Kir Zygai - Just_Another_Josh - Supergirl (TV 2015) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1: Bugs, Uninvited Relatives, and Mold

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As she was unceremoniously dumped on the ground, Alex Danvers knew with absolute certainty that she was in another goddamned abandoned warehouse.

The eldest Danvers could feel the wet, gritty texture of the chipped concrete she was sprawled out on. Her nose was assaulted by the stench of stale water, mold, mildew, and rotting wood. The smell of salt water and the sound of water sloshing in the distance told her that she was near the bay.

Her theory was quickly proven correct when she raised her head and made a quick survey of her surroundings. Alex resolved to write a strongly worded letter to the city council demanding all these dilapidated sh*tholes be razed (if she lived long enough to do so, of course).

Hell, she’d offer them a certain Kryptonian wrecking ball if need be.

Alex’s civic minded delusions were quickly interrupted by the stabbing pain radiating from her thigh. Although the Hellgrammite’s stinger was no longer lodged in her leg, it had left a sizable puncture wound that…well…stung. Alex did her best to put pressure on the throbbing gash in the hopes that she could stop the modicum of blood leaking out of it. Sliding her hand down her side to staunch the wound, she could feel pain radiate from her ribs; no doubt caused by the punishing ride she took in the arms of the Hellgrammite. While on their leaping adventure, the alien’s shoulder would dig into her ribs every time he had to land to make his next jump. Her ribs were undoubtedly bruised as a result.

The experience made her appreciate all the times she had flown in Kara’s arms; her sister always ensured a gentle ride.

Speaking of Kara, Alex mentally kicked herself for not bringing her along on the op to catch the Hellgrammite. As much as she respected Hank’s stubbornness when it came to Kara’s involvement in anything DEO related, that same stubbornness had led to this sh*tshow. It made her nauseous to think about how many agents could have avoided being killed or seriously injured had her sister been their air support.

Her arms being damn near yanked out of their sockets pulled the redhead out of her reverie. The Hellgrammite was dragging her across the room towards someone hidden in a dark corner of the cavernous space. The little prick let go of Alex’s arm once they were a few feet away from the mysterious figure. Alex couldn’t help the painful gasp that escaped her lungs once her arms flopped to the ground. Her thigh was on fire and the pain in her ribs had graduated from mildly uncomfortable to persistently irritating.

“Where’s the Kryptonian?” The mystery person, a woman, curtly asked with an impatient tone.

“She didn’t show,” the alien insectoid husked out. “But this is one of the human agents. Hopefully she’s enough to keep you off my back.” Clearly annoyed by the conversation, he abruptly exited the room without another word..

The woman squatted down and appeared to be studying Alex. Now in the light, Alex could clearly see the woman’s features. She had long, dark, curly auburn hair with a white streak running down the side. She had an athletic build under a very tight black turtleneck jumpsuit. As she moved closer, Alex could see the outline of a Kryptonian pentagon sewn over her right breast, the glyph foreign to the agent. Alex was quickly distracted by the woman’s hypnotic green eyes. They were beautiful…the woman was beautiful, but right now was not the ideal time to focus on that.

“I’ve been waiting quite some time to get one of you alive,” the woman practically purred, a sad*stic smile on her face. She ran the back of her finger down the side of Alex’s face, clearly taunting her. Out of reflex, Alex pulled away, a look of disgust on her face. The woman seemed to be amused by Alex’s reaction but made no further attempts to touch her. She slowly rose to her full height and took several steps back.

“You're bleeding. Human beings are so fragile. It's amazing any of you make it out of infancy,” the woman sneered, a look of disgust on her face..

Now knowing that her captor was an alien after referring to her as “human”, Alex realized that she had seen this woman before. In fact, she had seen that face less than twenty-four hours ago. But that would be impossible. It couldn’t be…

“Alura?”

The woman’s posture stiffened, and she turned to face Alex, her brows furrowed. “How do you know that name?”

“I saw a hologram of you. A message from Krypton. It was in the ship that brought your daughter to Earth,” Alex answered hoarsely, the pain from her injuries starting to wear on her.

“Twins were rare on Krypton. When we were children, Alura and I took great pleasure in confusing our parents,” the woman said wistfully.

It took less than a second for Alex to realize who she was talking to. Not Alura, but…

“You're Alura's sister.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I am General Astra,” she stated proudly. “And what is your name?”

Alex didn’t answer.

It took every ounce of the agent’s training not to panic. With the revelation that Kara’s aunt was not only alive but clearly not on the side of the angels, this whole situation had quickly gone from screwed to f*cked.

The devastation a rogue Kryptonian could inflict on Earth terrified the agent, and not just because of the potential casualties, but how it would play right into the narrative espoused by paranoid xenophobes throughout the world. It would validate everything Lex Luthor had preached about the danger Kryptonians posed to the world. He’d probably receive a full pardon just so the governments of the world could task him with coming up with an effective way to eliminate them, painting a huge target on Kara and Clark’s backs.

When she didn’t receive a response from her captive, Astra moved closer to Alex, a look of curiosity on the General’s face. “You are very brave. Braver than most of your race,” she said with what Alex could have sworn was a hint of respect in her voice.

“There's no reason to kill me. Or anyone in National City.” Alex chided herself for doing a piss-poor job of keeping the pleading tone out of her voice.

Astra seemed to be amused by Alex’s statement. “Is that what you think? That my goal is simply to kill humans? You are so very wrong.” Astra once again squatted down and moved within a foot of Alex, their faces so close Alex could feel a wisp of the General’s warm breath on her face. “I am here to save you all.”

The smile on Astra’s face sent a chill through Alex’s spine. She hoped that Kara would find her soon. She knew her sister was no doubt flying over the city at that very moment using her enhanced senses to locate her. If Kara failed to find her, Alex also had a dermal tracker implanted in her forearm that Hank could use to find her.

She hoped that Kara would find her first. As much as she had faith in the capabilities of a DEO strike team led by Hank, they were no match for a super-powered Kryptonian general. Astra would massacre them without breaking a sweat.

Alex had already seen too many DEO casualties tonight.

“Supergirl will find me,” Alex said defiantly.

Astra flashed a condescending smile at her.

Something seemed to get the General’s attention. She closed her eyes and co*cked her head to the side as if she was listening to something in the distance. Alex immediately recognized that Astra had picked something up with her enhanced hearing; just as she’d seen Kara assume the same pose countless times in the past. A look of satisfaction spread across Astra’s features before she disappeared in a burst of super-speed.

Before Alex could react to Astra’s departure, she saw Kara approaching her. The Super moved cautiously but sped up her pace once she saw her older sister.

Alex held up a hand to halt Kara’s advance. “Get out of here, it’s a trap!”

Kara stopped and gave Alex a confused look before she turned around just in time for her aunt to tag her with a right hook to the jaw. The Super was knocked back at least twenty feet before her body cratered into the concrete floor.

Kara extricated herself from the debris and locked eyes with Astra. It broke Alex’s heart to see the look of shock and betrayal on her sister’s face. Alex could only look on as the two Kryptonians started a tense conversation. She picked up bits and pieces of their clearly emotional exchange. Apparently, Astra was on Fort Rozz when Krypton was destroyed; having been sent there by Alura. Both started speaking so quietly that Alex couldn’t make out what they were saying. The agent felt a surge of hope when she saw Astra lovingly run her hand through Kara’s hair, but that hope was quickly crushed when Astra backhanded Kara through a wall.

From there, it was a full-on brawl between the two Kryptonians. The unmistakable sound of clashing beams of heat vision could be heard coming from the other side of the wall. Seeing an opportunity to get away, Alex crawled to her tactical vest. She retrieved her radio from the vest and tried to make contact with Hank.

Unfortunately, the Hellgrammite had other plans for her.

He deftly picked up Alex and threw her into a chain-link fence; the redhead bounced off and fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Before Alex could recover, the Hellgrammite pulled her to her feet and pinned her body to the fence using only one hand. He said something menacing to her as a stinger extended from his palm. Alex made a subtle quip about his genitals before kicking him squarely in what she hoped were his balls. The insectoid didn’t crumble into a heap on the ground as she hoped, but it did cause him to release her and fall back a few steps. He reared his arm back before lunging at her with the protruding stinger. Alex was able to catch his wrist and twist herself under his arm. Using the ugly f*ck’s momentum, she managed to shove his hand towards his neck and bury the stinger in his throat.

The alien kept his balance for a moment before collapsing to the ground.

The pain from her thigh returned with a vengeance causing Alex to fall to the floor, landing next to the very dead insectoid.

Shortly after Alex hit the ground, one of the Kryptonian combatants smashed through the wall and skidded to a halt on the other side of the Hellgrammite. Astra propped herself up from the small crater caused by her impact. Upon seeing her cronie’s corpse, she locked eyes with Alex.

Given that the Hellgrammite had tossed her around like a sack of potatoes, Alex would freely admit that she was probably concussed at the time so her perception may have been a tad skewed, but she would wager a five-hundred-dollar bottle of scotch that Astra looked…impressed?

Astra quirked an eyebrow and gave her a slight nod before saying, “Kir zygai.”

The General super-sped back through the same wall she had been knocked through and resumed the battle with her niece.

Alex spent precious seconds staring at the empty space that Astra had just occupied, a dumbfounded look on her face as she tried to parse together what just happened. What the hell was that? What does “kir zygai” mean? Clearly it was a Kryptonian phrase, but she’d never heard it before.

The sound of bending metal and the warehouse’s violent shuddering broke Alex from her thoughts. She resolved to put a pin in her unanswered questions, and, with excruciating effort, willed herself to stand. She took a deep breath and hobbled out of the room as quickly as her injured thigh would allow.

As she rounded the corner leading into the main warehouse space, Alex saw Kara execute a fairly decent hip throw on her aunt that sent the General smashing through the warehouse wall as if she’d been fired out of a cannon.

Alex limped to her sister and wrapped her in a tight hug, Kara almost crushed her in return. The two separated and as Kara asked if Alex was okay, a blast of freezing air knocked them to the ground.

Astra swaggered toward the fallen sisters; a smug look plastered on her face. “I saw on the news you haven’t quite mastered that one yet,” she goaded Kara.

Alex silently prayed to any deity that would listen for a hunk of kryptonite to shove up the arrogant bitch’s ass.

“Stop! Stay where you are!” Hank’s deep baritone echoed through the empty warehouse.

A sad*stic laugh erupted from the clearly overconfident General. She had Hank by the throat and hanging in the air before either Alex or Kara could react. A jolt of pure terror ran through Alex as she prepared to watch her boss get his neck snapped.

Luckily, the DEO director was full of surprises. Hank pulled a kryptonite knife from his duty belt and plunged it into Astra’s forearm. The General let out a pained scream and released her grip on Hank’s throat. She turned toward Alex and Kara, a look of surprise and fear evident on her face. She locked eyes with Alex briefly before launching herself through the roof and into the night sky.

Hank made some sort of quip to the sisters, but Alex was too mentally and physically drained to pay it any mind. She only had enough energy left to let out a heavy sigh of relief.

******

Back at the DEO desert HQ, Alex did her best to comfort her sister after the day’s revelations, but Kara seemed as if she wanted to avoid talking about how she was feeling and focus more on stopping her aunt. Alex knew this was her sister’s typical MO when it came to sharing complex emotions, so the eldest Danvers decided to let it slide for now. She knew at some point she could harass her into talking it out during the next sister’s night.

Deciding Kara needed a happy distraction, Alex led her sister to the makeshift Kryptonian holo-chamber that she and Hank had constructed for the hero.

The look of tearful gratitude on Kara’s face partially made up for Alex’s sh*t day.

Alex quickly excused herself from the chamber once her sister started talking to holo-Alura. Partly to give Kara some privacy, but also because seeing the holographic representation of Alura reminded Alex of her encounter with Astra.

Thinking about the General made her blood boil. She felt a surge of anger towards the Kryptonian for hurting her sister and Hank. Alex knew that Astra was one of the biggest threats she had faced since joining the DEO. Astra needed to be taken down as soon as possible before she unleashed whatever nefarious plan she had concocted; with deadly force if necessary. Though Kara would never admit to it, Alex knew that her sister’s judgment would be compromised when it came to dealing with Astra, not to mention her zero tolerance policy when it came to taking someone’s life would complicate things. But that wouldn’t deter Alex from pulling the trigger if necessary; not just to protect the world, but to protect her sister.

Kara would be ragingly pissed at her, but she’d be alive.

Alex could live with that.

Chapter 2: Pleased to Meet You (sort of)

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Events over the next six weeks pushed any thoughts Alex had about Astra to the backburner. In fact, the marathon from hell kicked off within two hours of the fight at the warehouse. Her blithering idiot of a sister decided to give Cat Grant an interview as Supergirl. While most of the information she gave the media mogul was fairly benign, Kara managed to shove her size seven and a half red-booted foot down her throat by revealing that Superman is her cousin.

Though it didn’t necessarily pose a threat to Kara’s or Clark’s identities, everyone agreed it was dangerous information for Cat to have.

The next morning during breakfast at Noonan’s, Alex found out that James Olsen had joined Winn, Hank, and half the DEO in the “People Who Know Kara Danvers is Supergirl” club.

Not only did he know Kara's secret identity, but he also knew that Alex was a DEO agent, information that the dipsh*t photographer decided to whisper-yell right in the middle of the cafe.

To add insult to injury, Kara wasn’t the one that told James. No, the information came courtesy of her asshole cousin. Alex couldn’t believe Clark had the audacity to not only out Kara as his Kryptonian cousin but sent his best pal to “keep an eye” on her. It was a misogynistic move on the part of the Man of Steel that showed how little faith he had in his only surviving relative.

Clark’s stock continued to plummet when one of his problem children, Reactron, showed up in National City intent on getting revenge on Superman by killing his cousin. Kara survived her first encounter with the villain but almost died the second time while trying to save the tech mogul Maxwell Lord. Although the eldest Danvers was thankful Clark rescued her, Alex thought it was complete bullsh*t that he couldn’t be bothered to stick around long enough for Kara to wake up. The look of hurt on Kara’s face when she found out he’d left before she regained consciousness had Alex plotting to rip his fingernails out with kryptonite pliers.

Luckily, Kara was able to rebound and take out Reactron.

From there the hits just continued to come: Ethan Knox, Livewire, Red Tornado, T.O. Morrow, General Sam Lane, solar flares, earthquakes, and Jemm kept Kara, Alex, and the DEO very busy.

As if that stress wasn’t enough, Alex had to deal with her mother chewing her out at Thanksgiving for not talking Kara out of becoming Supergirl. Sure, Eliza later apologized, but it would have been nice to avoid the whole argument altogether.

Oh, and she found out her boss is an alien. Yeah. His name’s J’onn J’onzz and he’s an actual bona fide Martian.

Alex couldn’t make this sh*t up if she tried.

Astra chose to resurface mere hours after Kara finished helping the city following the aforementioned earthquake with her restored powers.

The General and three of her lackeys jumped her as she flew away from CatCo. To make matters worse, Astra and her soldiers were equipped with devices that shielded them from kryptonite radiation.

Kara managed to survive her aunt’s ambush and flew back to the DEO. Both Alex and J’onn had to convince Kara to go home and rest and leave them to come up with a plan to counter Astra and her troops.

The next day, Alex dragged Kara to the training room in the hopes that she could help her sister blow off some steam.

It was a bad idea.

Kara lost her temper during their training session, requiring Alex to knock her on her ass a little harder than usual. From there, the sparring session devolved into a full-blown argument. Alex tried desperately to convince her sister that the DEO needed to handle the situation with Astra because Kara wouldn’t be able to take Astra’s life if the situation required it. After pointing out that Superman doesn’t kill (which Alex found hilarious that her sister would compare herself to Clark despite getting pissed when other people did it), Kara left the training room looking like a kicked puppy.

All of Alex’s pleading went right out the window when Astra showed up in broad daylight hovering over CatCo Plaza challenging Kara to face her. Alex immediately called Kara and went through the futile exercise of trying to convince her to not take her aunt’s bait, but her sister shut her down before any debate could begin.

Much to Alex’s surprise, Kara held her own against the General.

Hell, Alex thought Kara was actually going to kill her at one point, but her sister managed to restrain herself and (literally) dragged Astra back to the DEO. The General was immediately fitted with kryptonite restraints and housed in a holding cell fitted with kryptonite emitters.

It was during Alex’s third trip to run a diagnostic on the kryptonite emitters in Astra’s holding cell when the General regained consciousness.

Astra gingerly sat up on her cot and placed her feet on the concrete floor. She rolled her head around as if she was trying to shake the stiffness from her neck.

The General inspected her surroundings; first appearing to study the emitters above her and then doing a full 360 turn surveying the room. She stepped closer to the clear barrier surrounding her space and placed her hand on it, pushing on the glass-like material as if testing its structural integrity.

Alex had yet to look in Astra’s direction, instead focusing on the tablet in her hand. She was well aware that the Kryptonian was conscious, but she had no interest in engaging with her; too focused on making sure the equipment meant to keep the General secured was operating at maximum efficiency.

“Where’s my niece?”

“Busy,” Alex coldly replied; not bothering to look up from her tablet.

If Astra took any offense to Alex’s curt response, she didn’t show it.

She narrowed her eyes and took a more focused look at Alex. “Ah. I remember you. The kir zygai.” Alex looked up from her tablet, giving the General her undivided attention. Astra’s lips curled into an amused smile. “How’s the leg?”

Alex kept her gaze locked on Astra for another moment before she rolled her eyes and focused again on her tablet.

“Oh, come now. There’s no need for rudeness. Since I am going to be your guest for a while, the least you can do is be hospitable.” Astra’s smile was pure saccharin as she teased Alex.

Alex’s attention turned back to Astra. “Oh, you’re going to be here a lot longer than ‘a while’,” she said with a co*cky grin.

“Yes, of course. All the more reason for propriety.” Astra was clearly enjoying needling Alex. “You could at least tell me your name.”

Alex clenched her jaw as she considered Astra’s request.

“What’s the harm in telling me?” Astra argued.

“Agent Danvers,” Alex replied, annoyed.

“See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Astra said with that smug, condescending tone that she used during their first meeting at the warehouse. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Agent Danvers, and since one good turn deserves another, allow me to formally introduce myself: I am General Astra In-Ze, commander of the 7th Fleet and the Red Shard, and ranking member of the Kryptonian Defense Council.” Astra’s demeanor had shifted to a more serious tone, her body taking on a more regal stature.

“You were a commander and member of the defense council; past tense. Not sure if you knew this, but Krypton’s been gone a long time. Besides, I’m not interested in your resume, General.” Alex hated addressing Astra by her honorific, but she wasn’t going to humanize her by using her given name. It was important for her to compartmentalize seeing as how she might have to shoot the General at some point. Alex leveled Astra with a steely glare. “What I am interested in is who you’re working with, where they’re hiding, and how you’re planning to ‘save us’.” The two locked eyes. Alex leveled a challenging glare at Astra.

While Astra maintained her focus on Alex, her face began to soften ever-so-slightly, a subdued grin pulled at the corners of her lips.

Though she didn’t show it, Alex was taken aback by the General’s expression. Gone was the smug, arrogant gaze that typically adorned her face. No, this was the same look she had given Alex after she killed the Hellgrammite. Seeing it up close and personal without the chaos of battle surrounding her and without the concussion, Alex recognized what Astra was silently communicating: respect. She could also see a glint of something else in the General’s eyes. She couldn’t determine what it was and that made her uncomfortable, but Alex wasn’t going to let herself be intimidated by what Astra was attempting to silently convey; no matter how much it sent a shudder up her spine.

Astra’s grin widened into a smile. “Not today, kir zygai. Perhaps another time.” The General abruptly ended their sparring match and turned her back on Alex. “The only person I will speak with is Kara. We’re done here, Agent Danvers.” Astra’s tone had shifted to authoritative, cold.

“Suit yourself.” Alex made her way to the exit; she released the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. She chided herself for letting Astra get under her skin; made slightly worse by the fact that it was caused by a simple grin. She needed to get her sh*t together. They were at war and Alex needed to focus on safeguarding her sister and the rest of the world.

However, she did decide she needed to ask Kara what the hell “kir zygai” meant.

******

Unfortunately, Alex never got the opportunity.

That same day, her sister landed at the DEO base and marched directly to Astra’s cell.

Fifteen minutes later, Kara stormed out and barged right past Alex, a mixed look of anguish and rage on her face. Alex followed her down the hall and into the holo-chamber. Kara started yelling at the hologram of her mother before the doors were even shut.

Alex’s heart broke as she watched the facsimile of Alura tell her sister that she used her as bait to capture Astra. She watched helplessly as Kara first screamed at the hologram and then proceeded to fire her heat vision through it in a fit of rage. Alex did her best to console Kara, but her sister was too upset to listen and quickly departed the desert base.

Alex felt a surge of anger course through her, focused squarely at Astra. Kara had been through enough trauma in her life and didn’t need her aunt adding more. She may not be able to comfort Kara right now, but she sure as hell could protect her sister from any more of the General’s bullsh*t.

An hour later, Alex hit her tipping point.

While reviewing footage of Kara’s fight with Astra, it became blatantly clear that the General had let Kara beat her. Astra wanted to be captured and brought to the DEO, Alex surmised. Since she was Kryptonian, J’onn was unable to read her mind to find out why. (Yes, that’s how her boss decided to divulge that he was a telepath. Alex was horrified by the new development but had to put a pin in it for now. She had bigger fish to fry.)

“You took a dive when you fought Kara. Why? What are you trying to distract us from?” Alex barked as she barged into the detention cell and stomped towards Astra’s enclosure, stopping just short of the protective glass.

“Hello to you too, Agent Danvers,” Astra snidely commented.

Alex rolled her eyes. “Oh, cut the bullsh*t, General. What are you and your team of f*ckboys up to?”

Astra stood from her cot and approached Alex, an arrogant smile on her face. “I’m not sure what a ‘f*ckboy’ is but I assure you, you’re too late to prevent us from executing our plan.”

Alex’s jaw tensed but she gave no other sign of her frustration. Instead, she slowly nodded at the General. “Was breaking Kara’s heart also part of the plan?”

Astra was clearly taken aback by Alex’s question, her confident façade faltered briefly. “The truth can sometimes be painful,” she replied, a hint of insecurity in her voice.

“Who’s truth? Yours? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re just trying to drag her into your personal vendetta against Alura.”

“Alura already pulled Kara into this when she used her to lure me out of hiding!” Astra snapped, her icy mask had completely evaporated.

“How is what you’re doing any different? Do you even care?” Alex yelled, eliciting an almost imperceptible flinch from the General. “If you think this approach is going to somehow convince Kara to defect to your side, you clearly don’t know your niece, because all you’re doing is torturing her. All she has left of her mother…of her world…are her memories, and you seem hellbent on destroying them.” Alex’s face hardened. “Kara has suffered more pain and misery than any person should ever have to endure, and yet she has somehow managed to create a full, happy life here.”

Alex took a step forward, her face now mere inches from the glass. Astra took a step back; her shoulders had slightly slumped, and a meek look fell over her features. Alex hoped the glimmer of sadness she saw in the General’s eyes was driven by her guilt. It was the least she deserved for her treatment of Kara. “Let me make something clear, if you ever hurt Kara like that again, I will personally come into that cell and beat the ever-living sh*t out of you.”

Astra swallowed thickly but didn’t respond to Alex’s threat. She simply offered a curt nod.

Satisfied that she’d got her message across, Alex turned to leave.

“I do care,” Astra admitted, her voice just above a whisper. Alex stopped and turned to face her. “I love my niece. I…never wanted to cause her pain.”

Alex scoffed. “And yet that’s all you’ve done since you came out of hiding.”

Astra looked as if she’d been stung by Alex’s words. In fact, Alex swore she could see the General’s eyes begin to well up.

She didn’t have time to dwell on Astra’s reaction, her thoughts interrupted by comm traffic from her earpiece. She placed a finger on the device and opened a channel. “Go for Danvers.” Alex turned away from Astra as she received word from the CIC (Combat Information Center) that Astra’s troops were attacking Lord Technologies. Alex spun on her heels and glared daggers at Astra. “What are they after at Lord Tech?” Astra looked as if she was going to say something but hesitated. “C’mon, General! Give me something!” Alex half ordered; half pleaded.

Astra furrowed her brow and thinned her lips. Alex couldn’t interpret the inscrutable look on the General’s face. To Alex, she appeared conflicted. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to spare. She leveled an expectant glare at Astra. The General timidly met Alex’s eyes. “I’m sorry, kir zygai. I can’t.”

Alex could sense genuine regret coming from the Kryptonian, but the General remained silent. “Goddamn you,” Alex hissed as she rushed out of the cell and made a beeline for the armory.

******

The fight at Lord Tech was a disaster.

The rogue Kryptonians and Fort Rozz inmates shredded through the DEO strike force like they were tissue paper.

Four dead, eight seriously injured, J’onn captured, and Kara received a bit of a beatdown from her Uncle Non.

Surprise! Kara’s uncle/Astra’s husband was also alive and now led the alien terrorist group in Astra’s absence.

Alex was really starting to hate Kara’s extended family.

Max Lord was his usual charming self. The little sh*t refused Alex’s offer of DEO protection and refused to tell her what Non and his cronies had taken.

To round out her sh*t day, Alex was made acting DEO director. Apparently J’onn had listed her as his successor in the event he was unable to perform his duties. Of course, this was all a complete surprise to Alex seeing as how J’onn never discussed this with her.

Alex made a mental note to have some choice words about healthy communication with J’onn if/when they were able to find and rescue him.

After receiving her “promotion”, Alex allowed herself approximately thirty seconds to have a mini nervous breakdown before quickly sucking it up and deploying every DEO resource at her disposal to help locate J’onn.

Kara decided to take a run at getting J’onn’s location out of Astra but failed miserably.

The next day, Non made contact with the DEO and offered to exchange J’onn for Astra. He gave Alex a forty-eight-hour deadline to make the trade or he would kill J’onn. Before Alex had time to make a decision about accepting Non’s deal, the choice was taken out of her hands by the last person she wanted see:

United States Army General Samuel “f*ckhead” Lane.

Chapter 3: Dishonorable Management

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Alex felt like she was going to throw up.

What Lane and his soldiers were doing to Astra was wrong.

No, wrong wasn’t a strong enough word; it was repugnant.

It was morally and ethically bankrupt, inhumane, and beyond redemption. It broke every code that Alex held dear, and all she could do was stand idly by while it happened.

Astra screamed again; her guttural cries could be heard through the thick walls of her cell.

Alex glanced at her watch. Twenty-five minutes had elapsed since Alex was forced to drag her terrified, pleading sister from Astra’s cell so she wouldn’t have to watch Lane torture her aunt.

Another shriek of pure agony rang out, startling Alex. Each cry seemed to be louder than the last. The agent felt like her very soul was being sheared away with each subsequent sob. Alex was thankful that Kara had left the desert base the second she pulled her out of the cell. Kara would not have been able to handle listening to her aunt’s agonizing screams.

To be honest, Alex wasn’t sure why she was still there. For all intents and purposes, Lane didn’t want her there anymore than he did Kara, but Alex wouldn’t…couldn’t leave. Some compulsion would not allow her to turn her back on this and pretend like it wasn’t happening.

All Alex could picture right now was the look of terror in Astra’s eyes just before Lane gave her the first injection of liquified kryptonite and the sad*stic look on his face when Astra started screaming. She could feel her stomach threaten to empty as the images danced in her mind. Astra may have done some pretty questionable things since she came on the scene, but she didn’t deserve this.

No one deserved this level of suffering.

Lost in thought, it took a moment for Alex to realize that the screaming had stopped, replaced by intermittent sobbing and pained moaning.

Five minutes later, the cell door opened and Lane and his entourage filed out into the hallway.

Lane informed her that they were able to extract a possible location where J’onn was being held. The ginger prick seemed to be especially proud of himself considering he had just broken half a dozen international laws. He ordered Alex to accompany his soldiers to the location; departing for the CIC before Alex had a chance to acknowledge his orders.

Before leaving to gear up, Alex peered through the open cell door, her heart broke when she got a look inside the glass enclosure. Astra lay on her cot curled up in the fetal position, her body visibly shook as she quietly cried.

Every instinct Alex possessed screamed at her to rush into the cell, kick the enclosure open, wrap the ailing Kryptonian in her arms, and hold her until her sobs subsided.

Alex took a step towards the open cell door but stopped herself before entering. No matter how badly Alex wanted to comfort Astra, she knew doing so would raise Lane’s suspicions about her loyalty; most likely resulting in Alex ending up in a cell next to Astra’s. So, she did the next best thing (she hoped) and discreetly contacted Susan Vasquez in the CIC and asked her to dispatch medics to tend to Astra.

Vasquez did as requested and Alex was once again headed back to the armory to gear up for another op; all the while reassuring herself that she had done everything within her power to help Astra.

******

The raid on “Non’s base” turned out to be a trap. Neither Alex nor Kara were particularly surprised.

Thankfully, no one was seriously injured (a few cuts, bruises, and singed eyebrows). Kara had saved her and one of Lane’s squad leaders from being caught in an explosion by a bomb Non had rigged up in one of the shipping containers.

Upon returning to the DEO, Alex briefly listened to Lane piss and moan about Astra’s intel and Kara joining the raid. She excused herself to avoid quoting one of the hundreds of studies pointing out the dubious nature of intel gathered via torture and rushed out of the CIC with no destination in mind; completely lost in thought as she wandered aimlessly through the desert base’s labyrinthine halls.

A short time later, Alex found herself in the detainment area standing outside of Astra’s cell.

Without much thought, Alex placed her hand on the biometric lock and stepped inside the cell as soon as the door slid open. Once inside, she turned to the exit panel, closed the door, and deactivated the sound recording devices installed throughout the cell. Alex knew this would piss Lane off, but she was honestly out of f*cks to give at that point.

She slowly walked towards the glass enclosure. Astra, who had been lying on the cot inside the enclosure when Alex entered, sat up and intently watched the redhead’s approach.

“I assume you’re here to ‘kick the ever-living sh*t’ out of me for sending you into a trap?” Astra’s voice was raspy but surprisingly flippant given what she had been subjected to earlier. Alex swore she detected a hint of playful sarcasm coming from the General as well.

“I wasn’t planning on it. No one was seriously hurt and, to be honest, General Lane had it coming. I’m just pissed he didn’t come with us. I would have enjoyed seeing him get his eyebrows singed off,” Alex mused with a tired smile.

“I see.” Astra’s face hardened and Alex could see a glint of fear in her eyes. “More torture then?” Astra practically growled out the question. She stood from the cot and walked closer to the protective barrier.

The two now only a few feet apart, Alex could see the toll that Lane’s abuse had taken on the General. Her eyes were puffy and red with black circles under them. Her skin was sallow, colored only by the presence of faint, glowing green veins peppered across her face; remnants of the kryptonite injections that she was forced to endure.

A wave of nausea churned in the agent’s stomach.

Alex shook her head and looked at Astra imploringly. “No. I…I would never do that to you…to anyone. What Lane did was…barbaric.”

Astra looked skeptical. “It seems the rest of your organization lacks the same compunction.”

Alex lowered herself onto the steps in front of the enclosure. Once seated, she leaned her suddenly weary body against the glass. “Lane’s not…he’s…” Alex took a shaky breath to steady herself. “General Lane’s an asshole and not a member of the DEO. That’s not what the DEO stands for. That’s not what humanity stands for. Like Kara said, we’re better than that.”

Astra scoffed. “Humanity’s history is rife with examples that prove otherwise.”

Alex’s brows furrowed. “And how would you know that?”

“You forget, Agent Danvers, that I’ve been on this planet just as long as Kara. I’ve had over a decade to study Earth’s history. I’ve seen the cruelty you humans are capable of. You excel at harming yourselves and this planet,” Astra said indignantly.

Alex let out a resigned huff. “I can’t argue with you there,” she said with a tinge of sadness.

They sat in companionable silence for a moment before Alex asked, “So, you don’t think we can save ourselves?”

Astra vigorously shook her head. “Not without a forced intervention.”

Alex considered Astra’s inference. “If you know our history as well as you say you do, then you know humans tend to rebel against being controlled by oppressive regimes. That’s how revolutions start,” Alex pointed out matter-of-factly.

“If our plan comes to fruition, humanity will be incapable of resisting.” Astra’s voice was cold, calculated. It sent a shiver up Alex’s spine.

While Alex tried to calm her breathing and suppress the anxiety brought on by Astra’s statement, the General took a seat on the floor of the enclosure next to her. The agent was pulled out of her thoughts when she became aware of Astra’s close proximity. If not for the safety glass, they would be leaning on each other.

