There. I wrote a fanfic inspired by a tumblr post. Major angst and sad ending. Also, I was inspired by Justice League: God and Monsters for this. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters referenced here.
It's a little after noon when he wakes up, and he can feel a headache already starting. He really should quit after one drink, but then, how will he ever fall asleep?
"Nightmares again?" Imra asks from the other side of the bunker.
He answers with a groan. "Anything happen today?"
"No. Just the usual," Winn replies while typing furiously at the computer. "Few reporters missing again. Couple of more Silurians taken into interment camps. Oh, they unveiled another two dozen gas chambers today. And I think Mr. West from Resistance Delta 4 might have been taken into custody."
Mon el swallows. This is what the world has become. A world of death, pain and hatred. One ruled by Gods and monsters. A world shaking in fear at the mention of her.
Why did it have to come to this?
"Big day for you tomorrow," Imra says softly.
"Yeah. I get to kill the love of my life. If she doesn't kill me first that is," Mon el retorts drily.
"She killed the love of my life," she reminds him firmly but kindly. This isn't about revenge for her. It's about making sure people stop suffering. It's about saving children and adults and elders from the horrors that await them. It's the right thing to do. The only thing they can do. Cut the head off and the body withers away. They have to do this.
He knows it too. He's resigned himself to his fate, to the role he has to play. But God, does it hurt!
He places a hand on his chest, lightly caressing the necklace he still wears around his neck. "Walk me through scenario 53 again."
The place is as guarded as it was the last time he was here. He doesn't understand why the most powerful beings on the planet need such protection. Yes, the world wants them dead, but nobody would be foolish enough to try. Nobody except him, that is.
"Oh, if it isn't the space puppy," Dark Flash taunts him the second he enters the room. "Come to see your girlfriend again? Maybe 108th time's the charm. Maybe she'll give up all of this and go have babies with you."
"I know we can't kill him, but we don't have to keep letting him into this place," Dark Arrow comments.
Dark Flash smirks. "I know. But I just really enjoy the look of utter defeat on his face. It's like my very own production of post apocalyptic Romeo and Juliet. Really makes my day."
Mon el grinds his teeth. Wells has no idea how right he may be. This may be how the play will end today.
"Give us the room," she barks the moment she flies in. The air in the room changes in her presence. Something dark and heavy fills up the space. Her team leaves hastily without argument. She gives their retreating forms one last glare before she turns her attention to him. "Get out. Now."
He looks up at her, at the same blue eyes that he used to wake up to every morning once upon a time. They're still shining like he remembers, but they've become so cold. "It's good to see you, Kara."
"Don't call me that," she growls in a dangerously low voice, her eyes red in the early hint of her death ray. "I'm Overgirl. Kara Danvers is dead."
He's never been afraid of her. Not when she was furious because he forgot to pay the bills, or take out the trash or restock the fridge with pies or call her when he reached work, or got into drunken arm-wrestling with Winn. And certainly not when he's the only thing standing between her and the end of the world. He meets her eyes and challenges her. "Then why do you keep letting me in?"
She sighs, taking a step towards him. "Because a part of me hasn't given up on you yet. There's still time for you to join us. We could be together. We could be happy again. We could rule."
"You mean kill," he corrects.
She closes the distance between them and pleads him with her eyes. This is the closest to human that he has seen her in the last two years. "It's the only way to keep people safe."
"Safe?" Mon el scoffs. "Sure. Killing babies is keeping people safe."
"They'd grow up to be monsters," she says stonily. "I'm eliminating the threats before they can even pose a threat.'"
"You don't know that. People aren't born evil. It's life that can make them who they are."
"And here we go," she mumbles under her breath.
"It's their choice. Everyone has a choice. You taught me that. You have a choice too, Kara."
She feels a familiar feeling of rage taking over her, and her voice drops in pitch. "You know who didn't have a choice? Alex. Eliza. Jeremiah. Maggie. Remember them? Happy little family, out on a double date till a Silurian comes by and rips their hearts out with its tongue?"
"What happened to them was horrible, and I am sorry," he says honestly. He's the one who leaves lilies on their graves every Sunday. He misses them too. "But it's not a justification for what you're doing now."
"I'm doing what needs to be done to make sure nobody suffers like them," she says adamantly.
"No, you're not. You're the only making people suffer. Do you think this is what your family would have wanted?"
"Doesn't matter. They're dead," she answers coldly.
"Well, I'm not." Tentatively, he reaches out and places his hand on her cheek. It's a little surprising at how warm it still is, and he's more surprised when she leans into the touch instead of pulling away. His eyes well up with tears. He has to get through to her. "I still love you, Kara. I still believe there's good in you. You haven't lost everything. You still have me. Come home to me, please."
"You know I can't."
"Yes, you can," he insists. "Please, I'm begging you. I can't watch my wife kill innocent people anymore."
She takes a step back, her eyes turning into pits of black hole. "I thought you changed your mind. Clearly, you didn't. Well, this was fun. We should do it again. But I've gotta go now."
Mon el freezes. He knows where she's going. He knows there's a poor man strapped into a machine, and she's going to use Kryptonian technology to harness his power to unleash nuclear fire into this world. He knows he has to stop her.
One way or the other.
"Kara, wait, just," he calls out before she can fly away. "Just let me hold you for a moment, please?"
She looks skeptical. "What? You think my feelings would come flooding back and I'd come back to you?"
"No. I just really miss you," he confesses.
She hesitates. She's Overgirl. Conqueror of worlds, Victor of planets. She's strong and ruthless and cold and everything else she needs to be. She cannot let the past make her weak. Not now. Not after everything she's done. "You should leave," she suggests.
"Then at least let me say goodbye," he pleads. "Please?"
"You promise to leave me alone if I do?" she bargains.
Mon el swallows hard. He can tell his voice is about to break. "I promise I'll never see you again, Kara."
She thinks it over for a moment. They can't keep doing this. They can't keep batting for opponents and hoping the other would join them. They're both stubborn. She needs to let him go now. "All right," she whispers. "I need you to go far away. Go some place where nobody can find you. And don't try to be a hero." She has to fight back unexpected tears. "Don't make me kill you, Mon el."
He wraps his arms around her, and the tears flow into her curls. He can feel her heart beating against his, her breathe on his neck, the scent of her still so familiar. This is Kara. The girl he met on New Year's eve when he was drunk driving and bumped his car into hers. The girl who beat him at hamburger eating contests every time. The girl who changed his ways and made him a better man. The girl who never gave up on him when he was being a total jerk.
The girl he has to give up on now, because she's not coming back.
Why did it have to come to this?
They find the bodies locked in embrace, their hands intertwined, their wedding bands shining in the light. Cause of death: Krpytonite to her heart, and a lead suicide pill for him. And the war on Earth X stops two years later.
A/N: Well, hope you like it!