Earth: 21st Century - 2018
Standing off to the side just watching, Kara couldn't keep the smile off her face as she watched Lena work. Lena was standing beside Alex at the central command table working on blueprints. She was wearing a DEO issued black uniform with her long raven hair pulled back into a tight braid down her back. Lena had more than proved herself by saving Kara's and Sam's lives, and J'onn rather proudly asked her to join the DEO as a civilian consultant. As a thank you for believing in her, Lena had filled J'onn's office with an endless supply of Oreos. Lena was now J'onn's favorite.
Kara's attention was pulled from the pair at the command table by the soft quizzical sounds Winn was making at his computer. Kara was well aware that people liked to compare her to a golden retriever puppy, but she wasn't the only one with puppy like tendiances. Winn made soft puppy like sounds when perplexed by something. Walking over to her friend Kara stood behind Winn and looked over his shoulder at his monitor. "Anything interesting, Winn?"
"I don't know." Winn admitted. "Lena and I have been tinkering with the DEO satellites again, and I thought I'd picked something up but it happened so fast that I can't be sure if it was something or just a glitch."
"What kind of something?" Kara asked.
Winn shrugged. "If it turns out to be something I'll let you know."
Kara nodded, offered her friend an encouraging smile and then walked over to see what Alex and Lena were working on. Before Kara could get a look at the blueprint Lena was drawing up she was distracted by Alex's tablet. Picking it up she swiped through the photos and grainy video clips and frowned a little. The photos were of a tall woman wearing jeans and a leather jacket, her face obscured by a hoodie under the jacket. Following her release from the DEO once everyone was one hundred percent sure Sam wasn't affected by the Reign virus anymore, Sam had made the decision to leave Ruby with Alex and head out on a kind of sabbatical. She had so much to work through. Everything she had done as Reign weighed heavily on Sam, and her powers were a consistent remind of her actions. She was also dealing with the truth of who she was, who her biological parents were, what all of this meant to her life now.
"You're keeping tabs on Sam?" Kara asked as she looked up to meet Alex's gaze.
"I promised Ruby." Alex answered. "She doesn't sleep well if she doesn't know Sam's ok."
Kara had a feeling Ruby wasn't the only one who slept better knowing Sam was alright. Kara was fairly certain that her big sister was developing feelings for Sam. It was something she could wholeheartedly get behind because she had a feeling that Sam and Alex would make each other happy, and all Kara wanted for them was happiness and lives full of love. When Kara focused her attention on her sister again Alex was looking at her through narrowed eyes. "What?"
"Why did you just sigh like that?" Alex demanded, hand on her hip.
"Sigh like what?" Kara squeaked. Had she sighed? Glancing over at Lena and seeing the soft smirk on her lips told her she must have because Lena looked entirely too amused, like she knew exactly what Kara had been thinking.
Thankfully Winn's timing was perfect. "It wasn't a glitch! There is something out there!"
Alex glared at Kara for a second longer before turning her focus to Winn. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm pretty sure some kind of ship just crashed into the harbor." Winn said as his fingers flew over his keyboard. A moment later Lena was sat beside him, typing just as quickly.
Images and live video of the harbor appeared on the big screen but there was nothing to see. It looked like a normal sunny weekday morning on the waterfront. "Winn." Alex said sharply. "I'm not seeing a shipwreck."
"Because it isn't a sea vessel we're detecting." Lena said. A few more passes over her keyboard and Lena had an area circled on a map. "There. It's underwater."
As soon as they came out of the disruption something slammed into their ship, making entry into the Earth's atmosphere rocky. They managed to hold it together long enough to get through the upper layers but lost control in the troposphere. The force of hitting the water actually sent Astra tumbling out of her command chair. She hit the deck of the ship with a soft omf. The lighting flickered and dimmed as the ship continued to sink. Getting her bearings Astra looked around frantically, "Imra? Imra, are you alright?" There was a soft moan, and Astra rushed towards it. "Imra?"
"I'm alright." The young woman said as she slowly sat up. "I'm ok, Tia."
Astra reached for the girl's face and looked her over for herself. Once she was sure Imra was alright she helped the girl to her feet while calling out for the others. "Mon-El? Brainy?"
"We're ok." Mon-El replied.
Astra kept her arm around Imra's waist as they moved towards the front of the ship. Brainy was in the pilot's seat while Mon-El leaned over him. Relief washed over Astra at seeing they were all safe and sound. Giving Imra one last look over she let the girl go and stepped closer to her boys. Then she demanded, "What the hell happened, Brainy?"
"An unexpected anomaly." Brainy reported. He actually sounded insulted, as if the random space anomaly had been a personal attack on him and his twelfth level intellect. "It was not something I had accounted for."
"Losing your touch, Brainy?" Mon-El teased.
Brainy huffed. "Hardly."
"Maybe you should do something about us sinking?" Imra cut in.
As if her simply saying it made it happen, the ship stopped it's downward momentum.
"Well done, Brainy." Astra said.
