Well . . . it's amazing how fast I can get a chapter written when the inspiration suddenly strikes, huh?

Hello, everyone! Yes, I am still alive, and yes, I am still very invested in this series. I know it took me a long time to get back to this, and a hell of a lot has happened since I last updated, but I am very pleased with the content I get to give you to kick off 2025. When I say I want to give you the best quality chapters I can, I mean it, and hopefully this proves that saying true.

The Justice League faces Reign and the priestesses, and in the aftermath, Kara has to make a massive choice.

Enjoy!

***

Reign screamed and charged forward, raising the Sword of Juru high. Oliver raised his bow and fired, his arrow and Malcolm's hitting the sword at the same time as one of Slade's bullets. The three combined was enough to knock the sword from Reign's hand, but the Worldkiller merely snarled and threw a punch at Kara. Kara narrowly ducked the punch, and Reign's fist met one of pure steel. "This is for last Christmas," Nate scowled, aiming a punch in return at Reign's head.

Gold lightning whizzed by them, and Ayala grunted when she was tossed end over end into the wall. Ralph was there at once, elongating his arms and winding them around Ayala. Ayala struggled, her hands pinned behind her back, and Cisco grinned wildly. "Take that!" he whooped gleefully as Barry and Wally started running in circles around the Fortress then lunged in unison to deliver the knockout blow.

"Now!" Mon-El yelled.

Oliver turned in time to see Firestorm, Palmer, and Nora fire at the same time, knocking Vita off her feet. Amaya lunged, the spirits of an elephant and a dinosaur appearing behind her, and pinned the Kryptonian to the ground, a sneer on her face. J'onn joined them and snapped a pair of glowing green cuffs onto Vita's wrists, and the woman groaned. "What is this devilry?" she demanded.

J'onn smirked. "A little piece of home."

Malcolm nocked a Kryptonite arrow in his bow, surveying the scene around him. Barry was standing over Ayala and nursing his knuckles, and Zari had one foot planted on Vita's back. Both priestesses were in Kryptonite cuffs, so Malcolm turned his attention to the leader of the priestesses. Alura had flown straight for Selena, and there was no finesse in the way the two women fought. It was an ugly fight, each one working to get the upper hand, the zealous priestess snarling at the enraged mother.

When one of Selena's punches aimed for Alura's throat, however, a blur of blue and red intercepted her. Selena faltered in shock and stared into blue eyes that burned with anger. "I don't think so," Clark growled.

"Kal-El?" Selena sputtered.

Clark shoved Selena's fist away from him with a sneer. "You are never hurting my family again!" he declared.

Selena shrieked in fury, her eyes wild as she swung for Clark's head. This time, it was Alura who intercepted the priestess, and with a snarl of her own, she grabbed Selena's arm and threw her as hard as she could into the wall. Selena collapsed to the ground amid falling rock, and Terrill quickly landed, snapping Kryptonite cuffs onto her. Clark panted and looked at Alura with a grin. "Nice job."

"Watch your head!" Slade shouted.

Clark and Alura turned in time to see Kara duck and avoid the sword Reign had recovered. Before Reign could swing again, Kara grabbed her and propelled herself into the air, the two Kryptonians rocketing through the roof of the fortress. "Damn it," Malcolm gritted his teeth.

"Firestorm!" Oliver shouted. "Atom! Terrill!"

The trio immediately soared after the Kryptonians, and Palmer yelped and rolled through the air to avoid being hit. "Found them!" he called unnecessarily.

Firestorm hovered in the air, white eyes watching Kara struggle to get the upper hand on Reign. "How do we help without hurting Kara?" Jax asked, biting his lip worriedly.

"I don't know," Lily admitted.

Terrill flew around the cruiser, and his eyes widened when he saw the state of Kara. "Guys, Reign has her in a chokehold!"

"Can you get her out of it?" Thea demanded.

"We can try," Palmer replied, taking a deep breath and aiming for the Kryptonians.

Terrill abruptly flew out of the way as the pair slammed into the cruiser, and Imra yelped over the comms. "I can't hold the forcefield!"

"Jax, look out!" Lily cried.

Jax responded immediately to his partner's warning, and he dove back into the fortress as Reign flung Kara away from her. "Get clear!" he yelled. "Get clear!"

