It's her own pleasure that rouses her.

Like many of their Daxam mornings, Kara awakens with Mon-El looming over her, pumping his morning wood into her welcoming wet heat with wild abandon as he flicks her swollen clit with a determined touch. Lifting her legs high enough to grasp his ribs with her knees, she clasps her hands together behind his neck to anchor her as his thrusts push her closer to climax.

"Good morning," she pants. Then, Kara bites down hard on her lower lip as a twist of his hips, combined with an overpowering thrust, sends a breathtaking shockwave through her until the tension snaps like a tightened band and she comes apart around him, groaning in concert with her convulsions.

His pistoning hips come to a stop as her climax wanes, his cock buried to the hilt. "You were moaning for me in your sleep," he explains, teasing her by grinding his pelvis against hers. "Begging me to fuck you. You were already on the verge of your pleasure – I could smell it – and I couldn't stand the thought of it going to waste." Leaning down, he takes her lips with his, tongue sweeping into her mouth to tangle with hers. It is a kiss of dominance, an unnecessary but always welcome reminder of who holds the reins.

"You don't have to explain," she says breathlessly, when he withdraws from the kiss. "Just as before…I'm yours to use, Master. In whatever ways that please you. And I know how much you like to take me by surprise."

He pulls out, her pussy gripping at him to make it a long slow draw, before driving back in. Her grunt in response to his forceful push is gratifying to hear. "Do you now? Maybe that was just me trying to get you to cry mercy."

"The withholding my pleasure…that was you trying to get me to cry mercy," she points out, astutely, her fingers toying sensuously with the hair at the base of his skull. "The morning fucks, the calling me to your Council meetings, the summoning me at a moment's notice to spread my legs or bend over or get on my knees…those were because you couldn't help yourself. You wanted me so badly and you hated yourself for it…so you thought to punish me for being irresistible. It just so happened that I enjoyed the punishment – except when you denied me my pleasure or when you acted as though I bored you. It was a price I was willing to pay though, to be mastered by you."

"I won't make you pay it again, Pet. I swear. I think I'm beginning to understand what really gets you off." Pulling out, he rolls her onto her stomach and using his knees, spreads her legs far apart, before pinning her body to the mattress with his own weight. With one hand on her hip, his forearm braces against the back of her neck, his hand covering her scream of bliss as roughly enters her hungry core again. He wastes no time setting a punishing rhythm as he pounds into her pinioned form.

"Say it," he commands, removing his hand from her mouth

"Uunngh…You are my Daxamite master," she slurs, her eyes rolling up at the bliss of being held down and taken.

"And?"

She groans, her tongue snaking out to wet her dry lips. "I am your Kryptonian whore."

"What do you have to say for yourself, Kryptonian?" Removing his hand from her hip, which is now pinned to the mattress with each ferocious thrust, he slides his hand between her body and bed and finds a breast, plucking at her nipple. She curses and her body bucks pleasurably against him in response. "I didn't quite get that," he replies, pinching her nipple again.

"Whores like it rough," she pants, her face pressed into the mattress. "To be taken…uunngh…like an animal."

"Gods, you so perfect, Pet. You get my cock so wet."

After that his thrusts pick up speed and she is no longer capable of forming her thoughts into cohesive sentences or phrases. Just curse words and primal grunts, pleas for more and harder and deeper. The rutting couple is so caught up in each other they don't hear the cracking or feel the bed come apart until they're falling. Mon-El's rhythm doesn't falter in the slightest even as they drop in a quick jerk. The combination of the fall, followed by her master's body landing more heavily on top of her, his dick still pounding her soaking pussy sets off a powerful climax. She screams into the mattress as her inner muscles clamp down on him. Kara feels his body stiffen over her and then hears the growl she knows so well she hears it in her own dreams, and then the warm gush of his cum filling her womb.

Six times he thrusts into her passive, restrained form with a jerk, teeth gritted; and each time he fills her with copious amounts of his seed, until it's trying to make its way back out of her. Breathless and euphoric he collapses on top of her when he's done.

Concerned for her, because the bed has broken and because she's lying flat on her face, Mon-El begins to pull out before he can go completely limp, but she's too quick to allow that.

"Stay?" she begs. "Stay inside me."

Before he always had to pull out quickly, because of the condom required immediate disposal, and in Daxam he pulled out because he wished to avoid the intimacy of remaining connected after finding his pleasure. Her hips undulate beneath him for a moment as she tries to draw him back inside.

