Old habits die hard, Alex supposed. And she'd been doing so well! Almost two straight years of leadership in which she made calm, rational decisions based on strategy and mental forethought.

And then she saw got the report of Ky being attacked.

So, like times of old, Alex blew a gasket.

Fortunately, two years of her leadership also meant that her crew knew what they were doing; Scho'ty was a very good pilot; El and Dryl were very good techy's; and their mechanics were out of this world.

So, blowing a gasket was cushioned by the team around her, many of whom were equally ready to knock some heads when one of their youngest, and most loved, was in danger.

They weren't necessarily on board when she demanded to be beamed down, alone. But she was the commanding officer. And she was the best trained with their Slaver's Moon weapons. And it was her daughter down there with her family. So, the protest was mostly just hesitation and side eyes. Then they did as she ordered.

They rocketed through the atmosphere faster than recommended, locking on Drew's particular heat signature. Alex left the bridge in Scho'ty's capable hands, while Le'ra helped her suit up. She hated the full body tac suit Dryl built for her, but White Martians were not something to take lightly. And she was only human.

Lucy would be proud, she thought as she jammed the helmet over her head.

"Captain, we're gonna beam you directly into the action," came over the comms. Le'ra took a couple hasty steps back from the teleportation module. "Be ready."

Alex shifted the grip on her sword, bracing. She hated the beaming system they'd gotten from the Daxamites. It felt like pins and needles over every inch of your body – your entire person was dematerialized and then rematerialized. Not pleasant.

But, for once, Alex didn't care. It was the fastest way down to her kid.

The engines whined as they were forced to suddenly slow – Alex closed the visor on her helmet – just in time too because, suddenly, she was gone.

She should have known better, but when Scho'ty said directly into the action she hadn't realized he meant materializing ten feet from the ground and on top of a Martian. But, you know, gotta be specific if you want specifics.

She felt the blade sink directly through its spinal cord – a sure fire way of killing White Martians. Can't phase if your brain is disconnected from its body.

The force of her momentum sent them both down though, and Alex was forced to release the hilt. She rolled once, feeling that the concrete was practically rubble beneath her feet, before looking up.

Sitrep: Ky was behind her. She'd been able to catch a glimpse of her kid, still on her back but able enough to be resting on her hands. There was at least one other scuffle going off to the right – based on the colors she assumed it was J'onn. In front of her was a furious, transforming White Martian. And behind that was the love of her life (or, one of them), protecting her downed Second. So, a lot to process.

But that could come later, she had a plan, and it needed to start now. Reaching behind her, she unsheathed her knife – thick, long, ridged and made entirely out of minerals mined from Slavers Moon. So, lethal to all Martians.

"Almost there," came over the comms. But she was already moving with speed honed over four years of fighting aliens bigger, stronger and smarter than herself.

She sank her knife as deep as possible into the softer skin by its throat. Martians were huge, and tough. Their pelt was generally very hard to penetrate, and they could withstand a lot of force. But there were a handful of weak spots to exploit – as proven by the horrific scream the creature let out when she twisted the blade.

It bucked, instinct winning over the desire to attack her. Using one of its claws it ripped her arm away – the only reason her arm survived the move was because it was her bionic one – and the other to swatted her. The force of the blow sent her ten yards, directly into a shop window. She landed, hard, on some shelving, which caved under her momentum.

She definitely cracked a rib.

"Ready!"

"Do it!"

"But Cap-"

"Direct order!" She yelled back, struggling to her feet just as the Martian J'onn had been focused on turned its eyes to her. They all clearly recognized her, and the particular crimes she'd committed against their people. Good.

She watched as the beams of light – which have had the time to hone in on the non-White Martian's on the ground – slammed into the conflict. Alex loved alien tech – one minute her kid and family were in deadly danger, the next all those unobscured by infrastructure were beamed up to safety. The one who she'd stabbed took off in pursuit of the Greens.

"Okay," Alex coughed, standing and kicking away the rubble her body had created. "Now it's just you and me."

