Something to Fight For

Chase worried he had given up too much information when Agent Danvers suddenly exited the room, leaving him alone with Detective Sawyer. He had started off trying to hold his tongue, honestly, he wanted too, but more than that he desperately wanted this whole ordeal to be over. These guys weren’t like the L.A.P.D., Chase rationalized to himself, they weren’t being paid off by his or his friend’s parents. They were just cops, even better, one was an FBI agent. Surely, they could help where the local police couldn’t? Chase hoped he wasn’t wrong.

“So, your parents are framing you for murder.” Detective Sawyer spoke, bringing Chase out of his thoughts.

“Yes.” Chase had just finished explaining, in as little words a possible, that it was PRIDE behind the killing of Destiny, not the kids. “They’ve been doing this for years, and they’ve always gotten away with it.”

“Because the charity group is just a cover for secret cult?” Maggie questioned, wanting to make sure she had all the facts correct, at least as correct they could be from one kids’ story. Chase seemed to take her questioning as disbelief.  

“You don’t believe me.”

“I didn’t say that,” the detective was quick to reassure him. “But I need to make sure I have everything right. I can’t start an investigation into this based on half-truths or a well-spun story.”

“I am telling the truth,” Chase insisted with a frown.

“And I believe you, I really do,” Maggie held up her hands in surrender. “I’m going to help you, Chase. I promise. So, I’m going to need you to tell me everything you can.”

“There’s some things that I can’t tell you,” Chase spoke softly, thinking about Molly’s powers, Nico’s staff, Karolina’s lights…Amy. “Somethings that aren’t my secrets to tell.”

“Chase,” Maggie began, intending to insist that he give her all the information he can, but Chase interrupted her.

“But, if you let me see my friends,” he looked Detective Sawyer in the eye, “we’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“You’ve got a deal, kid.” Maggie offered him a small smile, one he hesitantly returned. “I’ll go see if we can get you kids moved into one room.” Maggie stood from her seat, shooting Chase one last reassuring smile over her shoulder as she left the room. Once she was gone, Chase, suddenly overwhelmed, dropped his head to the table and let out a deep breath. They were finally going to get some help.

It took surprisingly little convincing for J’onn to agree to letting the rest of the kids join Karolina and Nico in the sun room. Kara and Alex had expected him to put up more of a fight. No matter how innocent they seemed, these kids were still wanted criminals after all, but J’onn had only nodded his assent before swiftly moving out of the room.

Truthfully, J’onn while not actively reading the kids minds, did pick up on some passive thoughts. What he heard was enough to convince him that these kids weren’t truly criminals. He didn’t feel comfortable pushing further into their minds, and so left his favorite agent and detective to solve the puzzle while he directed Winn to keep looking into the kids’ parents.

The kids were ushered into the room one at a time to join Karolina, who had regained most of her color and had started to glow dimly, and the stoic Nico who stood beside the medical bed. Chase came in first, since Maggie had made the deal with him. Upon entering, he immediately stepped to the side of the bed opposite Nico. He took a moment to observe both girls, Karolina’s dim glow somewhat reassuring. Nico’s eyes shone with emotion, but he could see the bags beneath them, the exhaustion in her shoulders.

“What happened?” He addressed the shorter girl.

“She lost control of her lights,” Nico answered, her eyes not straying from Karolina’s face, “Agent Danvers said she probably over extended herself and getting some sunlight would help. That’s what these are for,” Nico indicated the lights producing a yellow glow. “She should wake up soon.”

“Are you okay?” Nico looked up to meet Chase’s eyes.

She nodded, “I’ll be better when she opens her eyes.”

Her gaze fell again, and Chase had the good grace to not push anymore. He didn’t understand what was happening between Nico and Karolina, but he could see the connection between them. It was something about the way they looked at one another. Even now, with Karolina unconscious and Nico visibly exhausted, there was a softness in her eyes. A light that eclipsed all else. Gert would probably call it heart-eyes, but Chase new it was something deeper. The emotion in Nico’s eyes matched what Chase felt every time he looked at Gert. Luckily for Nico, Karolina returned the affection. Chase wasn’t sure he could say the same about Gert.

The others joined them one by one, Alex trailing in last and looking slightly annoyed that all that everyone else had been moved before himself. He shuffled over to the bed, taking the only open spot at the foot of the bed. Nico and Molly lined one side of the gurney, Chase and Gert the other. Nico filled everyone in on what happened with Karolina before they began to quietly discuss what had happened while they had been separated.

Gert seemed surprised to learn that Alex, Chase, and Karolina had all been questioned before they were allowed out. Alex assured them that he didn’t give up any information and he turned to Chase with accusing eyes when the taller boy admitted that he had.

