Christ, everything hurt. Alex climbed slowly to her feet, testing out her arms and legs. Nothing seemed broken, just bruised or twisted or slashed all to hell. "I never should have trusted that bastard to land."
Speaking of Mon-El, where was he? She scanned the battered wreckage of his ship. The rough landing had ripped a hole in the hull. Sparks and pops announced electrical damage of some kind. Alex limped toward the ship. She didn't remember how she'd gotten outside, but she must have unstrapped from her seat on the bridge and walked under her own power.
A careful, painstaking (and painful) search didn't unearth Mon-El. Ready to collapse, Alex leaned against a rock shaded by the ship. As much as she often wanted to smack Mon-El, Alex was worried. Other than the hull breach, there hadn't been any more visible signs of external damage. He couldn't have been thrown from the ship without punching through the dome that covered the bridge.
Alex sipped at the water pouch she'd taken from the galley. The asteroid wasn't as bleak as it had appeared from the monitors. Sure, there was no vegetation. And it was hotter then Dante's ninth circle of hell. There was a wild beauty to it, though. Reminiscent of Arizona or parts of Nevada. It would be a great place to explore for lifeforms.
If Alex wasn't facing a short, brutal existence after having been shipwrecked. Closing her eyes, she confronted that possibility. The radio on the bridge appeared to be functional. That was fucking fabulous.
Getting rescued fell into the Good Luck, Sister category. She and Mon-El had used Brainy's spaceship for the trip. It was chock-full of 31st Century tech. There was nothing on Earth like it. Nothing.
Lena might be able to jury-rig Kara's pod. Even with all the Luthor genius and fortune behind the build, Alex calculated it would take a couple of years – best case scenario – before the pod would reach the asteroid.
Alex would burn through the food and water on Brainy's ship eighteen months before then.
That was assuming Kara didn't manage to kill Alex through the on-board radio the second she knew Alex wouldn't make it home in time for Jeremiah's birthday. Kara had not been a fan of Alex's plan to accompany Mon-El on the trip.
"Let Winn go. Or…Or Lena!" Alex had known Kara was deep in the Panic Zone when she tossed out Lena's name. Prying Kara away from her best friend was difficult enough when a Supergirl emergency happened. "Lena's just as smart as you."
Alex laughed out loud at the memory. Lena Fucking Luthor ran the most successful tech empire in the world. That's why Alex had been on the mission. Lena couldn't just disappear for a month or five on a wild goose chase for a rock, even if that rock could possibly help defeat the Worldkillers.
She was dragged away from her thoughts by the sound of shifting rock and the thud of footsteps. Head tilted, Alex realized that there was more than one person approaching.
Ducking behind a small outcrop, Alex drew her gun. Her mind raced. The ship's scanners had said the planet was uninhabited. Even if Mon-El was one of the people she'd heard, where had he found the rest of them?
"Alex?" Mon-El's voice called. "I've found some friends. You really need to meet them."
Despite a year on Earth and then however the fuck long in the future, Mon-El struggled with human facial and verbal expression. Alex wasn't sure if the emphasis was supposed to be sarcasm. She stayed hidden to be safe.
Another voice spoke.
Alex nearly dropped her favorite gun. The voice had spoken flawless Kryptonese. How was that possible? Throwing safety to the winds, Alex sprang from her hiding spot. "I'm right here!"
Mon-El popped into sight. "Alex!" His smile set her nerves jangling. "Look who I found!"
Three armed soldiers dragged him into full view. Soldiers in uniforms with the sigil of the Kryptonian Military Guild. Black dots swam in front of Alex's eyes. How…? She fought back the wave of dizziness and stared wide-eyed at Mon-El.
He mouthed, I know, back. "Sorry it took me so long to get back. I couldn't find you and then I ran into a Kryptonian military patrol. They were a little surprised to see the former Prince of Daxam on their new home."
One of the soldiers shoved Mon-El, and he stumbled. Alex raised her gun and pointed it at the self-righteous prick. A mere lieutenant, if Alex remembered correctly from Kara's rambling stories of Krypton when they were kids. "You dishonor your Guild and your House," she snapped in Kryptonese.
Kara said her accent was better than Kal's. It must have been decent because the soldier stiffened.
"The teachings of Rao are clear. Respect all living things, as they are His Children." Alex strode forward, holstering her gun. "We are here on a mission of mercy. I demand an audience with your commanding officer or your Council."
The lieutenant bowed his head in her direction. "All will be as Rao and the Council commands."
Alex wished she'd elected to stay at the crash site. Permanently. The hike through the asteroid's barren landscape was long. Hot and dry and long. Her left ankle was so swollen she wasn't sure she'd be able to remove her boot without cutting it off.
The three soldiers had kept her and Mon-El separated enough she hadn't been able to question him about discovering the Kryptonians.
When they crested yet another hill, Alex wasn't expecting to see a city. A city of soaring, spire-topped buildings encased in a clear dome.
"Holy shit! Argo City!" Alex said, stopping dead in her tracks. Kara had painted her childhood home so often that Alex easily recognized the familiar buildings. The cluster of tall buildings on the right that formed the residential district for the Great Houses.
A series of shorter, squatter buildings at the far edge of the city where the Guilds had their offices and Academies.
