Monday, April 2, 2018

Early in the morning

Months after the final battle with Reign

It all started like any other typical Monday for Kara. Nothing too special, just going to work and eating, yes, of course eating. Everything, apart from the typical robbery, was fine until later that afternoon when she heard a familiar heartbeat race like no other — Lena's. She knew that this couldn't even be close to remotely right, so she quickly stood up from her desk and quickly changed into her super suit, dumping her day clothes on the floor of her small office. Her mind was racing, but at the same time it was more focussed than ever.

She flew as fast as she could, breaking the sound barrier in the process, to L-Corp: the company of her best friend. She didn't spare a glance at anything that she passed since there was only one goal in her mind: Save Lena.

But, alas, even with her super speed, even as a superhero, not everything can go the right way. When Lena finally came in view, behind the thick glass of her building, Kara heard two, deafening shots. She had failed.

She landed on the balcony as quickly as she could, only in time to see Lena fall to the ground and a man running away, but at that moment she couldn't care less about him or anybody else in the world: Lena was her only concern. She rushed to her friend's side, who was knocked out cold, and finally got a proper look at the damage that had been done. It was bad. Really bad. That was quite evident just from the amount of blood that was now pooling around Lena, but the true extent of her injuries was revealed when Kara used her x-ray vision: There was one bullet lodged into the lower section of her spinal cord and another that appeared to have grazed her liver.

"Ms. Luthor!" Kara quickly looked up to see Lena's assistant, Jess, burst into the office but the assistant stopped in her tracks at the sight of Supergirl crouched next to Lena's unconscious, bloody form. "How bad is it?" Jess said, barely above a whisper, but Kara heard.

"Bad," was all that Kara could muster for a response. "I have to get her to the hospital now, or she is going to die."

"Oh God," came Jess's panicked reply. "If only I hadn't been late today, perhaps I could ha…"

"There is nothing you could have done," Kara said in her Supergirl voice, "you would most likely be in the same situation had you been here. Now I must take her. She doesn't have much time."

She didn't wait for a response from Jess as she swiftly, yet gingerly, picked Lena up, being careful not to cause any more damage to her dying friend, and flew away. She flew as fast as she could, without injuring her best friend, and shortly arrived at National City Central Hospital. After she landed, in front of the ER, everything went by in a blur. As soon as she set down on a gurney, nurses- or it could have been doctors, surrounded Lena and began taking vitals and calling out for things that Kara didn't know the meaning of but it sounded bad. Kara made a move to follow, as Lena got rushed to emergency surgery, but quickly got shooed away.

"Thank you for your help, Supergirl," a nurse says to her, "But she is in good hands now. By bringing her here as fast as you did may very well have saved her life, but there is nothing more that you can do here."

While rather in shock she nodded, not able to form a single word. She quickly rushed out, not able to be there for another second, and did the only thing she knew would help her: She flew up into the sky, just to take her mind off things. When she was high in the sky, way above the highest building in National City, her mind finally cleared a little.

With a lump in her throat she swallowed and set her senses on finding the man that shot Lena, even though she knew it was, and always will be, a hopeless case. She never really got a good look at the man, being too preoccupied with Lena, and to make matters more difficult: He was wearing a mask, which meant probably no security camera would have a better picture of him than she had in her mind. She continued like this for well over an hour, continually going over the events that had led to now.

"I could have been faster here, could have cut a few seconds there." Kara was lost in her thoughts, but they always came back to the same thing, "I failed…" she thought to herself over and over again. She was very quickly losing herself to despair when the ringing of her phone brought her back to reality.

Briefly looking at the caller ID, she saw that it was a number from National City Central Hospital, she knew this due to a couple of interviews, and hurriedly answered. "Kara Danvers speaking."

"Ms. Danvers, this is Doctor Lewis from National City Central Hospital speaking. I am sorry to inform you that Lena Luthor has been shot. She is currently in surgery, but it would be best for you to arrive as fast as you can."

Barely managing to get out a thank you, Kara ended the call, breaking the sound barrier as she flew back to the hospital.

Landing in an alley next to the hospital, where she had stored some normal clothes for emergencies, she changed using her super speed and rushed into the building, quickly making her way to the waiting room by the ER. While she was sitting there, it hit her that she hadn't told Alex any of this yet and as far as she could tell, the News hadn't broken the story yet, either.

"Hey, Kara." Upon hearing her sister's voice, Kara finally realized how close she was to breaking down.

"Lena has been shot," she choked out, on the verge of breaking down. "I am waiting for her at the hospital."

The other end of the line went silent for a moment, until Kara finally heard her sister's voice, "I will be there in ten minutes, Kara. Just hold on until I get there."

