Chapter 17: Survivors (War World – Epilogue)

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.

Kara sat on the observation deck of the half-finished Watch Tower orbital station and simply let the unfiltered sunlight wash over her. During the last few days she had pushed even her own formidable physique to its very limit and beyond, resulting in a number of injuries and a level of fatigue she had never experienced before.

When she had finally returned to Earth (she was never going to use the Zeta beam again unless there was absolutely positively no other way and the fate of the universe at stake, too) she had suffered from multiple broken bones, internal injuries, and a near-complete depletion of solar energy. Diana and J'Onn had used their super strength to help set her broken bones (something she was not anxious to repeat anytime soon) and the rest would be taken care of simply through sunlight and time.

There was the added complication, of course, that she didn't want to let her family know how badly she had been hurt. Clark would be equal parts worried and pissed off, the latter because she had never even entertained the thought of taking him along, despite his powers being nearly as strong as her own now. And Martha and Jonathan would just worry and fret. She loved all of them, but she figured she would recover much faster without someone hovering all the time.

So as far as the Kent family was concerned, Kara was busy doing clean-up work from their last mission and continuing to work on the Watch Tower, while in reality she was simply sitting here, giving her body time to recover.

Her mind was constantly at work, though. She kept going over that fight against Mongul that had cost Abin Sur his life. Could she have done something different? Something to keep the Green Lantern alive? Had Mongul escaped from the supernova that destroyed the War World? He had teleported away just minutes before the shockwave from the exploding star had torn that desolate planet apart. Had he reached his ship and made it out? If so, he would no doubt be back to take his revenge. Given that they had first met on Mars, figuring out that she called its neighboring planet home would not be too difficult.

And speaking of Mars...

"How are you doing, J'Onn?" she asked, her eyes still closed, but her hearing having picked up his footsteps a while ago, hesitantly coming closer to her.

"That is what I wished to ask you, Kara-El," he replied, stepping into the room. "You have taken the brunt of the damage in our fight against Mongul, after all."

"Not as much as Abin Sur," she replied.

"That is true," J'Onn agreed. "I only knew him for a few brief hours, but his passing saddens me. He was a remarkable individual. Noble, yet burdened by grief."

Kara nodded. "I really didn't know him much longer, all things considered. We met a few times before, but mostly due to emergencies."

"And yet," J'Onn continued, "there was a tension between the two of you. One could see it even without telepathic powers."

Kara sighed, it figured that others had picked up on that, too.

"Abin Sur was present thirteen years ago when Krypton died," she told him. "He considered the destruction of my world a personal failing. It is why he willingly gave his life in order to protect mine at the end."

J'Onn sat down beside her, his body still in the somewhat humanoid shape he had adopted upon leaving Mars with her.

"This troubles you," he simply said. "Do you believe he sacrificed himself needlessly?"

"I am not sure," she replied. "Sinestro, one of his fellow Green Lanterns, told me that Abin Sur had been supposed to retire from active duty some time ago, but had refused to do so. Apparently he had felt that he had not yet done enough good to balance his failures, few as they were. Now I fear that... well, maybe some part of him wanted it this way, you know?"

J'Onn nodded, understanding what she meant. "We all carry our failures with us; they often weigh much heavier than our successes. The need to mitigate them... it can be a powerful driving force."

Kara looked at him. "You sound as if you speak from experience."

"I do. When the Imperium attacked our world and destroyed my people, I was the one to find a way to stop them. By the time I had succeeded, though, there were none left but me. I stood alone on an empty, desolate world, sole survivor of a war that had driven two species to extinction. Ever since that day the questions have haunted me. Had I failed in some way? Could I have been faster? Could I have done more?"

"Could you have?" Kara asked.

J'Onn chuckled. "Logic says no. Logic also says that it is useless to ponder these kinds of questions, as the past cannot be changed. Logic, however, does not always have final say when it comes to our feelings and actions."

"Ain't that the truth," Kara agreed.

"I am certain Abin Sur had his reasons for doing what he did," J'Onn continued. "Whether or not they hold up against cold logic is ultimately irrelevant. He decided to give his life to protect someone else. There are many worse reasons to die and few better ones."

They fell into silence for a while, Kara turning back towards the viewing window, gazing out into empty space.

"Does it get easier?" she asked a few minutes later. "Being the last of your kind, I mean."

J'Onn turned to her, looking puzzled. "Forgive me if I am mistaken, Kara-El, but is there not another of your kind left alive? I heard Diana mention your son."

"True, but my son, Kal, was but a baby when our world died. He is technically a Kryptonian, but he has never known any home but Earth and has grown up as a human. He has no memories of Krypton."

"Unlike you," J'Onn said, understanding. "You are the only one in whose memories your lost world lives on. Krypton now exists only in you, much like Mars does in me."

Kara sighed. "I was thirteen when our world died and it's been thirteen years since. I have now lived on Earth as long as I have ever lived on Krypton."

"Mars has died thousands of years ago, but I have spent much of the time since in hibernation. I am uncertain how many years it has been in terms of awareness. Decades, certainly, though the years tend to blur when you have no need to tell the time."

Kara had wondered how J'Onn could still be alive so long after his race had gone extinct. Some form of stasis or cryogenic suspension would have been her first guess.

"Have you ever thought to join your people, J'Onn?" she asked.

"Of course, many times. But there was a duty left to perform." He gazed at her. "How about you?"