She could practically feel how smug they were, the way they rolled their shoulders and gave a shaking-your-bones roar. But Alex wasn't dumb. She was a bioengineer who spent years studying Martian biology.

When the creature leapt, she didn't even try and duck. She let its momentum crash into her (definitely bruising a few more vital organs), and with that closeness, jabbed the syringe she'd palmed into the side of its shoulder.

Alex shrugged off its weight as it screamed – blood becoming toxic in its veins. They were dead by the time she was out of the shop front. Glass crunching under her boots, she took off her helmet to observe the damage.

So, two dead. One pursuing the ship, but she trusted both her pilot and the ships anti-phasing tech to keep the crew safe. The other must have taken off before she landed. Okay. She could deal with that.

"Alex," snapping her head around, Alex took off at a light jog along the row of destroyed shop fronts. The raspy voice of her newest crew member wasn't far, and eventually she discovered him struggling under the weight of half a brick wall.

"Linc, shit." Using the mechanics in her bad arm, she helped the huge man leverage off the debris. She was suddenly very glad that Trigedakru were a little more resilient then most. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he wheezed, already struggling to his feet. He was absolutely covered in dust, even the black tattoos that covered his arms were grey.

"You are not okay, but I can't treat you here," Alex helped him out of the shop, making sure he was steady on his feet, leaning against some undamaged wall, before letting go of his arm. She stepped more clearly into the street, noticing that there was no DEO or NCPD in sight – which made sense. If they thought the supers were taking care of it, they would have established a parameter first and foremost. But they would be here soon.

"We have to move," she looked down the street, noting a once achingly familiar street corner. "You think you can run?"

"How far?" He was pressing a hand against his ribs – Alex could see that the black material was sticking to him.

"800 yards, give or take."

"Yes."

Alex knew that he was giving an accurate assessment of his capacity. His people were like that – and Lincoln would never lie to her.

"Okay, follow me."

As they started to jog, Alex allowed herself exactly one moment to enjoy that fact that she was standing on the planet Earth. She was finally home.

Maggie suddenly wished she had a second cup of coffee that morning, because the one Lucy made her was not strong enough for this.

It felt like her entire body was covered in pins and needles – unpleasant was an understatement. Blinking, once, twice and then a third time, Maggie twisted her head around as much as she could with Drew's weight on her.

They were in a shiny grey steel room – and by 'they', she meant everyone. J'onn was leaning hard against the far wall, arm pressed against his side. Ky was still on the ground, supporting her weight on her hands. The unconscious dude was even there, lying flat on his back. All that was missing was the mysterious sword wielding person and the White Martians.

That's when Maggie noticed that they weren't alone. An alien stood off to the side with wide purple eyes, clutching a tablet to his chest. Then he noticed the unconscious figure.

"Craig!" On his knees, he tapped something at his ear. "We need medics in the transpo room! Now!"

"Already on their way," a strained voice replied over some kind of speaker system.

That's when the figure Maggie was supporting made a noise, groaning as they tried to get their own feet under them. "Whoa, hey, how 'bout you let me help, hmmmm?" She hobbled them over to the wall, allowing the alien to rest most their weight against it.

"Ra," Maggie felt compelled to turn at the shaking, furious voice of Ky behind her. The girl was on her feet, barely. One arm was supporting a lot of her weight against the wall, as she struggled to stay upright. Maggie inched around the room, closer to her and J'onn. "Where's mom?"

'Ra' the alien crowding the unconscious alien, didn't look up. In fact, he seemed to duck his head further.

"Ra!"

"She was obscured by a building – we couldn't lift her," he mumbled. Maggie became aware of thundering feet from the only doorway into the room. More people were coming – hopefully the medics based on the state of almost everyone in the room. But Maggie still felt compelled to get closer to her boss.

"So, go back!"

"We have direct orders – she told us to evade," Ra responded, finally looking up.

"I don't care! We can't just leave her there!" A borderline translucent, blue, alien entered then, leading two others. "Vik! We have to go back!"

"We cannot," replied the blue creature, walking directly over to Ky, while the others checked on the unconscious dude and Drew. Drew waved them off, gesturing for them to help Craig. "We are currently evading pursuit by a White Martian."