"We broke the bed," he says, stating the obvious. Adjusting his upper body in hopes of increasing her comfort, Mon-El begins placing kisses along her neck and shoulders.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time," she replies, having already resigned herself to the bed's fate. "Perhaps we'll just stack some mattresses instead of bother with a bedframe and headboard."

"Probably safer that way," he concurs.

When a muffled trilling sound interrupts their intimate silence, Mon-El sighs and, disappointed, peels his skin away from hers and withdraws his cock from its warm nest.

"Don't go," she whimpers quietly, even though she knows her plea will go unheeded. As if they are meant to be eternally connected, she despises the empty cold feeling he leaves behind when he abandons her cunt.

"The alarm," he says, crawling off the broken bed and back to his feet. He casts around for the source of the noise.

"That's not the alarm," she explains, turning over. "It's my phone. Remember? I'm getting a message. Or rather, several of them. Can you check it?" she points to the table on her side of the bed.

He fumbles with the device, his eyes growing wider as he reads the messages. "They found it!" Mon-El announces, showing her the screen. "They found the DNA code for Trel Gand in the Seal. Winn says to come quick. I really need my own communication device!"

Before Mon-El can even finish relating Winn's summons, Kara's already in the shower, soaping up her sweaty body. "Are you coming or not?" her voice filters in from the bathroom and he's not one to hold out for a second invitation.

Less than half an hour later, Winn and Cisco debrief them on their findings while Alex updates on mission readiness. It will take a full 24 hours from departure for the ground team to reach the rendezvous point for the Fortress. Signal jammers help to keep the Fortress a secret from the outside world, both from governments and explorers alike, so they've agreed to meet a rally point where Kara and Kal can lead them in.

"The weather's not awesome above the Arctic Circle right now. I would feel better about it if you traveled with Alex and the others. In case something happened with the plane or the ground transport," Kara implores. He's not ready to fly with her yet, she knows, but he can be helpful in other ways and she wants to make sure he feels as though he can be of use.

"Fine," he agrees, somewhat reluctantly. "What are you going to be doing?"

"There's no telling how long we'll be gone. Kal said the last time he went into the Phantom Zone he was in there for three weeks by Earth time. So," she shrugs, pacing back and forth in front of him as she lays out her plan, "I need to cover my bases at Catco. I'm going to stick around for the rest of the day and lay the groundwork for my assignment. Make sure that Snapper knows that Kara Danvers is going to go undercover and will therefore be incommunicado for a while. And James needs to know that Supergirl is going to need Guardian's help holding down the fort while I'm gone. J'onn will be staying behind, as well. I'll leave tomorrow and still be there in plenty of time to meet you at the rendezvous."

"So it's just me, Alex and the Wonder Twins on the flight?"

Kara nods, stopping in front of him. "I'd really appreciate it if you kept them safe. I get nervous when Alex flies."

"You can count on me," he promises, running his hands down her upper arms in a soothing gesture. "I've been practicing my gravitational fields. They're almost as good as my laser vision," he adds, wagging his eyebrows.

Kara smiles, recalling the precision use of his laser vision to neatly groom her bikini area. "That's actually very comforting."

Three hours later, she's there at the airbase to see them off on their flight, staring into the distance for as long as the plane is in earshot. Convinced that the plane has experienced no early technical difficulties, she rushes back to Catco to present her investigative plan to Snapper.

"Club Switch has a clean site on the internet," she informs her boss.

"Does it now?" he deadpans. The squat, bald man rolling his eyes, as though he expected nothing more from her than excuses and white flags of surrender.

"But then I found a hidden link to their other site on the dark web," she finishes, trying not to smile. "There are quite a few employment opportunities: dom and dominatrix, cocktail waitstaff, bouncers, maids…which the site specifies as 'gender non-specific'…."

"So that's your plan? You're applying for a job? That'll be the day. Danvers. I doubt you're what their looking for…unless twitchy virgins are on the menu."

Not bothering to correct his impression of her, because she finds it both convenient and advantageous, she ignores his jab and moves on. "At first, I considered applying for a job there. However, when I perused the application, I discovered that potential employees at the club undergo extensive background checks," she informs him. "Which can take as long as three months."

"We don't have that kind of time."

"That was my thought as well. When I went over the club by-laws, it occurred to me that it's easier to join as a member than it would be get a job there. All it's going to cost is $2,500."

