WHEW! This took a while to get through. But, here it is. The entirety of the Invasion crossover.
Well, okay, I cut the Arrow bits. Kara didn't have much impact on that part anyway. But in return, you get some extra material, more interactions with the other heroes, and a very special scene with Alex at the end.
What can I say, except: You're welcome.
…
I regret nothing.
Supergirl: Blood Ties
Chapter 8
Invasion!
Kara fished her apartment keys out of her purse, softly singing a little ditty that Shanoa had been singing earlier.
"Gráinne Mhaol…man, that is catchy."
She finally got her door open, only to see two people in her apartment. She froze for a millisecond before recognizing one of them.
"Barry?"
The lanky man waved lightly.
"Hi, Kara."
"I KNEW IT!" she shouted, all but flinging her groceries onto the table, "I knew that was you! I knew it was you in that…weird space portal thing!"
She rushed forward and gave him a quick hug.
"It's so good to see you!"
"You too," Barry said, hugging her back, "Yeah, it took a couple of tries to get here. Oh, and this is my friend, Cisco."
"Well, friend is a loose term, we work together," the Hispanic man added lightly, offering his hand.
"There's a story there, and I'll be hearing it later," Kara replied, shaking the offered hand.
"I have to say it, this is a nice universe you've got here."
"Thank you. Odd compliment, but thank you."
"It's an odd life," Barry said, "So, you remember last year, when I helped you out and you promised to do the same for me one day?"
"What are we up against?" Kara asked, slipping into seriousness.
"Alien invasion on our Earth," Cisco said, "Really big and bad guys. We're putting together a team. Barry said he knew a ringer."
"You're looking at her," Kara replied, a little smug.
"So you'll help?" Barry asked.
"Give me a minute to pack an overnight bag."
Kara super-sped to her room, just to show off. She heard Cisco yelp in shock.
"You did that on purpose!" came Barry's yell.
"Might've!" she called back.
Kara then pulled out her phone and dialed Alex, pressing it to her shoulder as she packed. She quickly explained the situation to her sister, asking to cover for her for a few days.
"After the chaos of Medusa, we've all earned a break. You sure you want to spend yours fighting more aliens?"
"A chance to get back to basics? No politics, no terrorism, no…"
Kara dropped her voice.
"Vampires? Heck yes. I need this, Alex."
"I guess. You want me to come? Or Shanoa? She was a big help during the Medusa thing."
"NO. This is a very simple alien invasion story. I do not want to taint this with anything about vampires. If Shanoa comes, my little blood problem is going to come out, and that's the last thing I need right now. I don't need anyone on the other Earth freaking out."
"Barry doesn't strike me as a guy who freaks easily, if what you've said is true."
"Maybe, but I don't know his friends. I am not letting this vampire thing ruin this mission for me, so it stays in the closet. And as for you, the DEO needs you riding herd on the Medusa remnants, they don't need me underfoot. And if there's something that needs to be punched, J'onn or Shanoa can handle it. Please Alex, I need this. Simple evil alien story, just like old times."
"Alright. But be careful, okay?"
"When am I not?"
"You want that list in chronological or alphabetical order?"
The sisters bid each other good-bye, and Kara walked back out to meet the boys in full Supergirl regalia. Then she remembered something.
"Hey guys, could you turn around for a minute."
They did so, and Kara hurriedly packed a small red lunch cooler.
"Okay, done."
"Nice outfit," Cisco said, "Doesn't look like it protects much."
"I'm practically invulnerable. I don't need much armor."
"Cape's going to make you stand out."
"I can fly pretty fast. It helps with my aerodynamics."
Kara floated up a bit and spun, letting the cape flare.
"And it looks good, too. Any more questions before we go?"
"Yeah, what's with the red box?"
Kara touched back down, her face stony.
"If you must know, it's a special dietary supplement. Please don't ask about it. It's…a sensitive topic."
"Understood," Barry said, interrupting Cisco's follow-up question, "We'll leave it alone."
Cisco shrugged and raised his gloved hand. Blue waves radiated from it, and a breach between universes opened.
"So you made the portal?" Kara asked.
"It's a relatively new skill," Cisco said.
"Well, you need to work on you aim. Your first attempt opened right above my Thanksgiving dinner."
"Well aren't we the Queen of Sass?"
"I warned you," Barry said, "She's a living sunbeam, but she can burn just as easily as warm."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Flash."
"Ladies first."
oOo
The swirl of color and light abated, and Kara stumbled slightly.
"Okay, that was cool."
She dropped her bags and looked around. The hanger they were in was mostly empty, a few shipping crates here and there. An area had been cleared for people to gather, and it looked like they were the last ones to arrive.
The three walked over to the group, Barry greeting them.
"Barry, I thought you were bringing an alien," said a gruff and grizzled man.
"And, yeah, we did," Barry replied, "Everybody, this is my friend, Kara Danvers, or as she's known on her Earth, Supergirl."
Kara waved lightly, hiding her nerves behind a bright smile.
"What makes her so super?" asked the younger black man.
"Well-"
"I got this, Barry," Kara said, lifting off.
She raced around the hanger at high speed, picking up a discarded iron bar on the way. When she touched down, she presented the bar with a flourish.
"Ta-da! It's my crest," she said, holding up the bent bar to her chest to show how it matched her symbol.
"I'm convinced," said the older black man.
"My money was on you burning that into the ground with your heat vision," Barry said.
"My heat vision's been…fritzy lately," she dithered, "I don't like to talk about it."
"Pretty and strong," said a blonde woman, "I like her already."
Barry quickly named everyone and Kara went around the room, testing her new knowledge.
"Okay, let's see if I got this. Oliver?"
"Green Arrow," said the gruff man.
"Dig…"
"Spartan," said the older black man.
"Thea…"
"Speedy," said the slight woman, "I didn't pick it."
"And…Sara."
"White Canary," said the woman, giving her a wink.
"Jax and Professor Stein."
"Firestorm," the younger black man and the old man chorused.
"Ray."
"Palmer," said the man, jerking out of his musings, "Oh, the Atom."
Kara shook off the thought that he reminded her of her cousin for some reason.
"And Mick?" she continued.
The scary-looking man looked up from his sandwich.
"Hmm? Oh, Heat Wave."
"Right, and…"
Kara dashed over to the others seated by a computer console and a truck full of tech.
"Iris, Caitlin, and Felicity!"
Felicity gave a light whoop, and Kara spun briefly in celebration before looking at Caitlin.
"And you have cold powers, but you can't use them?"
"That's right," Caitlin said, her voice a little sad.
"You have powers?" Felicity asked with surprise.
"It's a long story."
Iris spoke briefly to Barry, and Kara tried not to eavesdrop as Oliver called the meeting. Cisco pulled an image up on the large screen.
"These are the Dominators," Barry said, "We don't know much about them-"
"Except they're really strong," Kara interjected, "I recognize that species, I heard a lot of stories about them when I was a kid. They must exist in several universes. They came to my planet before I was born. They did experiments on a lot of people, killed a lot more. We managed to drive them off and they never returned to Krypton, but it was really dicey. To hear my aunt tell it, the Dominator invasion was the main driving force behind the expansion of the Military Guild."
"Think she was exaggerating?" asked Jax.
"She was a general, so no. Krypton was antsy about alien invasions for a long time afterward, even created whole new weapons in case of another."
"Like?" Sara asked.
"Well, my father made a weaponized virus that targeted non-Kryptonian physiologies…"
"That's cold," Mick said.
"I never said I agreed with it."
"What else can you tell us?" Oliver asked.
"Not all that much, actually," Kara shrugged, "A lot of them had psychic gifts of varying degrees, and they had pretty advanced tech. They had to just to have made a dent in Krypton, we were no slouches in that area. From what Aunt Astra told me, they liked to get their hands dirty, though, so I don't know if you'll see more than a few blasters in the field. I wish I could tell you more, but Mother didn't like it when Astra talked about her work. I always thought it was just a sister thing, but…well…"
"I can get that," Sara said, a bit of sadness creeping into her voice.
"Well, if these things have super-strength, I think we should use Kara as a stand-in for training," Oliver said.
"Since when is Robin Hood calling the shots?" Mick asked.
Oliver glared at him, but Jax stepped in.
"What I think Mick is trying to say is that it would be nice if we knew who was calling the shots around here."
"Maybe we should take a vote," Ray offered, "Choose a leader, someone we can all trust."
"Well, I trust Oliver," Cisco said, "He's got my vote."
Kara noticed Barry looking a little hurt, but Oliver spoke up again.
"Appreciate that Cisco, but Barry put us all together, it should be him."
Barry and Oliver traded looks before Barry cleared his throat.
"Right, well, first order of business, Oliver's got a good idea. You don't mind, do you Kara?"
"Fire away, I'm made of steel," Kara said lightly.
"Great, everyone suit up."
As everyone parted, Barry pulled Oliver and Kara aside.
"Really quick, I was excited about the two of you guys meeting each other. Oliver was the first person to train me, so…"
"Really?" Kara asked, "Well, you did a really good job."
"That's 'cause I didn't hold back," Oliver replied gruffly, "I shot him."
Barry looked pained and muttered "Why'd you have to bring that up?" but Oliver continued.
"You can't hold back either."
"Are you sure about that?" Kara asked, a cold sensation settling in her gut, "I just met these people, I don't really want to-"
"These people need to understand that this isn't going to be easy. Don't hold back, especially against me. Full strength, you hear?"
Oliver made to walk away, but Kara quickly grabbed his shoulder. She let some of her strength creep in, just enough so that he'd pay attention.
"Oliver, I tried to be nice, but there's a bigger reason why I don't want to go full-stop in a training scenario. If I were to punch you, right here, right now, at full strength, you'd disintegrate."
