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At first, Kara doesn't believe what she's hearing.
"-take down people like you,"
"Says the paperboy,"
What is going on? She listens intently to the coversation halfway across town, recognizes one of the voices as William. And the other...
"I'll take my leave,"
"Kara, what's wrong?" J'onn asks before she can recognize it. Of course he noticed. Before she knows it, Alex is at her side as well.
"Are you okay?" she asks. For a moment, Kara is brought back to what's going on in front of her. She loses her concentration on William as she hesitates, thinking of an answer.
"Um, I'm fine, it's just-" Before she can make an excuse, Kara is cut off by the unmistakeable sound of gunshots. She gasps, knowing exactly what it means.
"What happened?" she hears, not sure who says it. She's already on her way out.
"It's William," Kara says. "He's in trouble," she explains briefly, not wasting a single moment as she takes off in the direction of the Tower.
When she arrives, the first thing she sees is him, lying on the floor.
"Oh my god," Kara says under her breath, speeding to his side. Now that she's closer, she can see the red stains on his shirt. "Will!"
"You're here," He looks up, with a pained yet relieved expression. "Sorry to- to bother you, but I think- I think I've been-" William tries to explain.
"There's no time to talk," Kara says before he can protest. She doesn't need him to explain, anyways. "You've lost a lot of blood. I-I'm taking you to a hospital, now," She picks him up bridal-style, mind too focused on getting him to safety to think about the implications.
"I saw you with Kara earlier, what happened?" Kelly asks. Back at the party, no one else is aware of what's going on. "Is she okay?"
Alex is unsure of how to respond. "Something came up," she settles on.
"Oh," Kelly reads between the lines, immediately knowing what that means. "Should we- I mean, does she need any of us?"
"I don't know," Alex says. To be fair, it's the truth. Aside from the fact that it has something to do with William, she has no idea why Kara left. "But for now, just... stay here and enjoy yourself, okay? I'll let you know if that changes," she says.
She heads over to a quieter place, taking out her phone. She sends a quick text.
Hey
What's going on?
You left really suddenly and I'm worried abt you
She knows how much he means to Kara. Of course, she's worried about him, too.
He's in the hospital rn
Idk what happened but he got shot
Her eyes widen.
What!?
Kara stares at the text from Alex. How do I even respond to that? she thinks.
It hadn't been that hard to get William the medical attention he needed. After all, it wasn't easy to ignore Supergirl herself, carrying him into the building and begging for someone to help.
Now, she's alone in the waiting room, hands shaking as she struggles to type.
I know
At least he's stable for now
Sorry for ditching you at the party
In reality, it was one of the last things on Kara's mind, she realizes, the guilt sinking in.
As bad as she feels, Kara feels even more guilty about not noticing something was up sooner. Why didn't I get there before it happened? Why did I wait until he was shot to get to him?
What kind of hero am I if I can't even save the man I love?
Wait, did I really just think that?
She doesn't dwell on her thoughts for long before her phone buzzes again.
Don't worry about it
Saving lives always comes first :)
Is William safe now? Do you need the rest of us to come over?
Before she can respond, she notices another person with her.
"Supergirl?" Kara looks up suddenly at the mention of her codename.
"Yes?"
"The patient is awake," the nurse explains, opening the door. "He's been... asking for you," she explains, before leaving the two of them alone.
Kara walks in, closing the door for privacy. Her eyes immediately land on William. He looks... better, somewhat. He's been changed into a hospital gown, and his wounds have been bandaged.
For a moment, neither of them know what to say, so Kara speaks up first.
"How are you feeling?" she asks, mentally slapping herself. He literally just got shot, what do you think? Her inner voice responds. "I mean, aside from the fact that, you know,"
"I'm..." William tries to reply, wincing. "The doctors said I'll be fine. The bullets didn't hit any major organs, luckily," he smiles, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, very luckily," Kara replies, trying not to roll her eyes. Then she continues in a more serious tone. "Who did this to you?"
"You might want to sit down for this one," William says, smile fading. He doesn't say any more until Kara does so. "It was Lex. He saw the news, about how his... love letters were published. Of course, since I was framed for that..."
He continues to tell the story, talking about how Lex and Nxyly broke into the Tower and disabled the security systems.
"And then what happened?" Kara questions further.
"Well, I told Esme to hide, way before all that, just so you know," William adds. "He wanted to know where she was, for some reason. Of course, I didn't tell him, and, well... I paid the price," he explains, glancing at himself.