The warning came just in time, and Oliver and Slade sprinted away from the cauldron just before Kara hit the ground. Reign landed behind her and snarled, reaching out to resume her chokehold on the blonde. Laurel and Dinah screamed in unison, aiming for Reign's head, but the Worldkiller countered with a scream of her own. Hers was powerful enough to fling Laurel and Dinah away from her, and Oliver groaned in pain, reaching up to cover his ears as he was forced to his knees. He could dimly hear the cries of the others around him, even Clark, Alura, and Mon-El unable to stand because of Reign's power.

"You cannot win," Reign growled, and Kara weakly gasped for breath, clawing at the arm around her neck. "There is no prison you can build that can contain me. There is no one on this planet of equal power that can kill me!"

"That's what you think."

Kara's eyes bugged open at the coldness that lacked Reign's reverberating speech, then Reign's gasp echoed in her ear. The grip around her neck loosened, and Kara collapsed to the ground, greedily inhaling oxygen. Reign growled animalistically behind her, and Kara turned in time to see her punch Sam, throwing the woman across the room, the Sword of Juru clattering to the ground. Sam didn't move, but her chest still rose. She was still alive.

Reign sneered and rose to her feet, her eyes dangerously glowing as she turned to Sam. Kara rose to her knees, gritting her teeth and looking from Reign to her friends and family. Clark was still hunched over on the ground, a pained look on his face as he shook his head in an attempt to clear the ringing. Amaya and Nate were feebly stirring, Barry and Zari hovering over them protectively. Malcolm and Slade had backed up to Laurel and Dinah, the two metahumans curled in on themselves, Dinah looking ready to faint, Slade's grip on her arm all that kept her grounded. Alura crouched by Clark, hovering by her nephew's side, and Mon-El had reached Oliver, the archer still curled into a crouch, his grip on his bow so tight, Kara could hear the leather of his gauntlets creaking.

Fury roared to life in her heart, and she growled, surging to her feet and spinning to face Reign. These were her friends, her family. They had all suffered enough at the Worldkiller's hands, and by her life or her death, they were not going to suffer again. This was going to end, and if it was to be by her hand, then so be it.

Her fist connected with Reign's chest, putting all of her rage into the hit. It was enough to send Reign flying, and she landed in the cauldron that would lead to the center of the Earth. Reign screamed in pain, thrashing as she tried to escape, but she sunk further into the cauldron. Kara panted heavily, hearing Palmer and Terrill return to the fortress, but her eyes were on Reign, intent on watching her nemesis succumb.

She never expected Reign to let out a primal scream, her heat vision shooting uncontrollably from her eyes. Kara flung herself back to the ground, heat vision narrowly missing her, and she could only watch in horror when Sam's chest was pierced by the heat vision. She had to duck to avoid being hit again, and this time, all she could hear were the horrified and panicked cries from the rest of the heroes behind her. She could hear frantic calls in her ear from those still in National City, everyone trying to speak over each other and make their voices heard, and Kara closed her eyes, the sounds threatening to deafen her. Reign's screams abruptly silenced, and for a moment, all Kara heard was her own heartbeat thudding in her ears.

Jax screamed.

It was pure fear, pure pain, pure agony, and it made Kara claw her way to the cauldron, using it for support as she got to her feet. When she turned, she gasped, shock almost dropping her to her knees again. Jax was the closest to her, and it was Jax, not Firestorm, for the young man was on his knees, cradling Lily to his chest, and he sobbed uncontrollably, begs and pleas spilling from his lips, but it was all for naught. Lily was limp in his arms, her eyes shut, and she wasn't breathing.

Neither, Kara realized with mounting horror as she looked around the fortress, were Amaya, Nora, and Terrill. Neither, she realized, were Sam and Mon-El, J'onn standing among them with a dazed expression.

And neither, Kara realized with her heart in her throat, were Oliver, Barry, Clark, Alura, Slade, and Laurel. Cisco's tortured cry of realization made her flinch, and as Cisco scrambled to reach Barry, Wally frozen where he had landed by Mon-El, Kara flung herself to Oliver, scrambling to remove his hood. "No," she stammered, trembling fingers seeking where she knew Oliver's pulse had to be located. "No, no, no!"

"Supergirl?" Felicity's voice was deathly hushed.

"Someone answer us!" Harry demanded.

"Oh, my God," Dinah collapsed on the ground, both hands covering her mouth as she looked around at the devastation.

