A good sleep evaded Kara on her first night back. Ellis' couch was snug enough, but she found it impossible to feel at ease in a godforsaken place. Oddly enough, she felt she hadn't even seen the worst of it yet. She knew that how jarring things seemed from her small glimpse was just the tip of the iceberg that demonstrated the hell that most Knight City residents had to live on a daily basis. One thing that she was glad about was that she didn't have to be here for long. Their relatively simple plan meant that it wouldn't be long before it was all said and done. If she survived what was to come, Kara hoped to be off Earth again in a week, except this time there would be no bittersweet feeling about leaving.

"This is fucking dreadful," Kara chided as she chewed on the rubber piece of egg in her mouth, "How could you possibly fuck up scrambled eggs?"

Affronted by Kara's less-than-complimentary remarks, Ellis sneered at her. "Tastes just fine to me."

"Feels like I'm chewing on an unseasoned eyeball," Kara remarked, pushing her plate away after just one bite.

"Sorry, Kara, only the corpos get organic eggs. Rest of us have to settle for synth."

"Only shit cooks blame the ingredients," Kara teased her, "Is the coffee synth?" she asked, taking a whiff.

"No," Ellis replied, rolling her eyes. Kara took a sip. It wasn't the best coffee she had ever had, but it was decent enough to satiate her craving.

Ellis rose from her seat, walking over to Kara's weapon bag and opening it, "Which gun do you like the least?"

"I like all of them."

"Okay, which is your least favourite?"

Kara got up from her seat, singling out a golden plasma pistol she hadn't used in months. "This one. Why?"

"My monowire needs replacing," Ellis replied, "Know someone who can help, but I need to make a trade for it."

Kara raised her eyebrow. Although she was hardly attached to a piece of iron, she felt somewhat offended that Ellis would give it up for something rather trivial in her eyes. "That gun is worth more than every monowire that's ever been made put together."

"I also owe them for helping me steal a spaceship. That's not exactly a debt I can repay in scratch."

"Fine," Kara groaned, reluctantly agreeing to give up the pistol.

"Come with. Though you might want to leave the leather jacket behind."

"Why? Where are we going?"

Within Knight City, it wasn't often that you felt the full brunt of the Californian desert heat. Humanity's greed prevailed in the 21st century when they failed to take action over their increasingly damaging environmental footprint, one of the consequences of such being temperatures steadily rising to unprecedented heights. The heat was one of the reasons why Knight City was so much more alive at night, with the temperature significantly cooling once the sun set. Now past the city limits and into the Californian desert, Kara was feeling it, particularly because Ellis had chosen to retract the roof of her car for their short journey.

It always felt like there was a cloud hanging over Knight City. It was no place to start a family or raise a child. The air was difficult to breathe not just because of pollution, but with it being shrouded in a mass of hedonistic, malicious malevolence. But out here in the desert, it felt different to Kara. The sandy air was soothing. The wind brushing her face and weaving through her hair was reposeful. Ellis probably didn't enjoy the sun beating down on her skin so much, but it was the most relishing thing Kara had felt so far upon return. She glanced back for just a second at Knight City, seeing a showcase of the worst traits of humanity and a ghastly reminder of everything that had caused her to leave it behind.

Ellis explained that they were heading to a nomad camp a couple of miles away from the city. Nomadic clans had become trademark features of the West Coast. Kara understood why easily. Knight City wasn't the only abhorrent place with people that so desperately wanted to leave but didn't have the means to themselves. Working around those constraints meant banding together with people just like you, pooling together what you had to make the journey out and then survive it. Hundreds of nomad groups existed now, ranging from small groups to established clans with a rich history of tradition. Every now and then, nomads made a stop at a resourceful city, staying for a few weeks or months to take whatever they could from it before being on their way to the next place.

The Coyote Clan were the group Ellis had developed a rapport with. She had once done a gig which involved tracking down and recovering one of their members with her powers, a deed that their leader, Jerome, greatly appreciated. They'd been outside Knight City for more than five months now, an unusually long time for a clan to stay but one that made sense given the amount of contraband they were acquiring and smuggling to make their living.

