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ladyhistorypod · 4 years ago

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Episode 11: [Insert Political Joke Here]

Sources:

Patsy Mink

National Women’s History Museum

University of Hawaii

United States House of Representatives

Patsy Takemoto Mink

KHON2 News (YouTube)

Further Viewing: Internet Archive, Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority (Trailer)

Alice Roosevelt Longworth

The White House Historical Association

Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University

Find A Grave

The New York Times

Smithsonian Institute

Wilma Mankiller

National Women’s History Museum

Oklahoma History

Time Magazine

National Women’s Hall of Fame

Smithsonian Magazine

Attributions: Cherokee Nation's Chief Wilma Mankiller, Marching Drum, Power Of People: Sea-Tac Airport Travel Ban/Immigration Protest

Click below for a transcript of this episode!

Archival Audio: I'm really very excited by, and my process says our difficulty has been that not enough have run. We can’t expect that every woman, because she's a woman, the minute she runs she's going to be successful. That's not possible. So we do need to have the numbers in there competing, and given the numbers I think we're going to be more and more successful over the years.

Alana: So this is the first episode that's going to come out after the election is over. Like, by the time this comes out we're gonna know.

Haley: I was thinking of that when I was looking at the schedule and I don't know… I'm real nervous. I have class that night. It's going to my first class being like on the east coast, so I'm gonna be real tired. I’m gonna be with my cat though it's gonna be fine.

Alana: No this podcast is gonna be so nice.

Lexi: To be fair, we might not know who actually won by that Thursday.

Haley and Alana, somehow at exactly the same time: That’s true.

Lexi: Because there's going to be a lot of contention about mail-in ballots. So, dear Lexi listening to this on Thursday or even on Tuesday while editing it of election week; how's it going? What’s up?

Alana: Are you okay?

Lexi: Are you doing okay? Do we know yet? When will we know?

Alana: When will we know? We probably won't know on Tuesday when you're editing it, but…

Lexi: And we probably won't know on Thursday.

Alana: On Thursday when it comes out.

Lexi: We might get a result and then we might get told it's not the result. There might be a lawsuit.

Alana: This podcast is gonna be really nice for the two of you to have to remember my voice by when I die in the coup.

Lexi: Yes the coup that will occur in DC. That might be more like January.

Alana: That's true, the coup will be in January.

Lexi: When someone refuses to leave… the area… to evacuate the premises.

Alana: Maybe he’ll be dead by then.

[INTRO MUSIC]

Alana: Hello and welcome to Lady History; the good, the bad, and the ugly ladies you missed in history class. Here I am, still on Zoom, with Lexi. Lexi, have you ever run a political campaign?

Lexi: Oh my god. I have.

Alana: Did I set you up for this?

Lexi: Yes. My dog is running for daycare class president. Please vote for him. His name is Captain, he's a Portuguese water dog, he's two and a half years old, and he's really cute. His platform is that he'll give you a snuggle.

Alana: I love him.

Lexi: Me too.

Alana: And someday will be reunited in person, Haley. Haley, what's your political platform?

Haley: I know. My skeleton is allowed to be in my passenger seat so I can ride in the carpool lane.

Lexi: Skeletons is people.

Haley: My plastic Napoleon Bone-aparte should be my second in command. Thus, me going in the carpool lane.

Lexi: Vote for Haley, skeletons is people.

Alana: And I'm Alana and my single issue vote is not ushering in the apocalypse.

Lexi: I have experience as a campaign manager, feel free to hire me.

Haley: A lot of people are gonna hate that.

Alana: No I love that.

Haley: I’ve never met–

Lexi: Listen, the people who support NAGPRA, they will love that.

Haley: He’s fake. My mom really had to grill me and I–

Lexi: He’s not real. Her skeleton is not real.

Haley: My mom was terrified that I got a real skeleton. And like honestly, of all people, I could go on the deep dark black webs, sure, but she even like texted my roommate like when we were all like in a group chat and we were calling or something and she was like “Caroline it's plastic, right.” And then also, y'all were involved in this– when Robert and I started dating, for like months he thought that was real and wouldn’t go near it and was like, heavily creeped out that like he was sleeping in the same room as a real skeleton. And it wasn’t until like I pitied him and–

Alana: First of all, he’s sleeping in the same room as two real skeletons.

Haley: That's true.

Lexi: He's sharing a body with one.

Archival Audio: Because the women have not until recently reached retirement age after having worked a full lifetime, only now are beginning to realize that there is inequity in the law.

Lexi: Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink was born on December 6, 1927, near a sugar plantation. She was born on the Hawaiian island of Maui, and I just have to say, Maui is one of my favorite places on Earth. It was the first place I took scuba diving lessons and it is seriously an amazing and beautiful place. I have trouble thinking of any place I've ever been that's as beautiful. Patsy was a third generation American and her grandparents were immigrants from Japan. The term among Japanese Americans for a third generation child is sansei, not to be confused with sensei which means teacher. And sansei are the first to be raised by parents who are themselves raised in America, so they are very American and that is why they get a special name. Patsy was close with her brother Eugene and the two spent most of their childhood exploring the island together, foraging for edible mushrooms and bamboo shoots which is really cute. The family mainly spoke English at home, but Patsy learned Japanese in order to communicate with her mother's parents. Her father, Suematsu Takemoto, had been orphaned at a young age and served in the military before attending the University of Hawaii and becoming a civil engineer. He served during World War I. Suematsu was the first Japanese American to earn a degree in civil engineering from the University of Hawaii and he set a precedent for his children who would go on to break barriers themselves. Patsy witnessed racial discrimination faced by her family at a young age and this may have served as inspiration for her work in later life. Patsy also grew up in a community where many families did not have the privileges and comforts that her family had, and she realized this when she started to attend school; this also likely shaped her future work. Patsy's parents treated Eugene and Patsy equally, breaking Japanese tradition in which strict gender roles were imposed. This likely contributed to the strong bond that she and Eugene shared, valuing each other as equals. Patsy, who always kept up with her brother, decided to attend school a year early to be with him in class. She started primary school at the age of just four. In the fourth grade, her and her brother were transferred to a new school. This new school, which focused on English language learning, only admitted students with fluent English skills, effectively segregating white students from non white students and indigenous people on the Hawaiian islands. Every teacher they had in class was white. Patsy and Eugene were admitted because they had great English skills, but of course, English was their first language and it was also language their parents spoke to them at home. And Patsy and Eugene were part of only five percent of the student body that was non white, so ninety five percent of the school was white. Though Patsy flourished academically, she had trouble fitting in at the new school and made very few friends. Patsy's hobbies included listening to the radio and reading books which connected her to the world beyond Maui. Eventually, Patsy entered a new school to begin high school. There she was elected class president. She claims the support of the football team helped her secure the position. This was the start of her career in politics. While Patsy was in high school, the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred.

Archival Audio (FDR): Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.

Lexi: Local non-Japanese citizens became wary of the Japanese locals, despite no Japanese Hawaiians being involved in the attacks. Japanese families destroyed culturally significant family heirlooms such as katanas and kimonos. They shut down Japanese language schools and they disbanded their cultural clubs. At the same time, Japanese Americans in mainland America were being rounded up and sent to internment camps. Many of them had been born and raised in America and had never even visited Japan. Some of them were sansei, just like Patsy. But racism and fear led non-Japanese individuals to oust even their closest Japanese friends. In Hawaii, far less Japanese were sent to internment camps and Patsy narrowly escaped participating in a tragic part of her generation and culture’s upbringing. Despite this, Patsy later in life claimed that President FDR was her political inspiration. Patsy graduated from her high school as valedictorian in the middle of a global war. In the fall, Patsy was admitted to the University of Hawaii, her father's alma mater, and she began her studies. She participated on the debate team and became president of the pre-med club because at the time she was considering pursuing a career in medicine. As the war continued, many of Patsy's college friends decided to transfer to schools on the mainland for security reasons. One of her professors suggested she apply to a women's college on the mainland. She was admitted to Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania which happens to be my home state. She met with the president of the college upon her arrival at the school; he told her she would probably struggle with her course work because the classes are all taught in English and she would be granted a private room. Patsy later recalled that he was so shocked when she replied in perfect English for multiple sentences, and she was then put in a shared room because if you can speak English, you can share a room. This was Patsy’s first taste of the ignorance many mainland Americans had about the Hawaiian territory, which was not yet a state. Patsy found the course work at Wilson to be below her, stifling her for real learning. She also faced discrimination from classmates and faculty. Because of this, she transferred to the University of Nebraska. It was at her third college that Patsy became engaged with policy making. The university's policy segregated white students and students of color in student housing. The international house, where she assumed she had been placed purely because Hawaii was not a state at the time, actually was home to both international students of color and American students were Black, Latinx, or Asian. The school’s other dormitories and the on-campus Greek housing only admitted white students. Patsy decided to take action and began a campaign to end the discriminatory policy. She led letter writing efforts, worked with the school newspaper, and spoke with local newspapers about the issue. Students she did not even know began supporting her in her campaign. She became president of the Unaffiliated Students, a group of individuals were not associated with Greek life at the University of Nebraska. Patsy was within just one semester a campus leader. The same year she starred at the University of Nebraska, the housing discrimination policy was lifted by the board. Unfortunately, Patsy suffered a medical emergency and had to return to Hawaii to be with her family, where she finished her last semester of college just where she started, at the University of Hawaii. She earned a dual major degree in chemistry and zoology. After graduation, she applied to medical school. Every school she applied to reject her. At the time, women were not admitted to medical school at a fair rate and women made up only about three percent of the student body of most American medical schools. And, because it was 1948, many colleges were focusing on admitting returned veterans. The odds had been stacked against Patsy, and unfortunately she would not be able to fulfill her goal and dream of becoming a doctor. Then Patsy started her first job in a museum at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Museums always seem to be a factor in our shows… huh… Well anyway–

Alana: I wonder why…

Lexi: I wonder why… I mean I didn't even know this about her when I picked her so this is super fascinating.

Alana: You were just– you are drawn to her.

Lexi: Yes.

Alana: The museum called out to you.

