76. Razor's Edge

October 1-2, 2017 (Pregnancy week 30)

Sam ran a bath to soak in before going to bed.  The last few days had been pretty busy, and she wanted to relax.  She opened the medicine cabinet to grab out a lavender essential oil to put in the water, humming Ruby’s song that was stuck in her head now.  When she closed the door to the cabinet, she startled at the sight of her skin covered in weird little symbols in the mirror.  Then, suddenly, a strange whispering sound came from behind her.  She turned around in fear and saw a terrifying figure standing there.

“From Rao’s Fire, you are born,” the creature told her.

Sam crouched down in front of the sink, trying to shrink away from the ugly being, but it came closer and turned into a beautiful woman.

“One day soon, you will Reign,” the woman hissed.

Sam was still cowering on the floor, whimpering and frozen in fear.

“Mom?” Ruby called from the hallway.

Sam blinked and looked back, and the creature/woman was gone.  Only Ruby was standing there, looking worried.  Sam looked back at her hands, and the strange symbols were gone.  What the hell was that?

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara watched as the prison transport came nearer.  She could hear the hijackers speaking to the guards.  

“Ten and two.  Watch the road.”

The transport ran a red light, just in time to catch up to her.  Faster than they could see, she stood in front of the bus and just let it come into contact with her immovable force.  It stopped with a crash of broken glass and squealing tires.  She glared through the windshield, then walked casually around to the doors.  She ripped them open like they were paper and boarded the bus.

The lead rogue criminal pressed a knife into the guards throat, using him as a human shield.  “You come closer, your eyes glow, you even flinch,  and I open up his throat!” 

“No.  You won't,” Kara replied simply.

Suddenly, the hatch at the back of the bus exploded open, and Mon-El dropped into the space behind the fugitive.  Mon-El took out not only the man holding the guard hostage, but also a few other guys that tried to attack him as well.  

Kara still hadn’t moved.  “Anyone else?” 

All the other prisoners stayed in their seats.

After the police showed up, Kara and Mon-El let them take over the scene.  “You holding up okay?” she asked him.  “I haven’t seen you much lately.”

He grinned at her.  “I’m doing really well.  Going to school was the best idea I’ve ever had,”

“Well, we miss you.  When you go on break, I expect you to come visit us.”

“I will,” he promised.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Mom, are you okay?” Ruby asked as they waited for her to get dropped off at school.

“What?  Yes.  Babe, of course.  I'm fine.  I'm totally fine.  It was just a dream,” Sam assured her.

“You were awake,” Ruby pointed out.

“Ruby, I'm fine.  It was a migraine.  Look, we're up next,” Sam distracted her.  “Get your backpack.  I love you.”

“Love you, too.  Bye.”

“Have a good day. Bye,” Sam waved.

Ruby’s friend Luke bounded up to her, “Hey, did you get your math homework done?  I couldn't get through it.”

Ruby checked the time, “Well, there's still time before the bell if you want me to help you.”

“Yeah. That'd be-”  Luke cut off abruptly, looking sick.

“You okay?” Ruby checked.

Luke fell to the ground. 

“Luke!” Ruby exclaimed.  “Mom, help!”

Sam dialed 911 and got out of the car to check on the boy who was now convulsing on the ground.

“Mom!” Ruby cried out.  To Luke, she gently repeated, “It's okay, it's okay.  It's okay.  Oh, please!  It's okay, it's okay.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Mrs. Danvers,” James caught Lena on his way to his office, “Um, you approved an advertorial on page six.” 

“Is there a question coming?” Lena raised an eyebrow as she walked with him. 

“Well, I…” he cleared his throat.  “I just wish you would have told me first.” 

She blinked.  “I didn't know ads were in your purview, Mr. Olsen.”

“Well, they're... they're not not in my purview.  It's... it's not a big deal, it's just that if we're gonna disguise ads as articles I think that it sends a bad message.  People wanna know what they're getting, you know?  They expect integrity from us.  Just a perception thing.”

“70%,”  Lena replied.

James frowned.  “Excuse me?

“That's the deep discount on our print subscription rate,” she told him.  “70%. That's what it takes just to get people to read.  So I think an advertorial here and there is a necessary evil.” 

James chuckled awkwardly.

A knock on the door distracted them.  “Everything okay?” Kara checked.

“Yeah,” Lena replied.

“Absolutely,” James answered. 

“Good,” Kara said, walking into the office.  “Uh, James, I just came in to check and see if... Actually, I think you're gonna wanna turn up the TV.”  She pointed to the face of Morgan Edge on the screen.

“What is that scumbag doing in my hospital?” Lena growled. 

“It was a nightmare.  And we would've given anything for it to end, am I right?  Then the Daxamites, the ships just up and left.  You know why they left?  It was a lead-dispersal bomb that drove 'em away.  I have a colleague whose son was sick.  Brought him here.  There were other children in this hospital with the same symptoms.  The doctors told me that there were other children in still other hospitals all displaying the same symptoms.  Lead poisoning.  You know, it's fitting that we're here, in this hospital.  Lena Luthor built the bomb that poisoned these boys and girls.”

The reporters around him clamored for more.

“I've gotta get down there,” Lena said, turning around and walking away.

“Keep it down.  Please respect the children.  Let's take it outside, I'll answer your questions,” Edge told the reporters.

Kara quickly followed Lena to the elevator, so she could go with her.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Sam?” Kara called out.  They had just gotten to the hospital.

“What are you doing here?” Lena worried.

“Hey,” Sam replied.  “Luke, one of Ruby's friends, collapsed this morning.  Lead poisoning.  I came with the paramedics, his mom just got here.  I saw Edge's stunt, too.  This whole thing is awful.”

From just down the hall, they could hear the sound of Edge’s voice, “All right, where do I sign?”  

“Lena,” Kara warned.

