Earth 40

Kara was really eager to go back home, to see Alex and the others and to have some rest. She deserved it after her fight with the Dominators. Even though she would miss all the gang, especially Barry. When she crossed the portal, she emerged in the suburbs of National City. She was smiling until her eyes met an enormous billboard in which she appeared dressed as Supergirl along with Lena Luthor, who was clinging on to her arm, protecting herself behind her, posing like in posters for TV shows. Kara didn’t remember having done this picture with Lena, and the text that went with it didn’t make it clearer.

“Welcome to National City, the safest city in the country, protected by the power of Supergirl and the L Corp technology.3

She looked around her and she felt anxious. Either her memory was betraying her or there were new buildings in the city. But she hadn’t been gone that long, a month tops according to Barry and Cisco, they wouldn’t have had time to build them. What the hell was going on? She needed to see Alex and talk to her.

After knocking twice, an Asian woman opened the door. Kara frowned and took a step back to see if it was the right flat. She looked again at the woman, disconcerted.

“Excuse me, does Alex Danvers live here?”
“I’m sorry, the last owner left a few months ago”. The woman replied.
“Oh… And do you know where she lives now?”
“No, I don’t know anything.” The women looked at her suspiciously. It was clear that she wanted to close the door and Kara didn’t want to bother her any longer.
“Thank you anyway.”

Her anxiety was increasing by the minute. The city was different, her sister Alex living who knows where… What more had changed during her absence? Maybe years had gone by? She started to worry.

Her second option was to go to the DEO, maybe Alex was there, she and J’onn had a lot to explain to her. But the building that contained the DEO wasn’t where it had been anymore. In its place, there was a huge skyscraper occupied with banks and offices.

“This can’t be real I must be dreaming.” She mumbled

She then thought of Lena Luthor and prayed deep down that the L Corp was still where she remembered. She could go flying, like Supergirl, but she preferred to keep looking like Kara Danvers, to keep a low profile, at least until she knew what those posters with the CEO of L Corp were about. The gigantic L surmounted the higher floors of the imposing building. Kara sighed with relief, at least one thing was still in its place.

“Stay calm, Kara, whatever happens, it seems that Lena and you are still friends... well I think,” she told herself.

Not only the building was still where she remembered, but also the efficient Jess was still employed as Lena’s secretary.

“Miss Danvers, you already recovered from your surgery?” Jess greeted her cordially “I’m sure that Miss Luthor will be happy to hear about your recovery.”
“Well yes, it seems that we’re still friends” Kara thought.

Kara entered Lena’s office after having given two light knocks to warn of her presence. Lena was facing the other way, it looked like she was looking through the large window.

“I told you that no one was to disturb me, Jess.”
“I’m not Jess” Kara said “Hi, Lena.”

Lena was startled when she recognised her voice and she quickly turned around to look at her. Kara realised the effect she had caused, but she didn’t understand it, and she also didn’t understand the fear that she perceived in her green eyes. Even her heart started pounding quicker. Kara smiled slightly but Lena was still looking at her with an evident distrust.

“Lena?” Kara insisted.

Lena was observing her carefully with a gesture of preoccupation and she ended up focusing on her eyes. After a few seconds, Lena’s face started to relax. She recognised her. Those clear and pure eyes, filled with kindness... those eyes that made her sigh.

“Kara, you’re cured!, ” Lena shouted with sparkling eyes, running to hug her.

Kara felt Lena’s arms holding on tight to her body, almost with despair. It took her aback and she didn’t react in time to hug her back. Afterwards, Lena let her go a little and emerged herself back in her beautiful blue eyes, sure that there was a trace of wickedness. She needed to feel her again like before and she rushed to kiss her on the lips. Kara moved away enough so that she avoided the kiss and she looked at her with a strange expression.

“What are you doing?” she exclaimed, uncomfortable

“What kind of friendship do we have?” she wondered astonished.

Lena took a few steps back, hurt by the rejection and she contemplated her again. It was true that she didn’t see wickedness in her eyes but she didn’t see love or passion either, only confusion and awkwardness. Had the cure stolen her memories? No, this could not be her Kara. The young woman was heartbroken seeing the profound disappointment that tainted Lena’s green eyes.

“Who are you?” she asked at last, “From what world have you come?”
Kara was greatly surprised. Lena knew about the existence of the multiverse, so she opted to speak up
“I’m Kara Danvers but it’s clear that this is not my Earth.”
XXXXXX

They both sat on the couch in the office and Kara told Lena that it had only been two hours since she had crossed a portal from Earth-1 to go back to hers, Earth-38, but for some unknown reason she didn’t get there.