Lexi: The little museum bit. And this is actually where she met her mentor who encouraged her to pursue law, so it was through the museum that she found her true calling. And she was accepted to the University of Chicago under their international student quota, and though she desperately, desperately wanted to correct their error and remind her that being born in the Hawaii territory made her an American, she did not want to mess up the chance to get into law school, so she just rolled with it. So, she went to Chicago and she started law school. Patsy found law school intellectually a good match for her and it kept her engaged in her learning which was something she really cared about. She made many friends, some of whom were also Japanese American students studying law. It was at law school where she met her future husband, John Francis Mink. John was from a Pennsylvania mining town and his grandparents were Czechoslovakian immigrants. He had received his undergraduate degree from Penn State and was pursuing a Masters in geophysics at the University of Chicago. Patsy and John married while still in grad school. Patsy's parents disapproved, saying they wished that she would wait until the two graduated, though it is speculated they may have had qualms about her marrying a white man. Patsy graduated in 1951 as the first Hawaiian woman to graduate from the University of Chicago with a law degree. John and Patsy remained in Chicago and had a daughter named Gwendolyn who goes by Wendy for short. And after she was born, they decided it was time to move back to Hawaii. A really shitty, dumb law at the time made women citizens of their husbands’ home states. Who decided that, what for, I do not know. This meant Patsy, despite spending less than a semester for life in Pennsylvania, was a Pennsylvania resident. She fought this law, arguing that the couple had never resided there together and she was granted Hawaiian residency and she was able to take the bar exam in Hawaii. Though she passed, she could not find work as a lawyer. The dual reality of her gender and race was working against her. Potential employers found that it would not be appropriate for a married woman to work long hours as a lawyer and they also feared she would decide to have another child. Go figure, they just assume these things about women, blahblah blahblah blah, people suck. So with the assistance of her father, she opened her own firm, advertising herself as the first Japanese woman lawyer in Hawaii. She had few clients, so she worked as a part time professor and took court appointed cases to supplement her income. When Hawaii was granted statehood, Patsy knew she wanted to run for government positions. She helped start a club in Oahu for young Democrats and expanded her interest in politics. In 1959, she ran for a position in Congress, but was not elected. In 1962, she won a seat in Hawaii’s State Senate. She had run an intense door to door community campaign, and it had worked. Patsy became the chair of the Education Committee and served in the State Senate until 1964. Patsy was determined to make change on a national scale and continue to campaign for selection as a candidate for the Democratic Party of Hawaii. In 1964, Hawaii was granted a second seat in the US House and Patsy ran to be the representative; she became the first Asian American woman to serve in Congress and the first woman to represent Hawaii. During the eighty ninth Congress, from 1965 to 1967, only thirteen of the five hundred thirty five combined senators and representatives were women. Patsy was the only woman of color. There's actually an awesome picture of the thirteen women and Patsy’s just right there in the middle with a big smile, but I think it's so crazy when you think about percentages and scale and how that doesn't accurately represent America, and, hm, anyway. Patsy fought for gender and racial equality. She promoted bilingual education, co-wrote Title IX, and promoted affordable child care. As a working mother, she knew she needed to support other working parents. Even though she moved to DC to take her new role she often traveled home to Hawaii to visit her constituents and hear their concerns. In 1970, she was the first Democratic woman to deliver a State of the Union response. She also passed an act in 1974 protecting women's access to equal education. She also spoke openly against America's participation in the Vietnam War, fearing the effects on civilians of the weapons that were being used. In 1976, she attempted to run for the U. S. Senate but lost. Then the Democratic Party of Oregon asked Patsy to run for president. Because they had an anti-war focus, Patsy felt they shared values and agreed to run for them. Patsy only got two percent of the Democratic primary vote, but she broke barriers as an Asian American and woman running for president; she was the first. East Asian American woman to seek the democratic nomination for president. Patsy also served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in the Carter administration. In 1990, Patsy returned to Congress as a representative for Hawaii. She founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and served six more terms in the House. In the summer of 2002, Patsy fell ill with pneumonia. She was hospitalized in her home state. She died in September 2002. Because ballots had already been printed for the 2002 election, her name still appeared as the candidate. Despite passing before the election, she won by a vast majority. Her replacement, Ed Case, still serves as a representative for their district of Hawaii today. After Patsy passed away, the Title IX Act was officially renamed the Patsy Mink Act. Patsy was actually one of the women I covered in my personal Instagram campaign to combat the lack of Asian American women in U. S. history core education standards, and as of 2020, no state public school history standard mentions an Asian American woman by name. I've said it on the pod before, I'll probably say it again; let's make sure students learn about people like Patsy, especially young girls in the Asian American community who can see themselves in politics because someone like Patsy broke barriers for them. Patsy continues to be the subject of documentaries and podcasts. In fact, of all the women that I've covered so far, she was featured on the most podcasts according to my quick Google. Obama awarded Patsy a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom, commemorating her work for the people of Hawaii and the nation, and remembered her as the embodiment of the Aloha spirit. Of Patsy, Obama said “Every girl playing little league, every woman playing college sports, and every parent, including Michelle and myself, who watches their daughter on a field or in a classroom, is forever grateful to the late Patsy Mink.” Patsy left her mark on US politics, paving the way for iconic Asian American politicians today like Mazie Hirono, Tammy Duckworth, Andrew Yang, and even Kamala Harris. Mahalo and arigato, Patsy. Lastly, I would like to thank the National Women's History Museum for the awesome page if they put together on her which I used as one of my main sources and I interned there this summer and the content is really well researched and totally worth checking out if you need resources on other women like Patsy.

Alana: I think I remember Obama– like I remember him giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to her. And I think I remember him also being like she was a political icon of his, outside of what she did for like Asian Americans and women and Asian American women. Like he was just like this is someone else from Hawaii who was doing cool political things. Like role models don't need to be gendered.

Lexi: Yeah I was just gonna say like Hawaii is his home. It might be that being born there and her being born there really built a connection for him between them.

Archival Audio: My mother and I were put behind a screen door in the drawing room. We were allowed to listen, but we couldn’t be seen.

Haley: This is gonna be a wild ride because I have a lot of anecdotes about my life and to this woman, and this woman is Alice Roosevelt Longworth known as the president's daughter or the American celebrity of her time, and she was even referred to as Princess Alice. Like I said, I have a lot of anecdotes about my life and the Roosevelts. Can I interest anyone with a fun fact?

Lexi: Yes I love fun facts.

Haley: Thank you for your enthusiasm Lexi. Her father–

Lexi: Yes! I love fun facts!

Alana: Always! I always want the fun facts!

Haley: I love these two people. President Theodore Roosevelt is technically my fraternity brother. It's like a technical, like they– we say it, we claim as like the boast Roosevelt is like our fraternity brother but there's no– I think, I don't think there's like actual documentation that they were Alpha Delta Phi fraternity members, so– and also if you're listening to me like “that's a fraternity, no women allowed” I am part of the Alpha Delta Phi Society, we still claim post-split to be like gender neutral and be like “hey, women should be involved not just as our secretaries.” That's a whole other tangent I could go on. Google it, if you will. I think there's even a Wikipedia about it. But yeah he's my fraternity brother. I say that a lot when I like, see pictures or like statues of any of the Roosevelts, it’s a great time. I'm gonna start us off with like an inkling of a Teddy quote since we've been talking about him, and a lot of you may know that this quote whisper it while you listen to it if you're in the car, taking a shower, just chilling on your bed hugging a dog, anyway Teddy once said “I can do one of two things, I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.” That's just giving you a taste of what a ride we’re going to go on. So what did Alice do to be worthy of such a quote, and the honor of being one of our political ladies for this episode? Honestly I could go on hours– I know I say this all the time, I can go on an hour long tangent on Alice, and I'm going to keep it just to like her pol– main political topics. Again, cracking this history book wide open to the birth of Alice on February 12 1884. Unfortunately, two days later, both her mother and her paternal grandmother died, and she was raised by her aunt Anna Roosevelt, and grew up with her five other half siblings between New York and Washington. This leads into another fun fact, if you will. You can visit their house at Sagamore Hill, and my friend was a ranger there once last year, and I got to go visit her during our Friendsgiving and slept in one of the barns on their site and there's like, I think Teddy's buried there, Alice is not but we'll get to that. But they have a whole like Roosevelt cemetery, it's a whole historic site in Long Island. The barn is haunted by something because I could not sleep at all, I just felt like something kept waking me up and I kept looking at this like one creaky door. Because we were in like her guest rooms, which was like two, two other twin beds in case they were like more Rangers on duty. And mine looked straight at this old door that kind of like lead into a mudroom and the outdoors. I swear there was no light outside. Like I went around, like the next time, I twisted my ankle trying to get around to that area, and I couldn't find like where this porch light would be giving such a green mist of color around this door at night because like all the lights were like those museum fluorescent like white bright lights or like– nothing green light and it freaked me out. Anyhoo that's end of like my tangent with that fun fact. Go visit Sagamore Hill for more Teddy content. And as a child– back to Alice– it was clear that she was a brilliant woman. Many sources noted that she was quote self taught in many of her areas of studies and was an avid reader. Along with her brilliance, she was considered to be a stubborn, strong-willed, risk taker, headline-maker, rabble-rouser, and trendsetter. Just all the things and you want in a lady. Alice's political side didn't shine through her skin cells until her father was sworn into office after President McKinley was assassinated in 1901. She was also, if not like the first, the first of any of the president's daughters to take like on a political role, kind of like with Lexi you were saying like there are a lot of firsts going on, and I believe this was like a first, for whatever reason, but she was the first of like president's daughter having some sort of political action that she like was like “hey let's fix this. I'm gonna do this, I'm a lady, I'm brilliant, I can do this, I have a voice.” And for example, in 1905 she accompanied Congressmen to Asia as like a quote goodwill ambassador for the administration, for like one of those let's go see the sights that we see a lot of political figures around the world do. There she was involved in a lot of peace discussions that were like post Russo-Japanese War. So there's a lot there. There's a lot on like the White House website that's in the sources, but it was more about the politics rather than Alice herself and I saw that a lot when I was reading things about Alice. Like when it started to get political it was heavily on the politics not much so what Alice did for those political actions or her political voice. I don't know if that's like author writing stuff… I didn't write it, all I know is that she was married. I believe it was like around 1906 and it was to Nick Longworth– that's why we have the Roosevelt Longworth name– who was actually part of the Republican Party. So at this time it was the Progressive Party which was her father Teddy Roosevelt and herself and then the Republican Party. And Alice agreed with her father on political stances, thus the Progressive Party, thus making these different political ideals kind of like a wrench in their relationship. But there’s a lot of other stuff that made this marriage kind of like a very topsy turvy one. But also there was alcoholism and affairs and they didn't necessarily come from Nick. This is where I read many sources where like Alice had many different lovers. I didn't really dig into Nick’s because like… men… we're here for Alice. But it was noted that she had different affairs, lovers, and these were all other men in the government. More on her political leaning, I didn't see anywhere that they got divorced, but they did have a daughter, Paulina, and Nick died bef– like way before Alice's death and she would– like should write books and go on like traveling trips, even post Daddy being in office to support Paulina. So I said her father died– that was a great segue, good job Haley. Even after her father died, she continued to use her voice in politics. She was one of the people who led the charge to keep the US from joining the League of Nations, and this is we're gonna get into like right around World War II. She was also a tough critic on how FDR was handling the Great Depression, and she at this time had a syndicated newspaper column where she would just bash politics, essentially. She would use this column to speak her voice and say “Hey, I have this, I’m gonna use it, I'm going to speak my mind, not care if I'm gonna piss any other political figure heads off” which… snaps for her. She also used her voice when she was on different committees to help the US, especially throughout World War II. She was heavily on the side of being neutral. I believe she was like even the head of some of these committees, these US implemented committees, to stay neutral. And just like overall politics itself. I couldn't find any where she was on a specific women's rights, education, it was more glossed over. I could have missed something. Other than being on committees, writing in newspapers, going on different platforms to speak her mind, she also would campaign for others such as Taft’s campaign and it was noted that she was friends with the Kennedys, Nixons, and the Johnsons; all other political figurehead families and future presidents. I didn't know where to put this little story, but like I need to say it, it's great. She was known for like, being like, that wild child. But in her wild child youths, she was known for smoking on the White House rooftop, and I'm like trying to picture the White House in my head, and obviously it probably changed a little bit since like Teddy was president, but like… I want to know if like you could see her from like walking on the Mall just like chilling on the roof because her father said she couldn't smoke inside the house for like a whole laundry list of reasons, it's not ladylike, blah blah blah, and she would just go to the roof and be like “I want to smoke. I'm going to do it on the roof. You can't touch me when I'm on the roof.” And she would also carry around a snake in her purse, and the snake’s name is Emily Spinach, yes, Emily Spinach was her… her snake’s name. Like honestly I would just love to carry around like a snake in my purse or any animal in my purse.

Alana: That’s my aesthetic.

Haley: It's an iconic name, Emily Spinach. This also confused me because I saw many pictures of her with a small dog. Like, kind of like a chihuahua, kind of like a pomsky, like one of those small fluffy dog mixes, so I want to know if like the snake and the dog got along. I don't– I don't know. I couldn't see my small dog like, liking a snake much.

Alana: I think small dogs were bred to hunt snakes. I'm not good at like the history of dog breeds but a lot of those small breeds were bred to hunt like pests, so–

Lexi: Rats, snakes.

Haley: Yeah, very confused.

Lexi: I guess if you raised it from a puppy around your snake, it might– it might have a different view, but like I don't let my parrot and my dog hang out. Maybe she didn’t let them hang out. That’s chill. I don’t know.

Haley: Yeah, I couldn't find a picture of like the two of them together, and if anyone does, please send it our way. That is– that would be an incredible portrait. Because she also– a lot of her faces are kind of like a “I don't want to be here” face, the classic “please leave me alone” which is iconic. And like one of her wedding photos is between like her, her dad and like her husband, and her face is just like “I so don't want to be like here right now…” Chef's kiss, I can feel it. I felt the energy. My last tidbit, of course, is while she was born in New York City, she was buried in Rock Creek Park Cemetery when she died at the age of 96. And I actually went to Rock Creek Park Cemetery a few years ago, when living in DC. At least like on the outside of it, if it's the same cemetery. I went to many cemeteries in DC, doing like the spooky tours but also getting from like point e– point A to point B, because like Rock Creek Cemetery is like way to get into like Maryland area. Also, anyhoo, on their website she's noted as one of their famous residents, and on their tour I believe that her like tomb, grave area is like part of their cemetery tour. Keep it respectful, people. And that's my story on Alice.

