AUTHORS NOTE:
Hello my friends, thank you to all who took the time to review the last chapter! I appreciate you all greatly!
This chapter is a little bit shorter than the others, but I wanted to ended it where I did, for what will be obvious reasons! Enjoy!
Chapter 9:
For a few moments Mon-El just stood there staring, taking her presence in. Even in her current state, Kara was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever had the pleasure of being with. His mind was still reeling from the meeting he'd just had with Lancet, as he wondered – if this prophecy was indeed true, what that would mean for him and Kara?
The blonde lolled her head half consciously over to one shoulder, a quiet moan coming from her lips. Everyone had been uncharacteristically quiet from the moment they'd arrived on this earth, and it filled him with dread. What on earth had happened to them back home that had put them all on such an edge?
It had quickly been decided that Caitlin needed to start formulating the cure for Kara – by combining his antidote with her blood – or something else more scientific that he didn't understand. Everyone had scattered from the room, leaving him with the task of helping Kara into something more comfortable.
"Hey Kara?"' He said quietly, fingers combing through her blonde waves. He didn't get anything by way of response other than a loud exhale.
"Alright come here." Mon-El reached forward, sliding his arms under her back and bringing her to sit along the edge of the bed. Her head fell limply against his chest, but he suspected she was somewhat conscious when he felt one arm grasp his bicep, and the other slip around her waist.
Mon-El took the moment to wrap his arms around her tightly, face resting in her hair. He breathed her in, thankful that even now she still smelled like Kara.
"Rao I love you." He whispered against her, tightening his grasp as he revelled in the action he thought he'd never again have the opportunity to partake in. She let out a slur of mumbled gibberish in response, and Mon-El felt his heart physically ache. He'd never seen her so vulnerable in his life, and it made him want to jump off the edge of the earth if that's what it took to make her better again. He was sure she'd absolutely hate the fact that she needed to be taken care of, she was always so fiercely independent and rightly so.
"Mon?" A weak voice said, and Mon-El pulled back from his embrace to see blue eyes looking up at him. "Are you really here? Most of the time when I wake up you're gone..."
Her words slurred together slightly as she slumped forward against him again, and he felt his chest tightened sadly at her words.
"I'm here, promise." He smiled slightly, looking at her. "How are you feeling?"
"I could use a nap..." She answered, crinkling her nose in a way that Mon-El found so cute he almost laughed.
"Sure thing Supergirl, but Dr. Snow, has requested you not be in your super-suit while you get better soooo..."
Kara let out a loud huff, groggily grasping at the collar of her suit before giving up and dramatically holding out her arms in a gesture that clearly said "help."
This time Mon-El couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh. He was reminded of the time he'd accidentally gotten Kara drunk – and the times they'd gotten drunk together on purpose after that night.
"Well you're fun right now." He smiled, trying not to let his worry rise to the surface.
The Daxamite placed a quick kiss to her forehead before releasing his embrace and pushing the tattered remains of her shirt off her shoulders, before pulling her supersuit over her shoulders and down to her waist. His fingers came to gently move across the black spiral she had on her collarbone, and along all the black veins that were being emitted from it.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Her voice startled him, and he quickly drew his hand away from her, grabbing the star labs t-shirt Caitlin had left them.
"Yes." Mon-El answered honestly, pulling the shirt over her head, and then working her veiny black arms through the sleeves. "But – Caitlin was able to cure me and I'm sure she'll be able to do the same for you. Stand up."
Kara nodded, and he slipped his arm around her hips helping her feet to find the floor. Resting all of her weight against him as he helped her into the shorts that they'd been given.
"Good." Kara breathed heavily, as he lifted her back onto the bed, "cause I don't know how much longer I can fight this, I'm trying but -"
"Fight what?"
"Voltor. I can feel him inside, trying to take over...I'm trying to fight him but I'm just so tired...I don't know how to stop him..."
Mon-El felt a lump form in his chest – further proof that Kara was much worse off than he'd ever been. Even when he was passed out and seizing he could never feel Voltor inside. He just hoped it wasn't too late for Caitlin to cure her.
"Just rest for now babe." He said, hugging her tightly as he laid her back down. She nodded weakly, quietly hating herself for not being the strong one – but there was nothing she could do.
Mon-El placed a soft kiss on her forehead, before moving to step away but Kara caught his wrist with her hand, holding him in place.
