Chapter 31: A Storm is Coming

It's been about five days since the five women and Winn have boarded the ship. The group has gotten a bit further, with the finding with Storm, Ava and the others have been very helpful and think they will be narrowing down on the location of Sara's alternative earth's child.Zari and Charlie have been in and out of little state, they are more likely to drop now that they have other littles to play with. Charlie has warmed up to the group faster than Sara has estimated, she is grateful for the time her girls spend with others. Both Maggie and Lena have been little the entire time, Lena comes out of the state here and there to help with the science portions of research and analysis, even in her little state she is able to help, leaving everyone with smiles.Its seems as though Kara has gotten to the root of her little girl's stress, a couple of nights ago when Lena once again rejected comfort from Kara, the reporter decided to try and sit her down to talk it out, it is not like her baby to not want cuddles, kisses, and lovey time.....FlashBack....Kara is putting little Lena to bed and every step of the way her little girl wanted to be independent, even though it was apparent to both of them that Lena wasn't capable of doing everything by herself. Her little one had one too many little accidents while trying to go to the bathroom by herself, she realized that ripping off the button to her pants would be easier, but that task still took up too much time. The little CEO turning on the hot water instead of the warm one for her bath, filling the tub up way too high, Gideon alerted her just in time before her little one took a freezing dive.Kara felt like it was her big adult brain fighting her little side, making her confused. She lets her baby have time for herself, quiet time, she lets her wash herself while Kara is there next to her, she lets her pick out her own clothes, brush her own teeth.At this moment her baby is trying with all her might to put on her own nightshirt after having thrown a fit when Kara suggested she was putting it on backwards and her head was going through the arm hole, but of course, her little genius didn't want to take her advice, so now, this is where they are.It's almost ten and little Lena has her head stuck in the arm of her princess pony shirt, one pant leg on while the other hangs between her legs. Kara would just about keel over if she wasn't so worried about her baby. No matter what she tried, she would always push her away, this is her last straw, she is putting her foot down."Lena, baby-" Kara goes to try and take the shirt off carefully but once her fingertips reach Lena's head, the tiny body jerks back."No! I got it, I can do it."It takes a lot from Kara to not lash out at her, it's frustrating for the blonde, not being able to just take care of her little one when she obviously needs it. She knows she needs some sort of independence, some sort of individuality, but this is over the top, they both know she can't do it by herself, but Lena is too stubborn to admit defeat.Kara breathes out a sigh, she tries to compose herself, so she counts, she counts to ten with her eyes closed and let's go. When she opens her eyes again her little one is naked except for her panties that she managed to put on inside out AND backwards."Come to me little star, we need to have a talk." The three-year-old pouts but concedes, she knows she has run out of time, there's no more stalling the inevitable.Kara seats her little one on the edge of the bed, she gathers up her clothes and lays them beside her Lena. "You know I love you right?"Lena's eyes are facing the floor, she nods her head yes but says nothing."I do love you, lots and lots. And I don't know what's going on here. I know you're not feeling like yourself and this is all quite stressful for you, especially for your little brain," Lena turns away further, trying to hide her face as much as she can from her Mama's gaze. "You weren't like this before, can you tell me what's going on with you little star."Lena really doesn't want to talk, she really just wants to forget everything, go back to normal. She wants Kara to take care of her, she wants to be held and coddled, she wants her to sing to her, dress and wash her, she wants all of it. She knows it wouldn't be right though, she shouldn't want this, she shouldn't have it, any of it. Everyone needs to pay attention to Maggie, she is hurting the most, she deserves and needs to love, "I need to be bigger....""Baby?" Kara scoots closer. Kara is beyond confused."Mags needs love, she needs to feel wanted, she needs all the cuddles, I don't 'need' it. She is smaller than me, she needs attention, I can take care of myself.""Your underwear is on backwards love." Kara smiles sadly at her.It makes the Luthor pout, tears forming in her eyes "I can be big!"Kara scoots closer to her baby, "I know you can, you can definitely try, but you don't 'need' to, you don't have to be anything that doesn't feel right. I love taking care of my little star. I hate seeing her hurting and doing things that make her feel anything but happy. Are you happy love, is this what you actually 'want'?" Kara knows the answer to that but she wants to have her say it out loud, she wants her to try and understand where she is going with this."No, i's not." She says in a