Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She has a metallic taste in her mouth and her lungs are filled with smoke, it's impossible to breath. Her eyes sting from the smoke and through the flames it's impossible to see the source of the voices calling for her. She jerks her head around and stares into the eyes of a woman. The white streak and part of her face is covered in blood. There's another voice and a White Martian approaches the scene, pointing a blaster at the woman’s head.

Vers wakes with a shock, beads of cold sweat running down her skin and making her shiver slightly. She's breathless, but the taste of smoke and blood are gone. The air smells fresh and clean. She collapses back into her pillow. It's dark outside, and most of Argo City is still asleep, but her heart is pounding and she can't possibly go back to sleep. Maybe some sparring can distract her from the nightmare.

She gets out of her bunk and quickly dresses in her workout clothes. She steps into the elevator and pushes the button to go down to the 35th level of the Starforce quarters. She has calmed down from the shock and stares at her hands. They are no longer trembling. She focuses, curls her hands into fists and both of them start glowing in a soft purple. She smiles to herself in relief. After walking down the long corridor past the barracks of her fellow Daxamite soldiers, she stops in front of her commanding officers door and gives a sharp knock.

She hears some shuffling on the other side, along with some hushed curses. She grins at Mon-El's sleepy shape when the door slides open.

"Do you know what time it is?" he asks annoyed following up the question with an exaggerated yawn to make a point.

"Can't sleep." She bounces around rolling on the balls of her feet.

"There are tabs for that."

"Yeah, but then I'd be sleeping." she frowns.

"Dreams again?" He questions. Vers nods in response and Mon-El gives a quick nod himself.

"Wanna fight?" Vers grins again.

- - - - - -

They are the only ones in the small dojo. Usually sparring helps her clear her head, but something is off. She can't focus enough and doesn't see the right hook - a punch she knew she could block in her sleep, if only sleep or the lack thereof wasn't the one thing throwing her off her game. She hits the mat with a grunt.

"I slipped." She explains when getting up, readjusting her tank top.

"Right. You slipped as a result of me punching you in the face." Mon-El smirks.

"I was already slipping when you happened to punch me in the face. The two events are not related." Vers reasons while preparing for another round. In between punches and kicks, Mon-El tries to get into her head.

"Tell me about this dream. Anything new?"

"No." Vers replies shortly followed up by a swirl kick and a punch, both hitting air instead of the intended target. Mon-El manages to grab Vers' right arm and pins it behind her, demobilizing her.

"You've got to let go of your past." He repeats the mantra she's heard ever since she got to Argo.

"I don't remember my past." Vers huffs.

"It's causing you doubt, and doubt makes you vulnerable." Mon-El lets go of her arm and they continue to spar. Another right hook, but this time she reacts, but she loses balance and lands on the mat again. As frustration begins to rise her fist starts to glow purple.

"Control it." Mon-El commands and the glow subsides. "Lose control again and you'll have to convene with the Supreme Leader. There is nothing more dangerous to a warrior than emotion."

Vers smirks at Mon-El causing him to push her backwards. "Humor is a distraction. And anger? Anger only serves the enemy." They continue to fight. Mon-El punches Vers in the face causing her to fall down. She retaliates by shooting an energy blast from her fist, resulting in Mon-El flying backwards. He stumbles back to his feet.

"Wanna go another--" before he can finish the question, Vers' communicator beeps and an incoming message.

"I've been summoned by Lar Gand, I'll see you later."

"Okay, we're getting ready for an important mission in a few hours. Don't be late."

"Wouldn't miss it." Vers smirks jogging over to grab her stuff and head out.

- - - - - -

Vers finds herself waiting in an room with golden shimmering walls, with pillars wider towards the top and narrowing towards the bottom, ready to approach Lar Gand. She's called upon and steps forward into a hexagon on the floor. As she does it lights up with white light. A hologram of Lar Gand, the Supreme Leader of the Daxamite Empire appears in front of her.

"Vers." a deep voice addresses her.

"Supreme Leader." she replies almost shyly.

"Your commander insists that you're fit to serve."

"I am." She feels confident in her reply, but her voice betrays her.

"You struggle with your emotions, with your past which fuels them. You are just one victim of the White Martian expansion that has threatened our civilization for centuries. Imposters who silently infiltrate then take over then take over our planets."

A hologram showing several planets appears then zooms into one of them, revealing a White Martian carrying a weapon similar to the one in Vers' dream. "Horrors which you remember and so much which you do not."

Vers is confused and frustrated at not remembering any of these things beyond the fragment she keeps seeing in her dreams. "It's all... blank. My life. There's just nothing."

"Perhaps this is a mercy, sparing you from a deeper pain. Freeing you to do what all Daxamite must. Put your people's needs before your own. We've given you a great gift, a chance to fight for the good of all Daxamite."

The chip on Vers' neck begins to blink, almost simultaneously her hands begin to glow.

"I want to serve." She says confidently.

"Then master yourself; what was given can be taken away." At the words Vers' chip and her hand stop glowing.

"I won't let you down."

"We'll know soon enough. You have a mission. Serve well and with honor."

- - - - - -

As Vers and Mon-El approach the Starforce cruiser in the hangar dressed in their all black combat uniforms, their crew mates are chatting animatedly.

"Listen up, team!" Mon-El bellows getting everyone's attention. When the voices had quieted down and everyone had their eyes trained on him he continues to brief them on the details of the mission.

"Alright, prepare for the search and rescue of our spy, Soh-Larr. The White Martians have invaded yet another border planet, this time Torfah. Soh-Larr sent a warning signal, which we've intercepted, that his cover is blown. The White Martian General M’orzz has sent kill units to find him. Should they reach him before we do, the intelligence he has acquired over the last three years is as good as theirs. We are not to interfere with the Torfah populace, nor them with us. Nothing compromises the security of our mission. Proceed with caution. Follow protocol before extracting him. This is a dangerous mission, we must all be ready to join the collective if that is our fate today. For the good of all Daxamite!"

"For the good of all Daxamite!" Everyone chants in return.

- - - - - -

The crew carefully disembarks the ship, taking notice of their surroundings and making sure their arrival on Torfah hasn't been detected by any White Martian forces. As they approach the stronghold, Mon-El orders them to spread out.

"Vers, track Soh-Larr's beacon. Att-Lass and Minn-Erva find elevation." Vers makes eye contact and nods before the group slips and moves in separate directions.

"His beacon's coming from that temple." She announces trough the comms.

"Right. Keep a close radius, if we lose comms we meet back at the ship."

Stepping into a crumbled temple structure, Vers notices movement and shadows behind one of the massive pillars. As she slowly approaches the tablet in her arm lights up showing a string of characters.

"HGX-78" She reads them out loud.

"TRT79-VVX6" the shadow behind the pillar replies in a shaky voice.

Vers walks towards the voice and the figure starts moving again. it's Soh-Larr. He's sitting up against the rock of the pillar, looking exhausted. Vers bends down to examine his wounds. Before her fingertips reach the torn skin, she hears Mon-El's voice though her earpiece.

"Vers? White Martians! It's an ambush."

She looks up at Soh-Larr, just in time to see him point a White Martian blaster at her. There's a bright blue light, before electric shocks paralyze her whole body and she lumps to the ground. She can hear Mon-El screaming her name through the earpiece. Unable to move she looks up in terror as before her eyes Soh-Larr transformed into White Martian General M'gann M’orzz.

"How did you know the code?" Vers forces out. Her voice so raw she almost doesn't recognize it.

"How about I tell you my secret. When you told me yours." The General probes before sending more shocks through her body until she looses consciousness.

- - - - - -

"Let's open her up." A voice that appears close and at the same time a million miles away sounds in her head. She sees herself at some kind of military base, walking towards a fighter plane.

General M’orzz' voice cuts in "Where are we?"

"Stand by." replies the other voice.

Her vision readjusts and she sees circle of planes sitting on the tarmac. A beautiful woman with long dark hair pulled together in a ponytail and dark skin in a uniform walking besides her. "Where's your head at?" the slightly smaller woman asks with a soft voice.

"In the clouds. Where's yours?" Vers hears herself respond.

"On my shoulders. About to show these boys how to do it. You ready?" the other woman smirks at her.

"Higher, further, faster baby." she replies cockily.

"That's right." the woman winks as they both climb into their cockpits.

"This can't be right." General M’orzz voice intersects again. "Go back even further."

The scene changes before her eyes and she sees herself sitting on surfboard, floating in the waves, her legs dangling in the water. She looks down, the reflection in the water shows a young girl. She looks at her hands, they are small and her finger tips are shriveled from the water.

A boy floating on another surfboard close to her gets her attention by splashing water at her. She turns her had to face him. "You shouldn't be so far out here. You should go back and wait for smaller waves. These are too big for you." She focuses on the oncoming wave and paddles towards it. The boy yells after her "You're crazy. You'll never make it."

She takes the wave perfectly and carefully stands up, she can hold it but not for long. Another wave hits and she loses her balance and slips. She crashes into the water, the force of the water pushing her down. Water filling her lungs. As she starts to panic, she sees purple flashes similar to her energy blasts. Then she's on the beach, clutching the surfboard and coughing water as a man with dark hair runs towards her, looking shocked and yelling words she can't make sense of.

"Who is this person? Are we in the right...?" General M’orzz' voice sounds confused.

"I think we went back too far. Let me try something."

The scene changes. Her lungs don’t hurt anymore but her hands are cramping. She's holding onto a rope to complete a ropes course in Air-Force training. She stares at the next rope in front of her. She hears the yells of some of the cadets on the ground. "You don't belong out here! You're not strong enough! You'll kill yourself!" She takes a deep breath and swings back, before jumping off and trying to grab the rope in front of her. She grabs it, however, she loses grip and falls to the ground. Purples flashes before her eyes before she's hitting the ground. When she does the cadets who had gathered around were laughing at her.

An older man walks up to her and she tries to get up and brush of the dirt from her shoulders. "They'll never let you fly." He states dryly.

"Am I the only one who's confused here?" M’orzz asks.

She's in a bar at a table sitting next to the beautiful dark skinned woman from the first vision. Their hands are intertwined under the table. They are laughing and the contact feels exhilarating and soothing all at once. She slips her hands back when a large figure approaches the table. Both woman sit up and it feels tense and scary, as if being caught doing something forbidden. The other woman gives her a warm smile once they're alone again.

The next moment both of them are lying on the soft grass in the backyard of a small house surrounded by oak trees on one side and a view of the ocean on the other. Between them a little girl, who's skin and hair are almost as dark as the other woman's. She's giggling and pointing at clouds in the sky. The women smile at the girl and then at each other. She feels a pull in her heart and she moves closer to the other woman and connects their lips. The kiss is soft and sweet, but it makes her feel strong, light as a feather and a comfortable warmth spread through her body.