Alana: I like that she carried a snake around in her purse. That is my aesthetic. That is goals.

Lexi: Snakes are fun little noodles.

Alana: They’re so fun.

Haley: Snakes are fun. I would love a snake. Emily Spinach. I now want like a stuffed snake to name it Emily Spinach. Lexi, I remember that one of your friends or your sister requested this.

Lexi: Yes, my sister Elena Hoffman who is in law school in DC at the George Washington University. She’s not my biological sister, she's my sorority sister she sent me this like–

Alana: That always confuses me.

Lexi: Sorry.

Alana: Lexi will say that she has a sister and I'm like no you don't and I've– because I forget that she’s in a sorority.

Lexi: Anyway, she sent me this picture that's like one of those tumblr history… we take it with more salt than the Dead Sea.

Alana: Take your internet history lessons with more salt than the Dead Sea.

Lexi: Exactly. And it was like one of those like distorted screenshots where some screenshots it a million times and shares it like a meme. It was– it was about her being crazy, was like smoking cigarettes on the Mall, carrying around a snake, blah blah, a lot of which turns out to be true, so… Elena, thank you for suggesting her. I hope this confirms your weird internet history for you.

Haley: I really thought because I've seen like some of those pictures too, but it kept coming up in sources that I was like “oh they're not gonna give me like misinformation.” If they were, like I wouldn't be surprised, like misinformation comes up even in like what we call good sources. Like correct us if you're more widespread in the Alice history. Because I keep forgetting that like when we do this research, we do like probably like three hours of research, maybe less, maybe more depending on the person, but there are like, people devoted to this for their life's work. So like please, again we say this every episode.

Alana: If we're wrong let us know.

Archival Audio: “My guest, director, producer Valerie Red-Horse Mohl, let's start with the subject. What is the subject of your– your documentary?” “Well the name of the film is Mankiller and that actually is Wilma Mankiller’s last name. Wilma was the first woman elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and her story is just so relevant today.”

Alana: So my political icon for today is Wilma Mankiller, who has the best last name ever in the entire world, it's amazing. It's actually a military rank that was achieved by one of her ancestors, but kids made fun of her for it. If your name is Mankiller, why would you– why would you make fun of that? Because one time–

Lexi: First off, I would be scared.

Alana: Exactly! Exactly, why wouldn't you be scared? One time as like a grown up she was fed up with it and she said to somebody that it was a nickname and that she'd earned it. And I’m just like, what a woman. Very cool. So, she was born on November 18, Scorpio, 1945 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Her father's name was Charley Mankiller and he was Cherokee, and her mother was an Irish Dutch woman named Irene Sutton. And Wilma describes her family as an “activist family” so that is how she grew up to be an activist. She was the sixth of eleven children so right there in the middle. And when she was eleven years old, when she was eleven years old, the federal relocation programs that meant to encourage– I'm doing the massivest air quotes in the whole world– encourage assimilation. (Frustration noises) The racism!

Lexi: I just puked in my mouth a little bit.

Alana: The racism! But they moved her family to San Francisco, where they were poor in Oklahoma and they were destitute in San Francisco. It was bad news bears. She married for the first time in 1963 to an accountant from California named Hector Hugo Olaya de Bardi. They had two daughters, and I'm gonna bring up their names– Gina and Felicia. Felicia is my middle name. I think it was Haley, Haley was it you who I told you my middle name and you thought I was kidding?

Haley: Yeah.

Alana: Felicia is legit my middle name. That's true. I will show you my birth certificates, or my passport probably is more likely because I have that on me. In 1969, there was a nineteen month Native American occupation of the island of Alcatraz. Like nobody was using it, it had yet to become a tourist trap and it wasn’t a prison, and so it was sort of like out of use. But for nineteen months, Native American activists occupied Alcatraz and they like had schools and were just doing really amazing things.

Lexi: That's so cool. I didn't know that about Alcatraz and that is so cool.

Alana: It was amazing. But this happened while Wilma was living in San Francisco, which is you know right near Alcatraz, of course. It awoke something in her. She considered it a benchmark in her activism that inspired her to shift her career more towards political activism as opposed to being a mom and doing other things. Her husband wanted her to stay home and be more of like a traditional– massive air quotes again– housewife, so they got a divorce, which is what I would do as well if my husband was like “no I want you to stay home.” I’d be like first of all, why didn’t you tell me this before we got married we could have saved both of us a whole heap of trouble and just not gotten married in the first place but okay. But they got divorced, and so Wilma moved with her daughters back to her family land in Oklahoma, where she became involved in community government and improvement projects. In 1979, she survived a very bad car accident where her best friend died and she was also diagnosed with– I'm probably gonna pronounce this super wrong– myasthenia gravis, which is a neuromuscular disorder that made it hard to talk, hard to write, hard to use her hands in general. So she started the Bell, Oklahoma water project; and Bell, Oklahoma is a tiny, itty bitty, little town in Oklahoma, so small, most people only spoke Cherokee, and they were in like dangerous living conditions. There was no clean water, it was just a bad time all around. But using federal grant money and local volunteers, she managed to construct eighteen miles of a water system and repair a lot of the dangerous living conditions. While she was recruiting volunteers she met her second husband who was full Cherokee named Charlie Soap. I'm not gonna say nothin about her dad and her second husband having the same name, but okay. That's a deal breaker for me, but you know what Wilma, go for it.

Haley: If I found another person with the name Fuzzy. I think I would have to marry them. I don't know like I feel like that's just too insane not to.

Alana: So Ross Swimmer, in 1983, chose her as a running mate for the Cherokee Nation election as he was running for Principal Chief and he wanted her to be his deputy. And they won, despite sexism and death threats. And in 1985 Swimmer took a position in the federal government and Wilma became full time Chief, full time Principal Chief, not deputy anymore. She served two more terms, for a total of ten years as Principal Chief. She decided not to run for reelection in 1995 because of her health. Under her leadership, tribal enrollment was up, infant mortality was down, literacy was up, unemployment was down. She created a self-sufficient health care system, although that's not really going so great anymore because of Covid and racism. Two really bad things, just in general. Of my least favorite things right now, I would say Covid and racism, really high up there on my list of dislikes. She won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, actually, in 1998 from President Bill Clinton who I'm probably gonna talk about in not a flattering light in a couple weeks. And she died in 2010 of pancreatic cancer. She left a legacy of cultural pride and self sufficiency and self government for the Cherokee people. It was her whole thing was like we can do this ourselves, we aren't helpless, we can create our own governments and our own systems, we can be just as good at government for ourselves as these white people who are like imposing these restrictions on us. We can govern ourselves. And so that was her whole thing was like we don't need outside help. That's the story of Wilma Mankiller. I have a couple of closing statements about– for the episode in general. I have been very frustrated lately with people who say that they stay out of politics.

Lexi: It comes to replace a privilege.

Alana: It comes from a place of privilege!

Lexi: But people in different communities can have different levels of privilege, unfortunately.

Haley: Yes.

Lexi: And they can try to exclude themselves from the political process because they think it doesn't affect them, which is blowing my mind. I just–

Lexi: The place I see it the most, and I'm– I don't know if you guys have noticed this too; so many people outside of museums, old heads in museums, trying to say museums should be apolitical. And this frustrates me to no end. For one, everything is political. The existence of a museum is political.

Haley: Yes.

Lexi: Our existence is political. People working in a museum, people who live and then also work in a museum. It's all political. Everything you do– your kid going to school? Political. Your kid go to school? that's political. You eat food? Politics. You wear glasses? You go to the doctor? All politics. This is all political. So, when people say museums are apolitical, I just want to– or or even when they say museums are bipartisan, museums lean one way or the other. And museums tell stories, and stories always have a bias in them, and museum shouldn't try to be apolitical. Museums should aim to tell stories and to make change in their communities.

Haley: I’ve had a similar conversation– I will not give like personal details, but the bottom line was that… the argument that this person was trying to say why they shouldn't be political, were all like human rights… it was just like oh well museums are already like not racist, or like not gender biased and it’s like–

Lexi: Well that's wrong.

Alana: That’s just false.

Haley: But they– like they were trying to skirt around the way of saying like, “oh but these aren't, these are human rights stances, like we can talk about those in museums.” Even though like kind of saying that they're like not happening, trying to be on the more of like there is no gender bias there is no like blah blah blah– which is false, but saying like because those are human rights that they're not political, thus like a museum can talk about it, but we can't say like major political statements which–

Lexi: Human rights is political. It shouldn’t be, all humans should have rights, but…

Haley: Yes! Yes!

Alana: That's why they're called human rights.

Haley: The US has made this a political argument, of course like– regardless of what your stance is, like say “oh these are purely human rights,” not everyone sees it that way.

Lexi: And museums are racist.

Haley: Yes, museums are racist.

Lexi: You know, everyday– everyday, I like sit in the shower because I'm just so overwhelmed. And I think “Museums bad. Museums racist. Museums sexist. Me museums? Me learn museums? Me bad. Me racist. Me sexist. What this all for.” And then I say “That’s museums. Long live the museum.” Because I believe museums can be better places, but–

Haley: And we see that a lot.

Lexi: Yes. There are so many museums doing good work, like District Six Museum in South Africa, the Anacostia Community Museum in DC, one closer to home. Like there are so many museums doing good work, actively anti-racist work. But the historical institution, until we admit this organization is founded on racist and sexist principles–

Haley: We’re getting into a whole chunk of my thesis about the origin of museums. I could–

Alana: I was more talking about, in the broader sense. Like the non-museum people who I know who are like “oh I stay out of politics” and who have friends who are opposite sides of the aisle.

Lexi: Oh, “I don’t vote because I don't care”? Like–

Alana: “I don't know because I don't care.” I think there comes a time, you come to realize that just you existing is political.

Lexi: Yes.

Haley: I also think–

Alana: Like, my existence is political just by virtue of who I am.

Haley: Yes. I also want to like reference like Enola Holmes, remember that part where–

Alana: I was thinking about that a lot.

Haley: It was in the cafe and it was Sherlock–

Alana: Sorry, Lexi.

Haley: And this other cafe human…

Alana: Edith, I think is her name.

Haley: Edith, yes. She was running the cafe and running the upstairs like women learning Jiu Jitsu…

Lexi: The suffragist karate school.

Haley: Yeah, yes. Don’t quote me if it’s Jiu Jitsu.

Lexi: They did not mention the kind, I think it was just martial arts.

Haley: Okay, martial arts. Martial arts. But Sherlock was like “oh I don't get into politics” and…

Lexi: That pissed me off.

Alana: Because like, then she was like “because the system in place benefits you and you don’t want to see it change.”

Archival Audio: “Show me what democracy looks like!” “This is what democracy looks like!” “Show me what democracy looks like!” “This is what democracy looks like!” “Show me what democracy looks like!” “This is what democracy looks like!”

Lexi: You can find this podcast on Twitter and Instagram at LadyHistoryPod. Our show notes and a transcript of this episode will be on ladyhistorypod dot tumblr dot com. If you like the show, leave us a review or tell your friends, and if you don't like the show, keep it to yourself.

Alana: Our logo is by Alexia Ibarra, you can find her on Twitter and Instagram at LexiBDraws. Our theme music is by me, GarageBand, and Ameliea Earhart. Lexi is doing the editing. You will not see us, and we will not see you, but you will hear us, next time, on Lady History.

[OUTRO MUSIC]

Haley: Next week on Lady History, we’re cracking open the history books and talking about some historic and iconic lady authors. Remember, a book a day keeps the stupidity away.

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jedifighterpilot2727 · 7 years ago

Note

Prompt: Here be angst: Lena and Lexi react to Kara's fight with Reign and its aftermath

I actually go several prompts similar to this, and all I can say is - y'all asked for it!

Read it on AO3

Reign

“I just don’t see why you can’t take the day off.”

Kara’s voice draws her from the ensuite bathroom, and she enters the bedroom to find her wife flopped back on top of the made bed, still dressed in sweatpants and a soft t-shirt.

“I told you darling, there’s a merger meeting today with Forward Transportation. It wouldn’t look right for the CEO to play hooky.”

“It just feels like there’s always an important meeting lately.” She can hear the pout, and she distracts herself by searching through her jewelry box for earrings.

“Well, that’s what happens when you run the lead technology company in the entire United States.”

“And the major communications company since CatCo bought out the Daily Planet.” Kara grouches but Lena tries to keep it light.

