A Painful Goodbye
Previously on a Superflash Story:
Dragging myself off the ground I ran over to Kara and saw that the blade of the knife was made of Kryptonite, and to make matters worse the Kryptonite was weakening her body to the point that she really was dying. I didn't know what to do.
Kara POV:
Everything suddenly started to get woozy, and there was a sharp pain in my left-hand side, it felt like I had been stabbed, but that wasn't possible. Everything around me started to blur and fade out and that was the last thing I remember.
Alex POV:
I had to get the Kryptonite out of Kara, she was going to die, and fast if we couldn't. Yelling into the intercom system for help I started prepping the x-ray machine to see if I could determine where the Kryptonite was in her body. Thankfully due to the Back Mercy's position on her body that man, person, alien, thing in yellow missed her heart and possibly her lungs. Yet it didn't matter as long as the Kryptonite was in her body, even if it was just in her finger she would still die.
Caitlin was the first person to enter the med bay, closely followed by Winn and Cisco. They all looked horrified by what had happened to her, but I very quickly explained what had happened.
Getting to work we scanned her body and determined that the blade has separated upon entering the body, this was going to be a more complex job than what we imagined. I told Winn and Cisco to get back to work on the tech to get me into Kara's mind and Caitlin and I started operating.
As we were trying to remove the shards of Kryptonite from Kara's broken body Caitlin looked at me with a sadness in her eyes.
"You love her don't you?"
"What? No! I... I... I mean yes. But doesn't everyone, I mean she is supergirl she saves people."
"That is not what I mean, and you know it. Just tell me Alex, and this is just between you and me I swear, you know doctor-patient confidentiality and all that, but what was she like when your family first took her in?"
"Scared, and alone. She had just watched her whole planet blow up and there was nothing that my parents or I could do about it. But we helped her get through it, and now I couldn't imagine my life without her. Please don't tell anyone, not even Kara that you know who she is, let her tell you herself if she wants to."
"I promise, I promise both of you that I will keep this secret, she deserves that for saving all of us."
"Thank you, all Kara wants is to fit in and to save people all in the same breath. The least we can all do for her is to allow that to happen."
That was the last that she said to me until we managed to get the last of the Kryptonite out of Kara. Breathing a sigh of relief as I was closing the box, that we have sealed the Kryptonite in because Kara's vitals were starting to go back to their normal level. Well as normal as they could be when you have an alien parasite attached to your chest.
"What do we do with this now?" Caitlin was gesturing to the lead-lined box of Kryptonite.
"Get it as far away from here as possible? I don't know, we could drop it into the ocean, throw it into a volcano, we could even launch it into space." I just looked at Kara with a sadness in my eyes when a cough behind me brought me out from my thoughts.
"Cisco and I think that we have a solution to the Kryptonite problem. What if we create a device that attaches to her suit that can reverse the effect that Kryptonite has upon her?"
"You mean that you can make her permanently immune to the effects of Kryptonite? That would be amazing, if it works you could make a second one, for superman. How is the device to help me save Supergirl coming along?"
"We are almost done, we just need to sync it up with her subconscious mind."
Kara POV:
I woke up again in my bed on Krypton, I knew that I wasn't meant to be here, but I couldn't think about where else I was meant to be. I could see Kellex floating around the room, but I knew that I had to get out. I got up and made a break for the door when I opened it I was greeted by my mother again.
"Kara where do you think that you are going?"
"Home, I don't know what... something must be causing this."
"Kara nothing is wrong, I told you nothing is causing this. You are safe and back home."
"No, no my home is back on... back on... earth. My home is back on earth!"
"Earth? Earth is thousands of light-years away, and why would I ever send you to that primitive planet?"
I started feeling a panic attack creeping on, and I started to breathe heavily, when, suddenly the door opened and my father walked in. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, this had to be some kind of dream, or was it.
"Kara? Are you feeling okay?"
"No. No! This is... this cannot... cannot be real. This isn't real, this isn't real."