Kara wailed and buried her face in her hands, barely able to hear Malcolm's own scream of anguish as he clutched Laurel's body to him. "Supergirl!" Sara shouted in panic. "Someone, tell us what's going on!"

Blue flames licked Jax's skin, but still he clung to Lily, his words jumbled as he called for her to wake up. "No, no, no," Palmer shook his head, looking around with wild eyes, one hand reaching for a frozen Nate for some kind of support. "How – how did this happen?"

"What happened?" Thea asked.

"Guys, come on!" Winn urged. "We need some help here! What happened?"

"We lost," J'onn whispered, the only one seemingly able to answer their teams as he bowed his head, one hand resting on Clark's still chest, the other settling on Mon-El's. "We won . . . then we lost."

The comms went utterly silent, then Lucy asked the question no one else dared. "Who?"

Zari swallowed hard, looking down at Nora, who looked up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. "Who didn't we lose?"

Pandemonium erupted over the comms, and Kara shook her head, her fingers clutching the Kevlar of Oliver's suit so much that she thought it would tear. They had come all this way, gone through so much, to end the monster that had haunted her for months. Everyone had come from Earth-1, even from Earth-X, to help her end this threat . . . and while Reign had fallen, the Worldkiller had scored one final victory against them. Friends lay dead around her, family lay dead around her, and now she slumped in defeat over the cooling body of her fiancé. Her gaze roamed to where her mother lay utterly still, to where Clark, her strong, beloved cousin, lay with unseeing eyes aimed at the sky . . . to where Mon-El lay at J'onn's feet, his Legion ring winking at her. She shot up from where she rested on Oliver's chest, and she frantically looked around. "The Harun-El," she gasped. "Where's the Harun-El?"

"Here!" Cisco pounced, finding the rock by Barry's side.

Kara snatched it from him, cradling it to her chest like it was the most precious thing in existence, and she yanked Mon-El's ring from his finger. "Alex!" she shouted. "I need you to find me a disruption!"

"A disruption?" Alex repeated.

Kara nodded, barely able to get Mon-El's ring on her finger because of how her hands shook. "I need to go back in time," she explained. "Like the Legion."

"You can't breathe in space!" Winn protested.

"I'm wearing Mon-El's ring, I can breathe with it on," Kara said breathlessly, pacing back and forth anxiously. "If I can turn back time, I could use the electricity in the Harun-El to take us to the Fountain of Lilith."

"OK," Winn stammered. "But it disrupts . . . the pressure alone is gonna crush you!"

"Kara, time travel – " Sara began.

"Oliver is dead!" Kara yelled, making J'onn flinch. "My mom, my cousin, my brother, and my sister are dead at my feet, Sara, so don't you dare lecture me about time travel right now! All of you risked everything to come and help me, and you paid with your lives! Do you want me to tell you which members of your team are dead, Sara? Huh? Do you want to be the one to go back to Central City and tell Iris she's now a widow? That Leo is a widower? That Ruby and William are orphans? Go on, Sara. Tell me."

Stunned silence fell over the comms, and all Kara could hear was her own panting. "Barry?" Harry whispered in horror.

"Kara," Thea whimpered. "Your brother . . . does that mean – ?"

"Slade," Kara said hoarsely. "Malcolm is alive. Slade and Laurel aren't."

"Oh, my God," Alex's voice broke.

"If this is the price for killing Reign, it's one I don't want to pay," Kara said fiercely, her hand curling into a fist around Mon-El's ring. "Find me a disruption, now."

"Do it, guys." Jax's voice was devoid of emotion, and Kara turned to see the lone survivor of Firestorm look at her, his face twisted in pain and fury as blue flames filled his eyes. "Find her a disruption. I don't care what it takes. I want Lily back."

"Go, Kara." Malcolm's voice was unrecognizable, and when she looked at her brother, the man's lips were curled into a murderous sneer, Laurel lying limp in his arms. For the first time, she was looking at the man who was willing to bathe in the blood of hundreds if it meant vengeance for his wife. "I won't survive losing the woman I love. Not again."

"Kara." Sara's voice was quiet. "We have a disruption. Save our team."

Kara let out her breath in a rush. "Thank you, Sara."

"Thank me by getting everyone back."