Green and brown eyes met briefly before their focuses drifted in different directions.

“Kara still has hope for humanity,” Alex offered.

“The naivety of youth,” Astra huffed out.

A wistful smile pulled at the corner of Alex’s lips. “Yeah, I used to think the same thing. Her eternal optimism used to irritate the hell out of me.” Alex spared a glance at Astra and could see a suppressed grin on the General’s face. “But as time went on, I saw the effect she had on everyone around her. It’s infectious. Everyone in her orbit tends to be changed for the better, and that’s just in her civilian persona. When she puts on the suit…I don’t even know how to describe it.” Alex turned to face Astra. “I know the sigil for the House of El represents its credo, El Mayarah…stronger together, but the rest of humanity sees that crest as a symbol of hope. Hope that there can and will be a better tomorrow.

“Yes, and they expect their caped gods to do all the heavy lifting,” Astra countered. Alex chuckled quietly, earning her a stern look from Astra. “Something funny?”

Alex nodded; a thoughtful smile crept across her lips. “I was just remembering a dinner me and Kara had with Kal during her first year at NCU. She said the same exact thing. She didn’t understand how Kal couldn’t see how often people relied on him to fix their problems. She felt humanity was using him as a crutch. He tried a few ham-fisted explanations, but Kara wasn’t having it. Lucky for him, he was called away to an emergency. Later that night, Kara’s hanging out with me at my dorm when Kal returns. He pulled out a Kryptonian holo-crystal and played a recorded message from Jor-El…just humor me for a second…” Alex pulled her cell phone from her pocket and tapped the screen a few times before finding what she was looking for. “I was pretty impressed by his message, so I wrote down.” Alex cleared her throat. “Kal-El, you will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you; they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.”

Astra sat silently as she appeared to process Jor-El’s posthumous words; several minutes passed before she said, “I never would have thought a self-righteous ass like Jor could be so eloquent.”

Alex looked intrigued. “He was that bad?”

Astra scoffed. “He was an insufferable know-it-all.”

“Well, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree,” Alex said with a chuckle, causing Astra to snort. The two exchanged amused smiles. Alex’s smile quickly faded, replaced by a soft, but determined look. “We’re all fighting for the same thing, General. We all want this blue marble to keep spinning and us squishy little humans to thrive. It may take a lot longer to get there doing it our way, but at least humanity will have chosen to make the necessary changes. Whatever horrible thing you and Non have planned…” Alex noticed a vacant look on Astra’s face, so she shifted to make sure she was in her line of sight. “Can we agree that what you’re planning is pretty f*cking terrible?”

“It’s……….…yes. Yes, it is.” Astra’s voice softly admitted. She turned her head away from Alex’s scrutinizing eyes. “It’s the way it has to be.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Alex shifted enthusiastically to her knees. “Not if you help us. If we work together, we can come up with a solution that doesn’t involve forcing people to do anything against their will. With your knowledge, experience, and wisdom, you can use your powers just like Kara and Kal. You can be a symbol of hope. You can be the ideal that Jor-El envisioned and inspire humanity to make better choices. You could be a hero if you wanted to be.” Alex gave Astra an imploring look.

Astra let out an incredulous laugh. “You must be joking. I’m not a symbol and I’m damn sure not a hero.” The General’s shoulders slumped. “I could never be. Not after the things I’ve done,” she murmured.

Alex emphatically shook her head. “No, it’s not too late for you. You still have a chance to make things right.” Alex placed her hands on the glass separating her from Astra. “If you work with us, I know we’ll be able to stop Non and his troops. I believe we’ll be able to guide people to make positive changes and stop anyone that threatens those changes.” Alex rose from her knees and leveled Astra with her most earnest look. “Earth doesn’t have to suffer the same fate as Krypton.”

If her furrowed brows were any indication, Astra seemed to consider Alex’s proposal. The General’s narrowed, green eyes met Alex’s hopeful browns. “What makes you so sure I can be of service to you? Why do you have faith in me?”

“Hope.”

Astra let out a dismissive snort, but Alex could see an incongruous smile on her face. “You should try it out sometime.” Astra rolled her eyes and looked as if she had a response but was cut off by a quiet ping sound from Alex’s watch.

“Am I keeping you from something, Agent Danvers?” Astra asked, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

Alex pulled out her cellphone. “Yes. It’s almost time to meet up with Non,” she said absently as she tapped on her phone.

“What? You’re making the exchange?” Astra asked, clearly baffled.

“Yup,” Alex popped.

“How…how can you trust Non won’t kill all of you the second you release me?” Astra asked. Alex was surprised at the level of concern in the General’s voice.

“I don’t.” Alex fixed Astra with a reverent look. “I trust that you’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

Astra shook her head and let out a cynical laugh. “Your superiors are never going to let you take me out of here.”

The quiet whir of the cell door locks being disengaged interrupted them. The door opened and Kara practically skipped into the cell interior with a bright smile on her face.

“Probably not.” Alex turned back to Astra, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “But that’s why she’s here.” Alex pointed her thumb over her shoulder at her sister.

******

As expected, Lane and his flying monkeys were waiting for the trio when they walked into the CIC, guns at the ready. Alex could see the unmistakable faint green glow of kryptonite laced ammunition coming from the soldiers’ magazines. Even with Kara’s help, Alex surmised they had a 50/50 chance of getting out of the base with Astra.

Although they were outgunned, Alex made a promise to herself that she’d put a bullet in Lane if things went sideways; there was no way in hell she would ever let that sad*st touch Astra again.

Fortunately for all concerned, Kara was able to talk Lane’s squad into lowering their weapons using one of her patented inspirational speeches. Alex felt a touch of sympathy for the soldiers as they would inevitably be court-martialed for their insubordination for standing up to Lane.

The exchange went as expected; Non ordered his crew to kill them all the second they freed Astra.

Fortunately, Alex’s trust in Astra was rewarded when the General pulled rank on Non and ordered their troops to stand down.

Later, J’onn was reinstated as DEO director and unceremoniously kicked Lane and his squad out of the desert HQ.

J’onn promised Alex that he would report Lane’s torture of Astra to the President.

With J’onn returned and Lane out on his ass, Alex and Kara were able to take the rest of the night off and decided to have an impromptu sister’s night. After gorging themselves on Chinese food and ice cream, the two settled in to watch some lame romantic comedy Kara insisted they watch.

Alex barely paid attention to the movie. She was much too focused on the sly grin and wink Astra flashed her as the General flew away with Non and their soldiers.

More importantly, she wanted to understand why she kept getting a dopey grin on her face every time she thought about it.

Chapter 4: And All Your Bad Days Will End?

Chapter Text

Three weeks went by before Alex saw Astra again.

The DEO agent returned to her apartment around 1:00 am after spending the evening at Kara’s loft eating pizza, watching TV, and bitching about her fake date with Max Lord. She dropped her purse on the kitchen counter and poured herself three fingers of scotch before stepping out onto her balcony. She breathed in the night air and gazed forlornly at the city lights while she took intermittent sips from her drink.

“Something bothering you, kir zygai?”

Alex sent her glass falling off the balcony as she pulled her service weapon from its holster and pointed it in the direction of the familiar voice. The movement took less than five seconds but by the time she had Astra in her sights, the General calmly floated just off her balcony, Alex’s glass in hand.

“What the hell are you doing here? How the f*ck do you know where I live?” Alex yelled as she kept her gun trained on Astra.

Still holding Alex’s hastily discarded tumbler, Astra held her hands up in surrender. “I assure you, Agent Danvers, if I intended you harm, you would already be dead. I’m merely here to pay you a social visit. As for how I know where you live…believe me, you don’t want to know.” Astra’s lips quirked into an amused grin. “Would you like your glass back?” Astra offered the tumbler to Alex.

Alex took several deep breaths to calm her adrenaline infused body. The eldest Danvers spent the next twenty seconds trying to figure out how Astra had found her apartment. There’s no way she would have been able to follow her from the desert base. The General had been unconscious when Kara brought her to the HQ and had a lead-lined bag over her head when they transported her to the exchange with Non. She was also fairly certain that Astra wouldn’t be able to follow Kara to Alex’s apartment without her sister noticing.

Admitting to herself that Astra was right about Alex being dead if she wanted her to be, the agent decided that she really didn’t have any other choice but to take the General at her word. She slowly holstered her weapon and extended her hand toward the proffered glass.

“So, what do you want, General?”

Astra shrugged. “I was, as you humans say, ‘in the neighborhood’.”

Alex gave her a skeptical look. “Right.”

“You seem troubled,” Astra asked, seemingly unfazed by Alex’s skepticism.

Alex rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. Her shoulders lost their remaining rigidity and her features softened as she ran her fingers through her auburn hair. “It was a very long, crappy day and I’m tired.”

“What made it crappy?”

Alex’s eyebrows furrowed. “Do you really care?”

“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise,” Astra said with conviction.

Alex shook her head in disbelief as she considered the ridiculousness of the situation. She wasn’t sure what game Astra was playing but she was too tired to care at that point. She blew out another prolonged sigh. “f*ck it. I had an op tonight that required me to go on a fake date with a very annoying jackass in order to gather incriminating intel on him.”

“Was your mission a success?”

Alex shook her head. “Not really. We have more questions now than we did before.”

“If I may ask, who was your ‘date’ with?” Astra asked.

Alex briefly considered the security risks that could result from revealing it was Max but reasoned that Astra would gain nothing by flying off and telling him that the DEO was spying on him. “Maxwell Lord.”

A look of disgust flashed across Astra’s face. “That man is human refuse. I despise how he continues to publicly insult my niece. I was very disappointed that I was unable to participate in the raid on his building. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to teach him a lesson in manners.”

Images of Astra beating Max senseless brought a smile to Alex’s face. “I would have paid good money to see that,” she said, chuckling.

Astra shared in the laugh briefly before her features hardened. “Did he harm you?”

Alex was thrown off by the General’s protective tone. She knew she had to choose her words carefully lest Astra throw Max into orbit. “He didn’t do anything to hurt me. Actually, he was quite the gentleman. I mean, he was definitely trying to charm information out of me but…”

Astra gave Alex a confused look. “If that’s the case, then what’s troubling you?”

Alex hesitated and started fidgeting with her empty tumbler. “Even though it was a fake date, the whole dressing up, dinner, flirting…I kind of enjoyed it. It made me realize that I’ve been so focused on my job over the last few years that I haven’t made time for my personal life. Honestly, I don’t have a personal life. I can’t remember the last time I went on a real date.” Alex laughed nervously and ran her fingers through her hair again.

Astra thinly smiled. She remained stoic as she maintained her position floating a few feet from Alex’s balcony. After giving the agent a measured beat, she nodded at the eldest Danvers encouraging her to continue.

“Between the DEO and Kara, I’ve completely cut myself off from…well…everything else,” she softly said, more to herself than her guest. Alex cleared her throat and started fidgeting with her shirt sleeve. “The f*cked up part is the few dates I’ve been on have led to nothing. I’ve never been on a second date with a guy, and it’s not like they were all sh*theads either. Some of them were really nice guys, but there just wasn’t that…spark. I didn’t feel anything for them, emotionally or physically.”

Astra studied Alex with a quizzical look on her face. Just as the redhead was starting to get uncomfortable from the General’s scrutiny, Astra finally spoke up. “Maybe the problem is limiting yourself to males,” she offered matter-of-factly.

Alex's brain promptly short-circuited.

She stared slack-jawed at the clearly dead serious Kryptonian before she figured out how to speak again. “What! No…no, no, no. That’s not…I’m not…” she managed to stutter out through a very nervous laugh. She could feel her face turning bright red. Her mouth suddenly drier than the Sahara, the agent thickly swallowed and loudly cleared her throat several times.

Alex knew the problem with finding Mr. Right had nothing to do with…what Astra was implying. No way…nope…not happening.

Right?

Not wanting to continue down this path with Kara’s possibly homicidal aunt, Alex shifted the focus of the conversation to Astra. “So…uh…given what Kara’s told me about Kryptonian dating practices, I’m guessing things were a little less complicated on Krypton?” she asked in an uncharacteristically squeaky voice.

Astra snorted out a hearty laugh. “Very accurate, Agent Danvers,” she managed to choke out between chuckles. Alex silently thanked the stars that the General went along with her not-so-subtle attempt to move away from Astra’s…insinuation?

Astra quickly regained her composure, though her features had noticeably softened. “The courtship process was much more regimented. The concept of love between bondmates was considered a luxury. Most marriages were motivated by how the respective houses would benefit from the union and what would best serve Kryptonian society as a whole. My bonding with Non was utilitarian at best.” She looked off into the distance; a melancholy look on her face. “Any possibility of exploring a romantic relationship between us evaporated once we discovered that Krypton was dying. All our focus turned to saving the planet. From there, it was all about the mission…” Astra drifted off, seemingly lost in thought.

“It still is, isn’t it?” Alex asked softly. Astra nodded. For the first time since Alex had met her, she could see vulnerability in Astra’s features; sadness and regret emanating from her haunted green eyes. “Have you ever considered what you’re missing out on?”

The General turned and locked eyes with the agent. “Not until recently.” Astra’s voice was small, apprehensive Alex noticed that the General was absentmindedly fidgeting with a gold bracelet clasped to her right wrist.

“Me too.”

The two enjoyed a moment of comfortable silence before Alex was overcome by a deep yawn.

“It’s late. You should rest,” Astra gently coaxed.

“You’re probably right,” Alex managed to say through another yawn. “Goodnight, General,” she said as she turned to go inside.

“Astra.” Alex stopped and turned towards the General, a look of confusion on her face. “Please, call me Astra.”

“Alex,” the eldest Danvers said without hesitation.

Astra thoughtfully nodded her head. An inquisitive look fell over her face. “Alex…I suspect that’s a nickname.”

Red heat covered Alex’s cheeks as she blew out an embarrassed huff. Her lips parted to respond several times before she mustered the courage to speak. “It’s short for Alexandra.” Alex quickly held up her hands toward the Kryptonian. “But only my parents call me that!” she ardently warned the General.

A mischievous grin spread across Astra’s lips. “Understood.” She turned to fly away and stopped short. “Goodnight…Alexandra,” she said over her shoulder.

Alex’s cheeks flushed again, and she stopped herself from reprimanding the General. Instead, she rolled her eyes and tried to suppress an amused grin. “Goodnight, Astra.”

The General darted into the sky, completely missing Alex’s light giggle as the agent stepped into her apartment.

******

Two weeks later, Alex stumbled through her apartment door and threw her keys and purse at the kitchen counter; both skidded across the countertop and fell to the floor. The eldest Danvers let out a frustrated sigh but made no effort to pick them up. Instead, she staggered further into the kitchen and retrieved a tumbler and a bottle of her favorite scotch. She filled the glass almost to the brim and took a sizable gulp before topping it off.

Alex limped into the living room with the tumbler and bottle in hand. She ungracefully plopped down on the couch and let out a relieved sigh once she settled in.

Alex was in pain.

No, scratch that, Alex was in excruciating pain.

Her first encounter with a white Martian had resulted in a deep laceration on her forehead, a mild concussion, a sprained elbow, and turned her body into a mass of bruises.

To make matters worse, her entire squad had been eviscerated by the monstrous alien.

Once again, Alex was the lone survivor of a disastrous op. She couldn’t wrap her head around why the creature had selected her to use as bait to lure out J’onn when it could have used any of the other agents in her squad. The same question ran through her head after she was abducted by the Hellgrammite: why had she been the lone survivor? Was it just a coincidence? Blind luck? Or did the universe need her alive to serve some other purpose?

She was grateful to be alive, but not at the cost of her fellow agents’ lives.

Alex took two large swallows from her drink and silently hoped the amber liquid would swiftly numb her pain and quiet her guilt-ridden thoughts enough for her to fall into a dreamless sleep.

Several soft taps on her sliding glass door had Alex bolting up from the couch and swinging her unholstered weapon to target the entrance to her balcony.

A very unfazed and clearly amused Astra gave the startled agent a short wave.

“Goddamnit Astra!” Alex set her gun on the coffee table and stomped towards the General, forcefully throwing open the sliding door as she reached her. “I swear to god I’m going to shove a tracking device up your ass so you can’t sneak up on me!”

“You’re more than welcome to try, kir zygai,” Astra laughed out. Her tone was playful and, much to Alex’s confusion, a little flirtatious. Astra appeared to have realized the flirtatious nature of her comment as well as her cheeks had dusted pink. The two shared an uncomfortable chuckle before Astra’s attention was suddenly focused on Alex’s face. “You’re injured!” As if by reflex, Astra raised her hands towards Alex’s face, coming within inches of cupping her cheeks. Alex flinched and the General seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly pulled away, her hands dropped to her sides and began to fidget with the side seams of her pants.

After a second of awkwardness between the two, Astra straightened her posture and cleared her throat. “Who did this to you?” she rasped out, still showing signs of embarrassment.

Alex could see a mixture of concern and protectiveness on the General’s face and couldn’t help but feel touched by it. She watched as Astra frantically inspected her from head to toe. Alex assumed she was scanning her with her enhanced vision. “We had to stop a white Martian that was after Hank.”

Astra appeared to have completed her scan. “Uncouth beasts. I’ve dealt with their kind before,” she sneered.

Her adrenaline from Astra’s sudden arrival waning, Alex let out a pained gasp and stumbled towards her dining table. She braced herself against one of the chairs once it was within reach.

Astra was suddenly by her side, this time picking up Alex into a bridal carry without hesitation or apology.

The General moved Alex to the couch and laid her down on the cushions as if she were made of glass. A burst of super-speed later and a pillow was lodged under Alex’s head and a blanket covered her. “Is there anything I can get for you?” Astra asked nervously as she kneeled next to Alex’s prone position. “I’m not familiar with caring for an injured human so I don’t know how best to help you. Do you need food? Fluids? Is there some type of medicine you should be taking?” Astra was fidgeting with her hands during her very Kara-esque ramble.

Alex found the General’s uncharacteristically frantic behavior oddly endearing.

“I’m good.” Alex attempted to flash a reassuring grin, but it was undercut by a painful hiss as she shifted to make herself comfortable. Astra tensed and the look of concern on her face grew into one of frenzied worry.

Sensing Astra’s increased anxiety, Alex lightly patted the General’s hand. “Seriously, I’m okay. I’m just a little banged up,”

Astra scoffed. “Nonsense, Alexandra. Your body is covered in contusions and the cut on your forehead is bleeding through the bandage. Your heart rate is significantly elevated, which I can only assume is being caused by the amount of pain you’re in. Surely you need something to help make you more comfortable?” The look of worry on her face continued to grow with every passing second.

Alex rolled her eyes and huffed. “Fine. You can hand me my drink,” she said as she pointed at the half-full tumbler sitting on the coffee table.

Astra grabbed the glass and held it up to inspect it. She swirled the amber liquid around a few times before holding the glass to her nose and taking a sniff of its contents. A curious look rolled across her face as she handed the glass to Alex. “I take it this has some sort of medicinal value?”

“None whatsoever.” Alex took a huge gulp and let out a satisfied hum. “It just makes everything better.” The agent playfully waggled her eyebrows.

Astra scowled. “It’s an intoxicant, isn’t it?”

“Yup,” Alex replied with a pop.

Astra rolled her eyes, but her smirk let on that she wasn’t genuinely annoyed with her. “The smell reminds me of Czarnian Cupam.” A wistful look fell over Astra’s features. “Before Non and I were bonded, I would try to experience the culture of any planets our fleet visited. One of my favorite things to do during shore leave would be to sample the local spirits.”

“How did marrying Non change that?”

Astra tried to smile but Alex could see the pain in her eyes. “Recreation was never a priority for my zrhomin. Any activities not related to the betterment of the people was considered a waste of time.”

“Well, he’s now officially graduated from f*ckhead to complete asshole in my book,” Alex said as deadpanned as her buzzed brain would allow. Astra stifled a laugh. “There's an extra glass in the cabinet over the sink.” Alex motioned towards the kitchen. Astra looked as if she was going to decline but the eldest Danvers cut her off. “Please? The scotch won’t have any effect on you, and they say drinking alone is a sign of alcoholism,” she pleaded/whined.

Astra nodded in defeat. “Who am I to deny my favorite DEO agent.” Ignoring the sudden blush on Alex’s cheeks, the General quickly retrieved a tumbler from the cabinet and poured a modest amount of scotch into it.

Alex held her glass towards the General. “To wasting time,” she toasted with a mirthful grin. Astra clinked her glass against Alex’s and the two took a sip.

An almost breathy moan escaped from the General’s throat as she reacted to the smoky burn from the scotch’s finish; her eyes practically rolled into the back of her head. “Rao be praised. That’s delicious.”

The two sat in comfortable silence until Alex’s tipsy brain decided to forgo any small talk. “Does Non know you’re here…with me?"

Astra shook her head. “No.”

Alex slowly nodded and asked, “Why haven’t you told him?”

Astra took a heavy swallow of scotch. “Because you would be in danger if he knew.” The General averted her gaze from Alex’s. “I…I don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered, almost too quietly for Alex to hear.

Astra downed the rest of her drink and turned to meet the eldest Danvers’ eyes. “Have you told Kara?”

Alex slowly shook her head. “No.”

“Why not?”

Alex shrugged. “Maybe I want you all to myself.”

Astra took a sharp breath and her eyes widened slightly. Alex could see the tips of the General’s ears redden and chortled quietly; her scotch rattled brain enjoying the General’s reaction more than it should

Astra quickly poured more scotch into her tumbler and took a long drink. After a thick swallow, she cleared her throat. “So…tell me about what transpired between you and the white Martian.”

Alex broke into a full laugh, eliciting a scowl from the General. Sensing she shouldn’t poke too much fun at Astra’s discomfort, Alex launched into a sloppy recounting of the day’s events.

Despite Alex’s erratic storytelling, Astra managed to follow along without issue, asking clarifying questions as needed.

It was halfway through her story that Alex realized just how drunk she was, her slurred speech and wild hand movements both tell-tale signs that she needed to refrain from pouring herself another drink.

She managed to wrap up her story a half-hour later, extremely proud of herself for not blurting out any classified information to the General (or at least she thought she hadn’t). The eldest Danvers didn’t dwell on her potentially loose lips for too long as a wave of exhaustion swept over her. She settled into her pillow further as her eyes became lead weights.

“I think it might be a good time for us to call it a night,” Astra pointed out sympathetically.

“Mmhmm,” was all Alex managed to get out.

Using her super-speed, Astra swept up the empty scotch bottle and both tumblers, depositing the bottle on the counter and washing, drying, and placing the glasses back in the appropriate cabinet. She zipped back into the living room and knelt next to the sh*tfaced agent. “Would you like me to move you to your bed?”

“No…couchy fine,” Alex slurred.

Astra quietly snickered and pulled Alex’s blanket from her lap, repositioning it to cover the full length of the agent’s body. She tucked the blanket around Alex’s shoulders and adjusted the pillow until the eldest Danvers settled her head into it comfortably.

“Ya know, you keep doing nice fings fer me, I’m gonna start finking we’re friends,” Alex slurred through a sleepy smile.

A playful grin spread across Astra’s lips. “Well, we wouldn’t want that now, would we?” She gave Alex a soft tap on the nose.

Alex giggled. “Hazz anyone ever told you yer reeeallly pretty?”

Astra’s eyes comically widened, and her cheeks reddened. She took a shuddered breath and wet her lips. “Not in a very long time,” she whispered just loud enough for Alex to hear. The General gently slid the pad of her thumb over Alex’s forehead right above her bandaged cut, a reverent look on her face. “Good night, Alexandra.”

“Nigh, nigh,” Alex mumbled just before she passed out.

After using her enhanced hearing to confirm that Alex was indeed asleep, Astra leaned down and placed a feather-light kiss on the agent’s forehead.

“Sleep well, kir zygai.”

****

The next morning, Alex awoke to a raging headache and an angry stomach. On the coffee table, she found a bottle of ibuprofen and a glass of water with a note next to them. Her body screaming in protest, she slowly pulled herself to a sitting position and grabbed the note.

Alexandra,

I found this in your medicine cabinet. I assume since it says ‘pain reliever’ on the bottle, it should help with your pain levels this morning. According to the directions, you should take one to two tablets every four to six hours, but do not exceed more than six tablets within a twenty-four-hour period. The label doesn’t say what will happen if you exceed that amount but I’m sure you would know better than I.

I hope to see you again soon.

A.

Alex couldn’t help the warmth blooming in her chest, or the dopey grin painted across her face. She popped the lid off the pill bottle and dumped four tablets in her hand. After slamming back the pills with a few gulps of water, she laid back on the couch and stared at the ceiling as she waited for the meds to kick in.

She ran through her visit with Astra in her head, or at least what she could remember, and prayed to God she hadn’t said anything too embarrassing.

******

After that night, Astra’s visits became a weekly occurrence.

The General would show up on Alex’s balcony, unannounced, at least once a week without fail. Alex would get a second visit if she was having a particularly bad week. Astra always seemed to know when Alex had a sh*tty day.

Logically, she knew that Astra’s conveniently timed visits should have been a red flag, but she decided to go with the flow regardless of what dumb logic had to say.

I mean, how could she not? Spending time with Astra was the perfect remedy after a crap day.

Though there wasn’t a specific day of the week the General visited, the visits themselves quickly began to follow a predictable pattern: Astra would show up within five minutes of Alex arriving home, scaring the sh*t out of the eldest Danvers which resulted in having a gun pointed at her.

Once Alex finished threatening Astra with some type of bodily harm and calmed down, the agent would invite her in, order takeout, crack a bottle of scotch open, and the two would spend the rest of the evening (and occasionally into the early morning hours) eating, drinking, and having a wide range of conversations. Astra would pepper Alex with questions about pop culture and Earth customs while Alex would ask about life on Krypton. Alex introduced the General to a wide variety of ethnic foods, music, movies, and TV shows (Astra was hooked on Game of Thrones after watching the first episode).

The two ignored the football stadium sized elephant in the room when they were together.

They avoided any conversations related to Astra and Non’s plans or the DEO’s plans to counter them. Alex kept her work stories vague enough to ensure that the General wasn’t privy to any classified information that could give her and her troops a tactical advantage.

In order to safeguard Kara’s identity, the eldest Danvers made sure to hide any photos of her and her sister whenever Astra visited.

Alex knew she was in denial about the whole situation. She knew that their “friendship” (or whatever the hell they were doing) would come crashing down sooner or later.

Alex tried to convince herself that spending time with Astra and introducing her to the positive aspects of humanity might sway her to abandoning her plan, but she was kidding herself; she spent time with Astra because she enjoyed being around her. She loved watching the battle-hardened General relax and let her hair down. She loved her dark sense of humor, her bluntness, her laugh, her smile.

Outside of her mother and her sister, Alex had never felt more connected, at ease, or accepted by another person. In those moments with Astra, all her worries were pushed to the wayside in favor of being with the green-eyed beauty that was quickly becoming her favorite non-familial person.

But that was the crux of the problem, she was making herself so vulnerable that she was going to be devastated when their “relationship” inevitably imploded.

Speaking of…

Nine weeks later…

Alex was telling Astra the story about getting chewed out by Hank for arresting Max Lord. She explained her justifications for his arrest (Max’s part in creating Bizzaro Supergirl, protecting Kara’s secret identity, etc.) and lightheartedly proclaimed she didn’t care if Max rotted in a black site without trial for the rest of his life.

“I agree. Sometimes laws need to be subverted in order to protect people from the very threats they were made to combat,” Astra said in a cold, clinical tone.

Alex tensed and stared at the General, a mix of fear and disbelief on her face. “Astra, I was joking. At some point, we’re going to have to release him.”

“And by doing so you put yourself, Kara, and your compatriots at risk of retaliation,” Astra sneered. “The man should be neutralized and buried where no one can find the body.”

“Jesus Christ, Astra! We can’t just shoot him in the back of the head and bury him in the desert!” Alex yelled in astonishment.

“And why is that?” Astra asked, a confounded look on her face.

“Because that’s not how we operate!”

“Well maybe if you did, we wouldn’t be forced to clean up your messes for you!”

Alex felt like she’d been punched in the gut.

The realization of everything she had been in denial about over the previous weeks came crashing down on her. The General believed everything she had just said. The funny, polite, gentle woman sitting next to her was the same person who believed that the world could only be saved if her and Non took control. To her, the ends justified the means without any debate.

She was “General” Astra, and she had no qualms about killing J’onn, Kara, or Alex if she felt they were a threat to her plans.

Alex’s heart was beating so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She could feel tears welling in her eyes and a lump in her throat.

Astra seemed to pick up on Alex’s inner turmoil and began cleaning up the empty food containers from the coffee table. “I should go,” she said emotionlessly.

Alex rose from the couch. “Astra, you don’t have to-”

The General was already gone, a burst of wind evidence of her abrupt departure.

Alex fell back onto the couch. She stared at the spot that Astra had occupied only seconds ago, desperately trying to process what had just happened and how things took a turn so quickly.

She took several shaky breaths to keep herself from breaking down to no avail; the tears came, nonetheless.

Chapter 5: A Fork in the Road

Chapter Text

The morning after her argument with Astra, Alex was heading out for work when she received an unexpected call from James Olsen. The photographer stated that Kara hadn’t arrived at CatCo yet and was not responding to his repeated calls. Alex told him she would head to Kara’s loft and asked him to meet her there.

When she arrived, both James and Winn Schott were waiting by her sister’s door. After Alex unsubtly kicked the door open, the trio found Kara unconscious on her bedroom floor with some Little Shop of Horrors reject attached to her body. The Super was still alive but clearly needed immediate medical attention.

Alex had Kara transported to the DEO and began trying to find a way to get the green monstrosity off her sister. In her rush to get her back to the desert base, she allowed James and Winn to ride with her back to the top-secret facility. J’onn voiced his displeasure with her decision to let them tag along but quickly dropped it in favor of focusing on Kara.

Alex figured Max Lord might know the plant’s origin but after roughing him up, it became clear he didn’t know sh*t.

Alex’s efforts to remove the plant using a titanium claw was a complete failure as well, Kara was almost killed in the process.

Compounding the already f*cked situation, James called Alex later and informed her that Cat Grant was going to fire Kara if she didn’t show up at CatCo within the hour. Knowing how important the job was to Kara, Alex asked J’onn to go to CatCo and use his shapeshifting abilities to pose as her sister.

Thankfully, the Martian begrudgingly agreed.

Holo-Alura was no help either. Alex poured her heart out to the indifferent AI, but the program was unable to provide any information that would help her sister.

Alex went back to Kara’s loft in the hopes that she had missed some important clue earlier when she discovered Kara. She was mid-search when she sensed someone else lurking behind her. She swiftly pulled her service weapon and spun around to level her gun at the intruder.

“Kryptonite rounds?” Astra asked with a subtle pained look on her face.

“Yeah, there’s a bunch of Kryptonian terrorists running around, or haven’t you heard?” Alex sneered.

She could see Astra was visibly stung by her not-so-subtle jab. The eldest Danvers knew her chilly response was a low blow and immediately regretted it when she saw the hurt look on Astra’s face. “What do you want, General?” she asked while keeping her gun pointed at the Kryptonian.

Astra held up her hands non threateningly. “I came here to help Kara, not to fight.”

Alex studied Astra for a moment and finding no hints of deception, lowered her weapon. “Do you know what the hell that thing is that attached itself to her?”

Astra’s jaw clenched momentarily before she started explaining what the Black Mercy was and how it worked. “I can tell you how to help her,” Astra offered in earnest.

“First, I want to know who did this. Who sent that f*cking thing after her? Please tell me you had nothing to do with it.” Alex barked.

Astra gasped. “How could you think I would do such a thing?” she asked incredulously.

Alex ignored her question. “Then who did it?” she yelled.

“Non…it was Non,” Astra admitted as she averted her eyes from Alex’s piercing stare. “I told him that Kara was not to be harmed, but the bastard considered using the Mercy as a…” Astra trailed off as her focus shifted to a photo sitting on an end-table behind Alex. The agent followed the General’s eyeline and saw that it was a photo of Kara and Alex taken shortly after Kara’s arrival on Earth. Astra shifted her focus between the photo and Alex a few times before the General’s knowing gaze settled on the agent. “I knew there was more to you and my niece.”

“She’s my sister,” Alex admitted. “Kal-El left her with my family when her pod landed here.”

Astra’s mouth fell agape. Alex could see a maelstrom of emotions swirling in the General’s eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, her voice laced with an undercurrent of sadness.

“To protect Kara,” she said with all the resolve she could muster. Alex didn’t know why she was feeling guilty about not telling Astra about her connection to Kara, but she was, and she did her best to hide it from the General’s scrutinizing gaze. “She may be bulletproof on the outside but on the inside, she’s as fragile as glass. I know I can’t do much to physically protect her, but I can protect her heart.”