My parents looked at each other concerned with what I was saying. "It must be the fever." Said, my father.
I made a move to leave and to see how to get out of this dream when I noticed a crack in the floor, but my dreams have never been this vivid and this detailed.
"This crack, I made it when I tripped when I was chasing Aunt Astra."
My mother walked over and put her arm around me, "Yes and even though you fell you got right back up again. Nothing can keep you down my darling."
Suddenly the door opened and I was shocked by who entered because never in my wildest dreams did I expect to see them.
Alex POV:
Joe had come back to STAR Labs, and he brought Captain Singh with him, I was surprised by this but I figured that Kara had helped the police out often and they would consider her one of them.
"Ms Danvers, how is supergirl doing? Joe tells me that she is currently incapacitated, Central City needs her back."
"We are working on getting, her back, Cisco and Winn are creating a device that can take someone's mind inside Supergirl's subconscious mind."
"Is that safe? Will it work?"
"As to whether or not it is safe, god only knows, but I am the one going in so if anything happens only I will get hurt. As to whether or not this will work, this is our only hope so it has to. How is the city doing? Have people noticed that Supergirl is missing?"
"There are rumours that she is missing, and the criminal fraternity is starting to capitalise on it. We need to get her back."
"We are working on it captain, but it is going to take some time."
We looked at Kara and she was still lying there no change. I just hoped that the boys would be fast enough.
Kara POV:
Astra was here, Aunt Astra. She looked different, she looked happy. But she... She has been trying to kill me. She is responsible for this.
"You! This is your fault, you did this to me. You did this to me!"
"Kara stop! Stop it! Kara!"
I lunged for her but my parents grabbed me and held me back. "This is all you and Non, I should have known, I should have known that it was you two."
"Non? But Kara Non was banished to the phantom zone years ago."
"No, but I fought you, just weeks ago back on... on... I can't remember, why can't I remember?"
"All nightmares fade the longer we are awake. Everything will be alright soon."
"But I still feel it, I still have glimpses of it... of flying."
"We can all fly in our dreams, Kara."
"But I have friends who need me, family..."
"We are your family Kara, we are all you need."
"Kara?"
I turned around at the sound and there was a young boy their no older than about thirteen, he looked familiar but I couldn't place him, and then he smiled and I instantly recognised him, it was a younger Cl... Kal, his name is Kal.
"Kal-El."
He handed me a controller to open the window screens.
"Do you remember how to open it?"
I laughed and took the controller, the room flooded with light as the shuttered raised, and my breath was taken away. I remembered just how beautiful that view was, the view of Argo City.
"Look, Kara, it's Krypton, isn't it beautiful?"
"Yes, Kal it is stunning."
Alex POV:
Captain Singh was mobilising the troops in an attempt to squash some of the unruly behaviour due to Supergirls absence. Winn and Cisco were putting the finishing touches to the VR device that will let me into Kara's mind, Joe had left to help with the issues on the street, and Caitlin and I were still monitoring Kara's vitals. Kara was starting to fade away, she must have started to lose her grip on reality.
Suddenly Captain Singh swore and started to head towards the exit, at the same moment that Winn And Cisco came running into the room.
"All forms of communication are down."
"What Winn slow down, Captain Singh what is wrong?"
"I do not know the phone and the radio is not working."
"That is what Cisco and I were trying to say, there is a solar flair right now, it has knocked down all communications."
"Then I must leave," he lent down to speak to Kara, "Supergirl if you can hear me come back to us we need you now more than ever."
He left and we were all looking at each other, "Cisco is the device ready?"
"Yes. I will just go and grab it."
"Caitlin, can you prepare Supergirl for the procedure?"
"On it."
The two of them left to do what they needed to do, and I dragged Winn off to one side.
"What is the problem, Alex?"
"Two things, one Astra and Non would have known about the solar flair, Kryptonian technology would have been able to predict this coming."
"You think what happened to Kara is to stop her from stopping them from doing whatever they are planning on doing?"