"Gross." The girl giggles.

They both draw back a little out of breath, looking at the child. "Someone is asking for trouble, but can you handle the consequences?" She starts tickling the girl as the three of them laugh carelessly.

Eventually the shorter woman holds up her hands in surrender. "Alright," she pets the girl on the arm and kisses Vers on the cheek. "Get your butts inside, it's time to eat."

"Prepare for takeoff Lieutenant Trouble." Vers picks the girl up and sits her on her shoulders running towards the house while the girl is spreading her arms like wings and pretends to be a pilot, while Vers imitates the sound of a fighter jet engine. As they pass the shorter woman, she shakes her head at their antics, but can't contain the biggest smile spreading on her face.

"Charming memory." General M’orzz voice sounds. "Hang on."

Memory? The scene changes again and starting to feel nauseous. She wishes she could return to the other vision. Now she's back at the airplane hangar. She's leaning against a car. An older woman is walking towards her. She recognizes her from her dream, but it can't be. What does all this mean? Those can't be her memories, but it felt like she had been there for all of it. The water in her lungs, the fall from the rope, the kisses and giggles in the sun. But how?

She focuses on the woman. Who is she? She should know this.

"Early start to your morning." She hears herself say.

"Ah. Late night actually, I can't sleep when there's work to do. Sound familiar?" the woman replies.

"Flying never feels like work." The both turn to look at the airplane.

"Wonderful view isn't it?"

"I prefer the view from up there."

"You'll get there soon enough Ace." The woman says as she walks away.

"Wait, wait, wait. That's her. Get her back." General M’orzz' voice sounds anxious.

"Stand by." The scene rewinds before her eyes.

"What's that on her shirt? I couldn't read it. Focus." The general commands.

"Excuse me?" she hears herself say as the scene plays again.

"Look down. Focus. Pegasus, Dr. Wendy Lawson. That's her."

"Can you hear that?" she directs the question at the woman, Wendy Lawson, that's her name, but who is she?

"Do we have the location?" M’orzz asks.

A flash of purple interrupts the scene.

"Got it." The voice is triumphantly.

"Now track Lawson until we find the energy signature." M’orzz orders.

She's back at the scene from her dream, where Lawson is holding a gun towards an unknown person.

"Interesting. Huh. Hold on. Go back right before this. Go back."

Vers can't take it anymore. She tries to focus her thoughts and resist the ever changing visions and flashes of memories. There's another one.

"That's no MIG, Lawson." She's in a cockpit, speaking on the comms.

"This is it. Now, let me see where you're headed. That's right, look at the coordinates." M’orzz urges.

She begins looking at the coordinates, but her vision is fuzzy.

"You're almost there. You're almost there."

She shuts her eyes, squeezing them shut.

"Don't fight it. Focus!"

Vers ejects herself from the plane, descends down to Earth, and shuts her eyes.

"Get her back. Get her back now!" General M’orzz bellows.

When she finally opens her eyes, electricity is running from a machine to her temples. Her vision is blurry, but she can make out the shadows of upside-down White Martians all around her. Vers looks around the barely lit room, then turns her head slightly to focus on her hands and the circular structure she's restrained in, hanging upside-down inside of a White Martian warship. Her minds start racing, going through options to escape her captors.

"This doesn't make any sense." She focuses on the White Martian scientist who had been talking to M’orzz throughout the procedure.

"Do we have any information we can act on?" The general asks.

"Just that Lawson was somewhere on the Planet C53. We're on our way."

"Then dig, dig, dig, deeper. Lawson is our link to that light-speed engine. And everything we're after..." M’orzz trails off.

One of the figures taps Vers' in the center of her forehead, which changes the image on the screen they are looking at. "Oh. That did something. Try that again." M’orzz orders. and the White Martian taps Vers on the forehead twice more, before noticing that her metal restraints are beginning to glow purple.

"Oh-uh."

She she focuses all the emotions the memories brought up, all the anger and frustration, the glow becoming brighter. She manages to free herself from the structure after breaking the restraints on her feet, landing on the floor with shaky legs, but quickly regains balance. She fights her way through the room.. One of the White Martians raises their weapon at her, but General M’orzz lowers it. "Not yet."

After taking out two more attackers. She confronts General M’orzz, pushing her against a table, and holding a glowing purple restraint against her head.

"What did you do to me?!"

"We're just after a little information." M’orzz answers surprisingly calm.

"What did you put in my head."

"Nothing that wasn't already there."

"But those aren't my memories." She feels desperate.

"Yeah, it's like a bad trip in there. I'm not surprised you can't keep it straight. They really did a number on you."

"Enough of your mind games! What do you want?"

"We're looking for the location of a Doctor Lawson and her light-speed engine."

"I don't know any Doctor Lawson."

"Then why is she in your head?"

She had no answer. As more White Martians come running into the room from different corridors. Vers throws General M’orzz against them before running off, trying to find a way off the ship, while fighting of more White Martians. She takes a left turn, then another left and a right, cursing under her breath as she runs into a dead end forcing her to turn around. She ends up stuck in a corridor between two parties of advancing White Martians.

"You wouldn't know how these things come off would ya?" She holds up her hands with the restraints still on. "No? Fine." She begins fighting the White Martians.

Once she has defeated all of her captors, she runs off again before being confronted by General M’orzz and two others. During the fight, she finally manages to free herself from the restraints by blasting energy from her hands until they break. She tracks back to the room she was held captive in and makes her way over to the other side where the escape pods are located. She heads to the first one managing to start it before General M’orzz is able to stop her. She sends another energy blast at the White Martian and then she's off. The pod is quickly approaching an unknown planet. On the flight down the pod begins to break and she's flung out and thrown down. She loses conscience before falling through the roof of one of the buildings.

Chapter Text

Lights are flickering and hanging from the ceiling at various angles. The shelves are half-empty, their content scattered across the floor. She regains consciousness. Her head is pounding, and she’s covered in gravel from crashing through the roof and a broken shelf. She stands up slowly, trying to take in her surroundings, willing herself to focus despite shaky legs and blurry vision.
 
"Vers to Star Force Command. Do you read me?" She tries to get her comms to work as she walks through the aisles, past shelves with little plastic boxes displaying colorful pictures, towards the broken glass windows and a door labeled ‘Exit’.
 
A crack startles her and when she turns around making out a large dark outline in the corner she shoots an energy blast towards it, causing what ends up being a life-sized poster of an unfamiliar creature with distorted features and sharp claws to erupt in flames. She sighs in relief and continues walking towards the door.
 
Once outside she spots a vehicle marked ‘Security’ parked nearby. She wipes the remaining dust off her uniform before walking towards it and knocking on the window. The man in the car lowers his magazine and gazes up at her.
 
"Hi, I'm Vers. Daxamite Star Force. Is this C-53?” Instead of replying the man still stares at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
 
“Do you understand me? Is my universal translator working?" She asks, giving the communicator on her arm a small tap.
 
"Yeah, I understand you." He finally lets out with a small squeak.
 
"Oh, good. Are you in charge of security for this district?"
 
"Sort of. The movie theatre has its own guy." He replies confused.
 
"Where can I find communications equipment?" Vers asks and the man slowly raises his hand and points towards another one-story building thirty feet away from the one she crashed into.
 
"Thank you." She replies with a smile and walks off.
 
 
- - - - - -
 
 
It's been three hours since her crash. Vers is standing in a payphone booth, tinkering with her communication equipment and the suitable parts she could find at the tech store. She turns on her communicator and to Mon-El.
 
Once a static sound and a beep indicate a connection, she hears the voice of her commanding officer, "Vers. Verify, CTC39."
 
"GRX31600, and I'm fine thank you for asking,” she huffs in fake offense. “Is everyone ok, what happened?" She asks worried.
 
"White Martian ambush. I thought we'd lost you.” He explains. “Did you find Soh-Larr?"
 
"It wasn't Soh-Larr. M’orzz simmed him, even knew his code."
 
"That's impossible. That code was buried in his unconscious."
 
"The White Martians messed with my mind. The machine that they used, I think it was how they extracted Soh-Larr's code."
 
"Vers, where are you?"
 
"I'm on planet C-53. The White Martians are looking for someone named Lawson."
 
"Who?"
 
"She’s who I see..." she trails off. This isn’t the time to talk about her dream, or memory or whatever it is. She still doesn’t understand it herself. It confuses and scares her and that’s the last thing she needs right now.
 
"She's what? Vers. Vers, what?" 
 
"She's a scientist. They think that she's cracked the code on light-speed tech. I have to get to her before they do, or else they'll be able to invade new galaxies."
 
"No. You've been caught once already. Hold your position until we get there, keep your comms online so that we can contact you," Mon-El urges.
 
"No, what if they get a hold of it before…" she's cut off when the payphone disconnects.
 
She tries to get a connection again but is out of luck. Frustrated she drops the speaker of the phone and watches it dangle on the cord. As she looks back up, a tall man with dark skin and a woman about her size with short hair walk up to her.
 
"Excuse me, Miss,” the man addresses her. “Do you know anything about a lady who went through the roof of that store over there? Witness says she was dressed for laser tag." He pulls down his sunglasses to have a closer look at her uniform.
 
"Oh. Yeah, I think she went that way." Vers points at a random direction and tries to walk off, but the man steps in front of her.
 
"Ah. I'm special Agent Hank Henshaw, this is Special Agent Susan Vasquez,” he points at the woman. Both of them are holding up small cards displaying their names, a picture of their face and a logo with the letters DEO.
 
“I'd like to ask you some questions. Maybe give you the 4-1-1 on late night drop-bys. Could I see some identification, please?" He continues.
 
"Vers. Pre-Star Force. We don't carry identification on metal cards." She tries to walk off again, but Henshaw stops her.
 
"Vers. Star Force,” he repeats. “How long are you planning on being in town?"
 
"Oh, I'll be out of your hair as soon as I track down the White Martians which are infiltrating your planet."
 
"White Martians?" Agent Vasquez chuckles.
 
"Shape-shifters. They can transform into any life-form down to the DNA.” Vers explains, but they still stare at her in disbelief, utterly unaware of the threat a White Martian invasion poses. “Oh boy, you guys don't have a clue, do you."
 
Henshaw and Vasquez look back and forth between each other and her. The woman makes a shrugging motion and Henshaw scratches his chin before pointing a finger at Vers.
 
"Oh, oh, oh, oh. Hold on. How do we know that you're not one of those... shapeshifters?"
 
