Chapter 52Notes:Early today because I'm off to Thanksgiving dinner and will forget to post if I don't do it now. So Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate, and congrats, surprise early chapter to those who don't.
Chapter TextKara leaned against the wall, just watching her mate in the early morning light. It felt like she was full of pure sunlight, she was so warm and fuzzy. It wasn't anything special Daisy was doing. But it was perfect all the same. The most perfect, just the most lovable. It was all bubbly, fizzy happiness to see Daisy, just there.
It was funny, Daisy was just standing there in a t-shirt, dumping chocolate milk over granola. Her hair was mussed, a certain grogginess to her that left Kara feeling privileged that Daisy felt safe enough around her to wake up slowly. Because it hadn't been like that at the start. Kara sighed happily, the contentment leaking out of her.
Daisy looked over at her, a lopsided half smile on her lips. "What?"
"Morning," Kara smiled, but what she meant was I love you. Didn't think she'd ever felt anything close to this before. It was…Kara blinked. That…how long had she been thinking of Daisy as hers? As her mate?
Oh.
That was…this was it? Wasn't it?
Daisy's head cocked to the side, unaware of the realization coursing through Kara. She stepped over, catching the front of Kara's pajama button-up shirt, and pulled her in, kissing her.
It wasn't even conscious how she kissed back. And the surprise, the confused questions about when she'd latched, just vanished in a soft relief. Because it was Daisy, and that meant it was a good thing.
Daisy pulled back ever so slightly. "What were you thinking about there?"
Kara smiled, leaning into her. "You."
"Unfairly good answer." Daisy breathed, and then she was kissing her again. It was all soft press of lips and warmth.
She wrapped her arms around Daisy's shoulders. Kara smiled as she just breathed, her forehead pressed against Daisy's. "You're amazing, you know that?"
Daisy huffed, but she was smiling. "Am I?"
"Yes, you are." Kara fluttered the lightest of kisses across Daisy's face. Her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids, her forehead. Her smile grew at the soft sound of protest from Daisy.
The bashful almost, "Kara."
Nope, it was good. She pressed another kiss on the tip of Daisy's nose. Her precious, beautiful, and lovely mate. "Morning!"
Daisy's face was flushed, something nearly shy there. "You said that already, Dork."
"You're dating me." Kara's eyes were squinty from how much she was smiling. "I think that means you like that I'm a dork."
"Hmm…" Daisy pecked her on the lips. "True." Her hands gripped at Kara's hips.
Kara's breath caught in the back of her throat as she was turned and then backed into a counter. She let herself be set on the counter, a soft sound escaping her as her mate started kissing her neck. "Daisy." her fingers curling against Daisy's shoulders, one leg hooking around Daisy's hip to hold them against each other.
Daisy didn't reply, but the happy rumbling purr answered anyway. Her teeth dug into her neck hard enough that it made a shiver run down Kara's spine.
"Kara!" Alex's voice yelped.
Kara's head snapped over, "Alex?"
"Oh god, would you put pants on?" Alex had spun on her heel, one hand raised pressing against her forehead.
Kara's face felt hot enough to cook an egg on. "What are you, when did you get here? And I have pants on… it's my apartment?"
Daisy snorted, pulling away, a thing that made Kara want to whine about losing her. "I'll put some on, Danvers."
"You…what?" Kara spluttered.
"I texted." Alex bit out. "The kitchen counter?"
Daisy was barely holding back laughter as she grabbed a pair of jeans and pulled them on. A thing Kara maybe watched a bit too intently. Daisy raised a brow at her as she buttoned her jeans, her grin was shit-eating, before she glanced over to where Alex was. "I'm decent, you can turn around without needing bleach."
Kara dropped off of the counter she'd been sitting on. "You said you were coming over, not first thing in the morning." She was pouting.
"Well, I wasn't expecting…that," Alex waved at all of Kara and the counter, "At seven am."
Daisy snickered as she walked back to the kitchen island and stuck her spoon into the probably slightly soggy granola. "Coffee in the pot is fresh."
Alex's eyes flicked to where she usually stored the whiskey, but then she grabbed the coffee pot. "No defiling my sister on kitchen counters. I have a gun."
"Alex!" Kara shot a look at her sister.
"No promises, apparently dorks are my type." Daisy was grinning as she took a bite of her cereal.
Kara beamed at her mate, her chest felt all warm and mushy. Her mate liked her.
"No." Alex grabbed the creamer dumping it into her coffee. "There will be no looking at her like she's a pastry." She slapped a blueprint on the table. "We are going to break down how we get dad back, and you two, no touching, no weird eye contact."
Kara threw an arm around Alex in a side hug. "I already took the day off, I get trauma days." L-corp was really great about encouraging therapy, and mental health and yeah, Lena was trying to avoid supervillains popping up. Cat should probably do that too…a lot of her employees ended up as supervillains.
Kara stared at her sister and her mate, "I look ridiculous."
"I mean, cliched goon, sure. But I think it's good." Daisy gave her a thumbs up from where she was standing.
"Ski mask to cover her face?" Alex looked at Daisy.
Kara sighed looking down at the black pants, boots, and baggy black sports jacket she was wearing. The fact Alex and Daisy just had this was sad. It'd look terrible on either of them. Did they just keep non-descript black clothing for her? Both of them? Because there had been options.
"We can do better than a ski mask." Daisy walked over to the gun safe, because they'd relocated to her apartment for getting gear. She pulled out the box on the top shelf. "I've a got face mask. We put the ski mask on you."
Alex picked up the black ski mask on the counter and crossed her arms. "I get the ski mask why?"
"Because you're a trained agent and if something goes wrong you're a DEO agent going off-reservation for a bit. She does it, it's Supergirl being proven to be involved with my war against Cadmus." Daisy had a 'duh' expression as she passed the box to Kara. "We can set it to Jemma's face."
Kara grinned pulling the mask out and carefully putting it over her face. It tingled, as she dropped her hands down. "Is it on?"
Daisy reached up, carefully tracing a specific pattern against the veil, just by her ear. There was a ripple like sensation across her face as Daisy stepped back. "There we go."
Alex hissed. "Cadmus has that kind of tech?"
Daisy made jazz hands. "One of a kind on this planet."
