Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and all related things, belong to J. K. Rowling; may her brilliance continue to shine.
Note: I refuse, to accept Astra as dead, or rather, that they won't figure out a way of making her return, because Laura is a goddess and her character added up spice
Destiny Dreams
Carter stared, and he looked as impassive as his mother. It was unsettling and a complete first to Kara. They were sitting in the living room, with the blonde explaining her family and history to him, while his mother prepared some greens for the exorbitant amount of pizzas, and a special something for Kara and the bottomless pit she called stomach. Along the unusual cravings that came with the hormones, not that her beloved had expressed any special interest in anything but wasabi.
"Recapping," he began after a while with a sigh and drawing her from her thoughts. "Your family died in a fire, and your aunt survived because she was sent to prison before the accident occurred. She just got out of jail, and since your sister — because even if you tell me Alex is actually your foster sister, I can tell you love her as much as mom loves Padma and that the feeling is mutual, I'll still call her aunt and believe her to be your sister, plain and simple — is in law enforcement, she doesn't like your aunt.
"Which is why my aunt is in there, keeping an eye on yours." Once again, he gave her an impassive look.
"That's . . . pretty much the gist of it," she replied with a sigh and a blush, only perking up when she was given a bowl, and a pizza box all for herself. "What's this?"
"You don't want to know," Alex said, grimacing, "and if you don't like the flavor, you can leave it."
"So how should I address you?" Carter accepted a smaller bowl with the greens he had to eat, gleeful at having those he liked then turning to face the older alien, "do you have a last name?"
"You may call me Astra," she replied kindly, noticing the relief in the three women's body language and grinned privately; for the boy to have those three at his back, he had to be a formidable child. "Or, if you would prefer, aunt would be fine as well."
The surprise was subdued by an unusual sound; everyone turned to Kara, who contimued crunching and munching on whatever was on her bowl. She seemed deliberate in each chew, as though aiming to savor whatever it was. Alex turned green and turned to face her left when she was offered, but Astra actually took the bowl and spooned some of its contents before giving it back. She also became deliberate on her eating; both appeared to be trying to figure out the taste. It was uncommonly domestic, and traits and habits learned from childhood shone.
"What's this?" Kara asked after swallowing, taking some wasabi and spreading it on a slice of pizza. "Taste odds, maybe add some anchovies or sardines."
"Plenty of sugar," Astra commented, but declined another bite, "I do agree, something salty might help."
"It's known as 'pregnancy crack'," Cat replied, offering a glass of what was possibly Canada Dry to the human, dark-eyed brunette. "Canned tuna, crunchy ramen noodle salad toppings, rocky road ice cream, mustard and maple syrup all mixed together; I did add some pickles, kiwi and spicy salsa, and I changed the ice cream flavor."
"See, everyone likes rocky road," the blonde nudged her sister with the goofiest grin ever,
"Actually, mom likes stracciatella," Carter remarked, and she could tell her sister and beloved had a moment of shared affinity.
"Hmmm, maybe with some olives?" Kara wondered after swallowing, clearly intrigued about the flavor and not taking notice of how bad her sister looked, although the bubbly drink helped said brunette.
"There's that strange white topping for sweets," Astra tried to recall.
"Whipped cream," Carter suggested, grinning when he earned a nod.
"Ohhh, adding whipped cream sounds heavenly!" Alex glared mildly at her sister, who took a bite of her slice just as Carter did; how she could handle the mixed flavored was the humans' guess. "How was your day, bud?"
He only nodded, chewing; Alex have him a look.
"I thought you spent a weekend with your father, the other with your mother," at least she was distracted from the mess that her sister was eating. "Something wrong?"
He shook his head, swallowing, "no, not really, it's just that his new girlfriend doesn't really like me. She thinks I'm odd, she isn't shy to voice it either, and gets mad when I retort saying she's the stranger, so he rather not make her awkward about things and keeps canceling.
"I guess she doesn't like it that I'm not moldable, and he insists that it's because I spend too much time with mom and have her habits," he shrugged, giving his mother his most honest, tender and soft smiles he had, "all I know is that I'm getting to spend more time with mom and ma than them, which is a much better deal."
"So if I'm ma, Cat's mom, and he's dad, what will you call her?" Kara asked with genuine interest, already by her fifth slice on a twelve slice pie.
"I dunno," he shrugged, frowning a bit, "by her name I guess?
"It's not like she tries, unlike you and Alex and Padma," he beamed, "I like big families, it means a wider support net; mom might like Padma like a sister, and not treat her siblings like that, that they'll see me as a nephew and I'll see them as aunts and uncles."
