.

“But mooOOOOooooOOoommmmmm!” Lura drawls out, dramatically throwing her head back and slumping against Lena’s frame. The older Luthor laughs in delight and Kara watches the two of them with such affection it makes her want to cry. But she’s done that enough for one day and bites the inside of her cheek instead to taper her emotions. She steps closer to the two of them and opens her arms.

“All aboard the Kara Danvers Express!” She says jokingly. For some odd reason it leaves Lena flustered as she dips her head, her cheeks now a blushing shade of pink. Kara’s brow slightly furrows at the older Luthor’s reaction as Lura makes a choking sound, eyes wide. Kara can’t discern if it’s in horror or embarrassment, although she can’t fathom why it would be either.

Lura breaks the awkward tension Kara has unintentionally created by taking a step forward and placing both of her feet onto Kara’s left foot and wrapping her arms around Kara’s waist. Lena soon follows her daughter’s lead and balances both her feet on the top of Kara’s right foot. Since Lura has claimed space at Kara’s waist Lena is left wrapping her arms around Kara’s shoulders.

“Up, up, and away?” Lura says, amused.

Kara smiles and quietly replies, “Hold on tight.” She tightens her hold around both Lura and Lena and floats them out through the Tower’s open balcony doors. Once they rise above the city’s skyline Kara picks up the pace and pitches her body forward. The movement causes the raven-haired Luthor to adjust her hold on the blonde. 

Her left foot moves off of Kara’s right and her heel ends up on the back of the Kryptonian’s achilles instead. Her legs are now essentially wrapped around Kara’s right leg, calves touching. Lena’s left arm remains securely anchored across Kara’s back, hand clutching onto the blonde’s left shoulder. Her right hand however adjusts to the forward momentum, brushing up and finding purchase at the left side of Kara’s neck, right next to Lura’s head resting against the blonde’s collar bone. 

Kara, in response, turns her head to Lena and finds the younger woman already looking at her with wide and uncertain eyes. Kara holds her gaze as Lena holds her breath. For a moment she wonders if the readjustment is too intimate and is about to readjust to her former (less stable) position when Kara pulls her in closer, tightening her grip around Lena’s waist and clenching her jaw. Lena breathes a tiny sigh of relief as she understands Kara’s silent gesture of reassurance. The prolonged eye contact makes Lena feel nervous, but not the bad kind of nervous. The kind that gives you butterflies in the pit of your stomach in anticipation. She subconsciously drops her gaze to the bow of the kryptonian’s lips and when she catches herself, looks up to see the blonde’s eyes not holding her gaze but rather dropped to her own lips instead. 

Lena is suddenly whipped in the face by chestnut hair and is gently reminded of the other passenger on the Kara Danvers Express. Kara seems to have just remembered the young girl as well as she glances down towards her. They see the girl’s face nuzzled into Kara’s chest, eyes closed, with a smile on her face. Lena also looks down to notice that the younger girl has her left hand fisted into the front of her shirt as opposed to clutching onto Kara. 

Lena looks up at Kara once again only to find the blonde watching her with a smile on her face. Lena smiles back and gently squeezes at the side of Kara’s neck, thumb running back and forth along the soft, tanned skin. Kara inhales deeply and closes her eyes tightly. Something turns in the pit of her stomach and rises up to settle deep within her ribcage. It makes her heart flutter and an exhale stutters past her lips.

She feels a pressure at her temple and opens her eyes to find Lena’s forehead pressed against her. Kara’s eyes blur, for an unprecedented time in a single day, and she finally feels like everything is going to be okay. Yeah, they’re facing the biggest threat they’ve ever faced (simply because of its most tragic, predestined conclusion that leaves Lura without a mother and Kara without her best friend). And yeah, things are different, her friendship with Lena isn’t as close or as comfortable as it used to be and that really sucks. And yeah, okay, maybe she’s secretly devastated that Lena has a daughter because that means she found someone to share her life with but right now, at this exact moment…she feels, no, she knows that everything will be okay. 

:::

Lura is jostled awake by Kara’s less than graceful landing on Lena’s balcony.

“Oops, sorry” Kara apologizes, sheepishly. 

Lura yawns before she replies teasingly, “Hmm, maybe we’re heavier than we thought.” She finishes with a smirk, looking at Lena (whose cheeks are once again dusted a light shade of pink). Hmmm, interesting. 

Kara has mastered takeoffs and touchdowns both with and without precious cargo but she’s too embarrassed to admit that maybe she misjudged the landing because she was too busy staring at Lena’s beautiful face. Lena’s sharp and delicate features are illuminated by the moonlight and it’s a sight Kara never knew she craved to behold.

The two Luthors step off the Kryptonian’s feet and move to open the sliding glass door and make their way inside. Kara lingers behind on the balcony, toes touching the lower metal track of the sliding glass door. She hovers in its threshold, not wanting to intrude but also not wanting to leave. Lena and Lura are a few steps inside when they realize Kara has yet to come in.

“What movie you guys wanna watch?” Lura asks, breaking the silence and not giving either woman a chance to pull some dumb shit like say “goodnight” and leave.

Kara looks to Lena who’s already got her eyes on her. “Let’s let Kara choose.” She says before nodding her head as if to say “come on”.

Kara looks hesitant as she asks “Are you sure?” But she already has one foot lifted in the air hovering past the threshold. Lena simply walks over to Kara and holds out her hand. The blonde looks to the proffered hand and back up to Lena’s eyes. She smiles before stepping into the penthouse and grabbing her best friend’s hand.

Lena puts on the kettle and suggests Kara and Lura go change into more comfortable clothes as she makes some tea and orders some food.

“Remember, there’s no such thing as enough tacos, chips, guac, and queso…and just like food in general so…keep that in mind.” Lura says as she makes her way to their shared bedroom to change. 