Kara nodded and carefully knelt by Oliver's side again, tears filling her eyes as she looked at her beloved. Oliver was not supposed to look so pale, so still, yet here he was, dead because of a choice she had made. She had agreed to do whatever it took to stop Reign, even if it meant killing her . . . but in what world was killing Reign worth the death of the man she loved, who had been the one to end the pain that had entangled her heart for so long, who showed her that her human heart was a good thing?

No. Killing Reign was not worth the death of any of her family.

She gently kissed Oliver's forehead and took a deep breath. "I'll see you soon," she promised, then she bent her knees and propelled herself up and into the sky, soaring into space.

"It should be right above you." Felicity's voice wavered, the techie still trying to sound strong even as Kara felt seconds from her heart breaking into two. "Kara . . . please make this work."

"There is nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Oliver's words before the Earth-X invasion rang in Kara's head, and she closed her eyes as she flew through the breach. "I'll make it work," she vowed, gritting her teeth as she forced her way through the pressure of the disruption.

Then familiar pressure around her neck made her eyes open, and she gasped, her hand clenching Reign's arm. "You cannot win," the Worldkiller growled, and Kara's eyes widened, hardly daring to believe it had worked until she saw Slade and Laurel watching in horror and Oliver with his bow raised, arrow aimed at Reign. "There is no prison you can build that can contain me. There is no one on this planet of equal power that can kill me!"

"That's what you think!" Sam snapped, storming forward and raising the Sword of Juru high.

"No!" Kara yelled, holding up her hand. Sam stopped in her tracks, looking at Kara in confusion, and Kara quickly grabbed Reign's arm, putting all of her desperation into flipping the Worldkiller over her shoulder. Reign landed with a thud, and Kara forced her to open her fist, using her other hand to pin Reign to the ground. "Give me the Harun-El!" she ordered.

Barry – oh, thank God, Barry was alive – zoomed past a stunned Mon-El to grab the rock. "Here!"

Kara grimaced when it was placed in her hand. "Shock us again in five minutes," she ordered, forcing Reign to curl her fingers around the Harun-El. "Sam, now!"

Sam lurched forward, grabbing the Harun-El as well. Reality flickered around them, then all three women crashed to the ground. Kara recognized where they were at once, and a vicious grin split Sam's face as she got to her feet. "Welcome home," she sneered at Reign, storming towards the Worldkiller. "This one's for Ruby!" Her punch catapulted Reign through the air, and as much as Kara wanted to throw her own punch, she was content to watch Sam prowl after her evil doppelgänger. "This one's for Patricia!" Reign's breath left her in a rush when she was slammed onto the ground, and Sam growled, grabbing her by the throat. "This one . . . this one's for me."

She threw Reign to the foot of the fountains, and she dipped a stone bowl into the waters of one. She dribbled it over Reign's mouth, forcing her to drink, and Reign screamed, smoke and sparks billowing off her. Sam stumbled back to reach Kara, her hand fumbling for the blonde's. Kara gripped her hand in return, satisfaction rippling through her as Reign looked at her hands in horror. "What have you done to me?" she demanded.

Kara merely smiled, watching the Kryptonian demons swirl around Reign, their whispers hissing in the air. "How does it feel to be pathetic, you evil bitch?" she taunted.

Reign attempted her sonic scream, but she was completely powerless as the demons swarmed. Kara watched with a pleased smirk as Reign was surrounded, and Sam exhaled as the Worldkiller vanished. "It's over?" she asked hopefully.

The Dark Valley vanished around them, and Kara jolted upright from where she had fallen on the ground. "Supergirl?" Barry asked worriedly, pulling the Harun-El away from her.

Kara frantically looked around, searching for Firestorm, and she found concerned white eyes staring back at her. Then she found the pair of eyes she desperately wanted to see, and she choked on a sob, flying into Oliver's chest. The archer grunted in discomfort, but he quickly dropped his bow so he could wrap his arms around her. "She's gone," Kara gasped, burying her nose in Oliver's neck. "It's over?"

"Yeah, angel," Oliver nodded, exchanging concerned looks with J'onn and Clark as he held Kara tightly. "It's over."

Kara sobbed in relief, unable to do anything other than hold Oliver tight. The archer winced in pain, but as he ran a gloved hand over Kara's hair, he felt how much she trembled. "Supergirl?" Alex asked. "Green Arrow? Did Sam get there?"

"Yeah," Oliver nodded, glancing at Sam as she was helped to her feet by Laurel and Dinah. "She got here." He exhaled and pressed his lips to the top of Kara's head, frowning when he felt her shudder. "Reign is gone. It's over."