There's another moment of silence before Kara starts talking again.
"Hey, don't feel bad," she says. "You did the right thing. You saved Esme. You were a hero today," She puts her hand on his shoulder, to further emphasize her approval.
"Was I, now?" William asks, unsure if he heard right.
"Of course," Kara replies. William is almost certain he hears "Unlike me..." after that.
"Excuse me?" he says. "If I recall correctly, you were the one who saved my life,"
"But I should've gotten there sooner," Kara points out. "I heard part of your conversation, but I got distracted and didn't know what was going on until- until it was too late,"
"Hey, the point is, you still arrived in time to save me," William is quick to reassure her. "And I didn't get to say this before, but... thank you. For doing what you did," He thinks for a moment, trying to find the right words.
"I should get back. The others are probably wondering what happened," Kara says, standing up to leave. She types something on her phone as she heads towards the door.
"Wait," William says. She doesn't notice. Before he knows it, he's calling her name. "Kara!"
One that he, as he belatedly realizes, isn't supposed to know.
"What was that?" she turns around. Fortunately, she doesn't sound angry, only shocked.
"I'm- I know who you are," William confesses. "Sorry. This isn't how I wanted to tell you, but I just wanted you to know, before you left. I had a feeling, when you came back to CatCo a while ago. You and Supergirl went missing at around the same time, and returned at the same time as well,"
"Go on," Kara says, her voice curious. She returns to his bedside.
"Things just kept adding up. And then... when you saw me at the Tower..." he hesitates, whether due to pain or just nervousness, he isn't sure. "You called me 'Will',"
Oh.
Neither of them know how to respond.
"No, I should be sorry," Kara finally answers. "I didn't want you to find out this way, and I swear, I was planning to, but then... things happened, and we broke up," She sighs, blinking back tears.
"I thought you were supposed to be comforting me," William smiles, noticing the irony of the situation.
"I know," Kara laughs despite herself. She wipes her eyes before continuing. "Hey, before I go, and while we're at it, I just wanted to say..." The words are harder to say than she remembers. But for the first time that night, she knows they're the ones she means.
"Whatever it is, you can trust me," William reassures her.
"I just wanted you to know," Kara repeats, more confidently. "Even after everything, I still have feelings for you. It doesn't make sense, and I don't know why, but I know I do,"
"Hey," He notices her expression, thankfully. "If it matters, so do I. I didn't mean to hurt you, with what I said that day. When I first had that... suspicion, of who you were, I made up a story to get you away from me,"
"So- you weren't seeing someone else? All of that- was a lie?" Kara realizes. "But why?"
"Well, for starters, I didn't want to be a burden," William explains. "I didn't want to hold you back, stop you from saving the world, with me around. I thought you didn't need me,"
"That explains a lot," Kara says. "But just so we're clear, you will never be a burden to me. You never were. And I do need you, so don't worry about that,"
"Well, that's a relief," William replies before continuing. "Trust me, I... the whole lying to you? It hurt," he admits.
"The point is, we don't have to hide anymore, so it'll be okay," Kara reassures him. "But I need to know one more thing. Does that mean you still have feelings for me?" she asks, uncertainly.
"I always have," he answers simply. "I still love you, as much as I did the day we met. I was just too afraid of showing it, I guess. I... hope you can forgive me,"
"Of course I do," Kara replies. "So, what are we now? I mean, we don't have to figure it all out today, but-"
"This... what happened wasn't the end, you know? We love each other, and even though... all this isn't over, neither are we. I know we can make this work," William assures her.
"And we will," Kara agrees.
"Wait," William says. A look of realization crosses his face.
"What is it?" she asks. The change in mood is so sudden, Kara can almost feel it.
"I was so caught up in the moment, I know I shouldn't have- I was going to tell you, I think they-" William tries to catch his breath. "I think they took Esme,"
As if on cue, the rest of the team bursts into the room.
"Hey, I got your text," Alex says.
"I'm so sorry, I was so focused on William that I forgot about everything else," Kara replies, turning to face her. "I know it sounds bad, but..." she continues, trying to comfort her as she hears the news.
"That's not all," Kelly explains the rest, something about blood tests and 5th dimension energy and the love totem.
It's a lot to take in, and nothing is certain, but Kara knows one thing for sure:
"We'll get your daughter back. I promise,"