Snapper turns red in the face and opens his mouth to shout at her, presumably about the expenditure required to bring her plan to fruition, because it couldn't possibly be about any hot water her proposed venture might put her in. But before any words can make it past his lips, his mouth snaps shut and his eyes glaze over as though seeing something far off in the distance. This is the moment she expected, hoped for, when she and Mon-El went over their plan the night before. The moment where Snapper's plan to humiliate her becomes more important to him than any rationale that might overwhelm it.

"Submit the expense form," he said. "I'll approve it myself." After another moment's consideration, he lowers his voice in a manner that seems uncharacteristic for the bombastic, I-don't-care-who's-listening newsman. "Tell no one about this. It's imperative that no one knows what you're up to. Can't have word getting out, or it could blow your cover."

Kara intentionally widens her eyes, as if he didn't just go right where she led him. "Right," she drawls. "What should I say then?"

"You leave that to me," he decides. "It's not the first time I've had to cover for a reporter on a long-term assignment. You're recuperating from an accident…out of state…in the bosom of your family. Too far way to visit. That usually works."

"That's brilliant," Kara says, stroking his ego. He nods for a moment, both agreeing with her and basking in the warm of her strategically directed hero-worship. While he was still riding high on her wide-eyed appreciation, Kara whips out a sheet of paper from her folder of research in her hand. "I was hoping you would agree, so I took the liberty of completing the requisition of funds form." Artfully, she hands him the document and watches as he signs the form without a flourish or even taking the time to read it.

"What are still doing standing there, Danvers?" he grouses after handing the requisition back to her. "Don't you have a story to investigate?"

She makes a show of nervously dropping the form he hands her before cursing her clumsiness and bending over to pick it up. Then she pushes her glasses up her nose, bows her head slightly and scrambles out of the room.

Listening as she walks away, Kara hears him chuckle under his breath, "A few weeks of this assignment and she'll be begging Olsen to put her on the Home and Garden beat. If she even lasts that long."

Kara smiles and heads toward the elevator. She's going to nail this.

Before heading home to clean out her fridge, set her lamps on automatic timer, and ask her neighbor to collect her mail, Kara heads to the alien bar. Since Mon-El's meltdown and subsequent coma, she's kept M'gann apprised of his condition. Prior to the incident, Mon-El had been looking forward to learning how to tend bar and pulling down a paycheck, and she didn't want him to miss out on that opportunity because of events outside of his control.

"If he's going to be doing the hero thing…I guess I'll have to learn to work around it. He's a good kid who's had some tough breaks," M'Gann admits. "I don't want to be the cause of another one."

"We both really appreciate it."

"Besides, the grand re-opening has been postponed. Turns out the guy who owned this place before me wasn't exactly on the up-and-up, if you can believe that. The place hadn't been legitimately inspected by the Health Department in three years. And there's been a hold put on my request for a liquor license. They want a full accounting of the alien libations on the menu and how and where we get them. They also want to know what safeguards we have in place to keep up us from serving toxic alien drinks to humans. Can't blame them really."

"Hang in there, M'gann. Let me know if you need any help. Again…I really appreciate everything you're doing for Mon-El. I owe you one."

"I might just call it in one day," she chuckles. "Anyway…good luck on your trip."

"Thanks."

That night, Kara tosses and turns without Mon-El in the bed next to her, a fact that seems strange to her since they never shared a bed on Daxam. Usually he would finish with her and then go back to whatever he was doing before. She was often asleep in her nook when he chose to bed down for the night and there were many times when he wouldn't return to his quarters at all until the morning.

She leaves earlier than planned, making it to The Fortress several hours before the appointed rendezvous time and even before Kal, who is held up in Metropolis evacuating victims of a high-rise fire. She tinkers for a bit with the Fortress's quantum computer in hopes of providing Winn and Cisco with a head start on retrofitting the Seal to work with Kryptonian technology but determines that she doesn't have the necessary tools.

Though she'd been to the Fortress several times before, and it reminded her so much of certain parts of home, like Rao's Cathedral in Argo City, it had always seemed somehow like it certainly belonged more to Kal than to her. Even though, when they had planned both her and Kal's evacuation from their dying planet, Kara knew that it had been their parents' intention that they share the Fortress.