"Congratulations Agent Henshaw. You have finally asked a relevant question."
 
"Oh! Congratulations to you, Star Force Lady. You're under arrest." A policewoman steps forward to arrest her, but she sees a suspicious looking man on a nearby rooftop with a blaster pointed at her. They found her. That was fast. Vers shoots an energy blast at him and runs towards the building. The White Martian runs across the rooftop, jumping over pipes and down the side of the building, crosses the street and then up the stairs of the train platform.
 
Vers keeps up and jumps up to the platform, running into an old lady, who had just exited the train. She chases after the train and jumps on top of it as it leaves the station. She manages to hold onto it and moves towards an air hatch and climbs into the carriage. She walks through the train, observing all the passengers. Some of the passengers look at her with curious expressions, other don't even bother looking up. A teenage boy is humming along to music playing in his headphones, his eyes closed. She gazes around the far end of the carriage, before spotting the old lady she had just bumped into a few minutes ago outside of the train. She walks over and then punches her, causing a fight before being pulled off the lady by a group of passengers.

The White Martian escapes shapeshifting from the old lady into one of the men and walking into the next carriage before jumping onto the roof. Vers follows the man onto the roof and continues to fight him. She lands two punches and knocks him out. He changes back into his true White Martian shape and drops a small device. Vers picks it up and steps away from the unconscious body and jumps off the train before it disappears in a tunnel.
 
She finds a secluded place to examine the device crouching behind some cardboard boxes and trash containers in a side street. She places the White Martian storage device into the computer attached to her right wrist and looks through the files, containing information from her interrogation. The computer shows different images from her interrogation before it sparks and Vers is forced to remove it. There has to be another way to get more information.

- - - - - -

 
With the help of some locals she finds herself in an internet cafe, carefully typing the terms she read on the White Martian files into the search bar on the screen. The manual keyboard is giving her a hard time. How does everyone have the patience for these long processing times. She notices the people around her staring. It's not clear whether the unfamiliar use of the so-called high-tech equipment or the way she's dressed is what's drawing attention.
 
When she's gathered all the information she could gather from Google, she gets up to leave, grabbing a paper map on her way out.
 
She's holding up the map in front of her face, scanning it for her current location and where she suspects she'll find Lawson. She hears the roar of an engine and briefly lowers the map, to see someone on a motorcycle approaching. She focuses on the map again. The biker parks next to her.
 
"Nice scuba suit." He leer and revs his engine, causing Alex to look towards him before looking back at her map. He gets of his bike and approaches her.
 
"You need a ride, darlin'?" He asks as he pulls down the map. "How about a smile for me, huh?"
 
"A smile?" Vers replies dryly.
 
"Yeah. I'm offerin' to help you. The least you can do is give me a smile."
 
She puts away the map. "How about a handshake?"
 
The man looks confused but holds out his hand, she grabs it and they shake hands.
 
"I'm Vers."
 
"People call me 'The Don'."
 
"Wow." She doesn't let go of his hand and sends a small surge of energy through his body, his face twisting in agony.
 
"Here's a proposition for you: You're gonna give me your jacket, your helmet, and your motorcycle, and in return, I'm gonna let you... keep your hand."
 
"Take it!" He grunts handing Vers the keys to his motorcycle. She grabs they keys and lets go of his hand.
 
"What, no smile?" With panic in his eyes, he takes of his jacket handing it to her before he runs into the store. Vers puts on the jacket, it's not quite right. Looking at the mannequins outside the store she considerers adding a few of the pieces to complete the local look.
 

- - - - -
 

She's driving the motorcycle across the desert on an almost empty highway. She overtakes a car, then pulls into a parking lot outside of a bar before walking inside. She looks around, remembering the vision from the White Martians interrogation of her and the brunette inside the bar. She has a flash of memories playing an arcade game, drinking and singing karaoke. Being in the place the memories were made might spark some more.
 
She walks over to a wall covered in pictures of Air Force fighter jets, before fixating on one with the Pegasus logo on the tail. While she is looking at the photos, the bartender walks past her.
 
"What can I get ya?"
 
"Where was this photograph taken?"
 
"At an airport?" He shrugs.
 
"Where's Pegasus?"
 
"That's classified. Not unlike the file I started on you." She recognizes the voice and turns around to see agent Henshaw sitting at a table close to the bar.
 
She tilts her head, analyzing the situation and the possible outcomes of different scenarios. He could run, or fight, but Henshaw neither seems to be armed - at least not with any kind of weaponry that could cause serious harm to her - nor particularly willing to fight. He looks intrigued and apparently, he can answer some of her questions much better than the bartender or that google. She starts to walk over.
 
"But I see you changed it up a bit since then. Grunge is a good look for you."
 
"Did you have a rough day, Agent Henshaw?"
 
"It's cool. You know, space invasion, big car chase, got to watch an alien autopsy. Typical 9 to 5."
 
"So, you saw one?" She pulls out the chair opposite Henshaw and sits down, her eyes frantically scanning his face.
 
"Well, I certainly can't unsee that."
 
"This is gonna get a little awkward but I gotta ask."
 
"You think I'm one of those things."
 
"Can't be too careful. I'm afraid I'm gonna need proof that you’re...you, y'know."
 
"Okay, how?"
 
"White Martians can only assume recent memories of their host bodies."
 
"Oh oh! You wanna get personal."
 
"Where were you born?"
 
"Huntsville, Alabama. But technically I don't remember that part."
 
"Name of your first pet."
 
"Mr. Snuffers."
 
"Mr. Snuffers?"
 
"That's what I said. Did I pass?"
 
"Not yet. First job?"
 
"Soldier, straight out of high school. Got the ranks of full breed Colonel."
 
"And then?"
 
"Field operative for the CIA…a spy.” He adds when Vers doesn’t react to the acronym.
 
"Now?"
 
"Been recruited by the DEO, trying to figure out how to deal with enemies coming from out there." He points his index finger up.
 
"Name a detail so bizarre a White Martian could never fabricate it."
 
"If toast is cut diagonally, I can't eat it. You didn't need that did you?"
 
"No. No, I didn't. But I enjoyed it," she smirks.
 
"Ok. Your turn. Prove you’re not a White Martian."
 
Vers calmly blasts energy out of her fists towards a jukebox on the opposite side of the room before resting her head back on her fist. Henshaw continues to look towards the jukebox, both concerned and confused.
 
"And how is that supposed to prove to me that you’re not a White Martian?"
 
"It's a photon blast."
 
"And...?"
 
"A White Martian can't do that. So, a full-bred colonel turned spy turned DEO agent must have pretty high-security clearance. Where’s Pegasus?"
 

- - - - -
 

Agent Henshaw and Vers are driving down the empty highway in a black car. Vers sits cross-legged in the passenger seat fidgeting with the buttons of the radio, switching from one station to the other. Henshaw throws her an annoyed look. She stops, smirks then continues. Henshaw shakes his head and focuses back on the road. Eventually she gives up and turns the radio off.
 
Henshaw takes the opportunity to find out some more about whatever it is they're up against. "So, the White Martians are alien races which infiltrate and overtake alien planets. And you're a Daxamite, a race of noble warriors." He summarizes all the things he has learned in the past 24 hours.
 
"Heroes. Noble warrior heroes." Vers corrects him nodding to herself.
 
"So, um. What do White Martians want with Dr. Lawson?"
 
"They believe she developed a light speed engine at Pegasus."
 
"Light speed engine? I've got to admit, that's not the craziest thing I've heard today."
 
"Well, it's still early." She says with a smirk.
 
"And you, what do you want?" Henshaw asks regarding her carefully.
 
"To stop the White Martians before they become unstoppable." Her defiance is wavering slightly. Things made a lot more sense just a few days ago. Now she doesn't know what is real and what isn't.
 
"And...? Look, war is a universal language. I know a rogue soldier when I see one, you've got a personal stake in this." Vers contemplates. Her mind is blank and buzzing with images and emotions. She tries to remember her training and focus her thoughts.
 
The car is arriving at a security checkpoint. A soldier walks up to the vehicle. "This is a government property, turn your vehicle around." He growls.
 
"Henry Joseph Henshaw, Agent of the DEO." Henshaw announces holding up a badge.
 
"Place your thumb on the pad." He instructs, and Henshaw does as he is told. "One moment."

"Henry Joseph Henshaw, you have three names?" Vers mocks.

"Everybody calls me Henshaw. Not Henry, not Joseph, not Hank. Just Henshaw."

"What does your mother call you?"

"Henshaw."

"What do you call her?"

"Henshaw." He fires back.

"What about your kids?" Something in his expression changes, but before he can reply, he's cut off when the scanner validates the identity with a beep and lights up green.
 
“You're cleared for access.” The security guard declares and steps aside to let them pass.
 
“Thank you.” Henshaw replies with a tight smile and a small nod.
 
The gate in front of the bar opens and they drive down the driveway and into a tunnel. When they reach the end, they park beside the only other car on the lot. Vers steps out and examines a sign ‘Project Pegasus, Joint NASA USAF Facility’. Yes, they’re definitely in the right place. She starts walking towards a door that looks like the entrance.
 
 
“Oh, hold up,” Henshaw calls after her. “You look like somebody's disaffected niece. Put that on.” He throws a grey baseball cap with the DEO's logo at her.
 
“What is this?” She asks gesturing towards the logo.
 
“It's the DEO logo.” He says nonchalantly.
 
“Does announcing your identity on clothing help with the covert part of your job.” Vers mocks.
 
“Said the space soldier, who was wearing a rubber suit.”
 
She puts the cap on and looks at Henshaw annoyed.
 
“Lose the flannel.” He instructs. She takes off the flannel shirt hanging around her waist and throws it into the car. Henshaw nods at her approvingly and they walk over to the entrance. A security guard and two armed airmen approach them.
 
“How can I help you?”
 
“We're agents of the DEO,” Henshaw replies calmly handing over his badge.
 
“We're looking for a woman named Lawson.” Vers adds.

“A Dr. Wendy Lawson.” Henshaw corrects.
 
“Do you know her?”
 
The security guard hands back Henshaw's badge and directs them to follow him. They are led into an office and asked to take a seat.
 
 
- - - - -
 
 
They have been waiting for what seems like hours. Vers stops pacing the room and lumps down with a huff. Then moves her legs into a cross-legged and leans back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.
 
Henshaw is leaning forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “Are you familiar with the phrase ‘Welcome Wagon’?” He asks.
 
Vers stares back at him with a blank and slightly confused expression.
 
