78. Discovery

October 7-8, 2017 (Pregnancy week 31)

The doorbell to Eliza's penthouse chimed throughout the house.

"I'll get it!" Jessie announced, setting down a stack of boxes and running for the door.  She flung the door open and shouted, "Ruby!"

Ruby fell into her girlfriend's arms with glee.  "Hi, Jess."  She gave a good squeeze around Jessie's middle, then a quick peck on the lips. 

"Hi, Sam!  Hi, Douglas!" Jessie said, giving them both hugs too. 

Sam and Douglas gave her love and stepped into the living room that was littered with boxes, and as soon as they were in, Kara flew in through the balcony carrying even more boxes.

“Hi, guys!” the Kryptonian chirped.  She set the boxes on the floor and gave them all hugs.

The rest of the Danvers came out of the woodwork to say hello, giving love and hugs all around.

“Sorry we’re late,” Sam apologized.  “Can you believe it?  Someone stole my car!”

“What?” the group exclaimed.

“Yeah, along with all of Ruby’s soccer gear, and apparently, my cell phone because I can’t find that either,” Sam grumbled.

“Wow, that sucks,” Alex sympathized.  “I take it you made a police report?”

Sam sighed.  “Yeah, that’s what took so long.  Plus, we had to wait for Douglas to pick us up.  We kind of caught him off guard.”

“Thank goodness for him, huh?” Jessie proclaimed, hugging him so tightly he grunted.

“I do what I can,” Douglas shrugged, ruffling her braids.  “Alright, what can we help with?” he asked, rubbing his hands together.

“Could you help bring boxes up?” Lena requested.  “There’s no furniture to move, so you’re off the hook there.”

“Excellent.  Thanks, Kara,” Douglas bowed to her, palms together, touching his face.

Kara giggled.

“No,” Lena rolled her eyes and shook her head with that secret smile that only her loved ones could detect.  “After the whole debacle with poor little Marcus, I had to have all the walls repaired and then refurnished the whole penthouse.  That was before I knew Eliza was moving in, or I would have let her pick out her own things.”

“It’s fine,” Eliza waved her off.  “The place is beautiful, and I appreciate you letting me live here.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Lena hugged her mother-in-law.

Eliza kissed Lena on the cheek, and the CEO melted a little.

“Alright, I’ll head down to the truck now,” Douglas announced.  He turned on his heel and made his way back toward the elevator.

“We’ll go with you!” the twins informed him.

“Ruby and Sam, would you mind helping unpack my books and putting them on the bookshelf here?” Eliza requested.  “We’re working on the kitchen right now, so we can make dinner.”

“Sure!” the pair replied.

“Are you OK, Maggie?” Kara worried.  “You look like you’re ready to pass out.”  She pulled the detective into her arms and stroked her head.

“Yeah,” Maggie sighed, nuzzling Kara’s neck and soaking up the attention.  “I’m pretty beat.”

“Why don’t you sit down and talk to Sam and Ruby?” Kara suggested.  “Just relax, honey.”  She kissed the detective’s forehead and helped her lower herself to the couch.

“Will you sit with me for a while?” Maggie pleaded.

Kara smiled softly at her, “Sure, honey bunny.”  The reporter sat down and encouraged the Latina to snuggle into her arms.  She kissed the crown of Maggie’s head and stroked her belly.  “You’re wearing Mommy out, little one,” she accused playfully as the baby kicked her hand.  

“Man, she really loves her Mama,” Maggie grinned.  “She’s looking forward to you holding her.  I can tell because she always goes nuts when she hears your voice.”

Kara beamed.  “I can’t wait to hold our baby, Maggie.  She’s gonna be so beautiful.”  She gave her wife an enthusiastic kiss.  “Who’s gonna be my beautiful girl?” Kara cooed to the baby.  “You are so, so loved, my little one .”  She grinned when the baby flailed wildly at her voice.

“Can I talk to her?” Ruby begged.

“Sure,” Maggie agreed easily.

Ruby knelt in front of her and cooed at her stomach for a few minutes while Maggie watched with adoration in her eyes.

“OK, baby, we came here to help, so let’s help,” Sam urged her daughter.  “Kara, do you know if she wants these books in any particular order?”

The blonde pursed her lips in thought.  “I’d separate the science books from the fiction, but other than that, I’m not sure it matters all that much.”

“And the photo albums?  Do they go on the shelf too?” Sam checked, flipping through the pages of one.  “Aww!  Baby pics!  How cute!  This must be Alex when she was a baby.  Yep, there’s Eliza and… What was her dad’s name again?”

“Jeremiah,” Kara reminded her.

“Right.  Jeremiah,” Sam repeated distractedly.

Ruby took a peek at the baby book.  “Aww!”

“Yes, the baby books go on the shelf, but if you’re gonna look through that one, do it quick.  Alex could come in here any minute, and she’ll make you stop.”

Sam chuckled and turned another page.  “She can try.”

“I can’t believe Alex was a baby,” Ruby giggled.  “I could only imagine her as an adult.  But now, there’s this!  I love baby Alex so much!”

Kara and Maggie giggled too.

The twins and Douglas came back with a load of boxes each, depositing them with the others on the living room floor. 

“There’s not much left out there,” Douglas commented.  “We should be able to knock this truck out fairly quickly.”