"We're really going to do this." Kara looked between them and then lunged forward dragging both of them into her arms.
Alex and Daisy both squawked.
////
Alex's feet hit the ground as Kara dropped her and Daisy onto the ground as they reached the Oregon base. She had her gun out, sweeping the rooftop. Lowering her gun she straightened her ski mask. She set her hand down on Kara's shoulder and looked to where Daisy was clicking on the bright LED face. She gave her sister's girlfriend a nod.
Daisy gave them a thumbs-up and then launched herself off of the roof.
Go-time.
She moved to the ceiling vent and waited.
Kara reached down and ripped it up and off.
She shot a glare at her sister, a stupid different person's face or not. "Quietly!"
The weird face her sister was wearing gave her a 'sorry' look.
Alex reached up and yanked the spare ski mask down over Kara's face. If there was an EMP or something her sister's involvement in this wasn't going to be noticed. She held the strange brown eyes looking at her. Kara would be behind her, she pushed herself up and dropped through the open vent.
Alex plugged in the USB-looking thing with an antenna into the computer system. "Ok, Winn, you're up."
-"Alright, I've got the download started, let's see what's under the hood."- Winn's voice came through the comms.
Kara tapped hers. "If we could hurry this up, our distraction is punching her way through the front door."
Alex looked up. "Hey, she's fine. The building isn't even suffering an earthquake."
Kara gave a stiff nod, before looking back out the door she was covering.
The base better not start shaking from power use until they knew if this was it or not. Because if Jerimiah wasn't here, she and Kara needed to get to the Nevada base while Daisy finished up here. "Come on, you've got to have something for me."
-"It's not magic. Give me a minute."- The clicking of keys was audible through the comm. -"Ok, I'm pulling up personnel files. Do you see any names on here that look familiar, something Jerimiah might have used?"-
Alex started scrolling, and…it wasn't a lot of names. This research lab only had fifty regular staff. None of the names were his, or something he'd have used. It felt like a wave of relief. Lillian Luthor was full of shit. "He's not here, do you have a list of test subjects, prisoners?"
-"That's a lot of names, I'm sorting out women. Ok, this facility doesn't have detention rooms. I think it's procedures for 'volunteers'."- Winn was stressed, but he wasn't panicking yet.
"There's some guys coming." Kara hissed from the door.
Alex gestured in frustration. "Go delay them, you're bulletproof."
Kara paused. "Right, be back."
She kept scrolling through pages Winn was pulling up on the screen. "Anything?"
-"I'm not seeing anything. We can go through all of this to see if he passed through the facility later, but I don't see anything saying he's there now."- Winn hesitated. -"I'm sorry."-
"Shit." Alex shoved at the metal desk. It was bolted down. No satisfying slam.
-"Nevada, next. And if he's not there, DEO will find him at one of the others. We're finding him today."-
She didn't believe it. But they had another base to check. Alex drew her side-arm and went to go free up Kara so the two of them could get out of here. Daisy would be finishing up this one without them. She hit the comm twice. "Target not here."
There wasn't a need to ask if Daisy had got the message. The ground suddenly bucked under her feet, glass and metal rattling as the entire base started shaking. Message received then.
Alex moved down the hall, heading toward the sounds of fighting. She shot a Cadmus agent, and then took a corner and shot one coming up behind Kara who'd just chucked a guy through a wall. "We need to go, he's not here."
"Got that." Kara's eyes widened behind the black ski mask.
Alex spun on her heel, bringing her gun to bear on the man coming around the corner behind her.
He came to a screeching stop, his hands raising. But that wasn't why she didn't pull the trigger.
"Alex?" He choked out.
She dropped her aim and then shoved her gun into her holster. In the two steps, it took her to get to him she half gasped out, "It's you." And then she slammed into him, her arms wrapping around her dad. He was alive, really alive.
He barely hesitated and then he was hugging her back. "Oh god, it's really you. Look at you." Jerimiah gasped the words against her as he squeezed so hard the air nearly left her lungs.
Alex's eyes closed as she held onto him. "You're alive, you're actually alive."
"What are you doing here?" His hand fell on the back of her head like a benediction, like she was treasured and safe and the years of him being dead had never passed.
She refused to let him go, even if she knew she needed to. "We're here to rescue you."
"We?" His arms dropped, as he looked up, half hope and horror in his tone.
The crack of a gun firing cut through the hallway.
Alex barely caught her dad, keeping him from falling to the ground. His face slack as blue veins spread under her skin before fading. Her fingers found his pulse immediately. Her shoulders slumped at the feeling of a steady beat under her fingers. She looked up, "What the fuck, Quake!?"
Kara was awkwardly holding the gun Daisy'd insisted she have on her. "Um…?"
"You shot him?" Alex spluttered.
"What?! That was the plan!" Kara gestured wildly. "We find Jerimiah, we tranq him, we get him out."
Alex clenched her teeth, she was right. She straightened. "You're right. Get to the DEO, I'll finish clearing this place out. We'll meet you there."
Kara shot forward, scooping up their dad like he was a princess. "Stay safe, I'll let Lucy know about Nevada." And then she shot out of the hallway.
And then Alex was just there, alone in the hallway unless she counted the handful of bodies. She didn't. She cleared her throat, swallowing back tears. There was a job to do before she could get back to her dad. Drawing her gun from the holster she braced herself, and then headed to finish clearing the wing.
Alex unlocked the weapons locker. It was empty. She looked back at the last eight empty lockers. Hitting the comm she spoke. "We've got a problem in the armory."
-"Thirty seconds."- Daisy's voice replied sharply.
Spotting a clipboard attached to the first empty weapons locker, she walked over and grabbed it. That was a problem. She flipped through, and that was a very big problem.
There was a brief shake of the floor, announcing Daisy's arrival and then she came through the door. "What's wrong?"
Alex handed over the clipboard. "The lockers are empty."
Daisy took the clipboard and clearly saw what she had. "Fuck. C4?"
"And it's not here." Alex frowned as she scanned the room. Because they'd have noticed eight storage lockers of C4 if the building was rigged to blow. "I'm assuming you'd have noticed that much C4 if it was here?"
Daisy went very still, a faint hum in the air, and then it faded as she shook her head. "It's not here." She handed the clipboard back. "I thought Hank Henshaw was dead?"
