Early in the morning, before the sun had greeted the new day and signaled what could possibly be the end of California, six teenagers and Old Lace had settled on Nico and Karolina's balcony together. Karolina and Nico sat in their chair like they did most nights, Nico sitting between Karolina's legs and leaning back against her chest. Molly and Gert sat against the railing, Old Lace resting in between them. Alex and Chase both sat on the railing of the balcony, carefully keeping their balance forward so they wouldn't fall.
"We're really doing this today, aren't we?" Alex broke the silence, looking at his friends, his family. He had a fleeting notion that their family was growing, had grown already even, by three but he didn't want to voice that just yet.
"We are." Nico answered lowly, Her hands rested over Karolina's across her own stomach, fingertips lightly tracing Karolina's knuckles. Karolina squeezed her waist gently and Nico leaned closer to her.
"And this will all be over?" Molly asked, sounding hopeful. Nico saw Gert and Chase trade a look and wondered what it meant. They seemed to have a silent conversation, something they'd accused Nico and Karolina doing quite often. It was sort of endearing, seeing that from the outside. It made Nico realize how connected Gert and Chase were, and made her feel that much closer to Karolina.
"No," Karolina answered Molly's question, and continued before Molly could ask the follow up that was on the tip of her tongue. "We won't have to deal with Jonah anymore," the 'hopefully' there went unsaid but not unthought, "but our parents are still criminals. We can't let them get away with it anymore. I can't."
"But our names are cleared." It was an unpleasant news show to watch, barely a week prior, when the five older children were cleared of the murder and kidnapping charges against them and all the blame was placed on Darius. Alex couldn't help but feel extremely guilty about that, especially because Darius had been the one to get him the money they had used to get out of town.
"And the blame was placed on an innocent man," Alex reminded Molly gently. "I'm sorry, Molly but we can't go home yet. Stopping Jonah isn't the only thing we need to do, just the first."
"I wasn't asking because I want to go home," Molly said, idly stroking a hand along Old Lace's flank. "I am home. I just wanted to go back to normal, you know, school and dancing? Mostly dancing though."
Gert chuckled and rubbed Old Lace's nose. "You like this place that much?"
"I mean the mansion is awesome," Molly shrugged, "and it'll be even cooler when Lena implements that AI she told us about, but it's not just that. We've had good times here, and I don't feel like I have to hide anything here, or like anything is being hidden from me. It's comfortable."
"So, you'd want to stay here? When this is all over, I mean." Gert questioned in what she hoped was a light tone. Her friends knew her better than that and could see right through her, but none of them commented on it. Gert had her own issues with authority and her anxiety was making it more difficult to settle comfortably at the mansion but Gert thought that had more to do with the whole saving-the-world issue than with Kara, Lena, or Alex D.
"I don't really want to go back to L.A." Molly admitted, "I like it here, and unlike all of you guys, I'm still going to need an adult around after this is all over." That was an unacknowledged truth among the six teenagers. Molly was still only fourteen years old, she'd been fifteen in a little over a month. Chase would be eighteen in three months, with Karolina following a month later and then the rest would follow one by one. "As much as I'd like to stay with you, Gert, we don't know if the courts will let that happen."
"I don't really want to go back to L.A. either," Karolina said, taking the focus off of Molly and Gert, the latter of whom looked moments away from having an anxiety attack as she thought about her sister's words. "This place feels like home to me, and Kara, Lena, and Alex, they're like the older sisters I never had."
"I still can't believe they did all of this for us." Chase said, gesturing around them with one hand. "The mansion, the training, the food," the others chuckled, "I'm glad we ended up here."
"Me, too." Alex agreed. Gert nodded her agreement but she couldn't quite ignore the rise in anxiety she felt. It was baseless she knew, but after everything that was happening with their parents and Pride, it was hard for Gert to go back to accepting the unconditional love of an adult without feeling they were going to eventually ask for something Gert couldn't give. She didn't truly believe that Kara, Lena, or Alex would ever make such a request, but the fear and anxiety remained all the same.
"So we make sure we make it back here," Nico said in the quietly authoritative way she had. "We'll figure everything else out after we make it back home."