Astra gave a slight nod. “So, what does that make us?”

“I don’t know Astra, you tell me! Alex could feel her cheeks flush as her anger and frustration threatened to overwhelm her.

Astra looked as if she was going to answer but instead shook her head. “We don’t have time for this, not while Kara’s life hangs in the balance. I can tell you how to help free Kara from the Mercy. Whatever we are to each other…whatever we could have been…you’re just going to have to trust me. Are you ready to listen?”

Alex nodded and Astra quickly explained how Alex could enter the illusion and convince Kara to reject what the Mercy was showing her.

Once Astra finished her explanation and turned to leave, Alex grabbed her by the wrist. Astra, startled, turned to face the agent but made no effort to pull away. “Come back to the DEO with me. Help me save Kara.”

“I’m sorry, kir zygai. I have to go,” she said, her voice somber but resolute.

Alex’s brow furrowed as realization hit her. “It’s started, hasn’t it?” The two locked eyes for a moment, Astra broke first and looked towards the window. Alex nodded her head acknowledging Astra’s silent answer.

“Go help Kara.” The General’s voice was small, pleading. Alex released Astra’s wrist in a huff but instead of pulling away, Astra gently grabbed her hand.

Alex stared down at their joined hands in confusion.

“Goodbye, Alexandra. I pray to Rao that we never meet in battle.” The General raised Alex’s hand and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of it. She then released the agent’s hand and walked towards the window nearest Kara’s fire escape.

“Astra, wait!”

The General turned to face Alex, tears welling in her eyes. The agent fought to hold back her own tears. “What does it mean?”

Astra looked at her in confusion.

“Kir zygai. What does it mean?”

Astra smiled sorrowfully. “You didn’t ask Kara?”

The eldest Danvers shook her head. “I wanted to hear it from you.” Tears were now streaming down Alex’s cheeks.

Astra choked out a wet laugh. “Little warrior.”

She flashed Alex a watery smile before launching into the air and disappearing into the afternoon sky.

******

Alex made it back to the DEO in record time and set about configuring the equipment needed to enter Kara’s hallucination. After hitting a dead end, she was forced to bring Max in to finish the last of the modifications.

Despite her hatred of the tech genius, at this point, she would resort to giving the little sh*t a hand-job if it meant freeing Kara from the demonic daffodil.

Alex was an emotional wreck after successfully pulling Kara from her Black Mercy induced fantasy. After breaking down in front of holo-Alura, her confrontation with Astra, and traveling into Kara’s mind to convince her to pull her head out of her ass, Alex felt like her heart had been shredded to pieces. She swore that if she managed to survive the next twenty-four hours without a complete psychotic breakdown, she would take her mother’s advice and start seeing a therapist.

For now, Alex had to power through her exhaustion and focus on Kara’s current mental state. Her sister had said very little since being freed from the Black Mercy. Instead, she sat quietly in the CIC as J’onn and Winn briefed them on Winn’s theory about what Non and Astra were up to. Alex could sense the rage bubbling under the surface of her sister’s cool demeanor. The Kryptonian was a ticking time bomb that was a hair’s breadth away from going off.

The explosion came as soon as they located Non.

Alex wasn’t surprised that her sister decided to go full “John Wick” on her uncle, but she worried that Non would be able to take advantage of Kara’s blind fury and turn it against her.

Unfortunately, the agent couldn’t help her sister at that moment. There were five other satellite farms that needed protection from the rogue Kryptonians and Alex had been ordered by J’onn to secure one of those locations.

Before Alex boarded the DEO chopper taking her to the site, she stopped by the armory and picked up a “special package”.

While enroute to her assigned location, Alex silently prayed that she wouldn’t run into Astra. Her greatest fear was that the General wouldn’t stand down if Alex confronted her and she would be forced to fight her. Even with the prototype weapon strapped to her back, Alex knew that Astra would make short work of her in a one-on-one fight; not because of the General’s powers or combat experience, but because Alex’s heart wouldn’t be in the fight. She knew she would hesitate if faced with the possibility of having to either kill or seriously injure the General.

As the satellite farm came into sight, Alex’s stomach twisted into a knot when she saw Astra placing some type of device inside one of the satellite control boxes.

Of course, she would be the one to find Astra, the universe clearly wasn’t done beating what was left of her soul into a pulp.

Nonetheless, Alex had a job to do.

She took a breath to center herself, pushing all her conflicted feelings for Astra out of her mind. She confirmed that her machine gun was loaded with standard rounds, secured her harness, and jumped from the chopper.

As she repelled to ground level, Alex fired a grouping of shots at the device in Astra’s hand hoping that she could damage it enough to make it inoperable. Astra turned and unleashed her heat vision, the blue and white beams burned through the agent’s rope and caused her to fall the remaining ten feet to the ground. Alex ignored the pain in her shoulder and thigh from the impact of the fall and forced herself to her feet.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Alex huffed out through a pained breath.

Astra strode angrily towards Alex. “Just because we shared a few personal moments together doesn’t mean I’m going to let you get in the way of my mission. Our truce is over, kir zygai!”

“Bullsh*t, General! I know your heart’s not in this anymore.” Breathing heavily, Alex managed to square up to Astra.

Using a burst of super-speed, Astra grabbed Alex by the throat and pinned her up against a staircase railing. “You know nothing of me!”

“I know that you’ve had plenty of opportunities…to kill me, but you haven’t. You yourself admitted…that what you’re doing is wrong,” Alex managed to choke out. Astra loosened her grip around the agent’s neck. Alex could see a glimmer of doubt in her eyes. “C’mon, General, use your head. Non completely disobeyed your orders to leave Kara alone. He doesn’t give a sh*t about you or your mission. It’s a power grab, and he’s using you to get it. He wants to rule Earth, not save it! You know the second he gets what he wants, he’ll stab you right in the back.” Astra looked stunned, her brow furrowed and her mouth slightly agape. “Help us stop him before it’s too late.”

With a hiss of wind and a blur of motion, a caped figure collided with Astra and knocked her a few feet away from Alex, the agent fell to the ground once she was released from the General’s grip.

In his true Martian form, J’onn faced down Astra. Brief words were exchanged before the two engaged each other. Alex helplessly watched as Astra quickly gained the upper hand and overpowered him.

After throwing J’onn hundreds of feet in the air, Astra quickly ran over to the control box and shoved the device Alex had seen earlier inside of it.

The Martian re-engaged with the General and the two traded more blows. After locking up in a standing grapple, the two took to the air, careening wildly up the side of a nearby office building causing concrete and debris to rain down on the streets below.

The two dropped down next to Alex, J’onn remained on his feet and Astra rolled across the ground. The General swiftly rose to her feet and continued exchanging punches. Once again, Astra got the upper hand and after deftly maneuvering away from J’onn’s punches, she landed multiple blows that sent the Martian to his knees. Astra grabbed J’onn by the back of his collar, pulled a small knife from her belt, and held the tip of the blade to his throat.

“Fear not, Martian. You will die a soldier’s death,” she hissed.

Positioned a few feet behind Astra, Alex watched in horror as Astra held the knife to J’onn’s throat. Alex pulled the kryptonite sword from the lead-lined scabbard strapped to her back, her “special package” glowed a bright green.

Shortly after being kidnapped by the Hellgramite and her first encounter with Astra, Alex had approached the DEO armorer and requested he forge a sword made of steel and laced with kryptonite. It was constructed in complete secrecy; only Alex and J’onn knew of its existence. The sword was standard katana length with a trailing point tip. The prototype weapon had been completed merely three days prior and now rested heavily in Alex’s hand.

Time seemed to stand still. This was the nightmare that Alex wanted to avoid at all costs. Astra had put Alex in a no-win scenario. She had few options. With Astra distracted, Alex could easily sneak up behind and run her through with the blade, most assuredly inflicting a fatal injury, or she could sever Astra’s knife hand and run the risk of her bleeding out.

Or…she could go with option three…

“Astra! Stop!” Alex ran up behind Astra and forcefully poked the tip of the sword between the General’s shoulders, ready to push all her weight forward if the Kryptonian failed to stand down.

Astra froze in place, her hand still gripping J’onn’s collar and the other holding the knife towards the Martian’s neck. J’onn, for his part, stopped struggling altogether.

“Please don’t do this…you’re not a killer…I’ve been around you enough to know that, and deep down in your heart, you know it too.” Alex paused to take a breath while Astra remained motionless. “I know you’re scared. I know you think that if you betray Non you’re going to fail your mission, but that’s not true. We can still save Earth. You, me, Kara, Kal, and J’onn…together.”

Astra shook her head; a humorless chuckle escaped her throat. Alex could see the General tighten her grip around the knife. Alex tightened her grip on her sword and pressed it more firmly into Astra’s back in response; careful not to pierce her skin but close enough to make her uncomfortable.

“Goddamnit, General! If you do this…if you kill him, you’ll be crossing a line that you can’t come back from! I won’t be able to help you. The government will send every resource they have to hunt you down; including me.”

Alex moved her sword blade away from Astra’s back. She took tentative steps as she circled around to face the General, her sword remaining in a combat position. Though the General still held a loose grip on J’onn’s collar with her knife still directed at his throat, Alex could see tears streaming down Astra’s face.

“And if they send me after you, I’m as good as dead…because I…I won’t fight you. I care about you too much to hurt you,” Alex said with a shaky voice. Her lip quivered and she felt the hot sting of tears pooling in her eyes. “I can’t…I won’t do it…because I refuse to cause you any more pain. So please…please don’t make me…” Alex choked back a sob.

She held up the kryptonite sword and flung it away.

Astra was shaking, her breathing labored as she fought to control her emotions. The General had released her grip on J’onn; the Martian rolled away without even a glance from the Kryptonian. He rose to his feet and looked as if he was going to advance on the General but a raised hand from Alex stopped him.

J’onn turned away and started quietly speaking into his comm; Alex was too focused on Astra to hear what he was saying.

Alex slowly approached Astra, the General stood stock-still. Her gaze was unfocused, the knife still loosely gripped in her hand. The agent gently wrapped her hands around Astra’s free hand and pulled her closer. Teary green eyes connected with equally wet browns. Alex could see the fear in Astra’s eyes, could hear her shallow breaths, could feel the General squeeze her hand as if it was an anchor holding her steady.

“There is so much beauty in this world. I want to share it with you. I want you to see who and what we’re fighting for…and why I still have hope for it.” Alex’s pleading eyes bore into Astra’s. “But I can’t do any of that if you stay with Non. I’m asking…begging you to choose a different path. I know it’s scary, not knowing what’s waiting for you if you choose to walk down that path. Just know you won’t be alone. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” Alex reached up and used the pad of her thumb to wipe a tear from Astra’s cheek. The General choked out a quiet whimper at the agent’s gentle touch. “Please Astra. I need you…” Alex whispered as she squeezed Astra’s hand as tightly as she could.

The knife fell from Astra’s hand and landed on the concrete with a metallic clank. Astra dropped to her knees, Alex quickly following her to the ground and wrapping the General in her arms. After a moment of hesitation, Astra’s arms wrapped around Alex’s waist. The General buried her face in Alex’s shoulder and silently wept. The eldest Danvers rubbed soothing circles on the General’s trembling back.

A short burst of wind announced Kara’s arrival. “What happened?” she asked J’onn. The Martian motioned towards the still embracing Alex and Astra. Kara’s eyes widened into saucers. “Aunt Astra? Alex?” she asked in confusion.

Astra’s head rose from Alex’s shoulder, her bloodshot, tear-stained eyes connected with her niece’s. “I’m so sorry little one. I’m so…so…sorry for everything I’ve done to you. I was so wrong…about all of this. I know I’ve hurt you so much and-”

Kara super-sped to her aunt and sister and wrapped them in a bone crushing hug. A combination of choked off sobs, watery laughs, and contented sighs emanated from the trio.

Two minutes later, the women slowly extricated themselves from their group hug, all three sniffled profusely as they swiped at their wet eyes. The trio exchanged smiles, Kara’s the biggest and brightest, of course, with Alex not too far behind. Astra was more cautious; a touch of underlying anxiety framed her features.

Kara cleared her throat, drawing the attention of her sister and aunt. “Non said something about ‘Myriad’. Do you know what he was talking about?” she asked her aunt, her crinkle in full force.

“I think this is a conversation better had elsewhere,” J’onn cut in.

Alex, Astra, and Kara turned towards the Martian. Alex nodded. “He’s right. We need to get the hell out of here before Non or one of his crew comes looking for you.” The agent nodded in Astra’s direction.

Alex walked over to the kryptonite sword, picked it up, and smoothly re-sheathed it in the scabbard.

Astra grabbed Alex’s arm as she passed. “May I borrow your sword?”

“Why?” Alex asked, confused.

“We are woefully unprepared to stop Non and our…his soldiers. We need time to come up with a strategy to deal with them and his plans for Myriad. I have an idea, but we need to move quickly.” The General extended her hand to Alex. “Do you trust me, Alexandra?” Alex nodded without hesitation.

A mischievous smile crawled across Astra’s lips. “Excellent…your sword, please.”

Chapter 6: A New Life

Chapter Text

Astra’s alarm blared to life at 6 a.m. on the dot.

Lying face down on her bed, the General reached out from under her very comfy duvet comforter and hit the “snooze” button on her phone with a blind tap. The kryptonite bracelet on her wrist clanked against the bedside table as she retracted her arm back into the warmth under her blanket. She rolled over and lay flat on her back and stretched her arms over the edges of her twin mattress.

Her eyes still closed; Astra stretched out her senses as far as her depowered body would allow. She could hear the quiet hum of the refrigerator to the right of her and the steady drip of the automatic coffee maker from the kitchen counter. Within a few short minutes, the strong aroma of coffee settled over the room which prompted Astra to get out of bed.

The General whipped aside her comforter and swung her legs off the mattress, the pads of her feet greeted by the fluffy throw rug on the floor. Raising to her full height, Astra stretched her arms into the air and shifted her weight to the balls of her feet. Assorted pops and cracks from stiff muscles and joints echoed through the room. She settled back into her normal posture and ran her hand along her outer thigh, the feel of baby soft fleece pajama bottoms brought a contented smile to her face.

As far as Astra was concerned, fleece pajamas were the greatest invention humanity had to offer the universe.

Kara had gifted Astra a pair of the puppy-printed sleepwear to her two days after the General had turned her back on Non and Myriad. Astra practically melted into them the first time she tried them on. She’d never worn a more comfortable garment; her finest sleeping gown on Krypton couldn’t hold a candle to their fluffy goodness. She fully intended to wear them everywhere she went but her plan was thwarted by Alex when the General tried to wear them to a DEO briefing. Astra sure as hell wasn’t going to go back to wearing her overly tight, scratchy military uniform 24/7, so she opted for the next best thing: a DEO zip-up hoodie and matching sweatpants.

Astra padded over to the coffeemaker, retrieved a mug, and poured herself a steaming cup. Unlike her niece, the General preferred her coffee black. She couldn’t figure out why Kara sullied a perfectly good drink with an overabundance of sugar and flavored creamers.

After enjoying her first sip of the day, Astra sighed contentedly. She surveyed her living space and couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly it had come together.

The space she now called home had once been her detention cell. Alex and Kara “gently prodded” J’onn for a month before the annoyed Martian begrudgingly authorized the remodel. With Kara assisting as a “skilled” laborer, construction was completed in just under three weeks.

The elevated glass enclosure had been removed and the space it occupied made level with the rest of the room. A partitioned bedroom and bathroom with shower, toilet, and sink had been built furthest from the entrance. A small, open concept kitchen with a refrigerator, stove, oven, sink, toaster oven, and the aforementioned coffeemaker were set opposite the bathroom. The living area boasted a full-size couch, coffee table, wall mounted TV, computer desk, and bookshelf. Numerous throw-rugs covered the cold concrete floor and added much needed color to the drab space.

Astra was given a laptop and restricted access to the internet. Kara gave the General access to her Netflix account for what the hero dubbed “research purposes”. Basic necessities were provided by the largesse of the DEO while creature comforts were donated by her two most frequent visitors: Kara and Alex. The Danvers sisters made it their personal mission to make sure that the General rarely spent her evenings alone.

Kara, unsurprisingly, showered her aunt with a variety of unhealthy foods, consisting mostly of the blonde’s favorites. Astra found that she enjoyed potstickers and pizza but, much to Kara’s chagrin, not enough to have them for multiple meals per week.

Her niece also made it her personal mission to get the General caught up with the entire Disney catalog and every romantic comedy made in the last twenty years. Astra found the Disney films tolerable but despised the romantic comedies. “How can you find humor in stories that are completely divorced from reality?”

Despite her loathing of the genre, Astra happily suffered through their movie nights; a price she was happy to pay if it meant spending more time with her niece.

Alex spent the most time with Astra, often coming straight to the detention area as soon as her shift ended. Thankfully, the agent would bring a healthier variety of food for her to sample. Alex even taught her how to cook a few basic dishes; the two would occasionally prepare meals together.

Astra enjoyed Alex’s taste in films far more than her niece’s. The General grew quite fond of the horror/thriller films that the agent preferred. Especially when Kara joined them. Astra found great pleasure in watching her nigh-invulnerable niece hiding behind a throw pillow or literally hitting the ceiling after being startled by a particularly potent jump-scare.

Hands down, her favorite activity with Alex had to be working with the agent on expanding Astra’s vocabulary, specifically learning profanity. Early in their social interactions, the General noticed that the redhead would use a variety of words that she was unfamiliar with. Astra later noticed the same words popping up in both the movies she watched and the books she read. When she asked Alex to explain them, the agent got a devilish gleam in her eyes and so began Astra’s education in the proper use of inappropriate expletives.

Alex spent a significant amount of time exposing the General to various words and phrases and explained their proper contextual uses. She introduced Astra to Urban Dictionary and would assign her homework that they would go over in subsequent visits. Astra was fascinated and dove into her education with aplomb. The Kryptonian language did not have any equivalent to the colorful metaphors used in Western culture, and the General was determined to learn all of them.

Astra’s enthusiasm for all things profane got the better of her a few weeks later during one of J’onn’s morning briefings when the General referred to Non as a “co*ckbag”. The room became deathly quiet as all eyes fell on her. Winn choked on his coffee, Kara looked like her head was going to explode, Alex and Vasquez appeared to be fighting off their laughter, and J’onn simply pinched the bridge of his nose and quietly groaned. Astra was so confused at everyone’s reaction that she turned to Alex and asked, “Did I use the word improperly?”, at which point the eldest Danvers and Vasquez erupted into fits of laughter.

After ending the meeting early, J’onn pulled Astra aside and explained to her that a briefing was not the appropriate time or place to use that type of language.

Much to Astra’s surprise, J’onn would visit her every afternoon, usually ask how she was adjusting to her new surroundings. The Martian surprised Astra two weeks after her defection when he dropped off a copy of Plato’s The Republic, positing that it might give her some perspective on the inherent difficulties of governance. Over the course of subsequent weeks, he would drop off additional books and later brought her a record player and an assortment of records. The music J’onn introduced her to was far different from anything Alex and Kara had shared with her. She found that she quite enjoyed it.

Astra’s new living arrangement came with several stipulations; failure to follow any of them would result in dire consequences:

1: The General was essentially under house arrest. She could not leave her room without being escorted by Alex, J’onn, Kara, or Agent Vasquez.

Astra knew very little about Susan Vasquez before she was assigned to be one of the General’s chaperones. She’d never spoken to the diminutive agent; having only briefly seen her when she accompanied the medical team that examined Astra after General Lane had tortured her.

As the weeks rolled by, Astra found that she liked the agent. Vasquez was a tough, no-nonsense soldier and consummate professional. She was upfront and honest with Astra and refrained from sugarcoating her opinions. Much like Alex, Vasquez had a soft side that would occasionally bleed through her hard-nosed image. The agent possessed a child-like curiosity whenever she encountered a new alien or undiscovered technology and was often awestruck each time the DEO stumbled across one or the other.

2: Astra could not leave the desert base without the express consent of Director “Henshaw”, no exceptions.

3: The kryptonite emitters would remain in her cell as a preventative measure should she decide to “misbehave”.

4: Astra had to wear a bracelet equipped with a low-level kryptonite emitter to suppress her powers at all times.

Astra agreed to J’onn’s conditions without any objections. She would gladly endure the limitations imposed on her if it meant she could remain in Kara and Alex’s lives. The General understood that J’onn was going above and beyond allowing her to live comfortably in the DEO and consenting to her having increased human interactions. It would have been well within the DEO director’s power to confine her to her former cell to spend twenty-four hours a day sitting in the glass enclosure while being irradiated with higher doses of green K. She was eternally grateful for the Martian’s compassion and would follow his directives to the letter.

Hoping that in time, she would earn his trust as well.

The second alarm on Astra’s phone chimed reminding her she had thirty minutes before Alex arrived for their morning workout. The two had made working out together part of their daily routine. She and Alex would sequester themselves to one of the training rooms and do a combination of cardio exercises, weight training, and light sparring.

Astra padded into the bathroom, stripped off her pajamas, and tied her hair into a high ponytail.

As she did every morning, she spent a few minutes standing in front of the bathroom mirror examining her nude form. She would twist and turn, examining her remarkable physical appearance. Technically sixty-six-years-old, the General hadn’t aged a day since being banished to the Phantom Zone. She had just celebrated her thirty-fifth birthday two weeks before she and Non were banished to Fort Rozz. She remembered studying her body in the mirror in a similar fashion the morning of her birthday. She hadn’t been out of shape, nor was she some old hag, far from it, but she could see the rigors of age starting to impact her physique. Places that used to be firm were now beginning to sag, her muscles were losing definition despite her rigorous exercise regimen, and she noticed crow’s feet around her eyes every time she smiled.

She took pride in those imperfections. They were a badge of honor reflecting not just her age but the wisdom born out of a lifetime of hard earned lessons.

Although Sol’s light had not de-aged her, it certainly…firmed everything up.. Her biceps, triceps, quads, traps, calves, etc. looked like they were sculpted in granite.

Her abs, dear Rao, her abs looked like chiseled marble.

Her modest sized breasts were supple and showed no signs of sagging. Her ass seemed to defy gravity. Her hair was thicker, fuller, and had a healthy shine. Her face still carried the marks and minute wrinkles she had seen on her birthday and her body still bore the faded scars etched into her during dozens of battles over the course of her military career, but her skin had a tan, glowing quality to it. Her scars had faded significantly since her arrival on Earth, their color lightened, and texture smoothed under the yellow sun. At first, Astra didn’t understand why they hadn’t disappeared fully, but after seeing Kara’s eyebrow scar from an injury she suffered before Krypton was destroyed, she assumed any scarring that occurred prior to landing on Earth was permanent.

Her eyes drifted down to her latest scar, a thin, horizontal line about four inches long that resided on the right side of her abdomen. Though it was only four weeks old, it was smooth to the touch and barely visible to the naked eye.

Astra couldn’t stop the snort that escaped from her nose as she remembered the night she got it.

****

“…your sword, please.” Astra made a grabbing motion with her extended hand. Alex huffed and pulled the sword from its scabbard and offered it hilt first to Astra. The General accepted the proffered sword and examined the blade for a moment before using her free hand to remove the anti-kryptonite shielding device covering her left breast; she tossed it to a very surprised J’onn who briefly fumbled it in his hands. “You may want to hang on to that.” Astra smirked at the Martian, but a painful look fell over her features as glowing green veins overtook the General’s face.

Seeing Astra’s breathing become more labored and her shoulders slump, Alex’s eyes widened. “Your device blocked out the radiation from the green K…the sword…you were never in any danger…but…you knew that didn’t you?”

Astra answered Alex’s question with a grin and a quick shrug of her shoulders. “The only danger to me…was myself,” she wryly lamented before abruptly plunging the blade into the right side of her abdomen. The General grunted painfully.

“Astra!” the Danvers sisters yelled in unison.

Kara took two steps towards her aunt but stopped when Alex waved her off.

“What the f*ck are you doing? Have you lost your mind?” Alex yelled at Astra.

Astra ignored the agent’s question and pulled the sword out of her midsection with a guttural cry. Blood spatter trailed on the ground following with the arc of the crimson-stained blade. A steady flow of blood began to seep from the newly opened wound. Astra rubbed her free hand over the leaking gash and then flung her now blood-soaked hand away from herself causing more streaks of the crimson fluid to stain the ground. Nodding her head in satisfaction, the General raised the sword over her head before slamming the blade into the ground; a piece of kryptonite chipped off.

Returning the blade to a befuddled Alex, Astra turned away from her and warily staggered to a wide-eyed J’onn, both hands now pressed firmly against her stab wound. She made an effort to straighten her posture and tried to hide a painful grimace behind her stoic façade.

The Martian attempted to speak but was cut off by the General, “Director Henshaw…or whatever your name is…it would appear that Agent Danvers has critically injured me and I am incapacitated sufficiently enough for you to recapture me. You will remand me back to the DEO base and offer me immediate medical care.” Astra paused to take a labored breath. “Unfortunately, my wounds are fatal, and I will quickly succumb to them shortly after my arrival.”

Astra leveled J’onn with an expectant glare, the Martian’s eyes lit up as he began to understand what she was suggesting.

“Yes…quite the tragedy,” he deadpanned.

Astra faced Alex and could see the agent was picking on her ruse, but her brows furrowed in confusion. “How does faking your death help buy us time?” Alex asked.

Astra turned her attention towards her niece. “Little one?”

The gears were clearly turning in Kara’s head before she caught up with what her aunt was referring to. “The mourning period!” The Super started bouncing. “When a Kryptonian dies, the surviving family members observe a two-week mourning period…it’s like sitting shiva.”

“And you think Non will follow along with this?” Alex asked Astra, her voice laced with skepticism.

Astra smiled. “My zrhomin is fanatical when it comes to adhering to Rao’s doctrines.”

“The only problem is Non’s going to need proof that Astra’s dead,” J’onn pointed out.

Astra nodded in agreement. “We need a body…or something resembling one.”

“Max Lord!” Alex blurted out. All eyes turned towards the agent. “If he can create a near flawless copy of Supergirl, he sure-as-sh*t can rig up an Astra-shaped corpse.”

The three spent a second considering Alex’s idea before signaling their agreement.

“Great!” Astra exclaimed through gritted teeth. “Now that that’s settled, would one of you please fly me back to the DEO before I bleed to death?”

****

Alex’s plan paid off. Max was able to manufacture a corpse that could be passed off as Astra’s remains (Astra didn’t know how he’d done it, nor did she really care. She was too busy healing under the lights of Kara’s yellow sun bed).

Much to Max’s delight (and everyone else’s chagrin), the tech mogul was released from DEO custody for his efforts. A few well-placed threats from Alex and Astra ensured that he kept quiet about his illegal incarceration and Kara’s secret identity.

Getting the body to Non in a believable way proved to be the most difficult part of the plan, but J’onn, Alex, and Astra were able to come up with a workable solution. They had Kara contact Non via a high-pitched frequency that could only be heard by those with super-hearing (and every dog in National City) and broadcast a time and place to meet.

With her aunt, Alex, and J’onn closely monitoring the situation, Kara met Non at the rendezvous point and delivered Astra’s “remains”. The General thought her niece deserved some type of award for her acting skills as she watched Kara, through crocodile tears, throw Sam Lane under the bus for her aunt’s untimely demise. It was touch and go for a moment as to whether or not Non was going murder his niece right then and there, but her uncle managed to restrain himself out of respect for his zrhemin’s death.

Any concerns about the doctored corpse fooling Non and his followers quickly evaporated when Non showed up at Kara’s loft the next night inviting her to perform the funeral rites before sending Astra’s “body” into Rao’s light.

Once the ceremony was completed, Non made it very clear that he was going to kill Kara once the mourning period had ended.

Upon hearing this, Astra made a silent vow that Non would be meeting Rao long before her niece.

Once that was settled and Astra had recovered from her self-inflicted injury, the General spent the next twenty-eight hours being debriefed by J’onn and Alex about Non, Myriad, and their plan to take control of humanity.

There was only one bit of information she refused to share.

“What do you mean you’re not going to tell us where Non’s base of operations is?” J’onn practically growled. The Martian looked like he was about to throttle Astra.

Seeing that her boss was about to blow a gasket, Alex intervened “I think what J’onn is trying to ask is: why aren’t going to tell us.”

Astra nodded in understanding. “Because I know that if I tell you where Non is holed up, you’ll march right out that door and send an assault team to knock on his front door. A group that I’m sure would also consist of Alexandra and my niece.” The General spared a worried glance at Alex before turning back to J’onn. “It will fail. Non and his soldiers will slaughter all of you.”

J’onn scoffed. “I think you’re underestimating our capabilities-”

“I’m really not,” Astra said with an unimpressed air.

J’onn balked for a moment, clearly taken aback by the General’s low opinion of his troops. He quickly rebounded and a determined look fell across his face. “We’ll bring in reinforcements. I’ll contact Superman and see if he’ll join us. Between him, Kara, me, Alex, DEO forces, and General Lane’s battalion, we should easily overpower them.”

Astra had to suppress a shudder at the mention of Lane’s name. She leveled J’onn with a hard, unyielding glare. “Listen very carefully, Director. Even with Kal-El and the entirety of the U.S. Armed Forces at your side, you would still be eviscerated. I think you forget that you’d be facing over half a dozen fully powered Kryptonians, all with extensive military backgrounds and training, in addition to dozens of Fort Rozz inmates with formidable abilities of their own.”

J’onn kept stern eye contact with Astra as he processed the General’s assessment. A minute later, he let out a defeated sigh and tightly pinched the bridge of his nose. “So, when do you plan on sharing that particular piece of intel with us?”

“When it gives us a strategic advantage,” Astra said, stone-faced. “Until then, I’m more than happy to help you develop a device that will counter Myriad’s signal.”

****

Two weeks had elapsed since the end of the mourning period with no sightings of Non or his soldiers. J’onn, and by extension the entirety of the DEO, were all on edge waiting for an attack, their anxiety increasing more and more with each passing day. Kara had been too busy dealing with responsibilities from her dual identities to spare much thought about when her uncle was going to make his move.

Astra was concerned, but not surprised. It made sense to the General that Non had delayed his plans; it’s what she would have done if he had been captured and ultimately killed by one of their enemies. Non had no idea if their plan had been compromised by intel extracted from Astra before she was “executed”. Strategically, a variable like that could not be taken lightly. Pushing back the timetable was the only logical choice.

What concerned Astra now was her inability to predict when Non would finally initiate Myriad. She knew how the plan needed to be executed, intimately, but she just didn’t know when the first domino would fall. She was fairly confident that she knew her zrhomin well enough to anticipate his movements, but she wondered how much her “death” had affected him. The General had no idea what a grief-stricken Non was capable of, and that unknown had led to many a sleepless night.

Astra spent most of her time helping Alex and Winn design and build the device that would neutralize Myriad. Unfortunately, they’d hit a bit of a snag: Earth’s inferior technology. The device required a multi-phasic oscillator. Astra knew that Earth’s scientists hadn’t figured out how to make one, but she was appalled to find out that the components used to make one hadn’t been developed either. Not being the scientist her brother-in-law was, Astra was at a loss as to how to construct the parts; hence the snag.

With work on the oscillator stalled, all Astra could do was sit back and wait for Non to strike, just like the rest of her newly acquired compatriots.

The General was nothing if not patient. She’d spent twenty-five years stuck in the Phantom Zone waiting for either salvation or death.

This? This was nothing.

By far, her biggest frustration was feeling like her skills weren’t being used to their fullest potential. As the weeks went by, there were numerous times she felt Kara needed assistance in the field, but every time she offered to help her niece, J’onn refused to give her authorization to leave the desert base.

Case in point: Kara had been captured by a former Fort Rozz guard turned serial killer and Alex had been dispatched to save her. Astra pleaded with J’onn for permission to help with her niece’s rescue to no avail.

“For Rao’s sake, do you not trust that my intention to save my niece is genuine, Director Henshaw?” Astra loudly asked in the middle of the CIC, causing several agents to look away from their workstations and focus on the imminent argument between the General and their boss.

J’onn didn’t spare the Kryptonian a glance. “It’s not about trust, General. You’re my ace in the hole against Non and I will not waste all the work that’s gone into faking your death just so you can expose yourself rescuing Supergirl from some C-List villain of the week!” J’onn sternly retorted. He turned his attention from the wall of monitors and approached the General, his features softened as he stopped in front of her. “You need to trust that Supergirl and Agent Danvers can take care of themselves,” he said in a more calm, sympathetic tone.

