From the Ashes

by Reese M

Inspired by a Tumblr post that asked, "What if Astra had founded the Legion instead of Mon-El?" This story attempts to answer that question while taking place in a world very similar to my other stories. This is a story about Astra In-Ze and her relationships, her life, and how she would affect the lives we're already familiar with if she were still alive.

12. Chapter 12

Earth: 21st Century - 2018

Despite all the things Sam did while she was out trying to cope with what happened to her, she really didn't have any intentions of becoming a hero, of clipping on a cape and doing what Kara did. All Sam wanted to do following the whole Reign nightmare was get back to her normal life. She wanted to spend her weekdays kicking ass at L-Corp, and every other moment raising her daughter, and during the quiet in between moments she wanted to try and figure out her feelings for Alex Danvers. But then Julia Freeman happened, and Grace Parker, and if there were other worldkillers out there than Sam couldn't just stand on the sidelines. Non did this, he took part in the creation of the worldkillers, and he had been the one planning on using them. This in some weird way had made Sam feel as if defeating the worldkillers and giving their hosts back their lives were all on her. Which is why she agreed to allow Lena and Winn to make her a super suit as long as they understood she was not a Super. Nothing against Kara or Clark, but that just wasn't who she was. The suit that Lena handed her was a full body suit, black along the sides and half way down the arms and legs, white over the shoulders, chest, and down her core. Her cape was white, because apparently she had to have a cape because aerodynamics, and not just because Kara liked capes. But the biggest difference between her suit and Kara's wasn't just the color scheme but the fact that Sam's suit didn't have a symbol on it, just a big open white space on her chest.

"Well this is weird." Winn said from where he sat at his bank of computers.

"I hate when you say that." Alex grumbled as she walked over to stand behind Winn. "What's weird?"

"Well," Winn began to explain. "We've been monitoring the planet for any readings that could possibly be coming from Black K."

"Wait." Kara said as she closed the distance between where she'd been standing with Lena to where Winn and Alex were. "Black K?"

Winn nodded as he turned to look up at her. "Black Kryptonite. That's what we've been calling the Harun-El."

Sam watched Kara shutter slightly at the mention of kryptonite while she held back her own shutter at the mention of the rock that triggered the worldkiller virus in it's hosts. Pushing off the wall she'd been leaning against she moved across the room to join the others, choosing to stand beside Alex. "What about the Harun-El? I thought we got the last of it on Earth."

"We did." Winn replied. "Or, at leas, as far as we know we did. The sensor sweep hasn't picked it up on Earth, it's detecting it in outer space. In, like, deep space. I'm not even sure how it's doing that."

"Oh." Lena said softly. "That might be my fault. While Querl and I were working on the Legion ship we also upgraded the satellite relay system so you'll have more forewarning when things are approaching the Sol System. I meant to test it's range but things have been a little hectic around here."

"How far out is the signal Winn?" Kara asked.

Winn tapped at his keyboard for a few seconds and said, "About five light years or so, give or take."

"Is it coming anywhere near Earth?" Alex asked next.

Lena was the one now tapping away at keys and the one to answer. "It doesn't seem to be. The radiation frequency we use to track it seems to be coming from a huge asteroid of some kind. "

"Still," Sam cut in. "That looks like a huge deposit. We can't just allow it to roam space like that. Non didn't just have his eyes on Krypton, he was out to rule as many worlds as possible. Who's to say he didn't seed other plants with worldkillers."

Winn didn't bother to hide his shiver. "That's an unpleasant and rather terrifying thought."

"I agree with Sam." J'onn said as he approached the group. "We need to retrieve that deposit of Black K and bring it back here to be destroyed." Lena opened her mouth to say something and J'onn cut her off. "I'm still not sure about studying it, Ms. Luthor."

"I'll go get it." Kara volunteered quickly. "It would be safest for me to travel that far out into space."

"Maybe not." Alex said worriedly. "That far away from the Earth's sun, you could deplete the reserves of yellow sun radiation in your cells."

"She wouldn't be powerless if she used my Mother's ring." Sam said after a moment of thought.

Lena nodded. "Better yet, you use Astra's Legion ring and Kara can use the one Mon-El left behind for Andrew."

Alex nodded her agreement to that idea. "It would be better if Kara had someone with her."

"You can use my ship to get there." J'onn said as he reached into the pocket of his uniform pants and held the keys out towards Sam. "As long as Sam drives."

Kara's eyes went wide and she gaped as if insulted. "Seriously?! Sam's never driven a space car before! And I'm a good driver!"

"You nearly killed us going to see Mom because of a squirrel, Kara." Alex teased her baby sister.

Kara pouted. "There are no squirrels in space, Alex!"

A lot of weird things had happened to Sam since moving to National City to help one of her closest and oldest friends run her company. She'd been turned into a homicidal monster. She discovered she was actually an alien in disguise her whole life. She found out that the adorkably sweet woman her best friend was mad crushing on was also an alien, and Supergirl, and her cousin of all things. She'd gotten to meet her alien birth mother who was a reformed terrorist who now lived in the thirty-first century. And now she was apparently going to drive a baby blue classic car into deep space to retrieve a rock from her long dead home planet that could turn other people into the same kind of homicidal monster she'd been turned into.

