Chapter 29
A/N: Hey Guys! I haven't had time to go back and edit my work so if there are any mistakes sorry. i'd like to apologise because i know how frustrating it can be to read something that hasn't been edited. BUT, i hope you enjoy the story while you still can. I have an ending in mind and it's going to be angsty as fuck, but it leaves an opening for sequel if you guys want it.
Screaming and the stench of fire woke Kara-Zor-El up. Her eyes hot wide open as the took in the sight in front of her.
Kara could feel her body heating up as the fire grew more intense with every second.
She was standing in the middle of Argo City, but it wasn't the same immaculate city that she remembered. Instead, everything was on fire. Everyone was burning.
"KARA!"
Kara was wearing a white gown, like the one she had worn when she was 13 years old. She was the only person who didn't have any burn or scorch marks on her.
"Mum?" Kara called out for her mother as she heard her voice. She looked around, trying to find her mother through the fire, "MUM?" she shouted out again.
In the distance, she could see her family, standing in the middle of the streets with flames surrounding them.
Kara ran to the them, she tried to run faster but she couldn't. It seemed like she wasn't moving at all.
All of a sudden, her mother appeared right in front of her, but it didn't look like her mother. Her face was mutilated, as if the skin was melting off of her face.
Kara jumped back at the sight of her mother's face, "Mum" Kara cried out as she took a step back.
"You did this to me", Alura shouted at her, "You failed us Kara"
"Mum" Kara cried, "I'm so, so, sorry", she wanted to hug her mother. Her voice cracked as she tried to beg her mother for forgiveness.
Alura shook her head, "You don't get to apologise for what happened" she spat at her daughter with venom, "Not when you survived and let us all die, every single Kryptonian is dead while you live your perfect happy life with those humans"
Kara shook her head, "Please" she sobbed taking another step back from her mother, "I know… I know I should've stayed with you guys…"
Her back hit into someone, she whipped around to see her father,
Her father had wounds covering all over his body.
"We sent you to protect Kal-El, not to live a mundane life with those pitiful humans" Zor-El shouted at his daughter.
"Dad, it's not like that" Kara pleaded for her father to understand.
"No?" He questioned, "You abandoned your mission, you ABANDONED US"
"STOP!" Kara screamed, her whole body was trembling as she heard her father's accusatory words. She tried to cover her ears, but she couldn't stop hearing those voices.
It was ironic, a part of her yearned to hear their voices again, but not like this.
"Kara" someone spoke as they placed their hands on her shoulders.
Kara turned around, "Jax?" she sobbed out.
"It's okay Kara, I understand" Jax said in a soft and caring voice. He looked 17 years old, there were no burns or cuts plastered on her brother's body.
"I… I'm not…I'm not replacing you" She sobbed as she looked at her brother who still reminded her of home.
"I know you're not" he replied comfortingly, "The humans are at fault. They are manipulating you, getting you to trust them. The 'Danvers' as you call them, they don't care about you"
"Wh-what? No, that's… no" Kara stuttered
"Those who you call your friends, Maggie, Lucy, James, Winn… and your mate, Lena. None of them love you like we do. They can't possibly love an alien" Jax spoke with no emotion. It was like a switch suddenly turned on, and all of his emotions suddenly disappeared.
"They care about me" Kara stated firmly
"No, they're manipulating you, but it's okay. I will protect you from them. I won't let them harm you" Jax stated, his face went dark and the flames grew higher.
"We will kill anyone who tries to hurt you" another voice spoke, Kara whispered around to see her sister standing there with blood staining her white shirt near her abdomen.
"Kira" She sobbed out, "They're not going to hurt me, we're family"
"I thought we were your family?" Alura asked with a hurt look.
"It okays little sister, we will slaughter anyone who brings harm to you" Kira stated
Flashes of everyone's dead body started to appear in front of her.
All of her school friends, her teachers, her neighbours and friends. They were all standing there. Every face that stood in front of her, she recognised.
Seeing everyone's face was overwhelming, these were the people who died while she got to live.
