Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Alex arrived at CatCo, Winn got worried. When they dove into their unfinished office and it turned out that the DEO agent masquerading as Kara was, in actuality, the intimidating head of the DEO, Winn thought his overtaxed and over-worried brain was going to break into pieces. “Okay, so, so, you were her?” Winn clarified. 

“I don’t have time for explanations!” Hank snapped, before turning on Alex. “There is no way you are doing this. This is way too risky.”

Winn shared a look with James, unsure if he was more scared, amused, or hopeful at the straight up paternal scolding the usually taciturn man was using, albeit scarily. 

“It’s the only way we can stop the Black Mercy!” Alex argued, hands out in half-supplication, even as her voice rose. “We can modify our virtual reality tech so I can enter into Kara’s mind and convince her to reject the hallucination.”

“Unless Astra’s playing you.” Hank shot back as he moved across the room.

“Have either one of you considered what would happen to Kara if you do this?” James asked, giving words to Winn’s worries.

“You’re basically yanking her out of heaven.” Winn pointed out, unable to help thinking about what had happened when Willow had done that to Buffy in season six. He really didn’t want a season-six-Buffy version of Kara. Somehow he doubted either he or James could pass for a Spike. “I mean that’s going to be slightly traumatic.”

“Agent Danvers has considered it.” Hank said, voice firm. “Which is why she came here.”

“Kara is going to need James and Winn by her side when she wakes up.” Alex said, surprising Winn, because hadn’t they just been thrown out of the DEO? “I know there are security issues…”

“Take them.” Hank said, rubbing the spot between his eyes. “Take them.”

Alex seemed as surprised as Winn felt at that. “I thought I was gonna have to argue that point a lot harder.”

“I’m beginning to see why she values them so much.” Hank said, and Winn felt pride well up in his stomach. Kara had always seen something in him, something he had mistaken for interest back in the day, but this, this was different, and at the same time, it was all because of Kara.

“Going out, Kara?” Zor-El asked as Kara swept into the living room. 

Kara paused, looking around. “Oh, I didn’t realize we had visitors.” She smiled at Aunt Lara and Uncle Jor-El, and quickly wrapped Kal-El into a hug. 

“It was unplanned, dear Kara.” Lara said, wrapping her up in a hug after Kal-El had let go. “If you are going somewhere important, please don’t let us delay you.”

Kara hugged Aunt Lara back, taking a deep breath of the woman’s perfume, which she had always remembered, even moreso than her face, when she was in her fever. “I was only going to meet Thara Ak-Var to go shopping.” She said, waving it off. “She’s complaining that I haven’t been to see her since the fever, and both her brother Tom-Var and Oli-Var have been annoying her. Especially Oli-Var, who she’s been grilling for status reports.”

“It’s always good to be close to those who will be family.” Lara said, patting her head. “I have been likewise blessed with you, Alura, and Zor-El. My mother could not stand her sister-in-law Tris.”

“Oh, Kara and Thara were best friends long before Kara met Oli-Var.” Alura observed with a laugh. “They would finish sentences for each other, and you would swear they could share thoughts, back in the day. She’s quite pleased Kara’s marrying her cousin.”

“I still don’t know why you accepted this, Zor.” Jor-El grumbled from his seat. “That boy spent far too much of his youth on Daxam.”

Zor-El shrugged his shoulders. “It’s hardly the boy’s fault that his father was the best engineer in the Artist’s Guild, and was sent to keep the peace there for a time. Had Ro-Var been meant for the science guild, I don’t think you’d have as much issue.”

“I would if I thought the Gands of that Rao-forsaken planet were going to cause trouble.” Jor-El replied. “Rumor has it Laurel Gand wanted him.”

Zor-El waved a hand. “You should know better than to listen to whispers, Jor. Laurel is only distantly related to the ruling Gands, from one of their White Triangle asteroid colonies. I doubt she has any interest in him.”

Kara made a face. “If she did, she’d have to face me.”

