Chapter 151: Argo

The moment Barry heard about the explosion at the CCPD's Fifth Precinct, he immediately took out his phone and called Iris. She had informed him earlier that she was going to that particular precinct to pick up the evidence for Ralph's case. He tapped his foot anxiously as the call continued to ring, only breathing a sigh of relief when Iris finally picked it up. "Hello?"

"Iris," Barry said, truly relaxing. "Are you alright? I heard about the explosion."

Over the line, Iris exhaled deeply. "I'm fine, Barry. At least physically. But mentally… the explosion destroyed everything. Including the evidence for Ralph's case."

"Oh, Iris, I'm sorry," Barry replied, genuinely sympathetic. He knew how much re-investigating her old partner's murder had meant to his best friend. "Do you need me to come over?"

"Don't you have to prepare for Kara's trip to Argo?"

"We've already got the coordinates downloaded, and Cisco and the others can handle the launch without me. If you need me, I'll be there in a flash." He smiled at his own joke.

Iris chuckled. "That's sweet of you Barry, but no, I'm fine. You're needed there more than here with me."

"Alright," the speedster conceded. "But I'm still coming back after the launch is over. I've been away from Central for too long anyway." As both Barry Allen and the Flash.

"Okay then. Later?"

"Later."

It was about half an hour to launch. Kara glanced at where they were prepping J'onn's cruiser, and sighed, before turning on her phone and dialing a specific number. The moment the called picked, she plastered on her happiest smile and spoke. "Hey, Sam!"

"Kara!" The greeting laughter from her best friend was joyful. "You don't know how happy I am to hear from you!"

"Sorry you couldn't visit me when I was at the hospital. My doctor was pretty strict with the visitor guidelines while I was under quarantine. I wasn't even allowed to call anyone." Because she had been too unconscious to do so, but it's not like Sam knew that.

"It's fine. When are you coming back home?"

"Unfortunately, not any time soon. My aunt is still in the hospital, and an emergency just came up with her estate that needs to be settled immediately. Since she's still in a coma, I'll have to handle it."

"Oh." Sam sounded disappointed. "That's too bad. What about Kal?"

"He's coming with me. After all this time without me, he's being a bit clingy, so I've decided to bring him along for the trip so we can spend more time together. I've already the school, but I was wondering if Ruby could pick up his assignments while we're gone."

"Sure thing, Kara. I'm sure Ruby won't mind."

They talked a bit more, catching up on what happened while Kara was in 'quarantine', when Kara noticed a silent Barry approaching her. He nodded, and Kara nodded back.

"Sorry, Sam. I have to go. The doctor wants to conduct a few more tests before I'm officially released from their care."

"Alright." There was a pause. "I missed you, Kara."

Kara smiled. "I missed you too, Sam. When I'm back, we'll have a girl's day out. Just the two of us. Agreed?"

"Agreed." They bid their farewells, and Kara hung up the call.

"Your suit is over there," Barry said once he was Kara was free to speak to him. "Change, and then we'll start getting you settled into the cruiser."

"Right." Kara went over to the changing room to do exactly that.

About twenty minutes later, after she had changed and had been looked over to ensure her space suit was being properly worn, Kara found herself in the front of the cruiser on the driver's side. Next to her was a similarly-dressed Kal, looking around anxiously and somewhat excitedly at the vehicle. For all his shy personality, her younger brother was still a curious teenage boy.

"This is a GPS that will guide you to Argo's coordinates," Barry explained, gesturing to a small screen on the dashboard. "Follow it and you should be able to get there, though be mindful of any debris in your way. You'll have to keep an eye out for asteroids and the link personally."

"Hal will follow you during your ascent into the atmosphere," J'onn added. "It has been a long time since the cruiser has been used for space travel, so we can't take any chances. If anything happens, he'll free you two and bring you back down to Earth to safety."

"And if anything doesn't?" Kara asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Then he'll just let you go."

"Right." She glanced upwards at an impassive Barry, and the frowning Oliver that moved to stand next to him. "We'll be fine, guys."

Oliver sighed. "Please be careful, Kara. We just go your back. If anything were to happen to you or Kal…" He trailed off.

"I know. But this isn't the first time I've done some space-faring. Granted, it was a little farther than last time, but I can handle it." She glanced at Kal next to her, and the exchanged smiles. "We both can."

