Summary: AU in which Astra rules earth and Kara must find a way to reconcile her own morality with Astra's edicts regarding her house's future and humans. Warning: there is a bit of General/Danvers here. Nothing graphic, but it's not of a healthy/happy variety.
Author's Notes: I had two different versions of this AU in my head where Astra has taken over earth in a pretty despotic fashion. In one version, Kara was sympathetic to humans and one where she wasn't. Wrote the first chapter of the sympathetic version up, but got another idea (Chasing Fog) and found that more compelling, so off I went. Ran across this while looking for something else, and realized I kind of liked it as a standalone that leaves them with a bit of potential.
Warning: Includes mentions of rape/non-con and the AU includes sexual slavery.
Into the Breach
"Astra—" Kara Zor El began, her tone making it clear she was uncomfortable with the topic at hand.
For once, the young woman's aunt was in no mood to indulge her whims. Astra In-Ze's voice was hard as she cut her off. "This isn't negotiable, Kara." She pivoted, absently reaching out to pat the dark haired woman standing quietly to one side, a squirming infant in her arms whose resemblance to both women was unmistakable. "The House of El is too important to be allowed to fade away because of some outdated concept of morality that your mother endorsed...and which helped get her and much of our world killed."
Kara flinched, and her chin tipped fractionally higher, but she didn't argue. She'd learned it was safer for all involved if she simply listened respectfully when Astra went on one of her rants.
"I'm aware of your disapproval, little one," Astra chided, "but if I hadn't escaped and defied Alura's laws, you and Kal El would be the only survivors of our entire world." She turned to peer at the baby, her gaze softening with love.
Kara winced as she noted no such softening in the expression of the woman holding the baby.
"My beautiful little Jin Astra-Ze would not exist." Astra used the Kryptonian naming conventions as though she was the infant's father. She looked up and ran a light hand up the brunette's cheek. "And Alexandra and I would not even now be expecting our second child." She leaned close, claiming unresisting lips in a possessive kiss before looking over at her niece. "I think you will find a human thrall can be a great comfort when the problems of this world feel too great."
Uncomfortable, Kara looked away.
A hint of a smile on her lips, Astra broke the kiss and turned toward Kara to fix a hard gaze on the girl. "You have a week to choose...and if you haven't done so, I'll choose for you." She straightened her shoulders, looking every inch the queen she had more or less become in conquering and naming herself chancellor of all of earth. "And if that human isn't pregnant with your child within three cycles, I'll have it put down and we'll start over."
Kara froze, well aware her aunt was more than capable of following through on the threat. She'd already subdued the humans and cold bloodedly winnowed their population down by over thirty percent since her arrival. Killing one more would mean nothing to her. As much as Kara hated the idea, she had no choice. She lowered her head in submission. "Of course, Aunt Astra. As you wish." When she looked up, she couldn't help but see the loathing that briefly flickered in Alex's dark eyes.
It chilled her to the bone, leaving her to wonder how much of that hate was for her aunt, how much for her, and Rao help them all, how much for the babe in arms and the other in her belly.
Kara had seen it more than once; that look in human eyes when they looked at their own children by their new masters.
It wasn't an outcome she had any intention of allowing for a child of hers. Her parents might not have had a love match like her uncle, Jor El and his wife, but they'd respected and cared for one another and both had adored and protected her. She spent those years feeling safe and loved.
"Very well then," Astra said, though her gaze was still sharp as she peered at Kara, making it painfully clear she wasn't especially mollified by her niece's apparent capitulation. She was well aware of Kara's disapproval and passive resistance to her rule. "Choose who you will...but understand, you still have only than cycles...more than adequate time, I think."
Kara merely nodded. She'd thought Astra would accept her surrender more gracefully and back off on her demands, but she wasn't foolish enough to argue with Astra. Three months could easily be reduced to two or even one if she wasn't very careful. Astra was not above destroying a human to punish to defiance "Very well," she said with a faint inclination of her head. "Of course I'll do my duty."
"See that you do," Astra said very softly. "That is, if you place any value on the whatever human you choose." Her gaze swung to touch on her thrall. "Alexandra, see my niece out...then join me on the balcony," she commanded and swept out.
"Come," Alex said simply and gestured Kara toward the entrance.