But, of course, Lena ignored her, stomping her pregnant self down the hallway. “Where the hell do you get off?” she demanded.

Edge held a finger up at her, and Lena was ready to explode. “Thank you,” he said to the medical staff person.  “That was me paying the end of the medical expenses at your hospital.” 

“So this is what your revenge looks like?” Lena accused. 

Edge smirked.  “Have you ever heard of the cobra effect, Lena?  Colonial India, the British government, they realized there were snakes all over Delhi.  They wanted them gone.  So they offered a bounty for dead snakes.  And then they realized people were breeding snakes for income.  They thought everything was going really well.  They realized they got slithering snakes all over Delhi.  The whole thing backfired.  Turns out they made the problem worse.  You understand?”  

“You're a toxic predator?” Lena snarked.  

Unphased, Morgan continued, “Unintended consequences.  You wanted to be a hero so bad you didn't care who you hurt.  Now people are gonna die.” 

“Even if all of this were true,” Kara stepped in, “Supergirl would be just as much to blame.  She made the call to use that device.” 

Edge looked at her a little funny, “Do you always talk about yourself in the third person?  ‘Supergirl’ may have pushed the button, sure, but that tech was all Luthor.  

“You're a bottom-feeder,” Lena spat.  

“But I didn't poison children. That was you.”  And with that, Edge sauntered off, leaving Lena to steam.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as Lena returned to CatCo with Kara and Sam, both Jess and Eve were there to greet her.  “Mrs. Danvers, is there anything we can get for you?” Jess inquired. 

“Call the CDC and get every report they have on the outbreak.  I also need the victims' medical reports and I wanna see every bit of data Morgan Edge has seen,” Lena demanded quickly.  

“Right away,” Eve told her.  “And, uh, I'm so sorry.” 

Lena, Kara, and Sam all went into James’ empty office and sat down.

“There has to be another explanation,” Kara huffed.

“There could be hundreds of other reasons why these kids are getting sick besides your device,” Sam pointed out.

“I mean, Edge is manipulating people to get revenge on you for buying CatCo,” Kara said knowingly.

“He's ruthless, Lena, you know that,” Sam reminded her.

“Look, what if it's true, okay?” Lena worried.  “I told Kara that the lead in the device was safe for humans.  She wouldn't have used it if it wasn't safe.”

“Yes, but using it saved all of us!” Sam said emphatically.

James joined them in the office.  “Lena!”

“Mr. Olsen.  Come to tell Kara ‘I told you so?’  Another Luthor takes innocent lives, news at 11?”

“Lena, despite our differences, I would hope by now that you would recognize that I see you as more than just an extension of your brother.”

Lena pouted contritely.  

“However,” James continued, “I do think that you should get ahead of this thing.  Which, in my opinion…  I think you should step down from CatCo, so whatever we report, good or bad, comes off as truthful.  

“No,” Kara argued.  “That would look like an admission of guilt.” 

“No, Kara, he's right,” Lena agreed.  “Whatever's happening, whoever's responsible, this is a public crisis.  And the public deserves to be able to trust the reporting so that they can prepare themselves.  They expect integrity from us.  They deserve it, and they need it now more than ever.  James, you will run CatCo until this is resolved, and I think I should also step down from L-Corp.” 

“Lena, we need you.  We need you to help guide the research,” Sam argued. 

“No, no, L-Corp has a brain trust that's more than capable, okay?” Lena insisted.  “If I'm involved, I could be accused of covering things up, or even profiting from the sick.  This can't be like Flint, Michigan, okay, where bureaucracy got in the way.  Helping people has to be the focus.” 

“Where is she?” a man’s voice carried through into the office.  “Where's Lena Luthor?” he yelled.

“Sir!  Sir, please calm down,” Eve stopped him, holding her hands out in front of her to ward him away. 

“I need to see her,” he demanded.  “She needs to answer for my son.” 

Lena and the others came out of the office to see what was going on.  She indicated to Eve that it was OK to let the man talk.

“You know he stopped breathing?” the man said.  “They had to put a tube down his throat.  My boy is 12 years old.  He is supposed to be laughing, outside playing, not stuck in some hospital with the doctors telling me they don't know how to fix him.  You rich people, you think you can do whatever you want, that we don't matter.  My son matters.”  

“I am sorry. I-”  

The man fought off the security guard as he tried to get him to leave.  “You're sorry?  You're gonna answer for what you did to my son.  For what you did to all of them.”

Lena gathered her Luthor training to keep from crying in front of everyone.  She turned to James, “I want your best reporter reporting this.  I'm not hiding anything.  Set a press conference for later today.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Lena, Kara (as Supergirl), Sam, and James walked together towards the press conference dais.  Although it was a relatively small crowd, nearly everyone there was chanting, “Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!” 

Lena paused at the crowd, just staring at them for a moment.

James gave her a little nudge.  “It's time, Lena.” 

The chanting continued as they took the stage, but Lena plunged ahead.  “Good afternoon. I'm... I'm Lena Danvers, formerly Luthor…  I know a lot of you here are angry. I... I hear you. I would be, myself, if I felt someone had poisoned my children.”  She put her hands over her belly protectively.  “So my thoughts go out to everyone who is afflicted.  I heard what Morgan Edge told you this morning.  And I wish I was up here to say something different, but... the truth is, I don't know if my device hurt children.  And until I do, I realize that none of you can have faith in me.”

Kara heard the faint noise of a gun cocking, and quickly looked through the crowd.  She spotted the man that had showed up at CatCo earlier just as he was sticking his hand in his pocket.  She used her X-ray vision to check his pocket, but it was only a cell phone.  She kept her eyes open as Lena continued.