“Well, this ain't it.” He gets up and tries to leave the room by placing his thumb on a fingerprint scanner near the door. After a few seconds the scanner blinks red. Henshaw sighs before reaching into his pocket to grab his pager.
 
“Is that a communicator?” Vers looks up at Henshaw walking across the room while furiously pressing buttons on the small device.
 
“Yeah. State-of-the-art two-way pager.”
 
“Who are you paging?” she asks, but Henshaw doesn’t reply.
 
Vers stands up and walks towards the door and tries opening it with her fingerprint. The scanner blinks red. She turns and looks across the room. There’s a map of the facility. She takes a closer look.
 
When she glances to the side she sees Henshaw fidgeting with his badge and some sticky tape. He presses the tape against his badge before walking across the room and placing it on the scanner. Vers tilts her head and to her surprise the scanner beeps and blinks green as the door opens.
 
“After you.” Henshaw gestures dramatically.
 
“Impressive.”
 
“Oh. You should see what I can do with a paperclip,” he jokes.
 
They walk out of the room and make their way towards an elevator taking it to sub-level five where according to the map in the room, the records of all classified project are kept. They walk down the long empty corridor and eventually find a door labeled ‘Records’.
 
“Oh. Let me get my fingerprint out. Just let me unravel this puppy.” Henshaw fumbles to unwrap the piece of sticky tape, but before he can place it on the scanner, Vers shoots an energy blast at the lock and the door swings open. Henshaw’s jaw drops.
 
“You sat there and watched me play with tape? When all you had to do was...”, he trails off imitating Vers shooting an energy blast from her hand.
 
“I didn't want to steal your thunder,” she shrugs as she walks into the records room.
 
The lights flicker on revealing rows and rows of massive warehouse of shelves full of boxes. They look at each other reassuringly before walking into the room past a few aisles before stopping and turning into one. Vers scans all the boxes carefully.
 
“Huh. Lawson,” she mumbles, pulling out two boxes off the shelf. She hands the first to Henshaw and then places the second on the floor before removing files.
 
“Ha,” she shouts holding up some blueprints. Henshaw looks puzzled. “Lawson's plan for the light-speed engine. I wonder why they terminated the project.”
 
“Um, maybe because she's cuckoo,” Henshaw shows her a page from a notebook, covered in hieroglyphics which to his surprise Vers instantly recognizes.
 
“Those are Kryptonian glyphs!” She grabs the Notebook to take a closer look. “I’ve seen those in the ancient temples on Argo. The Kryptonians were our ancestors, eradicated hundreds of years ago by warring alien tribes. She must’ve been to Argo and studied them.”
 
“Hmm?” He muses.
 
“Lawson is not cuckoo. She's a Daxamite,” Vers concludes.
 
“Well, she's dead.” Henshaw frowns handing her one of the files.
 
“What?”
 
“She crashed the ASIS aircraft during an unauthorized test flight. Took a pilot down with her. That's why security here's so unfriendly. They're covering up a billion-dollar mistake.” Oh, and your light-speed engine is toast.”
 
Henshaw shows her a black and white photograph of a site of the plane crash. The image is a satellite photo of a flat beach next to a mountain, however, the beach has a track leading up to a circle caused by an explosion. Vers turns over the next photo, showing the beach from eye level. The sand was pushed up into large ridges by the explosion.
 
“When did this crash happen?” She asks quietly.
 
“Six years ago.”
 
“Who was the pilot?”
 
“Um, most of this thing's redacted but there is a testimonial here from a Kelly Olsen. Last person to see them both alive.”
 
Henshaw's pager starts buzzing and he gets up to leave. He turns back to Vers.
 
“You OK?”
 
“Mm-hmm,” she hums absentmindedly.
 
“Back in a minute.”
 
Once Henshaw's gone, Vers reaches into the pile of file's in Henshaw's box and reads the testimonial and crash report. While she is flipping through the file, she stops at a photograph of Dr. Lawson, a pilot and herself in the background. The woman, Kelly Olsen is the one from the memories she relived during the procedure while being held captive by the White Martians. Her heart is suddenly filled with grief, but also something else, something warm and pleasant.
 
She recalls a memory of a fighter jet on a tarmac. Dr. Lawson speaks to Alex and Kelly while they both the plane.
 
“This isn't about fighting wars. It's about ending them.” Lawson tells them.
 
 
- - - - -
 
 
“I know Lawson was a Daxamite. She was here on C-53 and died in a plane crash. Do you know anything about this?” Vers had discovered a phone and after connecting it to her communicator calls Mon-El to catch him up on everything she has learned.
 
“I just discovered a mission report sent from C-53. There's only so much I'm cleared to tell you Vers, but... Lawson was an undercover Daxamite operative named Astra In-Ze. She was working on a unique energy core. Experimenting with tech that apparently could help us win the war.”
 
She hesitates, ‘win the war’ didn’t sound like the woman from her memory, but she has to know. “Does it say anything about me?” she blurts out.
 
“Anything about you? No, of course not. Why would it?” Mon-El sounds genuinely confused.
 
“I found evidence that I had a life here.”
 
“On C-53?”
 
“Astra In-Ze is who I see in my dreams. I knew her. And I knew her as Lawson,” she explains trying to remain calm.
 
“This sounds like a White Martian simulation Vers.”
 
“No, its not! 'Cause I remember I was here!” She raises her voice feeling frustrated.
 
“Stop! Remember your training. Know your enemy. It could be you. Do not let your emotions undermine your judgment.”
 
Vers takes three deep breaths centering herself.
 
“We're nearing the jump-point. Leave your beacon on so I can find you. We'll get to the bottom of this Vers. Together.”
 
“Ok,” she replies quietly before hanging up the phone.
 
She walks out of the records room looking for Henshaw and takes the stairs down to sub-level six. She hears two voices coming from the flight right above her. She slows her steps and moves closer to the wall and away from the ledge, trying to listen to their conversation.
 
“Henshaw's colluding with the target.”
 
“Then why did he call us in?” A familiar sounding, female voice asks back.
 
“All I know is that we take him in too. Dead or alive.”
 
“Dead or alive?” The woman sounds irritated.
 
After a moment of contemplation, Vers decides to turn back around and walk up the stairs to find Henshaw.
 
When she reaches the records room, she finds Henshaw lying on the floor his arms held up in defense and another figure approaching him. Without hesitation she fires a purple energy blast at the assailant, sending them flying backwards and smashing into one of the shelves.
 
She quickly runs over and helps Henshaw to get up. She glances over at the unconscious body by the record shelves, realizing it was no other than White Martian General M’orzz. She hears several agents with heavy weaponry approaching from all sides and decides the best way out is through, blasting a hole into the ceiling to the sub-level above.
 
They climb up and run down another long corridor that will hopefully lead them out of there.
  
“You called them in?” Vers yells in between breaths while in full sprint.
 
“My bad!” Henshaw yelps.
 
They turn a corner and run up a flight of stairs reaching a door. However, Henshaw’s partner Vasquez is standing directly above them with her gun drawn. Vers' hand lights up but Vasquez lowers her weapon. Henshaw gives her a tight-lipped smile and she nods in return gesturing for them to get out before she changes her mind.
 
The barricade the door from the other side with a piece of metal. Once done Vers glares at Henshaw and holds her hand out requesting to give her something. When he doesn't, she hits him and holds her hand out again.
 
“What?” He rubs his shoulder, looking both offended and a little guilty.
 
“Your communicator. You obviously can't be trusted with it.”
 
Henshaw hands over his pager, as the agents slam into the door behind them. They can hear them struggling on the other side but run over towards cover. When the agents eventually push through, Vers and Henshaw are already hidden behind a tower of boxes.
 
Vers observes her surroundings, looking for a way out before nudging Henshaw’s shoulder, a bit gentler this time, and gesturing towards a plane. He looks up with uncertainty. “Do you know how to fly this thing?”
 
“Uh... we'll see,” she shrugs starting to climb up into the cockpit of the plane.
 
“That's a yes or no question.” Henshaw struggles.
 
Vers purposefully plays with a few switches, causing the engine to roar to life and the wings to extend. They gather speed.
 
“Yes,” she says, seeing the tension and fear fade from Henshaw’s face.
 
She pushes a lever forward and causes the plane to lift off.
 
“That's what I'm talking about!” He howls as Vers flies the plane out of the underground tarmac area, and over the open desert.
 
They sit in silence for several minutes before Vers starts to speak.
 
“Funny story... I arrived on Argo, near dead, no memory... That was six years ago.”
 
“So, you think you're the pilot that went down with Dr Lawson.”
 
“I'm saying that the last person to see them alive can probably tell us.”
 
“Kelly Olsen.”
 
“Mmhmm. So how do we get to California?”
 
“Head West. Hang a right at National City,” Henshaw instructs.
 
“That agent, that stopped the White Martians from fighting us,” she trails off.
 
“Vasquez. New girl. Guess she doesn't hate me yet,” he frowns.
 
“Yeah well, give her time,” Vers smirks.
 
“I guess she had a feeling, went with her gut against orders. It's a really hard thing to do. That's what keeps us human.”
 
“I get in trouble for that. A lot.” She admits.
 
“I see that about you.” He says causing both of them to burst out laughing. “Rescuing the guy how sold you out to the White Martians. I guess that's not standard Daxamite operating procedure.” Henshaw concludes.
 
“Well, I won't tell your boss if you don't tell mine.”
 
 
- - - - -
 
 
They land the plane on a field just outside of National City. Henshaw talks to the farmer for a good twenty minutes and then walks over with a set of keys waving at the blue pickup truck by the barn. They climb in and head towards Midvale, the last known address of Kelly Olsen.
 
After a couple of hours driving in silence, a sign greets them ‘Welcome to Midvale’. It’s a sleepy coastal town. Through the rolled down window she can feel the sun and a light breeze on her skin. The air smells like the ocean, which can be seen from the highway.
 
They approach a traditional suburban house on a small hill, surrounded by oak trees on one side and a view of the ocean. They park the truck next to a black Camaro in the driveway. Vers recalls this place from the memory she saw when she was held captive by the White Martians.
 
She gets out of the truck, her heart beating faster with every step she takes towards the shed in the backyard. A small brunette is tinkering on a workstation besides a motorcycle. Vers approaches the woman carefully, unsure what to say or do. Before she can speak a girl climbs up on the motorcycle looking at her with curious brown eyes.
 
“Excuse me, I'm looking for Kelly Olsen.” Vers speaks up.
 
“Mommy?” The girl asks quietly looking back and forth between Vers and the other woman who stopped what she was doing and is now also looking at her. Eyes open wide in disbelief.
 
