87. Sam?

October 21-22, 2017 (Pregnancy week 33)

Lena held one of Sam’s hands, while Douglas held the other.  “Sam, sweetie, I think you need to come to the DEO with us right now.”

“Right now?” Sam’s eyes got even wider.

“Yes, right now,” Lena replied softly.  “Please.”

“OK,” Sam frowned.  “So much for my date tonight.”

Douglas wrapped her in his arms.  “I’m sorry, love.  I’ll make it up to you later, OK?  I just want you to get better.”  He kissed her a few times on the head.  “You guys go.  I’ll stay here with the kids.”

The kids whimpered.

Lena frowned in concern, addressing their worries, “Listen, I think I know what’s going on, but you guys have to trust me, OK?  Can you do that?”

The kids nodded.

“What is it?” Ruby pleaded.  “What’s going on with my mom?”

“I have to talk to your mom first, sweetie,” Lena replied, stroking Ruby’s cheeks.  “She’s not dying, so you can put that thought out of your head.  Please know that I love your mom with all my heart and I will do anything in my power to help her.  OK?  Something you need to know about me is that when there’s a problem, I always find an answer.”

Ruby’s face was still grim, but she muttered an, “OK.”

“OK,” Lena nodded.  “Everybody say goodnight.”

“Can I talk to Sam in private for a minute?” Douglas requested.

“Of course,” Lena permitted.

Douglas took Sam by the hand,  leading her into the pool hall and closing the door.  Turning to face her, he took her other hand and looked into her eyes.  “Listen,” he began softly.  “I wanted to tell you that whatever this is, I’m here for you.  I love you, Sam.”  It was the first time he’d said those words to her, and he prayed that it would be well received.

Sam teared up and threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest.  “I love you too,” she sniffled.

He sighed in relief and happiness at her reaction and reciprocation.  He rubbed her back and rested his head on hers, enjoying the moment of closeness.  “I’m not going anywhere, you hear me?”  He squeezed her tighter to emphasize his point.  “If you ever decide you really don’t want to be with me, that’s one thing, but don’t try to push me away because you think it’s best for me.  I want to be with you Sam.  I’m way too picky, and I like you way too much for me to be bothered by you being sick or whatever this is.”

Sam took a deep breath in and looked him in the eyes.  “Thank you.  I’m still not used to…  all of this, and it’s a little scary.  Actually, I think I’m more scared of losing you than I am of whatever Lena is going to tell me.”

“You’re not going to lose me,” he assured her, stroking her face with both hands.  “Not by my choice, anyways.”

She pulled him into a heated kiss, not relinquishing her hold on him until they were both breathless.  “Damn it,” she hissed.  “I really wanted to have sex tonight.”

He laughed in his deep rumble that she loved.  “Like I said earlier, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Good,” she smiled.  “I’ll hold you to that.”

“You do that.”  He gave her another peck on the lips.

Sam sighed and leaned her head back onto his chest.  “I guess I should go bite the bullet.”

“OK, babe,” he squeezed her one last time, and she pulled him in for another brief kiss.  “Call me when you can,” he requested.

“I will,” she agreed.

The pair of them returned to the living room, and Sam pulled Ruby into her arms.  “I love you, baby.”  

Ruby squeezed her with all her might.  “I love you too, Mom.”

“I’ll call you later, OK?  Be good.”  Sam kissed Ruby on the head several times.

“I will,” Ruby promised.  

“Are you ready?” Lena asked softly.

Sam and Ruby shared a look before Sam replied, “Yeah.  OK.”

They were almost to the door when Kara’s phone chimed with a text message.  She opened her phone to check who it was.  It must be important if they were messaging her so late.  It was Tara.

Tara:  What did you do to my girlfriend?

“Ah, crap,” Kara huffed.  “Hold on.  I have to call Tara real quick.”  She excused herself to the kitchen and pressed the call button. 

"Kara?" Tara answered the phone.  "What the hell happened out there?"

"Amy hasn't talked to you about it?" Kara frowned. 

"No, she's barely spoken since she got home.  I think you broke her," Tara worried. 

Kara closed her eyes and sighed.  "Well, for starters, she was really freaked out by the spaceship.  Then she got hit by a psychic blast that targets the fear centers of your brain, so that was pretty traumatizing.  Then the prison ship started falling into the sun, and that was a little terrifying.  And to top it all off, we all got separated from each other, and Lyra and Amy ended up having to fight off about 2 dozen monsters all by themselves."

"Jesus!” Tara hissed.  “Do you think that psychic blast is still affecting her?"

"Yeah, it probably is," Kara admitted.  "It's a really hard thing to experience."

"So what do I do?" Tara huffed. 

Kara shook her head, forgetting that Tara couldn't see it, "I'm not sure.  Just try holding her and reminding her that everything's OK.  I don't know what else to suggest at the moment.  That's the first thing I would try with my partners."

"Well, she's been clinging to me, but she's barely talking, and that freaks me out," Tara sighed.  "Normally, she would jump at the chance to tell me an interesting story."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry, but I think she got the worst of everything on this trip," Kara grimaced. 

Tara whimpered. "My poor girl."

"Yeah, I'd baby her for a couple of days and see if she can snap out of it," Kara suggested.  "It can't hurt."

Tara sighed.  “OK.  Yeah, I’ll do that.  But if she doesn’t get better in the next couple of days, you’re in big trouble.”

“I hear you loud and clear,” Kara acknowledged.  “I’ll try to come by tomorrow, but I have something really, really important to take care of right now.”

“Alright, I’ll let you go,” Tara didn’t sound very happy at all.

“Thanks,” Kara said tensely.  “I’ll talk to you soon.”  She hung up the phone and returned to the living room where the others were talking to Maggie who had just gotten home.  “Hi, honey,” she greeted the detective with a hug and a kiss.  “How was your day?”

“Long,” Maggie sighed heavily, melting into Kara’s arms for a moment before answering.  “I was just telling them that I've been trying to get that guy that tried to kill Lena to talk, hoping I could get something solid on Edge, but I don’t think I instill as much fear into people right now, looking like a beached whale.”

Kara pouted at her.  “Maggie,” she half-whined.  “You don’t look like a beached whale.  You look beautiful.”

“Kara, you’re missing the point,” Maggie rolled her eyes.  “I’m telling you this guy lawyered up, and he’s not talking.”

“Phooey,” Kara frowned.  “I really want to take Edge down.”

“Um, you guys?” Ruby caught everyone’s attention.  “Where did my mom go?”

Everyone looked around, just realizing that Sam was missing.  

