Hi Supergang!
A/N: For anyone who didn't read chapter 1, kri-zhao is Kryptonese and it literally means "bright love," I'm using it to mean a soulmate bond. There's one other Kryptonese word in this chap, zrhueiao, which I've also used in a couple of earlier chapters. It literally means "lovely" (in the the romantic sense, not like "oh what a lovely day"), but I'm translating it idiomatically to mean "my love," as a term of endearment. These are words from an online Kryptonese dictionary, but I'm making my own phrases cuz this is a made-up, incomplete language. So I'm taking some liberties for the sake of having some Kryptonese thrown in to make it more real.
Also, Alex's song is an adaptation of a Welsh lullaby called "All Through the Night," written by Edward Jones in 1784. I adapted it to be Kryptonian, and since the way they speak there is so formal and old-fashioned, I figured their music would be too.
Enjoy the chap! And don't forget to give me your feedback pplz! I need to hear from you to know if I should keep going ;)
…...
I'd Carry a Plane for You
Chapter 18: Rise Up
…...
"Are you sure you're ready to go back to work, Lexie? It was supposed to be two months medical leave, not two weeks," Kara fretted anxiously, as she gently helped Alex slip her arm into the sling and loop it over her shoulder after she'd finished getting dressed. Alex didn't need help putting on the sling, but she knew it made Kara feel better to do it.
"It is two months medical leave, Kar. From field work. Not all work," Alex reminded her doting blonde alien gently, running her free hand through Kara's long hair and giving it an affectionate little tug. "C'mon now, we spent a week with Meredith, we spent another week at home binging on Netflix and raw cookie dough...and all of that was awesome, but if I don't get back to doing stuff soon, I'm going to lose my shit. There is absolutely no reason why I can't sit in my lab and analyze data. I didn't break my brain," the dark-haired girl teased gently. Kara smiled reluctantly, her fingers still tracing lightly up and down the sling covering Alex's arm.
"You'll still be at the DEO. What if there's a containment breach, like in the earthquake? What if a prisoner gets loose? You could still get hurt," Kara sighed, looking up from the sling, finally, into the loving hazel eyes looking back at her.
"I can handle myself, bluebird. You know that. You never doubted me before." Alex slipped her hand into Kara's and squeezed it reassuringly.
"I'm not doubting you!" Kara exclaimed, wide-eyed with surprise. That wasn't what she'd meant at all. "I'm just...scared," she admitted quietly, her voice almost a whisper.
"Don't be scared, zrhueiao," Alex murmured, leaning in and pressing her forehead to Kara's, the way they'd comforted each other since they were kids; then she leaned in the final few inches to kiss her. They hadn't done that when they were kids. Alex could feel Kara's body relaxing from head to toe with the gentle kiss, all her tense muscles slowly going limp. "We had a scare...life is scary," the dark-haired girl sighed. "But it's over now, and it's time to get back to our regular old routine. If things get hairy down in the trenches, I'll have Hank and a heavily-armed paramilitary fleet to watch my back. Besides, aren't you a little bit eager to get back to CatCo too, hmm babe? I know you, and you're not going to really feel like yourself again until you get back to your real life. We're both okay, bluebird. We really are. Have I ever lied to you?" Alex's dark eyes sparkled as she gave Kara her biggest, brightest smile. The blonde girl tried not to smile back, but her lips betrayed her and smiled anyway. She rolled her eyes with a small huff that Alex knew meant okay, you win, without Kara actually having to say it.
Instead, Kara slipped both her hands into Alex's hair and kissed her again, more deeply this time. "I'm okay with you always being right, you know..." the blonde girl sighed against her fiancee's lips as they pulled apart, foreheads still leaning together. "As long as you're still here in fifty years to tell me."
"Don't worry, I will be," Alex smirked, making that cute little crinkle above her nose that just made Kara's bones turn to jelly. If Alex was happy, Kara couldn't stay sad. "You can't lose me, Kar. You know that. I'm your kri-zhao...and you're mine. If our love were any brighter, we'd outshine every sun from here to the next galaxy. Bad guys can't hurt that...they just bounce right off again." Kara laughed and shook her head.