“Got it, you want the entire menu and then some.” Lena says with mirth in her voice.

Lura is just about to enter their bedroom before she turns around to say, “You know what, it might just be better if you order off of their catering menu. What do you think, Kara? Their quinceanera party platter should do, right? I think it serves about 40-60 guests? You cool with that?”

“40-60 guests?!” Lena asks incredulously, her eyebrows nearly touching her hairline. 

“Yeah. That should be good, right Kar?” 

“Umm, actually about that…” Kara says, stepping back into the kitchen after having speed-changed into a pair of gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. “How can you eat so much?”

“What do you mean?” Lura asks, genuinely confused as to how that’s even a question.

“I mean I know I’m the pot calling the kettle black but how can you want that much food? You can’t still be hungry from ‘quantum jumping’. Portal jet lag isn’t that bad.” The blonde asks, now standing adjacent to Lena at the kitchen island.

“Because you do? Hello pot, I am kettle?” Lura jokes confusedly, not understanding why Kara’s even asking her.

“Well yeah…but I’m an alien.” Kara responds and Lena’s eyes dart from Kara to Lura.

Her eyes widen and she inhales sharply as it hits her. Oh fuck. I forgot they don’t know. She doesn’t know she’s your freaking Jeju because you haven’t told them because you don’t want to fuck up the timeline even more!...Dumbass!

By the quick look Kara and Lena give each other she knows that her reaction has not gone unnoticed. Fuck. What do I say?

Deciding to just bite the bullet herself, Kara asks the question both her and Lena have secretly had on their minds ever since they watched Lura ravenously consume everyone else’s food at Big Belly Burger. 

“Lura, are you half alien?” Kara asks gently as Lena lowers her mug and looks at her daughter encouragingly.

She doesn’t know how to respond. Should she deny it? Lie? They’d know she’s full of shit though because her excuses are getting thinner than a bariatric patient, post-op. 

So instead she says, “Umm, what do you think?” 

Kara quickly glances at Lena before stating her theory, “That your father is an alien and that’s why you have such a healthy appetite?”

My Rao you’re oblivious but hey, I can work with this. She lets out a sigh of relief as she digs her hands into her front pockets. 

“You got me.” Kara looks to Lena who is staring at her daughter with what can only be described as unconditional love.

“My other parent is in fact an alien, thus I am also an alien. Well technically half, like you said…”

She looks between her mothers trying to assess how they’re handling this revelation but she assumes it’s fine considering, you know, they’re her parents.

“That’s wonderful, sweetheart.” Lena says, genuinely. 

“Yeah, that’s, that’s pretty cool. Welcome to the club.” Kara says lamely as she’s not sure how to feel about it. It’s not like she’s xenophobic (duh) but the thought that Lena ends up with an alien, another alien, one that isn’t her…the thought unsettles her more than she’d like to admit. So she pushes a little more. 

“So your father…” she starts, scratching the back of her neck uncomfortably. “Is he…in the picture?”

“Kara!” Lena chides as though it’s none of her business, or rather none of their business. Although she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious. After all, the only alien, or person for that matter, that she ever thought, hoped, dreamed she’d share her life with and start a family is the one standing right next to her. But that’s a fantasy. A black-mercy illusion she’s had to pull herself out of more times than she can count. So she is very curious as to who the girl’s father really is. 

Rao Jeju, you’d honestly give Helen Keller a run for her money. 

“No. No. Father is definitely not in the picture. No…father…here.” She finishes off awkwardly. 

Lena scoffs, “Can’t say I’m surprised.” She says as she grabs the edge of the counter and hangs her head. She shakes out of her self-pity and looks back up at Lura. “I’m sorry your father hasn’t been present in your life. I can’t imagine how difficult that must be, especially considering what happens with…” She doesn’t bother finishing that train of thought. 

“Why are you apologizing?” Lura asks as she takes a step forward.

“Because surely it’s my fault.” Lena says with a tone of self-deprecation. As if it’s no wonder how anyone can stick around and love a Luthor. Kara reaches out to place her hand on top of Lena’s and runs her thumb soothingly along pale white knuckles

“No, mom. It’s not like that. What I meant is–” she huffs out frustrated, wishing more than ever that she could just tell them but the less they know the better and they already know far too much. 

“I wasn’t lying when I said that you guys are my family.” She looks at both Lena and Kara earnestly. “All of you.” She walks over to stand next to her mother and tries to convey just how loved she has always felt by her perfectly complete family.

“You taught me how to play chess when I was three and you always let me win.” She says as she lays a hand on Lena’s shoulder, who leans into the touch. She looks at Kara, “And you taught me how to ride a bike even though you let go too early and I crashed into a metal trash can on the promenade, and I refused to talk to you until you got me a triple scoop ice cream cone from Mr. Cooly’s on the way home.” She says with mirth in her voice, reflecting on the core memory. “And Aunt Alex taught me how to throw a mean right hook in case anyone tried to steal my lunch at school or push me into a locker. Don’t worry neither of those ever happened but she wanted me to be prepared because apparently I’m not as ‘charming as I think’.”

“She’s dead wrong.” Lena says with a smile.

“I know, right? I’m adorable. Oh! And Uncle Brainy and Aunt Nia took me to my first concert! It was some ancient boy band I honestly didn’t even know. On a reunion tour…Two Directions? Something like that?”

Kara gasps but Lura rushes on, “And Grandpa J’onn taught me how to meditate and learn how to control my emotions when everything became too overwhelming. And Aunt Kelly taught me how to talk about those emotions and communicate when I need help processing them.” She takes another step closer, torso now pressing into Lena’s arm and hip leaning against the older woman’s hand, gripping the counter.