“Fuck!” Lena hissed.  “This is not good.”

“Maybe she’s in the bathroom?” Carter suggested.

Kara shook her head.  “No, she’s not here.  I can’t hear her heartbeat nearby.  Her car is still parked out front.”

“She…”  Lena bit her lip in frustration.  “Kids, go upstairs, please.”  Lena’s voice was soft, but it brokered no argument.  

“What?  No!” the kids shrieked.

She raised an eyebrow at them.  “Go.  Absolutely no listening in.”  

The kids whined more, but Alex backed her up.  “Go on now.”

Lena waited until the kids were in their room upstairs until she continued.  “She’s going to go after Edge.”

“Who?  Sam?” Kara furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Yes,” Lena replied, then, “No…  It’s complicated…  I think.”

“We don’t understand, Lena,” Alex shook her head.  “Talk to us.  What did you figure out?”

Lena’s lip trembled, and she tried with all her might not to cry, but this was probably the worst case scenario that she could never have even imagined.  “I think…” she sighed, trying to get the words out.  “I think Sam might be Reign.”

Everyone was silent with shock.

“Not in the way that Kara turns into Supergirl,” Lena tried to explain.  “It seems more akin to when Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk.  Like, a split personality perhaps?  I’m not sure, I’m just speculating at this point because I need to run more tests on her.”

“No offense, Lena, but I don’t see it,” Douglas shook his head, face clearly disbelieving.  “Sam is as soft as they come.”

“Yes, I agree with you,” Lena acknowledged.  “But I don’t think Sam is in control of anything that Reign does.  Somehow, Reign hides herself from Sam.  That’s why she doesn’t remember anything.  It also explains the strange bursts of superhuman powers that she’s had recently.”

“I hate to say this, but you should probably warn Edge, just in case,” Maggie suggested.

Kara scowled.  “Yeah, as much as I hate the guy, I don’t want another death on our hands.” 

“When Sam finds out what’s happening, she’s going to be devastated,” Douglas breathed, shaking his head.

"That’s why I want us to keep her from killing as many people as we can,” Kara agreed.

Lena rolled her eyes and groaned rather indelicately.  “God, I hate the sound of his voice!” she grumbled as she pulled up his number.

“Lena!” Edge answered his phone cheerfully.  “Calling to check on me, eh?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Lena acknowledged in a crisply professional manner.  “I wanted you to know that you might be in danger from Reign.”

Edge huffed a sardonic laugh.  “You couldn’t have told me this a half an hour ago?  Reign was already here.  Luckily, I have a nice cozy little lead-lined panic room, so she didn’t even get near me.”

“Lucky you,” Lena was honestly a bit disappointed that Edge had gotten away yet again, but she was also relieved for Sam’s sake.  She hung up the phone and glared at it for a few seconds before muttering, “Sociopathic cockroach.”

Kara stroked Lena’s shoulder to try and soothe her a bit.  “Do you think she’ll come back here?”

Lena shook her head, tears welling in her eyes again.  “I don’t know.  I hope so.”  She pulled up Sam’s number and called her.  No answer.  

“I’ll go look for her,” Kara offered.  

“Try the police station, in case she goes after the other guy,” Maggie suggested.

“OK,” Kara nodded.  She kissed each of her wives and flew out the front door.

“It’s going to be hell getting the kids to sleep tonight, especially if we don’t find Sam soon,” Alex fretted.

“I get the feeling that none of us are going to be getting much sleep tonight,” Maggie added.  

Alex called Winn.  “Winn?  We have a big problem.  Well, a bigger problem.  Lena is pretty certain that Reign is somehow taking over Sam’s consciousness.”

“Wait.  What?” Winn exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Alex confirmed.  “As far as we know, Sam is completely unaware of the switch.  She just forgets where she’s been.  Don’t.  Tell.  Anyone.  We were about to bring her in, but she disappeared on us.  She went after Edge.”

“Oh… no?” Winn questioned.  “No, that is bad.  That is objectively bad.  What do you want me to do?”

“Keep in contact with Kara, and call her if you hear anything about any sightings,” Alex told him.

“10-4, good buddy,” he said, hanging up the phone.

“I’m starving,” Alex grumbled.  “Is there food?”

“Yeah,” Douglas nodded.  “Come on.”  He led them into the kitchen and pulled out Ruby’s “tater tot masterpiece” to feed Maggie and Alex.  When he was done, he asked, “Should I go get the kids?”

“Yeah,” Alex replied.  “I don’t want them up there getting too worried by themselves.”

Douglas excused himself to go upstairs and retrieve the kids.

“How did you figure it out?” Alex asked Lena.

“About Sam?” Lena confirmed.

Alex nodded.

“It was today.  When Kara said that Reign showed up to Fort Rozz, and then Sam was nowhere to be found.  I realized that the other times she had blacked out lined up with when Reign showed up, plus the random powers, plus the memory loss.  I knew that had to be it.”

Alex and Maggie just nodded in acknowledgement and acceptance of her assumption without even questioning her about it further.

“We’ll definitely have to run tests as soon as we get her back here,” Alex confirmed.  “Maybe if we can figure out how it’s happening, we can keep it from happening again.”

“That would be nice,” Lena sighed.  “I hate this.”

The kids came down the stairs sounding like a herd of wild elephants.

Alex shook her head, and when they came into the kitchen, she asked her daughters, “You can fly, why do you make so much noise when you come down the stairs?”

The kids just laughed, not taking her question seriously.

Alex rolled her eyes.

“Did you find my mom?” Ruby asked, not joining in on the laughter.

The twins grew serious instantly, awaiting an answer.

Lena bit her lip nervously.  “Kara is looking for her right now.”

Ruby looked frantic.  “What is happening?  Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong with her?”

“It’s not my place,” Lena replied sadly.  “I’m sorry, Ruby, but your mom doesn’t even know what’s wrong with her yet, so it wouldn’t be right for me to tell you.  I have to tell her first.  Then she has to be the one to tell you.”

The preteen burst into tears.

“I’m so sorry, Ruby,” Lena whimpered.  “Kara’s going to find her, and then we’ll get her into the DEO, and I swear to you, I will focus on nothing but making her better.  I promise you.”

“I don’t wanna lose her,” Ruby sobbed.  

