So, I imagine some people want to kill me because of what I did to Samantha . . . I don't blame any of you. However, Samantha's death on Lian Yu is why, in Season 6, William is with Oliver in the first place. So . . . sorry, Samantha. :(

Also, since I last updated (which means 24 hours ago), I came up with another Kariver idea involving "Crisis on Earth-X," and Miss Greenie (Tje1415) suggested another version after the Supergirl episode "Triggers." And being the Kariver obsessed soul I am, I immediately ate those up. And a potential one that might go along the lines of "what if Oliver and Kara interacted more during Invasion!" So, that makes five (possibly six) Kariver ideas now: this one, the Cadmus one, the Daxamites one, and those two (three) up there.

So, I thought I would offer this: if anyone has an idea for an episode/post-episode that could have Kara call upon Earth-1 for help, let me know! If I can work it into a fanfiction idea, chances are good it could probably happen. XD I already have post-"Exodus," post-"Distant Sun," post-"Triggers," and during "Crisis on Earth-X."

OK, enough out of me! The aftermath of Samantha's death up ahead - enjoy chapter fifteen!

***

"Have you two got anything?" J'onn asked Winn and Felicity as he walked into the control room with Slade, Malcolm, and Laurel behind him.

"Nothing on any of the guests," Felicity shook her head. "I mean, nothing relating them to Cadmus. So unless Lillian walks up to one of them beforehand, hands them a stick of Kryptonite and says 'get close to this one blonde reporter,' and they do it, they're not a threat."

"It looks like there are some places that Kryptonite could be hidden while looking at these blueprints," Winn said thoughtfully, pulling them up on the larger screen. "It'll be easy to aim sensors at the venue and do a scan for it, though."

"So what the hell would Cadmus be able to attempt there?" Slade narrowed his eye.

Something on Winn's computer blared, making everyone turn to him. "Agent Schott!" J'onn growled.

"OK, that was police radios going haywire," Winn pounced on his keyboard, typing rapidly. "Reports of a gun being fired . . . just the one shot," he frowned. "That's odd."

"Any casualties?" Malcolm asked.

"It sounds like just one," Winn answered.

"Why just one gunshot?" Felicity wondered.

***

Kara jerked upright suddenly, making Oliver stop. "Kara?" She narrowed her eyes, an intense look of concentration on her face. "What is it?"

Kara closed her eyes, straining her hearing to all it was worth. She had heard the gunshot, heard all the 911 calls . . . but there was something else . . . something . . .

"Mom! Mom!"

Her eyes flew open, and she gasped, hand covering her mouth. "Kara!" Oliver pulled her off to the side before pedestrians bumped into them. "What is it?"

"Get back to the D.E.O.," she swallowed, looking around. "I need to go."

"Go," Oliver nodded at once, understanding this was a Supergirl job. "I'll meet you there."

Kara nodded and kissed him quickly, running into an alley nearby. Oliver turned back the way they had come, pulling out his phone, when he heard several people gasp. He turned around, reaching for the knife he had in his jacket, but smiled when he saw Kara, in full Supergirl regalia, fly out of the alley and off into the city. "That's my girl," he said smugly, turning and walking on.

***

Kara made it to the scene far before any police cruisers did. She landed in the street, running up to the sidewalk, desperately hoping what she had heard was wrong.

When she saw William crying and holding Samantha's body, Samantha deadly still, blood staining her clothes and William's hands, her heart shattered.

She swallowed and walked up, crouching by William. "William," she whispered, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"She's not dead," he sniffed, shaking his head. "She can't be!"

"William," Kara insisted as gently as she could.

"She's not!"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice choking slightly. William let out a sob, burying his head in Samantha's hair, and Kara rubbed his back slightly, chewing her lip. "I can stay until Maggie gets here," she said quietly to him. "But then I've got to take her to the D.E.O. You don't exist on this Earth, William. Maggie can bring you back."

William couldn't do anything but sniff and nod, and Kara hugged him, allowing him to cry into her shoulder.

***

Maggie cursed when her phone rang as she drove her cruiser through National City, pulling it out angrily. "What?" she barked.

"Kara just left a few seconds ago," Oliver's voice told her, and Maggie straightened. "She seemed worried. What's going on?"

"Reports of a single gunshot fired, one casualty," Maggie answered, stepping on the accelerator more. "I'm about thirty seconds out. Thanks for telling me she's there."

"No problem."

Maggie hung up, pulling up to the correct address, swallowing when she realized it was the same ice cream shop they had hung out at just a few days ago. She hurried out of her car, hand on her gun, and stopped dead at the sight in front of her, eyes wide.

Kara looked up at Maggie miserably, her arms tight around William, who was sobbing . . . and around Samantha, her clothes soaked in blood. "Holy shit," Maggie finally uttered.