Astra spent a moment considering the Martian’s advice before giving him a curt nod. J’onn returned to his duties and Astra made her way over to Vasquez’s station. The General stood next to the seated agent and focused her attention on the wall of monitors. She looked down at Vasquez. The agent was focused on her screen, a mocking grin on her face.

“Quiet, you,” Astra huffed out.

Vasquez let out a brief snort as she tried to contain her laughter. The General tried to look irritated by the agent’s reaction but couldn’t hold up her faux incredulity. She rolled her eyes and returned to watching the screens in front of her, a slight grin on her lips.

J’onn, of course, was right. Alex was able to locate Kara and the two worked together to defeat the self-proclaimed “Master Jailer” with ease.

Chapter 7: The Blue Harpy

Chapter Text

“That Coluan whor*!”

Astra’s outburst echoed through the CIC; all eyes shot in her direction.

“I take it, you know our blue friend?” Alex asked.

Astra scowled. “She calls herself Brainiac 8. She’s a techno-organic abomination from the planet Colu, banished to Fort Rozz after she tried to shut down the Kryptonian defense system so that she could eradicate all life on Krypton.”

“Okay, so that’s bad,” Winn said to no one in particular.

“So, what’s your beef with her?” Alex asked.

Astra let out a disgusted sigh. “Aside from trying to kill everyone on Krypton?”

Alex nodded.

“She and Non had a brief sexual affair.”

“Describe ‘brief’,” Winn chimed in.

Astra glared at Winn like she was just about to walk over and break his nose.

Alex swatted his shoulder. He yelped and scurried away from the redhead. “Ignore him.” She gave the General a sympathetic look. “Did she have the same abilities on Krypton as she does here?”

Astra nodded. “Yes. She could manipulate multiple forms of technology and travel through networked systems.”

Alex chewed her bottom lip briefly. “Being able to dematerialize her physical form and move through multiple types of tech must have made it a bitch to track her. How did the Kryptonian security forces find and capture her?”

Astra shook her head. “I don’t know, I wasn’t there when she was captured. With the defense grid offline, I was too busy mobilizing my battalion to protect the planet. All I know is that the El brothers were the ones who finally came up with a way to trap her.”

“When you say, ‘El brothers’, are you talking about Kara’s father and Jor-El?” James asked.

Astra nodded, prompting James to look at Kara expectantly. Kara’s brow furrowed in confusion, and she held up her hands in confusion. James shook his head in disbelief. “If we’re looking for info on any tech developed by Zor-El or Jor-El, I bet it’s in the Fortress.”

Kara’s eyes lit up. “Of course, the Fortress, duh.” The Super tapped her hand on her forehead.

Astra looked between the two like they were speaking a foreign language. “What the hell is the Fortress?”

****

As she broke the sound barrier, Astra couldn’t help but let out an enthusiastic “woohoo!”. She didn’t realize how much she’d missed flying until she exited the desert base and shot into the sky for the first time in months. Having the bracing wind on her face, clean, fresh air in her lungs, and the warmth of the sun’s rays permeate her cells made the General feel a spark of life that had been buried in the dank, dark, musty confines of the desert base.

She quickly ascended to three thousand feet and leveled off; the majestic landscape of northern Canada spread out for hundreds of miles in each direction before her. She pushed north for another minute or so before looping back around and heading in the opposite direction. Using her enhanced vision, she was able to locate Kara just above the horizon, James holding tightly to her side with a less than calm look on his face.

As surprised and elated as Astra had been when J’onn authorized their northern excursion, her elation was quickly tempered when Kara announced that James would be accompanying them to Kal-El’s fortress. When Astra asked why it was necessary for Kal’s “best pal” to tag along, her niece simply replied, “He knows where it is.” Astra did her best to mask the surprise on her face upon hearing that her niece had never been to her cousin’s hidden clubhouse. It was just another indication that Kara did not have a close relationship with Kal (Alex had hinted at their lack of interaction on more than one occasion). It caused her a great deal of sadness and confusion; sadness because the cousins appeared to be strangers to each other, confusion as to why Kal-El hadn’t made more of an effort to be in his cousin’s life.

With James in tow, the twenty-eight-hundred-mile trip to the Arctic Circle took three times longer than it would have had if it had just been the two Kryptonians making the trip. Astra occupied the extra time flying sixty-mile-wide loops around the duo, occasionally buzzing by them at a hundred miles per hour for the sole purpose of scaring the ever-loving sh*t out of the photographer.

It went without saying that Astra did not like James Olsen. She didn’t like his arrogant attitude, the condescending tone of his voice whenever he spoke to Kara, or his incessant need to stick his nose in her niece’s business. Astra was infuriated when Alex explained to her that Kal had sent him to National City to “keep an eye” on Kara.

What kind of man would send someone across the country to spy on his kin?

What kind of man would accept such an assignment?

James Olsen apparently.

Mostly, Astra hated the way Kara gawked at him like a pubescent schoolgirl. It was blatantly obvious to everyone that her niece was attracted to the photographer; she’d said as much to both her and Alex. Although Astra was in no position to question Kara’s taste in men, she felt secure in judging the man for ogling her niece while courting another woman. As far as the General was concerned, James was a dishonorable man and had no business being involved with the Super.

Kara’s beckoning voice interrupted Astra’s plotting on how best to run James out of National City. She flew up next to her niece and flashed her a questioning look. James pointed towards an unremarkable glacier butted up against a small mountain range. The photographer guided them to a small ledge with what appeared to be a door etched directly into the mountainside. Kara asked James how to get inside and he proceeded to uncover a three foot long “key” with the House of El sigil forged at its end.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. No biometrics? No voice recognition? Not even a control panel and access code?” Astra incredulously asked.

The General had to suppress the urge to throw James into the Arctic Ocean when he turned to her and conceitedly laughed. “It’s a million tons of condensed dwarf star.”

Before Astra could retort, Kara lifted the key with minimal effort and unlocked the entryway.

“Welcome to the Fortress of Solitude,” James announced as they entered the cavernous foyer.

Astra had barely taken three steps inside the crystalline, stadium sized space before her attention was drawn to the forty-foot statues of Jor-El and Lara towering over them. The General let out a disgusted huff. “You’ve got to be f*cking kidding me.”

Astra’s outburst caught Kara and James’ attention and the two turned to her with questioning looks on their faces. “What’s the matter?” Kara asked.

A befuddled look splashed across Astra’s face, and she motioned towards the statues. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing? For Rao’s sake, even in death, Jor-El’s narcissism knows no bounds!”

Kara’s brows knit together as she thought on it. “Maybe Kal made those so he had something to remember them by,” she posited.

James cleared his throat. “Yeah, so Clark told me the statues were part of the original construct when the Fortress was formed,” he said sheepishly.

“I rest my case,” Astra boastfully declared. “I’m just glad Kal’s mother didn’t live to see herself immortalized in such a ghastly fashion.”

“You don’t think Aunt Lara would have approved?”

Astra scoffed. “The Lara Lor-Van I knew would have found these monstrosities repulsive.”

“I didn’t know you and Aunt Lara were close.” Kara cautiously mentioned after a beat of silence.

“There was a time when I considered Lara a close friend,” she said wistfully, a pall of sadness fell over features. Losing her friendship with Lara was just another sacrifice she had to make for Non and their foolish mission.

The three quietly moved through the heart of the Fortress. They entered some type of trophy room. Astra looked over each item and found they weren’t of any use to their current problems.

“I can’t believe Clark never invited you here.” Olsen’s baritone broke the silence.

“Oh, he did, a lot actually, but I always came up with an excuse not to come,” Kara said with a rueful tone. Astra picked up on the slight tremor in her voice. “I thought it would remind me of home, make me homesick. But this…” Kara looked around the room, a clouded look in her eyes.

“…is nothing like home. This…this resembles a museum at best,” Astra finished her niece’s thought. Kara slowly nodded in agreement. “It reminds me of the Grand Temple of Rao in Kryptonopolis, but this doesn’t look a damn thing like any of the domiciles we lived in.” Astra could barely restrain her bitterness. She couldn’t believe that this was the legacy Jor-El left for the last scions of Krypton.

“I’m sorry, Kara. We can get out of here if this is too much for you. I’m sure your aunt can get the information we need.” James placed a comforting hand on Kara’s shoulder. Astra watched the tension melt away from her niece as she leaned into his touch. The two made eye contact for a moment before Kara patted him on the hand.

“No…no, it’s fine.” The Super flashed him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and moved away from him. James continued to watch her…no, gaze at her with that hungry stare that Astra was quickly growing to despise.

“It seems Kal-El has frequently welcomed you as a guest here, Mr. Olsen,” Astra stated, not questioned. James nodded in response, a nervous look on his face. “I’m curious, has the young lady you’re courting ever joined you during any of your visits?” James stiffened, his eyes now the size of saucers. The General could hear her niece quietly gasp behind her. “What was her name again? Oh, yes…Lucy if I recall correctly.” The General flashed him a predatory smile.

Astra reveled in the look of fear emanating from the photographer; his expression resembled a deer in the headlights.

James swallowed thickly. “N…No. Uh, she doesn’t know about…uhm…Clark and Kara’s secret identities.” His voice was hoarse, unsteady.

“Pity. I’m sure she would enjoy learning about all the things you get up to with them behind her back.” Astra could see the moment James realized he was being co*ck-blocked, his features shifting from scared to seething irritation.

Her devilish smile firmly in place, Astra strutted toward the exit. She passed her clearly befuddled niece on her way to the door.

The door leading out of the trophy room took them into the primary chamber. Astra spotted the command console near the center of the room and made her way to it, Kara followed close behind her. As she examined the interface, her brows knitted together in concern. “This console looks like something you’d find in a child’s nursery.” Astra placed her hand over the interface and brought the system online.

“Intruder detected! Intruder detected!” A kelex unit burst into the room from an unseen entryway. The android’s optic module glowed red and appeared to be arming its primary weapon. “Escaped fugitive identified: In-Ze, Astra. Halt or you will be disintegrated.”

“Kelex! Stop! She’s not a fugitive anymore! Stand down!” Kara ordered as she used her super-speed to get between Astra and the android.

The kelex unit moved out of its combat formation and the optic module shifted from red to sunlight yellow at Kara’s command. “Voice ID recognized. Hello Kara Zor-El, how may I help you?”

The Kryptonians let out a collective sigh of relief. James emerged from the pillar he’d been hiding behind and stood next to them. “Well, you can start by redesignating my aunt to a non-fugitive status, then you can grant her the same access levels and privileges as Kal-El and I.”

“As you wish. In-Ze, Astra has been redesignated and granted administrator access.” The robot turned and faced the General. “Welcome General In-Ze, how may I help you today?”

“I need access to all files pertaining to Fort Rozz inmate Brainiac 8.”

“Understood. One moment, please.” Kelex floated silently for all of five seconds. “All files for designate Brainiac 8, alias designate Indigo, have been accessed. What would you like to know?”

“I need information regarding the method used to track and capture her, specifically schematics and tactical plans.”

“Unfortunately, General In-Ze, all information related to devices, equipment, or tactical plans used to capture designate Indigo requires zyvehsh-level access.” The robot almost sounded apologetic.

“What the hell does ‘zyvehsh’ mean?” Olsen asked, butchering the pronunciation.

Astra rolled her eyes and ignored him. “Kelex, does Kara Zor-El or Kal-El have zyvehsh-level access?”

“Negative.”

“Who does?” the General worriedly asked, already knowing the answer.

“The only zyvehsh-level administrators were Jor-El and Zor-El.”

Astra let out an aggravated sigh. She could feel the simmering tickle of her heat vision in the back of her eyes. She took several calming breaths and the heat dissipated. She turned towards Kara and James and blew out a frustrated sigh. “They knew they were going to die, and yet your ukr and odhoz still sent you and your cousin to Earth with the equivalent of a pre-school library and some fun little trinkets to keep you entertained. Sure, trinkets beyond anything the humans have come up with, but compared to other Kryptonian tech…” Astra couldn’t continue, too furious to compose her thoughts.

Kara perked up. “Maybe we just don’t have access to that particular tech, but…” Kara turned towards Kelex. “Kelex, what can you tell me about Myriad?”

“Unfortunately, Kara Zor-El, all information related to Project Myriad requires zyvehsh-level access.”

Kara scowled at the robot. “Thanks. Super helpful.”

Astra shook her head in disgust. “Clearly, we’re not going to find any useful information in this oversized ice cube. I suggest you and Mr. Olsen return to the desert base immediately.”

Kara’s brow crinkled. “What? We can’t leave you here by yourself. J’onn and Alex will rip my head off if I leave without you.”

Astra held up her hands placatingly. “I just want to spend a few minutes seeing if I can get through some of the security protocols. Maybe find an oscillator hiding somewhere.”

“We can wait,” Kara cheerfully offered.

“No, little one. Supergirl needs to be back in National City in case Indigo attacks. Wasting time here leaves the city at risk. You need to go, now,” the General sternly ordered, a no nonsense look in her eyes. Kara seemed taken aback by her aunt’s commanding tone. Astra realized she was coming at her too heavy-handed and softened her features. “I promise I’m not up to anything nefarious. I’ll only be a few minutes behind you.” Astra forced a reassuring smile. “Hell, I’ll probably pass you before you fly over Tuktoyaktuk.” She forced out a weak laugh.

Kara tentatively nodded, an unconvinced look on her face. Nonetheless, she grabbed James’s arm and led him out of the chamber. Astra waited until she heard the two exit the Fortress before turning her attention to Kelex.

“Kelex, access all information regarding Project Medusa.” Astra commanded.

“Unfortunately, General In-Ze, all information related to Project Medusa requires zyvehsh-level access.”

Astra let out a sigh of relief knowing that the data couldn’t be retrieved. She had to make sure that no one, not even her niece and nephew, could access any data related to Medusa.

Although the files were closed off to any living being on Earth, her anxiety barely ebbed. The project material was still archived in the Fortress databases, which meant the information still wasn’t completely safe. Astra knew she needed to find some way to erase the project details permanently. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the time or resources to accomplish that particular task.

Resolving to follow-up on the issue at a later date, Astra flew away from Jor-El’s laughable sanctuary and headed due-south to catch up with her niece and the lecherous photographer.

****

Despite coming up empty at the Fortress, the combined efforts of Kara, Lucy, and Winn made short work of Indigo. Astra wasn’t particularly happy with having to sit on the sidelines while her niece disabled an ICBM midair, but being able to protect Winn from being strangled by Indigo long enough for the little human to download his virus into the Coluan made up for it.

Listening through Kara’s comm to the blue skan* getting ripped apart by said virus was just an added bonus.

Unfortunately, her mood went back to sh*t when Kara showed up at lunch the next day with the “sad” news that James and Lucy had broken up.

Astra could tell by the semi-permanent grin on Kara’s face that she was really broken up about it.

Chapter 8: Red Looks Terrible On You

Chapter Text

The search for ways to stop Non and remotely disable Myriad resumed after Indigo was destroyed. Astra’s anxiety increased as the days went by. Several months had passed since Myriad’s original launch date, yet Non and his followers continued to remain inactive, no doubt hiding out within the fortified safety provided by Fort Rozz. Astra had to stop herself from revealing the base’s location several times now, reminding herself each time that her impatience was no excuse for getting Alex, Kara, and hundreds of others killed.

The General was surprised that Indigo’s emergence hadn’t drawn her estranged zrhomin out of hiding for no other reason than the Coluan’s plan to kill millions would undermine his own plans.

Alas, even his ex-booty-call’s genocidal scheme wasn’t enough to get him off his ass.

Unbeknownst to Astra, Kara, Alex, J’onn, and the rest of the DEO, events in the coming days would take precedence over their collective efforts to combat Non and Myriad.

******

The morning started out simple enough, Alex arrived at Astra’s room at six-thirty sharp and escorted her to the training room for their daily workout. While they exercised, Alex briefed the General on events from the last few days; both personal and professional.

Astra chuckled as Alex told her about Senator Crane hitting on J’onn during her visit to the desert base. The General was less enthusiastic about Alex’s conversation with Kara encouraging her to pursue James after his break-up with Lucy; telling the elder Danvers that she would do everything in her power to keep her niece and the egotistical photographer from engaging in a romantic relationship. Quickly changing the subject, Alex told her about Kara’s rescue of a trapped fireman from a deadly building fire.

Alex’s mood shifted when she started talking about a failed op from the previous night. She and Kara had been tasked with stopping a group of robbers that were using a K’hund as their muscle. Much to Alex’s bewilderment, the beastly alien managed to escape after a brief skirmish with Kara. Equally troubling, Kara snapped at J’onn during the debrief when he questioned her inability to capture the one-eyed giant before storming out of the HQ. Astra did her best to alleviate Alex’s concerns (and her own, for that matter), hypothesizing that Kara had been pushing herself too hard lately and that her failure to capture the K’hund had put her in a sour mood. Alex didn’t appear to be convinced but nodded in tentative agreement nonetheless.

Their conversation came to an abrupt halt when Alex was called away to run down a lead on the brute that had slipped past Kara.

****

Something was very, very wrong.

Twenty-eight hours had elapsed since Alex had left to pursue the escaped K’hund. During which time, Astra had not received word from Alex about the outcome.

In fact, the General had not heard from a single soul.

All her phone calls and texts to Alex, Kara, J’onn, and Vasquez had gone unanswered or responded to. In an act of desperation, Astra tried, and failed to make contact with anyone in the desert base using the cell’s intercom.

By hour twenty-nine, Astra was beginning to panic. Something had happened to Alex during the op. That was the only explanation for cutting off contact with the General. Right? They knew she would fly into a murderous rage if anything happened to her…friend.

Visions of Alex broken and bleeding in the street at the hands of the K’hund swirled around in her head. She could see the monstrous alien choking the life out of the redhead, bludgeoning her to death, or snapping her neck. The images continued to assault her with steadily increasing frequency as the hours ticked by. She convinced herself that at any moment, Kara or J’onn would walk through that door and tell her the grim news that the fragile agent had met a grizzly end.

Astra tried to distract herself while she waited. She cleaned her living space from top to bottom, reorganized her books, DVDs, and steadily growing record collection. She laundered every article of clothing she owned and cleaned every dish, utensil, pot, and pan in the kitchen.

Hoping that J’onn might need her assistance with whatever was happening, Astra pulled out her Kryptonian uniform and stitched up the hole ripped into the suit from where she had stabbed herself. She donned the form-fitting ensemble and strapped on her black boots. She spent a moment in front of the mirror assessing her appearance. She approved of the uniform’s look and fit, save for one thing: the house of Non sigil over her right breast. She cringed at the sight of it. Just another reminder of the life she was fighting so desperately to leave behind.

Not for the first time (or last) since turning her back on her estranged bondmate, Astra cursed herself for ever agreeing to be bonded to him in the first place.

Var-Non.

When the Matricomp spit out his name, Astra had to restrain herself from heading directly to Kryptonopolis and blowing the thing straight to hell. How that infernal machine had seen fit to pair her with such an insufferable asshole was beyond her comprehension.

Her father, In-Ze, sensing her objection to the union, launched into a sales pitch about the virtues of joining the house of Non: they were a prestigious house with deep connections in the military guild; those connections could be used to advance her fledgling military career, blah, blah, blah. Astra couldn’t give two sh*ts about bolstering the standing of House Ze nor did she need any help with advancing within the ranks of the military guild. She had graduated top of her class from the officer training corps. She had already taken the rank of captain by the age of twenty-one and was on the fast-track to earning the rank of major. She didn’t have time to focus on her career and be a dutiful wife; she sure as hell didn’t have the patience to deal with the patriarchal bullsh*t ingrained in Kryptonian society.

Her mother and sister spearheaded a never-ending barrage of browbeating sessions and guilt trips hoping to sway her. Alura had been bonded with Zor-El the year prior and things could not have been better for the couple (a fact which Alura nauseatingly pointed out on a daily basis), and her mother went the grandchild route: “Don’t you want to start a family?” she would ask.

No…she didn’t.

Children were the farthest thing from her mind. On the off chance that she would consider it, she sure as hell wouldn’t be having any with Non.

Astra eventually caved and agreed to the bonding, if only to shut her family up. She had one stipulation before she’d go through with the ceremony: She would retain her maiden name. She had no interest in trading on Non’s family name to advance her career. The families agreed to her terms as long as she bore the House of Non sigil after they were bonded; Astra capitulated to their narcissistic demand.

Six months later, she was bonded with Non in what the guests described as the coldest, most emotionally devoid bonding ceremony in recent history, a rather extraordinary honor considering most ceremonies were typically sedate gatherings. The two barely spoke to each other at the post-ceremony celebration and parted ways the next morning to return to their respective units; eighteen months passed before they saw each other again.

The memories overwhelmed Astra and, with a disgusted sneer on her lips, the General ripped the sigil from her chest and threw it in the nearest wastebasket.

As she tossed the patch, her attention was drawn to the bonding bracelet secured on her wrist. She had already decided that she would leave it as is and vowed to only remove it when she was standing over her zrhomin’s corpse.

As far as she was concerned, Non, his house, In-Ze, her mother, and Alura could burn in hell together. Once Non had been dealt with, she would be free to live her life in whatever manner she chose.

******

At the thirty-hour, twenty-two-minute mark, a haggard-looking Alex entered Astra’s room.

“Where the hell have you been? Why is no one responding to me? What is going-” her voice abruptly fell away once she got a good look at Alex.

The General could see signs of severe exhaustion on the redhead’s face. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in days and her eyes were puffy and red; clearly, she’d been crying recently. Alex cast her eyes to the ground and let out a shaky breath. The sight of the deflated redhead was a cold slap across the General’s face. Her anger quickly forgotten, Astra rushed to the agent and wrapped her in a tight hug; Alex melted into her instantly.

Astra pulled back from their embrace but didn’t go far, her hands continued to rub Alex’s shoulders. “Alexandra…what happened?” she asked in a hushed tone. When Alex didn’t respond, merely shaking her head, Astra placed two fingers under the redhead’s chin and gently guided her head up, forcing Alex to meet her eyes. “Please…please tell me what’s going on,” she quietly pleaded.

Alex swallowed thickly before clearing her throat. “It’s Kara…”

The eldest Danvers gave Astra a summary of what had occurred since their last visit:

Red kryptonite…Kara allowing the K’hund to escape…throwing Cat Grant off the CatCo building…Max Lord’s involvement…

Astra took it all in and tried to maintain her stoicism throughout. Based on Alex’s body language, she could tell the redhead was holding something back, but she chose to let it go for now.

“Where is Kara now?”

“I don’t know. I was just heading to the CIC to see if there are any updates.” Alex ran her hand through her hair; a nervous tick of the agent’s that Astra had picked up on months ago.

Astra nodded. “I want on the field team you send out to contain her. Get this thing off me.” The General held up her K-bracelet clad wrist.

Alex was quiet for a moment, too long for Astra’s liking. She moved her wrist closer to the redhead. Seemingly startled by the sudden movement, Alex shook her head. “You can’t go.”

“What? If Kara’s as far gone as you say she is, you’re going to need my assistance,” Astra reasoned.

“We can’t risk you being exposed to the red K,” Alex countered.

Astra’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about? I won’t be anywhere near it. Surely you can’t be thinking I’ll get infected by coming into contact with Kara?” Alex didn’t answer, averting her eyes instead. “You seriously think that? Despite the fact that green kryptonite only affects me when I’m in close proximity to it?”

Alex held up her hands trying to calm the General down. “We’re dealing with a synthetic version. We have no idea what its properties are or if it’s transmissible.”

“I’ll wear my kryptonite shield. That should protect me from any exposure,” Astra tried to reassure her.

“The radiation signature of red K is different from green K. The shield might not work.”

“For f*ck’s sake! You expect me to stand idly by while Kara tears through all of you like paper?” Astra’s voice began to rise in volume, an incredulous look fell across her face.

“No. I expect you to trust that J’onn and I can handle this,” Alex snapped back, her anger growing.

“Well, I don’t!”

Astra instantly regretted her words, shouted in frustration, fueled by feelings she didn’t understand.

Alex took a step back, a hurt look in her eyes.

The two stood in awkward silence for a moment before Alex leveled the Kryptonian with pleading eyes. “Astra please. I’m trying to protect you. I’ve already lost Kara to this…poison…I can’t risk losing both-”

“I can’t lose you!” Astra’s voice echoed through the high-ceilinged room.

Alex flinched at the General’s outburst. Truth be told, Astra startled herself. She could feel the sting of unshed tears forming in her eyes. Her face, no, her whole body burned from adrenaline. She could feel her heart threatening to jump out her chest. Her lips trembled and her hands shook. She was in a full panic; frantic to convince Alex she was making a mistake, that she needed her there to protect her. She had never been so scared in her life; not even when Kara contracted Argo fever as a child.

This was different.

This was a deeper, more primal fear squeezing her chest with such force that she couldn’t breathe.

She hadn’t felt anything remotely close to this in decades.

Alex seemed to recognize the General’s inner turmoil; the agent’s features appeared to soften as she cautiously approached the spiraling Kryptonian. “You’re not going to lose me; I will come back to you. I promise.”

She wrapped her arms around Astra’s waist and pulled her close. The General offered no resistance, she wrapped her arms around the redhead’s neck and gently rested her forehead against Alex’s. Astra detected a wisp of the agent’s perfume, clearly having been applied several days ago. Given Alex’s haggard appearance, the General assumed that she hadn’t been afforded the opportunity to bathe since this crisis started. Nonetheless, Astra could pick out the distinct hints of fresh ocean air, water lily, and amber mixed with traces of gunpowder and a heavy wave of Alex’s own distinct aroma.

She still smelled heavenly despite going several days without a proper shower.

The combination of scents and her warm body pressed against her calmed the Kryptonian noticeably, allowing her to shift out of her fear-induced panic and into a peaceful headspace.

“I have faith that Kara’s still in there, somewhere. I refuse to believe that she’d allow herself to lose control to the point of killing anyone…especially her sister,” the agent calmly assured, breaking Astra out of her momentary happy place.

“What if you’re wrong?” Astra whispered; her voice shaky.

Alex pulled back to get a clear look at the teary-eyed General. “Then you better show up and save my ass,” she said with a watery laugh, tears now streaming down her face.

Astra bit her trembling lip and nodded her head. “Rao himself wouldn’t be able to stop me.”

The two stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like hours (one minute and thirty-eight seconds to be exact) before they fully separated from each other; Astra instantly missed her grounding embrace. They both did their best to straighten themselves up and wipe the tears from their eyes. Alex sniffed a few times before clearing her throat. “I should really get up to the CIC.”

A disappointed look fell over Astra’s face and just as she was about to plead her case to join her, Alex entwined their fingers and pulled the General towards the exit. “Well, let’s go,” Alex said in faux annoyance.

Astra smiled and let the redhead lead her out the door.

****

Alex kept hold of Astra’s hand through the detention area and throughout their elevator ride to the CIC; releasing it just as the metal doors slid open. Any thoughts Astra may have been having about her interactions with Alex in her room or their hand holding were quickly drowned out by the throng of noisy activity in the command center. As she and Alex ventured further into the open space, Astra’s attention was quickly drawn to the armory where Max Lord was busy tinkering with some type of energy rifle.

A surge of anger shot through the General’s body, her jaw clenched, and her hands balled into tight fists. A low growl escaped from deep in her throat as she turned to head in the direction of her niece’s frequent tormentor.

Alex seemed to pick up on the General’s ill intentions and stepped in her path, her hand coming up and lightly pressing on Astra’s chest. “Hey, he’s helping us. You can’t break his neck just yet,” the agent warned. “Why don’t you go see if Vasquez needs any help locating Kara.” Alex nodded towards Vasquez’s station, the brunette was furiously typing.

Realizing that the redhead wasn’t going to let her beat the smarmy little sh*t unconscious, Astra rolled her eyes and said, “Fine.” She spared one last look at Max. As luck would have it, the tech mogul happened to look in her direction at the same time. The two locked eyes and Astra flashed him a predatory glare. Max turned pale and dropped his screwdriver. He swiftly dropped to the floor to recover it and once he retrieved it continued his work, very pointedly going out of his way to not look in Astra’s direction.

The General turned and made her way to Vasquez’s workstation, a satisfied grin plastered on her face.

Astra and Vasquez worked quietly together as they scanned through hacked CCTV cameras for any signs of Kara. The hum of activity in the CIC muffled most of the conversations going on around her. She would occasionally glance over her shoulder in order to keep tabs on Alex. The redhead and J’onn were currently inspecting the “rifle” Max had whipped up.

No sooner had the brunette pulled up footage for the next camera, a tense hush fell over the room. Astra turned her attention back to Alex and could see the reason for the sudden heaviness in the room: Senator Crane had entered the CIC.

The General watched as the senator, J’onn, and Alex had a hushed exchange after which both the Martian and the eldest Danvers looked like they were going to be sick. J’onn brought his finger to his earpiece and started speaking. Astra noticed Vasquez visibly stiffen before acknowledging what were clearly J’onn’s orders. The brunette looked up and made eye contact with the General, an apologetic look on her face. Astra curtly nodded in silent understanding before Vasquez started issuing commands into her comm ordering all teams to load up and deploy.

Astra felt like a lead weight had settled at the bottom of her stomach as her anxiety began to overtake her. She turned back towards the armory and saw Alex accept Max’s rifle. He said a few quick words to Alex (almost looking sincere) and the agent turned to leave. Alex took several strides towards the door leading to the vehicle staging area and came to an abrupt halt, turning towards the General.

The two locked eyes and Astra could feel all the chaos in the room disappear. There was so much she wanted to say and do, but she knew it would be nothing more than an attempt to keep Alex from leaving. It wouldn’t be fair to the agent to burden her with her fears and concerns. Alex needed to be focused on the battle ahead, clear headed and unencumbered by distracting thoughts and emotions. Astra was a career soldier and knew from experience that just a momentary loss of focus during a fight could have disastrous results.

The General had to have faith in Alex’s abilities. She had to trust that the redhead would keep her promise to come back to her.

Astra had to hold out hope that she wouldn’t lose her.

So, she hid the tumult of emotions she was feeling under a stoic mask, stood at attention, and proudly offered the redhead a Kryptonian military salute. “Ehrosh :zugiv, kir zygai.”

Alex flashed her a warm grin and winked before turning and jogging out the exit.

****

Everything went to sh*t five seconds after Alex exited her vehicle.

Astra watched in horror as Kara bulldozed through the entire team in one pass. Alex was sent careening into her SUV with a sickening crunch; the energy rifle was knocked from her hands and landed several feet away.

Kara floated a few yards from Alex, taunting her adoptive sister while the eldest Danvers begged her to let her help her. Another DEO vehicle drove up. J’onn quickly exited and made a run at the infected Kryptonian; Kara easily sidestepped his attempt to tackle her and sent him crashing into a light pole.

Astra felt a hand around her wrist and looked down to see Vasquez press her thumb on the small biometric scanner embedded in her kryptonite cuff.

“Vasquez, Susan. Authorization code Charlie-Charlie-Delta-three-six-four-nine.”

The cuff clicked open, and Vasquez removed it from Astra’s wrist and threw it across the room; the General could feel her powers quickly return. Astra met the brunette’s eyes, a look of immense gratitude on her face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, agent?” Senator Crane barked out.

Vasquez gave the senator a stone-faced glare. “Sorry, Senator, Director Henshaw’s orders. I was directed to release and dispatch the General if I deemed that the situation had become untenable,” the diminutive agent said with an exaggerated shrug. If the vein popping out of Crane’s forehead was any indication, the Senator’s head was seconds away from exploding.

Astra ignored the clearly infuriated Senator and turned to Vasquez. “Where’s my K shield?”

“In the armory.” The agent nodded in the direction of the room. Astra began to turn away. “Wait! Before you take off.” Vasquez opened her desk drawer and pulled out a black balaclava mask typically used by the special response teams (SRT). “Director Henshaw thought it might be best if you wear this.” She held out the mask.

Astra accepted the proffered mask and gave it a quick once over. Senator Crane stomped towards them. “Now wait just a goddamn minute! You are not-”

Astra disappeared, leaving a tiny gust of wind in her wake.

Chapter 9: A Not So Tender Moment

Chapter Text

It took Astra less than thirty seconds to make it from the desert base to downtown National City.

She was a mile out from the city when she homed in on the intersection where Alex and Kara were located using her augmented hearing; the sounds of battle were hard to miss. Using her enhanced vision, she could see Kara and J’onn (in his natural Martian form) grappling in a cratered portion of the street. Astra could see Alex crawling on one arm struggling to retrieve the energy rifle.

The General used her super-speed to swoop in, collect the rifle, set it in Alex’s lap, and move the redhead behind one of the heavily damaged DEO SUVs. Astra gave the eldest Danvers a quick scan with her x-ray vision. Aside from a broken arm and a few cuts and bruises, the agent hadn’t suffered any life-threatening injuries.

