I'm actually really surprised that the supergirl writers didn't steal from a Charmed episode and have an episode where there was someone killing people in their dreams. Or maybe instead of killing people, he somehow traps their minds in their own nightmares and uses their bodies to do bad things.
Of course Nia would be the only one who could stop the bad guy, obvs, but I also had an intense desire to set this idea in the Sister, Sister verse, so maybe when the guy sets his sights on the superfriends, they're just like, okay we won't sleep then.
And everyone thinks Lena is most equipped to deal with the lack of sleep, so they don't really worry about her, until one evening Nia goes to Lena's apartment passed out on the floor, having hit her head on the way down.
They bring Lena back to the Tower medbay, but because she's fallen asleep, Lena's now compromised, so they have to restrain her. Except when she wakes up she seems totally herself, if a little panicked to be strapped down. Most people who are targeted by the bad guy are zombies from the moment they wake up, so Lena is so normal that they're kind of taken aback, and ultimately determine that maybe her magic protected her, question mark?
So they release her, and Lena gets back to work. Until Nia makes a discovery on a potential strategy and turns to find Lena behind her with a knife.
They fight, and once Lena is subdued, Nia dives into her friend's nightmare that she's trapped in, where Lex has her strapped to an operating table and is ready to pick her apart like a specimen. Nia is horrified, but understands that it's a manifestation of Lena's old fears, and tries to get through to her. Because maybe it'll be like the Black Mercy-- if Lena can reject the nightmare, maybe it will end.
It takes some effort. At first Lena can't even see her, and Lena's raw and palpable fear makes Nia's heart pound in her chest like the fear is her own. But little by little she gets through to Lena, and when Lena believes Nia, the straps release her and Nia can help Lena slide off the table. But they're still in a lab, with no visible doors.
How do they get out?
Then they hear Lex start clapping, and as they watch Lex's face melts away to reveal their true villain. Lena grips Nia's hand tight, and Nia can taste her friend's renewed fear. Lena can feel how her mind has been violated, her body made not her own. But Nia can also feel that old Luthor fight in her.
The bad guy monologues about how he couldn't tip his hand with Lena too early, before he fully had his claws in her, not when Lena had such power at her disposal. With Lena, he gloats, he could do anything he wanted.
"I don't think so," Nia says, lashing out with a bolt of dream energy. But the guy deflects with a magical field.
Nia looks to Lena. "Was that his power of yours?"
Lena swallows thickly. "Mine. I-- I'm sorry, I can't--"
"It's okay," Nia promises. "I got this."
And she does. But as she fights the villain, it becomes apparent that the magic he siphons from Lena is finite-- Lena visibly weakens as the fight progresses, and Nia falters.
"The more we fight," he taunts, "the more I drain from her. Kill me, and she goes with me."
But before Nia has the chance to face an impossible decision to choose one or the many, Lena grabs a scalpel from one of the trays amd slits his throat.
"Fuck you," she grunts, before she staggers.
Nia catches her, tearfully asking why she did that.
"Spite, mostly," Lena rasps, prompting a tearful laugh from Nia. She squeezes Nia's hand. "And because I couldn't bear it if he used my power to hurt you."
"Lena..."
"I'm sorry I blamed you for keeping Kara's secret. It should never have been your burden to carry..."
"Lena, stop--"
By now Lena is visibly fading, her life force bleeding away as Nia cradles her close.
"Thank you, Nia," she whispers. "For-- for everything."
It's the last thing she says as her eyes flutter shut. In growing panic, Nia shakes her head in defiance. "No," she declares. "Not like this."
She reaches out to where the villain is similarly starting to dissipate, and uses her dream energy to corral the sense of Lena that's bleeding from him. She gathers all she can, then compresses it into a ball of glowing light, an energy that's warm, and gentle, and familiar.
Using her power, she returns the energy to Lena, directing it to settle squarely in Lena's fading chest. It takes a moment, but then the orb of energy pulses, and the light spreads through Lena, bringing her back to opacity.
Lena's eyes open once more, her chest rising with a deep, full breath. Nia gasps in relief, and hugs Lena to her chest.
"Don't you ever do that again."
When they return to the waking world, everything seems to return to normal. Except for one thing that doesn't make the trip back with them.
Lena no longer has her magic.
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