"I think I need one more demonstration," the blonde girl murmured playfully, a crooked grin spreading across her face as she leaned into Alex's lips again.
"Just one more?" Alex giggled, teasing.
"Mm-hmm," Kara hummed.
"Gonna be late for work..."
"Mm-hmm," Kara agreed, cupping Alex's face in one hand and kissing her thoroughly.
…...
In the end, Kara was fifteen minutes late to the office on her first day back; and for once Ms. Grant had absolutely nothing to say about it. Other than a "welcome back" that actually sounded sincere, the blonde boss lady dove straight into business as usual, refraining from asking Kara how she was feeling since the Red K. Kara was incredibly grateful for this. She didn't want to talk about what happened anymore, Alex was right that she wouldn't feel like herself until she got back to her normal life. She needed to be normal today. And somehow, Ms. Grant seemed to know that. Winn and Lucy both hugged her when they saw her in the break room and told her how glad they were that she was back; but they didn't bring up any Supergirl stuff either. Then again, that may have just been due to the fact that they were standing in the middle of a crowded, public place. Still, she appreciated it.
All things considered, Kara got through her first day back at CatCo relatively smoothly. She still didn't feel normal, though. She was going through the motions of her normal work routine, but every time she looked over at Ms. Grant, she got a two-second, traumatized flashback to the moment when she'd thrown her boss off the balcony; and when she looked at Winn, she flashed back to the blank look of hurt and shock on her best friend's face when she'd said to him, you know I am never, ever going to fuck you, right? He'd forgiven her too, just like Ms. Grant, just like Alex; but Kara still couldn't stop reliving it all every time she looked at them. The fact that none of it was her fault didn't change anything for her. She was the one who did it. She caused her loved ones this pain.
But she tried to push on, she tried to focus on what was right in front of her so her mind wouldn't have the chance to wander. Alex had been right, going back to work was helping take her mind off things and get back to what mattered. They still had Myriad to contend with, and they still knew basically squat about it, even after having Astra in their custody for nearly three weeks. Kara remembered what Meredith had said back in Seattle, about always looking forward to the next life you can save. Of course, she was talking about being a surgeon; but really the truth of it was the same for Kara. She still had a whole planet to save from Myriad. That is, if the people of earth still wanted her protection. She hadn't put on her Supergirl suit since the Red K incident. Even after the heart-wrenching TV interview she'd done with Ms. Grant, that would probably win an Emmy or something, she was still terrified that the whole world had lost faith in her; terrified to put the suit back on and see people running away from her, rather than running to her for protection.
"Kara!" Carter's enthusiastic voice cut through the blonde girl's inner monologue of self-hatred as she sat mindlessly filling out paperwork at her desk. "I missed you!" The little boy dropped his backpack in the middle of the lobby and ran to Kara's desk, throwing his arms around her waist as she stood up to greet him.
"Whoa! Hey buddy. I missed you too," Kara smiled warmly, distracted from her depressing thoughts by her favorite ten-year-old.
"Is Alex okay? Mom told me she got hurt. She said that's why you were gone, cuz you had to take care of Alex. She'll be okay, right?"
"Alex is okay. She's back at work today, too; just in the lab though. It'll take a couple of months for her broken arm to heal, then she can get back out in the field." Kara ruffled Carter's hair affectionately. For several months, before the Red K happened, she'd been picking him up from school occasionally, sometimes seeing him at the office when he did his homework at CatCo before going home with his mom; and she and Alex still babysat him from time to time, though thankfully none as eventful as the first time, with the Red Tornado android attack and the bomb on the Supertrain all in one day.
"I broke my arm two years ago and I only had to have my cast for three weeks," Carter remarked innocently, like he thought he could bargain on Alex's behalf for a shorter sentence.
"Yeah, well this was...a bad break," Kara sighed, unable to think of anything else to say that wouldn't alarm the kid rather than reassure him. "It'll take a little bit longer to heal than yours did."