"Yeah, I do."
"You said two things, what is the other thing?"
"I don't know Cisco, Caitlin, I don't know what they plan to do if things start going wrong, so I need you to stop them from pulling me out before Kara comes back. Don't let them stop me."
"I promise."
"Hey." We turned around and Cisco and Caitlin were waiting for us. "We are ready to go, Cait is going to hook you up to the Neuro relays and ECG readers, if anything happens we will pull you out."
I looked at Winn, "I either come back with her or not at all." Winn nodded and we hooked me up. It was momentarily painful but when I opened my eyes I was shocked by where I was. I was on Krypton...
Kara's POV:
I had just sentenced my first person in court and my parents were so proud of me
"Kara you were a natural in court today."
I beamed with pride and turned to face Kal
"Kal-El you would have been so proud of your cousin today."
He hugged me and my father chuckled. "Your mother and I were not the only ones who came to watch you today. Or did you not notice Bar-Or observing you."
"Bar-Or seems like such a nice man."
My father piped up quickly. "Boy." We all started laughing, and my mother gave him a funny look.
"And, yes, I like him very much, and Kara must too or else she wouldn't spend so much time with him."
I smiled ant there was a knock at the door, my father went to open it and there stood a man that I recognised. "Ah, Bar-Or we were just talking about you."
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything Zor-El?"
"Not at all, come in."
My heart suddenly stopped, and I froze. Oh my Rao, it was... Oh, what was his name, Bar... Barr... Barry, oh Rao it's Barry.
"Barry. I knew it, this was all a dream, this isn't real because I never could have dreamed up Barry Allen. Where am I and what have you done to me."
Suddenly the door burst open and a red-headed woman burst through, followed by half a dozen guards.
Alex POV:
"Kara, Kara you have to listen to me, this isn't real, none of this is real."
She looked at me with a slight hint of confusion in her eyes and then her eyes lit up, and she smiled that dazzling Kara smile.
"Alex! Oh Rao what happened? Why are we here, why is Barry here?"
She hugged me and the guards backed off, suddenly the ground began to shake. "Kara you have been attacked by a black mercy, none of this is real."
"I know, I worked it out when Barry, well a replica of Barry appeared in my dream."
"That is incredible your love for Barry is so strong you can see through the Black Mercy's illusions. Kara, we need to go home, the earth needs Supergirl."
Suddenly Kara s mother, I recognised her from her hologram piped up.
"Don't listen to her Kara, she is an alien spy, you are happy here, and this is Bar-Or, not Barry Allen or whatever his name is. Once she is gone we will all be happy together."
The fake Barry grabbed Kara's hands and looked her in the eyes, I could see her resolve wavering, and I knew that I had to do anything to save Kara.
"Kara listen to me, I know that I haven't always been the best sister, and I sometimes don't believe in you as much as I should but you are my sister. And I love you, so does Eliza, and Winn. And when Barry wakes up he is going to want you there to help him adjust. You are not just Kara Zor-El, you are also Kara Danvers, daughter, best friend and sister, and you are Supergirl the saviour of Earth.
"Life isn't perfect, and nobody said that it was. It can be hard and it can be lonely, especially for you. You have sacrificed and you have lost so much. I wish that you could have had a life with your family. But even if you did it wouldn't be this Kara, because this isn't real.
"I can't promise you a life without pain and loss because pain and loss is what makes us who we are, it is what makes you a hero. Remember the pain of what happened to Barry is what caused you to become Supergirl. Supergirl fights every day to keep people from struggling like you have. Please remember all of this and come back to me."
Kara POV:
I watched Alex break down into body shaking sobs and I knew, at that moment, that she was right, the ground shook again, this is no longer my home. I will always love and remember Krypton but Earth is my home now and I have to return. The violent shaking of the planet was getting stronger, but I knew that I had to do this, I had to leave.
Krypton was going to burn all over again, but this time it would be okay because I will get to say a proper goodbye.
"Alex is right. I have got to go."
"No, Kara please."