"So!?"

Vik blinked up at her, carefully pressing a hand against her chest. "We have three Green Martians on board this ship. Likely the last Green Martians. It would be irresponsible to do anything but protect them."

Ky slammed the back of her head against the wall she was leaning on, squeezing her eyes shut as she accepted the information.

J'onn, now faded into his human skin, took one hard step forward. His voice contained nothing but disbelief. "Three?"

Vik turned her head and blinked at the human looking man. "You are a Green Martian, are you not, J'onn J'onzz?" How these people knew anything about them, Maggie didn't know. Suddenly, she was aware that Drew and the unconscious dude had been evacuated from the room. Hopefully getting medical assistance. These people were efficient.

"Yes, but I am the last."

"You are mistaken," Vik removed her hand from Ky's chest. She was satisfied that, though the child was injured, it was not life threateningly. A few hours of rest would likely be sufficient, in her condition. "Ky is a Green Martian, though her mother likes to pretend this it is a well-kept secret."

This was the second time J'onn had heard this information, but now it wasn't the heat of battle. Now he could look at the girl properly. He can feel his mind aching to connect to hers - just like it had in the DEO.

"And our mission on Mar's resulted in the rescue of another – a religious leader that the White Martians kept prisoner," Vik took a step back. "I understand that Maggie Sawyer and yourself both know M'gann M'orzz. She, along with the Green Martian, are in our infirmary. The Captain asked that I escort you there if you were lifted aboard. Is this acceptable?"

J'onn and Maggie shared a look. They didn't often work together, but they knew each other. They had each other's backs, neither would let anything happen to the other. And they both shared a connection to M'gann strong enough to get them moving. Meanwhile, Maggie head spun, all the bits and pieces of the puzzle seeming to be spread across the board.

Suddenly, her conversation with Lucy slammed to the front of her brain. Maybe everything is connected - saving Kara, a group of aliens showing up to help her, White Martian attacks. Ky knew about the DEO, the familiar alien, the spaceship, the Green Martians… The fact that M'gann was on this ship, when she was supposed to be leading a rebellion on Mars.

"Ky, you should come with me, you have sustained considerable injury to your chest plate, and must be in some pain."

"I'm fine," the teenager responded, but even Maggie could see that breathing was a chore. Her eyes were pinched, and when she pushed off the wall to follow, she stumbled.

Maggie was the closest, and automatically closed her hand around the girl's bicep. "Whoa, you're okay," she murmured, steadying her. What surprised Maggie was that she leaned into the contact – the Detective never got the impression the teenager was particularly trusting or friendly. But she wasn't about to turn her away. Helping balance her weight, she kept a hand hovering near her arm as they followed Vik deeper into the ship.

"Where are we?"

"The Exodus 2.0."

"And that is…" Maggie asked, giving up the pretense, and wrapping an arm around the swaying teenager's shoulders.

"A Cimenus based spacecraft."

Maggie blinked. "I'm on a spaceship?"

"What gave it away?" Ky muttered, but there was no heat behind her words. Plus, the hacking a cough really undermined the sass. Maggie inexplicably found herself rubbing circles on the girl's upper back as she regained the ability to breath.

"Yes," Vik said, still leading them down winding corridors. Every few feet or so there were doors with strange languages written above them. Things like "Bunk A-C," "Showers" and "Armory 2". Most had an English translation, one or two even had a Spanish.

Finally, Vik made a sharp turn – leading them into the first corridor that wasn't made of metal. Instead, an entire bank of walls was made of glass, each room filled with hospital beds. The infirmary. At the end of the half-glassed hall, it opened into a wider room – it honestly looked a lot like an ER. But more… space-shippy.

Just as they were about to enter the room, the whole floor tilted beneath their feet. Maggie felt her shoulder collide with the wall, quickly followed by Ky stumbling into her. She winced at the combined force but made sure to keep them both upright.

"Apologies!" came over the intercom.

"Are we actively evading attacks right now?" Maggie asked, helping Ky get upright.