Kara made to stand up, but William shook his head desperately, and she sank back to the ground. "Maggie," she whispered, and the cop hurried over as other cars started to arrive. "I've got to get her out of here, but William . . . "

"Don't," William shook his head, clinging to Kara's arm like it was a lifeline. "Please don't!"

Kara deflated slightly. "Sorry," she apologized to Maggie.

"Go," Maggie told her. "Just tell J'onn or Alex they'll need to get to the precinct with a good cover story."

Kara nodded, then shifted slightly. "William, hold on tightly," she ordered. William nodded, wrapping her arms around her neck, and Kara stood, one arm around William's waist, the other supporting Samantha. Maggie backed up slightly, watching her take off.

***

"Whoa!" Cisco jerked back from the balcony when a blur of red and blue flew over his head. "Whoa! Hello! Girl of Steel inbound!"

"Must've been the 911 call," Iris turned. "Where's she heading?"

"One of the back rooms," Alex frowned, running in that direction. "Supergirl!"

"She's back?" Winn perked up as they ran past the control hub.

"Yeah, she's back, but she didn't stop to chat!" Alex ran on, knowing she had a pack of Earth-1 vigilantes behind her. "Kara!" she shouted, heading towards one of the rooms with an open door. "What's going – "

She froze in the doorway, gasping and putting a hand over her mouth. "Alex?" Nyssa asked, only to stop short when she saw what was going on.

"Oh, God," Quentin closed his eyes.

Kara turned to them, tears in her eyes as she gently placed Samantha's body down on the table in the middle of the room, William clinging to her desperately. "I couldn't leave her for the police to find her," she explained quietly, putting her arms around William. "William didn't want me to leave him there, either."

"Oh, no," James swallowed hard as the rest of the group filed in.

"Samantha," Thea breathed in disbelief, walking over as if in a trance.

"I heard the shot, and I heard the 911 calls," Kara said miserably, one hand over her mouth. "And then I heard William, and . . . " She shook her head. "I couldn't tell Oliver, not until I was sure. He should be on his way back here."

"I'll go let him know," Dig said quietly, backing out of the room.

"I'll call Detective Sawyer, tell her what to say," J'onn added. "Alex?"

"I'm sorry, William," Alex rubbed William's back softly. He didn't respond as everyone else slowly trickled out of the room.

Kara made to leave as well, but William lunged for her hand. "No," he shook his head stubbornly.

"William," Kara began.

"Please, don't go," William insisted, starting to sniffle again. "Please."

Kara closed her eyes. "OK," she agreed quietly, pulling out a few chairs for them to sit in. As soon as they were sitting, William pulled his chair as close to Kara as he could get, and Kara swallowed hard as she wrapped her arms around the poor boy as he curled into her for comfort. "OK."

***

Oliver walked into the D.E.O. right when J'onn stormed into the command hub, practically snarling. "I want every satellite scanning for Cadmus activity, now!"

"Yes, sir!" Winn dove for his chair, Felicity, Curtis, and Cisco doing the same thing.

"The shooting was Cadmus related?" Oliver asked as Dig walked up to him.

"Cadmus did the shooting," Dig answered, a somber look on his face. "We know that for sure."

"How?" Oliver asked. When Dig hesitated, Oliver paused. "John . . . "

"Because of who they killed," Dig finally answered. "It was Samantha, Oliver. The shot killed her immediately."

Oliver froze, eyes wide. "Samantha?" he asked quietly, almost inaudibly. When Dig nodded, Oliver closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's why Kara didn't say anything about what she heard."

"She said she needed to be sure before she told you," Dig nodded. "She's pretty shaken up about it, too."

"And William?" Oliver looked up, face pale. "John, is he OK?"

"He's fine, he's not hurt," Dig assured him, and Oliver sagged in relief. "But man, he's in bad shape. He's basically attached himself to Kara. Neither of them have left her yet."

Oliver swallowed. "Where are they?"

***

Kara and William were still sitting the same way when there was a quiet knock on the door. Kara looked up and over, her eyes immediately tearing up again when she saw Oliver silently walk in, shutting the door behind him. "Oh, my God," he whispered in disbelief, looking at Samantha.

"I didn't even hear a thing before the shot," Kara swallowed, shaking slightly. "And then I heard William crying, and I thought I knew what I was going to find, but I didn't want to say it . . . not until I saw it."

"You don't need to explain," Oliver squeezed her shoulder before pulling up another chair in front of them. He looked down at his son, who looked back at him with red eyes, and sighed. "I'm going to say I'm sorry, even though I know that won't cut it at all."

"She promised we were all going to make it before she . . . " William swallowed. "She promised right before. She lied."

"William, your mom didn't plan on dying in front of you," Oliver shook his head. "She didn't lie to you. She intended on making it out of this alive. She wouldn't have left you if she had a say in this."

