Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ringing. Shouting. Silence.

Lena’s hand tightened around her datapad, riding a wave of agony that crescendoed over her. She inhaled deeply through her nose and mouth. Then- peace. The nausea that had built inside of her was ebbing slowly away, gone as suddenly as it had appeared hours before. Unclenching her teeth and releasing her jaw, Lena felt better. Lena refocused her attention on her datapad. After reading the same sentence five times, she shut it off. The schematics for the newest Luthorcorp sublight drive lost its appeal.

Her room was bathed in bloody daylight. More time had passed than she’d realized. She reached for the crick in her neck, and pressed her fingers into the tense muscles there, making made her way over to a large window. The sun was falling below the horizon, and the bright lights of Coruscant reflected back at her.

Their penthouse provided them a view over greater Coruscant and the Senate building. Most nights it was soothing. Tonight it felt ominous.

Lena squinted. There. Reflected against the skyline was an indistinct floating shape in the distance. Smoke? It was far, whatever it was.

“For too long has the Republic bowed to the whims of the Jedi.”

Lena placed a hand over her heart, feeling the rapid beat beneath her fingers. Lex’s voice echoed throughout the penthouse.

She made her way to the sitting room where the holoprojector was. Lillian sat perched in front of the holo, her back stiff and posture perfect. Lena glanced at the time, too early for her mother to be back.

Dread curled in her gut. Lena knew not to expect Lillian until Luthorcorp was closed for the night- if at all. Lena’s presence hardly registered.

“The Jedi Order, the so-called keepers of the peace, have shown their true face. Not a savior but a destroyer. A threat to the very fabric of the Republic. Sith or Jedi, those with force powers have the ability to destroy all we have tried to create. The Jedi order has acted as the judge, jury, and often executioner. No one is above the Republic. No one is above the law. For too long have we allowed ourselves to cow to peddlers of an ancient cult. As Supreme Chancellor, I promised the will of the Jedi would never rise above the citizens of the Republic. Today I shall see that promise fulfilled.”

Lena recognized her brother’s political voice . She made her way to the chair in the corner of the room. Slow, soft steps, unwilling - or unable - to break the aura of Lex’s power in the room.

“Our reliance upon the Jedi have allowed corruption to grow unchecked in the very bureaucracy meant to destroy it.”

“Mother-?” Lena began.

Lillian’s eyes snapped to Lena. Cold. Always so cold. “Quiet Lena. Your brother is speaking.” Lillian’s eyes snapped back to the holoprojector.

“For too long, we have been blinded by our nostalgia. No longer!”

Thunderous clapping erupted around the Senate. The walls rattling around Lena.

During his pause, when it was safe, she spoke, "What's happening?"

Her body hummed, and for a moment she thought she might fall apart.

Lillian’s face glowed. Pride shone on her face. Pride Lena had only ever seen directed at Lex, but even then, never like this.

“Lex has saved us all.”

On the holo, Lex raised his hands, and the applause died at once.

“The devastation of the Xeno Sector was but a precursor to a larger plan. A plan foiled by the dedication and resolve of our loyal droid army. The Jedi plot dashed before it could strike at the core of our Republic. But we will not allow their crimes to go unanswered. The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated! Those who support this treasonous order will suffer the same fate. Today we stand on the threshold of a new beginning. From this day forth, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, where no one is above the law. An Empire that will continue to be ruled by this august body and a sovereign ruler chosen for life. An Empire ruled by the majority, ruled by a new constitution! And we shall have peace and prosperity, the likes of which has never been seen.”

----

The latest rumors of the resistance had led her here, to Takodana, in the western reaches of space.

Takodana was a beautiful planet. Its green, lush forests and vast bodies of water reminded Lena of Alderaan’s countryside, where the Luthors had stayed for an extended vacation, long before Lionel died. It was a reminder of happier times. Before Lex’s madness.

From the small landing zone, a paved path led to a massive structure perched on the shore of a great lake. The stone, cracked in places, had weathered more than one storm in its life. Old and battle-scarred, with hundreds of flags covering the surface, it was hard to focus on one thing, but the large statue of a Takodanan drew Lena’s eyes.

All her weeks of searching and months of gathering intelligence and rumors had led her to this place. A thousand snakes writhed in her stomach. Inside, were potentially the very people she had spent weeks searching for.

The end of Lena’s mission. Find the Resistance. There was only forward.

A cacophony of noise met her the moment the heavy door opened.

Lena’s eyes darted around the room as she slowly walked the perimeter. A mixture of smells and sounds assaulted her senses. A short auburn-haired woman by the bartop. Two Ugnaughts arguing over a piece of machinery. The beeping of an astromech droid trilled in the background, mixing with the various alien languages into one indecipherable noise.

A large Devaronian bumped harshly past her. It was hard to breathe. It was too loud. Each new sound felt like a physical pain in her skull. Her body quaked and trembled. This was… too much. 

I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this.

Down a corridor and away from the noise, Lena could breathe again. The tightness in her chest loosened enough for her to suck in a deep breath.

She had begun breathing in and out, in and out, like she had learned to do soon after the Luthor’s first adopted her, when she heard it.

Footsteps.

She didn’t have time to react. Something struck her hard in the shoulder and sent her spinning and stumbling. Pain blossomed when her face struck a stone wall, her arm twisted painfully behind her and a sharp edge dug near her spine.

“Lena Luthor.”

Great. Not even an hour on world and someone was already trying to kill her.

“Why are you here?”

Lena couldn’t see who had her pinned. But they knew her name.

Please be Resistance.

“Please. I’m looking for the Resistance. I want to join.”

Lena was spun again, this time to face her attacker. The short, auburn-haired woman from the bar. Lena had a fleeting view of a surprisingly nice vibroblade before the woman pushed it against her carotid artery.

“How did you find this place? Who else knows? Talk.” The woman shook her with her free hand. The strong scent of alcohol wafted from the woman’s bared teeth. That, combined with her red rimmed eyes, suggested she’d been drinking for some time. How had she even noticed Lena?

“I swear, I just want to join the Resistance. I can be a mechanic. I can-”

The woman let out a bark of laughter. “Why would Lena Luthor want to join the Resistance?” Lena was keenly aware of the blade perched precariously close to her jugular.

“My brother hurt a lot of good, innocent people. My family owes a debt. Not just to the Jedi but to everyone. I intend to pay it.”

It became very apparent the woman didn't believe her. Lena grew desperate. “I’m just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family. Can you understand that?” she begged.

Something in the woman seemed to freeze. Lena acted on instinct. It wasn’t a conscious decision, more like a twitch from a spasming muscle. The vibroblade flew out of the woman’s hand, wailing in a high pitched metallic shriek before smacking into the nearby back wall. It fell lifeless to the floor. Both of their eyes widened.

Lena was one hundred percent positive this woman could snap her neck without flinching. An increasingly likely possibility.

Instead, the woman’s face slackened.

“The Luthors aren’t force sensitive.”

On the verge of hysteria, Lena almost laughed. Her biggest secret, exposed. “My mother never let me forget I was adopted.”

“You’re force sensitive.” It wasn’t a question. The woman released her hold on Lena’s jacket and stood back. Lena dropped from her tiptoes and examined the woman. She wore a bastardized Imperial pilot’s uniform. The Imperial patch torn off.

The woman walked to the opposing wall, crouching and picking up the blade, before standing again. She looked at Lena with an inscrutable expression on her face. Lena began to fidget.

“I can’t go back. The Resistance is the only place I can go.”

The woman deflated. “Damn it.” The woman shoved her blade back inside her jacket.

“If this is a trap, I swear Luthor-”

“Lena."

The woman scowled at the interruption but held out her hand. Lena took it.

“Alex Danvers. Welcome to the Resistance.”'

----

Krypton and the Xeno Sector, within the span of a galactic standard day, had been pushed from obscurity to the forefront of Intergalactic News. Lena was only ten at the time, but it was impossible to not hear about it. Lex’s fascination with the story only made things worse.

“How does an entire planet explode? And with no warning? What were they doing?”

“Why do you think they were doing something?” Lena asked.

Lex, despite their considerable age gap, had never treated Lena as less than his intellectual equal. Lex was the only one in the family, besides Lionel, who made Lena feel welcome. He was more than just her brother; he was her best friend.

“They didn’t evacuate. So they were either suicidal or ignorant.”

Lena didn’t realize it then, but this moment was the beginning of the end. If Lena had known, maybe she could have stopped Lex, changed his mind, done something. Instead, she listened to Lex with the starry-eyed adoration of a younger sister.

“The Jedi in their temples act innocent, but look at Krypton. Look at the Xeno sector. It’s uninhabitable now. They’re dangerous, but everyone wants to ignore it because they can float rocks.” Lex scoffed. “And the politicians will do nothing. Absolutely useless.”

Like Lex predicted, the Senate did nothing about the destruction of Krypton. To Lex’s disgust, they weren’t even curious about why it exploded. Lex’s fascination soon bloomed into a full-blown obsession. Luthorcorp sent probes to examine the remains of the destroyed planet, collecting data and trying to reconstruct the planet’s last moments.

Within a year, Luthorcorp had redistributed its resources, focusing on planetary defense. The disaster that had befallen Krypton and the Xeno Sector would not happen to the Republic. The beginning of Lex’s political platform had started to form, even if no one knew it.

“How do we expect to defend ourselves if we don’t have an army?” Lex ranted. “The droids we have are worse than useless. It’s false security. It’s a lie.”

Lex Luthor’s political ambitions started when the Xeno Sector exploded, but his political star fully rose with Luthorcorp’s unveiling of the AR Series Droids. The AR “Advanced Radiant Efficiency” Series were capable of higher cognitive function, as well as strategic, individual, thinking. They were more like soldiers, with a protocol droid's higher cognitive functioning, rather than preprogrammed, mass-produced, and frankly inferior, battle droids. One AR battle droid could efficiently destroy an entire battalion of B1 battle droids.

The AR Battle Droids were revolutionary. Lex’s advances in battle droid design created a wave of popularity he rode to the Coruscant Senate, along with an obscene amount of wealth. Within months, the Republic had updated it’s droid army to consist of the AR series. With these droids, no force could hope to invade the Republic. Lex Luthor had ensured the safety and security of the Galactic Republic. Lex had fulfilled his mother’s dreams. He was the golden boy who saved the galaxy.

----

Lena was expecting, at worst, an X-Wing. A two-seater cockpit for the long journey to the rebel base. Close proximity. Instead, Alex led her to a clearing some distance from the lake. In the center of the clearing sat a small scouting vessel. Smaller than a transport but larger than a single starfighter.

“We can’t take the main hyperroutes to the base. The Empire monitors them too closely.”

Alex lowered the ramp and ushered Lena aboard. It was the smallest ship Lena had ever been on. The cockpit and sleeping quarters were one space and a copilot was unnecessary.

“The ‘fresher is through there. The top bunk’s mine, you get bottom.”

Alex walked the short distance to the cockpit and inserted the coordinates into the hyperdrive navigator.

“Are you sure you should be piloting?” Lena asked nervously. “You were drinking.”

“I’m not drunk,” Alex snapped. “And the navicomputer is doing most of the work. I’ve just got to get her airborne.”

Lena sat gingerly on the bottom-most bunk. A low ominous creaking noise filled the small ship as they slowly ascended.

“Where are we going?”

“D’Qar, in the Outer Rim. So get comfortable.”

Alex babied the throttle as the ship gained elevation. Finally, they cleared the atmosphere and the older woman turned her attention back to Lena.

“When we get to the base, you’ll be interrogated.”

Lena lifted an eyebrow. “Again?”

“You mean earlier?” Alex smirked. “That wasn’t an interrogation. If you’re gonna join the Resistance, we need to know we can trust you. And you’ll need to be trained,” she added, turning the pilot chair to look at Lena.

“Trained,” Lena said. “For what?”

Alex reached into her jacket and pulled out the vibroblade. “You did this on instinct.”

In the light of the ship, Lena could clearly see the damage. The blade portion was bent,  accordioned would be a better word for it.

“Capable of punching through durasteel and destroyed . And this wasn’t intentional. I’ve only seen power like this once before. You did this on instinct.”

She threw the ruined vibroblade on the ground between them.

“You’ve seen what the Empire has done.”

Lena had seen the holovids. A cloaked, masked figure in all black leading a long line of armored troops. Heard about the casualties. The assassinations.

“The Empire has conquered the Core Worlds. No one is resisting them. The Mid Rim, the Outer Rim, it’s only a matter of time. The Resistance doesn’t need another mechanic. We don’t need another pilot. We need a Jedi.”

“Why are you doing this?” Lena asked. “Why are you helping me?”

Alex’s mouth thinned into a narrow line.

“I’m heeding my better angels.”

Chapter Text

A small contingency of x-wing fighters greeted them at D'Qar's planetary ring. Lena assumed they were the welcoming committee, though she didn’t know if they were there especially for her.

As they descended, Lena understood why the Empire hadn’t discovered the Resistance base. The entire planet was covered in thick foliage and enormous mountain ranges as far as the eye could see. The bioreadings had to be off the charts.

“The base is underground,” Alex said, noticing Lena’s line of sight.

“I’m sure the jungle surface hides it from sensors,” Lena said.

Alex hummed in agreement. The comm system buzzed to life.

“This is Guardian. Maintain close formation, over.”

Alex hit the comm switch.

“Grey Leader, copy that.”

Alex deactivated autopilot, taking manual control of the scout ship. The trees grew larger and larger while Lena watched, until they were flying below the dense canopy, weaving dangerously through the trees.

Who would risk flying here? They made a sharp left into a cave. And this is how she died. They were going to fly into the back of the cave and explode. Just as Lena was regretting all life decisions that led to this point, the cave opened up to reveal a large, brightly lit, docking bay. Alex eased the ship down and they landed with a harsh thump.

Now that they were out of mortal danger, flying through a jungle, Lena’s nerves returned in full force.

They descended from the starship’s ramp into the cool docking bay. Lena wrapped her jacket tighter around her. Instead of being met by a battalion of soldiers like Lena feared, the hanger was empty, save the X-Wings that guided them in.

“Alex!”

A tall, brown-skinned man climbed out the X-wing cockpit, followed closely by a spherical droid.

Alex greeted him warmly. “James.”

James smiled playfully at her, but it fell the moment he saw Lena. His expression turned to forced politeness, for Alex’s sake.

James held out his hand. “James Olsen.”

“Lena Luthor.” Lena shook his hand.

The droid by their feet whirled loudly to get their attention. James looked fondly down at the droid.

“This is WN-02: Winn, for short.”

Loud droidspeak followed the name. Lena glanced at the rotund droid. She had never seen one like it before. The white and green color combination was unique, it’s personality lived up to its customization, chirping so rapidly Lena couldn’t understand it at all.

“Alex,” James redirected their attention, “J’onn wants to see you right away. Both of you.”

Alex nodded. “Right. Lena, with me.”

Lena followed Alex through a hallway and down a ramp to a lower level. The air around Lena grew colder the further down they went. She burrowed deeper into her jacket and crossed her arms. Was she shaking because of the cold? Or from her fear? Lena couldn’t tell. They reached a comms center, a dark room illuminated by the artificial light of computers and terminals, where another tall man was interacting with an entourage of rebel soldiers. Was there a height requirement to join the Resistance?

“Captain Danvers,” he said, hands planted firmly on both hips. The group of soldiers hurried past them. His dark skin glowed in the glare of the artificial light cast by the computers.

He was lean and dressed in a similar all black outfit as everyone else in the room.

“General J’onzz. You received my report?”

“I did.” General J’onzz started walking and Alex followed. Lena tagged along, unsure of herself.

“I had to see for myself. You brought Lena Luthor, Lex Luthor’s sister, to our secret Resistance base.”

He ushered them into a separate room. There was a single chair in the middle of it. The General loomed over them in the spartan room.

“Ms. Luthor. Sit.”

Lena sat. The room, at first comfortable in size, grew increasingly claustrophobic. The grey stone walls resembled the walls of a prison. The general circled her slowly like a hunting Kath Hound while Alex remained in a seemingly relaxed position against the wall.

“This will go much faster if you tell me what I want to know. Alex says you want to join the Resistance?”

Lena nodded.

She tried to keep eye contact with him, but his constant movement made it impossible.

“Where is Lex Luthor?” J’onzz stopped a moment.

“I don’t know,,” Lena answered honestly.

“Lena. You were very close to your brother. You expect me to believe you had no idea what he was doing? What he was?” J’onn pressed, voice low but not harsh, trying to lull her into a false sense of security.

Lena gritted her teeth. She did not want to talk about this. “Lex changed.”

“Lex orchestrated the murder of thousands of Jedi. Lex is responsible for the mineral stripping of Ilum, arming the civil war on Zolan, as well as a hundred other atrocities.”

J’onn leaned forward, looking right into her eyes. Lena had nothing to hide, nothing to gain by hiding anything, but still she felt compelled to look away.

“My brother would never do this - the Lex I knew. I don’t know what changed him, but he’s not the brother I loved. Not anymore.”

The General stood to his full height and broke eye contact.

“Captain Danvers says you’re force sensitive.”

The General walked over to Alex and held out his hand expectantly. Alex gave him the destroyed vibroblade.

He examined it carefully, touching the bladed portion gingerly and rotating it in his hands. With a scowl, he held out the handle for Lena to take.

Lena took it with trepidation.

“Show me.” The General looked expectantly at Lena. Lena looked at Alex. Alex gazed steadily back at her.

Alex jerked her head at the handle. “Float it.”

Alex and Lena had spent the last two days aboard the scout ship working on moving the blade handle at will, ‘through the force,’ Alex had said, but Lena still didn’t feel comfortable doing it on command.

Lena took a deep breath and held the handle on her outstretched hand. She tried to remember Alex’s guidance. Concentrate . Lena reached out with her feelings. She sensed  Alex beside her, as well as J’onn.

Lena breathed. She felt the blood racing through her body. Her heart beating hard against her breast. The sweat from nerves cooling on her brow.

The vibroblade handle shook.

Alex’s voice, low, “You can do it.”

Lena exhaled and focused. The room around her. The energy of the General and Alex. The life beyond the room and above the ground. Between it all - a force.

The handle floated over her hand. She had done it.

General J’onzz looked at Lena. Unreadable. Some of the flintiness faded away as he looked at Alex.

“Captain, I understand your... sympathies, for Ms. Luthor’s situation, but-”

“Sir, with all due respect that has nothing to do with this.”

Lena shifted in her chair, the room suddenly cooler than it was moments ago. She shivered.

General J’onzz’s nostrils flared. “We’ll discuss this later. She’ll need to be debriefed. For now, she’s your responsibility.”

Alex’s lips twitched.

“Yes, sir.”

The general left without giving Lena another look.

Lena stood slowly from her chair, half expecting the General to come storming back in.

“Not the coldest welcome I’ve received. He didn’t try to stab me,” Lena tried to joke. It fell flat. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Alex sounded normal, but her gaze was distant. She looked worn out in a way Lena hadn’t yet seen in her three days of knowing her. 

“Are you...sure?”

Alex waved the question away. “Let’s get you settled.”

----

The invasion of the Daxamite Army occurred with no warning. One moment the planetary shield powered down, the next, a fleet of warships descended on the cityscape. Holovideo from the senate building soon came in. Lena would never forget the sight. Over a hundred heavily armored, dark clad troops marched to the Senate Building. But, it was their commander who drew everyone’s attention. A tall figure, cloaked, masked, and wielding a crimson lightsaber. The Jedi had returned, and they wanted revenge.

No one knew it then, not even Lillian, but Lex had fled the planet, leaving Coruscant to the mercy of its invaders.

They didn't march unopposed. Lex’s most loyal supporters, his most trusted resources, his pride and joy: his battle droid armada personally greeted the Daxamite incursion at the steps of the senate dome. Lena watched from home as the security holovideo played on a loop.

The hooded figure was a force of nature. The assassin droids, which had single-handedly defeated the Jedi order and maintained the Empire’s tenuous peace, were cut down. Their blaster bolts deflected back at them. Launched through the air and thrown into one another with an explosion of sparks. Raw chaos and power.

The same figure, slight and human, some speculated at the very least humanoid, stood silently at Rhea’s side while she declared herself Empress.

Senators vanished. Lex’s supporters disappeared. Riots were put down. Resistance blood ran through the streets.

The Luthors had denounced Lex shortly after he named himself emperor, and only that spared them a similar fate. The political distance Lillian had established between herself and Lex for this very purpose ensured their survival. Lillian, no matter how much she agreed and supported Lex, had known the possible political ramifications of openly supporting him.

Though the armies marched on, the hooded figure was rarely with them, but sightings didn't bode well. Death followed like a shadow. And Lena felt it, even from her perch atop Coruscant’s skyline. The fear lingered like a stench as death circled closer and closer.

The newly minted Empress's Wrath was soon given a new nickname: the Butcher of Coruscant.

----

Months had passed and Lena was adapting to life in the Rebellion. But it was a hard transition. On Coruscant, her mother had always loomed large, like a disapproving shadow over everything she did. The knowledge of what she was, no matter how hard she tried to repress it, didn’t help. Lillian hated force sensitives as much as Lex. It had been all Lena could do to repress it and keep it a secret. Sometimes, she wondered if Lillian knew, and if that was the reason her mother had been so cold to her since the day they met. If she could just ignore it, maybe it would go away. If she tried a little harder, was a little smarter, a little more lovable, then maybe her mother would be proud of her.

The Luthor name hung like a weight around her neck, dragging her down with their expectations and prejudices. Its reputation followed her to the Resistance as well. Whispers of Luthor followed her through every space. Sideways glances were aimed at her, subtle jabs and jokes made beneath breath. No one trusted her. But none were outwardly hostile either. Alex escorted Lena to her quarters and the training room, to wherever she needed to be, with a glare for everyone. No one messed with Alex Danvers. Alex had accepted her and taken her under her wing and that was good enough for them. For the moment.

Beyond the vibroblades, starfighters, and blasters - the badass-ness - Alex was good. Buried under a hard surly exterior and a refusal to talk about herself, it bubbled up in their moments together. Alex, it seemed, had dedicated so much of herself to the Resistance that she had nothing left for anyone or anything else. She expected the same from Lena- the Luthor name was irrelevant.

Within a day of her arrival, Lena had drilled like a raw Resistance recruit. Alex had taken her training upon herself, spending hours with Lena in the workout room working on hand to hand combat skills and sword fighting skills. The physical demands were high. But, so were the mental ones.

Alex was Lena’s teacher of all things Force. For a non-Force user, Alex had an intrinsic grasp of the meaning behind it. More than the datapads and holocrons on the Jedi she gave Lena to study. She understood the Force. The Force wasn't something to be frightened of. It wasn't something to hide away. It was something to understand. It simply was. It was hard to be frightened of something when Alex was so calm about it.

They had developed a close working relationship - Lena was reluctant to call it a friendship, she didn't have much experience with those - and Alex had become a mentor, a guide into the Resistance.Alex taught her how to fight, how to handle  a vibrosword (“if you can use a vibrosword you can use a lightsaber”), and - less successfully - how to bring out her force powers. Alex was an indomitable force of nature. An expert in xenobiology and all around brilliant.

And Lena was grateful for her support.

The combined destruction wrought by Rhea and Lex had inspired resistance across the galaxy. Most of the Resistance’s soldiers had come from conquered and subjugated planets. James had been a holojournalist before Rhea invaded Corellia. J’onn’s homeworld had suffered at Lex’s hands. Vasquez, another pilot in Alex’s squad, had family killed during Lex’s political purges. Alex didn’t have to bring Lena to the Resistance. She didn’t have to train her or make sure she had someone to talk to during their meals, but she did.

After months of training, Lena still hadn’t been sent to help the Resistance in the field, as an apprentice Jedi or a mechanic, but Lena didn’t have to be out in the field to know the Resistance lost more battles than it won.

The Resistance was always in motion. Alerts rang out through the facility at random times, casualties were discussed with grim faces over mealtimes, and new of fresh destruction was always available, yet Alex remained a steady guiding presence.

----

The majority of the Rebel base hid underground, protected from air and ground sensors. The mess hall was one of the few places in the base that had access to natural light through a reflecting transparisteel window. The news a Luthor had joined their ranks hadn’t gone well, worsened by the knowledge that J'onn had given Lena private quarters.

Meal times were a struggle Lena hadn’t anticipated. She should have known better. The sleeping arrangement was communal among the lower ranks; it made sense they ate in a giant mess hall as well. Meals were rationed and designated at specific times. The food situation in the Resistance was not the greatest. They couldn’t buy large quantities of produce and ship it over for fear of the Empire finding out. And they couldn’t farm the planet for resources beyond water. Clearing any land for farming would have exposed them to danger. For all the foliage, D’Qar was not a food rich planet. That meant food packets: dehydrated polystarch and veg-meat. It was disgusting.

Lena didn’t want to think she was a snob, but she had lived in the upper-class societies of Coruscant all her life. She was used to a certain standard of living. And the Resistance was nowhere near it. She missed food. Actual food that wasn’t prepackaged and heavily processed. She missed vegetables. Lena poked at her rehydrated bread.

“You’ll get used to it.”

Alex sat beside her, ripping open her ration pack. It was identical to Lena’s. The good thing about the Resistance- the higher-ups didn’t get better food. They ate what the ground troops ate. Everyone was equal.

Lena laughed. “I doubt that.”

Alex mixed the polystarch flour into the provided water. The bread bloomed like a mushroom from the container. Alex leaned forward conspiratorially. “When I first arrived I couldn’t stand this stuff. Now, it almost tastes edible.”

“When did you join the Resistance?” Lena asked.

“A few years ago,” she said.

Well that wasn’t vague.

“Why did you join?” Lena’s stomach dropped. “Did my brother-”

“I didn’t join because of Lex. Midvale was unaffected by the Empire. Too rural. And even if I did, it isn’t your fault. You’re not your brother.”

Lena took a bite of disgusting bread to avoid saying anything. Lex hadn’t become a monster over night. It had happened slowly. And instead of stopping it, Lena had watched him slip further and further away from her.

“I miss how it was. Before.”

Despite all the things he’d done, all the lives he’d destroyed, Lena still loved her brother. She loved the Lex she remembered, the curly haired boy who had made her feel proud to be a Luthor. Her brother.

Alex looked away from Lena. “Me too.”

----

The vibrosword hit hard, sending the middling Jedi sprawling to the floor. No matter how hard she tried, no matter what method she used, Lena could not beat Alex. She threw her vibrosword to the ground.

“Are you done?” Alex asked, flourishing her vibrosword in a way that just pissed Lena off further.

“What gave it away? Me throwing it down in disgust?”

Alex held out her hand for Lena to take, but Lena stood up by herself.

“Again.” Alex picked up Lena’s vibrosword and held it out to Lena, hilt first.

Lena was a genius. She had enrolled into the University of Coruscant at sixteen. There was very little she couldn’t do, once she put her mind to it. In her field . She was very much out of her field.

Time after time, Alex had destroyed her. Once, Lena suspected Alex had been drunk and she still won. Lena took back the vibrosword and settled in the ready position.

One of Alex’s first lessons was in proper Shii-Cho technique. “It’s designed for beginners,” Alex said. The ready position was the first thing she ever learned and the one thing Lena knew she was properly implementing.

Lena prepared for a strike, but Alex lowered her weapon.

“What’s wrong?” Lena asked. Alex had a look in her eyes Lena didn’t like: that look was usually followed by horrible training exercises. Alex didn’t answer, but walked over to the equipment bench. She picked up a pilot helmet. Lena kept her guard up. The last thing she needed was another Alex-lecture on preparedness. She still had the bruise on her ribs from last time.

Alex walked over to her. “Put this on.”

Lena took the white and orange carbon scored helmet.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Put it on, Luthor,” Alex smirked.

Lena obeyed and then laughed. “The blast shield is down. I can’t see a thing.”

Lena heard the grin in Alex’s voice. “Get ready,” she said.

Panic. “This is a joke.” Lena couldn’t beat her when she could see, but Alex expected improvement when she was blind ? Was Alex trying to humiliate her?

“You’re a Jedi. A Jedi can feel the Force. You don’t need sight.”

“No. No, this is ridiculous.” Lena wrenched off the helmet and shoved it in Alex’s hands. They had been going at it for hours. Her body hurt. Every muscle ached and she smelled like sweat and exhaust fumes. Her frustration was at its peak. “If you don’t want to train me anymore, say so!”

“Lena!” Alex yelled. Alex hadn’t raised her voice since their first meeting. “If I thought you were hopeless I wouldn’t have brought you here. You’ve improved and you’re capable . Believe it.”

“Why are you training me?” The question had been nagging at her for months, kept her awake at night. She wasn’t Lex. She wasn’t the golden boy, primed to save the world.

Alex rubbed her forehead. Exhausted. Exasperated.

“Lena. Try. Please.”

Alex put the helmet on her head, and this time Lena left it on.

“Ready,” Alex barked.

Lena held the vibrosword parallel, in the first position of Shii-Cho. Alex didn’t make much noise when she moved, but Lena heard her coming at the last second. She flailed wildly at the source of the sound, and landed heavily on her back, her feet swept out from under her.

“No, Lena. Trust your instincts. Feel.”

Lena refocused, controlling her breathing. She could almost see Alex in front of her. She saw her begin to move to her left. Her mind told her to block but- she felt it. A feint left. Lena raised her vibrosword, blocking the true attack to her legs. She twisted and performed a disarming slash upward.

Metal clattering. Lena tore off the helmet. Alex was standing, clutching her wrist, while her vibrosword sat in the corner of the room. She had disarmed Alex.

Alex spluttered. “I won’t go easy on you next time, Luthor. Put ‘em up.”

----

Lena sat shoulder to shoulder in the small briefing room off the communications center. General J'onzz had called an emergency meeting, but no one seemed to know what was about to happen. The room buzzed with soft chatter as the soldiers around her tried to parse out what had occurred between themselves. The press of their bodies, their nervous chatter, the stagnant air, all weighed upon her chest heavily.

The low hum of chatter died down when J'onn appeared. As usual, he had a stern expression on his face, but if possible, grimmer than normal. He stood in front of the room and silence fell. His presence commanded attention. The holo beside him activated, and a familiar hooded, masked figure appeared. Alex stiffened beside her.

“The Empress’s Wrath will soon arrive on Sullust. This is a chance for the Resistance to end her threat to the Galaxy.”   

The walls buzzed with energy. Alex’s face had become more and more drawn in recent months, while General J’onzz face held a permanent glare. The Resistance’s morale was lagging and this announcement had injected new life into them.

“A lot of good people died bringing us this information. We need to make this mission count.”

James, like most of the other soldiers, vibrated with excitement, but Alex’s posture grew more rigid. Lena looked over at Alex, her gaze fixed on the General, jaw tight.

“What we know about the Wrath is limited. For this mission, there are few pertinent details. First: she’s Kryptonian.”

“Kryptonian?” someone blurted out. Lena  sensed Alex’s feelings, a loud mix of anger, frustration, and hurt, even as her face remained passive. Her emotions were impossible for Lena to ignore, like a bonfire in a room.

“Krypton was the main planet in the Xeno Sector. Its destruction was instrumental in justifying the Jedi Purge. Krypton was home to a species of force sensitive isolationists. When the planet exploded, Kryptonians were believed extinct. We were wrong.”

Someone scoffed. “So, she’s a Jedi. What makes her so special?”

“Kryptonians are physically stronger than the average human. More than that, Kryptonians have a unique connection to the Force. The Wrath survived the destruction of her species. She’s alone in the Universe. That makes her especially dangerous.”

General J’onzz paused.

“The Wrath is visiting a weapons factory on Sullust in two days. Our spies within the Empire will destroy the shield generator, leaving the factory and the Wrath vulnerable. From there we strike."

"What's she doing there?"

"Irrelevant. Focus on the Wrath. She’s too dangerous to attempt capture. We’ll commence an aerial bombardment with Starfighter support led by Commander Olsen. Even a sith can’t survive a bombing run led by a full squadron of bombers. Prepare for deployment. Dismissed.”

Alex was up and out of her seat the moment the words left his mouth. She angrily bumped past shoulders, and marched straight to the general. Her anger as well as a sharp, unidentifiable feeling, radiated off her in waves.

“General, a word?” J’onn nodded in agreement.

“Alex,” Lena tried to stop her from speaking, but she was cut off. The room rapidly cleared out. No one wanted to be in Alex Danvers’ way.

“Sir, I don’t agree with this plan.”

“I’m well aware, Agent Danvers. But it has to be done.”

“J’onn, please.”

“No, Alex. She’s dangerous. You of all people should know that. This is too good of an opportunity. We have to take it.” He sighed heavily. “You stay here. I don’t want you anywhere near Sullust, no excuses.”

Alex’s jaw tightened to the point Lena almost expected her teeth to crack. “Yes, Sir.”

She spun on her heel and marched out the room, left down the corridor, where the officer quarters were.

“Alex!” James called after her. Lena put a, hopefully calming, hand on his arm. “I’ll talk to her; you get ready.”

James nodded slowly. He had warmed somewhat to Lena. Though, he would probably always see Lena as a Luthor, he didn’t seem to believe she had an ulterior motive anymore, which was progress. He smiled gratefully before hurrying off towards his quarters.

----

As a captain, Alex had her own room, while the rest of the Resistance slept in the communal bunks. It wasn’t a glamorous space; only room for a bed, footlocker, and a single desk, but it was still better.

Lena found Alex rummaging through the rucksack on her bed. The necklace Alex always wore hung, exposed, unprotected from where it usually sat beneath her shirt. The black stone perfectly reflected her mood.

Lena leaned against the doorway, waiting. Alex always had a sense of when people were nearby. As expected, she spoke without looking at Lena.

“Close the door.”

Lena stepped inside and pressed the button to slide the durasteel door shut.

Alex twisted her hands, then tucked the necklace back beneath her shirt. The loss of the hanging pendant left her hands free again, and she stared at them in frustration. Lena moved towards her, but Alex stepped back, grasping at her wrists. Lena stilled, watching her in concern. Was she- . Oh. Oh. Calm, cool, take charge Alex Danvers was anxious .

“Is everything alright?” Lena wasn’t an expert on being a friend but this seemed the correct question to ask. Alex drew herself up to her full height.

“When you came here you asked how I could teach you about the Force.” Lena nodded.  “I know about the Force because my sister is force sensitive.”

Both of Lena’s eyebrows raised. “You never told me you have a sister.”

“Kara is…complicated.”

Lena tried to give her an encouraging smile. “I am an expert on sibling drama.”

Alex snorted. “Kara is my adopted sister. She crashed on Midvale when I was fifteen.”

“Crashed?”

“She’s- she is the last survivor of Krypton.”

Lena breathed in harshly. Small puzzle pieces were beginning to fit together. How Alex understood so much about the Force, her sympathy for Lena, and her reaction to the recent mission. A recent mission to terminate- the last Kryptonian.

Lena's eyes widened. “Are you saying-?”

Alex nodded. “Kara is the Wrath.”

Lena sat in the chair nearest the door. Alex paced the length of the room before pausing.

“It's not, it's not what you think. Kara isn't a monster."

“Alex...” Lena knew all too well what she was feeling. The justifications, the excuses. Pity leaked into her voice, “Sometimes people just go bad.”

“Not Kara,” Alex said, with such surety, like it was the one thing she knew in the whole world to be true, Lena almost believed her.

“I don’t know what Rhea has done, but she would never do what they’re saying. Kara is in trouble and I need to save her. Kara is relying on me like she’s always relied on me. I have to help her. To save her from Rhea. We need to save her from Rhea.”

"How do you know?" Lena asked. "How can you be so sure?"

"I just turned fifteen when Kara came to live with us. She’d just lost everything and anti-Jedi sentiment was gathering. My parents took her in and we kept her heritage a secret. I used to resent her. For coming into my home. For following me around. Some strange girl who didn't know how to fit in. For embarrassing me in front of my friends.” Guilt dripped from every word.

“You were fifteen,” Lena said. “You were a child.”

Alex shook her head. “All Kara wanted was a family. When I was eighteen Rhea came to us. Rhea was looking for her son, but she found Kara instead. Rhea is from Daxam, Krypton’s sister planet. The entire system is gone. Rhea wanted Kara to come with her, I don’t know what for, Kara never said. I didn’t want her to go. We tried to stop her but- Kara is stubborn. She’s always wanted to help. Rhea used that to her advantage.”

Alex swallowed heavily.

“I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I wasn’t sure. Please, Lena.”

The emotion Lena sensed in Alex but couldn’t identify was grief.

Alex had been there for Lena when no one else was. Alex had helped her, stood up for her. Lena owed Alex.

“Of course, I’ll help,” Lena agreed. “Do you have a plan?”

“I do.”

"Then let's do it."

Chapter Text

Kara entered the throne room. The air caused goose bumps on her skin. She squinted, wading through the darkness towards the dais where Rhea sat. Rhea’s masked, black-clad honor guard spread out behind her. Four, she counted. One was missing. She turned the thought over as she walked up the short flight of stairs to the podium above. There, she took her customary spot by Rhea’s side. Rhea, seated with her back to Kara, stared out  the large viewport. The flagship’s orbital position over Coruscant let them see the array of intertwining lights on the ecumenopolis below. Looming. Casting shadows over the buildings below.

“Luthor’s Planet Prison has been destroyed.” 

Kara exhaled in relief. “What about the other superweapons?”

“We’re still looking. For now, you’re needed on Sullust,” Rhea said.

The holoprojector behind them flickered to life. Kara approached it.

“What’s on Sullust?” Kara asked.

“Lex Luthor had multiple factories on many planets. They may not house his superweapons, but they’re still dangerous.”

Kara looked at the holoprojection of the factory, then back down at the readout on the location. Her head jerked back up, staring sharply at Rhea, who’s back was still turned.

“This factory made assassin droids. To oppress people. Why are we restoring it?”

“Resistance terrorists are killing more of my people. I have to save the ones left…My life will never be the same without my son. He was the light of my life and Krypton stole him from me. I will not allow another mother to experience what I have. I won’t allow any more of my people to be murdered. Not when I can have droids take their place.”

Kara looked away.

Rhea continued. “I could send soldiers if you don’t want to go. You would be safer from the Resistance terrorists, but I understand your concerns.”

Kara shook her head, even though Rhea couldn’t see it. “No. I’ll go.”

“Good.” Rhea stood from her throne eyes lingering with distaste at the small House of El crest on Kara’s armor, before traveling up to her face.

“Greet the people of Sullust as their liberator, Kara Zor-El.”

----

Kara swung her lightsaber in a wide arc, sending blaster bolts back at the encroaching droids. She reached with the force and grasped two droids, slamming them into the other droids in a shower of sparks. Slash. Duck, overhand slash. She threw her lightsaber, cutting through another before Force-leaping over them. The last she dispatched with savage efficiency.

She marched ahead, leading a Daxamite strike team into the Supreme Chancellor’s office.

Lex Luthor sat at his desk. But no. That wasn't-- 

Kara walked over to him. His expression remained passive, unmoving.

A hologram.

“Find Luthor,” Kara ordered, her voice distorted by the mask she wore. The droids had provided a distraction while he escaped.

You should have anticipated this, Kryptonian, she heard inside her head. The self critical voice that always sounded like Rhea.

Kara reached out with the Force and crushed the hologram emitter.

The furniture creaked ominously as the air filled with her anger. Kara reigned it in before she harmed the troops around her, knowing all too well how easily armor caved beneath the power of the Force.

The Daxamites around her bowed. Kara turned sharply. Rhea. 

Rhea closed the distance between them, dress whispering against the floors of the Senatorial Office.

“Luthor escaped,” Kara confessed. Shame crept in her voice. She could have done more. They should have expected him to run- Luthor was a coward.

Rhea turned her eyes on Kara. “Disappointing.”

Kara closed her eyes. The weight of her failures was growing heavier and heavier. How long until her back broke from them?

“My Queen, the transmission is ready.”

Kara opened her eyes.

Rhea ignored the soldier. She walked over to the holoterminal, her long blue dress trailing behind her. Regal and refined.

“Stand by me, Kara,” Rhea ordered. “Activate the holoprojector.”

They stood together as Rhea’s voice rang throughout the room.

“People of the Empire. Do not be afraid. We have crossed a sea of stars to liberate you from oppression. We bring you a new way. A better way. The damage inflicted by Lex Luthor was deep. Too deep for a Republic to fix. As your new Empress, I will restore this Empire to the beacon it once was. Obey our orders and we will protect you. Do not resist. Welcome to the New Empire.”

----

Kara meditated on the trip to Sullust. Her personal starship, technically a star skiff, was customized for her use. The color scheme, like on all Daxamite ships, monochromatic with accents of red. As a passenger transport, it was fast and low profile, allowing her easy travel to wherever she was needed. The navacomputer was advanced enough to make jumps to lightspeed itself, meaning Kara had extra time to prepare for her missions.  However, she did have to land the ship.

A small room with padded floors and secure access to holocrons and training materials, her meditation chamber was one of the few restful places in Kara’s life. It provided her focus. Direction. Meditation. Kara drew upon the kernel of anger that rested  just beneath the surface, nourishing it like Rhea had taught her. Focus on the memory. Draw those emotions to the surface.

Krypton had been beautiful. She remembered the multitude of red hues from Rao’s light, as it reflected off the tall spires and towers of Argo City. From her bedroom, Kara could look and see all of Argo City and the movement of the pods down below.

Her people had chosen to remain isolated to focus on their religion and their connection to the force. Krypton’s isolation hadn’t saved them. For all their enlightenment, their isolation had doomed them all.

All those lights in Argo City- extinguished at once. No one but her would remember the way Rao’s light looked as it rose above the Jewel Mountains. No one else would remember the ceremonies honoring Rao, the sights and smells of the city.

Her family was dead. Her species was dead. Her friends were dead. Kal-El was dead. She was the last Kryptonian.

The furniture in the room began to shake and crack, the lights flickering. Kara forced herself to breathe and released the chokehold she had on the living force around her.

The comm system beeped to life, alerting her she needed to start her descent onto Sullust.

Kara stood and made her way to the viewport. Sullust was an obsidian planet spiderwebbed with red lava-filled veins. Krypton had looked like this as it was dying. She refocused, feeling for the life on the planet below. Sullust was not dying. The Sullustans were alive, and soon they would be thriving under Rhea’s rule.

What happened on Krypton...would never happen again.

----

Kara had been with Rhea for a year. A hard year. On Krypton, the Military Guild had trained exclusively with their force powers and practiced with weapons. Aunt Astra had wielded a double-bladed lightsaber with the utmost skill and restraint, as befitting the Military Guild. Kara, like her father, had been meant for the Science Guild where they utilized their force sensitivity for the betterment of the people and technological advancement, not combat.

