Chapter 68: Another Life

BRRRRIIIINNNNG!

WAP!

A hand slammed down onto the alarm clock's snooze button, shutting off the ear-piercing ringing. A groan was heard, and Oliver Queen lifted himself away from his wonderfully soft pillow to look at his bed companion, who assuredly had not been there when he had gone to sleep last night.

Laurel Lance, fiancee and love of his life, had her face scrunched up while rubbing one of her temples in a soothing manner. Her hair was in a beautiful disarray, splayed out on her own pillow in a messy manner. As he looked at her, Oliver couldn't help but think about how lucky he was, that he would be waking up to this every morning for the rest of his life.

"Long night?" He whispered, laying back down onto the pillow.

Laurel opened her eyes and turned her head towards him, smiling tiredly. "Like you wouldn't believe. I regret letting Sara plan my bachelorette party so much right now, no matter how fun it was in the moment."

Oliver chuckled. "I get what you mean. Tommy didn't hold back either. Almost felt like he was preparing for his own wedding."

Laurel quirked an eyebrow. "You think he's ready to pop the big one to Sara?"

"Maybe. I know his mom passed on her old engagement ring to him last week, but don't tell anyone, especially your sister."

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

Oliver leaned in at that, so their foreheads touched. "I love you, Laurel Lance."

"And I love you, Oliver Queen." Laurel returned, leaning in for a kiss.

After an hour of lazy kissing, the two had finally decided it was time to freshen up. People were arriving at the mansion right now, many of them staying over the night for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night. As the bride and groom, it was their job to greet them all.

Oliver was done first, descending the stairs and entering the dining room, smiling at who he saw there: the longtime friends of the Queens, the Merlyns.

"Oliver, how good it is to see you." Rebecca Merlyn, his honorary aunt and godmother, was the first to reach him. She pulled him into a hug, her strong arms wrapping him tight.

"Let him breathe, dear!" Her husband Malcolm laughed. Pouting, she let Oliver go, who took in a deep breath and shot his godfather a thankful look. Malcolm grinned and pulled the other man into a hug of his own.

"I hope you and Tommy didn't have too much fun last night. Need to be in tip-top shape for the rehearsal dinner tonight."

Oliver shook his head, snickering when heard the familiar whine of "Daaaad!" from his best friend. Behind Malcolm, Tommy Merlyn emerged, shooting his father an embarrassed look. Next to him was his long-time girlfriend Sara Lance, the sister of Oliver's own fiancee Laurel Lance. Sara snickered, before pulling her boyfriend over so they could greet their friend.

Iris blinked at her ringing phone, noting the caller ID: Barry Allen. Hesitantly, she picked up. "Hello."

"Iris. Good. You picked up. I need your help."

Iris grimaced. Barry was talking in short sentences. That could only mean he was panicking about something. "What kind of help?"

"If anyone calls you about Oliver or Laurel, tell them that they're at S.T.A.R. Labs with me."

"What? Why?"

"Because there's something going on with them right now and they're not in Starling currently. I can't say much more, but Kara's telling everyone that they made an impromptu trip to Central to visit me. So, if anyone asks, tell them that they're at S.T.A.R. Labs with me, okay? And tell Joe that they're there too. Try to divert him from asking too many questions."

"O… kay?" Iris replied, slightly confused and scared.

Barry set the phone down, sighing in relief. "Okay, Iris is on board, so that's taken care of. Cisco and Catilin are in the know, Mari and Jefferson are protecting Starling in the mean time. We've got all our bases covered. We need to hurry though, because this lie can only hold for so long, even with me simulating Oliver and Laurel's voices. Has Jor-El finished locating them?"

"Your primitive Earth technology is hampering my progress, but it shouldn't take much longer." The hologram proclaimed.

The speedster blinked. "Well, that was insulting."

Kara turned to him with an unamused look. "You deserve it. I can't believe you implanted tracking chips inside Oliver and I without telling us!"

"It was a necessary precaution, as you can tell!" Barry defended himself.

"Barry, I understand your paranoia, and even share it, but even I think that's ridiculous, and I'm sure once Oliver finds out, he'll agree. You could've bothered to ask us first!"

"You would've said no!"

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't."

"I do."

"You don't."

"I do!"

"You don't!"

"I do—"

"I am done locating Secondary User Oliver Queen. Please stop bickering like whiny children."

Huffing, Barry turned to the computer, blinking at the coordinates he was given. "That can't be—shit, shit, shit. Of course they're up there, where else would they be? Kara, get Amanda, we're gonna need her help."