“I should get back to work, then,” Kara said.  She stood up and gave Maggie a quick kiss before zipping back out the balcony window to retrieve more boxes.

The twins followed alongside Douglas, bringing things in through the elevator instead of the balcony so he didn’t have to be by himself.  Besides that, they loved him and wanted to spend time with him.

Lena came into the living room, drying her hands on a towel.  “Sam, darling, may I speak with you in private for a moment?”

Sam nodded.  “Sure.”  

“Ruby, you look after Maggie, OK?” Lena requested.

“OK!” Ruby plopped down next to the detective and snuggled her.

“Hey, love bug,” Maggie grinned, pulling the girl close and letting her rub her belly to feel the baby kicking.

Sam followed Lena into the bedroom, and they both sat on the foot of the bed.  “Is everything OK?” Sam checked.

Lena took Sam by the hand.  “Well, that’s what I’m trying to find out,” she replied.  “I talked to Ruby today, and she’s worried about you.”

Sam rolled her eyes.  “She shouldn’t have done that.  I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t sound like it,” Lena parried.  “Sam, listen to me, I don’t want you to pretend like everything’s OK when it’s not, just because I’m your boss.  We’re friends, and that’s more important to me than anything else.  You hear me?”

Sam hung her head.  “I appreciate that, Lena, but I’m OK, really.”

Lena wasn’t having it.  “Ruby said you went on a trip yesterday?  Where did you go?”

“I…” Sam shook her head and sighed.  “Lena, I don’t remember going anywhere yesterday.”

“So you’re losing time?” Lena asked.  “Has this happened before?”

“No, no, never,” Sam shook her head and swiped a tear from her cheek.”

“And Ruby said you’ve been having nightmares, too?”

Sam just nodded.

“What are they about?”

“I-  I don’t know,” Sam shrugged.  “I don’t remember them either.  I just wake up terrified.”

“Why don’t you let us run some tests?” Lena suggested.  “Just to rule a few things out, OK?  Between Alex, Eliza, and myself, I’m sure we can figure this out.”

Sam frowned, but nodded her acceptance.  “There’s…  There’s something else I should probably tell you.”  She stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled it out, showing Lena the little smushed bullet she’d found.

Lena took the piece of metal out of her hands and examined it.  “What’s this from?”

Sam clenched her jaw before admitting, “The other day.  At the press conference.  I found it in my jacket after we got home.  There was a hole in my shirt.”

Lena’s brow furrowed as she tried to solve this puzzle.  “Sam, do you know where you were adopted from?  The agency, or anything?”

“No, why?”

“Nothing for sure,” Lena said softly.  “Just wondering if you had any kind of medical history that would help us figure this out.”

“Ugh, please don’t make me talk to my mother!” Sam whined.  “She kicked me out when I was 16, and I don’t want to have to face her after all these years!”

“OK, we don’t have to do that, but please let us check you over.  Besides not wanting to lose my friend, I don’t want to lose my CFO either.  You’re the only one I trust right now to be in charge.”

Sam blew out a heavy breath.  “I do not like asking for help, Lena.  You know this.”

“Yes, I do know,” Lena confirmed.  “But you need to think about the bigger picture here, Sam.  Ruby relies on you.  What if this is something serious?  The sooner we find out, the sooner we can start treating you.”

Sam pouted, but relented.  “OK.”

“You’ll let us have a look at you?” 

“Does it have to be all of you?” Sam whined.

“What do you mean?”

“Can’t we keep this between us?  At least until we can get this figured out?” Sam begged.

“It’s too late for that now,” Lena admitted.  “Ruby told Jess, and Jess told the rest of us.  Besides, we’re stronger together, remember?  El mayara.  That’s the Supergirl code, and like it or not, you are a part of the Supergirl family.  You know Kara wouldn’t have it any other way.  Neither would I, nor any of the other Danvers.”

Sam let out a sob.  “I’m scared, Lena.  What’s happening to me?  What if something bad happens?  Who’s going to take care of Ruby?”

Lena wrapped her friend up in her arms as best she could with her big pregnant belly in the way.  “Sam, if anything happens to you, know that we will always take care of Ruby, OK?  She’ll be safe with us, I promise.”

“You will?” Sam sniffled.

“Yeah,” Lena confirmed.  “We won’t let anything bad happen to her, OK?  That means we’re going to take the best care of you, got it?”

“Thank you, Lena,” Sam whimpered.  “I’m sorry for falling to pieces on you.”

Lena raised her hand to stop her.  “Please, Sam, we’re friends.  Let’s stop apologizing for breaking down in front of each other shall we?”

Sam smiled through her tears.  “Deal.”

“I love you so much, Sam.  You don’t even know.”  Lena gave Sam a good squeeze around the ribs.

“Uh-oh, don’t get a jealous wife in here after me now,” Sam joked.

Lena laughed.  “Don’t worry, they all love you as much as I do.”

“Good to know,” Sam smiled, trying to relax now.  She frowned again as something occurred to her.  “What am I going to tell Douglas?”

“Tell him the truth.  He can handle it.”

Sam nodded.  “You’re right.”

“I usually am,” Lena winked.  “Shall I send him in?”

Sam pouted at her.

“Sam,” Lena warned.

