Chapter 43
“Um, Ma’am,” Vasquez’s voice came through the coms as Alex was taking shelter behind a parked car, returning fire rogue criminals and aliens emerged to take advantage of the total chaos raining down on National City.
“I’m a little busy at the moment Vasquez,” Alex bit out, firing back at the aliens before diving to find other shelter.
“Right, ah, well, there’s, there’s a call for you Ma’am, and I think you’re going to want to take this,” the woman replied.
“Fine, just send it to my com.”
“I will Ma’am, and everyone else is muted.”
Alex was about to ask why when she heard the distinctive click of the source shifting in the coms as the call was punched through. “Danvers?” The new voice came, and Alex’s face scrunched as she tried to figure out where she knew that voice.
“Luthor?” She questioned, recognizing the voice.
“I prefer WatchTower in moments like this, but sure, we’ll go with that,” Lena replied. “But look, Supergirl and White Canary have dealt with the alien that caused the blackout, but not before she launched dozens of missiles Maxwell Lord was keeping in a secret hangar several miles out in the desert. Supergirl is doing her best to stop them, but there’s too many for even her to deal with,”
“Dozens of missiles?” Alex muttered, “Shit, what was Lord doing with dozens of missiles?”
“Not the priority right now Danvers, we need to know if you have anything that can shut these missiles down before they reach the city, that would be great.”
“We might have something, I’ll see what I can do.” Lena clicked off, and Alex quickly took down the alien that she was dealing with before calling Vasquez again. “Vasquez, I need-”
“Director Henshaw has already been apprised of the situation with Supergirl and has called for anti-missile maneuvers, which should take effect in 3… 2… 1.”
Alex didn’t hear anything but she saw little puffs of explosions as missiles connected with missiles high up in the atmosphere on the outskirts of National City, and breathed a sigh of relief. The relief was short lived as she was very quickly reminded that she was currently in a firefight with a band of crazy thugs. A loud scream rang through the streets and Alex covered her ears to block out the sound. She turned in the direction of the sound, expecting to see the White Canary as that was a sound that has accompanied the vigilante since she showed up in the city. Her eyes widened when instead of being met with a woman in white leather, Alex spotted a taller woman dressed in black leather taking down the thugs with a bo staff, much like National City’s newest hero.
The agent took down the remaining criminals before turning to the staff wielding woman. “I guess I should thank you for your assistance…”
“Black Canary,” the woman answered, a smirk on her face.
“Any relation to White Canary then?” Alex questioned. “She turned up here a few weeks ago.”
The woman smirked and shifted slightly on her feet, “Ah, yes, we know each other. I’ve been trying to find her actually, she’s been rather difficult to track down.”
Alex stared at this woman, scrutinizing her; the inflection of her voice was familiar, the way she spoke, though it was difficult to properly recognize it with the voice modulator she used. That smirk though, the smirk that spread across her face as she looked at her, like she knew something that Alex didn’t, and a memory clicked in the agent’s mind. “You-”
Before Alex could finish her thought, Supergirl was landing in front of her, blonde hair blowing in the wind and soot cover the part of her face not obscured by her mask. Alex tried to resist the urge to look in those familiar blue eyes, but they were enchanting, glowing bright blue in the dark, almost hypnotizing. Alex failed to understand how she hadn’t realized that the superheroine and her cru- new friend were the same person.
“Is everyone okay?” Kara asked, her ‘hero persona’ out and emotional barriers in place. Aside from that brief run-in at Noonan’s, she hasn’t really interacted with Alex since their fight, though she has seen her practically everywhere. The blonde was still upset with the agent for not giving her more of a chance to explain. She understood Alex’s reaction but Lena and Sara both pointed out that it wasn’t a secret that just affected Alex, it was her life as well. Kara didn’t know how she felt about Alex at this point, she still liked the other woman, still found her strong, beautiful, and fascinating, but she was determined to carry a grudge for as long as she could.
“We’re all okay here Supergirl,” Alex told her. “Thanks to you for stopping that psycho.”
Kara nodded, “Any word on when the power will be back on?”
