The first Look she got into her soulmate’s life was when she was born. The Tether – new, fragile, but somehow stronger than Astra had ever hoped – drew her from her cell in Fort Rozz to a strange room, dark, but full of lights, and people in strange clothing, wearing strange headpieces. A man held her, and he was crying, babbling to an ‘Eliza’ about how she was beautiful and so small and how her Bond was already so strong – that her eyes were rimmed with a mix of green and blue. Astra understood the terminology, in retrospect, but it confused her – the fact that a Tether was forming at all was a miracle, forgive her if she took some time to translate her soulmate’s language’s words correctly. Astra had long ago accepted that she would never have a soulmate, and married Non because of it. She was lucky that her language even translated. Some Tether’s weren’t strong enough for that.
The Look ended soon, however, neither with enough control or strength to keep it up, and Astra was back in her cell. The Kryptonian supposed the distance would make it harder – but the next time, it would be her soulmate who Looked, and the next couple of times, too. Astra would learn that her soulmate’s name was ‘Alexandra Danvers’ when she Looked once, when her mother, ‘Eliza’, was shouting at her for drawing on the living room wall.
Sometimes, Astra had to wonder how far away she was – if the Phantom Zone was close to her planet. Her home was strange, her lands healthy and bountiful, her sea shimmering and full. Being soulmates that hadn’t met made sure neither of them saw in colour, but Astra was used to that, even if Alexandra wasn’t. “The sea is supposed to be blue, and the grass is supposed to be green” she’d once said out loud when Astra was Looking. Alex was very used to the sensation of Astra looking through her eyes.
Eventually, Astra found out that Alexandra came from ‘Earth’, when she was Looking during her soulmate’s school lessons.
Looking while she was attending ‘elementary’, during this point in Alexandra’s life where information was being fed into her on a daily basis, found Astra learning the basics of Earth’s cultures and society. At one point, she discovered that it was protected by the aliens Spectre and Nightwing, that the humans were aware of the existence of aliens. With their constant connection, they managed to enforce their Tether further, the results of which showed themselves when her soulmate was seven years old.
I wish I knew what you looked like, Alexandra’s voice echoed through her mind, causing Astra to blink. She wasn’t Looking through Alexandra’s eyes, so how…I wish I knew your name. You should know my name by name, from all the times it’s been used. Astra sat up in her cell abruptly, causing her cell-mate to look over tiredly – she’d just returned from the Detention Centre.
“What is it, General?”
“I can hear her voice, but I’m not Looking through her eyes,” Astra’s forehead knitted together, “How?” Her cell-mate raised an eyebrow, turning onto their side with a wince.
“You’re hearing her thoughts.”
“Her thoughts?” Astra shut her eyes, trying to focus on her young soulmate – but there was nothing. No thoughts, no words, just the Tether, thin as it always was. But…“The Tether has changed. Something wraps around it.”
“Secondary layer,” her cell-mate answered her unspoken question, “That’s when you start sharing thoughts, information. Your brains are syncing – by the time the secondary layer is complete, she’ll subconsciously know everything you do, and you she. Third layer preps during this as well, provided you keep the strengthening exercises up. You’ll feel her hunger, her pain, her weakness…”
“How do you know so much about this?” Astra questioned. Her cell-mate shrugged, before rubbing her cheek.
“The same way I know my own soulmate just got slapped by their angry master. They collapsed during my little bout in the Detention Centre, and they’re paying the price.”
Astra swallowed, “And if I find myself in the Detention Centre?”
Her cell-mate guwaffed, “Your soulmate is a child – you’ll be lucky if your Tether isn’t cut, if they have the technology. It’s illegal in several galaxies to let a child suffer through a Tether if it causes them harm.”
Astra vowed not to do anything to be placed in the Detention Centre.