“Your faith is something I have worked harder than you may realize to keep, and the fact that I might have lost it breaks my heart.  And so, until the investigation into the poisonings is concluded, I shall be stepping down from-”

Gunshots rang through the crowd, and Kara dove in front of Lena to protect her, while James took Sam to the ground.  More gunshots fired as people ran away screaming.  Finally, L-Corp security tackled the person, taking her to the ground.  The woman sobbed hysterically.

“Help!” Sam screamed.  She was kneeling down on the ground, pressing her hands into James’ shoulder that was bleeding profusely.  “Somebody help me!” Sam screamed again. 

“James!” Kara exclaimed.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara flew James back to the DEO where Alex patched him up.  Sam and Lena met them there a short while later.  Alex showed them all the bullet she pulled out of James’ shoulder.

“Jeez, if that bullet had a little more stopping power, your shoulder would be a mess,” Winn mused.

“Yeah.  That's what you said last time,” James retorted.

Kara huffed, “Edge riled them up, he knew what he was doing.”

“The shooter just found out that her son took a turn for the worse,” James pointed out.  “I'm not making any excuses, but she just went after who she thought was responsible.” 

“What are you saying?” Kara scowled.  “You still think that Lena is responsible for what's happening?”

“I'm not saying that she did this, I'm just saying that maybe this happened because of what she did,” James replied.

“Semantics,” Kara growled.

“She jerry-rigged that device to do something it was never intended to do,” James pointed out.  “Look, I know you don't wanna hear this, but that device was invented by Lex Luthor.”

“Which is why we're testing it,” Winn reminded them.

“Then let's test it,” Kara insisted.

Winn led Kara and Lena to the place where he could test the lead dispersal unit.  Lena held Kara’s hand tightly as they walked.  Kara could smell the worry on her, and she tried to emit as much positivity through their touch as she could manage.

“Okay, so I sealed off the room to contain the lead cloud,” Winn told them.  “We have some sensors that will analyze the particulate.”

“So how will you know if the device is the cause?” Kara wanted to know.

“Okay, so when Lena and I crunched the numbers during the invasion, like, 99.96% of the molecules bonded to Daxamite genes.  Which basically means that if it hits a human, it evaporates.  No harm done.  The rest, you know, 0.04%, we chalked up to margin of error.  So as long as we get the same number today, we're good.”

“Okay.  Hit it,” Kara ordered.

“Great!” Winn powered up the device and let it run its course.

“Okay. Anything?” Kara asked impatiently.

“No. Hold, please,” Winn said.  “It is…”  

“What?” Lena worried.

“Whoo,” Winn sighed.

“Winn, what's the percentage?” Lena demanded.

Winn clicked his tongue.  “Um…”  He flipped around his tablet to show them the numbers - 89.79%.

“So there is a 10% chance the device is the cause?” Kara fretted.

“10.21,” Winn corrected.

Lena clenched her teeth so hard, Kara could hear them grind against one another.

“Lena, honey, let’s go home for a while, OK?” Kara suggested.

“OK,” Lena said softly.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam drove Kara, Lena, and Alex home.  When the twins heard them come in, they abandoned their tutor in the kitchen and came running to say hello.  When they saw the serious looks on their parents’ faces, they stopped in their tracks.  “What’s wrong?” they demanded.  

Lena couldn’t hold it in anymore.  She burst into tears, sobbing loudly.  Kara took hold of her and walked her into the living room to sit down.  The twins knelt at her feet, trying to get as close to her as possible, with Alex and Kara sitting on either side of her.  Kara told them about what happened that day, how Edge had accused Lena of poisoning kids and how Lena had had yet another assassination attempt on her life.

Sam’s phone chimed, and she checked the time, “Shoot, I have to go pick up Ruby from school.”

Jessie almost asked to ride along, but she couldn’t leave Lena in this state right now.

“Please bring her back here.  I don’t want you guys to be out there right now.  Edge knows we’re close,” Lena sniffled.

“OK, I can do that,” Sam nodded.

“Why don’t you guys just spend the night in the guest room?” Alex suggested.

“Sure, why not?  We’ll grab some stuff from the house and be back soon.”  Sam kissed Lena on the head and took off to grab Ruby.

A few minutes later, Maggie wandered downstairs, looking groggy from her nap.  “Hey, what’s going on?”

Again, Kara explained what had happened that day.

Maggie made Kara scoot over, so she could hold Lena.  “I’m so sorry, baby.  We’ll figure this out, OK?  I love you so much.”

Lena sobbed into her shoulder.

“I’ve got you,” Maggie soothed.  “Shh, I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

The twins’ tutor Emily wandered into the living room, “Sorry to bother you, but I only have a half an hour left before I have to go.”

“You can go ahead and go for the day,” Kara replied.  “The girls are going to be a bit distracted for a while.”

“OK,” she said.  “I hope everything is OK.”

“Thanks.  It will be,” Kara told her.

Emily went back into the kitchen to gather her things, leaving a note for the twins’ homework, and took off.

When Sam returned, the doorbell rang, and the TV popped on to show them who was at the door.  Jessie ran to let them in, giving Ruby a quick kiss hello.  She led them back into the living room where everyone was still sitting.  Suddenly, Alex's stomach growled.

“Why don’t you kids go get dinner started?” Kara suggested.

The twins pouted.  They didn’t want to leave Lena for a second.

“Go on,” Kara insisted.  “Lena will be OK.  We’re not going anywhere.”

The kids relented and took Ruby into the kitchen with them.

Sam sat on the other side of Alex, wrapping her arms around the agent and giving her a big hug.  “How are you feeling?”

“Besides being worried about Lena?  I’m doing OK,” Alex replied.

“What about you, Maggie?” Sam asked.

Maggie sighed.  “I’m bored out of my skull.  I can’t wait to get back to my real job.”

Sam chuckled.  “Take advantage of all the rest you can get now.  When that baby comes, you’ll never sleep again.”

