55. Now Let's Get in Formation

Lena and Sam watched in shock as Kara writhed on the ground. Eliza came up beside Lena as they watched.

"Eliza!" Lena moved to hug her but then stopped herself. "Sorry, I just..."

"Hey, it's OK." Eliza said, reaching out to wrap her in a hug. "Get in here."

"I'm sure she's going to be fine." Sam offered.

"She's so damn stubborn." Eliza said. "I know she probably shouldn't be out there at all..."

"But she's so strong, Eliza. And when she sets her mind to something..."

"There's no stopping her." Eliza finished. "She's really..."

"Hey, she's trying to get up..." Sam broke in.

All three women turned to watch, along with the rest of the room, riveted to the drama.

***

Down on the field, Kara grabbed her knee and pulled her leg close to her chest, trying to relieve the stabbing pain in her ankle. She looked up at the sky and felt her world spinning. She heard the crowd screaming and wondered if they were screaming because there was a goal or because the other team had blocked a great shot on goal. She turned her head to the side and saw teammates celebrating out of the corner of her eye. She smiled through the pain and closed her eyes, trying to force herself to recover more quickly. She knew she didn't have much time.

She turned her head the other direction and saw Alex sprinting towards her from the sideline. In the next moments she took deep breaths and willed herself to ignore the pain. A moment later she forced her eyes open and saw Alex only steps away. She knew she had only moments to prove she could stay in the match. She turned her head back and saw a hand reaching down. She gripped it and Kate wrapped her other hand around it and jerked her to her feet. A few other teammates were close behind. She closed her eyes tightly and willed her ankle to hold. She managed to take a few steps, just as Alex reached her and tried to grab her arm.

"Kara! Kara, we need to get you off the field. I need to examine you."

"I'm good, Alex! Look - good as new." Kara pulled out of her grasp and moved from foot to foot with a pained smile on her face.

"God damn it, Kara!"

"I'm good, Doc!" Kara started jogging backwards further away from her. "Promise."

She watched Alex for few moments and then winked, and turned to jog towards her teammates. As she reached the group Lucy had her wrapped in a big hug.

"Thanks for the assist, Cap'n!" Lucy squeezed her tight for a minute before they heard the signal to return to play.

The team managed to hold on for the rest of the half, and they went into the locker room ahead 1-0.

"OK, team! Looking good out there!" Their coach said. "Now we are one half away from a World Cup victory! Take some time to be still and drink some water. Danvers - get to the clinic so Alex can look at you."

Kara frowned but made her way to the other room where Alex was waiting. She had a furious look on her face.

"Alex, I'm OK!" Kara said, putting her hands up to fend off the frustration rolling off of Alex. "It didn't turn, it just wobbled a bit and let myself drop so I wouldn't twist it. It just took me a minute for me to pull myself together."

Kara paused her rambling eventually when she could see Alex wasn't going to respond.

"Are you done?" She finally spoke up

"No. I mean...unless I can go..."

"I'm not going to examine you. I'm going to free you under your own recognizance."

Kara started to get down from the exam table.

"Wait!" Alex commanded.

Kara blinked at her, wide-eyed.

"I want you to promise to listen to your body. If it's hurting more - you have to stop."

"Promise!"

"You're lying, Kara." Alex said with exasperation.

Kara just sat there looking guilty.

"I know it's pointless to try to convince you. But the truth is, I can't bring myself to knock you out of the Cup."

"So...?"

"So...you can go..."

"YES!!"

"But go with the knowledge that if you seriously hurt yourself because of this, then I personally will kill you."

Kara's eyes went wide again. She nodded gravely, as if she really believed it.

"Understood."

"OK." Alex heaved out a sigh. "But first I want to re-tape your ankle."

Kara sat as still as she could, not wanting to do anything to set Alex off. Once she was done she looked Kara in the eye.

"OK, you can go." She gave her a serious look. "Give 'em hell, Supergirl."

***

Kara jogged to the locker room and when she came in Lucy made a beeline to her.

"What's the word?"

"She's letting me play."

"Are you sure you should be out there?"

"I have to be out there, Lucy."

"You're in pain. I can see it in your eyes."

"It's manageable. We all play with pain sometimes. It's mind over matter. It's not going to stop me. Now let's get the team together for a chat."