"Look at us" Jax said as he gestured to the crowd behind him, "We have all perished by the flames of Rao"
"I know" Kara cried, "I'm sorry, I…I didn't want this… I want to be with you"
"Then come with us" Alura said with a gentle voice.
"What?" Kara asked with confusion
Alura held out her hand, "Join us Kara"
The flames started to intensify, causing beads of sweat to drip down her face.
Kara looked at everyone's faces, she wanted so badly to go with them, but her family on earth needs her… right?
As if Kirana was reading her thoughts, she said, "They don't need you Kara", her voice was gentle and soft.
Kara looked at her family, her friends, everyone who she had met when she lived on Krypton.
"Okay" Kara mumbled softly, she reached out to grab her mother's hand.
The second that Kara touched her mother's hand, the flames around her grew, suffocating her. She collapsed onto her knees and clutched her chest as she felt the heat around her intensifying.
She started to gasp for air, "Wh-what's… ha-happening?", she was wheezing for air, but the air was thick and heavy with ashes.
She looked up, but instead of finding her mother, she was staring into the creature's eyes.
Fear stabbed her in the heart as she stared into the phantom's eyes, so she quickly looked away and focused on her breathing, or at least trying to.
A harsh wheezing sound escaped from Kara's mouth, she gripped her throat as she felt it closing up.
The phantom started to speak to her, but the words were incoherent, it's long fingers lifted Kara's chin up so it was looking at her.
Kara was still struggling to breath for air, but the second the phantom creature touched her chin and forced her too into its eyes, she saw images.
Images of everyone she loved dying.
Winn, Maggie, Alex and Lena, they were lying on the ground with blood surrounding them and fire growing around them.
Blood was pouring out of their mouths and guts.
Their faces had burn marks on it.
"NO!" Kara screamed in pain as she saw everyone she cared about lying, "Please… no, no, no, no" she begged. She crawled over to the dead bodies despite the thickening air that was suffocating.
She cradled the closest body that she was next to, it was Lena, "No! Lena please… please don't… I'm so sorry… this is… please don't go"
-00—
Lena shifted in her sleep, she buried her head deeper into the pillow and pushed the blanket away because it was starting to get really hot.
As she pushed the blanket off of her, she heard someone whimpering into her back. She felt like her back was pressed up against a heater.
She opened her eyes to find that it was morning. The light seeped through the curtains and angelically touched Kara's pale face.
She quickly shifted around to find out why her back felt like it was burning. Her face fell when she watched Kara's face scrunched up in pain.
"Shit" Lena muttered, "Kara", she could tell that Kara was having a nightmare, but something else was wrong. There were beads of sweat on Kara's face.
She pressed the back of her hand against Kara's forehead and flinched when she realised how hot Kara was, she was running a fever.
"Crap" Lena murmured, "Baby, I need you to wake up" she spoke softly.
"Please… I'm sorry" Kara whimpered in Kryptonian, in her sleep as she started to cry.
Kara started to thrash around, and Lena could hear how Kara's breathing suddenly got heavier, it was like she was having another panic attack but in her sleep, was that even possible
"Alex!" Lena shouted for Kara's sister. Hopefully Alex would know what to do. She got the feeling that this has happened before, and the only person who kenew how to deal with it is Alex.
"Lena" Kara sobbed violently.
"I'm right here babe, listen to my voice" Lena said, she saw Kara's strained features soften at the sound of her voice. She was going to reach out and shake her shoulder, but Alex's voice stopped her.
"Don't touch her" Alex shouted as she ran into the room after hearing Lena scream for her, "She reacts violently when she's touched" she explained as she walked up to her sister.
It didn't matter if Kara had powers or not, she was still thrashing around which meant that she would likely hurt someone.
Lena crawled out of bed and stepped back to allow Alex to take over, "Sweetie, it's just a nightmare, it's not real. You're safe now"
Alex tried to calm Kara down with her soothing words, "Kara, listen to my voice, you're not there anymore, you're here with me, Winn, Maggie... Lena"
Lena watched Kara's facial expression relax as she listened to Alex speak. Kara's breathing started to slow down, and her murmuring started to stop.