Before she can make sense of the whole situation the girl runs over to her hugging her legs. “Mommy,” she repeats. Vers just stands there awkwardly, unaware of who the child is.
 
“I'm not really who you think I am,” she whispers.
 
She looks back up at the girl’s mother. Kelly Olsen, who she remembers smiling from the photograph in the file on Lawson and from the memories that she still couldn’t believe were supposed to be her own, is standing there, unmoving, clutching her chest with one hand and holding on to the workstation with the other. Her eyes are brimming with tears.
 
“Alex,” she breathes out.

Chapter Text

They sit around the small dining table. Vers – no, Alex, her name is Alex Danvers, and she's a human born on earth, apparently – has just given Kelly the gist of how she was a warrior on the Daxamite Star Force for the past six years before escaping alien shape shifters and landing on Earth and that Hank Henshaw is a special agent for a top-secret government organization, dealing with extra-normal threats. How they discovered that Dr. Wendy Lawson was an alien working on a light-speed engine and how Kelly Olsen was somehow involved in all of that too. 

Henshaw is leaning against the wall, arms crossed, keeping an eye on Kelly, who's staring blankly at the table top, clutching the glass of water tightly, taking deep breaths. Alex leans against the kitchen counter gazing around the house, soaking up every detail in an attempt to trigger more memories. She catches the little girl, Monica, stealing curious glances at her.

"That is the craziest shit I have ever heard." Kelly suddenly speaks up.

"Green-transforming aliens? There's no such thing." Monica jumps up on the chair next to her mother.

"You're absolutely right, young lady. There is no such thing. Because if there were, we would want to keep that to ourselves," Henshaw glares at Alex accusingly.

"You don't believe me?"

Alex stand up and walks towards the stove. She puts one hand on the kettle and they start glowing purple. Quickly, the kettle begins to boil, blowing out steam and making a whistling noise. Monica stands up, both fascinated and curious, and walks over to the stove.

"No way. That's so cool."

"Oh, ho. She can do a lot more than just make tea with those hands."

"Like what? Show us," the girl demands excitedly.

"Maybe later." Alex catches Kelly's sad expression before she averts her eyes to study the pattern of the table cloth.

"We kept all your stuff. Aunty Kara helped us put it up in the attic. I'll go get it."

"You want to give her a hand with that, Hank?"

"Mmm?? Um, sure," he mumbles, following Monica out of the room and leaving Alex alone with Kelly, who hasn't said a word since the incident with the kettle. Alex walks from behind the counter and sits opposite Kelly at the table. She can't bear the silence and reaches a hand across the table. Kelly flinches and looks up at Alex with sad eyes.

"You don't remember anything?" Her voice is trembling.

"I see... flashes. Little moments, but I can't tell what's real. If I could just piece together what happened that morning, maybe it'll all make sense?" 

"You woke me up," Kelly starts. She takes a steadying breathe, while searching for words.

"Back then we had to get up so early, the Air Force still wasn't letting women fly combat, so testing Lawson's planes was our only shot at doing something that mattered." Alex nods, encouraging Kelly to continue.

"You wanted to race to base, on your dad's old motorcycle, and I wasn't about to argue, because I knew my Camaro would dominate. But you cheated, took a shortcut."

"Since when is a shortcut cheating?" Alex asks cockily.

"Since it violates the pre-determined rules of engagement."

"I definitely don't remember those." She winks, causing the tinniest smile to cross Kelly's features.

"Mmm, of course you don't."

"When I got to the hanger, Lawson was agitated, she said 'she had lives to save'. She was trying to take the Aces up herself, but you said..."

"If there were lives at stake, I would fly the plane." Alex repeats the words she spoke six years ago.

"Yup. Big hero moment. The kind of moment we've both been waiting for. The Doc was always unique. That's why I liked her. But, now you're saying she's from another planet."

"I know this must be hard for you." Alex once more reaches a hand across the table.

"What, this part right here? No, no. Know what's hard? Losing you in a mission so secret they act like it never even happened. Hard... is knowing you were out there somewhere, too damn stubborn to die. And now you come back here after 6 years... with your super-charged fire-hands and you expect me to call you... I don't even know what... 'Vers'? Is that really who you are now?"

"I don't know." She frowns. She wants to be Alex, the woman from her memories, who made Kelly laugh carelessly. Who was part of a family. A family who she doesn't even remember now. But she wants to. She lets out a small sigh.

The awkward tension is broken by Monica and Henshaw walking back in with boxes.

"Come look," the girl calls and waves Alex to join her on the living room floor. Henshaw looks through a few photos before putting them back and stepping away and taking a seat on the couch.

Alex walks over and slumps down next to Monica who's crouching over one of the boxes.

"This is me and you on Halloween." She holds up a photograph showing Monica dressed as a pilot sitting next to Alex. "I'm Amelia Earhart and you're Janis Joplin."

"This is us on Christmas. I got more." Monica shows Alex photo after photo, starting with the three of them sitting in front of a Christmas tree, Monica grinning and Alex kissing Kelly’s cheek. Her heart starts beating fast and a light blush colors her pale skin.

"This is you right after you graduated college." The photo shows Alex with long wavy hair, sitting at a bar smiling brightly and holding up a piece of paper with golden letters, a Stanford University emblem and in a delicate curved font, Alexandra Carol Danvers. Three names, huh? Must be an Earth-thing.

Another photo grabs her attention. "Oh, this is you when you were younger. This is your mom, your dad and Aunt Kara," she points out the other people. Alex doesn't remember any of them. She should feel something, but she can't.

"Where are they now?" She looks up at Kelly.

"Your dad died when you were 15. That was a year after Kara came to live with you."

"She's your adopted sister."

"Oh."

"She's... special," is the word Kelly settles for after some consideration and her face lights up. "She was there for us, when you..." she trails off.

"Does she live here?"

"Um, no. Kara is a reporter up in National City. I tried to call her, but she must've been busy. I left a message to come here as soon as she can. Not every day your sister comes back from the dead." She smiles grimly.

"So, this," Alex looks around the house.

"This was your childhood home," we moved here when your mother got sick. You took care of her. You always took care of people." Tears roll down Kelly's cheeks.

A lump formed in Alex's throat at the sight. "Is she?"

"Four months after your accident."

"I miss grandma Eliza," Monica sniffles and Alex can't help but pulling the girl in for a tight hug. They stay like that for a few moments.

"Oh wait." The girl speaks up again and starts bouncing around the room. "I forgot, your jacket. Mom doesn't let me wear it anymore after I spilled ketchup on it." Monica runs off to retrieve Alex's jacket. 

Once Monica has left, Alex looks at the pictures again, pushing them around to better see the ones underneath. She continues looking through the pictures before she comes across the remains of an old, mostly burnt dog tag. Written on it is part of a name 'Alex Dan'. It's hers.

Kelly clears her throat. "That was all that survived the crash. Or so we thought." They lock eyes, both taking deep breaths trying to take in and understand what these words meant. They are startled back to reality by a knock on the door. Kelly gets up moving towards the door, but Alex grabs her arm to stop her.

"Don't answer that."

“It’s probably Kara.” Kelly explains.

“They can change into anyone. Besides—” Alex remembers their flight here and the distance between Midvale and National City. “How would she even get here that fast?”

Kelly doesn’t reply.

Henshaw and Alex cautiously walk towards the door, trying to see who is outside. Alex slowly opens it, glowing fist hidden behind her back, while Henshaw stands on the other side, with his gun pulled.

“Hey!” a chipper blonde with glasses greets them. She looks like an older version of the teenage girl in the photo. The glasses are new.

“What do you want?” Alex glares at her.

“I—"

“Kara!” Kelly rushes over to hug her.

Alex watches the two women suspiciously. Then the ‘Kara’ turns to towards her, tears brimming in her eyes.

“Alex,” she croaks, raising her arms up and moving to hug her too, but Alex takes a step back. “You're really working overtime to sell this one, aren't you, M’orzz?”

‘Kara’ stops and turns her head back to Kelly with a confused look. “Uhh...”

“I'm sorry. Kara, Alex is—"

Kelly looks around, if there is anyone else outside and then decides it’s best to have this conversation inside. She ushers Kara in and closes the door. She takes a deep breath, her mind spinning, where to even start, trying to explain any of this, but her racing thoughts are interrupted.

“You know, you really should keep an eye on the backdoor.” The voice makes them all turn to see General M’orzz holding a terrified looking Monica.

Henshaw draws his weapon and Alex's hands light up. Kara swiftly moves in to shield Kelly, her eyes shifting confusedly between the White Martian and Alex’s purple-glowing hands.

“Oh my God. What the hell?” Kelly yells.

General M’orzz switches back and forth between her tall White Martian form, Kelly’s shape and then finally settles for the face of a woman in a magazine, lying on the coffee table.

Alex begins to advance towards her, holding up her glowing hands threateningly.

“Hang on a second, before you go swinging those jazz hands around, making a mess in this lovely home of yours.”

The words make Alex stop in her tracks. Home. Her home.

“I’m not gonna hurt the girl. Just, don't kill me.”

“If you really meant no harm, you wouldn’t use a child as a shield.” Alex counters.

“Okay, that's a fair point. But I'm sure that you understand, I had to take some precautions. I saw you crush 20 of my best men with your hands bound. I just wanna talk.” M’orzz pleads.

“Last time we talked, I ended up hanging from my ankles.”

“That was before I knew who you were. Before I knew what made you different from the others. I have an audio recording from Pegasus, of your voice, from a plane crash six years ago. On a device I believe you call a 'black box'.”

“They told me it was destroyed in the crash.” Kelly steps forward, giving Kara a small nod. “How'd you get it?”

“Let’s just say, I have a special talent that allows me to get into places I'm not supposed to be in.” She demonstrates her shapeshifting abilities again, by changing into Henshaw’s shape and back.

“What do you want from my sister?” Kara speaks up, hands on hips.

“Okay, I get it. We're all a little on edge here. But look, I just need your help decoding some coordinates. If you sit down, you listen to this, I assure you, it'll be worth your while.”

Alex looks back and forth between M’orzz, who’s still holding onto Monica, Kelly, Henshaw and Kara. “Deal,” she relents, lowering her hands.

- - - - - -

“Why can't I listen too?” Monica pouts as she puts on headphones and plops down on the couch. Kelly throws an accusing look at Kara.

“I’m pretty sure she’s got that from Alex.” The blonde chuckles. Then her face grows solemn and she reaches for Kelly’s arm and rubbing it reassuringly. “It’ll be okay, Kelly.”

