Chapter 30: Time Out (Out of Time – Part 3)

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman and Wonder Woman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.


Seven months after defeating an alien army from outer space, Kara sat on a rocky outcropping at the edge of the island of Themyscira and looked at the vast ocean before her in deep contemplation.

Using her skills in astronomy, she had narrowed down the current time to roughly 3,000 years in the past, give or take a century. Meaning she was very, very far from home. After seven months, she had given up whatever fleeting hope she might have had that the Flash would return to take her back to her own time.

She had had a lot of time to think over the past months. From the way the Flash had spoken and given what had happened in the battle against Steppenwolf, the most logical explanation she could come up with was that she had indeed been meant to be there. Or rather, that she had always been there. After all, Hippolyta was alive and well in the future she knew. The Earth had not been conquered by Steppenwolf. Come to think of it, it was entirely possible that it had been (or rather would be) she herself who had sent (or would send) the Flash on his mission to send her back to the past, in order to ensure that history would happen as intended. If she got back, that was.

What had he said? Hurts to think about it! Sure did.

It also neatly explained quite a few things. She had often wondered how readily and easily Hippolyta and the other Amazons had accepted her as basically one of them. Sure, she had come with Diana, their princess, but still. None of the Amazons had hesitated very long to call her sister and Lyta had often treated her like a life-long friend. She wouldn't know exactly until (and unless) she managed to return to her own time and could sit down for a talk with the Amazon queen, but she was fairly certain that Lyta (the one in her time period) had already known who she was the first time they met (from Kara's perspective).

Case in point: her room in the palace of Themyscira. The exact same room she would inhabit in the future during her outings to the Amazon Island. Sure, most of the furniture had been replaced in the time since, but the room was the same. Only in this time period she watched in person as an Amazon stonemason carved her sigil into the doorframe of the room. The sigil that looked exactly like the one adorning her room's doorframe in the present, only without 3,000 years of weathering.

Shaking her head, she refocused her thoughts on the more immediate problem: how to get home.

On the ground next to her was the computer box she had taken from Steppenwolf, though she now knew that it was far more than a simple computer. She had fiddled with it for months now, repairing the damage her heat vision had done to it, and it was finally beginning to work properly again (or so she hoped). Anyway, it was not a computer as humans or Kryptonians understood the concept. It was called a Mother Box (or so it had told her) and while it was in fact a manufactured piece of hardware, the energies inside it made it alive (kind of) and aware (most definitely).

It might also be her best chance to get home again.

"You are thinking heavy thoughts again," a familiar voice said from behind her.

She had heard Lyta approach, of course. Little escaped her super hearing. The Amazon Queen sat down beside her, dressed only in a light toga and with none of the trappings of her office. After a few weeks on the island, Kara had shared her story with her. Just in general terms, of course. She had told her nothing of Diana or anything else that might happen in the days to come, but Lyta was aware that Kara had travelled back from the future and that they had met before, at least from Kara's perspective.

Kara just wasn't entirely sure whether Lyta believed her. Well, in roughly 3,000 years she would get her proof when a slightly younger Kara would visit to the island for the first time.

"Just thinking about finding my way home," she said, still looking out over the waters.

She had told Lyta her plans only in the vaguest of terms. While the Amazons were an advanced society compared to the rest of Earth in this time period, things like time travel, relativistic speeds, and the warping of space/time were not exactly part of their everyday lives. Lyta only understood that Kara had a possible method of getting home, but it was untested, probably highly inaccurate, and with no guarantee that it would work.

"The offer to stay here remains," Lyta reminded her. "We would be happy to have you."

Kara smiled, touched by the offer, but immediately shook her head. "Thank you, Lyta, but I have to at least try to get home. I miss my family, especially my son. He might almost be a man, but he still needs his mother. And I need him, too."

She smiled, thinking about numerous talks she had had with Lyta about parenthood. This version of her friend did not have a child yet, of course, and did not think it would ever happen. Kara did not know how exactly Diana had been conceived on an island populated entirely by women (her best friend had just told her that there were conflicting stories), so she hadn't given any indication to Lyta that parenthood was going to happen to her at some point.

"I understand," Lyta said, putting her hand on Kara's shoulder. "I am going to miss you, though. We all will. No matter where – or when – you go, Kara, please always remember that you are one of us! You will always have a home on Themyscira."

"Thank you, and I will take you up on that offer. Or, well, I already have. We will see each other again, Lyta. Just keep in mind that I won't remember you at first!"

Lyta nodded. "I know. Your past, my future. This is terribly confusing, you know?"

"Tell me about it," she laughed, then grew somber. "If... when I make it back, I'll come visit you and talk to you about Steppenwolf and the battle we went through together. Don't say anything to me until then, okay?"

Lyta nodded, falling quiet. Kara took up the Mother Box again, her fingers moving over the control interface. There was a soft ticking, the living computer's equivalent to a "power on" light. The computer didn't have a screen or anything, instead it seemed to interface directly with its user's mind through some kind of techno-telepathy. Kara once again calculated the necessary details for her upcoming flight, using the advanced technology to double-check her results for probably the hundredth time now.

