Kryptonian Nights 25
Deanlu
Supergirl is the property of DC comics and the CW. I am borrowing the characters for a little fun and storytelling. These are about the many facets of love.
The Fall
"Director Danvers, there has been a breach in sector one." Vasquez, the agent at watch called to co-director. Alex approached watching as a person wrapped in multiple sand colored robes, head covering with a facial mask that covered eyes and nose entered a second set of doors leading to their location. The outer sections were not as controlled as the inner locking entries. The next set of doors were opened and closed as the person moved deeper toward the colony.
"Prepare counter measures. We don't need scavengers getting inside here." Director Danvers instructed as Lena Luthor and Eliza Danvers came into the communication and security room. They were there to pick up Alex for lunch. They watched as the scavenger came to the first set of coded input locks. The scavenger placed their hand on the lock for a moment. They leaned against the the door like they were resting. Nothing happened for a few moments. Then the hand moved to the code pad pressing a number sequence. The lock beeped and opened. The scavenger moved into the airlock. The decontamination sequence began as the scavenger waited in the tunnel between the door they had entered and the door that was ahead.
"What the hell? How did they get passed the first coded lock?" Director Danvers asked the watch. Vasquez turned, shrugged her shoulders as she looked at the Director. Lena and Eliza watched the intruder raise their arm. There was a black patch with symbols on it. The intruder pushed several symbols. Eliza watched thinking that the symbols were very familiar.
"They knew the sequence, mam. They input it correctly." Vasquez stated turning back to the monitors and computer. She watched as computer confirmation came through.
"Deploy countermeasures. We cannot take risks." Alex stated to Vasquez. Lena moved up next to Alex. "What's happening?" Lena asked giving Alex a soft kiss on the cheek.
"We have someone trying to gain access to the colony. I'm thinking it's a scavenger. But there's something different about this one. It had the access code for the first entry." Alex watched as countermeasures were deployed. The tunnel filled with knockout gas. The cameras fogged over with the blue gas. For twenty minutes Alex and the rest of the command center waited. "Alright, evacuate the gas. Let's see what we have." Alex ordered a nearby agent. Everyone watched as the gas was evacuated and oxygen then filled the tunnel. Except there was no scavenger in the tunnel. In fact, the next set of doors had been breached. "Deploy armed response, issue lock down to colony. Susan, check the next set of doors." Vasquez quickly transferred camera views. There was the scavenger leaning against the side of the tunnel. "Release the Carowhites."
"Alex! The Carowhites will kill the scavenger. Isn't there any other way?" Eliza pleaded watching as the two different panels in the hall opened releasing two cat like creatures with eyes all around their head, razor sharp claws, and a tail like a serpents. They were genetically engineered to be deadly.
"Mother! I have a duty to this colony. There is no other choice. We cannot risk their entry." Alex argued as all turned to the tunnels monitors after a gasp from Agent Lopez. The stranger had avoided the first two jump attacks by moving swiftly out of the way. Too swiftly. "Vasquez, notify armed response we have a metahuman or alien on our hands. Have them change weapons. Lopez, give me sound for the passage." Alex commanded as she walked forward. Over the speakers in the command center came soft growls and wuffles.
"What is that?" Lena asked as Alex shushed her. The scavenger was crouched with their hand out in front, the other resting on their back, and making soft and medium vocalizations. It was almost like the person was communicating with the Carowhites. The entire command center held its breath as one of the Carowhites moved slowly forward sniffing the air and growling. The other waited tensed and ready to jump. It was the female that had moved forward toward the scavenger. The Carowhite let out a low, slow cry. It leaped forward, but the stranger caught the Carowhite petting it's rough fur and still making vocalizations. The other cat came forward fast as both began rubbing against the stranger as they were being pet.
"What the hell? They don't like anyone. I've never seen this reaction from them with a person before. Even the keepers have to be careful." Lena stated as they watched the side panels open and a high pitch call brought the Carowhites heads up. They both looked at the panel and the stranger. They walked back toward the opening in the tunnel. The male entered right away. The female stopped and turned to look at the stranger. There was a low pitch warbling and wuffle from the stranger. The female bowed her head to the stranger and hopped back through the opening. The panel closed. The stranger now looked up directly at the camera.