Kara frowned. "Barry, what's wrong?"

"The coordinates Jor-El gave me, they're negative."

"Is that even possible?"

Barry gave her an unhappy look. "It is… if you're in space."

Kara's eyes widened.

"Oh."

"We… acquired this ship from Fort Rozz, and have been tinkering with it ever since. It should be able to handle all three of you, with enough fuel for a round trip." Amanda said, gesturing to the spaceship, which had been relocated from one of their many labs to the base's plane hangar. It looked like an enlarged version of Kara and Kal's old ship, only painted black and with much more technology and controls. There were also three seats, with the one in the back big enough to fit two people - probably an escape ship of some sort, in case Fort Rozz was ever compromised.

Kara peered inside the cockpit, and blanched. "I can't fly this."

Barry shrugged. "I could probably figure it out if you give me a couple of days."

"Which we don't have." His sister reminded him.

"Valid point. What do you propose?"

Kara had no answer for that.

"If I may make a suggestion?" Amanda, however, did.

"No."

"Kara—"

"No."

"Oliver, Kara. Oliver and Laurel."

"If they were here, they'd agree with me."

"Kara, you know they wouldn't. Not if you or I or anyone else we cared about were in their places." Barry sighed. "I don't like it either, but when it's my brother and another close friend on the line, I'm willing to do anything to get them back."

"And so would I!" Kara turned around, almost shouting. "But we can't trust her, Barry! She hates humans, she won't listen to anything we have to say."

"She'll listen to you." Amanda pointed out, a bored look on her face. She, no doubt, had seen this coming.

Kara stubbornly turned away again. "What about J'onn? He probably knows his way around a space ship."

"J'onn has been sitting out of the Dominator attacks for the past two weeks, Kara, and you and I both know damn well why. He can barely work up the nerve to join Hub City when the invasion finally comes. There's no way we can send him to the middle of enemy territory with minimal backup and not expect something to go wrong." Barry pointed out, not flinching when she turned her glare to him.

"We still can't trust her!" Kara insisted.

Barry sighed and turned to Amanda. "Can you put a bomb in her spine too?"

"Yes, but I have no idea if it can kill her once she gets her powers back. And we don't have time to do the surgery on her anyway, not if we want Oliver and Laurel back alive."

"See! We have no leverage on her!"

Amanda tilted her head. "We do. We have one more bargaining chip, one last card we can play."

Both Barry and Kara stared at her, and then realization hit. Kara shook her head violently, but Barry, having enough, clasped her by the shoulders and looked at her, right in the eye.

"Kara, please." He wasn't pleading, but he was close.

Seeing that, Kara took in a deep breath.

"Give me a minute to… to regain my composure." She took in another breath. "I don't want her to see me like this."

I can do this. Kara thought, trying to calm her mind. There's nothing she can do to me. Nothing. I beat her, and since then I've only gotten stronger, while she's been wallowing away in prison. She was nothing before anyway.

Nothing.

The door slid open, and Kara walked inside, measuring her steps deliberately. She kept a neutral look on her face, trying to betray none of the stress that plagued her. She couldn't afford to show weakness here.

She stood in front of the prison, a tall glass fixture that was bathing in red sunlight. Its sole occupant was sitting on her bed, cozying up next to her pillow. In her hands was a book; upon closer inspection, Kara spotted several other books, spread around in stacks that dotted the floor. She shouldn't have been surprised — being cooped up in a room like this couldn't be conductive to mental health. Amanda had to give her some kind of distraction lest she become a raving maniac, which was the last thing they needed in a Kryptonian.

Several minutes of silence passed. Kara continued to watch the prisoner, ramrod straight with not a hint of movement. The prisoner, on her part, continued to ignore her, eyes still on her book. The only sounds that could be heard were the crinkling of paper as she turned page by page. Finally, fifteen minutes after Kara had entered the room, she closed the book, placing it down on top of one of the many stacks. It was only then that she deigned to stand and look Kara in the eye.

"Hello, little one."

Kara pursed her lips. "Astra."

The past year had not been kind to her aunt. Her hair was matted and frayed, and she was a tad bit skinnier than before. Amanda had assured her that Astra was getting a full diet and sufficient exercise (something Barry verified for her) — the weight loss could only be chocked up to grief and depression. Kara had heard that Astra had spent the first few weeks of her imprisonment switching between crying and ranting, but had deliberately avoided learning anything more than that. She didn't owe Astra anything, least of all her guilt.