“See, I’m glad you understand. Besides, why are you free today? Don’t you have an online magazine to run, Mrs. Editor-In-Cheif?”

Kara sits up, and the pout on her face is only eclipsed by the crinkle in her forehead.

“No, because I’m trying to delegate more because I thought my wife was supposed to be cutting back. But ever since Lexi went off to college, you’ve been spending more and more time at work.” Kara moves from the bed to stand behind Lena, strong arms wrapping around her waist.

Lena can only hope she doesn’t notice that she’s a bit thinner than usual.

She doesn’t need that lecture again.

“Because L-Corp needs me.”

“I need you.” Kara pouts, her chin nestling in Lena’s shoulder as their eyes meet in the mirror. “I thought that’s what Sam was supposed to be doing, taking over more so you don’t have to.”

“Kara, we’ve discussed this. I have things I need to get done. Precautions that need to be taken so that L-Corp continues to be a force for good long after I’m gone.”

“We could fly to Paris? Kiss under the Eiffel Tower like on her honeymoon?”

As tempting as that sounds, she really does need to go in today. This meeting could make or break the merger.

She runs through a mental checklist for the day, trying to make sure she has everything she needs.

Her pill.

She forgot to take it this morning.

Extracting herself from Kara’s grip, she reaches for the pill bottle stashed away in her night stand. There’s a rush of air, and when she turns around, Kara is there, holding out a glass of water.

“Thank you.” She says softly, but Kara doesn’t respond, instead glaring at the pill in Lena’s hand.

She swallows it, chasing it with the water before heading to the door.

“Is it working?” Kara’s voice stops her.

“I can’t be certain.” She doesn’t turn around. “Alex said it would take a while to know for sure.”

There’s a pause and she moves forward again before a question freezes her in her tracks.

“Are you bored with me?”

“Kara … “ It’s impossible not to let some of the exasperation seep into her voice and she feels immediately guilty. Her phone alarming in her purse cuts off the rest of her response.

“I know, I know, you have a meeting.” another gust of air and Kara is standing in front of her, bending to press warm lips to her cheeks without meeting her eyes. “I’ll bring you lunch.”

She blinks and Kara is gone. After a second she hears the shower cut on in the master bath and she sighs.

Everything inside of her screams at her to call off the meeting and march right into that shower and show Kara just how not bored she is with her.

Her phone alarms again.

Just a few more weeks and they’ll spend so much time together that Kara will be sick of her.

They can talk at lunch.

* - - - - - - -

Kara takes it upon herself to find distraction from the thoughts swirling in her head.

It’s relatively easy, all things considered.

She’s National City’s resident super hero, after all; not to mention the Editor-In-Cheif of CatCo’s online magazine. It’s not like she doesn’t have a list of things requiring her attention. She was just trying to put it all aside in order to be there for Lena. In case her wife needed her. Lena is the strongest person she knows, but it can still be a bit of a shock - all the experiments and treatments …

She punches a little bit harder than necessary and the bank robber in front of her winces.

“Sorry.” She apologizes half heartedly before dropping to criminal off at Maggie’s precinct, not waiting around for a statement or a chat. Her sister-in-law would only have questions, and she doesn’t have answers.

Her office at CatCo is quiet, reporters and photographers too caught up in their tasks to pay their boss much attention. Normally she doesn’t mind - she likes to see her magazine running smoothly and efficiently Snapper would be proud she thinks; but today she’s itching for something … anything. Her mind wanders to the mysterious deaths and marks around the city, and she’s struck with an idea.

“Mrs. Luthor-Danvers?” Haley sounds almost scared and Kara frowns, turning to her assistant.

“I’ve told you a hundred times, it’s Kara.”

“Right, umm, Kara.” Haley coughs awkwardly. “Is there something wrong? You seem … pensive.”

“Nothing’s wrong. Just … “ Well, she can’t exactly explain her problems to her assistant. “I’m going out in the field to do some investigative work. Field my calls, please.”

And then she’s gone, before Haley can ask more questions.

She flies absent minded loops around the city, her favorite way to work through what’s bothering her, all the while keeping one eye out for trouble.

She thinks back through this morning, poring over ever detail.

Lena had seemed a little stressed, but that was understandable, considering the merger that was supposed to take place in just a few days. Her wife looks better than she has in years, but it was impossible not to notice the way her hip bones jutted through her skirt this morning.

Maybe that means it’s working.

Still, Lena needs to eat, and if Kara knows anything about her wife, it’s she won’t break for lunch unless Kara forces her.

Zooming in on the clock at town hall, she realizes it’s even later than she thought, just enough time to fly to Italy for Lena’s favorite lunch and be back right after her last meeting.

By the time she makes it back over the border, her phone is ringing and she groans, hoping it isn’t the DEO or CatCo demanding her attention.

“Hello?” she barks into her comm.

“Hey, Yeyu.” Lexi’s voice immediately clams her, and she can’t help but slow to a leisurely pace so she can hear her daughter without the buffeting of the wind.

“Hello, Little one! How’s are you? How’s school?”

“I’m fine, school is … Dean Richards is still an ass.”

“Lexington!” She tries to hold back her laugh. “Language!”

“Sorry, but he is.”

“I suppose that’s my fault.”

“Nah, he deserved all the stuff you wrote about him. How’s home?”

“Busy.” She hears another voice talking with Lexi. “Is that Taylor?”

“Yes, she’s just picking me up for class.”

“Tell her I said hello!”

Lexi laughs and Kara can hear her turn to Taylor.

“Mom says hello!”

“Hi Lexi’s mom!” Taylor shouts.

“She’s treating you right?”

“Yes, mom.”

“I don’t need to fly out there?”

“No, mom.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Thank you though.”

“You know I love you, right?”

“I know, I love you too.”

“You better go, before you’re late for class.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow? And I’ll be home after finals for Hanukkah?”

“Of course, anytime.”

“Bye, mom.”

“Bye, Little one.”

There’s a click as the call ends, and Kara redirects her thoughts to city, frowning as she picks up on a disturbance a few blocks down.

“Dang it.” She mutters to herself, shifting the takeout bags in her hands.

Making a split second decision, she hugs the bags tight, speeding off towards the DEO. She’s slipped the bags into the refrigerator in Alex’s office before her sister even realizes she’s there.

“That’s for Lena! Do NOT eat it! Bank robbery on Oak St. I’ll be RIGHT BACK! Don’t eat it!” She admonishes one more time before shooting out the skylight.

“Damn it, Kara! This is why Maggie thinks I need blood pressure medicine!” She hears Alex shout after her and she grins, kicking it into high gear as the sound of the bank alarm grows louder.

* - - - - - - - - -

Lena feels the sort of sour weight in her stomach that always comes when she and Kara have a fight.

Well, they weren’t having a fight per say, but there was definitely a disconnect. She hadn’t meant for it to happen, but with Lexi spending most of her time campus and all of her homicidal family members locked securely away - not to mention the fact that her companies basically run themselves at this point …

She feels lost, and purposeless.

Her mind wanders to the pill she took this morning, and the hours that she and Alex spent developing it. There lies a gold mine of ideas and projects, but she can’t work on anything until she knows the prototype works. Just like she can’t focus on space travel until the merger with Forward Transportation goes through.

So that’s what she forces herself to focus on for the first half of the day, putting together charts and graphs for potential growth and meeting with company leaders. It’s a good distraction.

Too good, in fact.

By the time she looks at the clock it’s almost 5pm. A year ago, that would stir a fire in her, a desire to get everything she has pending done before six so she can make it home to her girls. Now it just brings an empty sort of longing.

At the thought of dinner though, her stomach growls and she realizes she didn’t eat lunch.

Kara was supposed bring her lunch.

Kara always brings her lunch.

Or at least texts or calls to make sure she’s eating.

Groaning, she wonders how upset Kara must be to have not even called.

She doesn’t want that, she doesn’t want a fight, she just wants …

Well, she doesn’t know what she wants, but this is certainly not it.

Groaning again, she selects Kara’s contact on her phone and stares at her wife’s smiling face for a moment before she holds it to her ear. It rings for a handful of times before it goes to voicemail.

“You’ve reached Kara Luthor-Danvers, for professional inquiries or to send a press packet, please contact my office at -“

She sighs and ends the call, even when she and Kara are at odds, she always answers her phone. She tries Kara’s office instead, but unfortunately, Kara’s new assistant answers.

“Catco Worldwide Media, this is Haley speaking, how may I assist you?”

“Haley, it’s Lena, is Kara there?”

“She’s … out of the office.”

“Out of the office?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Oh.” that gives Lena pause. “Did she say what for?”

“She said something about investigative reporting? But she was very vague.”

That sounds exactly like Kara before she heads out on Supergirl business. Her heart rate accelerates.

“Right, well, thank you, Haley.”

“Of course, Mrs. Luthor-Danvers. Should I give her a message when she returns?”

“Please, Haley, it’s Lena; and no, it’s fine I’m sure I’ll see her soon.”

She ends the call with a shake of her head.

Kara’s not answering her phone, and she’s given her assistant a shoddy excuse for her disappearance - there’s only one option.

“Alex.” She breathes when her sister-in-law answers. “Have you seen Kara lately?”

“Not since she stashed your lunch in my refrigerator. Which -“ There’s a pause, and she can hear Alex rustling around. “Is still here. That’s weird. She called a few hours ago about a mysterious symbol around National City, but I didn’t think anything of it. When was the last time you saw her?”

Lena can’t hold back a sigh.

“This morning. We didn’t part on good terms, and I was worried she might still be mad at me. I tried to raise her on her cell, but she didn’t answer.”

“That might be my fault, I’ve been trying different jammers and cloaking devices for the new comm system. I’ll try to call her.” There’s a moment of silence before she hears Kara’s voice and breathes a sigh of relief.

“Alex?”

“And Lena. You okay out there, Supergirl? Your tracker has been all over the place.”

“You know the mysterious attacks with the weird symbols?”

“The ones popping up all over National City?”

“I think I found a way to take care of them.”

“What do you mean? You’re not making any -“

Every television station in National City switches to a live news feed from a helicopter. The House of El symbol clearly emblazoned on CatCo’s roof.

“Kara …” Lena knows the Kara can hear her and uses it to her advantage. “What are you doing?”

“I went to stop a bank robbery today and you know what I found?”

“Kara-“

“The bank robbers were dead, Lee, I have to stop this.

“Kara, please just -“

“Something’s coming, I have to go. I love you.”

“I love you too, but please-“

The line clicks, and Alex’s long sigh relays all of Lena’s feelings.

“Where did she go?!”

“Look at the feed.”

Lena’s eyes fix on the screen in the corner of her office, and she watches in horror as a dark figure lands on top of CatCo, followed quickly by a blur of red and blue.

She would sell her soul for audio coverage of that rooftop, but alas, all she has is silence as she watches the two shapes march towards each other.

“Alex?”

“I’m getting a team out there, just - where are you?”

“L-Corp, my office.”

“Just stay where you’re at, ok? Please? I’ll call you when I have something.”

The line clicks again and Lena is left alone with her thoughts and the news feed.

Her heart jumps in her throat as she watches Kara and the mystery villain circle around each other, hoping that Alex’s team will get there soon. It’s not that she doesn’t think Kara can win, it’s just that Kara has a tendency to rush in head first, and this is an unknown threat.

She cradles her head in her hands, watching through her fingers as Kara speaks to the dark figure, wishing she had a glass of red to calm her nerves.

Only then the dark figure is flying at Kara and she gasps, watching in horror as they hurdle through a nearby office building. The helicopter loses visual, and she watches with bated breath as the spotlight tracks over the skyscraper, looking for any sign of the battle occurring within. Finally, a blur shoots out the other side, and Lena can quickly tell that Kara is at least evenly matched.

Usually by this point in the battle, Supergirl at least has the upper hand, but this looks like a tough fight. The news feed follows the action, although Lena drowns out the useless commentary from the anchors, choosing instead to focus on the battle, looking for any sign that Kara is about to come out on top.

Only there is no sign, as Kara continually gets beaten into the concrete. Horror wells inside her as she notices the blood dripping from Supergirl’s lip.

Kara isn’t supposed to bleed.

The news feed loses sight of the battle again, and Lena makes a split second decision, grabbing a small, gun-like object out of her biometric safe and pulling on her coat. The elevator is mercifully fast, and Lena is eternally grateful for the upgrades she made the year before. When she makes it to the ground floor, she rushes out into the city, nearly knocking over James in her haste.