Oliver did a double take, and Barry's jaw dropped.
"Yeah. My teeth alone can bite through steel. I'm not joking. So, I'll measure my strength here so that everyone gets a feel for this weight class. But I won't go full out when it would be dangerous to do so."
Kara let her arm drop, and Oliver nodded.
"Right. Okay, whatever you think is best, it's your muscles. Thanks for clearing that up."
"Thanks for understanding. And sorry for being blunt, but I've spent a lot of time mastering my strength, and I don't like when people make light of that."
"I'd rather you be blunt than dance around and never get anywhere."
Oliver walked off, and Kara took a breath.
"I don't think he liked me very much."
"He's like that with everyone, he'll warm up to you. You okay?" Barry asked.
"When I first landed on Earth, or, well, my Earth, I didn't have as much control. I broke everything. But the thing I was most afraid of breaking was people. I worked hard to avoid that, and like I said, I don't like when people make light of it."
"If you're sure…"
"I'm fine, Barry, go suit up."
Barry left, and Kara went over to where she dropped her bags, finding Sara looking at them. Kara rushed over and picked them up.
"I didn't peek if that's what you're worried about," Sara said, "I'm guessing you need a spot to stick that."
"Somewhere private would be nice, yeah," Kara replied, "I thought this might take a few days, so I packed accordingly."
"And the cooler?"
"Dietary supplement, don't ask."
"It's your stuff, I won't pry," Sara said, waving her hand, "I cased this hanger while we were waiting, I have an idea where you can crash."
"You cased the hanger?"
"I'm an ex-assassin, some instincts don't go away. And I was bored."
Sara led her along to the rear wall, where a shipping container stood.
"This might do. Think it's empty."
"It is."
Sara looked at her oddly, and Kara gave a smug smile.
"X-ray vision."
"So you could see through anything?" Sara asked, her voice low.
"Just about."
"Even, say…clothes?"
Kara choked and blushed heavily.
"Oh, nononono, I would never-"
"I wouldn't blame you. I'd certainly have fun with that power," Sara smiled.
Kara just got redder and redder. Sara burst out laughing.
"Relax, I'm messing with you. I'll leave you to get settled, I need to change anyway."
Sara started to walk away, but then stopped and looked back.
"No peeking."
Kara sputtered, and Sara continued on her way, still laughing.
Kara finally shook herself back into focus and opened the container. There was a thin layer of dust, but she was able to blow it all further back, and she set down her stuff. Resolving to ask someone about a cot, she headed back to the main area, where some people had already gathered back up.
"You didn't change?" she asked Mick.
"Not much for fancy costumes," he said brandishing his weapon with a manic grin, "This is all I need."
"He used to run with criminals, don't mind him," Spartan said, checking his weapon.
"You got anything stronger?" Kara asked, "I'm bulletproof."
"And these are rubber rounds anyway. I just want to measure my speed and accuracy against you. I plan to pack stronger rounds when we go up against the Dominators."
"Fair enough."
Caitlin walked by, and Kara got her attention.
"You sure you don't want in on this? Freezing things might be useful."
Caitlin shook her head and said, "My powers come with a price, one I'm not willing to pay. There's…a darkness there."
Kara inhaled sharply and quietly replied, "I get it."
Her mind flashed to the glint of fangs accompanied by a screech.
Caitlin left, and Kara took a few breaths, trying to calm herself. She didn't need those thoughts, not now. This was a simple hero team-up. They were fighting evil aliens. It was simple.
It was simple…
oOo
Professor Stein had left with Caitlin to attend to something, so Firestorm couldn't take part in the training. It didn't matter much, since nothing anyone had could really hurt Supergirl. Barry's lightning toss might've, but she saw it coming.
"Need to speed up that wind-up, Barry," she called.
As per her own wishes, she kept her strength to simple level, always just a step above who she was fighting so they got a feel for fighting stronger opponents. She went hand-to-hand with Team Arrow and White Canary, and stepped it up with the others, including Mick at his request to "stop sandbagging me."
When he got knocked on his butt, he started to regret it.
As she tossed Atom aside, she was about to compliment his shrink feint when she heard an exchange between Thea and Sara.
"She is a badass."
"Yeah, it's kind of hot."
She was so stunned by this that she ended up taking a full blast of Mick's heat gun. But she pulled herself together and weaved around Oliver's shots and Dig's gunfire before touching down to catch Sara's stick.
"I heard that, by the way."
"Is that okay?" Sara asked with a grin.
Kara responded by using the stick as leverage to toss her away.
After a few minutes, they all took a break.
"I don't feel like that was very helpful," Mick grunted.
"I think it was," Kara said, touching down, "The hand-to-hand fighting needs to focus more on throws and takedowns, using their opponent's strength and weight against them rather than doing your own damage. Barry's lightning throw sped up just a bit, and the Dominators certainly can't hit what they can't catch. If Oliver and Thea pack explosive arrows and Dig armor-piercing rounds, that'll really hurt a Dominator. A face full of fire is great for distractions so someone else can nail a target, and if you watch your footing and how your opponent reacts, you can take one down yourself. And Ray's shrink feints are great, especially when he throws his weight behind an enlarging punch."
Everyone stared at her.
"Do you not agree?"
"No, that was actually really good," said Oliver, "How-"
"I've been paying attention to how you all react. When Professor Stein gets back, we can start adding Firestorm to the mix."
Oliver shook his head and smiled slightly.
"Aren't we full of surprises?"
oOo
Training continued through the rest of the day, stopping for rests occasionally. Between sessions, Kara began to brainstorm with Oliver and Barry, adding her perspective of being the target to stratagems. When Sara successfully floored Kara, everyone cheered, feeling like progress was finally being made…until Kara lashed her foot out and brought Sara down to the ground.
"And here I thought the ex-assassin would know to ensure an opponent isn't getting back up, via knockouts or otherwise," Kara said smugly, causing Thea and Felicity to howl at the burn.
Then, as the evening came, something happened. Cisco pulled Barry aside to talk to him, and the conversation left Cisco so agitated he didn't watch his volume.
"You still don't think you should tell them?"
"Tell us what?" Sara asked, bringing everyone's attention to them.
Cisco gestured for Barry to speak, his eyes full of anger. Barry sighed and spoke up.
"Jax and Professor Stein found a message from me in the future saying that, right now, I can't be trusted."
"And why would future you say that?" Sara pressed.
"I think because…I went back in time and changed the timeline, and now things here are different than before I left…including some of your lives."
"Some of our lives? Like who?" Kara asked, not sure why she was worried since she was from a different universe and, technically, outside this one's timeline. Maybe it was the suddenly darker atmosphere…
"Cisco…Caitlin…Wally…Dig…"
"Me?" the man in question asked, "Why, what happened?"
Barry couldn't speak, so Oliver walked over to Dig and quietly answered. Kara picked it up, she couldn't help it.
"Apparently, you had a daughter."
Her stomach plummeted, and the look on Dig's face didn't help.
"I had a daughter, Barry?"
Barry could barely look him in the eye.
"Baby John was Baby Sara."
Adult Sara swore softly, and Dig looked torn between crying and vomiting.
"So, wait, let me get this straight," he managed, "you just…erased my daughter from my life."
Barry nodded.
"You can't go back and just change things like that, Barry!" Sara snarled, "You know how hard it is for me to not alter events? To bring my sister back? But I don't, because I know the implications."
Sara waved to Dig as an example.
"All those aberrations we spent the last eight months traveling though time, trying to correct," Ray spoke up, "You just decided it was okay for you to create your own?"
"We should have told 'em before," Jax said.
"You should have," Sara growled, "God knows just how much damage he did just because he missed his Mommy."
"Okay, that's enough," Supergirl shouted, "Can't you see he feels horrible about it?"
"Feeling horrible doesn't bring my brother back," Cisco grunted.
"I gotta go with him on this," Mick said, "That was a messed-up thing you did, Allen."
"So you're taking this side?" Sara said to Kara, "After what you just heard, you seriously-"
"Alex."
Sara blinked awkwardly.
"What?"
"That's my sister's name. Alex. When I got to Earth, I was alone. My planet was gone, I watched it die. The only other Kryptonian, my cousin, couldn't take care of me, so he brought me to live with a family he trusted, the Danvers. They took me in, cared for me as if I were their own. I'd do anything to protect them. And if something happened to Alex…I don't doubt that I would storm any hell to get her back."
"This is different," Sara said, "Every time I even think about using time travel to bring Laurel back, I stop and think about it. Would bringing her back be worth killing another? Would she ever forgive me that was the case? Barry ripped time apart to try and change his past, and instead, it changed all of us."
"And he's already punishing himself for it."
Further conversation was halted by Felicity's cry.
"Guys, it's Lyla. The President's been kidnapped by the Dominators, she needs us now."
Barry took a breath.
"Okay, you guys go, I'm going to sit this one out. You have Supergirl, she's just as fast as I am. Get the President, we can talk about this later."
The others filed away, but Kara went to Barry.
"I'll see what I can do."
"I can't ask you to cover for my mistakes," he said.
"You aren't. I'm doing it anyway. You're my friend, Barry. I have your back. Rao knows if I were in your position, I'd try for a reset button myself. I lost my mother too…"
Kara turned and walked away, noticing that Oliver was staying back as well. The two traded a look, and he growled.
"Guys, hey!"
His shout echoed, catching everyone's attention.
"This is crazy. Everyone's going, including Barry. I'm not going without him."
"Then you're not going, Oliver," Dig grunted.
"Okay, everyone take a breath," Kara said, "Cool it down, gosh. Oliver, it's okay, I'll go with them. We'll get the President, you stay here with Barry."