“Kara, really !” Jor-El complained. “You are a scientist. Be rational .”

Kara smiled at her uncle. “Rationality is not everything, Uncle Jor.” She pointed out, gently. “It was Erok-El falling in love with Milia, daughter of Uved, that founded our house, and brought Krypton civilization.” She raised an eyebrow. “And you married Aunt Lara for love, would you have Father deny me the same?” She grinned, tactfully deciding not to point out that Kal-El had not come from a birthing matrix. That was still quite a scandal, and not something one brought up in polite company. Still, the Els were a house known for romance, and really, he was one to talk. “Besides, rationally , I know I could beat her.”

Alex didn’t know what to believe when Hank brought forward the idea of the solar storms not being a coincidence. She knew he had to be right, but at the same time it was Astra who had given her the idea to merge their consciousnesses. What if it was another ploy? To take out the most devoted of Kara’s guardians before staging an attack? That meant she shouldn’t be doing this.

But if there was a chance, even a fraction of a chance that Astra had told the truth for Kara , Alex had to try. No matter what it took, she had to save her sister. 

Which is why Max Lord was currently out of his cage. She would do anything to save her sister.

Even work with that piece of scum. ‘The enemy of our enemy’ had so many layers right now that she couldn't even be amused by the irony. Or was it poetic justice? She was a scientist, not an English major.

Kara didn’t think it odd when Thara invited her on a family trip to the Fire Falls. She had dragged Thara on trips with her parents, after all, and they were family, or would be soon. Ak-Var and Bex had always been kind to her, and Oli-Var had been staying only two doors down from his family, so it made sense that they would both be invited, what with Moira and Ro-Var still in Kryptonopolis. She thought it a little odd, when everyone else busied themselves and Oli-Var had suggested a climb to the top of the Fire Falls, but she didn’t expect anything. Perhaps she should have.

Oli reached the summit moments before her, and as she pulled herself up she couldn’t help but smile at how the red light of Rao caught his hair. Kara pulled herself up easily, adjusting her ponytail. “It’s been awhile since I’ve done that,” she grinned. “Last time I came here, Mom insisted on taking a pod.”

“That takes all the fun out of it.” Oli remarked, and smiled when she nodded. “Come,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” Kara repeated, taking his hand. “What?”

“You’ll see.” Oli promised, drawing her along the paths, and across one of the bridges to a shield bubble where they could let their personal shields drop around the lava. 

Kara gasped at the sight before her. Inside the bubble was a picnic, all laid out on a round blanket, the entire thing strewn with flower petals. “Oli,” she said, unsure of what to say, completely touched. “This is amazing.”

Oli grinned at her. “I wanted to do something.” He admitted. “For just the two of us.”

“How delightfully improper.” Kara teased, letting him pull her into the bubble and down onto the cushions. She leaned over and kissed him gently, looking over the feast. “I love it.”

“Well, you know me, five years stranded on a desert island, I think most of society’s rules are unnecessary.” Oli replied, before wrapping a hand in her hair and kissing her back. “And I would do anything to see you smile like that.”

“You didn’t need to go to all this trouble.” Kara murmured, resting her forehead against his with the smile he spoke of, amused. “You make me smile by doing far less.”

“But you deserve it.” Oli replied, settling in beside her.

 They traded kisses and stories as they ate Kvornish pork and little cheese tarts filled with various feast tree fruits, while Rao sunk lower overhead. It was really a lovely evening, and Kara cuddled into Oli’s side, despite the warmth of the lava near them, resting her head on his broader shoulder as she sipped the spiced thoni tea he had brought out when the stars emerged in the velvet darkness of the sky.. 

“I wish this could last forever.” Kara said, wistfully. 

“We’ll come back.” Oli promised, holding her close. “We have all the time in the world, Kara.”

Kara smiled, staring up at the stars. “We do, don’t we?” She glanced up at him. “You’re unfair, you know. I never had a chance against your charms.”

