LOG: Day 1,533

PASSENGERS: 45

AUTHOR: Captain Alex Danvers

"We made it," Alex isn't sitting at her chair. She was standing back, the camera at a higher angle then normal, arms crossed over her grey shirt, overalls tied around her waist. The outfit plus the oil stained fingers and smeared dirt made her seem more like a mechanic then a doctor.

"It's been over four years, but as of this morning we entered the Milky Way," her eyes shifted beyond the camera, looking out the massive observation window at the nose of the ship. "I can literally see our solar system."

She set her eyes back on the camera.

"I just have to complete one final mission and then I can go home," she pressed her lips together. "A friend of mine, a White Martian, sent out a distress signal months ago. The only reason we intercepted it…" suddenly she shook her head. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that we received another yesterday, and I have an obligation to help."

She adjusted her feat, squinting at the ground for a moment before refocusing on the task at hand. "She's hurt, and I'm probably the only doctor in this galaxy who's specialized in Martian biology. She's important to me, and my family, so I have to go."

"But I cannot justify ordering my crew to join me. Not when we are this close to home. Therefore, this remaining mission is going to be entirely voluntary. We will orbit close enough to Earth that one of our jump ships can return anyone who wants to go. Anyone who remains will join me in rescuing the Martian rebellion."

"So, if all goes to plan, this is the final message I will be recording as the Captain of the Exodus. It, along with all the drives, will be sent along with the Earth-bound crew. I have already asked my second to accompany them, and ensure that if anything goes wrong on Mars, these messages find their way home."

"If I do not make it back, I just want to say," her lips thinned for a second, before she tightened her jaw against the onslaught. "It's been an honor and privilege to Captain this ship."

"Alex," the Captain turned, just as a new figure ascended the stairs. Lyra, smirking briefly at the camera. "You almost finished?"

"Yeah – can you call a meeting of the crew? I'd like to address them in the mess within the light."

"No need," Alex frowned, turning away from the camera completely to engaged. "Drew talked to everyone."

"What?"

She sat on arm of the chair to Alex's right, feet resting on the seat, eyeing her friend. "They told everyone about Mars and your mission and the fact that at least a skeleton crew and some fighters would need to stay on board."

She uncrossed her arms, the Crinkle™ settling on her face. "So… you're here to report insubordination? Or some kind of imminent overthrow of my position?"

Lyra actually laughed. "No, I'm here to report that every single member of the crew volunteered to stay back."

Alex blinked. Once. Twice. A third time and then dragged a hand through her hair. "What?"

"Did you really think, after all this time, that we'd leave you in the final hours?" She grinned, wide and genuine, at her friend. "And let you have all the fun?"

"Lyra, you don't have to-"

"Shut up, yes we do," she stood up again, gripping the edge of Alex's shoulder and giving it a shake. "You'd do it for any of us."

"But Ky-"

"Hush, Drew isn't a complete moron. After everyone jumped on the band wagon, they selected some crew to go down with them," Lyra leaned forward an inch, as if remembering this was something to be kept between them. "It's not a particularly well-kept secret, Cap – Your daughter is gonna be fine."

Finally relaxing her shoulders, Alex smiled. "You going down? I know you worry about Bastian."

The Valerian laughed, releasing her shoulder with a small shove. "He'll be fine for another week – and I personally need the time to adjust to the idea that my own personal bodyguard won't be protecting my ass anymore."

"Okay… but you know I'm not actually your bodyguard though, right? Like… that isn't my actual job?" When Lyra just grinned back, Alex rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. Who's goin' down?"

"Drew wanted Lincoln and Craig for muscle, Ella, Freyer and Dryl for brains and Ve for whatever the fuck else comes up. Plus, Ky and Gertrude – so you'll be left with about 40?"

"45."

"Don't know how you remember that – but at least half of us can survive the atmosphere of Mars. Assuming you approve?"

Alex looked back towards the ship's internals. Mentally cataloguing the men, women and gender-divergent folks who had agreed to stay aboard, when safety was so close, just out of loyalty to her. Then she thought about the six remainder who would be entrusted with her kids' life for however long it takes for the rest to get home. She thought about how much had changed, how far she and these people had come, and how she would never have survived without them.

"I gotta talk to the guys, make sure they know what to expect and how to lay low."

"Not to mention, you have to tell Ky," Lyra added. "You have fun with that!"

Alex rolled her eyes back to the screen, Lyra taking a step back and letting the captain have her final moment.