"But she'll still be okay," Carter reiterated, and for a second Kara saw a strong flash of Ms. Grant in her son; the way he somehow managed to ask a question, and make it sound like a command. It was cute, and it warmed her to see how concerned he was for Alex's welfare.
"She'll be better than okay. Don't you worry." Kara squeezed the blonde boy's shoulder affectionately. Then they both looked up at one of the many TVs mounted around the CatCo executive floor, both of their attention caught by the word Supergirl.
"...Where was she last week when National City Mutual was robbed?" One news pundit was saying to the other. "The fact is, no one's seen so much as a glimpse of that red cape since she went crazy and started blowing things up, then did that interview with Cat Grant saying it wasn't her fault."
"So you don't think she was telling the truth in the interview? You don't believe she was poisoned?" The other pundit parried back.
"Well if she was, then where is she now? It's been two weeks!" The first guy said, shaking his head skeptically. "What, did she wake up from being evil and decide it was a good time for a Caribbean cruise?"
"Shut up, butt face!" Carter yelled at the TV, loud enough to startle a couple of people walking by.
"Carter! Inside voices," Kara said gently, but with a small smile. It warmed her heart to see that at least one person still had unflinching faith in Supergirl.
"Just 'cuz some news guy gets paid a kajillion dollars to sit in front of a camera and say his opinion, doesn't mean he's right," Carter fumed, tearing his eyes away from the TV to look back at Kara indignantly. "Supergirl wouldn't lie to the whole world! Especially not to my mom. They know each other, they're friends. It's not fair for people to be mad about what she did when she was poisoned, she couldn't help it. And if something like that happened to me, I'd sure be upset for a while. She should get to have a break like everybody else. Aliens are people, too." The little boy raised one eyebrow in slight concern when he saw Kara break into a huge smile, while simultaneously looking like she was about to cry.
"Kara? Um...are you okay?" Carter asked hesitantly. Kara took a deep breath and nodded, quickly wiping her eyes.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks, Carter. Y'know, I was just about to take a coffee break...but how about an ice cream break instead?" Her smile looked like her own again, and the ten-year-old smiled back.
"Yessss!"
…...
"Knock knock. Did someone here order room service?" Kara grinned playfully as she leaned against the doorway to Alex's lab, holding a big bag of takeout in one hand. Alex looked up from her microscope, smiling back in surprise at the blonde girl standing in her doorway.
"Aww, you didn't have to bring me dinner," the young agent shook her head, but her happy expression clearly said otherwise.
"Mm-hmm. I bet you missed lunch, too?" Kara raised an eyebrow knowingly, looking at the tall pile of case files on Alex's desk next to the microscope. "You know you don't have to catch up on everything you missed in the last two weeks today, right? You do know that? You were on medical leave, not vacation."
"I know, I know. And I didn't skip lunch, thank you very much," Alex smirked, looking very self-satisfied. Kara just stared at her in silence, cocking her head to one side expectantly.
"Okay, okay," Alex sighed, rolling her eyes with a sheepish grin. "Hank brought me lunch. I was in my science bubble, Kar. I forgot about food. My science bubble is a happy place. It's not stressful. I'm not sitting here with this big pile of cases because I'm worried about missing a deadline. I like doing this," the dark-haired girl grinned, crossing the room to pull her overprotective little alien inside.
"...But now that I popped the happy science bubble..." Kara prompted expectantly with a kiss, dropping the takeout bag down on the desk.
"...I realize I'm freaking starving," Alex finished, unashamed as she tore into the takeout bag with her good hand. "Ooh, pizza! Perfect food for the one-handed gimp," she teased, smiling broadly as she took a slice.
"And I got your favorite weird soda, too," Kara teased gently back, holding up the can and then opening it for her, since that really did require two hands.
"Cream soda is not weird," Alex said insistently, but still smiling as she put the pizza slice down so she could take a gulp.