"Thanks buddy," Kara forgot her food, receiving wide eyed stares from the two brunettes just to hug the boy; they had never seen the young kryptonian, ever, place her food aside for anything. "You mean the world to me. Foster mother, or father, or sister, it just makes a distance. Maybe I can try calling Eliza 'ma' myself."
"When is she coming?!" He asked, excited.
"We're unsure, it'll likely be by the end of next week," Cat replied dryly; she had finished her salad, ignoring the pizza while Alex began munching on a slice. "Now Carter, will you finally explain to me, why you call Adam half-brother since you're clearly against to using step-mom in regards to Kara?"
Even if he was too old to be sitting on someone's lap, he made himself comfortable on Kara's and went as far as to take a bite from her wasabi pizza with double cheese and extra pepperonis.
"Hey, that's mine!" She said while playfully moving the slice out of his reach, making him giggle. "Thank you for using ma and not step-mom."
"It wasn't my choice mom," he said, going back to his own slice, "he asked me."
"You're a charming youngster," Astra was already done with her box, and her greens, turning to her niece. "I refuse to call you anything but Little One, so I'm thinking that Bombay might actually work for him."
"Bombay?" He looked between her, and his mom, "but, I'm not my mom."
"She's Panther," Astra stated with a smirk, and he blushed, clearly pleased, his previous gloom blown away by the meaning, "if she's a cat, you're a kitten, and Bombay seems to work."
"Should I worry about the felines?" Alex said, scathing tone evident; was she jealous from the reaction of the boy or did she truly mean it?
"Brave One, canines might amazing hunters, that they do not posses the flexibility and grace of felines," soft azure eyes turned to steel, and the agent placed her bowl on the table, posture coiled, "it's always good to learn about the biggest predators."
"You mean to emulate, don't you?" Alex growled, eyes narrowed and figure tense, just like Astra's.
"Enough with the ridiculous tension!" Cat snapped, eyes narrowed. "This is my house, meaning my rules, and fights are only done to help the other, not resolve whatever it is going on between the two of you.
"I swear!" She huffed, glaring as she stood and picked the empty bowls, "if it at least was like dealing with kids, but you two are like hormonal teenagers."
Alex's head snapped. "This isn't sexual tension!" She cried in outrage.
"Temper, Agent Scully," Cat hissed, earning a wince. "And you're the one to put a name to it, not me."
"You meant they're like two alphas fighting for dominance," Carter summarized, rolling his eyes and laughing. "My bedtime is coming up."
"Wash your teeth," Kara began.
"And your face," Cat added.
"Get changed and ready for a bedtime story," he finished with a grin and a roll of blue-eyes, "Chewie wants sci-fi, and since SuperBatman has some elements of it, maybe we can start again?"
"The latest novel is about to come out, huh?" She looked at her son fondly before nodding, "okay baby, but only the first chapter, and if you promise to leave Chewbacca behind you can sleep with us."
"Does it give you nightmares?" His kryptonian ma asked, concern evident.
"It upsets me," he confessed, giving her a hug and a kiss before standing, then going to his mom to repeat the actions, "I don't get nightmares, I just become restless, unbalanced. I would leave for your room before even midnight."
"For some reason, his sense of smell helps with this, and as long as he's surrounded by my scent, it soothes him," Cat gave him a kiss.
"Good night, aunt Alex," he went to give her a hug, then turned to the older brunette and after some hesitance, gave her a hug; just when he was about to pull from it, she returned it, making him sigh in relief before letting go. "Night, aunt Astra."
"Hope you sleep well, Bombay," she whispered, combing his curls.
He grinned at them, then left. Kara finished her pizza and stood to place the box, and her aunt's, at the recycling bin by the kitchen. Cat motioned the still unfinished, pregnancy crack that Kara took with glee, and quickly finished it, rinsing it just by the time Cat finished placing the bowls on the dish washer.
"Everything okay out there?" She asked, noticing the silence. "Nothing better be broken or on fire."
Alex came by right then, and blushed as she glared at the older blonde, placing the unfinished pizza box on the counter. "I'm going to cuff her for the night."
"Uncivilized actions beneath my roof are not tolerated, Danvers," Cat remarked, eyes narrowed; Kara began arranging the eight slices left to be placed on the fridge. "She is a guest, in my house; Carter is here, and I'm not going to allow you both some kinky playtime just to solve your issues!"
"This isn't sexual!" Alex growled, getting angrier.
"Then no!" She hissed back, eyes turning amber; in her domain, she was alpha, and no one was going to question her there. "I was about to suggest the guest room farthest apart — yes, my mother's room; the payback would be sweet, for you both to solve things there.
"Since you want to use kryptonite on her, and Kara is here, along with my son, I won't allow it," she took a step forward, making her stance evident against the brunette, who clearly had never been questioned in alien matters, Danvers sister. "I'm keeping him in the dark for now, because I don't want him to overthink things, and choose to go to his father's; I hate sharing him, hate that I cannot save him from everything."