“Should only take a few hours to fix the problem, but in the meantime, we’ll need help keeping the chaos in check.” She nodded to the woman standing behind the caped heroine, “I’m sure our new friend here can help out as well if she’s amenable.”
Supergirl glanced around and her eyes locked onto the figure in black behind her and Kara gasped, “Laurel?”
The Black Canary shifted slightly and stepped closer, her eyes not straying from the blonde’s. “Kara?” She murmured, her eyes wide.
“Wha- no…”
“Kara, I’ve seen you naked-”
Kara held up her hand before she could continue, “Nevermind, I’ve said that to someone before, nevermind. We should probably… talk though…”
“After I’ve had a talk with my sister,” the White Canary commented, appearing out of the shadows like a spector. “It’s been a while sis.”
“Ah Sara,” Laurel murmured, turning to her sister. “Now that I know who Supergirl is, it makes more sense that you’re working with her, you normally don’t like working with others.”
“Depends on who the others are,” Sara returned. “I didn’t know that you had gotten involved in all of this, though I should’ve known the ‘Black Canary’ running around with an archer in Star City was you.”
“We should go,” Kara whispered to Alex as the two sisters quarrelled. “Best to leave them alone when they’re like this.”
Alex was glad that she had taken her com out of her ear earlier when Black Canary first showed up from all of the reveals that occurred on the deserted street. “I can imagine, what made them lose touch?” The agent asked.
Kara sighed loudly and glanced around quickly to make sure that no one was in the area. “Laurel and I didn’t have the best breakup,” the blonde admitted. “She… anyway, Sara was my friend before I started dating her sister, and they already didn’t have the best relationship. I don’t know exactly what they said to each other after everything went down, but when the dust settled, Laurel had left town, and Sara was pretending like nothing had happened.”
“You have some dramatic friends,” Alex murmured, “And interesting Exs, any more that I should know about?”
“Well, the guy I briefly dated in high school after Lucy became college football star and then a speedster superhero,” the blonde commented. “Though it was a very brief relationship, and we haven’t talked in years.”
“That guy in the red shirt and metal helmet running around Ohio?”
“Yeah him, apparently he’s allied himself with my cousin, Wonder Woman, and Batman for the Justice League. It makes sense, with them all being centered more towards the east coast.” Kara glanced away before she spoke again, “I have a few more, no one that was serious, and, of course, a woman I met on a brief trip to Vegas…”
“Kara…”
The superheroine shook her head, “No, Alex, it’s okay… Well, no, no it’s not. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain, you just jumped all over me that I didn’t tell you, but it’s my life too Alex! And I was afraid, I was so afraid that you would do what you did, jump to conclusions without really listening to me.” She shook her head, “I don’t know, maybe you were right about this whole thing, maybe it is better if we split, so as not to complicate things.” Kara stopped and cocked her head, a look of concentration on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I have to go.” The heroine disappeared before Alex could do or say anything else, leaving the auburn haired woman to stare after her, wondering where everything went wrong.
“No,” Astra replied, folding her arms petulantly and looking away from the smaller woman in front of her.
Cat’s eyes flashed dangerously, and she set her hands on her hips in preparation for a confrontation. She took deep breath to calm herself and prevent herself from doing verbal or physical damage to the woman. The woman had already been through enough, being attacked and losing her powers, and she didn’t want to end up strangling the formerly indestructible woman because she was being annoying. “I know this isn’t in the realm of anything you’re used to,” Cat said carefully, “But this is something that you need to do.”
“But why do I need to use that chair?” Astra continued, “I am perfectly capable of walking.” She stared distastefully at the wheelchair parked by her bed, and looked away with a frown on her face.
“You don’t have to of course, if you think you can make it down to the car I have waiting and then up to my penthouse, you don’t have to use the wheelchair. It’s to make things easier on you though, since you aren’t used to gravity having any effect on you.”
“I have to get used to it some time,” Astra sighed sadly. “Will you help me?”