"What is my life?" Sam asked as she tried to sort it all out in her head.

"You ok, Mom?" Ruby asked with concern.

Sam smiled as reassuringly as she could at her little girl. What the hell was she even thinking? She was about to go off into space like she wasn't a single mother who'd just spent the better part of a year away from her daughter in one form or another. "Yeah, Rubes, I'm fine."

"This is so cool!" Ruby said excitedly. "You're going into space!"

"Cool. Right. Yeap, that's what this is." Sam replied with a chuckle.

Ruby reached out and took her mother's hands into her own. "Are you scared?"

"Yes." Sam admitted.

"It'll be ok." Ruby said with such confidence. "You'll be with Supergirl."

Finding out Kara was Supergirl hadn't dimmed Ruby's admiration for her hero it had only made it stronger. "And we'll be back as soon as we can." Sam promised as she pulled Ruby close for a hug. She held her little girl tight and kissed the top of her head. "You be good for Alex, hear me?"

"I will." Ruby promised and then pulled back a little to look up at her mother with a beaming smile. "Have fun in space, Mom!"

Sam laughed, held her little girl a little longer and then walked over to speak to Alex before joining Kara and J'onn. They flew to where J'onn kept his car slash spaceship, and along the way he telepathically taught Sam everything she needed to know to fly the ship.

"It's actually pretty easy." Kara said as they stood beside the baby blue car. "Aunt Astra use to let me fly her skimmer all the time. I know how to fly a ship."

"Didn't you get lost for like twenty-five years?" Sam teased.

"That wasn't my fault!" Kara huffed and then pouted at her cousin.

Sam laughed and then soothed her cousin's hurt ego by saying, "I'm sure I'm going to need all the help I can get, Kara."

It was actually pretty easy. J'onn put in the coordinates of the asteroid and it was just a matter of making sure the ship followed the GPS. "This is so weird." Sam said as she watched the stars streaking past the cockpit windows. "I'm flying through space in a spaceship in space."

Kara smiled as she turned to look at Sam. "It's beautiful isn't it? Peaceful."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "It's really amazing but still weird."

Kara laughed softly and then turned a bit more serious. "I'm really glad you came with me, Sam. I'm not really sure I could have done this on my own." She turned to look out at the passing stars. "Even after all these years on Earth I still wake up sometimes in a panic because I've dreamt of what it was like when I would wake up in my pod, alone, in the silent nothingness of the Phantom Zone."

Sam watched Kara shiver and reached over to put her hand on Kara's arm. Kara turned to look at her with a grateful smile. Then the control panel beeped. They were slowing down. "I think we're coming up on the asteroid."

When the ship stopped and the view switched from streaking stars to the asteroid the last thing either of them expected was to see a domed city smack dab in the center of it. Kara leaned forward as if to get a better look. "What is that?"

"It looks like a city?" Sam replied. She turned to look at Kara just as Kara turned to look at her. Then both reached into their boots and pulled out the gold and black Legion rings they had brought with them, and slipped them on with a nod to one another. "Think you can land this thing without hitting a space squirrel?"

"You're mean." Kara pouted as she began the landing procalls after engaging the cloak.

"Na." Sam teased. "I'm just the older cousin, it's what we do."

They scanned the city before leaving the ship to locate the rock and of course it was in the middle of the city, because why would it be easy and be on the outskirts. Leaving the cloaked ship the pair carefully made their way towards the city and the closer they got they more oddly familiar Kara found it. It was actually a bit unnerving.

"This way seems the most populated." Sam said after checked the map that her ring projected. "So we go the other way."

"I have the strangest feeling about this place." Kara replied while walking beside her cousin. "I can't explain it but this place seems, I don't know, familiar somehow."

The In-Ze cousins managed to make their way to what appeared to be a park, and a monument in the center of the park. Sam confirmed that the Black K radiation was coming from within the wood and glass structure but Kara was distracted. On either side of the small building were two slabs with writing on them. How was this possible? Why were these slabs covered in Kryptonese? Kara's heart stopped, the air in her lungs refused to come out, as she traced the glyphs with her fingers.

"Kara?" Sam called out when she noticed Kara hadn't followed her up to the door of the small building. Making her way back to the blonde the look on Kara's face sent instant concern through Sam. "Kara, are you ok? What's wrong?"

"It's a memorial." Kara said, her voice soft and horse with rising emotion. "In honor of the souls lost in destruction, may their flames ever burn in Rao's light." Tearing her gaze from the glyphs she looked at Sam and explained. "This is a Kryptonian memorial." Kara turned away from Sam, from the memorial, to look out at the skyline peaking above the treetops of the park. Her breaths were coming in quick bursts as the realization hit her. She knew now why this place had felt so familiar. "Argo."

"Argo?" Sam repeated. "The city? The city on Krypton we're you were born?"

Kara nodded and before she could say anything else the air filled with a familiar hum. Kara moved closer to Sam, standing beside her cousin almost back to back as if prepared to fight. Half a dozen Klex robots surrounded them.

"Identify yourselves." One of the Klex demanded.

"Kara?" Sam questioned. "I have enough power to blast these things."

"Don't." Kara said as she looked at the objects from her past.

