maraonlaidrex

"Don't worry, not taking you to Alex, besides, I don't think she fully trusts me yet and would probably think I had something to do with this," Jake said as he helped Kara walk, ignoring the looks that others were giving them. He wasn't blind, and he certainly wasn't deaf; he had been aware of the office gossip since he arrived at CatCo. Many people wondered if he was more than a childhood friend, as Kara had told them he was, despite the truth; no one knew the whole story except Alex and Clark.

Now though, she couldn't think of anything else but the pounding in her ears, the fire in her veins and the nausea. She let out a hum of acknowledgement, shifting closer into Jake's hold, curling against his side.

"Mhmmm." She tilted her head up, squinting up at him. "D'you know how to get there? S'in the arctic. If we go, father's sensors should detect us within a certain radius."

"Maybe now that you're here, I'll unlock my side of it.."

Hearing himself recount his time with the Monitor before Crisis, he could see how little of it had made sense now. Everything he'd done then, everything they'd done before Crisis and in trying to stop it had come to nothing. They had still lost everything and it had come down to the eight of them to save all of it in the end. Not the Monitor.

Maybe she was right; maybe if he had reached out to them first, maybe they could've found a way through the Crisis without as much heartbreak and disaster.

When she mentioned that there isn't a her and Barry without him, Oliver found himself looking away. Despite everything he had done, despite the blood on his hands, she still saw the light in him. To him, they were the light that made him want to be better, they inspired and encouraged.

He let out a heavy sigh as she stood up and kissed him on the cheek. When she mentioned she needed air, he nodded and watched as she took off into the night.

Oliver was determined to wait for her to come home. He double checked the locks on the house, checked in on William and Rory, and double checked the monitor in Rory's room before he settled to wait near the balcony. Eventually, his eyes grew too heavy and he nodded off on the sofa.

They needed to be better. For themselves, the kids, and honestly? Their teams. The world didn't need a bitter Supergirl or an angry Green Arrow.

"I got breakfast." She offered softly, nodding to their outdoor table that now held a few boxes of breakfast pastries. She had went out on a limb and guessed he wouldn't want to cook this morning and she wouldn't ask him too.

Her eyes moved back to the lake while he got adjusted to the early morning, taking a sip of her coffee. How was she supposed to explain everything that had been spinning around in her head all night? Her tears had long since dried...she may have flown into space at 3am and screamed and cried until she couldn't do so anymore, and now she was just...hollow. And drained. But it didn't feel like much was resolved between her and Oliver yet.

But, breakfast was needed first.

For a moment Winn couldn't help the way that his brain started to run. Maybe he should have given her a warning, maybe he should have let her know that he was even considering this at all. He could have a better plan.

But then she opened the door and he felt his anxiety settle just enough that was able to remember why he did this. Why he was doing this and that it was the right choice. Being with Kara was always going to be the right choice. He gave her a moment to go through all her words, knowing that she was going to need a second too.

The first sentence of his answer has her freezing in her spot at the refrigerator where she was supposed to be grabbing him a drink. Her heart leapt into her throat, and her shoulders tensed. Something like hope bloomed in her chest and she had to be careful to not break the fridge's door as she opened it to pull out the drink.

"....home is wherever you are."

A choked sort of noise escaped her throat as tears burned at the back of her eyes. Don't say things you don't mean, Winn. She mused still with her back towards him. But Rao, did she want what he was saying to be true. Kara had been alone for so many years, and now was alone again--to dangle a thread of hope like that would be cruel.

But Winn didn't have a cruel bone in his body.

Gnawing on her bottom lip, Kara took a deep breath and turned around. "...Please don't joke about that." She whispered, putting the drink on the island between them. She couldn't take another disappointment again.

It wasn't a secret that Kara carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. She always had. And now that it felt like everyone else was gone, Winn knew that she was going to be a little more protective of him, it was something he accepted when he first showed up on her doorstep after coming home. Her entire world had changed around her and despite everyone getting their happy ending Kara still ended up alone.

Until Winn showed up, and brightened up her life again. Why shouldn't she hold tightly to the one person who came back when it mattered?

Blue eyes flicked up to his in surprise when he mentioned taking worse when he was with the Legion and her brows immediately knitted in concern, leaning back on her heels to scan him over with her xray vision. Damn it. She had told Mon-el to keep Winn safe.

"--That doesn't make me feel any better." She muttered honestly, hands moving back to her task of wrapping his ribs once she was satisfied by her scan. When she finished, Kara let out a sigh, looking at him. "I know you can handle yourself Winn, I don't want you to think I think you cant. Because I know you can, you've done so much with the Legion. Even though I hated you being gone, I can admit that it was good for you. You would have been stifled here. But..I just..." Her hands flexed against her suit covered thighs, I can't lose you too.

Jax tore through space, his ship heavily damaged from the fight he'd been in after escaping a hostile planet. Sparks flickered across the control panel as he slammed his fists against it, trying to keep the failing systems alive. His destination was Earth—the planet where he had learned that two members of the House of El were supposedly living.

Was it crazy to hope that after all this time, one of them might actually be Kara?

He had heard rumors that Jor-El had sent his infant son to another planet, but it wasn't until after Krypton exploded that Jax learned the planet had been in danger at all.

Alarms suddenly began blaring as he approached what he assumed was Earth. Warning lights flashed violently across the cockpit. The ship began entering the atmosphere, and that's when he started to lose control.

Breaking through the clouds, a sprawling city skyline came into view. Jax fought the failing controls, doing everything he could to steer away from the buildings. With what little control he had left, he managed to angle the ship toward a large grassy area. A fiery trail streaked behind him, lighting up the sky and surely alerting anyone below.