“The point I’m trying to make is, I have never lacked or been left wanting more love, affection, or guidance in my life from any of you. I don’t need or want a father because I’m not missing a parent. I have seven parental figures, that’s nuts! I am so incredibly grateful for how lucky I am to have you all…especially you, mom.” Lura says as she squeezes Lena’s shoulder a little tighter.

Lena, on the verge of another emotional breakdown, does the only thing that feels so instinctual to her now and hugs her daughter. She sniffles into the crook of Lura’s neck as the younger girl embraces her tightly. They hear a sniffle behind them and Lura opens her eyes to see Kara staring at them with blurry eyes and a hand held over her heart.

“You want in on this?” Lura asks Kara, looking at her over Lena’s head. 

Lena hears a trembling exhale escape past Kara’s lips and feels her come closer. Kara hesitantly remains a small step behind Lena, unsure if she would welcome the proposed intimacy. Lucky for her, she doesn’t have to wonder for a moment longer as Lena reaches behind herself, grabs a fistful of Kara’s shirt, and pulls the blonde into her.

Kara inhales sharply at the contact, her front pressed up against the length of Lena’s back. She releases her breath and settles into the hold, pressing her hips in closer as if molding herself to the smaller woman’s frame. She brings her arms up to wrap around the two of them, hands settling at the middle of Lura’s back. Lura in turn removes her arms from around Lena to drape over Kara’s shoulders. Lena still has a vice grip on the fistful of Kara’s shirt now pressing into her lower back and Kara’s abdomen. Lena is completely enveloped in warmth, safety, and undeniable love. She’s never felt so complete in her entire life. 

:::

They stood in the kitchen embracing each other for what felt like too short of an eternity, only daring to break apart when both Kara and Lura’s stomachs obnoxiously growled in unison. They fell into a fit of giggles as Lena shooed them away, Lura to change into her pajamas and Kara to take a seat on the couch, as she called and placed an order for food.

They ended up watching Toy Story, at Kara’s behest, snuggled together on the couch after devouring their dinner. Lura insisted that they watch the sequel right afterwards but she fell asleep not even halfway through the first film.  

Kara picked her up gently and carried her to Lena’s bed, tucking her in and placing a kiss on her forehead. Lena watched them affectionately from the doorway. 

“She’s out like a light.” Kara said quietly as she shut off the bedroom light and closed the door behind her.

“Must be nice.” Lena says as she makes her way over to the couch, taking a seat. Kara follows her lead and takes a seat next to her, keeping about a two foot distance between them. 

“Having trouble sleeping?”

“Only for the past…” Lena looks up tilting her head as though she is trying to count the days in her head. “...Year, or so?” Lena finishes not looking at Kara.

“Year?! “ Kara exclaims in shock. “Lena…” She says almost apologetically, realizing the timeframe lines up with the start of their falling out.

“It’s okay, Kara. Really. It’s fine. I’m fine.” She says, fiddling with the loose thread of the pillow in her lap. 

“Are you?” Kara asks imploringly.

“Yes.” Lena says finally making eye contact.

“Are we?” Kara follows up a little apprehensively.

Lena doesn’t hesitate to scoot closer to the blonde and reach for her hand, intertwining their fingers in the space between them.

“Of course we are.” Kara looks like she wants to argue but Lena doesn’t let her. “Are we excellent? No…Are we great? Getting there…But are we fine? Yes, absolutely. The fact is we’ve been through a lot and put each other through even more but we’re making strides to amend our relationship–, friendship.” She tacks on correcting herself. She feels the Kryptonian squeeze her hand at the amendment. 

“Things aren’t the way they were before and up until a few days ago I thought of it as a bad thing but I’m starting to see that it’s not. It’s a good thing because now we can move forward and rebuild our friendship into something even stronger, better than it was before and better than I ever thought it could be. Lura’s a testament to that!” She exclaims as Kara responds with a smile. “You heard her, we’re a family.” Lena says quietly, staring at their joined hands.

Kara breathes a sigh of relief and leans a little further into Lena’s space. “You’re right. I’ve just, I’ve really missed you. Missed this.” She says holding up their joined hands and running her thumb along the space inbetween Lena’s thumb and index finger.   

“Met too.” Lena says with a shy smile.

“Yeah?”

Lena nods her head and adds, “Honestly you’re the only person I’ve ever felt comfortable enough with to reciprocate physical affection. Hand holding…hugs. I didn’t realize how touch starved I’ve been over the last year until Lura hugged me goodnight her first night here. I didn’t want to let go.” Her voice wavers on that last part.

“Oh, Lena. C’mere.” Kara says as she lets go of Lena’s hand in favor of closing the gap between their bodies and pulling Lena into her arms. She runs her hands up and down Lena’s back trying to make up for a year’s worth of ungiven affection, pressing the tips of her fingers firmly into Lena’s sweater wishing it was skin instead.

“Let’s make a promise to each other.” Kara suggests suddenly, not daring to loosen her hold on Lena.

“Okay…” Lena mumbles into the blonde’s shoulder. 

“There’s been so many times recently since everything with Crisis and Leviathan that I’ve wanted to, to hug you. Hold you, let you know that I’m here. But I’ve been too afraid that it’s too much too soon. That you’ll just push me away–”

“--Never, Kara. Never again.” Lena says as she tightens her hold around the Kryptonian’s waist. 

“Good. Because I honestly don’t think I could survive losing you again.” Kara says, pushing the thought of Lena’s untimely demise at the hands of Nemesis to the recesses of her mind. 

“Neither could I.”

Kara inhales deeply, both trying to take in as much of Lena’s scent as she can as well as gather enough air into her lungs to say, “I promise to not hold back with you…if you let me. I promise to hold your hand when I want to. To hug you when the urge arises. To cuddle you when I know you’re cold. If you want that, that is…because I want to do all those things. I want my best friend back.” 