“You told them?” Alex was incredulous.

“Only that it was our parents who killed Destiny!” Chase defended himself. “I told Detective Sawyer that I wouldn’t say anything else until we were all together.”

“Why would you tell her anything?” Alex’s voice rose slightly and Kara, who had been standing just outside the sun room, letting the kids speak without actively listening to them, frowned.

“She’s a cop Alex! Detective Sawyer and Agent Danvers can help us.”

“We don’t know that! We don’t how far our parents reach is! We can’t trust anybody.” Alex demanded. The group had been so focused on the brewing argument, the failed to notice Karolina’s eyes fluttering open.

“You really think our parents have a man inside the FBI?” Gert interjected. “Alex, that’s ridiculous.”

“This whole situation is fucking ridiculous!” Alex yelled, his fists clenched.

“Guys stop fighting.” Karolina let the others know she was awake. Her lights brightened considerably as she sat up, her strength returned.

“Karolina!” Nico reached out, ready to steady Karolina in case she started to sway. “Karo, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Karolina nodded, smiling as Nico placed her bracelet in her hand. Karolina clasped her bracelet in place, her lights fading as Alex and Chase resumed their argument.

“We can’t make stupid mistakes guys.” Alex insisted, glaring hard at Chase.

“And telling a federal agent that we’re innocent is a stupid mistake?” Chase asked rhetorically. “No, Wilder. That’s not how this is going to work.”

“Then how is it going to work, huh?” Alex yelled at the group. Gert jumped, and Molly’s eyes flashed yellow in response. “By spilling all our secrets and then putting on a light show?” He threw his hands up, pointing in Karolina’s direction.

“That’s not fair, Alex.” Nico spoke up, her words low. She stood close to the bed Karolina still sat on, their hands not quit touching. “This was out of her control.”

“Oh, I get it,” Alex spat, “Karolina gets forgiven at the drop of a hat, but poor, pitiful Alex, has to wallow in his guilt for days. Even if she messed up just as bad as I did.”

“This has nothing to do with that Alex.” Nico shook her head, opening her mouth to continue speaking before Alex stopped her.

“Of course not. Karolina only exposed our biggest secret to the government and who knows what she told them before she passed out. But, no, Karolina, she’s special. She doesn’t get yelled at. She gets fucking rescued.”

“Karolina didn’t do anything wrong.” Nico insisted, taking a step forward. “As for your betrayal, that’s between you and me.”

“Save it, Nico. I don’t want to hear it.” Alex waved a hand dismissively.

“Don’t talk to her that way!” Karolina spoke up again, her shoulders tense. She rose from the bed, advancing on Alex. “You do not get to act like the saint here, Alex Wilder. You do not get to talk down to us, or yell at us, for thinking the FBI could help. We are all in this mess together and arguing isn’t going to help anything. So, shut up, sit down and stop acting like an ass before I knock you out.” Karolina ended her tirade with a harsh poke to Alex’s chest.

Alex looked like he wanted to fight back. Chase took a step forward, ready to help Karolina in controlling the angry teenager, but Supergirl swept into the room before anything else could be said, Agent Danvers and Detective Sawyer trailing behind her. It was clear they had heard some of what transpired before they came in, but none of the adults mentioned it.

“Karolina, good, you’re awake.” Agent Danvers calmly directed the agitated blonde back to the gurney she had vacated. “I’m going to run a few more tests, just to make sure you’re not in danger of passing out again.” Karolina nodded as the agent hooked her up to all manner of machines.

“Not that we don’t appreciate everything your doing for us,” Gert spoke up suddenly after the silence stretched on too long for her to bear, “but is there any chance you guys could just, like, let us go?”

“Afraid not, kiddo,” Maggie replied, “we believe that you guys are innocent, and we want to help catch the real criminals here.”

“And, if you guys stay in National City, we can protect you from them.” Supergirl added. “Once Karolina is cleared, we’re going to take you to a safe place on the outskirts of the city until we can get a safe house set up.”

“Really?” Molly looked excited about the prospect of leaving the building. She felt caged in, especially with all the agents walking about.

“Really.” Supergirl assured her. “But the dinosaur is going to have to stay here until we can get to the actual safehouse.”

“That makes sense.” Gert whispered to herself, thought she didn’t seem to happy about it. “Can I see her before we leave?”

“Make it quick,” Maggie said. “Danvers is almost done with the tests, as soon as she is we are loading out.”

“Aye, aye captain.” Gert gave her a mock salute and then followed Detective Sawyer as she went find Agent Vasquez and take the purple haired girl to the dinosaurs holding cell.