"What about Philippus?" Lyta asked, almost nonchalantly.

Kara put the Mother Box back down again, sighing deeply. "I know! I will talk to her."

"Do it soon," Lyta told her. "Rumors that you plan to leave us soon are already spreading. She should hear it from you!"


Walking toward the training grounds of the Palace Guard of Themyscira, Kara recalled how she had first met Philippus. She had been one of the Amazons who had taken her to Themyscira by boat when Diana had been recovering from her injuries by Ares. Kara remembered her well, mostly because she had been one of the few Amazons who had appeared standoffish and stern, while most of the others had quickly accepted her.

Well, given what she was about to do, she probably had reason not to be all that warm and welcoming.

The Palace Guard were the Amazon's peacetime standing army. While every Amazon was a trained warrior, most of them followed other professions during time of peace. Not so the Guard, who were warriors first and only. Philippus was their leader and during times of war, she served as the queen's general and second in command, too.

When Kara had come to Themiscyra after the battle against Steppenwolf, Philippus had taken it upon herself to become her guide and guard (not that she needed one) in gratitude for saving her queen's life. Apparently the Amazon had felt terribly guilty that she had not been at her queen's side in that moment and felt indebted to Kara for protecting Hippolyta in her stead.

Weeks had gone by and during one night Kara had awoken from a particularly bad nightmare. For what had to be the hundredth time she had seen Krypton's final moments, the death flash of its destruction. Only this time that terrible memory had been worsened by her fears of never seeing Clark and her family again. As Krypton died she had seen Clark drifting away from her, forever out of her reach, and she had awoken, screaming and sobbing.

Philippus had been there, still guarding her, and had offered the comfort of her arms. She had accepted, thankful for the company, and things had somehow naturally progressed from there.

Kara had never imagined finding a lover on the island of the Amazons. Then again, she had never imagined travelling through time, either. Given how surreal the whole situation had been, how unreal her entire stay in this time felt to her, she had simply gone with the flow, refusing to overthink things. Being with Philippus made her happy, for a time that had been enough.

Time, though, was the problem, of course.

As she reached the training ground, she found Philippus among the guards, training. The tall, dark-skinned Amazon looked her way and a smile appeared on her face. Kara felt her own lips spread in an answering smile, her gaze running appreciatively over the other woman's glistening skin. Quickly finishing her sparring bout, Philippus walked over to her. Without any conscious thought being required, Kara moved into her embrace and they shared a kiss. Their bodies fit together perfectly, as if they had been made for each other.

"Hello, goddess," Philippus said, smiling. At first many Amazons had called her that, convinced that she was every bit as much of a goddess as those of Mount Olympus. She had quickly dissuaded them of that notion, but the guard captain kept calling her that regardless, if for no other reason than to annoy her.

"Hello, general," Kara replied, figuring that one annoying pet name deserved another. "Do you have time? I... I need to talk to you."

The smile faded from the Amazon's face and she simply nodded. Arm in arm they walked away from the training ground and towards a secluded portion of the Palace gardens. Sitting down under a tree – a tree that had somehow become THEIR tree within the last few months – Philippus looked at her intently.

"It's time, isn't it?" she asked, dark eyes seeming to look right into Kara's soul. "You are leaving."

Kara nodded. She had tried to think of something profound to say, something clever, but nothing had come to mind. "I have done the calculations again and again; I am as ready as I ever will be."

Philippus still looked at her, her face showing almost no emotion. Just the tiniest tremor in her lip showed that she was certainly not unaffected by what she was hearing. "So no reason to stay any longer then, is there?"

Kara sighed deeply. "That's not fair, Philippus. You knew from the beginning that I would not stay here forever. Even if I could... I am not immortal like you." She met her eyes, trying to convey all the things she could not really find words for. "I could have left weeks ago. The only reason I haven't..."

Philippus nodded, dark eyes shimmering. "My mind knows all this, Kara. My heart, though, my heart refuses to listen."

Rao, why was this so very difficult? It wasn't like she hadn't considered the option of simply staying here. In her entire life since the destruction of Krypton, she had never been so relaxed, so happy to just live in the moment without any worries or cares. Staying here on Themyscira, this timeless paradise far removed from the world she knew, was oh so very tempting. Staying in the arms of someone like Philippus...

But it was a phantasy, a day dream. She could never abandon her family and friends, especially not Clark. Nor could she simply leave her work behind, her efforts to build a better world. She needed to go back and it wasn't like she could simply wait out the three millennia here. Kryptonians were long-lived, but not that long-lived. She had to go. Before her resolve crumbled completely and she surrendered to the phantasy of staying here.

"We will meet again, Philippus," she told her, cradling the other woman's face in her hands.

Philippus, too, knew about her travel through time and that she had already been to Themyscira at some point in the future. Kara had told her that they had already met there, though she had said nothing else, no details. It was Philippus' future, after all, and she refused to set it in stone, even if it was already history for her.