"Do not move." The Klex said and then repeated. "Identify yourselves."

Then a voice cut through the trees. "Stand down caretakers."

And Kara couldn't breathe.

Her mind flashed back to the memory of the last time she had heard that voice. The launch pad. "You will do extraordinary things…. I love you Kara."

If Sam hadn't met Astra she would have no idea why Kara was suddenly so shell shocked, why she wasn't breathing or why her heart had spiked to a concerningly fast rate. But she had met her mother, so when Sam's golden hazel eyes set upon the woman approaching them she knew exactly why her cousin was reacting the way she was. "Kara," She said in a whisper. "Is that who I think it is?"

Kara gasped in a way that sounded like it actually hurt. "Mom."

"Kara?" The woman replied as she took the younger woman in, disbelief and hope warring in her dark eyes. "Kara is that truly you?"

The two moved towards each other as if pushing through water but the moment they were close enough to reach for each other they did, pulling each other into a crushing embrace and that's when they knew for sure. That's when Kara's heart knew for sure that this was in fact her mother.

Sam watched quietly as Kara spoke of thinking her mother dead, and how Alura had thought the same of Kara. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest as she listened to Alura say she'd watched Kara's pod get knocked into the Phantom Zone, because she could only imagine the pain her aunt must have felt, because she knows how utterly devastated she would be if she had watched something like that happen to Ruby. She watched and listened as Kara said if she had known Argo was here, if she had known her mother was alive, she would have come back to her sooner. She watched as the shock of seeing each other again, of holding each other again, morphed into pure unadulterated joy. Sam smiled a soft happy smile, then she watched as Alura caught sight of her over Kara's shoulder, their eyes locking and Alura smiling the way one smiles when meeting their child's friend. Alura had no idea who she truly was.

"And who is this?" Alura asked warmly.

Kara's excitement exploded when she realized what she was about to do. "Oh Mom! You'll never guess who this is!"

Something about the tall, slender, dark haired woman seemed to draw Alura towards her. She tilted her head a bit, just as Kara was known to do when she was puzzled. "Do I know you?" She asked Sam. "You seem familiar to me somehow?"

"Mom." Kara said gently but excitedly. "This is Sam, you've met her before, on the night she was born."

Alura tore her gaze from Sam to look at Kara.

"Non lied." Kara explained. "Aunt Astra's child didn't die the night she was born. He took her, and he lied to you both."

This time it was Alura who gasped in such a way it sounded as if it hurt. She turned to look at Sam again, closing the distance between them. She reached out as if to take Sam's face in her hands but hesitated, her hands trembling, before letting them fall. "That's what's familiar to me. I see her in your face, in your eyes. I can see Astra in you."

Kara inhaled sharply. That was the first time she had heard her mother utter her aunt's name in forever.

"It's very nice to meet you Aunt Alura." Sam said gently to the woman whose eyes shimmered with tears and regrets.

Alura's voice was soft and thick with overwhelming emotion. "It is very nice to see you again Samra."

Alura reassured the guards who had come with her and dismissed them before inviting Kara and Sam to follow her home. They had so much to catch up on and to talk about. Kara told her mother about the worldkillers, about Non, and about the Cult of Reign.

"Do you remember the Cult of Yuda Kal?" Kara asked her mother as the three of them sat in the living room of Alura's home.

"Yes, they also used the name Children of Juru. I sentenced their leader to the Phantom Zone." Alura replied.

"Jindah Kol." Sam said with a nod.

"The Cult of Yuda Kal were the ones Non gave baby Sam too." Kara explained.

"They kept me in status, experimented on me to give me powers on Krypton." Sam picked up. "I was meant to be a weapon, a worldkiller."

Alura swore an old Kryptonian swear that made Kara blush and Sam look at her cousin quizzically.

"Sam was sent in a pod just like me and Kal." Kara told her mother and then she and Sam took turns explaining the rest of Sam's backstory.

When the young women were finish Alura sat motionless as tears rolled down her cheeks. She could not hide the pain and agrish, the regrets she felt, even if she'd tried. They played out in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Standing abruptly she put some distance between herself, her daughter, and her niece. She covered her mouth with a shaking hand to hold back a sob. When she felt as if she could speak without her voice shaking she turned to face the girls again. "I let her push me away, I allowed Non to widen the divide that formed between us when she thought her child had died. I sentenced my own sister to life on Fort Rozz. Fort Rozz, one of my deepest shames, shadowed only by the loss of my sister, my own doing."

"Mom." Kara said as she sparing to her feet. "Mom it's alright, it's ok. Mom." Kara took her mother's hands in her own and looked into her eyes. "Aunt Astra is alive, and on Earth, kinda. She kind of lives in the thirty-first century, but Mom, she's alive and she's a hero, and she trains young people with powers to be heroes too."

Sam could see it happening before it happened and managed to use superspeed to grab a chair before her aunt crumbled to the floor.

Alura blinked when she suddenly found herself in a chair rather then the floor. "How…"

"My powers are a bit different than Kara's." Sam explained with a shrug. "My cells retain the yellow sun radiation longer than Kara's. Like we said, I was meant to have powers on Krypton, but I don't think they got to finish whatever it was they were trying to do to me."