“I want that too. All of it.” And more she thinks to herself but doesn’t have the courage to say. Not yet anyway.

“Promise me. Promise me too.” Kara pleads.

“I promise, Kara. I promise to squeeze your hand back as tightly as I can. To hold you for as long as you need to feel grounded again. To lean into your warmth as close as our bodies will allow. I promise, Kara.”

Not ready to say goodnight to each other they put on Toy Story 2 and end up falling asleep halfway through, curled into one another. When Lura awakes the next morning to find her mothers cuddled on the couch, fast asleep in each other’s arms, she forgets for a brief moment that this is devastatingly no longer her reality.

:::

Kara, Lena, and Lura are enjoying breakfast that the young girl made of her own volition when Kara and Lena’s phones ring at the same time.

“It’s Alex.” Kara says at the same time Lena picks up her phone and says, “It’s Brainy.”

“Kara, get down to the Alien Refugee Center for the Homeless, now! We need your help, it’s bad.” 

Her stomach sinks and her blood runs cold at Alex’s tone. “I’m on my way.” She says as she speeds off to change into her supersuit.

“Lena, your presence is requested at Tower immediately. It’s of the utmost urgency.” Brainy says, to which Lena quickly replies “I’ll be right there!”

“What’s going on?” Lura asks, watching her parents scurry.

“Brainy needs me at Tower.” Lena supplies at the same time Kara says, “Something happened at the Alien Refugee Center, I have to go.”

Lura looks to Kara and says, “I’m coming with you.”

“Like hell you are, you’re staying here.” Kara says as though she has the authority.

“By myself, unprotected?” Lura says, not really meaning it but more so trying to get her mother to concede.

“Right, you’re coming with me to Tower.” Lena insists, moving to grab her things.

Lura turns back to look at Kara and argues, “But I can help!”

“No! You’re going to Tower with your mother and that’s final.” Kara says with absolute finality in her voice that it’s honestly a little scary. And without another word she shoots out of the open sliding glass doors, having wasted enough time as it is.

“Come on, let’s go!” Lena says pressing the button on her portal watch and grabbing her daughter’s arm.

They walk through the portal and into Tower HQ and see Brainy furiously typing away at the keyboard. The monitors are displaying live CCTV footage of the crumbling refugee building as Supergirl and Martian Manhunter fly in and out trying to get as many people to safety as possible.

“What happened?” Lena asks as she stands next to Brainy at the computers, Lura standing on his other side.

“Nemesis.” He replies.

Lura gasps as she looks at the monitors, eyes trained on her Jeju looking for any signs of injury; ready to fly out and help, parental authority be damned. 

“Where is he? I don’t see him.” Lena asks, looking from screen to screen trying to get a good look at the corporealized incarnation of evil masquerading as a servant of justice.

“He’s gone. I’m trying to get a read on his energy signature so that I can verify the dimensional energy and use that sample to recreate an extrapolator of our own.” 

“Brainy, is Lena there yet?!” Kara’s voice comes in over comms.

“I’m here, Kara!”

“Lena prep the beds in the MedBay, hurry!”

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Brainy asks concerned, worried that his worst fear has come true. 

“It’s Kelly and Nia. They’re hurt, they–they’ve been petrified.” 

Lena and Lura gasp in horror while Brainy shouts enraged, “NOOOOOO!” He begins to type faster, his hands becoming a blur as more and more boxes and diagrams pop up on the monitors.

J’onn and I are bringing them in now.” She says as her voice cracks with agony.

“Stay with him.” Lena says to Lura as she runs off to the MedBay. Lura obeys, standing beside Brainy with a hand on his shoulder, guilt-filled tears in her eyes, as he continues to work…silent tears streaming down his face.

:::

“We need to find this son of bitch and when we do I’m gonna kill him, Kar. Kill him.” Alex spits out through gritted teeth with angry, mascara-stained tears streaking her face. 

“I know, Alex. I know. We won’t let him take them from us.” She says empathetically, as she embraces her sister trying her best to soothe the vengeful redhead. She knows better than to try to talk her sister down when she’s so upset, so instead she sympathizes and comforts her as best as a little sister can. 

“Alex, Kara.” Lena gently calls to them, ushering them back into the MedBay. Alex comes running.

“What happened, what’s wrong?” Alex says rushing over to Kelly’s petrified and bruised form, laying rigid on the bed. Brainy is standing over Nia’s body, holding her frozen hand, eyes never leaving her face. 

“Diagnostics show that their physical body and autonomic nervous systems are in some kind of stasis. That’s why we’ve placed them on life support, to maintain their autonomic functions.”

“Jesus.” Alex cries as she bows her head in sorrow. Kara squeezing her shoulder, a reminder that Alex is not alone and they’ll find a way to get through this like they always do. 

“And neural activity?” Brainy asks, refusing to look anywhere but Nia’s eyes. 

“Minimal. They’re in a coma-like state.” J’onn says gruffly where he leans against the lab table.

“How do we fix this, what do we do? What do I do?!” Alex begs desperately.

“You can’t. There’s nothing we can do.” Lura says with resigned devastation. Tears blurring her eyes.

“No, that’s not true. That can’t be true, there must be something!” Alex replies.

“We already tried everything. Hundreds and hundreds of them just like this, frozen in time laying in hospital beds with their loved ones hoping and praying for them to just wake up.” Lura says, tears fully streaming down her face as her voice grows more and more bitter. “And it’s all my fault. It’s all my fucking fault.” She says as she runs out of the MedBay.

Kara makes a move as if to go run after her but glances down to Alex, clearly hesitant to leave her sister but wanting to console the girl she has become so irrevocably attached to in such a short time. 

“I’ve got her.” Lena says quietly to Kara, holding her hand up in a stopping gesture. Kara simply nods and turns back to her sister, rubbing comforting circles into the crying woman’s back. 

