The bus slowly started to fill up, most passengers either silent or whispering in hushed voices. Chloe and Kara couldn’t find themselves to speak either, scared they could give themselves away, or breaking the spell and finding themselves waking up realising it was all somehow a dream. Kara looked outside and noticed Rose and Adam standing a few feet away from the bus. Unsure if she should try to even make contact, she decided not to wave. Any risk of detection could be dangerous, and it’s not like they were looking at her. Kara almost felt stupid for thinking that, what risk was there in waving at friends when leaving for a different country?

Her sighing attracted Chloe’s attention, and she decided to finally break the silence with a soft, “Is everything alright?” Kara felt slightly better just hearing her voice. The silence wasn’t too healthy for her nerves it seemed.

“I’m just glad we made it.” Kara said, reaching behind Alice to put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder, “I’m glad you’re here.” Her voice was now almost desperate. It hadn’t been too hard taking care of Alice, but ever since she had started talking to Chloe she had felt a weight lift off her shoulder. She wasn’t alone in the world anymore, and now she had someone with her who could also take care of her when she needed it, and right now she needed it. Chloe had been nothing but kind and caring ever since they met, and it felt healing.

Realizing she should probably let go of Chloe’s shoulder Kara put her arm around Alice who had been leaning on her chest. “Go to sleep, we’re safe now.” she whispered in her ear. A soft hum of confirmation came from Alice.

The time seemed to go slow, but they didn’t care, in this moment it was all fine. The bus was now full and ready for departure, the motor humming softly. Alice had fallen asleep, and Chloe and Kara were no longer afraid to talk, though for Alice’s sake they decided a conversation through wireless means would be better, along with the added advantage of not accidentally allowing them to slip up and give themselves away.

“How long will the bus ride be?” Chloe asked.

“It should be around half an hour to the border. I looked up the address of Rose’s brother, he lives about two and a half hours from the border if we take public transport. I think it’s best if we go straight to his place.”

“That’s a good idea, I don’t think we should stay too close to the border, there’s a higher risk they are looking for us there.”

“I just want Alice to be safe. Once we’re there we can take a break and see where we’ll go from there.” Kara looked over at Chloe with a grin, speaking aloud this time, “So where do you want to live?” Chloe was slightly startled by the sudden change in communication, but soon replied,

“Toronto seems like a good choice, and it’s a big city, Alice would be able to make a lot of friends easily!” She grinned, “We could get a nice apartment with a beautiful view of the city, near a park where we could walk a dog if we wanted.” Kara could see a blush appear on her cheeks, finding it quite endearing.

“I bet Alice would love that.” They looked at each other for a while, simply sitting in silence. Alice rubbed her eyes, moving to sit up again.

“Are we there yet?” She asked, looking at Kara questioningly.

“Not yet, but I’m sure it won’t be long now.” They all looked around, taking in the scenery, the last they would see of Detroit for a long time. The minutes now seemed to move slightly faster, and finally the bus came to a halt. Border control, the last step. It had totally slipped their minds in the chaos that had been everything.

“We’re almost there, we’ll get through this okay?” Kara told Alice, and Chloe nodded in confirmation.

“Come, let’s get inside.” Chloe said, offering Alice her hand, who happily agreed. Kara smiled as she saw them walk towards the door, following closely still. Inside it wasn’t as warm as one would expect, but seeing as the doors opened and closed constantly it made sense that it wasn’t as warm as inside the bus. As long as their bio components didn’t freeze up however, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Following Chloe and Alice, Kara stood behind them in line. Looking around she suddenly noticed people were being scanned for heat. A panic rose up in her, and she immediately told Chloe.

“Did you see they are looking for androids and scanning heat signatures?” Chloe turned around to face the panicking Kara. “We’ll get caught, Alice...” As smooth as could be, she replied out loud,

“Alice has to use the bathroom, do you want to come along?” Kara simply nodded. While they were walking towards the bathroom they spotted Rose and Adam in line. Adam was facing them and gave his mother a nudge, who noticed them heading to the toilets.

“Excuse me ma’ams where are you going?” A security guard seemingly came from nowhere, stopping them from reaching their destination.

“Our daughter and us have to go to the bathroom. We have been stuck in a bus for the last hour, you know how it is.” Chloe’s laugh was obviously fake, but the guard didn’t seem to notice.

“Of course, proceed.” They entered the bathroom as quick as they could, and while Kara stared at her reflection Chloe checked the bathroom stalls to make sure no one was around. As she looked in the last stall, the door opened, Rose entering.

“Oh sweetheart come here.” She said as she hugged Kara, who Chloe could now see was crying. She also hugged Alice, hoping to lower the tiny android’s stress levels. Slowly walking over, Chloe offered her hand to Rose.

