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Chapter Text

It had been a little over an hour since Kara, Alex and Lena had been put under asleep to find Samantha Arias, and Mon-El was slowly losing his patience, and his will to keep his promise to Kara to keep her in, even if things went south.

Watching Kara growing weaker by the minute under the effect of the magical eclipse was one of the hardest things he had ever done in his entire life.

Mon-El heard Kara gasp loudly, her fists clenched tight as though in pain.

“Ten minutes to totality. She can’t take much more.”

Brainy informed them and moved to bring Supergirl out of the trance.

“Keep her in.” Mon-El ordered.

Brainy continued without acknowledging him. “She’s only got minutes.”

“I said, keep her in.” He repeated himself in a firmer tone. One that no Legionnaire would disobey.

Oh how he hated himself for prolonging Kara’s agony, but this was it. This was why she had trusted him, and Mon-El would rather die than to break his promise to Kara. 

Mon-El paced nervously across the Legion ship’s spotless flooring, chewing on his bottom lip, and fidgeting with his ring, all the while his eyes glanced faster than humanly possible between Kara’s distressed form and the map on the monitor in the middle of the commanding room which was supposed to show them a signal to find the Word Killers’ hiding place.

Seconds turned into minutes.

A soft beeping sound suddenly filled the room.

“It worked! We’ve got a location!” Imra claimed, causing him to turn sharply towards Brainy.

“Pull her out, now!”

The super smart Coluan nodded fast and wasted no time to rush to remove the white piece from Kara’s forehead.

Mon-El’s heart was racing way too fast.

Not a second later, Alex and Lena jerked awake, panting. Kara on the other hand didn’t wake up with them.

Mon-El felt his heart dropping like a stone.

She should open her eyes any moment now. He thought to himself.

Seconds were passing by very fast.

 “Brainy!”

Needless for him to actually put in words, Brainy reached for his device to scan Kara once again.

“She should have woken up with them!”

Alex and Lena just caught up on what had happened.

“Supergirl?!” Alex gripped at her sister’s shoulders and shook them gently. Exactly what Mon-El was about to do, hadn’t Alex stepped forward. “Ka- Supergirl, can you hear me?” There was a distinct shake in her voice. Nerves almost caused her slip Supergirl’s secret identity in front of Lena Luthor.

Kara never opened her eyes and only kept tossing her head and breathing heavily as if trapped in a nightmare, unresponsive to anything.

Mon-El clenched his fists so tight that it would crumble the strongest of steel.

This can’t be happening! This is my fault!

Mon-El felt the tremors of the ship, indicating its full stop.

“We’re on location! We should go now!” Imra urged them and only then Mon-El remembered what their mission had been all along.

They really needed to move fast, otherwise they’d lose their chance. This was what Kara had sacrificed for.

His eyes moved from Kara to meet Alex’s equally worried ones.

“But Supergirl is –“Mon-El spoke what he knew Alex would’ve wanted to say as well, but Imra cut his words.

“Brainy can watch over her and we’ll be back soon to help! If we don’t go now, we’ll lose them again!”

“But –“Alex protested as her hold on Kara’s shoulder tightened.

J’onn who had been quiet all this time spoke up with a stoic expression.

“As much as I’m worried for her, we can’t lose any time. Others are here to look after her. Let’s go!”

“Brainy, please take care of her. “ Alex asked with a pleading voice, to which he confirmed in assurance.

“Don’t worry Alex, I’ll stay and help Brainy.” Lena added and Alex nodded reluctantly before letting go of Kara to go and suit up along with others.

“Mon-El?” Imra whispered urgently to him, who hadn’t moved an inch, causing him to finally snap out of his terrified daze and move to follow her out begrudgingly.

***

In the dark Kryptonian valley Juru, Kara witnessed as Lena and Alex both turned into bright blue lights and dissipated as though being written out of existence. She expected the same to happen to her right away and closed her eyes momentarily, bracing herself to wake up. She had to admit without her powers in this place she actually felt quite intimidated by Reign. Especially when she could feel her stamina fading by the second.

The moment though, never came.

Kara opened her eyes in confusion only to see Sam – no, not Sam, Reign – walking to her with glaring red eyes, inching closer and closer like a predator hunting its prey, with only one thought on mind. To sniff the life out her.

Her mind was instinctively shouting for her to flee. Yet her knees felt weak, rooted to the ground like the trees out there, in that haunted lightless place.

Predictively Reign clasped her fingers around her neck and closed them on her wind pipe in an iron grip.

“Now die!” Reign ordered vengefully.

Kara clawed at the stone cold hands over her throat and kicked out with choked breaths, seeing dark splotches spreading over her vision. She was losing consciousness very fast.

“Sa- Sam! Ugh… Plea- DON-

Impassive to her struggles, the ruthless bioengineered monster never loosened her hold. On the contrary she added to the pressure.