Kara followed, but the encounter left her sick with shame. After all, if not for the Danvers helping her, she might well have perished when she crashed on earth. She owed them her life, and in payback, they'd ended up exposed to Astra, Jeremiah had lost his life as punishment for the direction of his research, Eliza had been locked away and Astra had taken Alex as her own. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as they reached the front door.
"Why?" Alex asked, her voice flat and unemotional. She pivoted to face Kara. "I belong to the most powerful woman on earth. I have her child and it keeps my mother is safe."
"No one should belong to another person," Kara said very softly. "It's not how we were—"
"It's the only way," Alex interrupted, still using that same, inhumanly unemotional tone. "Earth would have been doomed without Chancellor In-Ze. She saved us and she..." The words choked off for the briefest second, then she straightened her shoulders and swallowed hard, speech momentarily too difficult. "She's saved your people and mine. We're both stronger for her tireless and selfless work."
Kara knew perfectly well Alex was lying, but challenging her wasn't doing her any favors, not when Astra could easily hear them if she cared to listen in. "I understand," was all she said. Her heart heavy, she stepped out onto a platform high above the surface of the earth and flew.
Determined to follow her aunt's commands as quickly as possible in hopes of blunting any risk to others, Kara moved quickly through what she could only think of as a slave market, even if it was the slaves in question begging for the deal, often in very explicit and crude terms. What other choice did they have? If they refused to place themselves in Kryptonian custody, there were no laws to protect them, and Kryptonians had proven themselves as capable of cruelty and lecherous behavior as any other species. Anything could be—and was—done to the humans. Even in custody, they were next to nothing until claimed and she'd heard rumors about the treatment meted out by the guards that curdled her blood. Meanwhile, human males were being systematically sterilized and/or put down, while the women were treated like nothing but chattel, sexual playthings and engines for procreation with little to no say
in their treatment. Yes, technically, they had to agree to any custodial arrangements, but in reality, they had few choices, and no rights.
Her mother would have been utterly appalled. This wasn't the justice system she'd fought for all her life.
Unfortunately, it was the system in place, and much as she hated it, she couldn't change things, at least not quickly, and with Astra's latest edict, she had little choice in the matter. If she didn't give in, some poor innocent would suffer. Perhaps this way, she could at least make something positive of the whole mess.
As she moved past the cells, silently hunting for something, though even she wasn't quite sure what, she felt nothing but pity for the women offering themselves to her in the most explicit ways. More than a few small children were stirred among the adults, still young enough that the law allowed their mothers to keep them, though soon enough she knew any Kryptonian owners would have the right to send them away. Or worse. She saw a few possibilities, but when she scanned the database on her mobile comm unit, none of them were likely to be capable of what she needed.
She needed someone strong enough and more important, smart enough to see the advantage of what she could offer, someone who could bring skills to complement her own, someone who still had enough to lose to risk not hiding in the crowd. She needed a partner, not a slave.
Approaching the last cell on the floor, she eyed those inside, ignoring the pretty brunette pressed against the transparent, plex walls making obscene gestures. Another woman briefly made eye contact, but she made no effort to hide her hate. Kara might pity her, but she needed someone she could work with. Then her gaze fell on a blonde in the back. She looked to be a little older than the others and paid no attention to Kara, which was unique enough to be noticed—even most humans would recognize the house shield on her chest—but what really caught Kara's attention was the boy sitting with the woman. Nearly as tall as she was, lean, but healthy looking, he appeared to be in his early to mid teens, which was unheard of in custody. Girls might be left with their mothers, but boys much past toddlerhood were diverted to work camps or worse. Yet there he was, hale and healthy. Seeing the resemblance and the way the woman kept a protective arm around him, there was no doubt in Kara's mind he was her child.
She focused the datacomm on the woman, pulling up the embedded data on the tracking chip embedded in the necks of all custodials. She was one Catherine Jane "Cat" Grant, former journalist and publisher. Prior to the arrival of the Kryptonians and the defeat of Earth, she'd been wealthy and powerful and regularly appeared on human media to address the populace. She was older than most women considered acceptable for breeding, but still fertile and had been given health and fertility treatments on being taken into custodial charge to guarantee her continued value. Despite that, she'd been taken off all holds. If not chosen soon, she would likely be put down. The order had been given by Non personally after he'd paid her a visit.
Which undoubtedly meant Catherine Grant had turned him down.