The blonde woman nodded and pushed the wheelchair aside. “Of course, I figured you wouldn’t take the chair anyway, which is why I brought you a cane,” Cat said, handing the carved stick to the woman. “Just use it and me to lean on, and we’ll get you walking in no time.”
Astra grit her teeth as she pushed off the table, her feet feeling like heavy weights as she tried to step forward. She nearly fell because of the sensation, but the cane caught part of her weight and Cat caught the rest of it. Part of her was disgusted with herself for needing such aid, she was a general, a warrior, she did not show weakness. Yet here she was, struggling to walk, like a babe pushing off the ground to take their first steps. It was demeaning and embarrassing to be relying on someone else as if she were a child. The way the smaller woman’s arm encircled her waist and picked her off the ground, providing strength and comfort, a steady presence, it meant more to Astra than she could say or understand.
Cat helped Astra off the floor and they slowly made their way out of Lena’s lab and to the elevator to take them down to the parking garage. “I never did understand these tin cans that carried humans up and down, why bother with them when there are stairs and you’re perfectly capable of walking, but I understand now,” Astra breathed out as she leaned against the railing in the elevator. “This is nice.”
“I don’t plan on walking up and down forty floors in these heels, I assure you,” Cat replied, gesturing to the crafted stilettos on her feet. “Though I imagine it would do my calves wonders.”
“Your calves don’t need any more work I assure you,” Astra muttered out unthinkingly. She froze as the words she uttered registered in her mind, and she furiously started cursing herself in her mind, what in the name of Rao had she been thinking.
“You can thank my pilates instructor for that,” the blonde woman replied, a smirk threatening to overtake her features. The elevator dinged open and Cat took Astra’s arm and escorted her to the limo that she had waiting in the garage. Fortunately it was after hours so most of Lena’s employees had already left, leaving the structure empty other than a stray car mostly likely belonging to security or the cleaning staff.
“Part of me wonders if I’ll ever see daylight again,” Astra murmured as Cat tucked her in the back seat before moving around the other side to join her. The brunette’s eyes were focused on the street lights shining as they slowly drove towards Cat’s building. Night had fallen over the city, Lena had decided that was the best time to slip Astra out since no one really knew that the woman was there, other than Jess, Lena’s assistant. Cat was reluctant to admit that the woman was a competent and loyal assistant, almost as competent as her own, almost, but no one would really compare to Kara.
“What makes you say that?” Cat asked, not looking up from her tablet.
Astra hummed, lazily looking at the other woman, “I keep getting shifted around, shunted in the dark from place to place, not like I can show my face in the light of day again, not with the things I’ve done.”
“Truthfully, you haven’t done anything truly bad yet, and nobody has really seen your face, outside of the military and sordid government agencies,” the media mogul replied, putting her tablet away. “And if I have any say about it, which I do, you won’t be going to prison, or even charged for your crimes. I think you’ve been punished enough.” A pensive look crossed Cat’s face, “Though I really hope that was all of the gold kryptonite Cadmus had, I would hate that they found more and used it against Kara again, or worse, bozos like General Lane got their hands on it.”
The Kryptonian shivered at the mention of that man’s name, remembering the look of indifference and hatred on his face as he sent liquid kryptonite through her veins. “They indicated that it was all they had,” Astra murmured. “Kara’s friends, the Fierce One and the Nervous One with unfortunate clothing, they took a sample, I’m sure they’ll be able to scan for traces of the material.”
“Nervous One… Oh yes, Walt, Winifred, whatever,” Cat replied, waving her hand. The driver pulled into the underground parking for her building, reserved for residents and employees of the structure, and Cat helped Astra out of the car and over towards her private elevator. Normally she would just tell her driver to briefly stop in front of the lobby doors, but she knew that Astra would want privacy from prying eyes. Despite the discretion policy she pushed for by the building manager, due to one too many accidents with super strength and heat vision, Cat’s neighbors were incredibly nosey.
A few minutes later, Cat was sitting Astra down on one of the plump couches in her living room, barely resisting the urge to collapse onto it herself. “Are you hungry?” Cat asked, manners that her boarding school teachers instilled in her coming to the forefront of her mind. “Coffee, tea, wine? Though I imagine that alcohol will have more of an effect on you now that you’re basically human, so maybe we’ll skip that today.”