Kara wasn't sure what to expect on arrival. She expected something akin to a gang, expecting to be warned by Ellis to avert her gaze and let her do all the talking to avoid sparking an unnecessary conflict. She spotted the camp from a few hundred meters away, first seeing several vehicles all parked off to the right and a couple of watchtowers with snipers before taking note of more than a dozen tents all varying in size set up. The closer and closer they got, Kara somehow felt less and less worried. Once Ellis had parked off and they were out of the car, Kara felt the least threatened she had since arriving back on Earth. No eyes were suspiciously lingering on them nor was anybody apart from the lookouts brandishing their guns. Some nomads seemed busy at work, others were lounging around enjoying the day. A group of children were huddled in front of a makeshift basketball hoop playing a tightly contested game, while a boxing ring was set up further away with two men sparring inside.

A scruffy, unkept elderly man approached her and Ellis, holding up two large packets of dust for them. "Hey, hey, could I interest you in some authentic Tiger Claw Powder? Very good for sickness, performance, everything."

Ellis ignored him, but Kara couldn't help but bite on the bait. "Authentic? Bullshit. Tigers went extinct in 2042."

"Authentically synthetic, I meant," the man stuttered, "Just as good as the real thing, I promise."

"Don't mind Daniel," a voice called out to them from afar, "He's a straggler we picked up recently. Bunch of shit up in his brain, but a whole lot of good in the heart."

"Hey, Jerome," Ellis greeted him enthusiastically, giving him a firm handshake. The geometric tribal patterns of ink painting his chest, arms and back were instantly recognisable as a Hawaiian style. Hawaii was a far cry from the dream destination it once was, having too been overrun by corporations and filthy politicians, so it wasn't difficult for Kara to envision how and why he would have ended up here.

"Honestly thought you wouldn't be back in time before we moved on," Jerome said before turning to Kara, "This who you went looking for?"

"Yeah, this is Thara. Old family friend, the person I went to look for."

"Pleasure to meet you," he said while cordially extending a hand.

"She comes bearing gifts," Ellis said, handing Jerome the plasma pistol with an accompanying small bag of ammo cartridges, "For helping me get the ship."

"Holy shit!" Jerome exclaimed, expressing the enthusiasm of a child that was opening their Christmas gift, "Come on, Ellis, you didn't have to."

"Don't worry about it. Can't get your hands on something like that on this planet," Ellis bragged.

"How does it work?"

Kara answered, "Just like a regular pistol. One cartridge gives you 30 blasts, and you've got about 20 of 'em in there. 500 shots should last you a good few months if you don't waste them."

"Ooh, this is sweet! Can't wait to test it out."

"We've still got a couple of things we're hoping you could help us with," Ellis said.

"If you can get me another pistol like this, then sure," Jerome replied. Kara turned to Ellis, subtly shaking her head to let her know that she wouldn't be parting with any more of her beloved weapons. Jerome picked up on it, letting out a chuckle. "I'm just playing, I'm just playing. What's cutting?"

Ellis held up her left arm. "My monowire's busted, just wondering if you had a good replacement for me."

"I'll send you to our ripper, Jean, she could tell you."

"Cool. Also, Thara here is fighting at Empathy tonight."

Jerome's smile disappeared for a second. "Against Xenon?"

"Yeah," Kara replied, unworried.

Jerome shook his head. "Yo, I gotta give you this pistol back if you want a chance at beating him."

"She knows how to handle herself, trust me," Ellis replied in Kara's defence, "She's just… a little out of practice. You can imagine when you have a gun like that at your side, you won't be using your fists a whole lot, right?"

"Yeah, I can imagine."

"Could we get her a couple of rounds with your best?"

Kara immediately turned to Ellis, taking off her sunglasses so she could look her dead in the eyes. "Is this the real reason you dragged me out here? I don't need sparring, Ellis."

"Come on, please. Humour me."

"Am I not doing enough for you?" Kara scorned.

"Hey, a little practice never did nobody any wrong," Jerome retorted, shrugging his shoulders, "We don't got a Xenon but we've got some quick heavy hitters that can prep you for tonight."

Ellis pleaded with her eyes. "Thara…"

For the second time today, Kara felt that she had been forced into doing something she didn't want to by Ellis. "Fine, whatever. I'll do it."

"Hey, Rosey!" Jerome screamed, catching the attention of the larger man in the ring, "C'mere!"

Rosey, like Jerome, was of Polynesian descent too, sporting a similar set of tattoos. However, that was the only similarity they shared in the physical sense. Jerome was lean and ripped, looking to weigh no more than 180 pounds. Rosey, on the other hand, seemed nearly twice that with thick legs, a big belly and meaty arms.

"Talofa," he jovially greeted Kara and Ellis, his voice booming with geniality.