"Oh Kal-El, you taught me to be strong, and I am, I am so strong. But this... this isn't real, and my sister is right I have got to go. Krypton will always be in my heart but my home is Earth. I love you, all of you..."
Alex POV:
There was a blinding flash of white light and suddenly I was back in STAR Labs, I yanked the Helmut off my head and raced over to Kara, furious that they woke me up before Kara came back.
"What the hell? Winn you promised."
"Alex they didn't wake you up I swear. They didn't."
"Then how is she still under? Hmm, how? She was coming home, she was coming home."
Winn looked at me and then he bolted over to Kara's side. "Alex you did it. She is waking up, she is waking up."
The Black Mercy slithered off her chest and into the corner of the room and just died. We all stared at it until Cisco broke the silence.
" That was one nasty daffodil."
Winn and I turned our attention back to Kara, who woke up with a start. Not caring whether Cisco found out as well, I approached Kara as her sister.
"Kara?" Cisco shouted out in confusion but Caitlin just sushed him.
"Kara, can you hear me, you are okay, promise. You are in STAR Labs, in the bed next to Barry." She just looked at me with this dead look in her eyes.
"Who... Did... This... To... Me?"
I didn't want to tell her the truth, but I knew that I had to. "Non and Astra, but mostly Non."
With a cold harshness to her voice that I have never heard before she asked one last question. "Where is he?"
Kara POV:
I was furious, Non had made me watch Kryptons destruction for a second time, I hated him. Now, now it was war.
STAR labs gave Winn full use of their satellite, and Winn managed to find a way through the solar flair, he discovered that Non and Astra were at two separate satellite stations, I flew off to stop Non, Alex and the CCPD went after Astra.
By the time I had arrived Non was just about to leave, but he wasn't going to get away with this. Before he even.knew what had hit him he was flying into a wall.
"You stupid little girl, you are too late, our plan is in motion."
"WHY?!" I screamed at him. "I WATCHED THEM BURN, I WATCHED THEM BURN AGAIN."
I kept punching him over and over, "MY PARENTS, MY WHOLE WORLD. I will stop you I will make sure of it."
"You stupid girl your mother thought that she could stop me, what makes you think that you will?"
"Because I have known pain," grunting I swung at him, "but I have also known love." Slamming Non into the ground I punched him in the head repeatedly. "And even though I was born on Krypton I choose this planet, I choose Earth. And I will protect it, until my last breath."
"You cannot stop me Kara Zor-El, Myriad has already begun."
Before I could react Non used his heat vision to break a satellite dish, it was heading for a group of civilians. I knew that I had to save them over stopping Non. As I raced over to save the citizens I watched as Non flew away.
Alex POV:
Joe, Captain Singh, myself and about twenty other CCPD officers arrived to stop Astra. She was on the roof of a building attaching something to a box, making the most of the lack of communications.
"Astra stop. You don't want to do this."
"Look I saved my niece because she is family, that courtesy does not extend to you."
"Your not a soldier anymore. If you were fighting for your cause then you wouldn't have told me how to save Supergirl. But you did, you don't want to fight this fight anymore."
"Oh Alex. I am so disappointed, I thought that we had an understanding."
"We did, but that doesn't mean that I am going to let you hurt my planet."
"Hurt it? I am trying to save it.". Astra sneered at me and Joe, the Captain and myself pulled our guns out at Astra. As did all of the other officers.
"Stand down Astra and no one gets hurt."
"I have seen my niece get shot by these pathetic weapons and she doesn't even get a scratch on her. What makes you think that you could hurt me?"
At that moment she flew over to one of the officers in question and Joe and Captain Singh fired. Astra suddenly screamed in pain, as the Kryptonite bullets passed right through her, and collapsed to the floor.
"Kara, Kara you need to get over here, Astra... Astra... their gas been a fight just get here."
Seconds later Kara landed right next to me.
"Non tried to kill civilians, he got away. What happened with... Astra? Astra!"