"Open the door Alex." Her sister's voice echoed through the line. Alex, Lena, Eliza...everyone was shocked. Kara was dead. Supergirl was dead. "I know you can hear me Alex. Open the door. I'll answer all your questions." Kara spoke seriously. She had not taken off the facial covering. Alex did not believe it. Kara had died trying to save the planet.
"Remove your head garb if you're really Kara." Alex demanded. The scavenger shook their head no. They had heard how this colony would ask that before evacuating the air so you died. Plus the head garb was more than just protection. Alex quickly thought.
"If you are really Kara tell me something no one would know except us." Alex demanded as she spoke into the mic. Lena grabbed the directors hand as Alex squeezed it tightly. Eliza trembled with hope as she stood near Vasquez. Her hand tightly anchored to the agents shoulder.
"In those last moments before I left with the others to destroy the meteorite I told you to care for our family, to never let your guard down, to not believe that which you could see, and to kill Lillian Luthor before she killed you. I then handed you a dagger made of fire hardened iron from the deepest mines in South Africa where they had been torturing aliens." Kara's voice spoke devoid of emotion. Alex quick intake told Lena it was true. Lean whispered into Alex's ear.
"Let her in. We need to know. We can hold her in containment." Lena whispered in Alex's ear. The director nodded.
"You will raise your hands in front of you. Any wrong movement will be construed as an attack and you will be destroyed. You will remove your head helmet, mask and scarves." Alex said as she was interrupted.
"NO! The helmet, mask, and scarves stay in place until you put me in containment. This is not optional. If you cannot allow that, then I will leave." Kara stated moving back the way she came to the doors. Alex panicked for the first time in years.
"AGREED! Please hold your position. Security will be entering in two minutes." Alex argued back. She had Vasquez cut the mic. "Security force Alpha. Use Kryptonite handcuffs. Change bullets to Kryptonite.
"Alex, it's your sister." Eliza argued back. Alex turned on her mother.
"We don't know that. It could be another Kryptonian using Kara's voice patterns. We cannot risk everyone's life just because we think it's Kara." Alex yelled at her mother. Eliza sighed and nodded. Though tears ran down her face. They watched as Alpha squad entered the tunnel. Kara's hands were in front of her. The Kryptonite handcuffs were placed on her wrists. Alpha team formed a phalanx around her. They moved her toward containment.
"Alert containment of the incoming guest. Have Beta team activated to guard duty. Keep this hush, hush. Lopez, you have the watch. Vasquez, you're with me. Lena and Eliza this way." Alex then moved Lena clinging to her hand. Eliza fell in next to them even as several other agents walked with them. "Mom, don't get your hopes up. It's been six years. She died that day above the earth with Jonn. You need to not get your hopes up." Alex said as Eliza walked next to Vasquez. Susan was strangely quiet.
"I have a right to hope Alex. You're sister gave me a million reasons for it. You worry about yourself for now." Eliza argued back at her eldest daughter. Alex growled out, but held her tongue. She had spent the last six years missing Kara every day. She and Lena had married two years after the event. They had worked side by side to make sure as many lived as possible. During that time a friendship had developed into an intimate relationship. They hadn't just survived, their colony was thriving. They had gathered so many great minds. They had taken to hollowing out below ground inside a deep mountain nearby. They had labored for over three years before the meteorite hit. It had been kept quiet. They had been able to save ten thousand of National Cities citizens. There were other colonies like this around the globe. They had no contact at this time with any of them. They did not know how many colonies survived. They did not know how many people survived. Every colony of autonomous of the others.
Everyone worked and contributed. They had tapped into a geothermal vein for energy. Windmills on the surface helped too now that the event had passed. Special teams had gone out at certain times to place the windmills and run the tech had hydroponics farming that was on a massive scale. Fresh water pulled from ground supplies. It hadn't been easy. In the first months after the event over two thousand had died from illness. On top of that they were a mixture of human, alien, and metahuman. They had laws and rules for the colony. Their biggest problem was scavengers. Scavengers were those that couldn't be taken into the colonies and were abandoned to their fate above ground. Scavengers were a constant problem until they created the entryway. A great many colonists had worked on it. They had taken the idea of a ruling counsel from Kryptonian and Tribal ideas. Fortunately, the President and Cat had been present in their base when the first impact had come. They had watched as alien, human, and metahuman had fought to reduce the size of the incoming meteor. Alex had watched as Kara was pummeled again and again. Never giving up. They had watched until their satellites were destroyed from the debris coming off the effort.