Alex knew that her soulmate was somewhere strange. Whenever she Looked through the Bond, she saw a kind of room with two bunk-beds, a bathroom in the corner, and a glass wall that sizzled every so often. The other wall had a window that looked out onto space. Once, Alex thought her soulmate was an astronaut, until her dad said astronaut’s didn’t live like that, and that the window must be a painting – but he’d had a funny look on his face that Alex later associated with her father’s slight obsession with…
Aliens.
Of course, her soulmate wasn’t an alien. They couldn’t be. Aliens didn’t have soulmates, she didn’t think. Her soulmate was…weird, that was all.
I am not weird.
Alex blinked. What was that?
I am not weird, Alexandra.
Alex looked around, then out her window. Maybe it was Josh playing a trick…but Josh didn’t have a girl’s voice. Maybe it was Hannah instead. But the voice wasn’t Hannah’s, and it was…familiar, but Alex just couldn’t place it. It was beautiful though, low and calm, power in its cadence and if she focused she could see the smile behind it-
Alexandra, it is me. Then Alex felt them – her soulmate, looking through her eyes. Alexandra, our Tether is strong, strong enough that we are developing a new, secondary aspect to it. Our minds are close, our brains synchronising. I have been able to hear odd thoughts of yours for a few d- Her voice cut off suddenly, and Alex, still looking out of her window, froze. Was something wrong? Why couldn’t she hear her?
-fine, I’m still here! Don’t worry! Alex sucked in a breath.
Can you hear me? She tentatively asked. There was a long pause, before Alex felt a surge of warmth in her heart.
Yes, I can hear you, Alexandra.
Alex broke out into a smile, squealing. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” She shot up, running to the bathroom, locking the door and pulling her step out, stepping up to look in the mirror.
Alexandra…Alex had always been careful never to show her face – never to look in mirrors, or reflective surfaces, or at the pictures of her around her house. It was against the Laws – you weren’t supposed to show your soulmate your face through the Bond, not if you could help it. But Alex didn’t care. She wanted her soulmate to see her. Alexandra, you are such a sweet girl, but you shouldn’t show me this.
Why? She questioned her, focusing on different parts of her face so her soulmate could see. I don’t know anything about you. You know a lot about me. So if I can’t get to know you now, I want you to know me completely. She felt the Bond pulse, her soulmate starting to withdraw from her eyes. Suddenly desperate, Alex latched onto her, before she felt herself hurtling through something bright, that looked like the sun – and then she was in the room, the room her soulmate lived in.
What did you do? What…I’m in your bathroom, she heard her soulmate say, sounding disbelieving. I can move your body…Alex looked down, at her hands. They were large, like an adults, with nice nails that were shinier than Alex had seen nails be before, without nail varnish – and her nails didn’t look like they had nail varnish on. Raising her hand up – her soulmate’s hand – she peered at them, before a voice caught her attention.
“General?”
Alex looked up, peering at the other woman. She was tanned, with slanted eyes like Mei’s, but unlike Mei’s, or any human eye she’d ever seen, they were slitted. The woman was lying on the top bunk-bed, but upon her silence, her eyes narrowed – narrowed sideways, instead of up and down. Eyes widening slightly, Alex watched as the woman got off the bed, prowling forward to crouch in front of her.
“You are not the General,” the woman said quietly, “your eyes are a dark brown, fully, not simply the General’s with a ring. You have switched places. You should not be able to do that…yet.”
“Yet?” Alex questioned, only for the woman to make a funny face. “Why?”
“I do not understand you – you speak in your natural language. But you obviously understand me – it seems that the secondary bond is perhaps complete, and you simply have not harnessed your potential.”
Alex wondered what the woman meant, when she heard her soulmate – the ‘General’ – swear in her home language. Blushing slightly, she shut her eyes, directing her thoughts through the Bond. What is it?
Your mother!
“Oh no.”
Sitting on the sofa, Astra played with the sleeve of Alex’s pyjama shirt. Across the room, Eliza was standing, waiting for Jeremiah to get back from work. They’d been there for a few hours now – hours that Alex would usually spend in bed. Astra felt slightly sick actually, a reaction she didn’t usually have to this kind of situation. Maybe because this is Alex’s body, I’m reacting like this. It made sense – Alex herself, before her cell-mate directed her to sleep in Astra’s bunk, said her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies. That was Astra’s old reaction, before she trained her body not to react at all.
