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It was liberating, to say the least, finally being able to show Lena the Fortress of Solitude. It was like a weight was finally lifted off her shoulders, being able to finally be honest. About everything. The final parts of Kara, the last remnants of a planet long destroyed, laid bare. The liberation that she felt from being Kara Zor-El, Kryptonian and not just clumsy human reporter, around her best friend made her want to kick herself for not working up the courage to tell her sooner.
Kara couldn’t help but glance over at Lena, taking in the awestruck look on her face. She was sure she would be answering many questions soon about the technology locked inside the many rooms.
“Here we are,” Kara spoke softly as they made their way to the main console in the fortress. She could hear Lena’s heart racing, and if it wasn’t already quiet, Kara was sure the sound of Lena’s heart would’ve deafened every other sound.
Not willing to push her friend just yet, Kara went to work on the console to find the data that they so desperately needed. She could hear Lena moving around behind her, potentially taking in the rest of the fortress, but didn’t turn around to check. She trusted her.
Once the data was found and transferred to the drive that Alex had given her, Kara finally stepped away from the console only to find that Lena was no longer in the main area. She strained her hearing and could tell Lena’s still frantic heart was down one of the corridors where different types of technology were stored, mostly from Kal-El.
“Hey, Lena? I got what we needed; we can g-“
What she saw before her made her stop in her tracks, chest squeezing uncomfortably. Lena was holding the Phantom Zone projector, pointing it directly at Kara.
“Supergirl.”
It was hard to breathe. There was a haunting sort of coldness unfolding in Lena’s eyes, apt her to be holding the projector, able to send her to the cold expanse of absolutely nothing. It was nothing like how Kara remembered her looking at her, usually so full of warmth and pure adoration.
“Do you think you could put that down? That’s one of the more dangerous piece-“ Kara was cut off once again by Lena calling her by her moniker. She never hated that name more than she did in that moment.
“Supergirl. That’s what you want to be called, right? The Girl of Steel,” Lena sneered, voice as cold as her eyes. Kara wasn’t sure if she was supposed to speak, so she waited instead, eyeing the projector warily. She couldn’t remember if this was what technology Kal was trying to tell her was faulty or not.
“I suppose it was easy to fool you,” Lena mused. “Made you think that I was fine being the last person out of our friends to know your secret. Even when you claimed for years that we were best friends. Even when I told you the darkest parts of myself, my own secrets.”
“But we are best friends!” Kara couldn’t help but exclaim. All she got in response was a scoff. Her hands tightened on the projector, turning her knuckles white. It seemed that Lena was struggling to control herself to not throw it directly throw it at Kara, or Rao forbid, attempt to turn it on. Kara prayed that she wouldn’t try to turn it on.
“I suppose it was easy to fool you just as it was as easy for you to fool me for all those years,” Lena murmured, more to herself than to Kara.
Kara raised her hands slowly, but didn’t attempt to make any move forward. “I was only trying to protect you, Lena.”
“Protect me? Please, Supergirl. No more lies. Don’t try to tell me it was anything more than me being a Luthor. And if it’s a Luthor you want, it’s a Luthor you’ll get.”
Fear raced through Kara’s veins at those words. Not the Phantom Zone. Not again. She would not go back there again. Lena wouldn’t actually go through with it, right? This was Lena. Her Lena. Doubt still crept in despite her thoughts, and Kara knew it showed on her face by the way that Lena’s face hardened even further. Kara didn’t mean it. She just couldn’t go back there, not again.
Despite her doubt, Kara refused to use her powers on Lena. She wouldn’t hurt the woman that she lov- her best friend. Instead, she used her super speed to move out of the room, away from the line of sight of the projector. No whirring of the projector turning on came. Instead, all there was was a flash of purple, and deadly silence. There was no longer that familiar heartbeat racing in her ears, only the sound of her own ragged breathing.
Stepping back towards the room, Kara could see that everything was where it was meant to be. The projector was back on its stand, seemingly untouched.
Lena was gone.
It was hours later when Alex arrived to the fortress with Brainy beside her. Kara could vaguely remember her sister attempting to contact her through her comms, but she had quickly yanked out her earpiece and thrown it against the wall, shattering it into tiny pieces, just like her heart. Her knees were cold, the ice finally seeping through her suit after the hours spent kneeling in front of the projector where Lena once stood. There was a weariness in her bones that she had never felt before. The anger that she had seen on Lena’s face was etched into her mind, likely to haunt her for the rest of her impossibly long life on Earth. Long after everyone else in her family had left her.
“Kara? What happened? Where’s Lena?” Alex asked, placing a hand tentatively on her shoulder.
Kara let her head hang forward in shame, moving away from the comforting touch of Alex. She didn’t deserve comfort.
“Gone, Alex. She’s gone and she’s not coming back.”