"Once or twice," she admitted. "But there was Kal. I had promised to take care of him, no matter what, and he needed me. And I needed him, too, I guess. He kept me alive. No, more than that. He kept me living. I am not sure what might have happened, had I been all alone with no one who needed me."

She turned towards him. "And no duty left to perform."

J'Onn's gaze did not meet hers, instead gazing out into space once again. "Are you asking me whether or not I intend to join my people now, Kara-El, as my duty of protecting the crystal key of the Warzoon has ended?"

"I do wonder what your plans for the future are, J'Onn."

At some point during their conversation he had shifted back into his natural form, all long, gangly limbs and elongated head.

"I am uncertain, Kara-El. For the first time in a long time I find myself without a purpose in life." He paused, thinking. "Tell me, Kara-El. What will you do once your son is fully grown and able to take care of himself?"

Kara leaned back, resting on her elbows and stretched her legs out in front of her. "I guess I'll continue doing what I'm doing. Protect this world, do my best to improve it, and keep it from repeating my own people's mistakes." She paused, thinking. "It's something that I could always use more help with, actually."

"Diana and the one called Batman have told me about this alliance you are forging, for which you are building this orbital station. Working alongside you, even for this brief time, has reminded me of the days when I was not alone in the universe."

"The time does not have to be brief, J'Onn," she told him. "I have long come to the conclusion that even someone with my powers cannot deal with every threat, every danger, protect everyone. We all need help sometimes. None of us would have been able to stop Mongul alone."

J'Onn looked at her. "Is this an invitation to permanently join your group, Kara-El?"

"It is an invitation to make yourself a new home here, J'Onn. To find a new purpose for your life. Earth is a strange place, I admit. Its people are young, they are still making many mistakes, but they have also shown me kindness and taken me in as one of their own. My son as well. When I feared we would end up all alone in the universe, they showed me that I was wrong. That I was not alone."

She reached out and touched his hand with hers. "You don't need to be alone either, J'Onn."

J'Onn J'Onnz, last Manhunter of Mars, sole survivor of his kind, had forgotten many things in his long, lonely existence. He had forgotten what it was like to be around other people, how it felt to have someone touch him, or to sense the thoughts of someone else so close by.

The Martians had been a race of telepaths and opening their thoughts to one another had been as natural as breathing. Here, among these aliens, he had to constantly remind himself not to read their thoughts, for they could not do the same in return. They communicated entirely with words, gestures, and facial expressions. Not only did he need to get used to communicating with others at all again, he needed to learn a different way of communicating, too.

Kara-El, the last daughter of Krypton, had been the first living being he had encountered since the last of the Imperium had died. Well, her and Mongul, but they could hardly compare. At first he had freely read her thoughts, learning many things about her, before he recognized the need for restraint. Among the things he had learned was how deeply she cared. It was why she had involved herself in a battle that had not really been hers. Why she had gathered a group of protectors to help him fulfil the duty he had failed in. Why she was now offering him a new purpose in life.

He could not quite suppress the flare of jealousy he felt upon thinking how similar their situations were, yet how different. Both of them had seen their worlds die, but whereas he had been left alone on a barren, desolate planet, she had been given the chance to begin anew on a different world, along with a still-living member of her family.

J'Onn missed his family every single day. His wife M'Yri'ah, his daughter K'Hym. Oftentimes the urge to simply give up and join them in death had been so strong, only the dedication to his duties had managed to stay his hand. Could he really start anew? Could he resist the call of the dead, simply because a stranger had shown him kindness?

He looked at Kara, at her open face and the light of compassion in her eyes. She was a very complex individual, that much he already knew about her. On the one hand she was like him, mourning a world lost, plagued by memories of the dead, nearly crippled by survivor's guilt. At the same time, though, she was a cheerful, optimistic, and kind person, who strove to see the best in everyone and worked ceaselessly to help others.

He had heard her thoughts on Mars, moments before Mongul had nearly killed her, and she had thought only of her son, Clark. How sorry she was that she would not see him become a man. She had so much love in her heart and she was willingly extending that love to others. On the surface this alliance she was building here was simply a means to an end. Meant to protect the world she now called home, the world her son was growing up on. But it was more than that.

Kara-El, he realized, was a builder, a creator. She had lost her own home, so she was creating a new one here on Earth. A home that took in strays, refugees, and survivors, just like her and Kal. She had been shown kindness here and was now determined to build upon this kindness, to multiply it, and spread it as far as possible.

J'Onn had stood on the surface of cold, dead Mars for so long, that he had almost forgotten how the warmth of a home felt. Now, though, he was starting to remember. Squeezing her hand in his, he finally spoke.

"This alliance of yours, of ours, have you thought of a name yet?" J'Onn asked.

Kara considered this, even as she smiled at J'Onn's quiet acceptance of her offer to stay. She thought of Bruce's remark from a few years back, asking her whether she really expected there to be an entire league of superheroes coming out of the woodwork. And she thought of Abin Sur and what Sinestro had called him in his eulogy. A champion of justice.

"Justice League," she said. "How does that sound?"

J'Onn nodded. "That sounds very good."

End Chapter 17

Author's Note: Sorry for the relatively short chapter. I had actually planned to deal with Lex Luthor next, but going directly from an outer space adventure that cost one of her comrades his life to dealing with an Earth-born villain seemed a bit too jarring. So I decided to give Kara some time to recover and also get into J'Onn's head a bit as well. Also, the official naming of the Justice League.