Lillian was killed as secondary fallout had reigned down from the skies. No one was sure about Lois. Kal had lost his powers and was now human for circumstances. Scarred terribly, a had difficulty speaking due to damage to his vocal cords. The meteorite had caused a short circuit in him. James had lost an arm trying to save several civilians who were coming into the colony. Eliza and Dr. Hamilton had operated for hours. Most of the DEO agents and their families were present in the shelter. Except for those who stayed to help those left behind. Winn worked deep within the bowels of the colony. His friendship with James flowering into a full loving relationship now that they had protection under the laws of the colony. Lucy Lane had used every Kryptonian and alien in containment to help. They had been offered their freedom to be a citizen of the colony if they could help mining and set up of the colony. Those aliens that had refused to help were abandoned to their fate within the prison before the meteorite hit. Most took the offer. Only a handful had refused.
The surface of the earth was a horror. Those that survived were met with an endless fight to live each day. The amount of debris that was churned up from the impacts had brought on what some scientists called a Ice Age. It had plummeted the temperature of the earth killing more than half the animal population. The majority of plants had withered and died. Continents had changed, broken up, and moved. Water flooded in where land had once existed while Land now existed where seas had been. Weather was unpredictable and violent. Climate change had only been accelerated with the hundreds of impacts from smaller meteorites.
Even six years later it was unsafe to explore anywhere beyond a mile from the entrance without protective gear. The times the colonists needed to venture to out on the earth were still few and far between. How those that lived on surface survived Alex did not know. Nor did they stay the same. Their bodies mutating and changing to survive. Humanity hung on by a bare thin thread.
"Director." The agent addressed the Danvers sister. "The scavenger is in the containment unit. The Kryptonite handcuffs are still in are ready for transport anywhere you need." Alex nodded as her group was allowed entrance. They entered a large cavern set up as a lab. In the center was a containment unit like Lena had in her labs at LCorp for Reign. Kara sat in the center in lotus position still completely dressed in her surface wear. She seemed neither tense nor concerned which Alex found unusual to the woman she remembered. Agents took their place around the containment unit. Lena, Eliza, Vasquez, and Alex came to stand before the unit.
"Kara or is that really your name? My sister died six years ago saving this planet. There is no way you are her." Alex accused stepping forward toward the containment unit. "I don't believe that you are her." A soft chuckle erupted from the person seated on the floor.
"Always the doubter. Jonn trained you too well." Kara said as her body unwound from its position and she stood. The scavenger reached up unwinding the scarf around her neck. She set it aside on the medical bed. She removed the bag slung across her body. Next came the facial mask and goggles. Though the woman in question needed to cover her eyes when she removed the mask. Lena saw this and spoke.
"Tess, dim lights by fifteen percent." Lena instructed the virtual voice assistant. The lights dimmed allowing Kara to remove her hands. She turned to look at Alex. There were deep gasps from everyone present as she finally removed the head cover. The years had not been kind to the Kryptonian. There was scarring along Kara's neck going below the top. Her face had a sharp scar from her left eye up into her brow receding into her hairline. Her blond hair was now touched with shades of deep grey. Exhaustion and pain haunted the eyes of the person before them.
"Kara." Eliza's voice cracked as she stepped forward only to be held back by Alex's hand.
"You are not Kara." Alex denounced not being able to believe what was before her eyes. "Kara is Kryptonian. She would have healed and look just as the day she left to defend our world." Alex argued back toward the woman. Kara sighed deeply. She knew this would take convincing, but she had hoped that her sister wouldn't be so obstinate. Slowly she levitated into a lotus position.
"No Alex. I would not have been the same. The meteor was made up of much more than iron and nickel. Lillian knew that before we headed into space to try and destroy it. She told Superman and I at the last minute. The aliens that came with us to fight we all knew it was a suicide mission. We just didn't know what it would be like if we survived afterwards. We didn't know how badly we would suffer. How we would die again and again in agony. Did you know space is loud, filled with endless sound of planets vibrations, echoes of past explosions, static of communication, and the ever present solar winds whipping through the void? And so very, immensely cold? A cold that once it reaches your bones and blood always feels like it's there. The Universe straining to survive and die every day. I floated for ages. Never alive and yet never dead until one day Rao must have thought I'd earned returning. Then it was the fall…" Kara's voice faded as her eyes glazed over for a moment sending her elsewhere.