The team was scattered about the room, drinking water and chatting in small groups or sitting alone. Kara called them all together and talked in a steady determined voice.

"OK, 'mates. Everything you've ever done in soccer has brought you here today. Every practice, every drill. Every too-early run or freezing match. Missing out on fun with your friends and time with your family to travel to matches. Every win and every loss. All of it. All you've done because you love to play soccer has brought you here. And we have 45 minutes left to prove it was all worth it. That's all we've got. And that's more than enough. Every one of you has worked so hard and deserves to be here. We can do this! Now is our time."

"Yeah!" She heard murmurs of agreement around the room. "You got it, Cap!"

And then Imra spoke up. "Kara, how's your ankle?"

"All good. Got clearance from Alex and she's re-taped me. I'll be out there at 110%!"

Just then Sara came in to rally them for the next half.

"This is it, women! This is what it's all about. This is the dream of every player, and it's right in front of you for the taking. I need you to give everything you've got for the next 45 minutes. I can promise you, if you do that, you can leave with no regrets. But you've got to leave it all on the field. That's all I ask."

Sara paused and looked around at each of them, then took a deep breath. "OK, now get your asses out there and show the world what you've got!"

"Yeah!" They all cheered and hopped up for a quick huddle before heading out to the field.

***Back in the VIP box, Lena, Eliza, and Sam watched as the team ran out onto the field. Lena held her breath to see whether Kara would still be playing or sidelined. Her feelings were at war, knowing how much Kara wanted to be out there, but worried about her getting hurt more seriously. She suddenly realized she and Eliza were holding hands tightly. She had no idea who initiated it, but found it comforting to know Eliza must be feeling the same way she was.

"She's in." Sam said quietly.

Lena felt Eliza squeeze her hand and release it. "She's going to be fine."

"Yes." Lena breathed out, finally. "It's good she's out there. She'd be going crazy if she wasn't."

"I just hope Alex is alright." Sam said. Both women turned to look at her.

"It's just, all the pressure of the decision is on her. Now she has to deal with any negative consequences if Kara gets hurt."

"But Kara would never blame her..."

"But she'll blame herself." Sam broke in. "No matter what anyone else does."

Lena looked at her with wide eyes, then wrapped her up in a hug. "It's all going to be fine. We'll get them through it, whatever the outcome."

"Hey, ladies, let's try to focus on the positive. My girls are just one half away from the World Cup! It's everything they've dreamed of, so let's cheer them on."

"Of course you're right, Eliza. Let's do this." Lena smiled and Sam nodded. The three women turned to watch the match through the large window.

***The second half started out with a bang. It was the US team's turn to attack and they almost immediately had an excellent shot on goal, but it was stopped by a head-first dive by the other goalie.

Team Sweden returned strong, down to the other end of the field like a flash. The ball was passed around expertly, but the defense fought them off repeatedly. They finally got a reasonable shot at goal, but Ava stopped it with ease and tossed it to her team.

Kara and the offense received and continued another round of excellent passing, with no one managing to get a good shot. Finally Kate had a shot but got stopped by the defense. As the Swedes began to turn the ball towards the other end of the field, Kate got furious about losing the ball and got too close to the player with the ball. When she moved forward into Kate's space, Kate shoved her back, causing the ball ricocheting out of bounds. The referee immediately gave her a yellow card.

"Fuck!" Kate screamed.

"Watch it, or you'll get a second." The ref warned.

Kara was over like a shot to try to get Kate calmed down so she wouldn't get ejected. As Kate continued to curse Kara dragged her over to line up to defend against the free kick. Half the team lined up with their hands folded in front of them, between the kicker and the goal. They all jumped in unison as the kick came off, but the ball sailed higher.

Ava dove to stop the ball, but she predicted the player would go the other direction and by the time she corrected herself it was too late.

Kara watched as the ball flew just out of reach of Ava's outstretched hands and into the side of the net.

"Oh, fuck!"

***

Lena watched the whole scene in dismay. Fucking Kate! If she could just control her temper. She thought to herself when the foul was called. She cringed when she saw how discombobulated it made the team, especially when she saw Kara get caught up in helping Kate calm down. But she maintained a calm and positive front. She didn't want to show her frustration to Eliza or Board members nearby. She knew her personal history with Kate was making her more angry than she should be.