The idea of training for combat went against everything Kara learned on Krypton as part of the Science Guild.

Rhea watched her batter the training dummy with her training saber, working through her  forms. A holocron nearby was serving as her instructor, but Rhea was the true force behind her training.

“You are holding back.” Rhea  voiced, words coated with disappointment. “I came to Midvale to find my son, but instead I found you, Kara Zor-El. I saw potential in you. I expect you to live up to it.”

Rhea drew closer to her, face kind, motherly.

“I came to you, trusted you, even though Krypton destroyed my planet. Caused the death of my son. All I asked, all I wanted, was your loyalty and together we will stop Lex Luthor from doing to another planet what was done to Krypton. Use your anger. Embrace it.”

Kara felt the familiar stabbing in her heart at the reminder of Krypton, and the all-consuming guilt, but frowned. Only the Military Guild had trained with lightsabers and their offensive powers, but everyone had used the force in some manner. Rhea’s teachings went against everything she had ever learned.

“On Krypton, the force was about balance.”

The kindness dropped from Rhea’s face. An emptiness echoed from her.

“Krypton is dead. For all their restraint, they destroyed both our worlds.”

----

As Rhea’s forces amassed in power, they gained supporters from the more isolated planets, far from the Galactic Empire’s laws and attention. Kara was seventeen when she met Ken-Li. He was eighteen, human, and had just joined the Daxamite forces. Ken-Li, or Kenny as he was better known, was from a small farming planet in the middle of nowhere.

While the other Daxamite troops avoided Kara, Kenny had befriended her. Neither of them had been sent on a mission yet, but they had heard rumors. Resistance fighters gathering in nearby systems. They were organizing against Lex Luthor’s Empire, but there was no guarantee they would leave the Daxamites alone. The Resistance hadn't attacked yet, but it seemed only a matter of time.

“Are we on the right side?” Kara had asked Kenny. Kenny had taken off his helmet and held it under his arm. He was a little older than Kara, but still looked exceptionally young.

“Why do you think we’re not?” He’d asked in turn.

“Rhea’s been teaching me, but it’s different from everything I learned back home. I feel like I’m not doing what I’m meant to.”

“Rhea’s from Daxam. I mean, I had a hard time adapting at first, but you get used to it. But if it doesn't feel right, don't do it. Trust yourself, Kara.”

Kara had smiled at Kenny, who returned it.

“You’re the only person who doesn’t make me feel like I shouldn’t be here.”

Kenny’s eyes were soft and kind. “I’m glad you’re my friend.”

Kara bumped her shoulder against his. “You too.”

Kenny’s first mission, to liberate the industrial world of Balmorra, ended in tragedy. The Daxamite Army had driven Lex Luthor's forces off the planet, but the fighting hadn't stopped there. While the army regrouped, the Resistance had struck. Kenny, as well as the entire squad, was murdered.

Executed.

Rhea broke the news to her.

Without Kenny, the flagship grew darker and Rhea’s teachings became easier to embrace. Kara soon joined Rhea’s ground troops. Another tragedy like the kind that had befallen Kenny wouldn’t happen, not with her there.

Without the Resistance, Kenny would still be alive. Without the Resistance, Kara wouldn’t be alone. Without the Resistance, she wouldn’t have to fight.

Her hate for the Resistance had been born that day.

----

The native Sullustans were assembled to greet her at the spaceport. Like most things on Sullust, the spaceport was designed to withstand the immense planetary heat. The Sullustans lived in advanced subterranean cities, where they were safe from the planet’s harsh surface. But interstellar travel demanded infrastructure above ground. The surface city Pinyumb extended outward from the spaceport, creating a small microcosm of life on the otherwise barren surface. Still, seeing Sullustans above ground while not working was a rare occurrence.

No one spoke.

All eyes were on her.

There was a quiet, awed aura of silence among the Sullustans. Kara sensed fear, but that was understandable. Anyone would be worried about a new power taking charge. But they would calm soon. Once they saw how the Empire improved their lives for the better, they would embrace them. Liberated from Lex Luthor, now safe from the Rebellion terrorists.

A tall Daxamite captain approached her. “Everything has been prepared for your arrival. Our forces cleared the factory. Would you like an escort?”

“No, thank you. I will go alone.”

“Very well. We will continue to establish our forces.”

The Daxamite bowed as Kara made her way to the speeder parked outside.

----

Kara paused in the entranceway to the factory. Someone waited for her, inside. She followed the presence to the main conveyor room.

A young woman with long dark hair tied back into a tight ponytail stood in front of the blast doors. She looked familiar, but Kara could not place her. Who she was was irrelevant. Kara could see the force radiating off of her, strong and calm.

“I just want to talk,” the woman said. She raised both hands in a pacifying gesture. Kara’s eyes locked on the lightsaber hanging from her belt and took in the clothes she wore.

Jedi. Resistance.

Kara glared, igniting her lightsaber. Usually, that was enough to make the Resistance rank and file retreat.

“Surrender.”

It didn’t work. The Jedi ignited her lightsaber. She extended her blue blade parallel to the floor. Kara lunged, her crimson blade meeting blue in a shower of plasma sparks.

Kara batted away her attacks with her lightsaber. She’d never faced another force user and was curious. What was her style? How did she fight? Her defensive techniques kept her safe from the woman’s attacks.

The Jedi had training, but Kara was doubtful she had ever used a lightsaber before. Her weight distribution was better suited for a vibroblade.

Kara disengaged her lightsaber blade and, as expected, the Jedi was thrown off balance, with her body angled forward. Kara hit the blade and forced it down. It was all the other woman could do to break free. She retreated several steps, before holding her ground again, lightsaber raised chest high.

This was too easy.

“I need you to listen to me-” she shouted.

Kara slashed one-handed. Time to end this. The Jedi blocked. Kara hit her with a force push with her free hand. The Jedi, not expecting it, flew backward and landed heavily on her rump. Her lightsaber spun out of her hand and turned off. The fallen Jedi lunged for her lightsaber. Kara summoned her opponent’s lightsaber to her free hand.

“Stay down,” Kara ordered.

She turned the handle over in her hand. One of the shoddiest lightsabers Kara had ever seen. She saw the Kyber crystal suspended in the handle. The skeletal appearance of the metal outer casing didn’t appear to be a stylistic choice, but one born of inexperience or extreme haste.

“Alex Danvers sent me.”

Kara’s head snapped up.

“How do you know that name?” Kara loomed over the downed Jedi. How did this Resistance Jedi know about Alex? Did they have her captive?

Red flashed before her eyes. She raised her hand and felt the pressure of the room begin to change. “Talk. Quickly.”

“Alex is in the Resistance. I’m here to bring you back with me. To the Resistance and Alex,” she said earnestly.

“Alex would never join the Resistance,” Kara yelled, her anger beginning to get the best of her. “She would never join them! Your Resistance murders. It destroys.”

“You’re the Empress’s Wrath. You lead the Empress’s armies into battle! All you do is murder!”

Kara reached up and broke the seal between her suit and her mask. The mask retracted. “There are casualties in war! But I am not a murderer.” With her mask on, Kara felt detached from her surroundings. She inhaled air, rough and rattling in her lungs. Looking at her opponent with her own eyes, rather than through her mask’s retinal interface, breathing in the air around her- Everything felt more real. Substantial. Kara shook it off. “But you,” Kara pointed at the woman with her lightsaber. “Your Resistance are glorified terrorists. And Alex would never join you.”

The Jedi tossed something at Kara. “Alex gave me your mother’s necklace. As insurance.”

Kara’s eyes focused on the dark stone and she froze. Alex may not want to speak to her anymore, but she wouldn’t just give her necklace away. She wouldn’t, no matter how bad things were between them. They could have taken this from Alex. Very easily. But how would they know about her? And how would they know the importance of the necklace?

“I think you deserve everything you get for the lives you’ve destroyed,” the Jedi spat. “But Alex wants you safe.” Her pale skin was flushed pink from the heat. “You gave Alex that necklace when you left. You told her to keep it safe. I’m not lying. Alex sent me for you.”

Kara’s thoughts raced. The Jedi wouldn’t know the importance of the necklace. Unless Alex had told her. But that meant Alex was Resistance. Her head hurt.

The Jedi’s comm trilled. “They’re about to start their bombing run.”

Kara could sense the Resistance fighters closing in. She was telling the truth.

“We need to go,” she said.

Kara helped her to her feet. Their hands connected and Kara saw her pale skin was flushed pink from the heat. She dropped the hand as soon as the woman was on her feet. They ran towards the back of the factory. The starfighters were coming closer and closer, their pilots like distant lights coming closer and closer. They made it out the blast door and onto the barren Sullust surface.

A sharp feeling at the base of her skull, the tingling sensation. Danger . She lept towards the young Jedi and formed a force barrier around them, and not a second too late. The factory exploded. Kara could feel the waves of heat even through her barrier. Force powers or no, Kara would have been killed by the blast if she was inside. As it was, it was taking everything she had to protect them both.

“Are you okay?” Kara asked. Their faces were inches apart. The woman was striking looking. Terrible timing, Kara.

“You saved me,” she said, stunned.

“Get to safety,” Kara ordered. She pushed the skeletal lightsaber into the Jedi’s hands. The Daxamite fleet was beginning to scramble their starfighters. Orders were issuing through her comms. Kara could hear them calling for her, asking her status.

What was she doing? Kara should capture the Jedi and bring her to Rhea. She was a threat. She was dangerous. But-

Kara looked into her eyes. Staring, searching.

This girl was Alex’s friend. Alex was with the Resistance. She maintained eye contact.   She’s telling the truth. She felt it- the approaching Daxamite ground force. She didn’t have time for this.

“Go,” Kara ordered again. The Daxamite squad was almost on them. Kara fixed the mask back on her face.

“The Empress is evil, Kara. Alex believes in you. You need to believe in her.”  With that, she ran.

The woman’s presence faded, further and further, even as the fire raged around her. Alone, even as the Daxamites approached.

----

Her mind raced. She had left Midvale when she was sixteen. Since then, she had heard nothing from Alex. No, not nothing. Alex had refused her holocalls. And now she had joined the Resistance .

Kara swept past Daxamite troops, past the astromech droids, and the familiar sights of the Flagship around her. Their monochromatic colors. The dark and cold interior of the ship. The way the Force seemed hollow. Nothing looked the same.

Alex believes in you. You need to believe in her.

Rhea was her mentor. Rhea had promised to redeem Krypton’s sins. Together they would destroy Lex Luthor’s superweapons and keep the Galaxy safe. They would destroy the weapons Lex modeled after Krypton’s. Together, they would ensure the safety of the Galaxy.

Alex believes in you. You need to believe in her.

Kara reached the platform. Rhea greeted her.

“Kara. I heard about the factory. I’m relieved to hear you’re safe.”

Kara searched Rhea’s face. Was she lying to her? “The factory was destroyed.”

“The factory shields should have protected it from bombardment. I promise you, I will personally investigate how they were able to do this. We’ll find out who betrayed us.” Rhea lowered her voice. “You look bothered, what’s wrong?”

“Am I called the Empress’s Wrath?”

Rhea sighed, heavily. “I heard the rumors, but I didn’t want to upset you. The Resistance will always try to slander us. Giving you a name, an image, is just one way to do it.”

Kara’s jaw dropped. “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“So you could accuse me of being another evil Daxamite? You would have been told the truth if you weren’t so prejudiced when we first met, Kara. I was afraid you would let your prejudices blind you to the truth. Can you blame me for wanting to keep the peace?”

It was true; Kara was prejudiced against Daxamites. Would she have given Rhea a fair chance to explain herself?

“She called me a murderer. She said you were evil. I could sense her honesty.”

“She?” Rhea questioned, her tone biting. The room’s temperature dropped. Kara’s breath laboring in the cold.

“A Jedi. Resistance.” She looked away from Rhea’s eyes.

“This girl has been lied to. Deceived. She undoubtedly believes the Resistance. She’s pitiable.” Rhea leaned forward. “I feared this would happen. There are always two. You and now this girl. Darkness will always try to swallow the light.”

“Alex has joined the Resistance. This Jedi is friends with her,” Kara said. Her voice broke, despite her best efforts.

The Empress scoffed. “You tried for years to get in contact with Alex. She chose to ignore you. Alex has always been jealous of you. Without you, she has no life. She joined the Resistance to spite you.”

Kara remembered the arguments. The petty squabbles. Alex had hated her when she first joined the Danvers family. Alex had resented her and the change she brought to her family. Before she left, Kara had thought they were past it. Kara had thought they were finally sisters.

“Alex didn’t want you to leave with me. She never wanted you to own your powers. She wanted to control you.”

She clenching her fists, the leather gauntlets biting into her finger. Tears building in her eyes.

“But Kara,” Rhea tried to get her attention. “I have always wanted you to embrace your powers. I have only ever wanted the best for you. I never wanted you to hide in the shadows. You were always greater than that Mid Rim planet. It is time for you to soar. And I need you to trust me.”

Kara looked at Rhea. She saw the mentor she had grown to trust. The woman who was there for her after Kenny died. Rhea had only ever wanted to help her.

“I trust you,” Kara said.

“Thank you.”

Rhea settled back into her chair.

“We’re close to discovering Lex Luthor’s next weapon. I’ll call you when we find it.”

Chapter Text

Kara’s chambers were situated on the opposite side of the Flagship, away from the rest of the crew. Only Rhea could visit her. Here, she could practice her force abilities and lightsaber techniques without distractions. The holocrons whispered to her in their strange language, awaking at her approach. They unsettled her with their soft whispers and subtle callings, but Kara had to learn from them. For Rhea.

Kara centered herself, gathering her thoughts in the emptiness of the room. She entered a meditative state with ease, blocking all else out and sensing the force around her.

Then, a shift.

She wasn’t alone.

Kara opened her eyes and was met by a pair of startled green ones.

Kara leapt to her feet and ignited her lightsaber. How had the Resistance gotten on board Rhea’s ship? And without alerting the crew? If Kara was surprised, so was the Jedi in front of her.

The confusion of the woman seeped into Kara, as well as a healthy dose of fear. Think. There was no way the Jedi boarded undetected. Approaches near Coruscant were screened. Any Resistance ship within the Inner Rim would be shot down on sight. Not to mention reaching Kara. The bio-encryption kept everyone out of this section of the ship. This was an illusion. Or a vision. She extinguished her lightsaber and outstretched her hand. She tried to pull the woman to her with the Force.

Nothing happened, even as the Jedi braced for impact.

“What’s going on?” the Jedi asked. Her eyes darted around the room, not fixed on any one location.

Kara hooked her lightsaber to her belt. “This is a force vision,” Kara explained. “Caused by a force bond. I can see you. But only you. Can you see my surroundings?”

The woman didn’t answer. “A force vision?” Her eyes snapped to Kara, no longer searching her surroundings, before darting away. She fidgeted with her fingers.

Waves of confusion washed over Kara. She didn’t blame the woman. Force bonds were uncommon on Krypton, but when they did happen, it was usually between close family members or masters and apprentices in the guilds. A force vision was even rarer, and even then, most bonds were not strong enough to create a corporeal vision like this.

“Why is the force connecting us?” Kara’s forehead crinkled in thought. Bonds could form during near-death experiences, like what happened on Sullust, but it shouldn’t have developed so strongly or so soon.

“You’re the Jedi. You tell me,” the woman snapped.

Kara laughed, “So are you.” She reached out with the Force, but couldn’t sense where the other woman was. Instead, feelings of confusion and annoyance assaulted her mind. Beneath that - worry.

At a distinct disadvantage, Kara took the initiative. While the Jedi knew Kara’s name, Kara was still clueless as to her identity. “What’s your name?”

“Why?” She asked, suspiciously.

“You know my name. If you’re calling me Kara…”

“Lena.” She scowled.

Kara took in the hard line of her jaw. She was… very pretty. Sharp features, defined eyebrows, and long dark hair. It was an odd thing to notice, but Kara hadn’t really looked at Lena during their fight. And she did her best to put that strange moment between them earlier out of her mind.

Kara looked away from her then back up. The other woman had disappeared.

She should tell Rhea. Kara was developing a strange fascination with the Jedi...Lena, she corrected herself. Rhea wouldn’t like that. The older woman would want to know about their connection. But… something held her back.

For now, she would keep this to herself.

Unnerved, Kara shook out her arms. A livewire lay underneath her skin. A hum of energy. She could almost feel the other woman’s presence, though they were far apart. It was disquieting. For the first time in a very long time, Kara did not feel alone.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that either.

----

Kara and Kenny watched the nearby nebula as Rhea’s flagship sat stationary in Outer Rim space. The fleet had slowly been gaining in strength as they made their way towards the Inner Rim. More and more disenfranchised people, from various worlds, joined the Daxamite Army.

“Have you thought about the damage done by the Empire?” Kara asked.

No planet was safe from the Empire. Outer Rim, Mid Rim, or the Core Worlds, each was affected in some way by the Luthor administration. While the wealthy humans of the core worlds prospered most, it was always at the expense of the alien populations and Outer Rim planets. Christophsis, Ilum, and Jedha were all stripped of resources to further Luthor’s pursuit of power. Resistance was met with force. The bombing of Jedha (officially a “mining accident”) was a message to the rest of the galaxy: Resist and be destroyed, cooperate and live.

“Once we stop Luthor, we’ll repair the galaxy,” Kara said, “but I want to do more, now.”

Kenny fiddled with his star charts. “History can be our greatest teacher. Telos was destroyed during the Jedi Civil War over four thousand years ago. Decimated, nothing living on the surface. The Galactic Republic was able to restore the planet’s surface. Maybe we could do something similar. Save them from the Empire, you know?”

It was a great idea. Excitement bubbled up in Kara. A real way to help people, to do what she was meant to do, like she would have if Krypton hadn't died.

Kara beamed. “Thank you.”

Kenny blushed.

----

The transport slowed to a hover before setting down on the pad below. The landing gear slowly extended, before descending. The boots of the Daxamites stomped in unison, as the small squad advanced onto the duracrete platform.

They marched out, before branching onto either side of the the ramp, forming two columns of soldiers, alert and waiting for her.

Slowly, Kara proceeded through the middle. At the end, the planetary governor stood waiting. Respirator attached to his nose and mouth.

Balmorra. That planet that stole Kenny.

Overhead, a squad of starships swooped overhead, low and near the ground. The ion engines roared angrily, echoing through the industrial valley.

Polluted. Dirty. Toxic skies and unclean air. The last thing Kenny saw was this foul planet.

Kara walked over to the short governor. Daxamite, by the lack of latent Force energy. Nowhere near Rhea’s emptiness- Kara’d yet to find her equal.

Kara kept stride with him as they travelled the short distance to the munitions factory, tuning him out.

“You will go to Balmorra,” Rhea ordered. Kara paused at the top of the stairs, just before Rhea’s chair. Cold raced down her spine. Balmorra.

“Balmorra is a cesspool. But it is our greatest manufacturing planet. We need their factories to secure our Empire’s peace.”

The shadow of the flagship passed over Coruscant, engulfing the buildings into darkness.

“It’s imperative they remain loyal. You will go and inspire them.”

Smog hung thick in the air above her head. Distant smoke stacks spit clouds of black smoke into the air.

Manufacturing droids manned the bulk of the labor, but among them were sentient workers. Humans and Twi'leks. Her mask filtered the toxic air, but the workers were unmasked and vulnerable to the toxic air.

She paused at the factory entrance. Cold, stomach twisting in knots, sweat inducing fear. The absolute wave of terror suffocated her.

A soft whisper. The Wrath. A shiver reverberated through them.

Shaking, a Twi'lek man fell to the floor at her feet, grasping her robes. “Have mercy! Please! Please don’t hurt us!”

This was for her. This panic, this fear was all for her. Because of her.

Kara bit back the bile rising in her throat, burning her alive.

His terror rose from him like rot, a stench. The Daxamite soldiers raised their rifles, aiming at the man.

“No!” Kara commanded. Her voice echoed around the room, distorted by the mask.  Despite the command, the soldiers’ aggression rippled through the Force.

Raising her hand, the rifles flew into the air. Screaming. Fleeing. Absolute chaos. The terror rose to a fever pitch. Kara made to reach down. The man at Kara’s feet threw himself back.

The Resistance created myth of the Wrath. I am not a Wrath.

The Resistance turned them against her. This fear, this cancer spreading through them like wildfire, was all because of the Resistance.

You will be a hero for the people. You will redeem Krypton through your actions, Rhea said.

This- this wasn’t what she wanted. This was subjugation. The quelling of the masses through fear.

In that instant, clear as day, the memory of Lena’s words came to her: The Empress is evil, Kara.

No. No. They were securing the Galaxy for peace. Undoing the damage done by Lex Luthor.

The trip back to Rhea was silent. From all corners of the flagship, from the planet below, Kara felt fear. And where Rhea dwelled, a vast emptiness of emotion. And Force.

And like a flare, her bond with Lena.

----

“Why did you send me to Balmorra?”

Kara burst into the throne room. Anger poured from her, enough the make Rhea’s honor guard stand in front her her. Rhea waved them off with a casual wave of the hand.

“Why would you do that?” Kara yelled.

“I needed you to prove yourself.”

Rhea stood from her chair and made the short journey to Kara.

“You allowed the Jedi on Sullust to escape. Who knows the damage she will cause, the lives she will take, because of your inability to do what needs to be done.”

Kara had no response to that. She had let Lena escape. Because of a supposed connection to Alex. She should have captured her and brought her to Rhea. She should have- Kara forced her mind clear.

“That- that’s not the point! Balmorra ? Where Kenny-”

“My people bled for Balmorran factories. They sacrificed. Ken-Li was one of many. And you’ve spat on his sacrifice.”

Kara reeled back as if slapped.

“You’ve allowed Resistance the chance to poison more minds against us. Because you refuse to do what needs to be done. I ask you to visit one planet and you cower.”

Rhea turned away from her and sat back on her chair, refusing to look at Kara. Rhea’s visible disappointment sunk like a stone in Kara’s stomach.

“I believed in you. I believed you were more than a Kryptonian. More than the species that stole my son from me and destroyed my world.” Rhea’s voice lowered to a whisper. “Please. Leave.”

----

Alderaan brimmed with natural beauty. A blue and green sphere from space. Kara expected greenery, but not to this extent. She landed near Lerantha Lake, on the outskirts of the Kaamos Territory and far from the crowded spaceports. Secluded. Peaceful.

After the mess at Balmorra, it was a relief to be outdoors, in the clean air.

Kara felt the Force in every blade of grass, each wisp of wind, and atop the ice-capped mountains.

Rhea and Daxamite intelligence had spent the better part of a month working through Intel. Heavily encrypted Intel, alongside whatever they could gather from the former Emperor’s movements before he fled. Finally, they had a planet- Alderaan- and an approximate location- the Juran Mountains- for one of his superweapon projects.

Kara made the trek out to the Luthorcorp facility at the base of the Juran Mountains, looking for any clues that could help in her search. The ground troops had stripped the facility bare, but they didn’t have the Force on their side.

The Force was more than just a weapon. More than a tool. It was the energy that existed between every living and non-living thing. It surrounded and permeated everything and everyone. Lex Luthor, for all his hatred of it, was still a part of it. He left traces - echoes - in the Force, wherever he went.

Kara knew what she had to do. There were overgrown, long since forgotten, paths braided and intertwined throughout the mountains’ thick, forest foliage.

In the mountains, Kara reached an opening in the rock face. She followed the right cave wall, keeping one hand against it so she wouldn’t get lost. After walking a few minutes, the wall texture changed from rock to durasteel. Her footsteps reverberated from the changing floor texture.

Focusing her energy, she slid the door open and entered. The cave, now a room with a low ceiling, awash in artificial light. Kara’s skin tingled. Though man made, it was something more.

Whether Lex knew it or not, he had found a nexus of Force energy and hid his superweapon inside it. The facility was dark. Not just in appearance. It had been over a year since Lex Luthor had set foot on Alderaan, but Kara still felt his essence in the facility. Ominous. Cold.

Next to a large turbolift on the opposite side of the room, Kara spotted a terminal. She tried to access the mainframe, but when she pressed a key, nothing happened. The information to the Superweapon was on this terminal and a mere barrier wasn’t going to stop her.

She gathered herself.

The floor beneath her shook and a loud boom reverberated throughout the room. The artificial light turned red and flashed in rapid intervals.

She’d triggered an alarm.

A loud crash. Kara spun, her lightsaber ready. A massive blast door now blocked the exit, and Lena stood in front of it.

How was she here? Was this another vision? No. Kara knew she was real. Those questions would have to wait.

Lena also ignited her lightsaber. The blue glow of the blade contrasting with the red-lit room.

Kara attacked first with an overhand strike. Their lightsabers met. Lena had improved. Her strikes more fluid. Less clumsy hack and slash movements. However, she wasn’t a match for Kara, but Kara didn’t want to hurt her, so she bided her time. Waiting. Then, Lena made a mistake and Kara capitalized.

Kara grabbed Lena’s wrist and twisted. The lightsaber fell from Lena’s numbed hand and Kara caught it.

Lena stumbled.

Kara crossed the two lightsabers forming an X and held them to Lena’s neck.

“Are you going to kill me?” Lena raised her chin, clenched her jaw. Even as she huffed and puffed from exertion, she stayed defiant.

“I don’t kill.” Kara deactivated both lightsabers. “No matter what your Resistance says.” She placed Lena’s lightsaber alongside her own on her belt.

“I know what you’ve done. Even if Rhea’s manipulating you, you’re still responsible.”

There was no point arguing with her. She could sense Lena’s honest belief. She was a Resistance puppet, but maybe she could realize the truth. It would be nice to have another Force Sensitive around. First, she needed to create a path out.

Kara inhaled and reached out with her feelings. She extended her hands, grasped the blast door through the Force and pulled.

Nothing happened.

Kara never, in her adult life, encountered an obstacle she could not conquer by using the Force.

Kara tried, again. This time she couldn’t even feel her surroundings. Fear crept up her spine. Something was draining her powers, making her weak. It had been affecting her longer than she realized. How else could Lena have snuck up on her?

Arrogant Kryptonian, of course Luthor would have traps. The facility wasn’t a nexus of force energy. It was a vacuum, stealing the Force energy from her body.

Lena realized it as well, as Kara’s fear projected through their bond.

Kara ignited her lightsaber and attempted to thrust it into the door. It seared the metal but didn’t penetrate. Even the air vents were sealed. Kara was trapped.

The walls seemingly closing in on her, Kara took off her mask and gulped in breaths of air.

She banged on the door with her bare hands. Desperation clawed at her insides. No one knew where she was. This deep inside the mountain orbital sensors wouldn’t be able to find her. No one could find her. She grasped her mother’s necklace, underneath her robes. Calm.

“Did you follow me here?” Kara demanded. If the rest of the Resistance knew Lena was here they might follow. Kara could overpower them and escape, bringing back reinforcements. “Is the Resistance on their way?”

Lena stopped jabbing her holo.

“No.” Honesty . Whatever was blocking her Force powers wasn’t interfering with their bond.

“Then why are you here? How did you find this place?”

“I felt like I needed to come here.” She must have subconsciously followed their bond. Kara stared at her and Lena grew defensive. “Lex and I used to hike the Juran mountains in the Spring. I know the area.”

Wait. Didn’t Lex have a younger sister named-

“Lena Luthor ?”

Lena flinched.

Kara Zor-El, the last daughter of Krypton, was locked in a boobytrapped Luthor weapons vault with Lex Luthor’s younger sister. Rao . This was beyond bad.

Lena softened. “I wasn’t always a Luthor. I was adopted when I was four.”

Lena stared at the terminal. She didn’t seem to be affecting it. The terminal as dead as it had been since the lockdown started.

Kara fell back against the door. The sheer frustration, the hopelessness of the situation, crashed down on her. She hadn’t felt this powerless since Krypton. Her head sunk lower, chin resting on her chest.

“Are you okay?” Lena fidgered with her hands.. “I can feel it,” she elaborated, gesturing between the two of them.

Realization. Their bond went both ways. Lena sensed Kara’s feelings.

“I’m fine,” Kara lied.

Lena set her hand down on top of the monitor.

The terminal whirled to life. Incomprehensible script came up on the holointerface. It wasn’t Galactic Basic, or any other language Kara had ever encountered.

Lena gasped, “This is our code. Lex and I- we made this when I first went to live with the Luthors.”

Kara bumped shoulders with Lena in her haste to look at it. Lena’s shampoo and the earthy scent of the forest engulfed her senses.

“It must be biolocked for Luthor DNA. You can read it then?”  She ignored the strange flip in her stomach. Nerves, she thought.

“I can.”

Lena’s fingers raced across the interface. Her eyes jumped from each line of cipher to the next. “I can’t open the main door, but I can activate the turbolift.”

As she said it, Lena didn’t move.

“What are you waiting for?” Kara raised a brow in frustration.

“I’m not helping you.” Lena crossed her arms. “I don’t trust you and I’m certainly not helping you reach your objective.”

“We’re not getting out of here unless we work together. No one knows where we are. We can’t use the Force. The only way forward is through that turbolift.”

“I’d rather die.” Lena crossed her arms. Make her obey, overpower her, Rhea whispered. Kara whipped around. Rhea wasn’t here.

She was disgusted. She would never, ever, force someone to help her against their will. What was that?

“Well then, I guess we just wait to run out of air.” Why did she end up with the self destructive Luthor? At least Lex had survival instinct. Lena was willing to die for her cause.

For the next hour, Kara meditated on her situation. Her connection to the Force was not improving.

“Why Balmorra?”

Kara popped open one eye. “What?”

“The Wrath visits Balmorra. The same day there’s a military suppression?”

A suppression? Apart from the incident at the factory, things went smoothly. No one died.

But, Lena was so sure in what she was saying. More Resistance lies then.

And Why would Rhea send you there, Kara? To inspire loyalty? Or to inspire fear?

Kara swallowed heavily. Don’t let her get to you.

“I’m surprised they let a Luthor join the Resistance,” Kara remarked. Her eyes roamed the walls, looking for a weak point. A way out.

“I’m trying to undo the damage done by Lex.”

“Then we have the same goals,” Kara said. “We should be working together, Lena. Why would you join the Resistance?”

“The Daxamite Empire built off my brother’s genocidal plans.”

“The Empire is necessary to restore order and stability to the galaxy. Without us the systems would be reduced to anarchy,” Kara argued. She could get through to Lena.

“You can’t rule through murder and fear.” If Lena’s intentions were really good, then perhaps she had to give a little for her to see her side of things.

“Do you know what this facility was used for?” Kara asked. Lena froze. “It’s not a trick question. Do you know?”

“No.”

“Lex created superweapons, capable of destroying planets. This houses just one of them. I’m here to capture it.”

Lena worried her lip with her top teeth. “All the more reason to not hand it over to the Daxamites.”

“Even if you don’t trust them, you need to believe me. You feel it. I’m telling the truth. I’m here to make sure another planet doesn’t die.” Not like Krypton. “I need you to help me stop it.”

Acceptance of the situation washed over Lena’s face. “I guess I have no choice.”

She turned back to the terminal and clicked something.

The turbolift doors opened.

Kara held out her hand. “Holo.” Lena grudgingly placed it in Kara’s outstretched palm. Kara stowed the holo next to her mask in her robes. In return, Kara returned Lena’s lightsaber. Lena raised her eyebrow but took it.

“I don’t know what else is down here,” Kara explained. “Just in case.”

----

“Kara. Please sit.”

Rhea had called her into her private quarters. This was the first time Rhea had ever summoned her here. Usually, Kara met her in the throne room or the training room. Sometimes, Rhea would come to her chambers. A sense of foreboding filled her.

“I want you to know, this is hard for me. I care for all of my people. Even the loss of one, it hurts like my own son. I understand you and soldier Ken-Li, are close.”

Kara began to close her senses off. Ignoring the fear bubbling in her gut.

“We lost communication with his squad a day ago. More troops were sent to reinforce the position. Ken-Li... is dead.”

In spite of herself, Kara felt the scab of Krypton rip off. Dead. Everyone Kara cared about died. It was better Alex cut contact, or she’d be next.

“How?” Kara asked. She tightened her grip on her knee.

Rhea reached out and patted her cold hand. “The Resistance overran their position. They wanted to control of the factories. They executed all of our soldiers.”

“Why would they do that?” Kara’s voice cracked. “They’re fighting Luthor. Kenny had nothing to do with it.”

“They’re terrorists. Anarchists. Xenophobes. They killed him because he wore Daxamite armor. Kara, now more than ever, we have to focus on the task at hand. We need to destroy Lex Luthor and then the Resistance. Do not grieve. Give in to your anger.”

----

Kara ducked under the vibrostaff, sweeping her own lightsaber out to impale her opponent, before sending it flying with a kick. At the same time, another enemy charged from behind, slashed down. Kara sliced off their sword hand, spinning her lightsaber around to hack across the chestplate. She spun her lightsaber in hand, taking on a switch grip. She stabbed backwards, impaling the last opponent.

Nearby, Lena finished the droid that had attacked her.

“You’ve gotten better,” Kara said.

Lena nodded. “Thanks.” Wisps of dark hair stuck to her forehead, freed from her ponytail. She wiped her brow.

A small army of prototype AR droids had met them at the turbolift. Unlike the ones Kara faced on Coruscant, these were designed for hand to hand combat, with heavy cortosis mesh in the cuirass. Hard to destroy and lightsaber resistant. With minimal access to the Force, they were even more difficult.

Lena sighed, heavily, “I wonder what else Lex hid in here.”

They continued walking down the dimly lit corridor. Save the ambush, their time together had been uneventful. Lena impressed Kara. Smart, capable with a lightsaber, and she lacked her brother’s frothing insanity. But, Kara knew very little about her beyond that. If she wanted to bring her around, she had to start making inroads.

Right. That’s why.

“Did Lex know about you?” Kara kept alert to her surroundings, but her eyes kept darting over to Lena, lingering a second than necessary each time.

The Luthor family was notorious for their anti-Jedi views. A Jedi Luthor would be a great scandal, if it got out.

“No.” Lena looked ahead and avoided Kara’s eyes. “If he did, he would’ve had me killed.”

Sympathy shot through Kara. She had heard all about the Luthors in her time with the Daxamites. Wealthy. Smart. Cold.

“Family can have a way of disappointing you,” Kara muttered. Aunt Astra. Mother. Father. Alex. Kara ignored the twinge in her heart. “I know what it's like to be disillusioned by your family,” Kara said. Sympathy creeping in despite her training.

Bitterness infected Lena’s voice. “When I was adopted by the Luthors I adored Lex. He made me proud to be a Luthor.”

Kara knew the bitterness too well. How it felt to seek out a family, a place of belonging, just to have it ripped away. They had a lot in common. The strange pull between them felt like a tangible string now. Did Lena feel it too? Or was this all in her head?

Lena turned soft eyes to her. “At least you have Alex.”

“You keep saying that.” Kara scoffed. “Alex has been ignoring me for years; then she decides to send messages through you?”

Lena’s eyebrow quirked. “What are you talking about?”

“I tried to reach out to her. Alex always turned away my comms.” She abandoned me.

That was the real heart of the matter, wasn’t it? Kara had been abandoned before. And she was abandoned again.

Lena’s brows lowered. “Alex never heard from you.” She cut Kara off, “Alex sent me because she couldn’t reach you. Not because she didn’t want to.”

It wasn’t true. But she’s telling the truth. Rhea told Kara the holocalls had been returned. She had seen the rejected comms. It doesn’t matter. She needed to capture this superweapon to protect the galaxy. She could worry about Alex afterwards.

“We’re here.”

A biometric lock. Lena set her hand on the pad and thedoor opened. They entered a cavernous room. In the middle, surrounded by various equipment and tools, sat the Death Mark Laser.

The Death Mark Laser was a monolith. On its own, it took up almost the entirety of the room. This weapon’s construction had stripped worlds. The laser, powered by Kyber crystals, were used for orbital strikes. A biosignature was inserted into the device, which then kept a lock on the target until it was destroyed. Atool for precision assassination. One of the least destructive of Lex’s superweapons. But capable hands could wield it like a surgeon’s scalpel.

“What is it?” Lena gaped.

“Finished.” Kara moved over to the holoprojector in the corner of the room. Unlike everywhere else, it was not biolocked and still had power. More importantly, Kara could feel her connection to the Force returning, like the blood rushing to a limb after falling asleep. According to the schematics, there was a landing pad nearby where the Daxamites could collect the weapon. It was also their way out.

“You can’t let Rhea have this,” Lena said, spinning to look at Kara. She desperately searched her face, looking for something. Kara wished she had her mask on.

“I know you don’t believe me, but Rhea is trying to save the Galaxy. We’re destroying Lex’s weapons. We’re the good guys,” Kara said in earnest. Alex was lost to her, but maybe she could get Lena to her side. If she only understood.

Lena’s eyes burned. Kara’s eyes left Lena’s and instead focused on a small scar near her eyebrow.

“Rhea lied to you about Alex. What else is she lying to you about?” Lena argued. “I can feel your doubt. Come with me, Kara. Join the Resistance.”

“I would never join the Resistance,” Kara spat.

She could still see Kenny, mangled and bloody from his first deployment. The execution-style blaster shot to his head.

“I saw my world destroyed by a weapon just like the ones Lex made. I will never allow terrorists and murderers to do that to anyone else.”

Kara turned away. Something still called her to Lena and it was driving her mad. She didn’t know this Jedi and she couldn’t trust this so-called connection Lena had to Alex.

Capture her. A Luthor is leverage.

“I wouldn’t have made it this far without you. There’s a speeder on the landing platform. If you leave now, I won’t pursue,” Kara said.

Lena froze. They were at a standstill. Lena looked sadly at Kara. Pityingly.

“I won’t get through to you today,” Lena said.  “But Rhea will show her true colors, soon. I hope for your sake it’s not too late.”

Chapter Text

Alderaan was a hotbed for Resistance activity. A sympathetic world to their cause, though it was a well kept secret who Alderaan sided with.

Alderaan’s loyalties placed the planet in great danger. A substantial Daxamite force had gathered at the Rhu Caenus Spaceport. Ever since Lex was ousted as Emperor, the Daxamite presence in the Core Worlds was substantial. But, the recent allocation of resources to Alderaan suggested something else was going on. Possibly, a strike against the peaceful people of Alderaan. Where the Daxamite army went, death and destruction followed. As soon as the army retreated, the Resistance went in.

The Resistance had set up a base not far from the spaceport, in the Kaamos Territory. While they prepared to engage the remaining Daxamites and take the spaceport from them, several teams were sent to scout the surrounding area, with Lena assigned to the one in the Juran Mountain region.

The Resistance hadn’t run into any Daxamites and Lena had been left to her own devices for the first time in over a month. Freedom to do as she pleased. And Lena knew those mountains paths from her years tagging along with Lex. While the Resistance returned to base, Lena had gone her own way. It hadn’t been a conscious decision to leave. She just knew where she had to go. There was no fighting it.

Through the mountains and past forests, Lena found herself inside a dark cave. Even as her mind told her to turn back, something inside her willed her forward, like a compass pointing north. She followed that sense- that feeling- until she reached a man-made space. And in that room, she found Kara. The Wrath.

Her adventure in the Juran Mountains with the Wrath- with Kara- had been almost an out of body experience. Once again, she had been beaten. But, once again, she had been allowed to live. Even stranger, Kara had let her go in the end.

Kara was more powerful than Lena had imagined. Her lightsaber technique outmatched Lena by leaps and bounds. While Lena had struggled against one AR droid, Kara destroyed four within the same amount of time. Her lightsaber was a crimson blur as it whirled around her. Their duels hadn’t been the life or death struggle Lena perceived it to be. Like a cat toying with a mouse, Kara had played with her. She could have ended their fight within seconds.

The Force Bond between them had made their interactions charged. She had sensed the emotions Kara kept tightly wrapped under the surface. Anger accompanied everything she did. It erupted in each saber strike, every emotional outburst. But, beneath the anger, the anger beneath the anger, Lena felt an overwhelming guilt. It was a confusing mess that she had a hard time untangling from her own feelings.

To make matters worse Kara looked attractive without her mask. Lena didn’t need her weakness for a pretty smile to distract her. Kara was the enemy. But, even as she thought it, it didn’t ring true. Kara was with the enemy, but Lena wasn’t sure she could be classified as an enemy. It was confusing.

The amalgamation of guilt and anger stayed with Lena, as she traveled by speeder bike further and further from the Juran Mountains and closer to the Resistance outpost.

What could she do? Lena looked at the various buttons and knobs. Speed. Wind resistance. Climate. Not one communication button? Lena was cut off. Alone. She couldn’t warn them about the Wrath, the Juran Mountain base, or the superweapon inside. Were they still planning on storming Rhu Caenus Spaceport? With the Wrath on Alderaan, reinforcements would be arriving. The Resistance was in danger.

----

Dark smoke rose in the distance. Sick, stomach-turning dread crawled up her throat, trying to escape her mouth. Closer and closer. Her knuckles whitened on the handlebars. The smoke grew thicker the closer to her destination she drew.

She set down the speeder and stared. A massive tower of flames rose from where the spaceport once sat.

The stench of melting durasteel, heavy ion blast residue, and something she didn’t want to think too hard about assaulted her senses.

Dead bodies were strewn around the ground, civilian and Resistance alike. No one was safe from the Daxamite death squads. The spaceport had collapsed, the heat warping the supports and sending the building to the ground.

Near the broken-down entranceway, a dead Resistance fighter stared lifelessly at her from the floor. Lena had seen him before, but didn’t know his name. His fist was clenched in a death grip around his holo. Killed before he could call for help.

Lena pried it out of his stiff fingers, then tried to activate the emergency beacon. Tried being the operative word. She flipped the comm over to see heavy blackening and cracking. Oh no.

She popped off the protective plate. The circuitry was melted beyond repair. What would cause this? Overheating?

She looked side to side, down the road past and beyond where she was standing near the entrance. No signs of life. Maybe inside? She eyed the looming structure.

A beam blocked the entrance to the spaceport. Smoke curled past it in thick, bitter columns. She buried her nose in the crook of her elbow, breathing sparingly through the material there. Was everyone dead? Her vision blurred, eyes burning in the smoke, and drifting ash. She could see no movement. But, someone had to be alive. Someone. She concentrated hard. The beam- it was too heavy. Sweat beaded at her temples. It was like trying to lift it by hand. Come on. It moved. Just enough, barely a space, but enough. She crawled along her stomach.

Pained groans caught her attention. Someone was still alive. Everything was black and her eyes burned, tearing up and blinding her. She was lost, drowning in a sea of smoke. Her rapid breathing just made more smoke enter her lungs, sending her into a coughing attack.  But then- Lena felt one flickering spark of life. She crawled until her hand landed on a leg.