Lena walks out to find Lura standing on the balcony, gripping the railing. She walks up to stand next to her, momentarily noticing the railings misshapen form as it warps beneath Lura’s fingers.

“Sweetheart.” Lena says tenderly as she places a hand on the young girl’s shoulder.

“Don’t!” Lura says as she shrugs off her mother’s hand but remains in place, not bothering to wipe the tears from her face as she knows they’ll just keep coming. Lena, unsure how to proceed as she hasn’t had much practice as a parent, does what she thinks she would have wanted Lillian to do. She waits, and she listens. She doesn’t move from her side and doesn’t try to reach out again. She waits for Lura to take the initiative. It’s a few painfully silent minutes before Lura speaks.

“I fucked everything up, mom.” She says as she moves her hand closer to Lena’s on the railing but not daring to touch. Lena takes it for the silent invitation it is and grabs her hand.

“Oh, honey.”

“It’s true!” Lura argues, turning to face her mom, before Lena could say more.

“Why do you think that?” She pushes gently.

“How could I not?!” She exclaims, voice cracking sharply as if another paw has been stepped on. 

“I’m the reason they’re in there! I fucked up the timeline somehow and now he’s here when isn’t supposed to be!”

“Lura you don’t know that–”

“--I’M THE REASON YOU’RE DEAD!” She shouts loudly in agony. Lena’s breath hitches as she stares at her daughter in pain. She knows that’s not true, even if it is, she knows she could never blame her daughter even if she was the one holding the staff.

“He wanted me!” She cries. 

“Baby–” Lena says, heart-broken. She takes a step towards her daughter, who in turn takes a step back.

“He didn’t want you, he wanted me!” She says as she continues to sob and furiously wipe away her tears with the sleeve of her jacket.

“And you want to know the worst part, mom? I was mad at you. We were fighting, arguing over me going to college. It was so stupid, Rao so fucking stupid!” She says angrily between sobs. 

“We were having lunch and I told you I wanted to leave to go to college and you said no. That it was too dangerous with him on the loose and that I’d be safer at home. Safer with you. But I didn’t think it’d be safer! I didn’t think you’d be safer with me there. He‘s after aliens not you! But you refused, you wouldn’t hear me out, you just kept shutting me down, insisting that you knew better and that I had no choice in the matter! And then–and then I–” She lets out a heart-breaking wail. “I told you I hated you!” She sobs, her breath stuttering in her chest. “I didn’t mean it but I said it and the look on your face…” She cries harder. “The look in your eyes…” She tries to calm herself down, taking a deep breath and wiping her tears and nose aggressively. “I was going to take it back, tell you I’m sorry, that I didn’t mean it…but then there was a crash. Next thing I knew he was standing twenty feet away with his staff pointed at my chest.” She says as she places a hand over her chest, gesturing as well as trying to physically soothe her pounding heart. “And he took his shot. It happened so fast, too fast for me to move, to react, even with my powers! But somehow you were faster…” She says looking at her mother with the most devastatingly pained expression Lena’s ever seen. “You jumped in front of me.”

Lena gasps and she faintly registers another pained gasp coming from somewhere inside the Tower behind them. 

“You fell backwards into my arms and when I looked up he was already gone.” Her voice grows quieter as her breathing slows down. “I fell to the ground and held you, looking for injuries and then–” Her voice cracks quietly. “--And then I looked into your eyes, your head cradled in my hand…and you turned to dust.” An uncontrollable sob escapes her throat but the tears don’t come because there’s none left to cry.

“I wished so many times that you were petrified instead because then at least I could hold you, hug you, have a shoulder to cry into as I repeated I’m sorry, I love you over and over again like a mantra or a fucking affirmation. But no. He turned you into a pile of ash. Like you were nothing. Like, like you were just sand at the beach that no matter how hard I tried to scoop together to rebuild my castle I couldn’t. You just kept slipping through my fingers…sticking beneath my nails.” 

Lena can’t stand the distance any longer and slams into her daughter, throwing her arms around her shoulders and holding her tighter than any Kryptonian ever could. They sob into each other’s necks and collapse onto the floor of the balcony. They register a whooshing sound and an abrupt gust of wind jostles their hair and Lena waits to feel another set of arms wrapping around them, holding them steady...but they never come.

:::

“Where were you?” Alex asks worriedly from her seat as Kara flies in through the balcony. Kara hears Lena and J’onn in the MedBay, running more tests and completing more scans. She can also hear faint snoring which she assumes is from Lura who must be asleep in one of the bunks. Nothing like a nice nap after a good cry. While Brainy and Alex are seated on the couch of the main room, drinking. 

“I went to the Fortress.” She replies, her voice hoarse from overuse. Alex turns to get a better look at her sister and sees her eyes are bloodshot and slightly puffy. A clear indication that she’s been crying, and for a while.

“Did it help?” 

Kara knows that Alex understands what happened. Even without super hearing Lura was too loud, too feral to ignore. They all heard her. Kara had left Alex in the MedBay shortly after Lena went after her. She sat on the stairs leading up to the balcony, not wanting to intrude but couldn’t help herself from eavesdropping. Her heart was breaking more and more with every word that Lura said. She felt as though her world was shattering along with the seventeen year old Lura’s in the memory.

She felt like she couldn’t breathe. Like she was trapped inside her pod again, aimlessly drifting through the shadows of Phantom Zone. She was suffocating, drowning in her own tears at the thought of losing Lena like that. So she took off. She flew as fast and as far as she could, looping around the Earth several times before ending up at the Fortress. She screamed at the top of her lungs at the edge of the atmosphere, the air too thin to carry any sound. She was shouting into the void, begging and pleading to give her just one more win. She knows she’s already asked too much of Rao in the past. Through every crisis, every cataclysmic event they’ve had to face and eventually prevailed, she’s pleaded for his mercy. But she asks one more time, not for the sake of the rest of the world…this time it’s purely selfish.

