Abandoned,

It had been a month since she had abandoned Supergirl in the Fortress and walked away with Myriad. However, it hadn’t been a productive month, she couldn’t get the damn software to work with Myriad’s operating system. She and Eve had tried everything, right now they were hacking the DEO to try and see if there was anything in those records.   It had been a month since Alex had heard from Kara, since she had gone to the Fortress with Lena.  Eliza was freaking out, she called every day, several times a day to check on Alex’s progress. Superman was off-planet somewhere, so he was no help, while J’onn and Nia were covering National City, so they couldn’t help. She couldn’t scan the Fortress with satellites because the security there basically hid the whole damn thing. She had tried calling, texting, and had even considered assaulting L Corp and Lena’s apartment, but Lena was ignoring them.  That couldn’t be good. She had Brainy scanning the internet and networks at L Corp in case Lena made a mistake and they could track her to wherever she was hiding.   Brainy had been waiting for Lena to make a mistake, so he could finally track her down. He allowed her tracer program into the system but locked it into a search program that would make it look like it was moving through the system when in reality, it was paused, unable to do any damage to the DEO.  Then, using the program's footprints, he tracked it back to Lena’s servers, what he saw made his blood go cold. He’d known Lena would be upset about Kara’s secret, but he never thought she would go this far. He immediately texted Alex and let her know he had tracked Lena’s program and knew her location, he also let her know what Lena was up to, and that yes, he was capable of destroying all records of the software. Alex texted J’onn and Nia to let them know they located Lena, but got no response, of course, they were a little busy covering for Kara. Then she gathered her troops and planned an assault.   45 minutes later, at Lena’s hidden lab on the outskirts of National City…   “Ms. Luthor, there are several intruders approaching our location.”   “Startup defensive protocol.”   “I am trying Ms. Luthor, the programs are not responding.”   “What do you mean, not responding?”   “The programs are deleting themselves as I attempt to activate them.”   “Transfer all data to secondary servers, immediately.”   “Unable to comply, Ms. Luthor, all access to the outside has been terminated, we are isolated.”   “Bring up the assault unit on video.”   “Unable to comply.”   At that moment, the DEO burst into the room.  Of course, Alex was leading them, and the reason for their computer issues was also there, Brainy.   “Alex, a high energy burst from a taser will free the human and destroy the computer link.”   Without a pause, Alex pulled her taser and shot Eve. The woman dropped like a stone and her connection to the system and all files related to her ceased to exist.   “All files related to Ms. Luthor’s plans have been deleted, Alex.”   Alex then stared daggers at Lena while ordering her troops to collect everything, including Eve, and haul it back to the DEO. “Brainy, I need you to stay so I don’t do anything stupid.”   “Of course, Alex.”   Drawing her 10mm, she pointed it directly at Lena and asked, “Is she still at the Fortress?”   Lena swallowed hard, and nodded, she’d had guns pointed at her before, but this time it was different, Alex was looking at her with such hatred, she wasn’t so sure that she would survive this encounter.   “Is she alive?”, Alex growled.   “Yes”, Lena was panicking now, she realized the only thing keeping her alive was the fact that she was the only way Alex could get to the Fortress. “I took away her comms and her phone then locked her in the fortress.”   Alex’s finger twitched, and she had to lower the gun before she shot Lena.   “Take us there now!”   While Lena was fiddling with whatever device she needed, Alex pulled out her phone and texted everyone that Kara was at the Fortress. She texted Eliza and Kelly separately, letting them know that if possible, she was taking Kara to Midvale, taking her home.   Kelly texted back that she was on her way, that she loved Alex, and not to kill Lena.   Eliza simply texted, ‘Thank you.’   Lena opened a portal and they were teleported almost instantly to the Fortress. There was a mild green glow over everything.   “Lena, whatever you did, turn it off now!”   “Computer, deactivate Kryptonian protocol.”   “Where is she?”   “Through there, I made sure the computer would take care of her.”   Alex didn’t hear her; she ran to the next room. Kara was sitting on the floor trapped inside a huge ice crystal, with Kryptonite laced throughout. She slowed down, as the ice started to disappear, Kara didn’t even move.   “Kara” she whispered.   