Chapter Text
Pain.
Burning.
Fire.
That is the first thing Astra feels. Right in the middle of her chest. She tries to open her eyes but they won’t — no wait they do, she can feel herself blink in the darkness around her.
Has she lost her ability to see?
She feels her hands slide on the surface she is on, realizing it’s something flat, cold. She inches her hand away from her body slowly before she can’t feel the surface anymore. A ledge? Has she fallen asleep on a roof?
Roof…
She’d been on a roof. But why?
Myriad.
Right. Did she succeed?
Gunshots…
Someone had shot at her. Who?
You love her.
You know nothing of me!
Agent Danvers.
Alex.
Brave—Kryponite sword.
No, as my family.
Astra sits up so quickly she feels dizzy, her hands finding their way to her chest. It’s pitch black and for some reason, she still can’t adjust her eyes.
Eyes that now sting with tears. Kara had told her she was part of her family in the Black Mercy. That's all she’d wanted, despite her reluctance to admit it to Alex when she asked her for help.
Help us.
She wishes the confrontation ended differently so she could’ve. But some things are not meant to be. And Alex must’ve admitted that to herself, otherwise why in Rao’s name would she have plunge that green blade of agony through Astra instead of a second try to talk her down? She winces at both the memory of pain and the current discomfort she was in.
No, Alex didn't plunge that blade through Astra for no reason. The martian. She'd been foolish, let her bloodlust get ahold of her. But she knew even if she wanted to there was no way that Non would’ve allowed her to remove herself from Myriad, especially with his suspicions about her feelings in regards to Kara clouding her judgment.
The only way she could’ve escaped was through death.
Myriad was important for the survival of the planet but Alex...Her words had gotten to her. If only she'd kept focus when the martian came.
And now she's here, wherever here is.
Maybe this is her punishment in death. This dark room where she is forced to choose between sliding over this ledge or sitting here in boredom while in excruciating pain. Amusing. If you aren’t the one who’s forced into the situation. If only she could— oh.
Stabbed through the chest yet her brain is the one failing her.
Astra narrows her eyes and looks around her. To her right, there’s an array of bodies below her. What that means she hasn’t a clue. Either they are dead because the floor contains some substance that kills them or…a creature has had its way with them. She doesn’t like either of those theories, especially as to why said creature would leave her be.
Astra isn’t a gambler, not by a long shot. She likes plans and unquestionable certainty. Well, if the need be. And right now she has the choice of cowardly sitting on whatever this hard cold surface is, waiting for the same fate as those bodies, or taking the leap and praying that there is no toxic substance down there.
“Kara, we don’t know if Astra is even in here,” Alex pleads. She glances behind her. “What we do know? That thing is out for our blood too.”
Kara isn’t really paying attention to the words coming out of her mouth. She’s too busy using her hearing and vision to stay on top of the creature in question as they walk through the long, dark hallway of rooms.
“She’s just as much my family as you, Alex,” Kara states. She has no clue what her sister said apart from ‘Astra’, that is enough for her to know the gist of it.
“I am well aware of that, Kara. But—“ Alex bumps right into her sister’s shoulder. She leans forward to look at her. Pain, shock, and hope are all evident on her face.
“Aunt Astra?” It comes out choked.
Not even a second after Alex put a comforting hand on her shoulder is Kara bounding down the halls.
Who needs a morning run when you have a Kryptonian sister to keep up with?
Alex sprints after her, Kara turning the corners so fast she barely sees anything save for her red cape flowing behind her.
“Kara, wait!” Alex pants out, stopping at a corner with a hand on the wall as she tries to catch her breath. But once she looks up she realizes that Kara has stopped in front of a room right beside where her hand is placed, looking like she has just seen a ghost.
Alex takes a few steps toward the door. Kara seems to be frozen as she looks through it so Alex slowly opens the metal barrier.
And there is Astra, or whom she assumes to be her with the signature streak glowing against the darkness surrounding her. She’s on the floor leaning against a glass table. Her head is bowed and she doesn’t look to be breathing. At least from what Alex can see.
Kara is already making her way inside and Alex places a light hand on her upper arm.
“How do you know it’s her?” Her voice is barely a whisper.
Kara doesn’t move her eyes away from Astra as she speaks, too scared she’d lose her again. “It’s her. I can feel it, I—I know what I heard. It was her.”
Alex nods and removes her hand from Kara’s arm, watching as she makes her way to Astra. She stays by the door, allowing them their privacy as she scans the room.
“Aunt Astra?” Kara whispers when she is close enough to see her better. The figure in front of her doesn’t move, but the heartbeat is there. “It’s me. Kara.”
Astra slowly brings her head up and Kara has to keep herself from breaking down right there and then. The emotions that flash by Astra’s face are too quick to be able to tell what they were.
Kara smiles and goes in for a hug, letting out a breath of relief as Astra’s arms slowly wind around her. It seems to take a lot out of her so she keeps it brief.
“I’m so happy you’re alive,” Kara touches her aunt’s cheek.
“Alive…” Astra’s voice is incredibly hoarse. She clears her throat but it is still hard to get the words out. “Am I not dead? I— Non, he…Oh, little one—so many bodies— I do not understand…”
Kara shushes Astra while stroking her hair and finally takes in her surroundings.
Tunnel vision had kept her from seeing the bodies on the floor. They are in what looks to be a control room, now more lit than when Astra woke up thanks to the open door.
While the reunion was happening, Alex had walked into the room. She finishes checking a body close to Kara and Astra for any sign of life.
"They're all dead," Alex whispers. Her eyes skip from body to body and then lands on... "Including Non."
Kara feels Astra tense up at that, and she places a hand on her shoulder about to say some comforting words when the realization hits her. "Wait, they're dead? All of them? How is that even possible, Astra's still alive."
Alex shrugs. "I don't know. But we don't have time to think about this right now, Kara. We have to leave before--"
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"Shit." Alex runs to help Kara pull Astra up off the ground.