"Don't go." She whispered hoarsly, hooded eyes drawing her close to sleep. Mon-El took her in, the veins went all the way down to her toes, and up and down her legs. He had so much he needed to talk to everyone about, but there was no way he could say no to her right now.
"Of course." He said. Mon-El moved to climb onto the bed next to her, his cape getting caught under him as he tried to lay down. Mon-El cursed the flailing black material under his breath, dramatically swinging it behind him. He seriously needed to talk to Cisco about that choice. Mon-El wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body to his gently.
He'd stay, until she fell asleep.
XXX
By the time he was sure Kara was out Mon-El had worked himself into a complete panic.
Not just a small amount of anxiety, kind of panic, but full blown on the edge of a break down panic.
Somehow having her here in his arms had made it all real. The idea of him as King, and Kara as Queen...his Queen.
His wife...?
Oh Rao.
Mon-El looked down at Kara, who somehow still managed to look even more beautiful than the day he met her, and found his body sweating.
His heart was humming in his chest, the air in the room suddenly feeling thick. He was suddenly furious with these people, for hunting him across the galaxy and demanding he be their king, just because of some stupid prophecy.
On Daxam, being a prince had been simple. Do drugs, party, sleep around, and repeat. Get all the glory, while his parents and their advisors made the real decisions. Sure, as the royal heir he'd been groomed since the day he was born to take the thrown, but he'd never had the chance for that type of responsibility.
All he knew how to do was get high and have sex.
Suddenly feeling the need for some air, Mon-El slid out from under Kara, careful not to wake her. Quietly as possible he left the room, only to be confronted with the faces of the people who had eagerly been waiting to question him about not only his meeting with Lancet, but Kara's well being as well.
"How is she?" Alex asked, rushing towards him. It was then that he noticed how injured she was, and made a note to ask her what happened later.
"She's fine," He said thankful that his voice came out normal instead of squeaky and high. "As fine as she can be, she's sleeping. How's the cure coming?"
"It's good, it should be done in a few hours." Caitlin smiled at him assuringly, and he nodded leaning up against the wall.
"Hey, how was your meeting with Lancet?" Barry asked curiously and Mon-El felt all the colour fall from his face.
"Uuuuhh..."
"Who's Lancet?" Alex whispered to J'onn quietly. The Martian shrugged, turning to Mon-El expectantly.
Mon-El stared at them all, words stuck in his throat. He didn't know what to say, or how to say it. Mon-El was a person who was rarely at a loss for words – he loved to prattle on.
But right now he had none. How was he supposed to explain this to them all, when he was still processing it all himself. When he still had gaps of information and so many questions to ask.
He felt trapped.
He swallowed loudly, watching as everyone's face turned from curiously, to confusion to concern. Mon-El hated this – this wasn't the person he wanted to be. He scanned them over one more time before straightening his back rigidly.
"Excuse me." He managed to get out, before slowly walking from the room, black boots of his suit echoing throughout the walls as he did.
The further he got from the lab, the faster he walked and he quickly found himself ducking into a small office space for some privacy.
Mon-El pulled the chair from the desk and moved to sit.
"Stupid fucking cape." He murmured angrily, as the fabric got caught on the arm rest, and awkwardly underneath him. The Daxamite flailed at the fabric, finally managing to push the cape aside so he could collapse into the chair, head resting in his hands.
"You okay man?" A voice asked from the doorway, and Mon-El looked up to see Barry. Mon-El didn't answer, instead choosing to lean back and push off the wall with his feet causing the chair to spin backwards around the room. "You know, Cisco probably forgot to mention it but that cape can actually come off the suit."
Mon-El frowned, watching as Barry reached forward and pressed a button on each of his shoulders, the fabric puddleing behind him.
"Does your suit have one?"
"No, but I can't fly."
"I can't either man."
"That's...a good point..." Barry knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. Mon-El pulled the cape from behind his back, spinning the chair around again. "So I take it the meeting with Lancet didn't go well?"
Mon-El burred his lips together, trying to find the words to tell Barry what had happened.
"You could say that, sort of." Mon-El said, tapping a pen from the desk on the arm read anxiously. "I had to leave before he could tell me everything, but it was pretty crazy."
"Oh?" Barry asked inquisitively.