“You’re not going to lose her,” Lena promised.  “I already told you she’s not dying.”  Ruby continued to cry, making tears run down Lena’s cheeks too.  “Come here, sweetie.”  She pulled Ruby into her arms and just held her.  “It’s going to be OK.  I promise.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl flew around the city, hoping to catch sight of Sam/Reign, but she kept coming up empty-handed.  She flew by Edge Global to check out the damage.  There were several windows broken, and the damage inside was even worse.  Reign had apparently blasted her way through the whole floor.  Kara could hear Edge’s voice from the first floor, so she flew down to see what was going on.  There were quite a few press members surrounding the CEO, and he was answering their questions.  “Aw, I'm sure that is not the first time that a woman who's gone crazy has attacked a powerful man.  I'm fairly certain it won't be the last.”

“Are you saying Supergirl attacked you?” one reporter asked.

“I'm saying I can't say it wasn't Supergirl,” Edge responded.

Kara cleared her throat to announce her presence.  “I assure you, it wasn’t me.”

The reporters all turned to her, and one of them asked, “Do you know who it was?”

She nodded.  “It was Reign.  I’m pretty sure of it.”

“What would Reign want with me?” Edge huffed.

Kara snorted and shook her head, keeping her mouth shut.  She wasn’t going to give Reign’s motivations away to him.  She didn’t want anyone getting wind of Sam being Reign or vice versa.  Instead, she glared at him until she couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore.  “I have to go,” she said, turning on her heel and zipping out of there.

She flew by the jailhouse again, making sure there were no incidents there.  When she saw that it was all clear, she flew around the National City area for a couple of hours, just listening for signs of either Sam or Reign.  Finally, around midnight, Kara decided to go to Sam and Ruby’s house in the hopes that there would be some clues there that would help her find Sam.  As soon as she landed on the front porch, she could hear a heartbeat inside.  It was slow and steady, like the person was sleeping.  Was someone in their house?  Kara panicked at little and used her X-ray vision to look inside and see who was there.  It was coming from upstairs, so she floated up and looked through the windows.  Sam was there, fast asleep in her bed, like nothing had happened at all.  Kara floated back down to the ground and rang the doorbell.  Sam didn’t wake up, so she rang it a bunch of times, trying to rouse her friend.  Finally, after nearly two minutes of ringing the doorbell, Kara decided to float back up to Sam’s window and gently tapped on the glass.  “Sam?” she called out.  Still no answer.  Kara huffed in frustration and tried opening the window.  The pane slid up easily, and Kara crept into the room, wondering what she should do now.  Should she just pick Sam up and carry her to the DEO?  Or should she try to wake her up again?  Who would Sam be, if Kara woke her up?  She took a deep breath and called Sam’s name again.  “Sam?  Sam!”  She shook the brunette by the shoulder.

Finally, finally, Sam grunted and started to wake up.  “What?” she grumbled, tugging the blankets over her head.

“Sam!” Kara said loudly out of frustration.

Sam frowned and flopped the blanket down.  “Kara?  What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Kara demanded.

Sam rubbed her eyes.  “This is my house.  I live here.”

Kara sighed heavily.  Instead of answering, she called Alex.  “I found her,” she said immediately.  “She was just sleeping in her bed like nothing was going on.”

“What is going on?” Sam grumbled.  “I just want to sleep.  I’m so tired!”

“Sam, honey, I need you to come with me, OK?” Kara insisted.  “I’ll see you in a bit,” she told Alex, hanging up the phone.

Sam groaned.  “Is Ruby OK?”

“Yes,” Kara hastily reassured her.  “Ruby is fine.  You, not so much.”

“What are you talking about, Kara?” Sam whined.

“What day is it, Sam?” Kara asked.  “Where are you supposed to be right now?  What were you doing all night?”

Sam just stared at her for a long, confused moment.  “I…” she shook her head.  “What?  I’ve just been sleeping.”

“No, Sam, you haven’t,” Kara said sadly.  “I need you to come with me.  Lena’s going to run some more tests now that she knows what she’s looking for.”

Sam looked at her phone.  “Kara, it’s after midnight,” she complained.  “Can’t we do them tomorrow?”

“No, Sam.  Now.  Let’s go.  Get dressed,” Kara pressed.  It was killing her to treat Sam this way, but it was the only thing she could do at the moment.

Sam growled, but got up and changed into a comfy sweater and a pair of jeans.  “Can we at least take my car?  I don’t want to fly.  It’s scary.”

“Your car is at our house,” Kara pointed out.

Sam frowned in confusion.  “What?  How?”

“You drove it there earlier, and then disappeared,” Kara replied.

“I did?” Sam squeaked.  

Kara nodded.  “Yeah.”

“Fuck,” Sam hissed, sitting on the bed.  “I don’t remember.”

“I know, honey,” Kara said softly, sitting next to Sam and putting her arms around her.  “It’s going to be OK.  We’re gonna take care of you, and we’re going to make you better.  OK?  Lena’s not going to rest until she figures out how to solve this problem.  Got it?”

Sam started crying.  “What’s wrong with me, Kara?  I’m really scared right now.  What’s going to happen to Ruby?”

“I know,” Kara soothed.  “I know.  We’re gonna take care of you, Sam.  Please, trust us.  We love you so much.  Ruby will always be safe with us.  We’ll take care of her while Lena’s treating you.  I promise you’ll be able to go back to normal before you know it, and you’ll get to see all of Ruby’s milestones, just like you want to.  It’s going to be OK.  I promise.  Your best friend is the smartest person in the whole world, and she will find an answer.”

Sam took a deep breath in and tried to calm down.  “OK,” she whispered.  “Let’s go.”

Kara took Sam by the hand, and they exited out the front door like normal people.  Once they were outside, Kara pulled Sam into her arms and lifted off the ground.  Sam clung to her for dear life, so Kara whispered soothing words in her ear until they arrived back at the Danvers’ mansion.  

As soon as they crossed the threshold, everyone pounced on Sam, giving her hugs and telling her how glad they were that she was OK.  Ruby bawled her eyes out, clinging to Sam like the world was ending.  Douglas wasn’t much better off, holding them both and looking as grim as ever.  Sam just stood there, looking lost.

Lena gave them a few minutes to just be together.  She knew this was hard on them all.  Eventually, she felt the moments becoming more urgent.  She cleared her throat softly, “I’m sorry, but we need to get going.”  She took Sam by the hand, squeezing it in reassurance.

Sam nodded.  “OK.”  She seemed to be in a daze as they all made their sad goodbyes.

Lena led her to the van, followed by Alex, Kara and Maggie.  Lena held Sam’s hand the whole way to the DEO.  Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, and she whispered soothing words along the way, not sure if it was for Sam, or for all of them.  She wanted to cry.  She knew how devastated Sam was going to be when she found out about Reign, but she knew she had to keep it together so Sam didn’t freak out.  Lena loved Sam so much it hurt, and she was determined to fix this problem if it killed her.  Her best friend wasn’t a killer.  Sam was soft and kind and so, so good.  She didn’t deserve this.