Oliver didn't look happy, but he nodded.
oOo
"You know, it's not like he intended to change everyone's lives, it just happened."
"He got sad and careless, Skirt. Doesn't mean he ain't guilty," Mick grunted.
Kara rounded on him.
"What did you call me?"
"Skirt. Why, you wanna do something about it?"
"Mick, you realize she could kill you with her pinkie, right?" Thea asked.
"You call me Supergirl or Kara, or I call you Fire-butt," Kara said flatly.
Mick looked at her for a minute.
"Fair."
"How'd you get the name Heat Wave anyway?"
"I burned my family alive and I like to light things on fire."
Kara blinked owlishly and said, "That's a…colorful backstory."
"My shrink thinks so."
"Just ignore him, we do," said Sara, "President's tracker leads here, you see anything?"
Kara peered through the wall of the old building briefly.
"Yeah, he's in there."
"How can you tell?" asked Ray.
"X-ray vision," Kara and Sara said simultaneously.
"So, you can see everyone's bits with those peepers of yours," Mick asked, grinning at the idea.
"Cut it out, I've already driven off that bridge once today."
"When was that?" asked Firestorm.
"I found out about it earlier and was teasing her about it, can we focus?" Sara deadpanned.
The group entered the building, keeping an eye out. It was dark, and the wind blew through the broken windows ominously.
"Look, the President!" Spartan called out.
A figure in chains shuffled into view.
"Please, get me out of here," he cried out as they rushed forward.
"Wait, something doesn't feel right," Firestorm said.
Supergirl held up her hand, having heard hissing noises.
"Guys, something's coming."
Everyone began to look around nervously. It was Canary who spotted it first, pointing up and shouting.
A Dominator lumbered into view on the upper catwalk, hissing loudly.
Speedy, Spartan, and Atom aimed their weapons at it.
"Release the President," Supergirl ordered.
"We knew you would come," came a voice like a dagger across stone.
"Did you guys hear that?" asked Atom, "Because I heard it in my head."
"Yeah, we heard it," Canary replied.
"Well, if nobody else is freaked out about it, far be it for me to panic."
"You don't need to harm him to get whatever it is you want from us," Supergirl said, as the group slowly edged toward the President, "Release him and nothing will happen to you."
"He's not who we want."
The Dominator aimed a gauntlet-clad hand at the President. There was a flash of light, and the man turned to dust.
"It's a trap!" Spartan shouted, but it was too late.
A red light covered them, and they felt something, like a dagger piercing into their brains.
Kara realized what it was. She worked with a psychic, even if he had trouble getting into her mind. She knew what a telepathic presence felt like. Except this wasn't nearly as friendly as J'onn. She felt her body start to feel numb, sensations and control draining away, being stripped from her as the spike grew more painful.
She heard the growling of her vampiric side, angry at the intruder. She had enough mental bandwidth to recognize the utter horror that would be unleashed with her as a Dominator weapon, all power and bloodlust.
And then she got an idea. Shanoa had taught her a spell that could cast someone into a deep sleep, but Kara had had trouble with it, never fully mastered it. But there was no choice. It was either try or give them an unstoppable, blood-crazed berserker.
She put her palms on her chest and spoke the words.
Sara saw Kara collapse like a broken marionette, and feared the worst.
"Ka…Kara…aaaahhhh!"
She screamed and everything went black.
oOo
What of this one?
Leave her. We can make due with these ones to hunt down the others, including Barry Allen.
A shame. I can sense great power in her.
A ship is on its way. We can load her in it along with Barry Allen, then study her at our leisure.
Kara's dreams were filled with screeching. The faces of the Dominators swam in and out of focus. She could feel their claws trying to dig into her mind, but she resisted with everything she could muster.
Her subconscious was protected, sheltered under a darkness like the mantled wings of a bat. Anything that got close was dealt with.
The vampire was protecting her.
The screeches of the Dominators war with the clicks and growls of the vampire. Fang fights fang, pale hand fights claw and wing. The fury of domination crashes against the thirst for blood.
But she was weakening. She knew it. She wouldn't be able to keep it up forever.
oOo
"Oh, what a lovely night," Green Arrow groused as he and Flash ducked behind a barrier.
"Something's not right," Flash said.
"Of course it isn't, our teammates are being mind-controlled!"
"Then where's Kara?"
The Arrow was brought up short at that.
"Supergirl is the biggest gun we have," Flash continued, "If everyone else is mind-controlled, where is she? Don't you think the Dominators would have sent her out if they had her?"
"What if she's immune?"
"Or something else happened. Either way—"
A blur of yellow lightning zoomed in, knocking Heat Wave, Speedy, Spartan, and White Canary off their feet before slipping behind the barrier and joining Flash and Arrow.
"Wally?"
"Kid Flash. Hey, you guys needed help!" the younger speedster exclaimed.
"Kid's not wrong," Green Arrow growled, "Incoming!"
Flash grabbed Arrow and ran, Wally close behind. A fireball slammed into the spot where they were, and Firestorm continued his bombing run.
From their new position, Green Arrow fired an explosive arrow at Firestorm, knocking him out of the air, while Flash called their mission control.
"Guys, the comm we gave to Supergirl, triangulate the position."
"Okay, and…got it! The old salt mines. There's a weird signal coming from there, too."
Flash nodded.
"Okay, if Kara wasn't affected by the control, she could still be where it happened. I'm willing to bet it's some kind of machine enhancing the Dominators' psychic powers, so if I smash it, this'll all be over."
Blasts from Atom peppered their location, and Wally grimaced.
"Oliver and I can handle this for now, but whatever you're going to do, do it fast."
"Fast I can do. Be careful."
"Barry, running out of arrows here!"
Oliver's growling cry spurred him into action, and the Flash raced across the landscape.
He reached the salt mines in record time, fear for his friend and worry for the others spurring him on. Entering the building, he looked around at super-speed.
Kara was on the ground, being looked over by two Dominators. A machine was off to the side, the large orb in the center glowing a hellish red.
"Big, scary, red pulses. Gonna go out on a limb and guess 'mind control device'."
He raced around in a tight circle, building up as much of a charge as he could before hurling the resulting lightning at the machine. The practice earlier had been worth it, the bolt forming within two seconds.
The device died immediately, the bubble bursting and the humming ceasing.
As Barry caught his breath, the Dominators stalked toward him, weapons ready. They hissed, and he heard a voice in his mind.
"You should not have done that."
Just then, a loud growl pierced the air.
"YOU."
And then Supergirl was upon them, all rage and speed. Her eyes glowed a solid red and her growls were loud enough to rattle bones. She twisted the head of the first Dominator like a bottle cap, the large alien slumping to the floor. Then she pounced on the second, pinning him to the floor. She lurched toward his throat with a hiss, fangs digging deep and ripping into flesh.
But then she reared back with a disgusted yelp, spitting and scrubbing at her mouth with her fingers.
"Ew, ew, bad idea, bad idea!" she squealed, her surge of bloodlust broken, "Rao, that tasted awful! Bleh! Blarg! Ick! Water, WATER!"
Out of sheer instinct, Flash raced to a gas station he had passed on the way, racing in and grabbing a water bottle before racing out with a cry of "I'll pay later!"
When he got back, he held the bottle out, and Kara snatched it and practically ripped the top off, rinsing and spitting three times before guzzling down most of the remaining water.
"Gah! Why did I ever think that would be a good idea? Why?"
She calmed down after a minute, and finally noticed Barry still staring at her.
"Uh, hi Barry. How are things?" she asked nervously
Barry just kept staring at her, and she realized that she still had her fangs out. Sheer nerves prevented her from just retracting them.
"So, I'm guessing you saw all that," she gulped.
"Kara, buddy," he said slowly, "Are you a vampire?"
She latched into his shoulders, her face pure fear.
"DON'T. SAY. ANYTHING. I beg of you, say nothing! I know I'm asking you to keep a secret after you just got blasted by your friends for keeping secrets, but for the love of Rao, don't tell anyone! I…I can't…please just keep quiet about it."
Barry slowly brought her into a hug.
"Your secret's safe with me."
Kara just broke at that, slipping into her mother tongue to offer a prayer to Rao.
oOo
Kara had calmed after a while, and offered to do a fly-by to see if any more Dominators or mind-control orbs were in the area. When she got back to STAR Labs, Barry was distraught. Apparently, Oliver, Dig, Thea, Sara, and Ray had been abducted by teleport beam, the Dominator ship zooming away the second it had taken them. Kara offered to go after it, but Felicity had vetoed that idea, claiming that it was too far ahead.
"Satellites can't track it. We're going to have to find another way to find them."
She then ordered everyone to get some rest before she and Cisco left to Team Arrow's base in Star City to problem solve with Felicity's more powerful computers and fellow genius Curtis Holt.
Kara stole a spare cot from STAR's storage and left for the hanger. After going through a prayer, she sat back on her cot, which she had tucked against one wall, and cracked open her cooler. She was halfway through a bag when there was a knock on the cracked door of the container. She rushed her bag back into the cooler as a voice called out.
"Kara, it's Barry. Can I come in?"
She plastered on a smile and called for him to come. He walked in and eyed her, and his gaze strayed to the cooler by her side. She followed his gaze and realized that, in her haste, the cooler wasn't fully shut, and the tube of the bag was sticking out.
Kara froze like a deer in headlights.
"So, I'm guessing that's not a normal dietary supplement," Barry asked, "Did I interrupt your lunch?"
"A little," she said weakly.
"Go ahead," he said, gesturing toward the cooler.
"You sure?"
"I'm a CSI. I'm used to blood."
Kara hummed softly and reopened the cooler. She extracted the half-empty blood bag and started sucking at the tube.
"So," Barry said, leaning against the opposite wall, "How long have you…you know?"