"White Martians fly with more agility then a vessel this size can manage. But do not worry. They cannot phase through these walls."

"How?" J'onn asked, now following them into the room where Drew and Craig were laid out on beds – both passed out.

"We have an impulsive teenage Martian on board, who happens to come from a family of particularly impulsive women. Our techs made sure she could not accidentally phase into the vacuum of space."

"That happened once," Ky muttered, making Maggie stifle a snort.

Vik set white eyes on her. "Once was enough. Now, Detective Sawyer I understand that you will want to see Ms. M'orzz, but can you help me get Ky into a private room. Her physiology simply requires rest to heal. I will lead you to the patient after."

"Director J'onzz, if you would like to speak to the other Green Martian, he is right through those doors, then on the left. He seems to be having difficulty coming to terms with this new reality, and the Captain asked us to leave him alone as much as possible – but that you specifically be sent in."

J'onn seemed to freeze, his feet stuck to the clean white floors, eyes wide and fixed on the direction Vik pointed. "J'onn," Maggie whispered, still keeping Ky upright, thus unable to go to him. "It's alright - Go, I've got M'gann."

He set his wide, serious eyes on her, before giving a final nod, following the given directions. It actually warmed the Detective's heart a little that he trusted her with their shared friend.

"Is my Ma okay?" Ky wheezed, leaning heavier on her support every second they walked.

"She is fine. Human lungs rupture in Mar's atmosphere, so she remained on the ship and treated the injured we saved."

"Your mother's human?" Ky's eyes went wide, despite her weakened state and she immediately ducked her head. Everything is connected

"Through here please." Here turned out to be a bedroom door. Maggie hadn't even noticed that they'd left the infirmary. Her shock must have registered, because Vik explained.

"Her mother is the head medic, as well as our Captain. Her quarters must be close to critical patients."

Her quarters were a relatively small bedroom. It had what looked like two single beds jammed together, with a desk tucked into one side and a set of plastic covered shelves running one wall. The most interesting thing about the space was the wall behind the bed – someone had painstakingly drawn constellations across the entire thing, right up to the roof. It was absolutely stunning.

"Ma's kind of a nerd," Ky muttered, weight growing lax.

"Okay you," Maggie muttered, helping her over to the bed. The teenager promptly pressed her face into the pillows, and within seconds her body relaxed. Though Maggie could still hear that her breathing wasn't right. "Is she going to be okay?"

"You worry for her," not a question. "That is good. Yes, she will be fine. Martians are very durable. Follow me please."

And she was walking. Maggie actually stumbled over the ledge of the bedroom door trying to follow the women, feeling vaguely uncomfortable about leaving the kid behind.

They headed immediately back towards the infirmary, right into a glass room which was sealed off entirely. "She sustained major injuries. The Captain had to work many hours to get her stable – it is unlikely she will regain consciousness for several days. But I understand that humans, or those with human hearts, like to stay with the injured, even if they cannot know you are there."

Maggie's eyes were set on the still form of her friend, in her Green Martian form, laying covered by a sheet on the medical bed. She didn't change her focus, but something about the sentence caught her interest. "A human heart?"

"The Captain has been teaching me about Earth customs, as I have never been. Apparently, many aliens who live there develop 'human hearts'. I do not believe it is literal. I think she refers to an emotional connection which defies the boundaries between species." There was a pause, where Maggie just stared into the glass room, locked onto the still figure. "Like how you care about this White Martian, even though you defended a Green today, and you yourself are human. That is the human heart… I believe."

Maggie looked over at the blue women, with the striking pure white eyes. For a moment, the Detective just watched at her, thinking about this ship and the crew and how the phrase human heart rang another bell in her ear. Finally, she decided that the puzzle could wait another minute. "Can I go in?"

"Yes, just do not touch anything. The intercom will update everyone when we return to National City - Scho'ty is just trying to lose our pursuer first."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome," Vik hesitated for another moment, eyes still set on the human. "I think I understand now."

"Understand?" Maggie turned back, just as she set her hand on the metal door handle.

"Why we had to come back here." And before Maggie could ask a follow up to that, she was gone.