"It is if they don't have it in soda fountains or vending machines. Have you ever seen cream soda in a soda fountain, like anywhere? No. Because it's weird. And it doesn't even have any cream in it! Which makes it even weirder!" They were giggling and teasing each other now; they'd had this playful debate a million times before.
"Well thank you for getting me my weird soda, bluebird." Alex leaned in and gave Kara a slow, teasing kiss.
"Hmm...anything for you, Lex," Kara grinned contentedly when Alex pulled away, savoring the kiss with a sigh. "But I'm still drinking Coke like a normal person." She held up another soda from the bag. Alex threw a crumpled-up napkin at her and called her a brat. Kara responded with I'm the brat who brought you pizza, which there was no good reply for other than thank you, baby.
…...
After the pizza was gone, Kara had no illusions that Alex could be convinced to leave her happy science bubble for the night; she was so excited to be back at work, Kara didn't have the heart to argue with her. Alex assured her that she didn't have to stay; it was true that the dark-haired girl couldn't drive with her broken arm, but now that she was restored to active duty with a medical restriction, she had an entire fleet of black ops soldiers and unmarked vehicles to pick her up and drop her off whenever she needed, so she didn't have to rely on Kara to get around.
"No, I'll stay...I kind of have something here I've been wanting to do," the blonde girl said shyly, looking down at her hands. Alex's happy science bubble popped again at the sound of Kara's voice; it was hesitant, vulnerable. Uncertain.
"Yeah? Do you wanna tell me?" Alex asked gently, sitting back from her microscope again.
"It's silly..." Kara blushed and shook her head. She was still avoiding eye contact.
"So silly you can't look at me?" the young agent hopped off her stool and walked around the desk to where Kara sat, and tilted her chin up. The blonde girl smiled a little sadly.
"Ever since we got engaged...and you gave me the most special ring in the galaxy..." They grinned shyly at each other for a moment. "I've been wanting to show Aunt Astra. I know it's stupid, she's an intergalactic criminal..."
"...Who happened to tell you bedtime stories on Krypton," Alex finished, stroking her love's long blonde hair with tender fingers. "I get it...she's part of who you are, no matter what she's done. She's the only living link to your past. And she loves you, Kara...she does. She could have killed you so many times, but she didn't. She couldn't. She didn't even kill me when she had the chance, because she didn't want you to have to lose me. She helped us save you from the black mercy...there was no logical reason for her to do any of those things."
"And she's planning to enslave the entire human race...which includes you," Kara sighed, shaking her head at the conflicting emotions she felt toward her aunt.
"Well, yeah. There's that." Alex smiled sympathetically, and pulled Kara in for a kiss. "Go talk to her, bluebird. Just for tonight, you can be a regular, happy person in love, showing off her totally awesome and literally irreplaceable engagement ring to her favorite aunt." Alex smiled brightly. Kara gave a little snort of laughter.
"You always know what to say," the blonde girl shook her head.
"Only when I'm with you," Alex shrugged.
"Well then I guess you better marry me, huh?" the blonde superhero smirked, wrapping both arms around her fiancee's neck and kissing her again.
"Guess I better," Alex agreed contentedly. "Go on, baby. I'll be right here if you need me."
"'Kay," Kara nodded, giving Alex one last kiss for courage. Then she left the lab, slowly making her way toward the prisoner bay. The guards at Astra's cell door nodded to her respectfully when she approached, and didn't even bother asking to see her clearance. Kara was grateful, because it was the first time they'd ever seen her out of her uniform, and everyone knew she was on medical leave from the DEO right now pending a psych evaluation; but they also knew that Astra was her aunt. And if Supergirl wanted to speak to her aunt, whether she had official DEO business or not, they weren't going to stand in her way.
The doors opened, and there was Astra, sitting calmly in the middle of her cell, apparently meditating. "Kara. I've missed you," she said quietly as she opened her eyes.
"I've missed you too," Kara replied with a sad smile.
"You look so strange in earthling clothes," Astra nodded towards her niece, looking over her jeans and tank top (she'd changed out of her work clothes before picking up the pizza). And Astra had only seen her in her Supergirl suit.
