KPJT Channel 3 News Special Report

Leyna Nguyen Reporting Live From CatCo Plaza

"For those of you just joining us, we are currently live at CatCo Plaza in downtown National City where, just minutes ago, National City's resident superhero Supergirl was struck from the sky in a vicious attack. A number of reporters leaving the CatCo building following a surprise press conference given by President Olivia Marsdin were filming the Girl of Steel's departure from CatCo, and caught the attack on film. A word of warning to sensitive viewers, the footage you are about to see is both violent, and disturbing, and KPJT News strongly recommends not letting younger viewers watch."

The scene cut away from Leyna to taped footage showing the top of the CatCo building. For a moment, there was nothing, but then a small figure in red and blue rose up over the edge of the building. Even at a distance, it was easy to see that her movements were carefree, almost playful as she rolled in mid-flight to look back towards the building. It was this move that put her in exactly the wrong position to see what happened next. A bright red object shot across the frame, coming in from behind Supergirl to strike her squarely in the head, exploding on impact.

Supergirl, lifeless and limp slammed into the CatCo logo so hard she bounced and then she fell. The camera tracked her down to where she landed, half-on and half-off the lower tier of the building, but her own weight dragged her over the edge, causing her to plummet the remaining thirty stories down to the middle of the square in front of the building. The impact of her body shattered the concrete, and she lay there, face covered in blood, hair matted, still as the grave.

Before anyone could move in to see if she was alive, Superman slammed down next to her and scooped her up in his arms, shooting off into the air, disappearing from view.

The scene cut again, showing Leyna standing in front of the crater left by Supergirl's fall.

"As you can see, Supergirl was struck in the head by some sort of weapon that was strong enough to make even the Girl of Steel bleed. No word has come yet, either from the National City Police Department, or the newly announced Department of Extranormal Operations, as to who might be behind this vicious attack on the hero of National City, or as to Supergirl's condition. Some are already speculating that she might be dead, while others wonder if Superman will use the same medical equipment Supergirl used last night on former CatCo Radio personality Leslie Willis to save Supergirl's life. Only time will tell."

"Reporting live from CatCo Plaza, this is Leyna Nguyen for KPJT Channel 3 News signing off."

Cat stood motionless in her office, staring at the screens in front of her. Every one of them showed the same thing. The angles might be a bit different, but over and over again the screens behind her desk showed her Kara being shot out of the sky.

It had all happened so fast. The press conference had ended. Cat had slipped back into the empty conference room they'd used as an arrival point. Kara had hugged her and told her she had to go and talk to Olivia for a few minutes, and Cat had laughed as Kara and Clark had headed for the stairwell, bickering like a pair of children arguing over who was the better flier. Cat had just enough time to see the indulgent smiles on the faces of Kara's aunt and sister before they'd disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Cat and Jackson behind.

She's been in her office just long enough to fill a tumbler with M&M's when James had come in, followed closely by Jackson, both wearing looks that told her the news was going to be bad. She'd looked at them and she knew. She couldn't understand how it could have happened so quickly, but she knew.

She'd watched with a strange sense of detachment as James had picked up the remote and turned on the screens. She'd felt numb as she listened to the first report.

At some point, she became aware that she'd dropped the tumbler and the floor was covered with M&M's, and it seemed important. It seemed real. Because what she was seeing couldn't be. The thick air surrounding her, making it hard to breathe, couldn't be. The weight pressing down on her chest, the blinding light, the way she could suddenly hear every noise in the room echoing painfully in her ears, the way the world was closing in and crushing her, none of that could be real.

She wasn't sure who caught her when she fell, but it was the hobbit who was kneeling in front of her, guiding her, urging her to lean down and put her head between her knees. She didn't remember him arriving, but he told her to take deep breaths and he rubbed her back. He wrapped a blanket around her and held a garbage can for her while she vomited into it.

Winslow. That was his name. The computer genius who couldn't pass the background checks. Winslow Schott Jr., who had a crush on Kara, but hid it carefully. Who had unfortunate family connections. Who Kara trusted.

He stayed with her, speaking to her softly, telling her it would be okay, that Kara would be okay, until sleep took her.

Clark filed into the empty conference room they were using as a transport site, and somehow wasn't surprised to see Kara pull Cat into a hug.

"We did it," Kara whispered.

"You did it," Cat replied.