Lena tugged and pulled, doing everything in her power to drag the Resistance fighter out into the open air. Her lungs burned. Keep going.

Above her groans and creaks warned her of the structure’s instability.

Finally, they were out. Lena focused, using the force to carry them both past the threshold, augmenting her strength and using her will to drag them into the sunlight. Lena collapsed on her back and sucked in deep gulps of fresh air. She rolled onto her side, seeing who she had freed from the rubble. Vasquez. Dirty, wheezing, and bloody, but alive.

Vasquez gasped, trying to speak but unable to. She held out her comm. The emergency beacon activated. Someone was coming for them. Lena took it.

“Help’s on the way.” Just because the Daxamites were gone now didn’t mean they would stay gone. They needed to get to safety.

“Rth.” Vasquez thrashed, trying to say something.

Lena soothed her. “Rest, breath.”

Vasquez didn’t listen. “Rth. Rth.” Was she coughing? “Wrath,” she wheezed. Lena understood. “The Wrath did this.

Impossible. Lena’s mind wrenched her back to the cave, to Kara’s bright smile after Lena had destroyed the AR droid. Kara couldn’t have done this. Kara was the Wrath. What did it mean?

The comm beeped. Help was coming and those questions could wait.

----

J’onn massaged his temple with one hand, the other clenched at his waist. “You believe there are two Wraths?” He stared at her, disbelieving.

“Or there’s an imposter,” Lena said. “I was with the Wrath during the attack. She couldn’t have done it.”

“I told you!” Alex paced back and forth, all coiled energy and tense muscles. “I told you Kara wasn’t murdering people.”

J’onn, always the voice of reason. “We don’t know anything yet.”

Alex crossed her arms. “Kara isn’t responsible for the attack on Alderaan. We do know that.”

“We need to find out what occurred on Alderaan. Lieutenant Vasquez is recovering, but her description of the attack is standard for the Wrath- or Wrath imposter,” he added. Alex’s face went back to casually murderous, rather than apocalyptic.

J’onn left. Lena made her way to Alex, who resumed her manic pacing.

Alex had looked out for Lena, glared at anyone who even looked twice at her. Now, Lena needed to return the favor, but all she had done was lose fights with Alex’s younger sister and help her reach a superweapon.

Lena wasn’t sure how to approach the Kara issue without causing Alex unnecessary pain.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked.

“J’onn was convinced Kara was a murderer. The Empress’s Wrath. Without you, he’d still think that. Thank you.”

Lena wasn’t sure what to do with Alex’s gratitude. She shuffled on the spot, fidgeting.

“I couldn’t bring her back,” Lena reminded her. It was the sole reason Alex had brought Lena into the fold, and she hadn’t lived up to those expectations.

“That’s okay. We’ll get her back. I know it.” Alex’s eyes were bright, confidence radiating from her. “Rhea’s kept her isolated. Alone. Once she realizes who Rhea truly is, she’ll come around.”

----

Her memories of Lionel were fuzzy. A kindly, if absentee, father. Willing to let Lena sit in his study while he worked. But Lionel died when Lena was ten.

Lillian was cold and hard. She made it clear to Lena that she wasn’t wanted. Nothing Lena did was right. Sit up straight. Lena. Luthors don’t cry. Lena. Your birth mother is dead; I am your mother now, Lena.

The only one who really cared about her was Lex. He taught her Shah-tezh. He took the time out of his day to talk to her, conduct experiments with her, and protected her from Lillian’s backhanded remarks. Lex paved the way for Luthor weapons manufacturing, while Lionel had focused on technology. Where the Luthors remained consistent was the arena of politics.

Humanocentric and entitled, the Luthors were “inferior” to no one. Except one group. The Jedi.

Lena first heard of the Jedi not long after the Luthors adopted her. The Jedi had powers the Luthors, for all their money, could not possess or replicate. And for a family that prided itself on superiority, this was unacceptable.

She had seen the Jedi from a distance, seen their temple from the airspeeder, and heard about them on the holo. But she never interacted with them. Beyond Lex’s rants, she didn’t give them much thought. Until she was eight, when her abilities manifested.

Lena had been born in the Outer Rim on a rural planet to a mother she no longer remembered. Far away from the Republic and their laws. At birth, every baby was tested for Midi-chlorians. The higher the count, the greater the Force Sensitivity- usually. And babies that tested high enough were sent to the Jedi for training. It was standard Republic policy. But Lena hadn’t been born in the Republic.

And Lena was never tested, even after her adoption.

----

J’onn reinstated Alex to her rank of captain within a week. Underneath his gruff exterior, J’onn had a soft spot for Alex. But Alex was the Resistance’s best pilot, as well as hand-to-hand combatant, as Lena learned again and again on the training mat.

It was a lesson she kept learning, painfully, with the constant distraction of the Force Bond.

Lena saw Kara in brief flashes and feelings. Warmth. Comfort. Always when she was alone and sometimes when she was with Alex. She would be sitting at the lunch table and Kara would appear at the other end of the hall. Split second moments of blue eyes and blonde hair. When Kara appeared while Lena was bathing once, she was done with the Force entirely.

Lena told Alex about it after a week, after she was caught staring into space one too many times to brush away.

“Why keep this from me?” Alex demanded. Her nostrils flared and her face steadily turned redder and redder.

Lena hadn’t thought this through.

“I don’t know.” Lena shrugged. Her eyes dated away from Alex as the emotion bled off her.

“Have you talked to her?”

“No. I see flashes of her. Our bond hasn’t been ‘good’ for a while.”

“Try to contact her.”

“Here? Now.”

Alex grabbed her by the hand, carrying her onwards until Lena freed herself. They walked across to the training room, Alex briskly leading the way. Lena kept pace with her, wincing as they roughly brushed past a soldier. Alex’s aura was sparking. With each heartbeat came a new pulse of emotion and it hurt.

The room was empty- surprising for this time of day. Amongst the equipment and the smell of sweat and body odor, Lena tried to find peace. Reaching out to Kara was similar to calling out to someone across a field.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Energy coursed through her, from her head to her legs. Kara. But it was muffled, the sensation dampened, like sound through plate glass or underwater.

But, the further she sank into the bond, the more she could feel Kara’s energy. Today, it was distinct and angry. Like a small sun, it burned everything around it. Boiled, simmered, and erupted in a battle of solar flares. But not scalding. But today...Lena’s skin prickled with warning. She wanted to stay away from that power. No, she needed to stay away. Because underneath all of it was something dark. Something cold and creeping and wretched that she couldn’t explain but certainly felt. Lurking behind Kara, waiting.

You owe Alex.

She pushed the boundaries of their bond, pushing past it. The door kicked down, a wave overwhelming.

She was looking at a cityscape collapsing in on itself. A geyser of fire spouted up, and parts of the city fell into the sea of magma. The planet was tearing itself apart. Violently. An explosion rocked the pod as a plume of volcanic lava erupted from the cracked planet’s surface.

She was staring out a viewport at a red sun as chunks of rock floated past her. She was in an escape pod. Small. Suffocating. Claustrophobic.

Chunks of rock hit the hull of the pod. She heard heavy breathing, felt the fear in the air. Terror, loss, confusion, agony. Her chest tightened. Crushing and overwhelming. The pod was spinning. A ring of fire, swirling in the dead planet’s gravitational rotation, glowed in the viewport with each rotation. And there, where the planet should be. A gaping hole in the Force.

Lena collapsed, snapping back into the room. Her body screamed at her, muscles and ligaments burning. Sound filtered in slowly. A voice. Familiar. Alex.

“Lena!”

Alex’s hands were firm on her shoulders, holding her head up from the floor. James muttered in the background with Winn squealing and making high-pitched whines. It was too overwhelming.

She blocked it out, closing her eyes and placed a hand over her racing heart. A tight band constricted her chest making it hard to breathe. She wiped at her face and her hand came away wet. Tears, sweat. What was that? What had it been?

A nightmare. Not real. Just a nightmare.

Still, she saw the red sun, could see the planet uprooting itself, forming fresh volcanoes as the crust broke on the surface.

Krypton.

Lena was lifted from the floor, James picking her up easily. She struggled against his hold.

“Infirmary, Lena,” James told her. Exhaustion, bone deep and consuming. She wanted the nothingness of unconsciousness. That planet’s death weighed on her. Smothering her. How could anyone live with this? How could Kara carry this? She let James carry her away.

----

The healer described the effects of her vision as “psychological shock and physical trauma.” Her body had perceived the trauma as real and had acted accordingly. Bed rest was the best thing for her.

The novelty soon wore off, leaving her bored and irritable while her body recovered.

She had always been that way. On the rare occasion she hadn’t been studying or avoiding her mother when she was younger, she had tinkered. Lex had said it was the Outer Rim space rat in her. She disassembled and reassembled just about everything, modifying it whenever possible. Lena had planned to join Luthorcorp and create a better future. But, Lex had gone mad. Now, her future was limited to rations and a shoddy lightsaber.

Her lightsaber, the hastily slapped together mess she had made before light speeding to Sullust, needed modifications. It was sheer luck the Kyber crystal hadn’t backfired or exploded from overheating yet.

The fundamentals of building a lightsaber were easy. There were modulation circuits, an energy gate, and a blade emitter shroud and matrix. The design was easy to understand from an engineering standpoint. What wasn’t so cut and dry was the assembly. Lightsabers weren’t mass-produced for a reason. Each required the unique force inherent in the wielder. The Kyber crystal would adopt a color once it was suspended in perfect balance with the user. Perfect balance achievable only through the Force.

She looked at her lightsaber. It sat disassembled in front of her, and at the rate she was going, never to be reassembled again.

From the information Alex had gathered for her, lightsaber construction was an intimate act. A pure expression between the Force and the Jedi, creating one perfect instrument of balance. Lena’s lightsaber was nothing like that. It had been cobbled together in a hasty panic while she prepared to stowaway on James’ ship to Sullust. Made from scrap metal and whatever materials were lying around, it had been ugly, utilitarian, and not up to Luthor standards.

Now, she had a chance to make a slightly better one, although still not up to Luthor standards. The Resistance had procured better materials for her. The metal taunted her, calling her- produce a better lightsaber- if you can. The pressure, real or not, was on her shoulders. And it was buckling her.

She hadn’t thought about it last time. She had needed to build something to fight the Wrath, so she had. Now she was creating an icon of the Jedi Order. A symbol.

She poured her connection to the Force into the Kyber crystal so that it would be in tune with her.

A telltale tingle at the base of her head distracted her. She paused expectantly.

“You’re constructing a new lightsaber?” Kara manifested at the foot of her bed. Unlike the other times they had met, Kara wasn’t dressed in her typical black armor and cape. Instead, her hair was up in a messy ponytail and she wore comfortable-looking clothes. Without the trappings of the Wrath, she appeared smaller. Softer.

Focus, Lena.

Lena refocused on her Kyber crystal. Like before, she wasn’t having success. This should be working. She had read everything about the crystals and all the literature on lightsaber construction.

She tried to align the crystal inside the lightsaber casing using a pair of tongs. The crystal began to overheat. Sparks erupted from the surface.

Lena threw the tongs aside. Blue eyes tracked her every move.

“Why aren’t you using the Force?”

“I don’t need the Force,” Lena muttered, massaging her eyes with her hands. “I can do this alone.” She glared at Kara. She wasn’t sure how to make her go away. An audience wasn’t helping her stress levels.

It was hard to hate Kara. Not when she had seen and felt her world die around her. Not after Alex had drunkenly told her the story of Kara exploding the popcorn maker with the Force just after she landed on Midvale. Not when Lena could feel actual concern and compassion through their bond, despite not knowing one another.

Kara spoke. “What happened? You feel...different.”

Weaker. Lena was sure she looked horrible. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the smoldering remains of her squad or the shattered remains of a dead planet.

Kara needed to know the truth. The sooner the better.

“Rhea is using someone who looks like you to murder in her name.”

Kara’s eyes widened then furrowed and a crinkle developed between her eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

Lena looked into her eyes.

“The squad I came with to Alderaan was murdered by the Empress’ Wrath.”

Kara flinched. “That’s not possible.”

“I know,” Lena agreed. “Someone is pretending to be you. Someone is murdering in your name, in your likeness.”

“The troops regrouped with me,” Kara argued. “It wasn’t us. Someone else is making the Daxamites look bad.” Kara puffed up. “Or your resistance attacked their own troops to frame us.”

“Are you serious?” Lena spluttered. “We would attack our own limited numbers for a smear campaign?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Kara said, obstinate, arms crossed.

“We’ve never murdered!” Lena yelled. “All we’ve done is free people from oppression. And this isn’t the first time you’ve gone on a murder spree! Butcher of Coruscant,” she spat. The lightsaber components shot into the air and hovered just below the low ceiling. Lena cursed and brought them back down.

Calm. She needed to remain calm.

The color left Kara’s face. The other woman pressed her fingers to her face and Lena felt fear coming from her, but Kara looked back at her, face locked and determined.

“I’m not a butcher.”

Lena believed her. There was something good in her aura that Lena couldn’t deny. It wasn’t a projection or a front. And Lena wanted to believe her. Needed to. This bond connected her to Kara in a fundamental and personal way. And she didn’t want to be connected with a monster.

Kara jerked her head at the lightsaber components and Lena’s display of accidental force powers. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” Kara noted.

Her jaw clenched, Lena glared at Kara.

“You need a teacher,” Kara said. “Your lightsaber form is improving but you have no control over your powers.”

“Considering my brother murdered all the Jedi, I think I’m doing alright.” Lena consciously unclenched her teeth.

“I’ll help you. I can teach you the ways of the Force.”

She hadn’t seen this conversation coming. “What?”

“I’ll train you. In return, I need answers. I need to know what’s being said about me.”

“Why don’t you ask your Empress?” Even as Lena said it the truth revealed itself. “You don’t trust her.” Lena frowned. “Why did you join her?”

Kara artfully avoided the question. “I believe in what we’re doing,” she said, chin high.

Well, that was interesting. A question for another time, then.

“Why would you trust me to tell you the truth?” Lena asked. “And why should I trust you?”

“Our goals are aligned. Someone is killing your people and someone is impersonating me. Quite possibly, we’re being played off each other. I need to know the truth. Don’t you?”

“I don’t trust you.” Lena scooted back as she said it, creating some distance from the phantom in front of her.

“You don’t have to trust me. You need to trust our bond.”

----

“You’re thinking,” Kara said. “Feel.”

Lena tried to summon her annoyance. “The only thing I feel is annoyed.” There was no bite to her voice, despite her efforts. She just sounded tired.

Lightsaber construction was going as well as it had been. Horribly. Kara had taught Lena basic Force meditation techniques, things she’d read, but hadn’t practiced. Lena was a scientist. She believed in what she could see and touch. What she could calculate and measure. The Force was a feeling. And Lena was bad at feelings.

She had kept this part of herself carefully locked up most of her life. She hadn’t even realized it at first. But then, the older she grew, the harder it was to deny it. No one could know. If her mother knew- if Lex knew- Lena didn’t want to imagine what they would have done. At best (in an idealized world where her mother actually cared about her and Lex was sane), she would’ve been disowned and sent back to the Outer Rim. At worst, Lex would've ordered her death. It wouldn’t do for anyone to find out about her…condition.

You’re a Jedi, Lena. You aren’t diseased.

But that way of thinking was hard to shake.

“You need to trust yourself.” That damn bond. Kara could probably feel every feeling, every moment of self-doubt and each insecurity. “You’ll never bond with your crystal that way.”

“What do you suggest?” If she wasn’t going away, she could at least be helpful.

Kara was calm. “Close your eyes. Reach out.”

Lena felt ridiculous, but closed her eyes. She felt the cool recycled air circulating through her room, out the air vents and to the halls. Her room was close to the officer’s quarters and didn’t get much foot traffic. It was quiet. Calm. Despite that, she felt the ambient energy of the Resistance and the life above the surface of the base.

“Focus on the crystal. What do you feel?”

“I can feel heat? It feels…alive.” She felt the small pulse of life from within, like a heartbeat. Steady. Rhythmic. It called to her. The sensation was so- disturbing, for lack of a better word- she almost broke out of her zen state.

“Don’t fight it. You’re doing good. Kyber crystals are almost sentient with the Force. Let it guide you.”

In her mind’s eye, Lena saw the crystal suspended in the air. She saw the aura emanating from it, felt the warmth in each wisp of Force energy. She let herself grow used to it; the warmth grew comforting, not scalding.

“You did it.”

Lena opened her eyes. Her eyes met Kara’s. Taken aback, Kara was smiling. It made her stomach swoop. She looked away, gaze moving up. There, suspended in the air, the once dull Kyber crystal pulsated with a soft blue light. Lena set the crystal gently in the lightsaber casing, easing it into place where it belonged. With a soft hum, the blue plasma blade ignited from her newly constructed lightsaber.

Chapter Text

 The staff smacked loudly when it hit the wall behind the space Lena was crouched.

“Why are we doing this?” Lena rolled to the side to avoid a painful whack to her legs.

“If you’re disarmed you need to be able to defend yourself.” A gleeful smile spread across Alex’s face. “Dodge!”

Lena wondered if Alex just wanted to try and hit her. No one should look that happy while pummeling another person.

The door to the training room opened and General J’onn entered.

“General!” Lena straightened, doubling over when Alex hit her in the stomach with the stick.

“Never let your guard down,” Alex barked, then spun the stick around so it rested on the floor.

Lena glared, massaging the soon-to-be bruise on her stomach.

J’onn cleared his throat. “Captain Danvers. Luthor.”

“Sir,” Alex greeted. “What brings you to the training room?”

“I need to speak with you, captain. Privately.”

Alex’s eyes darted over to Lena before settling back on J’onn. Lena sent a half smile Alex’s way, reassuring her it was fine. And it was. Lena was a lower rank. It wasn’t because she was a Luthor. It wasn’t.

“I’ll wait here.” She turned back to the training dummy and went through her lightsaber forms.

Lena worked through the forms for a while, but her mind began to wander. She sat down on the nearby bench. What could Alex and J’onn be talking about? Hopefully it wasn’t about her.

“Lena.” Alex stuck her head around the door. Lena jumped from her spot on the bench still holding the staff in her hands.

Alex bounced on the balls of her feet. Energy surging through her body, zipping out with the Force.

“Pack your stuff. We’re going to Corellia. The Wrath led a purge.”

Impossible. “Kara-” Lena began.

“I know.” Alex cut her off. “couldn’t have done it. But someone did and we need to send resources to the ground.”

“What are we doing?” Lena straightened her jacket, double-checking her lightsaber was still inside. What did she need to pack?

“We’ll be delivering medicine and weapons. I asked for you to join.”

That surprised her.

“Why me?” Lena asked. Surely there were better people than her? More skilled than her. Someone everyone trusted more, certainly.

“Because you want to help. And having a Jedi on the ground doesn’t hurt.” Alex frowned at her. “You saying no?”

“Of course not.”

“Good. Landing bay 400, tomorrow.” Alex made to leave.

“I need to talk to Kara,” Lena added quickly. “She might know what happened.”

“Good idea. 400. Don’t be late.” Alex tore out of the training room, down the hall towards the armory. Undoubtedly to get the biggest gun.

Lena sighed, before sitting in the middle of the training room and focused her senses. From her bond, it was a simple path to Kara.

Their control over their bond was growing. Now, it acted less as a window and more as a door. Either could choose to open it from their side to let the other in. Or they could keep it closed and keep the other out. Lena was grateful for the end of the abrupt, jarring interruptions in her day-to-day life.

In her moments alone it was a comfort. Lena could reach out and have someone there, immediately.

She opened her eyes. Kara was working out. Dressed in form-fitting exercise clothes with her hair up. Did she own anything that wasn’t black? Her train of thought lost, Lena just gaped at her.

“Do you have access to the HoloNet?” Lena asked, averting her eyes. Not exactly what she meant to ask, but she could work with this.

Kara paused in the plank position, mid pushup. Her eyes darted over to Lena before focusing down on her hands, resuming her exercise. Lena’s eyes locked onto her arm muscles, watching the contraction and release before looking away, feeling predatory.

Lena turned her attention to the floor, sitting beside Kara.

Kara rolled onto her side and back, moving into a seated position on the floor beside Lena. The warmth rolled off Kara’s body like a furnace. It was easy to forget she wasn’t physically there. Now, Lena knew what to look for, Kara’s presence in the Force was strong and deceptively close thanks to their connection.

“Why?” Kara’s forehead furrowed. The crinkle between her eyebrows deepened and her eyes turned a darker shade of blue. Volatile, stormy blue. Lena tried to keep her mind clear.

“The HoloNet News is propaganda for Rhea, but you can tune to other transmissions- provided you know how. You wanted me to provide you news, but this way you can see yourself what’s going on out there.”

Kara’s face fell.

“What did I do this time?” Kara asked, scowling, crossing her arms.

Kara’s back tensed, arms crossed and shoulder stiff, even as she hunched over. She became smaller, shrinking in on herself. Unsettlingly familiar. It reminded her of evenings spent with her mother.

Lena kept her heart calm and steady and Kara’s posture relaxed in turn.

“I’m saying someone led a political purge on Corellia. Someone in black robes with a mask.”

Lena thought on the previous security holos of Wrath attacks. Identical mask and robes, ornate and distinctive. Wanton slaughter.

“And you think that’s something I would do?” Kara’s face closed off, but the underlying current of hurt was still there.

“No,” Lena said, with complete certainty. Lena reached out and set her hand on Kara’s. She felt the warmth of her skin underneath her fingers. Felt the thrum of Force energy racing through her body like electricity. “But someone's killing people. Everyone is saying it’s the Wrath, and they have evidence it’s the Daxamites.”

Kara went to open her mouth. Undoubtedly to argue. She was ridiculously stubborn and so sure of Rhea’s cause. Trusting. It was frustrating. Infuriating.

You were the same with Lex.

Lena traced down Kara’s wrist, trailing along the soft skin, tracing the delicate lines of blue veins. Fascinating. Just like she was really there.

It was so strange. Kara was only a vision, but she felt so real. Deceptively real to all her senses.

Goosebumps erupted up her arm and Kara snatched it away. Her mouth dropped open, stuttering a little. Oh no. Lena made her uncomfortable.

“You wanted to know what people are saying about the Wrath,” she gently reminded her. “You can’t find out from HoloNet News, but I can help you hack into a secure server.”

Fear. For all her bluster, Kara was on some level afraid of the truth. Afraid of being wrong and being betrayed.

Kara looked down at her hands. Her long blonde hair curled down over her face, obscuring her eyes.

“Even if Rhea’s keeping some things from me - our goals are the same. I owe Rhea.”

Honor compelled her to work with Rhea. Lena could respect that. What she couldn’t understand was this irrational level of loyalty to the cause.

Lena flashed back to bits of her last conversations with her mother.

“We took you in. I treated you like my daughter. We gave you everything, Lena. And you dare to complain?”

“I do love you, Lena. In my own way.”

“Every mother has her favorites. Don’t be such a child.”

Lena shoved the memories down. Focus on Kara.

“You don’t owe her anything, Kara. What happened to Daxam wasn't your fault.”

Kara shook her head. “I’m the last Kryptonian. Who else’s fault is it?” She sighed heavily. “Thank you, for letting me know.”

“Of course.” Lena looked at her holo. She needed to start preparing. Assembling supplies and equipment. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later?”

“Of course.” Kara tried to smile. A brief upturn of the lips. Then she was gone.

Lena sighed heavily.

----

Rain poured down in sheets. It thundered down on the balcony of their apartment, drowning out the sounds of the Coruscant evening traffic below.

If Lena focused, she could almost feel the life beneath her, like a visible stream of energy. But that was impossible. Or a projection of her worried thoughts.

She turned on the holo. Lex’s face, contorted with anger, rose up.

“-the Jedi are the sole cause of planetary genocide. Look at the Xeno sector! With their powers they believe themselves our superiors. They should be held responsible-”

Lena muted the holo. She swallowed, fighting back the lump in her throat. Lena wasn’t force sensitive. She didn’t have powers. She wasn’t dangerous.

A whooshing sound and artificial light flooded the entranceway.

Lex entered the apartment, dressed in his senatorial robes. Tall, proud, and commanding, every day he looked less like her brother and more like a stranger. Lena couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Lex in the light of day.

The shadows and darkness from outside made his figure look ominous. Foreboding. But this was Lex, her brother and best friend. She had nothing to fear from him.

Lex is a hero. He will bring peace and stability to the Republic, she thought, sounding disturbingly like Lillian.

“It’s late, Lena. Why are you up?”

Lena mumbled something indistinct. “I was worried about you. You’re never home. I miss you.” Even now, Lex hardly seemed to be paying her attention.

Lex placed a heavy hand on her head. The warmth carried down her head to the pit of her stomach. What was she so afraid of? He loved her. He was her brother.

“Why do you hate the Jedi?” Lena asked, eyes still fixed on the image of Lex on the holo, passionately arguing his stance against the Jedi.

Lex turned off the holo.

“The Jedi are powerful. And that power needs to be controlled. But everyone is so enamored by them they refuse to do what needs to be done.”

“But what about Force Sensitives? They aren’t Jedi. Do you hate them?”

“What are you asking?” Lex’s eyes narrowed. Panic began to filter in. Lex couldn’t know.

“I- I just don’t think it’s right,” Lena stammered.

“This isn’t about right or wrong. This is about safety. Jedi and all force sensitives are dangerous. And that danger has to be addressed.”

“They’re people.”

“They are weapons,” Lex sneered. “Tools. A religious cult allowed to grow overlarge. They are not like us, Lena. Everything I do is for you. For us. We are Luthors. And Luthors are leaders. These Jedi are aliens, with no loyalty to the Republic. They are dangerous. And if no one will stand up to them, I will. I will destroy them all, if it means we’re safe.”

Lex’s eyes glowed like coals in a dying fire. His voice rose to a pitch. Manic. For the briefest moment, Lena felt complete fear. But soon his face relaxed and her brother was back. His face set into its usual kind expression.

“It’s late. You need to rest if you ever want to join Luthorcorp. I won’t let you in just because you’re family.” He smiled at her, eyes crinkling at the corners, and Lena’s fears were relieved.

----

The Resistance’s space transport was an old Corellian light freighter. The goal was to be as inconspicuous as possible, hence the small team of five dressed as starship factory workers set to infiltrate. Corellia was in the Core Worlds, in the heart of the Empire. And the recent sedition in the capital only drew more attention from Rhea. But they couldn’t leave them to suffer.

The soft hum of the engine and the cool temperature of the starship lulling her to sleep. Lena snuggled into her jacket and further back into her seat.

She stood, forcing herself to wake up and move around.

Across from her, James and Alex played with a deck of Pazaak cards. Lena walked over to them and sat beside Alex, getting a glimpse at her cards. Alex tilted her hand away, scowling. “No peeking.”

James made a show of shuffling the cards, splitting and reshuffling the deck.

“Do you want in, Lena?” James asked. He flipped over a card. 7.

“I just want to watch, thanks.”

“Too low brow for you, Luthor?” Alex teased.

Pazaak was a simple game where players drew cards and tried to reach a total as close to 20 as possible without going over.

“I prefer games of skill- Chess, Dejarik, Shah-tezh. This is just luck.”

James pulled out a 3 card from his deck, adding it to his count of 17. A 20. Pazaak. Alex swore under her breath. “Are you sure? We’ll start a new game after I beat Alex.”

“It’s best out of three, Olsen!” Alex barked. Lena smirked, looking away before Alex could see it.

Blue light streaked past outside the viewport as they zoomed along the Corellian Run hyperspace route; they’d reach Corellia soon. And with the change in location came new challenges.

James’ knowledge of Corellia and his on planet connections were invaluable. But it had to be strange, returning  home. Lena couldn’t imagine returning to Coruscant. Home had become the Resistance base: the smell of wet earth and trees in the morning outside base, the overwhelming energy of bodies in constant motion, and even the sound of Winn rolling down the halls.

James without the green and white droid just wasn’t right.

“I’m sad Winn couldn’t make it.”

“I’m not,” Alex muttered. Lena poked her with her finger until she flinched away. “He’s meant for analyzing data, not ground missions,” Alex defended rubbing the spot where Lena jabbed her.

“Once we land, I have a safe house. We can move the supplies there for redistribution,” James said. His dark eyes glinted in the dim lighting. “You didn’t tell the Wrath about the mission, right?”

“I asked about Corellia. But she doesn’t know we’re coming here.”

“And what did she say?” Alex asked. Lena hadn’t mentioned her conversation with Kara.

“She’s stubborn. Loyal. She refuses to see the bad side of Rhea. But-” Lena began hopefully, “-she’s beginning to think critically about her.”

“Typical Kara. Always seeing the best in everyone, even when it isn’t there.”

“She’s noticing discrepancies. I don’t want to oversell, but I think she’s starting to trust me.” Lena fought back her smile, watching as Alex seemed to glow as her mood spiked beside her.

“I’m gonna get food and check up on the others.” Alex pointed at them, “You want anything?” Alex looked between them. They shook their heads. Alex practically skipped out the communications room to the main hold.

James leaned forward as soon as the door closed.

“Listen, Lena, I know Kara is your…friend.” He settled on the word uncomfortably. It was hard for Lena to describe her connection to Kara. James, an outsider looking in, had to be even more confused.

“Kara’s a friend, but I’m not stupid. I know she’s not-” Lena sighed. She didn’t know what she was trying to say.

“Just- Be careful,” James warned. “Her first loyalty is to Rhea. She’ll never be on our side.”

----

The team assembled near the transport’s loading bay where Alex deferred to James.

James cleared his throat. “Our contact is my old boss, Cat Grant.”

“Cat Grant of CatCo. That Cat Grant?” Demos asked.

“Cat’s been running her own resistance down here,” James replied. “If we get the supplies to her, it’ll make its way into the people’s hands.”

“And what are we getting out of this?” Demos asked, grabbing James’ arm before he could open the doors. Lena paused too, looking at him incredulously.

“They need help,” Lena said. Why was he even in the Resistance?

“Everyone needs help. The Galaxy needs help. Why are we helping Cat Grant specifically?”

“I explained this to you already, Demos.” Alex scowled. “We need all the allies we can get. And we help each other out. Less chitchat. We have a mission.”

James nodded in agreement with her.

“Right. Sachin, Demos- start unloading the cargo. Luthor, Danvers, come with me to check in. Keep calm and everything will be fine.”

James led them down the loading ramp where they branched off. Lena trailed behind him to where a Daxamite guarded the identification station.

James inserted a datacard into the machine. According to the credentials they were delivering parts to a Corellian starship manufacturer. Lena extended her Force enhanced senses around her.

In her time honing her senses and practicing her Force powers, Lena hadn’t encountered a Daxamite. The distinct lack of Force energy around them was strange. The Force connected every living being, even if they couldn't manipulate it like a Force Sensitive. But the Daxamites were harder to sense. Not an emptiness like a droid but muted. A trickle compared to a stream.

Her heartbeat raced in time to the undercurrent of energy. Coronet was filled with differing levels of anxiety and fear. But no hostility. So far.

The terminal light turned green. Beside her, Alex’s face relaxed. With their identity ‘confirmed’, they made their way to where Sachin and Demos loaded crates onto dollies.

Lena fiddled with her jacket sleeves; eyes darting around the spaceport. The warning came a second too late.

A loud bang reverberated through the spaceport, then Daxamite troops dropped in.

Pandemonium. Blaster bolts everywhere. Coming from every angle. Lena didn’t know who was fighting who. Where they came from.

Daxamites were the targets, but clearly, this group didn’t care about collateral damage. All around, civilians ran for their lives.

Lena’s senses burst with a warning. She drew her lightsaber, swinging in front of James. The wall exploded in a shower of sparks as Lena deflected a blaster bolt aimed for James’ head. Around her, the Resistance drew weapons. Alex rolled behind a crate, already shooting.

The Daxamite guard by the check-in station was dead, body lying in an unnatural angle, helmet caved in.

Lena deflected another blaster bolt back to the source, then instinctively turned and raised her lightsaber for a block. Just in time. A baton came down on her lightsaber.

Her back leg began to buckle. Her attacker was a man, dressed in old Imperial armor from Lex’s reign.

“A Jedi,” he shouted. A blaster shot from Alex dropped him to the ground, but his warning worked. The focus shifted to Lena and her team.

More blaster fire. Whoever these ambushers were, they were not expecting a Jedi. Lena sent three of the ambushers back with a push.

With no time to think. Lena reacted, trusting her instincts while trying not to get shot.

“Fall back!” Alex bellowed.

They retreated to the ship, the supplies left behind in the melee. As soon as they were inside James activated the locking mechanism, sealing the doors shut with them inside. Thuds, booms, and other muffled sounds echoed throughout the ship as the Daxamites fired on them from the outside. Lena sagged against the wall while Alex, hand on her side, did the same next to her.

Sachin ran his hand shakily through his dark hair. “Those aren’t Daxamites. Who attacked us? And how did they know we were here?”

James shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here before the Daxamites quarantine the area. Sachin, Demos, start the ship.”

Sachin ran towards the bridge, but Demos stood his ground, pistol still in his hands. He pointed it at Lena. “This is the second mission Luthor’s been on and another ambush.”

Lena blinked in the artificial lights of the loading bay. Her body felt detached and like she was walking through a fog. Apathy settled over her, and it was terrifying. Was she so desensitized? Was she just like her brother?

Alex stalked dangerously towards him. “What are you saying?” her voice lowered to a deadly level.

“I’m saying it’s one hell of a coincidence!”

“We don’t have time for this! I trust Lena.” Alex glared at Demos. Demos raised his pistol, and Alex and James both brought up their sidearms.

“Stand down, Demos.” As she said it, Alex began to wobble on the spot. James caught her before she hit the floor.

“Alex? Alex, what’s wrong?”

Lena’s eyes fell to the falling droplets of red liquid. Blood, she realized, cold horror down her spine.

James realized it, too.

“Damn it! Alex is hit,” he yelled. “Lena, help me get her to the medbay. Demos! Start the ship. That’s an order!”

James carried a limp Alex to the medbay while Lena rushed over to the various bacta patches and medicine. They didn’t have a bacta tank. They didn’t have trauma packs. Higher quality medicine was on the landing pad, crated up.

Lena gathered as many supplies as she could carry and set them beside Alex’s gurney. James peeled off Alex’s tactical vest revealing the wound. The skin was deep purple and swollen, lesions. Severe plasma burns as well as blunt force trauma. Without the vest, it would’ve been lethal.

James looked at Lena. “I don’t know what to do,” he confessed. Alex was their doctor, their expert in xenobiology. Lena could fix droids, but people?

“Make sure we’re clear of Corellia,” Lena said in her most commanding voice. “I’ll handle Alex. We need to get to D’Qar as soon as possible.”

Lena applied the bacta patch to the surface of the wound while checking the scans. Internal bleeding. Damn it, she cursed.

The blood vessels themselves had been crushed by the impact of the blaster bolt, causing blood to spill out.

The bacta would heal almost any kind of surface wound, but without a tank, the internal hemorrhaging would continue.

Think, Lena. Think.

Surgery? Lena didn’t have a clue what to do, even if she cut her open. Alex wouldn’t survive the return trip to D’Qar. Whatever Lena did, it needed to happen now.

Alex woke up, fighting through the fog of pain medication, her eyes glassy. “Damage is internal? Isn’t it?” she slurred.

“What do I do?” Lena asked.

Alex blinked at her. “You can’t.”

Even if Alex knew what to do, she was so out of it with pain medication and blood loss she wasn’t reliable.

“I should’ve been a better sister. I should’ve been there. Then Kara wouldn’t have joined Rhea.”

“Stop talking,” Lena ordered. She looked from the wound to Alex. Alex’s face clenched in pain. Lena upped the dosage of medication from the drip, and inserted a needle to drain away the excess blood. Not that it would matter if she kept bleeding out.

“Make sure Kara-”

“Stop it,” Lena ordered again, cutting her off. “I’m not giving you your last rights. I’ll fix this. I can fix this.”

“Save Kara from Rhea.”

Kara. Lena wanted to slap herself.

She closed her eyes. Kara, she mentally called out. Kara! She opened them.

Kara was standing in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” Kara’s eyes were darting around, widening as they settled on Alex. “Alex?” Lena’s eyes widened too, she could see her?

Kara reached over and her hands went through Alex. She spun to look at Lena. “What happened?” Accusatory.

“Alex was shot,” Lena briefly explained. “I need your help.”

“With what? Tell me,” Kara commanded. Her face hardened with authority and her eyes turned flinty. She looked less like Kara and more like a Wrath in that moment.

Lena wasn’t sure what Kara could or could not see, but she still pointed out the diagnostic panel. “She’s internally bleeding. Is there anyway to fix her?”

Kara cycled through a variety of emotions, but the knot in her stomach loosened.

Kara nodded, the crinkle on her forehead prominent. “On Krypton- there’s a technique. A healing trance.”

A healing trance sounded perfect. “How? How do I do it?”

Kara moved to Alex’s other side, placing her hands over Alex. Lena mirrored the stance.

“Meditate,” Kara instructed.

Could she use the Force? To heal? She had to try. Lena focused, closing her eyes.

“Reach out and feel the wound. Feel it with your senses.”

From beneath the blaster wound, beneath the bruised skin, Lena sensed the blood pooling. And beneath that, the broken blood vessels. Lena reached, feeling out with her senses. She could feel the Force inside Alex.

“Now follow that connection. Do you see it?”

“I… I see it.”

Lena reached out and felt the Force, how it connected everything, down to the very cells already beginning to try and address the damage done. Alex’s body was trying to heal on its own, the blood trying to clot, but without help, it couldn’t repair this.

“Focus only on Alex. Block out the world. Focus.”

She sensed James when he entered the room. But, she ignored it. Blocked out her surroundings and focused like Kara told her.

Lena concentrated. Willing power and life into the natural healing processes. She focused on the blood vessels themselves, willed them to knit back together, pushing the Force into them and accelerating their healing. She felt the knitting of flesh. Felt the bleeding beneath the surface stop.

Lena opened her eyes. James was seated next to Alex’s bedside, asleep. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. In a Force trance, time was immaterial.

Kara was gone and Lena was exhausted. Everything felt fuzzy just beyond the edges and her senses were dull. She couldn’t sense Alex.

Did it work? Quick activation of the monitor, moving through the diagnostic input, and there it was. No internal bleeding. She- she had done it.

Lena slumped back against the chair.

Even the purple skin didn’t look so swollen. Or purple. And the color was returning to Alex’s face. Lena had healed her.

I can be a force for good, Lena realized. I’m not just a weapon. I can help.

----

They arrived at D’Qar. A medivac team rushed medical, yelling terminology Lena couldn’t understand. Bone deep exhaustion settled into her. The healing trance had taken everything out of her. Now that the adrenaline was gone, Lena was crashing.

Lena leaned wearily against the transport. The calm energy of James enveloped her as he drew next to her.

“Alex is gonna be okay,” he reassured her.

Lena breathed heavily. Questions bounced around her skull. “Who attacked us?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Lena opened her eyes to look over at James. “They were targeting the Daxamites. And it wasn’t Cat’s group.”

Lena looked down. “What about the supplies? We didn’t accomplish our mission.”

“I’d rather fail the mission and have Alex alive.” James sighed. “Come on. J’onn will want a report.”

She let James take off ahead of her. And she felt Kara even as she couldn’t see her, could feel her intense anxiety over Alex.

She’s fine. Thank you.

A wave of relief crashed over her through their bond. Message received. Moaning, she forced her tired legs to move, following James.

----

Lena knocked on the door. Propped up by several pillows, Alex Danvers looked over at her. Pale, drawn, and tired, but alive.

“Hey.” Alex shifted against the pillows.

Lena raised her hands. “Stop moving.”

She entered the medical room. Awash in simulated sunlight, the medical wing was bright, white, and sterile. Medical droids flitted from between beds and to the bacta tanks. A quick cursory look revealed Alex’s doctor wasn’t in.

“Where’d you learn how to heal?” Alex’s voice was still soft. Lena sat, scooting the chair closer to the bedside.

It was such a relief to see Alex alive and up, speaking.

“I don’t know. I had to do something, so I figured why not? Typical Jedi stuff, you know?”

Alex snorted, wincing and clutching at her side. “Ow. Stop it. That hurts.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have gotten shot,” Lena said impishly.  “Thank you for sticking up for me.” Lena fiddled with her fingers. She knew what she had to say, but she wasn’t sure how to say it. She’d have to come out with it. Be brave, Lena.

“Demos is right. This is the second mission I’ve been on and it’s the second one that’s ended badly. It’s not hard to see a connection.”

“You’re not your brother,” Alex said fiercely. “I trust you. You’re my friend. I’ve got your back.”

Lena looked down, feeling her eyes welling up.

“Don’t get mushy on me Luthor,” Alex said, trying to sound stern but just coming off soft.

“I’ve never had friends before.”

“Well, you do now. So you better get used to it.”

“Kara walked me through the healing trance,” Lena said.

Alex nodded. “I figured. You’re good, but I didn’t think you were at that level yet.” Alex’s face broke into a wide smile. Kara helped save Alex’s life because without her, Lena wouldn’t have been able to do it. It confirmed what Alex knew and Lena was beginning to believe. Kara was a good person who wanted to help. It gave her hope.

Chapter Text

Tatooine.

Atmosphere: breathable. Primary terrain: desert. Inhabitable: only if you cover every inch of skin, lest it burn to a cinder due to the double suns.

Kara’s all black ensemble absorbed the suns’ rays, a magnet made of cloth. Each inhalation burned her lungs, and added to the accumulation of grit between her teeth.

Sand. Disgusting.

Kara couldn’t imagine Lex Luthor ever setting foot on Tatooine. He enjoyed the finer things in life. Fine clothes, fine food, fine lodgings. On Tatooine, sand got everywhere and in everything. Kara wouldn’t be surprised if the food had a gritty texture and tasted like sand. Furthermore, Lex’s delicate, pale, bald head would have fried under the twin suns. But Daxamite intelligence had not yet been wrong.

Kara lowered the wrap around her face and squinted into the distance. The suns pierced like knives into both of her eyes. Why had she decided to go maskless? Right, so her identity couldn’t be stolen.

Poor decision, Kara.

Holding her hand over her eyes, she blinked against the sunlight and looked out over the desolate landscape. A shimmering mirage emanated from the Dune Sea, backdropped by the Jundland Wastes, but there were no signs of life. No signs of civilization, besides Anchorhead, and Anchorhead could hardly be considered “civilization.”

Nearby, a Ronto snorted and pawed at the ground with its hoof. She definitely couldn’t imagine Lex in this place. The Ronto snorted again and sloshed in its water trough, splashing saliva and water everywhere. Then again, she never would’ve imagined Rhea setting foot on the planet either. But here they were.