defeated tone, the tears slip down her cheeks, she doesn't try to hide anymore."I would love to have my good little girl back, the one that loved my cuddles, I kinda miss them ya know." The blonde says hopefully, trying to entice her back to the light.The baby looks up at her mama, just to really see if it's true, one smile and she is barreling into her mama's arms, squeezing with all her might. Her tears get dried up by Kara's clothed shoulder.That night, the super doesn't have to wrestle for clothes and she doesn't have to argue for cuddles. She takes the reins and everything is right in the world, the sun is shining and the bees buzz like they're supposed to. Lena falls asleep with her clothes on the correct side, listening to her mama's fast-paced heart, it soothes her. The warmth of her mama's arms can't be beat.....End of FlashBack...."I think within the astral plane we are able to integrate 60gHz beat frequency harmonics, combined with molecular interference filters to produce spatial harmony within the reality matrix. We can use this theorem with the device Ava has to try and narrow down where Storm will be next. We can input the data we have from the places they have visited and have supposedly visited, if the data is over eighty per cent accurate, we will get a read that is within about ten miles of where Storm will be."Tiny Lena gets a little gadget that would have to be plugged into the device Ava is using at headquarters for a better and more efficient read. "The system, as a whole, is less energetic, with respect to crystal structure anomalies, interwoven on a molecular level with a higher order harmonic series to elicit multi-valent harmonic interaction. This will help focus on a single point in space-time that can lead to the understanding of fractally enhanced vibrational modes, their 'body', that, combined with a higher order harmonic series to produce motionless flight across the void of space will zero in on them, then boom, we've captured Storm's location."The tiny CEO turns around with a huge smile on her face, happy to have helped in some way, she has spent the majority of the day mocking up this device and is quite proud, her hand-eye coordination is a bit off, but her smaller set of fingers have come in handy when piecing together the device. She has never made something so small before, let alone something that essentially does nothing on its own, but attaches to something bigger.The room is met with silence, everyone just sits and stares at her in shock."I got like, an eighth of that ." Alex breaks the silence."I'm totally sure this will work, I understand none of it, you're like, Brainy smart so I'm sure you did perfectly little star, good job."Lena blushes at the compliment."Alright, you guys clean up for dinner, we are having pizza. I'll have Ava pick up the gadget."🐝🐝🐝 ....The next day....🐝🐝🐝"Captain Lance is preparing breakfast, that gives you roughly an hour to make yourselves presentable." Gideon's voice booms in the otherwise quiet room. The Super grunts and shoves a pillow over both ears, face planting into the now bare mattress below. She can hear the faint laughter of her little one."You're not allowed to laugh at mama." She says with a huff.Little Lena lets out another giggle, but at least this time she tries to muffle it with her hands. "Mama can't be grumpy, she's always happy with the sunshine!""Well, she would be happy if there was an actual sun to wake up to." And with that, the room is lit with artificial rays of sun, nothing like the real thing, but it gives her the boost she was looking for."Wow, thanks Gideon." The AI buzzes in acknowledgement."I didn't really need the sun, my little munchkin and her adorable giggles would have given me enough energy to take on four magical imps." Kara snatches up her girl in one swoop and tickles her sides and her pudgy tummy until her girl is looking quite out of breath. The blonde stops when she sees her baby start to not have too much fun like before."How about we go on and brush our teeth and get ready. I really should have done your hair last night, now it's all a tangled mess."Lena lights up at the prospect of her getting her hair done up. She truly adores it when Kara brushes and braids her hair, even more so when she gets the treat of actually washing it. The smells, the scalp massages, and the gentle hands, it never ceases to relax her. It's a great start and end to the day."I help!"Kara smiles at her baby's enthusiasm. "Alright little bit," She kisses her cheek, "let's go and hurry, I'm starving."Lena races her Mama to the bathroom, the Super fanes exhaustion when she makes it a couple of seconds after little Lena. They finish up with everything thirty minutes later.The baby CEO has two dutch braids that fade off into free slowing pigtails. Kara dressed her in an outfit she had Gideon fabricate. Elastic waistband dark wash jeans that are big enough for her to stretch her legs. Her shirt is a green, grey striped hooded long sleeve shirt. On the front it has the graphic of a dinosaur chasing a caveman, every time Lena looks down on it, it makes her smile.The reporter carries her out on her hip to the dining hall. On their way there, Kara rocks her baby while singing her favourite Disney movie tunes, when she gets the chorus of How Far Will I Go, they bump into the trio."Wow, you guys look like