Astra cracked a smile, “I have developed a taste for tea since arriving on Earth, though I rarely get the opportunity. Non, my husband, he disapproves of most of the things here on Earth, the way you humans make things, cook things, he misses the food on Krypton.”
Cat nodded, “As did Kara, though she quickly found new favorites among the fare we have to offer, basically everything really. I can make some tea, but there’s also a tea house nearby that I can convince to deliver a fresh pot and some sandwiches.”
“I know that place,” Astra murmured. “I would visit there after watching over Kara, it was soothing, almost detoxifying.”
“We humans do occasionally drink tea to relax and as a detox,” Cat replied. “I’ll put in an order, extra food in case you’ve retained your Kryptonian appetite, and either way, Kara will probably stop over later. She’s been busy trying to clean up the mess from the power outage, two days later and the city is still a mess. What kind of tea do you prefer? Black, green, Oolong?”
“Surprise me,” Astra murmured, her eyes not straying far from the view out of Cat’s windows. The blonde placed the order with the tea house and they promised they would have someone deliver the tea and food right away. Cat bustled around, pulling out her own tea set, choosing on of the cheaper sets in case Astra felt shaky and dropped a few cups. It was already missing a few tea cups, not due to her Kryptonian daughter surprisingly, but her son who thought they made excellent helmets for his stuffed animal army.
When she finished her call, Cat retrieved a glass of wine and sat down next to Astra on the couch, staring out over the city. “Are you going to tell Kara your plans?” Cat asked, sipping at her wine.
“I have no plans,” the brunette replied. “I lost my powers, my Kryptonian heritage, all I have left is Kara.” She glanced over at Cat before turning away, “I have no plans.”
“You have more than Kara,” the blonde woman told her. “You have Carter and me, and I’m sure Kara’s ragtag group of friends would love to adopt you as part of their family. They seem to be lacking on family members as a whole, so can use some more.”
“Where is Carter anyway?”
Cat sighed, “With the blackout, Carter’s father freaked out and took him on an extended vacation to the Caribbean on a cruise. They’ll be gone for a few weeks.” She gave the woman an assessing look, “And don’t think I didn’t notice how you dodged my question. You do have plans, the plans that you and your husband have been working towards.”
Astra was silent for a few moments, “It’s good that Carter is away, out of the city.”
“Astra?”
“I can’t,” the woman shook her head.
“I thought you had switch sides Astra? Agreed with Kara that we’re worth protecting?”
“After what those… those monsters did to me, tried to do to Kara?” Astra snorted, “And they call us the monsters…”
“Astra…”
Astra just shook her head again, “Look, I do believe that this world needs saving, and probably the best way is to work with you humans. But this Cadmus, their actions indicate that you don’t want us to work with you.” She looked away from Cat, “I’m not going to aid in the plan, I couldn’t even if I wanted to, they’ve already progressed too far. I doubt there would be much that any of us could do to prevent what is coming, but it can be stopped after, before everything gets too far.”
“Will you tell her?” Cat repeated, “Will you tell her what’s coming?”
“I will try,” Astra said finally.
“What were you planning?”
“Something that started years ago on Krypton, something that could have saved our planet from destruction, something that would’ve save it had it been implemented,” Astra stated, her eyes hard and dark. “The council thought they knew what was best, so did Alura, Zor-El and Jor-El, and Non and I thought we knew what was best.” She sighed and set her head back on the backrest of the couch, “None of us really did though, we just thought that we did, pride drove us to commit great horrors, and nothing changed, Krypton still died.”
“Not all of Krypton is gone though Astra,” Cat murmured. “You are alive, Kara is alive, you both carry remnants of Krypton inside of you.”
“I’m glad you didn’t mention Jor-El’s son Kal-El,” Astra sneered, rolling her eyes. “His mother Lara, lovely woman, what she would think of him…”
“He’s more Kansas farm boy than Kryptonian really.”