Slowly, Kara's eyes started to open, as if she was registering that she wasn't on a different planet. Fear was still evident in her eyes.
"Alex?" Kara mumbled as she looked around the room to make sure that this was real.
"Hey sweetie", Alex brushed away the strand of hair on Kara's face, the second she touched Kara's face, she realised that she was feeling warmer than usual, "God Kara, you're burning up"
"Lena" Kara realised that Lena wasn't next to her, she was supposed to be here, next to her. She started to panic, Alex quickly picked up on Kara's anxiety.
"Hey Kar, look at me. She's fine" Alex reassured her sister, "Just breathe sweetie", she tried to get her sister to slow down her breathing.
Lena cautiously approached Kara, "Babe, I'm here", she sat down next to Kara on the bed and watched her girlfriend slowly sit up. She rubbed Kara's back soothingly as she tried to catch her breath.
Lena wrapped her arm around Kara's shoulder's and pulled her into her chest to comfort her. Kara curled up into Lena's chest and let out a shuddering breath, "Are you okay?" Kara asked softly.
Lena looked up at Alex who was smiling at her little sister to make sure she heard the question right, "Me?" she asked. She felt Kara nodded her head slowly, "God Kara" she let out a small chuckled.
Kara looked up at her girlfriend, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, "What?" she asked with confusion.
"I'm fine Kara" She replied with a soft smile, she wiped away the tear falling down Kara's cheek, "How about you? Are you feeling any better?"
Kara didn't want to lie to Lena, but she also didn't want to worry her, so instead she bit her lip and snuggled into Lena's chest.
Alex knew what she was doing, "When were you going to mention that you blew out your powers?" Alex asked with an eyebrow raised.
Lena looked at Alex with surprise, she didn't know it was possible for Kara to blow out her powers. Well, it made sense considering the fact that Kara wasn't healing, nor did she have any super strength.
Kara looked down at her fingers and started to fidget with her fingers, "How'd you know?" Kara mumbled.
"You really think that I wouldn't notice that you lost your powers when for one, you're supposed to be invulnerable, but you have bruises all over your body, and for two, you're supposed to have super healing but seeing how you winced only a minute ago from pain, I would say that you don't have super healing either" Alex replied calmly.
Lena could feel Kara mumbling something stubbornly, she held back a smile because she knew how serious it was.
"How dangerous is it for Kara to lose her powers?" Lena asked
"Well it's not dangerous per say" Alex said, she touched Kara's forehead again to see if she was any cooler, "But she's prone to human viruses such as the flu… your temperature has gone down a bit… but I still want you to relax, your injuries are still healing" Alex assumed that Kara's temperature flared up because of her nightmare
"I told you I'm fine" Kara grumbled softly.
"Does having no powers make Kryptonians more stubborn?" Lena asked sarcastically, earning a laugh from Alex.
Kara shifted away from Lena so she could get into a more comfortable position, but she felt a jolt of pain shoot through her body, causing her to let out a yelp of pain.
Alex immediately leaned forward to grab Kara's hand, "Easy Kara" she said with concern.
Lena unwrapped her arm from Kara's shoulders and started to move so she could give Kara more space.
But Kara quickly grabbed Lena's arm and looked at her with a sad look, she almost looked afraid of losing her.
Lena had never seen Kara look so fearful before.
"Kara?" Lena saw the look of fear in Kara's eyes and didn't understand where it was coming from.
Alex cleared her throat and stood up from the bed, "I'm going to call Winn and ask him to pick up breakfast" she knew that Lena and Kara needed to talk.
Kara pulled Lena back onto the bed and laid upon her shoulder. Her fist clenched a fistful of Lena's shirt and she slowly pressed her body closer to Lena.
Lena was worried with Kara's sudden reaction, before she didn't say or do anything, she felt her shirt dampen. When she looked down, she saw Kara crying into her chest.