Cheers erupted over the comms, and Kara giggled wetly. "So, wait," Palmer looked around in confusion. "Are we doing a group hug? Because I could use a group hug after all that."

Kara's giggles increased. "I could use a group hug."

"Alright, if Supergirl says she needs a group hug, we're doing a group hug," Cisco declared. "C'mon, everyone."

Despite the loud protests of some members of the team, Oliver couldn't help but laugh as their team surrounded them. "This is where Thea would say 'ding dong, the witch is dead.'"

"I can still say it, if you'd like," Thea chirped happily over the comms.

"Don't you dare," Mick growled.

It just made Kara laugh harder, and Oliver smiled, cupping Kara's face with both hands. "Three down," he told her.

Kara smiled brilliantly, reaching up to kiss him. "One more to go."

***

Ruby's delighted squeal upon their return made Kara, Clark, and Alura wince, but those winces turned into smiles when the teenager leapt into her mother's arms. Sam's laughter rang like bells as she spun her daughter around, then two more teenagers sprinted up the stairs. Oliver and Kara, who still hadn't let go of each other despite Oliver insisting to Kara that he was fine, braced themselves and let William and Evelyn crash into them. "You did it!" William cheered. "Reign is gone!"

"And Sam is still here!" Evelyn whooped.

"Who has champagne?" Cisco held out his arms, looking around expectantly. "We earned it!"

"Oh, I will gladly find some," Winn grinned. "We're three for three on the Worldkillers!"

The chorus of excited cheers began again, and Sara grinned as she hurried up to Oliver, Kara, and Barry. "I just wish I had been there to see it," she declared.

"We still don't know how Sam did it," Barry admitted. "Kara did something with the Harun-El, and next thing we knew, Reign had vanished."

"The Fountain of Lilith," Kara explained. "Sam drank from one well to gain the strength to face Reign. She forced Reign to drink water from the well that took her powers away. Reign was done for the moment the water hit her lips."

"Good," Sara smirked in satisfaction. "It couldn't have happened to a nicer Worldkiller."

Barry hummed, tilting his head side to side. "I think that may be an oxymoron."

"A nice Worldkiller?"

"I guess it depends on the world."

Oliver chuckled, watching Barry and Sara debate as they walked to join the rest of the teams. Someone had indeed pulled a champagne bottle from somewhere, and Curtis and Leo were distributing glasses. "All I care about is knowing those Worldkillers will never hurt a soul again."

"Yeah," Kara forced a smile on her face. "Never again."

Oliver frowned, noting the tenseness. "You OK?"

"I will be," Kara nodded. "Just . . . give me a minute?"

"Sure," Oliver nodded, rubbing her back.

Kara gave him a quick smile then abruptly turned and walked out onto the balcony. Oliver watched her with a concerned frown, then footsteps approached from behind him. "Hey," Clark greeted, stopping by Oliver's side. "Everything good?"

Oliver sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I don't know," he admitted. He knew his fiancée well enough by now that he recognized she was upset even when she faced away from him. "I thought that with Reign gone, she would be feeling better."

Clark hummed thoughtfully. "Mind if I have a go?"

"Please," Oliver nodded, stepping towards the gathering of heroes on the main floor. "Thanks."

Clark nodded, and as he walked up the steps towards the balcony, Oliver continued to join the rest of the team.

***

The sounds of National City, from conversations to vehicles to sirens, swirled through the air, and Kara inaudibly sighed, closing her eyes and tilting her head to let the sounds wash over her. She would take this noise every day over the week over the deathly silence that had hung over the Worldkillers' fortress after Reign had killed –

She flinched and lowered her head, taking a deep breath. No, she was not going to think that. That event was gone, erased from time because of her actions.

"You did it, Kara." Kara's eyes flew open as she turned, and she watched Clark walk up to her with a smile on his face. "You ended Reign's . . . well, reign."

"That was all Sam," Kara shook her head. "All I did was help get her to the Fountain of Lilith."

"You went head to head with the same Kryptonian that almost killed you last Christmas," Clark reminded her, stopping by her side to lean against the railing with her. "You didn't falter once. That takes an enormous amount of strength. You didn't lose a step, Kara. You won, and you did it flawlessly. I don't know what you could've done differently." Kara averted her gaze from her cousin, though she was able to feel his eyes on her. "So why do you look like you lost?" Clark asked quietly.

