Chapter 40
“I’ve always wanted to break into a top secret government facility,” Sara commented to Lucy as they drove to the desert facility of the DEO. “I mean, I’ve broken into government facilities before, but not a top secret government facility.”
“We’re not really breaking in,” Lucy said. “I still have my army credentials, and I can enter the facility if I need to, I’m not sure how I’m going to get you in though.”
Sara just waved her hand, “Don’t worry about me, I was basically trained by a bunch of ninjas, I can probably get myself in sooner than you do.”
Lucy slowed the SUV as she pulled up to the gates and turned to look at Sara, but found that the blonde had disappeared. “It’s a good thing the Martian stays at the city facility,” she grumbled quietly. Kara had told her about the DEO director, and she made sure to hide her thoughts as best as she could, though her and Sara would be detected immediately were he present at the base.
The agents at the gate nodded to her as she passed them, and Lucy just sent up a silent prayer that Sara figured out how to get in the base. Lucy walked through the doors, thankful that there was only a skeleton crew left at the base, and even fewer of them were there at night. When she located the correct lab, she opened the door, and stared in shock at Sara who was already dismantling the equipment they needed. “You’re late,” Sara stated, glancing at the lawyer. “I already have most of this packed up.”
“Do I want to know how you got in here?” Lucy asked, grabbing the last pieces of the device and stuffing it into one of the bags.
“The same way that I’m going to get these,” Sara gestured to the duffle bags, “Out of here. You can’t exactly be seen stealing-”
“Borrowing,” Lucy correcting.
“DEO property,” the blonde continued. “So I’m going to take them with me, and meet you outside. Don’t forget your cover on why you came to begin with.”
Lucy pulled her dress hat out of her bag, but Sara was gone before she could double check that the woman knew what she was doing. “Fucking ninjas,” Lucy grumbled, making her way out of the compound. The agents at the gate just waved her through barely acknowledging her presence, and Lucy was on full alert looking for Sara.
“Well that was fun,” Sara said, popping up from the back seat, scaring the crap out of Lucy in the process. She jerked the car on the road, swerving a bit before finally course correcting. “You need to watch where you’re going,” the blonde told her as she settled into the passenger seat.
“Why did I think this would be a good idea?” Lucy griped, pressing the pedal down to rush back to L-Corp tower. They reached the building sooner than they would have if the brunette cared about traffic laws in the middle of the night when her friend was in pain and possibly dying.
“Lucy, thank Rao,” Lena muttered when she saw the two women carrying in the duffle bags of equipment. “Did you get everything?”
“Yeah,” Lucy replied, opening up one of the bags. “I noticed this on the DEO seize inventory list weeks ago, apparently Maxwell Lord’s fiancée was being very naughty, cavorting with terrorist groups and what not, which prompted a search and seizure of many of Lord’s properties. This was found in one of the properties for a subsidiary of Lord Industries, one that was devoted to developing anti-alien technologies, which is why the DEO was involved in the process.”
“Maxwell Lord’s fiancee,” Lena murmured before realization dawned on her. “Rachel Berkowitz.”
“Yeah, she’s a piece of work, but because of that, we have what we need,” Lucy responded.
“You’re going to need it,” another voice said and Lucy turned to see a dark skinned woman hovering over Kara, one of her hands placed on her forehead. “I cannot see where Kara is due to her Kryptonian powers, but the Black Mercy is weakening her and I can see brief glimpses passed the normally impenetrable barrier around her mind.”
Sara grinned as she saw the woman and wrapped her arms around her, “M’gann! Roomie, long time no see. Is that your phone in your pocket or are you happy to see me?”
“Still the same as ever Sara,” M’gann rolled her eyes. “Now, who is going in this crazy fantasy developed by this psycho plant? Because from what I saw, we need to hurry.”
“I’m going,” Cat rasped out before anyone else could, her eyes red but determined.
“Ms. Grant, no-” Lena started before Cat sent her a dark look.
“Kara is my daughter, my responsibility, I have to be the one to go in after her, to break her out of the world this tacky little plant has trapped her in,” the older woman said, her hands on her hips as she glared down the other women in the room. None of them could match the intensity of Cat’s glare, so they quickly backed down, leaving only Lena to match wits with the media mogul.