“Now you are on Earth 40 and I think things are a bit different than you expected,” Lena explained.
“Totally,” she admitted
“I’m sorry for before… for a moment I thought you were my girlfriend,” Lena confessed with a faint gesture.
“Your… your girlfriend?” Kara exclaimed, bewildered
“Yes,” she said with a smile, “you didn’t think that I welcome all my friends like that, right?
“What?... no, I suppose not,” Kara replied awkwardly but she didn’t stop smiling.
Lena felt nostalgia, this Kara was as adorable as the one in her earth, like she was before she changed.
“It would be best if you spoke with your sister and with J’onn,” Lena said with determination “I’m sure that they can help you.”
“You know J’onn J’onzz?,” she asked, surprised again
“Yes, and from time to time I pay them a visit at the DEO. I collaborate with them when they need me,” she clarified with pride. Kara was still not reacting. Lena raised her left eyebrow with amusement.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that… all of this seems surreal,” Kara confessed between laughs.
“Come on, let’s not waste more time and let’s go to the DEO,” Lena suggested, “Will you take me flying or should I ask for my helicopter?”
“What?” Kara was completely out of it. Lena was casually addressing her as Supergirl.
“I better go in my helicopter, I don’t like flying at all and it seems that you’re not used to carry me in your arms,” she joked. Kara just smiled like an idiot.
XXXXXX

Kara, dressed as Supergirl, landed in the place that Lena had indicated. So on Earth-40, the DEO was still where it began in her world, in the suburbs of National City. The arrival provoked a commotion, some guards pointed their guns at her, looking terrified. Kara tried to convince them that she didn’t mean any harm. The fear that they all showed when they saw her started to get on her nerves. After minutes of tense conversation, they let her go inside the facilities, and there she was received by Mon-El.

He was wearing a DEO uniform, Mon-El as an agent? Well that was surprising.
“So you’re coming from another Earth,” He asserted.
“Yes. Where is my sis…” she didn’t finish the word, was she really her sister?, “Where is Alex?”
“She’s on the phone, but she’ll come.”
“And J’onn?”
“He doesn’t work here anymore, I took his position,” Mon-El announced.
“What?! You?!” Kara couldn’t believe it. The Mon-El that she knew would have never accepted a position with such responsibilities; in fact, he wouldn’t even be ready to accept it. Was everything so different on this Earth?
“It’s a joke, J’onn went out a while ago, he won’t be long.”
“That’s more like you,” Kara whispered.
“What?”
“Nothing.”

“Hi, Kara,” Winn held out his hand to her, “It’s a pleasure to meet more people from different Earths.”
“You’ve known more people from… ?”
“Yes, a Barry Allen visited us from Earth-7 and he explained to us everything he knew about the multiverse.” Kara turned to the door as she heard her sister’s voice.
“Alex…” she said softly. But Alex didn’t give her any warm gesture. So Kara decided not to approach her, it was clear that she didn’t consider her family.
“How did you come here?,” Alex asked.
“Flying.”
“Shit,” she cursed, “do you think that someone saw you?”
“No, I don’t think so, I came flying very fast but why?”
“You think or you’re sure?” Agent Danvers insisted. Kara felt a little bit harassed.
“Calm down, Alex, I don’t think that anyone saw her, the media would have already talked about it.”
“Maggie?,” Kara looked at the young detective, “You know the DEO too?”
“Seems like that,” Maggie replied, “Even though now I’m not as useful as before.”
She showed her the crutches that helped her walk. Kara saw that her leg was covered in iron and wires.
“What happened to you?” Kara asked with genuine concern.
“My sister is what happened…” Alex blurted out with some anger.
“Alex…” Maggie said, resting her hand on the agent’s wrist to calm her down.
“It’s clear that something happened with my alter ego on this Earth,” Kara affirmed, “Everybody is scared to see me, even knowing where I come from.”
“We can explain it to you.”
“J’onn! Lucy!”
XXXXXX

Kara sat with the others around a large table in the meeting room. Lena took a seat too, she had arrived on time for the talk. All the people attending greeted her and she sat next to Winn, with whom she seemed to get along really well. Only Alex was standing, leaning on the wall, giving sideways looks to the exact copy of her sister.