He watched as Kara pulled away from the hug and he immediately recognized the look on her face. He'd seen it before. On Diana's face when she looked at a photo of Steve Trevor, on Bruce's face any time Selina was in his line of sight. On Lois' face when she looked at him. On Alex's face every time she looked at the short, dimpled woman standing next to her. What really surprised him, hit him like one of Darkseid's punches in fact, was seeing that same look reflected back in Cat's face.

"Supergirl," he said. "Why don't we fly back?"

She looked over at him, the smile still on her face. "Sure, if President Marsdin doesn't mind."

Clark looked at Olivia and she gave a small shrug. "I've got things to take care of at the DEO," she said, "but Supergirl and I do need to talk before I head back to Washington."

"We won't be long," Clark said as he started towards the door. "Come on, cousin. I'll show you how to fly like a pro."

"Oh, please, just try and keep up with me."

Kara took off, and he followed her, chasing her up the stairs as a speed that would not have been unmanageable for, say, Usain Bolt on level ground, and only slowing down so Kara could punch in the security code on the roof access door.

"How are you doing?" asked as they stepped out onto the roof.

"I'm good," Kara said. "I just wish you and Bruce had made more progress on the Cadmus situation. Maybe Leslie wouldn't have been attacked."

"I'm sorry," Clark said, guilt suddenly gnawing at him as he realized how much she'd asked him to do that he hadn't done. "Bruce checked all the locations you gave us, but nothing was active. He'd planned to follow up, but he and his crew have been busy trying to run down the last of the Parliament of Owls, Diana has been dealing with some little godling trying to start a human sacrifice cult using trafficking victims as sacrifices, and I've been-"

"I know," Kara said, cutting him off before he could start rambling about all the little surprises Lex had hidden before he went to jail. "I do read Lois's articles. Not the rest of the Planet, because it's trash, but Lois' stuff is good."

Clark gave her a good-natured glare, the teasing tone she had taking any real sting out of her words and making him wish they had grown up together. He reached out and gave her a small shove as he tried not to imagine what growing up with her as his big sister would have been like.

"Jerk," she said, no heat in her words at all

"Race you to the DEO," Clark replied.

"Loser," Kara said as she shot into the air with a speed and confidence that surprised him. She rolled over as she rose, so she could look back at him, and because she did, she never saw it, and even for a Kryptonian, the whole thing happened too fast for him to react. The missile slammed into her head before he was more than ten feet off the roof, and the force of the explosion was enough to drive him down into the helipad.

He was up again in an instant, going over the side of the building and chasing Kara's falling body to the ground. He tapped the DEO earbud he was wearing as he touched down.

"Supergirl is down. Say again, Supergirl is down and in need of medical attention."

"Kal, what's going on?" Alex's voice demanded over the com link.

"Someone shot her with a missile. She's unconscious and bleeding." He knelt down and lifted her into his arms, kicking off and shooting into the sky just as fast as he could.

"I'm taking her to the Fortress," he said.

"Negative," Alex replied. "Hold position and prepare for a transmat."

Clark cursed himself for not thinking of that sooner as he came to a complete stop. A moment later, light surrounded him as the transmat plucked him out of the sky.

Alex slipped her hand into Maggie's as they waited for the transmat to engage. She couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her lips when she felt Maggie give her hand a gentle squeeze. She glanced over at Maggie and saw a matching smile on her face that made her heart skip a beat.

She didn't understand this. Not really. She'd tried dating before, and never liked it. Had never really wanted to date, except she knew her mother and her sister thought she should. Except all the pressure on that point had suddenly vanished from Kara right around the time Kara had taken over her old apartment. She hadn't understood it at the time, though it made sense now. More so, with what Kara had told her about the other timeline.

Now she just worried she was going to mess this up, that it was happening before it was supposed to, and she wasn't ready. Except that when she looked at Maggie, she couldn't imagine not being ready for this. She'd known the woman for all of three weeks, been out with her maybe a dozen times including the night of the concert where they'd kissed for the first time, and somehow the idea of marriage, old age and lots of little bad-ass kids didn't scare her in the slightest. Not if it was with Maggie.

Something must have tipped Maggie off to the depth of Alex's thoughts, because Maggie gave her a questioning look, but Alex just shook her head as the room filled with the light and hum of the transmat. Just like that, they were back at the DEO, and Alex looked around to see Susan looking relieved.

