The ground had exploded.
Alura couldn't see her sister anymore through smoke, but it seemed neither of them had gotten caught in the original blast. That was clearly not all, however. Both of them had fallen, but Alura had used what flight power she could muster up in the situation to hover before she could hit the ground.
Non's final trap.
She called Astra's name, fearing the worst had happened, then realized it had. Astra was powerless, physically weak, and unable to fly, which could only mean...
"ASTRA!" she yelled again. The smoke was clearing and panicked thoughts were racing through Alura's mind as she waited for it to fade.
She could be dead already and we have no one else here... not even Alex knows where we are...
"Astra..."
The smoke disappeared and Alura dashed down through the void. With a hole in the ground that large, it had been a huge explosion. Alura landed on the ground at last and started to walk, squinting through the darkness and eventually almost tripping over her sister's body.
Astra!
They had no source of light, so with all the strength she had, Alura flew her out of the hole and lay her on the ground well away from the crater.
Oh Rao... why would he have done this to her?
She had to have hit her head on something hard because Astra's dark hair was drenched with blood, which didn't seem to have come from anywhere else on her body. Alura winced at the sight... she had never seen her sister weakened enough to bleed. Even when she had before, her injuries had been covered up, but now they weren't. She was barely even breathing.
Alura combed her hands through Astra's hair until she found the wound in her head. Astra moaned in pain as she touched it gently, letting her know that she wasn't entirely unconscious yet.
And she can still feel pain. I can't believe... she's been reduced to this.
For once, Alura felt sympathy for Alex, who was probably still sleeping at the moment, being completely unaware that Astra was possibly dying next to her sister. Then she remembered. I have to get us back to the DEO so we both aren't killed out here. But it's so far and I can't carry her as well as myself when I'm as weak as I am... I need to get Kara or J'onn.
Casting a mournful look at her sister, she took to the air, speeding off toward the DEO. Both of them needed help and after weeks of none of it, Alura was finally feeling the pain of the Kryptonite inside her, enhanced because of the blast. She didn't like the thought of getting it extracted, but she needed it. First, though, Astra needed her.
She was running before she even hit the ground and because the door wasn't open, she started pounding on it. It would do no good to laser-eye it, the door was impenetrable.
It opened, revealing the hall, and she darted through it, into the main control room, where Hank greeted her.
"Hello, Alura. Why are you here in such a rush?"
She slowly lifted her hands, revealing the blood on them. "We were attacked... by Non..."
"Well, let us help you. Come, we can start by bandaging those hands, although I don't know how much he weakened you to bleed."
"I do need help, but..." Alura shuddered. "This isn't my blood... it's Astra's... she's bleeding... and got hit by a solar flare specifically designed to damage her..."
"Where is she? You shouldn't have left her!"
"I can't even touch her without causing her pain... and I can't carry her when I'm weak enough myself. I could hardly get her out of the crater."
"What do you mean?"
"Liquid Kryptonite... inside me... Non attacked me with it... around the time he first attacked Astra..."
"All right, you're staying here. Go find Kara." Hank transformed into his original form as J'onn. "I'll go fetch your sister."
"No! I need to show you where she is. And I'm not staying when she's in danger."
J'onn sighed. "Weren't you two just fighting about her being with Agent Danvers?"
"That is irrelevant right now! You cannot keep me back." Alura hovered a few feet in the air to prove her point.
"Fine, fine, but don't die on the way."
"I won't."
Alura flew ahead of J'onn as they headed out, leading him to where she remembered she'd come from. J'onn saw the huge hole in the ground first and he grunted. "How did Non manage to plant that while fighting you at the same time?"
"Could have been a surface blast or an underground one put there beforehand. But who cares right now?"
Taking a sharp breath and telling herself not to panic anymore, Alura touched down next to Astra, lifting her chin to indicate to J'onn where she was. J'onn came to rest beside them.
"Did she land on something?"
"I don't know, but I couldn't see to find out. I had to bring her back up here."
J'onn dropped to one knee beside Astra and ran one hand over her before he slid both arms under her body and secured her against him. Alura attempted not to think about how lifeless her sister seemed; closed eyes, pale skin so close to the color of the streak in her hair, blood coating her shoulders... it made her afraid, knowing that if she lost enough power herself, she would be vulnerable to the same.
"Call Alex when we get in please," Alura told him as they soon landed again to wait at the entrance to the DEO. The door opened and they stepped in.
"You have Kara do that. She hasn't left Lena's side in forever."