The door opened. Eliza and Astra looked up to see Jeremiah, who upon seeing them raised an eyebrow.
“Something wrong? Alex, why are you up at this time?”
“Jer, that’s not Alex,” Eliza said, sounding stressed. Jeremiah walked into the living room slowly, confused.
“Not…Alex?” He looked to her, and it was then he seemed to notice the apparent difference in eye-colour. “Oh. Oh…well, hello. What’s your name?”
“General Astra, of the House of Ze,” Astra replied, making sure to speak in English. “It is an honour to meet Alexandra’s parents.”
“Uh, okay…where is Alex then?”
“That’s the problem, Jeremiah,” Eliza fretted, “Astra is in some sort of- some sort of military base. Jer, she’s an adult, in a prison.” Jeremiah paled, while Astra swallowed, discreetly rubbing Alex’s eyes.
“She’s asleep right now. My cell-mate realised our…predicament, and put her to sleep. She will be protected, until I can return.”
“What if it takes you both to get back?”
“I can wake her if that is so,” Astra replied, “But I would rather speak to you first. There are certain things you need to know – the first of which, is that I am Kryptonian. I am not human, and I am not going to escape my prison any time soon.”
What?
Astra’s eyes widened.
Alexandra – you heard that? You aren’t even awake!
What do you mean? I’m Looking through your eyes.
“Astra?”
“She’s asleep, but somehow she’s Looking – are there signs?” Astra met eyes with Jeremiah, letting him look her over. “Is there a circle of colour? A distinct feature?” He made a confused face and Astra realised she was speaking in Kryptonian – she repeated it all in English.
“There isn’t any sign she’s there – your eyes are still…honey, is that green or blue?”
“I don’t know, both?” Eliza put in. Astra opened her mouth to speak, wishing she were in her own body as she yawned-
Then she was travelling forward, body pitching forward before she banged her head, letting out a yelp.
Her cell-mate poked her head down from the bunk above.
“Are you back then?”
Astra grimaced, rubbing her head.
“It seems so.” Alexandra? Are you alright?
I’m fine, but I’m tired. I’m going to bed now. Goodnight…
Astra. My name is Astra. You were very good, my heart, for not panicking. So good. Sleep well, Brave One. Goodnight.
Goodnight, Astra.
The next few years were filled with many accidents and incidents. Alex’s teachers were informed of the circumstances, in case Astra made an appearance, but quickly Alex was moved up several classes as her subconscious knowledge of mathematics and sciences from Astra became apparent. Eliza and Jeremiah were so proud, despite how her classmates called her ‘cheat’ and ‘fake’. With Astra’s encouragement, she was able to get past it all, ignoring them until she was pushed up past middle school to high school, taking Senior-level classes in all three sciences and maths.
She threw her first punch her first week there and broke her thumb. Eliza was mad, Jeremiah proud, and Astra showed her how to throw a real punch along with another two dozen fighting techniques.
Alex’s life passed by in a blur. Astra inspired her to take up martial arts, and more sports. Jeremiah supported her fully, and Eliza just wanted her to do good in school, which she did, getting a full ride into Harvard before she turned sixteen, the only condition being that she get an A in her SATS for English. She did that, and with it got an A in Computing Science and IT. She got into Harvard, and went there for a couple of years, coming out at twenty with a doctorate, PhD, and the offer to work in the Department of Extranormal Operations.
Astra and the Danvers were obviously horrified at how they treated aliens. Eliza and Jeremiah joined themselves, so that they could work together on overthrowing Hank Henshaw. They succeeded in two thousand and sixteen, when the Spectre was joined by a Martian and Henshaw tried to publically shoot him down – in front of everyone, the Danvers’ mutinied, the rest of the DEO falling in line quickly. Jeremiah became the new Director, and Alex, with his permission, let Cat and Kara Grant interview her.