"Been a vampire?" Kara said, leaning back herself, "You can say it, I'm not going to break. And it's been a couple months now. It happened not long after you left, actually."
"Sorry I wasn't there."
"There was nothing you could have done. It happened so fast."
"What happened?"
"It started with a ship, a pod really, that fell from the sky…"
Kara related her tale: the attack, Adrian and Shanoa arriving and saving her, her first feeding, getting used to her new reality, her feral episode when her Kryptonian powers had been drained, the people who knew about her vampirism and how they reacted.
Barry caught the distraught look on her face when she described James Olsen, but held his tongue until the end.
"So," he finally said, "You were worried we'd all react like James."
"I'm always worried someone will react like James. I'm a vampire, Barry. That's not a good thing."
"It can be. Do you have Buffy the Vampire Slayer on your Earth?"
"I know where you're going with this, Barry. Angel was always a little off-putting to me, and the character became dead to me after what happened with Jenny Calendar, never mind how the show kept trying to include him afterward. It's why I never watched the spin-off."
"What about Spike?"
"You act like he wasn't still a jerk when he became their ally. Not exactly a role model."
"Point."
Kara finally finished her blood and set the empty bag in her lap.
"Barry, I don't want this to get out. I have a hard enough time day-to-day with this. I don't need more rejection. And…I wanted a mission, just one, where the vampire thing didn't come up at all. I just wanted to ignore it for a few days. Is that so wrong?"
She looked down at the bag.
"I can already tell the others are little intimidated by my strength, the sheer level of my power. I don't need to give them a reason to look at me like a monster."
Barry said nothing. He just walked over and gave Kara a hug. After a minute, he spoke up.
"We all have secrets to keep to protect ourselves," Barry said, "I'll do what I can to help."
"Thank you," she whispered.
They talked for a bit more about lighter fare. Kara talked about some recent developments in her life, like her growing friendship with Lena. Barry explained Wally, who was hoping to becoming an active superhero, but still needed work.
"He won't be joining the rest of the Dominator fight. Ray roughed him up pretty good. Joe and Iris kept saying he wasn't ready."
"Yeah, full scale invasion, not really good for getting your feet wet," Kara nodded, "I mean, I started small too. I saved a plane."
"Only you would call that small."
"Please, my cousin and I help failing aircraft, like, every month. It's kind of our thing, alongside bouncing bullets off our chests."
"And they still stay flying is a safe way to travel."
"Well, statistically, it is. New topic, are you okay right now? The whole timeline changing thing?"
Barry sighed.
"A little. Oliver gave me a pep talk. Claimed that anyone in my position would make the same choice. He would. Both his parents died right in front of him. If he had the chance to change that…"
"Sometime I wonder," Kara said soberly, "What would have happened if Krypton hadn't died? Who would I be then?"
"If you could, would you?"
"I don't actually know, Barry. There was a time I would have said yes, but…I have Alex, and Winn, and Lena. I have J'onn and Eliza. I had Jeremiah. Even Kal, he's not around much, but when he is…if I had never known them, never had those people in my life, it would be emptier for it. I'd have Kal, but he'd be so different. I wouldn't have Alex, and she's been such a massive part of my life that I can't imagine it without her."
Kara stared at the ceiling, peering through the layers to look at the sky above.
"If I could, though, I'd like to have them here. In this life, the one I've built in Earth. If I could have my parents, if Astra hadn't fallen so far…"
"Best of both worlds."
"Yeah…something like that."
"You know," Barry said, "After meeting you, I wondered about doppelgangers. Other versions of us on other worlds. I met a doppelganger of me once, on another Earth. If you exist on your Earth, do you exist on this one? If so, are you here, or is Krypton still there?"
"Or did I die with Krypton?"
Barry shuddered and said, "That's a scary thought."
"I suppose it doesn't matter," Kara said, "This universe's me…well, she wouldn't be me."
"The other me certainly wasn't like me."
"What was he like?"
"Bit of a wimp, actually."
"Ah."
"Well, I should go," Barry said, checking his watch, "I need to see if there's an update on finding Oliver and the others."
Kara nodded and he got up to go.
"Barry?"
Barry stopped at the door and looked back, seeing a grateful look on Kara's face.
"Thanks for listening."
"If you run out of those bags, let me know. I can give a donation."
Barry left the container and walked to the command center, spotting Caitlin working on something.
"Any word from Felicity and Cisco?"
"Not yet," Caitlin said, "Hang on, though. I want to talk to you about Kara."
Barry tried to make his next words casual, but a hint of suspicion entered his tone.
"What about her?"
"Is she okay? You described her as practically sunshine incarnate—"
"You're saying she's not?"
"No, but there are points where she seems kind of…sad to me. Is there something going on?"
Barry looked at her for a long time before shaking his head.
"Not my place to say."
As Barry walked off, Caitlin spared a glace towards the back of the hanger, where Kara had bedded down.
"Hmmm."
oOo
With a little doing, and some last-minute help from the Legends timeship, the Waverider, the abducted heroes were rescued. Everyone got back to Earth, and the other two members of the Legends were introduced: Nate, who could transform into a super-strong steel-like form, and Amaya, who had a mystical totem that allowed her to take on the abilities of animals.
"I still can't believe you guys escaped an alien spaceship," Cisco squealed, "Keywords: alien spaceship. I have questions."
"They can wait," Oliver grunted, "What's our status?"
"Nothing since the Dominators paid their little visit to mess with our heads," Barry said.
"Why would they do that?" Nate asked.
"What if they were trying to pit us against each other?" asked Ray, "Gain some intel on metahumans."
"And if they got lucky, the mind puppets would have taken some of you out," Amaya added.
"Charming thought, considering I was about to put an arrow through my brother's skull before Flash fried their machine," Thea grumbled.
"Man, I wish they would just send us an IM with a questionnaire," Felicity quipped.
"Which we would probably have ignored," Kara said, "Anyway, metas pose the biggest threat to their invasion. It would make sense they'd want to get to know their enemies."
"By kidnapping people," Stein added, "Perhaps they were searching your minds for potential meta-human vulnerabilities."
"The dream world we experienced would have kept our conscious minds from fighting back while they worked," Sara mused.
"Oh, like The Matrix," Kara said, earning looks from everyone, "What? We have that movie on my Earth. My friend Winn loves it."
"Well, I think it's time we turned those tables," Oliver said, "Get some better info of our own."
"What do you want to do?" asked Dig, "Kidnap one of them now?"
"Ever since we fought off that one ship, they've kind of been in short supply," Barry said.
"Actually, I have an idea," Nate said, walking to the computers, "I've been reviewing old Army footage of their first encounters with the Dominators…and I think I pegged the fight to…"
He typed out some commands, and the screens began to play footage from the 1950s alien encounter.
"Redmond, Oregon. 1951."
The sounds of warfare echoed through the hanger.
"I grew up in Oregon. Great views," Kara said, trying to lighten the mood to no avail.
"Nathaniel, are you suggesting we travel back to 1951, abduct a Dominator, and interrogate it to determine their intentions?" Stein asked.
"They kidnapped us," Sara said, "Seems fair."
"Whoa. Time travel. I'm definitely in," Cisco said.
"Okay, hold on though," Barry interjected, "Professor Stein and Caitlin have been talking about a way to take down the Dominators, they could probably use your help."
"Pass," Cisco replied, glaring at Barry.
"Yeah, I'm with him," Felicity said, gesturing to Cisco, "Mostly because I don't want to lose my geek cred, but time travel. Whee!"
"I could take Amaya and Mick," Nate added.
Sara and Oliver nodded.
"Do it."
"But be careful," Sara said over Cisco and Felicity's squeals as Nate and Amaya led them away, "Last thing we need is to create another aberration."
"In that case, Professor, if you need some mechanical help, ask Wally," Barry said, "He's been itching to help somehow since he was benched."
"I will get him to talk to Jefferson, then."
"And the new president called, which would be cool under different circumstances, but she wants to meet us."
"Woman president. That's familiar," Kara muttered.
"Let's bring Ray and Sara as backup," Oliver said, "Thea, start prepping more explosive arrows. We'll need them."
Thea nodded and walked off. Kara spoke up again.
"What about me? I can do backup."
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
He walked a few feet away, and Kara followed hesitantly.
"Look, I would like to minimize your involvement in this."
"Wait, why? Is it because I'm an alien, or is there something else?" Kara asked, glaring.
"You are an unknown quantity, and this isn't personal."
"Except it feels like it is."
"Kara, when I stared living this life, it was just me. I was going up against human threats. That I could handle. Then I was meta-humans, and I can handle that. Now, I learn there are multiple Earths, and I was brainwashed aboard an alien spacecraft-"
"Which I'm sure was unnerving, but-"
"I don't get unnerved," Oliver growled sharply before calming, "But when I go up against something new, I push back. Right or wrong, it is who I am and it is what I do. So I'm asking for a little bit of space, because I have to draw the line somewhere."
Kara just stared at him, her face stony.
"I have to claw back a sense of normalcy," he continued, "Please stay here."
He stared to walk away, but her hand grabbed his shoulder. It sat heavy, and she was squeezing it harder than she had last time.
"Let's put aside the fact that benching your biggest gun is a tactically poor decision, and focus on the reasoning behind that. So because I happen to come from somewhere else, you're going to be an ass about it."
"That's not what I-"
"Yes it is," she snapped, "Rao forbid you find out I was keeping some big secret, you'd probably try to banish me from the planet, Mr. High-and-Mighty Vigilante. I just got done dealing with anti-alien terrorists on my Earth, people who hated me just because of my origins, because of who I was, and I am not dealing that that junk here. I'm giving you a pass because you just pulled yourself out of the Matrix and are probably still wigging from it, regardless of what you tell everyone, but let's get something straight…"
She looked him right in the eye, bits of red flashing in hers, and finished with "I'm not going anywhere, Queen."