Kara smirked at that news. Her 'uncle' fancied himself quite appealing, and seemed to enjoy possessing his own harem. He also had an ego that demanded worship. He must have been furious.
And yet she'd still managed to refuse him and keep the boy with her.
How? There was nothing in her description to answer the question, only a note from a guard that she'd proven 'Uncooperative' and another listing her as 'Difficult'. The boy was mentioned only in a footnote to her entry. If the mother was put down, he was to be sent with her as he was considered "without intrinsic value".
The phrasing turned Kara's stomach. To reduce a child, any child to such a bloodless statement horrified her, especially given how children had once been valued on Krypton. After a moment's thought she tugged on a passing guard's sleeve. "That one," she told him as she sent the information to his comm. "I need to speak to her in a private room."
He blinked, staring at her for a long moment. "Private room?" he repeated doubtfully. He scratched the back of his neck and peered around himself. "We don't really have privacy here." He shrugged. "Mostly visitors just use the cells. Not like the humans can do anything about it." Another shrug. "The beds aren't comfortable, but not like they use them for long."
Struggling not to think about what that meant, Kara sharpened her glare. "I need to speak to her," she snapped, putting extra emphasis on the speaking as she noted he was a Daxamite. Not the brightest bunch, or much on ethics or the decent treatment of women either. Plus he was doubtless from Fort Rozz. All in all, not good. "Anything will do," she said, her tone imperious. Like it or not, being Kryptonian gave her power, and for once, she was willing to use it.
"You can use the guard quarters, I guess." He swung his gaze toward the woman and her son and grinned. "I'll look after the kid while you're busy." He put an ugly, suggestive spin on the words that set her teeth on edge.
"You'll do no such thing," she growled and shoved him toward the pass-through that let guards enter the cell without risking an escape attempt by multiple prisoners. "You'll bring them both, untouched, to me."
He looked startled for a moment, then smirked. "Oh." He cast a speculative look her way. "Like that, huh? Wouldn't mind using that pair, myself."
She could almost see his stomach-churning fantasies reflected in his leer. She noted the name chip on his collar—Lar Gand—and resolved to make certain he was moved to some other duty, preferably one in the most miserable spot in the galaxy where there was absolutely no one he could abuse. However, that was a problem for another day. "Just get them and keep your hands to yourself."
His expression crunched into a resentful sneer, but he didn't argue, though he grumbled under his breath as he entered the cell.
Kara seriously considered just tearing the door open and pulling them out, but held back. Some of the women would likely run and Astra would punish them not her. She kept an eye on the Daxamite though, glaring when he grabbed the woman—Catherine, she reminded herself—and latched electronic cuffs on slim wrists. They would allow a full range of motion unless she resisted in some way, then they'd snap together. He shoved her toward the cell door, then grabbed the boy and cuffed him as well. That done, he pointedly grinned at her and trailed a hand down the boy's back in a way that made the teenager quake.
Kara took a half step forward and glared, her voice a low growl too soft for the humans to pick up, but loud enough for the Daxamite's superior hearing. "Do not touch him again, Lar Gand," she warned while the boy hurried forward and slipped under his mother's protective arm.
The guard's expression pursed into an angry frown, and he looked up to glare her way.
Kara was surprised to see Catherine—or did she use Cat—pick up on the silent conflict and follow the line of his gaze. She frowned ever so slightly as she got a look at Kara, who tried to look as nonthreatening as she was able before she looked back to the guard with a forbidding stare and shook her head ever so slightly.
His jaw clamped down, but he didn't quite make touch either of them as he urged his charges toward the exit.
Kara stood braced, watching forbiddingly the entire time it took them to make their way through the tightly packed cell, startled by how possessive she felt. As both humans stepped into the corridor along the cells, she moved forward, putting herself between them and the guard to make sure he got the point.
His chin rose pugnaciously and he glared at her for a long moment, trying to stare her down. Women on Daxam were expected to always defer to the males and clearly he expected the same from her.
Kara just shook her head and smiled. She was Kara Zor-El, last scion of the House of El, a member of the ruling family of this world. She might have things to fear, but not from him.
The staring match went on for a long moment, then finally, his eyes dropped and he waved toward a door at the back of the area. "There's a rest area for the guards back there. Of course, you're welcome to use it, Madame." Kara heard his teeth grind, but he was smart enough not to argue, just grumble, "It's sound proofed, per the chancellor's standards."