"I am so sorry, Samra." Alura said as she stood and pulled Sam into a hug. "I am so so very sorry."

"Not your fault." Sam reassured. "This was all on Non."

"Non?" Alura asked as she pulled back from Sam and looked at Kara.

"Dead." Kara answered simply.

"Good." Alura said with such firmness it was a little jarring. "Now." She stepped away a bit, putting space between them all again. "I want to hear more, I want to get to know my daughter, and my niece."

As Kara told Alura about Alex and Lena and Andrew and the Danvers, and Sam told her about Ruby, word was spreading around Argo of the return of the lost daughter of the House of El and her companion. Sam did not wear a sigil so they had no idea who she was, but it was hard to miss the bright red House of El on Kara's supersuit. Alura was showing the girls the plant gifted to Kara on her first birthday by their grandmother when the messenger came. The Council wished to welcome Kara home.

"We need to warn them about the Harun-El and the possibility of there being more worldkillers out there." Kara told her mother. Alura nodded her agreement and arranged the meeting with the Council.

The Council chamber was a large round room with raised platforms where the members stood and in the center of the Council chamber was a smaller lower platform for guests and speakers. Kara and Sam stood on the central platform with Alrua as the rest of the Council began taking their places. Neither Sam nor Kara were paying to much attention to those gathering around them until Jul-Us called them to order and they turned along with Alrua to face him and a woman to his right that caused both of their hearts to stop beating. Somehow they managed to conceal their shock as Alura spoke.

"Fellow members of the Council, today Rao has truly blessed me and my Houses, as he has returned to me not only my only child but also the child of my sister, both thought lost to us through death, but were in fact kept safe in Rao's light." Alura said proudly. "It is with great joy that I present to you Kara Zor-El and Samra In-Ze."

"Esteemed members of the Council thank you for seeing us." Kara said as her mother took her rightful place among the others.

"Kara, welcome home." The woman said with a smile. "You're mother is a pillar of our community and an honorable member of this Council. We rejoice in her happiness of having you returned to her." She paused for a moment before addressing Alura. "We were unaware that Astra In-Ze had been blessed with children."

"Through the cruelest of deceptions the House of Ze was lead to believe the child had perished." Alura explained. "But she too had been sent to Earth where she and Kara were able to find one another."

"I do recall documenting the birth and death of a girl child into the records for the House of Ze. Rao has truly blessed you and yours, Alura." Jul-Us said with an accepting nod.

"Yes." The woman replied. "He has."

It was only after they had returned to the safety of Alura's home that Kara and Sam told Alura about Reign's fortress and the hologram within. "It's her." Sam said firmly. "That woman on the council. It's the dark priestess from the fortress, the one who triggered the worldkiller virus in me, the one who was commanding Reign."

"Selena?" Alura shook her head at first but then looked up and into the eyes of her daughter and niece, and she knew it to be true. "We need to talk to Selena."

But it was to late. Selena was gone, and the message she left behind made it clear that the hologram in Reign's fortress was no copy of the woman's memories, but the woman herself. "It should have been a joyous moment to see you in the flesh, but instead of being filling with joy, I was filled with crushing disappointment. All of my hard work, all those years perfecting our creation, stripped away and left in its place the pathic child of a disgraced general and a fool. My sisters and I will make sure those responsible will pay for what they have done, and then we will finish Reign's work and make Earth habitable for our people."

"She's gone to Earth." Kara said as panic rose from the depths of her soul as the hologram flickered out of existence.. Lena. Andrew. Alex. Ruby. Eliza. J'onn. Winn. James. They were all in danger. She and Sam looked at each and said at the same time, "The ship!"

They rushed to where they had left J'onn's ship and sure enough it was gone. "We have to get back to Earth. Now."

Alura led the girls back to her home and into the basement where Zor had kept his lab. It was the first time she had set foot inside her husband's sanctum since his death, and the first time for Kara since Krypton.

"Father's lab." Kara said a bit breathlessly as she took in the space around her. She had thought her parents dead, but when she saw her mother, held her in her arms again she had been flooded with hope that she would get to do the same with her father. But Zor was dead, and the pain and grief of his loss had hit Kara all over again. "I spent so many afternoons with him here." She said as she ran her hand over his work station before moving to a table to pick up a journal. "He always had this way of making me feel like I was the most important person on Krypton."

"You were." Alura said as she came to stand behind her daughter, putting her hand on Kara's shoulder. "To us, you were the most important person on Krypton or any other world. It's why he worked so hard to make sure you were safe. Why I agreed to send you away."

Kara nodded as she turned to look at her mother, to give her a reassuring smile. She needed Alura to know she didn't blame her or resent her for putting her in that pod, not any more at least. "I have a son now, Dru, I understand why you did what you did. I would do anything to keep him safe."

Alura's smile was bittersweet. "I still can't believe I have a grandson."

Apparently one of Zor's many plans for saving his people had been to construct a transmat portal just like the one Lena had built for Rhea. All they needed to do was fix this one and get them to put the one on Earth back together, but in order to do that they needed to contact Earth. Kara needed to warn them anyway. Selena had been able to use the AI interface in Reign's fortress, so why couldn't Kara use the AI interface in her little room at the DEO.