"But dead men don't need to sign out eight storage lockers of C4." Alex finished. "You can't take this place down."
"We head straight to the DEO, Lane needs to know about this, now." Daisy reached up to her ear. "Winn, tell Lane we're in route."
Winn squeaked slightly. -"Won't the DEO arrest you?"-
Daisy shrugged, "They can try, but I'm not the psychopath with enough C4 to win some terrorism awards." She looked at Alex. "The getting back to the city is going to suck for you."
"Do it." Alex had flown with Kara when she was a foot shorter and a whole lot less stable and aware of human limits.
Alex was aware, there were guns aimed at them. Or mostly at Daisy. But she was more caught up in ripping the ski mask off and retching into it. Her knees very much gave out under her. Direction? Fuck, what was a sense of direction? That was like being the basketball instead of a player.
Spitting out the remaining bile in her mouth, she hissed. "Fuck."
"Are you injured, Agent?" A sharp voice ordered.
Blinking she looked up and, oh she was getting administrative leave for this, not just desk work. "I'm fine, Ma'am."
"There's puke leaking onto my floor." The exasperation was clear in Lucy's voice.
Daisy spoke up, stupid voice changer on for the first time all day. "Flying didn't agree with her."
Alex glared at her sister's girlfriend. "That was not flying, that was the impression of a hackysack."
Daisy shrugged, her stupidly evil-looking mask staying directed toward Lucy. "A Cadmus agent by the name of Hank Henshaw, signed out eight lockers worth of C4 in Salem Oregon, two days ago."
"Lower your weapons," Lucy ordered the agents. "What do we know, Agent Danvers?"
Alex climbed to her feet, took the two steps to dump the…leaking ski mask into a garbage can, and dropped it. Her steps were…not entirely straight. Daisy owed her a drink for that bullshit of 'flight' Not important now. "Winn's in their systems right now."
"Of course he is, with me." Lucy shot a look at Daisy. "You too, unless you want to be arrested."
Alex groaned, pressing a hand to her stomach as she followed after Lucy. "We left the base standing."
Lucy gave a sharp nod. "Quake, you have a phone on you, message the coordinates of the place to the nearest FBI office with details."
"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Daisy replied pulling a phone out of her belt while striding beside them, and somehow making her voice sound sarcastic even with the voice changer.
Lucy didn't twitch, "Before you ask, Dr. Saunders is seeing to the patient Supergirl brought in forty minutes ago."
Report into Lane, and then she could book it to the med bay. Lane would be too busy with the raids she was running across the country, and now this to reprimand her for hours. Hours she could spend ensuring her dad was ok, could see what the scans Dr. Saunders was doing showed. She was jittery with how hard she wanted to take off for medical.
Lucy brought them straight into the command center, which was bustling. Every station up and running. It was a wall of sound. Lucy barked as they entered. "Focus on your missions." She came to a sharp halt by Winn. "Agent Schott. I hear you have some information for me."
"Yes, I found records of a truck that Henshaw signed out on the same day as the C4. Trying to see if I can find where it went." His nervous expression was twitchy, as he looked up at Lane.
"Smith," Lucy turned to the agent at the next station over. "New job, start pulling up every high-risk terrorist target within two hundred miles of Salem Oregon, highlight anything with aliens, Supergirl as of particular interest. Pull junior agents from records, now."
Kaufman from the media station hopped up from his station. "DIRECTOR!"
"What do you have?" Lane turned on her heel, her stance rigid.
"911 call just came in, armed men with guns on Tubman Street." Kaufman was panicky. "They're shooting people."
Daisy moved. "Supergirl, we're up." And sure enough, Kara was there in less than two seconds, in the suit, and face comfortingly her own. "We'll stop whatever that is, you know how to get ahold of Supergirl if you need either of us for Cadmus."
"Go," Lucy ordered.
Kara and Daisy were gone in a gust of superspeed.
And she knew what her dad would want her to do. What her instincts demanded she do, no matter how much she wanted to get to her dad. Alex grit her teeth. "Permission to get a team together to be on standby for support for Supergirl?"
Lucy's hand gripped her bicep, "Do it, but Danvers, we're going to be talking."
"Yes, Ma'am." Alex held Lucy's eyes, and then she turned to get the team ready. Her legs were steady under her now. There was work to do, the consequences were for her to worry about later.
Chapter 53Notes:Sup! See you all next week for the last chapter! This has been a lot of fun! Will say uh...TW for real graphic violence for this chapter.
Per request, the server link. https://discord.gg/DG9z4ZMZyK
Chapter TextKara dropped Daisy above a group of men and then shot off into the building she could hear guns firing in. She swooped to the hall, a gust of freeze breath sending the two men with guns flying before they could break through the door they'd been trying to kick in.
The door exploded in flames, and a woman with flames coating her stepped out. She was panting. She looked at Kara. "Saving us lowly aliens today, Supergirl?"
"What?" Kara flinched at the sound of a gun going off the floor above her. She took off through the hallway floor before the woman could reply.
As she burst through the floor she grabbed the gunman, melting the muzzle of the gun with laser vision as she grabbed the man and flew back down while hanging onto him, grabbing the two the floor below, and then out into the street dropping them next to the slumped men, Daisy'd taken care of. From the sound of heartbeats, she was tranqing them. "They're breaking into apartments."
Daisy raised a hand stopping a car from turning down the street with a wall of vibrations. "They're raiding alien homes." Daisy's hands dropped, building up vibrations beneath her only for them to cut off as the billboard, and from Kara's ears, every screen and tv in the street, and further flickered with a new image, a voice that shouldn't be so familiar.
The air froze in Kara's throat as she recognized what was on the screen. "James."
It was Cat's office, and tied, and lined up were the staff from the entire top floor. And standing in front of the camera was Hank Henshaw. And it was him, not J'onn. Even if the cold, hard expression on his face wasn't alien to see on J'onn's face, his face gave way to metal plating, his left eye an artificial blue light. The skin peeling away from the metal beneath.
-"You have sixty seconds Supergirl. And then I start killing your friends."-
Daisy grabbed her arm. "I've got Catco, your speed will save lives here. Stop the gunmen. I'll save them. Trust me."
"Ok, yeah. Stay safe." Kara swallowed, she didn't like this, this felt like a trap.