Karolina and Nico remained on the balcony as their friends trickled out to their own rooms to get dressed and ready for the long day ahead of them as the sun began to creep over the horizon. The summer air was warm, the sky painted in gorgeous shades of pink and orange as the stars faded from view. It was an image they could never get in L.A., a sky full of stars, one that was only possible due to the absence of bright city lights washing out the light from the stars. Absently, Karolina wondered which of those stars could have been her home in another life. In a life where she wouldn't have been the poster child for a made up church, or the daughter of a murderer. A life where she wouldn't have known Molly or Gert or Chase or Alex. Amy. Nico.
Closing her eyes, Karolina pushed those thoughts away. The life she had wasn't perfect, but she'd gladly live it the same way if it meant that she'd end up getting to love Nico again.
"Karrie?" Nico's soft voice pulled Karolina from her thoughts and Karolina realized that not only had she started to glow but Nico had shifted in her arms. Now, Nico sat facing Karolina with a leg on either side of her body, straddling her waist.
"Oh, sorry," Karo said as she called her lights back into herself. Her hands came to rest on Nico's thighs and she rubbed her thumb against the skin there in an absent motion.
"No, that didn't bother me at all," Nico smiled softly at Karolina, resting her hands against Karolina's chest. Karolina could feel Nico's fingers pulling at a loose thread on her sweater. "You know I love your lights."
Karolina nodded mutely, offering Nico a smile of her own. Nico stared deep into Karolina's eyes, so intensely Karo swore Nico was looking directly at her soul. There was so much emotion in the dark irises of Nico's eyes, fear and hope and apprehension and love, so much love it took Karolina's breath away. She could see Nico's thoughts roll around in her mind, the confession she was building up growing in strength until Nico opened her mouth again.
"Karolina, I-"
"Wait," Karolina interrupted softly, placing one finger over Nico's lips. Nico looked at her in surprise, a dash of hurt in her eyes. "Not because I don't want you to say what I think you were going too," Karolina quickly explains. "Or because I don't want to say it back. I do, I promise."
"Then why?" Nico questioned as Karolina pulled her hand away but instead of it dropping back down to her thighs, Karolina cupped Nico's cheek.
"Because I don't want our first time saying that to be out of desperation. Nico, despite everything we've done to prepare for this, we both know there's a chance we won't be coming home today." Nico hadn't even realized she was crying until Karolina wiped a tear away with her thumb. "I don't want you to say it now, because you're scared you might not get the chance to later."
"That's not why I'm saying it," Nico protested. "I'm saying it because it's true."
"I know," Karolina whispered, sitting up a bit so she could rest her forehead against Nico's. "I feel it, too."
"But you still don't want me to say it." Nico slid her arms around Karolina's shoulders to pull her closer.
"Not yet." Karolina wrapped one arm around Nico's waist, her other hand sliding from Nico's cheek to the nape of her neck. "When we make it back home. Tell me then."
"Okay," Nico agreed softly. "You better make it home, Karolina Dean or you're sleeping alone for a month."
"No I'm not," Karolina laughed softly and the sound made Nico smile for a moment until her lips were preoccupied. Karolina kissed her softly, all the words she couldn't say spilling into Nico's mouth with the promise of being said someday. Nico kissed back just the same, holding onto Karolina like she was afraid she wouldn't be able to be like this with her again. They kept kissing for a moment until Karolina could hear voices drifting up from the backyard and realized that they were quickly running out of time. "We have to get dressed."
"Yeah, I know," Nico agreed but she didn't attempt to move for a long moment, instead choosing to study Karolina's features in the soft light of the rising sun. It almost seemed like she was trying to commit every detail of Karolina to memory, just in case.
Eventually, Nico stood from her seat over Karolina's legs and held her hand out to help her girlfriend up as well. As they moved into the bedroom proper to get dressed, Nico felt those three words resting on the tip of her tongue. She understood why Karolina had stopped her from saying it and she had a feeling that Karolina knew exactly how Nico felt without her having the said words, but Nico almost regretted listening to her. If Jonah launched the ship or if California fell into the ocean or something equally as terrible happened and Nico ended up losing Karolina, she didn't want to have any regrets. Not telling Karolina that she loved her when she had the chance would be Nico's biggest regret.