crap." At that Lena bonks her Mama's head with her own."No bad words!"Kara rolls her eyes, but not enough to be noticed by her little one. "Sorry star." They all continue walking. "Another one of those nights?" Kara says while glancing at both Alex and Sam.Sam breathes out a sigh, she readjusts Maggie on her hip, the shifting makes the little one's diapers crinkle. Everyone hears it but nobody bats an eye, the sound and being around others who know about her undergarments, do make her flush. She buries her head in the crook of her Mommy's neck, she knows she should be used to it but she can't help feeling so small, and extremely shy.....Flashback unrelated....A day or two after the trio got into a routine about to diaper the little detective, Lena wanted to be there for a story, she ran into their room all happy for Sammy and Lexi to read her to bed, she wanted to get a cuddle or two with her best friend. Sam at the time was taping her up, Lena stops and blinks, and so does the rest of the adults. Kara was gonna try and rush Lena out so they can have privacy but Lena in a split second continues to run and climbs up on the bed next to her friend.Maggie looked ready to burst into tears from the embarrassment but Lena redirects her attention. She grabs Oliver and makes it to the head of the bed and gets comfy. She looks at her Mama, "Why does she get the gween ones, I wike gween?" She points to the diaper. Nobody answers, she redirects everything, already over it. "Can we wead Good ni' moon?" She yawns and buries her face in her stuffie.Sam and Alex clear their throats and recover quickly from the unexpected interruption. "Alright bun, all done, go climb up next to Lee, I'll get the book."Alex puts the supplies away, Sam gets the book, Kara takes her seat at the foot of the bed like she did yesterday. Maggie cautiously climbs up next to Lena and plops down next to her, a faint smell of baby powder reaches both of their nostrils, it makes Maggie tense up. Lena pulls Maggie into her arms and lays them down. Sam comes back and ten minutes later, both girls are sound asleep next to each other.....End of Flashback....We had like a good four straight hours but after that, it was back and forth every hour, if that." Alex tries to rub the tiredness out of her eyes. "We would have tried to stay and try and get more rest but it's best to stay on routine, and I was driving myself crazy trying and failing to stay asleep.""Maybe we can try for a nap later, she can go down with Lee."The tiny detective huffs at that, making them all laugh, including the CEO."No nap."Sam nuzzles at her baby's hair. "You say that like you're not on the verge of falling asleep on my shoulder."They make it into the dining room and talk idly. Sara has cooked up some scrambled eggs and sausages. Fruit bowls, yoghourt, and mini chocolate chip muffins."Damn Sara, have you been slaving away all morning?" Alex asks with an amused voice.The former assassin laughs. "Yea, but help from a certain dragon connoisseur. I did have to fabricate the eggs though because I kept on burning them."Sam laughs, "How do you burn eggs they're like the easiest thing to make."Zari buts in, "I don't know why you keep trying, you always burn the eggs." Then she whispers to the group, "She's trying to show off."Sara gets the hand towels and twirls it, she snaps it at Zari's hip and the whip makes the totem bearer jump. She lets out a surprised squeak. "Owwy!"Lena sees it and her little brain doesn't understand that they are both messing around, she knows it's not nice to hit people, she frowns when Zari seems genuinely hurt."No hitting, hitting bad." She says petulantlySara gives her a pleasant smile, she sets the rest of the dishes on the table along with the serving utensils. "We were just playing around, we do that a lot, I would never actually hurt her. But you are right, little one, I should not be hitting her, no more hitting from now on." Sara says the last few bits with seriousness. She looks at Zari, "I'm sorry Z."Zari tries to stifle her giggle, along with everyone else, Lena is looking at them both with all the seriousness a child can exude. "Now hug." She says motioning for the two to hug out their differences.They placate her and hug for a couple of seconds, Sara goes as far as planting a comical kiss on Zari's forehead. "All better."Kara and Sam put both girls in their booster seats and serve their portions of the breakfast Sara layed out in front of them. Winn struts in, hair wet from his shower. He takes a seat at the table and everyone is themselves around each other, not putting on masks because Winn is present.They make idle conversation, not really talking about work, all the kids are little, now including Zari and Charlie. They were more on the quiet side, but she warmed up and participated in the group talk a little over halfway through the meal.The meal is over soon enough, Kara and Sam devour whatever was left after everyone took their share. Winn shoots off to the main room to run programs with Gideon that Ava sent over through the night.Sam sips on a non-alcoholic mimosa, "Alright kiddos, go on and play with Z." The hacktivist starts to guide them to her room but Alex stops them all."I just need to do something with Mags, I'll bring her to you guys in a couple." Zari nods her head and challenges Maggie to a race there, she