"How is Lena, by the way?"
"Better and she can move, but she's not well enough to come out of bed."
J'onn transformed back into Hank and carried Astra away. With a look of determination, she walked away to where Lena's room was, expecting by Hank's words to find Kara there. Yes, there she was, plain as day, speaking with Lena, who was awake and sitting up.
"Hey, Kara."
Both of them looked up. Lena looked a bit confused as she murmured to Kara, "Mother or aunt?"
"Mother. My aunt has a white streak in her hair. And she's at Alex's anyway."
Alura shook her head. "You need to go get Alex."
"Can't you?"
"I..." She quickly explained the condition she was in. "J'onn wouldn't let me anyway."
"But can't Astra get her?"
"Astra..." Alura shut her eyes for a moment. "I can't let her die..."
"Mom, what happened?"
"Non... he attacked again... hit her with a solar flare..."
"How bad?"
"Worse, because the ground blew up underneath us and she can't fly at the moment. She's powerless and lost a lot of blood."
"Oh no..." Kara looked scared. "Why do you need Alex though? Weren't you and Astra fighting about her?"
"I... just think Alex deserves to know what happened."
"Fine, I'll get her." Kara turned to Lena. "Will you be all right here?"
Lena rolled her eyes and smiled weakly. "Of course."
Kara left and Alura returned to Hank to be put into her own room. She requested one by herself so she wouldn't be put through humiliation in front of anyone. The scientists strapped her into a bed and attached a special tube to her arm that would extract the Kryptonite from her system over many days.
Out of all of them, it was obviously Kara who was scared the most. While she flew to the apartment, where Alex was just waking up, she was nervous to tell her. And she had a good reason too. As soon as Kara revealed to her what had happened to Astra, Alex broke down, sobbing and muttering to herself that she shouldn't have let her go out and that Alura was going to pay for what she did. But obviously, Kara could hear her.
"Hey, it was not my mother's fault," she hissed to her. "She couldn't have known Non was going to be there. And she could die too, so go a little easy on her."
"Bring me back to her. Now."
"I'll bring you to the DEO, but I really don't think you should be going to see her now. According to my mom, she lost a lot of blood."
"Take. Me. Back."
"Okay, alright!" Taking a few deep breaths, she led Alex down to the street, then wrapped her arms around her waist and shot into the air. Alex didn't make a sound until they reached the main room of the DEO, where she stopped Hank when he came around. "Where is Astra?"
"Recovering. Her wound from the explosion was stitched up, but she lost too much blood and the solar energy her body absorbed from Non is poisoning her. Agent Danvers... she might not make it."
"Let me see her!" Alex growled.
"She is in too critical of a condition right now..."
"Let me see her. Right now!" She glared threateningly at him. "I don't care about anything else right now and I will literally rip you apart if you don't show me."
Hank raised an eyebrow. "Alex, don't be making empty threats."
"Then do as I say!" He could see that she was only going to get more enraged if he said no again, so he reluctantly led her through the halls, stopping at one particular room, then turning back to the way they had come. Alex took that as her cue, opening the door of the room.
Clean. Sterile. Two things she hadn't seen for a while in the DEO.
And Astra, who she wished wasn't bedridden like she was. Alex uncertainly stepped over to her. When she ran fingers through her hair, she could see the carefully done stitches on the side of her head.
But she looked to be in so much pain that it couldn't be understood at all. Astra was awake and had something in her arm that looked like an IV, likely trying to hold the poisonous radiation in her system at bay.
"Astra?"
She slowly turned her head toward her and despite her agony, a smile lit up her face. "Alex!"
Alex gently hugged her as she sat up, noticing with dread that each breath she took was labored, forced. She moved one hand up to the middle of her chest to monitor her breathing while they embraced. Yes, there was a machine doing the same, but she'd want to be the first to know if her love's sweet heart stopped beating.
"I'm so sorry," Astra whispered. "I shouldn't have gone out with Alura."
"It's no one's fault but Non's. Neither you nor Alura could have known he'd be out there though."
"Don't you always see how he shows up though? He could be tracking me..."
"I doubt it." Alex relocated her hand to go higher and she caressed Astra's pale face as softly as she could. Tears streamed from her eyes as she laid her head on Alex's chest.
"Alex... this hurts..."
"Shh... it'll be alright."