Tears streamed from the corners of Kara’s eyes, her hands and legs went limp. All the fight was leaving her. Maybe this was it. This was how Kara Zor-El’s story would end.

She hated it. There was still so many things she wanted to do. So many things left unsaid.

Kara thought of Alex. How she doubtlessly would blame herself.

And Mon-El…

His worried face filled Kara’s rapidly fading mind vividly. She made him promise that he would keep her in this Rao-forsaken place. He would never forgive himself. She was sure of that.

Kara’s heart clenched excruciatingly, more tears escaping her closed shut eyes. Why’d she always hurt him like this?

Just when she was at the brink of fainting, somewhere in between, she unexpectedly found herself breathing again in huge gulps.

It took her minutes to find herself again. She was lying on the foggy ground and no hand was strangling her anymore.

Kara looked around in dismay as she tried to recover from oxygen deprivation and spotted a figure no so far from herself. She instantly recognized the blue simple hospital clothing against the gloomy background.

“S- Sam?” Kara called against the pain shooting through her throat and coughed a few time.

Her vision finally came completely in focus and Kara saw how her poor scared friend was crouching in a corner, head bowed down and completely resigned.

“Sam, can you hear me?”

Kara tried to stand up in order to go to her, but fell down, dizziness taking over her. She was still too weak.

“Please Sam, you need to fight it! You didn’t kill those people! It wasn’t you! It was Reign!”

She started crawling towards her, hopping she would respond eventually.

Then it occurred to her that if Sam was back in this place that meant Reign was out there, wreaking havoc.

Her friends were in danger. Fear gripped at Kara’s heart and pushed adrenaline through her veins, allowing her to get back onto her feet successfully at last.

Kara made it to the vulnerable human who seemed to be in some sort of hypnosis and sat in front of her, taking her hands in hers.

“Listen to me! Sam? Remember who you are! Remember Ruby! You have to fight through this for her! Rise up Sam! Your daughter needs you! We all need you!”

Sam finally raised her head, face drenched with tears and eyes unfocused like she couldn’t see Kara.

“R- Ruby?”

She choked out between her mumbling and Kara nodded profusely, glad to be able to get through to her at last. “Yes! Ruby! She’s is waiting for you to go back home!”

“No!”

Sam suddenly snapped and pushed Kara harshly away from herself, before sobbing and screaming uncontrollably. She gripped her head as though being haunted by ill thoughts.

“Sam Stop! Remember your daughter! Ruby!”

“Shut up! Shut up!”

Sam rose to her feet and stormed away, disappearing among the thick fog surrounding them.

***

Mon-El landed a punch, as hard as he could muster, on Reign’s jaw, sending her back only a little. To his surprise the magical eclipse was affecting him too. Even though the Legion Ring was supposed to protect him against such things – and not allow his cells to deplete as fast as they were – he felt himself growing weaker quickly in that unholy place.

His mind was heavy under concerns, first for Kara who was lying unconscious in the ship and then his partners who were engaged with the other two world killers. Mon-El let his eyes stray from his foe briefly to glance at others.

J’onn was sparring with Purity, meeting each of her bellows with equal strength and escaping her high pitched ultrasound shrieks by phasing through them easily.

Mon-El spotted Imra thrown into a corner by Pestilence, but she recovered immediately and threw some boulders at her opponent by levitating them with her telekinetic powers.

They hadn’t really planned on this, however as soon as they landed in this sanctuary, with Mon-El standing in the middle, the peak of the spear, it was a silent agreement that in Supergirl’s absence he was the one suitable to take on Reign.

The mighty bioengineered weapon never flinched under his fists and only grew angrier and came at him with full force. He was about to throw his cape, but he was slow.

“You are weak.”

The blow threw him to the ground and sent waves of pain through his chest cavity. For a moment he couldn’t see anything, his vision blurred and he feared that more pain would come. Before she reached him though, a glowing red plasma beam suddenly engulfed the cold blooded beast with such blazing heat that he felt his beard getting scorched by it slightly.

The hot impact proved effective when Reign was send back with a groan and allowed Mon-El a few seconds to get back onto his feet and look at the shooter in surprise.

“Thanks Alex. I got this. Check on the others.”

Alex nodded and they both hurried off in opposite directions.

Then the Eclipse became full and everything went downhill.

They were all on the ground, worn out, while two World killers stood. Mon-El felt that all his powers had dissipated with the lack of sun rays. He couldn’t even stand.

They were at the mercy of their enemies and Mon-El feared the worse.

“Julia, please! Julia rise up!”

He heard Alex pleading with the dark skinned woman who was lying not far from them.