Monday, April 2, 2018

Approximately 11:00 AM

Alexandra 'Alex' Danvers made her way to the hospital as fast as she could, well aware that she was breaking numerous laws to do so. But she didn't care. Kara needed her help, and while she had been initially distrusting of Lena Luthor, she was now becoming very fond of the woman. Every time that she had doubted Lena, Lena just proved her wrong, again and again, not to mention the way that Kara and Lena looked at each other. She didn't know if something was going on between the two of them, but she figured that if there was, Kara would tell her eventually.

Arriving at the hospital less than nine minutes later, she rushed up into the waiting room looking for Kara, whom she finally spotted in a corner. Rushing over to her baby sister, she pulled Kara into a tight embrace, as soon as her arms were wrapped around her, Kara broke down.

Alex could feel Kara's entire body shaking as guttural sobs escaped her. So she just sat there and held her, letting her baby sister cry.

After almost half an hour, the sobs finally began to ebb, and Kara finally spoke.

"I couldn't save her," she choked out. "I was too late…"

"Shh," Alex hushed her. "There is nothing that you could have done. I heard what happened and quite frankly, you saved her life. If you hadn't rushed her to the hospital as quick as you did, Lena would have died."

"But," Kara tried to argue.

"No buts, Kara," Alex cut her off. "I won't hear it. You saved her life, and that's that. Now get some rest, you must be exhausted. I'll still be here when you wake up."

Sometime later, she didn't know how much later, Kara felt herself being shaken awake.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled, not initially recalling the events of the day.

"Kara," she heard her sister's voice. "You have to wake up."

It was then that the memories came rushing back and Kara shot up with a start.

"What's wrong? Is," Kara hesitated a little before continuing, "Is Lena okay?" Kara starts spewing out questions to her sister, hoping she knew more, until Alex finally stopped her and pointed to the doctor that was patiently waiting by the door.

The doctor, now seeing that he had her attention, just said, "Ms. Danvers, if you could please follow me. We have an update on Ms. Luthor's condition."

All Kara could do in response was nod as she made her way to her feet, along with Alex, to follow the doctor.

"I am sorry," the doctor states, "but for now, only Ms. Danvers is allowed to see Ms. Luthor."

Kara stops at this and looks to Alex who simply nods.

"Go," she says. "I'll be fine here. I need to call work anyways to see if we have more information on today's events."

Kara smiles and gives her sister a quick hug before turning to follow the doctor to a small room farther into the ER, leaving Alex to call the DEO.

"Ms. Danvers, the two bullets that were inside Miss Luthor have been successfully removed," the doctor, who had introduced himself as Dr. Marson, begins. "However, the trauma to her body has been very severe. The first round perforated her liver while the second one lodged itself in between her L1 and L2 vertebrae," the entire time pointing at x-rays of Lena.

"So when can I speak to her?" Kara asks.

"I am sorry Ms. Danvers," Dr. Marson replies. "While you can see her now, we have had to put her into a medically induced coma. It is a miracle that she is even alive. If Supergirl hadn't brought her here as fast as she did, I do not doubt that Ms. Luthor would be dead now."

"So when will she wake up?" Kara asks as Dr. Marson leads her to Lena's room.

"That entirely depends on the rate of Ms. Luthor's recovery," Dr. Marson says. "We expect to be able to wake her up in a week, but proper recovery will take years. This leads me to my next point, Ms. Danvers. Due to the nature of Ms. Luthor's injuries, it is very probable that she will never be able to walk again."

This took Kara by surprise. "But I thought you said that she would make a full recovery after a few years," Kara questioned.

"I said a proper recovery, Ms. Danvers." Dr. Marson had now stopped in front of a door and was looking at Kara. "Please understand that we will do everything we can to help her walk again; I just want you to be aware of the chances. Do you have any questions that you want me to answer before I let you in?"

She shakes her head no to this and Dr. Marson simply nods, holding the door open for her as she stepped inside.

Nothing could prepare her, however, for the state of her best friend. Lena looked absolutely terrible, and it was all her fault. She couldn't even breathe on her own, which was apparent from the tube going down her throat. Not to mention all of the machines that were connected to her in one way or another. She was so taken aback by the sight of Lena that she didn't even notice Dr. Marson leave as she pulled up a seat next to her friend.

"I am so, so sorry, Lena," Kara whispered as she took her friend's hand in her own. Even though she knew that she couldn't do anything else to help, that little bit of contact did wonders to calm her down. "I should have been faster, and then you wouldn't be like this."

Kara was so lost in her thoughts that she nearly flew through the ceiling when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. When she looked over to see who it was, she saw a woman who was clearly a nurse, but with a big L-Corp logo on the left shoulder of her scrubs.