lets the substantially shorter girl win, but they both have a smile on their faces but the end of the heart journey.Alex takes Maggie's hand and they both walk into their room, she picks her charge up and sets her gently on the newly spread bed."Alright munchkin, time to get changed." She tickles at the side of her girl's tummy, it's round and full after just eating. Usually her girl doesn't like to eat much in the morning, but today was different, and both Alex and Sam are grateful for her change in appetite. They have noticed that she has lost a couple of pounds in the last weeks, which puts her in a dangerous zone. They hope she keeps up with this eating, they will sneak in a couple of extra snacks so they can put the weight back on, so they can have their baby girl healthy and happy again.The baby detective looks up at her in question. She tries to get up from her position on her back, when she makes a move, her face flushes, redder than usual. She hears a faint crinkly sound and then an audible squish. She lays herself back down gently and keeps her eyes to the ceiling.Alex gathers the supplies from their bags in the closet, she hands Fluffy to her little one, her baby immediately buries her face into the scented fur, she relaxes, even if it was only slightly. She stays still and lifts her hip when her Mama taps at it. She should be used to the changing by now because they have been doing this at least three times a day. She can't seem to get her bladder under control, and she hates that about herself. Her Mommy's try to reassure her that the wetting is ok, it's what kids do, and even if she wasn't a child, it would still be ok. She finds that all hard to believe, but at least in this changing session she isn't tearing up, not even a little bit.Alex wipes her up and puts her in a pull-up for the day."Alright bug, go on and play, you know where the room is." She sets her baby on her feet and before she runs off, she squeezes Maggie into a hug and kisses her temple. "I'm proud of you, I love you. Go on and play."She flushes again, not knowing what to say to that, she plants a kiss on her Mama's cheek and shoves the clipped-on paci into her mouth, she runs along with Fluffy in tow.The adults reassemble in the living room, Winn has his laptop and they all discuss technicalities. They try and sort out how they should go about capturing Storm with minimal casualties. Charlie comes in a bit later, adult and all, she throws in a couple of ideas, but they are more of a hammer-type deal, when they need more of a scalpel-type plan, they put her thoughts on the back burner. Sam brings the girls some snacks and they all go back to talking. Winn drops some gadget ideas, Gideon gives the sparse reminisces of schematics from the tool G6 Lena made and they go from there.They get caught up in having a plan and they almost miss lunch. Alex and Kara gather the littles and they take a seated picnic-style lunch around Gideon's hologram, she plays a 5D version of Luca.They have plain turkey sandwiches with chips on the side. They have ranch to dip their raw baby carrots and celery sticks. They finish the movie and three of the four girls are almost asleep. Sara elects to take them down for a nap, but Gideon sounds."Ms Sharp has just informed me that they believe that Storm will be back in National City by end of week." At that Sara looks around the room at everyone."Alright that should give us enough time to come up with a solid plan of attack." She looks at Supergirl, Agent Red, and Director Danvers, "I know that Supergirl has a no-killing rule, and Agent Red only intervenes when absolutely necessary, but I don't think capturing and detaining them will do anything. They are on a rampage, their mental state is nowhere near where it should be if you plan on trying to talk them down, it's like trying to have a heart-to-heart with a terrorist with a bomb strapped to their chest. We can't capture and release them back into their world, they will find a way out, I know their hate, I've felt it, and there's nothing that can stop them other than death." She ends it with a serious expression, hands crossed over her chest.The speech knocked most of the littles out of their headspace, the seriousness activated their adult brain. Maggie is so far gone though so she is stuck looking on without a clue as to what is going on, she just knows she doesn't like the sound of Sara's voice. She makes grabby hands to be picked up by her Mommy, she tucks her face into the crook of her Mommy's necks and breathes in her scent. Her Mommy starts to rub soothing circles in the small of her back. She relaxes.Their caregivers look onto their girls, Lena looks up at Kara with wide eyes, not knowing what to say or do in these moments. Sam holds onto her girl a little tighter and Alex takes a peak at her girl.The blonde super nods her head, mainly to herself, she knows that this is the grey line she never wanted to cross. Saving is what she does, but sticking to this moral code won't help anyone, it could cost more lives than necessary, especially her family. She would do anything for them, even if that meant breaking a code she instilled on herself. She knows that this situation is unique, so she knows she'll have to do what she never wanted to, and she is fine with that."We'll do what we have to, for family."They get to work.