***

Kara took a few minutes to finally get back to her feet and tried to find either Sam or Julia. She knew something was wrong when she hadn’t woken up, but what else could she do? May as well try helping these women and her friends out there from here.

She had this sick feeling that something bad was happening out there and she wished she could somehow find out what and prevent it.

Every step was now a feat. She had never felt this weak in her entire life. The eclipse must had become full. Kara felt as though the ground was pulling her down, like gravity had grown twice stronger.

Kara managed to get herself to the rough walls of the unusual structure she had been trapped in, and leaned her weight on it, so she could catch her breath.

That was when her eyes distinguished another figure a few yards ahead. The blonde recognized Julia sitting with her back to the wall, frozen.

“Julia! Can you hear me?”

She touched her shoulders upon getting no reaction.

“Julia Please! We need your help! My friends –  they must be fighting now! Please I need you! Only you can fight them back!”

Still no response. The girl was staring into the void, completely unaware of Kara’s presence or voice.

Kara felt tears brimming in her eyes as the hopelessness and weakness was taking over her. Her hands slipped and trembled continuously.

Was all hope lost?

Her wandering eyes at last saw the faint scribbles on the stone right above Julia’s head. Names. They were names. They must have been her friends and family. Her last attempt to save her consciousness.

“I am Julia Freeman. Peter, Mike, Beth, David, Chris…”

Kara read out loud, punctuating each name.

“… P- Peter? M- My friends?” Julia started slurring with difficulty and Kara saw that as a good sign to continue with what she was doing.

And then, with a loud gasp, Julia whipped her head, her eyes wide and unlike before, very clear.

She looked at Kara shortly, before turning away and looking at something only she saw with her features contorted in rage.

Kara held her breath.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY BEFORE? That only one of equal strength can beat you?!”

She did it! Julia was rising up!

And indeed she stood up slowly and charged ahead, before vanishing right in front of Kara’s eyes, most probably to take back her body from Purity.

Her happiness was short lived as Kara immediately remembered what had happened with Sam not that long ago.

Was Purity going to return to this dark reality and try to finish what Reign had started?

Kara pushed herself up and stumbled away in a hurry to put as much distance as she could between herself and where Julia had been, while feeling still very much powerless and fatigued.

Julia or Purity, neither showed up and Kara had no idea what that meant.

She didn’t like this. The foreboding feeling never lessened, never left.

There was no way for Kara to tell how much time had passed.

All she knew, was that she was completely alone and nothing seemed to be changing. She kept walking in circles it seemed, no land mark was visible. She couldn’t even find the door they had walked through.

Kara sighed loudly as a shiver ran down her spine. This place was growing colder and she was beyond exhausted. How long did she had to wait? Even closing her eyes and willing herself didn’t work and she gave up after a few tries. Why couldn’t she wake up?

“Kara Zor-El….”

Kara snapped her eyes open and saw a Kryptonian demon coming into her field of vision, standing boldly in front of her with a winning ugly grin plastered on its crooked face, cladded in a black shredded robe that was fluttering around its body menacingly. If she wasn't feeling so appalled, she would have compared it with the Dementors from Harry Potter, but right then her mind was blank. How did they even know her name?

“…You belong to the darkness now.”

***

Mon-El limped into the hallways of the Legion’s ship. Reign had gotten him good. Too good for a hunter who didn’t use leg work against the leader of the Legion of Superheroes. Fortunately the eclipse was gone and that meant his powers were coming back, but more importantly, Kara could become stronger and wake up.

“How is she?” He asked Brainy as soon as he set foot into the control room, followed by Alex and J’onn. Imra was taking care of Purity and Pestilance’s bodies.

“No changes in awareness, vitals are dropping.”

Sometimes like now, Mon-El hated the indifferent coldness in Brainy’s tone so much.

“WHAT?” Alex pushed passed him, anger and surprise dripping from her posture and voice. “The sun is back to normal! Why isn’t she gaining back her powers?!”

Lena stepped forward with her arms folded over her chest.

“We think since her mind is trapped in that dimension, she’s not aware of the changes in the real world and as it’s known, our bodies are slaves of our minds and what we perceive of reality. So, Supergirl won’t get her powers back until she becomes aware and believes she can have them back.”

“Someone needs to go back in there and tell her.” J’onn suggested, causing all eyes to turn on him.

“I’m going back in!” Alex declared without leaving any room for discussion and marched towards the chair she had previously been on, but Brainy raised a hand in objection.

“No, that’s not possible.”

“Why the hell not?!” Alex was very irritated. Mon-El feared she would soon turn his smart fellow Legionnaire into a pile of ashes with the new over-destructive gun Winn had given her. The Twelfth level intellectual alien on the other hand seemed totally unaffected. Calm as ever.