“Where are we going to go?” Nico asked from her spot on the bed beside Karolina. Since the blonde didn’t have to lay down anymore, Nico happily claimed the seat beside her.

“My sister’s place.” Agent Danvers answered. “She lives in a loft on the outskirts of downtown. You won’t be spotted there. She’s already there waiting.”

“And she has food waiting. You guys like pizza, right?” Supergirl smiled when the kids nodded the affirmative.

Kara waited until all the kids were loaded into two DEO suburbans before taking to the sky and heading to her apartment. It only took her a minute to fly in through the window and she quickly pulled her day clothes on over her suit and pulled half of her hair up into a bun. With her glasses on her nose, Kara called her favorite pizza place and placed a large order, even for her. She knew Alex and Maggie were taking the fastest route from the city DEO headquarters to her loft, so she hoped the kids would believe they were arriving earlier than expected. She didn’t want them to ask too many questions, Kara had a tendency to blurt things out when she was under pressure. That’s how the media found out that she and Superman were related in the first place. She couldn’t go and tell these kids her secret identity, a task that would be harder than normal to keep a secret.

Kara hated having to lie to these kids. She knew they didn’t trust easily, or adults in general. Karolina’s reaction when Supergirl tried to help her with her lights proved that. She didn’t want to break the kids very fragile trust in her sister and Maggie. She knew her identity was there to protect people, herself and those she cared about, but that didn’t always sit well with her. These kids were a prime example of that. Keeping her identity from them felt like a betrayal, almost in the same way keeping her secret from Lena felt.

Kara found herself thinking of he Luthor heiress often. Almost a year since they met, and Lena was a close friend (even though she made Kara eat kale when they went out to lunch together). She had proved time and time again to be unlike any other Luthor, any other person Kara had ever known. She had a good heart, a brilliant mind, and she used the opportunities given to her to help people. A hero in her own right, one whom Kara admired greatly. Lena had trusted her with so much, Kara wished she could do the same.

Shrugging off her thoughts of Lena, Kara busied herself with the tidying up of her apartment while she waited for the kids to get there. She pulled out all her extra blankets and pillows, silently pondering if she should run out and get a couple air mattresses for the kids to sleep on, and piled them in the corner of the living room. It had been her idea to get the kids out of the DEO, after hearing the argument between all of them. Tensions had been running high between the group from the second they were all in the same room, Kara had hoped getting the kids out from under the governments thumb would help them out. Alex had been hesitant to agree, but Maggie had agreed with Kara. They agreed it was best to take them to Kara’s place for the time being, away from the heart of the city where Alex and Maggie’s apartment was. It would take some time to get a safe house equipped to handle six teenagers and their pet dinosaur.

The group arrived minutes later, stumbling into the loft at the direction of Maggie, who had led them up the stairs, with Alex swiftly closing the door behind them.

“Everyone, this is my sister Kara.” Alex nodded to her sister who offered the kids a smile and wave in greeting. “Kara, this is everyone.”

The kids introduced themselves one by one as they spread out around Kara’s loft. Nico and Karolina paired off, moving to the large windows in the dining room area of the loft while Chase, Molly, and Gert headed towards the couch. Only Alex remained by himself, standing close to the kitchen island.

“Make yourselves comfortable, guys. Pizza should be here in a few minutes. You guys got here faster than I thought you would.” Kara received non-committal grunts from the kids in response to her words, then turned to her sister and Maggie. “Any trouble on the way over.”

“None,” Maggie answered, “but whatever they were arguing about isn’t over yet.”

“I noticed,” Kara looked over the group. Alex had joined Molly, Gert, and Chase in the living room, but he sat across from them in one of Kara’s chairs instead of on the couch with the other three. Karolina and Nico remained by the window.

“You sure you’re okay to watch all of them?” Alex inquired.

“Of course, Alex,” Kara assured her, “we agreed this would be best until we could get them somewhere safer.” Karolina and Nico drifted over to the others as the TV flickered on. “I’ll keep you guys updated.”

The couple traded goodbyes with the heroine before making their way to their own apartment. Kara turned to head into the living room with the kids when her doorbell rang. Assuming it was the pizza being delivered, Kara didn’t bother to look through the door to see who was there. She was surprised, pleasantly, when she opened the door and found none other than Lena Luthor on the other side.

“Lena!” Kara greeted happily. “What are you doing here?”

“You haven’t answered any of my texts.” Lena answered, moving into the loft when Kara opened the door for her. “I was worried.” Truthfully, Lena hadn’t seen much of Kara since the Daxamite invasion just over a month again. She couldn’t help the guilt that crept up whenever she thought about how the invasion ended, how she condemned her best friend’s boyfriend to certain death if he didn’t leave.