"Well, that ties it up. Still plenty of time for another score." Lena said, sounding as confident as she could manage. Sam reached over and squeezed her hand. Lena couldn't tell if she was trying to reassure herself or Lena.

Lena could see Kara's lips moving, and was sure she was trying to keep them from despairing, and to turn around the momentum as fast as possible.

"Sara should take Kate out. She won't be able to play her same aggressive game." Lena observed.

"Become quite the soccer expert, have you?" Sam observed.

"Hush." Lena murmured, elbowing her in the side.

The three women, along with everyone else in the room watched the rest of the match with wide eyes. As play resumed Kate and Kara were on fire, determined to regain the lead. They passed back and forth down the field until Kara kicked it to Lucy, who sent it on quickly as they all worked to get open and in position. Lucy to Imra, Imra to Kate, Kate to Kara, who passed brilliantly to Imra. But Imra wasn't quite able to convert it under the defensive pressure and the ball went out of bounds.

On the throw in, Kate managed to block the Swedes from getting it, and retained possession just long enough to get a pass to Kara, who immediately shot on goal at a defense that was only just realizing the ball hadn't gone back to the other end of the field. In a split second Kara was able to make a perfect direct kick just under the reaching figure of the goalie, who had also been expecting the ball to be headed down field to their offensive players, and that had given Kara the edge she needed.

The crowd roared to their feet as the ball hit into the net. Inside the box Lena, Sam, and Eliza screamed and hugged in joy. Lena pulled away in time to see Kara being mobbed again by her teammates who were celebrating the return of their 1-point lead.

Over the next 20 minutes both sides played their hearts out on defense and offense. At least 4 times Lena was sure the other team would score, but somehow Ava managed to make a save against each one. After a series of perfect kicks the Swedes had another clear shot on goal, but Selena made a miraculous save by hurtling sideways and blocking the ball with her chest. In moments her teammates had already turned it around and were headed back to the other end.

The Americans had their fair share of attacks on goal as well, but kept falling short of the goal line, and short of getting that extra point cushion. But they remained ahead 2-1 for most of the second half. Kara herself had 5 very near misses at scoring but they were stopped or were slightly off.

The US team worked hard to hang onto their lead. Lena was hopeful that they would pull it off, but she didn't take her eye off the ball for a minute. The rest of the room began to relax, and conversations began to scatter about the room. Still, Eliza, Sam and Lena remained vigilant, standing together and watching every pass. That was how they all responded in unison when the Swedish team scored with less than 3 minutes remaining in regulation time. A collective groan went up as one of their star forwards managed to squeeze a short shot across the goal to hit the corner opposite to where Ava was positioned. As the ball hit the net, the room erupted in shock and disappointment at the other team tying the score

"It's OK, it's OK." Lena tried to sound confident. "It's not over yet. They can do this."

The Swedes pressed forward again and again, but Kara and her teammates fought off one wave of attacks after another, thanks to several acrobatic saves by Ava in the goal. Despite several strong attempts by the US on the other end of the field as well, the game stayed tied at 2-2.

The crowd in the VIP box was now 100% focused and had begun increasing to a low roar with every play, steadily getting louder as the time ticked away. At one point Lena became aware she was squeezing not just Eliza's hand but Sam's as well. She immediately released them in embarrassment, but regretted the loss. She felt she needed something to hold on to or she would float away. She grabbed the rail in front of her.

"This game will be the death of me!" Eliza exclaimed. "Please, just one more point..."

"There's still time." Sam pointed out.

"Not much." Lillian had apparently joined the group at some point and couldn't resist commenting.

Lena chose to ignore her, she didn't want to focus on anything but the game. Part of her was relieved that the game was nearly over and Kara hadn't gone down again. The clock ticked on to the end of regulation, followed by additional time added by the referees to make up for the time lost to injuries and time outs. But as the time ticked away Lena felt frantic to realize the game could end in a tie.

The Americans had been passing back and forth on offense, maintaining control but barely. Just then she watched as Kara broke away from her defenders.

This is it! thought Lena, sure that she would score. But in the next second another defender was on her, and went down right in front of her. Kara leaped to avoid tripping over her, but lost control of the ball. Lucy came behind to recover and booted it towards the goal, but coming up short. Imra was there with the recovery for another shot on goal, but by then the goalie was next to the ball and managed to grab it. She held tight to the ball to let the time run out on the game.