Sam looked resigned to her fate.  “OK, OK.  Yeah, go ahead.”

Lena gave her friend another hug.  “Wait here.”

Sam grew more nervous with every second that she sat there waiting for her boyfriend to come in.  It didn’t take too long in reality, but it felt like an eternity.

“Hey, sweetie pie,” Douglas greeted her.  He picked up on her nervous energy right away, so he quickly sat next to her and wrapped his big arms around her.  “What’s wrong?”

Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath before then telling him everything that she’d talked to Lena about.  

“Wow,” he breathed.  “I don’t really know what to say, except, I’m here for you, Sam.  Whatever happens, I’ll be here to support you.  I’m glad you’re letting Lena take care of you.  I know you’re probably scared right now, but I’m here, OK?  I want to be here with you.”

Tears streamed down Sam’s face, and she fell into Douglas’ arms.  “I don’t deserve you.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that,” he chided.  “You deserve so much good in your life, and I want to be able to be a part of that.”  He kissed her a little hard to drive home his point.  “You’re  my girl.”

Sam just snuggled into Douglas’ embrace and stayed there breathing him in and letting his scent soothe her for a while.

“Hey,” he whispered conspiratorially, “Why don’t we see if Ruby can stay the night with the twins?”  He kissed her again to reinforce his intentions.

She bit her lip and grinned bashfully.  “Yeah, actually, that sounds nice.”

They returned to the living room where Maggie and Ruby were still cuddling and giggling.  The three Kryptonians flew in with more boxes, and Sam pulled Kara aside to whisper to her.  “Hey, do you mind if Ruby spends the night with you guys, so Douglas and I can have some alone time?”

Jessie and Jamie turned up their noses at the implication, but kept quiet on the matter.  They may not want to think of the sexual aspect of the relationship, but they both agreed that they really liked the idea of Douglas dating Sam.  He deserved someone good for him, especially since he’d been so good to them the last few years since Kara became Supergirl and he’d started caring for them.  They loved both Douglas and Sam to pieces, so the twins were happy for them.

Kara grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.  “Absolutely!”

Jessie beamed and bounced excitedly on her toes, albeit gently, so she didn’t break through the floor.  She couldn’t get enough of spending time with Ruby.

Jamie whined.  “It’s not fair that Ruby can spend the night, and Carter can’t!”

Kara rolled her eyes.  “Let me talk to your mother, and we’ll see what we can do for you instead.”

Jamie smiled gratefully.  “Thanks, Mama.”

“And here you guys made such a big deal over the idea that you might not get to spend time with your significant others this weekend,” Kara shook her head and went to the kitchen to talk to Alex.  “Hi, baby,” she said, kissing the redhead’s cheek and wrapping her arms around her wife’s belly from behind.

“Dinner’s still going to be a while, Angel,” Alex said patiently.

Kara kissed her shoulder.  “That’s fine.  That’s not what I came in here for.”

“Then do tell,” Alex said, turning around to face Kara.

“Sam wants Ruby to spend the night so she and Douglas can have some alone time,” Kara informed her.  “Also, Jamie’s upset because Ruby’s allowed to spend the night and Carter can’t.”

Alex sighed.  “I don’t mind if Ruby spends the night, but I don’t know what to do for Jamie.  Maybe Carter can come over tomorrow and spend the day.”

“I’m sure that would make her happy,” Kara nodded.  “I’ll call Ms. Grant.”  She took out her phone and called her old boss, inviting them over for the next day.  Cat agreed easily, and they settled on coming over right before lunch.  They should be finished unloading the truck and putting most of everything away by the end of tonight, and Eliza had already stated that there were some things she wanted to take care of by herself, so they should have most of the day Sunday to relax with the Grants.  Or maybe she could talk them into going out somewhere, like the arcade.  That would be fun.

“What do you guys think about all these sigils up around the city?” Sam inquired.

The Danvers looked confusedly at each other.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“You haven’t seen the news?” Douglas raised his brow.

The Danvers shook their heads.  “We’ve been a little busy,” Kara replied.

Sam pulled out her phone and pulled up the Catco newscast showcasing a strange skull-like symbol etched in fire all throughout the city.

“Why didn’t J’onn call us?” Alex worried.  She called her boss, who informed her that they didn’t know anything yet, so he didn’t feel the need to call them yet since they were busy.  She huffed and hung up the phone.  She knew J’onn was coddling her, and it irked her a bit.

“These look familiar,” Kara said thoughtfully.  “I can’t remember where I’ve seen them before.”

“We can figure it out tomorrow,” Alex shrugged.  “If J’onn’s not worried, I’m not.”

It only took about a half an hour for them to finish bringing boxes up from the U-Haul.  When it was empty, Eliza took it back to the rental store with Kara following behind in the car to bring her back.  After that, they were sitting ducks until dinner was ready.  The three preteens decided that it was a great time to sing to the babies, so they turned some music on and sang their little hearts out until dinnertime.  Kara and Eliza made chicken and broccoli fettuccine alfredo, and by the time everyone was through eating, they were all feeling a little subdued, but happy.  

Before they all headed home, a thought occurred to Sam.  “Um, hey, I know that the twins have their own rooms now, but I’d prefer it if Ruby didn’t sleep alone in the same room as Jessie.”