“Sorry!” She stutters, strong hands steadying her.

“Have you seen the news?”

“What is that thing?”

“I have no idea,” He looks as grim as Lena has ever seen him. “Let’s go find out.”

They run for half a block before they see signs of the fight, but then it’s complete and utter carnage- buildings with gaping holes in them, cars overturned and on fire.

“Oh my god.” Lena breathes, and James arm wraps protectively around her shoulders.

“I’m sure she’s okay.”

A sonic boom fills the air as the sound barrier is broken by Kara’s body slamming into one the vehicles on fire.

Lena’s breath catches and James stiffens beside her.

She watches on in horror as Kara pushes herself to her elbows scanning the crowd with unfocused eyes. They pause at Lena before continuing on, only to jerk back a second later.

Lena feels her legs give out as they lock eyes. She’s never seen those bright blue eyes so filled with terror.

James must catch her, because she never hits the ground, and she can vaguely feel him holding her up through the fogged over part of her brain that should be focused on staying upright, staying alive. But instead it’s focused on Kara. She wants to scream, wants to shout something, anything-

I love you.

I’m sorry.

- but she can’t, can’t make her muscles work.

Then her line of sight is broken by a well meaning NCPD officer trying to hold back the crowd and the spell is broken.

Once again, she can feel the rain- cold against her skin and hear the sirens echoing down the streets.

There’s a moment’s pause before the masked villain is back. Kara looks almost like she’s drunk, stumbling to her feet to face her adversary as the crowd around her watches on in horror. Kara meets the figure blow for blow, so well that Lena is sure only a handful of people can see how injured she really is.

But she knows.

She knows all too well, and her whole body trembles, wishing she could do something, anything to help. Her thoughts go to the device in her pocket, but then Kara is flipping into the air before being tossed even farther by laser vision and a lead weight sinks into Lena’s stomach as she realizes that the opponent might be Kryptonian, the one species immune to her invention.

Cursing herself, she watches as Kara is tossed onto a rooftop, out of sight as the rain begins to fall in earnest.

* - - - - - - - -

“So, did you really think the movie was that bad?” Taylor laughs, tugging Lexi into the university center.

“I didn’t think it was bad, but it didn’t portray Wonder Woman as nearly as badass as she is, and it didn’t even have Supergirl in it at all! What’s the purpose of a super hero movie without Supergirl?!” Lexi is practically pouting at this point, and Taylor laughs again.

“Your obsession with Supergirl is cute.”

“What? She’s literally the most awesome superhero of all time! I bet money she could kick Superman’s ass!”

“Oh, I believe you, I just think it’s cute!”

They round the corner into the late night cafeteria and Lexi stops so fast that Taylor almost runs into her - eyes glued on the television screen mounted about the tables in the dining room.

“Once again, if you’re just tuning in, Supergirl is locked in a fight, high above National City, government officials seemingly unable or unwilling to aid assistance. Multiple deaths have been associated with the masked crusader, and National City has been waiting for their resident hero to take action. We have live footage of the fight, and this broadcast is not recommended for young viewers. If you’re in National City, we recommend that you stay indoors, as mayhem reigns outside.”

The camera switches to what must be a helicopter view because spotlights are swirling around two figures, trying to keep up with the action.

Lexi’s grip on her hand tightens almost uncomfortably as the hero and her nemesis come into view, the masked villain stalking towards a prone Supergirl.

There’s a dramatic pause as Supergirl rises to her knees and then time seems to slow as the girl of steel is raised up by the collar to dangle over National City.

And then she’s falling and Lexi is frozen, practically vibrating with nervous energy.

“No.”

It’s so quiet that Taylor almost doesn’t hear her, watching in horror as Supergirl hits the ground.

“No, no, no.”

She looks to Lexi, whose hand still clutching Taylor’s as she stares unblinking at the screen.

“Get up. Get up, you gotta get up.”

When Taylor looks back up to the newscast, the scene is unmoving, locked on the image of the hero - surrounded by rubble- and she can’t help but think that it looks like some sort of macabre painting hanging in a museum. .

The Death of Supergirl.

* - - - - -

The entire world stops as Lena watches Kara fall from the sky.

As soon as Supergirl hits the ground, she lurches forward, only to be stopped by James’ arms around her waist.

The rational part of her brain knows that he’s probably made some harebrained promise to Kara to keep her safe in instances just like this; but right now she doesn’t care. Right now, all she cares about is getting to Kara, and she struggles against him until she breaks free,

“Lena! Lena, wait!” James calls after her, but she pays him no mind, almost losing her balance as she navigates the rubble.

Despite her struggle, she’s the first one to Kara’s side, and she drops to her knees, hands coming up to frame Kara’s face.

“Kara, please. Please come back to me.”

Blue eyes flutter, and Lena can feel the tears tracing down her cheeks.

“Please don’t leave me.”

She can see the lights flashing around she can hear the clamor of the emergency crews as they work the scene; but she pays them now mind, all of her attention focused on Kara.

“Lena, let them work.” Alex’s voice is at her shoulder, and she’s passed off to James once again as Alex takes control of the medical team.

She holds her breath as Alex kneels over Kara’s body, one hand on the Superhero’s wrist and the other on her chest, head bent as if to listen for Kara’s whisper.

“She’s alive.” Alex finally declares, rocking back on her heels. “Pulse is weak, but there, Jackson, get on the ambu bag! She’s barely breathing!“

The team snaps into action like a well oiled machine, although they aren’t used to dealing with a super hero so badly injured.

“C-collar!” Alex shouts, and the item is placed in her hand within seconds and then snapped around Kara’s neck.

“We’re going to roll onto the stretcher, Cardon, get the legs. 3 … 2 … 1!”

There’s a blur of movement and Kara is being strapped to the stretcher, and the team of agents is rolling her to a waiting black van. When Lena blinks, she realizes the blur comes from looking through sheen of tears, and she allows herself to be lead to the van and lifted in after Kara.

“I’ll meet you at the DEO later,” James promises Alex. “But first I’m going to help the police with stabilization.”

“James!” Alex calls after him and he turns.

“Desert base.” She says quietly, and Lena fills a chill settle in her bones at the gravity of the situation, even as James nods grimly and rushes off to his motorcycle.

They’re going into hiding.

Whatever terror just defeated Kara is still on the loose, and they have no way of fighting it. No way of even knowing what it is.

It takes every bit of resolve she has not to break down into sobs as she looks at Kara’s bruised and battered body in front of her.

She has to find a way to fix this.

Failure isn’t even an option.

* - - - - - - -

What looks to be a civilian rushes the across the rubble, and any other time Taylor would be impressed at the woman’s skill at running in 6 inch stilettos, but considering the situation, it’s barely a passing thought. The woman drops to her knees over Supergirl’s still form, and she wonders briefly if the super hero has friends, family, people who care about her on a more personal level than just the usual hero worship. If this woman is one of those people. She can’t imagine how hard it must be for them - to watch a practically indestructible being fall from the sky.

She looks back to Lexi, her girlfriend shaking like a leaf as the government agents swarm the scene.

“Hey, are you okay?” She reaches a hand to Lexi’s shoulder, and the other girl trembles under her touch.

“She’s not getting up.”

Taylor doesn’t know what to say to that, because this feels like more than just ‘my favorite super hero had a bad fight’, but she can’t quite connect the dots. Instead, she pulls Lexi into a tight hug, as tight as she can without hurting her, rubbing soothing circles along her back.

“She’s not getting up.” Lexi repeats, and Taylor still doesn’t know what to say, so she squeezes tighter, absorbing the energy from Lexi’s shaking body into her own. She can feel Lexi struggling for breath, can hear the panicked tempo of her inhaling and exhaling as the scene continues to unfold. Finally, the video feed must switch back to the newsroom, because Lexi collapses against her, hands clenching at her back and sobs clawing at her throat.

“Hey, hey, I’m right here, I’m right here.” She repeats the words in a soothing mantra, clutching Lexi against her with everything she has, sorry for once that her girlfriend is made of tightly wound muscle.

Minutes pass before Lexi’s breathing returns to normal and her hands loosen their hold.

“I have to … to” Lexi fumbles in her pocket before bringing out her phone. “I have to call…”

Taylor is impressed that she’s able to dial the number with the way her hands are shaking, but somehow she manages.

“Mom, is she -“

She can’t hear the other end of the conversation, and it’s not that she’s being nosy, but, dang.

“No, no, no.”

…

“Who was that?”

…

“They don’t know?”

…

“Does Aunt Alex-“

…

“No, no, I’m on my way, I’m leaving now. I love you, okay?”

Lexi hangs up, and Taylor pretends she wasn’t listening.

“I have to go to National City..”

“I’ll drive you.” She declares, because it feels like the only concrete thing she can do to help, and she so desperately wants to help, especially considering that Lexi looks to be in no condition to drive.

“No, Tay, you don’t have to, I know you have a final tomorrow-“

“It’s literally Art Theory, Professor Reynolds will understand, and if she doesn’t I have a B anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. Do you need a bag or are we leaving now?”

* - - - - - - - -

When they get to the DEO, things happen very quickly.

Kara is wheeled to the med bay, leaving Lena dazed an confused, out of place in a building that should feel like a third home after all the time she’s spent there over the years.

Winn must be the next person designated to watch over her, and part of her is offended - that they would think she needs supervision, but the other part is grateful for the warm blanket that he drapes over her shoulders and the hot cup of coffee he presses into her hands.

She’s freezing, she realizes suddenly, and the rational part of her brain isn’t sure if it’s from the cold rain or because she’s going into shock.

“Why don’t you help me double check the perimeter security? It’s a modern version of the trip wire system, but I think it will be effective against this new threat. She seems to have all of the powers Kara has, and I think going old school is our best bet. “

Lena nods, grateful for the distraction, and lets herself be led away to the control room.

She quickly loses herself, in algorithms and code, purposefully avoiding any thoughts of the back room surgical suite, where she knows Alex is fighting tooth and nail to save Kara.

Hours pass.

They don’t register in her brain, but they must pass, because Winn calls out -

“There’s a car approaching, it looks like Lexi’s. “

“Oh, she said she was on her way, I didn’t think she’d get here this fast.”

Winn nods solemnly and lifts the shields, purposefully neglecting to mention that it’s been almost four hours since they made it back to the base.

It doesn’t take long for Lexi to make it past security, and Lena soon sees her daughter running across the cavernous room, followed closely by Taylor. Her heart warms at the sight, because at least Lexi hasn’t been alone these last few hours.

“Where is she?” Lexi asks breathlessly, just before colliding with the top of Lena’s sternum - almost knocking the wind out of her, and narrowly missing her chin; but really, she should be used to it after all these years.

“She’s in surgery with Alex.”

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know know, ma chroi, we’ll just have to see.”

“I’ve never seen her like that.” Lexi chokes out in a sob and Lena presses a soft kiss to her hair.

“Neither have I, but if anyone can fix it, Alex can.”

Winn’s hand on her shoulder startles her, and she pulls back to see Alex following behind a team of medical staff wheeling Kara on a stretcher towards the sunroom. Her sister-in-law peels off towards them, and Lena steels herself for the bad news- turning Lexi around so that they’re facing the same direction, Lexi’s hand reaching for Taylor’s as Lena pulls her close.

Alex looks tired and broken as she delivers the news.

“She isn’t awake, but she’s breathing on her own; there was a lot of internal bleeding, and her right wrist was fractured in three different places. But I think she’s patched up , at least for now. We’ll watch her over night and see how she does. Hopefully the sun lamps will help expedite the recovery, although I’m honestly not sure how long it will take. It’s just a waiting game at this point. I’ve asked Eliza to come in, hopefully she’ll have some idea, but I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“What was that … thing.” Lexi shudders. “That fought her.”

Alex’s expression turns even more grim, something Lena didn’t know was possible.

“We don’t know; but they seem to have gone radio silent for now. Let’s hope it lasts until we can figure out a way to defeat them. J’onn is on Mars - I’ve reached out to him, but even if he gets the message right away it’ll take him days to get back.”

“Superman?”

Alex shakes her head.

“Apparently Metropolis is having some holiday troubles as well.“

Lena debates her next words carefully, wondering if she should bring it up in front of Lexi or wait until she can get Alex alone. The rational part of her brain wins out, because Lexi knows more about Krypton than anyone on earth - save for Kara, but she isn’t an option. If anyone can figure out a way to stop this … evil, it’s Lexi; and as much as Lena wants to protect her from this whole mess, she knows she only has one choice in the end.