A shuttle, flanked by two elite TIE/sf fighters, brought Rhea from the Flagship to the planet’s surface. Anchorhead had a designated landing space, but no spaceport. Kara half expected the TIEs to be stripped for parts by the time they returned, guard or no guard. A couple of Jawas in particular eyed the starships greedily.

A Daxamite in full armor stepped out from the nearby hangar, his helmeted head reflecting the harsh sun. The Captain of the Special Forces was a Daxamite by blood, as were all of Rhea’s special forces. And he was armed for his position. His hand hovered over his left hip, where his sidearm was holstered, but ready to be pulled at a moment’s notice. Kara didn’t know the man and kept a close eye on him. Though she couldn’t see his eyes, she knew he was checking the surrounding area as he made his way over to them. He bowed low.

“My Empress, we’ve secured swoopbikes for the journey,” he said, head still down.

Rhea. On a swoopbike. Kara looked over at her in her long blue dress, hair curled beneath her jeweled tiara. Prim, proper, and always put together, even in the desert.

“We will proceed as you say, Captain,” Rhea said. She haughtily jerked her head and the captain snapped back up, straight and tall.

Kara followed behind the captain, her cape twisting behind her in the sand streaked air. As they came closer to the hangar, the low hums of idle swoopbikes filled the air.

----

A Force bond was a powerful, fickle thing. Something Kara didn’t fully understand, especially with her limited Kryptonian education. Aunt Astra would know. Would have known. But she was lost. As were all the elders and teachers she would have consulted.

Her Force bond with Lena connected them through time and space. No matter how far from each other they were physically, they were attuned to each other’s feelings. Attuned and in constant contact with one another.

“Where do you train?” Kara asked. A probing question. Lena’s surroundings were becoming more and more clear ever since she saw Alex through their bond. But not clear enough.

“Somewhere I can train,” Lena answered. Kara knew then she knew about Kara’s expanded Force sight. Why else would she be so evasive? And about something so harmless.

“You don’t trust me,” Kara commented.

“Should I?” Lena shot back. She crossed her arms across her body. Kara contemplated the question. “You joined Rhea. If you’re trustworthy, why did you join Rhea?”

For the past month, Lena had asked some variation of the question. Kara would give her this, Lena was persistent.

“There has to be a reason you joined her. Kryptonians and Daxamites historically hate each other.”

It wasn’t the first time Lena had brought up this line of logic either. Kara didn’t answer this time, like she hadn’t all the others.

There wasn’t a point. Lena’s mind was undoubtedly made up. With Lex Luthor for a brother, she’d have to be willfully ignorant of Krypton and its inhabitants. Even if she didn’t harbor the same animosity as Lex.

Was Lex Luthor’s bias even unjustified? Kara wasn’t sure. As Rhea reminded her, Krypton had destroyed Daxam. Maybe she deserved everything that happened to her. Maybe-

No. She needed to keep a calm mind. Clear from doubt.

Kara shrugged. “I’m teaching you to use your Force powers,” she said. “That should earn me some trust.”

Lena’s smile turned sharp and her lips thinned. “I’ve been fooled before.”

Tilting her head to the side, Kara listened through their bond. She heard the whispering of Lena’s feelings, the direction of her thoughts and memories. A single image flashed through their bond before it was slammed shut.

Lex Luthor.

Pain and guilt spilled out of Lena through their bond. The guilt took Kara by surprise. Even more surprising, Kara wanted to ease that burden.

“You’re not your brother and you’re not responsible for his actions. Why do you feel guilty?” Kara asked. “Luthor dismantled the checks and balances in the Republic. The Senate was supposed to keep track of him, not you.”

“I saw Lex changing. His paranoia. The episodes of mania and obsession. Then one day that was all he was. A stranger. I should have done something. I could have done more.”

“I know what it’s like to be disillusioned by your family.” Kara lowered her voice, gentling the tone.

“Your brother went on to commit genocide and form a Galactic Empire?” Lena asked sarcastically. When she thought Kara wasn’t looking, she wiped at her eyes. Kara looked away for her privacy.

“My parents…weren’t who I thought they were.” Kara swallowed. Why tell her this? Every instinct Rhea had honed in her told her Lena could and would use this against her. But the part of her that knew Lena and had grown to nurture trust in her was telling her to believe.

“Krypton’s planetary core was destabilized,” Kara said. Lena’s eyes snapped up to hers. Questioning. Searching. Kara looked down. “They knew and they did nothing.”

Not the whole truth, Kara, she thought to herself. But despite the sins of her father, she couldn’t bring herself to speak ill of him. He was dead. As were her mother and the rest of the judicators. They paid the price of their deception with their lives.

But the weight of their legacy hung around her shoulders. And the consequences of their actions echoed across the galaxy.

Would Lex Luthor have become the monster he grew into without Krypton? Lex’s fascination and fear of the Jedi had morphed into a seething hate after the destruction of Krypton and the Xeno Sector. In fact, he used the destruction to justify his genocide to the Republic and for restructuring the Republic into an Empire. How responsible was the House of El for the atrocities of Lex Luthor?

She looked at Lena again. She didn’t want to know.

Lena’s face twitched. Oh no. “You feel responsible?” Lena asked. Rhetorical. Kara could see the gears turning quickly in her head. “Rhea’s a Daxamite and Daxam was destroyed with Krypton. You feel responsible.”

Backpedaling, Kara stuttered and stumbled to say something.

“If Rhea is holding that over you it is not your fault.” Lena’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You aren’t responsible for your people and no one has the right to use that against you. You shouldn’t be treated like that. She shouldn’t treat you like that.”

Kara blinked. No one had stood up for her. Not since Alex on Midvale. But she was an adult. She could take care of herself. She didn’t need Lena’s pity. But...this wasn’t pity.

What else was there? Something gnawed in the back of her mind, an answer to her question, but she couldn’t reach it. Not yet. Kara didn’t understand Lena. But she wanted to.

----

“The village is small, my Empress. If we storm the encampment, we can take them by surprise and eradicate them,” the captain said, lowering his macrobinoculars.

They had positioned themselves near a downed sandcrawler, some distance away from the canyon where the Luthorcorp facility sat. Abandoned for over a decade, the desert had done a wonderful job of reclaiming it. And along with the banthas and wampa rats, a tribe of Tusken Raiders had taken up residence in the former building.

Here, they were far enough from the Raiders to observe but not be seen. Kara sensed the life in the village beyond. At least a hundred Tusken Raiders lived there. Men, women, and children. Families.

Kara frowned. “We’re invading their territory,” she said. “We should draw the bulk of the warriors away and then pacify the rest. We don’t need to destroy it.”

Rhea laid her hand on Kara’s shoulder. A chill seemed to radiate from it. “I appreciate your compassion, Kara. But which is more important, the superweapon or a handful of Tusken Raiders?”

Kara shrugged off the hand.

“We’ll still get the weapon. I can lure them away. No one has to die.”

Rhea’s eyes turned to chips of ice. “Of course. You know best, I should’ve known. Kryptonian moral superiority,” she spat. Kara shrank back.

No. She shouldn’t treat you like that. Lena’s words added steel to her spine. I deserve better.

“We are wasting time. Destroy them.”

“They’re still sentient beings,” Kara argued.

Rhea’s patience ran dry. “They are beasts. They aren’t capable much less worthy of serving us. Their lives are worthless.”

Kara’s eyes widened. Lena’s voice rang in her head like an alarm, Rhea’s a monster. She’d defended Rhea for so long she'd almost stopped considering why she did it. What was she doing? The small signs she’d ignored started to flash before her eyes.

Rhea’s treatment of her subordinates. The isolation, the control, and absolute unwavering submission Rhea expected of her. All for what? So she’d be malleable? Did Rhea expect her to bend to her wishes and slaughter these Tusken Raiders?

Rhea was a monster.

----

Kara met Rhea on Midvale when she was sixteen, while struggling with being a Kryptonian far from Krypton.

From the moment she landed, Midvale didn’t feel right. Kryptonians had larger, denser muscles, stronger lungs as well as denser bones than humans. Her body felt too light and her steps too heavy. Kara could blend in. But she couldn’t fully adapt. The humans and aliens of Midvale were blind to the Force. Only Kara knew what it was like to see science and technology working in concert with the Living Force.

Kryptonians had evolved beneath their red sun Rao and had higher body temperatures to compensate for Krypton’s lower temperatures. This, along with the planet’s higher gravity meant Kryptonians were a strong, hardy people, much more resilient than humans, even if they were near genetically identical to humans.

Their sister race- the aliens most like Kryptonians- were the Daxamites, from their sister planet Daxam. She’d been thirteen when she left Krypton, but her lessons on Daxam stuck.

Krypton had entire curse words dedicated to them and for good reason. Daxam was a caste system monarchy while Krypton was a representative democracy. Daxam’s servant class were little more than glorified slaves for the Royal Family. The most infamous of which was, Mon-El, the Prince. A hedonistic party boy, irresponsible, self-centered, and an embarrassment to the Sector. Very little was heard of the Daxamite King and Queen, but they had allowed him to run wild and ruled over their people with a domineering fist.

Uncivilized. Her mother in particular despised them. The memory, like all her memories of Krypton, stung. It was easier to repress her memories of Krypton than wallow in her grief and risk it overwhelming her.

Her parents had sent her to the Mid Rim along with Kal-El. ‘Raise him and teach him what it meant to be a Kryptonian, Kara.’ ‘Keep the legacy of the House of El alive.’

But Kara had arrived on Midvale alone. Kal-El nowhere to be found and presumed dead in the explosion. If he was alive, his pod would have come some time within the three years since the destruction of Krypton. She didn’t have a mission anymore. She was the only survivor. She was alone. The last El.

And so, Kara Zor-El died and Kara Danvers was born from the ashes.

She learned how to become Kara Danvers. And Kara Danvers was unremarkable. Younger sister to Alex Danvers. Adopted daughter of Doctor Eliza Danvers and the deceased Jeremiah Danvers. Not the youngest Kryptonian to join the Science Guild. Not the last daughter of Krypton. Human. Not an alien.

Slowly, she grew close to Alex. But Alex was too soon gone to the University in the city. Leaving Kara alone with Eliza and Eliza’s long work absences. Alone again. Until Rhea came.

Krypton’s destruction had rendered Daxam uninhabitable and had destroyed most of the species. She didn’t realize anyone had survived. If Krypton was full of force sensitives, Daxam was completely devoid of them. And she knew this visitor was a Daxamite, could sense it even if she didn’t know just how important she was.

She was a slim woman with long brown hair. Beautiful. Unthreatening, beyond the sharp jeweled tiara atop her head and the fine silk robes adorning her. Did all Daxamites feel like this? Empty spaces in the Force. Dead to it. Rhea was. Kara felt a huge emptiness where the woman sat in front of her. Gaping.

“I spent the last three years looking for my son. My beautiful Mon-El. I followed a pod trail, hoping to find him. Instead, I find a Kryptonian.”

Kara flinched. No one knew about her. And no one could. Lex Luthor’s Empire had declared all Force sensitives enemies of the Empire. The Danvers would be in great danger for taking her in.

“Do you know what caused your planet’s destruction, Kara Zor-El? What caused our Sector’s destruction?” Kara shook her head. Memories of the final moments of Krypton’s life flashed before her eyes. Fire and magma as the planet tore itself apart from the inside.

Rhea gave Kara a data crystal, the likes of which she hadn’t seen since Krypton’s destruction. Like the kind that filled her father’s office. The sort she never expected to see again.

“My people scavenged the remnants of Krypton that destroyed our planet,” Rhea explained as Kara took the crystal from her numbly. She activated it.

She read the data in horror. It was a weapons project, co-created by the Science and Military Guilds. Authenticated by the Judicators. Headed by Zor-El of the Science Guild and General Dru-Zod, of the Military Guild.

Project World Killer. Kara read through it. A weapon capable of generating intense ultrasonic vibrations that disabled droids and other technology. Increasing steadily in power, the World Killer was capable of destabilizing a planetary core and causing major groundquakes as molecules vibrated apart. Eventually, it caused the core to reach critical mass and literally shatter apart, destroying the entire planet.

Krypton. Kara remembered the groundquakes. The low rumbling at night. Eventually the crust had cracked open like an egg. Kara shook.

“Krypton stole my son from me. They murdered my people and destroyed my home. And now, Lex Luthor wants to build upon Krypton’s bloody legacy.”

“What do you mean?” Kara asked, her voice choked. Everything she thought she knew was a lie. Her people, her family. They had created this weapon and caused their own destruction. And not just their destruction, but the entire Sector’s. Oh Rao, everything that had happened was all their fault.

“Lex Luthor is working on recreating Project World Killer. He’s a man obsessed with power. And with no Jedi left to oppose him, he will conquer the galaxy.”

Rhea reached out her hand and took Kara by the chin, gently lifting her head up.

“Embrace your passions and the Force will set you free, Kara Zor-El. Help me stop Lex Luthor. Redeem Krypton’s memory and join me as a warrior.”

It went against everything she had been taught.

Never trust a Daxamite, Kara. She heard her mother’s warning voice. But then she remembered the data crystal. Project World Killer. Her parents’ decision to send her in a pod, alone, when one of them could have fit as well.

Kara would not allow the sins of her parents to destroy the galaxy.

----

Kara ignited her lightsaber as the two Daxamite guards raised their blaster rifles.

She stood her ground. For the first time in years, there was no conflict. Her mind was clear. She wasn’t going to let Rhea massacre an innocent village. They were in their homes unaware. They hadn’t attacked. They hadn’t done anything wrong. If she had to, she would disarm the guards and take the Shock Drum and destroy it in a distant star.

“Are you going to fight me?” Rhea sounded amused.

“I don’t want to.” She wouldn’t let them kill unsuspecting Tusken Raiders.

“What happens after you stop me? You could never return to the fleet. Your world died and anyone who cared for you. The Resistance is almost defeated. I am all that is left.”

“I’ll worry about that after,” Kara snarled.

“You disappoint me.”

A pressure wrapped around her throat and lifted her off the ground. She raised her free hand to scrabble at her neck, where nothing was holding her. Kara’s eyes fell to Rhea, her arms extended outwards.

Impossible. Kara couldn’t feel the Force coming from her. Even now, nothing. How was this happening.

The invisible band around her throat grew tighter. Then it loosened and Kara fell to her knees in front of Rhea, gasping for breath.

Kara coughed.

“You have a choice, Kara. Join me. Swear yourself to me and destroy this village. Give in.”

“No,” Kara spat. She tried to summon her fallen lightsaber to her.

Sharp stabbing whips of white-hot agony raced through her body. Then, the pain stopped and wisps of smoke filled the air around her.

Feet crunching against sand behind her. Rhea. Her lightsaber was too far. She tried to summon it again and failed. It didn’t even budge.

Rhea knelt. “Oh, Kara. Why did you make me do that?”

Kara glared at the older woman.

“You never embraced your anger.” Rhea crouched and picked up Kara’s lightsaber. She activated it. “Kryptonians,” Rhea sneered. “Always morally superior.”

She sent another shock of lightning into Kara’s body.

Her legs spasmed, her arms scraping against the sand uncontrollably. Outside herself.

Distantly she heard Rhea. “I will handle the village, Captain. You dispose of her.”

She did not know how much time had passed. Didn’t know what had happened. She was on her back in the hot sand staring up at the clear blue sky.

She rolled onto her stomach and grimaced. Where the village once sat was a smoldering wreck. Disoriented, she tried to get to her feet but fell back onto the sand.

A shadow covered her. Kara heard the rifle’s powercell activating. She was going to be shot and left for animals to scavenge her remains.

Kara could feel the Dark Side power emanating from her body, from her wounds. Her powers had been drained in a way she had never experienced before. She couldn’t feel anything. She couldn’t sense Rhea. Panic flooded her. What could she do?

She lifted her hand just before she heard the blast from the rifle. She felt the impact against her senses, a powerful push, but she pushed back equally as hard through the Force, concentrating with all her might.

Kara turned, sweat pouring down her face in concentration, one hand still raised. Suspended in mid-air was the blaster bolt, shaking in the desert air, vibrating as it stayed completely stationary. The captain was likewise frozen through the Force.

“You never embraced your anger.”

She’d been used. And she had been betrayed. You never embraced your anger.

Rage filled her, but unlike before Kara did nothing to stop its build. The bolt felt light, easy, the weight lifted as newfound power surged through her. Anger and power. More power than any weapon could hope to replicate. She sent the bolt back into the rifle. It backfired. The blast of it sent her sprawling on the sand, ears ringing and eyes watering.

The captain writhed in pain a few feet away. Alive, who knew for how long.

Kara crawled to the swoopbike and pulled herself on top of it and activated it. She needed to escape.

----

Kara listened to the holocrons as they instructed her. This holocron was her most used. One of the first Rhea had ever gifted her with. Saved from the ruins of the Jedi Temple. It contained the knowledge of her lightsaber form- Juyo. Attack without fear, without restraint. Draw upon everything, every emotion, to power each blow.

Kara submersed herself in her anger. Striking hard and fast at the training dummy. Shouting when it broke apart and sending it flying into the wall with a slam of force energy. She clenched her fist and the dummy suspended in air and began to crush inward on itself.

Feel your anger. Use your anger. Kill them. Kill them all.

“Kara?”

Kara dropped her fist and the dummy fell to the ground, crumpled and broken beyond repair. That would have killed a person. She had lost control.

She inhaled, loudly. She had lost control.

Goosebumps ran down her body.

She had lost control.

If that was a sentient enemy she would have killed them. That was what Rhea wanted. Give into your feelings, Kara. She disengaged the lightsaber and threw it down, running a free hand through her blonde hair.

“Kara?” Kara turned. Lena was there, waiting, concern etched on her features. “Are you alright?” Lena stepped closer to her. “I could feel you through our bond,” Lena explained. “Are you okay?” she repeated.

Fine was on the tip of her tongue.

“I lost control,” she admitted. The words tumbled out before she could stop them.

“What do you mean?” Lena asked.

“Nothing.” Stop cowering like a child. Embrace your anger and let it become your strength.

“You’re angry. And that’s normal. I can’t begin to understand what it’s like- to lose everything. But you’re holding onto it and it’s poisoning you.”

“This is the only way!” Kara exploded. “I am the last Kryptonian. I’m the only one who understands our enemy. I can save the Galaxy, but only with more power.”

“You are not responsible for your planet’s actions. Any more than I am Lex’s, according to your logic.” Lena came within touching distance. “You are not responsible for what happened to Rhea’s planet.”

“Everyone responsible is dead,” Kara snapped.

“Yes. And you need to grieve,” Lena said.

“There’s nothing to grieve,” Kara lied. Grief is a useless emotion. Weak. Focus on your anger. It will give you power, Kara.

“Force bond, remember?” Lena quirked her eyebrow. She reached out her hand and lingered. Waiting for permission. Kara nodded.

No one had actually asked to touch her, asked her permission. Not since Kenny. Rhea would grab her and rearrange her whenever she wanted.

Lena’s hand softly touched her skin and she could feel it like Lena was in the room with her. “Rhea’s a monster, Kara. You aren’t. You deserve to mourn your planet. You’re allowed to feel their loss. You’re not just Kara Zor-El, the last survivor of Krypton. You’re Kara Danvers. Alex Danvers’ sister. Alex believes in you. You have people on your side.”

It was too easy to get sucked down into these feelings. She didn’t have time for this. These inconvenient emotions would have to be smothered until they died. She wasn’t human and these feelings weren’t hers to have. They were a distraction. A weakness.

Kara backed away from the touch.

“Kara Danvers is dead.”

----

Kara drew on the Force for strength. It kept her upright and steady on the swoopbike ride back to Anchorhead, but it was draining her. She stumbled off and ambled to the landing platform where two Daxamite troopers, rifles aimed at her, greeted her.

“Lower your weapons.” Kara waved her hand. Imposing her will on them.

Kara hated this feeling. Reaching into a mind, sending fingers of Force to scramble it. Unclean. Messy. She dampened their impulse to fire. Reached inside them until their aggression was gone. Along with their free will.

It was difficult. More so than it should be, even if they had decent force of will. The two soldiers lowered their blaster rifles. “You will let me pass.” She hated manipulation, but she had to. Weaponless, she couldn’t hope to overpower them.

“We will let you pass,” they echoed in unison. Monotonous.

Kara scrambled up the scaffolding and into the cockpit. The TIE/sf fighter was a two seater, and unlike the mass-produced TIE/fo fighters, came equipped with a hyperdrive. Without a co-pilot, Kara would be unable to use the weapons systems to their full potential, but she could make the jump to lightspeed.

And go where?

It should fly like any starfighter- advanced tech or not. Kara was an awful pilot, but she could get this airborne. She toggled the controls, off and on, trying to wake the system.

“Come on, come on, come on,” she muttered, angrily. A succession of red lights. A hum. Then the rumble of twin ion engines roaring to life. The interface came to life. Finally. She took off at a near vertical angle, sending the boarding gear flying and jerking the fighter unsteadily into the air.

Where will you go?

Kara flew the starship past the atmosphere and into space. Positioned nearby, Rhea’s flagship was backlit by the light of the twin suns.

She was alone in space. Floating aimlessly. The claustrophobia already settling in. Oh, Rao. What could she do? What was there to do?

Kara closed her eyes. Focus. As her mind often did, it turned to Lena.

Lena? She reached out desperately through her bond, but she was weakened. Rhea’s dark powers and the twin suns of Tatooine had nearly depleted her of her powers. She couldn’t contact Lena when she needed her the most.

Why did she want Lena? She was Resistance. She was the enemy.

“Alex Danvers believes in you.”

Alex. The Resistance. What if-

She couldn’t stop Rhea on her own. But maybe. Maybe the Resistance could.

Kara felt Lena through their bond. If it worked on Alderaan, where she was cut off from the Force, surely it would work now? Where Lena was, Alex would be too. It was time to see if Alex Danvers really did believe in her.

Kara focused her senses and made the blind jump to hyperspace.

Chapter Text

Kara dropped out of hyperspace and right into a firefight.

Ukio, a major agriworld and the breadbasket of the Empire, provided a green backdrop for a large Star Destroyer. Dozens of TIE fighters swarmed around it and dotted the planet’s atmosphere. Among the Daxamite TIEs, desperately engaged in a firefight, were Resistance X-Wings.

They were outnumbered.

More and more TIEs poured out of the carrier vessel, replenishing the lost. A one-sided battle.

Kara avoided the fray, steering the starship away from the battle and towards the massive Star Destroyer.

Her ship stood out with its red stripe marking it as Special Forces. Unless she wanted the Resistance on her, she needed to make her intentions as an ally known quickly. Not a great pilot, Kara tried her best. She focused, her force powers still weak. She wasn’t sure what Rhea had done to her; it had left her lethargic and drained. Weak. But, here she could feel the Force around her more clearly than she had on Tatooine.

Lacking a gunner, Kara had no defenses. Reaching out, she tried to grasp the controls with the Force. She could hardly get a ‘grip’ on the toggles, much less aim them. As pilot, she had access to all the weapons, but it would be a chore to switch between pilot and gunner controls. Especially for a novice. She had to make do.

She turned her attention to the Star Destroyer. Darting around like a gnat, she’d be able to avoid laser cannons.

At first the TIE fighters and Star Destroyer paid no attention to her. Another TIE fighter, no concern. Likewise, the Resistance was too preoccupied with their own battles to seek her out.

Beeping alerted her to the comms system: Engage the enemy, reverse course, report, come in. She had a limited window of time before they turned on her.

Kara locked onto the bridge. The shields were up so she had no chance of penetrating them, but she could rock them. Her eyes darted over the hull, skating over each part of the ship for the best place to hit. The best time to fire. Timing was everything. Close enough to hit but far enough away to dodge once they turned attention onto her.

She primed the targeting computer. Flipped on the Mag-pulse warheads. Fired.

Two warheads deployed and hit the bridge square on.

The interface flashed, alerting her- incoming missile. She pulled to the left, traveling a circular route around the starship. Toggle the thruster to get out of range. Her radar kept beeping to signal more and more incoming fighters. The TIEs had noticed the rogue ship in their midst and were coming for her.

Kara swerved, wrenching her neck. Damn it.

This was a foolish idea. Why would the Force send her here? Lena wasn’t a pilot- she wasn’t anywhere near here. So why? Good faith? She couldn’t prove good faith for the Resistance if she died. She sent her starfighter spinning to avoid the trail of TIE fighters she had collected. Unless the Resistance helped her, she was a sitting duck.

A patched in comm warbled in her ear: “Rogue Imperial Eye, come in.”

Kara recognized that voice instantly. Low and laced with static, but undeniably-

“Alex?”

A sharp inhale. “Kara?”

A mix of emotions washed over Kara. Relief. Guilt. This was the first time she’d heard Alex’s voice in what seemed like an eternity.

The interface alerted her just before the missile hit. An explosion of sparks and a flash of bright light. Kara blinked away the white spots in her vision and focused on her dashboard. Blurry vision aside, she read the interface. Shields damaged but operational.

Focus, Kara.

“What are you doing here?”

“Drawing their fire. Retreat,” Kara said.

“Negative, we’re transporting a shipment.”

“It’s a trap, Alex. Pull out.”

“No, we need this freighter.”

“You can’t beat a Star Destroyer!” Kara yelled.

“We just need a few minutes. When we reach the hyperlane we’ll outrun them.”

This was a terrible idea, but Kara kept her thoughts to herself.

The exterior appearance of her fighter was the only differentiating feature between her and the others, and she didn’t trust the Resistance to not try and shoot her down given the opportunity. Nevertheless, Kara moved to join the X-Wings in attack formation, flying low to flank Alex’s blind spot.

Kara leaned on the automated flight controls to stay straight, even as her head darted around to check each and every dial, knob, and button available to her.  

Kara targeted the outside guns on the starfighter, but Alex broke formation. She shot down a TIE fighter, dogfighting.

“Stop being reckless!” Kara yelled in her comm.

Like a woman possessed she weaved in between the various TIE fighters and shooting down anyone close to the freighter.

With Kara’s heavy ordinance the Resistance was managing. They were almost to the hyperlane where they could jump to hyperspace without worry of crashing.

Warning. Shivers ran up and down her spine. A TIE fighter had locked onto Alex. And they were going to fire and destroy her.

Kara swore a long time ago that no one would die in this war. Not at her hand. And she had kept that promise. But this was Alex. Kara had lost a lot, but she couldn’t lose her sister.

She broke from the formation, sending her fighter streaking at the enemy TIE, obscuring their shot of Alex. Her front shields reverberated as a missile smashed into the already weakened shielding. Kara felt them go down before her dash screamed in warning and lights flashed in her peripheral vision.

She engaged the targeting computer, waiting, then firing. The starfighter exploded in a plume of fire and exploding shrapnel. The life inside snuffed out.

Rao. She bit back the rising bile in her throat.

Her navacomputer beeped. Coordinates were uploaded remotely to the computer. “Rendezvous at these coordinates,” Alex ordered.

She had a working hyperdrive. She should make the jump to lightspeed and run. Run where? You have nowhere else to go. No one to turn to.

Her intention had been to join the Resistance, but could she?

There’s still time to run away. Kara’s thoughts raced. I am the Wrath. What will they do to me? She clenched her jaw. Now wasn’t the time to be selfish. She’d accept the consequences, no matter what they were.

She had two choices. Go alone. Find a distant planet and hide until Rhea found and killed her, or she could go with Alex. She wasn’t powerful enough to stop Rhea on her own. But maybe with Lena she would have a chance.

Kara wasn’t going to roll over and die.

She put the death out of her mind (at your hand, another Daxamite dead because of Krypton, Rhea whispered in her head) and followed the other X-Wings into hyperspace.

----

Kara examined the data crystal. The red tones of Argo City had muted as Rao began to set low along the horizon, reflecting and shimmering off the crystalline spires of the city below. It was hard to concentrate when she could be watching all those lights below her. The life she could feel emanating from it.

“What are you studying, Little One?”

Kara spun. “Aunt Astra!”

Her aunt stood in the doorway of her room, lightsaber clipped to her belt.

“You’re back!” Kara wrapped her in a hug around the middle, squeezing as hard as she could. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Astra murmured into her hair. She took a lock of Kara’s blonde hair and pushed it behind her ear.

Kara pouted. “What were you doing? You were gone so long.”

“The Military Guild had to convene in Kandor.” She smiled but it didn’t extend to her eyes. “I didn’t want to be apart from you so long, but I have a duty. And what have you been up to? Have you been studying hard?”

Kara nodded eagerly, calling the information crystal to her hand with the Force. “Yes. I’m studying Force Wounds.”

“Force Wounds? That is heavy material,” Astra said.

Kara puffed up. She wasn’t a little kid. “I’m nine years old!” she said indignantly. Astra smoothed the crinkle between Kara’s eyebrows and she relaxed. “I don’t understand it,” she confessed, softly.

Astra crouched to be more at her level. “The Force is alive, Little One. It wounds. And it can sicken. It is our job to maintain the health of the Force.”

“But how is it wounded?” Kara asked. “The crystal won’t say.”

“All life is interconnected. When too much life is taken, it leaves a wound- an empty space in the Force. From that wound extends echoes, like a ripple in a pond. This echo expands, touching everything.”

Kara wrapped her arms tighter around herself as she began to shiver, eyes widening. Fear raced through her, sending her heart pounding.

“The wound expands from where the trauma occurred, on planets or in tombs. But sometimes they manifest in people, taking the life and energy from everything around it.”

“People?” Kara shivered. “Do you- do they die?”

“The wound sucks the life force from everything, including the host,” Astra nodded, setting her hands on Kara’s shoulders. “There is great darkness in the universe. We must always look for the light to combat it.” She played with the same stubborn, curly lock of hair, twisting it around her finger, soothing her.

“Don’t be afraid.” Astra straightened, taking the crystal from Kara’s bloodless fingers. “There are no wounds on Krypton. And there never will be. It is my job to make sure of it. I will always keep you safe.”

“Promise?” Kara asked. She clung to Astra’s hand.

“I promise.”

----

She landed in a small clearing designed to be a landing zone, near a bunker that led underground by the looks of it. So, this was how the Resistance had avoided detection.

Alex’s X-Wing set down beside hers, even as the other X-Wings and the freighter went elsewhere.  She popped open the hatch and exited the ship, hands raised. A contingent of soldiers, each equipped with a blaster rifle, surrounded the ship.

Hostility radiated from everyone around her. It pressed against her, her force sensitivity heightening it. Her robes, even without the mask, were highly distinctive. They were designed to be. Her protective breastplate emblazoned with the sigil of the House of El- an identifying marker throughout the Empire; Rhea’s work, now that Kara thought about it made her a symbol of fear and terror.

Alex jumped down from her X-wing and ran over to the tall man leading them. That must be their leader. J’onn?  She remembered now, Lena had called him J’onn.

“You brought her here! Alex, what were you thinking?”

“Kara saved me. She’s on our side!”

“Is she? She’s against Rhea. That doesn’t mean she’s with us. What happens after Rhea is defeated?” Even as he said it, he raised his right arm. “Weapons down. At ease.”

The Special Forces lowered their weapons. Save one.

“No. First, you bring in a Luthor and now The Wrath! She murdered my aunt and cousins!” His eyes narrowing and locking onto her breastplate. The hostility she sensed seemed to settle further, strengthening into a mental resolve.

“Soldier-” J’onn began in a warning voice.

“The Empress orchestrated those murders. Kara wasn’t responsible,” Alex yelled, pointing her own rifle at him.

He had made up his mind.

Suddenly, the rifle was ripped from his hands. Lena.

As soon as the gun was out of his hands- before she could blink, before she could think- Alex was moving. A kick to the knees, sending him crumpled to the ground. The soldier was down on the ground, subdued. Even as he struggled, Alex had him pinned, a knee digging into his back and twisting his arms behind his back. Lena handed the rifle to J’onn. All the while Kara stood there and did nothing. Powerless. Adrift.

“Take him to the brig,” J’onn ordered. “Gently,” he added, giving Alex a warning look. “And move these starships! We’re in the open,” he barked. Finally, he turned to Kara. J’onn approached her, flanked by two bulky looking soldiers.

“Luthor,” he called.

Lena made her way over to them. Electricity buzzed between them, unspoken and unseen just beneath her skin. Now wasn’t the time, she turned her focus to J’onn, who looked over at Lena expectantly and she nodded. The Resistance was taking her in. To what goal, she wasn’t sure.

“Lightsaber?” J’onn asked, but it wasn’t a question.

“I don’t have it.” Kara took off her cloak to show him she wasn’t hiding it. J’onn nodded. There was something piercing in his eyes.

He held out a metal band. “Will you put it on?”

A neural disruptor. Kara nodded, offering the back of her neck. J’onn pressed the disruptor into her skin, clicking into place. Immediately, her senses dulled. Reflexively she pushed back with her Force sense. Dim. Dampened. Diminished. Small and almost out of reach but still there. Not defenseless. If she tried hard enough she could break free from it. This seemed to be an exercise in trust.

Her legs gave out. The two soldiers beside J’onn stopped her fall, grabbing under her arms. Kara let the haze from the disruptor overtake her, drifting into a peaceful unawareness.

----

When Kara woke she was on a gurney, metal bands around her arms and legs. Her long robes were gone, as was her armor, leaving her in her black tunic and pants. The disruptor was still active, but at a lower impulse.

Alex came to her side, reaching out and grasping her hand. “She doesn’t need restraints.”

Kara squirmed away from the touch. Things with Alex were so murky. What is true? What is Rhea’s lies? She wanted some clarity. Surety. It was a relief when J’onn came into her line of sight.

Her eyes darted around the room. The absence of a torture droid boded well. Still possible to be carried out by hand though. Allowing herself to be captured was the impulsive plan-

Her rising anxiety broke like a wave. She looked to the side. Lena. Trust. She had to trust that the Resistance was better than Rhea. And trust that Alex and Lena hadn’t been misled.

An interrogation took place. Lena took the role of lie detector, standing off to the side where J’onn would glance every once in a while after a question.

“What have you been doing for Rhea?”

“I’ve been collecting Lex Luthor’s super weapons caches.”

“And you never once questioned where those weapons were going?”

Kara never knew about Rhea or her plans. Rhea had kept her isolated. For her training, she would say. It kept her ignorant and malleable. And what she did “know” was a lie. Rhea wasn’t going to destroy the superweapons. Kara was useless, with nothing to offer the Resistance and no insight into Rhea’s movements.

And Kara wasn’t sure how much of her thoughts were hers. There were moments when Rhea’s whispers crawled in her skull. Influencing her. What part of that was manipulation and what part was Force influence?

“She showed me destroyed weapons. I thought I was helping secure the Galaxy.”

J’onn’s handheld holo showed a hologram of a working, active weapon. Spy footage from a Resistance probe? Or did they have a leak? No- did Rhea have a leak.

“You’ve been misled, Wrath.” Kara bared her teeth at the name. She hated that name. “Or should I call you Miss Danvers?”

J’onn pivoted to a new question.

“How many of our people did you kill?”

“None.”

“None? I find that hard to believe.”

Even as she lay there, she thought of seven different ways to break free. Three ways to use her restraints against her captors. An instinct to fight, carefully nurtured by Rhea. She was…dangerous.

“I led Daxamites into battle. In hindsight, Rhea used me as a symbol of fear. Of control. But I have never killed anyone, save a few battle droids.” Kara looked  at the ceiling, away from J’onn’s eyes. “The first person I killed was a Daxamite, just now in the battle above Ukio.”

He didn’t believe her. She wasn’t even sure if she believed herself. If they rallied behind her, even used her as a rallying cry, didn’t that make her guilty as well?

Kara knew what Rhea would do. Disloyalty and disobedience was punished. Harshly. She shuddered the thought of what Rhea would do with a captured high-ranking Resistance member.

What was next? A cell? Firing squad? Did Kara deserve leniency? She may not have murdered for Rhea (or had she?), but she was Rhea’s symbol of fear. The Daxamites marched under her banner, believing wholeheartedly in Rhea’s cause, leaping without looking. And Kara was one of them. Another tool for Rhea to use and discard. Foolish.

She should have known. There was no excuse for it. In retrospect it was so easy to see. Rhea never felt right. Not like the other Daxamites. There was always a gaping hole where her aura should be. Darkness around her that Kara ignored. Her tunnel vision to stop another Krypton from happening had been used against her. The betrayal burned at her.

“What happens now?” she asked hoarsely. She was defenseless. At the mercy of the Resistance. At least she had seen Alex again. Peaceful numbness spread through her.

“Why come here?” J’onn asked. “You could have fled anywhere. Yet you came here. Why?”

Finally an easy question to answer.

“Rhea is powerful. I don’t know what she is,” Kara admitted, “but she’s stronger than me. She used me. And I need to stop her. Our goals are the same.”

Kara focused on her anger. Anger would sustain her. Anger would get her through this. Even as she thought it the rage was slipping through her fingers, hard to hold onto.

J’onn came over and deactivated the cuffs, then removed the neural disruptor.

Kara’s senses bloomed out and she could feel properly again. Quickly, she forced down the anger, even as it bubbled back up inside her. Dangerous. She needed to be careful. Bottle it. She sat up.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You’re an official guest of the Resistance,” J’onn said.

----

“Have you considered terraforming Daxam? Telos was destroyed in the Jedi Civil War and it’s back to a habitable planet.”

The words left Kara in a rush, before she lost her nerve. The throne room was intimidating, with stark lines and harsh metal surfaces. Cold, in a way that transcended the physical.

The Flagship was parked in the Colonies, a region of the galaxy located between the Core Worlds and the Inner Rim. They were close to the heart of Lex Luthor’s empire. This was where he held power. His factories and political allies, each cog in the Empire’s machine rested here.

“Telos was destroyed by Malak four thousand years ago. Telos did not suffer the atmospheric devastation Daxam did. The chunks of your planet assaulted Daxam. Krypton destroyed my system.”

“But you could go home one day.” Kara would have given anything to go home. To Argo City, with its spires and familiar sights. Just to walk on the same ground, surely that was possible?

“Our great pyramids, our symbols and art. The Kryptonians stole everything from us. And no amount of terraforming will restore it to us.” Rhea’s voice rose, ringing around the room and sending a chill down Kara’s spine. “Your people stole everything from mine. Nothing you do, nothing you scheme will ever absolve Krypton of its guilt.”

Kara flinched.

Rhea’s voice took on a more friendly tone. “You have been spending a lot of time with that human. Ken-Li.”

“He’s my friend,” Kara defended.

“You will never be human. Remember that.” Rhea’s eyes were black in the dim light.

----

Alex came to Kara the moment she was freed from the table, arms outstretched. Kara stumbled backwards, instinctively. She couldn’t look at Alex’s face, even as she felt the hurt and disappointment from her.

They set Kara up in Lena’s room. No one wanted Kara to room with Alex. Save Alex herself. Having the former Wrath, turncoat or not, in the officers’ quarters would be a recipe for disaster. Likewise, she couldn’t enter the main barracks, for her safety or the comfort of the Resistance fighters. Staying with Lena was really the only option.

Another bed was sandwiched into the small space. With only the clothes on her back, she didn’t have anything to store.

Her over robe was gone.

Unhooking her breastplate, she stared hard at the emblazoned House of El symbol. The House of El would never have associated with Daxamites. She tossed it aside. She pulled off her boots, then her tunic and pants. They sat in a tangled heap at the foot of her bed. On top of the pristinely set sheets was a new set of clothing. No Resistance insignia anywhere on it, thank Rao. She pulled them on, flinching against the itchy synth-wool against her skin. Scratching at the place her shirt collar met her neck, she comforted herself. Things could be worse. At least her shoes fit comfortably.

A knock at the door startled her, but gave her a moment to collect herself before it slid open.

“I brought you something to eat.” Lena entered the room carrying a small bag and bottle of water. Lena set down a food pack in front of Kara and placed the water in her hand. Kara kicked her old clothes in the corner of the room so Lena could walk easier.

“We’ve got real sustenance now thanks to Alex’s food run.” Lena sat on her bed with her own food pack.

“Alex was willing to die for this food,” Kara remarked.  “I’m not sure it was worth almost dying over.”

Lena salivated over something green and leafy, grinning down at her pack. “It is when you’ve been eating year old ration packs.”

They ate in comfortable silence. Kara couldn’t taste her food. The numbness from earlier still hadn’t left. Lena’s eyes drifted from her food to Kara, soft and kind. Too kind. Kara didn’t deserve kindness. She didn’t want it, not from Lena and not from her Resistance. Not after years spent with Rhea and icy emotions. The strict, harsh discipline of her day-to-day life.

“Alex wanted to see you, but I didn’t think you’d want to see her right now.”

Kara shook her head. She had come to the Resistance to defeat Rhea, not to see Alex. Lena had never known her before she was the Wrath. But Alex had seen it all and watched as Kara betrayed her to join Rhea. Her stomach turned at the thought of Alex. Of seeing how far Kara had fallen.

Kara couldn’t face her.

She tore her bread into small, bite-sized chunks. Keep busy. Don’t think.

“Why join the Resistance?” Lena asked. “Surely you were worried what they would do to The Wrath.”

“Why did you?” Kara shot back. “The Resistance was fighting against the Empire before Rhea seized control. How did you know they’d take you in?”

Lena took another bite, chewing and thinking.

“I didn’t,” Lena admitted. “I assumed I would work for Luthorcorp one day. I thought Lex and I would create things to change the galaxy for the better. With that gone, I didn’t know what to do. And then when the Daxamites took over...I had to do something.”

“The life destined for me on Krypton is gone. And nothing will bring it back. I wanted to do good but it was twisted and used against me,” Kara admitted. “The Resistance is my last chance to right things.”

“We both want a fresh start,” Lena said. “The Resistance is helping me. I know they’ll help you too.”

----

Kara was in the training room, practicing on a punching bag. The room had been her reprieve from her feelings. Without a lightsaber, Kara couldn’t train her saber skills. She was left with her fists and her Kryptonian strength. There was something cleansing about using her natural given strength. An effort and cost, compared to the ease of her Force abilities.

Her parents had doomed Kara when they placed her in that pod. She was doomed to never have a normal life. Punch. Doomed to remember the sights and smells of Krypton. Punch. Doomed to live with the sins of her planet and her parents. Punch. They could have joined her in that pod. They could have gone with her. But it was easier to die than live with the consequences of their actions.

She unleashed a flurry of punches on the bag, fury coursing through her veins. It augmented her strength as the indentations of her fists stayed.

She was supposed to guide Kal-El, but he was dead. There was nothing left for her. She should have died with her parents, with her people and her planet. She should be dead like they were, together in Rao’s light.