“For two reasons. Firstly, Supergirl’s body can not take any more strain than this, by guiding another person’s consciousness into that dimension. And secondly, we can’t simply send you there anymore. Your brain waves will no longer synchronize with hers because she’s already there. It would have only worked if you had gone in together like we did the first time.”

“… Then… then what do we do?”

Alex sounded defeated, reflecting how Mon-El felt.

“We need to replicate the frequency by some means.”

As always, Brainy had an idea how to fix things.

“What do you mean?” Mon-El asked with narrowed eyes, wondering what he was implying. His trust in rainy as his friend might had been shaken when he and Imra broke the Legion’s code of honesty, nevertheless he still had faith in his intelligence.

“Yes, it means I have to use this –“ He brought out a short white rod and held it up like and an antenna, swiping in different directions until he pointed it at Mon-El and stopped there, before completing his sentence. “- to find the only Kryptonian object available, vibrating in the same bandwidth of a Kryptonian brain, to induce it on another’s consciousness and put them under with its help.”

By the time he finished his sophisticated explanation, the Coluan was standing in front of Mon-El and his eyes were glued to a point on his chest, or rather the object hidden there, under his red suit.

“What -?” Alex was looking at them puzzled.

“He means the necklace.” Mon-El pulled on the delicate chain around his neck to bring out the beautiful blue pendant.

He reluctantly opened the chain and put his precious, priceless possession in Brainy’s waiting palm under heavy gazes from everyone, especially Imra’s – who had just arrived – that was burning holes in the back of his head.

The short dark haired man walked away, and Mon-El had to keep himself from protesting, since being parted with Kara’s keepsake gave him actual physical pain at this point. Brainy put it inside a highly advanced equipment which allowed him to analyze the properties and calibrate the main frequency they needed to record and recreate it to save Kara.

Even though Brainy was working fast, it didn’t take a full minute until Alex was again on his case. And who could blame her when all they could hear was Kara’s uneven breathing and the red lines on the monitor behind her, indicating the critical state of all her vitals.

“How long is this gonna take?”

She was already lying on the white chair, searching for the rectangular gadget with which she had last went into that alternate reality with Kara and Lena.

“Yes and it’s all done and ready for execute, but-” Brainy raised a finger, and stop mid-sentence with confusion plastered on his face upon seeing Alex buckled in the chair and made her react.

“What?!”

“ – No terrestrial physiology can take the initial electric shock generated by this procedure.”

“Then you are going?”

Brainy shook his head. “I could, but I need to stay here to monitor the device and prevent it from getting off course.”

“Then who else?”

Alex’s questioning eyes landed on Mon-El in front of her and he knew what she meant.

“I’ll do it.” He gathered everyone’s attention by his declare.

“Very well.”

Brainy waved at the other empty chair by Kara, asking him to get ready. Mon-El didn’t lose a second and laid down without saying anything further.

Being under multiple intense stares was unnerving, hence Mon-El was grateful when Brainy started talking again.

“I estimate a 41 minutes window for you to find Supergirl and then synchronize her frequency, with your own brain waves which I will be guiding them in order to wake her up.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Convince her that the eclipse is no more and she can have her powers back. From experience the longer she stays there the harder it’ll be to wake her up.”

Mon-El nodded a bit unsure, but didn’t ask anything else as he turned his head away to let Brainy install the pale small device on his forehead. His eyes locked with Alex’s concerned ones.

“Mon-El –“

“I’ll bring her back Alex. I promise.”

Alex stared at him for a few more seconds, gauging his words and then nodded firmly. She trusted him.

For obvious reasons, Mon-El never dared looking towards where Imra had been standing all along.

Instead he gazed at Kara to his right. Her head had lolled towards him, unrested and brows furrowed. Her lower lip occasionally trembled, reminding him of the few times he had caught Kara suffering from a nightmare, over seven long years ago.

Hang in there Kara, I’m coming for you…

Her face was the last thing he had his eyes on before losing awareness.

***

Kara groaned painfully as she fell down on the rocky ground for the second time in her rush to get away from those grotesque demons who didn’t seem to want leaving her alone. It didn’t help that she kept hearing their hollow mocking laughter from every direction, following her in this labyrinth.

No matter where she went, she didn’t seem to be reaching anywhere. She hadn’t seen Sam either.

Kara cursed in Kryptonian loudly as she removed the sharp stone that had dug into her palm.

“Where are your friends?”

A voice from the shadows asked cruelly and Kara chose to ignore it.

“Have they forgotten you?”

A devilish laughter echoed from that shapeless dark space.

“They must hate you.”

“SHUT UP!” She was losing her temper.

“No one’s coming for you!

“They’ve left you here to die!”

“GO TO HELL!”

The annoying mirth continued and Kara growled through gritted teeth and glared into nothingness with clenched fists, hoping those lowlife beings would get her message and leave her alone. She wished the demons were made out of solid material so she could punch them hard.