“Don’t think I don’t know how you’ve been treating Kara over the past week,” Lena stated, her eyes hard. “Hiring a basically worthless assistant to lord over Kara, while treating your own daughter like someone less than dirt.”
Cat resisted the urge to flinch at Lena’s harsh words. “My decisions recently,” Cat murmured, “Have been suspect, and I can only say that I haven’t been in my right mind. I’ve been wanting to apologize to her, but with this plant, I might… I might not get the chance, so Lena please,” Cat pleaded. “Please let me do this, let me save Kara. I can do this, I should be the one to do this.”
“She is Little One’s mother,” Astra pointed out, drawing attention to her presence in the corner. “Though I do know that you care about her as well Fierce One,” she said, nodding at Lena. “Cat should be the one to go in after her.”
“So you say Santa,” Lena snarked, “But don’t think we’ve forgotten that you’re partly to blame for this very situation!”
“Don’t you think I don’t know that!” Astra snarled.
Before the argument could devolve any further, Lucy stepped in between the three women, “Alright ladies, calm down, we need to focus on what’s important here, saving Kara.” She turned her attention to Cat and gave her an assessing look, “Do you really think you can do this Cat?”
“I have to do this Lane,” Cat replied, staring down at Kara on the table. “The alternative is letting her die, and that is not an option.”
Lucy nodded and fixed the helmet on Cat's head. “We'll monitor you both out here, and if it looks like you're in distress, we're pulling you out.”
“You listen to me very carefully Lane,” Cat said glaring at the woman. “You too Lita, I don't come out until she comes out.”
Cat blinked as her eyes came into focus and stated around her in shock. The buildings, tall spires, and red sun shining above her were dead giveaways at where she was, Krypton. “This is Kara’s ideal fantasy,” Cat murmured, glancing around. She was inside a hallway glancing out over a vast city, Argo City if she remembered correctly from what Kara has described to her about her home world. The younger blonde had done numerous paintings and sketches of her original home over the years, and to finally see it in person, Krypton was beautiful, unlike anything Cat had seen before. She wondered, if Kara’s ideal world was Krypton, what that meant for her, Carter, and everyone else that Kara met and cared about on Earth.
She heard footsteps coming down the hall and Cat turned, her breath stolen as she saw Kara striding down the hallway in loose, green robes tinged in white, red and blue. Her hair was partially pulled back, while the rest flowed around her head like a wild mane. Blue eyes landed on her for a moment, and Cat froze, wondering how she would be received but Kara brightened and headed right to her. “Aunt Cat!” Kara cried, pulling her into a tight hug, and Cat realized that it was the first hug she’s gotten from Kara in several weeks. She fought back tears at the realization and just accepted the tight hug, returning it with equal enthusiasm. “I didn’t know you were coming,” Kara said when she pulled away from the woman, “Aunt Astra mentioned that you were petitioning the high council today and didn’t think you were able to come.”
“You don’t think I would miss this do you Kara?” Cat replied, going with a safe answer. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but apparently she was part of this fantasy world, part of Kara’s ideal world, even if as not her mother, still part of her family. With her parents still alive, it would make sense to have Cat regulated to another family position, but she isn’t completely sure of her role yet.
“I hoped you wouldn’t,” Kara bit her lip and glanced down. “I mean, this is the unveiling of my first public work that I completed all by myself rather than with the rest of the Artisan guild.” She was practically bouncing with excitement as she linked her arm with Cat’s and led her down the hall. “Everyone is going to be there, Mother, Father, Uncle Jor-El and Aunt Lara, you and Aunt Astra, hopefully Lena if Sara manages to drag her away from the lab. Though Aunt Astra tells me that Carter-Ze and Kal-El will be busy with their studies in the Science guild. My cousins clearly work too hard.” Cat’s heart stuttered at those words, Carter was here as well, on Krypton, as her son presumably and he and Superm- Kal-El, were part of the science guild together.
The world inside of Kara’s mind was more than she could ever have imagined. The younger woman led her out of the building, which she identified as the living community for their combined families, the House of El and the House of Ze. Cat held a suspicion at how she and Carter were related to Kara’s family in this world, but she only replied with vague comments in order to not out herself too early. She knew time was of the essence in order to get Kara out of the control of the Black Mercy, but she wanted to give her this time in her world. And curiosity was one of her weaknesses, she wanted to learn more about Kara’s fantasy, see Krypton from Kara’s point of view.