"Alert." Winn's table said as a popup window appeared on the screen. "Alura AI engaged."

Winn frowned. He knew the only people who were allowed to access the Alura AI were currently off world, busy with important DEO matters, or trying to keep a toddler out of J'onn's stash of Oreos. Heading to Kara's room his frown deeped when he found it empty, and then jumped damn near out of his skin when the AI appeared in front of him. He may or may not have yelped like a little girl but no one, especially Alex, needed to know that. "Nope, creepy, go away."

But the AI wouldn't go away and then it spoke. "Winn. Winn, it's Kara. I need your help."

"Wow." Winn said as he swiped and tapped at his tablet. "You are really really broken. I hope whatever this is is Lena's fault and not mine"

"Winn!" The AI said with a huff. "Get Alex, and Lena, please. The Earth is in danger and I need to warn them! Winn please! There was a city on the asteroid, Argo City, there's where Sam and I are now. Winn, please, It's me, it's Kara, please just go get my sister!"

Winn blinked and then screamed. "ALEX!"

When Alex and Lena arrived they were both confused and edgy. Winn being Winn wasn't completely convinced the hologram was Kara, he couldn't wrap his mind around how this was happening. So Alex gave in when he said they should test her to make sure it was Kara. "Fine." Alex huffed. "What was the name of our dog growing up?"

"We didn't have a dog, Alex." The Hologram huffed in a very Kara like way which was weird coming from the projection of Alura. "I had a black cat named Streaky."

"That's to easy." Winn said.

Lena rolled her eyes and asked, "How did I know you were Supergirl?"

On Argo Kara smiled. "I told you I would protect you as Kara and then Supergirl kept that promise for me. Plus, you once said it was the way I looked you, that I couldn't…"

"Hide the love in your eyes behind that S on your chest." Lena said with a warm smile. "Kara. What's going on? What do you need us to do?"

Kara sighed in relief. "The asteroid with the Harun-El, it's not just an asteroid, it's a giant chunk of Krypton. It's Argo City, it survived, and Alex, my mom is alive. She's here with me and Sam in my dad's lab." Kara paused to let that sink in and then continued. "Alex, the woman from Reign's fortress, she was real, and now she's on her way to Earth." After she told Alex about Selena she turned to Lena. "I need your help, Lena. My dad built a transmat portal but it's not functional. I need you to walk me through the repairs and then I need you to get yours back up and running. It's the only way Sam and I have of getting home."

Lena nodded. "Of course Kara." Lena replied while working on her table. "But first," She paused as the hologram of Alura shifted into a hologram of Supergirl. "You're mother is lovely and I look forward to meeting her but I would rather do this while speaking to you."

"Alex." Kara's hologram said. "It's Sam. Ruby?"

"She's fine, Sam, I promise." Alex replied.

Kara's hologram nodded. "Alex, keep them safe until we get there."

Alex smiled. "Always."

Snatching hold of Winn, Alex pulled him along with her as she left the room and headed for the command center. "I need you to use Lena's fancy new sensors to find J'onn's ship before it reaches Earth. We need time to prepare."

Winn nodded as he whined. "You could have just asked me to come along."

With Kara's blessing Winn and Lena had been working on weapons that would work against Kryptonians. Alex had just enough time to warn everyone and to get them gearing up when Winn reported J'onn's ship was approaching fast. They already had a plan in place for Ruby and Andrew in case something like this happened, so Alex didn't have to worry. She knew Vasquez was already on her way to get them and take them someplace safe.

They weren't sure what the dark kryptonians were going to do, but flying the ship into the building via Supergirl's balcony was a surprising first move. It sent the DEO into chaos as it sent rubble, deris and a few bodies flying. Four women clad in black rodes that bore the sigil of the worldkillers on their chest emerged from the ship and began blasting people and things with heat vision. Alex pulled one of her guns as she growled, "Didn't they teach you how to knock on Krypton!"

"Lena?" Kara said through her hologram. She could see through the holograms point of view, so she saw as the building shook and as Lena braced herself a bit. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Lena admitted. "My guess is that your guests have arrived. We should hurry and get this thing up and running."

While the others were trashing the place and tossing DEO agents around like ragdolls Selena focused in on Alex. "You." She hissed as her eyes began to glow. "You kept Reign from consuming Samantha Arias, you and that bastard hybrid brat of hers. You will pay for that, you both will!" Turning to Ferla, Selena commanded. "Find the child and bring her to me!"

"You stay the hell away from my kid!" Alex yelled as she fired two kryptonite bullets into Selena while the other one flew off.

Seeing their leader crumple to her knees as the veins in her body flared a bright green enraged the others and they quickly turned their attention to Alex. J'onn managed to engage one of them, but the second fired off her heat vision. Thanks to the shielding Winn had built into her new suit the blast sent Alex flying backwards, but protected her from the deadly beam of energy. In the split second after her back crashed painfully with the floor Alex detected something strange in the air and sizzling pop sound somewhere north of her head. Then she heard the all too familiar hum of heat vision again and prepared herself for a second blast, but it never came. What she got instead was an offered hand to help her up. Alex blinked.

"Did we come at a bad time?" Astra asked as she clasped the young agent's hand and helped pull her to her feet.