Lena's heart sunk to the frustration from on Kara's face, along with the rest of the team. They had been painfully close to scoring.

"A tie? How can the World Cup end in a tie?" Lena gritted her teeth at the sound of her mother's voice still very near. She whirled around to face her.

"It doesn't end in a tie, Mother! It ends in a shoot-out. And try not to sound so gleeful."

"Of course I'm not gleeful. I was just...surprised. And what the hell is a shoot-out? Sounds exciting."

Lena just rolled her eyes, feeling too exasperated to continue. Sam spoke up to help.

"It means each team choses 5 players to try to score. Each gets a shot at the goal without any defenders apart from the goalie. Whoever scores the most out of the 5 shots wins the match."

"I hate to ask the obvious, but what if there's a tie from the shoot out?"

"Then they move to Sudden Death."

"Sudden death!" Lillian exclaimed.

"It just means the teams take turns shooting in pairs until one misses and one makes it. And then it's Game Over."

"It's very difficult for both the kicker and the goalie. The pressure is enormous." Sam added.

"Hmmm. How intriguing." Lillian mused.

By the time they had brought Lillian up to speed both teams were lined up along the sidelines. Sweden was the first to kick. Lena swallowed hard, knowing that many believe the team that kicks first in a shootout gains an advantage.

They all held their breath as the first player sets up and charges forward, sending it sailing high, almost over the bar, but a slight arch brings it low enough to miss the bar and catch the net. The room lets out a disappointed groan.

For the return, Lucy is up for the US team. Lena can see she is all determination as she lines up and kicks it powerfully along the ground. The opposing goalie dives to stop it, but dives to right as the ball goes to the opposite side.

"She scores!!!" The game announcer calls above the fray as the shootout is tied.

Next up, Lena recognizes one of Sweden's strongest kickers, and she isn't surprised when she quite calmly delivers another score for her team. Lena can see Ava's frustration at being unable to stop another shot.

"It's extremely difficult to defend against these kind of kicks." Sam explains to Lillian as the crowd in the VIP box goes quiet.

Imra is second for the US team. Lena can see fear in her body language, and it looks like her shot will hit the post. But instead it dings off the post and caromed in. The crowd goes wild again.

"That was too close for comfort." Lena breathes out, talking more to herself than anyone in particular.

It continues like that for 2 more rounds, with the Swedish players delivering strong kicks that Ava is unable to stop, and the Americans answering with the same.

It's not until the fifth round that Ava manages a heroic save, batting down the Swedes attack and holding them scoreless. Lena is nearly engulfed by the celebrating crowd. But she is not celebrating. She knows in her heart that since Kara hasn't kicked yet, she is very likely next up. She can't imagine she wasn't selected to be one of the 5 players kicking in the shoot out. She clearly had the strongest kick on the team.

"It's 4-4." Sam explains to Lillian, who is grinning madly.

"This really is quite an exciting game! I take back what I said about American sports being superior. This has all the drama and none of the padding."

Lena ignored her, but inside she smiled. She couldn't help but feel vindicated in her investment in the team and support for women's soccer. Even her mother could see it was a phenomenal experience.

Lena felt an almost Zen like calm come over her as Kara made her way to the ball for the 5th kick. She had complete confidence that she could do it, and despite the worry about all the weight of the entire game on Kara's shoulders, she was sure Kara wanted the shot, and wouldn't have wanted it to be anyone else's burden.

"Oh, Kara is up next!" Lillian helpfully observed. Lena just darted her eyes at her for stating the obvious, and barely managed not to roll them.

"If Kara makes this then the US team wins the World Cup." Sam says helpfully for Lillian's information.

"And if she misses?" Lillian asked, looking wide-eyed.

"Then it keeps going. On to the Sudden Death phase."

"Well then, fingers crossed!" Lillian exclaimed.

"Kara doesn't need luck." Lena said dryly.

Granted a chance to win the game, Kara strode confidently to the penalty spot, placed the ball down and starred at the goal, looking beyond the goalie, to set her target.

Up in the VIP box, Lena felt oddly calm. With the game in Kara's hands, she felt a strange sense of surety for the first time as the room grew eerily quiet.