Kelly nods and takes a deep breath. She walks over to Alex, Henshaw, and M’orzz, who are assembled around the computer, waiting for her to play the tape. She inserts the CD and a loading bar appears on the screen, with the bar moving slowly across the screen.

“What's happening?” Alex asks impatiently.

“It's loading.”

After what seems far too long, the recording is fully loaded and starts playing. And through some cracking and white noise they hear the voices of Dr. Lawson and Alex.

“Punch in the coordinates. 5229,. -47, 8.768, 0.2.” 

“Copy that. Where are we going Doc?”

“My laboratory”

“Your laboratory? What do you mean?”

“Oh no.”

“Is that... Wait, what is that? It's not showing up on my radar.”

“Go Alex. Fly!”

***

Alex sits in the cockpit and Lawson directly behind her. Outside the window, Earth can be seen with other planes flying around it.

"That's no MIG, Lawson. Who the hell are they?"

"Those are the bad guys. Fly faster, now."

"Yes, ma'am." Alex pushes a lever forward, causing the plane to speed up. The plane following them also speeds up. The dogfight between the two planes continue, with Alex pushing the lever sideways to escape the other plane.

"What do they want?"

"Me. My work. I never should have brought you along."

"Here come some G's." Alex pulls the lever backwards, causing the plane to flip in the air. After the flip, Alex and Lawson are trailing the other plane. However, when Alex fires the other plane fires back. 

"They're firing backward. Hold on!" Alex pushes the lever sideways and the plane tilts into another revolution. However, the plane is hit and the wing bursts into flames. Alex struggles to regain control of the plane but fails to do so.

"Bail out! Bail out! Bail out! Stay with me Lawson!" Alex ejects the cockpit from the plane and struggles to regain control. Once Alex has aligned the plane parallel to the ground, the plane crashes into a beach.

"Danvers, do you copy?"

"Yeah, I copy. On the ground."

"Can anyone hear me?" Lawson sounds panicked.

"Yeah. I copy. Doc?"

Alex climbs out of the plane and attends to Lawson, whose head is slumped against her chest. Once Alex removes Lawson's helmet, she notices something is wrong.

"Are you okay?" Alex asks, frantically checking for injuries, but there are none.

Lawson nods and holds up her hand for Alex to grab. "Help me out." Alex unbuckles Lawson's seatbelt and helps her out of the plane.

"I have to destroy it before they get here." 

Alex helps Lawson walk a few steps away from the plane before Lawson falls over. Alex leans over Lawson and tries to help her stand up, but she refuses.

"What? Lawson?"

"You remember what I said about our work here? What it's for?"

"To end wars?" Alex recalls.

"Yeah. But the wars are bigger than you know. Damn it! My name is not Lawson. My real name is Astra In-Ze and I come from a planet called Krypton. It was destroyed when our sun exploded. My people. Many of us died, but we managed to escape by protecting our capital Argo City. We thought we were safe, until the Daxamites attacked us.

"I would say that you’re delusional, but we just got shot down by a spaceship and you don't even have single scratch on you."

"Listen. Just remember the coordinates, okay? You've got to save them without me."

"Save who? How?" Alex has no idea what is happening, who Lawson or whatever her name may be is talking about.

Lawson ignores Alex's questions and pulls a gun out of her jacket.

"I've got to blow this engine before they find it."

Lawson sits up and attempts to shoot the plane, but she is shot through the heart by an attacker from the other ship. Alex watches Lawson fall, her veins glowing green. In shock she tries to run over to the woman, but she’s paralyzed, her head feeling numb as she just sits there, staring at the assailant.

Suddenly, Alex reaches for Lawson's gun and points in the direction of the attacker. Alex switches between looking at Lawson lying on the ground and the direction of the attacker. Eventually, Mon-El appears walking towards Alex and Lawson. Alex, with her gun drawn, slowly walks towards the plane.

"We have no interest in hurting you."

"No?! Because all the shooting kinda gave the wrong impression!" Alex snaps at him.

"The energy core, where is it?" He urges.

“Pararescue's on the way. You have two minutes until you're surrounded.”

“Then I see no reason to prolong this conversation.” He draws a blaster and threateningly points it at Alex. 

“No wait!” She yells gesturing towards the engine of the plane. “You mean that energy core?”

As they both stare at the engine, Alex draws her gun and fires at it. The engine bursts into purple flames, and the shockwave of the explosion pushes them both backwards. Alex, being closest to the engine, absorbs the energy. The flames creating ripples around her. All around the crash site, rocks are turned into dust and trees disintegrate. Alex continues to absorb the energy. Her hands begin to spark, and her eyes glow bright purple.

After a while, the blast suddenly stops, and Alex falls to the ground, losing consciousness. Mon-El struggles to stand up, and watches Alex from a distance, as his crew members appear on the scene.

“Commander, she's still moving. Permission to fire?” 

“Hold your fire.” Mon-El demands as he walks up to Alex’s unconscious body.

There's nothing left. The core has been destroyed.”

Mon-El crouches down next to Alex and notices a part of her dog-tag lying in the dirt. He picks it up. "Vers," he mumbles to himself. After a moment of consideration, he turns around to face his team. 

“She absorbed its power. She's coming with us.”

***

"He lied to me." Alex blurts out, confused.

She gets up and walks out into the backyard of the house. Henshaw, M'orzz and Kelly slowly follow her. Kara, who looks like she’s seen a ghost – yet again – stops Monica from running after them.

"Everything that I knew was a lie." Alex yells.

M’orzz steps forward, moving to put a hand on Alex’s shoulder but then relents. “Now you understand.”

“What? What do I understand now?” She can’t stop the tears of frustration and the sharp sense of betrayal from falling. 

“Mon-El killed Astra. He killed her. Because she escaped and because she wanted to end an unjust war.”

“No!” Alex protests. “Your people are terrorists... that kill innocents. I saw the ruins on Torfah.” 

“Ruins that the Accusers are responsible for.” The General interjects. “My people lived as refugees on Torfah. Homeless, ever since we resisted Daxamite rule. Now the handful of us that are left, will be slaughtered or enslaved. Unless you will help me finish what Astra started. The coordinates you found, would've powered a lightspeed ship capable of carrying us to safety. A new home, where the Daxamite can't reach us.” She finishes with a pleading voice. Alex searches her face, and even though she knows White Martians can take on any shape and mimic any expression, the eyes she looks at are sincere.

“Lawson always told us that her work at Pegasus wasn't to fight wars, but to end them.” Kelly speaks up after a moment.

“She wanted you to help us find the core.” M’orzz confirms. 

“Well, I already destroyed it.” Alex shrugs.

“No, you destroyed the engine. The core that powered it is in a remote location. If you help us decode those coordinates. We can find it.”

“You'll use it to destroy us.” Alex eyes M’orzz suspiciously.

The General grows more and more frustrated at Alex’s stubbornness. “We just want a home. You and I lost everything at the hands of the Daxamite. Can't you see it now? You're not one of them.”

“You don't know me. You have no idea who I am. I don't even know who I am!” Alex snaps.

Kelly steps up to her and places both hands on Alex’s shoulders fixing her with her eyes. “You are Alex Danvers. You are the woman on that black box, risking her life to do the right thing. My best friend and the love of my life, who raised a daughter with me and who supported me as a pilot when no one else did. You're smart and funny, and a huge pain in the ass. And you are the most powerful person I knew, way before you could shoot fire from your fist. You hear me? You hear me?” She pleads, tears streaming down her face.

Alex looks at her in surprise and confusion, but there’s a strong pull in her heart and she can’t resist it. She lifts her hand to Kelly’s cheek. She doesn’t quite understand this feeling yet, but she remembers it. Their eyes connect. Alex smiles warmly and a flicker of something like hope crosses Kelly’s face.

- - - - - -

M’orzz, Henshaw, Alex and Kelly stand around the kitchen counter, discussing their next steps and how to work together after all they know now. 

“I know I don't deserve your trust, but you were our only lead.” They follow the White Martian’s explanation with curiosity. “We discovered that your energy signature matched Astra's core. Now, we know why. If only you knew, the importance of it to me. I just need your help decoding the coordinates to Astra's lab.”

“Those weren't coordinates. They're safe vectors.” Alex corrects. 

“Orbital positioning and velocity.” Henshaw adds.

“You didn't find her lab on Earth, because it's not on Earth.” Kelly sums up.

“That was the location on the day of the crash six years ago. If we track its course, we'll find it, in orbit, right now.” Alex says excitedly, pointing at a location on the map spread on top of the kitchen counter.

“It's just basic physics.” Kelly shrugs.

“In orbit?” M’orzz rolls her eyes at herself, clearly disappointed that inhabitants of this primitive planet could figure this out, but neither she nor her scientists did.

“Mon-El will catch up to you soon. We've got to get the core before he does.” Alex warns.

“You're going to space?” Kara asks, gorging herself on a sandwich. Both her and Henshaw look at each other in confusion, how did she hear that from all the way over where she’s sitting with Monica?  

“In what?” Alex looks around.

“A few tweaks to the plane you flew here with should do it. I can handle the modifications.” M’orzz suggests.

Henshaw agrees to lead M’orzz to the plane hidden in the barn on the nearby farm, so she can get to work on modifying the aircraft, while Alex and Kelly stay behind at the house. They are sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table.

“Well, I could use a co-pilot.” Alex says with a wink.

“No. No, I... I can't.” Kelly replies after a beat, glancing over at her daughter, who’s pretending to read a comic, but clearly eavesdropping. “I can't leave Monica.”

“Why?” The girl jumps up. “It's okay. I can stay with aunt Kara.”

Kara nods enthusiastically.

“There's no way I'm going, baby. It's too dangerous.” Kelly protests.

“Testing brand new aerospace tech is dangerous. Didn't you use to do that?” Monica counters and Alex looks at Kelly, smiling smugly.

“Your plan is to leave the atmosphere in a craft not designed for the journey, and you anticipate hostile encounters with a technologically superior foreign enemy. Correct?” Kelly summarizes. Alex nods.

“That's what I'm saying. You. Have. To. Go.” The girl emphasizes the last few words.

“Monica...” Kelly starts but trails off, having run out of reasons her daughter would accept.

“You have the chance to fly the coolest mission in the history of missions. And you're gonna give it up to sit on the couch and watch TV with me?” Monica explains, and when Kelly raises an eyebrow at her, she adds, “I just think that you should consider the kind of example you're setting for your daughter.”

Kelly looks towards Kara then Alex for help, but neither of the Danvers sisters is being helpful at all, laughing at Kelly's predicament and giving Monica a thumbs up.

Five hours later, Alex receives a message from Henshaw’s pager on her communicator, notifying her that M’orzz has completed the modifications on the plane making it an ‘almost proper spaceship’.