"Bombay, you want your bedtime story, don't you?" Astra exclaimed, giving them time to sort through things. "Panther is just finishing; I've never seen this symbol before." She murmured, hand over a crest and his heart.
"Mom, ma," he turned to them with surprise before gesturing towards the older alien, "aunt Astra doesn't seem to know about Harry Potter."
Cat groaned and Kara laughed.
"Your aunt Alex would be happy to join you both for a movie marathon tomorrow," Cat replied, looking directly into dark eyes. "They'll watch you for the night; I have to take your ma out for a date."
Kara blushed, Carter cheered, Alex sighed in defeat, and Astra smiled. Cat could only shake her head and wondered just how far she was willing to go for the alien blonde. As she took hands with her destined and they moved towards their child, she knew she would go as far as Krypton if the need arose.
"Children, no fighting," she narrowed her eyes at the brunettes, "or unsavory conduct. If you make me stop a fight, you'll both regret it."
In order to save herself the trouble, Alex growled and motioned for the alien to follow, glaring. They watched from the doorway the unusual and loving scene before them. Tucking him in after the story finished, placing the novel on the night stand and kissing his forehead, they left to start their nightly ablution. As Cat began her ritual, Kara, whose routine wasn't as complex, took their guests to their respective rooms. Alex had the one closest to the master bedroom and the main door, while Astra had the one between the blondes' and Carter's.
"If you try anything," the blonde began, eyes hard as she focused on her aunt, "a kryptonite bullet will be the least of your troubles."
"You should let me cuff her —" Alex began, but was interrupted with a hand to her forearm.
"No Alex, Cat won't stand by it," she didn't even want to try and vouch for either course of action, since she had no idea which she thought was best. "No, if she tries anything, we'll send her to a cell along with Non and the rest of their radicals."
"If she tries something, it might be too late," Alex hissed.
"I won't try anything," Astra vowed, "I couldn't love Kara more than if she were my own daughter, and I won't put her child at risk. I went to CatCo looking for answers and I got a second chance; I'm not going to miss on it."
"I hope," Kara said with a sigh, then kissed both women. "Rest well you two; Alex, try to get some sleep, aunt Astra, I'm glad for this chance as well."
With that, she left them.
Alex, after her own routine, ended up standing guard in front of the opened door of the convict's room. They all had left the doors opened, per Cat's policy. She had grown used, due to her training, to sleeping on rough terrain and fully clothed. Well, at least with her hip holster and standard boots. She was wearing one of her father's old, alma mater's sweatshirt, one that she sprinted with his usual cologne (bought for that specific purpose), which helped keep his unique scent intact. She suspected Kara had something to do with that, but could never figure it out.
It helped soothe her, ease her nerves, the sweat pants she wore part of her usual night wear. Feeling the need for old comforts, she took out the the old garment, else she would have donned her usual black tank top. She felt weary, on edge but also exhausted, and she couldn't help but hear her father speaking, murmuring sweet words of comfort. Stating that not all aliens were bad; weren't Kara and J'onn evidence of this? Why not Astra, who needed to be reminded a little of humanity, since in her own planet, that was all she could have been, human, a kryptonian in Krypton, without superpowers or abilities, beneath a red giant that didn't nourish her cells like a yellow star. Who was likely afraid of losing her current planet, like she had lost her own.
Who are we to deny others second chances? The question haunted her, her past actions tormenting her. After killing her, how do you feel having her back? This is your second chance as well. We can't waste it. She didn't want to waste it, but she had no idea how to even start making amends.
She was about to fall asleep when she heard soft gasps coming from the room, and she got on high alert. The biggest conflict for her was, that she had already killed that woman, and in a way she now might have to do it again. Alex shook her head, trying to clear it from her father's thoughts, from her own that pleaded to give the older brunette (and herself) a second chance, because part of her couldn't shake the feeling: what was to prevent Astra from killing Alex in retribution? Cat didn't know — hell, not even Kara did, so there was no way for either of them to not trust, specially since it was thanks to Astra that they managed to save the hero. It did make the young brunette wonder if the blonde human didn't have some kind of hidden agenda.
A strangled, choking sound made her move quietly towards the room, senses sharpened at the perceived threat. Holding her gun close, she began considering why she hadn't picked the sword and she felt a stab of guilt. What was to stop her from impaling the older woman again? She blushed at her own thoughts; Astra and impaling shouldn't be words close together in her thoughts, now even less that she had misinterpreted Cat's words. She loosened her hold on the gun, placing it back in its holster, and she gave thanks that some moonlight was streaming through a window, and careful with her surroundings, she made her way around the bed.