"Alright. If you're sure."

The two moved away, heading back towards mission control. Slade appeared to help strap them in, giving his own silent support. The hangar gradually opened, showing the blue sky above. Translucent glass appeared, creating a hatch. Kara slid her hand over to Kal's, and gripped it tight.

There was a countdown, and then they were suddenly flying through the air, going at speeds that Kara had only ever reached when she pushed herself hard enough. The pressure was beginning to get a bit much. She looked to the side and saw a glowing Hal Jordan flying with them, giving her a playful salute.

Finally, they broke the atmosphere. They were in space. Kara allowed Kal and herself a moment to gape in awe at the stars, before starting the thrusters. It was time to head to Argo.

In Star City…

After the launch was finished and Hal confirmed that his two alien siblings were safely on their way to the supposed hometown of his sister, Oliver and Laurel practically dragged themselves back home. Calling in a favor from Shining Knight to cover for them, the two had promptly collapsed into their bed, too exhausted to do any more vigilante work. Sleep had been evading them both for far too long.

When they woke up, they both shambled out of bed and prepared for breakfast, still droop-eyed and disheveled. Which was how Tommy found them when he dropped in that morning. "You two look like shit," he said the moment he saw them.

"And we feel like it too," Laurel admitted, nursing a cup of coffee at their table. She didn't even try to deny it.

"Hey Tommy, how was the office?" Oliver asked, tending to the eggs.

The other man shrugged. "Same old, same old," he commented noncommittally. "So Kara and Kal are on their way to Argo?"

Laurel nodded. "Launched yesterday. Communications indicate they'll be there within a couple of hours from now."

"What about Barry?"

Oliver grunted. "Heading back to Central. You heard about the explosion at one of their police precincts?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Iris was caught up in it. She's fine," Oliver hurriedly reassured his best friend, "But Barry wants to be there for her and make sure she's alright himself. Besides that, he's said he's been away from Central too often lately. Doesn't want the criminals forgetting that the Flash is still a thing."

Tommy snorted. "I doubt that. Though the explosion thing worries me. The news said it originated from an evidence locker?"

Oliver nodded, and sighed. "Which is only going to cause more problems for Barry now that so many of those criminals are going to get-off scott free." He shook his head.

"It feels like everything is going to hell right now," Laurel noted. "Astra, Joe Wilson, and now this. We haven't had a crisis like this ever since we were dealing with Talia and Zoom last year. And we all know how that ended."

"Agreed. Hopefully everything can be resolved with minimal bloodshed." Oliver rubbed the back of his head. "The last thing the world needs is another Battle for Earth-1, or something of a similar scale."

"Yeah," Tommy said, voice distant. "We wouldn't that."

Central City

"Honey, I'm home!" Barry announced as he walked through the front, a backpack on his back and a still-warm pizza box in hand.

From where he was doing paperwork at the dinner table, Joe West looked up and smiled. "Welcome home, Barry," he said warmly. "How was Iris?" Went unspoken that the moment Barry had stepped back into Central City, he had gone to see his best friend and Joe's daughter first.

"Good," Barry told him, setting the pizza down on the open space of the table. "Still pretty bummed out about the evidence, but that's to be expected. It isn't as bad as when… when Ralph actually died."

Joe made a sympathetic sound. "She'll be fine," he said. "It'll weigh on her a lot, for a long time, but she'll be able to move on eventually. She's strong like that. And as for Ralph…"

"Maybe something will come up," Barry finished for him.

"Yeah. Maybe." He didn't sound very confident.

"So is there anything I need to deal with now that I'm back?" Barry asked, changing the subject.

His foster father perked up. "Actually, yes. You've got mail. Including a small package that was delivered two days ago. It's in your room, and I haven't opened any of it."

"That's good. It's a federal felony, after all."

Joe laughed. "I'm a cop, Barry. You think I don't know that?"

Barry cracked a grin in return. "I'd be worried if you didn't."

Once he was settled back into his room and his things were unpacked, he settled at his desk and started going through his mail. Most of it were bills and junk, the latter set aside to be shredded and trashed later, while he quickly started writing checks for the former. Nothing out of the ordinary.

That just left the package. Barry did a quick scan of it using his portable version of Gideon, making sure there was nothing untoward inside, before doing a more critical look. While it was addressed to him, there was no sender. It had been mailed anonymously. Curious.