“That’s the thing about me, Kara.” Oli replied. “I don’t play fair. I play to win.” He shifted again, pressing her back to the cushions as he kissed her again. “And you’re all I could ever want.”

“ Sweet dreams ,” in Max’s voice was the last thing Alex heard before everything went white and something in her mind seemed to shift. It didn’t even disquiet her like it normally would have. She had made James promise, and all that mattered now was…

“Kara!” She ‘ woke ’ in Kara’s hallucination gasping for breath, and sitting up. She looked around in amazement, still breathing hard, at the windows and the strange circular room, taking it all in, while a sinking feeling filled her stomach. “Oh my God.” She breathed out. “I’m on Krypton.” She hadn’t known what to expect from Kara’s perfect world, but strangely, she had not considered this option. A world where she was raising Clark? Absolutely. A world where she and James were happily married? Sure. She had even entertained a culmination of Kara’s power crush on Cat Grant, but she hadn’t considered Krypton . How was she supposed to convince her sister to leave a living Krypton?

She pulled her phase pistol and started down one of the hallways, clearing rooms as she went, until she heard a familiar voice. She had just argued with that voice earlier in the day, or a facsimile of that voice. 

“ Kara was a natural bringing evidence into court today. ” Alura was saying. “ It made me wish she had been for the Military Guild and become a judicator. Kal-El, you would have been so proud of your cousin.”

Then another voice spoke, as Alex moved carefully forward, one by context clues, she assumed was Zor-El. “ I noticed your mother and I were not the only ones who came to watch you today. ”

Another male voice spoke, as she moved closer, picking up speed. “ It was her first time in court. I wanted to be supportive! ”

“ And make sure Del-Or didn’t get any ideas. ” Another feminine voice teased. 

“ Del-Or is just nice. He knows I’m betrothed .” Kara’s voice said with exasperation, making Alex speed up her movements again. 

“ Speaking of your betrothal, when are we going shopping for your wedding outfit? ” The non-Alura feminine voice asked. 

Alex came upon what appeared to be a pod family room, and peered carefully through the window. Kara was seated between a young boy... was that supposed to be Kal-El? ...and a man, who was seated beside her, very carefully a proscribed distance away from Kara, but looking at her like she had hung the moon...or Alex supposed, moons, herself. Across from them on another couch were Alura and Zor-El, seated closer, and a brown-haired young woman. 

“Now Thara, we don’t need to rush Kara to the altar quite yet.” Zor-El said, sounding like every father about his daughter. 

“Dad…” Kara drew out the word. “The traditional lorakh of weddings is approaching, and you know it. ” Alex knew the look on Kara’s face, it was the I-love-you-but- really -Alex-you’re-being-overprotective look. 

“I’m just saying you don’t have to get married this ahmzet.” Zor-El defended. 

Alex then watched as the man beside Kara put his hand on the couch beside her, being very careful not to touch her. “I swear to you, sir, I will do everything in my power to make Kara happy. We’re staying in Argo. We’ll be close by for you and for Kal-El. I want Kara to have everything.”

Kara turned smiling to the man, and from the side, Alex could see the pure happiness on her face and it made her heart hurt, even before Kara spoke. “You do make me happy, Oli-Var.”

“I swear to Rao, you two are too cute.” The young woman, Thara, according to Zor-El, said, somewhere between amusement and disgust. 

Alex’s heart hurt. Not only did she have her family back, her parents, and Clark at the age he should have been in comparison to her, but she had love. Alex had been the one Kara had cried to about failed dates, breaking boys’ noses when trying to kiss them, and then when she had stopped crying at all, and started pining from afar, certain she couldn’t have love. Alex was fairly certain half of Kara’s attraction to James was the fact that he was taken, and she knew it couldn’t go anywhere, because if he was taken, then fact that she was Kryptonian and they couldn’t be intimate couldn’t be an issue. She loved from afar, like a princess in a tower. Here, though, with someone like her, she was engaged , and obviously in love.

And Alex...Alex had to ruin it all.