Alex snorted.  “I assure you, that will not be happening.  She can either sleep with Jamie, or the three of them can sleep in the same room.”

“Thanks,” Sam said, a bit relieved that Alex was on the same page.  “I’ll call you in the morning.”

“OK, have fun!” Alex winked.

The group made their goodbyes, and the Danvers crew headed home with Ruby right after Douglas and Sam left.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The kids had gone to bed, and Kara, Alex, Maggie, and Lena were sitting in the kitchen having a snack before they headed upstairs for the night.

“What’s on your mind, Kara?” Alex nudged her.

Kara shook her head to wake herself up from her daze.  “Uh…  I’m not sure you want to know.”

"Are the kids doing something?" Alex worried. 

"No, they're just talking and giggling," Kara replied. 

"Then what is it?" Maggie demanded. 

The reporter blushed.  "Well…"

Lena rolled her hand to move Kara along.

"I was just thinking about Douglas and Sam," she evaded.

"What about them?" Lena pressed. 

Kara sighed.  " I was just thinking that the idea of them being together is really sexy.  Is that weird?"

Maggie laughed.  “Nah, they are a couple of beautiful people.  Is it making you horny or something?”

“A little?” Kara squeaked sheepishly.

Alex smoothed Kara’s hair behind her ears - a move of seduction she’d used ever since she figured out Kara’s ears were one of her erogenous zones.  “The kids are distracted.  We could probably get away with having sex.”

Kara perked up.  “Really?  You’re not mad at me?”

Alex chuckled.  “As long as you’re not trying to sleep with them, I’m fine.”

“I definitely don’t want that,” Kara assured.  “I’m very satisfied with my wives.  Besides, I’m not really attracted to men all that much.  I’m not sure why this is different.  Not that I’m attracted to him necessarily, but I just like the idea of them together.  I don’t know why.  I just-”

“Kara, stop,” Lena said, placing her hand on Kara’s wrist.  “Relax.  We know you don’t mean any harm by it.”

“I’m glad.  I don’t want to hurt any of you guys’ feelings,” the blonde said earnestly.  “I love you so much.”

“We love you too, Angel,” Alex smiled.

“Let’s finish up here, and we can go upstairs,” Maggie winked, taking a bite of her sandwich.

Kara bounced excitedly in her chair.  Ever since she and Alex had been interrupted by the kids, she’d been a little wound up.  She could really use some relief.

“What are the kids talking about?” Alex was curious.

Kara listened in for a few seconds.  “They must be watching animal videos on their phones because all I keep hearing is, ‘Aww, that’s so cute!’”

The moms-to-be chuckled.

“I say let them stay distracted,” Maggie suggested.

Kara pursed her lips in thought.  On the one hand, letting the kids play would keep them distracted from interrupting their lovemaking, but on the other hand, they had been up late the night before already because of their growing pains, and she didn’t want them to be grouchy another day.  She weighed her options and decided that she would let the kids play, so the adults could play too.  The kids could sleep in tomorrow.  “Yeah, OK.  So, is everyone in?”

Her wives all nodded in the affirmative.

“Yay!” Kara actually clapped her hands.  None of the moms-to-be had lost their desire for sex quite yet, but none of them could really have sex with each other very easily, so it was up to Kara to please them.  It gave her an excuse to go a few rounds with each of them, and that was fun.

When they were finished eating, they cleaned up and snuck upstairs, pretending they didn’t hear the preteens giggling in Jamie’s room.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunday morning, Kara woke up early feeling deeply satisfied by their lovemaking the night before.  The kids had fallen asleep before she was even finished with her first round, so they had no interruptions, and she was almost giddy.  She got up and took a shower, then went downstairs to make coffee and wait for someone else to wake up.  She took her mug of coffee into the solarium and soaked up the sunshine.  Everyone was still sleeping when Eliza called to say she was awake.  Instead of waking anyone up, she just flew over to Noonan’s to pick up some sticky buns for breakfast, dropped them off at the mansion and took a few for herself and Eliza.  She met her mother-in-law at the penthouse, and after devouring the sticky buns and more coffee, they got to work on unpacking.  Her family had been working hard this week.  She wanted to let them sleep in.

Around 9am, she got a call from Alex checking on her whereabouts.  Kara assured her everything was fine and encouraged her to eat breakfast and to take it easy today.  Alex admitted that she was a little tired, and maybe she would just watch a movie with the kids until the Grants arrived.  Kara agreed that it was a good idea, and when she got off the phone with her wife, she went back to work.  She wanted to be finished with the majority of stuff before she left.

Kara and Eliza were almost finished around 11am, when Kara opened a box that she shouldn’t have opened.  Inside were a handful of various sex toys, including a strapon for some reason.  Kara squealed and dropped the box on the floor.  “EW!  Oh, Rao, my eyes!”

Eliza came running, and when she saw what Kara had found, she blushed furiously.  “Kara!  That stack of boxes was the stuff I wanted to unpack myself!”

“Sorry!” Kara squeaked, quickly closing the box back up.  “I didn’t realize…  Why do you have a strapon?”  Her curiosity was piqued, despite her embarrassment.

Eliza rolled her eyes.  “It was a joke gift from Maureen a few years ago.  I didn’t really know what to do with it.”