Before she can work up the nerve to try and broach the subject again, Karolina is dressed and waiting by the door for Nico to finish strapping the Staff of One to her back in a holster that Lena had made for her. Taking in Karolina's appearance, Nico looked curiously at the bit of silver on her wrist. Karolina had stopped wearing her bracelet three weeks ago when she decided that she had enough control to turn her powers on and off on her own. Her control wasn't perfect yet, as evidenced by her lights coming out when she was zoned out sometimes, but it was leagues better than it was before.
"You're wearing the bracelet?"
"Just in case they're already at the digsite when we get there." Karolina fingered the clasp nervously. "I don't want them to know I have more control now, it could be an advantage for us."
She's right, of course. It was a strategy that they had already discussed, like Nico using verbal commands for the Staff of One even though she was better at non-verbal. It still feels a little odd to be hiding things like this from their parents though, but Nico isn't sure if it will ever not feel weird to think about her parents now. Nico nodded her understanding and then reached for Karolina's hand so they could walk downstairs together.
The rest of their friends, Kara, Lena, Alex D., and two DEO agents that the kids had met before but Nico couldn't remember their names were waiting for them in the kitchen. The adults looked perfectly calm but the teeangers all picked up on the hints of worry in their eyes. It was nice, Nico thought, to have people worried that they wouldn't come home safe. She squeezed Karolina's hand.
"Okay, from our surveillance of the dig site, the best time to get there is between 6 and 8, after the workers have left for the day but before the security service is replaced for the night. The six of you will be able to sneak in through the back like you did before." Alex D. began explaining the most basic outline of their plan, which pretty much boiled down to showing up and either keeping the ship where it was or launching it before Pride could with Kara there to make sure it didn't destroy too much of the earth when it launched. As far as plans went, Nico felt that there was too much grey area but none of them could predict if Pride would show up or not. Technically, the deadline that Tina and Janet had given them was for tomorrow.
"The six of you are going to drive to L.A. so you'll get there at the right time, while the rest of us set up at the DEO L.A. base. You all remember the address, right?" Alex waited until all six teeangers had nodded before continuing. "We'll monitor the digsite for interference from Pride or anyone else while you guys assess the ship. Karolina will fly Nico and Chase down to the ship while Molly, Gert, and Old Lace look for anything that might be able to destroy the ship or fill the hole in. Alex will look for anything that might control the ship from the ground."
"And from there we just pray that something works," Gert said cynically and then looked down in embarrassment like she hadn't meant to say that outloud.
"If anything happens and you need us to come in," Lena began. "Hold your finger on this to activate a frequency that only Kara can hear." Lena handed each of the Runaways a silver necklace that had a locket in the shape of Kara's family crest on it. Each of them looked to Kara, who nodded in approval and smiled at them, before slipping the chain over their necks.
"I promised all of you that I would let you do this because it is your fight, but I want all of you to know that you are not alone. No matter what happens today, you guys will always have a home with us, if you want it." Kara smiled at the six teenagers as she spoke, linking her hand with Lena's as she looked at the kids with obvious pride and affection. "If you need me, I'll be there faster than sound."
"She means that literally," Alex D. joked softly. "It wouldn't be the first time she's broken the sound barrier."
"No, the first time was just for fun." Kara agreed, pulling a tense laugh out of the teens. Their shoulders relaxed slightly and Kara held out her arms to them. "C'mere, guys."
Molly was unsurprisingly the first to move, wrapping her arms around Kara and Lena at once before the others joined in one by one, even Old Lace wrapping her tail as far around the group as it would go.
"You'll be home tonight," Kara told them, her arms stretched wide to hold as many of them as she could at one time. "We promise. Everyone comes home."
The hug broke a few moments later and if there were a few wet eyes, no one commented on it. Alex D. handed Alex W. the keys to the DEO issued SUV they'd be taking, specially modified to hold all six kids with room for Old Lace, it would be a tight fit with all of them together.