"We won . . . then we lost."

Kara violently flinched at the memory of J'onn's words, and she let out her breath in a rush. "We did lose, Clark," she whispered. "We lost the first time we faced Reign."

Clark blinked. "The first?" he repeated. "Kara, what do you mean?"

"I took Mon-El's ring and had the team here find a disruption for me to fly through," Kara replied, staring down at her clasped hands. "Because the first time we faced Reign . . . " She whimpered and buried her face in her hands. "It was horrible, Clark," she choked out, mentally cursing when her voice broke. "Sam stabbed Reign and I threw her into the cauldron, but before she died . . . her last action . . . "

She didn't see Clark move, but she felt him press against her side, one arm wrapping around her shoulders. "Talk to me, Kara," he urged. "What happened?"

"Her heat vision," Kara whimpered. "It was out of control. I had to duck to avoid being hit, and when I came back, I heard nothing . . . then Jax . . . " She swallowed hard. "Lily forced the separation. That's all I can think of that happened, because Jax was unharmed, and Lily was . . . she was . . . " A knot formed in her throat, and she closed her eyes. "And it wasn't just Lily. Clark, the number of you who were dead on the ground . . . "

"Was I one of them?"

"Yes." Kara's voice was so quiet, she had no doubt only Clark's super hearing let him hear her voice. "You. Mom. Barry. Slade. Laurel. Oliver."

"God, Kara," Clark breathed, tugging Kara to his chest so he could hug her tightly. "I'm so sorry."

"I saw the price of killing Reign, and I didn't want to pay it," Kara cried, leaning into Clark's strength. "I couldn't, Kal. How could I when it meant losing everyone I love? I know what changing a moment like that could do, Barry and Sara dealt with the consequences of their actions for months . . . but Rao, I can still hear Jax and Malcolm if my mind drifts for too long. When I started listing everyone who was dead, no one cared about the consequences."

"Because they just wanted their friends and family back." There was no question in Clark's tone, just fact. "That's exactly what I would have said." Kara sagged into his arms, realizing those were the words she needed to hear. "You saved us, Kara, even if the event technically didn't happen. You did the right thing, and we all walked out of that fortress alive and well. Focus on that, cousin."

Kara forced herself to even out her breaths, leaning against Clark. Her cousin, such a pillar of strength and love, merely tightened his arms around her, holding her as long as she needed. Her head rested against his chest, and his pulse pounded in her ear, a steady drum that settled her with every beat of his heart. She closed her eyes and exhaled, winding her arms around Clark's waist. "Thank you," she whispered. "I needed to hear that."

Clark lowered his head and kissed her temple, running a hand through her blonde tresses. "Whatever you need, I'm here for you," he promised. "And if someone tries to argue with what you did, I will gladly throw them into the Phantom Zone for you."

Kara snorted and giggled. "You don't need to do that, but thank you for offering."

"What else is family for?" Clark smiled, rubbing her back. "You ready for some champagne?"

"Yeah," Kara nodded, wiping her eyes. "I'm ready to celebrate."

***

"There they are!" Lois perked up with a smile.

Oliver immediately turned, his eyes locking on Kara as she arrived with her cousin. Her eyes were alarmingly red-rimmed, and he abandoned his champagne on one of the desks in favor of quickly walking to her side. "Are you OK?" he asked, gently cupping her face in his hands.

Kara smiled at him, a genuine one, and nodded. "I am now," she assured him. "I just needed Clark's ear. I'm sorry I worried you."

"I'm your fiancé," Oliver reminded her. "That's part of my job."

"And you do an excellent job of it," Kara said, patting his shoulder. Oliver gave her a pleased smile, and Kara giggled, walking past him. "Can I have everyone's attention for a moment?" she called. Silence quickly fell in the D.E.O., and Kara took a deep breath, looking over everyone who had played a part in the fight against the Worldkillers. "This has been a long time coming," she said. "For those of you who weren't part of the team back then, Reign has been a thorn in my side since Christmas. I can't remember another enemy who so thoroughly beat me like she did, and it almost cost me my life." Alex flinched at the reminder, looking down into her champagne, and J'onn growled quietly under his breath. "And more of them kept showing up," Kara continued. "But more of you kept showing up, too. And you kept showing up, too, even when these battles were difficult as hell. We won some, we lost some . . . but today? We won the whole damn war."

