Hello!

This will be a shorter chapter with the intention of updating not too late after! I just had an intense couple days and this is all I could get out.

Thank you for the beautiful reviews. You all inspire me so much. I'm not exaggerating. I read every single one and then reread them for inspiration.

Also - there are a LOT of chocolate people. Like almost everyone - where are you, my vanilla fans? (Fun reviewer fact: was the only one who prefered vanilla and Captain Canary has no preference which I find fascinating) Chocolate is pretty amazing though, my sister is a hardcore fan... as is everyone else in my family. I don't know. There's something amazing about vanilla.

Okay, back to the story - you obviously aren't here to read about my flavor preferences.

As I said - it's shorter, but the next one should be up sooner! I would love to hear your thoughts on what you think should happen next!

Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl. Nope. I don't. HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS HAVE TO BE RUBBED INTO MY FACE


Kara's head shot up as her aunt entered, and she quickly stood.

Her aunt nodded at Non, who quickly exited. Kara relaxed as the man left. He had made no move towards her, but there was something about him that made her uneasy.

"You kept your promise?" Kara stepped forward. "I want to see Alex."

"I kept my promise." Astra nodded and Kara could see truth in her aunt's eyes. She saw something else there, something surprising. Sorrow. "You will see your human friend very soon." There was a pause. "She truly cares for you."

"I know," Kara swallowed, wondering what the two had talked about.

"And you really do love her." Astra was looking out a window now, staring into the darkness outside.

"I do. She's like my older sister now, Aunt Astra." Kara paused. "I love you too," she told her aunt, stepping forward. "Always. You're my family." Another step forward. "I don't understand, why are you with these people who are hurting humans, why are you hiding, why are you so… so angry?"

Kara could read between the lines and she had heard Non talking to another alien over a communicator while they were waiting for Astra. She had seen the anger in those eyes that were so similar to her mother's, seen the fury, seen Astra push Alex into a wall… But she knew that Astra was good. This was her aunt. She had grown up sitting in her lap, learning about the stars, laughing and listening to stories.

Surely there was some reason. Maybe it was Non or…

"Some things, Little One, are impossible to explain." Astra finally turned around and Kara wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, but she thought she saw a tear fall down her aunt's face. "It's not safe for you here. I've made choices I cannot take back. I'm not the same person who you knew back on Krypton."

"But it's okay, you can come back," Kara grabbed her aunt's hand, as she had done so many times when she was little. "Come live with Alex and I, be on the good side."

"You are your mother's daughter," Astra smiled, yet her eyes held no joy. "Sometimes, Kara, there is no right or wrong, no good or bad… Sometimes it's just you trying to find your place in the universe. Sometimes doing what is good might look like doing what is bad."

Kara furrowed her brow. "I don't know what you're saying," she shook her head. "But I know that you're good," she insisted.

"If only the world saw the good in others the way you do." Astra's gaze softened for a moment. "If only I could." She turned away to look out the window again. "It's not safe for you here," she repeated.

"Why not? Why don't we leave together, if it isn't safe for me?" Kara asked.

"I can't." Astra's voice was quiet. "Maybe when you are old, you will understand, Little One. In the end, everything I do is for the good of this planet. They will tell you otherwise. They will talk about things they do not understand. That is why I am telling you this. Don't let them take me away from you. Hold onto the goodness of your aunt, okay?"

"I will," Kara nodded. "But I don't understand, are you leaving…."

"Shh." Astra cut her off, kissing her forehead before gathering her into her arms. "You do not need to understand right now." Kara relished the moment, feeling the security of her aunt's arms wrapped around her, yet her heart twisted with confusion. "If you ever need me…"

Kara felt something cold and hard pressed into her hand. She looked down to find an old spy beacon.

She could hardly process what she was seeing before the room burst into chaos.


Alex leaned heavily against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment and letting her exhaustion wash over her. Then she stood back up and focused on the door again.

Alex did not enjoy being locked into a room. As soon as Astra had left, Alex had begun her attack on the large wooden door, an endeavor that was so far of limited success. So far, she was pretty sure she had only aggravated her injuries.

She didn't know what she was going to do once she got out. Mostly her plan consisted of find Kara.

A wave of pain and nausea assaulted her head and Alex fought not to throw up. Putting a hand to her head, she winced even at the gentle touch, her fingers coming back stained red from the drying blood.

And then suddenly the door flew open.

"Agent Danvers!"

It was another DEO agent, fully dressed in mission gear. The man hurried forward, but Alex was already pushing him aside, running out the now-open door.

Shit.

Alex could see that the DEO was already swarming the building, and somewhere she heard a scream.

Kara.

By the time Alex made it to the room Kara and Astra were in, chaos had captured the space. Agents were drawing their glowing green weapons, Astra was destroying the room with her laser beam vision, melting guns in agents' hands. However there was only one thing Alex was looking for and she quickly found her.

Kara was backed into a corner behind Astra, blue eyes wide with panic, unmoving.

"Stop!" Alex yelled, getting in front of the agents, wincing as a final stray bullet grazed her arm. "Cease your fire!" She stood with her back to the Kryptonians, holding up her hands.

"Agent Danvers!" Director Henshaw roared. "Behind you!"