“So I’ve heard,” Maggie pouted.

“Hopefully it won’t be that bad,” Kara mused.  “They’ll have lots of help.”

“Are you guys planning on nursing?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Alex replied.  “I nursed the twins until they were about six or seven months old.  They kind of weaned themselves by then.  They wanted actual food.”

Sam chuckled.  “That’s about how long I nursed Ruby, but I stopped because she kept on biting me.”

Alex laughed.  “I know all about that.”

Maggie grimaced and covered her breasts protectively with her free arm. 

Sam chuckled at her.  "You'll be OK."

Lena snored a little on Maggie's shoulder, and the detective kissed the top of her head.

"Poor thing," Sam said softly.  "You know, I've known Lena a long time, but I've never seen her like this before."

"She likes people to think she's so tough," Kara nodded.

"Yeah, but she is mush on the inside," Sam assessed.

"Yep," Maggie agreed.  "That's one of the reasons we love her."

“Should I take her to bed?” Kara wondered.

“Nah, just let me hold her until dinner’s ready,” Maggie answered.

“OK,” Kara sighed.  She picked up the remote and turned on The Great British Baking Show.  They’d seen all the episodes, but she wanted to watch something innocuous.  The day had been stressful enough.  They watched TV until the kids announced that dinner was ready.  They had made spaghetti and meatballs with a side of broccoli, and a great big veggie salad.

Maggie caressed Lena’s cheek.  “Lena, honey, dinner’s ready.  You wanna wake up and eat something?”

Lena blinked herself awake, nuzzling further into Maggie’s neck, kissing her pulse point.  She didn’t look like she was going to wake up anytime soon.  Maggie stroked her back and rocked her a little.

“Come on, baby,” Alex urged, rubbing her thigh.  “I know you haven’t eaten much today.  Eat some dinner, and then you can go back to sleep, if you want.”

Lena stretched out her limbs and yawned, then leaned her forehead on Maggie’s.  “Thank you for letting me sleep on you.”

“You’re welcome anytime, my love,” Maggie replied, giving her a tender kiss.

Lena turned toward Sam, “Are you OK?  You almost got shot, and James did get shot.  You must be freaking out a little.”

Sam shrugged.  “I mean, I’m worried about James, and I’m worried about you, but I feel fine.  Maybe it’s shock, but I’m OK right now.”

“You must think terribly of me breaking down like this,” Lena pouted.

“Lena!” Sam exclaimed.  “Of course not!  I’d be more worried if you weren’t upset about all this.  Edge is a crazy man, and he needs to be stopped.”

“I'm not done investigating this,” Kara informed her.  “Not by a long shot.  Until we know for sure, I will turn over every rock, and-” 

“Just… stop,” Lena said tiredly. 

Kara balked.  “Lena!  You are one of the strongest women I know, why aren't you fighting?” 

“Because I did it, Kara,” Lena whimpered dejectedly.  “I did it…  You know, all I ever wanted to be was good.  My whole life I was a pariah.  First, because I was rich, and then because of my brother, so…  And then, finally I did just... just one thing, one thing that was good, and now I'm the monster that poisons children.”  She laughed sardonically.  “You know, even Lex Luthor never did that.”  

Kara shook her head.  “Anyone who knows you knows that you would never-” 

“Maybe I'm the same,” Lena interrupted.  “People are sick.  It's my fault.”

“There's still a chance it wasn't you,” Kara reminded her.

Lena looked back at her with sorrow in her eyes.  “I know you believe that everything is good, and kind, and that is one of the things I love about you.  But that's not the real world.  In the real world, my last name is bin Laden and everything I do hurts people.  Hey, you know, it's... it's in my DNA, okay? So, please, just... just... just stop. Stop believing in me, okay?  I am not worth it.”

The chorus of denial echoed through the room as everyone spoke at once about how she was worth everything, and she shouldn’t be getting down on herself.  They vowed to do everything they could to clear her name and put Edge in his place.  None of them were going to stand for this.  Of course, Lena became a little overwhelmed by the response and started to cry again.

Maggie stroked her back until she calmed down again.  “It’s gonna be OK, sweetheart.  We love you so much.”

“Come on,” Alex told her, taking her hand, “Let’s go eat before the food gets cold.”

Lena nodded.  “OK.”  She wasn’t really hungry, but she would try to eat for the boys.  She couldn’t let them go hungry.  She managed to eat a full salad and a couple of meatballs, but she couldn’t stomach the pasta at the moment.  At least it was something.

When dinner was over, Kara turned to her wives and said, “Why don’t you guys take Lena upstairs, so she can rest.  I’ll take care of the dishes.”

“I’ll help too,” Sam offered.

“Thanks,” Kara smiled at her.  “And you kids need to do your homework.”

All three girls sighed longsufferingly.  

“Go get your stuff.  We’ll have the table cleared in a couple of minutes,” Kara urged.

Alex, Lena, and Maggie headed upstairs.  Kara washed the dishes, and Sam rinsed them and put them on the rack.  They had a dishwasher, but Kara preferred hand washing them.  She could get them cleaner than the dishwasher could.

Jamie, Jessie, and Ruby brought their backpacks into the kitchen and sprawled their books and things around the table.  Kara took Sam upstairs to the office, so she could use her computer.  She sat down and started pulling up a few websites.  Sam pulled out her laptop and did the same at one of the other desks.  They both sat quietly for a while, just typing and searching.  Not long later, Sam got a phone call from L-Corp saying they had the information she wanted.  She insisted that they email it to her right away, and soon enough, the info popped up in her inbox.  She took a look at it, and then turned to get Kara’s attention.

“Okay, what's this?” she asked Kara about what she was doing. 

“I've just been trying to skim through public records to get info on the families affected,” Kara told her. 