The soldiers, especially the lieutenant, observed Alex closely after her outburst. None of them spoke, however. They simply resumed walking.
Alex didn't care about her ankle's condition or the rest of her body aches. All she could focus on was Argo City. How was it possible? How had this sliver of Krypton survived? Urgency swept through Alex with the force of a tsunami. She had to tell Kara! Kara needed to know she wasn't alone anymore.
They entered the city through a well-guarded gateway. The dome shimmered as one of the soldiers raised a black box. One minute the dome was solid. The next, it disappeared and a military garrison appeared in its place.
"The Council waits for our guests," an officer with the rank slashes of a full Commander waved Alex, Mon-El, and their escorts into a troop transport.
Alex soaked it all up. The sights and sounds and smells of Kara's home. Inside the dome, the heat was tempered. The air carried the bite of alien spices. Peering through the windows, Alex watched people of all ages walk down pristine sidewalks and go in and out of shops and homes.
The journey was short. Ten minutes at most. Ten minutes to travel all the way across Argo City. They disembarked into an austere and imposing reception hall. Tall, vaulted ceilings hung with the banners of every Great House. Soldiers in the specialized tunics of the Council Battalion.
Kara's descriptions and artwork made it all so very familiar. Like coming home after a long trip.
She and Mon-El were led through wide corridors and into the Council Hall.
That's when the day grew truly surreal.
Alura sat at the Council table.
Alura.
Alura who didn't shimmer with the indistinct edges of a hologram.
Alura who clearly wasn't dead.
Alex's next breath stopped short in her throat. She stared at Kara's mother, noting the familial resemblance. It wasn't as easy to see in the holographic version. The high cheekbones; the line of Alura's jaw.
"Who are you? And why have you come to Argo City?" Another Councilmember demanded. His expression screamed disdain.
He didn't matter. Alura mattered.
Some of Alex's confidence crumbled. She was about to formally meet her mother-in-law on an alien planet with her wife (who Alura most likely believed was dead) still on Earth. Why did her life suck so much?
Throwing her shoulders back and assuming the pose of Director Danvers, Alex ignored the questions – and the Kryptonian asking them. She locked her gaze with Alura. "I am Alex Zor-El, wife of Kara Zor-El. I claim birthright in the Great House of El."
Alura's stoic expression changed as Alex spoke.
Alex reached for the necklace Kara had given her when their son was born. She lifted it over her head, the blue gem sparkling in the lights of the Council room. "I believe this was once yours," Alex continued in English.
"She's alive?" Alura's hand shook as she touched the necklace. "Kara's alive?" Tears streaked her face, the first positive emotion any of the Kryptonians at the table had displayed.
"Very much so." Alex relaxed enough to smile. She scanned the table, locating the Councilmember wearing the sigil of the Science Guild. "Would you be able to link one of your communications arrays with this mobile unit?" She stripped off the wrist unit Brainy had sent with them. It worked in conjunction with the communication system on the ship
"Lyr-Kann will be happy to assist you," Alura stated. She took the unit from Alex and personally handed it to the man in question. "I believe we have an array in this very room." It was like listening to Supergirl command troops.
Alex had to hide a grin with her hand. She was going to need a plan for when they connected with the DEO. Kara was going to implode when she saw Alura. When the knowledge that she was on Earth and Alura was in space set in… They'd be lucky if Kara didn't destroy the DEO with her laser vision.
Lyr-Kann got the wrist unit hooked up in minutes. Tech experts could rule the world if they cared about more than the latest cool toy. Conscious of her audience, Alex spoke to Lyr-Kann before calling the DEO. "Please keep the video off until I tell you to activate it."
He nodded and pressed a series of symbols on the tablet embedded in the table in front of him.
Alex toggled the wrist unit Alura had returned to her.
"Director?" Vasquez's voice filled the Council room.
Showtime. "Agent Vasquez, Mon-El and I are on the asteroid. We've made an unexpected discovery and I need to speak with Supergirl. Is she onsite?"
"No, Ma'am She left about an hour ago. Should I call her back?" Vasquez was a Godsend. She never asked for more information than she thought she needed. If Alex said they'd made a discovery, then Vasquez would wait until Alex decided to divulge the details.
"Can Brainy patch this signal to Supergirl's computer?" The habit of never calling Kara by her name on an open line held firm.
The line remained silent for a moment then Brainy spoke. "Director, I have Supergirl as requested. May I ask…"
If only the rest of Alex's team had Vasquez's love for the Chain of Command. "Belay that for the moment. Make sure this line is one hundred percent private. I want no other ears than mine and Kara's listening."
"Of course, Director," his smooth voice responded. "DEO Command dropping from the line."
Alex waited a heartbeat. "Kara?"
"Alex! Are you OK? Why can't I see you? I thought this thing had video, too?" Kara's voice sprang over the line in a rush.
"It does. I've got a surprise for you. Are you…are you sitting down?"" Alex's voice went tight as she imagined Kara's reaction. She nodded at Lyr-Kann. Every tablet at the table flickered with Kara's image and the wall behind the table displayed a life-sized version.
Kara was in their home office with Jerel in her lap. She was still in her Kara Danvers disguise, hair in a ponytail and glasses perched on her nose. The image smiled and then froze. One hand covered her mouth and thousands of lightyears away, Alex heard Kara's broken intake of air. "Mom!"