"This is my fault," Kara whispered.

Both of them looked at her. "What?" William blinked.

"Kara," Oliver sighed.

"No, you're all here because of me," Kara shook her head, rubbing at tear tracks on her face. "If you guys hadn't come – "

"Then you would be dead," Oliver said bluntly, making Kara wince. "And do you have any idea how much that would have hurt to learn?" Kara ducked her head, and Oliver reached over, cupping her face. "Kara, look at me." She slowly lifted her head, and Oliver stroked her cheek with his thumb. "We are here because we chose to be here," he told her. "Nothing you could have said would have stopped me or my team from coming. I tried to convince Samantha and William to go back to Earth-1 when they came, but Samantha put her foot down. We were all here for you, in any way we could be. Do not blame yourself for an element you couldn't control."

"You couldn't have known it was going to happen, either," William told her, sniffing. "It happened way too fast." He ducked his head down, rubbing his nose. "She wasn't breathing when I got to her."

"I could almost hear when her heart stopped," Kara swallowed, looking down at her hands. "I'm used to being able to hear things, to stop these things from happening the moment before they do." She tucked her hair behind her ear, putting her hand over her mouth. "And all Cadmus seems to be doing is throwing it in my face that I can't!"

"Even the invincible can have moments where they fall, Kara," Oliver told her gently. "You're not a god. You don't have to be perfect, even though everyone else out there may expect you to be. You're allowed to have moments where you're vulnerable. You're allowed to have moments like this, where something like this affects you."

"I know," Kara sighed, leaning into his hand, and Oliver moved his chair to be on her other side, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. "Sometimes I just damn my human heart."

"Nothing's wrong with being human," William frowned up at her. "What's wrong with an alien having a human side?"

"You should listen to him," Oliver told Kara with a smile, giving her a small squeeze. "You are the strongest, kindest person I know. Don't let Cadmus take that away from you. Don't let them stop you from fighting." Kara closed her eyes, sniffing. "You hear me?" he asked quietly. "Keep fighting."

Kara just nodded, and Oliver kissed the top of her head as she buried her head into his shoulder, William hurrying to hug her as best as he could.

***

Everyone turned to watch Oliver and Kara walk into the command hub, both of them with the same anger on their faces. William was on Kara's other side, looking both nervous and eager at the same time. "We know Cadmus did this," Kara said with no expression in her voice, making Alex and Winn exchange wary glances. Kara like this was either very good for them . . . or very bad. "Do we know exactly who did this?"

"I couldn't hack security in the area," Winn shook his head. "Cadmus is very good."

"I sense a but coming," Oliver folded his arms.

"But," Winn nodded, gesturing to the blonde by him.

"They're not as good as me," Felicity smirked, tapping a key.

Everyone looked up at the large screen as the footage came on, and Curtis blinked. "Whoa. Wait a minute. Is that – ?"

"That's you," Dinah frowned at J'onn.

"That is the original Hank Henshaw," J'onn narrowed his eyes. "I was originally a refugee, one that was eventually found by the D.E.O. back when it was anti-alien. Hank Henshaw ordered me dead on sight. One of his men, Jeremiah Danvers, took the time to know me. He had taken in an alien refugee of his own. He sacrificed himself to save me, even when it meant betraying his boss. The last thing he told me before I believed him dead was to look out for his girls." He nodded to Alex and Kara. "And I have done my best to keep that promise."

"Believed him dead?" Rene repeated.

"Your father is still alive?" Nyssa asked Alex.

"He's Cadmus," she said shortly.

"Ouch," Thea cringed sympathetically.

"And Henshaw was found by Cadmus as well," J'onn nodded. "They turned him into a cyborg, one they call Cyborg Superman."

"Dude, that is a horrible name," Cisco wrinkled his nose.

"He's as strong as me," Kara shook her head. "Aptly named."

"He's definitely the shooter," Winn announced. "Hank Henshaw killed Samantha."

Kara nodded slowly. "Cadmus should know better. Their problem is with me. But they chose to kill someone innocent. I want Cadmus gone," she said bluntly. "With or without everyone in this room, Cadmus is just going to be a name in history by the time I finish with them. And they will end after this fundraiser." She looked around the room. "And I'm going to do it, with or without everyone in this room."

"I'll be right at your side," Oliver promised.

"So will I," Alex nodded.

"We're not going anywhere," Laurel nodded, Slade and Malcolm doing the same thing.

"Earth-1 stands with the Girl of Steel," Iris smiled.

"For Mom," William nodded to Kara.

"For Samantha," Kara agreed, squeezing his shoulder, then looked up at the large screen. "Let's get to work."

***

OK, I plan to spend the rest of my Thanksgiving break with my family, so you may not hear from me for a while. If you do, the next chapter starts the end of the book.

The L-Corp fundraiser is next. :) See everyone soon!