They arrived in the square a short time later, Kara keeping up a nervous babble that Cat always found endearing. She had learned that the work that Kara designed and built was a fountain, which made sense because the girl had always been fascinated by fountains on Earth. Cat had taken the girl to some of the most famous fountains in the world just to see her stare in fascination at the sculpture and water trickling around the forms. Fountains weren’t common on Krypton because water was a precious resource but apparently in Kara’s perfect world, Krypton was spared from over-mining and polluting the oceans, and everything was clean and vibrant, though tinged red from the sun.
She recognized Kara’s parents immediately and while Kara left her to go speak with them, Cat hung back to study Zor-El and Alura In-Ze. They looked exactly like the drawings Kara had completed and of course the hologram pictures she showed her, but seeing them in person, they seemed different. Cat knew that the people in front of her were phantoms from Kara’s mind, but she also knew that they were closer to the real Alura and Zor-El than any hologram could get.
A slender arm snuck around her waist and Cat jumped in surprise. She whirled around and found Astra standing next to her, staring at her in amusement. “Didn't mean to startle you beloved,” Astra murmured, her fingers tenderly stroking Cat's hip. “I just didn't think you'd be here with the list of grievances you were presenting before the council today.”
Her suspicions were right, she was Kara’s aunt in her mind because she bonded with Astra, which would make Carter her and Astra’s son. “Surely you didn't think I would miss out Little One’s big day?” She replied, leaning into the taller woman. She would play the part for now, and Cat had to admit that Astra was certainly more attractive than the men she had been entangled with previously. She turned her attention back to Kara and found the girl was being chatted up by a lithe woman with short, reddish-brown hair in the traditional black robes of the military guild. The woman looked familiar to Cat but she needed confirmation. “Astra,” Cat started tilting her head towards her wife. “Who is that talking to Kara?”
Astra hummed and glanced over to where her wife was indicating, “Oh, that is Lexy Da-Vers of House Vers, she is one of the best commanders in the military guild.” She continued to study the two women, observing the way they interacted, “She would be a good match for our Kara, the House Vers is very respected, and the children they would produce would be very gifted.”
Cat knew about the fallout between Kara and Agent Alex Danvers, Kara hasn’t told her because she hasn’t been welcoming of any personal conversations recently, but she knew something happened. Watching her daughter talk animatedly with the fantasy version of Alex, her hands waving, eyes shining, it nearly broke Cat’s heart. This was everything that Kara wanted, success, appreciation, acknowledgement, but most of all, love. Kara always wanted to surround herself with love, from her family and friends, and someone special one day. Here it was in front of her, everything that she knew her daughter wanted, everything that she wanted for her, and it hurt. It hurt so much because Cat knew that none of it was real, she knew that this was all a twisted fantasy caused by the Black Mercy, pulled from Kara’s mind. She couldn’t let Kara live in this fantasy world, despite how wonderful it seemed, because none of it was real, and reality, no matter how ugly and brutal, was always better than dreams.
The unveiling of the new fountain in the square went off without a hitch, and Kara was praised for the beauty and dynamism of the sculpture. Cat wasn’t sure how much time passed, but there was food and dance, and Astra barely strayed from her side the entire time. She found the taller woman’s presence to be comforting, almost welcome, and she wasn’t sure what to do with that feeling, if it was actually hers or influence from the fantasy. The Kryptonian dishes were delicious and unique, and in a brief moment when she was left alone by Astra, Cat wondered if she could recreate them with spices and ingredients on Earth.
Her mind snapped to awareness as she realized that she was alone, and Cat glanced around, locating Astra talking with other members of the military guild and a few members of the high council. Cat was eternally grateful that Kara explained the guilds, houses, and the council to her years ago, about the different colored robes for the different guilds or else she would’ve been lost. She looked around again and spotted Kara standing a little ways away from everyone, just looking out at the city and people around them. Walking over to the blonde, Cat stared out at the same scene, a city of lights, a city of life that radiated warmth and safety.
