AN: Not mine.

God, I love this show. I'm so angry they killed Astra, though.

Alex Danvers nearly spills her coffee in shock as she hears screaming.

Granted, at the DEO it's not uncommon to hear some noise every now and again from one of the aliens inhabiting the underground bunker, but usually it's muffled by the thick walls and doors between the cell block and the main control room. The fact that it's now 2:45 in the morning also means that most of the prisoners are asleep, or doing whatever passes for sleep in their species. But Alex has never heard screaming like this before, and she knows for a fact that she's the only agent still here. If Hank—J'onn—knew, he'd have a fit, but she's desperate to try and find out what the Rozz escapees are planning before it's too late. Besides, it's obviously tearing Kara apart to consider her aunt her enemy, and the sooner this ends, the better it will be for her.

Speaking of which.

Alex nearly sprints down the corridor, her hand on her gun even though she instinctively knows she won't need it. The screaming gets louder and louder, heartbroken, agonized screams, and it tears at her heart as she skids to a stop in front of one of the cell doors and hastily punches in the code to unlock it. It seems to take forever for the slab of steel to retract into the wall, but once there's a gap big enough for Alex to slip through, she does so immediately. "General!" she shouts, eyes going wide at the sight before her. Even with the screaming, she never expected….this.

The proud, fierce Kryptonian general is lying on the floor of her cell, her body spasming and contorting as if she's in unbearable pain. Her hands slam against the floor, and Alex takes a moment to be grateful for the kryptonite inhibitors that are probably the only reason the cell is still standing. With a jolt of shock, she sees tears running down the alien woman's face. "KARA!" Astra screams, thrashing so violently that it's a wonder she hasn't broken anything. "KARA!"

Alex moves without thinking, opening the cell door and stepping inside. She isn't really sure how to wake the woman up without getting a fist to the face, but Astra must be a really light sleeper, because as soon as Alex nears her, her eyes snap open and she knocks Alex's feet from beneath her. The human woman is caught totally off guard, and she lets out a yelp of surprise as she crashes to the ground.

Astra rolls to her feet and then stops, staring down at the agent. "Brave one?"

"Don't call me that," Alex groans, sitting up and rubbing her bruised ass. "That's what I get for trying to be nice."

"Would you prefer 'Helgrimmite killer'?" Astra asks with an attitude that on anyone else would be called 'mischievous'. Alex rolls her eyes, but before she can say anything else, the taller woman frowns. "What are you doing in here?"

"You were screaming in your sleep." Alex slowly pushes herself to her feet. "Screaming for Kara."

Astra's face goes completely blank. Alex can almost see the walls dropping into place, see the key turning in the lock. "You need not concern yourself with me." She turns away. "You may leave, Agent Danvers."

Alex blows out a breath, runs a hand through her hair. Damn her if she knows why (she does know; it's Kara, always Kara), but she feels…wrong…leaving Astra alone like this. "Kara had nightmares when she first got here. Sometimes she still does. I know a bad dream when I see one."

"This is none of your concern," Astra hisses, turning back to face her. With a chill, Alex realizes the cell door is still open, although the Kryptonian either doesn't realize this or doesn't care. Then again, with the kryptonite inhibitors in effect, Alex would probably be fast enough to get a shot off if Astra chose to make a break for it. She slowly steps in between Astra and the door, a move that doesn't go unnoticed. The taller woman snorts and rolls her eyes. "Oh, please. If I wanted to be out, I would be."

"A prisoner who doesn't want to escape?" Alex crosses her arms.

Astra smiles, the expression soft and gentle. It looks oddly out of place on her normally-stoic features, but something in Alex's chest leaps at the sight. "I get to see my niece more often when I'm here."

She's good at reading people, and there's no deception in Astra's eyes. She really is here just for Kara. Granted, that does nothing to improve Alex's opinion of her sanity, but….."You really love her," Alex says quietly.

"I would die for her. She is as precious to me as my own child would be." Pain flashes through Astra's eyes. "But she despises me."

"Well, you are a crazed ecoterrorist," Alex says bluntly. "She's all about protecting people and you're all about killing them."

"I am trying to save this planet!" Astra isn't that much taller than Alex is, but suddenly she's looming over the human woman, her hazel eyes burning with anger. "Your kind are an infection, a plague; you take and take and think nothing of the consequences! I could not save Krypton, but I swear by the blood in my veins that I will die before I let the earth suffer its fate!"

Okay, this is….kind of terrifying. Alex doesn't scare easily, but right now she's pretty sure that if Astra were at full power, she would have been incinerated. She backs up instinctively until her knees hit the small lip of stone against the wall, but she doesn't back down, staring right up into Astra's eyes. They stand like that for a moment before something like a smile crosses the Kryptonian's lips. "I was right about you. You have the heart of a true warrior."

Alex's heart is beating hard. Absently she wonders how she never noticed before that Astra's eyes really are beautiful. Her own eyes are brown, of course, and Kara's are blue, but Astra's eyes are this lovely shade of blue-grey-green and—where the fuck did that come from? She licks her suddenly dry lips; Astra is way too close. "Move."

"Your heart is racing, brave one." Astra strokes her cheek. "Are you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid of anything you can do to me." The only thing Alex truly fears is losing her family, but she's not about to admit that to Astra, even if Astra probably already knows. "And right now, I'm pretty sure I could wipe the floor with you."

Astra leans in and noses Alex's neck, and Alex can't quite hold back a soft gasp of surprise and…..something else that makes her feel like her muscles are liquidizing into magma. The Kryptonian lingers for a moment before stepping back almost lazily, letting Alex move from her trapped position. There's a sly look on Astra's face that Alex doesn't like at all, but her eyes are soft as she says, "Good night, Agent Danvers."

Alex has to force herself not to bolt from the room.