When they arrived at the DEO, Winn and J’onn followed them into the med bay, but Lena was quick to shoo them away, claiming the need for privacy.  Maggie and Kara held Sam’s hands and whispered soothing things to her as Alex and Lena prepped the room for the various tests they needed to run.

“I’m so sorry, Sam, but we need to do more blood work,” Lena informed her.  “I think I know what I’m looking for now.”

“And what exactly are you looking for?” Sam demanded.

Lena bit her lip.  “The source of your blackouts,” Lena answered vaguely.

Sam furrowed her brow in irritation.  “Lena,” she growled.  “Don’t do that.  Don’t talk to me like that.  I’m not a child.  I’m an adult who deserves to know what’s going on.”

Lena pouted contritely.  “I’m sorry, Sam.  I just-  I don’t want my suspicions to be true, and I don’t want you to be angry with me if I’m wrong.  Or if I’m right.  Either way.  You mean so much to me, Sam.”

“I can take it,” Sam sniffled.  “Just tell me.”

Lena looked to her wives for confirmation.  One by one, they each nodded subtly to her, and she gathered her courage and took a deep breath.  “I think…”  Another breath.  “I think that you might have a split personality.”

“Oh,” Sam said softly.

“And that your other personality could be…  Well…  It seems extremely likely that it is…  Reign.”

Sam snorted in apparent amusement.  “You think I’m Reign?”

“No, not you,” Lena pointed out.  “The… other part of you.”

“I get squeamish whenever Ruby asks me to kill a spider,” Sam huffed.  “How could you possibly think I could kill people?” 

“I don't think you could,” Lena insisted.

“So, you really think I have a split personality?” Sam repeated in disbelief.

“Essentially, yes.  “When she takes over, you lose all awareness, all control.  Please, Sam, understand that I would not tell you this if I wasn't sure.” 

“So this is what I get for asking for your help?” Sam sneered.

Lena’s eyes widened in shock.  “What's that supposed to mean?” 

“You ask an oncologist, they'll say cancer," Sam continued.  "You ask a surgeon, they'll cut you open.  You ask a Luthor, they'll tell you you're an alien in need of dissecting.”

This was exactly what Lena was afraid of.  She clicked her jaw shut, turned on her heel and high-tailed it out of there before she cried in front of everyone.  Before she could lock herself in the bathroom, Maggie’s hand stopped the door from closing, and she snuck into the room with Lena and offered her shoulder to cry on.  Lena took it.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Alright, kids,” Douglas caught their attention after the parents left.  “Why don’t we do tonight’s sleepover in the living room?  I know you’re gonna have a hard time sleeping, but I need you to try.  It’s already really late.  We can put on a movie until you fall asleep.”

The twins nodded, subdued from worry instead of bouncing excitedly like they usually would.  The four kids trudged around, getting pillows and blankets for everyone and pulling the sleeping bags out of the closet.  They made a nest in the middle of the living room floor for themselves, putting Douglas in the middle.  The young couples cuddled up on either side of him and put on Ruby’s favorite movie ‘Sing.’  

Normally, they would all sing along whenever there was music involved, but everyone was too stressed out for that tonight.  Every so often, Douglas would hear Ruby sniffle, and then Jessie would stroke her hair and whisper words of reassurance to her.  He was proud of the little Kryptonian.  She was being a very good girlfriend.

Carter fell asleep first, snoring softly with his mouth hanging open.  After that, Jamie curled her arms around Douglas’ bicep and laid her head on his shoulder.  A while later, Douglas thought she fell asleep too, but then she whispered to him,

“Do you think Sam’s going to be OK?”

“Yes,” he whispered back confidently.  “She has the strongest, smartest group of people on the planet looking after her.  I know your parents won’t stop until they find the solution.”

Jamie seemed to accept his answer, and eventually, she drifted off too.  Ruby and Jessie were another story.  They were still awake when the movie ended, and they asked permission to watch another one.

“Why don’t we go get you guys some hot cocoa and maybe a snack first?” he suggested, hoping the comforting warmth of food and a warm beverage would help soothe them a bit.

The pair nodded and sleepily got up and stretched their limbs out.  He could tell that they were tired by the dark circles under their eyes and the way they dragged their feet as they walked.  Ruby’s eyes were red and her cheeks were splotchy from crying, so he grabbed a few paper towels and ran some cold water on them.  After wringing them out, he swiped gently at Ruby’s face.  “There’s our beautiful girl.”

The kids sat down at the kitchen island, and Douglas started to put a kettle of water on to boil.

“Let me,” Jessie said, reaching for the kettle.

Douglas chuckled, “OK, be my guest.”  He handed the kettle over to the Kryptonian, and she blasted it with her heat vision until the water boiled.  “Quite the handy skill,” he grinned, grabbing the hot chocolate and the mugs.  Ruby wanted the ‘9 ¾’ mug, and Jessie chose the Ravenclaw one.  He poured the water into their mugs and let them mix their own.  He didn’t mind doing a few things for them, like this, but he wasn’t going to do everything.   

They grabbed some bananas from the bowl on the counter and some cheese and crackers, and the three of them returned to their nest in the living room.  They put on ‘Finding Dory’ and sipped on their drinks.  When they were done with their (after)Midnight snacks, Douglas insisted that they lay down, whether they could sleep or not.  Their bodies needed rest, after all.

Finally, finally, when the second movie was almost over, Ruby and Jessie fell asleep wrapped tightly in each other’s arms, and he could finally go to sleep himself.  He was worried about Sam just as much as Ruby was, but he had the history with the Danvers that the Arias’ didn’t.  He knew there was no problem too big for them, and he could rest easy in that.  Hopefully, they could go visit Sam tomorrow…  er… later today.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“How long do we have to wait out here?” Winn complained.

J’onn shrugged.  “As long as they need.  Do you have everything ready?”

“Yeah,” Winn yawned.  “Deimos and I refitted the power dampening cells to give her a bit more comfort and a bit of privacy.  I just… don’t know how we’re going to get her there.”

“The Danvers will figure that part out,” J’onn replied confidently.  “There are agents on alert for a possible problem, but they don’t know the details.  I don’t want this information getting out to the public.  Sam’s reputation would be ruined, and she’d have people calling for her head.  Sam’s a good woman.  I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“I don’t want that either,” Winn agreed.  “I mean, were not that close, but Sam has always been really nice to me, and Ruby’s a great kid.  I’m really hoping that they can fix this.”