Taking out one of his trusted knives, he sliced through the tape, and released the contents. The package had been light, so he wasn't surprised to see the only thing that had been inside there was a single USB drive, and a letter. Handwritten, with 'To Barry' on the front. The writing looked a bit familiar.

Setting the USB drive aside, he picked up the paper and unfolded it.

And nearly dropped it.

Hey Barry,

This is Ralph. If you're reading this, then I'm probably dead.

Barry nearly swore out loud. Fuck. Fuck. Iris and him had been right. Urgently, he began reading the rest of the letter, trying to commit every word to memory.

If I'm dead, that means that either the deductions I made for the case I was working on were correct and the person responsible was a lot more dangerous than I thought they were, or someone else was responsible and they didn't want me digging any further. Either way, I'm dead, and I'm not coming back.

I was prepared for this. The moment I realized what was going, I knew that any potential investigation into my death would be compromised. So I mailed this ahead of time to you, just in case. The flash drive in this package contains everything about my investigation, including the possible suspect. I'm not telling you in the letter because… well, because I don't think you would believe me at first if I did. I certainly didn't when I realized what was going on. Hopefully the evidence will vindicate me.

As for why I'm sending this to you instead of Iris, my very capable partner, there are two reasons. One, I know your big secret — your big, lightning bolt secret.

Barry paused. That was… well, it was a concern. If Ralph could figure it out, others could too. He should've realized that when Iris did it, and he had put in some extra precautions, but it seemed he hadn't been as careful as he originally thought.

I was going to talk to you about it once the case was over, but I guess that's not happening now. Anyway, the second reason is because I need you, not Iris, to investigate this for yourself first. You can bring Iris in later, but… let's just say the information in here will set her off. She's compromised too. You'll see why soon enough.

Be careful Barry. I know what you're capable of, and I know you're the last person I should be telling this. But this case — there's something about it that scares me. And if scares me, it might scare you too.

From the other side,

Ralph

Barry re-read the letter several times, growing more alarmed by the moment. He glanced to the side, where the flashdrive innocently laid, and buried his forehead into his hand, sighing. What did you get into, Ralph? And what spooked you so much that you couldn't even trust Iris to help you with this?

Meanwhile, in Space…

"We're almost there," Kal commented, staring eagerly at the GPS.

Kara, staring straight ahead and directing the cruiser to avoid an incoming asteroid, merely nodded. "We'll probably come upon it soon. Whatever it is."

Went unspoken was that it might not be Argo. That this could all just be false hope. Truth be told, Kara wasn't sure if she wanted it to be true. If it was Argo, truly Argo… then what had been the point of sending Kal and her to Earth? She didn't regret meeting her family, and if they hadn't been sent there, they would've never reunited with Aunt Astra. Kara would always be grateful for that.

But… there had been pain. So much of it. And if Argo had survived, then they would've never had to endure it. Any of it.

Rao, what am I thinking? That's not why we're here. Lamenting what could've been was unproductive. What was done was done. All they could do was just… move on, and adapt. If this was Argo, then she'd just deal with it. Like she always had.

The minutes passed. And finally, something came to view.

Kara's eyes widen when she saw the domed city, large and imposing but unquestionable vibrant and alive. Inside, she could see the lush green fields, flying cars and the people scattered around, milling about. And the buildings, cutting across the landscape, were tall glowing white monoliths — she had dreamed of those buildings for years when she was younger, desperately hoping that they were real and it was Lian Yu that was nothing more than a mere nightmare. It was all Kara had ever wanted, for so long.

And now it was here, tangible and real.

"Kara…" Kal breathed out, equally in awe. "Is this…?"

"Yeah, Kal. This is Argo."

For a long time, they just stared, lost in disbelief and hope.

"We should go in."

"Right."

It took some maneuvering to bypass the dome, but they managed to find an opening. They landed in a forest on the outskirts of the city, far away from any prying eyes and hidden from anyone that might want to steal their — well, J'onn's — ship. Once they were on the ground, they quickly changed out of their space suits and into more comfortable clothing, mostly sweat pants and long-sleeved shirts and jackets. Kara drew up her hood, gesturing for Kal to do the same, and took out a piece of cloth: her veil, to cover her face.