She stormed off after that, leaving Oliver shell-shocked. A laugh broke him out of his trance.
"Seriously, Ollie," Sara chuckled, "Did you really think that was going to fly?"
"Wow," Barry asked, "I didn't know she did angry."
oOo
Green Arrow, Atom, White Canary, Flash, and Supergirl stood in the middle of the airfield, waiting.
"So where's the President?" Canary asked.
"She's late," Arrow replied, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
"Well, you gotta figure she's got a lot on her plate," Atom said, "what with the whole alien invasion thing."
"And the last guy did just die," Supergirl added, "That's probably hard to deal with."
"We got movement," Canary said suddenly, pointing to one end of the airfield where four black vans were approaching.
The vans soon encircled them, and men in suits piled out, guns in their hands. An old man stepped out of the last car, approaching them. His very presence screamed 'government spook'. He smiled like a shark.
"I'm sorry," he said lightly, "President couldn't make it."
"And who are you?" asked Flash, tensing.
"If I tell you—"
The guns raised, clicking in readiness.
"I'll have to kill you."
"Ah, I think we have a misunderstanding," Atom said, "See, we're the good guys. The President invited us here."
"Barry, I think it's time you do something," Arrow whispered, "And fast."
"I'll take the left, you take the right," Supergirl whispered.
"Fair," Flash said, "Three, two, one, go."
There were blurs of red and blue, and all the guns vanished. A bullet pinged against Atom's armor.
"Sniper," Arrow called out.
"On it," Supergirl said, winging away.
Flash bulldozed into three men, and Arrow nailed another in the shoulder before moving to take down his partner. Canary beat down another pair, and Atom closed in on another who had whipped out a sidearm, disarming him and flinging him away.
In moments, all the men were down, leaving only the old man. A blur of blue and red shot over, shoving him into one of the vans.
"What the hell?" Supergirl shouted, eyes tinged with red.
"You weren't in the files," he muttered.
"We're trying to help you," Flash said, "This is how you thank us?"
"You don't understand-"
"Then start explaining, don't point guns at us," Canary growled.
"The reason the xenomorphs are here-"
"Is because they have a beef with the meta-humans. Tell us something we don't know."
"And do it fast," Supergirl said, "I don't like when people try to kill my friends."
"Start with what exactly we've done to them," Flash said.
"Nothing, yet," the man said, "But they see individuals with powers such as yours as a future threat. And frankly, so do I."
"You subscribe to the Amanda Waller school of thought, then," Arrow said, "You know, there's a reason she's dead."
"If you're such BFFs with the Dominators, why not call them off?" Canary asked.
"We know you sent them packing once before, back in 1951," Atom added.
"That was just a reconnaissance mission," the man explained.
"What brought them back, then?" Flash asked.
"You did, Mr. Allen."
Everyone took a step back, shocked. Supergirl released the man, and he took a moment to center himself and readjust his tie.
"You threatened the entire universe," he continued, "When you used your powers to upset the normal course of time."
"You're talking about Flashpoint?" Atom said, "How do you even know about-"
"They told us."
"I made a mistake, okay?" Barry said, "I'm not going to let it happen again."
"For the past sixty years, we have enjoyed a truce with the Dominators. You were the one who broke it."
"From what we've seen, they would have been looking for an excuse," Supergirl said, "Hello? They're called Dominators! Even if they didn't come up with the name, they sure seem to like it. They've certainly never corrected anyone."
"So what do they want now?" asked Arrow.
"I've negotiated a deal with them," the man said, "If Mr. Allen surrenders himself, they will leave us in peace. You really want to save the world, Flash? Here's your chance."
"You gotta be kidding me!" Supergirl shouted, throwing up her arms, "That's your answer?"
"Trap," Canary said, "That is a trap."
"Guys, maybe—"
"Maybe nothing," Supergirl cut Flash off, "You can't seriously be considering this."
"It's the only way," the old man said.
"You, you zip it before I throw you across this field!"
"You okay there, Supergirl?" Atom asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She took a breath and nodded, saying "I guess I'm just a little high-strung. Probably from the mind control attempt this guy's buddies tried. That sound particularly peaceful, Mr. Government Guy?"
"I thought you did something to knock yourself out," Canary asked.
"I could still feel it clawing at my mind. Very. Unpleasant."
"Let's get out of here," Arrow said, "We can talk more without the spook listening in."
oOo
"I'm not letting you do it," Kara grumbled, "You even try, and I'll drag you back myself."
Cisco and Nate had come back from the trip to the past, confirming that the government spook was correct, and the Dominators wanted Barry. Barry offered to give himself up to end this, and everyone else had immediately skewered that idea.
"They're hardly going to stop now," Oliver said.
"I have to agree," said Ray, "If they're that threated by metahumans, it's hard to believe they'd be satisfied with just one."
"Guys, if I can stop this—"
"Forget it," everyone told Barry.
"New topic, please, I can only handle so much idiocy," Thea said.
"So what's the collateral damage on the meta-bomb?" Nate asked.
"Projected casualty count is around two million non-metas," Cisco said, "The transmitter I got from the big black one we saved from being dissected included some specs, probably an attempt to convince us. I crunched the numbers, this thing isn't clean."
"What if we negotiated with them?"
"I don't know if you noticed, but our last chat with him didn't go so well."
"What do we have to lose?"
"It's worth a try," Sara said, "Better than giving up."
"Guys, we got incoming," shouted Dig as he entered the hanger, followed swiftly by Jax, Felicity, Amaya, and Mick, "Dominator ships coming in worldwide."
"Including Central City," Jax added.
Cisco and Felicity went to the computer and pulled up some information to the large screens. Sure enough, satellites were picking up ships across the globe.
"Eleventh hour time, people," Kara said, "What's the play?"
"They're not moving," Cisco called out, "Just sitting there."
"For now," Dig added.
"Guess the truce Secret Agent Man negotiated is over," Ray said.
"They're trying to leverage us," Sara said.
"Cisco, get that transmitter working," Oliver said.
Cisco pulled out the black and red device, but his fiddling produced nothing.
"Guess your friend's not calling you back," Nate said.
"I got a plan B. He gave it to me, I can use it to vibe him."
"Vibe?" Kara asked Barry.
"He can sense the locations of other people in the multiverse, he just needs an object of theirs to focus through."
"It's just as cool as it sounds," Felicity added.
Nate insisted on coming with, and he grabbed Cisco's hand. The two stood there for a minute, their eyes glazed over in a trance. Finally, they broke apart. Nate was angry, and Cisco was horrified.
"'For what it's worth, I'm sorry'? Screw you, ET!"
"What happened?" Sara asked.
"The big guy claimed that emerging superpowers has happened on other worlds, bringing chaos in its wake," Nate explained, "He said that while metas protect the planet now, what happens when bad people start getting the powers more often than good people? He wants to end the threat before it begins and spreads to other planets. As a historian, I can tell you that trying to win a war before it's ever fought never works."
"But what if he's right?" Cisco asked, "What if, in using our powers to make the world better, we actually end up destroying it?"
"Dude, I get it, Barry screwed up—"
"And so did we! Back in 1951. The Dominator we freed, he's coming back to kill us. We screwed with time, and now it's come back to bite us."
Cisco looked over to Barry, scared and forlorn.
"You messed with time and wrecked things, and now I did. I just wanted to make things right, and we ended up making it worse."
"Welcome to my world, man," Barry replied sadly.
Then he sighed.
"But back to the original topic—"
"The hell you are!" Kara shouted.
"I turn myself over to the Dominators, they leave the rest of the world alone. It's simple."
"It's stupid is what it is!"
"Barry, it doesn't matter what you've done," Dig said, "You can't do this."
"It's been an honor to know all of you," Barry continued, "To fight alongside of you. But now it's up to you to keep our home safe."
He turned and began to walk away.
"Barry!" Oliver shouted, "I'm with Kara. I can't let you do this."
"No offense, Oliver. But you and what army?"
He turned to look back at Oliver, only to see everyone gathered there, their arms crossed and their expressions determined.
"This one," Kara said.
"I don't like you, Red," Mick said, "But when you got a crew, you don't take a hit for the rest."
Barry stared at them all, and then laughed softly.
"That was actually pretty inspiring, up until the point where Mick compared us all to criminals."
"According to the Dominators, we might as well be," Amaya said.
"And maybe they're right," Nate continued, "Maybe we do more harm than good, but this is our chance to find out."
"We're not letting you sacrifice yourself," Cisco said, stepping forward, "There's no way. I don't care if that's what it means to be a hero, you're not a hero to me. You're my friend."
Barry couldn't say anything, he just nodded.
Suddenly, the computers blared. Felicity, who was closer, took a look at the readouts and paled.
"The ships are opening up. Reports are coming in, it's all over the world. Oh frak."
"Talk to me," Oliver said, shifting into commander mode.
"Something from the mothership just broke atmo, and not to get too technical, but it's really, really big and falling to Earth, really, really fast."
"It's the meta-bomb."
"Why would they use their ships if they're just going to drop the bomb?" Kara asked.
"To keep us distracted, prevent us from stopping the meta-bomb."
"Where'd Sara and Cisco go?" Jax suddenly asked.
The computer next to him pinged and Felicity shot over.
"Object travelling at high-velocity, headed toward the bomb," she called out.
"They took the Waverider," Nate said, "Sara's going to use the tractor beam to stop the bomb."
"Can she do that?" asked Barry.
"Depending on the size, not for long," Jax replied.
"Kara, now it's eleventh hour time," Oliver said, "We have to keep the Dominators at bay."