“They will,” J’onn nodded.  “I have faith in them.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Alex and Kara shared a look of silent understanding.  They knew Sam was hurting, but now so was Lena.

“That was uh…” Alex started.  “That was a pretty low blow, Sam.”

Sam had tears in her eyes.  “I should go.  This is ridiculous.  I need to go see my daughter.”

Kara stopped her from getting up.  “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

“Kara, are you kidding me?  Let me out,” Sam demanded.

“I can't,” Kara replied earnestly.  “You asked us to help you.  And that’s what we’re going to do.”

“Now,” Alex said, putting on a pair of gloves.  “Let me do the blood work we need to do.  At best, you can prove Lena wrong.  At worst, we will work night and day until we find the answer to this.”

Sam growled in irritation, but she rolled up her sleeve and presented her arm to Alex to draw her blood for the tests they wanted to do.

Alex silently did what she needed to do, and when she was done, she finally said, “No lollipop unless you apologize to Lena.”

Sam sighed.  “I’m not Reign.”

“Prove it,” Alex demanded.

“How am I supposed to do that?” Sam groaned.

“By apologizing,” Alex shrugged.

“Alex!” Sam huffed.

“I’m serious, Samantha,” Alex warned.  “You just said the worst possible thing you could say to her when she’s just trying to help you.  Was that really what you were going for?”

Sam softened a bit.  “No, but I’m telling you, I’m not Reign.”

“Sam,” Kara caught her attention.  “Lena loves you so much.  She’s not trying to hurt you.  There’s no way she would suggest this if she wasn’t sure.  Please, just let her do what she needs to do.”

Sam looked sternly back at Kara.  “Or else, right?”

Kara clenched her jaw and swallowed.  “Or else more people might get hurt,” she tried meekly.

Sam shook her head, closing her eyes and sighing.  “Fine.  What’s next?”

“I need to run your blood through the machines,” Alex replied.  “Then we run a few scans that I promise won’t hurt.  And you need to apologize to Lena.”

“OK,” Sam breathed, finally looking regretful.

Alex texted Maggie to bring Lena back in.  It took the pair a couple of minutes, but eventually, they returned.  Lena’s eyes were uncharacteristically trained on the ground as she entered.  It was obvious that she’d been crying, and at seeing this, Sam grew more contrite.

“Lena,” Sam muttered weakly.  “I’m sorry I said what I said.  It was wrong of me to say something like that to you.  You’re not just another Luthor.  You’re Lena Danvers.  My best friend.  My very wrong best friend, but still.  I was offended when you suggested that I might be Reign, but that didn’t give me the right to say what I said.  Please, forgive me.”

Lena’s lip trembled the slightest bit before saying, “I understand.  I forgive you.”  There was a coldness to Lena’s demeanor now.  She may be forgiving Sam, but it was definitely going to haunt her.  She needed to retreat into professional mode to get through this.  She took the blood samples from Alex and ran them through the machines after taking a bit to put under the microscope.  Her jaw clenched as she looked at the tiny particles.  She didn’t say anything - just got up and waved Alex toward the equipment.

Alex stepped up to the table and put her eyes up to the lenses of the microscope.  Her reaction was nearly the same as Lena’s.  She clenched her jaw and frowned.  “This wasn’t here last time we did blood work.”

Kara bit her lip, afraid to look, but dying to know what they were seeing.  She stepped forward and took a deep breath, then put her eyes near the lenses.  There were clearly both human red blood cells and Kryptonian red blood cells.  She would put it close to a 60-40 ratio.  Nearly half and half.  The Kryptonian cells were slowly taking over.  How much more would turn Sam into Reign permanently?  She turned around to face Sam.  “I’m afraid Lena is right.  This is bad.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sam shook her head.  “You’re lying.”

“She’s not,” Alex frowned.  “Look for yourself.”

Sam looked to Maggie for reassurance.  The detective nodded, so Sam slowly crept toward the microscope and peeked through the lenses.  “What am I looking for?” she muttered.

“You know what human blood cells look like, don’t you?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, kinda like little cough drops,” Sam replied.  “I see that.”

“Do you see that some of them look like little red pearls?” Alex pointed out.  “Those are Kryptonian blood cells.”  She pulled up a chart with pictures on the computer to prove it.

Sam just stared at the computer screen, not saying anything.  Her face was blank, so the others couldn’t discern what she was thinking, and they all just stood there, waiting for her to say something.  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sam spoke very softly, her lip trembling, “What now?”

“We need to keep you for observation,” Lena answered clinically.  “We need to figure out how Reign is taking over your consciousness, so we can stop her.”

“You mean stop me,” Sam pouted.

“Sam, we see this clearly for what it is,” Alex tried to reassure her.  “We know this isn’t you.  We know you would never hurt anyone.  Reign will not win here.  We will figure this out.”

Sam burst into tears.  “Please keep Ruby safe from me,” she sobbed.  “I don’t want her getting hurt!”

“Hey,” Maggie pulled Sam into her arms.  “We will take care of Ruby, and we will take care of you.  Don’t worry.  If anyone can figure this out, it’s Alex and Lena.  And Eliza, if you’ll let her.”

Sam nodded, still sobbing.

Kara, Alex and Lena all tried their best to hug Sam as well, whispering reassurances and love to her.  They all cried right along with her.  It had to be at least half an hour before Sam stopped sobbing hysterically.

“I’d like to give you something to help you calm down,” Lena requested.  “If you’re OK with it.  I’m not sure what triggers Reign, but I’m worried about her being triggered from extreme emotions like Kara and the kids.”

“More needles?” Sam squeaked.

Lena looked at Alex.

“I think we might have some pills you can take,” Alex suggested.  “Are you willing to take them?”

Sam just nodded.  There were tears still streaming down her cheeks.

“OK, I’ll be right back,” Alex said, kissing Sam on the head before she disappeared out the door.

“I’m so sorry for what I said to you, Lena,” Sam sniffled.  “I’m so sorry.”

“Shh,” Lena stroked Sam’s hair.  “It’s OK.  Just breathe.”

“You’re such a good person, Lena,” Sam continued.  “You’re my best friend, and I’ve never had a best friend before.  I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Sam,” Lena replied earnestly.  “We’re going to get through this.  El Mayara, remember?”

Sam nodded.  “Stronger together.”

“That’s right,” Kara agreed.  “We are.”

“We all love you so much, Sam,” Maggie added, stroking Sam’s back.