"Rosey, meet Thara," Jerome gestured to her, "She's fighting at Empathy tonight. Think you can give her a couple of rounds of sparring?"

"Ah, uce," Rosey sighed, dropping his head.

"What's the matter?"

"You know I don't like sparring with women," he replied.

Though he spoke from a place of concern and tenderness, Kara found herself to be a little offended by his sentiment. "Why not?" she challenged him.

"Man, putting my hands on a woman like that? Don't feel right in my heart."

Kara scoffed. "Only thing about your heart you should be worried about is your cholesterol levels."

Ellis drove her elbow into Kara's ribs, while Jerome's jaw dropped. "Shit, you gonna let her talk to you like that?" he attempted to instigate.

Rosey was unbothered by Kara's attempt to pick a fight with him, simply smiling back at Jerome before replying, "Sticks and stones, uce."

"Come on, just a couple rounds. Look man, she's not from around here," Jerome said, gesturing to the sky with a swirl of his finger, "I'm sure she'll be fine."

Jerome's insistence and Kara's boldness eventually won Rosey over. "Alright, just a couple rounds."

The ring was a bit smaller than a traditional 7x7 and it didn't help matters either that Rosey took up quite a lot of the space that Kara would have liked to use to move around. The canvas below creaked whenever he took a step, making Kara wonder if it was going to collapse at any moment under him. Jerome and Ellis sat with interested eyes at ringside, with Ellis' monowire attachment being worked on by the nomad ripperdoc. A few other nomads had gathered around the ring as well, equally intrigued to see what this seemingly undersized outsider had for their best fighter.

"Just to let you know again, Miss, this is very uncomfortable for me," Rosey attempted to reassure her, "I'm going to take it easy, alright?"

"Sure," Kara replied as they began to circle each other.

From the get-go, his fighting background became blatantly apparent to her. Rosey's size and build prevented him from utilising a huge arsenal of kicks, not that he needed them when he had more power in his fists than most other people had in their legs. Kara noted he had a good footwork pattern, though he was heavy on his front foot. He seemed a bit lighter on his feet than she would have expected, but she felt bored standing in front of him.

He stuck to his word, throwing out a rather slow and lazy jab that Kara would have seen coming from a million miles away even if she didn't have super reflexes. She easily slipped it and threw a counter uppercut into his abdomen.

As soon as the punch landed, Kara realised that Ellis was right. She was out of practice, but not in the way that Ellis thought. Kara hadn't thrown a punch with care to fully control her strength in years. Rosey was sent flying back upon impact, crashing into and snapping the ropes before landing outside of the ring. A large cry was let out by the crowd around them and Kara was worried that she had just accidentally killed him. She let out a breath of relief when she saw him slowly get back up to his feet.

Jerome turned to Ellis and whispered, "Looks like your girl is the one who has to take it easy. You owe me a new ring now."

Ellis raised her free arm. "Ka… Thara!"

Kara didn't know how to reply other than shrugging her shoulders apologetically. "Sorry," she meekly said as Rosey climbed back up onto the ring.

"No, no, it's okay," he replied, still trying to be somewhat affable, "Well, you've forced my hand now."

The small crowd that was previously around the ring had turned into the entire camp. Everyone had dropped whatever they were doing to come witness the rest of the bout which was initially meant to be nothing more than a light sparring session. They threw out cheers for Rosey, encouraging him and requesting that he return the favour to Kara.

Kara shifted her focus to now using this duel as an exercise to rediscover that control she once had over her strikes. Rosey, however, felt like he now had something to prove. Kara hadn't just come over and knocked him on his ass, she also literally destroyed the ring he ruled over. Immediately, Kara knew that his sentiment of going easy on her was truly long gone. Though her reflexes enabled her to dodge all of his following punches, she realised that he was a lot faster than he looked. Despite what first impressions you might get upon first glance, he wasn't a slouch by any means.

He was also quite smart with his strike selection and reads. He adjusted to Kara's movement quickly and made sure to lay in a few of his hardest blows upon seeing that she was still a little hesitant to throw back. Even though Kara managed to raise her right arm in time to block a left hook, the power behind the strike still pushed her to the other side of the ring. She misread his following right hand, believing it to be a right hand aimed at her face and moving her head when instead it thumped into her chest. This time, she was the one who was sent tumbling out of the ring and into the crowd, which erupted with cheers.