Alex turned to find Astra's eyes fixed on her, glowing as the woman slowly began rising up into the air. However, as the Kryptonian's eyes flickered away from her to behind her, Alex could see that it was not herself who was in danger, but the agents clustered around the door. She opened her mouth to try to interject when a different voice spoke up.

"I know you aren't going to hurt Alex, but don't hurt the others either. Please."

Kara had moved in front of her and Alex couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms around the younger girl. Kara leaned slightly into her touch, but did not otherwise acknowledge her, blue eyes fixed on Astra.

Astra's glowing eyes drifted back to Alex then back to Kara then to the agents behind them.

"I'm sorry, Little One."

The burning eyes began to shine.

A shot rang out somewhere behind them and Astra fell back, face paling as a cry of pain left her lips, one hand going to the green dart in her shoulder, tearing it out.

"No! Don't shoot!" Alex wrapped her body around Kara, the girl beginning to shake in her arms. "Don't shoot!"

Astra lifted further into the air, smashing through the window and heading out into the darkness. For a moment she hovered in the air outside and the world seemed to pause. In that moment, Alex made eye contact with Astra. The Kryptonian held her gaze for a split second. Alex wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, but she could swear she saw Astra nod ever so slightly at her.

And then Commander Astra was gone, leaving Alex staring at the dark sky where she had been.

Only Kara's choked sob tore her gaze away from the window.


Somewhere, Kara could hear Alex whispering in her ear, but the words were drowned out by the buzzing in her head. It was all too much.

"Try to trace the Kryptonians!"

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

"We've cleared the building."

"Call a medic, we have a couple agents down!"

Words and sounds began flooding into Kara's mind all at once.

"Alex," she whimpered, burrowing her head into Alex's chest, hands moving from clinging to the agent to covering her own ears.

"Kara?" Alex's voice hit her like a hammer as every noise in the room suddenly became amplified to a deafening roar. Kara shook her head, increasing the pressure with which she attempted to block her ears.

Music flooded into her mind, paired with a siren wailing, people chattering, someone laughing, someone crying, all the noises layering and overlapping, colliding and clashing in her brain, the sound reverberating against her skull.

Beneath it all, Kara heard a soft whisper.

"I'm sorry Kara."

Astra.

Then her aunt's voice was washed away by the avalanche of words and noises.

Somewhere she was aware that Alex was holding her tightly as her body rocked back and forth, but it wasn't enough, it wasn't stopping the deafening waves in her mind.

As panic gripped her chest, Kara felt her eyes begin to burn.

"Oh no," she moaned, pulling away from Alex. "No, no, no…"

Alex was trying to reach for her when the first blast of laser vision shot out.

"No, no, no, stay away!" Kara yelled, trying to simultaneously cover her ears and eyes. There was a noise behind her and Kara whirled around before she realized what she was doing, her eyes opening and pure energy pouring out.

Agents were yelling now, and somewhere she saw a flash of green.

Kryptonite guns.

She had seen them carrying them earlier.

Her heart rate spiked as fear entangled with her lungs, leaving her gasping for air.

Energy shot from her eyes once again as green filled her vision.

"Don't shoot! Stand down!"

This time Alex had succeeded in getting in front of her.

"Alex, I can't control it, I could hurt you…" Kara panted, keeping her eyes closed tight again. At some point she had fallen to her knees.

Alex sank to the floor in front of her, effectively blocking her from the other agents with her body. "You aren't going to hurt me, Kara."

"Don't let them… the kryptonite," Kara hated the way her voice trembled, but she knew it was coming. She had seen the agents raising their glowing guns.

"Rule number four," Alex told her firmly. "Follow my breathing. It's going to be okay."

Rule number four: no kryptonite.

Kara felt herself relax the tiniest bit as she thought about the rules, picturing the piece of paper hanging up in their house. Some of the noise in her head subsided.

"Focus on my voice. Just this sound, okay? See if you can close your mind to all the other noises. Just focus right here." Alex's voice was lowering in volume, the ends of her sounds softening as Kara felt her hearing gradually return to normal. "That's it. Open your eyes, kiddo."

Slowly Kara blinked open her eyes, staring at the ground, and was relieved to find that her eyes had stopped burning. She looked up slowly to find Alex smiling at her.

"There you are."

Kara tensed as agents rushed towards them "Hey, it's okay. You're staying with me," Alex grabbed her hand. "They won't touch you."

"You're hurt," Kara's eyes widened as she took in the blood staining the woman's face. Suddenly she remembered how Alex had been unconscious, then images flashed into her mind of Astra sending Alex flying into a wall…
"Hey. I'll be alright, and so will you, okay?" Alex ignored the medics scrambling about her, soft brown gaze fixed only on Kara.

"Okay."

But she wasn't.

Kara felt like she had been broken open, and sorrow was seeping into all her cracks.

One hand went to the spy beacon in her pocket, fingertips brushing against the cool metal, and with her other hand, Kara grasped Alex's, a tiny bit of her sadness disappearing.

Cracked as she may be, she wasn't alone.


Going to be honest, I almost cried when I wrote the convo between Astra and Kara. I hope you all liked it.

Looking for opinions on what should happen next. I have some ideas of course. They are fairly awesome and involve other characters. But I also want to know what you think! As I said - you all are my inspiration!

Question of the day: tea or coffee?

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (is it just me or did 2016 kinda suck?)