“I've been doing the same thing.  Um, the medical team at L-Corp was able to secure the addresses for all the sick children.”  Sam pulled up the map on her computer that the people at L-Corp had sent her.

“So what happens when you connect the X’s?” Kara asked. 

“Nothing. The movies lie,” Sam replied.  “Usually, when something like this happens, those affected are from a specific area, but these kids are from all over the city.  Luke, who I saw this morning at Ruby's school, he lives down the street.  But then there are two kids who live across the city and go to Burgon Country Day.  And then there's another one who lives all the way in Edgemont.  I’m just... Staring at this, trying to make sense of it.”  

Kara stared at the map, willing it to tell her the answers.  “There's gotta be some way these kids are connected.  Social media, school records, bank statements, maybe there's a link?”

“Bank statements.  Let's follow the money,” Sam confirmed.  

“Yes.  I'll make a call to Winn,” Kara picked up her phone, but Sam stopped her.  

“You don't have to.  I'm on it.”  Sam pulled up several web pages of bank statements on her laptop.

“How did you…?” Kara chuckled.  “I can see why Lena likes you.”

Sam smirked.

“Hmm.  Delaney's Dumpling Truck,” Kara pointed.  

“Food truck?  What about it?” Sam asked.  

“Well, Luke's dad and another mom went there on the same day a couple of weeks ago,” Kara showed her.  “Maybe... maybe it's just coincidence.”  

“No.  Hold on,” Sam said, pulling up more accounts.  

“They were all there,” Kara breathed.  

“Could it be something in the food?” Sam wondered. She looked up the food truck location. “Octoberfest at Frances Park.”  

“Could be something there,” Kara surmised.  “Let’s go check it out.”  She told her wives and her children that she and Sam were leaving, and they’d be back soon.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“So many vendors and rides here, it could have been anything.  For all we know, it's gone,” Kara complained.

“Unless it wasn't something outside,” Sam indicated the big indoor pool.  She tried the door.  “It's locked.”  

“Huh,” Kara tried it, then used her super strength to wrench open the door stopper.  “It was a sticky hinge,” she winked.

Sam chuckled. 

“Eliza used to bring me to a place like this,” Kara mused as they walked around the pool.  Every Tuesday and Thursday.”  

“Me too.  My adopted mom used to take me.  Except for my place was Mondays and Wednesdays.  Gosh, we really loved swimming.  Every kid loves swimming.” 

Kara used her X-ray vision on the water.  There was definitely something not right about it.  “I'm gonna test the pool.” 

“You're gonna test it?" Sam asked in confusion. 

Kara held up a little black water pistol and stuck it in the water.  She filled it up and connected the tester to her phone, calling Winn at the DEO.  “Winn?”  

“Yo, what is going on?” Winn replied. 

“I'm gonna send you a water sample from a public pool,” she informed him.

Winn chuckled.  “Really?  You know what, when I made that device, J'onn tried to tell me that no one was ever gonna use it and I said to him, I said, ‘J'onn, one day, someone's gonna need to take a sample on the go.’  Here we... Oh, we got it.”  

“Is it lead?” Kara demanded.  

“Oh, my God,” Winn worried.

“What?” Kara was freaking out a little now.

“Um, this is an advanced hydromorphic carbon nitrate compound,” Winn told her.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It's a synthetic compound that, when combined with water, exhibits the exact same properties as, you guessed it, lead, and if someone's exposed to it, the exact same symptoms as lead poisoning.”  

“So, it wasn't the lead bomb?” Kara double-checked. 

“No. No, it wasn't,” Winn confirmed.

Kara sighed in relief.  “Thank you!”   She hung up the phone and told Sam, “It wasn't Lena.  Someone put a dangerous chemical compound in the pool.”  

“How?”  Sam wondered.

“I…” Kara looked around the room for answers, and when her eyes landed on the supply room, she had an idea.  “Come with me.”  She opened the supply room door and found a mountain of tubs of ‘chlorine.’  She picked up her phone and called Lena. 

“Hello?” Lena said, her voice a little scratchy from crying and sleeping.  

“Lena?  Sam and I are at this pool and all the kids who got sick have been here.”  

“I thought I told you to stop,” Lena groused.

“It wasn't you!” Kara said a bit loudly to get her attention. 

“What?” Lena huffed. 

“There's a synthetic chemical, when it touches water it becomes toxic to the body.  It mimics the same symptoms as lead poisoning.” 

“Well, how... how did it get in the swimming pool?” Lena was confused. 

“It's in the chlorine containers.  They've been using it instead of chlorine.  Sam and I are gonna try to track down the manufacturer.  Acre Lee Chemical.”  

“Acre Lee Chemical?” Lena repeated.  

“Yeah, you know it?” Kara checked.

“No. No,” Lena replied.  “Thank you, both of you.”  When she hung up with Kara, Lena texted Andy to come get her right away.

“Where are you going?” Alex worried, seeing her text.

“I need to go for a drive to clear my head,” Lena replied, getting up to put her hair up messily.

Alex and Maggie looked at each other in concern.  “Maybe we should come with you.”

“No,” Lena insisted.  “I just need to be alone for a while.  I’ll be home soon.”

“Please, please, be careful,” Maggie begged.

Lena didn’t answer.  She just walked away.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Morgan Edge was sitting at his desk when Lena arrived in his office.

“Lena. You look horrible. Those sick kids really got you tied up in a knot, huh?” he mocked.

“Acre Lee,” she said simply.

“Acre what?  Acre Lee…  Acre Lee, that's where the coyote gets all the stuff that he's gonna use to kill the roadrunner from, right?” 

“It's a company you own,” she reminded him.  “I remembered it from due diligence before I invested in your buildings.  Established in 1982, manufactures hydrogen gas and sodium hydroxide and also simple chlorine used for swimming pools.  Acquired by Edge Global seven years ago.” 