“I’m gonna kill him.” She says resolutely, moving to stand in front of the monitors and stare at the screens.

“What?” Alex says in disbelief as she gets up, stumbling slightly from the alcohol and makes her way over to her sister. Kara turns her head to look at her and repeats herself, “I’m going to kill him, Alex. I told you…I won’t let him take them from us.” And Alex understands the subtext of what Kara said. She won’t let him take them from us. Because neither Danvers could survive without their other half. Alex nods grimly at her sister before pulling her into a tight embrace. “We’ll stop him, Kar. We have to.”

Just then an alert pops up on one of the monitors and Brainy is up and running in a flash, leaping over the coffee table like a gazelle. He types away at the keyboard and pulls up a few more screens and exclaims a victorious, “Eureka!” Alex and Kara pull away and look at the screens, trying to see what’s caused his response.

“What is it? What happened?” Kara asks.

“I had a temporal energy mapping algorithm running on all CCTV surveillance cameras around National City, going through footage from the past couple of days up until Lura first made her appearance.”

“English Brainy, please.” Alex says too drunk to try and comprehend.

“Think of it as a bloodhound that tracks the scent of interdimensional portals.”

“Huh?”

“When Lura arrived the portal she came through left an energy signature, the same signature that theoretically Nemesis would also leave every time he opens a portal. This algorithm tracked the signature of the portal, ran it through all of the recorded video and found a few matches.”

He pulls up five videos, the thumbnails for which show a swirling portal with a figure either walking in or walking out. He pulls up the most recent video and works his way back from there.

“That’s him! That’s Nemesis. This is him going back through the portal after collapsing the refugee center.”

“So then that should mean the oldest video would show the first time the portal was opened and Nemesis came through.” Kara says catching on.

“Or the first time a human vessel enters the portal to then become inhabited by Nemesis.” He says as he pulls up the last video, the quality a little grainy. They can see a tall male figure standing in front of the swirling portal.

“Brainy zoom in.” Alex says, squinting at the monitor.

He zooms in on the man’s face but the quality isn’t the greatest, his face is still heavily pixelated. Kara thinks for a brief moment that this guy looks a little familiar the more she squints at the screen. Brainy types a few more commands into the keyboard before a crystal clear image of William Dey is displayed on the monitor.

“William!” Kara says with a gasp.

“Holy fuck.” Alex says as she wipes her hand down her face.

Kara runs into the MedBay, Alex and Brainy following a few paces behind. “We know who Nemesis is.” She blurts out as soon as she enters the room. J’onn and Lena stop what they’re doing and turn to her immediately.

“What? How?” Lena asks curiously.

“Doesn’t matter but it’s William. William Dey is Nemesis.”

“Oh my God, Kara. I’m so sorry.” Lena says given the blonde’s relationship to him.

“It doesn’t change anything, we have to stop him. No matter the cost.” She says a little breathlessly.

“Kara you can’t be saying what I think you’re saying?” J’onn says as he takes a step towards her. 

“Whatever it takes, J’onn.”

“You’d kill him, you’d kill William?”

She takes a deep breath before replying, “If that’s what it takes.”

“Kara! You can’t be serious?! You’re not a killer.” Lena says incredulously.

Kara looks at her stubbornly and definitively declares, “I won’t let him hurt us.”

“This is crazy, there must be another way. We haven’t even tried anything yet there has to be a way for us to stop Nemesis and save William.” Lena states.

“Like you did for Sam, with Reign?” Alex suggests.

“Would that even work?” Kara looks to Lena and Brainy for answers. Lena seems to be analyzing the possibility in her head while Brainy does the same.

“Theoretically, yes, it could potentially work. But we don’t have any Harun-El and my formula to synthesize it doesn’t exist on this Earth Prime, courtesy of Lex. I’d need a sample to synthesize more. And even if we did have some it’s specifically reactive to Kryptonian subatomic structures. I don’t see how that would help us considering neither William nor Nemesis is descended from Krypton.”

“Unless you synthesize it using a nano-particle emitter, emitting the same energy signature from the portal, to transmute the reactive property to respond to–”

“--That same subatomic signature as opposed to a Kryptonian subatomic structure! Brainy, you’re brilliant!” Lena says finishing his train of thought and giving him his due compliment. 

“Thank you, I know. If this works there’s a 98.7% chance that it would indeed split William from Nemesis and eviscerate the demi god without any harm befalling unto William.” 

“So this could work? It could really work?” Alex asks with a slight tremble in her voice as she looks at Kelly’s petrified form. “We can stop him? We can get them back?”

Brainy and Lena look at each other and then at Alex, unsure if stopping and defeating Nemesis would have any effect on the petrified state of Kelly and Nia. But they take their plan of action for the win that it is.

“Yes. Yes we can.” Lena says assuredly. She’s not sure how but if defeating Nemesis doesn’t reverse Kelly and Nia’s condition, like a curse lifted in a Disney movie after the villain is defeated, she’ll find a way to do it herself. There’s no way she’s going to let this narcissistic asshole take anyone else that she loves away from her. And if she is subconsciously referring to William in that moment instead of Nemesis…well, private thoughts are private for a reason. 

“Okay, let’s try it. Kara, you and I can take my ship and go to Argo to retrieve the Harun-El.” J’onn decides.

“Actually J’onn, I think it’s best if you stay behind to protect National City. With Nia and Kelly out, and now Kara, the people of National City can’t afford to lose Martian Manhunter too, especially since we don’t know when Will–, Nemesis will attack again.” Brainy advises.

J’onn sucks his teeth before conceding, “You’re right.” 

“I can also call Kal to come help in my absence.” Kara says.