"Yea, apparently there's some sort of prophecy...thing." Mon-El stuttered over the words thoughtfully. "That says that Kara and I are destined to be together. To come together as king and queen, to lead alien kind together, so species can live in peace."
"That's...intense..."
"Right? And they are just dropping this on us like they're giving us zakarian ale or something."
Mon-El let out a sigh, spinning his chair out again.
"And Kara man. She's gonna freak. I mean, not about leading these people – she'll fall into that just because she's Kara. But being in a relationship where she's told she needs to be or do anything, just wont go well."
Barry snorted knowingly, when the door to the room slammed open and Cisco appeared, heaving heavily.
"Guys – blue alien guy – in labs – don't know how he found – problem..."
Mon-El and Barry looked at each other, having put together the fragmented sentences of their frazzled friend. Lancet was here, and something serious was going on. The two bolted from the room, Cisco following closely behind.
As soon as they were back in the labs, Lancet stepped forward his armour clanking as he dropped to his knee in front of Mon-El.
"You're highness," Mon-El flinched, this wasn't how he'd wanted J'onn and Alex to find out what was happening. "Forgive the intrusion-"
"Stand up Lancet." Mon-El said quietly through gritted teeth and the blue alien rose to his feet cautiously.
"Forgive me, but it's Estra. The young girl you met yesterday, she's missing and we have reason to believe she's been taken by Voltor."
Mon-El cast a quiet glance at J'onn, before looking back at Lancet. J'onn had yet to have any idea that there was another green Martian on this earth, but Mon-El knew the alien would be crushed if anything ever happened to her.
"How long has she been gone?" He asked cautiously.
"We don't know. Ever since she lost her parents she's had a tendency to disappear for periods of time. We've found it best, to give her space but when one of us when to her tent to give her supper tonight they found this on her bed."
Lancet reached forward, placing a clump of purple glowing stone in Mon-El's hand. Mon-El swallowed, this purple had been haunting him. In his dreams with Kara. In the fists of Voltor, who had used this very mineral to give him bruises that would normally be impossible. And now, by evidence of the capture of a child.
"I saw her this morning, playing ball with the other kids when I came to camp."
The blue alien looked a little relieved, knowing that the child had only been gone a short while.
"We don't know how he got in our camp to take her."
"Well, given that Voltor has the ability to take over host bodies, perhaps he took over an alien that could shapeshift or become invisible and they just walked right in?" Alex stepped forward as she spoke, J'onn and Lancet nodding thoughtfully along.
"I'm sorry what?" Mon-El interjected feeling completely out of the loop. Everyone looked at him, suddenly realizing just how much information he'd missed, and what Lancet hadn't had the time to tell.
"Right, so you know that parasite thing that Voltor injected you with?" Barry asked, and Mon-El nodded. "Once it takes over a body and allows Voltor's mind to merge with the host – so he is essentially walking with as many bodies as he wants."
Mon-El's Heart started pounding in his chest, remembering what Kara had said about being able to feel Voltor inside. At the time he'd thought she was just becoming delusion from the sickness...
"Kara..." he barely managed to croak out, as he looked around at his friends. The looks on their faces told him everything he needed, and he sent prayers to Rao desperately hoping it wasn't too late.
"What do we do?" Mon-El asked, knowing full well that Lancet was still looking to him as the leader – but he was at a loss.
"Well," Caitlin began in the most reassuring voice he'd ever heard, "Kara's cure is almost done, so let's just hope she can hold onto that. For now, lets focus on finding the girl, Estra was it?"
Lancet modded, looking once again to Mon-El.
"J'onn, are you able to sense any green martians around?" Mon-El asked, causing the man to look at him with sudden interest.
"The child is a green Martian?" He asked, amazement evident in his tone, and Mon-El nodded. Everyone watched intently, J'onn closed his eyes head bowing towards the ground in focus. "I can sense her, but I can't find her. Without the bond it's impossible to me to do anything more."
"At least we know she's alive." Alex offered, placing a gentle hand on the Martian's arm. She knew exactly how hard this new information would be for her mentor to hear. Everyone paused for a minute trying to think of what to do when the echo of laughter broke the tension in the room. Everyone jumped, their gazes moving to where Kara stood in the door frame, head bent forward awkwardly, blonde hair hanging over her eyes. The black ooze had stopped pouring from her mouth, and she sneered, before laughing again.