"Won't this make us more conspicuous?" Kal asked.

"Maybe. But it's just until we manage to find clothing in the city to further disguise us," Kara explained, taking out a empty satchel they had brought with them from the back of the cruiser. Somewhere to store their clothes when they changed.

Now that they were comfortable, they journeyed to the main city itself, keeping close to the trees. When they spotted an open market near the edge of the city, one that was bartering clothing, Kara quickly snuck down and nabbed two beige cloaks from the side while the owner was elsewhere. They'd return it later, once they were ready to leave.

Completely disguised and indistinguishable aside from the veil Kara kept around her face — she just felt uncomfortable without it, knowing that even though it had been decades since anyone saw her child-face, she might be recognized — they ventured into the city itself. The citizens, they quickly noticed, spoke Kryptonese and Kara thanked her foresight that she had begun teaching Kal the language when he had been young. They wouldn't stick out like that, especially since they both spoke the Argoan dialect like everyone else.

For a while, all they did was just… look around. Take in the sights. Argo had changed very little from what Kara remembered of it. It was like a snapshot in time, from before everything went to hell. The only thing that indicated anything had changed was the massive dome that hung overhead, shielding them from the outside. A reminder that there were limits to where the people could travel. That this was the only city they could ever live, from now on.

(That Krypton was gone. Gone fore good.)

"Hey! Thief!"

The two stilled for a moment, only to relax when they saw a young man running through the crowd with a burlap sack in hand, being chased by two peace officers. Kara, out of instinct, subtly stretched out her leg and tripped the thief, causing him to trip to the ground, whereupon he was quickly restrained by his pursuers. One of them, a middle-aged woman with dark brunette hair, gave her nod of thanks which she returned.

"Gonna drag me back to the cells again, Thara?" The thief laughed bitterly.

The officer scowled. "It's Officer Ak-Var to you," she said coldly.

Kara froze upon hearing that name, but shook it off. Once the three were gone, Kal looked up to her knowingly. "You know her," he deducted.

He was far too clever for his own good. "She was my best friend growing up," Kara answered honestly. And it was true. Thara Ak-Var had been her closest friend as a child. They had grown up together.

She had survived. Her her parents and brother? Thara was older now, so much older than Kara. But of course she was — Kara had been stuck in the Phantom Zone for decades. She had stayed the same during all that time. All while everyone else here in this city had continued to live and grow and move on. It was her that was out of place.

Kal tugged her hand. "Come on, Kara. Let's go."

They continued traveling for the rest of day, with the understanding that they would return to the cruiser for sleep. It was because of that they discovered that there would be a festival in the center of the city, where everyone, including members of Argo's High Council, would be attending. Kara quickly decided they needed to attend; it would allow them to get a better idea of who was here, and who they needed to talk to in order to find information on Reign.

The buildings of Argo began flashing brilliant colors as the city square began to fill up. Stalls were erected, selling a variety of goods, from clothing to jewels. Others served food, Kryptonian delicacies that Kara had tried to replicate over the years but never quite managed. She and Kal had quickly found themselves caught up in the festivities, despite the fact that they were technically on a mission. Truth be told, Kara couldn't find it in herself to care. It had been so long since she had attended a festival like this, and Kal deserved to have this experience as well. The only regret she had is that she didn't have money to spend on him, so he could enjoy it in full.

About two hours into the festival, a trumpet-like sound erupted. The people in the square turned, all facing the center, where a line of guards made a small path to the dias that was rising in the middle of it all. The Kryptonian equivalent of the 'red carpet treatment'.

Men and women, mostly middle-aged, began walking down the makeshift path to the dias. They were all wearing elaborate Kryptonian fashion, befitting their high status. Some looked vaguely familiar to Kara, others complete strangers.

And then the final member arrived, and Kara felt her breath catch in her throat.

It was a woman. Far past middle-age, already beginning to gray. She had been beautiful in her younger years, the envy of many. However, time had taken its toll, and she was no different. She was growing old.

But that didn't matter to Kara. She would've recognized this woman anywhere.

"Aunt Astra?" Kal gazed up at the woman in surprise.

"No, Kal. Not Aunt Astra." There was a sharp intake of breath. "That's my mother. Alura."

And we're finally here. After this is one long downslide of chaos. Watch out for the next chapters — we're about to get into the fun stuff.

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