"Kara" She mumbled softly, she started to stoke Kara's beautiful blonde hair in an attempt to soothe the sobbing girl, "Baby, tell me what's wrong"
"You could've gotten hurt" Kara's voice was muffled into Lena's shirt, but she still heard her.
"What are you talking about? Do you mean last night?" Lena asked softly
Kara nodded her head, "You… you were supposed to be at home. Away from harm"
Was this the reason why Kara was so upset? Because she was at the school last night?
"Kara, I wouldn't have gotten hurt, you saved me. You saved everyone, including Maggie, Winn and your sister" Lena replied, she felt Kara shake her head.
"But what if… what if I didn't? You could have died… everyone could have died in that moment… and it would be my fault" Kara cried harder into Lena's shirt.
"The tornado and the earthquake is just mother nature. You had no control over it" Lena argued, there was something else, she knew it. Something else was bothering Kara, "Kara, is this about your nightmare?" she asked softly.
Kara was stubborn, she would never admit to her fears unless someone directly asks her.
Kara's silence was the only answer that Lena needed, "Do you want to tell me about it?" She asked softly.
Instead of reply, she was met with silence. She assumed that Kara wasn't going to answer until her voice suddenly spoke up.
"I saw all of you… Maggie, Winn, Alex-and You… all of you were dead, all of you died in a fire" Kara sobbed as she remembered the images of Krypton burning, and then seeing images of friends and family on earth dying.
Lena shook her head, "That's not going to happen Kara. I promise you that we're not going to suddenly combust into flames", all of a sudden, Kara jerked out of her arms and suddenly sat up, despite the pain coursing through her body.
She looked at Lena with an intense look that was filled with anguish and suffering, "But it has happened before", she cried.
Lena opened her mouth in confusion, she reached out to cup Kara's cheek, "Wh-what happened before?"
Kara leaned into Lena's hand and felt another wave of tears pool out of her eyes, "Everyone that I loved… died. Everyone that I ever cared about burned on a dying planet with no warning… they all burned to death and… I don't know what I would do if the same thing happened to you"
Lena pulled Kara into her chest, allowing the young Kryptonian to sob her heart out. A million questions shot through Lena's head.
Did Kara's family die in a fire? What did Kara mean by dying planet?
…
…
Oh my god, is Kara's planet gone?
"It won't happen" Lena said firmly with as much strength as she could muster, "Nothing bad is going to happen to me and I don't plan on dying any time soon. So quit worrying about me dying okay?" she said with a softer tone.
She heard Kara's sobs quieten down, she felt Kara make a move to lift her head up, but she gently pushed Kara's head back down onto her shoulder's, "You can let yourself be broken" she whispered softly into Kara's hair.
And just like that, she felt Kara's head drop onto her shoulders with no strain or hesitation.
After a few minutes, Kara finally spoke.
"Sorry" she mumbled softly
"You don't have to apologise every time you cry" Lena mumbled quietly, she heard Kara give a small chuckle.
Kara pulled Lena in tighter, "I like this" she mumbled softly.
"Like what? Hugging me?" Lena asked with a smile.
"I like… I like hugging you without worrying about crushing your bones" Kara replied with a touch of sadness. Lena was surprised by this she never heard Kara complain about her powers before, but it made sense.
She would never be able to understand how Kara lives her life. She constantly has to keep her powers in check or else she could seriously hurt someone. Lena would never be scared of Kara, but that didn't mean that Kara wasn't scared of herself.
"Well, until you get your powers back. You can hug me as tight as you want" Lena said happily, Kara moved out from the hug and let out a soft laugh. Lena loved hearing that damn laugh, "I'll be like your… your own personal teddy bear that you can hug as tight as you want"
Kara's laugh radiated through the room and it made Lena's heart flutter with amusement and love, "Hmmmmm, you're better than a teddy bear"
Lena cocked an amused eyebrow, "How so?"
Kara's smile grew as she leaned in, "Because I can't do this with my teddy bear" she murmured softly as she pulled Lena into a passionate kiss. Lena leaned into the kiss returned the lingering kiss. She gently ran her fingers through Kara's smooth hair.