"I've been dressed in human clothes every day for the past twelve and a half years," Kara shrugged, looking down at her sneakers, then back up at her aunt again. "You're the one who looks strange to me now."
"The humans may have taken you in, but that doesn't mean you belong with them, Kara," Astra said evenly, returning her niece's cool eye contact.
"Does this?" Kara asked in a small, shy voice, as she held out her hand and showed her aunt her engagement ring. Her Kryptonian, kri-zhao engagement ring, reserved for the lucky few who found a true soulmate and didn't have to rely on their families to arrange an appropriate marriage. Astra gave a little gasp and smiled hugely, totally on reflex, her face lit up with happiness for her niece. And for that moment, Kara felt a surge of euphoria, like no time had passed and nothing had changed between them from her childhood, and everything was exactly as it should be.
"Where did you get that? This is a kri-zhao ring," Astra exclaimed in shock.
"I know that."
"Your brave one gave you this? She could not possibly gain access to a lost treasure so precious."
"She...well, she didn't make it exactly, but she had it made for me. We're getting married. She's my kri-zhao, Aunt Astra. She was from the moment I stepped out of my pod when I was thirteen years old. I just...wanted to show you." Kara's blue eyes were wide and vulnerable as she looked up expectantly at her aunt, waiting to see her reaction. A few silent seconds passed that felt like hours. "So...do you still want to make the entire human race your slaves? Including my kri-zhao?"
"Sweet Kara..." Astra sighed. "If only things were so simple."
"They are that simple. You can change your mind, Aunt Astra. You can always change your mind. Tell me about Myriad...tell me how to stop it." This wasn't what she'd planned to talk about when she'd come in; but now that they were face-to-face, and Kara was showing her aunt that she had a home and a future and a soulmate here on this 'primitive' planet, it seemed like utter pretense to try to talk about anything else.
"Myriad cannot be stopped, my sweet one. You have your mother's optimism...but you are blinded to the grim reality of this planet's fate, just as your mother was on Krypton. If only she had listened to me then...we might still be home in Argo City."
"If it can't be stopped, why don't you just tell me?" Kara asked desperately, her eyes filling up with tears that she refused to let fall. Astra sighed, and held up her hand against the glass wall of her cell, just as she had the first time Kara came to see her here. Kara held up her hand and pressed it against the glass too, even though it made her dizzy and nauseous from the low level Kryptonite radiation that kept her aunt powerless inside her cell.
"Myriad was meant for Krypton, Kara. It's the reason your mother banished her own twin sister to the phantom zone," Astra said, her voice slow and deliberate, never looking away from her niece's sharp blue eyes. "Now this planet is in the same danger; its people are exploiting the environment past the point of sustainability. Left unchecked, it will be uninhabitable within your lifetime, sweet Kara. The humans have had this information for decades, yet they do virtually nothing to prevent their own imminent doom. Just like on Krypton, the politicians will continue to argue until it is too late. Myriad will put an end to all the divisiveness, all petty bickering; there will be no more racial lines, no Republicans, no Democrats. Only one people united in one goal, to save the world. None will resist. And this planet that you love so much will be saved." Astra smiled hopefully at her niece, desperate for her understanding.
"To be inhabited by a population of mindless slave-drones?" Kara asked, shaking her head in horror. "That's not a life, Aunt Astra. You know it isn't. It's a nightmare."
"It is a better life than no life at all," the older woman countered, a note of desperation in her voice, like maybe she was trying to convince herself as well as Kara.
"But those aren't the only choices," Kara shook her head, still holding her hand up to her aunt's through the glass even though the radiation was making her feel sick. "We can save this planet, we can change the world. But not like this. Not by force. Let the people of Earth learn from Krypton, let them see what we did to our world. Let them choose to save themselves. Let us choose to save ourselves. For the love of Rao, Aunt Astra...please. Just tell me." Tears were sliding down Kara's face now, though she was trying hard to keep her composure.
