Chapter Text
Lena stared blankly at the sky, tinged red and angry. From her balcony, she had a panoramic view of the city at its quietest. Most of its citizens have been evacuated and the few stragglers left quickly disappeared with a flash of red and blue.
Lena subconsciously noted a speck in the sky, relentless in its trajectory and barely discernible to human eyes. Dismissing it as an errant airplane, she ignored the whispers in her mind reminding her that all aircrafts were permanently grounded two weeks ago. After all, the only flying body now belonged to the hero zig-zagging her way across the planet.
She gulped down the remains of her scotch and retreated to the office. Setting the glass down, she habitually gathered the papers strewn on her desk in a neat pile.
She looked around her office - the closest thing she had to a home for the past year. Inevitably, her eyes were drawn to the couch that bore soured memories. Barely a year ago, she had half a mind to give it away. Or better, melodramatically pour some gasoline all over it and set it on fire. She had stayed her hand, rationalising that it would be a good reminder to never let her guard down again.
Heaving a sigh, she ran her hand along the side of the couch. For the past few months, she had slowly let go of her grudge against her former best friend and they had taken tentative steps towards repairing their relationship. However, there were more pressing matters at hand and not enough time to properly talk things through.
_________________________________
Right at the very start, Lena balked at the realisation that they had to work together to save the world again. Kara was similarly displeased. The first month was all cold shoulders and frosty conversations. They disagreed on every small detail and made snipe comments about bad judgement.
However, it all came to a head one day, when their fight tumbled into insults and unwarranted barbs. Their raised voices drew the attention of all the agents while the Kelly tried to intervene. Eventually, J’onn took them both aside and gave them a stern talk about how integral teamwork was for the situation. Apparently, the rest of the team had enough of their pettiness and voted for him to intervene. Admonished and mortified, they came to a truce and resolved to do better.
Surprisingly, working with Kara in a professional capacity (without explicit ire) allowed her to process her emotions. With Supergirl at the frontlines, Lena bore witness to her tenacity and selflessness as the hero pushed herself to her limits, physically and emotionally. As the weeks go by, Kara noticeably became thinner, taking on a haggard look as she toiled day and night. She took it upon herself to handle the logistical nightmare that comes with this crisis, as if paying penance for the fact that, this time, there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Lena could only imagine what it felt like, to know that you will lose your home planet, all over again.
Piece by piece, Lena reconciled Kara with her Supergirl persona. She was the bravery of Kara in Supergirl and the tenacity of the superhero in Kara. The last piece slot in place when Kara came back from liaising with the military, obviously drained but still cracking a joke to lift spirits. This was Kara, her Kara, brave and sweet Kara, always trying and helping and putting everyone first.
She wondered if she was the only one observing Kara so closely, that could see through her false cheery armour. She wondered if she was the only one who could see slumped shoulders, no doubt balking under the invisible weight of the world that she once again shouldered without complaint.
Then again, she lost her right to care about Kara’s welfare when she trapped her to commit a federal crime and trapped her in a Kryptonite prison.
She did try to make amends, when tendrils of shame replaced her self-righteous anger. Noticing how Kara went without food and sleep for unhealthy amounts of time, Lena resolved to make sure that their hero did not collapse due to her inability to care for herself. After all, there was no chance for them to repair their relationship if one of them straight up died from exertion.
When Kara flew off to gather more materials, Lena ordered heaps of Chinese takeaways, had them delivered by a helicopter and placed it strategically at the entrance when they arrived. Her first attempt at reconciliation drew a raised eyebrow from Alex and a pleased grin from Nia. The latter immediately took a box of lo-mein and might be more excited about the food than the gesture, but Lena took it as a win. After all, she was also working to get back into the Superfriend’s good books. Two stones with one throw or whatever.
However, when Kara flew back into the base, she walked right past the food, towards J’onn. Rolling her shoulders and doing a weird jiggle to loosen her muscles, she looked at the director, anticipating further orders.