Before Alex and Kelly head out, Monica walks up to Alex carrying a brown leather jacket.

"What you got there, Lieutenant Trouble?"

"You remember." Monica beams. 

"Is that mine?"

When Monica attempts to hand it over, Alex protests. "Oh, no. You hang onto it until I come back."

She crouches down and gives the girl a hug. Kara walks up behind them. The expression on her face a mix of concern, hope and pride. A look that Alex somehow knows she’s received a few times in the past and before she knows it the blonde wraps her in a surprisingly strong hug. A warm and familiar feeling overcomes her.

“Please be safe, Alex,” Kara sniffles.

“Will do, sis,” Alex whispers.

After several more hugs and promises to come back soon and alive, they head to the farm on Alex’s motorbike, leaving Monica and Kara.

- - - - - -

Alex, with Kelly as her co-pilot flies the modified spaceship through the clouds, gaining more and more altitude. Henshaw and M’orzz sitting behind them in the passenger seats. After working together for a few hours, the two seem to be getting along quite well and the DEO agent even calls the general by her first name, M’gann.

“Passing 500 and climbing.” Alex announces.

Kelly turns around studying M’gann and the human shape she has taken on. “Can I ask you something?” The White Martian nods. “Do you just turn into anything you want?”

“Ah well, I have to see it first.”

“Can you all do it?”

“Physiologically, yeah. But it takes practice and, um, dare I say it, talent to do it well.”

“Can you turn into a cat?”

“What's a cat?”

“What about a filing cabinet?”

“Why would I turn into a filing cabinet?”

“A Venus fly trap. I'll give you $50 right now if you turn into a Venus fly trap.” 

M’gann sighs and rolls her eyes, annoyed at Kelly’s jokes.

“Switching engines from Scramjet to fusion. Buckle up, folks.” Alex announce, pushing down a lever. Everybody is pushed back into their seats, as the modified planes climbs further into the sky, shaking violently. They continue to assent and eventually reach zero gravity.

“Locking in coordinate grid.” Alex flips a switch and the gravity on the plane returns.

“Where is it?” Kelly strains her eyes, but in the darkness of space, she can’t see anything.

“It's here. It's gotta be here.” M’gann’s voice is filled with desperation.

“Well, is it in front of all that nothing, or behind it?” Henshaw quips. 

Realization hits Alex and with a few swipes, the computer in her suit’s sleeve lights up.

"Decloaking activated."

A bright light appears from the empty space and a massive laboratory becomes visible. Alex flies into the laboratory and the four disembark the plane and begin walking through the corridors.

They reach a large room, with a black stone giving off a purple glow sitting in the reactor on one side of the room.

“Is that it? The core?” Kelly approaches it cautiously.

“In her notes, she called it the Harun-El. It used to be Argo’s power source before the Daxamite Invasion.”

Kelly curiously arches an eyebrow. “This small thing?”

“Well, there was more. A lot more. This is all that’s left.” Alex reaches out and grabs the stone from its position in the reactor. She weighs it in her hand and starts tossing it up in the air like a baseball. She walks around the room, observing her surroundings. Something was off.

“What was Lawson doing with all this kid stuff?” Kelly picks up a lunchbox and opens it. Alex peeks into the empty box, she places the Harun-El inside before closing it. There are several crystals on the reactor console, all of them giving off a subtle silver glow, except one. Alex takes a closer look. She carefully turns it, recognizing a strangely familiar glyph engraved in the crystals surface. She pockets it for later examination.

Suddenly, Henshaw clears his throat loudly and gestures towards a still steaming cup of tea. “We're not alone.” He whispers.

M’gann steps forward and lets out a cry. There’s silence for a moment, then movement in the shadows and suddenly, a swarm of scared White Martians appear from their hiding places. One of them, a child, runs towards M'gann and hugs her tightly.

Things click into place. "She didn't come here for the Harun-El," Alex realizes.

“It's okay. We didn't know what to do. Astra warned us not to send a signal for any reason or the Daxamite would find us”

“You did the right thing.” M’gann assures. But the other White Martian backs away when Alex approaches “It's okay, it's okay. She alright. She's a friend. She led me here.”

“I'm not gonna hurt you.” Alex confirms with a soft voice. “I'm so sorry. I didn't know.”

“Alex, this is war. My hands are filthy from it too. But we're here now. You found my family. This is just the beginning. There’re thousands of us separated from each other. Scattered throughout the galaxy.”

“I—“, Alex is cut off, when the doors to the lab open and Mon-El and his strike team walk through, fully armed and weapons pointed at them.

"Fraternizing with the enemy?" The Daxamite commander bellows with a dark smirk on his face.

Chapter Text

Mon-El grins arrogantly and starts walking towards Alex as his strike team keeps their weapons pointed at them.

"You can see they're not soldiers, let them go. You can have me." M'gann pleads, shielding her child.

"And the core?"

"You lied to me." Alex hisses, not caring one bit for the blaster trained at her head.

"I made you a better version of yourself. What's given can be taken away." He smirks.

Alex’s fists start glowing as she attempts to shoot a photon blast at their assailants, but Mon-El presses a few buttons on a device and all of the sudden they just spark uselessly before eventually dying out. The chip in her neck has also turned off. How is that possible?

But there is no time to ponder over that, so instead of using her powers, Alex runs towards Mon-El and begins punching him. They engage in a fist fight, but after training together for years, they are evenly matched and anticipate each other’s moves.

Using whatever means possible, Mon-El lights up a gadget in his suit. Alex leans back trying to avoid it. Around her the Daxamites are attacking the White Martians, forcing them to kneel. Mon-El then jerks his arm away from Alex and she falls to the ground unconsciously.

When Alex wakes up, she’s kneeling, with her hands bound in front of her.

“There she is.” Mon-El walks up to her smirking viciously. “Seems like your time on C-53 jogged the old memory.”

“Let... me... go.” Alex hisses trying to break her restraints, but her powers are gone, and these shackles are made of nth metal. Unbreakable.

“No can do.” He shrugs.

Alex makes eye contact with Kelly, Henshaw, M’gann and the other White Martians, who are restrained on the far side of the lab in a cage made of pure energy. “If you hurt them, I will burn you to the ground.”

“With what exactly? Your power came from us.” He grins touching the chip. Alex wants to rip his head off.

You didn't give me these powers.” She protests. “The blast did.”

“And yet, you've never had the strength to control them on your own.”

Alex closes her eyes and tries to focus and summon her powers. But nothing. Instead, Mon-El uses the device again and starting from the chip in her neck a searing pain spreads through her body and causes her to double over. She curls her hands into fists and fights against the pain. She stands back up.

“You did good, Vers.” Mon-El walks up to her and pats her shoulder. “Thanks to you, those insidious shapeshifters will threaten our borders no more.”

Tears of pain and frustration brim in Alex’s eyes. “I used to believe your lies. But the White Martians are just fighting for a home. You're talking about destroying them because they won't submit to your rule. And neither will I.”

“We found you. We embraced you as our own.” He yells.

“You stole me. From my home, my family.” Alex protests.

Alex launches forward, trying to swing her tied hands at Mon-El, but he steps back and shoots an energy blast at her.

“It's cute how hard you try.” He leers. “Remember...without us...you're weak.”

Alex pushes herself off the ground.

“You're flawed. Helpless. We saved you. Without us... you're only human.” He finishes with a smirk.

Anger and determination rise up in her. She feels strong. All the memories start flashing back into Alex's mind. Her parents, her sister, Kelly, Monica, every single time she fell and got back up. She looks back up at him.

“You're right. I'm only human.”

“On Argo, you were reborn. Vers.”

“My name...is Alex.” Her fists light up and start burning through the restraints.

Alex continues to release energy waves from her hands. The electricity on the entire ship malfunctions, the lights start to flicker, cages and handcuffs suddenly pop open, releasing the prisoners.

“I've been fighting with one arm tied behind my back. But what happens when…” Alex pulls off the chip attached to her neck, causing the energy from her fists to spread through her entire body. “I'm finally set free?”

With a loud crack, her shackles burst open. Alex is released from her restraints, in every way. Glowing and floating in midair. She blasts energy from her hands and sends four Daxamites flying backwards into the wall behind them.

She glides back down, and her feet softly reconnect with the ground. She grabs the lunchbox with the Harun-El and walks over to Kelly and Henshaw.

“You know you're glowing, right?”

“I'll explain it later.” Alex opens the lunchbox to reveal the Harun-El glowing inside in a bright purple. She closes the lunchbox and hands it to Henshaw “Take the Harun-El, get the White Martians in the QuadJet and go.” Henshaw gives a short affirming nod.

“What about you?” Kelly looks at her with pleading eyes.

“I'll buy you some time.” Alex gives Kelly the same confident grin she gave her whenever they flew together, and Kelly knows that she’s got this. She nods and heads off with Henshaw.

Alex loops around in the corridors to distract the Daxamites so the others can escape. She runs into Mon-El and a few of his crew members.

“Hey Guys. Arm-wrestle for the Harun-El?”

“I used to find you amusing. Let's put an end to this!” He yells raising his right hand as a signal to the others.

All the Daxamites draw their weapons and advance on Alex, but in full control of her powers she easily fights them off one by one, before once again facing Mon-El.

“Don't make me do this.” He yells.

“Okay.” She smirks back as she shoots an energy blast that sends Mon-El flying backwards into a pillar, causing the attached metal structure to collapse.

He emerges from beneath the pile of large metal parts, having enabled the magnetic field emitters in his gloves. He flings large parts of shard metal at Alex. She dodges them, stalling the fight as long as possible to ensure the other’s escape.

But Mon-El seems to sense her plan. “Nice diversion,” he sneers and makes a run for the hangar. Alex is on his heels, shooting energy blasts at him, while he keeps throwing loose metal parts at her.

They both arrive at the hangar in time to see the QuadJet take off. Mon-El heads to the drop-ship he and his team arrived on to chase after them. There’s no other pod left so Alex runs after Mon-El. The hatch closes before she can get on, so she jumps and holds on to the outside of the drop-ship as it speeds away and quickly actives the life support helmet.

Mon-El tries various maneuvers to shake her off. But she keeps holding on, forcing him to abandon his chase. She sends an energy blast at the engine and the ship tumbles to the ground pulling her down along with it. She lets go. A surge of energy rushes through her and suddenly she’s soaring up instead of down. She flies. She’s never felt like this.

Floating she watches Mon-El crash in a canyon below her as the sky above her darkens as ships of the Daxamite Starforce appear and deploy dozens of warheads at once.