Alex returned to the room with a bottle of pills and a bottle of water.  “Here we go,” she offered the water bottle to Sam.  “Just start with one, and we’ll see how that affects you.  I don’t want you to pass out on us or anything.”  She handed Sam a tiny pill, and the CFO took it easily.

“I know this might be a strange thing to say, but it’s kind of cool that you’re a Kryptonian too,” Kara attempted a smile.  “It’s a little bit like finding out I have a sister.”  She stroked Sam’s cheek reverently.

Sam closed her eyes and leaned into Kara’s touch.  “A sister that almost killed you.”

“That wasn’t you,” Kara insisted.  “Lena and Alex are going to fix this, and before you know it, you’re going to be good as new.  Probably even better than before.”

“You guys have to lock me up somehow, so I can’t hurt anyone else,” Sam whimpered.

“Let’s finish the tests first,” Alex parried.  “Maybe that will help us figure some things out.  My mom’s machine takes an hour to process the blood, and we still have a few more scans to do.”

“But I could hurt you guys,” Sam pointed out.

“I don’t think you will, but if you do change, we have Supergirl, and the Martian Manhunter, and the Legionnaires on hand,” Lena tried to reassure her.

“Will that be enough?” Sam asked, genuinely worried.  “I watched the video of Kara’s fight with her,” she started crying again.  “That was…  That was really, really hard to watch, and I don’t think I could handle losing any of you.”

Alex pulled the medicine out of her pocket.  “Here.  Take another one of these.”

“What are you giving her?” Maggie wanted to know.

Alex showed her the bottle.  “Half milligrams of Ativan.”

Maggie frowned.  “Is that even going to work on her at this point?”

“We’re gonna give it a try,” Alex shrugged.  “Do you feel anything?  Calmer?  Less calm?”

Sam wiggled her hand.  “About the same.  Well, I guess I’m a little calmer because I’m not crying as bad now, but I’m still really scared.  I don’t feel any kind of medicine really.”  She blew out a hard breath.  “Oh!  You guys said Kryptonite worked on her, right?”

Kara and Alex spoke at the same time,

“Sam, you don’t know what you’re asking.”

“Yeah, but we don’t have anymore.”

“Um,” Lena bit her lip.  “That’s not… entirely true.”

“What’s not true?” Alex and Kara spoke at once again.

“We, um…” Lena stammered.  “We…  Well, I… do.  I have Kryptonite.”  She cringed as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

“Holy hell, what the fuck?” Maggie was the one to exclaim this time because Alex and Kara were stricken silent.

“You…” Kara stuttered.  “Lena, you have Kryptonite?”  Kara looked like she was going to be sick at the mere idea.

“How?” Alex demanded.

Lena bit her lip, looking nervously between her wives.  “I needed to know if Kara’s suit would really work to protect her against Kryptonite.  I didn’t want to take any chances on guesswork.  I needed to try it out against some actual Kryptonite.  It nearly killed me to watch Kara on the news during the Daxamite invasion, falling to her knees, watching her veins glow green.  And I knew she was fine when I watched the video.  But it still gutted me.  I have a secret vault in a secret lab that I had built after I took over the company.  I’m the only one with access to it.  No one else even knows about it.  It’s the safest place on earth, I promise.  There’s only a little bit of Kryptonite, I swear.”

“Yeah, but how?” Kara pressed.

Lena clenched her jaw a few times before answering.  “I…  I made it.  And I can supercharge it just for Reign.” 

“You what?!” Kara shrieked.  “Lena, you are going to turn over the formula to Alex.  You are going to take any Kryptonian elements from your lab and bring them to the DEO, and you are never going to make Kryptonite ever again!”

“You know, I knew this is how you'd react,” Lena snipped.  “You’d see it as a hostile attack on your very nature, and you would do everything in your power to stop me from making it, even if I'm using it for good!  I knew I couldn’t expect you to be grateful for it, but damn it, Kara, my only goal has ever been keeping you safe.”

“You think I should be grateful that you learned how to make the one substance on this planet that can kill me?” Kara huffed. 

“Thousands of things can kill me, Supergirl.  And everyone else on this planet.  Fire.  But we don't go around banning bonfires or candles.  Cars kill people every day, and yet we still have the courage to get in every morning and drive ourselves to work.  There is one element on the planet that kills a Kryptonian, and you can't tolerate its existence.”

“No.  Do you know what it's like to walk into a room and your skin feels like it's going to be seared off your bones?  Or like nails are running through your blood?  That's what Kryptonite feels like,” Kara argued. 

“I don't know, it sounds like exactly what you need to subdue Reign,” Lena replied stubbornly.

Kara put her hands on her hips.  “I need to be the only person in control of Kryptonite on this planet.  This substance is so lethal to me that I can't risk encountering it by mistake.” 

“No one is getting their hands on it,” Lena promised.  “I told you, it’s in a secret vault in a secret lab.  Only I have access to it.  Only I know how to get into the place that hides it.  Lex and Lillian are completely in the dark on this.  I need you to work with me here.”

Kara shook her head, ready with a comeback, but Maggie spoke first.  “I think you should listen to her, Kara.  We all know now that the sun has nothing to do with Reign’s powers.  A red sun lamp won’t do it.  If we want to subdue Reign, we’re going to have to use Kryptonite.”

“Um, do I get a say in this?” Sam spoke up.

“Yes, of course,” Kara frowned contritely.  “Of course you do, Sam.  What do you want us to do?”

“Use the Kryptonite,” Sam replied earnestly.  “Do it.  Do whatever you have to do to keep Reign away.  I don’t want to hurt anymore people.”

Kara’s lower lip trembled, but she finally said, “OK,” so softly the others almost couldn’t hear her.

“What was that?” Lena made her repeat herself.

“I said, OK,” Kara sighed.  “Use the damn Kryptonite.  But just know that it will make it so I can’t come and visit you.”

“Oh,” Sam pouted.  “That sucks.”

“Yeah,” Kara agreed sadly.  She crept up beside Sam and wrapped her arms around the CFO’s shoulders.  “I love you so much, Sam.”

Sam squeezed Kara back as tightly as she could.  “I love you too, Kara.”

“I need to go talk to Winn,” Lena told them.  “I’ll be right back.”  She walked downstairs to the briefing room to find the tech.  Winn and J’onn were discussing something in low tones, so she cleared her throat to make herself known.  “Hello, gentlemen.”

“Hello, Lena,” J’onn greeted her warmly.

“Hey, Lena, how’s it going up there?” Winn chirped.