"Kara?" Eliza's voice cracked and sputtered to a stop. The Kryptonians head jolted up to spy Eliza. She then saw Susan and a smile broke across her face. A warmth entering her eyes that hadn't been there before.
"You survived love. Oh God you survived." Kara sobbed out as her hands came in contact with the energy field that held her there. There was a crackling and fizzing sound, but the Kryptonian did not remove her hand as it burned her. Susan moved fast kneeling before the young woman.
"Kara, remove your hand from the energy shield. Please, love. If you love me you will remove your hand." Susan's voice broke through to the Kryptonian as Kara removed her hand. Kara had hit the floor coming to rest on her knees. Kara's head fell forward though it did not touch the energy field. Her hand fell to the floor covered in blood where it had touched the field.. The Kryptonian closed her eyes as the pain from the burn overwhelmed her for a moment. Susan watched as the hand healed leaving a definable scar on the young woman's hand. Lena had come to kneel before Kara now. The youngest Luthor was fascinated with how fast the hand healed, but also left a scar.
"Your scarred?" Lena inquired shocked at the healing and scar. Kara laughed angrily at Lena's statement of the obvious.
"Yes, an amazing gift." Kara longingly gazed at Susan. So close yet so far she thought. "You will excuse my emotions." Kara turned her back and took a moment to lock everything back inside. When she turned around her face was a blank. "After the fall it took an endless amount of time to heal just to be able to move and crawl to a nearby water pool. I do not know how long I laid without help, food, and water. Healing was a slow arduous experiment in pain. I spent months, years roaming across the surface of earth. I met many a good person who offered me food, shelter...a home. I also met many a bad person who cursed me for my existence. Blamed me for the Earth's fall. Who tortured and attempted to kill me. Those that enslaved me and others that used me for their means. I was determined though to find you...to find my family. This last year has been harder than most with the changes in the Earth's surface taking place. Plate's are moving more frequently, the weather has been more violent than in past years, and water is harder to find." Kara ended softly as she reached toward Susan again, but did not touch the energy field. Susan herself held her hand back, but also reached for the person in her mind was surely her wife, Kara.
"Alex, it's Kara. I'm sure of it." Eliza stated grabbing her daughters face turning the eldest as she attempted to reason with her. "I know you must be sure. I know how dire this is for us the colony. I know you are torn with misgivings. Listen to the words, the memory she gave you. Listen to her. Please, please." Alex fought within herself. Her apprehension over this person from the outside, the desire to believe it was Kara, and her need to protect her family. Finally, she relented to the law of the colony to cover her doubt.
"We will have Lena and several others run some tests. I will bring this before the council. Once the tests are done and the council has heard the information we will let you know. I would expect you to remain in containment. We will provide you with sun lamps to assist you." Again Kara interrupted.
"The sun lamps are no longer needed. I will be fine just resting here. I will not leave unless given permission. I would request a pitcher of water, a towel, soap, and a wash bowl. Nothing more is needed." Kara responded her voice devoid of any emotion. Alex looked at the woman. Kara, this Kara was hardened and reserved. So different from the warm, bubbly persona she knew.
"We can accommodate that and a little more I think." Alex said a little more lightly. Kara glared severely at her former sister.
"Nothing more is needed." She then went over to the medical bed and set her items on the stand next to it. She climbed into the bed laying closed her eyes retreating from them into the presence of her mind. Alex watched as the monitors built into the bed came to life. Kara just basically ignored all of them. She watched for a few more minutes and then left. The counsel had been called to emergency session. Lena left to prepare the tests for Kara. Eliza stayed with Susan keeping an ever presence to the woman until they knew. Until they were sure this was Kara Danvers or more than that. Kara Zor-el.
"Is it her?" Cat Grant eagerly asked as the twelve council members sat around the table. Alex stood before a podium.
"The tests are being run now, but the time frame and events she has recounted make it probable." Alex responded succinctly. She did not want to bring hope to any of them before they knew for sure.
"Probable, but not absolute." Arnak, one of the aliens who had rotated to the council stated. Alex nodded toward him.
"Yes, Council member Arnak. Lena Luthor is running tests with the assistance of Dr. Hamilton and Miodose. We should have the results in twenty four hours." Alex replied to the council member.
"You do not think it is her." President Marsden curiously responded, though here she was a council member. Alex hesitated before do you explain that you want it to be, but your hope was lost so long ago you don't know how to believe?