The ground rushed closer.

He braced himself for impact.

Seconds later, the ship slammed into the earth with a violent explosion of dirt and rock. The vessel skidded across the ground before finally grinding to a halt. Jax leaned back in his seat, breathing heavily, relief washing over him at the simple fact that he had survived the crash.

Of course, that would probably be the least of his worries.

He unbuckled the restraints and shoved the cockpit door open—only for it to rip free completely and fly across the ground. Jax blinked in surprise before slowly climbing out of the wreckage. The moment his boots hit the ground, his legs buckled and he dropped to one knee, slightly disoriented. He assumed it was just the aftershock of the crash.

Then he heard it.

A sudden gust of wind.

Jax looked up to see a woman hovering nearby, dressed in red and blue. His eyes immediately locked onto the crest on her chest.

His breath caught.

"The House of El…"

She winced in sympathy at the hard hit but she was quick to follow the pod's path and she had just arrived at the site when the male shoved the door open. Blue eyes widened in shock at the amount of force he used to send the door flying. "He's strong." She mumbled in English, mostly to herself but she knew Alex probably overheard it on the comms also.

If the show of strength was shocking that was nothing compared to the feeling of hearing kryptonian come from the other's lips. It felt like a physical blow that damn near took Kara out of the air.

"What's going on?! KARA?!"

Her adoptive sister's voice screeched in her ear as the blonde dove toward the male, just as he fell unconscious catching him before he hit the ground.

Gently lowering the male down to the ground, Kara ripped the comms out of her ear with her free hand. She would apologize to her sister later. If this man was Kryptonian....She needed to be the one to figure it out, not her sister and the DEO.

Satisfied that the man was completely unconscious and wasn't going to attack her when her back was turned, Kara turned her attention to the pod. It wasn't styled like her and Kal's pod, but it likely wouldn't be. Their pods were designed specifically by her father and uncle to make a long journey fast. This pod reminded her more of the generalized exploring ship that the military guild used, but it was so damaged she couldn't make out the regiment markings, nor any House Crest indicator. She needed to get the ship and the man to the fortress before her sister forced them back to the DEO. She had experienced first hand how the DEO handled rouge Kryptonians and she wasn't going to let that happen.

Right. Kara nodded to herself and turned back toward the man, kneeling back into the dirt beside them. Her xray vision told her that he was injuries that were trying to heal themselves....very rapidly. Almost like hers would have. Rao above...

With a mental sigh and apology to Alex, Kara gently picked up the man into her arms and took to the air. Kal would understand, she thought.

"Don't worry," She mumbled to him in her native tongue, as she flew at speeds just short of lightspeed toward the arctic. "I'll figure this out, you aren't alone now."

It was only a little bit later while he was on a slab of sun crystal and understand the direct sunbeams in the Fortress that Kara let herself study him closely, trying to figure out who he was. His features looked extremely familiar....almost like...The blonde's eyes filled with tears. No, he was in Kandor for training when it exploded...Even if he had survived, he'd be as old as the adult Kal-el now. He wouldn't be her age...

Shaking her head to herself, Kara wiped at her eyes and moved to go get changed in something that would hopefully be more familiar...more kryptonian to the man when he awoke.

"Kalex? Alert me when he starts to awaken. And ready defensive measures, even if I hope we don't need them."

"Of course, Lady El."

❛  i will always be by your side.  ❜ ❛  i will always find my way back to you.  ❜ ❛  i will always make room for you.  ❜ ❛  i will be gentle with your heart.  ❜ ❛  i will be here when you wake up.  ❜ ❛  i will bring you flowers just because they reminded me of you.  ❜ ❛  i will choose you on the easy days and the hard ones.  ❜ ❛  i will keep your secrets safe.  ❜ ❛  i will keep you safe, as best as i can.  ❜ ❛  i will keep you warm.  ❜ ❛  i will listen, even if you need to say it a hundred times.  ❜ ❛  i will make the scary things feel smaller.  ❜ ❛  i will remind you every day that you are loved.  ❜ ❛  i will stay with you when you need me.  ❜ ❛  i will take care of you when you forget to take care of yourself.  ❜ ❛  will you be mine, even just for today?  ❜ ❛  will you come closer?  ❜ ❛  will you let me be your safe place?  ❜ ❛  will you let me make you smile?  ❜ ❛  will you stay a little longer?  ❜ ❛  will you stay close to me?  ❜ ❛  will you stay for breakfast?  ❜ ❛  will you tell me about your day?  ❜ ❛  will you wait for me?  ❜ ❛  will you walk with me for a while?  ❜ ❛  you will always be enough for me.  ❜ ❛  you will always be in my heart.  ❜ ❛  you will always be someone i want beside me.  ❜ ❛  you will always be worth waiting for.  ❜ ❛  you will always have a home in me.  ❜ ❛  you will always look beautiful to me.  ❜ ❛  you will be my number one priority.  ❜ ❛  you will be safe with me.  ❜ ❛  you will be the first person i want to tell.  ❜ ❛  you will be the reason i feel loved.  ❜ ❛  you will have all of me, even the soft and silly parts.  ❜ ❛  you will never be alone while i'm here.  ❜ ❛  you will never be too much for me.  ❜ ❛  you will never have to pretend with me.  ❜ ❛  you will never have to wonder whether i care.  ❜

⨂ "...I'VE BEEN READY TO DIE FOR THE MUTANT CAUSE SINCE I WAS 14, AND HAVE DONE SO SEVERAL TIMES."

independent, semi selective, and multiversal

scott summers/cyclops of marvel comics

written by nick