"Guess we should hit the road." Alex said as he took the keys offered to him. Lena then reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone that she placed in Gert's hands.
"Give us updates as you go," Lena instructed. "We'll see you at the DEO after."
"Don't you have a meeting today?" Gert asked as she pocketed the phone.
"Do you really think I can concentrate on dealing with old white men when the six of you are heading into the belly of the beast?"
"I mean, you probably could, but I see your point," Gert shrugged with a grin. "I wouldn't want to deal with old white men either."
Lena chuckled at Gert's comment and then gestured for her to join her friends waiting near the table for her before they walked out. Lena fell into step beside Kara as they followed the kids out to the SUV that Alex had driven over for them that morning, tangling their fingers together. Kara squeezed her hand gently, clearly reading the knot of worry that Lena couldn't manage to completely snuff out. Gert got Old Lace loaded up and settled in before climbing into the back row with Chase. Molly and Karolina sat in the middle row and then Alex and Nico claimed the driver's seat and front passengers respectively.
Kara, Lena, Alex, Winn, and Vasquez watched the kids drive off in silence, the accelerated heart beats of Kara, Lena, and Alex the only evidence that something was amiss around them.
"You guys got really close to those kids, didn't you?" Winn asks his best friend, noting the tense shoulders and clenched hands of the women around him.
"They're family."
It was a simple explanation but one that Winn knew was incredibly special. Kara had always had an over abundance of love. She loved freely, Winn was of the mind that Kara wouldn't be nearly as effective as Supergirl if she didn't hold such great love in heart, but being loved by Kara and being Kara's family were two totally different things. Kara was a woman who had lost her entire family, her entire world, and yet she still found the strength to let people into her heart and life in ways that would inevitably leave their marks on her heart.
"We should head to the DEO if we want to beat the kids to L.A." Vasquez reminded them a moment later. Nothing more was said as the three DEO Agents climbed into the other SUV that Vasquez and Winn had driven over that morning while Kara and Lena made their way to Lena's car.
The only sound in the car was that of a low, soothing rumble coming from Old Lace. The deinonychus had moved her head so it rested along the top of the back row of seats, her snout peeking out between Gert and Chase. Gert was absently stroking Old Lace's snout with her left hand, her right hand stretching across the small space to hold on to Chase's. Molly sat looking out the window, playing with the loose bits of string hanging from her cat ear beanie. Karolina shared the middle bench row with Molly, sitting on the passenger side behind Nico. Their hands were joined, Nico reaching back and Karolina leaning forward to maintain the connection in what was possibly the most uncomfortable position possible but one that neither of them were willing to pull back from. Alex drove with both hands on the wheel, occasionally lifting his left hand to push his glasses back against his nose.
"We should have a Harry Potter Marathon when we get home," Molly broke the silence eventually, as they all knew she would.
"No way, if we're going with magical classics, we have to watch Lord of the Rings first." Alex disagrees. "The extended additions, too."
"Alex, that's like two days worth of films." Chase says, exasperated but clearly thankful to be pulled away from his increasingly dark thoughts about the possible outcomes of their mission.
"It's only 11 hours, that's like half as long as a Harry Potter marathon," Alex rolled his eyes. "And I'm not saying we should watch one instead of the other. We should do both."
"Just Lord of the Rings first, right?" Gert's tone was teasing and her smile matched that when Alex looked in the rearview mirror to make sure he was reading her right.
"Obviously." Alex looked to the passenger seat for a moment, giving his best friend a pleading glance. "Nico, back me up here."
"Alex, you've seen Lord of the Rings six times," Nico said. "Karrie's never seen Harry Potter."
"True," Karolina agrees, squeezing Nico's hand. "My parents didn't want me to because they said it went against their message." The words 'because the church I grew up in is actually a cult' go unsaid but not unthought.
"Oh, girlfriend trump card," Chase pumped his fist. "We're totally watching Harry Potter first."
"What if I wanted to watch Lord of the Rings?" Gert asked, eyebrow raised expectantly. Chase grinned at her and her inner independent woman hated that she melted just a bit at the sight.