Daisy's head tilted a smile on her face under the mask. "You too." And then she was gone in a gust of air, launching herself towards Catco.
Kara took off herself, the faster she took care of the gunman here, the faster she could get to Catco.
////
Daisy crashed through the glass windows of Catco, rolling to her feet. Her gaze swept the office she was near. Twenty hostages, fortunately, Cat Grant wasn't there, but with the camera equipment still rolling, it was definitely a public trap for Kara. Which made her cautious. Kryptonians weren't a fucking joke. And she had to wear Kevlar because she was vulnerable.
"Quake." Henshaw pulled down his shirt, showing a blinking red light on the metal place above his heart. "Kill switch. You shouldn't have come."
Ah, that was a bad sign. Which meant delay, delay, delay. "I mean you sent out a public invitation to the party." The buzz of the vibrations around her told her he was more metal than Corben had been.
"Your people, the alien scum in this city, are dying. You should go help them. Leave." It was an order.
Daisy stayed where she was, she didn't like how close to the hostages he was. "Supergirl's abilities are better at saving lives. Afraid she can't make it for your little trap. And if being only a quarter alien makes me scum, what does being all metal make you? Like do you bleed blood or do you bleed motor oil now?"
His teeth showed as he replied. "I have a theory about you, Quake." And that wasn't a good sign, he wasn't taking the bait. "I think you're weaker than you act. The gun, all those bases you slaughtered, you barely used your powers at all. Your suit, a single bullet would drop you, wouldn't it?"
"Great theory, why don't you tell me what that kill switch is for." This was about to be really, really bad.
"The killing, the gun, it's because you're weak. A failed experiment that should have been put down like the mad dog you are. If you kill me the children's hospital will be consumed in flame. If you don't stop me, I'll kill your Kryptonian girlfriend's Earth Traitor friends."
So that was the trap, little children or Kara's friends. And all while unable to fight to kill. Shit. Daisy needed to delay. Kara had superspeed. She could stop the shooters, and get the C4 out of the hospital. She just had to delay, and hope that the machinery in the psychopath in front of her didn't include super speed, cause she was fucked if he was fast. "The Children's Hospital? Really? How're the kids 'Earth Traitors', they have opinions on Fruit Loops or Captain Crunch, not galactic immigration and refugee politics. This is why Cadmus is the worst. Fucking butchers."
"I was looking forward to seeing the Kryptonian bitch see her little friends dead. I wonder what she'll look like when I give her your body."
Daisy's vibrations barely caught the weight of the attack as Henshaw slammed forward. They caught that, but she wasn't braced for it, she went hurtling out of the room, through the wall, out the window across the other side, and out into the open air above the street.
Twisting in the air she managed to orient herself before crashing through a window of the building across the street.
Ok, so he was fast. And strong. Great.
Hopping back onto her feet she took off at a sprint before launching herself out through the window and back for Catco.
She hurtled back through the hole her body had just made and slammed into Henshaw.
He went shooting out of the room.
Daisy was really hoping he was sturdy enough to survive that. Shit. She turned to the hostages, yanking her knife out of her belt and slicing James' zip ties, and shoving the knife into his hands. "Call 911, tell them to evacuate as many blocks as they can. All of you need to run. Now. Don't hide, run. Tell Supergirl the hospital is where the missing C4 is. I'll stall."
"Quake-"
"Now!" She was barely braced as Henshaw slammed into her, both of them crashing through the wall, her vibrations barely blocking as he threw heavy punch after heavy punch at her.
////
Kara's instincts screamed to get to her mate. But that wasn't what had to happen. First the shooters, then the hospital. She dropped off another shooter into the pile of unconscious and handcuffed men. The patrol cars were helpful for grabbing them as she found them.
"Supergirl!" It was the flaming alien from earlier. "Get me a block over, I'll help with these bastards."
She didn't question it, Kara just hooked the woman and shot them off for the building, dropping the woman off two blocks over, and then shot toward the gunfire she could hear a building over.
The shooter came flying out of the third-story window.
Kara grabbed the shooter, looking up as the bartender, M'gann came jumping out after. As M'gann hit the air, her body glowed red as she transformed into a great, terrifying white shape.
White Martian.
"You're helping?" Kara hoped she was at least.
M'gann landed on the street below, not reacting to the cries of fear from pedestrians as they saw her. "I'll help."
A burst of heat vision shot the gun out of a man on the roof's hands who'd been aiming at the street.
"Go, I've got this street." M'gann shot up for the roof.
Hopefully, the shooters mostly survived a pissed-off White Martian.
Kara banked and shot for the nearest patrol car to drop the shooter in her grip at so she could get to the next one. They were spread out. Because it would keep Daisy busy. But it wasn't Daisy here, it was her, and she needed to get to Daisy, Fast. Hospital first.
////
Daisy sucked in air as she rolled onto her back. Air was good. She was missing air. Choking she crossed her arms, a vibrational wave slamming away from her. The weight of how much power Henshaw had behind him shoved her, a solid foot further into the small crater she was already in.
She was getting real tired of being used to make craters.
A hand grabbed the front of her suit, and then she was being thrown, again.
Daisy twisted in mid-air, and she saw it, Henshaw was going for the civilians, not her. Her teeth clenched, he was done trying to punch through vibrations then. Fuck.
Her feet didn't even hit the ground as she used vibrations to brace, and sent herself hurtling between Henshaw and the civilians who'd ducked behind a cement bench. It hurt to know what was coming when she couldn't block fully. Not that she had time to worry about that.
The laser beam from Hank hit her in the back.
Daisy screamed even as she twisted, catching the beam and stopping it from cutting into her. Panting she planted her feet, using one hand to keep the beam away from them. Ignoring the feeling of fire on her back, she swung her head around to the civilians. "Run!"
The pressure from the single laser beam cut off suddenly.
Daisy didn't manage to fully block the strike that hit her in the chest.
Something cracked.
And then as she hit the ground.
A fist slammed into her face. And another, and another.
Daisy bucked, to try and dislodge Henshaw. He was straddling her as he wailed on her.
Why was she alive?
She managed to grab one of his wrists, and then jerk to the side, and bucked, twisting as she did so, sending him off of her. She couldn't risk seriously hurting him.