It was Kara's turn to smirk. "See that we aren't disturbed," she instructed imperiously.
Every muscle in his body tense, he looked like he'd enjoy slinging a punch, but he just nodded.
Settling a hand on Cat's shoulder, Kara guided her toward the room in question, but made no effort to touch the boy, leaving his mother to pull him along. Instinct told her any contact would likely be read as a threat, and that was the last thing she wanted. Despite any effort to appear otherwise, Catherine Grant was terrified. Kara could hear every hard, hammering beat of her heart. "Inside," she instructed as she pushed the door open and ushered them in, then followed and pushed it shut behind herself. By the time she looked up again, the woman had spun and shoved her son behind her. Kara tipped her head to one side, brows drawing into a frown as she noted the way the other woman's hands tightened into fists and she braced her feet as if ready for a fight. She shook her head, her voice as gentle as she could make it as she simply said, "Don't be a fool."
Blonde brows drew into a frown, but the human made no effort to attack, just stood braced and waiting.
With a small nod, Kara stepped past the prisoners and took a seat at the small table in the center of the room. She peered up at Catherine Grant curiously as the woman did a slow turn and stared at her. "Sit." She gestured to the chair on the other side of the table. "I'm not here to harm you...or the boy." Kara didn't expect a sudden explosion of trust, but she hoped it would ease some of the tightly packed terror she saw in hazel eyes.
There was no sign it had any effect. The human remained where she was, stiff and scared. The boy started to lean around her as if he might step forward, but she clamped onto her son's arm to keep him firmly behind her.
Kara tried again. "Do you prefer to be called Catherine or Cat?"
The question drew a frown as though the woman was struggling to make sense of the words. "I...Cat," she said at last.
It was a start.
"Cat, then." Kara nodded politely in acknowledgment. "I'm Kara Zor-El of the House of El."
Cat's eyes went to the right shoulder of Kara's formfitting black uniform. "I recognize the crest."
"Good. That means you likely have some idea who I am."
Cat managed a small, stiff nod. "You're related to Chancellor In-Ze." Something dark flared in her eyes before it was quickly smothered and hidden away.
"She's my aunt." Kara sighed softly, uncertain how to phrase what she needed to say. Under the circumstances, Cat Grant had no reason to trust her, and likely every reason to hate all of them. She thought of Alex, bound to Astra and looking at her child with neither love nor affection. Astra either didn't see or more likely, chose not to, but Kara wouldn't see that future for her child "She's tasked me with taking a human and producing a child to continue my house," she tried to explain.
Cat shrugged, trying to look disinterested, but the fear in her eyes only multiplied and Kara could see the way she held more tightly onto her son's arm.
"What's your son's name?" Kara asked, thinking maybe it would reassure them both if she tried to show some interest and some indication she didn't see him as simply a thing to be discarded.
Cat jerked back a step, her eyes full of panic. "Why?" she hissed.
"Because you've somehow kept the boy alive and with you under very difficult circumstances."
Cat didn't reply.
"You must love him very much," Kara observed quietly.
The human's expression didn't change, but her pulse rate increased. "He's everything to me," she choked out.
Kara nodded, certain she'd just misstepped and uncertain how to fix the mistake. "I believe you." She studied the boy. He was a handsome young man. Though slighter than a Kryptonian child, she could see the beginnings of maturity in sharpening features and a bit of muscle in his arms and shoulders. "Keeping him with you, alive, safe...it can't have been easy..."
Green eyes flashed with raw rage, and Cat's lips drew back from her clenched teeth in a snarl. "So, what, you'll offer to relieve me of my burden?" she sneered and shook her head. She'd had other 'offers' by the sick perverts who oversaw the humans. Legally, they couldn't just take him, but if she signed him over... "Or perhaps—"
"No!" Kara fixed a confused gaze on the other woman, her voice and expression desperate enough that she looked frightened for a moment. "I'm offering to share it...to see to his safety as well as yours."
That knocked the snarl right off Cat's face. "Wha'?" The statement was so inconceivable that she didn't trust her hearing.
Well, at least she had the human's attention now. Kara leaned forward ever so slightly, her gaze intense as she explained. "Astra wants me to take a thrall—has threatened to choose one for me if I don't. She'll put them to death if they aren't pregnant in three cycles." She shook her head slowly. "I despise the practice, but I have no choice."