The bag ripped apart, sand pouring to the ground from the tear in the canvas. Kara stood stiff in front of the mess. Blood dripped from her knuckles to the floor.

Alex entered the room. Kara could feel her, closer and closer until she was beside her, but she kept her head down.

Alex picked up her hand. “Okay, this is done.” She manhandled Kara over to the bench, rummaging in the nearby medkit and throwing a bacta patch at Kara.

“I am done pretending my sister isn’t just down the hall.” Alex marched away from her before spinning to face her. “I- I don’t know what you’ve gone through. And I've kept my distance, until you were ready. But I’m not sure if you’ll ever be ready to talk." Worry and fear colored her words, making them sound angry. But Kara wasn’t fooled. Alex lost some of her steam. “Kara, you’re my sister and I need you to talk to me. Please.”

“I blamed you for years,” Kara blurted out. “I blamed you. You didn’t want to speak to me. You didn’t want to be my sister anymore. And I was angry and I couldn’t- but I was wrong. And I let Rhea use me and manipulate me. I’m not worth it.”

She hadn’t joined the Resistance for Alex. She did it to stop Rhea. For selfishness. For revenge. She wasn’t worth Alex’s affection.

Alex came up to her, wrapping her arms around Kara. She resisted, stiff, before giving in and allowing the comfort to seep into her bones. Warmth. Safety. Home.

“Kara Danvers is my favorite person,” Alex said into the top of her head.

“I’m not Kara Danvers.” She hadn’t been for a very long time.

“You are. You’ve just forgotten. I’ll help you remember.”

----

“You aren’t responsible for Rhea’s actions.”

Lena deftly dodged the training sword and tried to push Kara off balance with the Force. Kara was impressed. Maintaining a conversation and utilizing Force abilities. A month ago Lena would never have managed it.

“Like how you feel about Lex?” Kara asked, sarcastically.

Rhea and the Empire had been quiet. Too quiet. It felt like a precursor to something bad, so Kara had redoubled her efforts to train Lena, and Lena took well to it. Perhaps because of their force bond, their interactions were easy. But that in and of itself was dangerous.

Lena dodged and her hair smacked Kara in the face. The long dark strands tied back in a ponytail, highlighting the sharp angle of her jaw, and the lighting brought out the blue lowlights in her green eyes.

Beautiful.

Kara froze, momentarily struck (what was she thinking?), before refocusing and getting back on the offensive. She didn’t have time for these weird lapses of concentration. And she needed a medical droid to examine this heart murmur she had developed whenever Lena was around. It was getting harder to ignore.

If it took longer than usual to beat Lena.

It was probably because she was tired.

Not because she was distracted.

Chapter Text

Lena was inside the pod. Dark. Small. Suffocating stale air. Around her, rocks smashed against the hull as the pod spun aimlessly. She looked around, desperate to escape the claustrophobia. Another pod out in the darkness exploded into a ball of light.

Lena jerked awake. In the next bed over, Kara gasped for air. Short, choppy breaths, along with pain inside Lena’s chest.

Can’t breathe.

“Kara.” Lena swept aside her blankets. Kara’s panic screamed inside Lena’s head and the pain in her chest wasn’t hers, but Kara’s. With a wave she activated the soft night light beside the bed.

Curled in on herself, Kara trembled.  Blonde hair stuck to her head with sweat.

Lena sat on the edge of the bed. What could she do? What should she do? Should she get Alex?

She’d get Alex.

Kara’s hand reached out and grabbed hers. “Don’t leave,” Kara gasped.

“I won’t.” Lena’s hand hovered in place. Finally, she set it down on Kara’s head. Humming beneath her breath, she pushed back the sweaty bangs from Kara’s forehead.

Lena closed her eyes, calming her own heart and mind. Kara stopped shaking as the waves of calm reached her through their bond.

Her muscles loosened and the band around Lena’s chest relaxed. Kara sat up and Lena moved to the side to give her space.

Kara avoided her eyes. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t know what to do,” Lena admitted.

She didn't know how to help Kara. How to ease the terror of nightmares or nightmarish memories. Lena thought about what her family would have done. Lex would have talked her through the inner circuitry of a protocol droid. The idea of going to Lillian was laughable, and she couldn’t remember her birth mother.

“You did fine,” Kara reassured her. Kara was always trying to make her feel better. Unbelievable.

“Do you need anything? Water?” Amusement. “What?”

“I would ask for a hug,” Kara laughed. The laughter and her voice sounded watery. Forced. Coughing, she cleared her throat and swiped at the corner of her eyes.

A hug? Lena could do that. She reached out awkwardly and wrapped both arms around Kara’s shoulders. She stiffened. Oh no, was she not supposed to do that? Lena began to panic, thinking of ways to get out of this uncomfortable interaction, maybe even sleep somewhere else for the night, when Kara’s shoulders relaxed. She leaned into the embrace. Lena ran her hand down Kara’s back.

Kara took in a shuddering breath. “I dream about it. It was so small...the pod...closing in on me. And I was there for what felt like forever.” Kara exhaled through her nose. “I felt you there this time.”

Was that good or bad, Lena wondered.

“It helped. I realized it wasn’t real. Usually it lasts longer.”

The dream (memory?) replayed in her head. It was almost the same as her first vision of Kara, but there was one change.

“Who was in the other pod?” Lena asked.

“My baby cousin, Kal-El.” Lena felt Kara gathering herself, working up the strength to speak. “We were to arrive on Midvale together. I was supposed to raise him. But his pod never arrived. He’s-” Kara choked back a cry.

“I’m sorry.”

Twisting vines of grief strangled Lena through their bond. Suffocating. And only a fraction of Kara’s feelings.

They sat there for hours in the dim light. All the while Lena planned.

Kara stagnated in the Resistance. The durasteel walls suffocated her and the natural darkness underground triggered her nightmares. Lena needed to fix this.

----

Kara didn’t talk about her nightmare the next day, and Lena didn’t press her, but she knew it weighed on her. It took longer and longer for Kara’s mind to settle into dreams each night, and even then she would jerk awake throughout the night. With her jumpiness and skittish nature, Lena had to be gentle. Careful and soft.

The lack of sleep was getting to Kara. Even as she practiced, she looked drawn. Tired. Worn out. Each movement was slower, and not methodically slower. Her body dragged down, shoulders slumping and the hard line of her arm bowed in the middle.

Lena’s eyes didn’t leave Kara. “Would you like to go outside?” Lena, what are you doing?

Kara froze halfway through a kata. She relaxed out of the stance.

“Is that allowed?” she asked.

“There’s so much interference from the trees and wildlife we’re invisible to scanners.” Small ripples of excitement flowed off Kara, even as the other woman desperately tried to shove it down. “Come on.”

Lena grabbed Kara’s hand- warm, calloused- and pulled. Kara came along easily, squeezing back, sending warmth up her arm. The warmth settled in her cheeks and didn’t fade, even as Lena let go.

To her relief, no one confronted her about what she was doing. Alex trusted her. James, too, to a certain degree. But everyone else, despite their friendly faces, had treated her as a Luthor when she first arrived. Something Lena wouldn’t forget.

Lena led Kara through the main hatch out into the sunlight. She was hit by the smell of trees, grass, and wet earth. Beside her, Kara looked around in fascination.

Kara’s head swiveled around, her eyes not stopping on one location. “It’s peaceful.”

Lena nodded. She forgot that above the base lay verdant canopies and a vibrant green rainforest.

“The planetary ring casts a shadow at sunrise and sunset. There are no predators on D’Qar,” Lena babbled, “just insects and birds. Well, the birds are natural predators to insects, but-” Lena trailed off.

Like a sunflower, Kara directed her face towards the sun. The yellow white rays of sunshine gave her skin a healthy glow, and erased the deep, dark shadows under her eyes. She looked instantly better. The bloodless tint to her skin faded as she soaked in the presence of direct sunlight. She took a deep breath of air and lowered her face. The glow stayed.

Kara opened her eyes and took a few tentative steps forward, looking back at Lena. Questioning.

“You’re not a prisoner, Kara,” Lena laughed. “You can walk around.”

With explicit permission, Kara slowly walked around, stopping now and again to tilt her head towards the trees, listening to the chirping of sonic swallows, and stooping to examine the grass, running her fingertips over each blade.

Lena moved to stand beside her, pointing out the break between the trees where a natural pathway formed.

“There’s a route that loops back to the base, through the trees,” she said, pointing at the path. “Alex jogs when she needs to get away.”

“Do you?” asked Kara.

Lena laughed. “I don’t run if I can help it.”

She had never jogged in her life and didn’t plan on starting now. Without her Force powers, Lena was physically unimposing.

Kara started to smile but stopped herself. She did that a lot, Lena realized. “No, I mean: Where do you go? When you need to get away?”

Lena blinked. “The archives.”

Kara’s large blue eyes had an intensity she hadn’t seen before. Searching for an answer, but why? Lena wasn’t that interesting; but there was something there, intent, that she couldn’t wave away.

“Why do you like it there?”

Lena thought. “It’s familiar.”

The two set off down the path. Every now and again their hands would knock into one another. The ambient sounds of nature enveloped them in a sort of white noise. She felt Kara’s eyes on her as they walked, flitting and fleeting, but there. Something about Kara made her want to share. Crack open her shell, just a little.

Lena cleared her throat. “At home we had a study. Our own archives. Father would work on contracts there and I was allowed to sit in. It was our space.”

Kara picked up a nearby stick, twirling it like a baton.

“Is your father-?”

“He died when I was ten. A massive heart attack. He was found at his desk.” Lena’s lips quirked, bittersweet memories of her father drifting through her mind. “He was always working.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara said, softly. Her face and features were kind. Empathetic.

Lena waved her off. Kara had watched everyone she had ever loved and knew die with her planet. Lionel Luthor’s death seemed small in comparison.

They paused in the middle of the path.

“On Krypton my room overlooked all of Argo City. Whenever I was sad, I could look over the city. Seeing all those lights,” Kara trailed off sighing, shoulders drooping.

Lena scooted closer to her and grabbed her hand in comfort.

Lena didn’t know how Kara did it. How did she try to make sense of the loss of a planet? Lena gazed at Kara. Kara’s face was inscrutable. Save her eyes. Kara’s eyes were so very blue and so very sad.

They walked the length of the trail and continued as it looped around back towards base. Along the well-worn path, near a hill, Kara went through a copse of trees.

It opened up to a clearing in the woods. Grass and wildflowers twisted through the undergrowth, but the main focus was a tree. Enormous and ancient, huge roots reached out, protruding out of the ground like a natural rest stop.

Kara stepped on one of the roots getting near the large tree, resting her hand on the bark. Through the leaves, beams of sunlight poked through the foliage. Her hair glowing in the rays of sunlight, glinting bright gold and sparkling.

“The Force is strong here,” Kara murmured. “Can you feel it?”

Lena closed her eyes. Yes. Like a breeze, the Force moved between and around the trees, passing through each leaf and animal, from the swallows preening in the branches above to the worms wriggling in the dirt below. A genuine smile spread across Kara’s face.

Kara turned to face her. “Can we train out here?” Lena blinked, stunned by Kara’s unrestrained happiness.

“I... suppose so.” Lena looked mournfully at the sun, then back at her sensitive pale skin. She was going to burn. Maybe Alex had something for her.

The smile Kara gave her in return was worth the future sunburn.

----

“These aliens hide in plain sight, just like the Jedi. You can’t tell a Daxamite from a Human. It’s despicable.”

Lillian overlooked Coruscant from their balcony. Arms crossed, face inscrutable. Only her tone of voice showed her displeasure.

Mother never trusted Jedi or aliens. She hated the ones who could pass as human the most, for their ability to blend in.

Deception were tools for a Luthor. No one else.

“Lex was saving this galaxy. He was creating an Empire worthy of his legacy. And the Jedi ruined it.”

Lena sighed, heavily. “Lex is gone, mother.”

Lena looked up from her datapad. This last week was the most Lillian had spoken to her- ever. Conversationally, not just jabs and veiled insults.

Lillian continued to rant, not hearing Lena. Or choosing to ignore her. “Driven out of our home, from our planet, by the alien menace.” She spun on her heel, footsteps echoing throughout their sitting room. “Someone has to stand against this alien scourge.”

“Lex is gone,” Lena repeated. She kept her head down. “To who knows where. Who else can stand up to the Daxamites? The Resistance?”

“Don’t be daft,” Lillian snapped. “The Resistance is what caused this mess. Their inability to accept the true threat of the Jedi.”

Lillian never looked more like Lex in that moment. “Your brother tried to lead them from the sunlight, when he should have directed them from the shadows.”

“Lex ordered the extinction of the Jedi-”

Why did she bother arguing? She never got through to her mother. But she still tried, even the day before she left home.

The Jedi were dead because of Lex and Lena was- “-he committed atrocities-”

“You’re brother did what was necessary. You have no idea what they are capable of. The Jedi can influence the mind, manipulate your senses, and even steal your body.” Lillian’s rage, usually so cold and controlled, was beginning to bubble over. “Your brother tried to save the galaxy and he was punished for it. Leave. Get out of my sight.”

Lena hopped the next freighter out of the system.

----

Lena grabbed Kara’s arm and twisted it. Kara broke her hold reversing her grip, sending Lena to the ground.

Knee on Lena’s back, Kara twisted her right arm behind her. With her free hand, Lena pushed against the ground with the Force, sending dirt and grass flying overhead. It created enough of a distraction to wriggle free.

Lena rolled away and jumped to her feet, raising her fists defensively and Kara did the same.

“Good,” she encouraged. “You’re improving.”

Emboldened, Lena went on the offensive. She grappled with her. Kara was stronger and a few inches taller, but she’d been learning to use Kara’s weight and momentum against her. They fell to the ground, struggling for control.

For a moment, Lena thought she had her pinned. But then she was on her back with Kara’s weight resting heavily on her.

Kara heaved, sweat beading down her face. Strands of blonde hair had fallen loose from her ponytail and stuck to her face. Her eyes were bright and somehow bluer, backlit by the blue sky behind her.

Her face came close to Lena’s. Closer. Lena’s breathing grew labored and her heart pounded against her chest.

“I win.”

Kara’s face turned playful, gloating as she brightly smiled. She rolled off her.

Lena lay there. Stunned. What was that?

She turned to look at Kara. She appeared unaffected by the moment between them. Had it been a moment? Or was it in her head? She shook her head, drinking from her bottled water.

Don’t be so pitiful, Lena. She could almost hear her mother’s scolding voice.

Kara was her bond-mate. An ally. Someone she could, tentatively, trust.

The blood rushing through her body, the quick beat of her heart and the rush of emotion and feeling was like a high. This- this connection, this interest- was out of her comfort zone. It defying everything she’d learned about being a Luthor. Luthors are detached, Lena. You are the lighthouse. They will come to you, but you will always be above them.

It gave her a bit of a thrill, defying her Luthor expectations like this. Was this because of their force bond? Or was this another stage of friendship? And would it fade?

Kara picked a wildflower from the ground and spun the stem between her fingers.

Lena sat close to her, taking a nearby flower as well. She watched Kara from the corner of her eyes, even as she tried to cool down from their spar.

Strange, but a pleasant sort of strange. She hoped it would last.

----

Lex’s fixation with the Jedi hadn’t lessened with his election to Supreme Chancellor. Instead, he appeared to be using his newfound power to learn more about the Jedi, redistributing funds to explore the Xeno Sector and pillage the sector for secrets.

“Look at this.” Lex held out a cube, glowing blue in the dim light of the apartment.

“Where did you get a holocron?” Lena asked.

Lex ignored her question. “The Jedi have so many secrets. All that knowledge only for them. What are they hiding? This one holocron taught me so much. So much the Jedi are keeping from us.”

Curiosity gnawed at Lena, just like Lex. “Like what?”

“There’s reference to a Sith technique where they can live forever possessing another body.”

“That’s horrible.” Lena looked closely at Lex. He didn’t seem or sound horrified. Instead, he was almost envious.

“All that power,” Lex murmured. “Imagine if they turned against us. Imagine the damage they could cause. They cannot be allowed to threaten us any longer.”

----

“Rao, sokaofidh nahn w khuhp i ehrosh ni :divi.”

Lena paused just inside their room, closing their door silently behind her.  Kara was on her knees, head bowed, arms crossed over her body.

“Rao, sokaokypzrhiges w khuhp i raogrhys.”

Kara lowered her arms and opened her eyes. Lena took it as permission to speak.

“What was that?”

“A Kryptonian prayer.” Kara didn’t elaborate further. She stood from the floor and picked something up from in front of her. Lena was startled to see it was her breastplate, the strange sigil emblazoned on the front.

“What does that symbol mean?” Lena pointed at it. It didn’t look like any language she’d ever seen.

“It’s the coat of arms for the House of El.”

“El?”

“My Kryptonian name is Kara Zor-El. On Krypton, females take the name of their father, but I’m of the house of El.” Kara puffed up. Pride filled her and carried over through their bond. Pride over her name. She ferreted away that piece of information.

“The house of El was the most prestigious house on Krypton. It would take years to scratch the surface of our history.” Kara’s eyes lit up and she continued talking with renewed passion. Despite her warning, she did go into great detail about the history of the noble house of El.

This was, by far, the most enthusiastic Kara had been since she’d joined the Resistance. But despite that energy, that joy, fear was creeping through their bond. Not just fear, but anxiety. Even as she spoke, Kara made efforts to dampen the feeling.

She’d be a good friend. An ear when Kara needed it. It was the least she deserved.

----

Lena was letting Kara deal with whatever internal struggle she was having on her own. If she was going through the effort to hide it, she obviously didn’t want Lena involved. People were entitled to their secrets. As the days stretched on and the anxiety continued to bubble beneath the surface, Lena knew she should act.

“How are you?” Lena asked.

Kara paused where she had been meditating in their clearing. She opened her eyes. “Fine.” Her jaw clenched and the crease between her eyebrows deepened. Lying.

“Are you sure?” Lena pressed. “I know with our bond you’re stuck with me, but I’m here for you, if you want that.”

Kara’s jaw twitched. In the days since she caught Kara praying, it was like a wall slowly was being let down. Or a drawbridge was being lowered for Lena.

“The Wrath attacks-”

Lena lowered her voice. “What about them?”

“A lot of them were planets I’d been to. What if-” Kara bit down hard on her bottom lip.

Lena waited. In the meantime, she reached over and set her hand on Kara’s knee, an attempt at a comforting gesture.

“What if I killed them?” Kara asked. “Even now, I can still feel Rhea’s words crawling around in my skull. I hear her voice. But what if she’s actually there in my head? What if she’s controlling me?”

“Is that possible?”

“I don’t know.” Kara sounded genuinely scared.

“How can I help?”

“You know how to heal. You could look through my mind- see if everything is fine,” Kara said.

Lena’s eyebrows shot up. She had healed one person- Alex- but she’d never looked into someone’s mind. Was that even possible?

“Rhea’s holocrons taught me how to rip information from a mind,” Kara said with no emotion. “A dark side technique. I’m sure the Jedi have a way to enter a mind less painfully.”

“I’ll search the archives,” Lena promised. “I’ll find something. And we’ll get this done.”

----

A week later Lena found a promising holocron. After another week of study, she felt confident she understood how the technique worked. Now, it was a matter of doing it, but who knew how successful she’d be.

Kara settled back onto her bed, a stack of pillows surrounding her. Their quarters seemed the safest place to do this. The most comfortable location and they were unlikely to be interrupted.

From inside her jacket, Lena pulled out a small square holocron. Setting it on a spare pillow, she arranged herself on the bed across from Kara.

“There’s a mind shielding technique. If Rhea has any influence over you, this will cut her off. I’ll be able to see it.”

“Who’s holocron is this?” Kara picked up the small cube from the pillow. It glowed soft blue and lines of Aurebesh projected out.

Lena took it from Kara’s hands, activating it. The light and text intensified as it woke up. Lena read it out loud: “This is the holocron of the Jedi Barsen’thor.” Lena wasn’t sure what a Barsen’thor was. A name? Occupation? She shrugged at Kara, who was as clueless as she was.

Lena chose to ignore those questions. “What matters is it’ll help us.” She made a show of stretching her fingers. “Ready?”

Kara nodded then lowered her head. Lena extended her hands over Kara’s head. Breathe in. Focus.

She reached inside Kara’s mind, travelling through their bond to the place they were joined together. A firm connection between them and a door to her mind. Around Kara’s aura, her Force Energy, were scars. Deep, deep lacerations into her connection to the Force. Areas the dark side had withered her connection to the Force.

Lena flashed back to Kara’s retelling of what happened on Tatooine, “Rhea drained me of my powers. I don’t know how.”

This degeneration, weakening of her mental and physical abilities confirmed what Kara said. Rhea fed off of her, but judging by these wounds, she must have been doing it for years. Growing steadily stronger, like a parasite leeching off her powers.

Beyond the scars, Rhea was absent. Kara’s mind was her own. It didn’t need to be shielded.

But she did need mental healing. Cleansing.

She prodded one of the Dark Side spots.

Kenny’s hands, bloody, reaching out from his grave. Why did you let them kill me? Then Kenny’s face became Rhea’s, laughing at her as the holocrons hissed their serpentine song. Rhea wrapped her hand around Kara’s throat and squeezed.

Lena broke the connection. “Rhea hasn’t been controlling you,” Lena gasped. She took another large gulp of air. Even more so than when she had healed Alex, she was exhausted. And what was that? A dream?

“Lena! Are you okay?”

“Tired.” Lena rested against the pillows. “I saw something. A vision or a nightmare.”

“About Kenny.” Kara’s throat bobbed. “It’s a nightmare I’ve been having.”

“Who’s Kenny?”

“He was my friend. Resistance killed him on Balmorra. Years ago.”

The Resistance avoided casualties whenever possible, but Lena didn’t want to challenge Kara. Especially when the wound felt so fresh, even years later.

Lena rested her hand on Kara’s. “I’m sorry.”

“There are casualties in war.” Kara didn’t sound like she believed herself. Lena squeezed the hand. Kara flipped her hand so they were palm-to-palm and squeezed back.

Something blossomed in her chest- warmth from doing something. Lena took and took from Kara and the Resistance. Training, companionship, and guidance. This was something she could do for Kara. And if it exonerated the Resistance? All the better.

She promised herself she would find out the truth. For Kara, but also for herself.

“Thank you for helping me,” Kara said. She grasped Lena’s hand, looking intently at her. Lena’s throat closed, a lump developing and stealing her voice. Without her words, she squeezed back. Hoping Kara understood.

Chapter Text

The flagship, always so empty, seemed more hollow and lifeless. Not just a lack of soldiers, something more, a perpetual darkness, lingering over the ship. It deepened, smothering everything inside and around it. Kara wandered through her day, trying not to remember, not to think.

She poured her energy into her holocrons, but even that was more draining than usual. Krypton’s data crystals never made her feel like this- lethargic and emotionally spent.

It was like a cold hand sat on her chest, squeezing down, suffocating her slowly. Everything hurt.

“It’s your emotions, nothing more,” Rhea said. Kara shook her head. Something wasn’t right.

“I feel wrong. I feel like-” Like I’m dying, she wanted to say.

Rhea would say she was being dramatic. A melodramatic Kryptonian. It wasn’t worth arguing.

“I’m here to help you, Kara,” Rhea said. “I only want the best for you, you know this?”

Kara nodded. Yes. Rhea would help. Believe in Rhea.

“Then trust me. Focus on the holocron.”

Kara refocused her energy, placing the red pyramid in the palm of her hand. Immediately, it began to whisper, indecipherable, just beyond the edge of hearing. She shuddered as the clammy feeling washed over, sticking to her skin and seeping down underneath the surface.

Instinctively, she flinched back. Rhea’s claw-like grip on her shoulder steadied her, cold seeping in from each fingertip biting into her skin.

“It’s a tool for learning,” Rhea said, keeping her voice low. Almost condescending, even as she tried to offer comfort. “I cannot teach you to use the Force, so you need to absorb everything the holocrons have to offer.”

Each new piece of information rubbed wrong with what Kara had learned. Astra’s teachings echoed in her head.

The Force is balance.

“You must dominate the Force. Master it and do not allow complacency to weaken you.”

Empathy is a strength, not a weakness.

“You are not human, and you never will be,” Rhea said. “Rise above. Harness your grief for power, but do not it drag you down.”

So tired. So drained. All the time. Surely, a side effect of carrying around this sadness. It was a burden. She needed to bury it- bury them- Kara Danvers and her human heart. It was time to let Kara Danvers die.

Rhea’s hand left her shoulder. Strength returned to her, a sign she was doing the right thing.

“It’s time to embrace your role.” Rhea snapped her fingers. An attendant approached, head bowed low, carrying black fabric. They handed it to Kara. It was armor along with a set of robes. She ran her finger along the embossed symbol of her house on the chest plate. A mask buried beneath. The eyes bug-like, round and perfectly black, with an air filter attached to the mouth.

“It’s time you joined the war.”

----

When Kara woke, she felt the shift in the greater Force. A change in the balance and dynamics.

Kara had been with the Resistance for a little over two weeks. She wasn’t allowed to leave the planet, but she wasn’t confined to a cell. Eyes watched her at all times, hostile, mistrustful.

She went through the motions of her day. Ate in the mess hall with Alex. Meditated in the afternoon. Went outside for fresh air and sunlight. She needled Alex to help her get supplies to make a new lightsaber (“We don’t have lightsaber parts lying around Kara! I’m working on it.”). The rest of the day she spent acquiring information.

The Wrath was a symbol. Without her mask a curtain was lifted. She could walk through the halls, could pretend she was just Kara, but the Wrath lingered behind her like a shadow. The Wrath was an annihilator of worlds, many she had seen and set foot on. The Wrath was a weapon of destruction. A tool to cull the masses. It’s not me. Her stomach turned. Nausea was mixing with unease, sickening her.

Unfortunately, until Rhea acted, it was a waiting game. The Resistance tried to be proactive but failed miserably. The Resistance as a whole was reactive, and this, Kara thought, was why they would never beat Rhea.

The sound of distinctive rolling pulled her from her thoughts. Winn chirped in greeting, making to roll past her.

“Winn!”

The droid froze on its axis, rotating its head around to look at her. “Whoo?”

Kara had to concentrate to understand his droidspeak. “Have you seen Lena?”

“Lena= accessing Luthorcorp files. Lena= in archives.” She should have guessed.

“Right, Lex’s files. I forgot.” Kara could have smacked herself. She was letting this weird discomfort throw her off. Focus; don’t let this weird feeling distract you. Winn was still waiting. “Thank you.” The droid beeped in happiness.

“Winn= rerouting holonet access. Data= slow. Breakthrough= soon!”

Amused, she watched him roll away, still trilling to himself. The amusement soon faded, leaving her in the hallway with a prepackaged food pack in her hands. The familiar feeling of dread circulated through her again.  

Lena’s work was important. Absolutely necessary. Still, Kara wished Lena didn’t push herself so hard. Winn was a droid and didn’t need to sleep or eat. The same couldn’t be said of her.

Case in point, searching out Lena to make sure she ate. Lena was at a table bent over a datapad, her fingers a flurry of movement.

“Hey,” Kara stood in the doorway. The dim light from the datapad was the only direct source of light. That can’t be good for her eyes.

Kara turned on the low lights, white artificial light flooding the room. Lena flinched, blinking fast.

“Hey,” Lena replied. Eyes adjusted, she looked back at her work. Kara set down a food parcel next to her, making sure Lena couldn’t miss it. “You skipped breakfast and lunch. You can’t miss dinner, too.”

Kara made sure to bring Lena one of those leafy foodstuffs she liked so much. It was disgusting and inedible, in her opinion, but it’s healthy, Kara. Kara sat at the corner of the table.

“I’m not leaving until you eat,” Kara warned. Lena set down the datapad with an exaggerated huff, picking up the food with a soft thank you.

Warmth stretched out from the center of her chest. “That’s what friends are for.”

Lena’s eyes widened and she froze, making Kara stiffen. She liked Lena- a lot. They were friends. Well, she was Kara’s friend. The feeling was mutual though, right? Kara hadn’t misjudged this, had she? Her heart picked up-tempo.

“Right,” Lena agreed. Kara’s shoulder’s relaxed.

The Empress’s Wrath- most feared in the Galaxy- bringing lunch to a newbie Jedi. What are you doing, Kara?

While Lena ate, Kara looked at the datapad. Kara Zor-El was the youngest member ever admitted into the Science Guild, but her experience with technology outside of Krypton was limited. Datapads were clunky compared to data crystals. She couldn’t make sense of the code in front of her.

The feeling of unease from earlier never faded and in the relative silence of the room it was hard to ignore.

“Do you feel it too?” Kara asked.

Lena looked up and her pleasant mask faltered. Eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep and staring at a datapad for hours on end. She nodded.

“I can sense it,” Lena said.

----

Kara left Lena to her work; content with the knowledge Lena wouldn’t starve to death. Things were easy around her, but Kara didn’t want to get too comfortable. Lena was soft and kind with her, and Kara didn’t deserve soft, kind things.

The best thing she could do with her time was formulate a strategy with Alex, who would relay it to the Resistance, since they were reluctant to work with Kara directly.

“People of the Empire!”

Kara froze. Rhea. Her voice echoing in the air around her. Kara felt it inside her soul, reverberating with power and authority. She followed the voice into the conference room, bursting through the door, ready for a fight.

The holoprojector in the center of the room sparked, alive and illuminated the room with an artificial blue glow. In the center, Rhea.

“As Empress, I liberated you from the tyranny of Lex Luthor. I brought peace, freedom, justice, and security. But still you resisted. The Empire as you know it will be dismantled and in its place, I will create a New Daxam.”

Kara walked closer to the holoprojector in horror, near J’onn, who was barking orders to track the broadcast, and Alex, who was equally transfixed on the image.

“More than a planet, Daxam will transcend into something greater. I have been kind and patient. More than you deserve. But in my time as queen and later Empress, I learned a firm hand is needed to guide the masses. Resistance terrorists and terrorist sympathizers will not be tolerated.”

The holofootage of Rhea switched to an outside shot of Alderaan, where Rhea’s flagship slowly came into view. Kara broke into a sweat when she recognized the shock drum and planet prison attached to the front. Dread coiled like a snake, coiling tighter and tighter. Blood drained from her face and her head spun.

“Alderaan has been home to terrorists and dissidents. Murderers and liars. Today, I will show you my resolve to preserve the stability of New Daxam.”

The weapon glowed, sickly green and fluorescent, before firing on Alderaan. Thin, interconnected lines of lightning cracked over the planet, creating a strange looking dome. Arcs of fire erupted from each line, crackling and exploding in place. Each lash tore the sky open, creating a visible barrier between the atmosphere and space. Then, the atmosphere was ablaze. Kara was helpless, another Krypton unfolding before her eyes. The crust cracked open and spider webs of lava appeared on the surface, violent red on a planet that had been predominantly green and blue.

“All Resistance activity will stop and sympathizers will be brought to me. Until it does, no planet is safe.” The broadcast cut off. The threat hung in the air. Quiet before the explosion of noise.

J’onn leapt into action. “Ready a medical frigate, scramble the starfighters, we have to help Alderaan,” he barked. A red alert went on throughout the base, adding further confusion to the cacophony of voices.

“Get Alderaan back on screen!”

“Hacking nearby relay satellites!”

“It’s too late,” Kara murmured. Alderaan’s planetary core had been destabilized. It would explode soon. Kara remembered how sudden the earthquakes had come and how violent the ground shook. She shook violently, just like the planet in front of her. It didn’t have long; and with the planet prison in place, the device that ionized the atmosphere, all starships would be trapped on the surface. Unlike Krypton, there was no escape, just terror as inevitable death consumed the planet. Alderaan's two billion inhabitants- dead.

Kara fell to the floor.

“Kara!”

Lena knelt beside her. When did Lena get here? Had she always been here? Her senses were stunted and lethargic. Surely, Lena felt it too. Something terrible had happened, and caused Kara great pain. So, Lena came.

“It’s too late,” she repeated.

Lena wrapped her arms around Kara. She shivered and waved her off. Lena let go but stayed close.

“Kara, you need to focus. Breathe.”

Alex.

“Captain Danvers, deploy to Alderaan with-” J’onn stopped. On the holoprojector Alderaan glowed brighter from it’s cracked surface. Kara knew what came next. She felt it, before she saw it. A vast emptiness- not even an emptiness- but a gouge, bloody and violent. The simultaneous loss of so many lives at once crashed over her, leaving her shivering, cold, and gasping for air. Lena collapsed, too. A million, no, a billion voices screaming out.

Terror. Screaming, pleading, anger, acceptance, and the inevitable, unavoidable end. A ripping and tearing of all life. Something in her chest gave way, broke loose. Shredded.

She covered her ears in vain. The screaming. They wouldn’t stop screaming. A loud, angry pitch, not even a sound but an assault. She dug her nails into the sides of her face.

No body. No planet. Just emptiness. The cold, vast emptiness of space.

Their fear tore into Kara like claws, ripping her open and leaving her raw. Light, blinding light, the light of the core set aflame, and then darkness as the holoprojector feed died.

The group stared at the blank holo in horror. Kara knew what would be left: an asteroid field serving as a planetary graveyard. Just like Krypton. She gripped her head tighter in her hands. Crush it. Make it stop. Sick. She was going to be sick.

This is your fault, Kara. Rhea’s voice echoed inside her skull. The worst part was she was right.

You sacrificed ten years of your life to Rhea and for what? To stop another Krypton? Well, you just caused another Krypton. Foolish Kryptonian.

“I need to go.” Kara brushed past Lena and fled. Away. Far, far away. Somewhere she could be smaller, not vast and empty. Not echoing in a void. Silent.

----

How long had it been?

Kara sat in the tranquility of the archives. A small room filled to the brim with shelves stacked with various scavenged Jedi holocrons and Holobooks from the destroyed Jedi Temple. The holobooks gave off a soft aqua glow. A mere drop compared to Rhea’s vast sea of knowledge. Or to the glittering spiral towers on Krypton. With no natural light, through windows or viewports, Kara could reflect in the softened blue darkness.

The pod was dark and small. Don’t go there, Kara.

The Jedi holocrons glowed. Not angry but at peace. So different from the ones Rhea supplied her, these were 12-sided dodecahedral. They didn’t hiss with strange whispers or fill the room with an aura of dread. A sense of peace came over her around them. It made the room one of the few places on the base where she went and felt something other than hostility.

The doors slid open, sending harsh artificial light into the room. Kara raised her hand to block the light from stinging her eyes.

“Lena said you’d be here.” Alex walked into the room, closing the door behind her.

“It’s peaceful,” she explained. Alex sat in front of Kara. The blue glow illuminated under her cheekbones. Shadows making her look skeletal. Dead. No. Think of something else. “Lena likes it here, too.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Lena,” Alex began conversationally. Alex was ignoring the Ronto in the room and that was just fine with Kara.

“We’re friends.” Kara sounded more defensive than she wanted to.

“I’m glad you have someone to talk to,” Alex continued, “About all of this.”

Kara agreed, silently.

Alex had been more than supportive but Lena understood.

But Alex was here now and Kara was grateful for her sister. She was understanding even as Kara struggled to sort through her own feelings. And now, with this massacre- this genocide- No, stop. Don’t think about it.

Kara didn’t want to think. She didn’t want to feel. And she certainly didn’t want to start untangling this complicated web of emotions. Emotions and feelings of Krypton. And now brought to the fore by Alderaan. Another planet destroyed. Another planet lost.

“We deployed a medical frigate to Alderaan.”

“It won’t matter.” Kara pulled at the carpet fibers.

“We have to try,” Alex said.

The darkness started to feel less comforting and more suffocating. Tears collected in her eyes. The hopelessness set in. Rhea had Lex’s superweapons. Rhea has Force powers Kara didn’t even know about. How was she going to stop her? How were they going to stop her?

Kara kept seeing faces. Her mother. Her father. Her best friend. The faces of the dead. The shattered remains of a planet.

“I feel broken-”

“You’re not broken.”

“-and I can’t stop Rhea if I’m broken.”

“Hey.” Alex scooted along the floor until she was knee to knee with Kara. She reached over and wrapped her arms around her.

“You aren’t broken. You’re Kara Danvers. You’re my sister and the strongest person I know.”

“I have nothing. My planet, my people. Everything is gone.”

“You have me.” Alex squeezed tighter. “And we’ll face Rhea. Together.”

----

Kara and Alex entered the room and caught the tail end of a conversation.

“- access to Lex’s files,” Lena said.

“What does it say?” J’onn’s voice.

“My brother’s droids picked up ambient energy readings very similar to what he categorized as ‘Force residue’. All life was drained from the planet. From every plant to sentient life form.”

Kara paused in the entranceway.

Alex caught onto the conversation’s thread. She frowned. “But Daxam was made uninhabitable by Krypton’s debris.” She shot a sympathetic look Kara’s way. The reminder of Krypton was rubbing raw, but she pushed it down. This was important. She felt it.

“Not according to these findings,” Lena said. Excitement leaked through their bond as she gesticulated at the datapad. “Pieces of Krypton crashed into Daxam, and the debris contaminated the atmosphere, but the massive loss of life was not a result of the explosion.”

Something in Kara woke at the news. Gears turned. “On Tatooine, Rhea did something to me. She drained me of my powers. She must have done that to Daxam.”

“How? Daxamites aren’t able to use the Force. Their genetic makeup is devoid of Midi-chlorians,” J’onn said.

The answer came to her. “She’s a Force wound,” Kara murmured.

“A what?” J’onn sounded confused.

“Krypton’s destruction, the massive amount of lost life, it would have left an empty space in the Force. And that space, that hole would try to find someplace or someone to inhabit, to express itself. What if Rhea became that conduit?”

“Is that possible?” Lena questioned.

“Yes.” Kara recalled everything she’d learned on Krypton. “She’s a wound that will want to be filled. It’s a hunger: for life, for Force energy.” Pieces of the puzzle were coming together. “She absorbed the life from Daxam. That’s why it’s uninhabitable.”

“So, is she a Jedi or not?” J’onn asked, bluntly.

“She’s different. Changed. She’s a dark side aberration. Any power she has is a result of the lives she’s taken. She’s not a Sith, and she’s not a Jedi. She’s something else entirely.”

Kara’s understanding was based off fading memories from long ago, but she felt certain.

“If she feeds off death, she’s stuffed after Alderaan,” Alex said, bluntly.

Kara agreed.

“If she’s a wound, she’ll have to keep feeding. She’ll never be satisfied.” Some of the adrenaline from figuring it out began to fade away, leaving her feeling ill. More clarity, more knowledge, made her feel worse. “It’s fear. She’s feeding off the fear in the Galaxy- what is scarier than having your planet destroyed?”

Kara rubbed her eyes.

“Absorbing whole planets is a waste. Once that life is gone, it’s gone. Why hunt when you can raise your food so it never runs out. The Galaxy is her feeding ground.”

She should have seen this. Isolation or not. She should have seen it. Rhea surrounded herself with an ever-rotating crew of Daxamites. They wouldn’t have felt the drain she exhibited. But Kara had.

Her exhaustion. The pull on her energy. Everything was coming together now and the picture it painted was horrifying.

“From what I read,” Lena began, “dark side energy creates an interference with force powers. It blinds light and neutral Force wielding Jedi. The holocrons discuss this in great detail.”

“She’s been feeding off of me for years,” Kara murmured. “And I never suspected anything.”

The constant cold? Even Rhea’s small, almost frail physical state. She knew something was wrong but she ignored it.

You fool.

Alex placed a firm hand on Kara’s shoulder. “You can’t beat yourself up.”

“The past is done. All we can do is move forward and stop Rhea.” J’onn’s pragmatism was easier to handle than Alex’s passive acceptance. There were consequences. Major consequences for her actions, but those would come later. For now, they needed to stop Rhea.

“I need lightsaber parts.”

----

“When will I make my mine?”

Kara pointed at Astra’s double bladed lightsaber, eyes fixed with unadulterated interest. Her eyes wandered from the intricate etchings on the hilt.

Astra held it out. Kara took it, twisting it in her hands. The metal was warm and it hummed beneath her fingertips. She couldn’t see a power switch.

“How do you turn it on?”

Astra laughed. “You don’t need to know.”

“What if I need to fight?” Kara argued. She squeezed the cylinder tighter. There had to be a way- pressure, something.

Her aunt smiled fondly at her. “So eager to jump into action. It’s not your destiny to fight.”

She took back the weapon and attached it to her belt.

“You are meant for the Science Guild, Kara. You will use the Force to advance our people. It is not your destiny to fight for Krypton,” she repeated, more force in her words.

Kara pouted. “So, I won’t get a lightsaber?”

“No, you will not.” Astra smiled. “We fight because we have to. Not because we want to. Remember that, little one.”

----

Kara prepared to create her lightsaber by entering deep meditation. Lena moved to Alex’s quarters while Kara monopolized their room. The lights were off, leaving her in total darkness. Eyes can deceive. Relying solely on the Force was superior.

“You have strength, rage, and clear focus.” Rhea walked the length of the room. Kara weighed the various alloys in her hand. The options were overwhelming. “You will need all three to create a formidable weapon.”

Kara decided on a deceptively simple looking handle design. Sleek with understated lines. Above the lightsaber emitter, she placed two identical blade shaped pieces. It resembled two vibroblades and made the weapon look fiercer for it. It also added forward weight, making it an ideal slasher. A weapon for war.

Unlike with Rhea, she didn’t have access to top quality handle materials. Alex did an amazing job finding another Kyber crystal. Lex Luthor’s purge and overmining had made them increasingly hard to find.

Kara spent hours manipulating Duralloy leftover from starship repairs into the right cylindrical shape- the perfect shape- for her lightsaber. The blade emitter shroud gave it the heft of her old lightsaber. The material is not shiny. It’s leftovers and designed for purpose, not looks.

Kara focused and kept her mind clear. Free from hatred. Free from fear. Peace. Tranquility. Balance. All the things she had forgotten under Rhea.

The Kyber crystal beat a steady rhythm in the Force. Like water breaking on a lakefront. Soothing. She reached out with her senses and touched the strand of energy.

Her Kyber crystal was in tune with her energy. It glowed a faint green, a soft viridian deep inside the crystal.

“You have to focus your anger,” Rhea commanded. The Kyber crystal was dull and lifeless in front of Kara. This wasn’t right. On Krypton- Krypton is dead. Kara felt the crystal calling out to her through the Force. A connection. But while it sent over peace and tranquility, Kara focused.

The memory of the color of the sky, how it turned black as the planet collapsed on itself. The smells of her favorite foods- lost. The notes of music she would never hear again. The faces of her friends and family. Baby Kal-El, adrift in space, dead. She poured everything, all the rage and anger she felt into that bond.