Kara’s hand grazed on a wall eventually and she leaned against it, clueless to her whereabouts, and slipped down with sleepy eyes. Even though she feared closing her eyes, it was becoming harder to fight it.

Despite her greatest efforts at ignoring those callous creatures, their words had gotten to her.

Her breaths came in half shallow gasps as though the air had become thin.

Kara looked around her and noticed how the fog had thickened and darkness intensified.

Her heart thumped faster and faster as familiar flashes of memory attacked her.

Endless darkness of the space…

Flames licking the soil beneath, devouring all …

A frightened girl trapped inside a capsule …

And waves of heat sending her farther and farther away from where all she knew once was…

And it was no more…

“STOP! PLEASE J- JUST STOP!”

Kara whimpered, begging herself to stop this train of thoughts, with her hands clawing at her chest, urging them to draw in more oxygen.

She was back in that pod, suffocating.

…Kara…

Why now again? She had been already through this with Psi.

There was no stopping of her tears.

…Because of the earth’s yellow sun, you will have great powers…

Why she had to think of her mother now of all times?

… Kara I love you.

Her mother’s teary face morphed into another familiar tortured one.

...I promise I’m gonna be the man you thought I could be…

She recognized the tell tail signs of a panic attack and pulled her knees into her chest in a fatal position and let her muffled whimpers turn into quiet sobs.

Chapter Text

The first thing Mon-El registered or rather not registered was the absence of sounds. Of any kind. Not even air seemed to be moving. The eerie quiet was only perturbed by his uneven exhales which sounded much louder than usual.

He was standing in the middle of apparently nowhere in a gloomy woods in his red suit.

As a habit, after years of operating in field, Mon-El automatically started studying his surroundings in vigilance. Not much to see unfortunately. Tangled tree branches, pale mist obscuring the sight and no sign of a living soul around. As much as he wanted to call Kara’s name out loud in hopes of her answering back, his gut feeling told him that would be a bad idea. And he trusted what his senses told him, they had helped him survive through all these years after all.

Therefore Mon-El opted to search for clues nearby.

Since Alex had told him a little about Kara having no powers in this place, he checked his own powers and found the same result. This place bit.

Mon-El noticed some broken branches to his left and decided to inspect them more closely. With the help of his new weapon which was a sharp ended stick – which he had found lying on the ground and suspected that it must have belonged to Alex – he moved away the pieces only to find two sets of foot prints. At last a lead.

With great difficulty due to the lack of any light source, he followed them. His progress was hopelessly slower than what he liked, but it was the only way and he tried his best to stay calm despite his frantically beating heart and the buzzing voice in his head that kept reminding him how limited his time was and how worried he was for Kara in this damned place, depowered and maybe even hurt.

A whooshing sound broke into his concentration and Mon-El whipped his head around to see what had made the noise.

He didn’t see a thing at first. The next whooshing sound threw him off and sent him rolling down the cold ground and he came to full stop by crashed into some thick roots. That hurt.

“Kara Zor-El belongs to the darkness…”

It was a Kryptonian demon, floating over and hissing at him with bare dirty teeth.

“Ta nahn zhed?” Where is she?

Mon-El demanded hotly in Kryptonese as he jumped to his feet and held his stick threateningly at that dark spirit like a sword.

No answer.

“What did you do to her? I swear to Rao if you have touched her I will -”

Mon-El jumped forward dauntlessly and poked at the demonic entity. It went through without harming, ensuing a hideous laughter.

“You will never find her!”

It flew away, the echoes of mockery laughs lingered disturbingly long after its departure.

Mon-El gritted his teeth and went back to find the foot prints like he had been doing, hoping no interruptions would bother him anymore.

After what seemed like forever, he found a metallic door. Almost smashed into it with his head since the dark element absorbed all light and had little to no visibility. Mon-El massaged his forehead while muttering his favorite Daxamite curse word under his breath and then recognized the huge figure engraved bluntly on the surface.

There it was, the symbol of the World Killers.

Without hesitation, knowing well what laid ahead bore no goodness, he put all his weight on the door and it creaked nastily as it turned on its rusty hinges.

The gate slammed shut behind him loudly, leaving him feel trapped.

There were no more tracks here, the mist had covered everything. The only sound was the random whooshing and fluttering of shredded fabrics of Kryptonian demons.

“KARA?”

Mon-El called loudly despite his initial reservations of not doing it. He was past that point now.

“KARA CAN YOU HERE ME?”

No answer came, only rude laughter, bouncing from every direction of that cave.

Wait, Cave?

Mon-El squinted hard through the fog. Under his boots he felt the gravel. This felt familiar.

This was the replica of the World Killers Sanctuary they had just been fighting in!