"Obviously then you and Karolina would have to battle for the honor of being the Ultimate Girlfriend Trump Card, winner gets first movie choice and bragging rights."
"Oh Diamonds vs. Arsenic, I am totally here for that fight." Molly cheered brightly.
"Please we all know what would happen in that situation," Nico said. "Gert wouldn't want to fight in the first place because women shouldn't be tearing other women down and Karrie's still too much of a pacifist to intentionally hurt one of her friends."
"That's why Nico's the boss," Alex said after a moment. "She's always the voice of reason."
"Makes sense, that's why Lena's in charge too." Nico chuckled, rubbing her thumb along the back of Karolina's hand.
"Oh my, watching Supergirl cower in front of Lena because of kale was the funniest thing I've ever seen!"
After Chase's exclamation, the car was filled with random anecdotes about their time at the mansion and the various funny or entertaining things that they had seen from their two primary caretakers, with a few funny stories about Alex D. breaking in as well. It was light and free and easy, just six teenagers laughing and enjoying the part of their lives that had come to mean so much to them. The jokes and funny stories were exactly what was needed to break the tension in the air so that when the six of them finally arrived in L.A., they felt the slightest bit more settled and ready to face whatever their parents may throw at them.
Already settled in the DEO base thanks to Lena's private jet, Alex, Kara, Lena, Winn, and Vasquez were standing together in a rough semicircle around a group of monitors set up with views of the Pride digsite from all angles. The DEO agents that milled around them were half stuck between staring in awe, not only at Supergirl but at Agent Danvers as well, and going about their normal jobs like nothing was different.
"They should be getting close by now," Kara spoke, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group. Winn nodded his agreement and pressed a button on the tablet in his hands. An image of the DEO vehicle that the kids were in came up on his screen, a live feed from a special drone they had following the car, just in case, that showed the kids were less than fifteen minutes from the digsite.
"They're going to hate us when they find out about that drone," Lena commented. She was standing perhaps a bit too close to Kara than she should have, given that the public in general was unaware of Kara and Lena's relationship and that was without delving into the a Super and a Luthor issue, but the physical closeness was the only comfort she had at the moment. It was annoyingly habit forming, the way that Lena had developed the tendency to simply lean into Kara's embrace when she needed comfort or reassurance, but Lena had discovered that almost everything about her relationship with Kara was annoyingly habit forming. It had been such a short time that they'd been together but now Lena couldn't imagine being with anyone else. It would be like rewriting her own life.
"They won't like it, but I think they'll understand." Kara said, briefly brushing her hand over the back of Lena's. "They know that we trust them and that we want to keep them as safe as we can."
"While also letting them do this," Alex agreed. "Besides, it's not the kids that we're worried about. It's the parents."
"They didn't try anything last time they were in contact, right?" Winn asked. He had been busy at the DEO so he wasn't as in the loop as he could have been and he made a silent promise to step up in his duties as Kara's best friend.
"I never asked if they tried to get the kids to come home," Alex said. "I was more focused on getting the kids out of there after Alex almost drowned and Karolina broke her arm."
"That's why we gave the kids those necklaces," Kara said, crossing her arms over her chest. The motion obscured the image of the crest she wore, the same one that she and Lena had used on the necklaces they had given the kids. "If anything goes wrong, I'll be there right away."
"And we won't be far behind."
"Exactly." Kara shared a smile with her sister. "Have we heard anything from Pride yet?"
"All surveillance has them going about their days like normal," one of the L.A. based agents answered Supergirl's question. The L.A. group was local and therefore able to monitor Pride and look for irregularities much more easily. "There hasn't been any major change in their day to day routine since the kids left, accepting things that deal directly with the children."
"How often do they check the digsite in a week?" Lena asked curiously.
"They all check as a group once a week but Geoffry Wilder, Leslie Dean, Tina Minoru, and Jonah have all checked the digsite at least once a week on their own as well. Jonah is the exception as he visits almost every day."
"So even if their parents don't show up, the kids will likely have to face at least Jonah." Alex looked at the images of the adults on the screen, wondering not for the first time how these people could have spent the past two decades murdering kids and if they still thought it was worth it after losing their own kids.