"You cannot stop it," Astra shook her head again, her voice sad and resigned now rather than smug. "But I will tell you everything, my sweet one...soon enough you will see it for yourself." The older woman began explaining to Kara how Myriad worked, how her army had planted their mind-control devices under every Lord Tech satellite on earth; and when they all synched up and activated, carried by Lord Tech's satellite signals to every corner of the globe, the new world order would begin.
…...
Kara still had shocked tears glittering in her eyes when the glowing green lights of concentrated kryptonite radiation suddenly flooded the entire room, sending blinding waves of pain vibrating through her body that were so intense, her knees gave out from under her, and she fell to the floor in a heap next to her aunt's cell with a gasp that knocked all the wind out of her. Inside the glass, Astra was in a similar state. Before Kara even had a chance to push through the pain enough to form a coherent thought, General Lane marched in, looking more smug and satisfied than ever before, with three soldiers marching behind him. One of them was carrying a long, glowing green sword that made Kara feel even weaker and sicker the closer it came to her.
"Thanks for the intel, Supergirl," the pompous general said snidely to the girl trembling in pain on the floor, as the small military entourage approached the cell. "Now we don't have to waste any more of our precious resources keeping this dangerous alien terrorist as a prisoner." Kara rubbed her hazy eyes with one shaking hand, feeling hot and cold all at once, sweaty and dizzy, like the time she was sick with a fever when she blew out her powers. But this was even worse than that. It was worse than any of the other times she'd been exposed to kryptonite. The General must have turned the containment field levels all the way up to the very highest setting to debilitate her this much.
"No...you can't..." Kara panted, realizing even through the haze of agony coursing through her body what the general intended to do, and cursing herself for not realizing that the room would of course be bugged as long as General Lane was in charge. Now that they had all the information about Myriad, they didn't need Astra as a prisoner anymore; so they were just going to execute her. With every ounce of willpower she had, Kara crawled on her hands and knees until she was right in front of the door to Astra's cell, and collapsed there, blocking the door with her panting body. The General snickered to himself, amused and smug to see Supergirl so helpless for a change.
But Kara wasn't done yet; she tapped her bluetooth earring with one trembling hand. "Alex..." she croaked out in a rough whisper, turning to look at her aunt through the glass, who was looking back at her just as desperately, rendered speechless by the pain. "Help us..." She barely heard Alex's answer; her senses were going in and out of focus, and she knew she was going to black out soon. But she couldn't. She just had to hold on a little longer. Alex was coming.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" J'onn's deep voice boomed as he strode purposefully into the room with Alex at his heels. A half-dozen more DEO operatives streamed in behind them. Alex ran straight to Kara, putting herself between her kri-zhao and the kryptonite-laden soldiers, her dark hazel eyes blazing with a protective fury.
"I'm running this operation, Henshaw. I'm the one who asks the questions around here," the general barked. "Now get your agents out of here, and take Supergirl with you if you know what's good for her. The alien terrorist has fulfilled her usefulness, and now it's time to rid the world of her menace once and for all."
"What?" Alex gasped in horror, looking up from the floor where she was kneeling protectively in front of Kara, and taking in the long kryptonite sword the soldier next to General Lane held. "You can't do that! We're government agents, General Lane, we're not executioners! We don't violate the Constitution, not ever. There's been no trial, no due process. This isn't a conviction; it's murder."
"You have the audacity to tell me about the US Constitution? I was protecting this country from terrorist threats when you were in diapers!" the general roared furiously. "The Constitution, Agent Grey, applies to people. Not aliens. Now stand aside before my men have to remove you by force. You want to use that arm again?" He gestured to her sling. "Don't make my men break it all over again."
"Aliens are people too," Alex said stonily, her free hand gripping Kara's tightly. "You'll have to kill me to get past this door."
"This is treason," the general snarled. "Hernandez! Take them out!" When his soldier remained motionless, General Lane looked back at him furiously.
"Supergirl saved my life, sir," the man shook his head. "I'm not laying a hand on her."
"That's right, you're not," J'onn said stonily to the young soldier, as the half-dozen black-clad DEO agents swarmed around the general's men, to stand in a protective formation in front of Alex and Kara at Astra's cell door.