Once Alex was able to get over her super-speed-induced disorientation and realized Astra was her masked rescuer, the redhead let out a long sigh of relief. “It’s about f*cking time,” she teased through a pained grin.

Astra shook her head and smiled under her mask. She marveled at Alex’s attempt at levity during a life-or-death situation; definitely one of her favorite things about the redhead. “You’re the one who decided to bench me.” Alex playfully shrugged; her face scrunched into a grimace from the movement. “Is that thing still operational?” Astra asked, nodding towards the rifle in Alex’s hand.

Alex gave it a quick examination before nodding. “Looks like it’s still powered up. Not really sure if it’ll fire.”

“At this point, it’s all we’ve got.” The sound of pavement being crushed grabbed the duo’s attention. Astra turned and saw J’onn and Kara inside a freshly made crater; her niece stood over the clearly unconscious Martian. “You post up here. I’ll get you a clean shot.”

“Be careful,” Alex whispered.

“You know me, safety first,” Astra replied without taking her eyes off the crater as her niece emerged from it.

The General approached Kara at a decidedly human pace. The Super was dusting herself off when she caught sight of her aunt walking towards her. Astra watched as Kara’s lips quirked into a sickening smile, glowing red veins spilled out around her eyes. “Well, this just got much more interesting,” her niece practically sneered.

“This has to stop, little one.” Astra halted her approach fifteen feet from her now floating niece. “You have to stop before you hurt more people.”

“So, now you’re protecting these ants?” Kara said with absolute contempt in her tone.

“Yes. I’m also here to protect you from yourself.”

Kara let out a cackling, joyless laugh. “Oh, I’m fine. As you can see, I’m not in any danger.” The Super waved her hand at the destruction around her. “You should join me. Causing a sh*t-ton of property damage is very cathartic.”

“I respectfully decline your offer.” Astra injected a condescending tone to her response. She needed Kara angry, more specifically, angry and reckless in order to maneuver her into a position that afforded Alex a clear shot.

She couldn’t do that with Kara in the air. Engaging Kara in an aerial battle was too unpredictable and had a high probability of creating more collateral damage. No, Kara needed to make the first move and come at her in a blind rage.

“That’s very hypocritical of you,” Kara admonished her with a wagging finger. “Weren’t you the one trying to recruit me to your cause a few months back? Here I am offering you the opportunity to team up so we can finally take our places as the rightful rulers of these pathetic creatures and you’re turning me down? I’m crushed!” She placed her hands over her chest in feigned despair.

“It was never about ruling humanity. My only interest was protecting life. It still is,” Astra firmly stated.

“Don’t try to sell me that altruistic bullsh*t. Remind me, how many people did you murder during your mission to ‘protect life’?” Kara taunted through a co*cky grin.

Astra’s stoic façade faltered for the briefest of moments, a simple clench of her jaw signaled that Kara had struck a nerve.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go unnoticed by her niece, even with the mask on. A dark, satisfied grin twisted her lips. As Astra took a moment to calm herself, she reached out with her enhanced senses. She could hear Alex’s slightly elevated but steady heartbeat behind her.

The intersection and surrounding blocks had been cleared of civilians. She could hear radio transmissions from the law enforcement officers posted at barricades that now closed off a six-block radius around the battle site.

Unfortunately, the authorities hadn’t gotten everyone out. Astra could hear multiple voices coming from the surrounding buildings. Professional and amateur reporters, lookie-loos, and people with no sense of self preservation; most if not all recording everything that was happening on their cellphones or full size broadcast cameras.

“Nothing to say?” Kara’s Cheshire smile grew even wider.

“It’s true, I have much to atone for,” the General quietly said, contrite. “Which is why I will continue to protect these people…this planet…from any beings that threaten to harm them. And right now, that’s you,” Astra sternly said, goading her impaired niece.

“Then you’re an idiot. These people will turn on you the second you step out of line. I mean, look at me. I misbehaved for one day and Cat is on TV condemning me. Me! After everything I’ve done for these ungrateful animals!” Kara’s face was almost completely illuminated with red veins as the red kryptonite surged through her body. Astra stood silently as her niece started to unravel.

“You think she won’t turn on you?!” The Super pointed towards the SUV Alex was hiding behind. Astra kept focus on her niece full-well knowing that turning her back on her would be a lethal mistake. Astra thanked Rao that Alex had enough sense to stay behind the vehicle.

“I know you’re hiding back there, Alex. I can hear your heartbeat.” Kara’s jaw clenched in anger. She turned her attention back to Astra, a disgusted glare on her face. “She doesn’t care about you. She wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in the back of your head if her masters ordered her to! Hell, she’d kill both of us without an ounce of remorse, yet you blindly trust her. You’re a fool!”

“You’re right, I do trust her. I trust her with my life,” Astra affirmed with a pleased grin. “But I’m no fool; quite the opposite, actually. No, little one, the only fool I see right now is you. I see you for what you really are; a scared little girl throwing a temper tantrum,” Astra taunted. She could tell Kara was on the edge, ready to explode. She just needed one more good push. “You’re just an insecure child who thinks everyone’s going to abandon her…just like your jeju and ukr did when they shoved you in that pod.”

“You’re going to die for that, bitch,” Kara snarled as she lunged towards her aunt.

Astra easily dodged her niece’s sloppy roundhouse punch and swiftly hooked both arms under the raging Super’s shoulders, effectively securing her into a full nelson hold. Her hands firmly locked behind Kara’s neck, Astra spun her struggling niece towards Alex’s position. “Now!” she yelled at the hidden agent.

Alex rose from her hiding spot, took aim, and fired.

A crimson beam blasted from the rifle and struck Kara squarely in the chest. Astra held her niece in place as the steady stream of energy flooded her body. After a few seconds passed, she felt Kara go limp in her arms and she gently guided her down, quickly putting distance between her niece and herself once the General determined she was safely on the ground.

Astra watched as a red mist exited Kara’s body and dissipated as it floated into the open air. Kara shook as the poison was expelled before falling unconscious.

Astra cautiously approached her niece’s still body, staying just out of range of Kara’s arms and legs just in case the Super was playing possum. She watched Kara twitch a few times before deciding that she was no longer a threat. She knelt at Kara’s side and gently ran the pads of fingers down the blonde’s cheek. She focused her enhanced hearing and vision on the prone Super.

“Is she…?” Alex painfully shambled over and stood opposite Astra, the barrel of the energy rifle loosely trained on her sister.

“Alive…unconscious, but alive. Her heart rate and respiratory functions sound normal, and I don’t see any internal injuries,” Astra reassured.

Alex let out a long, relieved breath and lowered the rifle.

She and Astra both spent a moment watching over the unconscious Super. The adrenaline rush Astra had been riding for the past two days was beginning to fade and she felt exhaustion begin to seep in. By no means was she physically tired (despite not sleeping more than three hours in the last seventy-two), but more emotionally drained.

Their respite was short-lived as their attention was drawn towards shouting voices some fifty yards away. The two redheads turned towards the raised voices and quickly identified who was making the commotion.

A DEO SRT unit had J’onn surrounded at gunpoint.

“What the f*ck are they doing?” Astra growled.

“Unfortunately, their jobs,” Alex said with a defeated sigh.

The eldest Danvers took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, her face hardened. “Okay, I’m going to go deal with that. In the meantime, I need you to get Kara back to the desert base. Take her straight to the med bay and don’t let anyone in there except for Amelia Hamilton and Vasquez. I don’t want Crane or some xenophobic agent trying to take a shot at Supergirl while she’s vulnerable.”

Astra frowned and took a step towards Alex. “But your arm…” she began as she extended her hand towards the injured agent.

Alex moved away from the General’s hand. “I’m fine,” the agent impatiently said. “Astra, please. I need you to get Kara out of here. It’s not safe for either of you out here.”

Astra suppressed the urge to grab both her niece and the feisty redhead and whisk them off to some deserted hideaway. Instead, she curtly nodded and scooped Kara into a bridal carry. She made eye contact with Alex. “Please be careful,” the General said in a more pleading tone than she intended.

“Safety first” the redhead deadpanned as she nodded towards her broken arm.

Astra shot her a tired smile and shook her head before leaping into the air with Kara held tightly in her arms.

****

The General followed Alex’s instructions and made a beeline for the desert base. Using a combo of her flight and super-speed, she blew past the outer and inner perimeter checkpoints with ease, scaring the living hell out of the guards assigned to those posts in the process. All the poor bastards could see was a quick blur before being hit by a hurricane force gust of wind that nearly knocked them off their feet.

Astra whipped through the hallways and arrived at the med bay before any intruder alarms were activated.

Vasquez and Dr. Hamilton rushed through the door less than a minute later. Astra correctly assumed that Alex had messaged them in advance of her arrival. The General placed Kara on a gurney and moved aside so Dr. Hamilton could examine the still unconscious Super.

Hamilton was less than a minute into her examination when Vasquez beckoned the General to join her at the entry door. She saw Vasquez staring through the glass door and followed her gaze. Astra could see Senator Crane flanked by armed DEO agents rushing in their direction.

The General gently guided Vasquez away from the door and proceeded to weld it shut using her heat-vision. The irate look on Crane’s face when she tried to open the door brought a small grin to the General’s face. Astra turned her back on the now yelling senator and watched as Dr. Hamilton inserted an IV in her apparently de-powered niece’s hand.

Crane proceeded to pound on the med bay door for several minutes as she hurled a slew of threats at its occupants. All three women ignored her and kept their attention on Kara’s still form.

Suddenly, Crane’s yelling and door shaking came to an abrupt halt, in fact, the entire CIC had gone quiet.

Astra turned and looked out the med bay window. She could see J’onn being led into the CIC, shackled, and surrounded by heavily armed DEO agents. Alex followed closely behind the procession; her broken arm cradled in a makeshift sling.

The redhead had a decidedly unhappy look on her face.

Given the circ*mstances, Astra could relate.

Crane and her entourage abandoned their futile attempts to gain entry to the med bay and beat a quick retreat in the direction of the CIC. The Senator walked right past J’onn acting as if he didn’t exist and started animatedly talking to Alex. The exchange appeared to be heated. Astra opted to not use her enhanced hearing out of respect for Alex, so she had no idea what was said.

The conversation ended quickly; the redhead said something that startled the Senator enough to make her take a step back, and Alex started to walk towards the med bay.

Astra anticipated her arrival and used her heat-vision to unsecure the door, giving the red-hot metal a burst of freeze-breath after she pulled the door open. Alex nodded a silent thank you and entered; Astra gave her a tight smile and returned to sentry duty.

Dr. Hamilton had just started briefing the eldest Danvers on her sister’s condition when Crane tried to push through the door. The Senator seemed to realize that Astra was holding the door shut and glared daggers at the General. Alex instructed Astra to let her in.

“Agent Danvers! I want to know why this…this terrorist isn’t in shackles and back in her cell!” motioned towards Astra.

The General simply rolled her eyes.

Alex’s nostrils flared as she moved within a foot of the Senator; her jaw set and her shoulders squared. “First, it’s ‘Acting-Director Danvers’. Second, if it wasn’t for this ‘terrorist’ and Director Henshaw’s direct intervention, Supergirl would still be destroying downtown.” Crane’s posture remained rigid, but Astra could see a touch of fear in her eyes. “And since you’ve seen fit to throw Hank in a containment cell, the General is our only contingency plan to contain Supergirl if she’s still under the influence of the red K when she wakes up.”

“We can handle Supergirl. I don’t think it’s necessary to rely on-”

“Frankly I don’t give a f*ck what you think, Senator,” Alex cut in.

Crane’s eyebrows shot to her hairline and her mouth fell open. Astra and Vasquez did their best to conceal their grins, but failed miserably.

Alex took a step closer and fixed the politician with an unwavering glare. “You may be on the oversight committee that controls the DEO’s budget, but that does not mean you have any authority on this base. So, until I am officially relieved of my command, you can keep your opinions to yourself. If you have a problem with that, I can have the ‘terrorist’ escort you off the premises.”

Crane looked over at Astra, the General’s lips quirked into a devious grin. The Senator swallowed thickly and glanced between the two redheads before making a hasty exit.

Astra remained in the med bay until Dr. Hamilton received the results from Kara’s bloodwork.

There were no traces of red K in her bloodstream. Hamilton made an educated guess that Kara would regain consciousness within the hour. Astra figured that it would be best if Kara was alone with Alex when she woke up, so she had Vasquez escort her back to her room.

****

Astra took advantage of having access to her powers, showering, dressing, and making herself something to eat within seconds. After eating half a dozen frozen pizzas, the General curled up on her couch with her latest book in the hopes that it would take her mind off the chaos from the last two days; it was minorly successful.

It was half past midnight when Alex walked in looking like she’d just competed in an MMA tournament while running a marathon; the redhead looked utterly drained.

Astra opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by the redhead’s raised hand. “Please…I don’t want to talk…not right now,” she said hoarsely.

Astra gave her a small nod. “Tell me what you need.”

Alex sniffled as tears began to form in her eyes. “Can you…can you just hold me?”

Astra sat on the couch and beckoned the agent towards her with open arms. Alex fell onto the couch and into Astra’s side. The General wrapped her arm around her, mindful of her broken arm, and pulled her in until the eldest Danvers’ head rested against her shoulder.

Alex began to quietly cry. More sniffling was punctuated by the occasional, brief whimper. Her body trembled and would shake whenever she tried to take a deep breath. Astra squeezed her as tight as she dared, helpless that she couldn’t do more to soothe her. Knowing they would be ineffective with Alex, any affirmations or reassurances instantly died on the General’s tongue.

As time went on, Alex moved closer to Astra, her head eventually rested in the crook of the General’s neck. The agent’s warm breath tickled the General, and every time Alex’s lips would gently brush against her bare skin, Astra couldn’t help the involuntary shiver that ran through her body.

Alex remained in Astra’s arms for an indeterminate amount of time, both seemingly enjoying the quiet comfort of each other. The agent had stopped crying and remained nestled against the General’s body.

Alex interrupted the silence when she mumbled a timid “thank you” into Astra’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to thank me. You never have to thank me. I’ll always be her for you in whatever way you need me to be.” Astra squeezed the redhead a little tighter.

Alex let out a contented sigh and then slowly sat up; Astra immediately missed the contact.

“Well…still…thank you.” The agent wiped at her puffy eyes and sniffed a few times, an exhausted, dazed look on her face. She took a deep breath and let out an even longer exhale before meeting Astra’s eyes. “Kara woke up about an hour ago. We…talked for a bit and then I had a driver take her home. Her powers are back but I didn’t think it would be a good idea for Supergirl to be out and about after…” Alex trailed off..

“I’m glad she’s okay. I’m more interested in how you’re doing,” Astra said with a sympathetic look. “And please don’t tell me you’re ‘fine’. Because we both know that’s bullsh*t.”

Alex let out a soft chuckle. “No, you’re right. I’m not fine. I’m very, very far from fine.” The redhead’s eyes began to well with tears again.

Astra placed her hand over Alex’s. “Do you want to talk about it now?”

Alex slowly shut her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. “Kara…she…she said some things to me. Some pretty awful things…and as much as I wish she didn’t mean any of it…the red K made her into a complete asshole, but it’s not like it just put evil thoughts in her head. Everything she said, thought, or did were all fueled by her actual…real feelings.” She paused to take a shaky breath. “I guess I just can’t believe that she thinks that way about me.” Alex’s voice broke and tears began to stream down her cheeks.

“I’m very sorry you had to hear those things.” Astra ran the pad of her thumb across Alex’s cheek trying to wipe away some of her tears. “I have some thoughts on this if you’d care to hear them?”

Alex nodded.

“From what I’ve been able to pick up from you, Vasquez, and all the reports I used my super-speed to read through when Susan brought me back to my room…” Alex scowled at her, the General innocently shrugged. “Yes, the red K did feed off her genuine thoughts and feelings. But we’re talking about thoughts, feelings, and insecurities that we’ve all had to learn to manage as we’ve matured. These are things we give no credence to when they try to influence us because we know they are our own aggrandized fears and insecurities. The red K removed her ability to think logically and gave those long-buried nightmares complete control of her mind and body. How did that mentally ill neurologist put it…you know, the one obsessed with his mother…something about the primitive, impulsive part of our psyche…oh, what the hell did he call it…” Astra snapped her fingers a few times as she tried to stoke her memory. “The id! That’s it. The id.” the General smiled triumphantly.

Alex snorted. “You’re talking about Sigmund Freud?”

“Yes, that’s right, Sigmund Freud…that man was not well,” Astra pointed out with a concerned look, causing Alex to burst into a fit of laughter. The General was startled by the agent’s outburst, but she was so happy to see the redhead lighten up. She let Alex have her moment before clearing her throat. “As I was saying…Kara was basically a superpowered id. The Kara that we know was locked away in her psyche, in the very place those negative impulses are meant to reside.”

Astra paused to see if Alex was understanding the point she was trying to get across. The agent nodded every so often, but didn’t seem relieved by any of it. The General decided to change tactics. “Do you remember that argument we had after you arrested Max Lord?”

Alex grimaced. “Yeah.”

“Do you remember what it was about?” Astra kept a neutral look on her face despite the pang of guilt she felt from the incident.

Alex gave Astra a pained expression. “Yeah…I got pissed at you for suggesting we kill him.”

Astra nodded. “Correct. Now let me ask you this, have you ever thought about killing Max?” Alex shifted uncomfortably in her seat, clearly not loving Astra’s question. “And please, be honest. I promise I’m not going to judge you,” the General reassured her.

Alex blew an errant strand of hair out of her face. “Yes,” she said, her voice just above a whisper.

“And why haven’t you?” Astra asked with a raised eyebrow.

Alex shrugged. “Because it’s…wrong. It would go against…well…everything I believe in.”

“Okay. Now, I want you to imagine that all those beliefs that shape who you are…your very moral code…were suddenly stripped away, and all that remained was your anger toward Max, your hatred of him, your want to protect your sister…what do you think would happen? What would you be capable of?”

Alex was silent, a far-off look in her eyes as she appeared to process the General’s example. Astra could see the gears turning in Alex’s mind and watched as her body language softened.

The General pulled the redhead to her side, the eldest Danvers slid next to her without resistance. “We should not be judged by our thoughts, Alexandra, but by the sum of our words, actions, and deeds. Kara loves you. Nothing will ever change that.”

Alex said nothing, instead snuggling closer to Astra’s side.

The two sat quietly for another few minutes before Alex once again broke the silence. “Things are going to get bad, aren’t they?” she asked softly. Astra had never heard such fear in the agent’s voice.

“Yes. Yes, they are,” the General replied without hesitation. She felt Alex’s body tense. “The top officials in your government just discovered on national TV that their top-secret alien police force is in fact being run by an alien masquerading as a human. I can imagine they’re less than pleased right now.” She felt Alex tremble against her and could hear her heart rate increase. “We’ll deal with whatever comes.” She gave the redhead a reassuring squeeze. “Together.”

“You promise?” Alex asked in a small voice.

“You have my word. I will be by your side no matter what.” Astra gave her a reassuring pat. “And I’ll kill anyone who dares try to harm you,” the General firmly vowed.

“Good to know,” Alex tried to deadpan but a giggle slipped out causing Astra to chuckle herself.

The agent sniffled a few times trying to clear her crying-induced congestion. A sour look crossed her face and she sharply inhaled through her nose three times in rapid succession. “Holy f*ck. I need a shower,” she said in disgust.

“Yes, you certainly do.”

Alex gasped and smacked Astra on the thigh as she pulled away from her. “Rude!” she said, trying to look offended.

Astra let out a short laugh. “You can use my shower if you want. I have some sleepwear in the top drawer of my dresser. Feel free to grab whatever you want after you burn your uniform.”

Alex let out another affronted gasp and threw one of the couch pillows at the Kryptonian. It softly bounced off her beaming face.

A freshly showered Alex exited Astra’s bathroom forty-five minutes later clad in a tank top and sleep shorts. Astra tried to ignore her suddenly very dry mouth after catching an eyeful of the agent’s incredibly fit body in sleepwear that left very little to the General’s imagination.

And she maybe had a slight heart attack when Alex stretched her lithe figure out on the couch and settled her head in the Kryptonian’s lap, but she’d deny it if anyone asked.

Once settled in, the two started a movie. Alex was asleep fifteen minutes in.

Astra effortlessly carried the redhead to her bedroom and tucked her into bed. After placing a soft kiss on her forehead, the General padded back into the living room, switched off the TV, and laid down on the couch. She pulled the blanket Alex had been using over herself and breathed in her lingering smell; her enhanced senses easily separating the smell of the General’s shampoo and body wash from Alex’s natural scent.

She grinned happily as she shut her eyes.

Astra knew that things were about to go to hell after everything that had transpired over the last three days. The powers-that-be were going to tear the base apart investigating J’onn and anyone who was close to him, namely Alex and Kara.

It went without saying that Astra would be targeted as it was J’onn who granted her amnesty in the first place. She would no doubt be suspected of being one of his “co-conspirators” in some imaginary plot to infiltrate the United States government via the DEO.

Yes, hell was indeed on the horizon, but Astra couldn’t be bothered with that right now.

No, right now, Astra had a bigger problem to contend with. As she locked on to the sound of Alex’s heartbeat quietly humming away from across the room, the General contemplated what she was going to do about the fact that she was one hundred percent, unequivocally, without a shadow of a doubt, falling in love with Alex Danvers.

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Two days later, the hammer fell.

Astra had just finished her post workout shower and was toweling off in her bedroom when she received a text from Vasquez.

Susan V: Heads up. About two dozen soldiers just shoved their way into the CIC.

Astra let out a shaky breath. The General was honestly surprised it took them this long. The more pressing question was who was leading their surprise visitors? Her hands trembled as she typed out her question.

GeneralHottie: Lane?

Susan V: No. Some Marine colonel named Harper. Just as big an asshole as Lane. He says he’s here to identify any “enemies of the state” and uncover whatever Director Henshaw and his “confederates” have planned. He had us lineup so his soldiers could give us pat downs. Unf*cking believable.

Astra sighed in relief.

GeneralHottie: This was to be expected.

Susan V: True, but here’s the plot twist: Lucy Lane is here assisting him.

GeneralHottie: Olsen’s ex?

Susan V: Yep. Looks like “Major Lane” has been reinstated to the JAG Corps. She’s convinced we’ve all been compromised by J’onn.

Her first thought went to Alex. J’onn had recruited her into the DEO. She had been his right hand for most of the last year. The redhead was surely going to be at the top of their list of possible collaborators.

GeneralHottie: Where’s Alex?

Susan V: Harper and Lane just dragged her into an interrogation room.

Astra’s breath hitched. She instinctively reached out with her enhanced hearing towards the interrogation rooms only to be met by ear splitting static.

GeneralHottie – I just tried to listen in. Why am I only hearing static?

Susan V: They set up sound dampeners. Focus on the CIC. I just let Supergirl borrow my earpiece so she could listen in while I take a “bathroom break”.

Astra followed Vasquez’s instructions and refocused her hearing. She filtered through the background noise until she could hear Alex’s tinny voice coming through Vasquez’s earpiece.

The redhead was in the middle of telling Harper and Lane the story of how she met J’onn.

GeneralHottie: Locked in now. Thank you.

GeneralHottie: You’re taking an awful risk communicating with me, Susan. I’m sure they’re monitoring all communications within the base.

Susan V: I know. It’s ok. You guys are my friends. You’re worth the risk.

Susan V: Besides, I know you'll break me out if I'm sent to Leavenworth.

Astra couldn’t help but smile. She had grown close to Vasquez since coming to the desert base and felt a surge of gratefulness and pride that the brunette considered her a friend.

GeneralHottie: You’re a good woman, Susan, and a good friend. Please try to stay safe.

Susan V: Yes ma’am. You too.

Astra used her super-speed to quickly finish drying her hair and dressed in her “business” suit while she listened to Alex’s interrogation.

The redhead seemed to be holding her own against the two officers. Astra felt a swell of hope when Harper point-blank asked Alex if she knew about J’onn’s alien heritage and she was able to deny it without triggering the polygraph device she was hooked up to, but that hope quickly burned to ash when Lane accused Alex of lying. The major’s accusation was clearly all the excuse Harper needed to arrest her.

Astra heard handcuffs being slapped on Alex’s wrists. She tried to use her x-ray vision to see what was happening but there was too much lead in the walls obstructing her view. She heard Kara confront Harper and Lane as the guards led Alex out of the interrogation room. When the General heard him say Alex and J’onn were being transported off base and being sent to someplace called Project Cadmus, Astra decided it was time to intervene.

She was two steps away from the door controls when the kryptonite emitters in her room activated; the room was instantly flooded with green K radiation. What felt like thousands of fiery razorblades sliced over every inch of her body and her blood felt like it was boiling. Her knees gave out and she fell face-first onto the thankfully carpeted floor.

Whoever had activated the emitters had turned them up to an almost lethal level, infinitely higher than her previous incarceration. She looked at the back of her hand and could see that it was covered in glowing green tendrils. A wave of nausea rolled through her making her instantly regret the second breakfast she’d had that morning.

The door to her room slid open and six uniformed soldiers entered the room. Astra quickly deduced that the unarmed male and female leading the soldiers were Colonel Harper and Major Lane. The General managed to pull herself up to a kneeling position as four soldiers armed with stun batons surrounded her.

Harper kneeled down in front of her and roughly grabbed her by the chin. “You know, for being one of the most dangerous terrorists on the planet, you sure don’t look that scary to me,” he said with a malicious smile.

Astra scoffed. “What is it you humans say about judging a book by its cover?”

The General popped Harper in the jaw with a quick jab. She wasn’t able to put much into the punch thanks to the kryptonite, but it hit the Colonel with enough force to make him lose his balance and fall back on his ass.

“Oh, that’s right, don’t,” she said with a taunting grin.

Astra’s grin evaporated when she was hit with four stun batons simultaneously. The combined shocks made every muscle in her body seize and forced her to the ground.

After tasing her multiple times and apparently thinking the Kryptonian was sufficiently incapacitated, the soldiers disengaged their batons and positioned themselves in a tight circle around her.

A clearly enraged Harper climbed to his feet and stalked over to the huddled group. The colonel snatched a baton from one of the soldiers and jammed it into Astra’s ribs.

Waves of agonizing pain surged through the General’s body as her muscles seized again and again. A demonic smile on his face, Harper kept the baton settled into Astra’s ribs far longer than any of his soldiers.

Through the buzzing in her ears and the sound of her grinding teeth, the General could barely make out the sounds of a female yelling.

“Sir, she’s had enough!” Lucy yelled as she marched toward Harper.

The Colonel blessedly pulled the baton away from Astra’s prone body. He fixed Lucy with a steely glare. “No such thing, Major. co*ckroaches like her don’t feel pain like the rest of us.” Harper delivered a savage kick to Astra’s midsection. A painful cry was forced from the General’s lungs. Out of instinct, she curled into the fetal position.

“Isn’t that right, General?” the Colonel taunted her.

Lucy placed herself between Harper and the curled up Kryptonian. “With all due respect, sir, I feel it’s my duty to remind the Colonel that the last person to mistreat this prisoner ended up with a severe reprimand and reassignment to a less than desirable command.”

Harper glared at Lucy again; a look of annoyance mixed with a hint of trepidation on his face.

Stone-faced, the youngest Lane didn’t back down.

Right at that moment, Astra’s second breakfast decided to make a surprise reappearance. Between the kryptonite, stun batons, and kick to the midsection, Astra’s stomach had reached its breaking point.

Lucy, Harper, and the gathered soldiers all hurriedly stepped back at least a foot once they heard the General retching.

Harper looked disgusted; Lucy concerned.

The Colonel turned to face one of his subordinates, a young private who didn’t look a day over twenty-one. “Get her cleaned up and on the transport. I want us enroute to the drop-off location in five mikes.” Harper turned to Lucy. “Once she’s loaded up, I want you to start scrubbing through all communications coming in and out of this base since the Martian started impersonating Director Henshaw.” Harper pointed at Lucy. “I want a full report within the week,” he ordered.

Lucy gave the Colonel a curt salute. “Yessir.”

The Colonel spared one last look at Astra before walking out the door at a swift clip, three of his soldiers following close behind him.

Astra tried to push herself off the ground, but her arms couldn’t hold her weight. The best she could do was wiggle away from the puddle of vomit currently soaking into her favorite throw rug.

The General was startled when she felt a firm pair of hands settle under her arms.

“Let’s get you over to the couch,” the youngest Lane said softly.

Astra nodded her agreement and allowed the Major to help lift and guide her over to the couch. The lone soldier remaining in the room frowned at the two as she and Lane stumbled forward.

The General sunk into the couch the second her ass hit the cushions; almost pulling Lucy with her. Her ribs were killing her and the steady stream of green K radiation pouring out of the emitters made her feel like she’d been hit by a bus.

“Go grab that washcloth over there and run some water over it,” Lucy said to the soldier as she pointed toward the kitchen.

“I’m not helping that…thing,” the soldier snapped.

Lucy stood to her full height and got right up in the young man’s face. “I wasn’t asking, Private. Get your ass over there and do as you were ordered, or so help me God, I will have you court-martialed for insubordination!”

The soldier mumbled a quiet “yes ma’am” and sprinted towards the kitchen, returning with the damp washcloth as ordered. Lucy snatched it out of his hand and kneeled in front of Astra, beckoning the Kryptonian to sit up.

The General struggled to sit up, and once she was able to, almost fell off the couch. Lucy steadied her and closely examined Astra’s face once she was stable. She turned her attention from the General and focused on the Private. “Radio up to the CIC and have them reduce the output on the kryptonite emitters to forty percent…and just so we’re clear, that’s an order.”

Before the soldier could respond, Lucy had already taken the washcloth from the General and had begun to gently clean the sweat and vomit off her face. Within seconds of the private radioing in Lucy’s orders, the green glow in the room began to dim.

Astra looked at the back of her hand again and could see the green veins glowing begin to fade. Her strength and equilibrium restored, Astra took the washcloth from Lucy’s hand and after a few final swipes across her face, wadded up the soiled cloth and blindly tossed it towards the kitchen.

The General took a deep breath and regarded the youngest Lane with a neutral look. “Thank you, dear. Your kindness is appreciated.”

Lucy nodded and stood from her kneeled position in front of Astra. The General scrutinized the Major with a critical glare. “Though I would have been more appreciative had you shown the same level of kindness to Alex.” Astra ran her hand through her mussed hair. “I must admit that your actions are very confusing. You stop the good Colonel from continuing to beat me, yet you are more than happy to condemn her to whatever hell Harper is sending her to. You show mercy to me, a known terrorist, but have none to offer someone you have personal ties to. I don’t understand your logic.”

“Agent Danvers condemned herself when she decided to lie,” Lucy snapped through gritted teeth.

Astra calmly nodded her head. “I see.” The General tilted her head to the side, a quizzical look on her ashen face. “Was it that, or was it revenge against her sister over your ex’s wandering eye?”

Lucy gasped; eyes widened in shock. She nervously looked around the room. Seeing the Private was over by the bookshelf intently flipping through a copy of An Encyclopedia of Swearing, the youngest Lane leaned closer to Astra and whisper-screamed, “How did…who told…that has nothing to do with-”

Lucy’s question was cut off when Harper’s soldiers entered Astra’s room brandishing a pair of kryptonite restraints. Astra bristled when two of them tried to pull her off the couch, she batted away the soldiers’ hands before they could get a grip on her. The other two soldiers in the room pulled out and activated their stun batons.

Astra raised her hands to appease the jumpy pair. “I just want to stand up without assistance,” she said through a saccharine smile.

The troops shared questioning looks with each other before turning their attention to Lucy, clearly looking for guidance. Unfortunately, the Major was still too shell shocked to say anything.

After a beat, the soldiers all shrugged and signaled their approval to the still sitting Kryptonian.

Astra, hands still raised, slowly rose from the couch. She winced a little as she straightened her posture. Her ribs were most assuredly bruised by the Colonel’s vicious assault. Luckily, her dizziness had subsided, and her stomach had settled. She could barely make out any green veins in her hands. Pleased enough with her recovery, she popped her neck and held out her hands with her wrists together. The soldiers nearest her advanced and roughly attached the gauntlet-like restraints to her forearms.

While one of the soldiers checked over the restraints to make sure they were properly secured, Lucy stepped over to Astra’s side. She leaned in and said, “Despite whatever you think happened between me and James, which is none of your business I might add, it had nothing to do with what went down here today. I was simply doing my job.” Lucy squared her shoulders and aimed a resolute glare at the General.