He quickened his steps, even though he had no idea where Kara could be. Ahead he noticed a wall with skewed scribbling on.

MY NAME IS SAM

MY DAUGHTER IS RUBY

Samantha Arias must have been here. Where was she now?

Mon-El noticed another wall nearby filled with names in different handwriting. JULIA, was the first name.

What had happened here?

A muffled crying stopped his investigation.

“Kara?”

Just as he broke into a run towards the sound, sinister murmurs rose. He couldn’t make out any words, but they sounded threatening. Mon-El held his wooden stick higher, despite knowing its uselessness and proceeded.

Years of training had gifted Mon-El with quick reflexes. He ducked when he heard a demon approaching before seeing it, rolled to a side and managed to miss another one. He had no intention of getting tossed around like a rag doll like last time.

“You are not allowed in the sacred realm of Yuda Kal.”

“Yuda Kal? As the goddess of life Yuda Kal?” Mon-El asked with raised brows.

“Do not speak her holy name with your foul mouth!”

“You do realize how ironic it is to stand in a dark lifeless place while entering the realm of the goddess of life, right?”

His answer was only seething sounds and a few slaps on his face.

There was a long pause in which Mon-El didn’t move, didn’t even breath until he threw his stick to a side and the three demons followed it, confirming the theory he had come to form since seeing the first demon. The movement of their heads and glassy eyes, they all reminded him of another foe he had fought with on the planet Zoltam.

“I knew it, you are blind!”

Mon-El jumped towards the opened up gap he needed to resume his pursuit towards where he had heard the sound of crying.

“You shall not pass!”

“Her soul belongs to Yuda now!”

“Stop you filthy sinner!”

They were fast, but Mon-El was faster. With sweeps of his cape to wrong directions, he kept fooling them and before he knew it, he saw the familiar red cape, a figure lying vulnerably by a wall unmoving.

Mon-El rushed to her side withheld breath.

“Kara!”

His heart ached upon seeing her tear stained face.

Mon-El reached for her hands and winced when he found them covered in scratches and bleeding slightly. They were cold. So cold.

He called her name again, gently squeezing her shoulders.

“Please, wake up!”

Again no reaction. He once again repeated the last part, this time in Kryptonese.

“Nahn ehist!” Wake Up!

To his delight the deep blue eyes cracked open this time. They looked so pained.

“Mon…Mon-El?”

“Yes, it’s me! I’m here to take you back home!” He squeezed her shoulders lightly in reassurance.

“Zehdh?” She mumbled in Kryptonese the word Mon-El knew meant Home. She looked so lost and confused. He had to take her away from here as soon as possible.

The ominous whispers were back and Mon-El noticed how Kara shrank and started shivering under his touch.

“No… Please…” She begged, fresh tears welling up in her eyes and blurring their unique azure color. The color Mon-El had never seen the likes of it before in the entire galaxy.

“They can’t hurt you anymore Kara, I won’t let them.”

Mon-El wrapped his arm around her torso and pulled her prone body to his chest protectively as he reached for his cape to shield them from another attack. The moment the below was passed, he put his other strong arm under her knees and carried her away quickly.

Kara had her head buried into his chest, whimpering. Her hands came up to cover her ears against the voices only she could hear.

“Kara listen to me, the eclipse is over, your body is strong again. You just have to believe it.”

Sadly she didn’t seem to be listening. Trapped in her head and kept murmuring, switching between English and Kryptonese out of order and meaninglessly.

“..You died…”

Mon-El picked up among her quiet, unrecognizable words.

“What?!”

They had reached the door to the sanctuary. Mon-El had to put Kara down in order to open it. He looked around nervously, expecting to see the demons following them, but to his relief there were none at the moment.

“Hey, listen to me. You’re safe now.”

He ensured in Kryptonese as he let her back against wall gently. Her eyes were unfocused.

“Chaiahzh khuhp rrip eh.” She responded in Kryptonese.

Mon-El couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did Kara just say that she had killed him?

“No,no. Kara look at me.” He put his hands on both sides of her head and guided her face to his gingerly, so she would be looking at him directly. “It’s me. Nahn zha khahp dhehraogh. I’m not dead. You’re in the Legion ship. You didn’t wake up, but I’m here to take you back.”

“Mon-El? Is it really you?” It was as though she had seen him for the first time. Her expression mirrored the same she had when they met for the first time in Legion ship months ago.

“Yes it’s me Kara. Nahn khahp otem.” I’m here. He gave her a sad smile.

“You’re really here?” Her voice was laced with skepticism and eyes glassed over again. One of her hands gently stroked over his beard covered cheek bone.

“Yes I’m here for real! Vrreiahve khahp!” I promise!

“I thought I lost you forever.” Her voice cracked, unshed tears finally broke loose from their vessels and rolled down her face.