“I think they’re Kryptonian.”

“That’s impossible, Kara and Kal are the last.” Alex argues.

“I know that’s what we thought, but everything lines up - the powers were exactly the same.”

“How would that -“ Alex’s voice drops off as she catches sight of Lexi. “You alright there kiddo? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I think Ma’s right.”

“How so?”

“Grandma, she’s talked about this … project - experiment, I guess, that grandpa was working on right before the destruction. It was this advanced genetically modified Kryptonian, The Worldkiller. Well, there were five of them, all different species, but one was Kryptonian. Reign. But she was just a baby when Krypton imploded. I just assumed she died with it.”

“Can you bring it up on the hologram?” Lena tries to keep her voice steady, Kryptonian would have been bad enough, but this, this sounds ten times worse.

“I should be able to access the files.” Lexi nods before leading the group across the base. “Maybe there’s some sort of advice on how to destroy her, I never paid much attention to it before.”

Lena glances toward the medbay where Kara is.

“You all go ahead, I’ll be along in a few minutes.”

Alex gives her a knowing look and nod before herding everyone towards the archive room.

There’s a hand on her shoulder, and she looks to see Winn with a worried frown.

“You okay?”

“No.” She answers honestly. “But if Kara makes it, I will be.”

“Well, I’m going to go with them, the more minds on this thing, the better. But comm me if you need me, okay?”

She raises her hand to grasp the one on her shoulder, taking comfort in the warmth and familiarity.

“Thanks, Winn.”

He nods one more time and gives her shoulder another tight squeeze before he’s gone, jogging after the girls.

Steeling herself, she pulls the blanket tight around herself- partly shocked that it’s still there; before walking solemnly through the bustle of agents, all working to find a way to bring peace back to National City.

Her heels had been discarded hours ago, kicked off somewhere under Winn’s desk, and her bare feet are silent, no clicking heels to bring her comfort.

The med bay is deserted, save for the one agent tasked with watching over Supergirl, and his eyes are locked on vitals monitor - no doubt threatened within an inch of his life by Alex if he doesn’t inform her the moment something changes.

“Hello, Agent Jeffries.”

“Ma’am.” his gaze barely flickers in her direction as he gives her a quick but respectful nod before returning his task, his posture straightening.

“I’ll watch her for a moment, if you don’t mind.”

He looks momentarily like he wants to argue, but if there’s one thing DEO agents are more scared of than Alex, it’s Lena.

“I’ll let you know if anything changes, and I’ll let you know before I leave. Go get a cup of coffee, I’m sure you could use it.”

“Yes ma’am.” he nods again, and then he’s gone, leaving Lena alone with the fallen superhero.

She takes a moment to scan the vitals screen, noting some slight abnormalities, but nothing too worrisome.

What is worrisome is the way Kara looks - small under the solar blanket and . . . wounded. The bruise around her eye is an ugly black and purple, and her other cheek is red and swollen with line of suture strips sealing up the cut there. There are slight traces of blood still lingering around her mouth - it’s obvious they tried to clean her up, but aesthetics were understandably low on their priority list.

Frowning, Lena scavenges in the cabinets for a cloth and wets it in the sink before moving to her wife.

“You know, if you were awake, I’d have to have a talk with you about getting yourself hurt like this, but since you aren’t I’ll spare you the lecture.”

She traces the cloth over Kara’s lips, scrubbing off the last of blood before moving on to the grease at her hairline.

“I’m sorry, about earlier, I just - I don’t know. We should probably have a long talk when you wake up. I never wanted you to think that I was bored or that you’re not enough, or …” She draws in a shuddering breath and perches on the edge of the bedside chair, digging under the blanket for Kara’s hand, the one that isn’t encased in a cast. She pulls it out, fingers tracing over the tan line on her ring finger before lacing together.

“I love you, Kar. I love you so much, and I just-“ A sob wracks her body and tears fall, staining a dark spot on the sheets.

“Lexi’s here,” she sniffles. “And I know your so excited to give her her last Hanukkah present. Plus you have to be better for the holiday dinner, because honestly I don’t know who else is going to eat three giant hams.” she half chuckles, but it falls flat, a fresh wave of tears spilling over.

She isn’t sure how long she sits like that, staring at Kara’s face, mentally tracing over every line and crease. It’s long enough that the cold of the cave floor has seeped into her feet until they feel like blocks of ice, and the tear tracks have dried streaks in her make up.

“Ma’am.” Jeffries’ voice draws her from her reverie and she looks to see him standing in the doorway with a small duffel bag and cup of coffee.

“I thought you might appreciate a change of clothes and a cup of joe.” he offers with a kind smile that she can’t help but return before dropping Kara’s hand and tucking it back under the covers.

She rises from her seat, leaning over Kara to place a gentle kiss on her forehead and smooth the tangles of blonde hair splayed across the pillow.

“I love you.” she whispers in Kryptonian, and some irrational part of her brain watches for Kara’s eyes to flutter or her lip to twitch or … anything, any sign that she’s going to be okay.

But none comes and she turns to the door, gratefully accepting the articles.

“Thank you, Jeffries.”

He inclines his head, gesturing to the bed.

“I’ll keep a good watch on her, I promise.”

“Thank you.” She whispers again, turning down the hall before the tears can fall from her eyes.

* - - - - - - - -

By four AM, Lexi’s stamina is flagging, and she’s scanned over the same data sheet three times - the information contained in the words escaping her tired brain.

“Lex,” Taylors whispers beside her. “Maybe you should get some rest, you’re falling asleep.”

“I’m fine.”

“Lex.”

She forces herself to blink, wincing at how dry her eyes are.

“I feel like I’m so close to a break through.” she protests, but it sounds weak, even to her.

“Come on, what did you tell me about how the brain doesn’t function as well when it’s tired? I’m sure it’ll be easier for you to figure this out once you’ve had some sleep.”

“It’s not a bad idea.“ Alex says, stretching in her seat. “We can all get some shut-eye and reconvene in a few hours.”

Lena yawns.

“I’ll sleep in the med bay, I haven’t checked on Kara in a while.”

Lexi worries her bottom lip.

“I know I need to see her, I just - I don’t know if I can.”

“It’s okay, love, she knows your here.” Lena promises, tugging her close to place a kiss on her hair. “Get some rest.”

“There’s still some training clothes in the big locker, and you know where the cots are in the storage closet.”

“Thanks, Aunt Alex. Are you coming up?”

“Nah, kiddo I think I’ll crash in my office, see if I can’t call Maggie and find out how the NCPD is dealing with the aftermath.”

“Uncle Winn?” She turns to see him passed out in his chair, a line of drool hanging from his lips.

“I’ll get him.” James laughs.

He had come in sometime after midnight, having done all he could do as Guardian for the night. Now, he scoops Winn up in a bridal style, the shorter man startling as he notices he’s six feet in the air.

“Holy geez!”

“I’ve got you, babe. Go back to sleep.”

“Is it daytime? ‘Cause it feels like daytime, but I’m so tired.” his head rolls back on James’ shoulder and the gang chuckles as they split their separate ways.

“This place is huge!” Taylor whisper shouts as they make their way through a series of twists and turns on their way to the locker room. “How do you not get lost?”

“Yeah, I spent a lot of time here as a kid.” Lexi offers, suddenly realizing that they haven’t exactly had the whole ‘Oh yeah, by the way, my mom is a superhero’ talk yet.

But if Taylor thinks it’s odd that a kid spent a lot of time in a secret government base, she doesn’t mention it.

She’s halfway through pulling on a slightly too large, non-descript t-shirt when Taylor brings it up.

“So, were you going to tell me that your mom is Supergirl? Or was I just supposed to figure that out?”

Lexi stays frozen for a few seconds, her arms still over her head, the shirt still not all the way on.

Eventually, she shakes herself, tugging the shirt down and turning to face her girlfriend.

She expects Taylor to look mad, or upset; but instead there’s a half smile on her face as she studies Lexi carefully.

“Right. Well.” She supposes there isn’t really any plausible deniability with this one, and even if there was, she isn’t sure wants to outright lie about it, not to Taylor.

So instead, she sits on the cot, pulling Taylor over to her.

“It’s just something I’ve kept a secret for so long. I mean I’ve known since I was five, and I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone. It’s just … a part of me, ya know? When you get so used to hiding something, it almost doesn’t feel like a secret.”

“You’ve never told anyone? That’s pretty impressive.”

Taking a deep breath, Lexi turns so that they’re half facing on the cot, one hand reaching up to brush the hair back that’s fallen in Taylor’s face.

“Tay?”

“Yeah?”

“My mom is Supergirl. And I call her YeYu, because that’s Kryptonian for mother, and I actually speak Kryptoninan. My aunt and uncle that work for the FBI don’t actually work for the FBI, they work for the Department of Extra-normal Operations AKA, this place.” She gestures to the cavern walls around them. “And one of my grandmas is the face of a hologram that is one of the last surviving pieces of tech from Krypton.”

“Wow… Wow. That… that explains a lot, actually.”

“Yeah?”

Taylor nods, squeezing her hand.

“Thanks for telling me your secret.”

Lexi can’t help but smile, stretching up to place a soft kiss on Taylor’s lips.

“Thanks for talking me into sleep, I think I was about to end up like Uncle Winn down there.”

“Well come on, let’s sleep then.” Taylor readjusts them so they’re laying on the cot, blanket wrapped snuggly around them. “Fresh start tomorrow.”

* - - - - - - - - - - -

The extra bed in the sunroom is comfortable, at least. Lena had seen to that years ago. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help her sleep any, and she’s up every half hour or so to stare at the vitals scrolling across the screen.

By eight, she’s given up and moved back to the chair, scrolling through documents she had downloaded about the worldkiller with one hand and clutching Kara’s with other. Every so often, her thumb will drift toward Kara’s wrist, determined to feel physical proof of the heartbeat tracing on the screen.

Her stomach growls angrily since she hasn’t eaten since breakfast the day before, and in a show of perfect timing, Lexi is walking in with a tray of coffee and a breakfast sandwich.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Lena responds automatically, thankfully accepting the coffee and food handed her way.

“Any change?”

“No, nothing of any importance. Her blood pressure leveled off, so that’s good, but not really indicative of her waking up anytime soon. Any early morning revelations?”

“Mmm, Taylor woke up all excited about ancient Sumerian runes? The connection wasn’t entirely clear to me, but she and Winn are in the control room doing some google work.”

“How’s she taking all this?”

Lexi shrugs and reaches for her glasses.

“She just … took it all in stride. Like it’s perfectly normal to find out your girlfriend’s mom is Supergirl.”

“Well, I know it’s early, but she seems like a keeper.”

“Ma!”

Lena can’t resist quirking an eyebrow.

“What? I’m just saying, she gets my stamp of approval.”

“Thanks.” Lexi says dryly. “I really appreciate the input.”

Lena finally breaks the act, chuckling as she presses a kiss to Lexi’s forehead. When she pulls back, Lexi seems lost in thought, staring at Kara’s motionless body.

“You should talk to her.” Lena presses another kiss to her hair before squeezing her shoulder and nudging her towards the bed. “I’ll be in the control room if you need me.”

Lexi nods and gives her hand a squeeze before making her way to Kara.

Lena gives one last look to her daughter and wife, her resolve strengthening.

They have to find a way out of this.

She doesn’t think her heart could take it any other way.

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lexi watches her fingers trace slowly along Kara’s cast, delaying looking at her face for as long as possible.

She’s used to the med bay, used to the sunlamps and the monitors.

But this, this is on a whole other level.

She’d seen the fight, had replayed it in her mind a thousand times on the drive over. She’d never seen a fight go down like that.

Supergirl hadn’t stood a chance.

When she finally reaches Kara’s face, she can’t hold back a gasp. Pressing a fist to her mouth, she takes in the damage. Her mother is almost unrecognizable, her face swollen and bruised.

She feels tears prick her eyes.

“Hey, YeYu.” She lets herself fall into the chair, playing with the sleeves of her DEO pullover. “I’m sorry I didn’t come visit you yesterday. It’s just hard to process …” Her hand flitters around the room. She wants to say more, but the words don’t come.

For a few long minutes the only sound is the beeping of the monitors.