"This might help!" came Stein's voice as he ran up to the group.
"Nick of time, Professor," Mick said.
"What've you got, Grey?" Jax asked.
Stein held out a silver object.
"I've mass-produced a small device that, when placed on individual Dominators, will cause indescribable agony. Not the nicest invention, but this is war."
Barry took the device and looked it over.
"Nice going. How many do we have?"
"Caitlin, Wally, and my daughter are cranking out more, but there's a caveat. If we activate the weapons before all the devices are placed on the Dominators, they'll know what we're up to."
"Well, then we'll have to do it fast," Oliver said, looking to Barry.
"Only way I know how."
oOo
The meta-bomb was visible in the sky now, but the assembled heroes paid no mind to it, their focus on the Dominators.
Flash, Green Arrow, Supergirl, Atom, Firestorm, Heat Wave, Spartan, Speedy, Steel, and Vixen stood together on the rooftop, ready to oppose the alien force.
The shing of Nate armoring up was all order they needed to charge.
Spartan, Heat Wave, Speedy, and Green Arrow let off a withering barrage of fire. Firestorm and Atom buzzed the enemy from above, laying down more fire. Vixen took on the abilities of a bear and waded into battle beside Steel. Flash and Supergirl began to blitz anywhere not covered by their allies, using extreme speed to knock Dominators aside like bowling pins, placing the devices with every hit.
Several Dominators extended long talons from their wrists to better attack the heroes, but speed and power were on the side of good. Steel allowed one blade to shatter against his impenetrable skin before sending the offending alien flying. A blur of lightning passed by the airborne alien, the Flash continuing his work.
Heat Wave body-checked a Dominator trying to get at Vixen's blind spot before sticking his weapon up and giving it a faceful of fire.
"Fry, you freaks!" he shouted as he made his way over to Arrow, who was firing at insane speeds and aiming to cripple.
A Dominator got hit in the knee with an arrow, the titanium tip piercing through. As it shrieked in pain, Atom took the opportunity to bulldoze it while it was vulnerable, before shrinking to avoid the retaliating strike of its fellow. He then zoomed over to where a Dominator had knocked over Spartan, grabbing it and flying up.
"See you later, Dominator," he quipped before dropping the alien.
It landed on an unfortunate fellow, and both were sent flying by Vixen, having switched to an elephant. Steel was right behind her, slamming into any that she missed.
All through the battlefield, blurs of lightning whizzed by, Flash placing the devices on every Dominator he could get within arm's reach of. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Supergirl doing much the same, but she focused just as much on punching them out as she did on placing the devices. He mused briefly on whether or not giving her device duty as well was ideal, but she was in the same class of speed as him, and many hands made light work.
Speedy had switched to her sword and was fending off a Dominator. A quick feint and she managed to strike at its chest.
"Get off my planet," she growled, kicking the wounded alien in the chest to remove her sword from it.
Another Dominator moved to intercept her, but a blast from Firestorm made it reconsider its position.
"Firestorm," he heard from his earpiece, "If you're done playing with your friends out there, we could really use your help."
Firestorm looked up, the circle that was the meta-bomb slowly growing larger. As he flew higher, he noticed the Waverider above the bomb, shining a light upon it. As he expected, the tractor beam was slowing the bomb, but not stopping it.
"I have an idea of what she wants us to do," came Stein's voice from within their combined mind, "Up for a molecular rearrangement, Jefferson?"
"We'll find out," Jax replied as he flew up.
Green Arrow nailed a Dominator in the head, then switched targets, firing two arrows in quick succession at another. But this Dominator seemed tougher than its fellows, and it ripped the arrows out, advancing on Oliver.
The vigilante tried to fight back, landing several hits with his bow, but the Dominator got in a strong blow to the chest, sending him careening over the side of the roof.
His life couldn't even start to flash before his eyes when she felt a pair of strong hands grabbing him. He whipped his head around to see Supergirl, who quickly flew up with him. From the air, they noticed more Dominators teleporting in.
As they landed gave her a grateful nod before speaking up.
"I know you said your heat vision was fritzy, but they're calling in reinforcements, so maybe-"
"I got something else. Kind of new, that's why I don't use it much."
She flew up higher and held her hands together.
"FULGUR MAXIMUM!"
At her cry, lightning speared down from the heavens, striking at the Dominators and devastating their numbers. Supergirl soon followed, slamming into the roof and throwing a spread of fireballs.
"Damn, Skirt!" Mick called from nearby, "Where you been hiding that?"
Kara spared a look at Heat Wave before continuing on.
Mick blinked in shock.
"Were those fangs?"
Supergirl sped back into battle, more lightning arcing into her hands. She lashed out, electricity striking at one Dominator and arcing to its fellows. One managed to stagger through the pain and raised a taloned arm to strike at her, but she blocked with one forearm, calling energy into her other hand. Shadow surged into her hand, taking a solid shape, and she swung. The resulting hammer nearly decapitated the Dominator. As it stood, fragments of teeth flew every which way.
"How long have you been able to do that?" Flash said, pausing in his race.
"A few months now," she replied quietly, "You know why."
"Oh. Right."
Nothing more was said, but before they could dive back into battle, Felicity's voice came in over the comm.
"Okay, according to the readings, all the Dominators here have been tagged or taken out. Time for you two to handle the squads about in rest of the world."
"Up for a race, Kara?"
"Always."
And then they were gone in a gust of powerful wind.
Blurs of red and blue made their way across the planet, trailing lightning and sparks in their wake. Both pushed themselves to the limit, knowing that this was for all the marbles.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was far shorter than that, they both reunited back in Central City.
"Done."
"Done. Felicity?"
"Bringing the pain."
In a run-down warehouse, a button was pushed. And all across the globe, Dominators grabbed at various parts of their bodies, pain blazing across their nerves like wildfire.
Green Arrow looked around the battlefield. Any Dominator that hadn't been killed somehow in the melee was screeching in absolute pain, before racing away and into a constant stream of energy from their ship, teleporting away.
"Okay, that's working. What about the bomb?"
He would get his answer a moment later, when a sudden rain shower drenched the area before stopping as suddenly as it started.
"Never ask me to transmute something that big again," came Firestorm's tired voice over the comm.
Flash and Supergirl rejoined the group as the Dominator ship arced skyward, Felicity's voice informing them that this was happening all over the world.
"He did it," Oliver breathed as Firestorm flew down to them, followed by the Waverider.
"No, Oliver," Kara began.
"We all did it," Barry said, finishing the thought.
The second Firestorm touched down, he looked at everyone, and a slow laugh began to trickle out from him. Ray picked it up, and soon, everyone was laughing, waning adrenaline slipping them into a state of relieved shock.
But as everyone began to trade congratulations…
"So what was with the fangs?"
Kara stiffened at Mick's question, before looking at him oddly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Sure you do. Right after you went all Zeus smiting the unworthy, I saw you had fangs. You don't have them now, though. What's up with that?"
"I don't know what you mean. Are you sure you're seeing things right? Did you get hit on the head?"
"I know what I saw," Mick said, growing agitated, "And I saw fangs."
"Mick, just leave it," Barry said, "It was probably just a trick of the light. There was a lot going on at the time."
As everyone began to file onto the Waverider for a quick trip back to the warehouse, Mick fumed internally.
'I'm not that dumb,' he thought, 'I know what I saw. Snart wouldn't have left it, and I won't either.'
oOo
That evening, after the President had given them a private ceremony thanking them for their heroism, everyone changed back into civilian garb.
Then Sara and Thea had cracked open the champagne bottles.
Kara adjusted her glasses as she looked around. In addition to the heroes, Joe and Iris had come to celebrate, a young man she pegged as Wally following behind. The strange man that Barry had called HR was also there, but mostly kept near the music player. Felicity had mentioned that Curtis had wanted to come, but parties weren't his thing. Caitlin and Cisco were in attendance as well.
For a second, she wished Alex was there. She would have liked this.
Taking a glass from Ray and Felicity, she began to mingle, idly picking up that she reminded Ray of his cousin. She shook the train of thought off, though. What were the odds that it was her doppelganger, adopted by Ray's family rather than whoever the Danvers were over here?
She walked over to Barry and Oliver, getting their attention as they did a small toast.
"You guys ever save the world before?" she asked.
Oliver nodded and Barry gave a brief "Last year."
"Doesn't get old, does it?"
"Sure beats screwing up the world," Barry answered.
"Hey, you are too hard on yourself."
"That's what people usually tell me," Oliver interjected.
"And for good reason, I'm sure. But, back on my Earth, it's really just me and my cousin. And between the two of us, we're-"
"More powerful than everybody in this room combined."
Kara flicked Barry's shoulder, saying, "No, that's the point. That's what you've all proven here. Metahumans or not, superpowers or not, you are Earth's mightiest heroes."
"I, uh," Oliver shuffled awkwardly, "I owe you an apology for earlier-"
"Forget it," Kara said, "I'm choosing to chalk that up to post-hallucination jitters. Happened to me after I was exposed to a parasitic plant called the Black Mercy. Trapped me in a dream state, I was messed up for a bit when I got out. Anyone would be. But you know, I think our hardships make us stronger, in a way."
"I can drink to that, at least," he replied, tapping his glass to hers.
Kara left them to their guy talk soon after, milling about the room. She bumped into Wally and exchanged greetings. He seemed subdued, and Kara picked out a reason.
"You're upset that you couldn't have done more, aren't you?"
"That obvious?" he asked.
"I used to feel the same way," Kara shrugged, "My world already had a Superman, and it was more important for me to hide when I was younger than try to join him. It was hard sometimes, because I felt like I was meant for more. But one day, I embraced who I was, and I never stopped. I don't think I've ever regretting becoming Supergirl, not for long anyway. Your time will come, Wally. It's just a matter of when."