He grabbed the arm that had him and yanked her, his other hand grabbing her by the back of the neck and smashing her through the concrete bench the civilians had just been behind.
She barely got enough vibrations to keep from dying. Choking on her own blood, she flailed, trying to get momentum, but he was dragging her, her feet scrabbling on the ground. And then she was flipping through the air before hitting the ground, flat on her back, again.
Blinking blood out of her eyes she realized what was about to happen right before it did.
Hank swung the rebar from the cement down in an arch.
She couldn't react fast enough.
It went straight through her thigh.
Her teeth slammed shut to keep from screaming.
Because that's why she was alive. He wanted it to hurt. And he wanted something from her, or from Kara. Daisy'd give it to him over her dead body.
////
James came to a screeching stop as he led the other hostages out of the skyscraper. It'd been ten minutes, getting everyone zip-ties cut, and then down forty flights of stairs, especially with Kevin having a broken leg and needing help had taken time. But it'd just been ten minutes.
The courtyard was hell.
Craters, smashed cement, overturned cars, running and screaming people, downed poles, the flashing lights of two police patrol cars that had arrived. But one was flipped upside down, the officers trying to climb out. And Henshaw was standing in the middle of it. At his feet the slumped lump that had to be Quake.
James threw his arm out, to stop the others from going out the front door. But it was too late, Henshaw had spotted them. He straightened, Cat Grant wasn't here, it left him as who was in charge. "You won't get away with this."
"James Olsen, Superman's personal photographer. How does it feel to know you don't matter enough to Supergirl to even show up?" He stalked forward. Not even bothering with super speed, because why should he?
And he was probably about to die. Kara would save the children at the hospital. He had to believe that. Because it was the right thing to do. "She's a hero, my life isn't worth letting that bomb at the hospital off. I'd tell her to save the hospital."
Henshaw stepped over a slab of rubble. "An Earth Traitor to the end."
There was a whoosh, the ground bucked under their feet. The glass walls of the Catco foyer shattered. His teeth ached in his head, a pressure in the air, a violent *buzz* against his skin…under it. James' attention left Henshaw, just like everyone else's. Because Quake, was getting back up. His mouth went dry because she shouldn't be able to do that.
Quake's movements were slow and pained, but she managed to push herself up. Her left arm was bent wrong, rebar straight through her right thigh. As she got to her feet it was…she looked horrific. Dust, dirt, and blood clung to every bit of her. Head wounds bled but…her face was a mess. Several pieces of her shattered face mask were embedded in her face. Her nose was definitely broken, and between the blood and bruising it likely didn't matter her mask was gone. She spat out a glob that was almost certainly a tooth. And her voice came out, rough, and so painfully human. "Henshaw, we're not done."
"These people mean nothing to you?" Henshaw was looking at her in genuine confusion.
"Yeah, and? They're still people you sick fuck." Quake reached out grabbing her bent arm.
They realized what she was about to do half a second before she did. It was nauseating as she snapped her arm straight. The snap of it was audible.
Quake's bloody lips pulled into a vicious grin. "I'll give it to you, this, is the worst kind of fight possible for me. This goes on much longer, I'll admit, you'll kill me. But you're going to have to work for it first, Coward."
"Coward!? I'm not a coward. I'm Cyborg Superman!" Henshaw had taken a step toward her and away from James and the others.
It'd have been a laugh if the woman wasn't clearly in agony, and barely standing on her singular leg that could take weight. "Yes, you are. A sad. pathetic. little man." She reached up pulling the pieces of broken mask out of her face. She kept talking, horrible rasp still to her voice. "You saw something different, and decided killing it would make you less scared. And guess what, you'll never stop being the scared little man, making your fear bleed the people you say you give a shit about."
The air around Quake lit up as a laser beam exploded a few feet in front of her. Her vicious smile grew as she waved her arm that she should not be able to move. "Look around, Coward. You're a failure."
Henshaw vanished he moved so fast. The crack of him slamming into the vibrating invisible shield around Quake. And her eyes…had closed, but her jaw was tensed.
James swallowed, it was their one chance. He turned to the others. "Come on, run." He had to get them out of here. Quake wouldn't last long, and they needed to be out of sight by then. He looked back at the fight, gritting his teeth, his hands fisting in frustration.
////
Daisy lay in the crater staring up at the sky, the last of her strength fading. Blood loss was a bitch. Her whole body was nearly numb from the horror of the demented cyborg beating the shit out of her. It was agony to even breathe as she lay there, alone. That was a bad sign. She blinked up at the windowless skyscrapers rising up into the sky. She might be losing this fight, but she'd won the war, and…she could accept that.
It was funny, this crater was only a foot or two deep. The lack of gravitonium really limited the crater-making. Or maybe she'd just gotten better at using vibrations to absorb the impact? Felt a little full circle, that she was about to die here. Not this fucking second though. She could buy more time. Probably. Sitting up, she blinked the stickiness out of her eyes. Not blood if she didn't admit it was. And fuck, Henshaw was going to chuck a car at random civilians. She raised her hand, just barely catching the car.
It hit the ground, harmlessly, to the people not the car, a second later.
She grabbed the arm. "Shit."
Daisy blearily kept her eye on Henshaw as he came marching toward her.
"Why won't you just die!?" He snarled as he strode for her.
Oh, this was going to suck.
She spat out another tooth. "I never liked doing what I was told." Daisy's arm gave out, refusing to let her get up from sitting to standing. Shit. Kara didn't deserve this.
"I'm going to tear you apart, Alien Scum." Henshaw snarled.
Daisy managed to use vibrations to lift herself up onto her feet. "Better scum than a weak little psychopath." This hit was going to fucking hurt. She wished there weren't any cameras out, Kara didn't need to see this.
He slammed into her.
Vibrations kept his deadly hands from ripping her apart as he'd promised.
The force still slammed her, back first, into the crater she'd just managed to stand up in. Air was driven from her lungs as the only thing she could focus on was making a cacoon of vibrations around herself. Shit was fracturing as she hung on. But fuck accepting this.
And then the weight was gone.
Gasping, she dropped the vibrations and…oh that was bad.
James Olsen was standing there, a piece of rebar with cement sticking to it in places in hand. A piece of rebar he'd just slammed into Henshaw's head hard enough to bend the metal. "Leave. Her. Alone."