“Good idea. I might give Barry and Oliver a call as well, just in case.”

“Great, then it’s settled. I’ll go to Argo by myself to get us some Harun-El–unless, Le–...uh, nevermind.”

“Unless what?” Alex asks.

“It was stupid. I was going to suggest Lena come with me since she’s the one synthesizing the Harun-El. I thought maybe she could speak with the Science Guild and they could maybe help her out, expedite the process. But that’s stupid she’s needed here. Kelly and Nia need her here.” Kara rambles.

“Actually Kara, that’s not a bad idea. Lena is always a welcomed helping hand but Kelly and Nia’s condition appears to be stable and remains unchanging. Simple diagnostic tests and bed-patient care is something Alex and I will surely be able to handle on our own. It would be wise for Lena to speak with them and perhaps see if they have more advanced tech to, as you said before, expedite the process.” Brainy says as his eyes fall to Nia’s statuesque form.

Kara looks at Lena with hopeful eyes and sees a flash of emotion flicker across her features that she can’t quite read. “What do you say? Want to come to Argo with me?” Kara asks, voice full of hope and maybe the tiniest hint of apprehension. Lena’s brow raises ever so slightly as she takes a deep breath and responds with, “Are you sure you’re okay with that?” She finishes as she bites her bottom lip and fiddles with her fingers.

“Lena.” Kara says almost exasperatedly as she takes a few steps towards her to stand in front of the younger woman. “It was my idea, remember?” She asks a little teasingly.

Lena releases her bottom lip and blows out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding and shakes herself out of her thoughts. “Right, of course.” She chuckles. “In that case, yes. I’d very much like to accompany you to Argo.” She says with a small smile.

“Great.” Kara says with a smile as well, subconsciously inching closer to Lena.

“I’m coming with.”

They all turn their heads to see Lura standing in the entryway of the MedBay.

“No, absolutely not. You’re staying here.” Lena automatically replies, her mothering instinct taking over.

“Why?” Lura asks imploringly as she steps into the room walking over to her mother.

“Because you’re a child you’re not going on a mission.” Lena supplies.

“I’m nineteen! And I hardly think interplanetary travel to visit its benevolent inhabitants is considered a ‘mission’. Sounds like a vacay to me and Rao knows I could use one.” She argues diplomatically. Her ironic use of the word Rao also doesn’t go unnoticed by Kara or Lena. The two older women look at each other as if having a silent conversation before Lura adds, “Besides, doesn’t it make more sense to take me with you considering Nemesis is still out here and off-world would be far less dangerous than if I was stuck here with him?” She pushes stubbornly, just like a teenager should with her parents. Kara looks at Lena and raises her eyebrow, tilting her head, as if to say “She has a point.” And that’s all it takes to get Lena to agree. “Okay fine. It’s alright with me if it’s alright with Kara.” Lura looks at Kara with puppy dog eyes and the thought of denying this girl anything she ever asked for, when she looks at her that way, never crosses Kara’s mind…not even for a nano-second. 

“I’d love it if you came to Argo with us. You can see my home and learn a little bit more about where your favorite aunt came from.”

“Favorite aunt? Alex is from Midvale.” Lura asks, confused. But apparently from the giggles in the room they all assume she’s joking. Oh, that’s right…they still don’t know Kara is my other mother. Well this will be fun. I wonder how long I can keep this up for.  

Kara scoffs before replying, “Yeah right, I know I’m your favorite.”

“Well you’re definitely top two.” She says this time going along with the joke but in actuality she means out of both of her parents. Kara is definitely in the top two list of Lura’s most favorite people in existence. 

:::

They leave that night to travel to Argo, embarking on J’onn’s ship. Kara was given strict instructions that only Lena was allowed to drive the ship. She huffed and puffed at J’onn’s lack of confidence in her piloting ability but soon conceded when the image of her best friend piloting an alien spaceship flashed through her mind and she secretly thought how hot that would be to see. 

“Are we there yet?” Lura asks like an impatient child would, excited to see her Uzeju. 

Lena rolls her eyes affectionately at her daughter’s impatience.

“Almost, sweetheart. About another two hours.”

“Uggghhhh, fiiiinnnee.” She says as she puts back on the headphones of the ipod Kara let her borrow for the duration of the trip. Kara looks back to where Lura is leaning against the seat, staring out the window watching the universe pass her by. She smiles affectionately at the sight.

“So, you excited?” Kara asks Lena from her place in the front passenger seat.

Lena grip’s the steering wheel a little bit tighter and wrings her hands over its grip as she contemplates Kara’s question. “Umm, yes?” She says, not too confidently. “Mmm, you sure? Because it doesn’t really sound like it.” Kara asks, not wanting to push but recognizing that Lena isn’t being completely honest with her. Lena takes a deep breath and sighs, wondering how to answer that question. Kara can tell she’s having a bit of difficulty so she holds true to her promise and reaches over to place a comforting hand on Lena’s one gripping the steering wheel. 

“What is it?” She asks gently.

Lena sighs before deciding to keep her promise to Kara and be completely honest with her.

“I am excited. Interplanetary travel for a scientist is like going to the X Games for a skateboarder.”

“You know about the X Games?” Kara asks incredulously, eyebrows shooting up to her hairline. 

“I went on a date with Ryan Sheckler once.”

“WHAT?!”

“What? He’s stupidly hot. Nothing ever came of it though. For how stupidly hot he is he is also, well, just plain stupid. Talking to him was like talking to a Beta version of a GPS a.i. ‘Right, right, psssh, yeah totally, right bruh, right.’” Lena says in a very poor and exaggerated imitation of him but it’s enough to make Kara cackle.

“I cannot believe you dated Cryin’ Ryan.”

“Thankfully he didn’t cry…at least not until after I gave him the most mind-blowing sex of his life apparently.”