But now, alone in the place for the first time with nothing to do but wait, she grows curious about Kal's collection of oddities that has grown over the last few years. Surprisingly, the locked door to his storage room responds to her thumbprint. For Kara, this confirms that her uncle Jor-El, possibly with the help of her father, designed this place for both of them, since she doubts that Kal had the forethought to add her biometrics to the lock.

The room itself is more of a hall, and less of a closet, not unlike the giant vault full of priceless art and artifacts catalogued and entered into evidence by the Feds when Lex Luthor was finally arrested and carted off to jail. Some items are devices Superman has taken from various villains and locked away under unbreakable Kryptonian glass, so they don't fall into the wrong hands. Other items he's left out on display tables, as though they are tokens of good times he wants to keep fresh in his memories.

Each item, whether locked away or kept out on display, serves to remind Kara of one thing: that her cousin has done so much, and she, by comparison, has done so little.

Out of the corner of her eye Kara catches sight of something familiar and is drawn to another display. Beneath the table, far too large to fit in any of the locked display cases, is an enormous trunk with the letters D.E.O emblazoned on it. She recognizes it instantly as the last of the DEO's Kryptonite that Kal finagled from J'onn just a few months ago. She knows better than to try to open that box.

There were, however, four more boxes, much smaller in size sitting atop the table. Kara learns quickly that the boxes are lined with lead when her attempts to use her x-ray vision are unsuccessful. Too curious for her own good, she reaches to open the first box in the line, but before she can flip open the lip, she's interrupted by a voice.

"I'd be very careful with those if I were you, cuz."

"Kal!" she startles, spinning around, her cape whipping at the back of her legs. "Oh," she chuckles, her neck turning red with embarrassment. "I was just…."

"Snooping?"

"Guilty as charged," she confesses before shrugging sheepishly. "I was bored. And when I'm bored, I get curious."

"Good thing I showed up before you went snooping through my Kryptonite collection," he says, crossing his arms over the big sigil on his chest. "I could have accidentally ended up with two cousins. Which sounds like a good thing…but isn't."

"Two cousins?" she asks. "What do you mean?"

"Black Kryptonite," Kal says. "In the box you were just about to open."

"Black Kryptonite?" she squeaks, horrified, snatching her hands to her chest. "There's a black Kryptonite?"

"You've never heard of black Kryptonite?"

Kara shakes her head, vehemently. "Just green and red."

"I haven't been able to lay my hands on any red since you ran afoul of it," he says, as though disappointed.

"Be glad you haven't," Kara says, a shiver running up her spine. "What happens with the black?"

"It splits a Kryptonian into two entities: one good and one evil."

"Have you ever…?"

"Yes," he replies, lifting the lid of the first box to show her, but indicating that she shouldn't touch it. "Lex used it against me, hoping to gain control of my evil half and use it to kill me. In the end I was forced to kill my evil counterpart." He closes the box's lid and after a moment's silence, he turns to her and allows his eyes to flare red. "Or…did I?" he growls, his voice deep and ominous.

Kara's eyes widen, and she slips automatically into a defensive stance, when Kal's eyes fade back to their stunning blue and he doubles over in laughter, his hands on his knees.

"You should-" he cackles, quite at odds with the usual seriousness and gravitas that his super suit normally provides him. "You should have…seen the look on your f-face. Priceless!""

"You jerk!" she scolds, balling her hand into a fist and punching him in the shoulder hard enough to have him stumbling backwards. But her harsh words and actions are negated by the laughter that bubbles up from her chest.

"I really got you," he teases, his booming laughter dying down to a light chortle. Eventually even the smile dies away and he's once again serious. "Even with all of the darkest parts of me cut out and then killed, it still wasn't enough for Lex to believe I had the Earth's best interests at heart. I'll never understand what he thought he would gain by having an evil Kal-El flying around unchecked."

"He couldn't kill you while you were a hero – couldn't risk making you a martyr – not without tearing you down first. But an evil Superman, wreaking havoc on the planet and playing overlord to the humans. He could kill you and then be the hero himself, proving the superiority of humankind. But no matter what he said, Kal, it was never about protecting the Earth from you. He was only ever threatened by the power you can wield…but choose not to. It's not something a man like him, a man motivated by the acquisition of power, can even fathom."

"I suppose you're right," he allows, nodding in agreement. He smiles, a touch of wistfulness on his lips, before moving on to the next box on display. "Over here," he opens the second box, "we have silver K. Prolonged exposure can have negative effects on your perception, causing extreme paranoia and vivid hallucinations of your deepest fears. There's nothing good in this box. I've tried to destroy it but have thus far had no luck."