"I guess that's it then," she looked carefully back up at the camera, as if trying to capture the moment forever in her mind. "Thank you for listening, and I hope that no one ever has to view these messages. See you on the other side – Darla? End communication." And the screen went blank.

Maggie's birthday rolled around almost without anyone noticing.

The anniversary of Alex's disappearance swamped everyone's thoughts, obscuring the date's lurking just behind. This is not to say that Maggie was in any way different. The idea of celebrating her 30th, with everything else surrounding the week, was almost incomprehensible. She was completely prepared to just let the day pass without comment – it's not like she'd grown up with a lot of celebrations.

But Lucy had put her foot down. Neither of them grew up with the happy, healthy family lives that they deserved, and it was time they started indulging. Being part of the Superfriends meant folks showed up – that you could have a birthday with people who loved you around. Considering that almost every single member of their little group had either lost their entire families to world-wide destruction, or had varying degrees of crappy childhood's, they all probably deserved some uncomplicated celebration.

This is what led to Maggie, very uncomfortably, standing at the head of their dining room table, listen to the strangled tones of her friends singing. Kara clearly had a voice, maybe Winn, but they were alone in that.

The cake was dairy-free tiramisu, picked up from her favorite artisan bakery in Gotham, courtesy of Kara. They'd jammed a dozen candles on, despite Kara's protests that she has the exact numbers of years she was turning. Lucy and Lena had cooked, which turned out mostly okay, and Winn and James brought the booze. It was the perfect evening – singing aside.

But then they drew to a close. Kara eagerly presenting the cake, candles ready to be blown out. Through her grin she reminded Maggie to "make a wish!" And then after a second- "Oh! But don't tell us or it doesn't come true!"

Smiling indulgently at her surrogate sister and she looked down in the light. Next to her, Lucy slipped the tips of her fingers under the hem of her shirt, scratching at revealed skin. The room was warm and happy and honestly, for a second she didn't know what there was to wish for. But there would always be something missing, no matter how much they accepted their new reality, no matter how happy they were.

So, Maggie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and blew. For the rest of the night, no matter how much she was laughing and smiling, an echo kept bouncing around her head. Alex.

The evening had only been slightly sidetracked by every law enforcement officers phone going off. Even James' Catco phone vibrated, leaving Lena literally alone in Alex's apartment assuring Kara that of course she understood, reporting a story like this is your job! Maggie allowed herself a smirk – she was actually concerned Kara couldn't tell that Lena knew. How many other people out there were aware Kara Danvers was Supergirl but just liked her too much to tell her?

Regardless, Maggie and Lucy loaded into the SUV still parked downstairs from the morning, Supergirl hot on their tail. Lucy drove while Maggie called in her badge number, letting dispatch know that an unmarked vehicle was taking pursuit.

They, along with two other marked cars, caught up to the truck on the National Bridge, Lucy's erratic driving style working to their advantage.

Maggie was leaning out the window and firing at the tires – knowing full well making it back onto the main road was a public safety nightmare. Only Lucy's weaving maneuver and her yanking Maggie back into the car by her belt saved one or both of them from injury.

"Nice driving Lane," she called over the roar of the open windows, reloading as they picked up speed again.

"Nice ass, Sawyer," Lucy winked back – a mistake, even though it made Maggie's stomach swoop pleasantly, because that's the moment the truck slammed on the brakes. "Shit!"

"He's dragging us!" The least of their concerns, because suddenly the back of the truck rolled open, revealing a very large man with a very large gun. "Lane-"

Fortunately, the whole car jolted as Kara appeared, full Supergirl regalia, absorbing the hail of automatics bullets. After a moment of fire, she ripped the entire weapon from its steal underpinning. While the assailant tried to run, she knelt down and turned, the truck still moving at full speed and dragging her sisters' girlfriends.

"You guys okay?" Wide panicked eyes.

"Yes! Go get the bad guy!" Lucy just shouted back, gesturing wildly at the escaping man.

"Oh! Right!" And she lifted off, the force unhinging their vehicle and leaving them behind.

By the time they caught up with him, the explosion of Supergirl bodily stopping the truck had died down, leaving just the smoldering remains and a shell-shocked mother and son.

"Supergirl, you're the best!" Shouted the kid who literally just watched his life flash before his eyes.

As they pulled up, Kara was still checking in on the pair, making sure they were okay to get home on their own. The couple came out, guns ready, just as Supergirl turned around. She was immediately in front of them, Maggie blinking in shock at her sudden closeness.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry! There was a burglary at a convenience store, and I didn't think you would beat me there! And Maggie it's your birthday! I'm so-"

"Hey, it's alright," Maggie assured, holstering her gun when it became clear that none of the truck's occupants were walking any time soon. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, course, bounced right off me!"