“A little more than two months ago, our Kara started to change,” J’onn said, “she became selfish, careless, irresponsible… We thought that she was going through a bad period, maybe too much work, we didn’t want to give it too much importance.”
“But one day she lost control in a mission and she was about to kill two of our agents,” Mon-El added.
“We understood that we had to stop her before the people of National City heard about it and started panicking,” J’onn continued.
“The DEO contacted the army and I came to collaborate,” Lucy said.
“Fortunately, we found her before she killed anyone,” J’onn added, “we used kryptonite to weaken her and we confined her in a maximum security cell, here, in our facilities.”
“But no everybody came back unharmed from that mission,” Alex suddenly pointed out. Kara looked at her and right away she looked at Maggie, it was clear that she was talking about her.
“I had bad luck,” Maggie said, “Kara wasn’t having a good day when I ran into her,” she joked.
“Well what you’re talking about happened to me on my Earth, I changed too that way…”
“Really? How did you resolve it?,” Lena asked very interested.
“I was infected by a synthesised product developed by Maxwell Lord in his lab, my sister and her team managed to create an antidote.”
All the people present looked disconcerted
“Maxwell Lord is a quite famous lawyer in National City but he’s not a scientist nor does he have a lab,” J’onn informed.
“What?,” Kara exclaimed, “So why did your Kara change like that?”
“We don’t know,” Lena admitted, “and we have been looking for a way to get her back for two months but unsuccessfully.”
Kara sighed with discouragement. The situation was much worse that she had thought at the beginning.
“For now, we only know that Supergirl has become a monster capable of anything,” Alex affirmed, “she felt no compassion when she destroyed my girlfriend’s leg or when she attacked Lena. It’s my sister and I don’t recognise her!”
Alex tightened her fist hard until her knuckles turned white. Kara found out something else, on Earth-40, Alex and Maggie were dating it seemed, the detective hadn’t friendzoned Alex like in her world.

After a few minutes where no one dared to break the silence, Kara spoke again.
“How are you dealing with this regarding the population?”
“We had to lie,” J’onn admitted, “We told them that Supergirl had to help some friend from another planet and that she would come back when they resolve it.”
“And in her absence, J’onn, Guardian and I are in charge of protecting the city, with the help of the DEO,” Mon-El.
“Cat Grant offered her help and she was in charge of announcing it to the city through CatCo,” J’onn said.
“In exchange, she only asked for an exclusive interview about the absence of my girlfriend,” Lena said, “and of course, her magazine sold well.” She smiled, as well as Lucy and Winn. They knew that Cat Grant wouldn’t miss a single opportunity. “She tried to get me to tell her the secret identity of Supergirl. I like her, she has good vision for business.”
“So Cat is still in National City,” Kara thought, “and as curious and persistent as always,” she smiled.”
“What excuse give did you give to explain Kara Danvers’s absence at CatCo?”
“I said that my sister was ill and that she needed surgery and time to recover from the operation,” Alex replied.
“Well thought.”

The meeting ended and J’onn gave instructions to Alex and Mon-El to keep the city safe.
“I’m going to go too I’ll be available on my phone for anything you need,” Lucy said. Then she moved closer to Mon-El and kissed him on the lips. “Be careful,” she whispered to him. But Kara could hear it perfectly.
“Those two are… ?,” she asked in disbelief.
“Yes, they are together,” Winn replied, “Why do women like Lucy or Lena only pay attention to powerful aliens?” he exclaimed with regret, “Doesn’t matter, don’t answer me.”

Lena could barely hide her smile and Kara got a little nervous when she saw her. The alien who had caught Lena’s attention was her. Well, no exactly, but almost.

Winn and Lena asked Kara how she had created the portal to travel between parallel worlds and Kara told them everything about her adventure against the Dominators on Earth-1 and the gift that Cisco had given her. They both took a moment to observe it up close.

“It’s clear that its effect diverted slightly and it brought you to Earth 40 instead of getting you to your Earth,” Winn affirmed. Lena nodded very convinced.
“I had forgotten that you two are quite…” They looked at her frowning, “brainy,” she added smiling.
“I think that we could fix it,” Lena said.
“Really?”
“Yes, I think so, too, but… it’ll take us days, we’ve never build anything like it, we don’t know the internal structure,” Winn admitted.
“Oh… I see,” Kara sighed.
“But we will do, trust us,” Lena took her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. Kara was a bit startled when she touched her. Lena noticed and took away her hand straight away, fearing that she had made her uncomfortable once again. “Sorry… Alex!”

