Catco suddenly feels like a labyrinth as Kara touches down; sharp corners that lead down darkened corridors to empty cubicles, all bathed in an otherworldly crimson that vaguely reminds Kara of a home that is no longer hers.
An icy feeling sinks deep in her stomach, because she is acutely aware that this doesnât feel like home either. Each version Mxy has sent her to has felt tilted on its axis, however subtle, but here, Kara feels the uncanniness of it; how truly off it all feels, as though reality is bending at, waning at the seams. It all feels so terribly abstract; mismatched pieces of reality being forced together into something coherent.
âLena? Itâs me. Itâs Supergirl,â Kara says, trying to tamp down the quiver in her voice, âItâs Kara.â
She can hear the creak of a chair turning, and as she comes into the open bullpen, she can see Lena, silhouetted in red light from the computer screen behind her.
âJust a friend,â Kara says as Lena stands. âYou donât know me. Not really, but you and I want the same thing, to do no harm.â
Lenaâs eyes are predatory and Kara slows her steps, giving Lena, this Lena a wide berth. She doesnât feel as though she is being seen, but instead, being stalked. Kara can feel beads of sweat begin to gather along her hairline, and her stomach twists, a wave of nausea roiling over inside of her.
âSupergirl wants a world without harm. Thatâs rich.â Lenaâs eyes are wide and unblinking as they coldly bore into Kara. âWhere were you when my brother blew my helicopter out of the sky? When my mother dragged my broken body to a laboratory and experimented on me instead of fixing me? Where were you when this world was ripped apart at the seams? Where were you ?â
âIâm sorry I wasnât there when it mattered,â Kara says quietly, but resolutely.Â
And god, she is sorry. To this Lena and every version of her across this goddamn multiverse. And Kara knows her contrition will win out; her need to lie down and let Lena fill her days with ruin if that is what she needs; to seek penitence in her shadow for all of her remaining days. Kara will do what it takes. Whatever it takes to have Lena back in her orbit and nestled against her heart, safe within the cage of her ribs where she will be protected and loved.
Lenaâs eyes flutter, and she blinks slowly, keeping the tears glassing over her eyes at bay. âSo am I.â
The nausea in Karaâs stomach builds into a tidal wave as Lenaâs hand moves to the lapel of her coat and pulls it open, exposing the sickly green of her kryptonite heart and a guttural scream erupts from the back of Karaâs throat as a concentrated beam hits her, sending her into a crumpled heap on the ground. Lena steps forward, and the surge from the kryptonite beam intensifies, lifting Kara and sending her hurtling through the air and through the glass pane at the back of the bullpen. Shards of glass rip through her suit, cutting deeply at her back and arms, embedding into her skin and leaving the coppery smell of blood caught in the back of her throat between desperate gasps for air.
âYou donât know the first thing about pain,â Lena says cooly, kneeling down beside Kara. âBut I do. I can show you; make you feel what I feel.â
Kara pushes a hand into the ground, mustering what little energy she has left to slide her arm beneath her and hoist herself up. Glass cuts and grinds in her palm, and the pain in her body amplifies; searing and hot as Lena's proximity becomes dangerously close.
âI wonât fight you, Lena.â
âThen youâll die screaming.â
The comm in Karaâs ear crackles to life and she can hear her sister's voice as Lena reaches out and pulls it free, the sticky sound of it coming loose echoing in Karaâs head.
âSupergirl, Reign and Brainy have escaped with Mxy. We nee-â
âPathetic,â Lena snarls as she stands, crushing the comm in her hand as the reactor in her chest flickers, charging up to deliver another punishing blow. âThere wonât be anything left when they come looking for you, Supergirl. Just ash.â
âReign. Brainy. They have the imp,â Kara chokes out, the muscles straining in her neck as wave after wave of pain crashes through her body, white hot in her veins. âTake me, too.â
And for a fleeting moment, hesitation flickers across Lenaâs features. âAnd why would I do that?â
âBecause, I can give you what you want,â Kara says in a shaky voice, the edges of her vision beginning to blur. Her strength begins to waver, and the arm beneath her slips, sending Kara to the floor. The collision causes blood to erupt in her mouth. She can feel it, slick and warm as it wets her lips and seeps in between her teeth. Coppery, like rolling a penny over her tongue.
âAnd what could the girl of steel possibly give me?â Lena asks cooly as she kneels down again and grabs a fistful of blonde hair, pulling Karaâs head back with a violent tug.
Blackness swarms behind Karaâs eyelids as they droop, falling shut, and somewhere between consciousness, she coughs out the words through a mouthful of blood.
My contribution to the @supercorpbb this year. Continue reading on ao3 and please check out the spicy art work that @lesbad-unicorn made for this fic!!