J’onn looked concerned and slightly guilty as he asked, “Supergirl, how about you take a rest and get some food in you? Lena bought Chinese.”
Head turning around so quick that a normal human would have gotten whiplash, Kara found Lena across the room. Surprised, she tried, and failed, to suppress a small grin.
Feigning nonchalance, Lena gave a half-shrug, “I felt like eating Chinese.”
Hiding behind the screen, Lena was oblivious to Kara’s grin widening as she spared a glance at the veritable mountain of food, before staring at the scientist again.
Since then, their relationship improved, and they fell into a strange dynamic. Shared lunch became a thing again, as well as late nights where Kara talked Lena down from throwing expensive wine bottles at uncooperative devices. It was not like before, but it was stable, and it was theirs.
_________________________________
A pair of boots landed on the balcony with a thud, and she did not need to look to know who it was.
“Lena? We have to go.” Kara’s voice was subdued.
Finally turning around, Lena eyed her ex-best-friend, turned enemy, turned friend, maybe. Hopefully. Lena was unclear on where they stood and was too afraid to ask. The vibrant blue of Kara’s suit was covered in a visible layer of grime and dust. Lena took in the black bags that hung below her eyes and the slouched posture.
She had watched the news as Supergirl worked non-stop for the past weeks, making sure that everyone made it through the portal. In any other scenario, Lena would have laughed at Supergirl hauling flamingos by the truckload over the sky. However, the situation was too dire for her to find any humour in it. Obviously overworked, Kara looked like she would keel over any second.
Lena eyed the sky that had already darkened by the slightest amount. Time was running out and she glanced mournfully at her office once more before giving her companion a sharp nod. She was not ready to leave but well, time was running out.
“May I?” The ever-so-gallant superhero held out her arms, eyes shy and motion hesitant.
Lena looked at the hero and her dirty suit, saying dryly, “Do I have a choice?”
Smiling, Kara made grabby motions with her hands.
Lena stepped into Kara’s arms and felt Kara sweep her into a bridal carry. Adjusting her hold, Kara slowly ascended and they made their way across the ocean.
The fly to the Arc was smooth, albeit tense as the silence made them both on edge.
“I can’t believe I missed birds,” Kara chuckled.
Weirdly tickled, Lena laughed and squirmed in her arms. Kara grinned and tightened her hold.
Soon enough, familiar mountains loomed into view and Lena could see the glinting rooftop of their building. Decelerating, they flew through a window and landed unceremoniously among the remaining few agents mingling at the last base of the DEO.
It was hastily built but served its purpose as the one and only entryway to a place where humanity can live on. With a looming deadline, governments and private enterprises alike pooled together all resources to cobble together a large transmatter portal. It was stable enough to let all of earth’s occupants, not just an army, through and Lena could just laugh at the ironic turn of events.
A huge 40-stories high arc housed the portal to the planet they chose, Teegarden. Slightly larger in size and most importantly, inhabitable by life, it’s almost exactly like Earth and the perfect replacement.
Dubbing it the Ark, there was a whole ceremony where Lena was credited for its design and was named to champion the project. Lena recalled how the Superfriends seemed almost proud, while she herself itched to end the event so she could get some real work done. Anyone would have thought that public relations was unnecessary at the end of the world but apparently Lena was the only one with a sense of urgency.
Lena shook her head to dispel thoughts of past events. She had to concentrate on the last stretch of her plan.
At the control center of the facility, no one gave them a second glance. The ever-present buzz of the portal in the other part of the base began to eat at Lena’s fraying nerves.
Lena spotted Alex frowning at the monitor she sat behind while Brainy looked on, troubled. Striding across the room, Lena stopped behind them to look over her other shoulder.
“That doesn’t look good.”
Alex turned around with a raised eyebrow, the sarcastic “you think?” implicit in her expression.
“Where’s the rest?” Kara’s eyes swept across the room. There were less than ten agents around them, carrying the last batch of equipment.