Slowly, a memory comes to her mind.

Rao’s prayer of blessing for the sick.

Her grandmother had taught it to her, years ago, and she hadn’t much of a chance to use it since, but it feels fitting now.

Her voice shakes as she recites the words before falling into a steady cadence. A sense of peace washes over her as she finishes, and she would almost swear the room feels warmer.

“I love you, YeYu.” She whispers after the last verse in finished. “I’m going to fix this.”

With a final glance at her mother’s resting form, she’s gone.

* - - - - - - - -

Lexi’s missing something, she knows she is, she can feel it tingling at the edge of her subconscious like the prayer. She just needs a jolt, something to break it free.

She has to stop herself from running to the archive room, her mind set on finding the truth she knows is buried in the database.

“Hello, little one.” Alura greets her as she enters, but she takes no time for the ritual Kryptonian greetings.

“I need your help.”

“And I am here to assist you.” The hologram is maddeningly calm, and Lexi can feel her frustration rising.

“I need you to tell me how to fix this!”

“What are you trying to fix?”

Alura’s almost robotic voice has always been a comfort, but now it only grates.

“YeYu is practically dead!” She screams at the hologram. “And there’s a worldkiller on the loose just waiting for an opportunity to finish her off! I need to know how to fix it!”

Sobs wrack her body as she falls to floor in front of her grandmother’s form.

“Kara Zor-El is dead?”

Lexi thinks of her mother laid out in the med bay like she’s waiting on her own funeral.

“She will be if I don’t do something.”

“Initiating protocol 4778.” The hologram flickers off.

“What?! No! Come back! I don’t know any other way! You have to-“

The hologram flickers again and what appears this time knocks Lexi to the floor.

“YeYu?”

“Hello, little one.”

Now, instead of Alura on the dais, it’s Kara - dressed in formal Kryptonian robes of the Noble house of El.

“How?”

“If you’re seeing me, then either I am no longer of this world, or you’ve managed to bypass the overrides.” Kara’s hologram smiles. “My bet is on the latter, but if not then I am so sorry. I did not mean to leave you alone in this world, and I am sorry you have to feel the pain of loss. It is my greatest hope that you are an old woman now, and that I did not leave you too soon. I’m sure that if you are, your mother and I have already given you the conditioning pills and what I am about to tell you will not be a surprise.

“On the chance that my death was untimely, and you are in great peril, I will hurry to explain to you what is about to happen. Your mother and your Aunt Alex developed a serum, one derived from my blood and Kryptonian compounds that in small doses should prolong the life and well-being of its users. In large doses, it is highly possible that the user will develop a Kryptonian like constitution. I warn you that this serum has not been tested, and it is unclear how it will affect you. Your mother doesn’t know that I have stored this here, and I hope she never has to find out. Please, my daughter, use this with caution, and only as a last resort.

I know that we aren’t biologically related, but I don’t ever want you to think for a second that you aren’t my daughter. With or without the serum, you’re a Kryptonian, through and through.

“If you do choose to inject this serum, I can only hope that it will help you achieve the victory you seek. May Rao’s light shine upon you. El Mayarah, Little One.”

A small compartment slides open, revealing a glowing purple syringe and Lexi reaches out with shaking hands to take it.

She stares at it for a long moment.

Kryptonian constitution.

Surely that didn’t mean …

She shakes her head and turns her attention to the dais where Kara’s blue, glowing form is waiting patiently.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“The decision is yours, only you can decide if it’s worth the risk.”

* - - - - - - - - - -

“So explain this to me one more time.” Lena says, leaning her elbows on the desk.

“It was believed that ancient runes could bring about divine authority, in some cultures it was even believed that carving them into object could give them power.” Taylor explains.

“Okay, so what does that have to do with Reign?”

“Ah!” Winn interjects, "That’s when things get interesting! According to the database, Jor-El and company carved Kryptonian runes onto the DNA of worldkillers in hopes that it would lend them more power.”

“And-“ Taylor interrupts, “Since Reign is presumably Kryptonian, she should be equally matched with Supergirl. Only after what we saw last night, that doesn’t appear to be the case.”

“So-“ Winn holds up his hand. “That can only lead us to believe that Reign underwent some sort of genetic modification.”

“Yeah I’m not really well versed in gene modification, but the whole rune thing checks out.” Taylor shrugs.

“Theoretically then, rewriting her DNA could get rid of the genetic mutations and return her to a normal Kryptonian state.” Alex muses.

“L-Corp has an research lab at MIT that’s actually been working on re-writing genetic code. If we could capture this Reign character then I think we might actually have a chance to cure her. Of course that’s banking on the fact that she’s not strictly evil - that the runes are what’s making her corrupt.”

“So the hard part is capturing her.”

Winn looks in horror between them.

“I hate that you two literally just discussed re-writing DNA and the capture is going to be the hard part.”

A rumble shakes the cave.

“What was that?” Alex is instantly on her feet, hand on the gun on her thigh.

“Thunder?” Winn supplies. “Weather app says it’s raining cats and dogs out there.”

“No, we’re too far under ground for thunder.”

The next rumble brings them all to their feet, and Lena is grateful for the tactical wear that Jeffries brought her - the combat boots providing extra traction on the slick floor of the cave.

Rubble crashes to ground, and the agents around them begin to take notice, pointing their weapons towards the ceiling.

“Everybody on your toes!” Alex shouts. “Winn, get me eyes outside, I need to know what’s going on!”

“The cameras haven’t picked up anything unusual, but it’s really coming down out there! I can’t see anything!”

“What about the security system? Why hasn’t it went off?”

Winn groans, tapping frantically on his keyboard.

“The power grid is down in sector 7! For some reason the generator back up didn’t kick on!”

The rumbling continues, bringing with it an avalanche of rocks, and it isn’t long before the dust is so thick that Lena can barely make out the space in front of her.

The one saving grace of the rain is that it stifles the dust, driving it down until the dark figure that’s descended through the gaping hole in the ceiling is visible.

“Where is Supergirl?!”

* - - - - - - - - -

Clutching the syringe, Lexi makes her way towards the control room, dodging the debri as it falls. The commotion had interrupted her talk with Kara’s hologram and sent her seeking the rest of family. She’s been running for what feels like forever, and for the first time she curses the cave’s winding corridors. Gasping for breath, she skids around the corner and takes in the sight in front of her, the dread seeping into her bones, second only to the terror clutching her throat.

Reign is there, floating above a crowd of DEO agents, rain and rubble falling around her.

Taylor, Lena, and Winn are huddled behind on of desk stations, and Alex is standing in front of Reign, her favorite gun trained on the villain.

The fear that Lexi felt at first slowly builds into a white hot rage.

This- this - science experiment will NOT take everything from her, she won’t let it.

With one last look at Kara through the med bay windows, she rolls up her sleeve and uncaps the needle on the syringe before pushing it into her arm.

It burns like a fire along her veins, dancing it’s way to her heart. She feels it, when it hits, and she barely has time to make sure the last of it is in before it sends her to her knees.

She wonders briefly if she’s having a heart attack before red spots singe at the edge of her vision.

It hurts in the white static tingling of a limb that’s been asleep too long.

Her blood feels like lava, pounding in her head. She cradles it in her hands, resisting the urge to cry out.

Her nerve endings are alight with too many sensations and she reaches out for something, anything to ground her. Her hand collides with the wall, and it crumbles the solid stone. Her eyes widen, distracted from the pain by this new revelation. She pushes off the ground, further surprised when her fingers leave dents in the concrete.

Honestly, she wasn’t sure if the serum would work, much less that it would work this fast, so on her wish list of outcomes, this is pretty much at the top.

It takes her a moment to steady herself, but she’s spurred on by the sight in front of her. Her vision is blurry, and with a start she realizes that the problem is her glasses. She tosses them to the side, and starts forward, calling on every bit of poise and swagger she has, as she saunters over the wreckage. She picks up one of the heavier looking rocks, tossing it effortlessly from hand to hand.

“Reign! Or do you prefer Worldkiller?”

Every pair of eyes in the room turns towards her, and she can feel the weight of their stares.

“And who are you?” Reign mocks, her word thrown across the room like arrows.

“The last daughter of Krypton … bitch.”

* - - - - - - - - - - -

Lena watches in confused horror as Lexi hurls the rock at her nemesis, and then the horror turns to shock when it hits Reign in the chest and sends her sprawling. Lena’s elation is short lived however, when Rein rises, brushing herself off and stalking towards Lexi.

She’s even more confused when Lexi flies at the other woman colliding in mid-air before spiraling out of the make shift skylight.

It doesn’t make sense, none of this makes sense.

Lexi can’t fly, or toss boulders.

Unless…

She turns to Alex.

“We have to hurry and come up with something, I don’t know how long the serum is going to last.”

* - - - - - - -

It turns out that being a super hero is a lot harder than it looks.

It’s nice, because she can fly, but’s also kind of hard to steer, and she definitely understands why her Uncle Winn goes on so much about the aerodynamic importance of capes.

Fighting in the air is also supremely different than fighting on land, and if this is going to be a thing then she is really going to need some lessons in sky fighting.

Also super speed is cool and all, but her brain has not caught up to the concept, and every time she punches it’s like it happens in slow motion.

She thinks she’s at least decent at this, landing more blows than she takes. She doesn’t have as much experience as her opponent though, and she doesn’t have to be a battle tactician to know that this probably isn’t going to end well.

But she has to try, has to at least give the others time to figure out a way to stop this thing.

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Why do you have Kryponite, exactly?” Lena asks as she jogs after Alex into the depths of the DEO. “I thought Kal took it all.”

“He took … Almost all of it.” Alex hedges.

“But …”

Alex cuts a sharp corner and Lena has to skid stop to avoid slamming into her.

“Kara wanted me to keep some.”

“Kara? Why would Kara want you to keep Kryptonite?”

They come to a stop in front of low chest in Alex’s office, and Alex digs out a key from the chain on her neck. Lena’s eyes widen when the chest opens to reveal an array of Kryptonite bullets.

“She wanted me to make sure i had a way to stop her, in case she ever … turned evil.”

“Why wouldn’t she-”

Alex stops her with a hand on her arm.

“She didn’t want you to have to make that decision.”

There’s an unspoken promise in Alex’s brown eyes, but Lena doesn’t dwell on it, and then moment is passed and Alex is pulling down a sniper rifle off the wall.

“Come on, let’s go.”

- - -

If there’s one thing her small stature has taught her, it’s how to dodge, and she uses it to her advantage, ducking and evading like a belt winning prize fighter.

It turns out that laser vision is a lot harder to shoot straight than she thought, and she’s pretty sure that there a few thousand dollars in damage to the DEOs satellite system that wasn’t there before.

She groans. Papa J'onn is going to kill her.

If Reign doesn’t finish the job first.

Her next dodge isn’t quite far enough to the left and the wordkiller’s fist decks her in the chin and sending her spiralling into a backflip.

A part of her brain screams that that should hurt, but her new Kryptonian physiology is resilient enough that her jaw barely stings.

Unfortunately, her distraction is enough that Reign is able to lock on to her location; and by the time Lexi looks up, the dark cloaked figure is bearing down.

“Fuck.”- - - - -

Alex doesn’t trust anyone else to take the shot.

It��s not that she wants the responsibility of hitting only one of two moving targets that are fighting at super speed eighty feet in the air; it’s just …

She doesn’t have a choice.

She’s the best shot on her team, the most experienced with Kryptonite bullets, she’s the acting director of the DEO … Still doesn’t make her feel any better as she pulls the trigger.

- - - - - -

Lexi barely registers the sound of the bullet before it hits.

Reign takes a gasping breath, lines of green rippling in her skin.

The screech that follows has Lexi clamping her hands over her ears as she watches Reign tear at the mask on her face.

When Reing turns to face her, and a familiar face is in the villain’s stead.

“Aunt Sam?!”

“Lexi? I don’t know what’s happening! I -“ her body shudders, and Lexi frowns in concern.

‘Aunt Sam?”

Sam’s eyes glint orange.

* - - - - - - - -

“Ma’am?”

“What is it Jeffries?” Alex barks, never looking away from her scope.

“Supergirl’s vitals are off the charts. I think you should-“

A blue-red blur whizzes past them, almost knocking Jeffries to the ground.

Winn spins around in his desk chair.

“Was that?”

“Kara?” Lena wonders, turning to look at the now empty bed bay.