"Noted. And this one?"

"Box number three contains my favorite," he winks, flipping open the lid. "This is my secret stash."

"A favorite Kryptonite?" Kara asks, pulling a face. The very sentence is a contradiction in concepts, to her mind.

"Indeed, my dear cousin. For this box contains blue Kryptonite. Quite lovely, isn't it? Almost like sapphires. Go on…" he urges. "Pick it up."

"No, I—" she shakes her head and takes a step back.

"Trust me, Kara," he wheedles just a bit. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you."

"O-okay," she agrees, reluctantly. Slowly, she reaches into the box and wraps her fingers around the dark blue, crystalline geode, expecting to be slammed with excruciating pain, but no such wave strikes. Immediately apparent though is that holding the crystal is not without some consequence. Within seconds of touching the blue Kryptonite a glow begins to emanate from within, causing her to gasp.

"Do you feel that?" Kal inquires, a smug grin spreading across his face.

"Feel what?" Kara shrugs. She can sense the crystal pulsing in her hand, a nearly undetectable hum originating from it; the crystal is oddly heavy, and her head feels marginally lighter, but other than that….

Reaching forward, Kal curls his middle finger into his thumb, using it to flick her upper arm. It stings monstrously and the pain spreads like wildfire down to her fingers and up to her neck, stealing the breath from her lungs enough to make her head spin. Kara waits for the pain to evaporate and when it doesn't, she knows it's going to leave a mark.

"Ow!" she exclaims. "What the hell, Kal?" She balls her hand into a fist again and throws a punch at his open ribs, but it's like hitting a brick wall – or what she imagines hitting a brick wall probably feels like to a human. She feels the crunching of bone – her own – and the fire now rages in each of her fingers. Blood rushes to the digits as the swelling begins and tears spring to her eyes involuntarily. "I think I broke it," she squeaks.

Kal takes the blue Kryptonite from his cousin's good hand and drops it back into its box, slamming the lid. "That's my bad," he says, shaking his head remorsefully. "I should have stopped you from doing that."

As soon as the lid drops on the lead-lined box, the pain in her hand and her arm dissipates and a few seconds later she's as good as new; strong and invulnerable once more. Which means….

"Wait a minute," Kara gasps, clenching and unclenching her fist to test its strength. "Did that just-?"

"Yep," Kal nods, his smile back in place.

"And then as soon as you put it away—"

"Yep."

"No weird side effects?" she wonders, her eyebrows arching suspiciously.

"None," he replies. "While you're in physical contact with the blue Kryptonite, you are…as human as anyone else. Just as vulnerable…comparable strength and stamina."

"That's amazing."

"I used it once to convince Lex I wasn't Superman…back in the day. When used strategically, it can be very useful. I have a ring that I keep at home for…reasons."

Picking up on the embarrassed flush in his cheeks, Kara jumps on the resulting pause. "Wait a minute…is that how you and Lois…?"

"What?" he purposefully evades.

"Don't mess with me, I'm serious. Because between you and me…people wonder if you can…you know…without hurting your partner.

"Lois is fine," he assures her. Choosing to explain further without going into intimate detail, he continues, "Because I grew up under a yellow sun, I'm able to adjust my strength appropriately, even without the Blue K. But…sometimes it's fun to even the playing field," Kal confesses.

"Good," Kara replies, visibly relieved. "I'm not going to lie…I've worried about Lois, but I didn't know how to ask."

"Well…now you know. Doesn't seem like something you and Mon-El should have to worry about," he adds, just a trace of envy.

"You'd think," she mutters under her breath. She can't help but think about the possibilities a blue K ring of her own might present, not only in convincing people the resemblance between Kara Danvers and Supergirl is merely a passing coincidence, but in the obvious advantages wearing it might provide Mon-El during their playtime. But there's something else still, Kara realizes. "I'm afraid…" her voice trails off, her lips clamping together as if to keep her fears trapped inside – unheard and unacknowledged.

"Afraid of what?" he asks, his smug smile sliding from his face. "You're the most fearless person I know…other than Lois."

"Good save," Kara teases.

"Afraid of what?" he inquires again, unwilling to be distracted.

"Things might be different…harder…for me…because I'm a woman."