Turning to Kara, Alex replied, “Kelly left with the rest in the morning. It’s just us and five agents left now. Nia came back through the portal with news about how everyone is settling. It's going great and everything is going according to plan.”
Kara nodded, relieved that they could just pull this off.
Only paying half of her attention to the conversation, Lena studied the screen Alex abandoned.
“See this new dot? I thought I noticed something in the sky. How soon before it hits?” Lena directed her question at Brainy, wary that he would confirm her suspicions.
Tilting his head, Brainy took another look at what Lena pointed to and frowned. “How did I miss this?”
Brainy closed his eyes in concentration, no doubt performing ridiculous amounts of calculations in his head. “The data previously indicated that we had another month. Our latest scan shows early fractures on the surface of the comet. It seems like the first one is already on the way to Earth.”
When he next opened them, all of them could see the fear and alarm in his widened eyes.
“The first fragment will hit tonight.”
Brainy made eye contact with Lena and she shook her head, grimacing at his unspoken question. His face crumbled and he looked so absolutely crushed by her response that she had to look away.
Alex, she next sees, had a frown so deep that Lena worried it would be permanently etched into her features. “Right, so there’s a change of plans. We move today. There is not much left and whatever remains can still be recreated when we go over.”
Kara nodded and despite her earlier lethargy, began to vibrate with a new sense of urgency. “I’ll do one more round and make sure I didn’t miss anything. We’ll go in together.”
She did not wait for a response before flying off, kicking up sand and dust in her wake.
Sighing, Alex stood up and walked away. “I’ll make sure the agents leave now.”
“Power down everything! We’re leaving. No, no, just leave them. We have to go! Now, agents!” Alex could be heard redirecting the agents’ efforts.
“Lena? A word please?” Brainy blinked furiously, either to communicate via morse code or trying to dislodge something in his eye.
Lena rolled her eyes in exasperation. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
Growing agitated, Brainy tried again, “Lena, there must be another way. Perhaps we can consider the…”
“You know there is no other way,” Lena cut him off. “We don’t have enough time. This is our only feasible plan.”
Softening at her companion’s obvious distress, Lena reassured him, “It will be okay, Brainy. Soon you will be with Nia. The future is still safe, right?”
Concentrating for a few seconds, Brainy nodded but was strangely only marginally comforted by what Lena deemed to be a very important fact.
Spotting Alex around the corner, Lena implored, “Remember the plan, Brainy. And follow it.”
Defeated, Brainy nodded.
“All right, they are gone now,” Alex came up to them and crossed her arms. “Let’s wait for Kara and then we can go, yeah?”
Oblivious to the tension in the atmosphere, she joked, “I can’t believe we moved the entire of humanity onto another planet. We pulled off the biggest u-haul to ever have u-hauled.”
Not particularly disturbed by the lack of response, she frowned before continuing, “So, technically, we are all aliens now. Huh. This must be quite ironic for Lex.”
“I’m sure he’s rolling in his grave right now,” Lena deadpanned.
Seriously, Brainy nodded. “Yes, because he is dead now. An appropriate idiom.”
Wincing, Alex rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry, but hey, you really did save everyone, all lives on this earth, this time.”
Lena let out a pained smile. Knowing the decision she made, she grimaced and prayed for intestinal fortitude for what was to come.
Before long, Supergirl landed among their midst. Stumbling a bit before righting herself, Kara smiled sheepishly. “Still trying to stick that landing.”
Concerned at Kara’s tired state, Alex wrapped her arms around her sister and said softly, “Let’s go, team.”
“Yes! Go! Team! Indeed, we will go! As a team!” Brainy tried to say calmly.
Whacking his arm, Lena forced him to march on before he betrayed their plans.
_________________________________
At the front of the Arc, Lena pretended to fiddle with the buttons on the console. Nervously, she picked up a contraption and fidgeted with it. “Yeah, just some last configurations before we leave. Why don’t you guys go ahead first?”