In between kisses, Lena softly parted away from Kara, "What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" Kara asked with worry, still without her powers, she was afraid of hurting her. It made Lena's heart swell with happiness.
This was what it was like to be cared for, to be loved.
Lena shook her head, "No it's just… I can hear your stomach rumbling", she watched as Kara's eyes widen in embarrassment. She started to laugh as Kara hid her blushing face into her palms.
Kara plopped down onto the bed and started to pull the blanket over her whole body. She hid under her blanket and let out a groan of embarrassment.
"Kara come on, it's not that bad babe" Lena said through her laughter. She missed this feeling, laughing over something so trivial.
"You heard my stomach rumble when we were kissing" Kara mumbled like a small child.
Lena shook her head, "You can't stay under your blankets for your whole life"
"Watch me" Kara replied as she wrapped the blankets tighter around her body.
"What am I going to do if I want to kiss you?" Lena teased with a flirtatious grin.
Kara, after a few seconds, peeped her head out from under the blankets, "You can kiss me like this" she suggested, the blanket still wrapped around her body like a cocoon.
Lena shot her an incredulous look, "How about food?".
Right on cue, Kara's stomach started to growl for food. She groaned again in embarrassment, she retreated her head back under the covers of her blankets.
Lena stood up from the bed and pulled the covers off of Kara's body, "Come on, get up".
Kara let out a mumbled of annoyance before sitting up. But when she stood up, she could feel the bruises on her body flare up in pain.
This didn't go unnoticed by Lena, Lena helped Kara stand up and wrapped her arm around Kara' waist to help support her.
"I know I said I liked having no powers, but I seriously wish I had my healing abilities right now" Kara muttered under her breath as Lena helped her walk out of the room.
"How long until you get your powers back?" Lena asked as she helped Kara down the stairs slowly. With every step that Kara took, her whole body ached in pain.
Kara shrugged her shoulder's, "A couple days to a week. At least that's what Kal-El said"
Lena raised an eyebrow at her, "Kal-El?"
"O yeah, that's superman's Kryptonian name" Kara explained.
Another piece of information. Kara was a Kryptonian from the planet krypton that has been alluded to being gone. Lena was piecing the information together.
"Hey little Danvers" Maggie's voice broke Lena out of her thoughts. Maggie was grabbing food out of the brown plastic bag that Winn had bought over from the Chinese take away store.
Both Maggie and Winn were downstairs with Alex when they heard Lena call out for Alex. They were all going to run upstairs and see what was wrong, considering how scared Lena sounded, but Alex told them to stay.
She knew that Kara was having another nightmare and that Kara hated crowds or being fussed over. So, when she heard Lena scream for her, she immediately told Maggie and Winn to stay and keep setting out breakfast.
Winn whipped around to see Lena with an arm around Kara's waist, trying to keep her upright, a small frown appeared on his face, but he quickly covered it up with a smile.
He ran to Kara and pulled her into a huge, "Oh Rao" Kara yelped as she felt someone suddenly collide into her and pull her into his arm.
"Easy little storm trooper" Lena said as watched Kara grimace in pain at the sudden force.
Winn pulled away, "Shit, I'm so sorry Kar", he looked Kara up and down, and noticed how tired she looked, despite sleeping for more than 8 hours.
"It's fine Winn, I'm glad to see that you're okay" Kara said sincerely with a small smile that didn't reach her eye.
Lena gently helped Kara sit down on the couch, she watched Kara wince in pain as she slowly sat down.
"Of course, I'm okay. Are you okay?" Winn asked as he handed Kara a box of pot stickers. Kara gratefully took the pot stickers but even though she wasn't feeling that hungry.
"Yeah" Kara muttered, she could feel that everyone was unconvinced by her answer, but they kept their mouths shut.
Lena took her seat next to Kara with Maggie and Alex sitting next to her. Winn plopped against the sole chair. He reached for the remote and turned on the tv.