"But in all likelihood, given what we know about Pride, they'll all be there to watch Jonah's big moment." Lena pursed her lips. "But they warned the kids about it, they might be trying to stop Jonah from launching his ship."
"Or they might be helping him so they can finally get rid of him," Kara noted absently. There were some things about Jonah that had never made sense to her. If Jonah was a refugee or a runaway, the likelihood of him having a large ship to bring his whole family to earth on was rather small. There was a part of his past that they were missing, a part that would tell them about the world he hailed from and, by extension, the world that Karolina was a legacy of. Shaking her head to clear the thoughts that were distracting her, Kara refocused on the task at hand. "What's the plan if the parents do show up? Can we arrest them?"
"We don't have any proof that they're the ones who murdered Destiny." Alex replied. "The files that Alex got from the Minoru household were regular business items, nothing nefarious at all."
"Which means that the videos or anything else incriminating is probably stored in a Wizard server, which would make it extremely difficult to get," Lena said. "Wizard is L-Corp's top competitor in terms of technological innovations. Their servers are at least as secure as mine."
"So we just wait and see if they try to take the kids? And then what?" Winn asked.
"We get the kids out of there as fast as we can, get them home safe, and leave Pride for another day," Kara focused on the side of the monitor that had the security footage of the digsite rolling. The kids had arrived at the digsite and were busy sneaking their way in. At one point, Alex pointed out the camera that was following their movements to the others. Kara couldn't help but chuckle in amusement as the six teenagers looked at the camera and offered a mock salute.
"Have they always been that sassy?" Lena whispered softly to Kara.
"They threw a pizza box at us for kissing in the backyard," Kara remarked. "I'd say it's a good sign. If they're being sassy, they're feeling confident that this could work."
"Is it weird to be proud of them for technically breaking and entering?"
"No," Kara let her hands fall to her side and briefly squeezed Lena's before letting go just as quickly. "I'm proud of them too."
As they watched Karolina carry Nico and Chase down into the great hole, a tense silence fell over the DEO. This was the moment they'd been waiting for and while they'd be lying if Kara, Lena, and Alex said they weren't worried, they were confident in the Runaways and trusted them to be smart about this. They'd fought hard for the family they'd created for themselves. They wouldn't jeopardize that.
It was a different experience all together to fly holding Karolina's hand rather than wrapped up in her arms but the change was necessary for Karolina to fly two people down to the bottom of the hole. Nico kind of liked knowing that she was the only one who had flown with Karolina the other way, cocooned safely not only in Karolina's lights but in her arms as well. Nico would definitely be appreciating the experience more the next time she got to enjoy it.
"Is this what it felt like when you fell off the roof?" Chase asked Karolina, ignoring the glare that Nico shot his way at the reminder of the very dangerous situation her girlfriend had been in not that long ago. Chase was smiling, the rush he was feeling clear on his face.
"Not really," Karolina shrugged. "That was a lot faster and less stable, I didn't have any practice then."
"Can we not talk about the time you could have fallen to your doom?" Nico asked her girlfriend pointedly. Karolina smiled in apology while Chase offered a sheepish smirk.
"This isn't really flying anyway," Karolina said.
"What is it then?" Chase certainly felt like he was flying. Or he felt floaty at the very least.
"A controlled fall," Karolina said. "We're more drifting down than anything. I'm not sure how fast I can actually fly yet, or how long I can fly. Kara hasn't had the chance to take me on a long flight yet."
"Is she going too?" Nico asked, looking down to see how far away they were from the bottom. Despite Karolina's statment that they weren't moving very fast, Nico could tell that they were fast approaching the glowing ship that rested at the bottom of the whole.
"Maybe, we've talked about going to visit her Fortress in the artic. She thinks that Krytpon might have had some information about the planet that Jonah came from. All the knowledge from Krypton is stored in the Fortress."
"That would be a cool place visit," Chase said, either ignoring or unaware of the terrible pun he had just made. "Hey, you think when this is over we can meet Superman?"