They met for another kiss, bittersweet this time. Tomorrow the goddess would leave and the general would remain behind. Today, though, they would simply go with the flow and live in the moment for one last time.

"One last day in paradise," Kara mumbled.


There was no goodbye feast or anything, as the queen knew very well that Kara would wish to spend her final hours on Themyscira in other ways. When morning came, the Amazons gathered in front of the Palace to say goodbye to the one who had joined them in battle, saved their queen, and been one of them ever since. No one remarked on Philippus remaining distant throughout, most of them knowing the reason why.

"Remember your promise, Kara," Hippolyta told her.

"I will, Lyta. The moment I'm home and made sure Clark is all right, I'll come visit the island." Kara was once again dressed in her super suit, which she hadn't worn in months. The suit felt weird and constricting after all this time. Like putting your working clothes back on after dressing down for months of vacation time. In many ways her stay here had been like a vacation, a break from reality. One that was now ending, though. Time to return to the real world.

The queen embraced her. "Safe journey, Kara! And give your son a kiss from me when you get home!"

There were many more goodbyes, many more hugs. Kara had befriended many of the Amazons in her months here. None more so than the one she had said goodbye to last night, of course. Philippus and she made eye contact one final time. There had been no promises made during the night. The immortal general did not promise to wait 3,000 years and the mortal goddess did not promise to come back to her. The future would take care of itself. Their time together had always been about the present and nothing but the present.

"Thank you all," Kara simply said, then took off without any further ceremony.

By the time Kara had cleared Earth's atmosphere, the unshed tears in her eyes had dried. The Mother Box was fastened to her belt, ticking away and illuminating her flight path in her mind. Today she would fly faster than she had ever flown before, pushing her powers to extremes she had shied away from so far.

Heading directly towards the sun, she could feel its light energize her cells, making her stronger and faster. She pushed on, accelerating further and further. The mean distance between Earth and sun was 150 million kilometers. Light itself needed roughly 8 minutes to bridge the distance. Kara needed 12 minutes and was still accelerating.

Adjusting her flight path, she began to circle around the vast yellow star in a deep orbit, allowing its humongous gravity to draw her in and make her faster still. The Mother Box at her hip recalculated her flight path every few seconds, measured her speed, and helped her remain on track.

Time dilation was a simple mathematical formula. Objects in motion experienced a slower passage of time than objects at rest. At roughly 90% of light speed, time would pass twice as fast for her as it would back on Earth. At 99% of light speed, it would pass seven times as fast. Given that she had 3,000 years to bridge, she would need to be faster still.

Without the Mother Box, she was quite certain that she would have been stuck for good. Kara was far from stupid, she might even be something of a genius, but the calculations required to bridge 3,000 years via time dilation by flying at near light speed without colliding with anything, burning herself up, or tearing a hole into the space/time continuum were way beyond her. Which was, to her, just one more proof that this entire journey had been predestined in some impossible to understand way.

With the tic-tic-tic of the Mother Box echoing in her mind, Kara accelerated even more, pushing her body impossibly close to that unreachable speed of 1.0 c. Time warped around her, years passing in seconds, stars strobing through the sky, every cell in her body screaming as energy was torn from them as fast as the sun could replenish it. Time lost all meaning, centuries passed in seconds while eye blinks took ages, and finally the Mother Box gave the signal to let go.

Kara shot away from the sun, still travelling at impossible speeds but rapidly decelerating. She had just enough presence of mind left to set her body at a course towards Earth before her overtaxed body finally surrendered and slipped into blessed unconsciousness. When she threatened to shoot past Earth, the Mother Box at her hip ticked and with a boom that should not have be audible in space, a glowing tube formed in front of her. A moment later, she was flying above the surface of the planet, unconscious, and burning up the sky around her like a comet.

When she finally touched ground, her invulnerable form left yet another long trench in the Earth, much like the one she had left when the Flash had sent her 3,000 years into the past. This time, though, she remained unmoving at the end of it, sprawled across the ground like a fallen angel.

When the clouds cleared and sunlight fell onto her face, she remained unconscious. When someone came by some time later to investigate the crash site, she did not move. And even when someone lifted her unmoving body into their arms to carry her away, she did not stir.


End Chapter 30

Author's Note: Philippus is one of the Amazons introduced in George Perez' reboot of Wonder Woman in 1987 and has appeared in every version of Wonder Woman since. This includes the movie, where she was played by Ann Ogbomo. And way back in chapter 5, she was indeed one of the (unnamed) Amazons on that boat, namely the one who spoke to Kara in a rather brusque manner. Well, now you know why.

As for the science behind Kara's attempt to jump back to the present (we'll see whether it worked next chapter), I hope it's not too far out there. Time dilation is a very real phenomenon, but the energies required to accelerate a human-sized objects to speeds where 3,000 years would pass in mere minutes are probably near-infinite. I'm kind of mixing real-world science with Star Trek here (the patented Enterprise slingshot maneuver, seen in several episodes and Star Trek IV).