She wiggled her hand from side to side, “Well, we confirmed that Sam is transforming into a Kryptonian, but not that she’s Reign.  Her blood is still being analyzed by Eliza’s machine.  We’ll see what that tells us.”

“OK, so we know she’s turning into a Kryptonian, but how do we prove that she’s Reign?” Winn asked.

Lena sighed.  “I have no idea…  Well…  That’s not entirely true.  I have some ideas, but I don’t like any of them.”

Winn pursed his lips in thought.  “J’onn, can you find anything?”

“I can try,” the Martian nodded.  His eyes glowed as he scanned Sam’s mind.  “There is a part of Sam’s mind that’s closed off to me,” he informed them.  “I can’t get through the barrier.”

“Well, that doesn’t prove it, but it sure doesn’t disprove it either,” Winn blew out a hard breath.  “She has to be Reign.”

“Well, in case she is, I have something that will help,” Lena told them.  “Don’t get mad, I already just got yelled at by Kara, but I have her permission because Sam wants me to use it.”

“What is it?” J’onn asked.

“Kryptonite,” Lena said, heart pounding at the thought of being yelled at again.

Both Winn and J’onn’s eyes widened.

“Wait, what?” Winn stammered.

“How did you get your hands on Kryptonite?” J’onn asked, only a small furrow between his brow any indication of his reaction.

Lena bit her lip.  “Um…  I made it.”

J’onn’s eyebrows raised high on his forehead.

“You made it?” Winn exclaimed, seemingly a little bit excited.  “Geez, Lena, you always find a way to make me feel dumb.”

Lena pouted.  “I’m sorry.”

“No-  No, Lena, that’s not how I meant that,” Winn hurried to reassure her.  “I just meant you’re so smart it’s scary sometimes.  Not- not scary scary, just like…  Whoa.  OK.  I’m gonna shut up now.”

Lena gave him a small smirk.  “It’s OK, Winn.  I get that all the time.  I do need you to do me a favor, though.”

“Anything,” he offered.

Lena chuckled.  “I just need you to drive me to L-Corp.  We can use my pass to get into the parking garage, so I can get in unnoticed.  I need to go get the Kryptonite without calling attention to myself.”

“Copy that,” Winn saluted her.  “Right this way, my lady.”  He led the way to his car, and they headed out.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Maggie, Alex, you guys should probably leave,” Sam worried.  “It’s not safe to be around me.”

“Sam, no,” Maggie argued.  “For all we know, us being here is exactly what’s keeping you from being Reign.  We’re not leaving you right now.”

“Maggie’s right,” Alex agreed.  “We’re staying by your side until you’re settled in.  Until then, just deal with us being here.  We love you, Sam.”  Alex gently bumped their foreheads together with a playful smirk.

“Careful,” Sam warned with a chuckle.  “You might break your skull open doing that.”

Alex grinned.  “I’m pretty hard headed.”

“You said it,” Maggie laughed.

Kara just giggled.

“I’m sorry for trying to push you guys away,” Sam apologized.  “I’m so used to doing everything on my own, it’s hard to let people in.”

“Well, sometimes you just have to suck it up and swallow your pride,” Maggie replied.  “You have way too many people who love you now to go through anything alone.”

Sam started crying again.  “What’s Douglas going to think of me?”

“Hey,” Kara stroked her shoulder.  “Douglas is still going to love you, no matter what.  He knows who you really are, and that means something to him.  I see the way he looks at you.  As soon as you guys met, he was smitten.  I don’t think you’re going to get rid of him that easily.”

“He said that too, but he doesn’t know what I am,” Sam sniffled.

Kara, Alex, and Maggie looked at each other before Kara replied, “He, um…” she gulped, “He knows.”

“What?!” Sam shrieked.

“It’s OK!” Kara hurried to reassure her.  “He knows that you can’t control Reign, and he’s just worried about you, OK?  He doesn’t blame you, and he certainly doesn’t hate you for it.  He just wants you to get better, the same as us.”

Sam’s lip trembled.  “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Kara replied emphatically.  “He loves you, Sam.”

“I know,” Sam sniffled.  “He told me before I left your house.  I actually remember that part.”

“Good,” Kara smiled softly.  “Hang onto that.”

“I will,” Sam nodded.  “Ruby, though.  What if Reign tries to hurt her?”

“We have the safest house in the world,” Alex replied.  “She’ll be fine with us.”

“What is she going to think?  She’s going to be horrified,” Sam whimpered.  “Oh, God, you didn’t tell her too, did you?”

“No!” Alex hurried to answer.  “No, Lena only told us and Douglas.  The kids don't know.”

Sam sighed, “Oh, thank God.”

“What do you want us to tell her?” Maggie asked.

The CFO frowned.  “I don’t know.  What do you think?”

“I think she’d be pretty pissed off if we don’t tell her something,” Maggie reasoned.  “We could lie to her, but again we run the risk of her getting really pissed if she finds out the truth.  You’re the mom.  It’s completely up to you.”

Sam scrunched her brow together in thought.  “Maybe…  Maybe we can tell her a sort of half-truth.  That I have a split personality.  That I need to stay here for observation.”

The three Danvers nodded their agreement.

“OK,” Kara patted her knee.  “OK, we’ll go with that.  Do you want to tell her, or do you want us to do it?”

“I’ll do it,” Sam took out her phone and saw that it was nearly 4am.  “I guess I’ll do it later.”

“The gene sequencer should be almost finished,” Alex informed them.  “Just a few more minutes should do it.”

Sam sighed.  “I suddenly feel all of my tiredness coming back with a vengeance.”

“That’s probably the meds kicking in,” Alex informed her.  “Why don’t you lay back and rest for a bit?” she suggested.  “It’s going to take us a while to read through all the data anyway.  Might as well get comfortable.”

“I’m so worried, I don’t know if I can sleep,” Sam pouted.

“Just relax,” Maggie urged, tugging on her shoulder to guide her down.

“OK, OK,” Sam chuckled, letting Maggie and Alex tuck her in.  “Do I get a bedtime story?” she teased.

“How about a song?” Alex suggested.  “That’s what Kara does for the twins when they can’t sleep.”

Sam grinned playfully.  “Yes.  Please sing me a song, Kara.”

Kara patted Sam’s foot from the end of the bed.  “Slide over a little.”  She sat down on the foot of the bed and started singing, “It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside.  I’m not one of those who can easily hide…”  It was one of the twins’ and Kara’s favorites, and Sam’s eyes softened when Kara’s sweet melodic voice hit her ears.  