The blue skinned man blinked. "That was not my doing, General."
"Then why did we stop?" Mon-El asked.
Imra made her way over to another control panel and was the one to respond by putting an outer view of the ship up on screen. Under the ship was Supergirl, her hands pressed against the hull. Then the ship started a slow accent upwards.
"Kara." Astra whispered softly at the sight of her niece. Her heart both constricted painfully and swelled with warmth. It had been over ten years since Astra had seen Kara. A decade of change and growth. A decade of trying to make up for everything she had done, of coming to terms with who she had been, what she had become, and who she now wanted to be. Astra felt her stomach tie up in knots. Would Kara be able to see the change? Or would she still be the overwhelming disappointment to Kara she had thought of herself as. Placing her hand on her stomach as if she could somehow slow the knotting nervousness growing there Astra asked, "Brainy, when exactly did you bring us back too?"
"2018." Brainy replied. "According to my calculations, this is when your odds of having a successful reunion with both Supergirl and Samantha Arias are at their most high."
Before Astra could say anything Imra spoke up, "Brainy, how long has it been for them since we were here?"
"Three months." Brainy answered.
The ship shook as it broke the surface of the water. They all watched as their view of the sea turned into a view of clear blue skies.
"Where is she taking us?" Astra asked.
"Most likely to a DEO safe zone." Mon-El replied. "She has no idea who's inside this ship so she's going to take it to a place that's safe to find out."
When Imra noticed the flat hand Astra had pressed against her stomach turn into a fist she walked over and put her own hand on Astra's shoulder. "Are you alright, Tia?"
Astra did her best to give the younger woman a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, Immy. I would like a few moments alone before I throw myself into the lion's den. Would you mind greeting Supergirl for me?"
"Of course." Imra replied easily.
Reaching up Astra caressed her cheek and then moved towards the door to leave the bridge of the ship, but then she paused and turned back to look at her Legionnaires. "For them it has only been a few short years since they last saw me, a me that was their enemy. They'll have every right to be sceptical." She warned. "So don't be surprised if I'm arrested on sight, and if I am, please don't fight them. Do I make myself clear?"
The three of them nodded and spoke almost as one, "Yes General."
"Thank you." Astra said and then retreated to her quarters to prepare herself for this reunion.
Imra watched Astra go. For Brainy and Mon-El, Astra was their teacher, their mentor, their leader, but for Imra she was so much more. Astra had taken her and her sister in, cared for them, raised them, loved them. She knew of Astra's past, of the things she'd done and the reasons why, but that was not the woman she was now. And if Supergirl and her people refused to see it, well… "Is it done?"
Mon-El nodded as he stood at his wife's side. "Brainy linked her ring to yours before we left. If things go wrong all you have to do is give your ring a little nudge and the two of you will be taken home instantly. Brainy and I will follow in the ship as soon as we can."
"Good." Imra replied and then turned to look at Mon-El and smile. "Thank you."
"She means a lot to us too, Imra." Mon-El reassured before pulling her into his arms to hug her.
After gently placing the ship on the ground Kara flew over to stand beside her sister, J'onn, and Winn. They looked up at the ship with awe. It was unlike anything any of them had ever seen. The ship was sleek, white, with blue lights running along it's hull. It was fairly large, but not nearly as large as the Daxam ships. They all relaxed when they realized it wasn't a Daxam ship.
"Supergirl?" Alex said, the single word asking so many questions.
Kara shook her head. "I can't see threw the hull."
"Great." Alex grumbled. "I hate surprises."
"It's so beautiful." Winn whimpered beside her.
Alex rolled her eyes.
Kara smiled, she had to agree. The ship almost had a Kryptonian aesthetic to it, as if it had been influenced by Kryptonian design.
"So are we just going to stand here staring at it? Or is someone gonna go knock on the door?" Alex asked.
"No need to knock, Alex." Mon-El said as he and Imra appeared in a suddenly open door. "You're all welcome aboard."
The smile on Kara's face brightened at the sight of her friends. "Mon-El! Imra! What are you doing back here?" Then her smile faulted and she gasped softly. "What's happened? Is something wrong? Is Andrew…"
Mon-El held out his hand to stop her. "Andrew's fine, Kara. He's safe."
The last time Mon-El showed up it had been because his people had sent Lobo after Lena's son, the child Rhea had created using Mon-El's and Lena's DNA behind their backs. It had been an incredibly stressful and emotional experience for everyone concerned. Up until the moment Mon-El appeared out of nowhere Kara hadn't known if he were dead or live, and it had been a struggle for her to wrap her head around the fact that he'd been pulled into the future where he'd lived a life that included a wife. He had grown so much. He really wasn't the manchild she'd put in that pod to save him from the lead bomb, he was an actual man, a good man. Kara relaxed at his recurrence and gladly walked over to hug them both. "I'm glad to see you."
"We're glad to see you as well, Kara." Imra said with a warm smile as she returned the heroine's hug.