Slowly Kara turned towards her sister, “Alex?” Then her sister's panicked heartbeat caused her to scream, “Alex it’s too loud.” She squeezed her eyes closed and covered her ears.   Alex slowed down, her heart rate was too high, she willed it to slow down, she had to be calm. She approached slowly, “Kara, I’m here baby sister. We are going to take you home, to mom, is that okay?”   “You’re not going to leave me, are you?”, Kara’s eyes were wide with fear.   “No, Kara, I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”   “Alex, she’s here, Lena’s here, she will be mad, I’m loose, she trapped me, she hates me, I have to hide, get away Alex, run before she finds us.”   Lena stopped in the doorway, what was going on?   “Kara, she brought us here, she is going to take us to mom’s. But she is not going to hurt you, I swear.”   “She locked me up Alex, I made her mad, I hurt her, I hurt her so bad, she hates me Alex. I couldn’t talk to anyone, I was alone. Alex, I was by myself, like the phantom zone all over again, Alex I was so scared, don’t leave me, please.”, Kara was crying.   Lena backed out of the room, and looked at Brainy, “What is wrong, why is she acting like this?”   “What you see is not an act, Kara suffers from severe abandonment issues and claustrophobia. She has spent a month in that cage you put her in, and you took her ability to communicate, in your anger with her, you have done something your brother never could.”   “What’s that?”   “You have broken a Super.”   Lena looked back at Kara, who was looking at her, as soon as they made eye contact, Kara look at the floor, fear plain in her eyes. ‘Oh God, what have I done.’, she thought to herself. She wanted to hurt Supergirl, not break her. She had known Supergirl for almost 4 years, well that wasn’t actually true, she had known Kara, but Kara was a lie.   “Kara, are you ready to go home?”   “Yes, is mom going to be home?”   “Yes, and Kelly will be there too, is that okay?”   “Yes, is, is Lena coming?”, the fear plain behind her words?   “She is taking us home.”   “She is still mad at me?”   “I won’t let her hurt you, Kara.”   “I’m sorry Alex, for being so weak.”   Alex gathered her little sister in a hug, a hug her sister simply melted into. “You are the strongest person I know Kara.”   “Alex, it was my fault, Lena’s hatred was my fault.”   Alex looked at Lena as Kara spoke, Lena felt a cold shiver go down her spine, the malice in Alex’s eyes was clear, she had hurt her family, and if given the chance, Alex would hurt her back.   “Alex, don’t hurt her, you are better than that.”   “I promise Kara, I’ll be the better person.”   “Thank you, Alex, can we go home now.”   “Set the co-ordinates, Lena, we are leaving.”   Lena prepped the portal based on Brainy’s coordinates, and a moment later, the four of them stepped into the yard of Kara and Alex’s childhood home.   Eliza Danvers was standing on the front porch and she waited till Kara got her bearings and started walking towards her girls. She hugged Alex first, “Thank you for protecting her again Alex. I love you so much, you make me so proud.”   “She’ll be okay mom, right now she is really scared, but she’ll be okay.”, she sounded so unsure, and there were tears forming in her eyes.   “I know, but mothers worry, it’s what we do best.” Then she walked slowly up to Kara, who simply fell into her arms, crying and gripping as tight as she could without hurting her adoptive mother.   “Eliza, I’m sorry I made you worry.”   “It’s okay sweetheart, everything will be okay. Is there anything you need or want right now?”   “I could probably use a bath and if it isn’t too much trouble, some pancakes?”, she asked softly.   “Will you be okay in the bathroom?”   A sudden picture of herself locked in that small cage came back to Kara, “No, to small.”, she was panting, having a panic attack. Lena started to step closer when Eliza shot her a look that said quite simply, that she was more dangerous than Alex. Lena backed away.   “How about the lake baby, like when you first came to live with us.”   “Is that okay?”   “Of course, it is, walk down with Alex and I will go get you some clothes and stuff. Okay?”   “Okay”, she smiled, the first one any of them had seen in quite some time.   Eliza turned away before the tears started, and Alex walked up and put her arm around Kara to walk her down to the lake.   Kara was heading down to the lake, with Alex when Kelly arrived. Skidding to a stop Kelly threw open her car door.  The noise scared Kara and she stopped, closing her eyes and covering her ears. Kelly saw the reaction, and reacted instantly, slowing down, settling herself and then slowly approaching Kara.  She looked to Alex, she had figured out Kara’s identity pretty quickly but was still surprised that Alex was allowing her to actually see Kara in uniform. She finished approaching Kara, “Hey Kara. Sorry for scaring you hon.”   “Hi Kelly, I’m sorry, really, I’m sorry.”   “Shhhh, Kara, you don’t have to be sorry hon, it’s normal to be scared, even for Supergirl.”   “Okay.”   Eliza came out carrying some things for Kara and saw Kelly and smiled.  Then she walked her daughter down to the lake. Kara got undressed behind a blanket on a tree limb and walked into the water, submerging herself and relaxing in the silence.   The three women sat on the edge of the lake as Kara washed and just swam around.   Kelly was the first to speak, “Someone want to tell me what happened.”   “Why don’t you ask her?” Alex said, as Lena made her unwelcome presence known.   Lena answered flatly, “I locked Kara in an ice cell in the middle of the Fortress of Solitude with no communication for a month.”   Alex spoke up, “Kara suffers from claustrophobia and severe abandonment issues”   “And you thought it would be a good idea to play on her fears, Ms. Luthor?”   “I didn’t know.”   “Didn’t know or didn’t care?”, Kelly asked, coolly.   “I didn’t know, I never asked her anything about Supergirl. After I found out she was lying to me about being Supergirl, I really didn’t care, she betrayed my trust just like everyone else, so I just wanted to hurt her.”   “Think you succeeded pretty well.”, Alex snapped.   “I know dammit, but she betrayed me, just like everyone, Supergirl lied to me.”, Lena was actually trying to defend her actions.   “Her name is Kara, you bitch.”, Alex snapped, standing up she looked down at Lena. “Supergirl is a mask, it isn’t who she is. It’s what she can do, it’s a way to use her powers for good, to make the world a safer place, but under all that strength is Kara, my baby sister.  She is a woman who lost her whole world, watched it blow up, and then when she arrived here, Superman abandoned her with us. So, let me tell you something Ms. Luthor, you don’t want people to judge you by just your name, stop acting like Supergirl is hers.”   “She still lied, I was her best friend, and she never told me. All her friends know, why not me?”   “Oh my god, yes she has told people who she is, but others just figured it out, I’m surprised you didn’t.”, Alex said sarcastically. Then she sat back down, taking a breath to try and calm down. “She told Winn, because she needed his help when she started out, she told Lucy because of James and she told Nia so that Nia wouldn’t feel so alone.”, Alex said. “She was going to tell you several times, but your hot/cold attitude towards Supergirl scared her, she didn’t want to lose you.  And several times the DEO wouldn’t allow her to tell you, because of your mother and brother.”   “But still”   “God, you don’t f*****g get it do you?”   “Don’t get what?”   “Everyone that knows is in danger, if you knew, if someone got to you, they could use Kara’s feelings about you to their advantage.”   “Our friendship?”   “You are so smart, but you absolutely f*****g stupid when it comes to people. She Loved You.”   “She loves everyone?”   Alex growled, stood up, and walked away before she throttled the dark-haired genius.   “I think what Alex was trying to say, Ms. Luthor, is that Kara was romantically attached to you.”   “What? Oh my God.”, Lena’s eyes suddenly got large as she realized how incredibly stupid, she was.   “Now Lena, based upon your actions, I could very well arrest you and send you to prison for k********g and probably enough charges to have you locked up for life, but my sister doesn’t need any more issues with you, so I’m going to ask politely for you to leave, and if Kara wants to see you, we will contact you.”   “I want to talk to Supergirl,” she shook her head, “Kara.”   Kelly responded to that one, “Ms. Luthor, that would be a bad idea, she is very frightened and from what I have gathered here, that fear is primarily due to you, as a doctor, now Kara’s doctor, I could not allow it.”   “But you can’t stop me.”   “Lena.”, Alex whispered so low that Lena barely hears her. “I promised my baby sister I wouldn’t hurt you, but so help me, if you so much as look at her sideways, I will break that promise and live with the consequences. Do I make myself clear?” Lena swallowed whatever retort was on her tongue, she had seen this woman face down Aliens as powerful as Supergirl and not flinch, Alex would do exactly what she said, and consequences be damned. “I’ll head back to the city.”   No one spoke as Lena walked back across the yard, she took one last look back before she teleported away, and instead of Supergirl, she simply saw Kara, and a tear slid down her cheek as she realized what she had lost.   After she was gone, Brainy came and sat down.  “That did not end well?”   “It was best that she left, now we need to figure out what Kara needs.”, Kelly was in doctor mode now. “She is going to need a physical to determine how much long-term damage the kryptonite caused and a full mental evaluation. She is not going to be Supergirl for a while.”   “I don’t care if she is ever Supergirl again.”, Alex said.