“It’s a beautiful sight,” Cat said finally, glancing at Kara out of the corner of her eye.
“It is,” Kara murmured out a reply, “It’s always been beautiful.”
“The fountain is beautiful as well Kara, and everyone here knows it. Everyone here loves you and cares about you.”
Kara hummed and nodded her head, a sad expression crossing her face, “Too bad it’s not real…” Cat looked at her wide-eyed and Kara rolled her eyes, “Don’t look so surprised Mom, I know it’s you. The Aunt Cat I ‘remember’ from this world was less affectionate than you, and she always called me Little One like Aunt Astra, never ‘Kara.’” A slight smirk crossed Kara’s face, “And you had no idea what meeting you were supposed to be in with the High Council did you?”
Cat let out a dry laugh and shook her head, “No, no clue, Astra made it sound important though.”
“You were lobbying the Council for the people’s right to know, the right for information,” Kara grinned. “Basically you were fighting for something never before seen on Krypton, freedom of the press.”
“Sounds like me,” Cat smiled. “Being bonded to Astra was a surprise though.”
“Yeah that was interesting too, but I never did like Non and I imagine that I wanted you and Carter here with me somehow.”
Cat nodded in understanding, “That doesn’t explain why you’re still here though, if you knew this was all a fake.”
Kara gave her mother a sad smile and glanced behind her, looking at her family. “I wanted to spend some time with them again,” she murmured, “Even if none of this was real, this was the closest I would get to my mother and father again. And here in this world, Alex isn’t mad at me, you and Carter are family, and Lena is still here, a leading member of the science guild with my father and uncle.” A brighter smile crossed her face, “And Carter makes such a good scientist, he would’ve fit right in with the science guild, my father and uncle would’ve loved him, such a quick mind.” She took another look at her family, the images of her family, “Do you know why I’m trapped in this world? Trapped in something, some place so cruel.”
“Non used a Black Mercy on you,” Cat told her. “I’m here to bring you out of this fantasy.”
“I have to reject the fantasy,” Kara murmured, a devastated look crossing her face. “I have to lose them all again.”
“No Kara, no,” the older blonde said, grabbing her hand. “You don’t have to lose them, you’ll always have them because you’ll always remember them. That’s how this world was created, from your memories, your wishes.”
“I wish Krypton had been like this,” Kara replied, wiping away a tear. “Krypton had been anything close to this, then, maybe, it would still feel like home…”
Cat jerked awake, sitting up on the table where they had laid her, and wrenched the headset away from her head. “What happened?” She demanded, looking at the others in the room. “Why was I pulled out?”
“Um, Ms. Grant, we didn’t do that,” Lucy said, gesturing towards the other side of the table where Kara was located. Cat looked over and saw the horrendous plant slither off of Kara’s chest, collapsing on the floor in a shrivelled husk.
The blonde shifted for a moment before bolting upright, gasping for breath. “Easy Kara, easy,” Cat soothed, running her fingers comfortingly through soft blonde hair.
Kara sucked in great lungfuls of air, releasing them in gasps as she tried to calm down. Shakes and shudders quaked through her body, so much so that she couldn’t control her limbs as they pulled in on her, clamping around her like a vice. She continued to breathe, but she couldn’t breathe, every bit of air she pulled in felt like needles stinging her lungs. “Easy Kara,” she heard her mother’s voice whisper in her ear. “Easy, it’s alright, you’re here with us, and you’re safe.” Letting out a few more shuddering breaths, Kara glanced up. The first person she saw was her mother, looking at her in concern and care, more than she’s seen in the past week. Lena was hovering on her other side, Sara not too far behind her, and Lucy and M’gann were a few paces away.
She caught sight of her Aunt lingering in the corner, her arms folded across her chest, and her face displaying the stoicism of a general. “I’m going to kill him,” Kara said, her eyes cold.
“Not before I do,” Astra vowed, pushing off the wall. “I didn’t know that he would do this to you Little One, I swear I didn’t know.”
The younger woman just gave Astra an unimpressed look, “So what? Non does something terrible to me so you realize that he’s a bastard, a bit late don’t you think?”