The brunette closed her eyes and rested as she listened to Kara sing to her.  When the song was over, Sam kept her eyes closed, but mumbled, “More, please.”

Kara chuckled and started a new song.  “Oh, no, did I get too close?  Oh, did I almost see what's really on the inside?  All your insecurities, All the dirty laundry, Never made me blink one time…”

By the time Kara sang the first ‘Unconditionally’ of the chorus, Sam started crying again.

“What’s wrong?” Kara asked.

“Don’t stop,” Sam sniffled.  “It’s happy crying mostly.  I’m just really grateful for you guys.”

The Danvers all smiled, patting her reassuringly, and Kara went back to singing.  She ended up singing quite a few songs to her friend, confident that it was soothing her due to her calm, steady heartbeat.  When the gene sequencer was finished running, Alex started reading through the information while Kara sang.  It was soothing to them all, not just Sam.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Lena returned with a medium-sized black box in her hands.  “Well, I got it,” she said, uncharacteristically meek.

Kara looked at the box in her hands.  “That’s the Kryptonite?”

“Yes,” Lena nodded.  “It’s in a lead-lined box, so don’t worry.  But once we get this breaking down, you’ll probably need to leave the floor for a while.”

“Yeah.  Of course,” Kara agreed.  Her eyes were sad, and Lena noticed.

“This isn’t to hurt you, Kara, I promise,” Lena swore.  “I love you, and I would do anything to keep you safe.”

“I know,” Kara said softly.  “I just worry about it falling into the wrong hands.”

“We won’t let that happen.  No one knows we have this except J’onn and Winn,” Lena told her.  “No one knows it exists, and we’re going to keep it that way.”

Kara nodded.  “OK, Lena.  I trust you.”

Lena softened, “Thank you, my love.”  She gave Kara a quick kiss and then turned and waddled up behind Alex at the computer terminal.  “Anything interesting yet?”

“Yeah,” Alex pulled up a few screens and pointed out the few places she’s spotted where Kryptonian DNA had spliced itself into her system.

“So it’s changing me on a genetic level?” Sam frowned.

“It appears that way, yes,” Alex confirmed.

“Get the Kryptonite ready,” Sam demanded.  “The sooner, the better.”

“Are you sure about this?” Kara worried.

“Yes,” Sam replied determinedly.  “I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

Kara teared up, but she nodded, “OK.  I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”  She left the room looking like a kicked puppy.

Lena’s heart clenched at watching Kara leave like that, but it couldn’t be addressed right now.  Winn would cheer Kara up while the rest of them were working upstairs.

Lena and Alex moved around the room finishing up the rest of their scans on Sam while Maggie stood by her, holding her hand.  When they were finished running tests, Alex and Lena just took a moment to check in with Sam.

“How are you feeling, darling?” Lena asked, stroking Sam’s hair.

“I was better when Kara was singing to me,” Sam chuckled wryly.  “Do you think she has some kind of psychic superpowers we don’t know about?”

Alex smirked.  “That’s the Kara effect.  She’s a force of nature all her own.”

“Yes, she is,” Sam agreed.  “You all are, really.  I’m lucky to have you.”

Alex grabbed Sam’s hand and kissed the back of it.  “We’re lucky to have you too, Sam.”

“How long is it going to take to get the Kryptonite ready?” Sam asked bluntly.  “The more time that goes by, the more I’m worried about changing again.”

Lena frowned sympathetically at her.  “If you want to sleep while we’re working, Winn has made a room for you that’s supposed to help dampen your powers.  It should be good enough for you to get some rest.”

Sam started nodding before Lena had even finished talking.  “Yes, I would love to get some sleep, please.  I feel bad because I know you guys need to sleep too, but I’m so tired, I feel like I could sleep for days.  My body is aching, I know yours must be too.”

Lena huffed a laugh.  “I have too much adrenaline going to sleep right now.”

“Same,” Alex added.

“I’ll get some rest when you do,” Maggie informed her.

“Let’s go get Winn, and he can show us where your room is,” Lena said.  “And you can say goodnight to Kara.”

“OK.”  Sam stood up from the bed, and Lena and Maggie held her hands as they went downstairs to the briefing room.

“Winn?” Lena called out.  “Sam is ready for her room.  Will you take us there?”

“Yeah, of course,” Winn replied.

Sam crossed the room to Kara and gave her a big hug.  “I’m going to try to get some sleep for now,” she informed the blonde.  “I just wanted to say goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Sam,” Kara said back, hugging her friend as tightly as she dared.  “I’ll make sure you get some of your stuff so you won’t be completely bored in there later.”

“Thanks, but I’m probably going to sleep a long time,” Sam chuckled.

“That’s fine too,” Kara smiled softly in return.

Sam hugged J’onn too.  “Goodnight, J’onn.”

“Goodnight, Sam,” J’onn replied.  “I hope you get some good rest.”

“Thanks, me too,” she sighed.

“I tried to make it as comfy as I possibly could for you,” Winn informed her.  “If you’re ready, I’ll take you down.”

Sam nodded.  “Lead the way.”

Sam and the Danvers followed Winn down a level to the room he’d set up for her.  It was a fairly large room.  There were two mattress pads on the bed probably because they were a bit thin, several pillows and blankets, and a curtain had been hung around the facilities for more privacy.

“This will do, thank you, Winn,” Sam hugged the tech.

“You’re welcome,” he replied bashfully.  “Now, there are a couple of cameras outside your room, but they can’t see anything behind the curtain.  I didn’t want you to feel like you were a prisoner.”

“That was very thoughtful of you, thank you,” Sam smiled at him.  “Now, I think I’ll try to sleep.  Can I get one more of those pills?  I don’t usually like taking meds, but I want to be safe.”

“Yeah,” Alex nodded.  “Take two.  It might help you sleep.”

Sam took the meds before hugging everyone one last time.  “I love you guys so much.  Thank you for everything.  Goodnight.”

Everyone returned her hugs and love and said goodnight, locking the door behind them.

When they were back in the briefing room, Lena turned to Maggie and Kara and told them, “You two should go home and sleep.  Alex and I will take care of the Kryptonite and then we’ll meet you at home when we’re done.”

Kara and Maggie were reluctant to leave them, and they both pouted.

“It’s OK.  It won’t take more than a couple of hours, and Sam is going to be sleeping for a while, so everything will be fine for the day,” Alex assured them.

Kara sighed.  “Alright.  Come on, Mags, let’s get you home, honey bunny.”

“Fine,” Maggie grumbled, letting Kara scoop her up.  “Home, Jeeves.”