Without warning Kara leaned forward and her lips touched his in a soft kiss as the fingers of her other hand ran through his hair slowly.

The action made his heart clench ever so tight that it felt like it would burst at any second. He closed his eyes instinctively under the feeling. Rao knew how long he had missed the taste of her lips against his own. How he longed for her.

Mon-El knew he had to pull back, to stop this. Yet he didn’t have it in him. He only kept himself from deepening the kiss. Kara was confused, otherwise he was sure she wouldn’t dare even touch him when she knew he was married.

The moment came to an end when Kara pulled back, her hand still caressing the side of his face. The two stared into each other’s eyes and Mon-El saw different emotions playing on her face, from sadness to confusion and then alarmed.

Then they both heard the dark creatures coming again.

“We need to go now, can you stand up?”

Kara nodded a little unsure, nevertheless scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and Mon-El helped her by putting his arm around her waist.

When Mon-El was sure she could support her own weight, He pulled on the door and yanked it open for them to escape. He then let Kara go through before jumping out after her and slammed it shut behind him. The duo started running away until Kara stopped tiredly and leaned to a tree and panted heavily.

Mon-El observed her in concern.

For a few seconds, there was just them standing in the dark woods. Now that Kara seemed to be more aware, he noticed how she avoided meeting his eyes. Even so, he attempted to explain the situation again.

“Kara you need to believe me. The eclipse is over and your cells can absorb the solar radiation again. Please, we don’t have much time, you need to wake up.”

She finally turned to look at him with wide eyes.

“Wh- what happened out there? Did we win?”

Mon-El briefly told her about the fight.

“Julia died?” Kara bowed her head, clearly depressed by the woman’s death.

“Yes, but she died as herself. She helped us defeat pestilence.”

“I tried to save her from here. I knew she could be saved.” She shook her head remorsefully before addressing the more important issue. “Ok, how do we do this? How do I wake up?”

“Ah, I don’t exactly know how this should work, but you need to realize that your powers can be restored.”

“Ok, I’m trying.” Kara closed her eyes tight in concentration.

Nothing seemed to be changing for a while.

Kara huffed in disappointment.

Suddenly a loud crack broke through the silence and the ground beneath them tilted as if they had been ants on a dish belonged to a naughty kid who had decided to shake them up.

Mon-El saw Kara gripping the tree trunk she had been standing close to, but he was falling away with nothing to hold on to.

“Mon-El!” Kara reached for his hand and grasped it at the last moment.

He was dangling over a bottomless canyon and Kara’s loosening grip was the only thing keeping him from falling.

“MON-EL!”

Their terrified eyes met one another.

“Kara, believe in your powers!”

“I DO! But they don’t work!” Her eyes were wet again. Her hold on the tree was getting weaker.

“Shahr khahp rrip eh.” I believe in you. He spoke in the calmest voice he could afford.

She only looked at him with more apprehension.

“Please! I can’t lose you again!”

“You will never lose me Kara.”

His hand slipped through her fingers and he closed his eyes, preparing for the fall. Kara’s scream rang in his ears.

But Kara’s voice abruptly disappeared and he never fell.

Mon-El opened his eyes right away, but had to close them again immediately against the blinding brightness. Too much for eyes that had been in darkness for so long.

He was lying on something soft and dry.

“Kara?”

Mon-El held a hand to shield his eyes when he opened them again. There was no sign of her.

He stood up in astonishment when he realized where he was standing. He knew this place by heart now. He had been here too many times.

In his dreams.

On wobbling legs, he walked over the tall grass, feeling his body warming and vibrating with energy, curtesy of the powerful rays of sun that were pouring down on him like bless after being in that dark valley.

The next thing Mon-El noticed was that he was no longer in his old Legion uniform. He was wearing what he always wore in this dream.

A white shirt and almond trousers.

Instinctively he reached for the necklace around his neck, but to his dismay it was no longer there.

“Mon-El!”

He spun around and found Kara running towards him in that beautiful white dress he had seen her wearing every time in his fantasies.

She crashed into him, almost causing them to trip. He caught her weight, laughing heartily at her enthusiastic action.

“I found you!” Kara hugged him tight and he returned the gesture in equal strength.

When Kara pulled away she was smiling. A smile he hadn’t seen on her face for the longest time. And her hands weren’t injured anymore. He held them gleefully in his and felt his heart calming when they felt warm to the touch again, like they should.

They stared at one another once again until Mon-El noticed the necklace around Kara’s neck.

“Is that …” He started, causing Kara to reach and unclasped it.

“Yes, it’s my necklace. But what does it do around my neck?”

“Brainy used your necklace to send me here and help you to wake up. This must be it.”

“Are we going to wake up now?” Kara looked around her, as though searching for a door or window to walk through it.

“I think so. Any time now.”