"Think you can try and find the guy you knocked a hundred yards into an SUV?" Lucy asked, eyeing the damage to the front of the truck.

"Oh! Right!" And she was off.

Lucy didn't get the call about the gentleman Kara threw until she was already half asleep. After the… exciting evening they'd had yesterday they were ready to crash by the time they got off their respective shifts.

"What?" She didn't mean to snap into the phone, but Winn calling when her very warm bed and even warmer girlfriend were inches away was not her ideal evening.

"Sorry! I know its late and your night off! I just got an alert. We may have tracked down the Merc. Supergirl is already on her way here."

Groaning, Lucy threw her legs over the side of the bed. "Okay, I'm on my way. Do not tell her anything until I get there, you hear me? If she runs off halfcocked, I'm holding you responsible." Then she hung up, already hunting for her discarded tac pants.

"Kara alright?" Maggie asked groggily, leaning up on an elbow.

"Yeah, but Winn got a hit off the blood so I'm heading in."

"Need backup?"

"No, no," she answered, hopping as she dragged on the pants. "You sleep."

"Be safe, alright? Love you."

"Love you too," she mumbled back leaning over and pressing a warm quick kiss goodbye.

Lucy was still blinking sleep out of her eyes when she arrived at the DEO – late to the party if Supergirl's impatient foot tapping and Winn's nervous eyes were anything to go by.

"Lucy! Thank god!" Winn called, already turning back to the computer.

"You were able to trace the Merc with his blood?" She responded as she approached the monitors showing a familiar looking man's face.

"Meet Robert DuBois. Goes by Bloodsport, which is not any sport I've ever heard of."

"What do we know about him?"

"You remember those bombings at City Hall, a few years ago? That was him. And, he's been AWOL ever since."

"AWOL? Is he military?" Lucy asked.

"Bingo! Stationed Fort Harrison. Like 20 minutes outside the city."

Internally groaning, and externally pinching her nose, Lucy spoke up. "My father oversees that base."

Winn winced in sympathy. "He worked a security detail, so he'd have knowledge of all the ins and outs of the base. He could sneak on, locate weapons, technology, anything he wanted to really."

"Winn, call his CO. See what they know about him," Kara ordered, already on the move – to do what, Lucy didn't even want to know. Investigate a military compound without DEO say so?

"Whoa, whoa!" Winn called, forcing Supergirl back. "Okay, the base server is down. This system is scrambled. Somebody hacked it." Fuck.

"I've got it," and she was off. On her own. Without backup.

"She has got to stop doing that!" Which was a fair statement, because no less than an hour later a slightly singed and still smoking Supergirl was in central command. Sheepish smile doing nothing to quill Lucy's temper.

"And just when exactly were you going to notify us that you had a Daxamite war ship in your possession?" Lucy winced, J'onn's furious voice carrying from across the room. "Alien artifacts are the DEO's purview. You can rest assured I will talk to the President, General Lane. And if anything happens as a result of your overreach, you mark my words, she'll have your stars."

God why did that feel so much like her dads were fighting? She needed to get a grip on this professionalism problem the Superfriends seemed okay with.

"Respect!" Winn certainly didn't seem phased by the position this particular conflict put her in.

"Whilst I appreciate the nod of confidence, Agent Schott, do you have any words that might actually help us?" J'onn growled back, at least offering Lucy an apologetic look.

"Words, no. Pictures, definitely. Um... I had the military supplier that DuBois robbed inventory what was taken. It turns out it was not just aluminum rods." Winn pulled something up on the screen well beyond Lucy's 101 science from college.

"That's a high-pressure regulator," ah, the benefits of having ridiculously smart aliens around. "Aluminum rods were just a cover. That was his real target."

Lucy tilted her head, keeping an eye on the concern growing in J'onns eyes. "What would DuBois need that for?"

"Well, he also stole the cloaking device from the Daxamite ship. With the regulator, he could stabilize the internal pressure of an aircraft to withstand the force emitted by a cloaking shield," Winn thought aloud, concern growing in his voice as he unpacked the problem. "He'd be able to retrofit it into a fully cloaked aircraft – our equipment wouldn't be able to detect that."

"I wouldn't be able to detect that," Kara helpfully added, finally standing as the reality of the problem set in.

"So, hypothetically, he could drop a nuke from the sky, and nobody in National City would even know he was overhead?" Lucy asked – she had not had enough sleep for this.

"Until it's too late…"