“I see,” Kara nodded.

“Let’s just keep this between us, OK?” Eliza begged.

Kara agreed.  “You bet.  I don’t think Alex would appreciate hearing about this.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was getting another call from Alex.  

“Hi, baby!” she said overly sweetly.

Hearing Kara’s tone, Alex grew suspicious.  “What did you do?”

“What?  What do you mean?  I didn’t do anything!” Kara insisted.

“Yeah, right,” Alex countered.  

“Is that the reason you called?  You suspect me of something?” Kara hedged.

“No, I suspect you of something because of the way you answered the phone.  I called because J’onn wants us to meet him at the DEO,” Alex explained.

“Us meaning you and me, or us meaning the whole family?” Kara checked.

“Just the two of us, I think,” Alex replied.

“OK, I’ll meet you at the house, and we can go in together,” Kara informed her.  “See you in a minute.”  She made her goodbyes to Eliza and flew home.

Back at the mansion, everyone was up, but still in their PJ’s, with the exception of Alex, who was upstairs showering and getting dressed.  Sam and Douglas were there as well, looking smug and drinking coffee at the kitchen table with Maggie and Lena.  The three kids were in the living room cuddling and watching silly things on their TV’s YouTube app.  Kara looked at her watch.  The Grants should be arriving soon.  She headed into the living room to say good morning to the girls, when Alex appeared, carrying her socks and shoes.  

“Kara, I need help,” Alex sighed, handing the footwear over to the blonde.

Kara smiled sympathetically.  “Of course, my love.”  She knelt on the floor and put her wife’s socks and boots on, then stood up and gave her a kiss.  “There you go, baby.”

“Thank you,” Alex said, taking her hand.  “You ready?”

“Mommy, are you gonna be gone for a long time?” Jessie whined.

“I don’t know, honey,” Alex shrugged.  “I’ll let you know when I know more.  That’s all I can promise at this point.”

The kids pouted.  “Please, be careful, you guys,” Jamie begged.

“We will,” Kara promised.  They gave the kids love, then went into the kitchen to say goodbye to the others, kissing Maggie and Lena and heading for the Mazerati.  

When they arrived at the DEO, they were met by J’onn, Lucy, and Winn in the briefing room.

“What’s up?” Kara inquired.

Winn waved his tablet at her.  “I have something to show you.”  He poked around on his tablet for a second, and a video popped up on the big screen.  “So, I'm not really quite sure what to make of it, but I thought you guys should see this. This is an incident that happened this morning.” 

“What is it?” Alex asked, hands on her hips. 

Winn played the video.  “So, the city sent out an exploratory team to investigate the effects of the submarine attack, and you can see that they found something strange in the bedrock, so they went to check it out. And…”  

The strange thing in the rocks lit up and shot a beam of some sort at the exploratory team.  

“It got attacked,” Alex observed. 

“Yep,” Winn confirmed.  “I mean, luckily, their emergency systems kicked in and they made it to the surface, but they could have easily just been taken out.” 

“What else can you find out?” Alex demanded. 

Winn thought for a second.  “Oh!  The USGS geothermal scans, we can pull up one of those to find these coordinates.”  He typed on his computer for a minute, and a new screen popped up.  “Okay.  Well, I can tell you two things, right off the bat.  One, according to the rock layers, that ship has been under there for about 12,000 years, and two, whatever metal it's made out of is not on the periodic table.”

“We should go check it out,” Kara decided.

“I’ll go with you,” J’onn told them.  “Alex, you’re in charge.  Lucy, you’re in charge of Alex.”

Alex scoffed, while Lucy laughed.

“Make sure she eats lunch,” Kara requested.  “She likes to ‘forget’ when she’s working.”

“I know, I know,” Lucy rolled her eyes.  “You can count on me.”

Winn, J’onn and Kara left the DEO to go to the waterfront to find the strange spaceship.  They followed Winn’s location device, and when they found it, Kara was fully prepared to bore a hole through the ground to get to the thing.  “Everyone, stand back.  I saw Clark do this once.  Get back!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” J’onn stopped her.  “There's a way of doing this without destroying public property.  Let's go.”  He led them around the corner where there weren’t really any people.

“Oh, man, I wanted to see that,” Winn complained.  “Awesome.”  

“All right.”  J’onn tucked both Kara and Winn under his arms.

“What are you doing?” Winn squeaked.

“This might feel a little weird,” J’onn warned them before phasing them through the ground and into the ship.

Winn screamed the whole time, “Oh, no!” He got his bearings.  “Oh, God, that was horrible!”

“Shh!” Kara warned.

“That was amazing!” Winn exclaimed.  “Can we do that all the time, please?”

“No,” J’onn answered sternly.

“Okay,” Winn exhaled.

They crept into the room ahead of them where there were a bunch of pod-type things that glowed a luminescent orange.

“Is that a person?” Winn asked, peering through the glass.

J’onn shined his light on it.  “Looks like.” 

They looked around at the multiple pods in curiosity.

“There's an empty one,” Kara pointed out. 

“Okay, that's not creepy, not at all,” Winn worried.

They heard a strange whirring sound, and a person stepped out of the shadows and shot Kara with her weapon.

“Don't shoot!” Kara shouted.