The chants of "Rosey!" rubbed some salt in the fresh wound on her ego. Even though she wanted this to be nothing more than practice, she still wanted to make a statement by outclassing Rosey on his home turf. Wanting it both ways, she took a deep breath before hopping back into the ring, attempting to clear her mind to allow her to do both. Rosey wasn't waiting for her, opting to rush her immediately as soon as she was back in the ring. She was having none of his eagerness to cram her against the edge of the ring, waiting until he was in distance to slip his first punch before pushing him back to the center of the ring.

She marched forward towards him, pointing towards the centre of the ring. She was met with a smile in reply, indicating that he was more than happy to go toe to toe in the middle. At first, working in the pocket was a dream for Kara. She treated Rosey like a punching bag. Her superior speed and reflexes allowed her to avoid many of his punches, rolling and blocking most of them before returning with counters that had been drilled into her muscle memory more than a century ago. Her first few counters hit Rosey a little harder than she wanted, but she found herself able to get a good grasp on her strength quite quickly.

Rosey, although being treated like a punching bag, made sure to remind Kara that he could actually punch back. While she had to hold back with her combinations, he had the luxury of knowing she could take his hardest blows and made sure to take advantage. Kara landed three or four punches in a row to his body, and he saw his opportunity when she momentarily compromised her footing. He swung his right hand into her temple, hitting her with enough force to daze her for a second.

Kara wasn't stunned for long. She quickly recovered, parrying his follow-up shot before returning with her own that had more power behind it than her previous ones, knocking him back. The crowd had come alive, vigorously cheering and shouting in appreciation for the unexpected battle they were being gifted.

Rosey, upon realising that he wasn't going to be able to beat the fast and durable Kara in a striking battle, opted to try his luck with his size. Boxing was his forte, but with not many people bigger than him, he could often boss them around if they ended up in a grappling situation. Kara stepped within arm's reach, allowing him to feint a punch before rushing forward to wrap his arms around her. He easily lifted her up before slamming her into the canvas below, making sure to collapse on top of her as well to make her feel the full brunt of his weight.

The best way to sum up this fight would be two opponents realising that looks were very deceiving. Kara believed Rosey to be a slob at first glance, while Rosey thought he could overpower a slender lady whom he had no idea was a Kryptonian with over a century of battle experience. He was initially able to take advantage of his top position and land a few elbows on Kara's head, but she quickly lifted him up off her with ease. She effortlessly pushed him over to the side before grabbing a hold of his left arm. Rosey surprised her as well by demonstrating the appropriate defence for an armbar, clasping his arms together while Kara was at his side with a grip on one of his arms.

Jerome had no doubts that Kara was going to eventually pry Rosey's hands apart and sink in the armbar from which she would have no problem breaking his arm. With Kara having gotten in plenty of practice and the crowd having gotten their entertainment for the day, he quickly jumped from his seat and rushed over to them.

"Woah, okay that's enough!" he said, tugging Kara's forearm to get her to let go. A part of her wanted to go through with it anyway, but she decided against it and let go before rising to her feet. Rosey stayed down for another second, catching his breath before being helped up by Jerome. He was wearing the wounds of their contest, breathing heavily with some bruising and a few cuts on his face while Kara appeared unscathed by it all. The crowd had fallen dead silent, holding their breaths as they watched the aftermath unfold.

"You alright?" Jerome asked him.

"Yeah," Rosey replied in low spirits. Rosey stepped forward to Kara, who was unsure what his reaction would be. "Been scrapping for 30 years and never been hit that hard," he said placing his hand on her shoulder, "Fa'aaloalo. Respect."

He gestured for the crowd to show her respect with his other hand, and they followed his request as they began to applaud. Kara slapped Rosey on the chest as a reciprocation of respect before walking over to Ellis.

"Feel better about my chances now?" she asked with a smug grin on her face.

Although they had gotten what they wanted out of their visit, Kara and Ellis found themselves planted in the nomad camp for the rest of the day. Jerome had insisted that they stay for the rest of the day, something which Kara didn't fight against. That surprised her. She came back to Earth with an attitude of doing everything as quickly and efficiently as possible. She thought once they got what they needed that they would be back on their way to the city, off to do whatever else they needed for the mission. Less than an hour in the nomad camp pulled in Kara to the point where she didn't want to leave it.