"She must be under tremendous pressure." Lillian broke in.

But Lena refused to take the bait, and kept her focus on Kara, sending positive vibrations her way. She watched with a quiet joy as Kara moved back from the ball to position herself, only pausing a moment before charging forward and smashing it towards the goal. Everyone held their breath as the ball left like a shot, flew forward and tore into the top right corner for the winning goal. The goalie dove but didn't have much of a chance. She landed sprawled on the ground in defeat.

The crowds throughout the stadium erupted, some in happiness and some in disappointment. In the room where Lena stood the crowd was uproariously celebrating. But while those around her jumped and cheered, Lena remained planted on the ground, her eyes on Kara, who paused and looked up at the box. Lena could have sworn Kara winked at her just before she was overtaken by her teammates mobbing her in their excitement over the win.

Inside the VIP box, Lena and Sam hugged each other tight for several moments. Then each took turns hugging Eliza.

Lillian observed the festivities with a wry smile.

"Please give Kara my congratulations."

"Of course, Mother."

"I suppose I'll see you all at the after party." Lillian offered.

"I suppose you will." Lena said, deigning to give her a kiss on the cheek in hopes it would send her off. Lillian took the hint and turned to head for the bar. Lena was happy to be able to celebrate without her annoying presence. She turned to look out over the field and smiled to see Kara celebrating with there teammates.

"Well, I promised Alex I would bring you down to the field, Eliza. And Lena, I promised Kara I would bring you."

"What? I'm not going down to the field. It will be too tempting to...never mind." Lena caught herself before saying something embarrassing in front of Eliza. "I mean, she has enough going on right now."

"She wants you there, Lena. To celebrate if they won. Or even if they lost. She was very clear about that."

"Come along now." Eliza said, taking Lena's hand and turning to go. "You've come all this way and you're not going to miss this."

After that Lena gave up her protests. They followed Sam through winding halls, lower and lower until they were on the same floor as the pitch. Eliza and Sam began to make their way across the field, but then noticed Lena had stopped.

"Come on, Luthor!" Sam insisted. But before Lena could respond they both heard Alex call her name, and Sam immediately turned and ran towards her for a tight embrace.

"Go ahead, Eliza. I can see everything from here. Go see your girls."

Eliza nodded and turned away to follow Sam. Clearly she wasn't going to pressure Lena to do something she didn't want to. Just then a reporter appeared at her side.

"Ms. Luthor, hello! As a major sponsor of the women's US team and the National City Spirit, any comments today?"

"Sure. Just that...well, I feel very proud today. The team played a phenomenal game. They made their country and families proud."

"Thank you, ma'am." The woman said, seeming almost in shock that Lena had responded. Clearly she was expecting the brush off. She recovered to ask another question.

"So, who do you think should get tournament MVP?"

"Oh, I'll leave that to the professionals." Lena laughed. "But...if I had to pick, it would probably be the player that made that last goal."

"Kara Danvers?"

"The very one." Lena smirked and the woman seemed to be distracted by someone in the distance.

"Speak of the devil..." The reporter said with a grin.

Lena wheeled to see Kara coming their way. The reporter moved to head her off.

"Ms. Danvers! Kara...." Kara looked to see who was calling her. "Just a couple of questions."

Kara glanced at her distractedly. "Please, just a couple of quick ones."

"Maybe later..." Kara said, brushing past her, her eyes on Lena as she moved towards her. Lena's eyes went wide with the realization the Kara was still coming towards her and had hardly slowed her pace to get around the aggressive reporter. Lena felt herself powerless to move, like a deer in the headlights.

In the next moment Kara had her wrapped in a hug and lifted her off the ground, a huge smile on her face.

"Um, I guess we're skipping the 'holding hands in public' stage you mentioned?" Lena laughed.

"Well, I did just win the World Cup..." Kara grinned up at her. Around them the crowds were chanting and the team was celebrating, but neither woman seemed to hear or see anything but the other.

"You damn well did, Supergirl." Lena said in amazement. Since Kara was holding her in the air, Lena cupped Kara's chin and leaned her face down to give Kara a gentle peck. But that only served to light them both on fire, and they moved simultaneously to deepen the kiss. They kissed through their broad smiles as the nearby reporter looked on and said with a surprised gasp:

"Oh, fuck."