"Directed J'onzz," Susan said. "Welcome back. And congratulations."

"Thank you, Agent Vasquez," J'onn said. "I trust everything is in order?"

"Yes sir, I-"

Clark's voice cut through the room. "Supergirl is down. Say again, Supergirl is down and in need of medical attention."

Alex felt her heart slam inside her chest with the same mind-numbing panic she'd felt earlier in the day when Konex told her Maggie'd been shot, and the same desperate need to get to Kara, but this time, she had to step on it. She reached up and hit her earbud, dropping herself into the com loop. "Kal, what's going on," she asked, swallowing a sudden urge to be sick.

"Someone shot her with a missile. She's unconscious and bleeding," Clark replied. "I'm taking her to the Fortress."

"Negative," Alex said, wondering if Clark had been hit too. Even at his best speed, the Fortress was almost an hour's flight. She wanted to tell him to bring Supergirl here, but after what happened the previous week with General Lane, she didn't trust the DEO to be secure. That really only left one place. "Hold position and prepare for a transmat."

Alex reached for her phone, and dialed Konex.

"Lady Alex," Konex said. "I have been monitoring. Kolex is preparing Sanctuary's medlab as we speak."

"Good, transmat them both. Then me."

"I am coming as well," Astra said.

Alex looked over at her and nodded. She glanced over to Maggie, about to apologize, but realized she didn't need to when Maggie just mouthed a soundless 'go'.

"Myself and Astra, Konex," Alex said.

"Understood," Konex replied.

The room disappeared in a flash of light, and Alex found herself standing in the middle of a brightly-lit room next to Astra. Clark was standing a few feet away, next to a crystal chamber, and Alex could see Kara inside. One of the robots, Kolex, she guessed, was using some sort of beam to cut away Kara's suit.

"Report," Alex said as she approached.

"Lady Kara has sustained massive trauma to the head and neck."

The words hit Alex like a bucket of ice water, making her skin burn and her heart race. "How is that possible?" she asked.

"The explosive was loaded with a self-forging Thanagarian Nth Metal projectile. While Nth Metal does not negate Lady Kara's abilities like Kryptonite, its meta-dimensional properties do make Kryptonians more vulnerable to weapons forged from it. Given the size of the projectile, and the force of the explosion, I must admit, I am at somewhat of a loss to understand how Lady Kara survived it. Every reconstruction I run of the blast indicates that the projectile should have been sufficient to decapitate her."

"I can answer that," a voice said from behind them. Alex, Astra and Clark all jumped slightly, then turned towards the voice.

"Lady Alex, should I initiate intruder protocols?" Kolex asked.

"No," Alex said as she looked at Zatanna. "How did you get in here?"

"Who is this?" Astra asked.

"Zatanna," Clark said. "She's a friend."

"After I left you and your Detective, I went back home," Zatanna said, "but the night I met Kara, I worked a bit of magic on her. Protective spells. Such workings leave a connection. Normally, I wouldn't notice their activation, but what your robot there calls meta-dimensional properties is magic, and Nth metal is lousy with it. When the Nth metal hit the anti-magic ward I burned into Kara's soul, it was like a gong being sounded."

"You burned a ward into her soul?" Alex said, the image making her want to reach out and wrap her hands around Zatanna's neck.

"At her request," Zatanna said. "I promise, it is not so violent a process as it sounds, but we have no time to discuss it now. Kara needs aid, and I can provide it."

Clark stepped back, clearing the way, but Astra laid a hand on Alex's forearm.

"Do you trust her?" Astra asked.

Alex looked back at Kara for a moment, then to Zatanna. Every instinct in her told her to say no. Taking care of Kara was her job, and no one else's. But Nth Metal was something the DEO was only vaguely aware of. A material on their 'to be acquired for study' list. She needed to help Kara, but she didn't know how, and Zatanna apparently did. Clark trusted her, but more than that, when Alex had needed help, Kara had called Zatanna. Alex knew Kara well enough to know exactly what that meant. Kara trusted Zatanna with something she valued more than her own life. The lives of people she loved. Alex nodded.

"Yes," Alex said, stepping aside. "Absolutely."

Astra moved out the way, and Zatanna stepped forward, speaking in words Alex did not recognize.

Eliza sat on Kara's couch, unable to put into words how she felt. She'd arrived in town angry, confused and afraid. Angry because she had worked so hard to keep Kara safe, but Kara was out there in a cape, risking her life. Confused, because she was so incredibly proud of what her adopted daughter had accomplished in just a few weeks. Afraid, because she knew this moment would inevitably come.