"Probably," Nico shrugged, feeling her weight settle back on to her feet as they touched down on top of the ship. "He's Kara's cousin, right? I'm sure she could set something up for us if we asked her too."
"But I don't think he likes Lena," Karolina said. "We know it's a big deal for a Super and a Luthor to be getting along. I don't want to know Superman if he's going to be a jerk to Lena because of her last name."
"Yeah, our parents aren't any better than Lex Luthor," Chase agreed after a moment of thought while he pulled the Fistagons out of his bag.
"Guys, focus," Nico told them before they could continue their debate. It was a discussion that they could have later, Nico was sure that Gert, Alex, and Molly would all have their own opinions on meeting Superman, but for now they had another alien to deal with.
Karolina moved slowly along the surface of the ship, watching as her footsteps created shifting patterns in the material that lined the outside. The whole ship pulsed beneath them, as if it was a living, breathing thing. It wasn't like anything that Karolina had been expecting when she pictured a spaceship buried in the earth. This wasn't a chunk of metal holding corpses. This was a living, breathing organism that held people. People like Karolina. People like Jonah. Karolina kneeled next to a thin, membrane like material and called her lights up into her hand. She pressed her hand down and only had to wait a few moments for the pressure to be returned from inside the ship.
"They're really in there," Karolina whispered, awestruck. Nico kneeled beside her, resting her hand on Karolina's back.
"We'll get them out, Karrie," Nico said softly. Then, raising her voice, she looked over at Chase, "Ready?"
"Ready," Chase had the Fistagons on his hands, primed and ready to go. "Stand back."
Nico pulled Karolina with her as she moved to the wall of the hole, as far as they could get from where Chase was going to aim the blast from the Fistagons. A heavy burst of energy later and the ship trembled beneath them, whithering for a moment like a dead flower before returning to it's previous vibrancy.
"I have a higher setting," Chase said when it became clear that the blast did nothing to the ship. "I just don't want to hurt anyone inside of there."
"Let me try first," Karolina raised both hands and called her lights up, thinking back to her training with Kara and Alex to focus her power into one beam aimed at one spot. She aimed for the same place that Chase's impact had landed and released her powers. The light from the ship below them grew brighter, the pale white-blue clashing with the pinks and purples of Karolina. Karolina ended the beam when it became to bright to see. It took a few moments for the lights to fade again so that the three teenagers could open their eyes without being blinded but when they did, they were disappointed to see that there was no change in the ship.
Nico pulled out the Staff and tried both verbal and silent commands to open it up. Again, there was no change. Karolina's shoulders slummped slightly.
"Maybe it can't be opened from the outside," Nico suggested. "We should head back up to the surface and see what the others found."
Karolina nodded, obviously disappointed with their lack of success, and reached for Nico's hand. Once Chase had the Fistagons tucked away again, he took Karolina other hand and together the three of them drifted up towards the opening of the deep hole.
They were a few moments into the long journey when Nico noticed a rumbling sound coming from below them.
"Karolina," Nico said. "Something's happening to the ship, fly faster."
"What?" Karolina looked down to see what Nico was talking about and found the ship they had just been standing on following them up to the surface, and moving much faster than they were. "Hold on tight!"
Nico felt her stomach drop to her toes and Karolina released a burst of speed, leaving a colorful streak behind them as they flew through the open space towards the surface. It seemed that the faster they moved, the faster the ship did and it was only seconds later that the three teenagers were bursting through the surface, soaring high up into the sky thanks to the speed that Karolina was flying them at. They made a large loop in the sky before coming back down to the surface, Chase looking a little green around the gills as he stood unsteadily. Gert came to help him stand upright, glaring fiercely in front of them.
Nico wasn't sure what Gert was glaring at, still recovering from her flight as Karolina checked on her. When Karolina stopped talking mid question, Nico finally looked up and came face to face with the very people she'd been hoping to avoid seeing but knew they would wind up meeting anyway. All of their parents, all of Pride, were standing opposite their children and looking at them desperately, like they were drinking in the very sight of them. All of expect Jonah.
Jonah looked at the six teenagers as one would look at an ant before stomping on it with a boot; with joyful, murderous intent.