Alex folded her into the warmth of her body, kissing her head, but being cautious to stay clear of the wound. Astra still had the scent of blood on her, but it had been layered over with something that smelled like the ocean, salty but sweet. Her lips traveled down to Astra's, engulfing her with a strong sense of protection as they met, and Astra felt her pain melt away like snow.
But as soon as the kiss ended, she felt it return. Alex looked sadly at her. It hurt her heart so much to see Astra like this. Bruised. Pale.
Broken.
For a moment, they only gazed at each other, millions of emotions flowing through their eyes. Astra didn't want to admit it, but everything was crushing her. Non's ruthless attempts to kill her, her fight with Alura, the possible deaths of both her and her sister. It hurt her to know about it all.
Grasping Astra's hand, Alex let her eyes rove over the alien, observing every changed detail of her. The veins that stood out against her pale skin, the frailty of her body that she thought could never be achieved, the shivers that racked her every time Alex touched a scar. After a moment, she began to realize her shivers were continuing even when she wasn't touching her at all.
"Are you okay?"
All of a sudden, Astra threw her head back and let out a bone-chilling scream, as if she was being stabbed by Kryptonite weapons on every inch of her. Alex gasped in horror as she drew back, but darted forward again to catch her as she fell back, holding her in a certain way so that she wouldn't thrash around. Her face drained of all color as she stared at the heart machine, simultaneously feeling its rhythm against her hand as she replaced it on Astra's chest, the beats noticeably slowing under her touch. Astra made no other sound, but the way she was suffering made her have to try hard not to.
"What's going on?" Someone stepped into the room and Alex whipped her head around. Kara.
"She needs help!" Alex shouted just as alarms began to blare around her. "I think she... she's dying!"
"Aunt Astra!" Kara was at her side in less than a second. "Astra, can you hear me?"
A slight nod answered back before Astra's movements started to fade and she convulsed, struggling to gulp in air.
"HELP!" Kara wailed at the top of her lungs.
Doctors eventually poured into the room and Alex narrowed her eyes when she soon felt Hank grab her arms.
"Come on, Danvers."
"No!" Alex fought against him, but he was stronger than her and wrenched her away from Astra. "Please! Let me stay with her!"
"In her condition right now? Not happening." Hank pulled her out of the room crying, begging him to let her go back to her.
"No... ASTRA!"
At night...
Alex lay in bed, trembling. She was alone in her apartment.
Alone. Like Astra was.
She'd been forbidden to stay at the DEO for that night on account of the fact that she might try to find her beloved in the middle of the night.
But she couldn't stop thinking about one thing. What if Astra died? She would be entirely alone. No neice, no sister, no Alex. Imagining that made her bury her face in her pillow to stifle all cries that would leave her.
"Oh, Astra," she exclaimed into the darkness. "I wish you could be here with me, just so I could hold you and kiss you and know you're alive."
"You really do feel that way about her?"
"Gah!" Alex screeched, recoiling and accidentally banging her head on the headboard of her bed. "What the hell?"
"Hey, it's just me. It's Kara."
"Kara?" Alex felt the warm hands of her adopted sister on her bare shoulders as she climbed into bed with her.
"Thought you needed some company and comfort after what happened today."
"Well, I have a bad-ass rep I've destroyed too, but that's putting it lightly, sis. Right now..." She swallowed. "I'm just laying here, trying to seem like I'm with her. You know what I mean?"
"Alex, I know you want to be with her, but Hank sent you back under good reason. She needs to heal and she can't when you're on her like you were."
"Didn't you do the same with Lena?"
"No. I just never left her. You and Astra were doing everything you could to touch each other without hurting her."
"Whatever." Alex rolled over to face Kara. "How weird do you think this is?"
"Huh?"
"Astra and I. Alura has good reason to keep us apart, but I would have thought you'd do the same."
"Why? She loves you and you love her. That's all that matters."
"But she's your aunt, Kara. If you and I were actually related, that'd be incest."
"But we aren't. And I'm dating someone too, don't forget."
"Yeah, but you're not related to her."
"Whatever. My point is though, there were laws on Krypton that explained you couldn't be with a person of the same sex unless it was approved by the Council. However, we aren't on Krypton anymore, so there's nothing to say you two can't be together or that Lena and I can't."
"I hope so." Alex sniffed as she pressed her body against Kara's. "Thanks, Kara."
"Hey, what are sisters for?"
"Not related by blood!" Alex laughed.
"Yeah, because if we were..."
"Oh god, please don't."
"Alex..."
"What? Can we go to bed now?"
"Yeah. Love you."
"Night, Kara. Love you too."