"Well, Lois says that's always the case, but all a woman can do is keep busting that…." Kal's voice trails off, as though he's taking a moment to actually hear what his cousin is saying and the hidden meaning behind her words. But, of course, he immediately interprets those words incorrectly. "Oh, that's…." he flushes again, the gently-reared farm boy coming to the fore. "Do you mean you haven't…?" he clears his throat. "I just assumed that—"

"You're spiraling," Kara chuckles dryly. Even though her thoughts and concerns are serious ones, she can't help but find humor when the parts of Kal that are Clark Kent push through his Superman persona. "Relax…that's not what I meant."

"It's not?"

"That issue is resolved," she assures him. "Very, very resolved! How did you think I ended up with Mon-El?" she asks, rhetorically, with a shrug. "He's the one who…."

"Helped you resolve that issue?" Kal provides.

"Right. And also, confirmed that a relationship with a normal human would be unsatisfying for them at best, and permanently crippling at worst."

"Oh," he responds, his voice rich with empathy.

"Yea superpowers," she feigns celebration.

"But with the blue K, you wouldn't have to—"

"Slow your roll, cuz, before you take that train of thought too far down the track," Kara holds up her hands, as if to keep his burgeoning thoughts from entering the ether. "I love him. He's my everything, he's my…Lois. I truly believe that we were meant for each other."

"Then why the concern?"

"Because I may…want to start a family one day and I'm not sure that my superpowered body will get out of the way long enough to let that happen."

Kal turns his head away, his embarrassment evident. "Maybe this subject is more than two cousins should ever share with one another."

"All we have are each other," she points out, sagely. "A little embarrassment may be the price we have to pay to be the last of our kind on this world."

"You're probably right," Kal acknowledges. "Although…perhaps not for long, if all goes well."

"I'm glad to see you're coming around."

"I was never going to advocate for not rescuing them, Kara. I just wanted you to be as safe as possible while you're in there. Which is why there's also this…." He reaches for the final lead-lined box on the table and flips it open. Inside is yet another crystal, this one a breathtaking rainbow of colors: pink, blue, orange, white, purple, yellow, and even threads of green.

"Wow," she guffaws, peering into the box, but not touching. A small chip of the rainbow streaked gem, the size of quarter, catches the light and shimmers up at her.

"This form of Kryptonite, when worn in the Phantom Zone, will allow you to sense the intentions of others. Hold it too long and you'll be able to read their thoughts – it's not as fun as it sounds," he's careful to add, the warning clear in his tone. "I'm giving it to you in hopes that, in the event that you come across phantoms with harmful intentions, it might provide you with the advantage you need to protect yourself and the others." Kal withdraws the crystal by the chain and lifts it from the box. "And one more thing…you'll also have the ability to influence the wills of others while holding it. So be very careful about what you ask of people, because they'll be compelled to obey…and not always in the ways that you may expect. I've found out the hard way that losing one's autonomy to someone who already has an innate advantage doesn't usually sit well with the people you love. Heed my warnings, Kara."

Kal picks up the small portion of rock and drops it into a lead-lined drawstring bag, closing the bag before placing it in the palm of her hand. Kara accepts the bag with the gemstone inside, closing her fingers reverently over the gift. "I will," she promises. Kara plans to take the stone into the Phantom Zone but won't remove the gemstone unless necessary.

"Time is running short," he tells her. "They'll be waiting for us at the rendezvous if we don't leave now. It's too cold out there for them to wait long."

Kal had been right. Mon-El and the remainder of the DEO team had made excellent time despite the harsh conditions above the Arctic Circle. Though bitterly cold, the winds had been minimal, and the skies had been blue, untouched by clouds that might threaten to dump more snow on the already saturated landscape.

They leave the cold-weather-terrain vehicle (more of a tank, really) behind at the rally point as Kara and Kal fly them to the Fortress. Mon-El follows behind, using his anti-gravitational field to transport their luggage and boxes of equipment.

Despite its winter-wonderland appearance, and its location on the tundra of the far north, the Fortress itself is surprisingly warm once the internal mechanisms are set to visitor mode. Kara and Kal are hardly in need of such luxuries, and few guests have ever stayed long enough to make use of it. But that may not be the case this time around, and so Kal informs the Fortress's AI to make the climate more comfortable for their human guests.

Even Mon-El breathes a sigh of relief when the temperature begins to tick upwards. "The only places on Daxam like this were on the dark side of the planet," he reminds her.