"I don't know. She stated that before she and Superman left to fight the meteorite LIllian Luthor told her the meteorite was made up of more than iron and nickel. If that's true than the reason for Superman's issues makes sense. It would also explain the changes and deaths of those that returned here after the fight." Alex informed the council.
"Then why did she not returned after the battle. Where has she been for the last six years?" Jimmy Olsen asked. He had recently become one of the council members. There were no elections. Everyone served in some capacity for the good of the colony. They were selected and told two months before taking over for a twelve month term. That gave them time to be brought up to date on the concerns and what they needed to know.
"According to Kara she floated in space injured for a long time until one day she fell back to earth. Once on earth she was terribly injured from the fall and it took time to gain her strength. Since then she has been wandering the surface looking for us. The surface though has changed greatly. It is unrecognizable to before the Fall. It took her time. She wandered from place to place meeting other groups, surviving by her abilities. Though those abilities have changed." Several of the council members murmured around the table.
"How has her abilities changed?' William Travis, a metahuman, asked Director Danvers. Cat and Marsden watched as Alex formulated her words.
"She still heals, but now scars are left. From the looks of her face, neck, and head she is scarred extensively. Lena will check the rest of her, but I assume they will find scars everywhere. She still has the abilities of flight as she demonstrated. She also has some new type of mental abilities to manipulate technology. We know this because Kara did not know the passcode for the first inner door, yet she was able to input the correct code. We also saw this with the Carowhites. She was able to form a relationship with them so they did not attack her. Specifically the female became quite enamored with her. They were rubbing against her like she was family. She was able to pet them with no attack whatsoever." The entire council now talked softly with together.
"Is she a danger to the colony?" President Marsden asked the director point blank. Alex looked Marsden and the council members in the eye.
"No. She has complied with all our instructions except the removing of her face mask and headgear at first. We now know that was because she wanted to meet in person. She offered to leave when I demanded she remove them at first also. She has made no outward aggression toward anyone beyond entering the colony." Alex finished as the council talked quietly. Cat now stood.
"It is obvious we must make sure this is Supergirl. If it is we owe her a great deal. If it is not, we must make a decision on whether she should stay or go. I say we adjourn until the tests results have been returned. All those in favor…" Cat watched all hands go up. "Those against…" No hands. "Well, Director Danvers we will meet again tomorrow at one in the afternoon. Please bring the test results, Lena Luthor, Dr. Hamilton, and Dr. Danvers. Any other pertinent information also." Director Danvers nodded as the meeting broke up. Alex headed toward Lena's lab only to be stopped in the hallway by Cat, Jimmy, and Marsden. Arnak held near too.
"Is it her Alex? Be straight with us." Marsden asked the older Danvers sister.
"I don't know. This Kara is so different from the sister I remember. She's harden, sarcastic, and so serious. So different. But that could very well happen after everything she has been through. Don't ask me for certainties. I can't give them. We will know more in twenty four hours." Alex stated softly as she turned to leave.
"Alex, what does Susan say?" Cat asked knowing Kara's wife had been strangely absent through all this. Alex stopped her retreat down the hall. Her shoulders fell in defeat.
"She doesn't. She sits and talks to Kara. She keeps her own council." Alex divulged to the group. She then turned and walked down the hall.
"One more Kara. I'm sorry I have to take so much." Lena stated as she took another vial. She had extracted six. Kara had said nothing about it. Susan stood nearby holding Kara's hand. "Alright done."
"Kara, we have your pitcher of water, towel, and basin." Eliza stated as she placed them on a nearby table. Kara stood up releasing Susan's hand.
"You may not want to stay for this love. It's not pretty." Kara coaxed her wife to leave. Susan shook her head.
"I let you leave once knowing you would not return, though, I prayed desperately for your return." Susan raised her hand touching Kara's cheek. "I will not leave you or let you leave without me. I do not want to live this life without you." Kara raised her hands to Susans face. She pulled her wife into a hug. She felt that she had no right to kiss this beautiful woman after they way she had left and been gone so long.