Kara took a sip of her champagne, letting him process that before continuing.
"Besides, a massive alien invasion isn't something you want to start a hero career with. It's a little too much to bite into at once."
"Yeah, started to figure that out when a mind-controlled Ray knocked me for a loop.," he replied, "If he hit that hard, I don't want to know how hard a Dominator hit."
"Considering the damage I can tank, I'm the last person to give you a straight answer about that."
Wally laughed at that, then frowned at something over her shoulder. When she looked, she snarled.
"What is he doing here?"
Kara made her way over to where the government spook from earlier that day was talking with Nate, listening in as she walked to find out what was going on.
"Mop-up?" Nate was saying, "I think you mean cover-up. But you can't cover this up. The President herself thanked us, for pity's sake."
"Oh, I think you'll find that all sorts of things can be spun into all sorts of directions," the old man said, a bit of menace entering his voice.
"Oh hello, Agent Smith," Kara said cheerfully, "I thought that was you."
"And who might you be, Miss—"
Kara tilted her glasses down and let some red enter her eyes. The man stiffened, paling a bit.
"It really is funny seeing you here," Kara continued, "I was just having the loveliest chat with your president about you. I was telling her how, on my Earth, we have this organization. The Department of Extranormal Operations, it deals specifically with aliens and related things. I actually help them out a lot, so I was able to tell her quite a bit about their methods and operations. She thought the whole thing was an excellent idea. Of course, she wanted to make it a branch of ARGUS at first, let it grow a bit under a more established organization before splitting off into its own thing, but everything has to take baby steps, I suppose."
As she talked, the man's forced smile began to dip before disappearing completely. Kara went in for the kill, her own smile quickly resembling that of a tiger that had just caught itself a juicy meal.
"She also loved my pitch about reassigning you to Antarctica. Something about 'not negotiating with terrorists no matter where they're from' or something like that. She was very interested in how you handled the entire affair with the Dominators, you see."
The man opened his mouth to retaliate, but Nate's own smug laugh cut him off.
"I guess next time, you'll be nicer to strange visitors from another planet," he said.
The man growled and walked away.
"Pack a jacket!" Kara called out to him.
"That was devious, Kara," Nate said, an inch away from full-on cackling.
"Everyone is always so surprised when I do something like that," Kara said, "Do I really look that innocent? I mean, it's not like I was assistant to a media mogul known for tearing people apart with a few sentences, lasting for years in a position that previous holders barely lasted a few weeks in thanks to her razor-sharp tongue. I couldn't possibly have watched and learned from her, picking up tricks to use against people who really deserve it and gaining the ability to unleash armor-piercing words when necessary."
Kara paused, putting a finger to her chin.
"Oh wait…"
Kara left Nate to his laughter, running straight into Sara.
"I saw that," she said, "It was awesome…and kinda hot."
"Oh, here we go," Kara muttered, rolling her eyes, having seen this coming eventually after asking Jax about Sara's earlier remarks.
"What, are you not gay? Tell me I didn't cross a line here."
"Little late for you to ask, isn't it?" Kara said, "But if you must know, I'm bisexual. And from what I've heard, so are you."
"Yeah, I just tend to prefer ladies most of the time."
"Jax told me about what happened in France."
"I regret nothing," Sara smiled.
"You seduced the wife of the king!"
"And?"
Kara put her hand over her eyes, but couldn't stop herself from smiling.
"You're insane, you know that?" she asked.
"Normal is overrated," Sara replied, "But back to my original question, before you distracted me by being a complete badass while wearing cute glasses. You want to maybe grab a drink sometime?"
Kara looked at her, deciding to be honest.
"As fun as that might be, my record with relationships is pretty pitiful and I'm really not looking right now. But maybe you ought to talk with Alex somet-"
Kara stopped suddenly, a stricken look on her face as she looked past Sara. Looking behind her, Sara saw Mick holding up a red lunch cooler and a plastic object filled with a red liquid.
"Hey Skirt! Anything you want to tell us?" he loudly called out, "Like why you've got a cooler of blood bags?"
Sara looked between Mick and Kara. Kara stood shock-still, her eyes wide with fear. Her breath came out in quick gasps, like she was seconds away from a panic attack. The sheer difference between this behavior and every other time she'd seen Kara paralyzed her for a moment before she dropped into captain mode.
"Mick, what the hell is all this?" Sara called out, using her most authoritative tone.
"I know what I saw, and I saw fangs. So, what do fangs on a girl and a cooler of blood equal?"
This finally shocked Kara into a reaction. There was a blur of motion, and then Mick was on the ground and empty handed, the only explanation being a cry of "Give me those!" And then she was gone.
"Oh my God, Mick, why?" Barry asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Sara looked around, noticing that their altercation had attracted attention. As if sensing something important going on, HR had turned off the music. Everyone was looking in their direction, bearing varying degrees of confusion. Only Barry seemed to have his wits about him. But before she could ask him, Mick stood back up, laughing.
"Oh, this is great! I didn't think I'd wake up today and not only fry some aliens, but fulfill one of my dreams!"
He reached into his coat and pulled out a wooden stick.
"What is that, and why are you carrying it around?" Sara asked.
"I always carry it, in case I need it," Mick replied, gently poking the sharpened end of the stick, "I've always wanted to kill a vampire!"
There was a flash of lightning, and Mick was on the ground again, but this time, the source was more obvious.
Barry stood above him, fist clenched. He vibrated slightly with anger, his face a mask of fury.
"You are NOT killing Kara!" he shouted.
And that opened the floodgates.
"You're in on this, aren't you?" Mick shouted.
"Not my story to tell," Barry shot back, "But anyone who wants at her has to go through me."
"Barry, didn't you just get in trouble for keeping big secrets?" Iris asked.
"That's what I was gonna say!" Jax shouted, "Can we not start this again?"
"Iris, I think this is different," Joe said, "It's not his secret, he's protecting Kara."
"Indeed," Stein nodded, "And considering how we agreed not to say anything about the last secret, Jefferson, I think you would be more sympathetic to Barry."
"And look where keeping the secret got us!" Jax shot back.
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," was all Felicity could say.
"Are we serious right now?" Wally asked, "She's a vampire! She seemed so nice!"
"Vampire!" Thea gasped, "As in the blood-sucking, creature of the night vampire?"
"After Darhk, I probably shouldn't be surprised," Dig mused, "But still, what?"
"This is going to get worse before it gets better," HR muttered from the sidelines, tugging his hat down over his eyes.
The rest of the Legends team was right there with him, unsure what to make of all this as the debate raged and accusations flew by. Oliver also stood by, his brain running a complex train of thought, even as everyone else devolved into shouting.
"Guys, what about Kara?" Sara was asking, to little avail, "She looked pretty scared."
"Scared?" Cisco asked, "She looked ready to start hyperventilating. Maybe we should drop this?"
"Thank you!" Barry shouted, throwing his hands up.
And as the arguing reached a fever pitch, words starting to mash together, no one noticed Caitlin slip away.
She made a beeline to the container that Kara had claimed, and found her inside, trying to hurriedly pack and failing miserably in her panicked state.
"I can't, I can't, I can't," she was rambling, "I can't do this, I can't go through this. What was I thinking, of course they'd find out! Half the DEO knows, they just like me too much to say anything, I don't have that luxury here! No, no, nonono. I have to…need to…okay, I'll yank Cisco out of there, beg him to open a portal back home, and jump through before anyone knows I'm gone. That'll work, right? I have to move fast before they decide wooden stakes are a valid option. Actually, would that work since I'm still bulletproof? Questions for later. I really hope Alex doesn't ask how things went. And I really, REALLY hope this doesn't happen back home. I'd probably have to move to Alaska, live off caribou! HA-HA-HA-HA!"
"That doesn't sound like a good idea," Caitlin said, interrupting the crazed laughter.
Kara leapt three feet in the air with a yelp and stayed there, whirling around to face Caitlin. She was the picture of a caged animal, curled in on herself, eyes wild, hair sticking every which way, fangs bared as a warning.
Caitlin just slowly walked over, tugged on Kara's clothes until she hit the ground, and wrapped the scared woman in a hug.
"It's okay, you're okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
"But you know now. You know what I am. Why-"
"I know I didn't say anything, but did Barry tell you exactly why I can't use my powers?"
"No, he said it wasn't his story to tell."
"He said the same about you, despite everyone's questions. Me though, I saw something familiar on your face. I see it every morning, in the mirror."
Caitlin guided her to the cot and sat them down.
"Turns out superpowers and years of repressing negative emotions don't mix. When I first got them, I hid them, because they reminded me of something dark. But they kept slipping out. And soon I had to actively use them a few times, to help Barry. And every time it happened, I lost a little more control. Soon, something else took over. All my fear, all my hate, all wrapped up in my ice powers. Barry helped me, brought me back…but sometimes, at night, just as I'm going to sleep, I feel so cold. I can feel her scratching at the walls. Her way of letting me know that as far as I run, there's still no escaping Killer Frost."
Caitlin paused for a moment, taking a breath.
"I know what it's like. To feel like there's a monster living under your skin. I understand the need to hide, even from those close to you. I know what it's like to be looked at with fear, because of what you are."
"How do you deal with it?" Kara asked, "How do you live with yourself? I've killed people, because of this. I drink blood, for Rao's sake! How-"
"A day at a time, Kara. A day at a time."
They spent a few minutes like that, Caitlin offering soft touches and words of encouragement to calm Kara down. Once she was calm enough, she helped Kara finish packing and brought her back to the main area, where everyone was still arguing. Kara stiffened in fear, but Caitlin kept a calming hand at her shoulder.
"Cover your ears a minute," she said.