Astra chortled to herself and shook her head. “Of course, dear. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

With that, the soldiers pushed Astra towards the exit.

The General turned and took one last wistful look at the space she’d called home for the past six months and, not knowing if she’d ever see it again, silently said goodbye.

Astra made eye-contact with Lucy just before exiting. Gone was the youngest Lane’s proud blustering, replaced by an insecure look that rivaled Kara’s whenever someone asked her about her sex life.

Astra flashed her a sh*t-eating-grin just before being led away.

****

Thirty minutes into their ride aboard the transport bound for CADMUS, Harper decided to launch into some bullsh*t rhetoric justifying J’onn’s looming dissection. Astra remained quiet and somehow kept her eye-rolling to a minimum.

The General looked around the trailer for anything that could be used to pry loose the chains restraining her in her seat. She didn’t need her powers to beat the ever-living sh*t out of Harper, but she couldn’t do that until she could get off the Rao-forsaken bench she was chained to!

“So, you’re going to dissect him.” Astra’s attention was drawn back into the conversation when Alex spoke. It was the first time the redhead had said anything since leaving the desert base.

“I’m protecting the world,” Harper overdramatically stated.

Alex shook her head in disgust. “You’re pathetic,” she sneered.

“And you’re a traitor,” Harper smugly responded.

“And you’re a f*cking dead man,” Astra added nonchalantly.

Any retort the Colonel had was cut off by radio traffic from the soldiers in the truck’s cab. The truck then began to sway side to side. Harper dropped the remote that controlled the dampening field suppressing J’onn’s powers and the kryptonite emitters currently giving Astra a migraine.

The swerving was soon joined by the sounds of gunfire.

The next time the truck lurched, Alex made a move towards the fallen remote. Harper tried to cut her off but another sharp jolt within the trailer tossed him into some cargo nets secured to the trailer’s wall and caused the remote to slide in the opposite direction.

The truck came to an abrupt halt, causing the remote to slide in front of Alex. The redhead stomped on the small device, smashing it into pieces. The dampening field and emitters now offline, J’onn easily ripped off his restraints and made a beeline for Harper.

The look of sheer terror on the colonel’s face was priceless.

Although the compartment was no longer being flooded with kryptonite radiation, Astra’s powers were still being suppressed by the restraints encasing her forearms. She yanked at the chains tying her to the bench with everything she had but they wouldn’t budge.

The next thing she knew, Alex, her dear sweet kir zygai, was by her side freeing her from the kryptonite gauntlets and chains.

The gauntlets released with a loud clunk, and Alex picked them up and tossed them to the other side of the trailer. With the kryptonite no longer affecting her, Astra felt her powers slowly return. Her aches and pains from her prolonged exposure to the kryptonite and Harper’s assault began to fade.

As soon as she had shaken the last of her restraints off, the General wrapped the redhead in a tight hug. Alex reciprocated, wrapping her arms around the Kryptonian’s waist.

Astra was so caught up in her joy over Alex being safe and sound that she absentmindedly pressed a chaste kiss to the redhead’s cheek. It took her a femtosecond to fully realize what she had done and instantly pulled away from her. Astra could feel the tips of her ears and cheeks heat up, knowing full well that she was blushing.

Alex looked away and brushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear, a healthy dusting of pink splashed her cheeks as well.

The awkward moment was blessedly cut short by Harper yelling at J’onn. “Do it! Do it Martian, be a monster. Prove me right.”

Both redheads rushed over to J’onn’s side.

Alex placed a gentle hand on the Martian’s back. “J’onn,” she said in a compassionate, cautious manner.

“It’s all right. I’ve gotten better at this,” J’onn stated as he placed his hand on the Colonel’s forehead. “I’m not going to kill you, Colonel.”

“No, but I will,” Astra hissed, suddenly inches from the Colonel’s ear.

Startled, Harper practically jumped a foot in the air.

“Astra!” J’onn and Alex warned her off in unison. The General took a step back with a look of genuine disappointment on her face.

“I’m going to make him forget what happened here tonight and a few other key bits of information,” the Martian calmly said as his eyes began to glow red.

A wicked idea jumped into Astra’s head. “While you’re rooting around f*ckface’s head here, would you mind planting a suggestion that makes him vomit uncontrollably whenever he becomes sexually aroused?” she asked with a mischievous grin.

J’onn flashed the General with a stunned glare; Alex snorted out a laugh behind her.

“Please don’t,” Harper whimpered. The Colonel looked like he was about to cry.

“Okay…how about he loses bladder control?” Astra batted her eyes at J’onn in a faux plea; the Martian’s expression remained unchanged. She turned back to Alex only to see the redhead shaking her head in mock disapproval. “Too much?” the General innocently asked her.

“Pretty dark there, General,” she pointed out with a tight smile. “Pret-ty dark…” she repeated as she walked past Astra towards the trailer’s exit.

“Oh c’mon! He called me a ‘co*ckroach’!”

Alex stopped, did a complete one-eighty, and marched right over to Harper’s side. She looked directly into the Colonel’s eyes with her patented death glare. “How about hysterical crying whenever he sees a co*ckroach?” she asked without breaking eye contact with Harper. “I think that’s fair, don’t you J’onn?”

J’onn let out a frustrated sigh before nodding his capitulation. Harper’s face was a mask of dread before it sagged into a fugue-like state once the Martian reached into his mind.

Less than ten seconds into rearranging the Colonel’s brain, J’onn let out a painful cry and almost fell over. Once Alex and Astra had steadied him, he dropped a bombshell:

Jeremiah Danvers is alive and currently at Project Cadmus’ base of operations.

Astra watched as Alex tried to process J’onn’s unbelievable but astounding news. Before she could offer any support or comfort to the redhead, the eldest Danvers rushed out of the trailer without a word or a look in Astra’s direction. The General and the Martian exchanged concerned looks but remained silent as they followed behind Alex.

Once outside, J’onn grabbed the two soldiers that had been riding in the front cab of the transport and split away from the group so that he could work his mojo on them just as he had with Harper. Alex and Kara were having a private conversation about fifty yards from the truck, leaving Astra alone with Lucy.

After a quick “thank you” from Astra, the two stood in awkward silence. The youngest Lane fidgeted with her fingers while intermittently bouncing on the balls of her feet. Astra remained still; her hands clasped behind her back while she tried to tune out the conversation between the Danvers sisters.

“So…” Lucy tentatively broke the silence. “Jeremiah Danvers is still alive.”

Astra turned to look directly at Lucy, but the brunette was avoiding eye contact. “So it would seem,” she said in a neutral tone. Given Lucy’s unease, the General figured brevity would be her best approach with the younger woman.

Lucy gave Astra an exaggerated nod as she continued to look off in the distance, her fidgeting increasing. “Sounds like you and Alex and J’onn are going to try and track him down?” The youngest Lane finally turned and made eye contact.

Astra nodded. “That seems to be the general consensus, though I’m doing my best not to eavesdrop on their conversation,” Astra said with a cheeky grin as she nodded towards Alex and Kara.

Lucy let out a brief chuckle before she looked away and ran a shaky hand through her hair.

Astra’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Am I making you nervous, Major? I assure you; you have no reason to fear me,” Astra tried to reassure her in the most genuine of tones.

Astra’s response seemed to snap the youngest Lane out of her sheepishness. She drew closer to the General and placed a hand on her forearm. “No, it’s not that at all.” She paused a beat and was met with a questioning look from the Kryptonian. “I just…I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what my father put you through. If there’s anything I can do to…” Lucy drifted off, appearing at a loss for words.

Astra gently placed her hands on the brunette’s shoulders and gave her a warm smile. “You have nothing to apologize for, my dear. You are not responsible for your father’s actions, only your own. No one is responsible for the sins of their family. Would you blame Kara for my crimes?” she asked rhetorically. “You’re a good person, Major. You proved that when you protected me from Colonel Harper. You showed that the apple fell far from the tree…” Astra looked momentarily perplexed. “Or however that saying goes.”

“I’d say the apple fell a few planets away from that tree,” Kara chimed in as she and Alex approached them causing Lucy’s features to significantly brighten.

After a few minutes of small talk, J’onn rejoined the group, stating that it was time to leave.

Tearful goodbyes, I love you’s, and prolonged hugs were exchanged all around; Kara tearing up the most because, well, Kara. Astra surprised Lucy when she enveloped her in a tight embrace; the tiny brunette let out a muffled squeak in surprise.

Alex and J’onn mounted the motorcycles used by Kara and Lucy. Alex beckoned Astra with a few swats to the rear of the seat on the bike she was perched on. Since the General had no idea how to operate a motorcycle and neither the eldest Danvers nor the Martian would let her fly, Astra was relegated to passenger status. It was a no-brainer who she wanted to ride with, so she wasn’t too upset that she would get to spend the next few hours with Alex wrapped in her arms.

After the day she’d had, it was just the thing the General needed.

With one final wave, the trio raced off into the night, speeding headlong towards their next mission.

Chapter 11: Road Trip !!!

Chapter Text

As Astra, Alex, and J’onn sped away from Kara and Lucy, the General felt a charge of excitement and anticipation. At the time, she attributed her giddiness to the invigorating night air and the wind whipping through her hair. It wasn’t until they reached J’onn’s off the books safehouse that reality came crashing down on her.

The three of them were fugitives, and no matter how thorough the Martian had been at wiping Harper’s mind, the powers-that-be were not going to let them ride off into the sunset unchallenged.

Physically and mentally exhausted, the three did their best to get some sleep. The next morning, they spent breakfast mapping out the half dozen CADMUS locations J’onn had been able to glean from Harper’s mind. All were located in remote locations spread over desert areas in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Once they were able to establish a search grid, the three prepped for their very long road trip. They needed clothing, cash, new ID’s, and transportation.

In order to travel incognito, they could not bring their cellphones, credit cards, or anything else that would leave a digital footprint.

Astra flew Alex to the apartment, assisted her with stuffing a large duffle bag with her clothes and toiletries, and had them back in the air within five minutes. Since the entirety of her wardrobe was under lock and key at the DEO desert base, Astra had to make do with borrowing some of Alex’s clothes until they got clear of National City and could go shopping.

J’onn, not needing clothes because…well…being a shapeshifter and all, had a small go-bag at the ready.

J’onn also had the money part covered. He had a sizable stockpile of cash that he’d been squirreling away since replacing Henshaw at the DEO. In fact, J’onn’s stash was so large, Alex jokingly commented she wanted a new wardrobe when they went shopping to replace Astra’s.

Since the motorcycles Kara and Lucy “gifted'' them were not a discrete form of transportation for three people, J’onn and Astra deposited them in a junkyard a few counties north of the safehouse. Luckily, J’onn already had a late model minivan parked in the safehouse’s garage. The aging van didn’t look like much on the outside, but the engine and inner workings were in pristine condition.

The purple van earned the moniker “Grimace'' from Alex.

Creating new identities turned out to be the easiest part of the prep work. Having taken on multiple aliases since arriving on Earth over three hundred years ago, J’onn had top of the line equipment for forging IDs and official documents, allowing the three to whip up new identities in a matter of minutes.

Alex and Astra took on the guises of Chyler and Laura Benoist; a married couple from Alberta, Canada, on a holiday road trip traveling through the southwestern United States with their eleven-year-old son Noah.

J’onn wasn’t particularly thrilled about running around as four-foot child. “It’s like squeezing into clothes that are three sizes too small,” the Martian complained, but the two redheads were able to talk him into it without too much hassle.

The “Benoist” family loaded up into Grimace and hit the road the next morning, bound for a suspected CADMUS base located twenty miles north of Tombstone, Arizona.

With J’onn posing as a small child and Astra not knowing how to drive, it fell to Alex to do all the driving. The three spent most of the seven-and-a-half-hour ride in a comfortable silence; each of them still processing everything that had happened over the last week. Alex and Astra would occasionally engage in small talk, pointing out landmarks as they went along or commenting on whatever god awful music they were able to pick up on the van’s ancient AM/FM radio.

J’onn barely said a word, appearing content to sit in the back seat meditating.

Astra spent most of the drive trying to soak up as much sunlight as possible. She was grateful that they had stopped at a Walmart to buy her some clothes once they got outside National City. The black tank top and jean shorts she now wore allowed her to bathe her exposed skin in an abundance of Sol’s light. At times, the General had practically half her upper body hanging out the passenger side window; enjoying the warm spring air while charging her sun-deprived cells.

“You sure you don’t want to sit on the roof?” Alex teased.

Astra sarcastically laughed as she settled back into her seat. “Quiet, you. I’ve been out of that desert dungeon twice in the past six months and one of those doesn’t count because it was dark out. You just keep your eyes on the road there, Thelma.”

The van swerved halfway into the next lane as a result of Alex’s belly laugh. “Oh, sh*t!” the redhead exclaimed through her laughter as she maneuvered Grimace back into the correct lane; Astra snorted at the eldest Danvers’ driving faux pas. “Okay, Louise.”

Hearing a genuine laugh from Alex was a small relief to the General. It was the first time she’d seen the redhead relax in days. Clad in a short-sleeved jersey tee, capri pants, a trucker hat perched on her head, aviator sunglasses, and the brightest smile the General had seen in ages, Astra couldn’t help but appreciate how adorable Alex looked.

The Kryptonian longed for more moments like this: just her and Alex together, playfully bantering, laughing, having the peace that seemed to continually elude them. Astra said a silent prayer to Rao hoping that after Non, Myriad, CADMUS; when everything was said and done, the General would be able to get the time with the redhead that she didn’t realize until recently that she desperately craved.

The travelers stopped at a rundown motel about fifty miles outside of Tombstone around midday. Since they intended on hitting the potential CADMUS base after dark, the trio decided it would be best to get a room and rest up before nightfall.

As she stepped out of the van, Astra groaned as she did a deep stretch, grateful to no longer be sitting. Alex and J’onn mirrored her to varying degrees before the three congregated behind the van. Without preamble, Alex grabbed both little J’onn’s and Astra’s hands and led them inside the check-in office.

Astra suppressed the pang of disappointment she felt when Alex had to release her hand to fill out the check-in paperwork. She missed the redhead’s warm, calloused hand slotted against her own. She turned to see J’onn studying a vending machine in the lobby, periodically bouncing on the balls of his feet, and fidgeting with his hands as he tried to emulate the nervous energy of a typical preteen.

A warm arm wrapping around her lower back brought the General’s attention back to Alex. She met the redhead’s eyes and gave her a sheepish smile; she could feel her face heat up into what was no doubt a pronounced shade of pink.

Astra tried not to get too caught up in the intimate gesture. She knew Alex was just trying to maintain the cover of their new identities, but the General didn’t care. She leaned into Alex, and thus her role, with a contented flourish. She just hoped that she didn’t play so heavily into the character that it made Alex uncomfortable.

Most of all, she hoped that the eldest Danvers didn’t pick up on Astra’s elevated heartbeat and shuddered breaths every time they touched each other.

The General still hadn’t figured out what to do about her feelings for Alex. In her defense, she really hadn’t been allowed any time or energy to go over her options. She was able to establish that, clearly, now wasn’t the time to profess her love to the redhead. “I know we’re wanted fugitives searching for your not-dead-after-all father, but I’m madly in love with you and can I please start courting you?”

While an exchange like that would have been catastrophically embarrassing, it didn’t hold a candle to the fact that Astra had no idea if Alex would even consider dating another woman, let alone the General. The possibility of not only being rejected but destroying her perfectly acceptable relationship with Alex was a risk that Astra refused to take; better to have her as a close friend as opposed to an awkward acquaintance.

As would be the case throughout their “road trip”, their room was, for lack of a better term, a sh*thole. There were cracks and discolored spots on the ceilings and the walls, the carpets were stained, frayed, and ripped to the point where Astra couldn’t identify its original color, the comforters on the two queen size beds looked at least forty years old and showed heavy signs of wear and tear. The bathroom was a complete wreck; a crumbling mishmash of peeling linoleum, mismatched tiles, and cracked porcelain; all looking like it was being held together by mold and duct tape.

Speaking of mold, the entire room reeked of it.

The three fugitives were unphased by their vile accommodations: they’d been in worse conditions.

The sleeping arrangements were quickly sorted; Alex took the bed nearest the door, Astra the second bed (she tried to offer it to J’onn but, ever the gentleman, he deferred it to the General), and J’onn opted for the lone recliner in the room.

Despite the midday sun shining brightly outside, Alex and J’onn somehow managed to fall asleep. Astra laid on the uncomfortable bed and stared at the ceiling until she heard their heartbeats settle into a sleep induced rhythm. She quietly exited the room and plopped into a rusted lounge chair next to the motel’s grotty, drained pool. She got as comfortable as she could in the broken-down chair and soaked up everything Sol had to offer before drifting off to sleep.

******

The raid on the suspected CADMUS base that night turned out to be a bust. The site was nothing more than a long-abandoned silver mine. The disappointed trio were unable to find any traces of Jeremiah or CADMUS in the decrepit tunnels.

Over the course of the next three weeks, their search followed a similar pattern: drive to the next base on J’onn’s list, secure lodging fifty to a hundred miles away from the suspected base’s location, wait until nightfall to hit the site, find nothing, head back to the hotel, and try to rest before getting back on the road.

The cycle of wash, rinse, repeat began to take a toll on all of them; especially Alex.

Each morning after they returned from another failed attempt to locate Jeremiah, the eldest Danvers would immediately head for the bathroom and spend the next fifteen minutes quietly sobbing under the guise of taking a shower.

Despite the white noise caused by the running water, Astra’s enhanced hearing honed in on every soft whimper, sniffle, and moan coming from the agent. It broke the Kryptonian’s heart that she was unable to do anything to help Alex; the eldest Danvers never solicited any advice or sought comfort from the General. Alex would simply crawl into bed after her shower and fall asleep within minutes.

The sole source of light in their lives involved what little news they got from National City.

Reports indicated the public was slowly beginning to forgive Supergirl for her red kryptonite induced rampage. The trio took particular interest in the rumor she’d teamed up with some crimson-clad speedster.

Hearing that Kara was still making public appearances and her reputation was on the mend meant one less thing they had to worry about.

When they arrived at the second to last suspected CADMUS base on J’onn’s list just outside of Lake Tahoe, the three were ambushed by a dozen well-armed soldiers clad from head to toe in black as soon as they entered the abandoned base. None of the trio could see any identifying patches or insignias on the shooters and just assumed they were CADMUS agents.

Who they worked for quickly became irrelevant when Astra took a kryptonite-laced round in her shoulder. Thankfully the wound was a through-and-through; it hurt like hell, but it didn’t dampen the General’s abilities. Astra had no interest in pushing her luck any further and beat a hasty retreat from the facility with Alex in a bridal carry and J’onn following close behind.

As they approached the motel from the air, they were greeted by the flaming corpse that was once Grimace the minivan.

“Alas poor Grimace, I knew him well,” Alex deadpanned.

“Yes. Taken from us too soon,” Astra said tongue firmly planted in cheek.

“Oh, for H'ronmeer’s sake,” J’onn huffed, clearly exasperated by the two redheads. “If you two are finished, we should be on our way.”

Astra could hear a phalanx of police, EMTs, and fire trucks seconds out from the motel. “He’s right,” the General sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. “Pity, I was really looking forward to digging into that jumbo-sized bag of Funyuns.”

Alex mockingly patted Astra on the cheek. “Poor baby,” she teased.

Clearly not in the mood for any more of their f*ckery, J’onn flew away, leaving Astra and Alex bobbing midair. The General gave the eldest Danvers a playful scowl and stuck her tongue out at her before flying in J’onn’s direction.

They found a used clothing boutique just outside of town and, with as much care as possible, broke in. Luckily, with it being four o’clock in the morning, there wasn’t a soul in sight. The three split up and went through the mid-size store and digging through clothing racks for any nondescript clothing that fit. It took them less than five minutes to select and change into their new outfits.

Astra selected a simple blouse and paired it with a pair of modest jean shorts. She managed to stuff most of her long curls into a trucker hat and slipped on a pair of aviator sunglasses.

J’onn had shifted into a dark haired teenage girl clothed in a plaid dress/leather jacket combo.

Alex emerged from the changing room looking like a soccer mom. Her floral print blouse, pink cardigan, and tan chinos accented with some oversize sunglasses screamed middle-aged housewife. She spared a glance towards the dressing room mirror and let out a defeated sigh. “Oh for f*ck’s sake, I look like Kara.”

Right then, something caught Alex’s eye. She walked over to a similarly clad mannequin and pulled a hideous blonde wig from atop its head. She stood in front of the mirror once more to fit the bleached out hair piece over her auburn hair. After tucking a few loose strands of hair under the wig, she turned to Astra and J’onn and said, “If I’m going to dress like Kara, I might as well complete the look.” She bobbed her head from side to side in an exaggerated manner. “Well, whatta ya think?” she asked, waving jazzhands for effect.

Astra considered her a moment and shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t really go for blondes.”

“Well I guess it’s a good thing I’m a redhead,” Alex replied with a triumphant grin.

Astra’s heart did a figurative leap in her chest once Alex’s comment fully registered in her brain. She felt her cheeks heat up and was fairly certain her mouth was slightly agape.

The General could see the exact moment Alex realized the flirtatious nature of her response as seconds later, the agent’s face turned beet red and she averted her eyes away from Astra’s astonished gaze with lightning speed.

For her part, Astra was barely able to suppress her pleased grin, opting to look anywhere but at Alex and nervously scratching the back of her neck.

The so quiet you could hear a pin drop moment was mercifully brought to an end with a loud clearing of J’onn’s throat. “I think it’s time to go, ladies.”

After departing the boutique (J’onn left cash on the counter, of course), the trio surreptitiously made their way to a bus depot located one town over and boarded a Greyhound bus headed for San Jose.

Their final destination: Midvale.

Alex and her horrendous wig settled into her seat with her teenage daughter “Sadie” taking up the seat next to her. Astra sat in the aisle seat across from them.

Two hours into the ride the bus came upon a roadblock. Two state troopers boarded the bus and walked down the aisle studying each passenger closely. Astra could see a photo of Alex absently dangling from one of the trooper’s hands.

Her attention was drawn to the uptick in Alex’s heartbeat. She looked over and could see the agent slowly reaching into her purse for the gun she had concealed inside.

Fortunately, “Sadie” covered Alex’s hand and guided it out of the purse. The agents spent less than two seconds eyeing the trio before moving on to the passengers behind them.

Appearing satisfied with their search, the agents disembarked and the bus moved past the checkpoint. Astra locked eyes with Alex from across the aisle and the General scowled at her hoping to communicate her disapproval of the agent almost starting a gunfight on the bus. Alex clearly got the message and promptly stuck her tongue out at the General, causing her to shake her head and giggle.

Astra spent the next hour lightly dozing in her seat. She knew she should probably be awake and using her enhanced senses to monitor the area, but she was too tired and out of f*cks to give.

Well, she maybe had one f*ck left to give that would not stop knawing at her brain…

She knew the likelihood of meeting Eliza Danvers was an inevitability given the General’s proximity to Alex and Kara. That being said, she was in no way prepared to meet the Danvers matriarch now (to be honest, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be ready). Simply put, Astra was intimidated by the woman. Alex and Kara spoke of her with such high regard. As a result, the reverential picture they painted made Astra that much more aware of her own shortcomings.

How could Astra hold a candle to such a remarkable woman?

More importantly, what would Eliza think of her? Would she judge Astra for her deplorable actions prior to her separation from Non? Would she be openly hostile towards her or give her a chance like her oldest daughter did?

Obviously, the General hoped for the latter. She felt confident that she could earn Dr. Danvers’ trust and respect if she was allowed the opportunity.

After checking the time and seeing that they were less than an hour away from their first stop, Astra decided it was a pointless exercise to continue worrying about how things would play out once they reached Midvale.

Whatever happened, happened. At the end of the day, all that mattered was having Alex and Kara in her corner. As long as they continued to support her, she could weather Eliza Danvers and whatever opinion she may have of her.

******

Upon arrival at the Danvers’ residence, it quickly became apparent that Astra’s anxiety was unnecessary. The Danvers matriarch was far too focused on J’onn’s appearance to spare anything more than a side glance at the General. It wasn’t until after Alex’s hasty explanation of the Martian’s true identity that Eliza gave a brief, but cordial welcome to Astra.

The pleasantries were short lived as Eliza hurriedly informed the trio that what Astra had been dreading for months now had finally come to pass: National City was under the control of Myriad.

Chapter 12: Just Another Night On the Town

Chapter Text

“Alex, I know how brave you are, but you cannot fight this,” Eliza pleaded.

Astra sympathized with the Danvers matriarch. The woman was desperate to protect her daughter.

Alex paused her approach to the front door. Astra could hear the agent’s teeth grind just before she turned around. “Yes, yes we can,” she said as she approached her mother and J’onn. “I remember the last time I watched my father walk out that door, it was the worst day of my life. Not finding out whether or not he was coming back, but watching him go…knowing that no matter what happened next, I had no say in it. I will not watch you two fly away and sit here and do nothing while my sister needs me!” She pointed at J’onn and then Astra.

J’onn shook his head. “There is nothing you can do.”

“Bullsh*t!” Alex yelled, startling J’onn and Eliza. “I can if you use your telepathy to shield my mind.”

J’onn looked on the verge of capitulating to Alex’s request, but Eliza wasn’t having it. She turned and addressed Astra, who at this point was casually leaning against the wall, silently watching the drama unfold. “Can you please talk some sense into her?”

Astra smiled and shook her head. “Sorry, but I’ve found that trying to talk Alexandra out of anything once she’s made up her mind is a futile gesture.” She and Alex shared eye contact for a drawn out moment, exchanging reverent smiles.

The two were so locked into each other that they didn’t notice the silent exchange between Eliza and J’onn. The older blonde mouthed Alexandra? with a questioning look.

J’onn answered with an eye roll and a shrug.

He turned to Alex, a look of resignation on his face. “Fine. Alex, you’re with me. Astra, I want you to fly ahead and see if you can track down Kara.”

Astra rounded on J’onn. “Uh-uh. There’s no way in hell that I’m leaving her side. You’ll be targeted the second you touch the ground. I’m staying with you and Alexandra,” the General demanded.

“This is non-negotiable, General, or Alex stays here!” J’onn barked back.

Incensed, the Kryptonian marched up and got right in J’onn’s face. “Listen here, Martian, we are not in the DEO headquarters anymore. I am not your prisoner and I’ll be Rao-damned if I’m going to take orders from you,” Astra growled at him.

The General felt a hand gently grip her shoulder. “Hey…it’s okay. I’ll be fine,” Alex softly assured her. The Kryptonian placed her hand over Alex’s and gave it a soft pat. Most of her anger abated from Alex’s anchoring touch.

Once again, the two were so lost in each other that they failed to notice the confused look on Eliza’s face and her “WTF?” facial expression aimed at J’onn. The Martian subtly waved off the poor confounded woman and re-focused his attention on Astra. “General, I mean you no disrespect. Kara clearly needs back-up right now. You can get to National City faster without Alex and I slowing you down.” He placed a reassuring hand on Astra’s other shoulder. “I promise, I will protect Alex with my very life.”

Astra looked at Alex, the redhead gave her an encouraging nod. The General reluctantly nodded in return and squeezed Alex’s hand that continued to caress her shoulder. “Please be careful.”

Alex gave her the most endearing of smiles. “Safety first,” she said with a nervous giggle.

******

Astra was able to make it from Midvale to National City within a few minutes. Despite J’onn’s accurate assessment of her traveling faster without him and Alex tagging along, the General was still pissed that she had to leave the eldest Danvers behind.

She couldn’t help the feeling of dread that had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach. Astra’s anxiety was doing a fantastic job of convincing her that something bad was going to happen to Alex. The General fought to remind herself that she had more important things to do than fret about Alex’s wellbeing. The agent was more than capable of taking care of herself and the Martian had proven to be an adequate warrior when the situation called for it.

Flying into the downtown business district, Astra felt a shiver run down her spine at the complete absence of ambient noise. No engine sounds, car horns, or conversations could be heard within a five mile radius.

However, it did make finding Kara a relatively easy task. She detected her niece’s voice coming from the executive balcony of the CatCo building. A quick peek with her enhanced vision showed Kara having a conversation with an older blonde woman who Astra quickly recognized as Cat Grant.

As Astra glided up and stopped a few short feet from the balcony, Kara and Cat were locked in a tight embrace. The blondes separated and after a beat, Kara gave Cat a hopeful look and said, “That gives me an idea.”

“Do tell, little one, I’m all ears.”

Both Kara and Cat startled at Astra’s abrupt arrival. Cat jumped back several steps and Kara rose a few feet off the ground, her fists at the ready. When the Super realized who had surprised them, she squealed excitedly. “Astra!”. She streaked into her aunt’s arms and wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug. “Thank Rao you’re here,” she said with a choked whisper. Astra pulled back to get a better look at the hero. Kara’s lip quivered and Astra could see tears pooling in her eyes.

Astra pulled her in for another hug. “It’s okay, kir chahv, the cavalry's here,” she quietly reassured her.

“Are you going to introduce me to your friend?” Cat inquired, reminding the two Kryptonians they weren’t alone.

Astra and Kara floated over the balcony railing and gently landed next to Cat. Kara nervously rubbed at the back of her neck. “Ms. Grant, this is…well she’s-”

“Wait. I’ve seen you before,” Cat interrupted the flailing hero. “You’re the one that attacked her last year on national television.” The Queen of All Media pointed an accusatory finger at Astra and then turned to Kara. “She’s one of the rogue Kryptonians. What the hell is she doing here, Kiera?”

“Miss Grant, I can explain. She…” Kara’s brain finally caught up. “...wait…what? Why would you call me that? I thought we already settled this, Miss Grant. I am not Kara Danvers,” the hero said with zero conviction in her voice.

“I thought it was settled. Right up until I saw your shapeshifting friend during your emo phase a few months ago. It wasn’t hard to figure out after that.” Cat fixed Kara with an intense glare. In turn, the Super stood there and did her best impression of a goldfish.

“Oh, for Rao’s sake, Kara. Stop insulting the woman’s intelligence.” Astra impatiently chimed in.

Kara shot her aunt an incredulous glare before letting out a heavy sigh and turning back to Cat. “Okay…you got me…surprise?” The Super gave the older blonde a weak pair of jazz hands.

Cat rolled her eyes and fixed her sights back on Astra. “Back to my previous question: what the hell is she doing here?”

Kara shot her aunt a pleading look. Astra gave a slight shrug. “What possible harm could come from her knowing who I am?”

“Okay,” Kara said, giving her aunt a bewildered look. She turned back to Cat and took a deep breath. “Miss Grant, this is my Aunt Astra. Non is her husband which obviously makes him my uncle. Yes, she was working with him at first but me and my sister Alex were able to convince her to change sides. She’s been on the run with my sister and the shapeshifter who fought me when I was dosed with red K. He’s a Martian by the way. Oh, both he and my sister once worked with a clandestine task force charged with protecting Earth from rogue aliens before the whole red K thing but had to go on the run because no one knew he was a Martian except for me, Alex, and Astra, and they all thought both of them were working with J’onn, that’s his name, and so they arrested them and tried to send them to some evil government lab where they were going to dissect J’onn but me and Lucy Lane broke them out before they got there.”

Kara’s ramble finally concluded, Cat’s eyes had become the size of saucers and she seemed to have gone completely non-verbal. Her time imitating a goldfish was far shorter than Kara’s, though. She shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and shook her head before finally saying, “I have no idea what most of that meant so I’ll just save us some time and say hello, Astra, it’s nice to meet you.” Cat threw the General a respectful nod which Astra promptly returned.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way, shall we get to the matter at hand?” Astra asked the two blondes; both nodded in agreement. “Excellent. Okay little one, tell me all about this idea of yours.”

******

Astra, Kara, and Cat marched into Max Lord’s office. Max looked up from his work with a smarmy grin on his face until he realized Astra was with the duo. The tech mogul jumped out of his seat and shuffled backwards until his back collided with his balcony door.

“What the f*ck is she doing here?” Max practically shrieked.

Astra was exceptionally pleased with Max’s reaction. It ensured that he would comply with Kara’s new and improved plan.

Kara had explained everything to Astra before making the short flight to Lord Technologies: Max’s lethally reckless plan to use a bomb to stop Non and his soldiers and Kara’s alternative solution that wouldn’t result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Her niece’s plan to use one of Cat’s old TV stations to broadcast an analog signal to counter Myriad was inspired.

It didn’t take long to convince Max to go along with the new plan. Sure, Kara’s appeal to Max’s better angels was great and all, but Astra was fairly certain the subtle and not so subtle threats levied at the little sh*t by both her and Cat were far more effective in persuading him.