“Human, you can say it, he’s more human than Kryptonian.”
Cat didn’t add to the statement, merely hummed and continued to sip her wine as they stared out the window. The tea and sandwiches were delivered not to long after, and almost as if summoned by the scent of food, Kara landed on the balcony and strode through the doors. “Hey what are we- ooh, sandwiches,” Kara cried, immediately falling on the pile of food like she hadn’t eaten in days. Astra only made it through a single sandwich before stopping and just sipping her tea, proving that her advanced appetite was gone as well as her powers, causing Cat to breathe a sigh of relief. She could feed one Kryptonian stomach, she feared she would have to find a second job to feed another one.
“Kara,” Astra started, drawing her niece’s attention. “I have something to tell you.” Kara glanced over at her aunt, crumbs and remnants of her sandwiches sprinkled around her mouth. She looked ridiculous with food on her face in her suit without her mask or boots, but both of the women thought she looked adorable. Cat was reluctant to even think the word adorable, but even she acknowledged that somehow when she adopted a daughter over eleven years ago, she somehow ended up with a golden retriever.
“What is it?” Kara asked, wiping her face with a napkin before moving to sit on the armrest next to her aunt.
“It’s about what Non and I were planning,” she said slowly, “It’s called Myriad.”
Kara stared at the ceiling of her apartment for hours as sleep eluded her; her mind continued to churn around what her aunt had told her, the council of Krypton had made a program to control the minds of the people in order to prevent their own destruction. The Myriad program was never initiated for use, and Krypton continued to spiral downwards until it’s destruction. Part of her wondered if it would have been better to enact the program if it could have saved her people from self-destruction, but she quickly rid her head of such thoughts. It was no better than slavery, forcing one’s will onto a large group of people, and kryptonians had always been against slavery.
She managed to fall asleep a few hours before sunrise, but was up and out on her balcony when Sol started rising through the sky. Kara soaked in the rays for a few minutes with Krypto sitting next to her also basking in the sunlight, his dark fur glinting in the sunlight. She only had a few moments of peace before the dog started pawing her leg every now and then, begging for his normal helping of breakfast. Sighing, Kara fluttered back into the kitchen and poured out food for the dog. Krypto’s tail knocked against the floor as he watched her dish out his food and pounced on it as soon as she was done, immediately devouring the entire bowl.
Opening her fridge, Kara stared blankly at the contents before settling on a large protein drink Lena developed specifically for her, and chugged the contents of the bottle. She fiddled around her apartment for a while, focusing more on the city around her than anything in the building. Nothing was immediately demanding her attention, the worst criminals and supervillains deciding to take it easy on a Sunday morning. “Probably out for brunch,” Kara muttered to herself, her mind still consumed with thoughts of Myriad. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know how she was going to prevent Non and his soldiers from taking over National City with his program, let alone the entire world.
“Krypto I’m going to see Lena,” Kara told him, scratching the dog’s head. “Go out and protect the city, be good, and don’t get hurt.” Krypto woofed at her and she kissed his nose before darting back to her room to grab some other clothes. A few minutes later, she was spinning into her super suit and rocketing off of her balcony, speeding over to her best friend’s penthouse.
Kara landed on the balcony and let herself into the apartment, finding Lena in the kitchen making breakfast and heard Sara in the bathroom brushing her teeth. “Well aren’t you two all domestic now,” Kara commented after she changed back into her normal clothes.
“I am a domestic goddess,” Lena smirked, winking back at her friend. Assessing green eyes drifted all over the blonde’s face, taking in the worry lines on her forehead and the distressed look in her eyes, and a frown formed on Lena’s face. “Breakfast?” She asked, pointing Kara to the counter, “And you can tell me why you have that crinkle on your forehead.”
The blonde rubbed at her head as she sat down at the counter and started picking at the omelet Lena set in front of her. She rolled her eyes at the massive amount of kale sticking out either side of the dish but slowly at it anyway. Sara walked out of the bathroom a few moments later and sat down next to Kara, and started eating her own breakfast. “Alright blondie, spill,” Sara said, “You have a crinkle.”