"How are you all holding up?" Kara asked curiously as she put into the pot sticker, "I know it must've been… scary to say the least"
At this point, everyone except for Maggie wasn't surprised by Kara's concern for their wellbeing. Of course, Kara would be worried about everyone's wellbeing.
"Well, I will admit that I was fucking scared out of my mind, but thank god we have you to save us right?" Maggie said with a smirk, revealing her dimples. Alex slapped her forehead at Maggie's revelation while everyone's eyes widen in surprise.
"You know?" Lena asked defensively.
"No glasses and a black hoodie doesn't exactly conceal your identity nor your voice" Maggie replied calmly while eating noodles.
"Wh-What?" Lena shouted, "I'd like to see you try to come up with a disguise, last minute"
"Chill out Luthor" Maggie replied with a smirk, "I'm not going tell anyone her secret"
"And we're supposed to just take your word for it?" Lena shot back.
Kara eyed her girlfriend cautiously, she knew Lena was protective of her, she usually gets like this when it comes to Siobhan or Leslie.
She saw Winn and mouthed, 'what's going on?'
Winn responded with a shrug.
"Well" Alex swallowed the rice before speaking, "I can vouch for my girlfriend. She isn't going to spill your secret, I promise" Alex directed her words to Kara, she looked into her sister's eyes to find nothing but understanding. She was worried that Kara would angry over this.
"I trust you" Kara replied giving her sister a comforting smile, "And I trust Maggie" she said to Maggie, giving her the same warm smile.
"Thanks, little Danvers" Maggie returned the smile, "See Luthor, no hard feelings"
"That literally proves, nothing" Lena replied, "How do we know that you don't secretly hate aliens?"
"What? Like… alienophobia?" Maggie replied with a chuckle, "If I recall, isn't Lex prejudice towards aliens?"
Kara watched Lena's face flash with anger, "Oh Rao" she muttered knowing that this was going to ugly.
"What are you trying to say? That just because my brother is prejudice against aliens, then I must automatically share the same views as him?" Lena asked
"No" Maggie replied calmly, "I'm just saying, if Kara can trust someone who has a brother that hates aliens, then surely Kara can trust someone who has done nothing bu—"
"Call my girlfriend selfish and ungrateful?" Lena interrupted, a part of her felt triumphed when she saw Maggie's smirk falter.
An awkward silence took over the room as Maggie leaned back into the chair with a scowl on her face.
Kara cleared her throat awkwardly, trying to relieve some of the tension in the room, "I trust Lena, because she isn't the same as her brother. She is her own person and I know that she is different from Lex and her mother. And yeah… Lex may not like… people like me… but that doesn't change the way I feel about Lena" Kara defended her girlfriend.
Lena gave her a small grateful smile, "Thank you" she hummed softly.
"But, I also trust Maggie" Kara quickly said, she saw the look of surprise flash both on Maggie's and Lena's face, "My sister has trust in you, and that's more than enough reason for me to trust you"
Alex gave her a thankful smile.
"Ohhhhh, that's… that's really sweet" Winn said with a goofy grin.
Kara sucked in a breath, "Winn however… I'm not so sure if I trust you" she teased.
Winn gave her an offended look and threw a pillow at Kara.
"Dude the food" Alex complained as she watched the pillow almost knock the food out of Kara's hand.
"I'm very trustworthy thank you very much" Winn argued.
Alex let out a scoff, "You spilt her secret to me in less than 10 seconds"
"That's because you threatened me" Winn complained.
"Don't use that as an excuse" Alex shot back as she reached to grab a piece of Kara's pot sticker. Kara, unexpectedly, handed Alex the whole tray of potstickers, Alex furrowed her eyes with confusion, "I only wanted one Kara", her sister almost never shared her potstickers with anyone.
Kara pushed the tray into Alex's hand while shaking her head, "I'm not hungry" she muttered softly.
Lena looked away from Maggie looked back at Kara who looked like she was about to vomit. She pushed the strand of blonde hair behind Kara's ear, "Babe?"
Before Lena could get a response, Kara abruptly stood up from the couch and ran to the bathroom to throw up the contents in her stomach.