The crystal began to glow pink, then red veins of light spread throughout it. The more anger she poured into it, the more clear the color grew until it turned a bright crimson. In tune and connected to her rage.

Kara guided the crystal into its home- the hilt of the blade. Closing the chamber and settling the crystal into place. Perfect.

Anger pulsed from the blade, each throb of rage echoing inside her. Fierce, violent, and unstable. This was her weapon. And this was her anger.

Kara held her new lightsaber. A vibrant green blade burst from the end, illuminating the darkness with the soft verdant glow.

Calming. Balanced.

Kara felt clean. Cleansed. Right. The anger wasn’t gone. Never gone. But it was sated. At peace. She could breath. A block removed from her chest.

Chapter Text

Lena took a deep breath. In…out. In…out. Breathe. Release the feeling- the anxiety and stress- into the Force.

Some of the weight lifted, even as the knot at the base of her neck screamed for attention. She gingerly pressed her fingertips into the back of her neck, rubbing softly. Her eyes inadvertently fell back to the datapad.

Catastrophic planetary core damage resulting in-

She looked away.

Alderaan was gone. Nothing was left, save a brand new asteroid field. No survivors. No life.  

Lingering in the space around Alderaan were traces of high, distinctive radiation. A signature Lena had never seen before and was not natural. A lingering trace of the Worldkiller that destroyed Alderaan?

“Winn, have you ever seen this radioactive signature?”

Woo. Damn. Lena heard Winn rolling over to her. Winn let out a trilling, encouraging beep. “Winn= creating an algorithm to track the signature. Winn= number 1 droid!”

The smile crept onto her face without permission. “Thanks, Winn.”

The droid beeped again and returned to the computer terminal.  

Lena stretched and her back mercifully cracked. With nothing more to do she took a moment, leaving it up to the droids.

----

Lena paused at the entranceway of the officer’s lounge. Hushed voices. She poked her head inside and saw Alex and Kara.

Both were seated on the couch together. An increasingly common occurrence. Even if they didn’t speak, they were together. That solidarity was doing a lot for them both.

Deep shadows stood out on both their faces, but Kara in particular looked haunted, but her aura felt better. Focused. With her new lightsaber at her hip, some of the anger came under control. Without the trappings of the Wrath- the dark armor, robes, and mask- it was easy to forget Kara was the warrior beneath the robes. But there were cracks in the facade. Glimmers of darkness.

“Lena.” Kara’s face momentarily brightened, brief but brilliant. Lena felt her own begin to flush in response, even as she tried to shove it down.

“Lena,” Alex echoed. “It’s been a while.”

“We’ve been busy,” Lena said. They hadn’t spent a lot of time together, hadn’t talked much since Kara arrived. Lena missed it, but she understood.

“Someone has to make sure Kara doesn’t eat us out of house and home,” Alex joked. Playing into it, Kara shoved her dehydrated bread in her mouth, which bulged comically as her eyes widened in protest.

“I have a Kryptonian metabolism. I need to eat,” she defended, trying her best to sound dignified.

Alex rolled her eyes, but didn’t try to hide her fondness. The mending relationship between the sisters seemed to heal them both.

“You look tired,” Alex said. Her brow was creased with worry, eyes critically taking Lena in.

“You say the nicest things to me, Alex.” Lena smiled, thinly. “It was a lot of data.” She sat heavily on the couch next to Kara.

Kara lowered her head. And there were the cracks in the facade. Alderaan and Rhea. Twin wounds and the two topics that burned at her. Talk of Rhea caused darkness to break through, reopening the old familiar wounds of Krypton.

“Has J’onn said anything?”

“Rhea’s flagship is gone,” Alex said. “We don’t know where. People are scared. No one wants to work with us, especially if Rhea’s lurking in the next sector.”

Kara slowly popped a piece of bread into her mouth, aggressively chewing. “Rhea’s master plan. Starve out the Resistance and feed off the fear she’s cultivated.”

“There’s a distinct radioactive residue left in Alderaan’s atmosphere. Tracking it is our best chance of finding her. Winn’s working on an algorithm now.”

“We can’t wait until she destroys another planet!” Kara snarled. “We’re being reactive when we should be proactive.” Frustration bubbled over. A vein in her forehead to throbbed.

“We’re doing what we can.” Alex put her hand on Kara’s forearm.

“We’re not doing enough.” Kara got up and paced like a caged animal. The guilt was creeping alongside the frustration of inaction.

“Hey.” Lena walked over to her and grasped her hands. “We’ll stop her. We’ll find a way.”

Lena smoothed the crinkle between Kara’s eyebrows with her thumb. Kara’s forehead evened out. Lena pushed feelings of calm through their bond. Some of Kara’s aggressive aura faded.

Alex cleared her throat. They both jumped back. Lena momentarily forgot Alex was in the room.

“I’ll see if J’onn has something.” Alex stared long and hard at Lena. She felt heat creeping up her neck and she tried to rub it away with her hand.

“Kara?” Alex looked to her.

“Comm me if you learn anything,” Kara said. “I’m going to train.”

“I’ll go with you,” Lena said.

----

“Footwork!” Kara barked. She flourished her practice saber.

Kara had become relentless. Constantly in motion, always working. Lena knew how easy it was to ignore the negative by throwing yourself into work. Alderaan lit a fire in Kara and she couldn’t or wouldn’t stop. She had to keep moving, keep fighting, and keep training. And Lena was along for the ride.

Lena kept her defensive posture up, even as she scrambled. With a few well-placed strikes Lena was on her back foot again.

“You can’t just defend. Fight back.”

Within minutes Lena was disarmed. Kara had a smile on her face even as she placed the two practice sabers back on the shelving.

“You’re getting better,” Kara encouraged.

“Not soon enough,” Lena replied, bitterly. Force powers were wasted on her.

“Hey,” Kara turned to look at her. “Don’t think that. You’re doing good.”

“I’m an engineer. A scientist. I’m not a warrior.” Lena’s eyes settled on Kara’s build. Kara was strong, deceptively powerful and lithe. Athletic where Lena was soft. Squishy in places Kara wasn’t.

Not good enough, Lena.

She snapped out of her head at Kara’s proximity. When did she get so close?

“There’s a lot of good you can do with the Force. The Jedi weren’t warriors. They were healers and mediators. They did a lot of good beyond using a lightsaber.”

“We need to stop Rhea. I need to be better.” Lena ran her hands through her hair, the agitation reaching a tipping point.

“You’re already learning healing. I could never have healed Alex like that. Just like you can’t fight like I can. We all have strengths, and together we’re strong,” Kara said, passionately. “On Krypton, we were all Force Sensitive, but we all weren’t trained to fight unless you were Military Guild, only they had lightsabers. They were our peacekeepers. But we had scientists and artisans. What I’m trying to say, there’s a lot more to the Force than fighting. A lot more. Maybe you’re not meant for battle, but it doesn’t mean you’re not valuable.”

Kara wasn’t part of the Military Guild and look at her ability.

Like Kara read her mind, she responded. “Rhea’s trained me for war since I was sixteen. But it’s nothing to be proud of. We fight because we have to. Not because we want to.”

Lena looked into Kara’s bright blue eyes. “Thank you.”

Kara shrugged it off. “That’s what friends are for.” Kara tried to smile. “I know I’ve been distant. But thank you for being here. It’s helped.”

Friends. Lena opened her arms and wrapped Kara in a hug. Friends. It tasted sour in her mouth.

Why?

Taking the initiative, she reached down and grasped Kara’s hand. Kara smiled and laced their fingers together.

Around Kara, she felt at ease. Comfortable. It was more than just their bond. Kara had a way of brightening the space around her. The more time spent away from Rhea’s soul sucking influence, the brighter she seemed to glow.

Lena inched closer. She wanted to take some of that light for herself.

The door opened and Lena jumped away, feeling caught. Alex entered the room, looking at the space between them then raising an eyebrow.

“We have a debriefing.” She crossed her arms, looking judgmentally at Lena. Lena felt the full weight of her stare and she felt strangely guilty.

Lena skirted around Alex and out the space towards the debriefing room, even as the beginning of an idea, a problem, was taking hold in her head.

----

“Everyone here understands the gravity of what occurred to Alderaan.” J’onn looked seriously around the room, eyebrows low and furrowed with concern. His intensity reaching a new peak after this recent loss.

“Alderaan was an important ally in the fight against Rhea.” J’onn exhaled. “But Delaya is important, perhaps even more so.”

A hand shot in the air. J’onn nodded to the person. “What’s Delaya?”

The Resistance soldier beside them looked exasperated. “Did you fail basic astrography? Their sister planet? Ring a bell?”

J’onn cleared his throat and glared at them. The both fell silent at once.

“Hans is correct, Delaya is- was- Alderaan’s sister planet. Much smaller and heavily industrialized- we need their support. Alderaan supplied to money, but our starships come from their factories. Without them, we cannot maintain a Resistance. The planetary shield is protecting them from the majority of the space debris and Alderaan’s gravitation field is keeping the asteroids relatively contained, but there’s still a lot of atmospheric dust and debris. We need to make sure Delaya industrial capacity remains.”

Lena looked over. Kara’s neck was tight, the tendons standing out and her jaw clenched hard. Under the surface, words and emotions were near bursting out of her, but Kara held it in.

Lena couldn’t focus on the rest of the debrief, not when Kara was simmering beside her. Not that there was much to hear. The mission was straightforward. Part diplomacy, part relief effort.

“Let’s get to work. Dismissed.”

“You’re both with me. We’re taking X-wings, anything larger might draw attention.”

“Alex, can we talk?”

“Of course.”

Alex guided them both through the door and out to the hallway beyond with the rest of the crowd. They sidestepped them into a deserted side corridor, outside main traffic. A glorified storage room. Lena sneezed as dust flew into the air with Kara’s footsteps.

“We should be helping people because they need help.” Her arms were crossed tight across her chest. Alex mimicked her posture. “Delaya’s people need our help. We shouldn’t be worried about how many ships they can produce for us.”

“Without ships Rhea wins. We need to focus on what we need to win right now.” Alex was calm and collected, a far cry from Kara’s barely contained simmering emotions.

Lena glanced between them and felt compelled to speak. “Alex is right. Once Rhea is defeated, we can help.”

“Rhea told me once Lex was defeated we would help as well,” Kara said. The words hit Lena hard in the gut. “I didn’t leave Rhea just to do the same thing.”

Alex lowered her hands from her chest and reached out, grabbing Kara’s.

“We should be doing something now. Rhea is out there.”

“I know you’re worried, but I promise, Kara. The Resistance isn’t another Rhea. When we find her, when we confront her, we need allies. Even if you can’t trust the Resistance, trust me,” Alex pleaded.

Kara’s posture was still stiff, but she nodded in acquiescence. Alex hugged her around the middle, which Kara leaned into, before separating.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked. Kara nodded but Alex didn’t look fully convinced. Kara smiled, unconvincingly.

“Yeah.” Kara looked down. “I-I’m tired. I’m going back to my room. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that she bid them goodnight, settling off on her own down the hall. Alex watched her leave, biting down and causing a tick to twitch in her jaw. Lena waiting until she was out of earshot.

“She’ll be alright,” Lena said.

“Yeah. I wish there was more I could do. Or something I could shoot to make her feel better.”

Lena cracked a smile. “She’s got you. It means a lot to her.”

“Once Rhea’s dead, things will be better,” Alex muttered. Lena patted her on the shoulder, making to follow Kara down the hall.

Alex stopped her. “Before you go - the files you requested.”

The datapad felt heavy in her hand. The weight of what it contained dragging her down. There were answers out there. And Lena had to find them.

“Do you need me?” Alex asked.

“No. I have to do this.”

----

Lena felt the omnipresent weight of Rhea. The base was silent, save the boot falls of Resistance fighters. Even conversations happened in hushed whispers. A dim, gloomy sort of aura, sucking any potential joy and happiness out of the air around them. Without something meaningful to do, Lena felt useless. She fully understood Kara’s frustration with the Resistance.

It had been easy to ignore what Rhea was doing while isolated. Trapped in her own bubble of training. But now the reality of what Rhea represented, the true cost of her potential victory, it was beginning to sink in. And it terrified Lena.

Rhea was a Force Wound. Something Lena had no clue was even a thing before Kara explained it. Her lightsaber work was average at best. Her Force powers were not much better. Lena’s best asset was her mind, her intellect, but she was being forced into a physical confrontation she had no chance of winning.

Time passed. Slipping through her fingers. She needed to act and she needed to act now, or else who knew when she’d get the chance again.

At the same time, Kara seemed to be in an emotionally fragile place. Placing the burden of her feelings on Kara was a bad idea, especially with the news she brought.

Lena paced with the datapad in her hands. She paused before the door. Took a deep breath. Finally, she knocked.

The door slid open. “This is your room, too. Why did you knock?” Kara’s smile flitted across her face. She ushered Lena in. Lena threw the datapad onto her bed and twisted her fingers, before placing her hands behind her back.

“I did some digging.” Lena jutted out her chin. The sooner she got it out the better.

Kara’s small smile faded to a frown. “About what?”

Deep breathes. “The Resistance never engaged a Daxamite force on Balmorra.”

Kara froze, all good will falling off her face. “What?”

“I’m not lying, look.” Lena picked up the datapad and extended it to Kara. She could see Kara’s eyes darting across the words, the same words Lena memorized moments before.

The Resistance arrived on Balmorra after Lex Luthor’s forces had evacuated the site. While signs of a battle were present, the Resistance was not part of it. It didn’t make any sense. Who killed the Daxamites? Freedom fighters? And then Lena remembered Corellia.

“I think there’s a third player.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember when Alex was shot and you helped me heal her?” At Kara’s nod, she continued, “We were attacked on Corellia. But it wasn’t Daxamites. Some other group. What if they attacked Balmorra?”

Though Lena was reluctant to say it, sending the Daxamites to Balmorra at that moment specifically was tactically foolish. A mission doomed for failure, judging by the various readings she’d gathered. Surely, Kara felt her conflict, even if she didn’t know what it was about.

Kara sat at the edge of her bed. Her eyes far away and glassy.  “Rhea told me the Resistance killed Kenny. But that was a lie. She walked him into an ambush, didn’t she?”

“Yeah.” Lena scooted over to Kara. What should she do? Should she hug her? Lena held out her arms, extending an offer and Kara accepted, the tension unwinding in her shoulders the longer they embraced.

The time to let go came, but Lena… she didn’t want to. Kara’s head rested on top of hers, every point of contact lighting up, heating her from the inside.

Lena’s mind was firing rapidly, leaping from thought to thought and analyzing what was going inside her head and chest. Her heart was pounding, fluttering.

What was wrong with her?

Everywhere she went, her eyes searched for Kara. Every room she entered and every step she took, Kara was close to her thoughts. It was maddening. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking of her and wanting her nearby. Why wouldn’t she want her nearby? Kara was her friend. It was natural to want your friends by your side, wasn’t it? She liked being around Alex, and Alex was her friend.

Yes, a small voice whispered, but you don’t feel like this for Alex.

Then where did that leave her? Fear took up place where the warm fluttery feeling once sat before.

Kara squeezed tighter. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she lied. She was fine. Everything was fine.

----

The sun broke over D’Qar, painting the sky a deep purple with splotches of pink closest to the horizon, and the Resistance was abuzz with activity. The small group of soldiers reached the docking bay, loading their supplies into their X-Wings and readying the starships for takeoff. In the middle of it all, Alex, barked out orders.

Kara yawned, loudly, taking her seat in the pilot’s chair. The trip from D’Qar to the Alderaan Sector.

“Is this really necessary?” Lena grumbled. Hours in hyperspace jammed tight in an X-Wing- a headache beginning behind her eyes.

Alex threw her rucksack, stuffed with guns, into the side storage compartment. “We can’t use the freighter.” Lena crossed her arms, discomfort creeping in. She could imagine the distinctive carbon scored, dented hull, was on a wanted list. “And we can’t use the other transport. Climb aboard, Luthor.”

Lena’s eyes slid to Kara, already seated. Even now, her sleepiness started to fade and a brand new anxiety bloomed in its place. She would push her own weird feelings aside for the time being.

Lena climbed up the ladder, to the back chair in the cockpit where she’d sit. Reaching the top rung, she paused, checking on Kara.

Her leg was bouncing against the floor of the cockpit.

Lena took her place behind Kara, poking her head out the cockpit. Kara froze, leg mid-bounce. Lena raised her eyebrow.

“Small spaces,” Kara mumbled, restarting her fidgeting.

Lena laid her hand on Kara’s shoulder, rubbing soothing circles. Kara smiled, tight and forced, but the tightness eased around her eyes.

She shouldn’t be doing this. Not with her claustrophobia and Alderaan so fresh.

They hadn’t taken off. Kara could still stay at the base. But one quick look at Kara’s face told her what her answer would be. Her face was set, determination set. There’d be no leaving her behind. Stubborn.

“You ready?” Alex called up. Kara gave her thumbs up and Lena settled back into her seat. She reached under and took the helmet out and put it on.

The canopy slowly lowered over their heads, hissing as the airtight seal locked into place. Kara’s breathing became audibly labored. Her anxiety pounded at the door of their bond.

White knuckled, Kara steered the ship out of the landing bay.

And Lena’s heart clenched in response to Kara’s fear. The better part of Kara’s anguish was sealed on her side of the bond, but she was distressed. Anxious. And Lena wanted to help, wanted to make life easier for Kara and lift some of the burden weighing her down. If she knew how.

Inspiration struck. She activated their inner ship comm system.

“Tell me something.”

Kara snapped out of her introspective bubble of panic. “What?”

“Tell me something,” Lena repeated. “Anything.”

The ship rumbled beneath them; as the autopilot carried the starship behind Alex’s, up through the atmosphere.

Lena started. “My favorite color is blue.” A piercing blue, pure blue, clearer than the sky. The back of her mind gnawed at her, but Lena ignored it. “What’s yours?”

D’Qar was beginning to grow smaller in the distance and the vast blackness of space stretched out before them like a black ocean dotted with stars.

“Green. Our sun was red. On Krypton, we didn’t have these shades of green.”

Their ship grouped with the other x-wings, preparing to make the jump to hyperspace.

“I miss Krypton,” Kara softly admitted.

Lena couldn’t imagine the hole Kara lived with in her chest. The last of her people, her civilization, and the last carrier of a dead language. Lena wanted to ask what Kara missed most, but she wasn’t sure she should ask.

Kara sighed. “There was certainty on Krypton.”

“You feel things are uncertain?”

“Yes. Too much is left to chance. Your lives are so,” she paused, rooting around for the right word, “unstructured. Even Daxam had matches. On Midvale the youth secured their own matches.” She shook her head, moving the headrest. “Is it the same on Coruscant?” Kara’s voice lowered, “I haven’t seen you with mating jewelry, but I know human customs are different system to system.”

Lena laughed, stomach flipping. “No.” The idea was comical. “Lex was made emperor when I was a teenager. No one wants to date the Emperor’s sister, unless they wanted something.” She didn’t need to see Kara to know she was frowning.

“You’re smart, kind, and capable. That’s their loss.” Lena’s laughed. What else could she do?

“What about you? Were you bonded?” Her stomach dropped to her toes. Friendly concern. You wouldn’t want her to lose someone else. She wasn’t believing her own thoughts anymore.

Kara chucked. “Oh no. I left at thirteen. Kryptonians are- were- bonded at adulthood. I was matched to Del-Or, though we hadn’t met.”

“Del-Or?” Was that name masculine or feminine? Gender neutral? How did that work on Krypton anyways?

“His father was in the Lawmakers Guild. It was a good match.”

“And you were destined for the Science Guild,” Lena recalled.

“Yes.” Surprise. Why was that so surprising? She always paid attention to what Kara said.

“Were women only matched with men?” A strange curiosity wriggled to life in Lena’s stomach. Creeping up and making itself known. A desire for knowledge.

“Matches were based on genetic and personality compatibility. Gender was inconsequential. The Codex utilized both sets of parental DNA to create a fetus. There hadn’t been a natural birth in generations.”

“So, relationships are purely political for you?” Pure curiosity.

“No. I- I don’t understand romance. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it. But the sentiment is nice and I would like to have that- someday. Krypton is gone, as are its ways. I would be considered a- what is the word- an old maid?”

Now the subject of Krypton had been breached, the words flowed freely. It was easier to talk about Krypton like this, when they weren’t face-to-face. Kara’s guard was lowered, mentally and emotionally. Her voice was laced with the pain from her loss as well as and warmth from her happy memories, and the conflicting feelings seeped through their bond. They chatted the rest of the journey. The distraction worked, and Kara’s anxiety stayed at a manageable level.

The multiple X-Wings appeared from hyperspace. The S-foils, extended out from the fuselage, formed the characteristic X shape of the wings. The starfighters moved into formation.

“We’re entering Core World Space. We’ll be passing Alderaan soon.”

Cold, stomach turning anxiety. It had a tight hand around her heart, squeezing. A quick check told her it wasn’t her feelings, but echoing from Kara.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine.” Silence lingered between them like a physical presence.

“You don’t have to hide from me.” Too honest. Her heart fluttered in her chest, as she worried over what she just said. And from Kara was silence. The words lingered in the stale air of the starship. Counting breaths and waiting.

Kara surrendered. “Alderaan. Delaya. It’s too-” Kara broke off. Too fresh. Too painful. Too much. Kara seemed to gather herself. “It is my responsibility. I helped Rhea acquire the weapon. I need to face what I’ve done.”

Lena’s lungs constricted, though whether that was from Kara or her, she wasn’t sure.

The feeling the soft thrum of the engine and rocking of the ship, and the low hum of the ion engine.

Lena had memories of Alderaan. Happy memories of hiking with Lex, riding Thrantas, seeing the great art and history of Alderaan. The green meadows, the blue blue sky, and the gorgeous mountains towering in the distance like snow-topped titans.

Where Alderaan had once sat was a gigantic asteroid field. A kaleidoscope of emotions was rolling through Kara, but above all was the omnipresent thread of grief. Lena wasn’t sure how to make it better for Kara, but offered her presence in the cockpit and through their bond.

They passed the asteroid field and approached Delaya. Despite the heavy industry, it was a vibrant planet, like Alderaan. But no longer. Now, it was a sepia toned, the browns of atmospheric dust swirling in the atmosphere like small storm clouds. Not the healthy blues from the oceans or the green pockets from their small forest zones.

“We’re making the descent into Leilani,” Alex said, speaking through their comm. “Prepare for landing.”

“Copy that,” Lena replied. Shutting off the communication, she reached out through their bond.

Ready?

“I’m ready. Let’s do this.” Kara directed the nose down and they descended through the atmosphere.

Lena needed to concentrate on her mission. Focus on the task at hand. These people needed her help, not her distraction. But it bugged at her, a nagging annoyance, a thought in the back of her mind. Kara was her friend. And whatever feelings Lena was having were clearly friendly in nature. Their bond complicated things. That’s why it felt so different from her friendship with Alex. It had to be. She needed to calm down. Kara didn't seem bothered by whatever nerves were taking root in her stomach. So Lena wouldn’t be either. Simple.

You like her.

The thought fell on her like a bomb- devastating and destructive.

You like her.

Chapter Text

“You saw the smog on our way in. Make sure to wear your mask before exiting,” Alex ordered, voice crackling. Static filled the space as the comm cut out.

Kara took off her flight helmet and shook out her long, blonde hair, scratching at her scalp where it was pressed flat to her head. She placed the helmet in the compartment beneath her seat, exchanging it for a simple air filtration breath mask. Lena rummaged in the seat behind her.

The hiss of a respirator met Kara’s ears. The sound was familiar, as was the constriction inside her chest.

I am not the Wrath.

She shook out her arms, feeling the freedom of motion. Motion she wouldn’t have in her Wrath armor and sweeping, black robes. Instead, she was in a simple tunic, pants, and boots. Just Kara. Another Resistance member.

I am not the Wrath, she repeated.

Sensing her discomfort, Lena looked at her, face scrunching- the only evidence of a smile behind the mask. Kara’s heart pulled towards her. She focused on Lena, on the fine details that made her her and allowed her pulse to slow and breathing to even out.

With a flip of a switch, the airtight seal disengaged and the overhead canopy of the ship slowly retracted, the landing ladder following afterwards. Lena descended the ladder and Kara followed. Alex met them in front of their X-Wing.

“No welcoming committee?” Lena looked around the deserted spaceport.

Alex shook her head. "I knew we weren't going to get a warm welcome, but I didn't expect to be iced out." She sounded troubled, her voice subtly distorted by the mask.

Loud beeping and the sound of rolling met their ears. They turned toward it, watching Winn and James approach, accompanied by a few Resistance soldiers Kara did not recognize.

Winn rolled into Lena’s legs before directing a stream of enthusiastic whistling and whirling at her, none of which Kara understood.

Lena crouched and greeted the droid like a pet. “I’m happy you’re here, too, Winn.” She patted him on his head.

Kara smiled, eyes lingering, before looking away. She watched as Alex pointedly ignored them both, not looking down. “Alderaan was a big supporter of ours,” she said. “Without them, Delaya might be done. This isn’t good.”

Alex adjusted her sidearm, making sure to hide it beneath her pilot jacket.

“Enough worrying, let’s head out,” Kara said. She was ready, beyond ready, to get to work.

James lowered his bag from his shoulders. “Before we leave I have supplies to hand out.”

“James-”

“It’s just nutrient paste, bacta patches - the bare essentials. Help me with the bags.”

“Did J’onn authorize this?” Alex helped James unload duffels from his starship, pulling out another black duffel.

“I paid for them with my stipend.”

Lena unzipped one of the bags. “Are these toys?” She lifted up a fuzzy stuffed bantha.

James smiled. “There are kids here and they need more than medicine. They need to know they’re not forgotten.”

Alex's eyes soften. Two bags slung over her shoulder, she led them out the spaceport and into the streets of Leilani.

Delaya was much smaller than Alderaan was. Somehow, it was smaller on the ground. Maybe because of the faceless sheets of duracrete walls, or the factories rising up like small mountains all around, obscuring a sepia-toned sky. The jackhammering of duracrete and constant industry of a world of commerce - the repetitive beat of construction work - reverberated around them. She was flung back in time, to Balmorra or Krypton's industrial sector. A headache was blooming between Kara’s temples. While the spaceport had been empty, the narrow streets were jam-packed. The sea of people maneuvered in the space not occupied by squatter tents or ragtag stalls. The streets were narrow and claustrophobia inducing. The tall uniform walls squeezed in on the streets, looming, while the tall buildings blocking out the brown light from the dirty sky above.   

“The city is full of refugees too poor to leave,” James muttered. They walked past a makeshift market space, where slipshod stalls were set up with various personal goods for sale.

Muttering to herself about time constraints, Alex gave orders. “Vette, take the medicine to the clinic. Menan, see if there’s a shelter for these stuffed animals.”

For all her bluster, Kara saw Alex’s face fall the moment they stepped foot into the city- could feel the discomfort from her. This wasn’t right.

The planet radiated sickness. A sickness of the mind, body, and spirit. Exhaustion. Hopelessness.

"What else are we doing for them?" Kara's eyes fixed on a small boy, barely older than three, hawking goods with his mother without the luxury of a breathing mask. "They need more than this."

“Nothing,” James said, bitterly. Alex shot a cold look at James silencing him.

“Yet, Kara. Yet,” she reassured.

“El mayarah. We should be helping now. Together we can help these people.”

“We’ll be back. But right now we have a mission and we can’t get distracted.” Alex didn’t sound like she believed her own words.

Winn beeped, but Kara ignored him.

“This-”

“Winn says the meeting place is up ahead,” Lena said, interrupting them. Kara snapped her mouth shut, clenching her teeth.

She bumped shoulders with Kara. Kara felt her own relax as they set off after the round droid.

“This place. It reminds me of Daxam - or what we were taught about it,” Kara murmured. “The poverty, the hopelessness, and just the situation. It’s all so-”

“Eerie.”

“Yes.” It was so nice to have someone who understood.

“El mayarah. Is that at all related to the House of El?” Lena stepped over a small pile of trash the ground spreading out as the street widened.

“It-”

Kara stuttered out sounds but words died in her mouth. Her eyes locked onto a nearby graffitied wall.

A caricature of a figure in a hood, masked face and bulbous eyes loomed over a destroyed planet. While the House of El crest bled down the chest plate.

Something inside her seemed to freeze. All of a sudden she was calm, the energy and motivation from before was gone. And she was left unemotional.

She couldn’t look away. Kara walked up to the wall and traced her hand over the House of El sigil, following the trail of red paint down to the destroyed remains of a planet below.

Lena hovered behind her, even as Alex stood beside her.

“I’m fine,” Kara said. And she was. The numbness freed her.

“That’s not you,” Alex said. She wrapped her arm around Kara’s shoulders, half dragging her away from the mural. “It’s not you,” she repeated.

Kara dug her heels, stopping their movement. “Lena,” she called. “El mayarah was our house motto: stronger together. Our symbol meant hope.”

Kara turned and left the art behind, heading towards the large building where the rest of the Resistance waited.

----

The inside, unlike the outside, was surprisingly clean. High ceilings gave the illusion of space, even as weak brown sunlight broke through the dirt-encrusted windows.

In the entranceway the Resistance dusted off, sending a fine layer of light brown dirt to the floor below. A man met them, with dark hair and scruffy-faced, though clean and well dressed, a respirator on his face. Toe tapping the ground, arms crossed.

“The Resistance graces us with their presence,” he sneered. “Later than expected.”

“Maxwell Lord.” Alex extended her hand, but the man did not take it. His eyes, cold, sharp, intelligent, looked at their group, scanning from face to face.

Kara didn’t like him.

“I didn’t expect the CEO and founder of Lord Technologies to be on Delaya,” Lena spoke up, surprised.

Neither name meant anything to Kara.

“And you’re Lena Luthor. I wouldn’t expect you to appear with the Resistance, yet here we are.”

Kara looked questioningly at Lena. Her eyes were still locked with Lord’s, unwavering and unblinking. Kara looked away to James and Alex. No answers forthcoming.

“We’ve been expecting you. Come.”

He led them further into the building. Beyond the shared public space, the aesthetic changed and became grandiose. The walls were papered with silk murals, threaded with aurodium. They passed solid aurodium busts and statues, ornate paintings, and drapings. The floors were polished and shone bright and white from the decorative lighting above. Was this an art museum or a municipal building?

Alex led their group; her booted footfalls heavy on the rough floor below. The sound of their footsteps, as well as Winn’s servomotors as he rolled along the hall reverberated; loud and out of place, and it put Kara on edge.

“Thanks to Lord Technologies, Delaya is holding.” Lord’s voice was smug. “We will not suffer another Daxam. But our atmospheric contamination will last years, if not generations without much needed resources from offworld.” Lord increased his speed and kept a step ahead of Alex.

“And you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart, of course,” Lena bit out. Alex shot her a warning look from behind Lord’s back.

“Our manufacturing is the only reason this planet lives on. We keep the people employed. Without Lord Industries, Delaya would have suffered Daxam’s fate. Intentions do not matter. Only results.”

Anger spiked from Lena and Kara saw her jaw tighten.

“A corporation is in the business of making money. Something Lex forgot when he ingloriously entered politics,” Lord added, smirking.

Lena flinched. Kara really didn’t like him.

They arrived outside a grand set of double doors, gold filigree decorating the solid wood.

Lord’s dark eyes drifted around their group, narrowing. “Only Danvers is needed. The rest can wait out here.”

Kara stayed by Alex’s side. “I’m going, too.” Lord wasn’t going to divide them.

Lord raised his eyebrows.

Alex smirked. “My sister. You said you wanted Danvers. Now, you get two.”

“Very well. Ms. Danvers.” He held open the door.

“Captain Danvers,” Alex corrected, walking past him.

They entered a room where a large table took up most of the space. In the center of the table was a platter of fruit. Four people, each dressed similarly to Lord, sat, each with a drink in front of them.

Lord walked past the others and took a seat near the end. A round raised podium sat in the middle of the room. With a gesture, Alex stood on it.

Her face was unflappable to everyone but Kara, who could see the small twitch near her mouth.

Another man raised his voice, “The Council of Delaya will begin.” He banged a gavel on the table, setting it down. “In attendance, Ariaanna Tenldra, the last surviving councilwoman of Alderaan.” A short, gaunt-faced woman stared aimlessly ahead. She hadn’t touched her drink. “Zef Puluit and Kieran Lahm. This meeting will be conducted by Maxwell Lord, of Lord Technologies.” The other members of the council looked to Lord, who spoke.

“In the interest of transparency and honesty, let me be blunt. Delaya no longer wishes to associate with your Resistance.”

“Our Resistance, Mr. Lord,” Alex corrected. “Without Delaya our Resistance is a sitting duck for Rhea and the Daxamite Empire.”

“Alderaan is dead. Rhea has won. Why should we continue to back a lost cause?”

“The Resistance did not die with Alderaan,” Alex argued. “Unopposed, Rhea will roll through the galaxy. Millions- no- billions will die. Could you live with the knowledge you allowed this to happen?”

“I am a businessman,” Lord said, unmoved. “Alderaan sponsored eighty percent of your starship production costs. Starships produced on Delaya by Lord Technologies. It is not in our best interest to continue our...association.”

“What does the rest of the council say?” Alex looked past Lord to the rest of the seated members. “Are they okay with complicit genocide?”

Lord raised his voice. “The council agrees with me. I came here to help this planet and their people, but I am a businessman first and foremost. And this is not good business for any parties involved. You will leave and not come back-”

“You can’t do this,” Kara interrupted. “Without those starships Rhea will continue unopposed, until she swallows the Galaxy! You can’t just give in.”

"I did not ask for your opinion, did I, Miss Danvers?" Lord said. His voice airy, but his eyes sharp and cutting like a Firaxan shark.

Kara moved to stand beside Alex at the podium. “My name is Kara Zor-El.”

“Kara, whatever your name is,” Lord continued patronizingly, “what gives you the right to interrupt this proceeding?”

“I am the last daughter of Krypton.”

His eyes widened and face slackened.

“Krypton?” His voice was disbelieving. “Krypton is dead.”

"Krypton is more than a place; it is a people. So long as one of us survives, we live on; so long as I live, Krypton will live."

Kara's voice grew louder, her confidence rising with each spoken word.

“I watched my world die when I was thirteen years old. I understand what it’s like to lose everything. My people, my culture, my language, and my friends. I understand what the survivors of Alderaan--what you Councilwoman Tenldra--are going through because it’s what I went through. But now, more than ever, we cannot give up.”

Ariaanna Tenldra looked at her.

“It is easy to give in when everything inside you wants to stop. To give in and surrender. But we have to find the strength to fight on. The symbol the Wrath wore: it means ‘hope’ in Kryptonian. Rhea has taken something bright and drowned it in darkness. She has strangled out hope and replaced it with fear and cruelty. Now more than ever we need hope.”

Kara took a deep breath and bit back the emotion rising in her voice. It hurt.

“Hope that we will make it through the dark times. Hope we will be reunited with our loved ones, in this world or the next. Hope we can be better than our past and our families. Without hope- you’re right- Rhea has won. But she hasn’t won- not yet. But she will if good people refuse to act. We are stronger together than we are apart.  I’m asking you to put hope in the Resistance, one more time.”

Lord’s fingers were steepled together; his head low so it covered his mouth.

“We will reflect on your words,” a different woman said. “We will call you in when we’ve decided.”

Dismissed, Alex and Kara left the room.

The outside hallway was packed; littered with Resistance soldiers. Kara's eyes fell to Lena, who noticed her at the same time. Lena stood up from her slumped position against the wall.

“How did it go?” James asked.

Alex slapped her shoulder. “If we get this, it’s thanks to Kara. She did amazing.”

“Did you know Maxwell Lord would be here?” James asked Alex.

“No, but it makes sense. Lord Technologies has many factories here- he wouldn’t risk them failing. Kara appealed to their better natures.”

“If they have one.” James scowled.

“Lord has a god complex. He doesn’t have a good side,” Lena said. Irritation and frustration were palpably radiating off of her. “Lord’s always been about his personal interests. Lord Technologies is a way to make money and gain power.”

"We don't need him, just need a majority. Delaya's government and his factories are tied. Lord doesn't matter if we win over the council." Alex made a vague gesture with her hands. "Sit down. I don't know how long this will take."

Lena took her former seat against the wall and Kara took up beside her. Separate from the rest of the resistance, it was like sitting in their own bubble. Slumped over, her arms were across her chest and her fingers were digging into her forearms deeply. The frustration radiating from her was new. Lena was anxious and even nervous at times, but never agitated like this.

Kara reached out and took Lena’s hand. “Are you okay?”

Lena shook her head.

"People like Lord have the power to make a change. To make things better. Instead, he's worried about himself. They all are. Look at this place. Look outside." Lena sighed, heavily. "Before Lex's...madness...we wanted to change the galaxy. Cure diseases, eliminate hunger and poverty. Even when he declared himself Emperor, Lex thought he was doing the right thing. Lex tried to do good and he just did more evil."

Something nagged at Kara, but it eluded her.

“No one intentionally becomes a monster. What’s the saying? The road to hell is paved with good intentions?”

Kara tried to send peace and comfort through their bond, rubbing the back of Lena’s hand with her thumb.

“Everything he did, he justified with our safety, our security. Even his droids were a result of trial and error. Weighing the pros and cons of human armies versus droid armies, the costs of cloning versus mechanical maintenance. He stopped seeing people, only seeing results. He spiraled until he became a monster. How can we know we’re doing the right thing then?” Lena asked.

“We put our hope in the Resistance and what it stands for. And when Rhea is defeated, we continue to do good. That’s all we can do,” Kara said. She took a breath and braced herself. “My father created viruses and weapons to keep Krypton safe. But in the end, one of his creations doomed us all. Despite the risks, he continued with his research and it tore the planet apart.”

Lena’s eyes flickered between green, grey, and blue in the light. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I know what it’s like to be disillusioned by your family. We’re a lot alike. And I’m here for you. You’re not the only one struggling, Lena. And you’re not in this alone.” Her heart thundered inside her chest.

“Thank you.” Lena smiled at her, her genuine smile where she showed too much gum. Kara smiled back, face scrunching. The deep peace she’d begun to associate with Lena seeped in her bones.

Contentment.

The doors opened again, as a councilman stuck his head out the door. “We’re ready for you.”

Lena squeezed her hand reassuringly. Kara squeezed back before following Alex into the room.

Taking note of the council, Kara did not have high hopes. The energy in the room felt wrong. Nervous. Almost fearful. A ball of dread started to clench in her stomach. Like before Kara and Alex stood on the raised platform.

“Before we make our final decision, we need further clarification.”

Alex's posture was dominant, feet apart and head raised, radiating authority in a way Kara never could. Still, she tried to mimic it.

“Go ahead.”

Lord leaned forward in his chair. “I am curious. The Wrath, the only other known force user, so happens to have a Kryptonian symbol on their armor. And later a Kryptonian emerges with the Resistance?”

Lord was smart. It was foolish to think that'd go unnoticed, especially after she revealed herself as a Force User. There was only one option. Kara lifted her head and tried to emulate Alex. "I was the Wrath."

His cool facade melted away and red blotches rose up his face. His cold eyes snapped to Alex.

“You brought the Wrath to Delaya?” His mouth hung open, seemingly beyond words. The other council members shrank back, eyes flitting nervously around the room for something or someone to protect them.

“Kara was a Wrath, but she’s not-” Alex began to defend her, but Kara stopped her.

“I can defend myself.” She took a deep breath. “I deserve judgment for my actions. I worked with Rhea. And I furthered her goals. That cannot go ignored,” she admitted. “But I did not murder. I know you don’t believe me, but that was not me. Another Wrath did that. I‘m trying to make amends. I want to stop her, once and for all. After Rhea is defeated, I’ll submit myself to judgment, but first, we must defeat the true evil.”

“This is ridiculous-!”

Another councilman, old with a thick white beard interrupted Lord, his voice low and gravely. “Councilwoman Tenldra is from the aggrieved planet. She should decide.”

“We are all from aggrieved planets! Look at the atmosphere!”

“None more so than Alderaan! We still stand. Let her speak.”

The woman fidgeted at the table, rapping her fingers on the wood. Her eyes were darting, not daring to look at Kara directly. When she spoke, her voice was soft.

“Rhea destroyed Alderaan. Not the Wrath. We must unite against this greater threat. We must help the Resistance.”

Lord’s nostrils flared, but he didn’t speak against her. “Very well. Lord Industries will resupply the Resistance,” he growled. “But I do not trust you. And when this is over, you will answer for what you’ve done.”

Kara stared evenly at him. He did not frighten her. She'd seen darkness. Felt evil. The thought of justice didn't faze her. Only failure truly scared her now.

They exited the council room, bickering starting behind them before the door fully shut.

“We have Delaya’s factories,” Alex announced. Her face was still bloodless and her energy erratic.

“What’s wrong?” James crossed the hall in long strides, reaching them. He hovered, unsure what to do.

Alex ignored him, looking past him at the group. “Vette and Menan, you’re back, good.” Her eyes roved over the group. “We need to ready for takeoff. Everyone get to the starships,” she commanded. “Luthor and Olsen, stay back.”

The other Resistance members set off, obedient to Alex.

“Not here.” Alex looked pointedly at the door to the council chambers. They walked down the hall, where only the busts of wealthy Alderaanian benefactors could hear them.

“Lord knows Kara was the Wrath.”

The reaction was loud. James cursed softly, running his hand over his head. Lena’s emotions practically leapt at her. Her own blood pressure rose, beating twin pulses in her head; one for her heartbeat and the other was Lena’s.

Outwardly Lena looked furious. Her eyes narrowed, sharply looking from one to the other. “How?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kara said. This wasn’t a fight she wanted to have right now. Without the audience of the rest of the Resistance, Alex’s anxiety was almost palpable.

“What are we going to do?”

“I knew there would be consequences for being the Wrath. It’s fine.” Kara wasn’t afraid. Strangely, she felt at peace with it.

“No! It is not fine!” “What part of this is fine?” Alex and Lena yelled at her in unison.

“I knew my actions had a cost.”

“You aren’t the one murdering people. They think you’re a monster- they’ll execute you,” Alex stressed. Lena nodded. “And Maxwell Lord will make a spectacle of it.” Lena’s jaw clenched hard, enough that Kara’s twinged in sympathy.

“This isn’t over,” Lena told her. Fear was beginning to claw past the anger now, emptiness echoing through their bond.

----

The familiar sight of D’Qar’s forested surface and even the cold sterility of the base settled something in her chest. The tightness lingering from Delaya eased up, enough to take in a full breathe.

Dismounting the x-wing, she almost skipped alongside Alex and Lena, glad to be in familiar territory.