"I thought once that if I died I would see you again. But the fight...the meteorite... being hit by debris and cut...the explosions around us...floating in space without air...without warmth...without end." Kara stuttered whispers floating over Susan. "I prefer death or life with you. Not the in between existence that has been my life these last six years." Susan pulled back a little looking into blue eyes gone slightly grey. She ran her hands over Kara's face cataloging every scar desperately wanting to believe this was Kara. This was her wife. So she did. She let herself fall once more for Kara. This Kara. Broken, tortured, and hardened. Susan pulled Kara into a slow, deep kiss. The both heard the gasps around them, but didn't care. Time, space, and others had already taken so much from them. It would not again. Together for life or death. Separation was not an option. When they broke apart Kara looked into Susan's eyes. "There is no Supergirl anymore. There is only Kara Zor-el or Kara Danvers - Vasquez." Susan nodded in understanding.
"Come, let's bath you. I had Eliza bring you a change of clothes. I can wash these if you wish." Susan announced as she began helping her out of her robes.
"I will need them again. So please can they be washed and returned to me immediately." Kara asked as Eliza nodded to her. Slowly as the robes were removed. The outer robes covered a rough hewn shirt and pants. Though the pants were made of a more durable material. More and more of Kara was exposed. The rough hewn outer shirt gave way to a undershirt of soft material. Not quite cotton, but very similar. The heavy duty boots Kara wore came from a sporting goods store she had discovered. At one time she had carried a second pair she told them, but others had fought her for them. She had barely made it out with the majority of her goods. She had lost the boots, a good hunting knife, and two pairs of replacement clothes. She was just thankful for her life.
Kara removed her undershirt to reveal deep dark scars across her shoulders and chest. Her left shoulder had the imprint front and back of a bite mark six inches across. As she turned they noted long slash type scars going down her back covered with lighter scars like from rocks or animal scratches. Kara removed her pants till she only stood in a pair of underwear. Her waist had several circular stab wounds. Her legs were a crosshatch of scars from top to bottom from whips. Lena and Eliza gasped as more and more of the Kryptonians flesh was revealed. Kara had eyes only for Susan though. Not once did Susan flinch or gasp. She lightly ran her hands over every scar turning Kara to check her backside. When Kara turned back Susan pulled her head down kissing her on the lips again.
"I'm so proud of you love. So very proud. You cam back to came back to us. You have done so well." Susan reiterated as she picked up the cloth and soap. She wet the cloth sudsying the material. Once done she began a slow circular pattern scrubbing from the neck, over the back of her shoulders and down to the top of her bottom. She rinse the rag several times as dirt washed away to reveal more scarring. Once pristine, clear skin now covered in the devotion of protection and love for those who survived. Susan continued to her legs and her feet. She switched to the front taking her time even as Eliza cataloged the scars on her back. Once she finished Karas front Lena took her time to catalogued the ones on the front. She touched the bite mark on the shoulder raising her eyebrow in question.
"There is an animal that is a cross between a bear and something else. It's hard to describe. I came around the side of a mountain trail one day startling it. It grabbed me slashing down my back and then biting me. Once it figured out what I was it let me go. At Least that is what it seemed." Kara responded as she thought. She kept her eyes on Susan even as Lena touched the scars taking measurements. Dr. Hamilton examined Kara's scars making notations in her charts. Once the doctors were finished Susan pulled up a chair. She had Kara sit in it while she shampooed and conditioned her hair. Lena came over when Susan motioned to her. She pointed to an indentation on Kara's skull along with two large scars. Lena took several notations. She went and spoke with Eliza and Dr. Hamilton. It was agreed that they would take several x-rays, and examine Kara's head due to the trauma she had suffered. Kara spoke softly with Susan telling her small stories of what she had seen and experienced. Eliza and Lena listened as they sat nearby waiting for the tests results.
"You said Lillian told you there was more than natural elements in the meteorite. What else was in the meteorite?" Susan asked her wife as she now massaged her head with a special type of lotion to treat her scalp. Really it just gave Susan a reason to touch Kara. To allow her to feel good for a change instead of the constant pain and exhaustion which had been her companion she had felt since leaving to fight that day six years ago.
"Green, red, and yellow kryptonite. Several other elements that would harm different aliens. She actually figured out what Astra had used to prevent Kryptonite poisoning. She handed it to Kal and I before we left. While she had no love for us. She knew that humanity didn't stand a chance if we couldn't destroy or reduce the size of the meteor significantly." Kara said as she her eyes began to flutter shut. Susan kissed her wife again and laid her head on her shoulder. Eliza walked over to check her daughter.