Astra winced at Kara’s words, truth ringing loud and clear. Her husband, while a good soldier, was a terrible person, she knew that when she married him, and she can only assume it was one of the reasons why she was denied a place in the queue for a child. At the time, Astra blamed it on the government, the secrets they kept, and slowly started to rebel. Years spent in the Phantom Zone allowed her more perspective on her life and choices. After landing on Earth, her focus was consumed with finding a way to preserve the world, to save the humans from themselves and their own destruction. Until she learned that Non attacked her niece’s dog and sent a Black Mercy after the girl, Astra was content to forget her husband’s bad traits, especially with how competent a soldier he was.
“Truthfully,” Astra started. “I’ve been thinking about some of the things that you’ve said, the things that you’ve done, the things that you’ve shown me, and I’ve started to realize that there are other ways to save the world, ways where we can work together rather than against each other.”
“Takes me losing Krypton again to bring you to your senses then.” Kara shook her head and stumbled to her feet, waving away Cat’s questing hand, her gaze locked on where Krypto was lying with a portable sun lamp. “Are you okay buddy?” She asked, kneeling next to her fallen friend. Krypto gave a little wag of his tail and licked at Kara’s face before snuggling into her chest and letting out a sigh. “Yeah, I know it was awful, kryptonite is terrible and I’m sorry you had to experience that.” She had run into the stuff once when visiting the Bat Cave and she still remembers the queasy feeling it left in her stomach and the energy it sapped out of her body, as well as the tongue lashing Cat gave Bruce for leaving it out.
Kara felt arms wrap around her as Lena pulled her into a tight hug, one that would’ve bruised if she didn’t have her powers. “I’m okay Lena,” the blonde replied, patting one of the brunette’s arms.
“Physically maybe,” Lena muffled out a reply as she moved her head from Kara’s back to her shoulder. “That doesn’t mean you’re okay emotionally, that means hug time.”
“You’re the best Lee,” Kara murmured, leaning into her friend.
“What about the rest of us?” Sara questioned, pointing between herself, Lucy and M’gann, who were introduced while Kara was indisposed. “Don’t we get hug time?”
The kryptonian rolled her eyes and gestured them over with her head, “Come on, get over here, get on in the hug fest.” Sara gave her friend a big grin and wormed her way around her front and wrapped her arms around Kara, planting a wet kiss on Lena’s lips right next to Kara’s face. “Oh gross guys,” Kara groaned. “Keep that to yourselves why don’t you, I am right here.”
“Yes you are,” the shorter blonde replied, planting a loud kiss on her lips as well. “And we love you to pieces and are very grateful that you left your ideal fantasy world to dredge it out here with the rest of us.”
“I’m,” Kara breathed out, “I’m glad I came back too, though, Sara, just because I came back, don’t get any funny ideas.”
“Nah Alien girl, I’m more of a one woman kind of girl, though if I do decide to start a haram, I’ll let you know.” The blonde was rewarded by two sharp jabs on either side of her rib cage, causing her to let out a squawk in protest, “Alright, alright, geez, no more jokes. Seriously though, Lena is more than enough for me, sometimes too much, that thing she does with her tongue…”
“Okay,” Kara said, standing up from the sandwich she had found herself in. “That is too much information, you can just stop right there. I know I’ve seen both of you naked, but just no.” She walked over to where Lucy and M’gann were standing and wrapped her friends in a tight hug. “Megan I didn’t know you were back from Gotham,” Kara murmured, squeezing the Martian a little tighter. “Or do you want us to call you M’gann now since we’re out of school?”
“I’ll answer to either,” M’gann answer, pulling Kara into a tight hug. “And I only got back a few days ago, I’ve been busy trying to sort through the paperwork at the bar, and other business prospects.”
“I’m just glad you’re back, and you two met each other?” Kara asked, looking between Lucy and M’gann.
“We were introduced while you were napping Kara,” Lucy told her, wrapping her arms around her blonde friend again. “Try not to take anymore unauthorized naps in the future, okay Kar’?”
Kara was about to reply when a large explosion shuddered through the building, rocking the foundation. “Not again,” Lena growled, dashing out of the lab to her office where she pulled up her security feed, the rest following after her. “What the hell,” she muttered when she pulled up the security footage and saw images of John Corben and a few other men with alien weaponry blasting the lobby of L-Corp and the street outside. “I thought he was dead? I’m pretty sure I shot him in the chest, which usually leads to dead, so why is he not dead and where has his undead self been this whole time?”