“Miss Danvers, a word please.” J’onn was standing near another hallway, back straight and arms linked behind his back, so still she hadn’t noticed him.

Kara stopped where she was. They hadn’t even been home thirty minutes. What now? She broke off and joined the general down the hall. Tendrils of concern crept through her bond. Looking back, she saw Lena watching them go uneasily.

J’onn was wearing his usual black uniform, pants tucked into his black boots. They thudded against the ground as he walked, filling the otherwise empty hallway with the sound.

“Alex told me we have you to thank for the success on Delaya.”

Kara wasn’t sure what to do with the praise. She rubbed the back of her neck. “People want to feel hope again. I only reminded them.”

“You did a brave thing. You stood up and took responsibility for the Wrath on a hostile world. And you still convinced them to support our cause. That was all you and the Resistance is grateful. I am grateful.”

Genuinely touched, she had trouble getting out a “Thank you.”

“I’m ashamed to say; I thought you only knew how to use your lightsaber.”

They walked past a group of Resistance personnel, nodding as they passed. They straightened up at the sight of J’onn.

“To be honest, so did I. On Krypton we only fought as a last resort. We used our words, we debated and discussed everything. With Rhea, I lost that. I forgot that side of myself.”

Admitting it out loud was harder than expected. This was the longest conversation she’d had with the general and he wasn’t at all like she expected.

“You suffered a great trauma- losing your world- and compensated by embracing another lifestyle. It’s natural, but it is important not to let go of your past. You will never forget, even as years pass. Your past is a part of you and you must embrace it.”

“That’s...very helpful, sir. Thank you.” They walked a few more feet, Kara fighting herself. Finally, the words burst out of her. “I didn’t think you liked me,” she blurted.

“I didn’t trust you; liking had nothing to do with it.”

“Then what changed?” She frowned.

“You’ve proven trustworthy. Not to mention Alex and Lena trust you- that’s an endorsement in and of itself. And we have much in common.”

They reached the armory. Holding out his hand to the biolock, the lock clicked before the door swung open.

“I wanted to speak with you privately. After you.”

Kara frowned, but slowly stepped into the room ahead of him. Weapons lined along the walls, blasters of all shapes and sizes, ion clips, and grenades.

Kara crossed her arms across her body. “What else did you want to say?”

“I have not been entirely honest with you Miss Danvers, but your bravery- your honesty- has inspired me.”

J’onn’s facial features shifted, bubbling until they reformed. His dark skin rippled, becoming green and reptilian in nature. A shapeshifter.

“My name is J’onn J’onzz, the last son of Zolan.”

“Zolan.” The name was familiar.

“Lex Luthor’s prejudice didn’t just extend to Jedi. He targeted alien communities on predominately human planets, especially those with ‘abilities.’ The Empire established colonies on alien planets to harvest resources, and to purge.” J’onn sighed heavily. “My people were placed in camps and made to work. Luthor’s people murdered the young and the old. Our resources were stolen.” His face pinched with pain.

Kara didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry wasn’t adequate but what else was there?

“You’re the last?” she asked, softly.

J’onn nodded. “I know what it’s like to lose a world and a people. Zolan exists but is a desolate wasteland. My people are gone. Lex Luthor’s people did not go quietly. They killed everyone in the camps. I escaped by taking this shape, this species. The body and face of one of my subjugators.”

J’onn morphed back to his human disguise, skin darkening and features shifting again. His mass stayed the same. There was no way to tell he wasn’t human.

Questions filled her head. “Does Lena know? Does Alex-”

“Alex is aware; Miss Luthor is not, and I prefer it that way.”

“Lex Luthor destroyed your people. You don’t hold it against her?”

“He did not do it alone. Many were complicit, right until the moment they were turned on. I won’t lie to you, I struggled. But Alex convinced me of her intentions. And now, I’ve met her; I know Lena is nothing like her brother. You more than anyone knows what it’s like to make up for the sins of your kin. She should be allowed a fresh start, same as anyone.”

“You are better than me. I’m not like you.” Just thinking about Krypton caused her anger to bubble to the surface. It was always there; dormant but ready to wake at a moment’s notice. Who would she be without that anger?

“We are the last of our people. We both carry that burden. If you need someone who understands, I am here.”

“There are things I’ll never get back. I’ll never smell a Dar-Essa flower again. I can never see the Jeweled Mountains or Fire Falls. My language is gone. My people.” Kara’s eyes teared up.

“They are gone,” J’onn agreed, softly. “And nothing will bring them back. You must find a new home- make a new home.”

“How?”

“It takes time. Having a cause helped me. The Resistance gave me purpose. Allies. The pain never goes away. But it’s not a burden to carry alone. And you are not alone either. We are stronger together. Remember that.”

“Thank you, J’onn.”

“You have to seize happiness whenever possible. And hold close the people who make you happy.” His eyes were knowing.

The hole where Krypton sat heavy in her chest still hurt, but it felt smaller. It wasn’t as gaping, as soul destroying. She could live with it. Only Alex and Lena ever made the loss less painful. It was nice to add J’onn to her list of allies. They were stronger together.

Chapter Text

Lena turned the small gear with her wrench, swiping at her sweat and grease stained face with the back of her free hand. Lord’s shipment of starships had arrived- without the engines installed. Petty, vain little man. It wasn’t a challenge, but it was an inconvenience.

“Arrogant-” Lena trailed off, continuing to mutter darkly under her breath.

Luthorcorp had been working on a new sublight drive, far better than the overpriced goods Lord sold…but then Lex became emperor and all Luthorcorp projects were frozen. Still, she was happy for the return to something she knew, something she was good at. The smell of oil, the almost melodic trill of nearby astromech droids, and the small bits and odds used to assemble and upkeep a ship reminded her of home. Before. It made an excellent distraction.   On the nearby workbench, her comm trilled loud. Lena activated it with her elbow. “Luthor,” she said.

J’onn was short and to the point. “Vasquez is awake, come to the medbay.”

Lena tore out of the mechanic’s bay, heedless of the flyaway hairs sticking to the oil and sweat on her face.

Susan Vasquez was awake. When had she fallen unconscious? Lena didn’t know, but she could make up for that lapse. She could help and do something. In the recent chaos, she’d forgotten about her. Another casualty. Another victim of the war. A fading memory of a woman she had only briefly met once.

Unacceptable.

Memories came to her. The smell of melting durasteel, scorched uniform, and flesh. The acrid burn of smoke. The sound of the spaceport shifting, swelling from the heat of the fire. And Susan Vasquez, the only survivor of an attack perpetrated by the Wrath.

Not Kara, but someone else. Another Wrath. But who? Things weren’t clear. Nothing was. And after Delaya, people knew Kara was the Wrath. This mystery needed to be solved, and fast, before Kara was left carrying the weight of the Wrath’s actions.

She reached the medical bay door, almost bumping into J’onn’s broad back.

“Luthor.”

“General.” She looked past him and into the room. A medical droid tended to Vasquez. “I- I didn’t know Vasquez was in a coma,” she said. “Before.”

“It occurred while you were preoccupied.” Self absorbed, more like, she thought. “Vasquez is not your concern, and not your fault. Her wounds from Alderaan were not healing.” J’onn’s tone was soft and commiserative.

“Still.” Her throat closed up.

“Inside.” J’onn guided her into the room, hand lingering behind her back, and leading them along the back wall, away from the droid and technicians surrounding the bed.

Vasquez was alert; following a light attachment on the medical droid while another took her pulse.

“Is she- okay?”

“A medically induced coma. She’s fine. A full recovery and her wounds have finally healed.”

“What happened?” Last time she saw Vasquez- when had been the last time? Since before Corelia at least- she’d been awake if confined to the medbay. Recovering.

“Dark side energy from the attack. Her body had to purge it. It took a long time.”

Dark side energy meant damage from a Force user. “Rhea?” Lena asked.

“Kara tells me as a wound, Rhea has powers like a Sith, but in a distinct flavor, so to speak. It doesn’t match. Not to mention the figure we saw was healthy, taller than Rhea, and with full command of the force. Rhea is vulnerable outside her seat of power. She wouldn’t venture from it.”

Without Kara acting as a portable power source, she’d need to remain close to her ‘food’ source.

“So, there’s another Wrath?” They had suspected as much, but confirmation was a whole different matter. Another enemy. Another challenge. When would it end?

J’onn made an indistinct sound, neither agreement or disagreement.

The droid lowered the light attachment and circled Vasquez to check her vitals. The medic stood and walked over to them.

The medic, a tall woman with her hair pulled back in a severe bun, reminded Lena, uncomfortably, of her mother. Black geometric tattoos traced along her cheekbones and up towards her temples, lining her olive green skin. Lena stood straighter on instinct.

“General. Luthor,” she said. Lena couldn’t place the accent. Outer Rim maybe? Unusual for the Resistance.

“Doctor Taza-Gal. Status on Vasquez?”

She looked at Lena, appraising. J’onn followed her line of sight.

“Speak freely. Luthor will be performing a Jedi technique on Vasquez.”

“The malignant energy we were assessing is gone. Sergeant Vasquez has undergone a full recovery, with only residual muscle weakness from prolonged stasis. A success.”

“Excellent. Can we ask her about her experience?”

Taza-Gal held her datapad tighter to her chest, face furrowing. “She just woke up after intense, prolonged trauma and will exhaust easily. Gently, General, if you must.”

“Thank you. We will take it from here.” Dismissed, the doctor turned on her heel and marched along the length of the room where other patients waited. Once she was out of earshot, J’onn turned to Lena. “Examine her while I speak to her.”

“The doctor said she’s fully healed.”

“As much as I trust my doctors, I would prefer my resident Jedi’s confirmation she’s free of dark side energy.”

Lena nodded and moved a stool beside Vasquez, who was looking at them curiously now that the medical droids had left her.

“Vasquez,” Lena said.

“Luthor.” She nodded.

Lena poured a glass of water and offered it to Vasquez. Vasquez’s arms shook as she reached out for the glass. She struggled to hold onto the glass, tremors shaking the glass itself. Lena extended the straw to her. “I’ll do it.”

Begrudgingly, she drank from the straw, falling back against the pillows when she was done, exhausted just by drinking.

Lena looked at J’onn. Vasquez was awake but weak.

“I was getting better. What happened?”

“You had a setback. Please, try to relax.”

J’onn stared pointedly at Lena. Start the examination.

Lena closed her eyes and focused on Vasquez. The slow beating of her heart and the blood rushing through her veins. The life in each cell, each particle of her being. And the Force connecting it.

“She’s clear,” Lena said, confirming what the doctor had told them.

“You’ve picked up a new power. Good for you, Luthor.” Vasquez smiled.

Lena smiled tentatively back. All that time, gone. And Lena hadn’t even been aware of it. Vasquez had always been polite to her. Kind, even. It was easier to recognize it now, looking back. She should have known. At the time she’d been too self-absorbed to see it, she thought, continuing to self-flagellate.

“Can you answer a few questions?” J’onn looked at Vasquez carefully.

She nodded. “I remember everything. It feels like moments ago, not-”

“A side effect of the induced coma,” J’onn reassured her, resting his hand on top of the bed rails. “You needed time to heal. I know we spoke before, but things were cloudy. I would like to follow up, now that your body is purged of darkness. Take it slow and recount the events at the spaceport.” He clicked on his comm to record the interview. “Begin.”

“It was the Wrath,” Vasquez said at once.

“Start from the beginning, Sergeant. In order.”

“Right.” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she remembered. “We took the spaceport with minimal casualties. Daxamite presence was minimal. We established a perimeter and kept citizens at a distance. Everything was going well.”

“What happened?”

“Signal interference. That was the only warning. Then they were on us. Vofuk tried to activate the emergency beacon. The Wrath murdered him. Electricity from its fingers. He didn’t stand a chance.” Her throat bobbed.

“You witnessed this?”

Vasquez’s eyes popped open to glare at J’onn. “I saw his skeleton light up, sir. I saw everything.”

J’onn nodded and she continued. “There was a small squad with them, maybe five people. They didn’t need them. They were-” Vasquez swallowed heavily. Fear hung in the air, permitting the space around her. “I’ve never seen anything like it. They sent me into a wall, and I hit my head.” She rubbed the back of her head with her left hand. “Everything was blurry. Hawke tried to save me but the Wrath...they deflected the blasts with a laser sword. We never even hit that thing. Then they reached out and broke Hawke in half, without touching her. That damned mask, just looking at you.” Vasquez shivered violently and her heart monitor beeped warningly.

J’onn clicked off the recorder and lowered his voice to a calming tone. “That’s enough, Sergeant. You’re safe. You’re with friends. Rest.” J’onn laid his hand on her shoulder, fatherly, despite being her superior.

Vasquez reached out before he could pull away. “Their last rites- did I miss them? They were supposed to happen.”

“Yes,” he answered. Vasquez inhaled sharply, upset. “It was not your fault,” J’onn said. Vasquez looked down at her hands. The bedding was stretched tight between her balled up fists.

“Can I see? Is there somewhere I can say goodbye.”

“I will take you myself when you’re healed,” he said, softly. “Rest, Vasquez.”

The woman slumped back against her pillows and a medical droid quickly took up the space J’onn had been occupying. Lena stood as well.

They walked silently out of the Medical bay and into the hallway, the bright artificial light of the halls assaulting Lena’s eyes.

With the door closed, some of J’onn’s composure faltered, for just a moment. The creases around his eyes deepened and his frown deepened. Then, just as suddenly, his face settled back into its neutral expression.

“Thoughts?”

“That was a Wrath attack. I’ve seen Kara fight. That sounded like her,” Lena admitted. “But it wasn’t.”

“Yes, but if not Kara, then who? Why impersonate the Wrath? These are questions we need answered.” J’onn’s face hardened, looking every inch the inscrutable general she had first met. “We need to investigate this as a team. In the communications room. Now.”

----

Kara’s face whitened second by second as she listened to Vasquez’s account. Next to her, close enough to touch, Alex leaned her hip against the table, arms crossed, jaw twitching with each word spoken.

“-That damned mask, just looking at you.” Vasquez’s voice faded out, filling the room with its absence.

Alex spoke first, cutting into the silence. “So, someone in Wrath armaments attacked the spaceport.”

“Not just anyone, a Force user,” J’onn said. He steepled his fingers. “As far as we know, we have the only two remaining in the Galaxy, and both of them are in this very room.”

“Some had to have escaped,” James argued. He pushed off from the holoterminal he’d been resting against. “Luthor was efficient, but some had to have been off-world during the purge.”

“If so, they haven’t come out of hiding,” Lena butted in. “Lex sent ARs to hunt down rumors of Jedi. It would be suicidal.”

She remembered Lex’s proclamations, the bounties, and organized ‘raids.’ All Jedi will be hunted down and eliminated. Hunted down like Wraids in the Dune Sea.

“So, perhaps a lost Jedi, seeking revenge with Rhea?” J’onn looked at Kara. “It’s not unheard of.” He wasn’t accusatory, but Alex bristled beside Lena.

Kara shook her head. “I would have known.” Her eyes were out of focus, far away in her mind.

“Like you knew about Rhea?” J’onn said. Alex practically shot into the air. J’onn raised a pacifying hand. “It’s not a criticism but an observation. You were unaware of who Rhea truly was. Perhaps you missed another apprentice?”

“I didn’t know about Rhea,” Kara agreed. “I felt weak around her. And everything was so…” she paused, thinking. ”Blurry,” she finally settled on the word. “But I still believe I would have felt another presence. Even with Rhea, I sensed her absence of Force, even if I didn’t understand it. I would have felt something.”

“It’s possible Rhea had someone trained separately,” Lena speculated. “Somewhere Kara couldn’t feel them.”

“Nothing makes sense.” Kara slammed her hands onto the holoterminal. It shuddered beneath them, the Force adding power to the blow.

Kara's anger bubbled beneath the surface, seeping into their bond. Lena felt it rising with each passing moment, despite the lid Kara desperately tried to keep over it. She redirected her energy into calming Kara down.

Kara took a deep breath, closing her eyes, temporarily closing the door on their bond. The sudden distance between them left Lena cold. Kara didn’t have to cut her off from negative emotions. She could handle it. She wanted to support her through it. The space between her ribs ached as every instinct told her to reach out. She held back.

“What about the third party?” Kara asked, eyes wild. She looked at Lena, then around the room. “Lena showed me evidence there has been a third group causing problems. Perhaps this was their work?”

Winn whistled from his terminal. “Winn= conducting research. Pattern= not compatible.”

“Winn’s been correlating data regarding these third-party attacks. It doesn’t match this case,” James clarified.

“Without more information this is pointless,” Alex said. “We need to get more data and regroup.”

A great idea, if they knew where Rhea was. As it was, the Daxamite Flagship had all but disappeared from known space, even as the armies occupied every planet.

Lena saw Kara’s face twitch. Clearly, the same thought had crossed her mind as well.

“Alex is right. We’ll discuss this more tomorrow.” J’onn turned off the holoterminal and Vasquez’s face disappeared from sight. “We will figure this out. But not now.”

Kara spun on her heel and walked out the door.

----

Hours later, Kara was still angry. It carried down the hall like a song or a calling. Lena followed it, first by sense, then by the sounds of fists pummeling a punching bag. And like a pulse of energy, the waves of emotional unrest rolled off Kara.

Lena entered the training room, moving towards Kara.

Kara faced the punching bag in the corner of the room, dressed for exercise- a flowing sleeveless top and tight pants. She circled the bag, jabbing again. Power rippling up her arms and through the sharp lines of her back.

The violence slowly seeped out of her blows and the anger snapping around her lost its sharpness. She weakly hit the bag before her arms fell to her side. Leaning forward, she rested her head against it.

“I have a hard time staying angry around you,” she said, voice muffled.

“I’m sorry.”

Kara lifted her head, unwrapping her hands. “Don’t be. It’s nice. It’s exhausting- being angry all the time.” The anger was gone, leaving behind the sadness always lurking beneath the surface.

Kara threw her hand wrappings on the bench and sat beside them. Her fists balled on her knees.

Lena desperately wanted to hug Kara but couldn’t. She was frozen, stuck. Now she knew, now she understood what it was she felt. It changed everything. And Lena wasn’t sure she could act the same. It wasn’t right. Not when she had more than friendship in her heart. Every hug, every touch was now shaded with her feelings. Feelings Kara didn’t know she harbored.

It felt disingenuous. Predatory. Neither feeling Lena ever wanted Kara to associate with her. Rhea had used and emotionally abused Kara. Lena didn’t want to be just another user. A taker.

Lena shook herself. Kara needed her. She didn’t have time for doubts. Besides, she came to her for a reason. A purpose.

Lena sat beside her on the bench, resting her hand on Kara’s overheated shoulder. The muscles bunched and coiled beneath her hand, finally relaxing.

“What’s wrong?” Kara’s blue eyes focused on Lena’s, brow furrowing with concern.

“I had an idea. We should research where Rhea’s been. The worlds the other Wrath has taken over. We need commonalities. Patterns. When did this Wrath first appear?”

Kara’s face was stern, but having something to do, action to take, brightened her- a light entering her eyes. “You have the Luthorcorp records?”

Lena nodded.

“We should compare those as well. Rhea was obsessed with Lex’s creations. We can’t miss anything.”

“I’ll get the records. Get Alex. We’ve got work to do.”

----

“The Wrath became active when Kara donned the mask. We need to cross-reference when casualties began occurring. And Rhea’s movements.”

Lena nodded along to Alex’s words, flipping through the multitude of work. Luthorcorp records, Resistance records of Daxamite movements, anything that could be of use. It was daunting.

Alex wasn’t at all phased, pulling another datapad to her.

“You remember the planets you’ve visited?” Alex asked Kara, a list of Wrath sightings in hand.

“I remember every one.”

Alex clapped Kara’s shoulder. “Then we’ll find it.”

‘It’ being undefined.

They went to work. It was a long shot, but it was more than they’d been doing. It was actual work, tangible, and real. Lena’s fingers raced over the datapads. The words blurred together. Something was here. A pattern. A clue. She just had to find it.

Lena looked away from the text, turning her attention to the galaxy map instead. Each Wrath sighting, each Daxamite attack, was documented on the screen.

Lena leaned in closer. Her eyes caught on a stretch of space. All activity for the span of months revolved near this one point, like gravity, Rhea conquered nearby sectors. And at that very point in time, the Wrath attacks turned lethal.

“Near the Xeno Sector.” She moved around the table, closer to the Outer Rim, near Wild Space. “All data points correlate with this location.”

“There’s nothing there.” Alex zoomed in on the holographic astrochart. She pointed.

“Kamino Sector. According to records, twelve planets orbiting an aging star south of the Rishi Maze.”

“Look at these moons,” Lena pointed. “They’re moving around a space. Drawn to it like there's gravity. Something is there.”

Lena moved back around the table to her brother’s datapad, pulling up his personal astrocharts.

“I knew it. Kamino, look.” She presented the datapad to Alex, who took it with raised eyebrows.

Her eyes raced left to right, reading the data. She looked up at Lena.

“But I’ve got no records of a Kamino,” Alex said. She shook her head. “Wild Space is charted. It’s not like the Unknown Regions. For it to be missing means-”

“Someone wants it missing,” Kara finished Alex’s sentence. “So it was scrubbed from the records.”

“These are records from before Rhea took charge,” Alex said slowly. Meaning Lex purged them from the records.

“Lex was hiding something there.”

Kara nodded. “We explored all of Lex Luthor’s hiding places. To not be sent to one, just this one-”

“She’s hiding something,” Lena finished for her. Their eyes connected and everything inside Lena seemed to jolt. “Something of Lex’s. Something she didn’t want you to see. To know about.” She held the eye contact with Kara, a tangible connection building between them. “We need to get to Kamino.” Her voice shook from raw excitement. How soon could they leave?

Alex, ever the voice of reason, cut into their excited back and forth. “Do we know what’s there?”

Lena went back to Lex's records. “There's nothing written down.”

“We need to be careful. This could be anything. A base. Weapons factory. And who knows what Rhea’s been using it for. We need the ships. We need to prepare for the worst. We need the fleet.” Alex reached for her comm, activating it, “General, we’ve discovered something. Come to the archives, as soon as possible.”

----

Two frigates and two starcruisers dropped out of orbit. The entirety of the Resistance fleet was assembled and ready. On the main ship, J’onn stood in the bridge, overseeing all and staring down at the planet below.

They were far enough to avoid detection from long-range scanners, close enough to see the planet’s surface. Kamino looked angry. The surface seemed to bubble, blotches of black and blue, the occasional fork of white lightning. Dark gray storms lashed the predominantly blue surface.

“We need to prepare for the worst.” J’onn paced the bridge, arms locked behind his back and spine perfectly straight. “Rhea’s base of operations has been her flagship. But a hidden planet? This could be a base of operations; one Kara’s been kept ignorant of. Maybe where she’s disappeared to.”

“If she’s not expecting us we can hit them with the element of surprise.” Alex was at the edge of her seat, with every muscle coiled.

“We aren’t expected, Captain, but we need to be cautious.” J’onn turned to the technicians working nearby. “Scanners?” J’onn asked, looking outside the viewport.

“The surface area is 100% water.” Just then a huge arc of lightning covered the entire surface in white light, before fading. “The heavy storms are interfering with scanners, but no life forms detected.”

The entire energy in the bridge both relaxed and tensed. Not a base. No Daxamites. But something had to be here. It was merely a matter of discovering what.

J’onn’s face didn’t change, showing no signs of disappointment or relief. “Any visual landmarks?”

“Signs of aerial bombardment on the surface. I count destroyed structures, remains of cities.” The holoprojector cycled through the satellite imagery, courtesy of a Resistance probe. “There’s one building intact.” The projector froze on an image. Alone against a backdrop of dark blue sea, a small cluster of white oval shaped buildings stood out bright. Beneath them, stilts kept them safe from the violent ocean below.

“It’s Lex’s lab,” Lena said.

Both of J’onn’s eyebrows raised. Lena rushed to answer the unspoken question. “Lex purposefully kept this off the map. He wouldn’t do that unless he had something of value here. A lab is the only thing that makes sense.”

She shuffled closer to Kara, drawing on her strength.

“And the bombardment?”

Bile rose to the tip of her tongue. “My brother committed genocide once. What’s to stop him from adding yet another?” Kara reached down and squeezed Lena’s hands.

Her eyes roamed over the ruins of cities littering the planet’s surface. Another crime. Another sign of the depths of Lex’s depravity.

“Rhea isn’t here now, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been here recently,” Alex said. “We should send a team to the ground.”

Alex was itching for a fight, itching for action. Lena could sense it coming off her in waves.

“Agreed. But first, we can’t be taken by surprise. Captain Danvers, Commander Olsen, I want starships on the perimeter.”

“General-” Alex looked downright offended.

“Is there a problem, Captain?” J’onn’s voice held an edge. An edge Alex caught and heeded.

“No, sir,” she muttered.

“Good.” He turned to Lena. “Luthor, if this is a lab, you’re our best option to send down.”

Lena nodded along, agreeing. “I’d like to go alone, sir.” She didn’t want an audience, spectators to witness more Luthor madness.

“If you’re going down there, so am I,” Kara said.

Lena looked at Kara, who gazed back, steady and sure. Through their bond, she didn’t feel the disgust of associating with a Luthor. Just resolve. She nodded in agreement.

J’onn’s eyes drifted to Kara. “I expected as much.” Contemplative. Searching. “We have our mission. Prepare transport.”

----

Rain lashed the surface of the transport, rocking the ship in the wind as they lowered to the white-domed facility below. A nearby roar of thunder rattled it further.

The transport landed with a heavy thump. They drew their hoods over their heads and rushed out into the rain. The wind battered them sideways. Lena planted her feet against the force, each droplet of rain stinging her face like a slap.

They made it to the door. Next to it, destroyed, was a biometric scanner. The door moved aside with a single wave of the hand.

Inside, dim blue toned lights illuminated the facility.

Kara shook off the rain, water flying as she aired out her cloak. Lena did the same, drawing her ponytail free.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Kara muttered.

“An ominous facility, a perpetually stormy planet, typical evil Luthor antics. What’s to feel bad about?” Lena snarked. She felt it too. Something dark was here. More than just a mood or a feeling. “You wanted to come. No backing out now.”

“The fleet is on standby,” Kara said, sounding as reassuring as she could given the circumstances. “And, I’m not going anywhere.”

Their eyes connected and something in Lena softened. Kara. The blue lights gave her a ghostly appearance, her eyes glowing electric blue and ethereal.

A chill raced up her spine and an overwhelming sense of wrongness flooded her. Lena snapped to attention, head darting around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Unease settled over her, sinking like a stone in her stomach. Stretching out with the Force, she felt the absence of life. And with her human senses, she heard nothing and felt nothing beyond the biting sting of the rain.

Kara activated her flashlight, sending a beam of light down the hall and stretching shadows up stark white walls.

“Let’s do this.”

Lena’s hand wasn’t as steady, moving from shadowy shape to shadowy shape. Jumpy. Nervous.

Lena shivered. Gloom settled over her and froze her breath inside her chest. The halls twisted and turned and small signs of Lex littered the facility. Luthorcorp supplies, containers and equipment filled the vacant rooms. They traveled room-to-room, hallway-to-hallway, before finally arriving in a circular room.

A desk in the corner. A dead terminal. Datapads everywhere. A workspace.

Lex’s aura filled the space so strongly, that, for a brief moment, Lena saw himholding datapads in his arms and chattering about Luthorcorp’s latest advancement. She blinked and the image disappeared.

The space hadn’t been touched in a long time, years. A thick layer of dust covered everything. Lena pointed down. The floor was less dusty, and a path cut through to a nearby bay door.

She swallowed harshly, dread pooling in her gut. Someone had been here. Recently. Kara brushed a hand against her, warmth at her back seeping in through the cold. Lex? Rhea? She wasn’t sure which option was worse.

Kara took the lead, reaching out and opening the door. The metal grated as the door slid aside. The clang of the door settling reverberated in the darkness. Lena’s eyes darted around the room, heart pounding inside her chest.

They entered a long, rectangular room, heavily shadowed save dim blue light coming from the containers, repurposed bacta tanks, by the looks of them, lining the walls in even intervals.

The room was clean of dust and sterile like a medbay. Lena’s ears pricked to the distinct absence of sound- the hiss of life support or the steady hum of power as it fed to the tanks. Empty, echoing silence. Still, Lena felt like eyes were on her- that someone was watching- even as she sensed no life nearby.

Lena pointed her flashlight, filling the room with a dim ray of light. Kara approached the nearest tank and peered into it. Her nose was almost up against the steadily fogging glass as she struggled to see into the cloudy liquid within.

The light fell on the tank, illuminating a long, dark shadow inside. Kara leapt back gasping.

Bodies. Female bodies.

They bobbed in the vats of thick fluid, in various states of being and conditions, but all identical to one another, heads bowed and lifeless. And the face…

“Kara.”

“What is this?” Kara bumped past her, to another tank. A fully-grown, adult woman sat suspended in stasis, skin drooping and lax, like melted wax. Kara stared, horrified.

“Why do they-? Are these...?”

Down the line: Blonde hair, sharp jawline, and distinctive bone structure. Identical in every way. Yet, not alike. The skin was shaded blue and deathly pale and some bore subtle deformities- too long limbs and elastic features hanging like overworked elastic. A long line of wide open, milky white eyes gazing sightlessly out at the lab.

“Lex spoke about cloning- in hypotheticals- but I never thought-” Lena was temporarily struck speechless. “-these are people. Droids are one thing, but these are organic beings.” Lena was at a loss. Her throat dry. She couldn’t breathe. Lex. “What did you do?” she whispered. Her brother. Her friend. “What did you do?”

Tanks everywhere, each filled. Save one. At the end of the row, one sat empty, a single, solitary aberration. This is what Lex desperately tried to hide.

Kara’s face drained of blood, the blue light from the tanks giving her a bloodless appearance. She spun, eyes darting from tank to tank.

Tentatively, she returned to the nearest tank and hovered, hand extended almost touching the glass, only to pull back. Lena saw the hard contraction of her throat and could feel the rising nausea through their bond.

“These are clones. Of me. Where did Lex get my DNA? How-?”

The thought came to them both. They spoke in unison, “Rhea.”

Kara’s voice turned near hysterical then. “Why would Rhea make clones of me?”

Lena looked around the space to the various clones, all adults she noted. No children or infants. People. No, think like a scientist.

“Rhea only discovered this facility a few years ago. How are they almost fully grown?” Lena wondered, thinking. Mind racing.

Each tank had a data readout attached to the front. She activated it and read the status of the nearest one. Inside, a fully-grown, adult clone bobbed in the tank’s fluid.

Kara answered before she even read the pad. “She’s been accelerating the growth process.” Kara’s voice was flat. Too flat. Too unaffected. She walked, without direction or purpose until she stood in the center of the room.

Kara’s right. Lena skimmed the data, eyes racing.

“Unsuccessfully,” Lena commented emotionlessly. Focus on the science. Kara stayed near the center of the room, unmoving. “Increased cellular degeneration. Lower cognitive function. Side effects.” Lena bit into her lip. “Lex wanted super soldiers. Powerful. Intelligent. Obedient.” The only thing he saw worth in. Coppery blood filled her mouth. “Growing them at a natural rate would take too long.”

“He abandoned this project and made his droids.” Kara’s voice, dull, continued Lena’s train of thought. “Rhea found it and started again. With me.”

“Not you. Your DNA. It’s different,” she tried arguing, mouth cottony.

“It’s not.” Kara clenched her jaw, hard. “It’s no different from sentient experimentation. It’s...” horrifying, disgusting, repugnant. A list of synonyms ran through her mind.

Kara’s emotions were bouncing from one extreme to the other, flitting and never settled. Most unsettling of all, however, were Lena’s feelings. It was horrific, but Lena had questions- the specifics and the how’s (Were they force sensitive? Were they conscious? How did they create clones of Force Sensitives, previously believed to be impossible?) rather than fully feeling how horrific the entire experiment was. She felt sick to her stomach.

“I come from a planet where our matches are selected through a matrix. Where children are requested and created through that same matrix.”

Kara’s lower lip wavered.

“But this…” Fists clenching, her knuckles went bone white. White-hot scalding rage crackled from her like sparks. “They were grown like crops in a field. Harvested and then discarded. She made Kryptonians just to torture them!”

The rage rose up, rattling the tanks around them and shaking the very ground they stood on.

For a moment Lena was afraid. Uncontrolled power swelled around Kara and every sense inside Lena screamed danger.

Then it crashed. The power dissipated and their bond echoed pure emptiness.

“Rao.” Kara crouched down, her breath coming out in harsh, choppy gasps.

“Kara?”

Lena crouched down beside her, hovering. Something told Lena not to touch her. Kara curled in on herself, shivering in the cold expanse of the room. In the silence of the lab, Lena felt the sightless eyes of the clones on her; their lack of presence echoing emptily in the room. It was horrifying, ghastly, and Lena couldn’t imagine what Kara was thinking.

“Kara?” Lena called again, softer this time. “Are you okay?”

Are you okay? What kind of question was that? They were in a lab full of Kara clones- nothing was okay.

“She stole my DNA. She took it from me.” Violation unlike anything Lena had ever felt swept through their link. “They’re dead. All of them. Cast aside and left to rot in this dirty, cold place. She’s a monster.” Kara was spiralling, her panic reaching a crescendo and tears were gathering in her eyes. Grasping for words. “I didn’t know about this? What else didn’t I know about? What else-”

“Kara.” Lena needed to put a stop to this, needed to allay the choking, strangling feelings clawing through their bond. “Breathe.” Lena made sure to maintain eye contact with Kara. “Breathe with me.”

Kara inhaled shakily, exhaling before she got a full breath. “Again,” Lena instructed.

Again and again, Kara breathed in and out, until the worst of the panic subsided and she wasn’t on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Can I touch you?” Lena asked. Kara nodded, so Lena carefully set her hands on Kara’s arms, easing her up and back onto her feet.

“You are Kara Zor-El. I know this is-” absolutely violating, Lena thought, but she didn’t know what to say and let the sentence trial off. “I swear, she won’t get away with this.”

Fury coiled low in her gut, acidic and burning in its intensity. Lex did this, tried to play god and now Rhea. She bit back her disgust with her brother, with Rhea, for the cruelty of the situation and focused on Kara.

A stray tear escaped down her cheek. Lena reached out and lightly brushed it away. Kara flinched and Lena’s hands darted back to her sides. She could feel the anguish from her. She needed to get Kara away from the clones and into the open air.

“We need to call J’onn. Get a team down here,” Lena said, groping for her comm.

Before she touched it, her comm trilled, loud and piercing in the deathly stillness of the lab. It sent her jumping into the air, heart pounding in her ears and throat. Her fingers wrapped around it, fumbling.

J’onn’s voice filled the space. “Luthor-” He began.

She cut him off, “J’onn, you need to get people down here-”

“The Daxamite fleet is here!”

What?

“What?” Kara’s head whipped around, her blue eyes wide and horrified.

“Scout ships have spotted the flagship. Get back here, now-!”

The connection died, leaving them in silent darkness.

Chapter Text

Kara’s mind was far away, inside the freezing facility below, filled with failed copies of the last daughter of Krypton. Locked in that darkness, used and abused before being discarded. She hated thinking about it, don’t think about it. The knowledge of what they’d discovered was compartmentalized and stored in the dark corner of her mind, alongside her ever-present grief and anger.

She messed with the fabric of her shirt. Her mind everywhere and nowhere at once. Where was her robe? Removed. Wet from the rain on the planet below. So cold, the water seeping through her robe down to her body. Not as cold as inside the tanks.

Focus on something else. Kara honed in on Lena’s force signature and the forced herself to speak.

“How did they find us?”

Lena, hunched over in her chair and almost despondent stared ahead. Her lips thinned. “There must have been an alarm. Or a sentry.”

Her aura was off kilter. Distant and disoriented. Kara needed Lena in the present, with her.

“None of us expected this,” Kara murmured, trying to lighten the load. She needed to bring Lena back, especially when Kara was adrift.

Lena didn’t answer, looking out the viewport as they rose above the storm clouds of Kamino and into the exosphere. Silent, save the subtle thrust and hum of the engine.

They flew the transport into the docking bay, barely settled before the Frigate took off. Kara stood, stumbling for footing before she readjusted to the ship’s gravity.

Disembarking from the transport, Kara froze.  The monochromatic colors of the ship illuminated with a red glow from the blaring alarm overhead. It screamed again and again and Kara couldn’t think. All around them...chaos. A rush of action, a flurry of orders. A crush of bodies, each rushing to do their duties, a cacophony of sounds and emotions assaulting them on all sides.

Lena pulled at her sleeve.

“Let’s go. Let’s go.”

The hallways thinned out as they reached the bridge. Together they burst into the room where the chaos was amplified further by the specter of Kamino outside.

“Where’s Alex?” Kara searched for a flash of auburn hair.

“Danvers, Luthor, get out.” J’onn ran a shaking hand across his face. The lines around his eyes tight and his expression panic-stricken. She reached out with her senses but drew back, pummeled by the fear and terror of the Resistance. She couldn’t feel Alex. Think.

Answers not forthcoming, she examined the nearby wall display. A readout of the fleet’s ships showed all the starfighters intact. GL-01. Alex was alive. GD-01. James, too. Relief rushed through her. Safe. For now.

The ship shuddered. Kara stumbled. Lena crashed into her, forcing them onto the nearby console for balance.

“Get out of range! Defensive maneuvers.”

The ship turned sharply, the outside blurring before coming back into focus through the viewport.

Her mouth dried. All along the horizon, stardestroyer after stardestroyer, backlit by the reds, yellows, and blues of the galaxy. With each passing second more blurs appeared out of hyperspace, more dark silhouettes popped up.

The whole of the Daxamite fleet. Hundreds, no, thousands of ships. The line of them stretched out past the viewport and beyond. Dizziness washed over her. There were too many of them. There was no escape, no way out.

Kara snapped out of it, focusing on the changes to Lena’s feelings. Worry, panic, lingering horror. Each feeling pulsed at her through their connection. Kara linked their hands, squeezing, grounding them both in the physical.

“We need to get out of here!” J’onn barked. He was leaned forward on the captain’s chair, body tense with stress. Panic rolled off him in waves.  “We’re sitting ducks! Can we jump to lightspeed?”

“Rhea’s blocking the hyperlane,” a navigator answered, voice high and squeaky. “We can’t make the jump!”

Another navigator spoke up. “We’re on the edge of Wild Space, near the Xeno sector. She hasn’t blocked that off yet.”

“Full speed to Xeno, send the order!” J’onn’s face was gaunt and bloodless. “If Rhea wants to destroy us, we’ll make her work for it.”

“We’re buying time,” Lena whispered to Kara. “But we can’t outrun her.”

They were trapped.  It would end where it began. In Xeno. No. She would not surrender. The Resistance would not lay down and accept defeat. They needed a plan. They needed to think. Only one choice then- to fight and cut the head off the serpent.

Kara approached his chair, seeing J’onn’s death grip on the arms. Dark eyes fixated ahead, as if he could make the ships move faster somehow. “J’onn, a word?”

“Now is not a good time, Ms. Danvers.” Sweat beaded at his temple.

“General, it’s important.” J’onn’s eyes darted over to her before back to the viewport. Startled, Kara realized she recognized the stars. In the distance, the swirling blues and cyans of the Phantom Zone, and a bright speck she knew was Daxam. To the left, where Krypton’s light should have been, was now dark and empty.

“Colonel Cradorr, take command.” A large Cathar took J’onn’s seat, growling out orders as the second wave of Rhea’s missiles hit their hull, bouncing harmlessly off the shielding.

J’onn sped out the bridge in long strides to the hallway beyond, turning on his heel. “Speak.”

“Rhea will eventually catch us. We’re merely delaying the inevitable,” Kara said. She knew these stars. The Xeno Sector was shielded on two sides by the Phantom Zone and the Well of Stars, neither of which were passable. Once they got in, their only other option of escape was Wild Space, which was as good as certain death. J’onn knew it, too.

“And what is your suggestion?” J’onn’s brows lowered further. “We don’t have enough ships to take on the Daxamite fleet.”

“We don’t need to. Get me on board the flagship, and I can stop Rhea,” Kara said, passionately. Excitement brewed in the pit of her stomach. This was the answer. The answer for how to stop Rhea and save them all.

“How do you plan on getting aboard?”

“We have boarding pods.” J’onn’s darting eyes zeroed in on hers. Kara had his interest. “I can infiltrate the ship, so long as the pod reaches the hull. If the X-Wings guide me in, I can get aboard. From there, I can stop Rhea.” X-Wings. Alex. She flinched. “Don’t tell Alex.” She could almost hear Alex’s voice, a reckless, foolhardy plan. Like she has room to talk.

“Alex is the least of your problems. This is suicide. Alone, you’re one Jedi versus an entire ship.”

The door behind them slid open. Lena stood beside J’onn.

“Not alone. I’m going, too.” She sounded sure of herself, but Kara could still feel how off balance she was..

“Lena-” “Luthor-” they both started. Kara wanted to argue. This was her battle. Her cause, and she would never bow to Rhea again.

“You wouldn’t let me do this alone. And you’re not doing this alone either.” Lena cut her off. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

J’onn watched the interaction, his eyes lingering on Kara, then moving over to Lena, looking at them both with furrowed brows. “This mission will be dangerous. There’s no guarantee this will work. It won’t matter if we can’t get to the ship at all,” J’onn pointed out. “And what happens after? There’s too many of them. The fleet-”

“The Daxamite Army has a strict hierarchy. Without Rhea, the Daxamites will be leaderless without clear orders. This will destabilize them and create an opening large enough to escape or even route them.” J’onn still looked skeptical.

“I served with them since I was sixteen. I know them. Once Rhea’s gone, I’ll destroy the ship. I have to try,” Kara said.

“We have to try,” Lena corrected. Kara turned to look at Lena but paused, J’onn silencing them with a look.

A loud beeping filled the empty hallway. J’onn raised his hand to his ear, activating his comm.

“Report.”

“The superweapon is priming!” The person on the other end was loud enough to carry to Lena and Kara.

Kara closed her eyes. They could try and outrun her missiles, maintain enough distance to survive temporarily- before reaching the Well of Stars or the Phantom Zone. But there was no surviving the weapon. Not even Alderaan could hold.

“How long do we have?” J’onn dropped the hand on his earpiece down to his hip and he looked years older.

“An hour. Maybe less. It needs time to charge,” the voice answered.

Kara’s eyes locked with J’onn’s. “I’ll stop her.”

The steady red light of the alarms obscured J’onn’s face. He looked like a stranger. The distant general she met months ago, but at the same time J’onn, fellow alien and the last survivor of a genocide.