Edge stammered a bit, “I'd have to check my records, you know.” 

“You used it to poison kids in swimming pools in order to drag my name through the mud,” Lena accused.

Edge laughed.  “Come on.  That's it?  That's what you're bringing?  That's what you got?  I say you did it, you say I did it?  I expected better out of you.”

Lena pulled out her handgun and pointed it in his face.

He inhaled sharply.  “Now that's a disappointment.” 

“When that mom shot at me, I knew she was doing the right thing,” Lena told him.  “Because whoever was responsible for this, they deserve to die.  No trial, no jury.  Just erased from the world.” 

“You need help, Lena, cause you're not... you're not thinking clearly,” Morgan tried to play it cool.

“I'm thinking like a Luthor,” she replied coldly.

Lena was about to pull the trigger when she was hit from behind and knocked out cold.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time an hour had passed and Lena still wasn’t home yet, her wives started blowing up her phone.  None of them got any answer, though, and they started to panic a bit.  They tried Andy, but he told them Lena had gone to see Morgan Edge, and he hadn’t heard from her since.  That put them into even more of a panic.  Kara decided to fly to the DEO to see if Winn could trace her phone.  He had no luck, claiming that it was turned off.  Kara paced the briefing room, driving Winn a little nuts, but he kept silent on the matter, knowing she was worried about her wife.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Lena awoke with a start.  She opened her eyes, and didn’t recognize the very strange place that she’d woken up in.  There was a loud mechanical humming sound coming from somewhere, but she wasn’t sure where.  She looked around to try to figure out where she was.  She was strapped down in a harness that looked like the kind skydivers used, and she was glad of her life’s experience in knowing how to unbuckle herself because she couldn’t have figured it out otherwise.  She couldn’t see it over her belly.  “Hello?” she called.  “Hello?”  When she untangled herself from the harness, she got up and looked around some more.  She saw a tiny window in the wall across from her, and she crossed the room to look out of it.  Her stomach dropped.  She was in a plane high up in the sky.  That’s what the strange humming was - the jet engines.  She tried not to panic.  She was able to roam freely, so she wandered around some more.  On one end of the cabin was an enormous amount of 50 gallon barrels marked “Acre Lee Chemicals.”  At least, now she knew for sure who put her here.  She walked the other way, hoping to find the pilot’s cabin.  When she found it, her stomach dropped again.  There was no one there.

XXXX

Edge watched Lena’s face as she came into sight in the pilot’s cabin.  “That's right, Lena, who the heck is flying this plane?” he mocked. To the man remotely flying the plane, he said, “We never turned the ‘fasten seat belts’ sign off, did we?  Give her a little turbulence.” 

“Yes, sir.”  The man flew into a cloud, causing the jet to shake and making Lena stumble.

She picked up the radio headset and tried to call for help.  “Mayday, Mayday, this is Lena Danvers.” 

“Jam the transmission!” Edge ordered.

His accomplice did as he was told, and the rest of Lena’s message was cut off.

“I'm in a cargo plane headed directly to the reservoir. They're gonna dump chemicals in the water!” she tried.  Of course, she got no reply.

XXXX

Back at the DEO, Deimos came to get J’onn’s attention, “Sir, receiving word that there's an unidentified aircraft in our airspace.”  

“Alien?” J’onn checked.

“No, it's a C-130 cargo plane not on the FAA fly list,” Deimos informed him. 

“Did you contact the Air Force?” 

“Not yet, sir.  But we have a message fragment.  Distress call.”

“What distress call?” Kara demanded.

“I'm pulling it up.”

“Mayday, Mayday, this is…” Static garbled the rest of the message.  “Mayday, Mayday, this is…” 

“It's Lena.”  Kara shot out of the DEO like a rocket.

XXXX

“Initiate release sequence,” Edge commanded his cohort.  “Bring the plane up three degrees.”

XXXX

Lena saw the back door of the plane opening and the chemicals being released, but she grabbed a pole from the wall and trapped the barrels in place.

XXXX

“Release isn't working.  I can't dump the payload,” the pilot told Edge.

XXXX

Supergirl flew into the back of the plane and pulled the lever to reclose the cargo door.  Lena grinned at seeing her.

XXXX

“She's closed the ramp.”  

“Only one thing left to do,” Edge surmised.  “Crash the plane.”  

“Are you sure?” 

“Crash the plane!” Edge demanded. 

XXXX

“The barrels are treated to dissolve in water.  If the plane crashes, they'll poison everyone,” Lena informed Kara. 

The plane started going down, and Supergirl flew up to the ceiling to try to stop it.  “Strap in!” she told Lena.

XXXX

“It's not going down.” 

“Oh... Yes, it will. Get up, get up, get up, get up.” Edge took over flying the plane himself.

XXXX

“I'm gonna get them to blow the engines!” Kara shouted to Lena over the noise.  She pressed up on the plane, trying to keep it afloat, but the metal gave out under her hands and cracked the jet in half.  She flew down to catch both pieces, but she was still going down.  “I can't hold both!” She screamed. 

“Save the chemicals!  Not me,” Lena called to her.

“No, I'm not gonna drop you!” Kara promised.

“Let me go,” Lena whimpered.

“No!”  Kara grunted and strained to hold onto the plane pieces.  “Climb, Lena.  Climb!”

Lena’s face grew determined, and she nodded.  

“You can do it!  Come on!”  Kara groaned under the pressure of each half of the aircraft as she waited for Lena to climb up to her.  “Come on!  Come on, you can do it!”  When Lena was at the top of her half of the jet, Kara told her, “You have to jump, now!” 

Lena jumped, and Kara let go of that half of the plane to grab onto her wife’s arm.  With her boots, she lifted Lena up into her arm until she could hold her properly.

“It’s OK, sweetheart.  I’ve got you,” Kara panted.  “I’ve got you.”