Lena approached Alex and started a conversation with her. It seemed that she was asking her something. Alex didn’t feel like giving in. Kara couldn’t contain herself and she used her power to listen to their conversation.
“Please, Alex, I want to see her.”
“Lena, I don’t think that it’s advisable…”
“Please…,” she insisted.
“Fine, but only for a few minutes, you already know she gets agitated when she sees you.”
Lena agreed and then she got in an elevator with a DEO agent. Kara thought they were talking about her alter ego and she felt curious to see her but it was a stupid idea and she discarded it immediately.

Alex was talking to some agents and Kara got away from there until she heard a familiar voice and stopped walking.
“Hey, Kara,” It was Maggie Sawyer’s voice.
“Maggie…”
“Too much information in only a few hours, right?,” she affirmed with a sincere smile which Kara returned. “I felt a little confused too when I knew that my girlfriend was Supergirl’s sister but I imagine that it’s worse for you, everything is different from what you know.
“Yes,” Kara replied.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Are Alex and I together on your Earth?,” Maggie asked.
“Well… It’s a bit complicated,” she admitted, “Alex liked you a lot and she told you so, but you said that it would be better to be just friends.”
“Oh, wow… so, no?,” she mumbled, “It’s hard to believe that I could be without her in any world,” she confessed looking all loved up, “but don’t tell her cause I’m sure that it’ll get to her head,” she joked.
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” Kara assured.
How nice it was to see her sister with someone who loved her like that, even if it’s on another Earth. Maybe on hers with time, Maggie and her…?
“Maggie, let’s go home now,” Alex said. The detective said goodbye to Kara, shared a tender kiss with her girlfriend and walked towards the exit with the crutches.
“So you live together,” Kara thought, “that’s why Alex was not in her flat.”
Kara turned to Alex who was staring at her.

“What?”
“I want to apologise.”
“What for?,” Kara didn’t understand Alex’s intentions.
“For the cold welcome,” the agent said, “it’s just that seeing you affected me a little. It’s like getting my sister back but not really, you know? It’s hard for me.”
“Don’t worry, it’s okay, you’re not the only one that was affected by my presence,” Kara asserted.
“I can imagine.”
They both thought about Lena Luthor, who was just getting out of the elevator. She was hiding her face with her hand. No, she was wiping off tears with her hand. Kara felt sad seeing her like that.
“She went to see her right?”
“Yes,” Alex replied. They saw her dry her tears and show a smile to the agents who walked by her, “Lena is admirable. She’s having worse time than I am and she never loses her nerve or is rude to anyone. She’s always smiling to everyone.”
Kara couldn’t stop looking at her. Like Alex was just saying, Lena maintained a little smile on her face when she reached them, even though she was crying moments before.
“An agent told me that J’onn wants to see the three of us.”
“Ok, let’s go.”
Kara exchanged a look with Alex who nodded and they walked silently with Lena. Even though she wanted to know what had happened in her meeting with the other Kara, she didn’t dare to ask her, she didn’t want to make her even sadder.

“Maybe you got here by mistake, Kara, but… for us, it is a miracle,” J’onn assured, “We should make the most out of this situation.”
“What do you mean?” Kara asked.
“It has already been two months, people are worried,” Winn informed, “There are rumours that maybe Supergirl is never coming back.”
Kara noticed that, after hearing this, Lena looked down. Then she focused her attention on J’onn and Winn.
“For now, you can’t go back to your Earth, and we need to show National City that they can still count on Supergirl’s protection.”
“What do you want me to do?,” Kara said, starting to understand.
“We need for Kara Danvers to go back to CatCo and for Supergirl to fly in the sky again,” J’onn asserted straightforward, “and end those rumours.”
“You want me to take her place…”
“At least, until Winn and miss Luthor fix Cisco’s invention.”
“I guess that I can do it,” Kara said with a soft voice.
“But… how are we going to do this exactly?,” Lena asked with concern, “because we’ll have to show ourselves as a couple.”
“We’ll arrange it now, if you both agree… we need you.”
Kara and Lena looked at each other. Then they looked at J’onn and agreed.

Kara remembered a conversation with Lena on her Earth
“Who would’ve believed it? A Luthor and a Super working together… I hope that we can work together more again in the future.
“Me too.”
“Who would’ve believed it? A Luthor and a Super sleeping together…” She thought. And she started blushing. She cleared her throat and dedicated all her attention back to J’onn J’onz.