"You're too late." She snarled, "Estra will be mine, just like this body is mine." Voltor in Kara's body smirked, twisting her hands in front of his face as if deciding how to best weaponize them.
"Where is she?" Mon-El demanded stepping forward boldly, somehow allowing himself to view this person as a monster instead of his lover. Kara laughed again, hand forming into a fist before plunging it into Mon-El's chest. Mon-El flew backwards, body colliding with the glass wall of the lab which shattered on impact. The Daxamite leapt onto his feet, charging at Kara furiously.
"Where is she?" He demanded, ramming her body into the wall, causing her to heave at the impact. Kara's blue eyes sparkled at him mischievously, and Mon-El's rage for the monster grew as he felt himself hate something that he loved so dearly.
"Never." She grunted, throwing him into a table, Caitlin and Cisco dodging their path just in the nick of time. J'onn stepped forward, grabbing the Kryptonian by the shoulder, and she turned, her heat vision directly hitting the green Martain in the chest. His clothes ignited, the fire causing the sprinkler system in the labs to come on, dousing the place in water. Mon-El picked himself up again, as Alex helped J'onn diffuse the fire on his chest. From across the room Mon-El sent Barry a look that said distract her, and the Flash nodded, bolting into speed. Kara's eyes narrow as she charged after him, giving Mon-El the chance to tackle her to the ground from the side.
Mon-El placed his body on top of hers, hands pinning her wrists to the ground tightly as she writhed beneath him. Kara let out a scream of furry, as she tried to use her heat vision to get him to release her. The blonde let out another enraged scream, as she tried to break free, momentarily lifting both their bodies off the ground before they collapsed back into the floor, cracking the tiles underneath them. For a brief moment Mon-El was thankful that Kara was so sick – in her normal strength he'd have never been able to overpower her like this.
"Tell me where she is." He whispered against her harshly and Kara let out a scowled laugh.
"Turn on the news, surrender this body and your own to me, or choose which one to save." With that Kara's body went limp under Mon-El, her head lolling to the side.
"We need to get her to a secure place." Mon-El said, moving off her before picking up Kara's unconscious form.
"We can use the cells we use for Meta-humans, they should hold her. Come on, I'll take you." Cisco said, and Mon-El followed him out of the labs without hesitation. Their feet echoed throughout the halls, and Cisco opened the doors to an empty cell. Mon-El stepped in, placing a quick kiss on her black veiny forehead as he laid her down on the floor.
"Sorry baby." He said, unsure if he was apologizing for hitting her, leaving her, or allowing her to get to the point where she needed to be contained. Mon-El watched as the doors to her cell pulled shut, securing her inside. The Daxamite sighed deeply, trying to get his body to regain some sort of homoeostasis, when the red light of The Flash spun into the room.
"Guys, we've got a problem." Barry said, before bolting from the room again, causing Mon-El to grab Cisco and dash back to the labs. Everyone stood, gaze fixed on the TV monitors in the lab anxiously.
"That's right Rob, it looks like we've got about 7 jumpers scattered throughout the city, on various bridges and skyscrapers." The news anchor was saying, and Mon-El felt the colour drain from his skin. "So far police say they cant find any connection between these people, and not all of them have been identified yet. What's weird is that we seem to have a wide age range of people, the youngest appearing about 8 or 9, and the eldest in their 80's."
The camera switched to a shot of a little girl standing on the edge of a building, one foot hovering in midair as if she was about to step. The child looked human, with long brown hair, but the dress was unmistakably the pink one he had seen Estra wearing earlier that day.
"All of these victims seem to be infected with some sort of virus, you see the black lines on that old ladies hand? We are unsure if this is contagious at this point, so police warn to stay away and call 911 immediately if you come across someone with these symptoms." The screen switched to a shot of an elderly lady, hand reaching forward as she teetered back and order on the rim of a bridge.
"They all seem to be counting down to something, all we can hope is that we can figure out what is causing this, before its too late."
The screen began to switch between shots of the various people, counting as they stared blankly into space.
"7, 6, 5, 4..."
Barry, Mon-El and J'onn all looked at each other, before simultaneously bolting from the lab, J'onn asking if they knew where to go. The eyes of everyone else back at the lab widened, as they held their breaths, watching as 7 bodies began to plummet through the air and towards the ground.
AUTHORS NOTE:
Thank you all for reading, please take a moment to let me know your thoughts! You all motivate me to continue you on!