“I’m Chloe.” Rose shook her hand, her laugh was warm and genuine, unlike Chloe’s earlier.

“Nice glasses you have there.” Kara could sense Chloe became slightly nervous, seemingly for the first time since they had exited the bus. “I hope they will get you through, you’re not exactly an RK model.” They were all silent. Kara’s haircut had helped her blend in with the others, but Chloe was one of the most well known models, having been based on the RT600. “Markus is demonstrating peacefully, the people support him.”

“Rose, they’re doing temperature checks, if we don’t...” Chloe felt pain watching the tears roll down Kara’s cheek. She was so choked up she couldn’t speak, Chloe tried to comfort her by holding her hand which was the only thing she could think of. Kara smiled at her through tears, slightly reassured now.

“I will take care of Alice if it’s necessary. Now if you need anything else, I’m here for you... All three of you.” Rose smiled at Alice and Chloe. They said their final goodbyes before the moment of truth, and Rose went back outside. Chloe now faced Kara, sharing her thoughts with her through the connection of their hands.

“If you want to, I will give myself up for you. When I arrived in Jericho I didn’t think I could help anyone in this, but now, I know what I’m here for. I need to protect you two, even if it means surrendering. I’m at the highest risk of getting caught here, but you still have a chance.” Kara squeezed her hand, unsure of how to respond.

“I don’t want to lose you... Please, we’ll find a different way. Come, we have to go now or the guard might get suspicious.” Releasing their link, they smiled at Alice trying to comfort her though both knew this could be the end for all of them.

“Let’s go.” Kara now reached out her hand to Alice, and they left the safe area of the bathroom, facing their worst fears. It was the last hurdle to freedom, and it wasn’t a small one.

Standing in line they saw another Jerry who also volunteered to sacrifice himself for them, but Kara pretended to ignore him, telling him she was grateful for having made Alice happy and wishing him luck to get across. She couldn’t take all the people offering their lives for them, it was too much responsibility to choose who dies and who lives. She didn’t have that right. If she herself wanted to give her life that felt good because it was her own choice, but sending people off to get killed was what a commander does to his army, not some cleaning android who became a mom on accident.

They had now reached the front of the line, and it took Kara everything not to burst out in tears. Chloe took her hand, reminding her of her promise. “I will give myself up for you.”

“Don’t do it please.” Kara told her, she couldn’t accept anyone dying. The guy behind the desk asked their ID and Kara handed them over, glancing over at Rose who was still a few people away from the front.

“Are you alright little girl?” He asked, handing back the ID cards.

“It’s just this whole android thing, we’re all a bit on edge you know?” The man nodded. Suddenly they heard yelling, and they all looked to the line right of them, quick movements from someone trying to run away caused chaos which only stopped after two gunshots rung through the air. Everyone went silent for a few long seconds, Alice hid against Kara, scared by the noise.

“We’re sorry for scaring you, but we had to... The little one is safe now...” They heard internally. It was Jerry’s voice. One final gun shot and it was silent, only some daring to whisper in hushed voices.

“It’s under control people, no need to fear!” One of the guards said. Slowly people got back to focusing on what they were doing before, like nothing had happened.

“Welcome to Canada.” The guy behind the desk said, “I’m sorry you had to see that.” His face looked apologetic, not a trace of insincerity visible. Kara dragged Alice and Chloe along, not being able to handle this anymore. They went outside, taking in the new sights a few seconds before sitting down on the nearest bench that was available.

“I’m so sorry that happened.” Chloe said, hugging Kara, who had started tearing up again. “We’re safe now. He sacrificed himself for something he believed in. It’s not your fault.” Wiping away Kara’s tears, she looked into her eyes. “Alice is safe. Everything will be alright okay?” Kara nodded, unable to make any words come out of her mouth. Not that she would know what to say.

Alice joined the hug, making Kara laugh. “You are the best thing to have ever happened to me.” She told Alice. “Both of you.” She now had one arm around Chloe and one around Alice. Looking up she smiled, the stars were visible, shining beautifully in the dark. The waxing moon softening the dark blue around it and providing comfort in the cold.

They would take the bus soon to travel further to Rose’s brother, but for now it felt unjust not to take a moment of silence. For Jerry and for all the androids who were still fighting for their rights. For the future happiness they could now have thanks to all of them.

Kara could feel Chloe’s fingers now laced between hers, and it felt good. They looked at each other, smiling softly. Kara didn’t know how to express her relief at the fact that they were all alive, but being able to interface, thankfully she didn’t need words and for a moment they were in total sync, feeling each others happiness which only amplified their own.

“Can we get a dog now?” Alice inquired, making Chloe and Kara laugh.