Alex blinked again and then said, "No. If I were the type of person to believe in fate, I'd say you came at just the right time."

"Alura.." Selena hissed out as she forced herself to stand. Digging into her shoulder she pulled the second bullet out and dropped it on the floor beside the first. When the woman turned to face her more fully Selena cackled. "No. Not Alura. Astra. Well isn't this a surprise."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Astra replied. Though she did not recall the woman's face she knew the sigil she wore on her dark robes and that made her blood boil. "Doesn't matter. You're wearing the mark of the bitches who tried to turn my daughter into a monster. I'm going to kick your ass now and enjoy every second of it."

"Oh I'm not simply a follower, General." Selena taunted. "I am the mother of Reign."

Astra knew what the woman was saying and it pulled a primal scream from her lungs. This was the one who had experimented on Sam, who had turned her into a monster, and for every ouch on pain this bitch had caused Sam she would suffer ten fold.

"Astra wait!" Alex cried out before Astra could engage Selena. "One of them flew off to look for Ruby!"

Astra's eyes went wide and she growled. "I will make you suffer for what you did to my daughter." She warned Selena. "But I will kill you with my bare hands if you hurt my granddaughter."

"I got it!" Kara said excitedly as she sprang to her feet. "Lena! Ours is online!"

"Give me a moment darling." Lena's voice came over the comm. "I'll make the connection in a few minutes and we'll get you and Sam home."

"I'm coming with you." Alura said as she entered the room wearing a red tunic and pants.

"Mom?" Kara replied with a mix of emotion in her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"The Earth is your home, Kara, and the people you love are in danger." Alura replied. "I'm coming with you. Besides, Selena and the others and my responsibility."

Kara nodded, the biggest and brightest smile on her lips despite the situation. When the portal came to life Kara, Sam and Alura stepped through it. What greeted them when they emerged was one of the dark Kryptonians about to attack Lena.

"Vita." Alura called out, gaining the other woman's attention. "Of course you'd be following Selena. You always were a gullible old crone."

"Alura." The woman hissed.

"Get the hell away from my daughter's beloved." Alura said before sucker punching the woman out of the room, and then looked startled by what she'd done. Not so much the punch but the power behind it. "Whoa."

"Yeah, yellow sun." Sam said to her aunt. "Powers."

"Is that what this tingling is?" Alura asked as she shivered a bit.

Sam nodded. "It will fade once you're cells are full."

"Lena are you alright?" Kara asked as she rushed to her girlfriend.

Lena smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine, but the rest of this place isn't. Go."

Kara nodded, stole a kiss, and then flew out of the room. Sam gave a little wave to Lena and then followed, leaving Lena and Alura alone in the room. Alura smiled warmly at the girl. "I very much look forward to getting to know my daughter's beloved, after this is all taken care of."

Lena nodded in understanding. "Follow the sound of Kara's heartbeat."

When they all reached the command center and the heart of the fighting Alex had Vita under a redsun net, but Ayala was bearing down on an agent with her heat vision. Sam flew into her, and the pair went crashing into a wall. Meanwhile Kara landed next to Alex who quickly warned her that Selena had feld and another woman was out looking for Ruby. Kara left immediately and Alura followed. Moments later Sam drug an unconscious Ayala into the room and threw her at Alex's feet. Alex was about to tell her about Ruby when Astra returned, tossing Ferla to the floor beside Ayala.

"Mother?" Sam questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"Crashing the party apparently." Astra replied. She looked around and when she didn't spot Selena she growled. "Where is she?"

"She took off right after you did." Alex replied. "I thought she went after you."

Astra shook her head. "If she had she would have attacked while I was fighting this one or on my way back here."

"Selena's message said she would make the Earth pay for Reign's destruction." Sam told them. "And that she wanted to turn Earth into a new Krypton somehow."

As if on cue the ground began to shake and the sky began to to darken. The three women looked at each other and knew this was Selena. Sam looked at Alex and asked, "Need a lift?"

Alex nodded and three along with J'onn flew out of the DEO.

Kara and Alura had tracked Selena to a cave that led deep underground, and as they approached they watched as she plunged something that looked like a trident into the ground. The earth beneath their feet began to rumble and rocks began to fall from the ceiling. Selena used her power to push the trident further and further into the rock, splitting it. Smoke rose from the cracking earth first and little bubbles of lava. "It has begun." She said with a smirk as she opened her eyes and looked out into the darkness. "You can not stop me now girl of steel. The Earth will fall, and in its place New Krypton will rise, and there will be no place here for the House of El."

Selena attacked but Kara had far more experience than she had with their power sets. With Alura's help it seemed as if Selena were about to be defeated but whatever it was she was doing was magical, and it boosted her abilities. Alura lay on the ground after being thrown into a wall and Selena had Kara in a headlock, choking the life from her. "What joy it will bring me to end the House of El once and for all."

"Ya know, witch." Sam said as she and Astra, and Alex and J'onn stepped out of the shadows. "The House of El isn't the only house who protects this planet, and I'm getting a little tired of being overlooked."

Selena let go of Kara, who collapsed to the floor gasping for air. "You were meant to die." She hissed at Sam. "To wither away until only Reign was left, but you refused to let go, refused to lose yourself in the stillness of the Dark Valley. Why couldn't you just forget!"