She had known Clark since before Superman had appeared in the sky above Metropolis. She and Jeremiah had met him before he'd traveled north and built his fortress and come into a full understanding of his heritage. She's seen what putting on that cape had cost Clark, and she never wanted that for Kara or Alex.

"She'll be fine," Lois said.

The words, spoken without preamble, made Eliza jump. She'd forgotten anyone was there with her.

"Sorry," Lois said. "I didn't mean to startle you, but I've been here before. It's scary. Hell, it's terrifying. But she'll be okay."

"She never got any pie," Eliza said, and somehow that suddenly seemed important. "She loves Thanksgiving, because I always make her favorite pie. Chocolate Pecan. There were four this year, but I didn't make them. And she got called away before she could have any."

Lois slipped an arm around her shoulders. "She'll have them when she gets home, I promise."

The first sob surprised her. She tried to hold the second one in, but the dam was already cracked, and it was only moments before she broke.

Lillian hit the power button on the remote, silencing the TV before she dropped the remote on the table and turned to face the two men sitting across the table from her.

"You said your missile would kill her," Lillian said.

"It should have," General Lane said. "Everything we know about them said that they were vulnerable to Nth Metal."

"Well, maybe you should have used more of it," Lillian said.

"We used our entire supply, which was three times our best estimate on what it would take to kill one of them. Besides, it's not like your plan worked any better. Now they know about Henshaw."

"I did notice that," Lillian said. "The question is, how?"

"The Willis woman, obviously," Lane said.

"But that should have just cast suspicion on the Martian," Lillian said. "You didn't say anything to Lucy, did you?"

"Of course not," Lane said.

"It's strange how every time a Kryptonian shows up, one of your daughters can't seem to hop into bed with them fast enough."

"Now just a god-damned minute-"

"Both of you shut up," said the third person at the table.

Lillian turned to face the blonde man sitting next to Lane. "Something to add, Simon?" Lillian asked.

"All of us failed today," Simon Tycho said. "Your little frame job, Lane's missile, Miranda's PR campaign, and that little bitch buying our companies out from under us. I don't know how, but Supergirl has been one step ahead of us since the day she showed up. Longer, if I had to guess."

"Agreed," Lillian said. "The question is, how?"

"I don't know," Tycho said. "But I just got word. Corben's body has been retrieved, and he's still viable."

"What about the Kryptonite?" Lillian asked.

"The stockpiles allocated to us are enough for one power unit," Lane said.

"Excellent," Lillian said.

"How long will the actual conversion take?" Tycho asked.

"Eight, maybe nine hours," Lillian said.

"Then," Tycho said, "when either of our Kryptonian friends show up, we'll introduce them to project Metallo."

"And what if the report from McGill is accurate, and Supergirl is immune to Kryptonite?" Lillian asked.

"We could have Henshaw standing by as backup," Tycho said.

"I'm still not convinced that will be sufficient," Lillian said. "If I could just get access to one of Lex's store houses…"

"Without your daughter's cooperation, I don't see that as a possibility," Tycho said. "And with offical support for Cadmus withdrawn, we don't have the option of waiting for her to come around."

Lillian let out a sigh and reluctantly nodded her head in agreement. "We'll proceed then."

And if it failed, well, Simon Tycho would make an excellent scapegoat.

Bruce picked up the phone without even bothering to check the caller ID. There was no need. He already knew who it would be.

"We're loading now," he said.

"I'm on my way to the airport," Diana said. "Who are you bringing?"

"Everyone," Bruce said. "This is our fault."

"We couldn't know it was this critical," Diana said.

"We should have," Bruce said. "She asked for help, and we barely made an effort."

"You're right. We never should have waited so long to make Cadmus a focus," Diana said.

"We were both worried about going up against the US Government, and what that could mean," Bruce said.

"I know," Diana said. "I was there for those conversations."

"I've contacted Victor. He's already working it."

"Should we call in the Lanterns?" Diana asked.

"I'm hesitant," Bruce said.

"Why?" Diana asked.

"I don't think Kara trusts them," Bruce said.

"Do you know why?"

"No."

Diana was silent for a moment, thinking. "Okay. Leave them out for now. We'll see how big this is first."