"What brings you here, my dear?" Kara internally winced at the term of endearment, "You haven't bothered to visit me for the past year, so why now?"

"I — We need your help." There. She said it.

Astra raised an eyebrow. "The Dominators?" Kara's eyes sharpened immediately, "Don't look so surprised, Kara. Amanda made a similar offer several months ago, after the invasion was confirmed. I rebuffed her, obviously. So, I take it she sent you here to change my mind?"

"No." Kara tapped her fingers against her arm. "I'm here for something else. Several hours ago, the Dominators abducted two important agents of ours. We've already located them, but we need someone to pilot the ship so we can get them."

"And you want me for that." Astra immediately deduced.

Kara nodded.

"Very well then. What do you offer in exchange for this? When Amanda asked me for help with the invasion, she offered to release me from this prison, but only on a leash. I would've had to wear bands simulating red sunlight on me at all times and would be required to do her dirty work. I assume it is the same here?"

"You assume wrong, Astra." Kara narrowed her eyes. "If you help us with this task, you shall have complete freedom. You can even leave this planet if you so wish, completely unbound."

Astra tilted her head, perplexed. Her face was completely blank. It was a little unnerving.

"How interesting. That is quite the bargain for such a simple task. Dare I ask why?"

"You'll be going into the heart of enemy territory."

Astra snorted. "Don't patronize me, niece. With the power yellow sunlight imbues into us Kryptonians, the Dominators are hardly a physical threat to either of us. As long we evade their mind control devices, escape will be easy. No, there's something else at play." She walked closer to the edge of her chamber, placing her hand against the glass. "Tell me, little one, who are the captives to you? Why are you willing to let me go in exchange for them? They must be people very dear to you."

Kara silently gulped. Here it was. "They took a very close friend of mine, and… and my brother."

Now that stunned Astra. For the first time since Kara came to see her, she showed genuine surprise, before adopting a calculating look. "I take it this brother is not Kal-El? Immature as he is, he is still a Kryptonian and likely far too powerful for anything they could use him for. Even if they sent him to the battlefield, you would be able to subdue him easily enough."

"You guess correctly. This brother of mine is human. We do not share blood. But… he is still my brother, in all the ways that matter."

"And the friend?"

"A fellow hero, one of my comrades, and my brother's girlfriend."

"Ah. So he wouldn't like it if we left her behind." Astra pretended to think for a moment, and then smiled. It was cruel. "No."

Immediately, her niece felt rage surge within her, and it took all the years of training she had to keep it down. Kara glared angrily up at her aunt, teeth bared. "Why." She demanded.

"Simple, really." Astra shrugged. "Your offer means nothing to me. While it would be nice not to be cooped up in here, there's nothing for me outside of this place. Not anymore."

"Why, is it because of humanity?" Kara asked, still seething. "I told you, you can leave—"

"No, Kara." Astra cut her niece off. "It's not because of the humans. Admittedly, I am still not very fond of them, but as you said — I don't have to deal with them if I don't want to. It's as I told you: there's nothing left for me outside of this place."

The former general's eyes took on a faraway look, as if she was reminiscing about something. "Since the day of my birth, my only purpose was to serve Krypton as one of its shields. My very genes were molded to ensure my physical and mental abilities were always at peak performance. I trained day in and day out, studied our greatest battles, both victory and defeat, all in the name of becoming the perfect soldier. My entire life was our planet's safety, future. Nothing else mattered."

"But Krypton is dead now, and has been for decades. Any hopes of recreating our glorious race here on this planet have been dashed by you. My husband is dead, my comrades dead, and Myriad is now a distant dream because Indigo is dead as well. I have nothing left, Kara. Nothing."

Astra returned her gaze to her niece's form. "Nothing… except you."

Kara felt her lip quiver a bit. "What do you want, Astra?"

"Time with you, little one. You and Kal-El." Astra traced Kara's face with her finger, smiling softly. "I want to know how and why you became the way you are now. I want to know why you chose this planet over me, your true family. I want to know everything, little one, so don't you dare leave anything out. And once every secret you have has been spilled from your lips, only then will I exercise my freedom. Whether that is to kill you, or the humans, or to leave this place forever, I have yet to decide."

The vigilante trembled, fists clenched. "And if I agree to these terms?"

"Then I will pilot the ship and help you rescue your brother and his girlfriend. I'll even help fight off the Dominators, as an extra incentive."

"Fine." It was a better deal than what they were originally trying for, anyway.

Astra smirked as Kara went to a nearby computer console and input the commands. Immediately, the red sunlight generators were turned off. The glass panes that surrounded her cell slid upwards. As Astra basked in her release, Kara rushed her, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall.