The woman spoke an alien language before stepping further into the light.  She was pale and sweaty - sickly looking.  On her tank top was a very small crest of the House of El in solid red and black.

“We're not here to hurt you,” Kara assured, hands in the air.

“Supergirl?” the woman spoke in awe.

“Yes, I’m Supergirl,” Kara confirmed.

The woman dropped her weapon to the ground, and Kara stepped forward just in time to catch the stranger as she passed out cold.

“What do we do now?” Kara looked to the men with her, cradling the woman in her arms.

“Let’s get her back to the DEO,” J’onn decided.  “She clearly needs medical attention.”

“Right,” Kara nodded, picking the woman up.  “Let’s go.”

They quickly flew back to the DEO, and Alex and Dr. Hamilton checked her over.

“Well, whoever she is, she’s not human,” Alex informed them.  “I don’t know where she’s from, though.  Did she give you any indication?”

Kara shook her head.  “No, but she’s wearing the crest of El, maybe she’s Kryptonian?”

“No, I checked for that too.  She’s definitely not Kryptonian,” Alex confirmed.

“We’ll just have to wait until she wakes up,” Dr. Hamilton sighed.

“Call me the minute she does,” Kara requested.  “I want to know if she’s responsible for all the strange sigils around the city.  If she’s not, then we still have more investigating to do.”

“Did you figure out where you’ve seen them before?” Alex asked.

Kara nodded.  “I think so.  But I need to go talk to my mom before I know for sure.”

“Let’s go, then,” Alex waved her hand toward the door, and the pair of them headed down to the room housing Alura’s A.I.

“Hello, Kara,” the hologram greeted her.  “How can I help you?”

Kara pulled up an image of the offending sigil.  “Do you recognize this?” she asked, showing her mother the picture.  “I feel like I've seen this before, when I was a kid on a field trip to the ruins of old Krypton.  What does it mean?” 

“The symbols predate recorded history,” Alura explained.  “The glyphs are known as ‘Low Speech’ and used in Urrika, the Kryptonian continent where life began.”  

“And the people who used them?” Kara pressed. 

“The Juru were matriarchal.  Tribal.  Polytheistic.  Over time, their sun god became known as Rao, the tribes began to worship Him alone, and modern Krypton was born,” Alura told her.

“So, then the Book of Rao must have something that can help,” Kara suggested.  

“There is nothing in the book,” the A.I. stated.  “The ruling council destroyed much of Krypton's so-called superstitions.” 

“But if someone's trying to send me a message through this, I have to know what it means.  This feels important.” 

“I represent the total accumulation of knowledge on the 28 known galaxies. If I cannot translate it, the translation may not exist.”

Kara sighed in frustration.

Alex gently grasped Kara’s elbow.  “Why don’t we go home until our mysterious stranger wakes up, huh?  Maybe spending time with Ms. Grant will help you feel better, and maybe she’ll give you some ideas.”

Kara nodded.  “OK.”

The two of them headed home, and were greeted at the door by the twins, who had been worried about them being gone so long.  They followed the kids into the living room where the rest of the group was hanging out.  Douglas, Sam, and Ruby were still there, and the TV was playing a Star Wars movie.  Kara and Alex talked about what they had discovered that morning, and everyone’s interest was piqued by the mysterious woman from the underwater alien ship.

“I hope she’s nice,” Jessie commented.  “I want to meet more aliens!”

Alex chuckled.  “I hope she’s nice too, and she’s not the one carving the symbols into the city.  If she’s not, then we still have another alien to find.”

“Are you sure it’s an alien doing it?” Lena inquired.  “I mean, what if it’s Morgan Edge.  He has the technology and the resources to pull it off, and he’s proven he’s adept at fear mongering.  What if he’s doing this to frame me again?”

Kara shook her head.  “My mother’s A.I. confirmed that it was an ancient Kryptonian symbol.  It has to be some sort of Kryptonian doing it.”

“Have you talked to your cousin?” Cat asked.  “Maybe he knows something.”

“No, I haven’t,” Kara admitted.  “I hate asking him for help.”

“Why?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I like to do things for myself, and besides, I know way more about Krypton than he does.”

.

“Just try,” Cat insisted.

Kara sighed.  “Alright, alright.”  She went into the other room to call her cousin, but of course, he didn’t know anything.  She hung up the phone in irritation and returned to the living room.  “Nothing,” she told the others, plopping down on the couch in a huff.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon, darling,” Lena encouraged her.

Kara’s stomach growled loudly, making everyone laugh.

“And you told me not to skip lunch!” Alex accused playfully.

“I’m not growing babies,” Kara retorted.  “I can wait an hour.”  She excused herself to go find something to eat in the kitchen.  She was halfway through her first sandwich when her phone rang.  “Hello?” she answered.

“You have a collect call from the Albatross Bay Correctional Facility,” an automated female voice said over the line.  “Thomas Coville would like to speak with you.  Do you accept these charges?”

“Yes,” Kara replied.  She waited until the call was connected.

“Hello, Supergirl,” he greeted her warmly.  “I have some information for you, if you wouldn’t mind coming for a visit.”