Sara dropped on to her bunk, wondering not for the first time what she was still doing here. She kept telling herself it was about Darhk, about killing him before he killed Laurel, but that excuse was starting to wear thin, even to her. She could try telling herself it was about Jax. He was special. The little brother she never knew she wanted, who she definitely didn't trust Rip Fucking Hunter to protect. That excuse was almost as thin as Darhk. Both were true, but neither one filled the gaping hole in her heart where her sister once lived, anymore than the women she took to bed filled the chasm Nyssa left when she picked a League prison cell over a future with Sara.

She felt lost. She'd felt lost since the Queen's Gambit had gone down, which, not counting time spent being dead, was over nine years by her personal timeline.

Nyssa had been a balm on those wounds, but however much she loved Nyssa, she knew the relationship was poison. Too many things were pulling them in too many different directions and trying to hold on to each other only ended up hurting them both.

She wanted to go home. She wanted it so much. But home was mom and dad and Laurel, and Laurel was dead, and mom was gone, and dad came with Oliver and all of his baggage, which meant daily reminders that she'd been off galivanting around the time stream when Damien Darhk had been driving an arrow into her sister's gut.

She thought about Central City. She didn't know Barry and his team well, so there wasn't anything to make it a better option than the Waverider.

Well, it would make it harder to run away from her own mistakes. She wasn't sure if that would be better or worse, but she suspected it would be better. After all, she'd been running from a single mistake for every day of those nine years since she stepped onto the Queen's Gambit.

She just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something out there she was running to. Something, or someone. She could feel her. Sometimes, in her dreams, she could see her. Only pieces, but pieces that made her heart ache. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. A smile that shone like the sun and held a bottomless well of sadness and grief. Sometimes dressing in the angry red of fresh spilled blood, sometimes in something as blue as the sky of a new promise-filled day, sometimes in purple the color of a lover's kiss bruised lips, but more commonly in simple utilitarian black, splashed with red above her right breast forming a symbol of strength, unity and hope.

The dreams had started after she returned to Nanda Parbat. When Ra's had asked her to return to Starling City to search for Merlin, she'd felt the pull of those dreams. Nyssa had called it the voice of fate. Gideon called it trans-temporal memory. Whatever it was, the woman felt closer. Like she was rushing at Sara.

No. That was wrong. She didn't know why, but suddenly and violently she knew whoever she was, she wasn't rushing, she was falling, and no one was there to catch her.

Sara sat up, clutching her chest, unable to breathe because whoever she was, she shouldn't fall. Because the very idea of her falling was wrong, and the wrongness and the stark terror it inspired crushed down on Sara like a boot on her chest.

"Gideon," she cried desperately, "sound the collision alarm!"

She knew. She didn't know how, but she knew, and she was on her feet, headed for the bridge.

"Ms. Lance?" Gideon asked.

"Just do it!" Sara yelled as she ran, racing past memories she hadn't lived, past ghosts of dear friends she'd never met, selves she'd never been, and futures dead and gone. For one moment in the sea of time, she wasn't just Sara Lance, she was Sara Lance, Ta-er al-Asfer, The Canary, The White Canary, Captain Sara Lance, Detective Lance, Sara Danvers-Lance, Inmate 65628314159, Sara Lance-Sharp, Sara Queen, The White Arrow, Sara Lance-Smoak, Sara al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, The Starling, The Wife of the Demon, The Magician, Al Sāḥir, Lady Cold, the Fury Queen, the Death Witch and a thousand others. Good, evil, whole, broken, caring and indifferent. She was all the iterations of herself in every branch of every timeline in the multiverse wrapped up in one singular purpose.

The Sara who was all Saras dropped into the pilot's chair and slammed down the harness as the collision alarm finally sounded. Too late. Gideon was too late. But the Saras weren't. Their hands closed on the controls with a surety born of lifetimes beyond counting spent in that chair and against all logic, against all reason, they turned the Waverider towards the temporal shockwave and opened the throttle all the way up, racing death to the Vanishing Point.

Notes:

Thus ends the first story in the Future Shock Series.

I want to thank everyone who has read this story, and especially everyone who's commented or sent me messages on tumblr encouraging me, or telling me they like it, or they love it, or they are going to drive to Florida and murder me with tar covered flaming pitchforks.

The Future Shock Series will continue with the sequel, Devils In The Dark, which will start posting Saturday, September 1st.