J’onn slowly exhaled. “I don’t like it, but it’s necessary. We’ll turn the ships around and begin an attack run to draw fire. It should give you a distraction. Get to the pods. We’ll start as soon as possible.”

They nodded in unison. They needed to discuss this. She told Lena as much with her eyes. They took off down the hallway.

“Kara, Lena,” J’onn called after them. They turned back. “May the Force be with you.”

----

The door closed behind them, leaving them alone in the room. Long but narrow, it was empty save for the pods. The walked past them and where they were lined up. She could see their sharp, beaklike design made for punching through the hulls of ships, tearing open a hole to storm through. Kara turned to Lena. “You don’t have to go.”  

Lena raised an eyebrow. “Of course I don’t have to go. I want to go. We’ve done this together from the start. This isn’t the first dangerous situation we’ve been in. Why is this different?”

“Because-!” Kara was ready to rip her hair out. She couldn’t articulate it, couldn’t translate the feelings and emotions into words. “Rhea has a hold on me. I can’t- I’m not strong against her. And I don’t know if I’ll win.”

“You’re willing to sacrifice yourself to stop Rhea. You’re willing to do what’s right, no matter what it costs you. That’s one of the things I lo...like about you. But you can’t live in fear.”

Lena walked so close to her their toes almost touched. Spellbound, Kara thought about Lena, her passion and confidence. She didn't doubt herself.

“We will win, or we will lose. This is the end, but I’m choosing to make my final stand here, with you. El Mayarah: stronger together.”

Kara ducked her head a little. She couldn’t say the words. Couldn’t convey her feelings.

Lena looked up at her and Kara could feel the searching in her eyes. Lena was trying to read between the lines in what Kara said and what she was trying to convey through body language and their bond.

Kara blinked. Lena’s face was getting closer, closer.

The kiss was short but in no way could be passed off as platonic. A light touch of the lips, a quick press, before retreating.

“Oh.” Lena looked surprised. Sounded even more stunned than Kara felt. Her eyes wide, cheeks flushed.

Kara’s mind raced, the memories of the Midvale youths courting patterns flashing in her head like a fast slideshow. What did this mean?

On Krypton, the Matrix would have approved the match—but this wasn’t Krypton. A voice like Alex’s filled her head: What do you want?

What did she want? Kara liked Lena, but did she like her as more than just a friend? She didn’t know. Krypton was her only point of reference, with Midvale being a distant dream- unclear and foggy as more time passed with Rhea. What did humans seek in a partner? Sexual attraction? That was a foreign concept. She loved Lena’s intelligence and her spirit, but did that mean she wanted to enter a relationship with her?

Yes.

The answer came to her as a surprise. Yes, she did want to explore this. Lena was bright like a sun- blazing through the Force and completely unavoidable. Her kindness and her desire to help were all facets of what made Lena who she was. Her appearance was aesthetically pleasing, but that was irrelevant to Kara, as was her gender. Lena was someone who Kara cared about and wanted to be with, in some capacity. If she wanted to enter into this, what did that mean?

Kara hadn’t actually entertained the idea of what came next. She liked Lena, had liked her for a long time now, upon reflection, but what did that mean? For a human, kissing would be the next stage, wouldn’t it?

“I’m sorry,” Kara apologized. Why was she apologizing? Lena was the one who kissed her.

Lena looked terrified. A lot of time had passed without Kara saying a word.

“No,” Lena said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

This was the wrong time. The worst time. It was probably the only time.

“I know this isn’t the right time-” Kara cut herself off. Get to the point. Her brain felt like it was working at half the speed it was before. “I like you,” she admitted to Lena. “I would like to explore that. Later.”

The body of the ship shook and they had to readjust their footing. Still, Kara made sure to maintain eye contact.

“We’ll talk about this when we come back. When,” Lena stressed. She looked equally as frazzled, which helped settle Kara’s nerves.

“I’m not sure how to do this,” Kara admitted. “I’ve never done this before.”

“Kissing?” Lena asked. Her hair turned a dark mahogany in the flashing red light. Kara was hit with a pang of longing for Krypton.

“Yes,” Kara said. “And no. I’ve never had a relationship or a friendship besides my sister. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Neither do I,” Lena confessed. “We’ll figure it out together.”

“Together,” Kara echoed. She hesitated, before laced their fingers together. When they got back. Together.

The door opened again and J’onn entered. “Grey Squadron will guide you in,” he told them. “Are you ready?”

Kara looked at Lena, who nodded. They were ready. J’onn stood beside the computer system.

The climbed into the pod, small and dark. Kara’s breath began to labor, but she focused. Mind in the present.

“The impact will be jarring. Grey Squad will take out the turbolasers, letting you fly in, but to breach the hull, you’ll be traveling at great speed.”

Kara knew what to expect. “I’m ready.”

Lena’s head bobbed in unison.

J’onn didn’t say a word. Face tight, he closed the pod, sealing them inside.

They clicked on their harnesses, strapping into place in their seats. The pod jerked, sliding backwards, clicking as it was locked into place and drawn back, like an drawstring on a bow. Any minute now.

The force of the ejection sent her backward against the padded wall, and Lena sidelong into her legs.

There was no sound. No light. They were hurtling through space. A javelin aimed for Rhea’s flagship. Kara closed her eyes. Imagine you’re somewhere else. Somewhere open.

She opened her senses to the Force and could almost see the battle outside the pod. Grey squadron was flanking them, all around, fighting off TIE fighters trying to shoot them down.

They were almost there. “Brace for impact,” Kara warned.

A second later the pod crashed into the flagship’s hull, the sharp point of the pod digging int. They were here.

----

They weren’t met by Daxamite soldiers as Kara expected. In fact, they exited the pod into a familiar deserted hallway, flooded with red sunlight from outside. They were on the starboard side, near the barracks. Kara had been here plenty, passed this very hall daily on her way to the throne room.

They ignited their lightsabers, the blue and green glowing. The hum from the plasma the only sound. All of Kara was on alert. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and her senses extended out.

“Are we on the right ship?” Lena glanced around “I can’t sense anyone.”

They neared a corner. Kara reached out and held Lena back. A black-toed boot poked out from the end of the hallway.

She couldn’t sense anyone.

Lightsabers ready, they rounded the corner. Soldiers. Dead soldiers, everywhere, a hallway filled with them. Kara crouched beside the nearest one.

“What-?”

“They’re dead.”

Kara rolled them over, taking off their helmets. Their eyes were black and hollow,  veins prominent against the skin. No obvious wounds. It was like they just...dropped dead.

Her eyes glanced up and out the viewport. She did a double take.

Daxam. Kara hadn’t seen the planet, not since she was a little girl, but she still remembered it. The reddened surface of the planet and the shapes of the cities below.

She couldn’t reconcile her memories with what she saw now.

The planet was gray. Like an asteroid or a hunk of rock floating through space, all the life was drained from it leaving it greyscale and devoid of color. But echoing from the planet was something cavernous. Gnawing. An echo with no one left to hear it.

Large rock chunks, fragments, had been pulled into the remaining gravity and remained suspended, circling slowly with each second. Krypton.

Both dead. Even that wasn’t strong enough of a word.

Rhea did this. She’d sucked the very soul from Daxam, leaving nothing but a husk, with the bones of Krypton keeping it company. She looked back down at the dead soldiers.

“She drained them.”

“Why?”

The answer came to her. “She can’t control herself anymore.”

For years Kara had served as a source of power for Rhea to feed from. When Kara was temporarily gone, the ship and ever-rotating roster of soldiers could keep her sated until her return. With her defection, Rhea would need more and more without Kara to offset her hunger. They hadn’t had a chance.

This had to end. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the Force. The emptiness Rhea exuded was stronger now. Less an emptiness and more a vacuum. A black hole, so strong nothing could escape from it, drawing all light within. Rhea had evolved and grown into something more. Her emptiness called to Kara, a taunt and a challenge. Come to me, Kara.

“She’s waiting.”

----

The sound of Kara’s boots hitting the durasteel floor reverberated around the empty bridge. The grey toned bridge was somehow darker than it ever was before. A figure stood at the head of the bridge in front of the wall spanning viewport. It was colder here and grew colder with each step towards the cloaked figure.

Rhea.

Kara walked up the stairs to the platform, still wary and looking around for the other Wrath. For an ambush. Something. But, Rhea was alone, save the drained corpses still at their positions below. She was waiting for them.

“Kara.”

She didn’t need to see Rhea’s face to know she was smiling. Kara’s breathing grew more labored as the aura around Rhea intensified. Strangling and suffocating. Rhea turned.

A small, frail-looking Rhea stood in front of her. She didn’t look herself, lacking her previous strength. Instead, she looked diminished. As her powers grew, she had lost something of herself, something Daxamite. Kara reached out, sensing, quickly pulling back as the tendrils of dark power reached out to her, pulling her closer. She was more dangerous than ever.

Kara raised her lightsaber to hip height and Lena did the same. Readying for battle.

“Rhea.”

“And you brought the Jedi.” She smirked at Lena, who glared back. “Lena Luthor.” Rhea didn’t look at their lightsabers, maintaining easy eye contact. “I was so surprised the first time I heard about you. A Jedi, when I was sure Luthor killed them all. You showed up and Kara had so many questions. And then to find out you’re a Luthor. I knew we were destined to meet.”

Kara felt her before she saw her. A chill up her spine and a warning at the base of her skull. The side door to the bridge opened. Kara angled her body to keep her eye on Rhea, but focused her attention on her new opponent.

Masked. Cloaked. The Wrath.

Surreal. She knew there was another Wrath, but until now it hadn’t been real. Kara raised her lightsaber, angling it in front of her body.

The Wrath didn’t attack, dropping to her knees beside Rhea. As docile as a guard dog. A silent sentinel. Rhea reached over and pushed back her hood, revealing long blonde hair, a ringlet of which Rhea toyed with in her hands.

“Unmask,” Rhea commanded. The Wrath reached up, unlocking the airtight seals with a hiss. The mask removed and the Wrath rose, raising her head.

It was Kara.

Her skin was peeling and cracked, like paint left in the sun, chipped and worn. Or a porcelain mask, shattered just to be glued back together. Her eyes were deep-set and dark. Kara just barely made out the gold glint of her irises in a sea of red. The Wrath opened her mouth, and a strange croak/moan came out instead of words, sounding both sad and in pain.

Kara took an instinctive step back.

Increased cellular degeneration. Lower cognitive function. A side effect of accelerated growth. A clone. Her clone. Her stomach twisted in knots, responsibility for the woman in front of her settling like a stone.

Kara couldn’t move. What was she supposed to do? This clone, this Bizarro, was a pawn in Rhea’s game. An unwitting pawn and a victim. She couldn’t- wouldn’t- kill her.

“So obedient.” Rhea smiled, a Nexu’s smile, all sharp teeth and no lip. Predatory. “Not without side effects, but she’s proven so useful.”

Kara raised her lightsaber in front of her face. “Why?” Kara gritted.

“You never embraced your full potential. I tried to nurture you, Kara. I treated you like my own, and this is how you repay me? Ungrateful, arrogant Kryptonian. You could have been powerful. Now, you will,” Rhea said ominously.

Kara stood her ground. “This ends here Rhea.”

“No. It begins.”

Rhea reached out and grasped the back of the clone’s neck. Darkness seemed to enshroud them and the cracks in the clone’s face widened, face frozen, unmoving, even as the light drained from her eyes.

No! Kara tried to swing her lightsaber but her arms were frozen, trapped as she tried to swing down, to strike at Rhea.

A blast of energy sent them flying back, Kara rolling and jumping to her feet.

Rhea released her hold on the clone and dropped her to the ground. An empty shell with nothing left. And from Rhea, Kara felt that aching, gnawing space in the Force, felt it fill and swell before it was empty once more.

Hunger never satisfied.

Rhea’s face flushed, life rushing to her face and body. A glow seeped from her pores. With a careless wave of her hand, the Wrath’s body flew off the platform and into the control center below deck.

Kara yelled, charging and slashing downward. Her green blade met a crimson blade, her old blade, she saw. Lena tried to flank Rhea, only to have her spin around with unexpected agility, blocking Lena’s lightsaber and pushing her back.

“Why would you kill her?”

“Her?” Rhea slashed with her lightsaber. “When will you learn? It was a tool that served its purpose.”

Their lightsabers connected, green and red. Even as she pushed back, Kara’s arms began to give. Weakness seeping into her. Rhea’s lightsaber passed dangerously close to her arm, the sting from the plasma proximity biting her through her clothing. Too close.

“You cannot beat me Kara Zor-El. Like that clone, you too will serve your purpose and be sacrificed. Give in.”

Kara heaved for breath and watched as Lena took up the slack, pressing the attack. But her swordsmanship was less than Kara’s. And she was faltering under Rhea’s relentless attacks.

Rhea was powerful. Too powerful. And each second she spent fighting her, more of Kara seemed to be pulled away. She was a parasite. A connection formed between them, master and apprentice, a parasite and its host. While Rhea grew stronger, Kara grew weaker.

Rhea jumped over her, spinning her lightsaber and striking at Kara’s back. Duck. Dodge. Strike.

Kara ducked under the lightsaber, absorbing a bolt of Force lightning with the blade, the power pushing her back, even as she blocked it. Rhea screamed, and her voice seemed to echo throughout the room, assaulting her like a physical attack.

Each second around her was agony, pain seeping from her muscles down to her bones.

Kara dodged back, away from Rhea, in retreat and Lena did the same. She swiped at her forehead, the salty sweat stinging her eyes as it dripping off her. She was tired. And Rhea looked just as powerful. Just as strong.

We can’t win.

No! Too many people were relying on her. The galaxy would die. Alex, Lena, James, J’onn. She couldn’t lose.

Raising her lightsaber over her head, she charged. Rhea outstretched her hand and her body froze. With her other hand, she hit Lena with draining power.

Lena flew backward, crashing into the viewport and crumpling to a heap. Unconscious and bleeding from the head.

The tight control Kara held over her emotions slipped. They were losing and Lena was injured. Everyone was relying on them and they were failing.

Rage. All consuming, bright, fiery rage. All she saw was Rhea. The battle raging outside the viewport faded away. All that mattered was tearing her apart.

Kara force leapt to Rhea, lightsaber poised on the offensive. She struck downward, her green blade meeting Rhea’s crimson one, locking. Recognition hit Kara, her old lightsaber.

Rhea spun, causing the lightsabers to disconnect. Kara bounced back and struck hard with a overhand slash, then again with another sweep, hitting Rhea’s lightsaber with all the strength she had. She couldn’t lose.

Rhea swung out, a blow meant to decapitate, but Kara ducked. She slid along the floor behind Rhea and made a body shot. Blocked. Kara went to strike again. Red crept over her vision and the voice of reason, Aunt Astra’, lowered to a whisper, ‘Stay on the offensive. Don’t give the enemy time to breathe.’ A new voice made itself heard, ‘Make her suffer. Make her hurt.’ A jolt in Kara’s gut sent Kara flying back. She skidded a few feet then rolled.

Rhea charged, sinking her lightsaber into the floor where Kara had been laying. The tight control Kara kept over her emotions slipping with each passing second.

Was Lena alive? Kara couldn’t feel her. She charged the Empress wildly, swinging in wide arcs. Rhea pushed back her attack with her lightsaber, swatting them aside and Kara’s anger built.

Lightning erupted from Kara’s fingertips, launching for Rhea’s arrogant face. It connected for a moment, sizzling and crackling along her flesh before sputtering out, Rhea redirecting the attack.

Kara renewed her attack, her blows rained down with more power, slamming down on Rhea with her full fury. No more finesse, no more thinking. Her vision tunneled until she saw Rhea: Rhea sneering down at her, her false promises and lies, the years and years of guilt and resentment came rushing out of her.

The time for her vengeance had arrived.

Rhea was on her back foot. Not so smug now, monster. Another arc of electric blue lightning burst from Kara’s fingertips and into Rhea once again.

“You’re weak,” Kara taunted, sending more power at Rhea. A heady, intoxicating feeling swept over her, the pure rush of power stronger than a high. “I am stronger than you. And I will kill you.”

She made a fist and squeezed, compressing down with the Force on Rhea’s body. The durasteel around her groaned, large cracks beginning to form outward from where Rhea crouched.

Instead of pained screams, Rhea looked manic, not afraid, not in pain, and it only infuriated Kara further. Kara pushed down more.

“I can feel your darkness,” Rhea said. “You feel it; this is who you are meant to be.”

Rhea pushed out with her power, sending Kara off balance. It was the opening Rhea needed.

She extended her hands, palms out at Kara. Dark tendrils swirled from Rhea’s fingertips, her eyes glowing gold through the darkness. Her body lifted from the ground, suspended in the hold of Rhea’s dark power.

“Today the Resistance dies! I will kill the last Jedi!. And now, I become you!”

Someone was screaming. No, she was screaming. Daggers, clawed fingertips, Rhea was digging into her mind, ripping it apart. Ripping it open and hollowing her out. And from Rhea, an oppressive shadow, darkness, loomed, soaring over Kara to smother her.

We will do great things, Kara Zor-El. Rhea’s voice reverberated in her head. As one.

Dying. Drowning. Kara was being torn away, even as she clung tight to her mind, to her own body.

No.

She’d lost too much, sacrificed too much, just to be cast out.

I trained you and prepared you for this moment. Give in.

She was losing. Slipping, flitting, floating away.

And then, it stopped. Body shaking uncontrollably, Kara could see again, and she gasped out, lungs screaming for air, knees cracking as she hit the cold ground.

A blue lightsaber was sticking out of Rhea’s chest. Lena.

The lightsaber retracted and Rhea dropped to her knees.

But Lena didn’t finish her. Still weak from Rhea’s previous attack, her arm dropped uselessly as she tilted sideways, gasping for breath. Lena wheezed.

Rhea struck again. Lightning burst from her fingertips sending Lena to the ground. Kara charged, calling her lightsaber. The attack broke off, her lightsaber slicing through both of Rhea’s hands.

The darkness still gnawed inside her, but Kara could hold it back. Control. The wild rush from before was gone, and clarity took its place.

Rhea shrieked, features twisting as her darkness lashed out like tendrils, slicing into Kara.

A well of darkness hid inside Kara. Power she could tap into...at a cost. And in Rhea, she saw the same darkness, magnified and refined.

Kara summoned her old lightsaber to her free hand,

In the in-between space, somewhere outside her body and beyond, Kara saw Rhea as she was. Darkness, cold, and hunger. A pestilence of the worst kind. Beyond saving and beyond help. Something Kara almost gave into. Never again.

“I’m sorry for the role my people played in making you,” Kara said. “I’m sorry for what you became, but you made a choice. Now I’m making mine. I will protect this galaxy and I will not let you destroy it.”

Rhea would no longer control her, and Kara would never become the monster Rhea was. Her chains were broken and the Force would free her. She slashed out.

Rhea fell in two parts. Kara heard the distinct wet sound of flesh hitting to the floor. Dead.

From her body, the same dark energy from before began to twist, angry and storming. Kara reached for Lena and covered them with as much of a barrier as she could create as Rhea exploded.

Red lighting, dark lighting burst from her, reaching up to the ceiling of the ship and crackling around them, down to the control center below. Darkness, impenetrable darkness, swelling and releasing from Rhea’s corpse.

In the darkness, Kara saw a graveyard world, drained of life. She saw the bones of Krypton, broken and sundered, and she saw the emptiness that consumed Rhea.

Then it was gone. And the space where Rhea’s body had sat, was empty.

Kara slumped against the ground. “Rhea’s defeated.”

She couldn’t believe it. It was over.

The flagship let out an ominous groan and somewhere an explosion rocked the ship. A lurch and a shudder. Kara tried to stand, but her legs shook, sending her down again.

Outside the viewport, the blue hues of the Phantom Zone was growing closer and closer. They didn’t need to self-destruct the ship. Rhea’s defeat did that for them.

“We need to go!” Lena was pulling at her, shaking from fear and exhaustion.

“The Wrath-”

“There’s no time!”

The ship shuddered and her heart felt torn. There wasn’t time. Kara’s ears were ringing; no sirens were ringing. She shook herself, snapping out of it and rising shakily to her feet.

The living or the dead.

“Escape pods, follow me!” She grabbed Lena by the hand and ran.

The escape pods were close to the bridge; a short run away. They’d never been used, and Kara hoped everything was operational. She jabbed at the control panel; the adrenaline was wearing off. Darkness crept into the corner of her eyes as she swayed, specks of white light exploding in her peripheral vision. The pod opened.

Lena pushed her inside, and Kara collapsed against the padded seat and wall, Lena following behind and sealing the door shut. Her hands feverishly raced over the control panel, blurry and out of focus, no matter how hard Kara concentrated.

Lena’s eyes flicked over to her, then back to the panel. “I’m triggering the internal distress beacon. The closest living planet is Midvale. They’ll find us.”

Kara would have laughed if she could. Midvale. Time is a flat circle, indeed. She grunted in pain; her body hit the wall from the force of the pod’s ejection. They were sent into space, free and fast. Away from the Flagship and remains of Rhea’s darkness.

Not a second too soon. The pod jolted forward as the force of the explosion hit them. Kara sensed and felt the blast, the heat. The flagship, like Rhea, dead and gone.

The blast boomed, deafened. Kara was outside her body, watching the explosion. The shockwave, the massive boom, shaking the Phantom Zone, shrapnel crashing down on the crippled remains of Daxam. And the Daxamite fleet, out of position and leaderless. The Resistance was saved.

Strands of a memory raced through her head.

“Kal-E’s pod's coordinates are interlocked with yours. He will follow you to Midvale.“

Her father’s fear-filled face and the sensation of another groundquake beneath her feet, stronger than before, shaking her to the core.

“I'm not afraid, Father.”

She was strong and brave and everything an El should be. She would not fail them.

Mother’s hand on her shoulders, under her chin.

“The trip is long but you'll sleep most of the way and we'll be with you in your dreams. You'll journey to Midvale to look after your baby cousin, Kal-El. Be brave. Be strong. You will do extraordinary things. I love you, Kara.”

A final hug. The very last touch before everything ended inside that pod.

Kara’s head throbbed and her body ached. The darkness that had been creeping on her finally overwhelmed her. Her vision went black and Lena’s voice tunneled, falling silent. There was no control, no mastery over her body. Then Kara knew no more.

Chapter Text

Lena liked to imagine the pod. Imagine it slowly spinning out into space, past stars and nebula into a whole new system. Pushed in a direction where it would continue to travel indefinitely: until destroyed, hitting something, or landing safely. As time passed, Lena worried it would be the former, rather than the latter.

It had been so long. Days? Weeks? Time blurred together with no way to mark its passage. No viewport outside. Just the slow creak of the hull, the pops and groans from changing pressure. Until they landed, they were alone with the Phantom Zone and Well of Stars acting as interference.

She might have gone mad had it not been for Kara. Her silent companion. Her physical presence calmed Lena out of more than one panic attack. Since their flight from Rhea’s ship, Kara remained comatose. The minor nicks and plasma burns Rhea caused were treated easily with Bacta patches onboard, but without further equipment, Lena couldn’t know what was happening beyond the superficial. (Why can’t she do what she did with Alex?)

Lena moved over to Kara, still propped up and buckled into her seat, with Lena’s jacket draped over her like a short blanket. She reached out and performed her (daily? hourly?) inspection. Kara’s pulse was solid and strong. Lena moved her thumb from her neck to her face, touching the skin around her face and lips. No physical sign of dehydration, like before. Lena sat back in her seat. Kara was physically fine.

Kara would have hated the nutrient paste. With every sandy ounce consumed, Lena could almost see Kara’s wincing, disgusted face. The thought brought a brief smile to her face, before it was snuffed out again.

The dark side energy clung to Kara like a death shroud. It suffocated their bond, making connection impossible. The only comfort she had was the memory of Vasquez. She’d been in an induced coma for months before the dark side energy left her. She’d recovered and was fine.

Kara is not Vasquez, her mind whispered, and this is not a medbay.

Lena tentatively reached out to Kara again through their shared bond. Inside, the pod grew colder. She shuddered at the slimy, twisting, indescribable feeling. So long as that aura lingered, Lena couldn’t hope to assess her physical or mental state.

A flit of a thought passed through her mind, a memory: Using the Force to mend internal wounds, to fix flesh and heal the mind, Lena recalled from one of the holocrons. Perhaps Kara was in a healing meditation? The thought buoyed her.

The outside of the hull groaned, again, louder this time. Strange. The smallest spark of hope ignited inside her. Atmospheric changes, perhaps they were close. From outside, another loud pop and a shudder ran through the entire pod. Kara’s head flopped from the neck rest onto her shoulder. Lena strapped into her seat as the pod let out a metallic wail. They were either entering Midvale’s atmosphere or they were breaking apart. This would end, one way or the other.

Fear seeped into her: twisting, coiling, cold in all its tendrils. It wrapped around her heart and squeezed down on her stomach.

“I hate flying,” she told Kara. Kara didn’t blink, twitch, or move in any way. “I’m afraid of crashing.”

The pod spun, spiraled, fell. Shaking, vibrating as the pod entered atmosphere. And the shuddering boom from hitting the ground. Pain bloomed in her head as her skull crashed back on the headrest- hard.

Then- silence.

Lena hovered in the liminal space between waking and unconsciousness. Time didn’t matter- her mind was, for once, completely blank.

Lena felt, more than heard, the disengagement of the airlock system. A vibration at her back like a heartbeat, snapping her out of her fog and trying to clear her head. Her fingers fumbled with her safety belt, coordination off, as her ears rang and head buzzed angrily. A flash of color in the corner of her eye stalled her.

Kara.

Chin resting on her chest, her blonde hair obscured her face. She was unmoving and Lena couldn’t see the steady rise and fall of her chest anymore.

Light and the smell of salt flooded in from the crack in the airlock. More light spilled in as the door fully opened. Lena raised her hand against the yellow beams, shielding her eyes. Each felt like a stab inside her skull.

A silhouette appeared at the mouth of the pod - humanoid. Lena unclipped her safety belt and used her free hand to grope for her lightsaber.

“Easy.” Lena’s finger hovered over the switch for her lightsaber. Lena blinked furiously and focused her eyes on the shadowy face. “I’m Eliza Danvers.”

Danvers.

Lena hesitated, can’t trust anyone, then decided-

“Help Kara,” Lena croaked out.

“What happened?” The woman moved into the pod and Lena could see her clearly- blonde hair, maybe in her fifties.

“Rhea drained her- I don’t know. She’s been unconscious.”

Lena reached over and helped free Kara from her harness. Together, Eliza and Lena carried her under the armpits out of the pod and onto the soft, white sand outside.

----

They settled Kara in her old bedroom. Despite the years since either Danvers daughter lived in the home, their personal touches were everywhere. Both beds were still made, the room airy and clean like Eliza expected visitors.

“You’re from the Resistance?” Eliza asked. She smoothed back Kara’s hair and attached varying nodes to her head. She looked down at Lena’s clothes, her black pants and loose top. She didn’t look the part of a pressed and polished Resistance fighter, not like J’onn.

“Yes.” Lena could have smacked herself. “I never introduced myself, I’m Lena.”

Eliza’s expression brightened. “Lena. It’s nice to meet you. Alex said a lot about you. She sends encrypted holo-transmissions,” she explained, seeing Lena’s confusion. “Not often, but enough to know she’s okay.”

Lena smiled back as best she could, but her anxiety rose with each beep of Kara’s monitor. She made her excuses and left the room.

She walked down the stairs near the entranceway. Lena saw a holo-image she missed before: a teenage Kara and Alex, with Eliza sandwiched between them. Alex’s hair was shoulder length and darker. Kara’s smile was small but genuine.

“That’s my favorite picture.”

Eliza walked soundlessly down the stairs beside her, also looking at the image.

“When Kara first arrived, they didn’t get along- Alex and Kara.” Eliza smiled at Lena’s raised eyebrows. “The fought like two Alpha Akk dogs. It wasn’t easy.”

Lena smiled. The relationship between the sisters was so strong, stronger than hers had ever been with Lex, in retrospect. Longing pulled hard at the empty space Lex used to reside in her heart.

“They’re still stubborn,” Lena said. She swallowed hard around the growing knot in her throat. Some of her exhaustion from earlier was coming back.

Eliza’s mouth opened, closed, then opened again. “What happened?”

“Rhea’s dead. Kara did it.”

Saying the words out loud made them more real somehow. The full weight of what they accomplished crashed over her. They won. Rhea is dead. They won.

Lena collapsed against the nearby wall as it all crashed around her. She saved the galaxy.

Eliza hurried over to her side, keeping her upright with the wall at her back. Her face was pale, two high pinpricks of color on the hollow of her cheeks.

“Alex will come and Kara will be fine,” Eliza said. “It’s over. You did good. You both did so good.” A strange emotion colored Eliza’s words.

Lena felt tears beginning to form. Mortified, she squeezed her eyes shut to stop them from falling. Good.

I did good.

----

----

“Kara.”

The ground beneath her rumbled and the sky bled a darker red than usual.

“Kara, wake up.”

The explosion of the planet knocked his pod off course. He was trapped, in endless sleep for twelve years alone. Finally free. He’s coming. Behind a larger shadow loomed. Unbound.

Kara gasped, sitting straight up. Her hand flew to her head instinctively, fingers lacing through her hair and palm against her pounding skull. The image of a pod, traveling through space was fixed in her mind, even as her confused brain tried to unscramble its meaning. Where was she?

She looked around, familiarity calming her down. Windows were open, letting in the smell of salt and the sea. Distant gulls cawing, squawking, chirping, and wailing. The familiarity hit her squarely, sending her back down onto the familiar bed.

Midvale. Home.

Kara looked down at her bed covers. Still blue. And the walls of the room were the same shade of seafoam green. Nothing had changed, further adding to the unsettling displaced feeling.

Was she dreaming?

She wasn’t wearing her clothes from before, instead wearing something loose and comfortable. Her disquiet grew. A low steady beep drew her to the nightstand. An IV ran from her left arm to a machine situated directly to her left, where their old nightstand used to sit. Kara paid closer attention to her body now. More wires that she hadn’t noticed were attached as well, on her chest and connected to her finger. She pulled the wire free and the beeping finally stopped. Peace.

The machine beside her let out an ungodly shriek. Instinctively, she made to push it away with the Force, but nothing happened. Drained, tired, depleted. With a horrifying jolt, she realized- she was defenseless.

The door to her room burst open.

Black hair, green eyes. Relief tore through her, and she lowered the pillow she’d raised over her head in self-defense. Lena.

“Kara!”

Her eyes slid to the other two in the doorway, Alex and-

“Eliza?”

Eliza reached her first, pulling her into a bear hug, despite the wires; Kara’s head pillowed on her shoulder. Kara swallowed heavily, emotion stinging and building behind her eyes. It’d been so long.

“Eliza?” She hugged back, squeezing, even as disbelief tore at her. This couldn’t be real.

“Kara. Oh, Kara, sweetheart. You were gone so long,” Eliza croaked, voice choked with emotion.

“I’m sorry.” She’d...forgotten how Eliza had been there for her. Despite how horrible she’d been to her at the beginning. Her time with Rhea had stolen her good memories and left only the bad.

Rhea.

Cold washed over her; she pulled back from her adoptive mother.

“The Daxamites, what happened? Last I remember we were in the escape pod.”

Eliza made way for Lena, who took her spot perched on the end of her bed beside her. And nearby Alex lurked.

“We crashed in Midvale. Alex tracked our distress signal, and Eliza picked us up. You were unconscious,” she explained. Eliza detached the remaining wires and nodes from her body.

“The Resistance?” Kara pressed.

A voice spoke up from the doorway. “Safe. Thanks to you Rhea is defeated and the galaxy is safe--from her at least.”

Kara looked up. J’onn entered the small bedroom, looking incredibly out of place in the soft light of her teenage bedroom.

“J’onn?” Kara blinked, confused. What was J’onn doing here?

“It’s good to see you awake, Ms. Danvers. You were unconscious for almost a week.”

“A week?”

“You were in bad shape,” Alex answered. The deepened lines on her face told the story of just how bad off Kara had been. Some of the calm mask began to crack.

J’onn took a few steps closer to Alex, helping her regain composure. “As you predicted, when Rhea’s flagship exploded the Daxamite fleet was out of position and vulnerable. The Resistance was able to route them, sending them into a retreat into Wild Space, where we would not follow. The Daxamites are finished, with all local governors fleeing. The explosion from the flagship was massive. We feared you and Ms. Luthor perished.” J’onn stared hard at Alex. “Captain Danvers tracked the distress beacon and followed.” Unauthorized went unsaid. “I’m here because the Resistance is in layover.”

“What happens now?” Kara pushed herself up higher on the bed.

“We formed to fight Lex Luthor’s Empire and then evolved to combat Rhea,” J’onn said. “We will resume our original goal of restoring the Republic. A power vacuum has formed with hopeful politicians scrambling to fill it.”

Kara leaned back against her headboard. “Already?” They removed Rhea’s planetary governors and were fighting over control already?

“It’s been a week. Politics waits for no one.” His distaste shared by Alex beside him, both sporting grimaces.

J’onn continued, “The Resistance is being restructured as the DEO: the Defense Enforcement Organization. Another invasion will not happen, not on our watch.”

Alex blinked, surprised. “I haven’t heard about this,” she said, looking up at J’onn.

“It’s the reason I came to see you. Ms. Danvers and Ms. Luthor were never officially sworn into the Resistance as soldiers, but assets. You are released. The Republic thanks you for your service.”

J’onn extended his hand to Lena.

Lena gaped like a fish. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” J’onn affirmed. Lena shook his hand. J’onn extended the same hand to Kara, who shook it with as much strength as she could muster. He gave them both a rare smile.

“Captain Danvers, you are expected to report to Coruscant in one month, standard galactic time. In the meantime, the fleet will convene on Coruscant.”

“Yes, General.” Alex recovered quickly, saluting him.

J’onn nodded and made to leave the room.

“I’ll see you out,” Eliza said, walking beside him. J’onn stopping at the doorway. “Kara, Lena- I’m glad you’re safe.” He then left.

With J’onn and Eliza out of the room, Alex quickly turned on Kara, punching her in the arm, hard.

“Ouch!” Kara’s hand shot up to her arm, rubbing. “What was that for?”

“What were you thinking?” Alex’s face darkened. “Going after Rhea and not telling me.”

Lena scooted to the foot of the bed and out of Alex’s line of fire. Traitor.

“There wasn’t time,” Kara defended. “I was saving the galaxy!”

“Don’t ever do that without me again,” Alex snarled. “I thought you died when that ship blew up. And then you were unconscious for days.” Alex’s face was angry, but her eyes were glossy.

“I’m sorry,” Kara apologized. Alex was upset, and she was sorry for that, but she couldn’t say she wouldn’t do it again.

Alex reached out and wrapped her in a hug that Kara leaned into.

“You too, Luthor,” Alex extended her arm. Lena froze, unsure and uncertain, before joining them in the group hug. “No more heroic antics,” Alex ordered, pulling back her face, even as her fingers dug in to Kara’s arms.

“I’m sorry,” Kara reiterated. Heavy bags stuck out like bruises beneath Alex’s eyes. She released her grip on them, pulling back completely.

Alex swallowed hard. “You- weren’t doing well. Rhea drained you, almost to death.”

“She was doing more than draining me,” Kara admitted. “I think...” she paused, unsure if she wanted to voice the dark thoughts lingering in her mind. Unsure if she wanted the other to know what she suspected. Lena reached for her hand. “I think she was trying to possess me.”

“Is that possible?” Alex asked sharply. Her hand flew to where her sidearm usually sat, noticeably absent, Kara noted. Eliza hates blasters.

Surprisingly, Lena answered for her. “Yes.”

Alex and Kara looked at her confused. Lena sighed heavily. “Lex was fascinated with the Jedi--and the Sith. He shared with me, once, about a Sith Lord who possessed new bodies. I think that’s when I lost him, for good. When he decided to-”

“Hey. You didn’t know,” Alex cut in. Lena clenched her jaw and nodded, dropping the subject. “How do you feel now?” Alex asked.

“Exhausted, but myself. I feel so tired,” she answered honestly.

“You need to rest,” Alex ordered. Her eyes fell where Lena and Kara were still holding hands, lingering, before looking back at them both. She hesitated, hovering.

“Lena, we need to talk about what you’ll do next.” Lena nodded, but indecisiveness was written on her face. Her energy wavering, unsure. Even without Force senses, Alex seemed to feel it too. “I can take both of you back to Coruscant. Kara, we really need to talk, but you need to rest first,” she said, sounding stern. “Lena, we need you downstairs for another checkup in ten. Don’t be late.”

Alex left the room. Anxiety, her own and Lena’s, hit her. Alone, a shroud seemed to fall over the room. The tension was thick and stifling. They were still holding hands--that was positive, Kara thought.

Lena looked fine, but the sound of her hitting the viewport echoed in her mind, the loud crackle of Force lightning.

“Are you okay?” Kara squeezed Lena’s hand.

“Am I okay?” Lena’s jaw clenched. “I’m fine. We didn’t know what was wrong with you. We weren’t sure you’d make it.” Her grip tightened on Kara’s hands. “I tried to heal you, but there was nothing wrong with you.” Fear was twisting inside her, poisoning her. “I was useless. I couldn’t help you. And I didn’t know what was going on. I was so scared, Kara.” She looked up. “And I’m still so afraid of something happening to you.”

“You don’t have to be afraid.” Kara reached over, wrapping her arm around Lena. “I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.”

“You promise?” Lena tried to laugh. Kara tightened her grip around her. They sat in mutual silence. The weight of everything they’d gone through hung in the room. Along with the unspoken elephant in the room- what happened before, in the pod room.

“I’m sorry about before. I don’t know how to do this,” Lena said. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do next.”

Kara hovered, deciding on setting her head down on Lena’s. “We’ll figure it out- together. I care about you, and it’s not just because of our bond,” she reassured, already feeling Lena’s anxiety rising. “My feelings are real and permanent.” She pulled back and searched Lena’s eyes, unsure what to do, outside her comfort zone. “I’m not human,” Kara reminded her. “I don’t know how to do this either.” Lena looked equally flustered, a red tinge creeping up her neck and to her ears. It eased the remaining anxiety from her shoulders. Lena was the sister of the emperor, the youngest student at the University of Coruscant. Their closest relationships were with their siblings, for Rao’s sake. They were both out of their depth. They’d learn together.

Lena had made the first step on the ship. Kara didn’t know human ‘dating’ and truthfully didn’t understand the obsession humans had with physical affection. However, this was how humans courted. And Kara wanted to court Lena.

“Can I kiss you?” Kara asked. Lena nodded, and Kara leaned in, despite her nerves.

Kara’s hand stayed across her shoulders while the other hovered, finally moving up to cup Lena’s jaw. The world around her faded, fuzzy at the edges, until all that remained was Lena, Lena, Lena.

Lena tilted her head and the kiss changed, deepening. Kara mimicked Lena, tentatively following her lead.

But, they needed oxygen. They parted, lingering in the same space, sharing the same breath.

Despite her reassurances to Lena, worry gnawed at her insides as snapshots of her dream raced past her mind’s eye. Her brain refused to be silenced.

Lena noticed the change. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Kara smiled but knew it looked forced. The corners of her mouth weren’t doing what she wanted. This was a victory. A time for celebration. Rhea was defeated. Be happy.

Lena’s anxiety was starting to build, and Kara saw the walls being rising with every second.

“Before I woke up I had a dream,” she admitted, frowning down at her hands.

Lena’s face softened, eyebrows lowering. “A dream?”

“About Kal-El.” Kara wrestled with herself. “I think it was more than just a dream. It felt real.”

“Like a vision,” Lena said, seeking confirmation. Kara nodded. Lena lowered her head to maintain eye contact. “You haven’t told Alex?”

The nightmares were constant, night after night until they finally let up more than two years into her stay with the Danvers. And Alex was always there; ready to comfort Kara when she woke up crying and upset, so sure Kal-El was out there. She couldn’t put that on Alex again. She shook her head.

“I had so many dreams about Kal when I first came here. Every night. What if these are more of the same?” Her voice shook. Lena scooted closer to her, grasping both hands and rubbing the backs of them with her thumbs. Kara’s body grew heavier by the second. The sea breeze over her skin no longer felt refreshing, but sent chills up and down her body.

“You need to rest,” Lena said. “You’re exhausted and you went through something horrible.”

Not the words of comfort she wanted. Still, Kara nodded in agreement with her. It didn’t help that she couldn’t feel the space around her. If she had her powers, maybe some of this powerlessness would go away.

“What happened to my powers?” she asked. Without powers, who was she? The thought needled at her.

“Your Midi-chlorian count was depleted. It’s risen a little since we landed. It should recover soon enough.” Lena’s eyes darted down where Kara pulled up the blankets. “Sleep. We’ll be here when you wake up. It’s over.”

Kara would need to rest, wait for her powers to return, and then decide what she was going to do. For now, she would rest.

As she closed her eyes, she saw the shadow of a pod.

----

----

The active holoprojector provided the only light in the surrounding darkness of the penthouse. Outside, distant and muted, Coruscant's nightlife continued as if nothing had changed, the sounds of celebrations and people muted and distant. On the nearby couch, a tall, statuesque figure sat, unmoving and unresponsive to the diminutive blonde woman projected in front of her.

“We are trying to move past a tacky Daxamite queen with a cheap tiara and a hairless megalomaniac emperor wannabe. A return to sanity and politics as they should be. I am the best fit for Supreme Chancellor.”

Cat Grant raised her eyebrows, looking down at the holoreporters vying for her attention.

“What about Benjamin Lockwood?”

She shifted her weight, resting her hands on both hips. “Did I not make myself clear? Lord can fund his campaign all he wants: I am the best candidate, regardless of what Lockwood decides to do with his free time.”

The holoprojector turned static, Cat’s image wavering in and out of focus, before fading away. In her place, a muscular bald man took her place.

The woman on the couch came to life. “Lex,” she breathed.

“Hello, mother.” His eyes roved around the dark spaces. Despite the dim light, it was apparent they were alone. “Lena isn’t here.” It was a statement, not a question.

Lillian Luthor’s nostrils flared. “No.” She bit the inside of her cheek, biting back the stream of venom aching to pour out.

“So, she joined the Resistance.” Lex sounded disappointed, but his face didn’t change, save a brief twitch of annoyance. “I expected better.” he paused, collecting his thoughts. “She will join us or she will be dealt with.”

“She is irrelevant,” Lillian bit out. “When will you return?”

“As soon as we are in position and all our bases covered.” Lex’s pleasant facade faded and a cold, calculated look took its place. “I will not be surprised again; by more Jedi or anyone else.”

“The Jedi will return, and Cadmus will be ready for them,” Lillian reassured, standing to her full commanding height. “The Empire will rise again.”