Kara did so, and Caitlin brought her other hand to her mouth and gave off a piercing, New York cab whistle.
Everything stopped dead. As the last echoes of the whistle faded, Kara looked at Caitlin, impressed.
"I never could do that," she said.
"It's easy," Caitlin shrugged before turning back to the masses and giving her orders in a calm and controlled voice.
"Cisco, go get that thing you were going to give to Kara, then open a portal back to her Earth. Barry, you will be a gentleman and escort the lady home. You can use the device to signal Cisco for a ride back. Everyone else, you will be polite and respectful."
"But she-" Mick began, only to get cut off by Caitlin.
"Feels bad enough about her dietary needs. Why do you think she ran, idiot! She doesn't need this, least of all from people who she fought beside for the past few days, and who should know better than to treat her like a criminal!"
Everyone flinched at the rebuke. Mick looked about to say something else, but Sara swiftly swept his legs, sending him to the ground for the third time.
"Keep your mouth closed so you don't put your foot in it," she said, before walking over to Kara and giving her a light hug.
"It was nice working with you."
"You too," Kara said softly.
"If you ever want to jaw, we're giving Cisco a way to reach us despite the time differences. He can transfer your call."
"Tone down the flirting, and you've got a deal. But, how exactly-"
Cisco came back from where he had disappeared at Caitlin's instruction, and he held out a circular device.
"It's called an inter-dimensional extrapolator," he said, "You can use it to contact us, or open portals to our Earth. You can cross over to our universe any time you need to."
"If you ever want to talk, or you need help, or you just need a vacation, the door's always open," Barry added.
"Thanks guys," Kara said, taking the device, "Last bit aside, this was…nice. It was nice to work with other heroes. There aren't many on my Earth, so team-ups aren't really something I have experience with."
"Any time, any Earth, my friend."
Kara slowly returned his smile, then took the device. Everyone gave their good-byes, some more strained than others, and then Oliver, who had been silent for a while, spoke up.
"Supergirl."
Kara turned away from the portal Cisco was forming.
Oliver gave a salute and said, "See you out there."
Kara smiled and returned it, "You too, Green Arrow."
oOo
Kara dropped her bags on the floor and slumped onto her couch, drained.
"You need anything?" Barry asked, "A snack, a drink?"
"Just do me a favor and call my sister. I left my phone on the counter, there. She's the first contact."
"You didn't bring it?" he asked, quickly finding the device in question.
"Figured I wouldn't have service, so I didn't bother," Kara replied, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths.
Barry dialed the number and waited a minute.
"Kara, is that you?" came a worried voice.
"Actually, it's Barry. Kara crashed on her couch the second I brought her back, but she told me to call you."
"She's okay?"
Barry looked over at Kara, who was still taking deep breaths.
"In all honesty, could you get here quick? Something came up at the end of her stay, and I don't think I want to leave her alone."
"What came up?"
"Her…ah, dietary requirements."
The other line was silent for a moment. Then there was a gruff "On my way." and a dial tone.
Barry put the phone down and settled down in another chair, where he could see Kara. She continued to take deep, slow breaths, and Barry let her. His mother had suffered from anxiety attacks, and it wasn't uncommon that he came home from school to find her like much like this, breathing deeply and listening to music to calm herself down. Eventually, he had learned to let her be until she opened her eyes again.
After some time waiting, there was a knock in the door. Kara whipped her head toward the sound, but Barry had already gotten up, telling her that he had it. He waited until she had gone back into her calming trance before continuing. He looked through the peephole and saw the same face as in Kara's contact list.
"You must be Alex," he said as he opened the door and stuck out his hand, "Barry Allen, nice to finally meet the woman Kara gushes about."
Barry kept a low tone, and Alex looked briefly over at Kara before realizing the reason and lowering her own voice.
"Nice to meet the man my sister speaks so highly of," Alex replied as she stepped inside and returned the handshake, "How's Kara?"
"Honestly, I think she needs you more than she needs me," Barry sighed, launching into a summarized version of him finding out about Kara's vampirism, and then how it had been revealed to everyone else with much more mixed results.
Alex looked ready to commit murder by the time Barry finished.
"Can you open a portal back to your Earth?" Alex asked, "I want to go over there and tear Mick's head off."
"Sara's beating you to it."
The two of them jumped and looked over to Kara, who was still on the couch, but was now looking over at them. She tapped at her ear.
"Just because you guys are across the room and keeping quiet doesn't mean I can't hear you. I had ears like a bat long before I was bitten by an overgrown one."
Alex tapped Barry on the arm to get his attention.
"Thanks for bringing her home. I've got it from here."
Barry nodded, then walked over to Kara, knelt down, and gave her a hug.
"Remember Kara. You're a hero. Nothing will ever change that."
Kara smiled and thanked him, then passed him the extrapolator. Barry hit a button and spoke into it.
"Kirk to Scotty. Beam me up."
A moment later, a breach opened near them, and Barry tossed the device back to Kara and stepped through.
As the light faded, Alex went over to Kara and sat down, giving her sister a hug.
"It's okay to be upset."
"I'm not upset," Kara said, "I'm just…numb. I should have known this would happen."
"You clearly have some defenders. Barry seems okay with it, and he mentioned a Caitlin and a Sara? You can take some comfort in that."
Kara didn't answer.
"Okay, how about this. You tell me all about your adventure, good and bad, and I'll tell you what I think."
Kara thought about it for a moment before agreeing. As she told the story, Kara began to perk up, growing more animated as she spoke. The only black spot in this was the mind control attempt by the Dominators, how her vampire nature allowed her to resist their probes long enough for Barry to destroy the device, and how she killed the two Dominators in a fight of bloodlust.
Otherwise, Kara clearly enjoyed her superhero team-up, and Alex said as much.
"That said, the mind control bit, followed by the feral episode-"
"I wouldn't exactly call it a full feral episode."
"Well, how do you feel about that? Guilty?"
Kara dithered a bit before answering.
"Not as much. They violated people's minds for their agenda, and nearly did the same to me. It has me a little worried, sure. And…"
"And?" Alex prompted.
"And I remember something, while I was under the sleep spell. I remember the dark covering me, fighting back the red. I remember the vampire rising up to protect me. On one hand, that's pretty good, but on the other…the second the pressure was gone, I wasn't able to pull back on the vampire quick enough. I was shocked out of it, but I might have kept going if I hadn't been. I lost control so easy. This time it was because of a psychic whammy, and I doubt I'll run into anything that can do it like that any time soon, but what if it's something else? What if I lose control, and I hurt someone without meaning to?"
The way Kara looked at her as she said the last bit made Alex realize something.
"And by someone, you mean me?" Alex asked.
Kara turned away. Alex looked at how small and scared her sister looked, and made a decision.
"You know what? It's high time we put this to rest."
"Put what to rest?" Kara asked, turning back to see Alex tugging her shirt collar down.
"It's been awhile since you've had something fresh."
Kara reared back, but Alex grabbed her shoulder and kept her there.
"Kara, don't give me that. It's okay, I trust you."
"But I-"
"I trust you."
"What if I-"
"I trust you."
"Alex, if I can't stop myself—"
"I. TRUST. YOU."
Kara looked at her sister, seeing nothing but trust and love, and she folded. She shifted closer, leaning towards the offered neck.
"Alex, are you absolutely-"
"YES."
Kara took several deep breaths, keeping the mantra of 'Alex trusts me' in her head as she popped her fangs.
"You're okay, Kara," Alex was whispering, "You can have what you need. I trust you."
Kara bit down, trying to ignore the sudden gasp from her sister. Alex's blood hit her tongue, and Kara was briefly lost in the sensations that shot into her brain.
Alex's blood was different from any other. It tasted sweet but salty, like the kettle corn they liked to eat during sister night. It was delicious and comforting and so Alex.
Kara stopped after drinking for a bit, judging she drank a little less than a pint, no more than would fill a blood donation. Instinct bade her to lick the bitten area. Kara did so, and noted that the wounds rapidly clotted over after she rasped her tongue over them. Vaguely, she remembered Shanoa explaining that vampire saliva had a rapid clotting agent, and licking the wound made for feeding would help it heal faster.
Alex was breathing heavily as Kara pulled back.
"Oh Rao, are you okay?" she asked, but Alex waved her off.
"It was just intense to experience, I'm fine. A little woozy, but that's to be expected."
She blinked and Kara was gone, and Alex heard some rummaging from behind her in the kitchen. Kara soon came back with some cookies and a large glass of juice.
"I hear this is what's normal for blood donations. Is that right, I've never given blood before, obviously."
Alex laughed lightly as she took the offered food.
"If you're this attentive with me, I can only imagine how you'll act after your girlfriend offers you her neck."
"Why a girl, specifically? I like both, it could be a guy."
Alex looked at Kara smugly.
"Kara, my gaydar may be new, but I know you. It'll most likely be a girl. Besides, after your record with guys, I'm willing to bet you'd want to try your hand with the fairer sex."
"Well, Sara did flirt with me…"
"And so it begins!"
"Okay, wise guy," Kara said, plunking back down on the couch, "Any new developments, relationship-wise?"
"Well," Alex laughed, "Maggie came to see me after the Medusa thing, I just didn't get a chance to tell you. Apparently, that shot from Henshaw got her thinking. She told me that life was too short, and we should kiss the girls we want to kiss."
"And…"
Alex was grinning like a loon.
"Oh Rao, seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Congratulations!" Kara squealed, hugging Alex, "That's great news! You need to formally introduce us as sister and girlfriend."
"You just want to give her the shovel talk."
Kara smiled a little too excitedly considering she was plotting ways to threaten someone.
The two spent the rest of the evening talking. Not once was Kara's vampirism brought up. It was just like old times.