"Is there anything we can get you?" Eliza asked as she carded her fingers through her daughters hair.
"In my pack there is a small black parcel. Could you hand it to me?" Eliza moved over to the side pack that Kara had carried. She searched through the bag carefully. Her eyebrows rose at somethings she saw inside until she found the black parcel. She brought it back to Kara as Lena solicitously approached to see what Kara had. Kara opened the black parcel from the side. She slid out what appeared to be wafer thin crackers. Kara chose one that was an inch by an inch. She restored the rest to the package and ate the cracker. She handed it back to Eliza who placed it in the pack.
"Kara, if you were hungry we could have brought you something to eat. That wouldn't even feed a child." Eliza teased her daughter who laid back looking like she had eaten a banquet. Kara shook her head no as she burped softly.
"Sorry, the effects of the Dimurian crackers have a few side effects. Burping being one of them." The young Kryptonian indicated to the others.
"Wait, your telling me that little cracker is an entire meal?" Lena said with surprise. "Do you know how to make them? How to get ahold of more?" Lena asked as she thought about how it could be the breakthrough they needed. Kara smiled with her eyes closed at Lena's curiosity.
"Yes, I will tell you how to make them. Though, you may have to change the formula a little for humans. Aliens and metahumans can tolerate the current formula." Kara stated as she began to lull off to sleep.
"We'll let you get some sleep Kara. Susan, stay we will let you both sleep." Eliza chuckled as she watched Kara curl into Susan tightly. Lena, Dr. Hamilton, and Eliza left. But not before Eliza bumped the opaque button sealing the containment unit. Eliza figured the lovers could use a long, quiet rest.
""Is it Kara?" Six Hours later Alex sat at a table with Lena, Eliza, and Dr. Hamilton. The results from all the tests sat before them. The three doctors looked at each other and smiled.
"Yes, Alex. It is Kara." Lena stated in no uncertain terms. "There are some minor changes. She has some telepathic abilities, but we are not sure what they are or how they work." Eliza nodded even as Dr. Hamilton took over the narrative.
"Almost every bone in her body has been broken in some way. She was attacked by the surface animals in multiple places healing and surviving with limited nutrients and water. Her body as you can see from our notations and pictures in a maze of scarring. Her discussions with Susan while we worked on her say that there is major mental trauma from physical abuse and injuries. Her blood…" Dr. Hamilton struggled now. Lena placed her hand on Hamilton's arm.
"Her blood has some minor changes. She no longer needs to sun to support her powers. They are her powers whether there is sun or no sun. There is a new type of kryptonite within her bloodstream. We think..." Here Lena hesitated trying to explain in a way Alex would understand, but not worry. "We think that whatever was in the meteorite it got in her bloodstream changing it. How? We don't know. Kara has offered to let us run tests as needed if she is allowed to stay." Alex read the paperwork on Kara in front of her. It was hard to believe, but here was the proof. How many miracles had to line up for Kara to be with them now?
"There is one more thing." Eliza began carefully. "Kara told us she fell and couldn't move for a long time. We think we know why now since the ct scan. It was because she should be dead. But somehow her brain overwrote the command to die and pushed her to survive by rewiring itself." Alex looked at her perplexed.
"That's not possible. Brains just don't rewire themselves and make people live." Alex declared looking at her mother. Eliza shook her head as Lena and Hamilton knew this would be hard for Alex to understand.
"We know Alex, but her alien biology along with whatever happened to her fighting the meteorite has inevitably changed her in some ways. This is one of them. Just as Superman is changed too."
"So where does that leave us?" Alex asked staring at all three spoke finally.
"Alex, it's Kara. My best friend, your sister, Eliza's daughter. You have the proof you needed for the council. Even more, you need to talk with her so you can tell them with a hundred percent belief that it's your sister." Lena urged her wife. Alex had stayed away. Observed from a distance. Not wanting to get attached or have hope in case this wasn't her sister.
"You are all in agreement that this is Kara." Alex seriously asked the three women. They all three nodded yes.
"There is no doubt in our minds Director Danvers." Dr. Hamilton responded as Eliza said yes.
"Thank you. I will talk with you all in a couple hours. You are dismissed." Alex stated as she started to drift into thought. Lena hesitated and then turned accompanying Dr. Hamilton. She would talk to Alex later when they were home. She headed toward containment. She needed to talk to Kara. The door closed, but Eliza hadn't moved. Alex rose to look out the room window down on colony below the command center. It was quiet some time before Alex spoke.