Once they made their way to one of Cat’s shuttered TV stations, Max and Cat worked on configuring the broadcast equipment while Astra and Kara caught up on everything that had transpired after the trio left National City.

The sound of a loud pop echoed through the station, instantly grabbing the attention of the four occupants. Astra and Kara exchanged concerned looks and headed towards the exit; Kara instructed Cat and Max to stay put as they walked out.

Once outside, the two watched as a lone figure stalked towards them. Both Kryptonians let out a pained gasp when they realized it was Alex. Clearly under the control of Myriad and clad in some type of kryptonite exo-skeleton, the agent had an almost serpentine-like swagger in her gait as she methodically approached them.

Astra’s heart practically stopped. This was her worst nightmare come to pass. She chided herself for letting J’onn talk her into splitting up. Speaking of the Martian, where the hell was he? He better be dead or seriously injured. That was the only way Astra could excuse his utter failure in protecting Alex.

The General moved back into the shadows, giving Kara a reassuring tap on the shoulder before her slight retreat. She needed to assess the situation and devise a way to break Alex out of Non’s grip.

“Alex!” Kara bellowed.

“I warned you what would happen if you worked against me.” Alex’s face was emotionless, her voice had an arrogant, sinister tone. “I found your ultimate opponent…one who knows your every weakness.”

“I..I’m not doing this. I’m not going to fight my sister. Did you hear that Non? If you want to fight me, come out here and do it yourself! I’m not going to hurt her.” Kara challenged Non with tears pooling in her eyes.

“You have no choice. Kill Alex Danvers or let her kill you. Either way, you lose,” Alex/Non hissed. Astra was sickened by how much the eldest Danvers sounded like her estranged husband.

“Oh my dear sweet zrhomin, ever the f*cking coward, I see.” Astra stepped out of the shadows and placed herself between Kara and Alex. “You always did have a habit of relying on a more capable woman to do your dirty work.”

Alex’s facial expression quickly morphed from neutral to complete shock. “Astra…how…how could this be…I saw your body.” Alex/Non gasped out.

“The humans are quite clever. You underestimate their resourcefulness,” Astra replied with a boastful grin.

“I…I don’t understand. You staged your death? Why? How could you do this to me…to our mission?”

“Because we were wrong, Non, about the humans, about everything. We shouldn’t have assumed that they couldn’t take care of themselves. These people still have time to correct their actions. The Earth is not as far gone as Krypton was when we learned the truth. Instead of stripping them of their free will, we should help guide them, lead them to a better way. The only hope of sustaining any positive changes on this planet is if we work with them,” Astra pleaded with conviction, Alex/Non’s face was unreadable. “Don’t you see, it was providence that we were sent to the Phantom Zone and spared Krypton’s fate. It was Rao’s will that brought us here to help this planet, not control its inhabitants. If we stand side-by-side with Kara and Kal-El, use these amazing gifts as a force for good just as they do, we can help them accomplish wonders.” Astra tried not to cringe, echoing Jor-El’s words. Not that she didn’t believe in what she was saying; far from it.

It’s just…well, Jor-El.

The General spared a glance in Kara’s direction. Her niece had a smile as bright as the sun and a teary look of pride on her face. Suddenly embarrassed, she flashed the Super a sheepish grin and turned her attention back to Alex. The eldest Danvers hadn’t moved and her facial expression remained unreadable.

“Blasphemy.” Alex/Non hissed. “You betray our mission and our people.”

“No Non, I’m only betraying you,” Astra corrected, her voice thick with disappointment. She knew it would be a long shot trying to convince Non to abandon his batsh*t nuts plan, but a part of her held out hope that she could reach him.

Oh, well. On to plan B.

“Release her, Non. Leave Kara and Alex out of this.” Alex countenance remained unchanged. “If you have any love left for me in your heart, please, do me this one last kindness and let her go!” Astra begged. She fell to her knees; her pride be damned.

She would suffer any indignity if it meant getting Alex back.

She loved her.

As sure as the day followed the night, she loved the redhead with all of her being.

There was nothing she wouldn’t do to keep her safe.

Alex/Non let out a hollow laugh. “Love you? I have no love for traitors,” he spit out contemptuously. “The only kindness I will show you is a quick death.” Alex reached over her shoulder and unsheathed her kryptonite sword.

“Well, f*ck,” Astra huffed out with a prolonged sigh.

She took a few measured steps back until she was shoulder to shoulder with Kara. “ I don’t suppose you happen to have my K-shield with you?” she mumbled through gritted teeth.

“Nope,” the Super said with a pop. “I had to get out of the DEO base in a hurry during my last visit.”

Astra closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Not having any protection from the kryptonite-laden agent was going to make things difficult, but not impossible. She needed to get that damn sword away from Alex without hurting her. That meant ranged attacks with her heat vision or freeze breath were out of the question. She could try using her super-speed, but that was problematic as well. If she went in too quickly, she risked hitting Alex with too much force and turning her into a pulpy mess; hit her too slowly, and she risked too much exposure to the K radiation.

All that aside, even if she got the sword away from the agent, there was still the matter of separating her from the exo-armor. She did a quick scan of the armor with her x-ray vision to search for any weaknesses but the metal surrounding the kryptonite was all lead.

A quick scan of her surroundings yielded very little in the way of weapons, save for a car fender that could be of some use.

Astra decided her best bet would be to try to subdue and restrain Alex until Kara, Cat, and Max could activate their countermeasure to Myriad.

Her plan in place, Astra grabbed the Super and super-sped her fifty yards away from her sister. “Kara, I need you to head back inside and light a fire under Cat and Max’s asses.” Astra cut off her niece as she opened her mouth to object. “I’m going to stop you right there. Understand, the sooner you take out Myriad, the sooner we get your sister and your friends back. I will handle Alex,” Astra said, channeling her inner general.

Kara flashed her a concerned look. “Please don’t hurt her.”

Astra rolled her eyes. “For f*ck’s sake, Kara. She’s the one covered in kryptonite and you’re worried about me hurting her?” She gave her niece an incredulous look. Kara shrugged what Astra translated to be a “maybe”. The General took a calming breath and gently took hold of the hero’s hands. “I assure you, I will do everything in my power to avoid harming her.”

Kara nodded and spared a quick glance over her aunt’s shoulder. Alex had started running in their direction, her sword angled in a strike position. Astra saw Kara’s eyes widen and spun around to face the advancing agent. “Move your ass, Supergirl,” Astra ordered over her shoulder as she moved to intercept the eldest Danvers.

Alex closed to within ten feet of the General before launching herself fifteen feet into the air, catching Astra by surprise.

The Kryptonian used her super speed to move away as Alex brought her sword down in a sweeping slash; the blade embedded in the concrete upon missing its intended target. Astra used Alex’s momentary struggle pulling the sword from the ground to move in and attempt to disarm her.

Just as the General was within arm’s reach of the agent, Alex freed the blade from the ground and took a swipe at Astra, the blade grazing the General’s side before she could completely evade the strike.

Astra hissed but never let the injury slow her down. She used her momentum to roll under another slash from Alex.

Deciding her approach wasn’t working, Astra retrieved the fender she’d seen earlier. Alex ran towards her again, swiping the sword in a downward motion. Astra used the fender like a bow staff and blocked the blade from striking her. She swept the other side in an upward motion, striking Alex’s hand and knocking the blade out of her grasp.

Astra advanced on the now disarmed agent and attempted to wrap the fender around her arms, but Alex was able to use her exo-skeleton powered strength to tear through the weak metal.

Once again caught off guard, Astra tried to move back and create some distance. The General realized she made a mistake when she saw Alex raise her arm and point what appeared to be some type of energy disruptor at her. A green ball of energy launched from the barrel and struck Astra directly in the chest, sending the Kryptonian crashing into the building opposite the CatCo station. She bounced off the wall and landed on the asphalt in a heap.

“Enhanced strength and kryptonite disruptors…this day just keeps getting better and better,” the General rasped out between coughs.

“You’re holding back, zhremin,” Alex/Non mocked. “Your efforts to save Agent Danvers are futile. You can’t possibly best her without killing her.”

With considerable effort and a few hisses and groans, Astra managed to get to her feet. “Dear Rao, you just love the sound of your own voice, don’t you?” she spat in contempt as she rubbed the still smoking wound on her chest. “Not having to listen to your ridiculous posturing over the last few months has been a blessing.”

A sad*stic smile fell across Alex’s face. “Don’t worry, soon you won’t be hearing anything.”

Astra brought herself up to her full height and tilted her head to the side, cracking her neck. “You’re more than welcome to try,” she challenged.

The two dropped into a dead run and barreled into each other. Astra wrapped herself around Alex’s midsection and took her to the ground. The General knew going close quarters with the agent was a risk, but it was a calculated one. She saw some type of housing for a power supply on the back of the exo-suit just before she was struck by the disruptor blast. She surmised that a few well placed blows to the generator would disrupt the suit’s functions.

Once the K emitters were offline, it would be a simple matter of using her strength and super-speed to strip the armor off of Alex.

The two rolled on the ground, a mess of tangled arms and legs. Both grappled for any position that would put them at an advantage; Astra wanting to subdue, Alex looking for a kill shot.

Astra managed to get ahold of Alex’s left arm and was able to take her to the ground with an armbar. Her hands gripped Alex’s forearm and legs locked the agent’s shoulder. Astra desperately kicked at the power supply, but the housing proved to be too protected and her foot harmlessly bounced off with each impact.

Astra’s prolonged exposure to kryptonite over the last year helped her adjust and work through the pain and nausea brought on by the infernal rock, but even Astra had her limits. She could feel her strength waning. Her skin burned wherever it made contact with the kryptonite emitters and she was beginning to get light headed.

The General fought through the pain and discomfort, pouring the last of her strength into pounding on the small metal box secured on Alex’s back.

Unfortunately, Alex and her suped-up strength enabled her not only to push herself up, but lift Astra into the air with the General still wrapped around her arm. She leveled her kryptonite disruptor at the Kryptonian and fired a point blank shot at Astra’s stomach that made her lose her grip and sent her careening into the asphalt.

The General barely had a moment to roll herself over before Alex was on top of her. The agent pinned her to the ground and landed two punches in quick succession to Astra’s face.

The Kryptonian retaliated with a punch to Alex's stomach to no effect.

Alex unleashed another thunderous blow, connecting directly with the General’s nose. Astra’s head snapped back and bounced off the asphalt.

Between the kryptonite and Alex’s fists, the General was on the verge of blacking out.

Alex stopped her onslaught but remained sitting on Astra’s chest, regarding her with a sad*stic smile. “Poor, pathetic General In-Ze, brought low by a filthy human.” Alex/Non let out an almost pitying laugh.

In what she knew was going to be a last ditch effort, Astra reached up and grabbed ahold of Alex’s shirt.

“Fight him, Alexandra. I know you’re in there…I know you can hear me. Don’t do this. You’re better than this…stronger…too stubborn. So, so stubborn…I need you to be stubborn right now…I need you to be that stubborn bitch I fell in love with…”

Astra barely registered the enormity of what she’d just said. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to her grave without letting Alex know how much she meant to her.

Much to her surprise, Alex seemed taken aback; a look of confusion fell across her features. Astra quickly took advantage of the temporary stay of execution and poured her heart out. “That’s right, I’m in love with you. I’m so very in love with you, and I need you to come back to me so I can tell you…show you how much you mean to me.”

Alex continued to look like she was struggling, her face a contrast between shock and anger.

“You can beat him, I know you can. Come back to me, zhao. I need you here with me right now. Please come back to me…please.” Tears began streaming down the General’s cheeks. She was now gripping on Alex’s shirt with both hands. “Dammit Alex! Did you hear what I said? I said I love you! Please come back to me! Get that asshole out of your head and come back to me!”

The gamut of emotions running across Alex’s face continued briefly before her features seemed to regain the cold, emotionless focus she had earlier.

“You would profess your love to this human? This vile creature?” Alex/Non asked, looking completely repulsed. Astra glared through teary eyes and nodded resolutely. “Disgusting,” he spat out.

“That creature has shown more kindness and compassion to me in the few months I’ve been with her than you have in all the decades we’ve been bonded. The only creature here, Non, is you,” Astra shouted defiantly.

Alex’s face contorted into a rage-filled sneer and the next thing Astra felt were the agent’s hands wrapped around her throat.

The General weakly clawed at the possessed woman’s arms but the effort proved futile. As she fruitlessly gasped to get air in her lungs, Astra could see darkness clouding around the edge of her vision as she began to lose consciousness.

Her thoughts drifted towards all those months ago when she was visiting Alex’s apartment and had to tuck the very drunk redhead into bed. The General pictured the moment she planted a chaste kiss on the eldest Danvers’ forehead and the adorable look on the agent’s face as she passed out.

With what little time she had left, Astra thanked Rao for blessing her with that one, perfect moment.

Just before her vision completely faded to black, Astra could hear Eliza Danvers yelling Alex’s name.

Chapter 13: A Moment of Reflection

Chapter Text

The first thing Astra noticed when she was pulled from infinite darkness was warmth. Her skin felt like it was being bathed in Sol’s nourishing light. She couldn’t help the subdued moan of contentment that escaped her throat. A bright shining light cast down on her face and although it felt divine, its luminescence prevented her from opening her light deprived eyes. Which was fine with her. She had zero interest in leaving the sublime position she found herself in and offered no resistance to the pull of going back to sleep.

Minutes or hours passed (the General wasn’t entirely sure) before she was awoken again by the gentle caress of soft fingertips languidly tracing from her forehead to her scalp and back. Normally, Astra would have broken the hand of anyone touching her in such a manner without her consent, but the faint smell of ocean air, water lily, amber, and a dash of gunpowder spared the welcome offender from any broken bones. She couldn’t help the soft smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth.

“There you are. It’s about time you joined the land of the living.” Alex’s sweet cooing was like a soothing balm on Astra’s soul. Gone were the sneering, hurtful words viciously flung at her by the agent when she was forced to act as Non’s proxy; replaced by her usual kind, compassionate tone. Although the content of her zrhomin’s words when they were fighting meant nothing to her, hearing them spewed from the eldest Danvers was like a knife through her heart.

“Don’t wanna get up yet…warm and cozy,” Astra practically purred through her grin, refusing to open her eyes. She snuggled into Alex’s hand still threaded in her hair. Taking the Kryptonian’s hint, the eldest Danvers continued caressing her head.

“Sorry, General, but things are ramping up again. All hands on deck,” Alex said sympathetically. She removed her hand from Astra’s scalp, much to the General’s chagrin; but slid her hand down to entwine with the General’s.

It was right about then, as Astra was enjoying the warmth of Alex’s hand pressed into hers, that the memories from their fight came crashing back into her mind.

“…that’s right, I’m in love with you. I’m so very in love with you…come back to me, zhao…”

Astra tried to school her features and not let the agent in on the fact she was on the verge of a panic attack. She released a shaky breath that she didn’t know she was holding but kept her eyes tightly shut lest they betray her inner turmoil.

“S..sitrep?” she asked in a higher octave than she intended.

“Good news and bad news,” Alex said, seemingly unaware of Astra’s frayed nerves as she placed her other hand over their already joined hands. “The good news: Kara’s speech worked. National City is no longer under the control of Myriad. The bad news, Non is being a very sore loser. He’s ramping up Myriad’s signal to the point where all of our heads are going to start exploding. Max is just about to brief everyone in the CIC so we need to get moving.”

“That sucks,” Astra nervously laughed out, internally cringing as soon as she said it.

The General pushed past her embarrassment and fully opened her eyes and gingerly sat up, ignoring the blinding light assaulting her eyes and the sudden onset of dizziness. She did a quick scan of her surroundings and recognized she was sitting on the yellow sun bed in the desert HQ med bay.

To her right, she could see an unconscious Kal-El in the bed next to her. J’onn rested in the bed situated on the other side of Kal’s. Astra could see a pair of handcuffs attaching the Martian’s wrist to the bed frame.

As her vision cleared, Astra took her first clear look at Alex’s features, looking for any sign of acknowledgement of the General’s bombshell confession. She searched her warm brown eyes, equal parts hope and dread swirling around in her mind. Alex held Astra’s gaze the whole time, not once averting her eyes from the General’s prolonged examination.

Astra saw nothing. Not a trace of embarrassment, longing, awkwardness, or any alteration from Alex’s normal behavior when she was in the General’s presence.

She felt equal parts relief and disappointment before a wave of general malaise fell over her. In the General’s mind, there could only be two possible explanations for Alex’s nonchalance over the situation:

She heard everything Astra had said, didn’t feel the same way, and decided the best way to communicate this was to remain silent…

or

She didn’t remember anything that happened.

Astra silently prayed to Rao for the latter.

“You okay there, General?” Alex asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Astra snapped out of her internal musings and gave the agent a subtle nod. The General stood on wobbly legs, but Alex was quick to steady her. “How long was I out?” she asked as she waited for the vertigo she was experiencing to wear off.

“About six hours. You were in pretty bad shape by the time we finally got you here,” Alex said remorsefully, omitting the “...because of me” that the agent’s guilt ridden face practically screamed out.

Astra cupped Alex’s cheek. “I know what you’re thinking, so don’t even go there. Non did this to me, not you. What happened was completely out of your control. Continuing to kick yourself over it is something we don’t have time for right now.” The General wiped an errant tear from the agent’s cheek. “Now get your sh*t together, I’ve got a soon-to-be ex-husband that needs to have his head separated from his body and I need you at your best, Alexandra.” Astra wagged her eyebrows and flashed a mischievous grin, eliciting a watery laugh from Alex.

The General linked her arm with the agent’s pulled her into an over exaggerated march out of the med bay.

The two walked arm in arm to the CIC, finally breaking apart once Kara saw them and rushed over to enveloped her aunt in a bone crushing hug.

Her happy reunion with Kara was short-lived when Astra saw Sam Lane marching purposefully in their direction. Astra’s look of anxiety that spread across her face must have been profound as both Kara and Alex turned to see what had the older Kryptonian spooked.

Upon recognizing who was coming their way, the Danvers sisters positioned themselves between Astra and General Lane.

“Why in the hell is that…woman not secured in a detention cell?” the ginger-headed f*ck whined, his glare singularly focused on Astra who returned it in kind.

“Because she’s not a prisoner,” Alex succinctly countered as she stepped into Lane’s personal space.

“The hell she isn’t. She’s a terrorist, for God’s sake. Her and her psychopathic husband are responsible for everything that’s happening right now! She should have a kryptonite collar around her neck like the animal she is!” Lane pointed an accusatory finger directly at Astra.

In the blink of an eye, Astra had a firm grip on General Lane’s shirt and hoisted him off his feet.

In quick succession, Lane’s men rushed towards their commanding officer, rifles leveled at the very pissed off Kryptonian. Kara, Alex, and a just arriving Vasquez took positions around Astra and her quarry, guns drawn and simmering heat vision aimed at Lane’s trigger happy soldiers.

“For god’s sake! You guys are back less than a day and you’re already about to get into a shoot-out in the CIC,” Vasquez teased. “Most people pace themselves and start with a strongly worded memo and work their way up to the gunplay.”

Astra, ignoring everything going on around her in favor of terrorizing Lane, smiled. “Now you listen here, you waste of human flesh. My only mission has been to protect life on this planet, which includes deplorable f*cks like you. So, don’t you dare lump me in with Non and what’s happening right now,” the Kryptonian growled at the visibly shaking elder Lane. She pulled him closer until the two were now practically nose-to-nose. “One more thing: don’t you dare threaten me again you little sh*t, or you’ll find out first hand what it’s like to have battery acid injected in your veins.”

Lane’s eyes grew to the size of saucers.

“Do you believe me when I say that I will make your life a living hell if you ever threaten me or my family again?”

Lane emphatically nodded.

“Good. I’m glad we had this chat,” Astra gleefully said before tossing Lane at his second in command.

The soldier made a futile effort to drop his weapon and get his hands up in time to catch his commanding officer, but the two crashed to the floor in a haphazard lovers’ embrace.

The remainder of the soldiers surrounding Astra et. al. lowered their weapons in unison and hurried over to help the fallen officers. Lane was barking orders before he was even standing upright. “Arrest that monster right now…arrest all four of them!”

As one, Astra, Kara, Alex, and Vasquez squared up and maneuvered into combat stances.

The soldiers looked at the quartet and back at Lane several times before one of the braver troops spoke up, “Uh…sir? All due respect, but have you lost your mind?”

Lane was cut off from responding by his daughter as she stormed into the room. “Alright, that’s enough of this sh*t! Everyone stand down…now!” Lucy loudly ordered.

Looking very relieved, the soldiers retreated several steps behind General Lane and secured their weapons.

In response, Astra, Kara, Alex, and Vasquez cooled their heat-vision and holstered their weapons respectively.

“We don’t have time for this!” the youngest Lane yelled at everyone within earshot. “The ones responsible for all of this sh*t are out there…” Lucy pointed outward for emphasis. “...not in here.”

“Major Lane, I am ordering you to take that…that terrorist and the Martian into custody!” her father bellowed.

A disbelieving smile briefly flashed across Lucy’s face as she pityingly shook her head. “Sorry General, not happening.” Lane’s face turned redder than his hair. Lucy cut him off before he could say anything. “And before you threaten me with a court martial, I’ll remind you that I am the director of the DEO and you are currently in a DEO facility. As such, I do not have to obey any of your goddamn orders and, as an added bonus, I can bounce your ass out of here anytime I want to.”

General Lane tried to stare down his daughter to no avail, averting his eyes from her immovable glare. He nervously looked at his soldiers and straightened his uniform before offering a weak nod in acquiescence. “Might I suggest-”

“I think we’ve heard enough out of you today, General,” Lucy cut off her father. “Please shut the f*ck up and let Mr. Lord get on with his briefing.” Lucy walked towards the main screen. “And somebody get those goddamn cuffs off Mr. J’onzz!” she yelled over her shoulder.

A collective gasp echoed throughout the room. Not a word was said save for a whispered “You go, girl” from Vasquez.

Lucy flashed Vasquez a quick grin before clearing her throat and focusing on Max. “Mr. Lord, the floor is yours.”

******

Max’s briefing echoed what Alex had already told her:

In summary, every human on Earth would be dead in four hour’s time.

“Do you think we could find the source so we can shut it down?” Lucy asked Max.

Astra cleared her throat loudly, “I’ll save you the time, Major. Non and Myriad are in Nevada…in Fort Rozz.”

“Now wait just a goddamn minute, that’s classified!” General Lane whined.

“Seriously, Dad?” Lucy asked with an incredulous look.

Kara mirrored Lucy and flashed General Lane with an equally incredulous look. “You just left it there?”

“You try moving a one million ton alien spacecraft,” Lane defended. “We did the only thing we could. We concealed it using its own stealth technology, cordoned off the area and called it a nuclear test zone.”

Astra loudly scoffed. “Don’t let him sell you that line of sh*t, little one. They could have brought Kal-El in at any time to toss it into orbit.” The elder Kryptonian sneered at General Lane. “But they didn’t because they couldn’t risk losing their coveted prize.” Astra paused for effect just to watch Lane shift uncomfortably. “There’s an Omegahedron on board.”

Confused looks flew around the CIC with the exception of Kara, who looked at her aunt in wide-eyed disbelief. “We used those on Krypton. Just one Omegahedron has enough energy to power an entire city,” Kara explained to the clearly confused group.

“That’s what they're using to power Myriad?” Max asked Astra, the Kryptonian curtly nodded.

“Alright, this is a Code White situation. I want all field agents geared up and ready to go in fifteen mikes,” Lucy commanded, her tone all business. “Vasquez, mobilize all field offices and tell them they have thirty minutes to have all their troops wheels up and en route to Nevada. Agent Danvers-”

“You can’t go.” Max interrupted. “Well, none of your human agents can. The signal gets stronger the closer you get to Myriad. Their heads would explode the second they got within five miles of Fort Rozz.”

Lucy and pretty much the whole CIC peppered Astra with questioning looks. “Unfortunately, the little weasel’s right. Only Kara and I can confront Non and his troops.”

“And Indigo,” J’onn announced his presence with a painful rasp.

The Martian took a few steps into the CIC before he heavily leaned against one of the computer consoles, his hand covering the wound suffered at the Coluan’s hands.

Astra’s jaw clenched at the mention of the blue-skinned skan*. She glared at Alex as if to say “What the f*ck?”

The eldest Danvers sheepishly hunched her shoulders. “Did I forget to mention that?”

Astra glared at her in complete disbelief. When she couldn’t find the words to express her displeasure in a constructive manner, the General just shook her head and leveled Alex with an over exaggerated eye roll.

“You and Kara won’t be going alone, I’m coming with you,” J’onn stated. The Martian was making a valiant effort to hide the severity of his injuries but the two Kryptonians in the room could hear his labored breathing.

Concerned looks were exchanged between Astra, Kara, and Alex before the Danvers sisters approached their ailing “space-dad”.

“J’onn,” Alex gently began, “I know you want to go but you can’t help them like this.” Alex motioned towards his still seeping wound.

J’onn waved her off. “I’m perfectly fine, Agent Danvers. I don’t need to be fawned over,” the visibly irritated Martian pointed out.

Kara gently placed her hand on his shoulder. “J’onn, I can hear how badly injured you are. Your breathing is erratic and your bpm is through the roof…even for a Martian.” J’onn eyed her suspiciously. Kara pointed at her ears. “Super-hearing, remember?”

J’onn clenched his jaw, clearly unprepared to counter the young Krytponian. Instead, he turned his attention to Astra. “Let me guess, you don’t think I should go either,” he stated with a displeased tone.

“I think if you don’t listen to those girls I’m going to yeet your ass into the nearest detention cell,” Astra calmly threatened.

Kara threw a wide-eyed look in her aunt’s direction while Alex stifled a laugh.

J’onn raised an eyebrow before sighing in what Astra interpreted as a sign of his surrender. “I guess I’m staying here.”

“Good choice.” Astra smiled and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder, not noticing the relieved sighs from most of the officers in the CIC.

“Alright everyone, let’s gear up and move to standby positions. We move in the second Supergirl and General In-Ze have knocked Myriad offline.” Lucy loudly ordered sending every DEO agent in the CIC (including Vasquez) scurrying to their respective stations or to the armory to gear up.

Kara excused herself stating that she needed to call and update Cat.

J’onn returned to the med bay to get some rest, requesting that he be notified before Kara and Astra depart for Nevada.

Alex remained by Astra’s side, an unreadable, but definitely not happy look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” the General nervously asked. “Oh sh*t, did I use ‘yeet’ incorrectly?”

A smile spread across the agent’s lips; soft but not reaching her eyes. “No, it was perfect,” she said with a slight shake of her head. “You’re perfect,” she said with reverence and something else Astra couldn’t discern.

The General’s heart skipped a beat. She had to make a conscious effort to make sure her jaw didn’t hit the ground. The moment was short-lived as Alex’s features shifted back to their previous unhappy form.

“What is it, then?”

Alex let out a stilted sigh. “I’m scared.”

Astra’s brow furrowed in concern. She’d only seen Alex this vulnerable a handful of times, and never in public. She suppressed the urge to wrap her in a hug right there in the middle of the CIC; the audience be damned.

Instead, she settled for a slight nod encouraging her to continue.

“When you started working with the DEO, one of the first things you did was point out that we would be slaughtered if we tried to attack Non’s base, despite the considerable resources we had at our disposal at the time. Now, there’s no J’onn, no Superman, no DEO, and no military back-up; it’s just you and Kara. This is…this is the worst possible scenario. The odds of you two pulling this off are…” Alex paused with a shaky breath.

Astra took a deep breath and fixed the agent with a resolute look. “Agreed. This is a complete sh*t show.”

Alex gasped and gave the General an incredulous glare.

Astra held up her hands, “But I can guarantee two things: Non, his slu*t, and Myriad will be no more after today, and Kara will live to tell the story of their painful death.” Astra finished with a mischievous grin on her face, hoping that her attempt at levity would help the eldest Danvers to lighten up.

It didn’t work.

A fear-stricken look swept across her face. “And what about you?” Alex’s slightly raised voice attracted a few glances from the nearby DEO staff. A light dusting of pink colored the agent’s cheeks once she realized she was attracting attention. She ran her fingers through her hair to hide her obvious embarrassment and moved closer to the General. “You’re making it sound like you’re not coming back!” she whisper-yelled.

Astra’s grin evaporated, replaced by a decidedly solemn look. Alex was dead-on correct in her assessment: this was more than likely going to be a one-way ticket for the General.

Her plan called for just as much.

She and Kara stood little chance going toe-to-toe with Non and his forces. They would be quickly overpowered and, knowing her sad*stic zrhomin, be forced to watch their friends and loved ones die before being summarily executed. The only chance for Alex, Kara, hell, Earth itself called for a kamikaze run straight into the heart of Fort Rozz and engaging the ship’s self destruct program.

Alex didn’t need to know that, but Astra had no intention of blowing smoke up her ass. “I promise I’ll do my best to make it back in one piece,” she said with as much conviction as she could muster.

Alex scoffed. “That’s it? That’s all I get?”

The General could hear shuttered breaths, see the tears welling in the agent’s eyes.

There was so much more she wanted to say to her. A cacophony of all the things she wanted to tell the agent created a maelstrom in her mind. But through the raging storm of emotions swirling through her head, one repeated mantra kept getting louder and louder:

Don’t be selfish.

Astra would be acting selfishly if she said what she wanted to say, professing to Alex the love that she so haphazardly revealed the previous night. And in that selfishness, destroy the soul of the very person she held closest to her heart.

Astra regretted telling Alex she was in love with her during her fight. She didn’t fully consider the consequences of her desperate attempt to break the agent from Myriad’s hold. Instead, she followed her selfish need to ensure Alex knew exactly how she felt before what seemed at the time her imminent death.

But what if Non’s plan had succeeded? What if Astra had been slain by the eldest Danvers? The General never for a moment considered the impact that would have on Alex; knowing that she was inadvertently responsible for the Kryptonian’s death.

The current situation was no different.

How could Astra tell her she loves Alex and then minutes later fly off on a mission that she more than likely wouldn’t be returning from?

The short answer: she couldn’t.

No matter how badly she wanted to profess her love for Alex and reassure her she would survive the attack on Fort Rozz, she knew it would be undeniably selfish to do so.

The General gently placed her hands on the agent’s forearms, her features glowing with compassion and earnestness. “Alex…I…I wish I could tell you that I’m going to make it through this, but I would be lying if I did so.”

Alex’s shaky breaths became more pronounced as her body began to tremble.

“But what I can tell you is that words cannot express how grateful I am having you in my life. You supported me when I gave you no reason to. You saw the good in me when most couldn’t. You shared your life with me without any prompting. All your kindness, your trust, your lo…friendship has meant the world to me.” Astra pulled her closer and gazed as deeply into the agent’s caramel-colored eyes as she dared. “You mean the world to me, kir zygai.”

Astra knew that she was skirting the line between platonic and romantic sentiment (especially the too close for comfort slip-up), but any guilt she was feeling was an afterthought as she lost herself to everything Alex. Much to her surprise, the eldest Danvers held her gaze steady as the two remained in a comfortable, almost intimate silence. Astra was struggling mightily to keep her eyes from falling to Alex’s lips, her willpower waning with each second that passed.

“General?” Vasquez broke their all-to-brief trance, causing the two to startle. If Vasquez noticed anything peculiar about their behavior, she didn’t comment. “Major Lane is wanting to know your estimated time of departure to Nevada.”

Astra straightened her posture, coughed twice, and cleared her throat. “Fifteen minutes,” she managed to croak out.

“Yes ma’am.” Vasquez turned and headed in Lucy’s direction, her lips curled into a knowing smile.

Astra and Alex awkwardly stood facing each other, eyes averted and firmly focused on the floor.

Astra nervously rubbed the back of her neck while Alex continued to run her fingers through her auburn hair repeatedly.

“So..” Astra shyly offered.

“So…” Alex weakly volleyed.

Their conversation at some type of uncomfortably awkward impasse, the two pulled their attention away from the drab floor and locked eyes, both seemingly waiting for the other to say something.

The sound of Kara’s erratic heartbeat pulled Astra’s attention away from the weird standoff. Astra did a visual sweep of the CIC and quickly found Kara on the other end of the room speaking with Max Lord.

“If you go out there and fight you might win, but chances are this is a suicide mission.”

Astra grit her teeth. “That stupid f*ck,” the General mumbled to herself.

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“Just Max being a nuisance again. He’s giving your sister the same pep talk you just gave me, only his speech is completely devoid of any kindness or compassion and chalk-full of confidence breaking bullsh*t.” Astra shook her head in disgust. “I’ve had enough of that little bastard.”

An angry sneer fell across Alex’s lips. “I’ll handle this.”