“I’ll be there soon.”  She didn’t bother with goodbye.  She just hung up the phone and finished her sandwiches before telling the gang where she was going and heading out.  She put her frustration into her flying, and arrived a little sooner than she’d intended.  All the same, she changed into her civilian clothes and entered the prison.  As soon as she was in the visitation room, Coville started speaking.

“‘They will receive a blasphemous sigil.  And in its wake, many cowards, killers and vile men will burn.’” 

Kara frowned.  “That's not from the Book of Rao.” 

“‘And every eye will look upon the heretic,’” Coville continued, “‘And they will call it Worldkiller.’  Kara Danvers, there is so much that you still don't know.” 

She sat down at the table.  “Worldkiller?” 

“It's here,” He said.  “The End of Days.” 

“There are no End of Days in the Book of Rao.”  She knew this much.

He smiled.  “The prophecy I speak of predates the Book of Rao.  But I suspect you already know this if you've tried to find the meaning of the Kryptonian symbol that's all over the news.  They are the mark of a dark god, a devil.” 

“How do you know this?” she demanded.

“You know that I spent two years on a pilgrimage all over the world collecting artifacts and texts, learning everything I could about Rao and your people.  But I didn't just find objects.  I met people.  The forgotten from Fort Rozz.” 

“You know about Fort Rozz?” 

“I met a disgraced Kryptonian priestess who told me about the god before Rao.  A Lilith made of darkness and teeth who ends everything.  There are three steps leading to the End of Days.  First is the Mark of the Beast.” 

“The glyph in the field,” she breathed.

“They're all over National City now,” he reminded her.  “After that comes the Work of the Beast in the form of many deaths.  And finally, comes the Reign of the Beast.  And this is when She comes.” 

“She?” Kara repeated.  “Who is ‘She?’” 

“Worldkiller.  The one who will bring about the end of times.”  Suddenly, he grasped at her hands.  “This is your purpose.  To fight the Devil.”

She yanked her hands away from him.  “There's no such thing as the Devil.” 

“The lost gods must fall for a new god to rise.  And Her rise will come at the fall of the righteous.  And She will reign unless you stand and smite Her.”

Kara stood to her feet.  “Are you done?”

He smiled again.  “Yes.  Thank you for coming to see me.  It’s always a pleasure to see you.”

Kara huffed and turned on her heel to walk away from his unnerving smile.  Now she was really agitated.  A Worldkiller?  A Kryptonian devil?  She’d never heard of such a thing.  She sped back home to share what she’d learned from Coville.  If you could call it ‘learning’ since he was probably lying. She called Winn and J’onn as soon as she got home and told them along with everyone else.

“So Coville says that this is like the sign of the Devil. A Kryptonian 666,” Winn summed up.

“Do you believe him?” Alex checked.  

“No,” Kara replied.  “No, I think Coville calling me is an excuse for him to feel relevant.” 

“It reaffirms the narrative he chooses to believe and gives his life purpose,” J’onn finished her thought. 

“We don't even know if the person burning these symbols is Kryptonian,” Kara reminded them. 

“It's probably just a bunch of vandals who don't even know what it means,” Alex shrugged.

“Either way, I think we should keep an eye on our new visitor,” Kara said thoughtfully.  “At least until we find out who she really is.”

“We’re still waiting for her to wake up,” J’onn told them.  “Until then, just sit tight.”

Kara sighed.  She hated waiting.  “OK.”  She got off the phone and turned to her family, “Who wants to break out the karaoke machine?”

The three young girls raised their hands excitedly, and surprisingly, Lena, Sam, and Douglas raised their hands too.

“Oh, Sam, you can sing?” Kara perked up.

Sam grinned.  “Where do you think Ruby got her voice?”

“Sweet!” Kara exclaimed.  She ran to the closet and pulled out the equipment they needed, setting it up in front of the TV.  She started them off by singing her favorite song from her favorite movie, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

When she was done, she let the kids take turns.  Jessie sang “Happy” by Pharell, Jamie sang “Let it Go,” from Frozen, and Ruby sang “Brave” by Katie Perry.  They all did pretty great, if Kara said so herself.

“Carter, do you want a turn?” she invited.

The teenager bit his lip and looked at his mother.

“Go on, son,” Cat encouraged.  “Sing that song you were singing yesterday.”

“OK,” he breathed.  He got up nervously, and put on the song that the twins loved from the Trolls movie - “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake.  Kara was surprised that he could actually sing a little bit.  He was untrained, but not unpleasant.  She clapped proudly for him when he was finished.  Carter blushed furiously as he returned to his seat, and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from Jamie.  That made him blush more, despite his fiendish grin.

Lena wanted to take her turn next, so Kara helped her stand up from the couch to get to the machine.  She sang “Who Will Save Your Soul?” by Jewel.  After that, Douglas sang “It’s Not Unusual” by Tom Jones.  He cracked everyone up by doing the Carlton while he sang.  Lastly, Sam wowed the crowd by singing “Someone Like You” by Adele and nailing it.

“Wow, Sam!” Kara exclaimed.  “That was awesome!”  She was about to get up to take her next turn when her phone rang.  “Hello?”

“She’s waking up,” J’onn said simply.

“I’ll be right there,” she assured him, hanging up the phone.  “I need to go,” she announced to the group.  “Alex?  You coming?”

“Yep,” the redhead confirmed.  “Help me up.”