He was going to get killed, but she'd gotten some fucking air in, and Henshaw was too close.
Daisy hooked Henshaw's foot with her own and swept it out from under him while hitting James with a gust of vibrations. Give the honorable idiot a chance to run.
Henshaw hit the ground, and it was grappling. Grappling she could barely use vibrations in. And Henshaw hadn't ended up director of the DEO on accident. It was a mess, and then he grabbed the bar through her leg, and twisted it.
The scream, gurgled in her throat as she bit it back, her vision whiting out from pain. And then her air, her throat was cut off. Henshaw's hand was like iron as his metal bones squeezed her throat shut. She struggled, legs, kicking uselessly, shoving down her vibrations as they cracked the ground. She couldn't kill him. Her eyes focused for a brief second on him. He was looking down at her with hate so intense it burned, his laser eye lighting up. It was going to pierce her skull.
Boom.
Daisy rolled onto her side retching. The world around her erupted into glowing light so white it was blue, blurs of color.
Chapter 54Notes:Hey! Thank you guys for all the comments and kudos and just for being along the ride that has been this fic! I appreciate you all so much! Hope to see you all on future projects!
Chapter TextKara panted, ice frosting the air just past her lips. Her eyes burning still with heat vision as she stood there, planted, as she realized Henshaw was finished. He was on the ground, smoke curling from where her heat vision had cut through his skull. It was done. Daisy. She spun and shot for Daisy. "No, no, no, no, no, no." She hit her knees next to Daisy, her hands uselessly hesitating, there wasn't anywhere that looked safe to touch. "Da- Quake, oh no, no, no, no."
Daisy wheezed, eyes cracking open. "Sup."
"Oh Rao," Kara reached out brushing the synthetic purple hair out of Daisy's bloody face, her hand fluttering over the horrifying rebar through her leg.
"C4 out of the hospital?" Daisy asked before coughing, which left her spasming in pain.
Kara tried to figure out how to pick up her mate and get her to the hospital. "Yes, and the shooters going after the aliens. It's done."
Daisy's eyes closed as she slumped against the ground. "Thank fuck."
"Supergirl!" James came skidding to her, ripping the belt off from around his waist. "The bleeding, we need to stop it."
"Her leg!" Kara took the belt, wrapping it above where the rebar was, and then synched.
Daisy hissed, her body tensing, but she didn't fight it.
James fell to his knees on Daisy's other side. "We need to get her to a hospital."
"No hospital, I'll heal." Daisy didn't even react as James yanked off his button-up and started trying to wipe blood off of her.
Kara ignored Daisy's 'I'll heal' as well. She looked at James. "Her ribs are broken, do we try and get her on a board so I can fly her out without injuring her more?"
James grimaced, careless of the blood smears he was getting on his undershirt as he gave up on getting the blood off, and just used his top shirt to make a makeshift sling, hooking it around Daisy's very broken arm. "Get her to someone who can help her, speed is better. I'll handle things here till the DEO can arrive for clean-up. He met her eyes. "Go."
"Thank you." And then she had Daisy in her arms and was launching them off. The pain Daisy was trying not to show, but that it was causing was sharply terrible. But she wasn't the one feeling it.
Kara didn't hit a sonic boom this time, it wasn't safe. But she knew exactly where she was going. Because the human hospitals were out, the DEO was definitely out, which left Markus from the bar. She landed on his tiny balcony, opened and was through the single pane glass into the apartment. "Help!"
There was a strangled battle cry as the man came out of the kitchen with a baseball bat only to come skidding to a halt. "Supergirl? Oh, gods." He dropped the bat.
"Can you help?" Kara would have to risk the public hospital if he couldn't. The DEO was out while Daisy was weakened like this. "Please."
"Get her on the table." He moved to the closet and started pulling out boxes. "Marcie! I need towels and hot water!"
Kara carefully set Daisy on the table, Daisy's not broken arm kept a grip on her cape, leaving her sitting. "You need to lie down."
Daisy winced. "No, you'll need to get my clothing off." There was a faint whistle in her breathing. "I think it's melted into my back."
"Ok, I'm going to get your wig off." Because it was something she could do. And Kara needed to do something. She was careful as she unpinned the bobby pins, dropping them as soon as she got them out. Her stomach rolled as she realized several of them were bent, one even slightly stuck in Daisy's scalp. But she got them out. She pulled the synthetic purple off. "There you go, what next?"
Daisy's eyes were closed, her breathing careful in the way that said she was trying very hard to stay conscious and aware. "Gauntlets."
Kara carefully unlatched them, pulling them off, and the tremble in Daisy's fingers was alarming. She was delicate like Daisy was spun glass, as she slid them off. Asking was awful, Daisy was focusing on breathing. So Kara just reached down, getting the utility belt unhooked and off. Reaching up she got the top of the zipper and got it down. But…if it was really melted into her back… She looked over to where Markus was. "Do you have a knife?"
"Kitchen." Markus replied as he grabbed a side table and dragged it over to them.
Kara zipped into the kitchen avoiding where Marcie was getting water heating and back before Daisy could tip over. "Why didn't you just break his limbs or something?"
Daisy choked on a laugh. "He was a robot." She took a rattly breath, and something was really wrong with her chest. "Didn't know what'd trigger the shit in his chest. Couldn't risk it."
And…Kara pressed a kiss to the top of Daisy's head. "I'm going to cut your jacket off of you."
"Is the rebar the worst?" Markus asked as he grabbed something that was likely a scanner of some sort.
Kara grimaced as the knife didn't work, barehand tearing it was. She got the sleeve detached. "I think her ribs are broken."
Daisy winced. "Ribs are def fucked." She managed to adjust to look at Markus. "I can grow back organs. You just have to patch me up." Her breathing rattled.
"This will be easier if you're unconscious." Markus stayed a foot away, holding a syringe.
Kara carefully touched Daisy, meeting her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."
"I know, I trust you." Daisy leaned against her. "Do it."
Markus didn't hesitate, he stepped forward and stabbed the syringe in. "Don't let her slide off."
Kara would never let that happen. "How can I help?"