It was during that interview that Astra took over.
Astra, what are you doing? Alex stood in her cell, furious as she Looked through her eyes, watching as her soulmate went over to Kara Grant, turning her to again see the tattoo that her backless blue dress revealed. Astra-
“Kara Zor-El,” Astra watched the Grant woman carefully. At first, Kara seemed befuddled, before she looked to her wife.
“Shut the doors.” The other blonde narrowed her eyes, supping her bourbon before shutting the doors to their fishbowl office, glaring at any employees who looked over in confusion. Alex and Astra. Kara narrowed her eyes at them, back straightening. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw how some of the employees began to worry, watching them without care. “How do you know that name?”
Astra went to speak, when Alex took control back, metaphysically batting Astra away from the controls.
“Sorry about that. My soulmate can take over my body when I’m not extra careful at stopping her. Astra didn’t know whether Alura got you away, was all.”
Kara’s eyes widened, shoulders dropping as she stepped back.
“You…you’re Aunt Astra’s soulmate?”
Alex smiled tightly. “This is a nice sort of coincidence, isn’t it?” She put her hand out. “Dr Alexandra Danvers, DEO Agent, your aunt’s soulmate, and someone who’s been wondering if you made it ever since Astra told me about you. I like to be called Alex.”
Kara didn’t bother taking her hand, instead hugging her tightly. Alex hugged her back, wincing slightly.
“You’re…strong. Yellow sun rays, I’ll assume?”
“They make me stronger,” the Kryptonian whispered, before stepping back, taking the outstretched hand from Cat. “She’s watching?” Alex nodded.
“Not in the drivers seat, but yeah, she’s watching, and she can hear you.”
Kara wiped her eyes carefully. “Astra, I’m really glad you’re alive. I don’t know how – I’ll ask Alex about that actually, in a minute – but I’m glad. Uncle Jor-El and Aunt Lara sent Kal-El behind me, after my mother and father got my pod out. His pod was a little bit late, knocked off-course-”
All of a sudden, Astra was pulled out of Looking, and Alex physically stumbled, grabbing onto the sofa for support as she felt the Bond tighten and stretch. A strangled gasp escaped her throat as it was pulled to it’s limit.
“Something’s wrong, something’s wrong-”
“Alex-” Kara grabbed her as she started to sway, “Cat, we need to call the DEO. Her father’s the Director.”
“Why?” The woman asked disinterestedly. Kara glared at her lightly, helping Alex down onto the sofa.
“Just call him – and then put your phone down, or you’ll cancel the meeting with Mayor Mills because she’s bringing Henry and Carter will get upset if you do that.” Cat bristled, but did as instructed, before Kara turned her attention to Alex, who was trying to metaphysically grab Astra, to pull her closer to her.
ASTRA! She called, desperate. Faintly, she heard a reply, that kept cutting out.
Fort Rozz is moving from the Phantom Zone- Brave One- be str- it disappeared, before Alex got out.
“It’s something to do with Fort Rozz. It’s leaving the Phantom Zone…fuck, this hurts.” She bit her lip, holding back a pitiful sound. Kara took her hands, holding them gently. Over at her desk, Cat dialled her father’s number.
“…is this Jeremiah Danvers?...Yes, it’s Cat Grant, no, she’s not fine. This Astra woman is moving through space out of a ‘Phantom Zone’ and their Bond is straining…my wife is the Spectre, a Kryptonian, this Astra’s niece, and yes, the line is secure. I’m a businesswoman, if it wasn’t, CatCo would have fallen over a decade ago…I’ll get her to bring her.” She hung up, looking over at them. “There’s some sort of facility out west in the desert. Bring her there.”
Kara nodded, before picking Alex up, going over to the balcony. Alex squeezed her eyes shut, hoping this meant what she thought it meant.
Please speak to me, Astra…because I think we’re going to be seeing in colour very soon.