Brainy nodded a suspicious number of times while Alex narrowed her eyes at the two of them. Lena raised her eyebrow and Alex dismissed her errant thoughts, trusting Lena to do her tech stuff. Brainy looked seconds away from a meltdown as he stared at Lena, remorse in his eyes.
Erroneously thinking that the 12th level intellect was just having a last-minute meltdown, Alex let go of Kara and dragged Brainy instead.
“Come on, Brainy. I can’t wait to get a drink and take a bath. Wait, do you think our plumbing system is up yet?” Shaking her head, she said, “No matter. As long as all of us are there safely, I am willing to live in mud.”
“We’ll all be safe,” Kara said in awe, the end finally in sight and the future of her loved ones secure. Perking up, she manhandled Alex and Brainy to the Arc. “I’ll stay with Lena. Go first. I can’t wait to be part of your world!”
“Nerd,” Alex grinned softly, a reluctant Brainy in tow.
Just before they walked into the portal, Lena saw Brainy mouthing a few words. Pained, she gave both of them a wave before they disappeared in a swirl of blue and purple.
Kara’s spirits have improved over the span of the hour and she was grinning from ear to ear as she stood beside Lena. “Are we almost done?” Kara paused. “I can’t believe we’re entering a whole new world!”
“I swear to god, Kara, if you keep quoting Disney songs…” Lena was not even sure where the threat was heading as she trailed off in wonder. Kara’s eyes were twinkling, and Lena realised that this was the first time she saw the hero truly happy in nearly a year.
Choking down indescribable and untimely emotions, Lena could not do anything but smile.
“Do you know that Krypton had a red sky too?” Kara’s smile dimmed.
Slightly bewildered at the change of topic, Lena shook her head, “No, I didn’t.”
Barely months ago, talk of Krypton would only bring up feelings of betrayal and hurt. Now though, Lena listened, wanting to know more about Kara.
“It seems fitting, for it to end like this.” Kara said wistfully.
Lena frowned, “I wish I could have done more to save earth.”
Chuckling, Kara turned to her with a look of wonder and awe. “Lena, you did. You saved us all.”
Scoffing, Lena ducked her head but made no response.
“Come here, let’s go home.” Kara held out an arm.
Knowing that they were running out of time, Lena smiled and tucked herself underneath. The embrace was warm and comforting. Lena took a deep breath in an attempt to fortify herself but all she could smell was Kara and home. Choking up slightly, she turned and buried herself into Kara’s shoulders.
Sensing her anxiety, Kara tugged Lena into a full embrace, concentrating to keep her strength in check.
Lena had missed this. She missed Kara so much this past year it hurt to be in such close contact with her. For the first time since forever, she felt safe again. She could feel Kara trembling as her own tears soaked through Lena’s sleeves. Knowing that Kara was similarly affected compounded her grief and she knew that she could not delay her task any longer. If she did not do it now, she would not be able to summon the strength again.
With trembling hands, she placed the contraption she was playing with on Kara’s back. From the device, nanobots began to envelop her body until only her face and hands are left exposed. Wrapped in what seemed like metallic ropes, Kara glanced down and noticed what was going on a second too late.
“Lena? What’s... What is this?” Voice hitching, she tried to move but her motion was halted by the unyielding material.
Tears flowing, Lena walked towards the console. Kara was still wrapping her head around the situation and struggled fruitlessly against the nanobots. “Lena? What are you doing? Let me go!”
“I’m sorry, darling,” Lena sobbed, her hand covering her mouth. “I love you.”
Kara’s eyes widened in fear.
“No! No!” Kara shouted. “No, Lena, please! No!”
Lena pushed a button and the nanobots hurled Kara through the portal.
As soon as she disappeared, Lena pulled a lever and the Arc powered down. Collapsing against the console, Lena wept into her hands.
_________________________________
Kara sailed through the portal and crashed into a wall.
Face red and muscles trembling as she exerted the entirety of her strength against the nanobots, she screamed as she saw the portal get smaller and smaller until there was nothing left but air.