Before she can react a blonde woman in red and blue flies past her and in incredible speed takes out the warheads. Kara! She’s dodging several of them to make them collide and flinging one back at the Daxamite ships.

Kara makes eye contact with Alex and gives her a nod. Alex mirrors her and descends into the canyon to go after Mon-El, while her sister is fighting back the Daxamites. She scans the ground and finds him a few yards away from his crashed jet. An energy blast that barely misses his feet, makes him stop in his tracks.

“I'm so proud of you. You've come a long way since I found you that day by the lake. But can you keep your emotions in check long enough to take me on? Or will it get the better of you, as always? I always told you...you'll be ready, the day you can knock me down as yourself. This is that moment. This is that moment, Vers! Turn off the light show, and prove, prove to me, you can beat me with...”

An energy blast hits him and he’s flung back landing face first in the dirt. Alex looks up and sees her sister soaring above.

“She has nothing to prove to you.” Kara lands next to Alex crossing her arms before her chest.

Alex walks up to Mon-El. He takes his blaster, weighing it in her hands and deciding to keep it. Dibs. She grabs him by the arm and drags him to the site of his pod. He regains conscience as she sets the coordinates.

“Destination: Argo.” The computer announces.

“I can't go back empty-handed.” He starts pleading.

“You won't be empty-handed. I'm sending you with a message. Tell Lar Gand that we’re gonna end it. The war, the lies, all of it.”

“You can't do this.” Mon-El screams, banging his fists against the inside of the pod as it ascends.

They watch it disappear along with the Daxamite fleet, that had just moments ago darkened the sky. Kara bounces around excitedly, still feeling the adrenalin rush from fighting off a war fleet. Alex turns to Kara and smiles at her proudly.

“I remember, Kara. I remember everything. You’re my sister. The reason I wanted to be a pilot. To fly just like you.” They collapse into each other’s arms tears streaming down their faces as they hug tightly.

After a while Alex pulls back and sniffles as she wipes the tears away. She takes in Kara’s appearance.

“Is, is that your old cheerleader uniform?” She asks with a wide grin.

Kara blushes. “It is, but my friend Winn made some modifications.”

“You should’ve asked for pants.”

“Hm, maybe.”

Alex stops for a moment, fixing the glyph on Kara’s chest that is shaped like an ‘S’. “You showed this to me before.”

“It’s my Kryptonian family’s coat of arms. The House of El.”

“El Mayarah.” Alex whispers.

“Stronger together,” Kara replies beaming at the fact that after six years she got her sister back. All of her.

Alex pulls the crystal out of her pocket and hands it to Kara. “I guess this is yours then?"

The blonde steps closer, takes the crystal and carefully balances it. “I thought I was the only one who survived the destruction of Krypton,” she begins. “My parents sent me here. They sacrificed their lives to safe mine.”

Alex is confused. Kara rarely spoke of her home planet. The memories and the thought of being alone were too traumatizing and instead Alex always tried to distract her and make sure she knew she had a family and a home here on Earth too. What does this story have to do with--

“Astra.” Kara interrupts Alex’s train of thought.

“She…” Kara swallows the lump in her throat. “She’s my aunt. I thought she died when Krypton was destroyed. I thought I was the last of my family, the last of Krypton until I heard her voice on that recording.”

Alex is stunned. Is it possible? Before she manages to ask any questions, a gush of air meets her face and Kara is gone. Just as quickly she returns with a device that looks similar to the command console in Astra’s lab. Kara places the device on the ground and inserts the crystal. It fits perfectly and starts to glow. They both take a step back.

A hologram of Astra appears looking tired and a bit frantic, like in those last days before her death.

“Little one.”

“Aunt Astra,” Kara chokes out, tears streaming down her face.

“I missed you, little one.”

“Is this a recording?” Alex looks back and forth between Kara and the hologram.

“I’m an interface designed to answer your questions.” The hologram replies.

“How did you survive?”

“When the Daxamites invaded Krypton, they killed everyone in their path. It was chaos. Your parents sent you away in a pod. They spared my life and took me as a prisoner to help them access the power of the Harun-El to weaponize it. At first, I refused, but they tortured me and eventually I gave in. It was my greatest shame.”

“But how did you come to Earth?”

“I followed the core’s radiation signature to planet C-53, Earth. I found it and I found you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was afraid when the Daxamites found me they would kill us both. I stayed away and made sure you were safe from a distance. I focused on building a light-speed engine so the Harun-El could be used to help refuges escape the same faith our people had to suffer. Your sister was a great asset in this cause.” The hologram points at Alex.

“Did you know?”

Alex shakes her head. She was recruited for a secret science project because of her background in bioengineering and being an ace pilot, not because of her alien sister. Or was she that blind?

It’s all getting a little too much to take in. The ground starts spinning beneath her feet and she starts feeling dizzy. She can hear Kara say her name, but she’s unable to respond. Instead she collapses to her knees.

“What is happening?” Kara yells at the hologram.

“The Harun-El is poisoning her system. The human body is fragile and cannot sustain its energy for long.”

“But she was exposed to this after a crash six years ago. Why is this happening now?” Kara panics.

“The chip.” Alex croaks. “It was dampening the powers. If we put it back, I’ll be as good as new.”

Kara doesn’t share Alex’s optimism and the Astra hologram stays silent on the matter.

“We gotta try this, Kar. I’m not gonna leave you again.”

- - - - - -

“Are you sure you want this?” M’gann asks.

“Yeah” Alex nods.

“Okay, here we go. This might sting a little.”

Alex flinches as M’gann implants the repaired and slightly adjusted chip on the back of her neck. According to Astra’s notes and the AI hologram, Alex will now be in control of whether or not she accesses the power of the Harun-El. To be safe, they decided to fully switch them off. At least for now.

M’gann sits back and blinks. “So...?”

Alex balls her left hand into a fist and concentrates hard, but nothing happens. She grins widely. “I really missed this.”

Hank walks back into the room after getting off the phone, with a grim expression.

“What happened?”

“I was just promoted to Director of the DEO.”

“Congratulations.”

“Yeah, seems Director Lane got spooked by being impersonated by an alien.” He throws a mock accusing look at M’gann.

“Um, sorry.” She smiles sheepishly.

Hank turns to Alex now. “That's some pretty impressive fighting you did out there. Even without the help of that.” He points at the Harun-El.

“The DEO could always use good people like you.”

“And be an undercover agent? Well, you already know I look good in black.” Alex grins and turns her head to Kelly, who winks at her. “I'll consider it.”

“You wouldn’t just be an agent, Alex. I want you to take my place.” He says solemnly and takes a step back.

“I don’t...” She trails off as Henshaw’s eyes start glowing red, then there’s a red shimmer around him. They all stare in awe as his body transforms, into a tall figure. Definitely not human. Wearing what looks like a uniform with a dark flowing cape.

“My name is J’onn J’onzz, I am the last remaining Green Martian.”

“Did so not see that coming,” Kelly speaks up after a beat. Monica walks up to him. She’s not scared, just curious. Walks around him. Inspects his appearance. Then turns to face Alex.

“His suit is way cooler than yours, mommy.”

Kelly burst out laughing.

“Rude!” Alex pretends to be offended, but then chuckles and ruffles through Monica’s hair.

She takes a step forward. “I don’t understand…J’onn. All this time?”

“I’m a refugee on this planet, just like your sister. I came here over 300 hundred years ago escaping a civil war between White Martians and the Green Martians that destroyed my home and killed my family. I was in hiding. Alone. Living many lives and constantly moving, to stay undetected. I joined the DEO, because it seemed the best way to ensure, others wouldn’t have to suffer like me. You came here in Daxamite uniform, as a soldier. I didn’t know if I could trust you.” He turns to M’gann, whose eyes are brimming with tears. “Or you.” He adds quietly.

“But now I do.”

Alex takes yet another step forward and places a hand on J’onn’s shoulder. He changes back into the shape of the man she had spent the last few days with.

“I’ll go with M’gann and help her people find a new home. Finish what Astra started.”

M’gann looks at him eyes filled with gratitude. She gives him a small nod which he returns.

“And Alex, I want you to take my place as the leader of the DEO. I know you have it in you. With Kara’s help you can protect this planet and everyone living here peacefully from hostile attacks wherever they may come from. Plus, your family needs you here.” He places a hand on her shoulder. A warm feeling spreads in her heart. The last time she felt like this was when her father told her how proud he was when she won the 8th grade science competition. She smiles up at him and suddenly wraps him in a tight hug. The embrace lasts for a few moments, before Alex steps back, happy tears streaming down her face.

- - - - - -

They all gather in the backyard the next day to say their goodbyes and see J’onn and M’gann off. Kara zips back and forth with her super-speed helping to load all necessary supplies onto the small pod that’s taking them back up to the Imperial Daxamite Cruiser housing Astra’s space lab and then into deep space.

Then the time comes for long hugs, teary eyes – mostly Kara – and promises to come back or call for help if they need it. Alex hands J’onn the pager she took from him during their escape from the Pegasus base.

“Only for emergencies.”

He arches an eyebrow in question.

“I upgraded it. Range should be a couple of galaxies.”

He smiles and wraps her into another quick hug before following M’gann onto the aircraft. With a swoosh it takes off into the blue sky and is quickly out of sight.

After a while Kara gets restless and her and Monica head back into the house for ice cream. Alex remains standing in the backyard squinting at the sky. A stranger fell to Earth a few days ago, lost and now she’s here back in her home. Back with her family.

In that moment Kelly puts a hand on her shoulder. Alex spins around to face her.

“So, um, that thing you said…” she trails off getting lost in Kelly’s warm brown eyes.

“Yeah?” The shorter woman looks at her questioningly.

“About me being…”

“A huge pain in the ass?” Kelly chuckles.

Alex pouts in mock offense. She places her right hand on Kelly’s lower back and pulls her closer. The chuckles turn into a soft smile and Kelly’s hand moves from Alex’ shoulder to her face cupping her chin.

“No…about the…being the love of your life…thing,” she rushes out in a half whispers, suddenly feeling insecure.

Kelly’s eyes shine bright as she gives her a small nod, her thumb softly stroking her skin, soothing Alex’s nerves.

“I remember now, Kelly. All of it and…” instead of finishing her sentence she decides to show rather than tell her how she feels. Their kiss is deep and passionate, and it feels like six years apart fade away in nothingness. When she pulls back, Kelly still seems lost in the kiss and only slowly blinks open her eyes.

“Ditto.” Alex finishes.

Kelly grins and pulls her in for another kiss, while Kara and Monica giggle joyfully and make cheering sounds from the porch.