Kara POV:
I couldn't believe it, the CCPD used kryptonite bullets and killed Astra. I was furious. I leaned down to talk to Astra.
"Hello, little one."
"Astra, oh Astra, why?"
"Because I had to."
"Astra I have to tell you when I was under the Black Mercy you were there."
"As your enemy?"
"As family."
She broke down into sobs. "Kara, Kara you need to listen to me. Non he cannot be stopped."
"Astra please, Non he mentioned something about Myriad, what is it? Before it is too late."
"It is already too late my child." At that, she took her last breath and died. I was appalled by what I saw, and I was mostly appalled by the fact that the CCPD had managed to get their hands on kryptonite bullets, even the cops in Metropolis don't have them.
"Kryptonite bullets. You use the one thing that can kill me."
"I am sorry supergirl we need something in case you ever go rogue."
"Did it ever occur to you that my enemies can get their hands on those things? Did it? No. Get rid of them."
Captain Singh was either very brave or very stupid, but he was staring me down. "No Supergirl we will not."
"Then I will never help this city again until you do. Alex, do you want a ride? As a thank you for saving my life earlier?"
"Yes please."
I flew us home where Winn was waiting. Having seen and heard what had happened he gave me a massive hug, he has also cleaned up my apartment for me.
"I lose my planet for a second time, this time in my head, only to lose my Aunt for real. I don't know how to cope."
Winn and Alex hugged me together, reminding me that I still have them.
"What are we going to do about STAR labs?"
"They have agreed never to mention this again unless you bring it up first. I have basically said that I will kill them both if this gets out." I chuckled at that, Alex is always a little melodramatic.
"Yeah, and Cisco and I will be working on the anti Kryptonite attachment for your suit."
"Talking about suits, Winn do you want to grab it for me?"
"Sure thing Kara."
Winn ran off into my room, and as he did Alex looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face. Winn ran back in with a long flat box.
"Alex I think that it is time that you officially join team Supergirl. This is your suit, Aethyr."
"What?!"
"Aethyr. The god of the phantom zone, it is the place where we put our prisoners, the place that kept us safe. That and I thought that we could keep with the Kryptonian Gods theme. Winn, as usual, made the suit, but yours does have a mask."
Alex pulled out the sleek black mask with sealed using vacuum technology, so it wouldn't slip and it would stay on without a tie. And the suit was a black catsuit with lots of places for all of the gadgets that Winn and I made.
"Try it on."
As Alex went off to go and try on the suit, Winn and I sat there talking and drinking wine, there was a this and we jumped a bit, but after scanning the building and the surrounding area I found nothing. Alex came out looking all badass in the suit.
"Damn Winn you totally outdid yourself here..."
Suddenly Non's voice came from the window. "It would be so easy to kill you all right now."
Alex drew her gun. "Get out, I am only going to tell you once."
Non ignored Alex and turned to me, there was a pain in his eyes, he was mourning his wife and I instantly knew why he had come. "I need you to come with me."
"She is not coming with you."
"You have no part in this human. I come for Astra, not myself."
Nodding I get up and go to the window.
"Kara no!"
"Alex it will be fine. I have to do this."
We fly out and away from the city, hovering above the clouds I could see Astra's army floating there all looking at her coffin. Non was floating opposite me.
"She would have wanted you here." I nodded numbly. "It is our custom for a surviving female to lead the last rites, do you remember the prayer for the dead?"
Nodding I waved my hand over the coffin to reveal Astra's face. Taking a deep breath I started to pray.
"You have been the sun of our lives. Our prayers will be the sun that lights your way on the journey home. We will remember you in every dawn and await the night we join you in the sky. Rao's will be done." By the time that I was done, I was crying. Non gently pushed Astra's coffin into space, on its final journey home.
He looked at me and said, "I will observe the period of mourning and then, Kara Zor-El, the next coffin will be yours."
They all flew off and I flew home and broke down on Alex's shoulder, the emotions of the last twenty-four hours crashing down around me.