"I wanted it to not be her. I didn't know whether I could handle if she came back from the dead. For months after the Fall I had nightmares where she came back accusing me of not trying to find her. Of not trying to save her. Of not protecting her." Alex murmured just high enough for Eliza to hear. "Then the nightmares changed to seeing her come back her body broken and ravaged. You see LIllian wasn't the only one who knew there was Kryptonite in the meteorite. Jonn told me the night before they left. Lillian knew and tried to protect them. I knew and didn't warn them." Alex sickly laughed as she turned to her mother. "Ironic isn't it. Kara's enemy tried to save her. While me, her family said nothing."
"Alex, you can't do that." Eliza began when Alex Screamed.
"I DID NOTHING! I KNEW MOM! I KNEW SHE WAS GOING TO DIE AND I DID NOTHING!" Alex arms swept out as tears poured down her cheeks. "How will she forgive me? I was suppose to watch out for her!"
"Alex, she had already made up her mind to fight. To save earth. To save us!" Eliza argued desperately trying to get Alex to listen. She had wondered for a long time if Alex had blamed herself. Now she knew. "You didn't kill her Alex."
"No! I did mom! Look!" Alex yelled as she threw the photo's across the table showing every injury Kara suffered. The notations of paperwork that talked about the ones that were internal and could not be seen. "I should have protected her. She should have been here! With us! Not up there fighting something none of them could stop."
"Alex! Now who's fooling whom? You know the size of that space rock. It was immense. Months of launching explosive after explosive at it. Using the Daxamite ships that had been captured to hit it with beam after beam until their energy was exhausted. Slowly whittling it away piece by piece. Every alien species on the planet helped Alex. Even they knew it was an extinction event." Eliza argued back coming around the table. She grabbed Alex pulling her into her arms. "They gave this planet a chance to survive. Once it reached the upper atmosphere they were able to break it down into even smaller pieces so the planet wasn't destroyed. Baby it wasn't your fault. It wasn't." Eliza comforted Alex as she hugged her. "The damage done was done by the meteorite. It was done by something that was inanimate! You can't blame yourself Alex." Harsh sobs broke out from Alex as Eliza comforted her. Years of doubt and blame rushing out.
Several hours later before the council.
"So we are in agreement then. Kara Zor-el, better known as Supergirl shall be welcomed into the colony. She will become a member and accorded all the privileges under the law. She will be honored as one of the saviors of the planet. Well, then. I would say it's time to meet one of the saviors of the planet." Cat Grant apprised the council. Director Danvers and the council all headed down to containment. Lena Luthor, Eliza, and Dr. Hamilton were already there. Susan was outside the containment unit. Kara had redressed in her robes without her mask and headdress. Her scarf hung loosely by her side. Once the entire council entered Cat Grant approached the containment unit.
"Kara Zor-el, Supergirl, it is the determination of this council that you are who you say you are. Therefore we extend to you to become a member of our colony with all the rights and privileges of a citizen of the colony, and to be honored as a hero of the Fall." Kara had agreed with all that Cat had said till the end.
"No! I'm not a hero Cat! Hero's make a difference. We didn't make a difference. I am no hero Cat." Kara shoulders slumped slightly with her statement.
"You are wrong Kara." Alex stepped forward for the first time since Kara had originally seen her. "You're wrong. You made all the difference. You and so many others. You made it possible for so many of us to survive. You made it possible for the planet to not be utterly destroyed. You made it possible for children to still be born and live good lives." The containment energy field fell as Alex stepped forward. "You allowed your wife, friends, and family to have a life. Please Kara. You have sacrificed so much for us. Let us give back just a small amount." Susan moved forward next to Alex. Kara held her eyes.
"No matter what you choose. I will be by your side. If you choose to stay, I will stay with you. If you choose to go, I will go with you. Our bond is unbreakable Kara. I gave myself to you as you gave yourself to me. The worst possible choice you can make right now is to walk away from us. From me. I won't let you Kara. I am by your side to the end no matter what or where." Susan implored her love. She reached out taking Kara's hand as Alex took the other one. They both pulled her forward. The first steps into a new world and a new day. Kara nodded as she hugged Alex for the first time in six long years.
"I love you Kara. God I've missed you." Alex cried as the two Danver's sisters were reunited.