"I don't believe this! I'll have every one of your badges!" The general bellowed, his face going beet red. "McAdams! Arrest these insurrectionists!" But the other soldier didn't move, either.
"Sir...I don't think..." the young man shook his head uncertainly, clasping his hands behind his back to show he meant to harm.
"You are not paid to think, son! This is the United States military! You are here to follow orders! If you can't do that, I'll arrest you myself along with the rest of them!"
"Agent Grey is right, sir," the young soldier said respectfully, keeping cool eye contact with the red-faced general. "We aren't executioners. We kill only when we have no choice. In battle. We don't walk into prisoner cells and murder them on their knees."
"Oh, for the love of Christ!" the general snapped, yanking the kryptonite sword from the third soldier's grip. He marched purposefully toward the small crowd blocking Astra's door, intent on hurling each human being aside before doing the job he'd come here to do. If Supergirl continued to get in the way, he'd take her out, too, as a collaborator.
"Stand down, General. Before I put you down." J'onn stepped in front of the general, calm but focused.
"Hank, no, don't," Alex begged, realizing what he was about to do. He looked down and winked at her. Then he transformed into his true shape, growing taller and taller as his dark skin turned green, and his eyes red.
"Aliens are people, too," he said simply, standing protectively over Kara and Alex. Everyone else in the room just goggled at him. General Lane's expression finally changed, from red-faced fury, to bone-white terror.
"The President will hear about this," he spluttered furiously, slamming the kryptonite sword back into its metal sheath as he turned and walked out.
"Damn right she will!" Alex yelled after him.
…...
It was hours later when Astra woke rather suddenly with a jolt of shock, her memory hazy and her surroundings unfamiliar. She was on a flat plastic table that glowed bright as this planet's yellow sun; there were more glowing panels on her sides and over her head. Were they...healing her? She tried to think of the last thing she remembered...Kara. She had been speaking with her sweet niece, had seen her heartbreakingly beautiful engagement ring, from the brave one. Alex. And then...Myriad...and then pain beyond all words. The physical memory made her body twitch, and she realized her wrists and ankles were cuffed to the table with kryptonite-lined restrains. They weren't painful, it was only enough to keep her from breaking free. They were healing her, but she was still their prisoner. Humans had done this to her...but humans had also saved her.
Astra's musings were interrupted when her attention was caught by Kara and Alex, on the other sunbed across the room. They hadn't noticed she was awake; she'd only just opened her eyes, and she'd barely moved. The two young women were totally consumed in a world of only each other; Alex was lying on her back on the sunbed, since she couldn't lie in any other position with her broken arm; and Kara was curled up on top of her, whimpering softly with her face hidden against the dark-haired girl's neck. Alex's good hand was running slowly, methodically, through Kara's long blonde hair; and she was singing softly. Astra couldn't believe her ears: the brave one was singing a Kryptonian lullaby, one she herself had sung to Kara when she was very young. It was an ancient song, passed down from generation to generation; and now, Astra realized, they had the chance to keep that heritage alive, pass it down to another generation, even if Krypton was gone. It was still alive in Kara and Alex; it could be alive in their children some day.
"Sleep, my zrhueiao, and peace attend thee, all through the night..." Alex sang softly. She had replaced the word for beloved child with her romantic beloved, zrhueiao; she spoke Kryptonese, at least a little. For Kara's sake, no doubt. She had a beautiful voice, and it was obviously giving Kara great comfort as her whimpers tapered off, and she burrowed deeper into her beloved, pressing her face into Alex's dark hair and cuddling up snugly against her. "Guardians of light, great Rao will send thee, all through the night...soft the drowsy hours are creeping, hill and dale in slumber sleeping...I my loved one's watch am keeping, all through the night..."
"I will help you stop Myriad," Astra croaked out in a hoarse voice, rough from the screams of agony she'd endured in the kryptonite-filled cell. She wasn't sure if they heard her or not before she passed out again under the sunlamps.