Astra had her eyes opened, but were clearly unseeing, likely trapped in a nightmare, a hand pulling the unbuttoned shirt apart a little where a scar was easy to see. The skin around it looked bruised and with a light, reddish hue, and Alex instinctively knew what the nightmare was about. And I see her dying, right in front of me, she realized as she forgot her weapon and began shaking the dark-haired (plus white streak) kryptonian with trembling hands, again and again, nightmares I can't escape, action I can't undo — but, it came undone. How, they had yet to learn, and now those eyes that held no color were finally focusing back on her, but their steely hostility was gone.
"Brave One," she extended a hand, and Alex surprised herself by not flinching away, and actually moving towards the touch; tears she knew not she had shed were wiped from her eyes, "it's okay, I do not fault you. It was my own hesitation that became my undoing."
"I — I didn't want," she tried to speak, but her words were broken and she was taken into an embrace.
"I left you no choice," Astra whispered, and Alex broke. Her body betrayed what her voice couldn't, and before she knew, she was being cradled. "It's okay Brave One, I do not blame you. I forgive you, and thank you.
"Shhh, come," but Alex hesitated, then she actually took her gun and hostler off her body and left it in the nightstand's drawer. "Brave One, I promise you, it'll be the first night without nightmares if we share a bed."
"I have a name, you know?" She grumbled, feeling like a child, but still joining her enemy, the one she had killed, and hoped her nightmares wouldn't torment her further.
"I know," Astra took her hands hesitantly, before placing them between them and gave them a gentle squeeze in soft reassurance. "I like nicknames better."
"Whenever I saw you, I thought you came to torment me," she sighed, shaking her head, "I thought Non had cloned you to haunt me, and all your following meetings with my sister, taunts."
"Sleep, please," she requested softly, "you saved me some trouble, although I thought you had been honest. When I finally asked Kara about it, she turned against me, thinking I was trying to turn you against her; I couldn't meet her again afterwards."
"Astra, I'm sorry."
"I already said you're forgiven," several beats of peaceful quiet, but neither had managed to fall sleep, "I won't forgive you though, if you keep me awake."
The tease was clear, and was answered with a soft chuckle. They were finally able to dream.
They both remember the setting so well; the sky was dark, which was why Astra had died, or rather, the sunlight still in her cells, once they came into close contact with the kryptonite radiation being plunged into her chest, began spreading the venom. A few inches higher, and she would have died instantly from the exposure to her heart. As it had been, she barely managed to prevent her body from shutting down completely, and hearing that she wasn't perceived as an enemy, but as family, finally did the trick.
Her body was kept away from the sun, and when they sent her in her pod towards Rao, their prayers guided her to their God's little brother, the yellow star. In the sunlight, even her comatose body with such low frequency of heartbeat, resumed its activity as it fought off the venom within, and once she remained close to their source of powers, it sped the process. It had been a miracle, but she was alive. Astra didn't plan to waste her chance, leaving her pod and coffin. Seeing as her lieutenant would surely taken up that mantle of general, she was sure her husband would have killed her to keep his power and his ability to pursue and hurt her niece.
She had wanted to live so badly — oh, how much Astra needed it right then, but to resume her relation with her niece. She had been forced out when Non was captured in a reckless act, but her men didn't see her as their general any longer, that woman died for their cause. So she abandoned their methods, methods that had felt so real and true, to try and see if there was the possibility of working things out with the humans, with her only family.
All her jumbled thoughts were finally sorted and she stood and whipped around. There, right in front of her, was her Little One's sister, her Brave One, holding that sword in a defensive stance, and even if she knew it was a dream, she still sighed in resignation and stepped closer, wanting to get over it quickly. Only, the blade shook and was dropped between them, and the girl ran at her, hitting her with tight fists, wrists bound by a black scarf. With one quick motion, Astra undid those, and was left to hold a mess of guilt that was Alex Danvers.
Alex, for her part, was once again crying silently, not making a sound, feeling her own guilt stabbing at her, piercing the blade deep within her, having her die for her actions. No longer was she hitting the woman with all her might but holding her close, arms around her neck and clinging as if holding onto dear life itself.
And in their dreams, they went to sleep holding each other close, and unknown to them, they had their first, destiny dream together, fulfilling each other with just their presence.
Note: I'm consider upping Kara's ingestion of saturated sweets, and manufactured goodies; my reasoning is, as she is alien, her metabolism is processing everything fast, and all the amount of sweets might actually help keep her energy reserves high and allow all nutrients to be given to the child, but this is still debatable
Like, for example, instead of giving Cat a list filled with folic acid and potassium and whatnot, Alura would have ensured that sweets were there and at the top, along with plenty of fish
Thoughts?