"I am sorry to disturb you, Ms. Danvers," the nurse began, "but I am Nurse Henderson. I am one of the nurses who was appointed by L-Corp to see that Ms. Luthor is well taken care of. Also, the other people currently allowed to visit Ms. Luthor, other than yourself, of course, are Alexandra Danvers, Samantha Arias, Ruby Arias and Jessica Huang. Is there anything that I can do for you right now, Ms. Danvers?"

Kara shook her head no, saying that she was fine and just wanted to be left alone at the moment.

"Very well, Ms. Danvers," Nurse Henderson said. "I just want you to know that Ms. Huang will be stopping by later to discuss some matters with you." With that statement, Nurse Henderson slipped out of the room, once again leaving Kara to her thoughts.

Kara didn't know exactly how much time had passed, but it was well into the evening when Jess finally showed up.

Hearing a knock at the door, Kara looked up just as Jess slipped into the room.

"Ms. Dan…" Jess was stopped short at the sight of Lena, at a loss for words.

"I know she looks bad, Jess, but the doctors are doing everything they can to ensure Lena will make a full recovery," Kara said this, more in an attempt to convince herself, rather than Jess. "Also, please call me Kara. We see each other more than enough."

"I am sorry, Ms. Danvers," Jess said with a small shake of her head, "but I don't think that is appropriate given the circumstances, especially since you have been Ms. Luthor's girlfriend for quite some time."

This took Kara quite by surprise, "What do you mean?"

"Ms. Danvers, you and Ms. Luthor have been very discreet about everything. But facts like that don't come past me, but, Ms. Luthor also talked to me about your relationship with her, so that I knew of the plan."

"Which plan?" Kara asked, Lena had never talked to her about a plan… or the fact that they were apparently dating.

"For you to take over her companies in times like these, Ms. Danvers," Jess replied, "If ever Ms. Luthor was unable to run her companies, I was to give you this." She pulled a spiral-bound stack of papers out of her bag and presented it to Kara.

After a moment of confusion, Kara took the papers from Jess and looked at the cover. She froze when she saw the title; 'How to be the CEO of L-Corp and CatCo' Taking a few more moments to gather herself, she finally looked to Jess for confirmation.

"I am sorry to drop this on you so suddenly, Ms. Danvers," Jess told her, "but this can't wait. LCorp and CatCo need a CEO, and they can't wait for Ms. Luthor to recover. Lawyers will be coming by tomorrow for you to sign some paperwork, but in the meantime, I highly advise that you read this."

Kara just nods, still not fully comprehending what was going on.

"Will you be staying here tonight, Ms. Danvers?" Jess asked her. "Because if that is the case, I can have the nurse bring in another bed for you."

"Thank you, Jess," Kara said. "That would be wonderful."

Jess nodded at this and slipped out of the room, and not five minutes later Nurse Henderson arrived with another bed for her.

"Please don't hesitate to ask for anything, Ms. Danvers," Nurse Henderson said. "Also, if Ms. Luthor's condition changes, call me immediately." With that, Nurse Henderson left almost as quickly as she arrived, leaving Kara to go over the papers in her lap.

Opening up to the first page, Kara begins reading the perfectly written words that Lena wrote. 'I'm so sorry, my darling, Kara. But, if you are reading this it means something is wrong with me. And due to that fact I am no longer able to run L-Corp of Catco. Most likely, I am in the hospital after another assassination attempt, since we both know Luthors don't die that easily.'

Kara frowned, Lena had really planned for this. Curious, she read further, 'I know you remember nothing of a relationship between us, because there has never been one. On my first day at Catco, the company I bought for you, I asked you to sign some papers, those papers were the foundation of my plan. Because they were consensual relationship agreement forms, which means on paper we were in a relationship.'

Kara looked up at Lena, chuckling lightly, Lena had been quite smart with how she handled this all. 'I might have trapped you in something that you don't want, and I am sorry for that, but I did this so that my companies will fall in the hands of somebody good: You.'

"Lena," Kara whispered, "You could just have asked me, I would have accepted."

'I know this might be a lot to take in, but Kara, I know you can do it. I know you can take over Catco without a hitch, since you have learned it all from the best of the best: Cat Grant. But I completely trust you with L-Corp too. You are a marvelous woman, you can be of steel when needed, but, you also spread hope due to your optimism.'

Kara smiled a little, even through written words Lena could flatter her. 'L-Corp might be a little difficult for you in the beginning, but Sam will be here as soon as she can. She will help you in any way she can as your CFO. I know things will be difficult and maybe someday you need to yell for respect. But you can do it.'

'Good luck, my Kara. I will see you when I wake up. I know you won't disappoint me. I know you won't let my work go to waste, even though I might never be awake again. Once again, good luck, my darling Kara.'

As she came to the end of that page, all she was able to do was slowly look from the book to Lena, a little shocked.

"You really do think of everything, don't you, Lena?" Kara whispered to her friend.