"So?" Kara said brightly. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, a couple of reasons actually." Imra replied. "One is this." She waved at the ship. "It's brand new and Brainy wanted to give it a test run."
"Brainy's here?" Winn said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Mon-El laughed. "Would you like to go inside and see him?"
Winn looked over at Alex as if asking his big sister for permission. "Plllleeeeeaaassssseeeee Alex!"
Alex looked to J'onn who gave a slight nod. "Yeah, sure, let's go see brain boy."
Once on board and after everyone had greeted Brainy warmly, he explained what had happened, how the ship had ended up crashing. He still sounded rather insulted that it had happened in the first place. J'onn promised they would help in anyway they could, though the ship was so advanced he wasn't sure what they could offer. Brainy was quick to reply.
"Ms. Luthor, perhaps?" Brainy said with a tick of a smile. "It would be of great help to have another high level intellect to lend a hand."
"I'll help!" Winn said giddily. He'd been freaking out over the ship since they set foot on it. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning looking at a living room full of presents to open, or like Kara when a new all you can eat buffet opened in town.
"I said a high level intellect." Brainy replied. "But I suppose you could be of some use as well."
Winn pouted. "Wait, are you saying Lena's smarter than me?"
"By magnitudes." Brainy replied.
Kara glared softly at the Coluan. While she considered Brainy a friend, she'd been a bit jealous of the way he fawned over Lena, like some lovesick fanboy. Nearly every word out of his mouth while helping Lena to execute her plan to save Sam, had caused Kara to grate her teeth. Deciding to change the subject Kara looks at Imra and Mon-El. "You mentioned other reasons for being here. Anything we can help with?"
Imra shared a look with Mon-El that only a married couple could share. He gave her a reassuring smile and then she turned to look at Kara. "The last time we were here we told you about the Legion, what we do and how we came to be, that you were our inspiration." She paused a moment, wanting to get the words right. "We let you assume it was Mol-El who brought us together, who led us, but only because we couldn't tell you who it really was."
"Kara." Mon-El said gently. "I wasn't the only one pulled into that distortion and pulled into the 31st century."
"Wait." Kara said as she looked between the two for several moments. There was just something about the way they looked at each other, at her, that suddenly had Kara feeling anxious. "What are you two trying to tell me?"
"Hello little one." Astra said softly from the doorway where she stood watching.
Every head in the room turned towards the sound of Astra's voice. J'onn instantly shifted into his natural green form. Alex drew her gun and aimed it at Astra. Imra and Mon-El moved to stand between them and their mentor. Kara just stood there staring, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Astra? Astra was alive?
"Move!" Alex commanded of Mon-El and Imra.
Mon-El shook his head. "We're not going to let you attack her."
"She didn't come here to fight." Imra added. "She came to see her family, to see Kara, and meet her daughter, and granddaughter."
Sam. Sam could meet her mother, Kara thought. She took a step forward, ignoring the others, her focus still on Astra. "Aunt Astra?"
Astra simply smiled at Kara while walking over to Mon-El and Imra. She put her hands on each of their shoulders reassuringly. "What did I tell you both?" She said gently. "I don't want you fighting them over me."
"Tia." Imra said softly.
"Immy." Astra said fimly. Once both of her kids relaxed Astra stepped between them and in front of them. "Hello again Agent Danvers, Dictator J'onzz. It's been a very long time."
"Two years." Alex hissed. "You and Non tried to enslave the human race two years ago."
"It's been a little longer than that for me." Astra replied. "It's been about fifteen years since I crashed on Earth after my pod was pulled through the time distortion."
"Fifteen years?" Kara repeated. Her blue eyes never once leaving Astra as the older Kryptonian moved around the room. "Fifteen years and you're just now coming back?"
"Kara." Alex said crossly. "We don't know if this is really Astra and if it is we don't know she's telling us the truth."
"We haven't always had time travel." Astra said, looking over at her niece. "It was something Brainy slipped into the rings rather recently by our timeline." She paused, looked into Kara's eyes and sighed softly. "And, I was ashamed, little one."
"Clearly there is a lot going on right now." J'onn said as he shifted back into his human form. "I think we should take this back to the DEO."
"Of course." Astra said easily. "You'll want to verify who I am and decide what to do with me."
"I'm coming with you." Imra said firmly, staring at Alex and J'onn as if daring them to try anything against Astra.
"I wish I could…" Mon-El began.
Astra reached for his hand. "If the Daxamites of this era were to learn of your return they could take that as involvement in Dru's life. For his safety you must remain on the ship. I understand. Help Brainy with repairs." Turning to look at Brainy she said, "Don't argue with me. Let Mon-El help."
Brainy grumbled under his breath about not needing help though he wouldn't mind if it were Lena Luthor's help.
"Querl Dox." Astra scolded.
"Yes, of course, General, Mon-El's help would be most welcome." Brainy replied sheepishly.
Astra smiled and nodded her approval before looking at Kara, Alex and J'onn. "Shall we?"