"You'll want to change out of that," Kal informs her, pointing at her super suit. "You'll be better off if no one can identify you as an El on sight. In fact…you'll be better off if no one can identify anything about you at first glance. Hide your faces, hide your weapons – anything that might call attention to you." Kara opens her mouth to explain that she hadn't put that much thought into what she would wear in the Phantom Zone, but Alex interrupts before she can get a word in.

"I thought as much," Alex nods, "so I packed you some clothes, Kara. Jeans and sturdy hiking boots. I wasn't sure about the weather, so I packed some tanks, flannels and hoodies. You can layer if you get cold and take things off if you get too warm. I also had no idea what conditions we might be under, so I also packed goggles and bandanas. Just in case."

"Good thing someone knows how to pack," Kal praises.

Adjusting to temperature has never been something Kara's really had to think about…or consider. Leave it to her sister to think of things that would not occur to her. "Thanks, Alex."

"No problem. You should get changed. Winn and Cisco sound like excited chipmunks over there. If my hunch is correct, they're going to be ready to give this thing a go sooner rather than later." Alex tilts her head in the direction of the Phantom Zone projector.

Beneath a heavy hoodie (worn mostly to avoid unwanted attention at the airstrip) Mon-El wears clothes similar to those packed for her by her sister; jeans, tee-shirt a flannel shirt and heavy boots worn with thick socks. From Kara and Alex's trunk he withdraws a light windbreaker to provide an extra layer, though he's certain he's unlikely to need it.

Uncertain how long they'll spend at their destination, Alex prepared by packing three rucksacks stocked with MREs as well as basic medical supplies. Unable to carry guns, she arms herself with a retractable baton and hands one to both Mon-El and Kara.

"I could never—" Kara begins.

"You will if you have to," Kal insists. "It can be dangerous in there if you come across the wrong person. Aim for the back of the knees and then the temple. The entry point for Phantom Zone – The Partition – is a rotunda that looks almost like this place. It's like a piece of Krypton, but its location is fluid, based on the target DNA. Mostly it's there to protect the projector on the other side – to keep the inhabitants from tampering with the device. Since Earth is the point of origin, it's important to know that there will be residual yellow-sun radiation there, as well as normal time progression." Kal takes notice of the resilient G-Shock on Alex's wrist and points to it. "Alex, take that off as soon as you arrive and place it on the console, that way you'll know how much time has passed when you return. Do it quickly," he warns. "Since you're not an El, you won't be able to stay in The Partition for long, because it's an extremely hostile environment to all those not from the House of El. So, if you want to protect Alex and Mon-El, you'll need to get in and out quickly. Just remember, the farther you get from the projector, the weaker you'll get, Kara," he adds, ominously. "You'll need blood to reopen the portal. Cut yourself before entering The Partition and transfer the blood to your right hand. Your cut will heal once inside, but the blood should be enough."

"Wait…you're not coming with us?" Kara asks, her face dropping in dismay.

"I'm the back-up plan," he explains, shaking his head. "If you're not back in two weeks, I'm coming in after you. You know what will happen if anyone notices we've both gone missing for that length of time. If something goes wrong, you can contact me using the emergency beacon on this end." At the console, he shows them which buttons access the beacon. "Just activate it and I'll get here as fast as I can."

Kara nods, understanding but still disappointed. He's not wrong. If the criminal underworld puts two and two together and concludes that both Superman and Supergirl are unresponsive to requests for assistance, they could return to the mayhem of villains looking to test the new landscape. It could be disastrous for both of their cities. "If it takes longer than that…we'll need a new plan," she pragmatically agrees.

"We're ready," Cisco announces. "We've translated and loaded the DNA profile of Mon-El's ancestor into the panel."

"Just stand in front of the projector," Kal-El instructs, stepping back to the control panel. With a shard of blue Kryptonite taken from the lead box he nicks the palm of his hand, and places it on the outline of a handprint that appears on the screen.

A wormhole opens before them and on instinct Kara reaches out to take Alex's hand and then holds the other out for Mon-El. His hand slips into hers and tightens its grip as the opening wormhole begins to suck them in. The opening in space-time comes to life it seems, reaching out for them before finally folding itself around the travelers and swallowing them whole.

"Safe travels," offers Kal-El, just as space bends and stretches around his cousin and her companions. When the space in front of him wobbles and snaps back into place, Kara, Mon-El and Alex are gone.

TBC