XXXX

Edge’s computer terminal beeped and showed that it’s system was offline. 

“What do we do?” his lackey asked. 

“Well, you shoot the console,” Edge told him.  

The man obeyed.  “What was that for?”  

Edge wiped the gun off with his hanky.  “Just needed a little gunshot residue on your hands.” 

“No.”

Before the man could say anything else, Edge shot him and snuck away from the crime scene.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara took the chemicals to the local police station, and then she took Lena home.  When they got there, Lena knew she was going to get the berating of her life.

“Don’t you ever do that again!” Maggie sobbed, shaking Lena by the arms.  “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” Lena answered contritely.  “I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Alex scoffed.  “We almost lost you today, and none of us even knew where you were!”

Lena started crying again.  “I’m sorry!”  She turned into Kara’s arms, but didn’t get the comfort she was seeking.

“Do you know what would have happened if you had died?  Not only would we have lost you, but we would have lost our kids as well.  Is that what you wanted?”

“No, of course not!” Lena sobbed.

“How could you think that we could ever live without you, Lena?” Maggie whimpered.

“You have got to get a hold of the fact that we love you, and we would do anything to protect you,” Alex added.  “You can’t keep going around putting yourself in danger.”

“I would be one thing, if it was just you,” Kara said darkly.  “That would be bad enough, but if I lost you and two kids, Morgan Edge would be nothing but a stain on the ground, and the DEO would have to kill me before I stopped hitting that stain.  That goes for all three of you.”

“How are we supposed to react to this kind of thing?” Maggie huffed.  “I mean, right now I feel really betrayed by your blatant disregard for all of our feelings.  Don’t you love us, Lena?”

“Of course, I love you!” Lena sobbed.

“Then why, in God’s name, did you do this?” Maggie demanded.

Lena’s answer was just more hysterical crying.  She cursed whoever made pregnant women so emotional that made her act like this.  She was usually so calm and collected.

Her wives relented and held her on all sides as they all cried together.

Kara barely noticed the twins sneaking in and wiggling in between her and Alex, pressing up against Lena’s back.  Kara was too lost in the ‘what if?’ right now.  She couldn’t survive losing any of her family.  Not now, not when she just got them a year ago.  Not when they hadn’t even met their babies yet.

After they had all calmed down, Alex suggested that they go to bed, and Kara agreed.  It was late, after all.  They sent the kids to their own rooms for the night, and Kara helped her wives get changed into their PJ’s.  She herself still had too much adrenaline rushing through her blood.  She intended to go flying.  She waited until the other three were done using the restroom to wash up, and she tucked them into bed.  “I’ll be back in a little while,” she promised.  “Half an hour, tops.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Surprisingly, Edge was in his office, so Supergirl decided to pay him a visit.  She stomped through the halls until she found him.  “Poisoning innocent children for your vendetta against Lena?  It's even lower than I expected of you, Edge.” she growled.

“You know, I sold Acre Lee Chemical over two years ago,” Edge replied casually.

“Convenient,” she retorted.

“Besides, I heard they found the guy,” Edge taunted.  “Yeah, he was some crazed, lone wolf, former Marine, er, Air Force, he had a bone to pick with her family.  It's too bad he killed himself, 'cause we could have brought him to justice. 

“Hmm.  Too bad,” Supergirl said, hands on her hips.  

“You know, I was thinking... he must have really hated her,” Edge mused.  “Do you ever wonder what that feels like?  That kinda hate?  Because I don't think you're capable of it.” 

“You have no idea what I am capable of,” Kara hissed, getting in his face.

“Is this about me now?” Edge chuckled.  “Because when you got mad at me, you dumped me on a cargo ship in the middle of the sea.  What a hassle.  It cost me a few hours.  Thirty bucks in dry cleaning.  I don't know what kind of hippy-dippy justice you practiced on your planet, sweetheart, but this is the real world.  It's dog-eat-dog out here.  Now, if I had an enemy, I'd crush her without mercy.  Let's say, for instance, I was your enemy, hmm?  The thing for you to do right now would be to kill me.  But you capes, you don't have what it takes.  Do you?” She tried to keep her cool, but tears threatened to spill out of her eyes as she thought about what she wanted to do to him. “Yeah.  I didn't think so.  You can leave the way you came in.  I think the cleaning crew enjoyed the show.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

On her way home, Supergirl spotted James sitting at his desk with Lucy on the couch doing her own thing.  “James, I didn't expect you to be here.” 

“Well, the news never sleeps,” he grinned. 

“How are you, really?” she asked.  “I was worried about you.” 

“Well, I'm kind of a hard man to keep down, Supergirl,” he winked.

She grinned at him.  “I’m glad.  Can I hug you, or will it hurt too much?”

In answer, he opened his good arm to her, and she hugged him gently, making sure not to bump his injury.  “Luce?” she called, urging the Major to stand and hug her as well.  

“How’s Lena?” Lucy inquired.

Kara sighed.  “She’s pretty shaken up, but I know she’s relieved that she’s not the one that caused the ‘lead poisoning.’”

“Of course,” Lucy nodded.  “Give her our love, will you?”

“I will.  I’ll see you in the morning, OK?”

“OK, goodnight,” the Olsens waved as she took off.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Kara got home, she found Lena, Alex, Maggie, and Sam in the kitchen.  Lena was making herself a sandwich, Sam leaned against the sink with a glass of wine in her hand, and Maggie and Alex were just sitting at the table watching Lena like a hawk.

“I thought you guys were going to bed?” Kara chuckled.

“I got hungry,” Lena shrugged.  “Can’t starve my babies, you know.”

Kara held back a sarcastic comment about Lena being willing to sacrifice herself earlier, but she didn’t want to cause an argument.  She knew she was just mad at Edge, and lashing out at her wife wouldn’t help matters any.  She decided to make herself some food too, so she had Lena leave the sandwich stuff out for her.  She made a few sandwiches and sat down at the table with the others.