"I could never forget my daughter." Sam replied as she and Astra moved in unison to keep Selena between them. "I would never let go of my love for her."

"If only it were just that." Selena moaned. "If it had only been the child I could have had Reign kill her and broken you the way we broke your mother, but no, you had to develop a connection to that worthless human." She glared at Alex before glancing back at Sam. "I will take away everything and everyone you love, and I will start with her!"

Selena turned towards Alex but before she could do anything two beams of heat vision hit her at the same time. One coming from Sam and one from Astra. Selena cried out, and fell to her knees, but that did not deter her. Second the beams stopped, she sucked in a breath and blew, sending Alex and J'onn who'd moved to protect her, sailing through the air and into the far walls.

"Stand down!" Kara yelled as she joined her aunt and cousin as they circled Selena. "You can't win this, Selena!"

The ground shook beneath their feet ever more violently. It was getting harder and harder to keep their balance and duck falling rocks of increasing size. It felt as if the cavern they were in would fall on top of them at any moment, and then, sudden it all stopped. The shaking, the rising heat, the hiss that had come from the bubbling cracks in the ground. "Give up, Selena." Came a voice from behind the three circling the witch. "Your plan has failed, your followers defeated, there is nothing more you can do here."

All focus turned towards the voice and what they found was Alura holding the trident. They all watched as Alura broke it, snapping it in two over her knee. Selena screamed. "No!" Her eyes grew white hot but before she could do anything a heavy redsun net fell on top of her, forcing her to knees and dampening her powers. "No! No!" She struggled. "This isn't over! I swear it! I will bring the Houses of El and Ze to their knees!"

Astra slammed her fists down on the back of Selena's neck, knocking her out cold. "I hate when a villian vows venngage at the end more than I do when they monolog."

A shape gasp filled the cavern and all eyes were again on Alura. "Astra?"

Astra blinked. Surely she was seeing things, the fumes in the cavern or the red sun radiation from the net, or from the kryptonate the DEO had used, was making her see things. "Alura?"

The sisters stood there for several long moments just staring at each other, each of them lost in memories and feelings that had been pushed down to the furthest reaches of their souls to be ignored. What would have been the point? They each thought the other long dead and lost to the other forever. It was Alura who took the first step to close the distance between them. She'd known Astra was alive, Kara and Sam had told her, she just assumed Astra was unreachable. She took another tentative step towards her her twin and began to speak in what kind of sounded like Kryptonian but a jumbled, garbled version.

"Do you still remember?" Alura asked.

Astra's breath hitched and her eyes filled with tears as she responded in the same gibberish version of Kryptonian. "Of course I do." Astra took her first step towards her sister. "Is it truly you?"

"It's me, Azzy." Alura said with a nod.

Sam and Alex stood on either side of Kara as they watched the twins slowly move closer and closer to one another. It was Sam who asked, "What are they saying?"

"I have no idea." Kara admitted. "They have their own language, they used it all the time when I was little."

"Twin speak." Alex added in. "It's common here as well especially with identical twins." Then she looked down at the captured Selena. "We need to get her back to the DEO."

Kara nodded. "Mom. Aunt Astra. We should go."

"Hmm?" Astra replied, unable to look away from Alura as if afraid the woman would disappear if she did so. Then her military trained unrattled mind kicked in. "Yes, of course, little one." Finally tearing her gaze from Alura she looked at the young ones. "Led the way little ones."

Once the dark Kryptonians were secure in red sun lamp cells and clean up was underway there was a moment to breath. Alex made her way to where Kara and Alura stood talking and reported, "Selena and her crew are locked up nice and tight. J'onn is working on getting things settled so you can take them back with you."

"Thank you." Alura replied to the agent. "I can assure you that they will face trail and are properly punished for their actions."

Kara was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet with a huge silly smile on her face. "Mom." She said with such glee. "Mom. This is Alex."

"Oh." Alura said before reaching out to hug Alex. "Your family rescued my daughter, gave her a home here, I am eternally grateful for your kindness."

Alex was caught off guard and returned the woman's embrace a little awkwardly. "Sometimes I think Kara's the one who saved us, so I'm grateful to you as well."

"You're doing it again." Sam said as she stepped up beside her mother. Across the open space and down a level they could see Kara, Alex, and Alura.

"Hmm?" Astra replied as she turned her gaze from her sister to her daughter. "Doing what?"

"Brooding from afar." Sam answered. "You did the same thing when you and I were reunited. You stood up there," She looked at the highest level above them. "And watched instead of joining us. You should really knock that off. Go talk to Alura."

Astra sighed softly. "I'm not really sure what to say. There is a lot of history between your aunt and I, Sam."

"You're both alive, and here, at least for the moment." Sam said. "You have more time ahead of you than you do behind you now. This is another second chance, Mother. You have me back, you have Kara, and now you have Alura if you want her in your life again. Do you?"

"More than anything." Astra replied. "But I fear things between us are far to broken."

"Or maybe the two of you can build something stronger from the broken pieces." Sam encouraged.