Astra reached for her hands, clawing at her grip, while Kara clasped something around her wrist. "It's a red sunlight bracelet. Only I can deactivate it, and I will only do that when we're within reach of my friends' locations." Once she was sure the bracelet was secure, she loosened her grip around Astra's neck, letting her aunt drop to the floor.

The older woman was panting, trying to gulp back in the necessary air to breathe normally again. She glared up at her aggressor, suppressing the urge to snarl. "How ruthless of you, Kara."

Kara ignored her, glowering. "Let me make this very clear to you, Astra In-Ze. If you do anything to compromise the safety of my family, my friends, or this planet, I won't need a Kryptonite sword to kill you. No, I'll gut you open with my bare hands, rip out your heart, and feed it to the dogs, while leaving the rest of your body to rot, whether that bracelet is on or not. Am I understood?"

"Noted, little one." Astra hissed, using the wall to help her stand back up. Kara refused to reply, instead turning away to leave.

"Follow me. I'll take you to the hangar."

Astra said nothing as she began to walk, simply glaring at her niece's back.

Wow, this was an emotional chapter, wasn't it? Lots of feels going around here.

For who knows Oliver and Laurel are missing, it's only Amanda, Cisco, Caitlin, and the remaining members of the Justice League. Iris suspects, but she's trying not to confirm it because the thought of that stresses her out, which is the last thing she needs right now in this situation. Slade and Kal don't know, and Barry and Kara intend to keep it that way — there's nothing they can do about it anyway.

Oliver and Laurel begin their It's a Wonderful Life-like illusion. I interpreted the one of the show as a combination of removing a nail and a perfect reality. This will be more obvious next chapter with the other changes that will be seen, but I'll elaborate more on what's in this chapter.

Obviously, Rebecca Merlyn never died. As such, the Undertaking was never conceived and so the Gambit never sank. Oliver's one greatest wish is that he never missed out on ten years with his friends and family, so that's what he has here. He and Laurel started dating in high school, went to college together, and are now getting married. He also got to see Thea grow up. He's also the biological son of Robert in this reality, but seeing as he doesn't know that's not the case in the real world, that's a little redundant for him.

Since Oliver and Laurel started dating at a much younger age, Tommy never developed feelings for Laurel. Instead, he ended up with Sara. Now, that's never going to happen in the real world, because Tommy did develop feelings for Laurel and any potential relationship he could have had with Sara would always have that hanging over them, making the latter seem like a replacement. Not to mention, Sara is currently traveling the world right now while Tommy is… indisposed. As another consequence of that, his friendships with Oliver and Laurel are still going strong, with Tommy being Oliver's best man.

Another consequence is that Oliver never met Barry and Kara. You'll see what happened to them next chapter.

As for Barry and Kara themselves, they're both fraying at the seams. Previous chapters have claimed that Oliver is their rock, and it shows here — both of them are frantic with him gone. Kara is more prone to emotional outbursts, while Barry internalizes his feelings and acts succinctly, almost on autopilot, to achieve his objectives, only showing his desperation when Kara is being too stubborn and Oliver is on the line. They're also both supremely worried about Laurel as well, both as her friends and comrades, and as Oliver's girlfriend.

Kara also seems to be afraid of Astra in this chapter, and in a way, she is. She recognizes that Oliver's survival hinges on Astra's cooperation, and she fears that Astra will use that to her own gain. Especially since Kara has to be the one to do the negotiating — in their last confrontation, Kara admitted to still loving her, and now those feelings are another tool that Astra can use here, which she has to great effect. That being said, as much as Kara loves Astra, she loves Oliver and Laurel more, which is why she agreed to those demands. It's also why she threatened Astra; that is not an empty threat, and Kara will go through with it if her aunt gives her a reason to.

As for Astra's motivations, the answer is simple — she really does have nothing left except for Kara. And Kal-El, but really, it's Kara that she care about. And while she still loves her niece, she also can't help but also hate Kara for what she did: killing Non, destroying her plans, defeating her in one-on-one combat, etc. So she isn't going to make this easy for Kara either, and that includes wringing out every single one of Kara's secrets and acting belligerent at every turn. Her threat also wasn't empty. Depending on what Kara tells her, Astra will either kill the humans, kill Kara, leave, or whatever she thinks is the best course of action. Whether she'll succeed is a different matter, but it's the spirit of it that counts.

Next chapter will completely focus on Oliver and Laurel, so strap in for the feels.

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