////
Lucy stepped into the Oval Office, her uniform crisp and fresh. A thing she was pleased she'd thought to have an agent meet her at the airport with it. And she knew she'd been right to pull every string to come here in person. The office was chaotic, with screens on, interns and assistants running with paper, military advisors, tense security offices, and sitting in the center of the storm was the new president.
Olivia Marsdin looked up from where she was seated, reading glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. "Director Lane, I believe I ordered you to appear for a video conference three hours ago."
"Apologies, Madam President." Lucy came to a smart halt before the other woman. "But it's imperative we have this discussion in person."
Marsdin pulled her reading glasses off of her nose. "Ah, another military mind who thinks they have the solution to all the world's problems." She waved off an assistant. "What is your suggestion then, maybe you want me to increase your funding so you can better stop the alien threat?"
Lucy could feel the eyes in this office on her. "Hope. You give them hope."
There were several scoffs, a few men even started to speak, but Marsdin raised her hand, her expression far more interested. "And how do you suggest I do that?"
"Denounce Cadmus, denounce the hate and violence, and let the full weight of the law fall on them." Lucy didn't twitch, this was going to go over like a rock with most of the people in this room. "Announce the existence of the DEO and that we are here to protect them from extraterrestrial threats, sign Alien Amnesty, and pardon Quake."
There was laughter, some outraged, but Marsdin stayed silent watching her. Finally, she cleared her throat. "You have my attention, convince me."
"You can't be serious, this is ridiculous." Admiral McNally cut in.
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Admiral. Director Lane, you have the floor." Marsdin leaned back in her seat, watching with bright eyes.
Lucy's spine straightened. "I'm the daughter of a General, Ma'am. I followed him into the Army. I know war, and I am telling you this is your one chance to truly make a serious change. You haven't been president for an entire year yet, you can lay all of this on your predecessors. Cadmus has been a threat to national security since its inception. It's killed civilians, stopped nothing, achieved nothing except for weapons so horrific you might as well hand the election to whoever gets the nomination against you. They're radioactive, and they're done." She pulled out and passed off the folder and handed it to an assistant. "As you're aware, the DEO has been cleaning up Cadmus bases that Quake hasn't rooted out."
"And Cadmus being brought down means I should do as you suggest?" Marsdin was interested though.
"Yes. They are going to keep finding mass graves, Quake's passed everything she got off their servers to various reporters. It will come out. All of it. If you use this to distance yourself, to reject everything about it, you can show them the way. Give them hope that things will be better. That they can be better. Show them a light at the end of the tunnel. The DEO to confirm you care about their safety, Alien Amnesty to give them a promise of a better future."
Marsdin folded her glasses, setting them aside. "And pardoning Quake?"
"I hired her to protect Supergirl. I wasn't expecting this." Lucy stayed still at the explosion of noise from that. In the broadest sense, it wasn't even a lie. Surveillance wasn't protection, but she'd make that lie because they needed Supergirl. And Kryptonian or not someone was going to succeed in killing Kara eventually. Kara needed someone capable of protecting her, and Daisy was effective, principled, and would play ball.
Marsdin stood up, "Enough." She waited for silence, her gaze staying on Lucy. "You want me to go out there, and tell the people there is hope, the monsters will be prosecuted, the future is bright, and tell everyone to lay down the torches and pitchforks. Civil rights and government protection from aliens. Not quite the brand of hope the Girl of Steel sells?"
"Supergirl inspires us to be better. She is a symbol, and she asks us to offer out hope, help, and compassion for all. A government cannot function with that alone. But we can take a step in that direction." Lucy stayed completely straight as Marsdin stepped closer.
Marsdin didn't stop till she was just at the edge of Lucy's personal space. "You believe that, don't you?"
"Yes, Madam President."
"If I say no, what then?" Marsdin asked.
Lucy breathed in. "Then respectfully, I'll resign my commission, Ma'am." Because she would not enact abominations for this president. "I've served this country, my entire adult life. I have done so without question. But I cannot, I will not continue to serve without question. I have to believe we are better than that." There was something terrifying but freeing in saying that. "Your orders, Ma'am?"
////
Kara sat in the rickety kitchen chair, her head resting on her arms next to Daisy. Daisy who was still out on the kitchen table in Markus's apartment. She would be holding Daisy's hand, but both her hands were broken. Because the snapped upper arm was just the start of the broken bones.
"Do you want some juice, Lady El?" Marcie asked.
She lifted her head, looking up at Markus's mate. "I couldn't…"
Marcie set the already-poured orange juice next to her. "Yes, you can."
"Thank you, sorry for bursting in here on you and just…that was rude of me. I didn't know where else to go." Kara sat up, her fingers stayed touching Daisy's shoulder just slightly.
Marcie's face had that soft 'mom' look on it. "Most of the people who come here come in need, desperate and unsure of where else to go. And we help them, and sometimes they help us. You, your mate, you've already helped. My husband doesn't usually wander our home with a baseball bat but with the shootings, we were afraid."
Kara looked at the home, and there was a dresser in front of the front door, the drawn blinds. "Oh. I…"
"Were afraid for your mate." Marcie's tone was kind as she sat down in another one of the rickety chairs. "And you two being in our home has made our children's year, even if they know better than to come out when we're treating the injured."
Kara smiled, she'd noticed the big eyes peeking out before being shooed back into their room. "I didn't know, about all this, the community before Daisy."
Marcie sipped from her own juice. "You were human-raised, yes?"
"Yes," Kara looked away from Marcie back to Daisy's face. It was a very swollen and bruised face, even with the cuts healed up. "I don't know what I'd have done without them."
"You were very fortunate." Marcie hummed. "Drink your juice, your mate wouldn't forgive us if you pass out from low blood sugar."
Kara realized when Daisy was waking up before she moved, the change in heartbeat had her on her feet and carefully touching Daisy's less damaged cheek. "Hey, hey, you're ok, I'm here."
"Ow?" Daisy's eyes opened enough for her to squint.
"Don't get up, you're really hurt." Kara laid a hand on Daisy's shoulder.
Daisy winced, "Remind me, fighting Kryptonians with a hand tied behind my back, sucks. Bad."
"Really? You can't even open your eyes all the way from swelling." Kara could breathe easily for the first time in hours though.
"No organs to regrow, had worse…probably. How bad is it?" Daisy hissed as she sat up.