Still listening. That had to be an improvement.
"But I'm hoping that if I have to do this," Kara continued, "maybe I can find a way to do it in a way I can live with."
Cat froze, staring at Kara as though she might just be mad.
Perhaps she was, Kara mused. Given everything going on, it seemed likely someone was. "I see the human women..." Her gaze fell away as she tried to explain. She couldn't look at this woman and face the truth. "Too often they look at their own children with disdain...even hate." She looked up again, desperation in her gaze. She felt as much a prisoner as the humans in some ways. "I won't have that for my child...I can't." Her gaze shifted to touch on the boy. "I can't offer you love, but I can offer you and your son the protection of my house. I can promise to fight for both of you...and in return, all I ask is that you fight for any children of ours as fiercely as you've fought for him...and that you find a way to love them no matter how they were conceived or what world their other parent might be from."
Cat was silent. Her mouth worked as though she started to speak, but couldn't. She just stared at Kara in disbelief. "
"Mom," the boy whispered, "you don't have to—"
"Quiet, Carter," Cat hissed as she twitched back to life and shook off the momentary paralysis. She tipped her head to one side, studying Kara as if she might divine the truth.
"Carter is your name?" Kara deliberately addressed the boy.
He nodded, watching her with an expression that was somewhere between a glare and a plea.
"I had an ancestor named Kar...Kar-El. He was a great scholar. As my son, you'll need a Kryptonian name. I would be pleased if—"
"Your...son?" Cat exhaled as though she'd been struck.
Kara nodded as she realized the other woman hadn't understood what she was offering. Sometimes she forgot how little humans understood Kryptonian culture. "I'm sorry. Before, I didn't explain well. I thought you'd understand when I offered the protection of my house." She looked back and forth between the two of them. "I'm talking about marriage. Nothing else would work." She paused for a brief second as she struggled to organize her thoughts. She thought she'd planned what say. She realized now, she hadn't understood them well enough to do it right. "On Krypton, if you marry someone who already has children, they become yours as well."
"B-but Kryptonians can't marry...us..." Cat trailed off and shook her head.
"We may marry who we wish. Most don't choose humans...or even marriage anymore...but there have been seven marriages between humans and Kryptonians and our government fully recognizes them. I checked and the couples have been left in peace." She looked at Carter. "None of the women entered the relationships with children, but I believe Astra will respect the old laws enough to allow him a life." She shook her head sadly. "They won't let him have children, but as my son...as a member of the House of El, I believe even Astra won't fight allowing him a reasonable degree of freedom and an education."
Cat's head fell forward and she dragged in a ragged breath. Marriage? To a Kryptonian? From what she'd read that would grant them both, if not full legal rights, then a level of protection nearly unheard for humans under alien rule. This was more than she'd had any hope for.
"Can you love a Kryptonian child?" Kara whispered. Everything came down to that. It was why she was willing to make this deal and go against everything her mother had believed in.
Brushing her stomach with her palm, Cat considered the question, silently imagining what it would feel like to share a child with this woman. Despite everything, she had kind eyes and a gentle manner. She hadn't once given an order or touched her in any invasive way. She'd asked, invited, explained, but not commanded. If it was an act it was a good one, and Cat couldn't think of any reason to pretend. Kara Zor-El was Krytonian. She could have anything she wanted, and nothing could stop her, at least nothing Cat could do. "I can love any child of mine, but can you respect a human?" Cat asked, needing to know for Carter's sake as well as any future children.
Kara wasn't the only one who'd seen parents with disturbing attitudes toward hybrid children.
Non's plans had been truly stomach churning.
Kara didn't hesitate. "Yes." Her gaze touched on Carter. "Mine or someone else's." She peered at Cat, taking in delicate features and intelligent eyes. It rattled her to feel a rush of possessiveness, not cruel or mean, but definitely powerful, and a sense that these two were meant to be hers, and she was meant to hold and protect them in a world that considered humans as nothing. "And I can absolutely respect anyone who would fight so hard for their child." She glanced at Carter again, then back to Cat, her voice gentle as she added, "My crest, it's my family's motto, 'El mayarah.' It means stronger together." She held out a hand. "Give me chance, and I think we can live that motto...and build a family together. Please..."
Cat stared for a long moment, then finally nodded and reached back. "Together."
End