Astra smiled softly at her daughter. She reached up to brush at Sam's hair and caress her cheek before taking her daughter's advice. Reigning in her fears and self doubt Astra made her way to Alura. She stood a few feet away, took a deep breath and said softly, "Alura…"

Alura closed the distance between herself and her sister quickly and pulled Astra into her arms. "I'm so happy you're safe and well, Azzy."

Astra was startled to say the least and it took her a few long moments to relax enough to return her sister's embrace. When she did, she held on as if Alura were a lifeline. She closed her eyes against the burning of tears welling in her eyes and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with her sister's familiar scent. "Blessed Rao, I am happy you survived."

Alura stepped back and smiled warmly. "We have a lot to talk about."

"We do." Astra nodded her agreement. "Far more than we have time for at the moment, I fear."

"We have time enough to at least start." Alura said to her sister before turning to her daughter. "Kara, is there a place Astra and I may be alone?"

Kara nodded. "The conference room, it can be sound proofed and the windows frost over so no one can see in."

Astra nodded her approval. "That will do nicely, little one, thank you."

Once they were alone Alura spoke first. "I'm sorry, Astra. I am so sorry about everything that happened. I should have fought harder for you not against you, and I should have never used Kara to trick you, and I should have never sent you to Fort Rozz." Alura hung her head. "I regret everything about Fort Rozz."

"I choose to give into the darkness after losing Samra." Astra said softly. "Rather than seeking out Rao's light, and your embrace, I gave myself over to my pain and grief. I wanted to save Krypton for Kara, for you, but there was also a part of me that wanted to watch the world burn because I was suffering and wanted everyone else to suffer too."

"I choose duty over my own sister." Alura said as she moved to stand by the window. "Instead of fighting for you, I expected you to fight for yourself, and when you choose Non over me…"

"You felt betrayed." Astra nodded her understanding. "As did I when I felt you were choosing the Council and Zor over me."

Turning to face her sister Alura asked, "Do you hate me, Azzy?"

"I did." Astra admitted as she moved closer to her twin. "There wasn't much else for me to do in Fort Rozz but hate. But that Astra is dead." She stood beside her sister and now she turned to look out the window. "Did Kara tell you about what happened here? On Earth?"

Alura nodded. "She said you and Non tried to bring terror to this planet as well, but that you were changing when you were gravely injured in combat."

Astra chuckled at that. "Gravely injured. Under any other sun I would have died. Kara thought I had." Turning to face her sister she continued, "I was given a second chance, Alura, and I have learned not to squander such blessings. When the shock and elation of finding each other alive and well wans a bit I'm sure there will be much for us to hash out, but for now all that matters is cleaning the slate so we can move forward, if that's something you want."

"Of course it is!" Alura said as she grabbed her sister's hands. "What do we need to do, Azzy? How do we begin making things right between us?"

"Forgive." Astra answered. "Asked and given, we start with forgiveness."

Alura nodded her agreement. "Whole heartedly given, sister, and humbly asked for."

"Blessedly given, sister." Astra replied as she pulled Alura into another hug.

When they returned to the others it was Kara who quickly asked, "Is everything alright?"

Astra smiled brightly. There would be much to work on in the future. Her relationship with Alura could not be so simply mended. Sam was right, it would need to be rebuilt. They were not the same women they were all those years ago on their dying planet. They would have to learn about one another all over again. "Everything is fine, little one. At least between my sister and I."

Kara visabally relaxed, sighing softly in relief and lighting up with hope.

With that out of the way it was Sam who asked, "Mother, how did you know we needed you?"

"I didn't." Astra replied. "Brainy and I came for a totally separate reason. I need to ask a couple of favors of you."

"What is it Aunt Astra?" Kara asked.

"It's not safe in our time for Brainy." Astra told them.

Brainy frowned deeply and hung his head a bit. "The Evil One has returned."

"And with him he's brought a virus that is fatal to all techo-organics and AIs." Astra continued. "I brought Brainy here to protect him."

"Of course he can stay here!" Kara said without hesitation.

"And the other favor?" Alex asked.

"Because this virus has disabled a lot of our technology we need someone who's more adapt with older technology." Turning to Winn, Astra asked. "Mr. Schott, would you consider returning with me?"

Winn blinked and looked around as if there might be another Mr. Schott in the room. Then he looked at Astra and pointed at himself. "Me?"

Astra nodded. "Brainy believes you will be a valuable asset to the Legion."

"He does?" Winn squeaked and then shook his head. "No, no, Brainy thinks I'm an idiot."

"I do not." Brainy frowned at Winn. "I have merely pointed out you are not a 12th level intellect."

"Same thing?" Winn asked.

Brainy scoffed. "Hardly."

Winn looked stunned. He looked at each of his friends in turn and then back at Astra. "Can I think about this for a minute?"

Astra nodded. "While I do need to be getting back, the luxury of time travel allows us a little leeway."

"That's good." Sam said with a smile. "Because if Ruby finds out you were here and she didn't get to see her grandmother she's gonna be pissed."

Kara squealed in delight. "Family dinner! Mom still needs to meet Andrew!"

"I would very much like that." Alura said brightly. "I would very much like to spend every moment I can with my family."

"Don't worry Mom." Kara said as she took her mother's hand. "There are gonna be lots and lots of moments now they we're all together again. I promise."