Kara gasps in shock and almost chokes on her spit.

“His words, not mine.” Lena adds, not to seem arrogant or to toot her own horn.

“Lena!” Kara stage whispers as she looks from her best friend to the younger woman in the back who is lost in her own world, blaring music. “There’s a child present! Your child for Rao’s sake!” Kara says, face a blushing red. The thought of Lena being intimate with someone else makes her blood run hot, with discomfort or jealousy…she’s not sure which. 

“It’s fine she can’t hear anything.” Lena replies, looking into the rearview mirror at the young girl. Sensing Kara’s apparent discomfort she changes the subject back to the original topic and hand.

“Anyway to answer your question from before…yes I am excited but I am also incredibly nervous.” She says as she bites her lip. 

“Nervous? Why would you be nervous?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?! I’m meeting your mother, your people, seeing your home…I just…” She tapers off.

“Just?” Kara pushes.

“I want them to like me. I want her to like me.” She lets out, cheeks painted a pale shade of pink.

“Lena…” Kara says tenderly scooting closer to Lena and closing the gap between them on the bench seat. She grabs Lena’s hand and intertwines their fingers, holding their hands in her lap, pressed flush against Lena’s side.

“She already likes you. Why would you worry about that?”

“Well because of everything that happened between us.”

“Oh.” Kara says as she ducks her head and chews the inside of her cheeks. She moves to push up the frame of her glasses before disclosing to Lena, “I uh, I actually never told her about any of that.” Kara says running her thumb along the back of Lena’s hands. 

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Kara replies, looking up at Lena. “I just, I didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”

Lena’s hand goes limp in Kara’s grasp, her body visibly deflating as she breathes out a soft, “Oh.”

Kara can tell by Lena’s change in demeanor that she drew the wrong conclusion from what the blonde had said.

“Oh no! Lena, I don’t mean it like that. It’s my stupid fault for not explaining.” Kara says as she squeezes Lena’s hand tighter and readjusts her position so that her body is turned towards Lena, her shin now pressing up against Lena’s thigh.

“What I mean is, the reason I never told her about our falling out is because I knew that we’d come back to each other in the end…that everything would eventually be okay between us.”

“Really? You mean it? You’re not just trying to protect my feelings?” She asks quietly.

“I swear, Lena. Cross my heart and hope to die.” She says as she does the physical gesture that accompanies the idiom from childhood.

“Stick a needle in your eye?” Lena follows teasingly. 

“I mean I’m technically invincible but for you? Sure, we can try.” 

They laugh and stare at each other affectionately. Lena’s hand is still firmly held in Kara’s lap, with the blonde’s shin pressed up against the length of her thigh. Out of an urge to be closer to her best friend, Kara reaches out with her free hand and places it on Lena’s thigh, squeezing it gently. Lena’s eyes flit down at the action and her cheeks once again turn a lovely shade of pink.

“Hmmm.” Kara hums, staring at Lena.

Lena looks back up to meet Kara’s gaze.  “What?” she asks timidly.

“You do that a lot.” She says, eyes never leaving Lena’s face.

“Do what?” She says a little breathless.

Kara doesn’t answer for a moment but instead moves the hand resting on Lena’s thigh and brings it up to the younger woman’s cheek. She tenderly brushes the knuckles of her fingers against Lena’s warm-to-the-touch cheeks.

And then she breathes out, “Blush.”

Lena sucks in a breath, her cheeks getting redder, as a warmth spreads in her belly. The moment is charged between them and Lena swears she sees Kara lean in closer. Her heart stutters in her chest. She feels herself begin to lean in closer.

“Are we there yet?” Lura interrupts their moment, folding her arms against the back of their seats and pushing her face between the two of theirs. Lura startles them and they both jump slightly at the interruption.

“No!” Lena and Kara both answer, Kara with a hint of annoyance in her voice and Lena seemingly flustered. Lura narrows her eyes at the two of them and asks, “Am I interrupting something?”

“Of course not.” Lena says, adjusting her position, moving farther away from Kara and pressing up against her side door.

“Not anymore…” Kara quietly mumbles to herself, not loud enough for Lena to hear but Lura hears her perfectly. 

She knows she interrupted a moment but she also would rather not be trapped in the back of a spaceship having to watch her mothers make out like horny teenagers. And she knows that that is exactly what would happen because it happens everytime one of them initiates a kiss. Even when around company. They’re animals.

“Hmm. Shouldn’t you be driving this thing?” Lura says, chin resting on the top of her folded arms, looking directly at Lena. Kara suddenly looks at the steering wheel that she hadn’t realized had not been manned for at least the past several minutes.

“Lena! We’re gonna crash!” Kara says frantically, grabbing the wheel.

Lena swats away her arms, “It’s on auto-pilot you goofballs.”

“Oh. Good.”  Kara replies, sheepishly.

“Yeah, cool. Cuz it would really suck if– OH MY GOD A METEOR WE’RE GONNA CRASH!” Lura shouts pointing at the windshield. Both Kara and Lena scream and look out the windshield, Lena grabbing for the steering wheel. 

And Lura bursts out laughing. She’s laughing so hard she’s doubled over on the seat, crying and struggling to breathe.

“Oh you little ass!” Lena says, trying to calm her racing heart and trying not to laugh at the juvenile’s not-funny joke.

“When we get to Argo you’re not getting any dessert.” Kara says with faux sternness. 

“Oh come on, it was funny!” Lura says, still gasping for air in between chuckles.

“None, missy. None!” Kara finishes crossing her arms and sinking back into her seat embarrassed by how loud she screamed. She looks over at Lena who is quietly chuckling and already looking at her. Kara can tell she’s trying really hard not to laugh but the image only makes her start to giggle as well. 

The three of them end up falling into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Cackling and joking the rest of their way to Argo.