“I’ll deal with him,” Kara growled out, “I need to hit something.”
“Wait Kara!” Lena called before her friend could change into the spare uniform that Lena kept in her office. “Corben, he’s glowing green, I don’t know what it means, but you need to be prepared for it to be kryptonite.”
“I’ll be careful Lena,” Kara murmured before changing into her suit and flying out of the window.
Astra glanced at the footage as well before flying after her niece to provide whatever help she could, to prove that she really was trying to change, to be good. “I’m going down there too,” Sara said, grabbing her bag and heading for the stairs. “They can’t handle all of those guys if there’s kryptonite, M’gann, can you get them out of here?” Sara asked, motioning towards Cat, Lucy, and Lena.
“‘I’m not leaving,’” the three women said, glares on their faces.
“Okay,” Sara drawled out, “Just make sure they don’t die.” She took off down the stairs, pulling on her suit as she went.
Kara dodged out of the way as a bolt of kryptonite erupted from Corben’s chest, a twisted sneer present on his face. Astra was engaging in combat with his evil twin, her reinforced tactical gear protecting her from the debilitating effect of the growing green mineral. She used her heat vision and freeze breath against the man rather than engaging in direct combat, dodging away from him whenever she could. She saw that Astra quickly took the other man out of the building and Sara was taking down the other goons with her bo staff, while she was still tangling with the first freak show. “What happened to you?” Kara yelled at him, dodging another blast of kryptonite.
“I was chosen to transcend,” Corben replied, blasting more kryptonite. “I was saved from death and evolved to cleanse the world from you alien scum, lording your powers and otherworldliness over us, demanding to be worshipped and ruling with fear.”
“I’ve just been trying to help,” Kara yelled back. “This is my home, I want to protect it as much as any human.”
“But you’re not a human, you’re an alien, a foreigner, an outsider, an invader,” he sneered. “A mistake, you and your cousin, showing off your powers like you’re better than us. My employers though have located a substance that will eliminate that issue.” Corben took a small syringe out of his pocket and grinned at her before firing kryptonite at her again. The green beam caught her side and Kara dropped, sliding across the ground. The man slammed the needle of the syringe against the glowing kryptonite core in his chest, a gasp of pain leaving his throat as the liquid in the vial flowed through him. The green faded and slowly changed to gold, causing Corben’s eyes to light up with a golden light. “They were saving this for Superman,” he hissed out, pain flooding his system. “But with your recent interference with our plans and acquaintances, you moved up on the list.”
Kara watched in horror as Corben started to scream, a beam of gold leaving his chest headed straight for her when her vision was masked by thick, brown hair as she was knocked away. “Astra!” She yelled out as her aunt took the full hit of the beam. The older kryptonian grit her teeth against the pain, but eventually the pressure on her system overrode her self-control and she let out out a loud scream.
The beam continued to fire until the glow in Corben’s chest gave out and he crashed to the floor, his body finally giving out from the experiments Cadmus put him through. “Aunt Astra!” Kara cried, moving over to her aunt’s body.
“Don’t touch her,” Sara yelled, running up to her before Kara could touch the fallen woman. When Supergirl looked up at her questioningly, she shook her head, “Whatever that guy used against her, it was meant for you, there might still be remnants on her clothes, you can’t touch her.”
“We can’t leave her here,” Kara said, gesturing to the wrecked lobby.
“We’ll get her up to Lena’s lab Kara,” M’gann’s voice came as the woman walked up to them.
“I can’t,” the blonde gasped out, her breaths coming out fast. “I can’t Sara, what if she dies? It’s too much, I just lost my first family all over again, I can’t, I can’t lose Astra too.”
Sara embraced her friend, tugging her face into her chest and setting her cheek on soft blonde hair. “We’ll do what we can Kara,” she soothed, tightening her arms around Kara’s shoulders. “Lena will find out what’s wrong with her and will save her.
“It’s too much Sara,” Kara cried into Sara’s shirt, “It’s just all been too much.” Tears fell out of her eyes and sobs wracked her body. Sara continued to hold her but part of her wondered how much more her normally strong friend could take.