Kara hauled her wife up off the couch and they headed out.  Kara didn’t bother with the car.  She just sped into her suit, scooped her wife up and flew to the DEO.  They headed straight to the med bay where Dr. Hamilton had been looking over their new guest.  

“How is she?” Alex asked the other doctor.

“She’s a little confused, but she’s improving,” Dr. Hamilton replied.  “You can come in and talk to her if you like.”

They entered the room where the woman still laid in her hospital bed.  

The stranger’s eyes lit up when she saw Supergirl again.  “Supergirl!  Kara, I need your help!  Something damaged my ship, and my colleagues are going to die if I can’t fix the life-support!”

Kara frowned.  “How do we know this isn’t some kind of a trap?”

“A trap?” the woman repeated.  “What do you mean?  I’m on your side, I swear!”

“First, why don’t you tell us who you are?” Alex requested.  She tried to curb her scariness a little, just in case this woman really was on their side.

The woman sat up with a little difficulty.  “My name is Imra Ardeen.  I’m a part of a group called the Legion of Superheroes from the 31st century.  We travelled back in time to try to come here, but we over-shot our trip by a few thousand years.  When we realized what we’d done, we set the ship for cryo-sleep until we arrived in your time, but something hit us, and now the ship is damaged.  Please, please, help us!”

“Why do you wear the Crest of El?” Kara needed to know.

The woman looked at the tiny crest on the corner of her chest, smoothing her hand over it before answering, “The House of El is…  Sort of our…  Sponsor?” she said, trying to think of the right words.  Anyone that joins the Legion wears it, but only the true House of El can wear a big crest like yours.”

“The House of El survives into the 31st century?” Kara asked in awe.  She looked at Alex and smiled.  “You hear that, baby?”  Tears pricked at her eyes, and she rubbed her wife’s belly and kissed her earnestly.  “I love you so much.”

Imra smiled at them, and Kara was struck by how truly beautiful this stranger was.  Objectively speaking, of course, but still.  Was everyone in the future so gorgeous?

“Why did you come here?” Kara wondered.

“The Worldkillers,” Imra replied.  “We have to stop them.”

“Them?  As in more than one?” Kara balked.

“Oh, lord!” Alex huffed.  “Great!  We can’t even find the first one, and now there’s more?”

“Reign, Purity, and Pestilence,” Imra informed them.  “I’ll tell you more later, but can we please help my friends now?”

“I’ll go get J’onn and Winn, and we can see what we can do about getting your team some help,” Alex said, turning and leaving the room.

After watching Alex leave, Kara turned back to Imra who was staring at her in wonder.

“I can’t believe it’s really you!” the woman sighed.

Kara laughed nervously.  She wasn’t fond of people fawning over her.  “So, Alex tells me that you’re not human.  Where are you from?”

“I’m from Saturn’s moon Titan,” Imra replied.  “They call me Saturn Girl.”

“And you have powers?” Kara double checked.

“Yes, telepathy and telekinesis,” Imra confirmed.  She made the machine next to her float a few inches off the ground as a demonstration before setting it gently back on the floor.

“Cool!” Kara grinned.

Alex came back with J’onn and Winn.

“Let’s hurry,” J’onn urged them.  “We don’t want anyone dying on us.”

They returned to the alien ship with the part that Imra said she needed, and Winn tried to help her as she made the repairs to the life support system.  When she plugged in the missing part, the machinery around them started whirring to life.

“Come on, come on,” Imra pleaded with the machines. 

“I think it's working,” Winn observed. 

“Okay,”  Imra sighed as she read the stats on the computer screen.  “The stasis fluid levels are okay.  How's the power?” 

“Are you sure this is safe?” Winn worried. 

Imra continued to read the screen.  “Crief, the therian pump is jammed,” she huffed.

“I don't know what that means,” Winn told her.

“Okay.  Just reset the circuit on the end of the first pod,” Imra directed him.

Winn did as he was told.

“Is it working now?” J’onn asked a bit impatiently.

“So far,” Imra replied.  

The four of them waited with baited breath as they waited for something to happen.  After less than a minute, the computer screen started beeping and lighting up like crazy.  

“No!” Imra ran to the computer terminal.  “No, no.”

“What?” Supergirl worried.  “What is it?” 

“The power to the chambers is failing,” she said, poking frantically at the console. 

“Does that mean that everybody else is gonna wake up?” Winn asked. 

“No, it means they're going to die!” Imra nearly shouted in her panic.  “We can reroute the power to all the chambers except...  No.”  She ran to the chamber and started pounding on it.

“What's wrong?” J’onn barked. 

“He's drowning!”  Imra tried to use her powers to break the glass, but she couldn’t.  “Damn it.  I can't…  It's white dwarf glass, I can't…” 

Supergirl stepped up and gently pulled Imra away from the stasis pod, then drew back her fist and smashed the glass to bits.  Both Imra and Supergirl caught him as he fell.

“Garth?” Imra called out.  “Garth?”  She put her ear to his face to see if he was still breathing.  “Oh, Garth!  He's okay,” she panted.  He's breathing.”  She kissed his forehead and stroked his hair.

“Let’s get him back to the DEO quickly,” J’onn urged.

Supergirl nodded, picking the man up and sidling up to J’onn, so he could get them out.