"Score one for the Justice League!" Cisco whooped.

Sara sighed and rolled her eyes to the sky at the cheers that came from that, and Barry chuckled. "You gotta admit, it is a cool name."

"Yeah," Sara conceded with a nod. "It's pretty awesome."

"So to everyone who either started this war with me last Christmas or just joined today, I mean this from the bottom of my heart," Kara smiled, raising the glass of champagne handed to her by Winn. "Thank you." She caught the eye of a brunette woman smiling happily at her, and she winked and tilted her glass in her direction. "And hey, to the woman of the hour who got the better of her evil half! Welcome back, Sam!"

"Yeah!" Lena grinned as Sam balked. "To Sam!"

The toast continued, and Sam blushed deep red, attempting to hide her face in Ruby's hair. Her daughter was no help at all with how much she was giggling, and she eventually escaped with William and Evelyn's help. "My mom is awesome!" she gloated.

"Oh, my God," Sam bit her lip, but she couldn't contain a smile as Alex, Lena, and Lucy piled onto her. "Thank you, everyone!"

Kara smiled at the sight, then Oliver tugged her close to his side, and she curled into him with a content purr. Oliver chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "How about you try not to get another Kryptonian as your supervillain for a while?" he suggested. "I've had enough heart attacks this year."

"Yeah, no kidding," Dig smirked. "We all have."

"I know," Kara smiled apologetically. "But hey, no more Worldkillers. No more Kryptonians."

"For now, at least," Clark amended.

"Selena and her cult will be handled with haste," Alura promised. "When I return to Argo, they will return with me."

"Why does it seem this family just keeps growing with every week that goes by?" Thea sighed.

"Are you complaining?" Roy grinned.

Thea swatted him, and Clark chuckled. "I'm just glad part of Krypton survived."

"And I'm glad part of my family survived, too," Alura smiled. "And that it's rather simple to travel to and from Argo."

"It's so cool," William gushed to Evelyn. "Seriously, if you ever get the chance, see it."

"Family of Kara and Kal's is always welcome," Alura assured him.

"Oh, man," Curtis sighed happily. "A vacation to what remains of Krypton. That sounds nice."

"One day," Rene patted his shoulder. "I think the Earth-38ers get first dibs."

"Yeah, remember," Alex pointed to herself. "Kara's adopted sister."

Malcolm tilted his head. "So where do we fit in that line?"

Slade snorted. "Let me know when you find out, wizard."

"Magician!"

"So," Barry bounded up to join them, looking far too energized for someone who had just faced off against a handful of Kryptonians. "What do we do now?"

"Now?" Kara echoed, and she looked up at Oliver. "Now . . . we take back Star City from Ricardo Diaz."

"Yes," Laurel grinned viciously.

"What do you think?" Oliver smiled at Barry. "Up for one more war?"

"After all this?" Barry grinned. "Piece of cake, man."

"Let's do it," Sara agreed. "And then seriously . . . you two are getting married."

"That would be a great wedding present," Kara smirked, a faraway look in her eyes. "The end of Ricardo Diaz's reign of terror."

Oliver grinned,tilting Kara's face up so he could kiss her. "Your wish is my command."

***

Oh, man, this felt so satisfying to write. Of course, I had to take a break right when we got to the massive fight scene, but once I pushed through that, everything moved smoothly. Just like riding a bike.

So yes, the One Chicago/L&O crossovers I write have taken up a huge part of my time since I last updated, but that was where my inspiration took me. That's still a lot of where my writing mind is right now, but the Arrowverse has slowly started rearing its head again to draw my attention. I have so much planned to reach "Crisis on Infinite Earths," and the few people in the know about what I have planned know there are parts I really really really want to write.

So to everyone who is still reading this series and hanging on while I write wherever inspiration blows, thank you so much. Not wanting to let any of you down is a huge part of why I'm still so invested in this series, so I hope you keep sticking with me through the long haul.

In the meantime, if anyone does like reading One Chicago, Law & Order, and 9-1-1 stories . . . boy, is my profile a good place for you to look XD

As our favorite couple said . . . three down, one to go! And this will be the longest of the book, considering there are two episodes to wrap this up compared to the other shows' one.

We're heading back to Star City! "The Ties That Bind" is next!

graphic by marvelity