Sam got a phone call.  “Hello?...  That’s great news.  Thank you.”  She hung up the phone.  “Good news.  The antidote L-Corp synthesized is working,  the kids are getting better.

Kara sighed in relief.  

“Thank God,” Lena breathed.  “You guys, I need to say thank you for not giving up on me and not letting me give up on myself.”  

“Well, I think Kara and I made a pretty good team,” Sam grinned. 

“Uh, more than pretty good, if I do say so myself,” Kara agreed happily, clinking her glass of water with Sam’s wine glass. 

“I... I probably also should apologize to you all,” Lena admitted.  “I mean...  I'm lucky you're still speaking to me.”  

Kara swallowed her food before answering “Hey. When you're family, you can say what you need to say and the people that love you still will love you.” 

“That's right,” Sam agreed. 

“I've never had anyone like that in my life before you all,” Lena sighed.  “It’s hard to get used to.”

“You’ve got to try, babe,” Maggie told her.  “This self-sacrificing shit is not gonna fly when those babies get here.  I’ll be damned if we have to raise them without you.”

“Same,” Alex concurred.

“I know you know what it’s like to miss your real mom, Lena,” Kara said softly.  “Don’t do that to our kids, OK?”

A lone tear traced down Lena’s cheek.  “I hear you loud and clear.”

“You know, Lena, we can tell you that you’re worth everything until we’re blue in the face, but none of that is going to matter if you don’t start believing it for yourself,” Alex pointed out.

“That’s true,” Sam agreed.  “You have to learn to fight for yourself.”

Lena nodded meekly.  “I’ll try to do better.”

“We love you so much, Lena,” Kara told her, grasping her hand gently across the table.  “You are every bit as good as you want to be, and in my opinion, more so.  You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t 100% believe that.”

“I agree,” Alex nodded.

“Agreed,” Maggie replied at the same time.

Lena closed her eyes and let the words wash over her.  It was quite soothing, if she let it be.  She had to constantly fight her mother’s voice in her head telling her she was less than worthy to be loved.  That wasn’t her life anymore.  Now she had a true family and true friends that genuinely loved her.  Even James Olsen, Superman’s best friend, was like a brother to her now, and she never would have seen that coming.  Her life was so full, and it was about to overflow.  She really did need to start thinking like someone who had a family that loved her, rather than someone whose family cared nothing for her.  She couldn’t just die or disappear without causing pain to a plethora of people.  Things were so different now, it was a little bit like emotional whiplash.  She often didn’t know what to do with herself from the praise that her partners heaped on her.  But again, she would really have to try harder.  For them.  They were so good to her.  Her partners deserved every happiness in the world, and if that involved her, more so the better.  She had to stop thinking like a Luthor and start thinking like a Danvers.  “I love you all so much.  Thank you for being so good to me.”

“You deserve it, Lena,” Kara said earnestly.  “Truly.”

“Thank you.”  Lena smiled.  “I’m done eating, and I’m quite exhausted.  I think I can sleep for days now.”

“You know, I have tomorrow off again,” Maggie told her.  “You could play hookie tomorrow and stay home and hang out with me.  I’d really like that.”

Lena knew this was an important choice.  She could be the old Lena Luthor, who worked no matter what, or she could be Lena Danvers and take the opportunity to rest and cuddle with someone she loved.  She could use the rest, after everything that had happened that day.  “I’d love to spend the day with you, Maggie.”

Maggie grinned with full dimples on display.  “Excellent.”

“Shall we head to bed, then?” Kara suggested.

Everyone agreed.  Kara used her super speed to wash the few dishes that there were and put them in the rack to dry.  She’d put them away in the morning.  They made their way upstairs, and heard voices down the hall.  They followed the noise and found Jessie and Ruby cuddling and talking in Jess’s bed.

“Come on, Rubes,” Sam waved her out calmly.  They had left the door open, and Ruby was on top of the covers while Jess was under them, so the adults didn’t have to freak out about them being inappropriate.

“Goodnight, Jessie,” Ruby said, kissing her quickly.

“Goodnight, Ruby,” Jessie smiled dreamily at her as she walked away.  “Goodnight, everyone.”

“Goodnight,” the others replied, heading to their own rooms.

Sam tucked Ruby in before going to change into her pajamas.

“Luke's gonna be okay?” Ruby checked. 

“Yeah, baby, he's gonna be okay,” Sam assured her. 

“I really like your friends,” Ruby smiled. 

“You know what?” Sam scrunched her nose up with a smile of her own.  “I like 'em, too.  But I like you more.”  She tickled her daughter, making her giggle.

“There's a hole in your shirt,” Ruby pointed out. 

Sam looked at the bottom of her shirt, and sure enough, there was a hole big enough to put her finger through.  “That's weird.”  She shrugged.  “I love you.”  

“Love you,” Ruby replied.

Sam grabbed her jacket and her pajamas and went to the bathroom to change.  She checked her jacket for a matching hole, and something metallic fell onto the floor.  She picked it up and saw that it was exactly like the bullet that Alex had pulled out of James’ shoulder.  She gasped, lifting up her shirt to see if there were any marks.  Her skin was clear.  The only explanation was that she had gotten shot earlier that afternoon, but the bullet just bounced off of her.  But how?  It didn’t make any sense.  She didn’t have any powers.  What the hell?  She quickly changed into her sleep clothes and climbed into bed, but sleep was hard to find.  Her mind was racing at the possible implications of a bullet bouncing off of her, combined with the incident at the waterfront.  What did it mean?  Did she have powers that she didn’t know about?  How did she access them?  Where did they come from?  Her mind reeled until she was too exhausted to think, and she finally fell asleep.