Lena sat down across from her best friend and next to her girlfriend, slowly eating her own breakfast. Kara recounted the information that Astra had given her, about how the Myriad program was developed on Krypton, what it was supposed to do, and how Non and her aunt wanted to use it on humans. “A large scale mind control program,” Lena murmured, her eyes distant and unfocused. Kara stared at her in confusion before jumping a little as Lena slammed her hands down on the counter. “That’s it! That’s the feedback I’ve been receiving, though it’s very minute…”
“A large scale mind control!” Lena yelled, slamming her hands down on her table. “That’s it! That’s the feedback I’ve been receiving, though it’s very minute…”
Kara blinked as her friend rushed to her laptop on her coffee table and practically threw it open, furiously typing away at the screen. “Um, Lena?” The brunette just waved her hand in a shooing gesture and Kara looked at the blonde across the counter from her. “Is she alright?”
“Don’t look at me, she’s your best friend,” Sara replied, sipping at her coffee and working on the crossword puzzle in the newspaper.
“She’s your girlfriend.”
The shorter blonde waved her hand dismissively, “I jumped on this crazy train late, you guys were already wacko before I even got here, so whatever world she’s disappeared to, you’re the one responsible for her.”
“You’re a tremendous help Sara Lance.”
“I aim to please.”
Kara rolled her eyes and moved to sit across from where her best friend was curled up on her couch with her laptop. “Lena,” Kara prodded, nudging her friend with her foot. The brunette just hummed and continued typing, her eyes narrowed at whatever was on the screen. “Lena,” she said again, “What are you thinking?” When her friend didn’t reply, Kara nudged her harder with her foot, “Lena!”
“Huh, what?” Lena stated, looking up at her friend.
“What are you thinking?”
“Oh,” Lena blinked, “Wasn’t I explaining that?”
The Kryptonian sighed and looked at her friend with thinly veiled exasperation, “You were doing that thing where you have an entire conversation in your head again. I don’t know what you’re thinking sweetie, you have to actually speak out loud.”
“Um, right, of course,” Lena twisted on the couch so she was showing Kara the screen. “So you remember that break in at Lord Technologies awhile back, before Lord’s fall from grace of course?”
“That was when the Fort Rozz Kryptonians broke in and didn’t steal anything right?”
“Right, that, so what they actually did was piggyback a system onto Lord’s satellites, and that’s-”
“Wait, they broke into Lord’s business for his satellites? Why didn’t they break into L-Corp then? Aren’t your satellites superior?”
“Well yes, yes they are, but we also have more security than Lord did, constantly screening for feeds piggybacking on our system.” She made a face, “One lesson I did learn from the Luthors, constant paranoia and all that.”
“Alright, continue.”
“Right so I’ve been picking up some interference on Lord’s satellites, nothing major, just a low level frequency pinging every now and then. It didn’t have a ton of power, so I analyzed it for a while, broke down the layers, and then forgot about it with all of the other drama going on.”
“So they’re using the satellites to broadcast their mind control program?”
Lena nodded, “Though it’s more like… they’re waves, radio waves, they’re designed to influence minds that think on a particular frequency. I don’t think they’ve been able to figure out how to get it to work on human minds, if what you’re telling me is true, it was originally designed to influence Kryptonians. That would defeat the purpose here of course, so it seemed like they were trying to figure out how to alter it and boost the power.”
“How close are they?” Kara asked, “Can we get the satellites offline before they trigger Myriad?”
“Unfortunately no, those satellites are communication satellites, and it looks like the program has advanced to the point that there’s no stopping it now.”
“So what do we do?” The blonde groaned out, “Just let them take control of everyone in National City?”
“I don’t think we have much choice,” Lena murmured sadly, patting her friend’s hand. She froze for a moment her eyes falling on her screen again before flashing over to her television. “I don’t think we have much time either look!”
Kara turned and froze at what was flashing across the screen, rows upon rows of aliens symbols, Kryptonian letters. “Myriad,” Kara breathed, recognizing some of the information on the screen her aunt had mentioned. “It’s starting…”