Kara carefully supported her back. "We had to peel some of the skin off of your back."
Daisy looked at the cast on her left arm that went to the elbow, the one on the right warm went to her shoulder. "Huh."
Markus came bustling in. "You're just lucky I could regrow it, the internal damage was harder to treat." he clucked his tongue. "Please don't remove the casts without checking with me, please."
"She'll check in with you." Kara said because she'd ensure Daisy did. "Is it safe to take her home?"
Daisy made a slightly grumbling sound.
None of them paid attention to it.
Markus smiled, his mustache twitching. "I've written up a list of care instructions. But yes, and go easy with the vibrations."
"Got that," Daisy winced. "I'm guessing you have a list of injuries?"
"You're lucky you are from two of the sturdier races." Markus passed Kara a folded sheet. "If you need anything else, you know how to get ahold of me." He paused glancing at the oversized sweatpants and tank top they'd gotten Daisy into. "If I could get the clothing back eventually, I would appreciate that."
Daisy spoke up while Kara nodded. "I'll pay you back for this, I promise."
"I know you will," He smiled. "You certainly did for the children you placed under your care."
Kara looked at Daisy, because of course, she'd paid for the medical care the kids had gotten. Just…of course she did. Her voice was unfairly soft. She had to force herself to look back at the doctor. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Daisy shifted on the table. "No one is going to let me try and walk out, are they?"
"No."
Kara pulled on one of Daisy's growing collection of fuzzy sweaters, while she waited for the water to boil. It felt like she could breathe for the first time in hours. But the antsy desperate anxiety wouldn't go away. It felt like there was more she should be doing. Was this what Alex felt like every time she ended up waking up on the solar bed? It was just…everything had been crazy and she didn't know what to do about it. It felt like there was more to do. But doing more would mean leaving Daisy. So short of lives on the line, it wasn't happening.
She'd barely managed to bring herself to peel out of the suit and dump it in Daisy's washing machine, as well as all of Daisy's laundry. The fact Daisy hadn't teased her about it was alarming. But then…Daisy'd been quiet since she'd gotten her home. It was a relief when the kettle whistled.
Superspeed meant she got to it instantly. Grabbing it off the stovetop, she turned off the burner and poured the boiling water into the two mugs of hot chocolate she'd set aside. A spoon, and possibly more speed than was smart, and she barely kept from darting to the couch where she'd settled Daisy. But that left her hovering, awkwardly with two mugs of hot chocolate and the sudden realization Daisy didn't have a functional hand to hold a mug with.
"Kara, you can sit down." Daisy sounded tired, but not unkind. There was a kind of faint bemusement to her tone, for all it was kind of an order.
Kara sat down next to her girlfriend. "I'm sorry, I didn't even think you can't really hold the mug, and it's hot so I can't get a straw, but even with a straw you still wouldn't be able to hold it and-"
"Kara, I'm fine." Daisy bumped her slightly with her cast. "You did it, your dad is safe at the DEO, attack on the alien neighborhood stopped, C4 out of the hospital, Henshaw's dead, and my left arm will be healed enough for a splint instead of a cast by morning. You did good. You can just drink your hot chocolate and take a breath, ok?"
"It just…" Kara didn't know how to express it.
"It's been a lot. Crazy stressful, nightmare-inducing day from hell." Daisy said like it was that simple. Daisy turned, slightly. "What's going on?"
Kara set both mugs on the table and turned to face Daisy. "I could hear it, what Henshaw was doing to you. And there were just more men with guns and more explosives to find in the hospital and I couldn't get to you. And you were only here because of me."
Daisy frowned slightly, "What do you mean?"
"When you knocked on my door, all you wanted was to rest. To not be a soldier anymore. You were tired. But I pulled you in, and now you're a public hero everyone thinks is a villain. I asked for help with Cadmus, knowing you wanted out, and you've been doing nothing but help ever since." Her gut was twisted on itself. "And you almost died."
"I said yes, and someone needed to do it? It's not a big deal, I'd have ended up doing it anyway without you asking?" Daisy sounded confused. Which was…the confusion was the problem.
Kara laid her hand on Daisy's cast, and just… "You accepted a declaration of war because you were already fighting it. But…you didn't want to fight. You wanted an apartment, learn how to cook, and to be…normal for a while. To just exist and I…dragged you right into the thing you were trying to leave, another war. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
Daisy was quiet, clearly considering her reply. "Camping, probably a good idea."
"...what?" Kara frowned that was…what?
Daisy sighed, "I might be really bad at not being an agent. But I like the life I've built here. You included. So you had a point with the camping. But Kara, I wouldn't change what I've done. Any of it. And I do have an apartment, and can kinda cook now. So two out of three."
"I don't want you to die for me. Or you to think I'm asking that of you ever." Kara had been so excited for a superhero partner, and then Daisy'd just been amazing, and she'd lost sight of it.
"I know, and I knew you were coming." Daisy smiled. "And I was right." She nudged her. "I could probably be a bit less intense though."
Kara reached out, brushing some of Daisy's hair behind one ear. "Maybe less guns and hunting bad guys?"
Daisy leaned into the touch. "I can do that." She shifted slightly, "Come on, drink your hot chocolate and let the adrenaline high fade a bit."
She shifted so they were sitting together, sides pressed together, and picked up one of the mugs of hot chocolate. "Do you want yours?"
"Can we just…sit here?" Daisy asked quietly.
Kara didn't care they were sitting on a couch facing a tv that wasn't on, at two am in the morning. "As long as you want." She wasn't going anywhere.
And, Kara was startled at the feeling as Daisy leaned her head against her shoulder with a nearly silent sigh of contentment. It was…oh…Kara just hummed, the feeling of warmth from her mug reaching her for the first time tonight. The heat from Daisy against her side and shoulder. Her eyes naturally fluttered shut as she let her cheek press against the top of her mate's head. It was going to be alright.
////
The Oval Office of the United States of America was a distinct location. The gold curtains, antique wooden table, and desk, the familiar flags behind each should of the president sitting before their desk. And on every camera sat President Oliva Marsdin, her hands folded before her in that room. "Good Morning, my fellow Americans. I come to you today after the events of these last weeks of pain, cruelty, and fear, with a message of hope."
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