Astra grabbed the agent’s hand before she took a step. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to deal with Mr. Lord.”

After a nanosecond of consideration, Alex signaled her agreement with a quick nod and hand squeeze.

“Hey, would you do me a favor while I’m…” Astra dipped her head in Max’s direction.

“Of course. Anything,” Alex affirmed with a faux-batting of her eyes.

Astra snorted out a chuckle. “Can you grab me your sword and see if you can find my K shield?”

“Sure thing.” The eldest Danvers’ eyes narrowed. “But only if you promise not to stab yourself with it,” she teased.

Astra pretended to consider Alex’s stipulation before nodding in agreement. “I promise to only stab those that deserve it.” Astra squeezed their still joined hands.

“Deal.” Alex returned the squeeze and gave the General a real smile before letting go of her hand and heading towards the armory.

Astra watched the agent as she walked away, her mind once again consumed with a barrage of emotions. She swiftly turned and made a beeline for Max, shoving all her unresolved feelings for Alex as far into the back of her mind as possible.

“A word please, Mr. Lord.” Astra surprised Max by sneaking up behind him. The businessman shrieked and jumped a foot in the air. The General savored the moment with a smile on her face. She watched patiently as Max smoothed down his suit in an effort to mitigate his embarrassment.

“General…how…how can I help you?” Max asked as he continued to fidget with his suit.

Astra stood to her full height and squared her shoulders. Her extra few inches of height over Max meant he was forced to look up at her. The fact that he was already cowering in on himself did nothing to help his plight.

“I’ll make this brief.” Astra paused to clear her throat. “Since my arrival at the DEO, I have patiently tolerated your harassment of my loved ones out of respect for my hosts. But after listening to the less-than-inspirational speech you gave my niece just now, my patience is at an end.”

Astra started walking closer to Max. The tech genius backed away a step for every one taken by the Kryptonian until he backed into a computer console.

With Max now essentially trapped, Astra closed the distance between them until she was practically nose-to-nose with him.

“Mr. Lord, for your safety, I would highly recommend that you not be here when I come back.” Astra’s voice was even and her tone casual. “In fact, I think it would be best if you left National City altogether. I hear Switzerland has amazing tax breaks.”

It takes Max’s features about twenty seconds to run from shock to bewilderment to disbelief before landing on incredulity. “You must be joking?” he asked in a defiant tone.

The scorching stare that Astra leveled Max with was the stuff of legends.

Unflinching, unyielding, terrifying.

After fifteen very long seconds for Max, Astra leaned in so close to his face that he had to scoot backwards onto the console. “Do I look like I’m joking?” she hissed, her eyes glowing from her barely restrained heat-vision.

An honest to Rao whimper escaped Max’s throat. “No.” His voice sounded like a pubescent teenager. He cleared his throat and tried again. “No, you look very serious.”

Astra's lips curled into a beaming smile and her eyes returned to normal. “Excellent! I’m glad we have an understanding.”

The General grabbed Max’s hand and pulled him upright. Once he regained his footing, Astra began to enthusiastically shake his hand. “I wish you nothing but the best of luck, Mr. Lord. I trust that we shall never cross paths again.” Astra tightened her grip, eliciting some minute popping sounds from Max’s hand.

“No ma’am,” Max said through gritted teeth.

Astra released his hand and strode away in search of her niece, leaving the terrified tech mogul staring at his throbbing hand.

******

Astra found Kara of all places in the General’s cell/apartment.

The Super was sitting stiffly on the couch, crinkle in full effect and staring off into the ether. So distracted was she that she didn’t register Astra’s presence until her aunt sat next to her, inadvertently causing her niece to jump.

“Astra! You can’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry, little one. I just assumed my superpowered niece with enhanced senses would know when I entered the room. My bad,” she added dryly.

A downcast look creeped across Kara’s face followed by a defeated sigh. “I’m sorry for snapping. I’m just…distracted.”

Astra reached out and took her niece’s hand. “Sweetheart, I overhead a bit of the conversation you had with Max in the CIC. The man is an ass. He’s not a soldier, he’s never been in real combat, and he loves trying to manipulate you and your sister.”

Kara placed her free hand over her aunt’s. “But what he said made a lot of sense. He’s right. We’re outnumbered and we have no backup. We might not make it out of this, let alone shut down Myriad.”

The Super pulled free of her aunt’s grip, rose from the couch, and began frantically pacing. “I should…I need to go talk to Winn…and James…oh, Rao! Miss Grant too!” The Super started walking towards the exit door.

She made it about two steps before her Astra was in front of her, firmly gripping her shoulders.

“Kara, look at me and listen closely.” Already teary eyed and breathing in stunted breaths, Kara cautiously met her aunt’s eyes. “This is not a suicide mission. You are not dying today. You are going to go to Fort Rozz with me, beat the f*ck out of your uncle, the blue hooker, and his troops. Then you’re going to come home and eat your weight in potstickers and pizza. After that you’re going to sleep for the next three days, wake up rested and refreshed, go to work, and live a long and satisfying life.” Astra’s lips upturned into a sly grin, Kara mirrored her with a watery grin of her own.

Astra’s features hardened as she tightened her grip on Kara’s shoulders.“But in order for all those things to happen, I need you to do one thing for me.”

Kara’s crinkle returned. “What?”

“Don’t hold back.”

Confusion spread across Kara’s face but was quickly replaced with a look of understanding. She stepped out of her aunt’s grasp and began vigorously rubbing her hands together. “Astra…I can’t do that…Someone could get hurt.”

“Good. That's what I'm hoping for.”

Kara glared at her aunt in disbelief.

She opened her mouth to object but Astra cut her off. “Kara, you’ve spent your entire time on Earth holding back your powers. I know this because it’s what we all had to do. Treat everything and everyone like glass because the slightest slip-up meant something got destroyed or someone got hurt.” Astra held out her hands and Kara accepted them. “You don’t have to do that today. Today, you have the opportunity to push your powers to their fullest extent; without fear or consequences.”

Kara once again pulled away from her aunt’s grip and started fidgeting with her hands. Astra wanted to give her niece time to come to grips with what was being asked of her, but time wasn’t a luxury they could afford.

“Kara, please understand, Non and all of his sycophants are going to come at us with everything they have, and if we don’t meet them with equal force, we’re going to be a wet spot on the desert floor before day’s end.”

Kara seemed to be mulling over the General’s advice. She continued to worry her hands while she gazed at the floor, clearly lost in her head.

This went on for about a minute before she emphatically shook her head. “What you’re asking me to do…” The Super looked up and locked eyes with her aunt. “I can’t…I won’t kill anyone. I made a vow when I put the cape on that I would never purposely take a life.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Astra laughed out. She swiftly closed the space between her and her niece and wrapped her in a tight hug. “Oh, my sweet girl. You don’t have to kill anyone.”

The General pulled back and pressed a kiss to the Super’s forehead. “Crippling them works just as well.”

Kara's mouth fell open as she let out a dumbfounded gasp. She looked at her aunt like she had sprouted a second head.

“Pretty dark there, General…pret-ty dark,” Alex deadpanned from the doorway, Vasquez stood next to her snortling.

Astra looked over at the amused duo; flashing them a wink and a smile.

“I think you broke Kara.” Alex motioned towards her sister as she and Vasquez entered Astra’s living quarters.

“As requested.” Alex held out the scabbard holding the kryptonite sword to the General.

Astra took hold of sheathed sword and threaded her arms through the scabbard’s straps, pulling them tight to secure the weapon to her back. “And the other thing?”

“Sorry, General. Colonel Harper had your K shield device boxed up and shipped god-knows-where,” Vasquez answered apologetically.

Astra blew out a sigh and shrugged. “Oh, well. It was worth a shot,” she said wistfully.

The General zipped into her bathroom, retrieved a hair tie, and was tying her hair into a tight ponytail as she rejoined the assembled group.

Kara gave her a side-eyed look.

Picking up on her niece’s confusion, Astra explained, “Something I started doing while we were on the road. I was getting sick and tired of my hair getting in my face whenever I was flying or in combat.” Astra gave her long ponytail an exaggerated flip. “You should try it sometime.”

“Right.” Kara rolled her eyes.

Astra exchanged a brief laugh with Alex before quickly getting back to the task at hand. “Ready, little one?”

“Now?” Kara and Alex exclaimed in unison.

The General placed a reassuring hand on the sisters’ shoulders. “The clock is ticking, ladies. We don’t have a moment to spare, so we need to get moving.”

Astra let go of Alex and placed her hand on Kara’s back, giving her the tiniest nudge.

The two Kryptonians were almost to the door when Alex ran up behind them. “Astra, Kara…please be careful.” The agent looked as if she was going to hug the two but stopped short.

Kara gave her a confident nod and Astra leveled a co*cky smile at the eldest Danvers. “You know me, kir zygai. Safety first.”

Alex gave the General a tight lipped smile before Astra and Kara turned and exited the room.

Chapter 14: Can We Just Finish This?

Chapter Text

Much to Astra’s astonishment, she and Kara met no resistance on their flight to Nevada.

As Fort Rozz came into view, the General was gobsmacked by the complete absence of any type of defensive measures surrounding it.

Whether it was a trap or providence, Astra needed a moment to reevaluate the situation.

She got Kara’s attention and motioned for her to land. The two touched down in a barren expanse a quarter mile from the former prison.

“Where is everyone?” Kara asked, her brow tightly crinkled.

Before Astra could answer, Non and Indigo descended into view and landed fifteen feet away.

“Zrhomin…” Astra acknowledged Non. “...whor*.” she nodded towards Indigo.

The General ignored the Coluan’s snarl. “Where are all your lackeys?”

“Already in their sleeping pods. Ready for the journey that awaits once we dispense with the two of you,” Non proudly announced.

Astra’s mouth fell agape, her features the very definition of confused.

“And the Omegahedron?” Kara boldly asked.

Non rolled the orb-shaped device towards Kara. “Take it. Smash it into little bits, you still won’t stop us.” Non turned to face Fort Rozz. “It’s just a means to an end. Its power comes from-”

“Hold up a second,” Astra cut in, her hands raised in a stopping motion. “Did you just say your troops are in their sleeping pods?”

“Yes,” Non confirmed.

“All of them?”

“Yes, Indigo and I are the only two awake,” he said with great irritation.

Astra turned to look at Kara, infinite astonishment painted across her face. Kara met her look with the brightest smile the General had ever seen. Astra couldn’t help but return it with a devilish grin.

“Now?” the Super enthusiastically asked.

“Now.” the General confirmed with equal enthusiasm.

Within the span of a femtosecond, Astra and Kara simultaneously closed the distance separating them from Non and Indigo and hit them both with powerful uppercuts to the jaw. The impact created a thunderous clap that echoed through the valley.

The two villains were rocketed hundreds of feet into the air and bounced off Fort Rozz’s hull before crashing to the ground.

“Well you don’t see that everyday.” Kara pointed at the ground in front of Astra.

The General looked down and saw Non’s boots laying haphazardly on the sandy surface. “Hmm, how about that.”

“You literally knocked his boots off,” the Super pointed out with a laugh.

Their moment of levity was cut short when their enhanced hearing picked up the sound of Indigo berating Non for his stupidity. “You idiot! Why would you tell them we’re by ourselves?”

Astra almost felt sorry for Non.

Almost.

“Alright, little one, it’s time to finish this. You ready to deal with Miss co*cksleeve?”

Kara rolled her eyes and nodded. “I’m not going to kill her.”

“She’s a robot, you can totally kill her,” Astra eagerly pointed out.

“Biological organism. Still counts as a living being,” Kara sternly corrected.

Astra blew a raspberry at her niece. “Semantics.”

The General super-sped away and headed directly to Non. She stopped ten feet short of her bondmate and the Coluan.

One red, blue, and blonde streak later, Indigo was nowhere in sight.

Astra and Non stood silently, eyes locked, studying each other. In the distance, the sounds of Kara and Indigo battling could be heard, but neither of them paid any attention. Both of them had been rigorously trained in multiple styles of combat throughout their military career. One of the first rules is to never take your eyes off your opponent.

Besides, Astra would be Rao-damned if she ever lost a stare-down to her moronic husband.

“At last, just the two of us,” Non hissed.

Her zrhomin was trying his damndest to intimidate her; it didn’t work. “I’m going to enjoy killing you with-”

“Oh, for f*ck’s sake, Var! Will you shut up!” Astra could feel what little patience she had left melting away. “Can we just finish this, please? I cannot handle another minute of your monologuing.”

Non scoffed and gawked at his bondmate.

“Seriously, Var. I’ve got sh*t to do. First and foremost, watching my niece knock your cum-dumpster the f*ck out,” the General taunted.

“Damnit, Astra! I slept with her one tim-”

Astra was super-speeding towards Non before he could finish his sentence. She pulled the kryptonite sword, slashed directly at his midsection, and had the blade fully sheathed before she skidded to a halt a few feet behind him.

When she turned around, Non had not moved. He remained awkwardly standing with his arms wrapped around his stomach and facing away from her. He wasn’t saying anything, but Astra could hear a prolonged, choked gasp gurgling from his throat.

The gurgle was quickly replaced by a pained moan shortly before the top half of his body slid off the lower half. His torso fell to the ground with a sickening thud but his lower half remained upright for a good ten seconds before crumbling to the ground.

Astra sauntered over to her halved bondmate and stood next to the top half. Non was still conscious and continuing to gasp and groan intermittently. Clearly noticing Astra’s presence, the felled villain met her eyes. Astra could see a combination of blinding rage and unadulterated fear in his features.

The General had no doubt that if he were able, Non would use the last vestiges of his strength to climb her like a tree and snap her neck.

As she watched her dying bondmate, Astra was inundated with a tumult of emotions.

She was sad, but not remorseful.

She felt pangs of regret; regret for believing that Non’s motivations were purely altruistic and not motivated by a lust for power.

Regret for the lives she had taken and the people she had hurt in the name of their “noble” mission.

Regret for becoming so obsessed with their mission that she neglected her niece for over a decade and when she finally did meet her face-to-face, she tried to kill her.

Most of all, she regretted giving her love to a man that never loved her in return, and as a result, losing herself in the process.

Astra ripped her bonding bracelet from her wrist and tossed it on Non’s chest. The villain, still clinging to consciousness somehow, cast a brief glance at the golden bracelet before a look of deep betrayal fell across his face.

“Consider our bond severed, Var.”

Seeing a look of understanding on her now ex-zrhomin’s face, Astra pulled her sword and decapitated him in a blur of super-speed.

The General spared no time to consider the enormity of what she had just done, instead shooting into the air to seek out Kara.

It didn’t take long to find her; she just followed the sound of the Coluan’s piercing cries.

As the General came upon them, Kara held Indigo high over her head and was in the process of pulling her in half.

Indigo’s screams sounded like a malfunctioning autotuner.

Once Kara had the villain’s upper body completely separated from the lower half, she discarded them with a toss. Seeing Astra’s amused grin, the Super’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she smiled sheepishly.

“Excellent work, little one. I did something similar to your uncle,” Astra pointed out with a prideful giddiness.

Kara’s face contorted into a look of horror as she processed what her aunt had just gleefully confided.

Astra chose not to react to her niece’s stunned glare. “Let’s go shut down that infernal machine.”

“It can’t be shut down, fools,” the Coluan gloated with a pained rattle in her voice. “I already locked the system. The engines won’t fire, you won’t be able to fly Fort Rozz away. All you’ll be able to do is sit back and watch everyone around you-”

A blast of Astra’s heat-vision interrupted Indigo’s grim prophecy, rendering the Coluan into a cloud of blue dust.

“I don’t recall asking for your opinion, bitch,” Astra said with a contented grin.

“Was that really necessary?” Kara asked with a disapproving look.

“Not really, but it was immensely satisfying.”

“Astra!”

“Oh, please, that was no different than me emptying the recycle bin on my computer,” Astra pointed out with a tinge of annoyance.

The General ignored her niece’s affronted look and turned her attention to Fort Rozz. “Let’s get in there and finish this.” She nodded towards the ship.

Within seconds, the Kryptonians had made their way into Fort Rozz’s command center. Astra began swiping furiously at the command console’s holographic HUD. She was able to confirm everything Indigo had claimed; the system was locked down and the sub-light drive was offline.

As for her primary plan…

“Son of a bitch,” she mumbled, scowling. She activated the comm device in her earpiece. “In-Ze to Command.”

“Go for Command.” Vasquez responded.

“Current sitrep: Non and his tramp are off the board. The remaining fugitives are secured in sleep pods. Non’s transferred all the energy from the Omegahedron into Fort Rozz’s power cells and locked out the drive system. I can still activate the self-destruct sequence but would highly advise against it. The blast would be exponentially larger due to the power cells being hyper charged.”

There was a slight pause before Lucy’s voice came over the speaker. “Define larger, General.”

“Nevada and most of the states surrounding it become a smoking crater and California sinks into the Pacific way ahead of schedule.”

Another beat passed before Alex chimed in, “So bottom line you can’t shut off Myriad, blow up the ship, or use the propulsion system to get it off-world.”

“Affirmative.”

“Suggestions?”

“We fly the ship into space ourselves,” Kara said with conviction.

“I concur with Supergirl,” Astra affirmed.

The Kryptonians heard an audible gasp from Alex. “That is not an option! Once you’re in space, there’s no atmosphere, no gravity. You won’t be able to generate thrust, you won’t be able to breathe…you won't be able to get back,” the eldest Danvers said, panicked.

An incredulous look quickly overtook the General’s features. “With all due respect, Alexandra, that is complete bullsh*t. We absolutely can fly outside of Earth’s atmosphere. In fact, we can fly even faster because there’s no gravity. Ask the Martian, I’m sure he’s done it numerous times.” They could hear the sound of the mic being muffled on Alex’s end; no doubt conferring with J’onn. Astra leveled a confused glare at her niece. “Have you never flown in space?” she whispered.

Kara shook her head, clearly embarrassed.

“Then why in the name of Rao does your sister think it can’t be done?”

Kara shrugged. “I have no idea,” she whispered back.

Alex’s voice filled the room before the General could say anything. “Okay. We’ve confirmed you can fly in space.”

Astra snorted out a brief laugh at the embarrassed tone in the agent’s voice.

Alex’s statement didn’t seem to calm Kara’s nerves. Her crinkle was still clearly visible. “What about breathing?”

“It’s called holding your breath,” Astra answered, astonished. “My record’s twenty-five minutes, what’s yours?”

Kara did a spot on impression of a goldfish (her aunt was beginning to notice this was a common look for her niece).

Astra could only shake her head. “Forget I asked.”

She walked around the command console and gave her niece a reassuring pat on the back. “Times a’wasting. Let’s get this giant paperweight out of here!” Astra rubbed her hands together, an eager look on her face.

“Are you sure about this, General?” Alex sounded like she was on the verge of panic.

“Do you trust me, Alexandra?”

“Yes,” she responded without hesitation.

“And you, do you trust me,” she asked Kara.

“Without a doubt,” Kara stated with conviction, a proud grin adorning her lips.

Astra beamed at the declarations of unwavering confidence espoused by the sisters. It warmed her heart in ways she hadn’t felt in decades. It was a testament as to how much the General’s life had changed for the better by having Alex and Kara in it.

But like so many other new feelings and emotions she’d been experiencing in the last twenty-four hours, she had to put a pin in processing what it all meant. She still had one more loose end to take care of.

“Shall we?” Astra asked as she motioned towards the door leading them out of the command center.

******

Astra was right, of course.

It took a grand total of ninety seconds to fly Fort Rozz out of Earth’s atmosphere and push into the dark void of space; destination unknown.

Both Kryptonians were back in breathable atmosphere seconds later; neither worse for wear.

Chapter 15: Epilogue

Chapter Text

Astra and Kara were met with an outpouring of cheers and applause upon returning to the DEO HQ. Alex enveloped the two in a bone crushing hug the second they touched down.

One of the many highlights stemming from their successful mission was watching a visibly uncomfortable General Lane awkwardly praise Kara, Astra, and J’onn for the parts they played in thwarting Non and his plans.

Adding insult to injury, poor Sammy-boy had to deliver the news that President Marsdin had granted J’onn a full pardon and was reinstating him as director of the DEO.

Astra felt Lucy had gotten a raw deal having her command unceremoniously pulled out from under her, though J’onn’s kind words gave the General a glimmer of hope that the youngest Lane would stay on as his second in command.

The biggest surprise coming from General Lane was his announcement that Astra was also being pardoned by the President, though there were a few strings attached. The terms of her conditional pardon meant she had to reside in National City, she could only use her powers in public with the express permission of either J’onn, Alex, or Kara (unless it was a world ending event), she had to create a civilian identity and get a job, and she had to agree to having a dermal tracker implanted in her shoulder.

The agreement would remain in effect for an indeterminate amount of time. Any violation of the terms would result in revocation of her pardon and her being remanded back into DEO custody.

Astra agreed to the conditions without hesitation and after a few signatures and one dermal implant later, Astra departed the desert HQ in an unmarked SUV with Alex behind the wheel and Kara in the back seat practically vibrating with excitement.

*****

Later that night, it was decided that an impromptu dinner party was in order to celebrate surviving everything that had been thrown at them over the past year. By the time the sun set, Kara’s loft was filled with the sounds of conversations and laughter from their assorted friends and family.

In addition to Astra, Alex, and Kara; J’onn, Winn, Eliza, and, much to the General’s displeasure, James packed into the Super’s cozy residence.

An invitation had been extended to Vasquez, but the agent begged off citing work responsibilities.

As the delicious smell of Eliza’s cooking filled the loft, the smattering of conversations seemed to shift focus to Astra’s future plans.

Yes, she had secured housing, she was going to stay with Kara until she could afford a place of her own.

No, she had no idea what kind of job she would be interested in applying for.

No, she wasn’t interested in joining the “family business” and donning a cape and tights. She was happy to just help out when needed.

No, there was no way in hell she was going to start wearing glasses to hide her identity.

“I’m sorry, little one, your disguise is terrible. I don’t know how anyone who’s met both of your identities would fall for it,” Astra pointed out before taking a drink from her tumbler of scotch.

“She’s right, Kar. You and Clark really need to rethink the whole look,” Alex laughed out, ignoring her sister’s affronted look. “But Kara’s got a point. You do need to alter your look in some way. Cat’s not the only one that’ll connect your face to the footage of you fighting Kara last year.”

Alex walked over to the General and threaded her fingers through the ends of the white streak in her hair. “You should probably start here.”

Several nods of agreement came from the group.

Astra gave the agent a playful slap on the hand and an over exaggerated eye roll. “I was already planning on dying it. Maybe I’ll get my hair cut shorter or straighten it.”

Seemingly satisfied with her answers (or bored with the conversation) the group broke off into more one-on-one conversations leaving Astra sitting on the living room couch, sipping her scotch and half-heartedly listening to the conversations going on around her.

Her attention naturally drifted towards Alex. The agent was discussing proper utensil placement with her sister and mother. Astra couldn’t help but smile seeing the agent so light and carefree.

There were points throughout the last year where Astra was convinced that Alex was going to break down, but the eldest Danvers always found a way to keep going despite the world beating her down. Astra hoped that she was able to play some part in keeping the agent going, but she felt like she was more of a hindrance than anything. The Danvers sisters, hell, National City had suffered so much because of plans that she had set in motion. It didn’t matter that she’d switched sides and everyone had forgiven her.

She hadn’t forgiven herself, and she probably never would.

How could she accept everyone’s forgiveness, their love, if Astra herself didn’t feel worthy enough to accept it?

How could she profess her love to Alex if she didn’t love herself?

Alex deserved more than some fragmented, emotionally toxic person to be her partner.

Alex deserved a complete, mentally and emotionally healthy companion to go through life with.

Alex deserved the world.

Logically, that meant Astra wasn’t that person, but the General’s heart wasn’t going down without a fight. It worked tirelessly to convince her that she and Alex could have a healthy relationship…told her that Alex would love and accept her no matter her flaws.

It told Astra that she is a good person that is worthy of Alex’s love.

“May I give you some advice?” J’onn’s question pulled Astra from her thoughts.

“That depends on what you’d be advising me on,” she said distractedly, still focusing on Alex.

“Get off your ass and go talk to her. Tell her everything.”

Astra met J’onn’s eyes instantly. “I thought you couldn’t read Kryptonian minds, Martian,” she playfully remarked.

J’onn chuckled. “I don’t need telepathy to read you. The way you look at her tells me everything I need to know.”

“I don't know what you’re talking about,” Astra fought to keep her voice even.. “Alex and I are just-”

“Also, you and Kara aren’t the only ones with really good hearing.” J’onn said with a smug grin.

It took Astra less than five seconds to figure out what the Martian’s hearing had to do with her relationship with Alex.

When it hit her, her eyes became comically wide, she stopped breathing, and the loft suddenly felt like the core of a volcano.

“...I’m in love with you. I’m so very in love with you…come back to me, zhao…”

J’onn’s knowing look was so intense that all of Astra’s potential denials evaporated. She averted her eyes from the Martian’s intense scrutiny and nervously ran a hand through her auburn locks. She took several breaths in an attempt to slow her racing heartbeat and decided that trying to convince J’onn that she didn’t have feelings for Alex would be a futile exercise. Her shoulders slumped in defeat and any trace of defensiveness melted away.

The General looked towards the kitchen to make sure Kara was too engaged in conversation for her super-hearing to pick up their conversation. “How much did Eliza hear?”

J’onn shook his head. “I don’t know. If she did hear anything, she hasn’t mentioned it to me.”

Astra exhaled a relieved breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding in.

“I…I don’t know what to do. I don’t…how would I even start that conversation?” she asked with a shaky whisper. “What if she doesn’t feel the same way about me? What if…what if telling her scares her away? I…I couldn’t bear it if she…” Astra couldn’t finish, too overwhelmed by the prospect of Alex not being in her life.

“Give Alex some credit, she wouldn’t cut ties with you for being honest about your feelings. Sure, things might be awkward for a bit, but she cares entirely too much for you to end your friendship,” J’onn reassured her.

All Astra could summon was a slight nod in acknowledgement.

He leaned in and whispered, “As for where to start? Try inviting her out for coffee.”

Astra glared at him like he was insane.

“You’re sh*tting me? That’s your advice?”

J’onn gave her a warm smile and a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Trust me, General.”

Without another word, he headed into the kitchen.

Astra was baffled by the simplicity of J’onn’s advice. She couldn’t see how a coffee shop would be a suitable location to profess her love. She imagined a more intimate environment would be ideal.

But…it was one more idea than she currently had, so…

“Hey Kara, can I borrow you for a second?” James asked as he emerged from Kara’s ‘room’. An intrigued look on her face, her niece followed the photographer back behind the curtain.

Astra grimaced and decided she did not want to risk hearing whatever the hell those two were about to get up to. She saw Alex sitting on the edge of the dining table staring out the window.

With J’onn and Winn preoccupied assisting Eliza with dinner prep, Astra knew this was the perfect opportunity to follow through with J’onn’s suggestion.

Unfortunately, fear had rendered the General incapable of removing herself from the couch.

As if sensing Astra’s internal struggle, Alex turned and met eyes with the General.

A smile crept across the agent’s lips; sweet, warm, and welcoming.

Alex’s smile stirred emotions within Astra that had laid dormant for longer than she could remember.

Alex’s smile made her feel safe and accepted.

Alex’s smile made her brave.

The General was on her feet and halfway to the agent before her brain realized it.

Alex’s grin morphed into a full smile the closer Astra got. “Hey you.”

Astra managed to force out a meek “Hi”.

“I take it you don’t approve of the happy couple?” Alex nodded towards Kara’s room.

It took Astra’s brain a few seconds to catch up with Alex’s question. “Who? Them?” Astra pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “Why Alexandra, what would give you an impression such as that? I thought the Martian was the only mind reader among us this evening,” she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Alex chuckled. “No telepathy here. Just a hunch.”

Astra nodded, a look of exaggerated stoicism on her face. “Excellent instincts, Agent Danvers.”

The two broke into a brief fit of giggles before Astra shifted a more resigned air. “Kara’s a grown woman, she doesn’t need my approval.” The General shrugged it off and gave Alex a narrow-eyed look. “And what are your thoughts about the ‘happy couple’?”

A contemplative look fell over Alex’s face. She took a heavy drink of scotch and swished it around in mouth for a few seconds before swallowing it down. She let out a contented sigh and leveled Astra with a very neutral gaze. “No comment,” she responded with a slight grin.

It was a testament to how close Astra and Alex had grown over the last year as she had no issue picking up on the agent’s unspoken confirmation that she wasn’t thrilled about the burgeoning relationship between her niece and Kal-El’s bestie either.

Astra opted not to push her on the topic; the likelihood of Kara hearing their conversation increased exponentially the longer they dragged it out.

Feeling her bravery waning the longer she stood next to Alex, Astra forced herself to take her shot.

“Alexandra…I was wondering if…if you have time because I know you’re busy…and please don’t feel any pressure to say ‘yes’.” Astra paused for a deep breath, desperately trying to get her sh*t together. “For f*ck’s sake, what I’m trying to say is that I would like for the two of us to go get coffee sometime…you know…just the two of us…if that’s okay with you…I mean, you can bring along anyone you want, of course-”

“Yes, I would very much like to get coffee with you,” Alex mercifully cut off Astra’s rambling. The agent gave the General a pitying smile and a sympathetic pat on the arm.

“Excellent.” Astra bit her lower lip as she fought to temper her excitement. She looked down to make sure she wasn’t floating.

Unfortunately, her elation was cut short as a significant complication to their plans stoked a fresh round of anxiety to flare up. “sh*t. I just realized I don’t have a dollar to my name.”

Alex wrapped her arm around Astra’s shoulders and gave her a tight squeeze. “Don’t worry about it, I got ya covered,” Alex conspiratorially whispered into her ear; Astra’s knees damn near gave out when she felt Alex’s soft breath caress her ear..

“Quick Kara, do the champagne trick!” Winn yelled, saving Astra from any potential embarrassment. Kara and James emerged from the bedroom. Astra noticed that her niece’s cheeks were a little flush but decided not to ruminate on it.

Winn excitedly handed Kara a bottle of champagne and the Super popped the bottle open with one hand causing cheers all around.

Flutes were filled and passed around to everyone. J’onn began a toast to Supergirl but was preempted by Kara who instead made a toast to family. The assembled group happily clinked their glasses together but before they could take a drink, a sonic boom echoing from the sky drew the attention of everyone in the loft.

“What was that?” Kara asked with a concerned tone.

The group moved as one to the window and could see a large fireball rapidly descending into the heart of the city.

“Nothing good,” Alex responded with a nervous tremor in her voice.

Kara, J’onn, and Astra all locked eyes. “Director J’onzz, I respectfully request permission to help you intercept the flaming ball of death heading towards downtown,” the General asked with a cheeky flourish.

J’onn rolled his eyes and gave Astra an exasperated nod.

Within seconds, the trio were suited up and airborne, racing towards the rapidly-descending object.

Astra could hear the faint sound of Alex yelling from Kara’s loft. “Damnit Astra! You forgot your mask!”

The General couldn’t help the grin that tugged at her lips. Hearing the eldest Danvers’ calling her name, Astra spared a moment to think about her upcoming plans with her. The pure giddiness she was feeling left an equal parts anxious and excited feeling in her stomach. She recalled hearing the phrase “butterflies in your stomach” while watching one of Kara’s inane rom-coms a few months back and surmised that she was indeed experiencing that exact feeling.

The unmistakable sound of something colliding with an energy shield pulled Astra’s mind back to the task at hand. She saw Kara had abruptly paused her pursuit of the flaming object (not an object, clearly a pod with a very familiar design to it).

The small craft collided with and snapped the cables of a swing stage sending a window washer plummeting towards the ground.

Astra had the terrified man in her arms within seconds, depositing him on the ground before shooting back into the sky to catch-up with Kara and J’onn.

She caught up with her niece and the Martian and found that the pod had already crashed. Thankfully, the craft had cratered in an abandoned lot. The trio landed ten feet away from the still-smoking pod, a few small fires burning the ground behind it.

Having an unobstructed view of the pod confirmed Astra’s theory: the ship was of Kryptonian design. She and Kara exchanged nervous looks before walking around to the pod’s co*ckpit.

“Be careful,” J’onn advised as he remained near the ship’s tail section.

Astra didn’t even hear what the Martian had said, too focused on the vessel that for all intents and purposes shouldn’t even exist.

She and Kara reached the co*ckpit, and after exchanging trepidatious nods, Kara pulled the canopy off, revealing the pod’s lone occupant.

Seeing the unconscious passenger’s face clearly, Astra let out a derisive huff.

“You have got to be f*cking kidding me.”

END SEASON 1