She had long since grown disillusioned with humans. Knight City put humanity's worst foot forward. She would have never expected this one little nomad camp out here in the Californian desert to plant a seed of hope in her black heart. She found a group of people who seemed to not just care only about themselves, but rather treat everyone around them with respect and love. That feeling of being in a family with great love was one that had long been lost to her. She had forgotten what it felt like, at first not knowing what that tiny but growing ball of warmth in her chest was as she spent more time amongst them.

The sun had begun setting over them. She watched the nomads sing and dance around a campfire under the orange sky as plates of food started to be passed around for dinner. Rosey was the center of attention, making a fool of himself with clunky dance movements that were no doubt a result of him being piss drunk. She sat further away from the group around the fire on a smooth rock, looking on as Ellis overdramatised her reactions to a story being told to her by a young boy no older than six.

"Here."

Jerome joined Kara, handing her another six-pack of beer bottles. Another, being the keyword. He kicked the other twelve empty bottles around the rock away as he took a seat next to Kara. "You drink a helluva lot."

"Can't get drunk," Kara replied, opening another bottle, "At least not on this planet."

"Must be nice."

"Actually, the exact opposite," Kara quipped, "Heard Rosey call you uce earlier. Is he your brother?"

"Not by blood, but he might as well be. We been on the road together since we were kids. It ain't always easy living the way we do. He's been there by my side since the beginning, helping me get through it all."

"Still seems a whole lot better than being stuck in that shithole," Kara replied, shifting her gaze towards the city.

"Comes with its own challenges," Jerome replied, shrugging his shoulders. "The most important thing for us is to be a family. The good of the whole family comes first. Got people of all kinds here from all different places, all got our own values and perspectives that can clash. Plenty of squabbling, in-fighting, disagreements, but we constantly have put that aside for the betterment of the whole family. It can be difficult."

"At least it's still a family," Kara replied. An involuntary tremble in her voice evoked a sense of sorrow in Jerome, as it made him realise that she was someone who didn't have one anymore.

The little boy that Ellis had been talking to waddled towards Kara. His skinny arms seemed to be struggling to support the weight of the huge plate stacked to the brim with food in his hands.

"Hello!" he beamed, holding the plate out to her, "This is for you, Miss Thara."

Kara, for no reason other than to relieve him of the burden of carrying the heavy plate, quickly grabbed it. "Oh, thanks, but I'm not hungry," she replied, putting the plate down to the side.

"It's tradition after a fight for our winner to have a big feast after their victory," Jerome explained, "How do you think Rosey got so fat?"

The little boy spoke up again. "You're the first person I've ever seen beat up my daddy."

Kara felt her heart drop. "Oh… uh, sorry?"

"It's okay, because when I'm bigger, I'm going to get revenge. Promise you'll come back to fight me?" he requested with an innocent zeal.

"Sure," Kara replied.

"Promise?" he asked, holding out his pinky finger.

"Pinky promise," Kara chuckled, wrapping her pinky around his.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed before running back to his father.

That warmth that was brewing in Kara's chest had fully blossomed, now radiating through her entire body. A moment followed where she realised not just how she felt, but that the smile on her face was genuine. A truly genuine smile. She tried to think back to when was the last time she had one, but her memory to turned up blank.

"That's Caleb," Jerome said, "He's definitely going to hold you to that promise. Are you leaving again after you help Ellis with whatever shit she's dealing with?"

"That's the plan."

"Can't blame you for not sticking around. Don't know if you know, but this city once had a great hero and even she didn't."

Kara's smile dissipated in an instant. She disguised it with a sip of her beer bottle.

"Or at least, that's what I think," Jerome quickly added, "Sometimes I look up and wonder if she's out there somewhere, having found a new home and living a sweet retired life."

At another point in her life, Kara might not have been able to hold back a giggle at the fact that Jerome was gazing up at the stars while the person he was talking about was sitting right next to him. At this point though, there was no giggle or even a thought of it. She found it rather sad actually. He didn't recognise her in the physical sense, but that didn't matter as much as who she was now. She could have been in front of him right now in the suit and cape with her long hair back, but he would have thought she was an imposter.

"Or she's dead," Kara replied.

"A bit pessimistic, but I guess you're probably right."

She didn't mean it in the literal sense. She was, after all, sitting right next to him and didn't mean to throw him off by referring to herself in the third person. Supergirl was dead. The "Maiden of Might" perished long ago. All that remained was a shell of the person who had masqueraded as her. When did she die?

Kara knew the day and the exact moment. The 12th of November, 2031. When Alex Danvers had been laid down to rest in her grave, the Girl of Steel went along with her.