“Guys, we’ve got an incoming.” Alex gives a low warning, and every pair of eyes in the vicinity snaps to the skies.

* - - - - - - -

The next few events happen in slow motion.

The first of them is the unearthly rage that overtakes Sam, as she rushes towards Lexi, laser vision vaporizing the air between them.

The second is Lexi falling from the sky, dropping with astonishing speed, knocked out cold from the impact.

The third is Supergirl breaking the sound barrier as she tackles Reign to the ground.

* - - - - - - - -

Lena’s heart is in her throat, lungs burning for air as her boot splash in the rain soaked ground.

Alex and her agents have taken off towards the dueling supers, but Lena is running for Lexi, her still form lying face first on of the may puddles littering the ground.

It’s some sort of horrible twist of fate, she thinks; the ups and downs that her life has taken these past few days.

She falls to her knees, tugging at Lexi’s shoulders until she on her side, face ashen and grey, raindrops beading against her cheek.

“Lexi! Lexi!”

Her voice breaks as a sob threatens, but she pushes it down.

“Lexinngton Olivia Luthor-Danvers, don’t you dare die on me!”

* - - - - - - - - - -

Lexi blinks her eyes against the sunlight streaming in through the window. It’s soft in her bed, and the red sun is warm against the sheets.

Red sun.

She blinks again, pushing back the blankets as she sits up. Glancing around the room, she catches sight of the view out the window directly across from her.

It takes her breath away.

She seen holograms, as heard her mother describe it, but nothing could live up to the beauty of Argo city person.

“Good morning, Little one.” a voice greets her in Kryptonian, and she turns see Alura standing in the door way.

“Grandmother?”

“I was afraid you’d sleep the morning away.”

“Where am I?”

“Krypton.” Alura responds like it’s the most natural response in the world.

“But isn’t Krypton …” She trails off, unsure exactly of what to say next.

“Dead?” Alura supplies for her and she nods. “Yes, it is.”

Lexi takes a deep breath before her next words, hesitant to know the answer.

“Am I?”

Her grandmother smiles softly.

“That’s up to you.”

“I wasn’t aware that that’s how this worked.”

“It doesn’t, not always, but occasionally Rao grants us a chance to go back to those we love.”

“There’s a dinner tonight, for you to meet everyone Zor, Astra, Lara, and Jor - they’re all excited to meet you. If you choose to stay that is. Or just say the word and you can go back.”

Lexi takes a long look over the city. She knows without asking that this is her mother’s old room and she spends a moment taking it all in.

As beautiful as it is, she knows what her decision has to be.

She rushes to her grandmother, revels in the warm hug she receives in return.

“I want to go back.”

* - - - - - - - - - -

Lexi coughs; a painful sounding, wracking cough that doubles her over so much that she’s sitting up, rainwater gurgling out.

It’s music to Lena’s ears, and she leans over, offering soothing words of comfort as she brushes through rain soaked hair.

“Did we get her? Did we get Reign?” Lexi croaks out, hoarse voice barely audible over the rainfall.

“We did, although we’re going to have a long talk when all of this over, you’re getting grounded for at least a week.”

“Ma, you haven’t grounded me in like two years.”

“Well, don’t think I won’t start.”

Lexi laughs, before breaking down in a coughing fit

“You scared me.” Lena says abruptly.

“I’m sorry, it was the only way I saw out, I had to do something.”

She’s so earnest that Lena can’t help but smile.

“How are your powers now?”

“Actually, do you think you could help me find my glasses? I think I need them again.”

* - - - - - - - -

Kara arrives shortly after, and much to Lexi’s protest, she insists on the medical agents carrying the youngest Luthor- Danvers inside.

“YeYu, I’m fine, really, they can put me down.”

“Are you sure you’re fine? Because your mom says you almost died; and besides, you aren’t wearing your glasses! Do you remember what happened last time we let you run around without your glasses on?”

“I was ten!”

“Doesn’t matter, you still ran into a wall, and you were very traumatized.”

Luckily, it doesn’t take long for Alex to give both Kara and Lexi the green light - although she’s been given a long list of symptoms to look out for, and strict orders to let Alex know if she experiences any of them.

She wonders how freaked out they would be if they knew what had really happened to her; but she decides to keep that little detail to herself.

It feels mercifully good to shower and change into dry clothes, and even better when Taylor sinks into her arms.

“That was kinda cool when you became all super powered.”

“Yeah?”

“But I dunno, I kinda like this Lexi better.” She pulls back to tweak Lexi’s freshly returned glasses.

“Yeah?”

“Mm, the glasses are hot.”

“I’ll remember that, if I ever do the super hero gig full time, I’ll make sure that glasses are part of the ensemble.”

“I can live with that.”

* - - - - - - - - -

Since both Kara and Lexi have been quarantined to the DEO for overnight observation, they decide to make an affair of it, and at least one dish from every takeout restaurant in National City covers the table in the break room. It feels so nice to finally be able to relax, the past 24 hours wearing on them like wet denim.

It’s not long after they finish eating before Kara pulls Lexi out to the balcony.

“We should probably have a long talk, about the serum and the hologram you saw. Plus the fact that you had superpowers there for a little bit”

“I suppose we probably should.” Lexi nods. “Can it wait until tomorrow? I think it would probably be good to have a night to process things, before we lay it all out.”

“You’re probably right, we could all use a good night’s sleep.” Kara can’t hold back a grin. “And pancakes in the morning.”

“Banana pancakes?”

“Banana pancakes.” Kara confirms, smiling again as Lexi raises on her tiptoes to press a kiss against her cheek.

“Thanks YeYu.” Lexi turns to go inside, but there’s a falter in her step and Kara isn’t surprised when she stops.

“You know how when I was a kid, and you said I could tell you anything, and you’d always listen?”

“Of course, Little One. I hope you know it’s still true.”

Lexi fiddles with her glasses for a moment before turning back, tears welling in her eyes.

“I saw Argo City. It was even more beautiful than you described.”

Kara feels her heart stop in her chest, and she pulls Lexi into a bone crushing hug.

“Did you see the red sun glinting off the spires?”

“You believe me?”

Kara pulls back, brushing back the hair that’s fallen from Lexi’s braid.

“You weren’t the only one with choices to make, Little One.”

The hug Lexi gives her is strong enough to make her wonder if the serum has completely worn off.

“Let’s not tell Ma?” she hears Lexi mumble into her shoulder. “I don’t want her to worry.”

“Deal, it can be our little secret.”

“Are you two conspiring against me? I feel conspired against.” Lena asks from the doorway.

Kara doesn’t trust herself to speak, so she opens up her arms in a silent invitation, one Lena takes readily as she maneuvers into the group hug.

“I’m going to go save Taylor from Uncle Winn, I’m sure he’s talking her ear off about computers and comm systems.” Lexi says after a moment. “I think she’s probably had enough tech talk these past few days. I’ll see you guys in the morning.” She turns with a smile and Kara can’t help but think that everything is going to be alright.

“She’s a good kid.” Kara sighs as they watch Lexi walk out.

“Mm, she takes after her mom.” Lena leans over bumping their shoulders together and Kara instinctively reaches an arm around her to pull her close. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got the crap beat out of me.”

Lena turns, fingers caressing the yellowish bruise still lingering around Kara’s eye.

“Well you scared the shit out of me.”

Kara pulls Lena’s hand tighter, turning to press a kiss to her palm.

“Sorry about that.”

Green eyes search hers, and Kara can feel the weight of the moment.

“I’m sorry for being distant.” Lena finally says. “Ever since Lexi moved away, I’ve just felt lost. Everything is changing and so I just buried myself in work. I’ve been a CEO for half my life, it just feels comfortable and … time consuming. If I’m buried in paperwork, I don’t have to worry about how different things are. I didn’t mean for that to equate shutting you out.”

Kara shrugs.

“I’m not so good with change either. I feel kind of … lost. And now Supergirl has even failed.“

“Kara … “

“This whole roles changing thing sucks.” She can’t hold back a sniffle, and Lena’s thumb traces up to catch the tear that falls.

"I think we need a vacation.”

“But the merger -“

“Jess can handle the merger. And Alex says that they’ve almost figured out a treatment for Sam. James still runs most of CatCo. I can leave for a month or two.”

"What about Lexi?”

“She’ll be fine, besides, it’s not like we can’t drop by to visit at a moment’s notice. Especially now that Taylor knows about your secret identity.”

Kara winces.

“Right, how did she take that, anyway?”

“About as well as can be expected when you find out your girlfriend’s mom is a suer hero?” Lena shrugs. “She was there a lot for Lexi these past few days.”

“How is Lexi? She seems fine, but -“

“She’s stronger than she looks, stronger than me. I was on edge the whole time, but Lexi … She’s a good a kid.” Lena repeats, letting her weight sink into Kara as they look out over the city.

“Well, she takes after her mom.” Kara grins, repeating Lena’s earlier sentiment.

“Do I need to worry about two super heroes in the family?” The signature eyebrow raise is there, but Kara knows her wife well enough to see the immense amount of worry she’s trying to hide.

“We’re going to have a long talk tomorrow, but I don’t think you have anything to worry, not for a while, at least.”

“Good, I don’t think my nerves could take it. Besides, I thought we were going to wait a while before we gave her the serum?”

“To be fair, I set it up so she would only get it if I died. I didn’t know it was going to get triggered on accident.”

Lena shivers.

“Let’s not talk about the dying part.”

They’re silent for a moment, Kara’s arm squeezing her shoulders as the sinking sun twinkles off of the National City skyline.

“How are the pills?”

“Working. Alex ran some tests, and my cell aging has slowed considerably. Although I’m starving 90% of the time.”

“Good, after twenty years it’s about time you were the one with the appetite for a change.”

“Ha. I’m still sure you could beat me in a potsticker eating competition.”

“You know, I’m sure if you ever decided to market it, anti-aging pills could make you a fortune.”

“Even better, the science behind it could be used for a multitude of other cures. Cancer, joint degeneration … It could change the face of modern medicine.”

Kara’s heart swells, because this is the Lena she loves - always planning, always thinking of ways to change the world.

Conniving, in her own Luthor way.

“Then you could retire?”

“Mmm, I’ll retire when you retire, Supergirl!”

Kara chuckles.

“Fair enough.“

She can feel Lena’s eyes staring up at her but she stares forward as she asks.

“What are you staring at me for?”

“I love you, you know.”

Kara does turn then and she can’t stop her hand when it moves to Lena’s cheek, brushing soft skin before tangling in the little tufts of hair that have fallen from her messy bun. Green eyes drift close at the touch, hiding the tears that had been welling in their corners. The sunset is reflecting in her glasses, and Kara is reminded how much softer Lena look like this - without the sharp swoop of eyeliner or the jarring red of her lipstick.

She looks relaxed … happy, her combat clothes traded for a sweatpants and sweater.

Looking at her you would never think she was the CEO of two - or is it three now? - major corporations; or that she’s been dealing with the stress of being married to a superhero for twenty years.

“I love you more.”

Lena’s eyes open slowly, blinking against the setting sun, and her hands settle on Kara’s shoulders for balance as she raises on her tiptoes. Kara lets her other hand fall to Lena’s waist, pulling their bodies flush. Even after all this time, the contact makes Kara’s heart stutter, and she can hear the feeling echoed in Lena’s chest.

“You look beautiful.” She continues, tracing a soft lip with her thumb.

Lena rolls her eyes.

“I look a mess.”

“I beg to differ, Mrs. Zor-El.” That draws a smile, and Kara bends to capture it with her lips, sighing when they finally make contact.

It’s a soft dance, the ebb and flow of practiced ease as Lena’s tongue flickers along hers, the hands on her shoulders clenching and they meld even closer together, as if trying to defy the laws of the universe and become one being.

When Lena finally breaks the kiss, Kara takes pride in the slightly heavy breathing, and the way her heart thunders in her chest, jumping when Lena finally looks down to see the lights of National City swirling below them.

“I love it when you do that.” Lena breathes in wonder, wrapping her arms around Kara’s neck and Kara lets herself gaze down at the view. It’s her favorite time of day, when city is bathed in an orange red glow that reminds her of Krypton; but she knows without a doubt that the only home she needs is right here in her arms.

I'mma be real, this chapter was hard! so please let me know what you think!

#supercorp #supergirl #reign #kara danvers #lena luthor #Lexington Luthor-Danvers #Taylor the Girlfriend

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