“I’m sorry,” Kara gestured to the group of kids around the TV. “I’ve been helping Alex with a mentoring program at the Boys and Girls Club.” Kara used the agreed upon cover. “Maggie roped her into it, and she did the same to me.” Kara figured it was a plausible excuse, especially since Maggie had actually been a mentor for the Boys and Girls Club before. “I haven’t even looked at my phone all day.” That part wasn’t a lie.

“No need to apologize.” I just wanted to make sure you were okay. “It’s not a problem. I guess I should leave you to it, then.” Lena offered her friend a warm smile, ignoring the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach when Kara smiled back.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Kara offered. “Pizza should be here any minute now.” As if response, a knock sounded at her door. Kara directed Lena to drop her purse on the table and shed her coat as she moved to the door to get the pizza and pay the delivery boy.

“Pizza’s here!” Kara called over shoulder and the group of kids rose from their seats in almost unison. They hurried over to the dining room table, eyeing Lena warily. “Everyone, this is Lena. She’s a good friend of mine. You can trust her.” Kara hoped the kids believed her. “Lena, this is Chase, Gert, Molly, Alex, Karolina and Nico.” Kara pointed to each person in turn. Lena smiled at them all and gestured for them to dig into the pizza first as soon as Kara placed the plates on the table.

The kids gathered their food quickly, each loading their plates almost too much and stumbling back to the living room to reclaim their earlier seats. Kara pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge for each of them and made sure they had all the pizza they could possibly eat before grabbing a plate for herself. She and Lena sat at the table, leaving the kids to themselves in the living room, and chatted while they ate. Lena kept looking curiously at the kids, taking in their rumpled appearances and the way they seemed to eat like it had been days since they had a decent meal. Kara tried to remember if they had been given food while at the DEO, but she didn’t think they had. They had wanted to get all the interviews done before feeding the kids, but then Karolina’s powers had acted up and it slipped her mind. The pang of guilt that hits her when she realizes she had unintentionally neglected the kids needs almost made her drop her pizza.

“Alex, turn the volume up.” Nico’s voice drew Kara’s attention to the TV. She hadn’t realized the kids had turned to the news, which was currently running a story on a group of kids from Los Angeles.

“The police still have no leads on the case concerning the missing girl Molly Hernandez, and the five older teenagers suspected to have kidnapped her.” Pictures of the six kids in the living room appeared on the screen. “The kidnappers are also the main suspects in the investigation of the homicide of Destiny Gonzalez,” the newscaster continued explaining the facts of the case, but his words went unheard as Chase and Karolina jumped to their feet, turning to look at Kara with wide eyes.  

Lena stood up as the kids jumped, looking back and forth between the kids standing in her friends living room and the pictures on the screen. “Kara?”  

“Lena, I can explain.” Kara moved slowly around the table, noticing the protective stance of Chase and Karolina, and the grip Nico had on Karolina’s arm. “Everyone calm down. It’s okay. You’re safe here.”

“We need to go,” Alex said to his friends. No one moved. “Guy’s were busted! Move!” He tried to usher the group forward, but only succeeded in knocking Nico further into Karolina who, not expecting the sudden weight, fell to the ground.

“Karo, you’re bracelet.” Nico exclaimed as she climbed off the taller girl. Karolina’s lights illuminated her skin, reflecting off the metal of her bracelet which had come off when she fell. “Alex! I’m going to kill you.”

“What’s going on?” Lena asked, startled. “Kara?”

“It’s okay, Lena.” Kara promised. “Karolina, it’s okay. You’re safe. We won’t hurt you.” Kara cautiously approached the glowing girl. For each step Kara took, Karolina took one back. A swirl of light grew in her hand as she prepared to protect her friends. “I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

“Guys?” Karolina asked her friends, each of whom looked as shocked as she felt. She felt a hand on the small of her back, small and familiar. She took another step back as Kara moved forward, tripping over the leg of the coffee table.

Karolina stumbled as her leg collide with the wood, Nico stabilizing her before she could fall over but not before the swirl of energy in her right palm shot off, aimed at Lena. Before the Luthor heiress could react, Kara had stepped into the beam. The impact knocked her back a couple steps but when the light faded, only Kara remained, uninjured but with her shirt in pieces. She turned to Lena, the House of El emblem branded across her chest.

“Kara…” Lena’s eyes widened as she took in the ‘S’ on her best friends’ chest. “You’re,” Lena gulped, “you’re Supergirl?”

“Lena, I can explain. Please don’t go.” Kara pleaded before turning back to the startled teenagers. “You don’t have to be afraid.”

“Well,” Lena cleared her throat, “someone had better damn well start talking.”