They both stood close to each other in silence, waiting.

When the moment dragged too long, Kara broke the stillness. “This place… I have dreamed about this!”

To say Mon-El was surprised was an understatement. “Me too.”

“You did?!”

“Yes!”

“But how?”

“I don’t know…”

They fell silent again, clueless and taken aback by this newfound unexplainable connection between them.

“I’m… I’m sorry for kissing you. I- I wasn’t myself.“ Kara suddenly started. Mon-El knew her well enough to know she would try apologizing.

“Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Kara looked at him strangely for a few seconds wordlessly.

“You didn’t stop me.”

There was a long pause.

Mon-El had no excuse nor the desire to deny her.

“No, I didn’t.” He held her gaze.

She had no time to ask him the reason as pure light engulfed them both, blindingly. It was time to wake up.

Kara reached for his hand involuntarily and Mon-El laced their fingers together.

***

Kara opened her eyes once more, this time against the stylish design of the Legion ship’s ceiling which immediately was replaced by a worried face with brown eyes.

“Supergirl? Thank God!”

“Alex? Why –“Kara was confused as to why her sister was using her alias, until she turned her head and saw Lena standing close by.

Alex helped her sit straight as she constantly checked her vitals over with Brainy.

Kara instead searched over to see how her savior was doing.

Mon-El was sitting to her left, taking back something from Brainy which Kara instantly realized was her necklace.

She was about to thank him, but Imra came forward, asking after her husband’s well-being.

Her heart dropped at seeing them together again. A feeling she never got used to over the past months. It was still as hard as day one. A never healing wound.

As if he had felt her unease, Mon-El finished his dialogue and turned to look at her.

“Thank you for coming after me.” Kara said gratefully.

“Zhindif.” Everytime.

The familiar expression brought a shy smile to both their lips and then they began a wordless conversation through their eyes. There was no doubt what the other was thinking about. She couldn’t read his stoic features. The constant frown between his brows had kept her from figuring his emotions as long as he had returned and she hated it.

Only his gaze held the same flame it always had. Fiery and determined. Yet there was this undefined hesitation glittering there that confused her. The sorrow she could understand, this clouded shade was a mystery to her.

But she had no opportunity to expand on the subject any further with all the people around them and very soon they reached the DEO and had to go on their separate ways.

***

Hours later Kara was back at her apartment. It was well past midnight and she couldn’t sleep. Not even a wink. It wasn’t that she wasn’t tired, no. It was all because she couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened and what it could mean.

Kara had kissed Mon-El and he hadn’t stopped her.

She tossed and turned to no avail. It didn’t help to know that Pestilence was gone and it meant the Legion was done with their mission.

Was he going to leave?

Kara wasn’t ready for another goodbye.

She never would.

She hated goodbyes.

It wasn’t unexpected when she felt her throat closing up again against the cry that begged to be released and in the loneliness of her dark bedroom, she let it go and cried.

She was still very much in love with Mon-El and there was no way she could fool herself that she has gotten over him.

***

On the DEO balcony Mon-El kept his eyes on the peaceful skyline for the longest time without really seeing it. He loved the sight. So nostalgic. So much like the home he had been searching for, to have it back, but couldn’t anymore.

They were going to leave in the morning and there was no way he could even sit down, let alone close his eyes.

A profound sense of loss had saturating all his body and senses and he felt doubt and longing stabbing his heart mercilessly, taking away his breath.  

His fingers mindlessly reached to touch his lips where Kara had kissed. Even though it hadn’t been real in a physical sense, it had felt real enough for him.

He felt the lump in his throat growing more painful as tears obscured his vision, making the orange and blue city lights dancing out of order. He let his head hang down as his tears dropped on the cement guard, making wet circles.

He clenched the fist he had been holding Kara’s necklace in, a little harder as though to remind himself of something important.

Mon-El didn’t want to leave this place.

He didn’t want to leave Kara.

He still loved Kara. Even more than before, if it were possible.

Looking at the starts overhead, Mon-El let the rest of his tears fall down freely as his shoulders shivered slightly under the restrain to hold them back. A failed attempt to hide how loud his heart was breaking into pieces once again.

“Ukiemodh wa rrip eh Kara.“

He mumbled in Kryptonese under his breath, whispering to the air the heavy secret he had buried deep inside.

I Love you Kara.

Chapter Text

It was a feverish slumber, not a state of rest sleeping usually brings to one's body. An obligation his body had forced on him as a result of all the exertions from the fight, without his consent when he lost the battle against fatigue and it had instantly turned into a prison of his mind.

Mon-El was trapped in a nightmare. One he hadn't visited for a long time.

Haunted, tormented and enslaved by his demons. Demons that looked nothing like those hideous demons of Kryptonian origin he had encountered earlier, but were far worse.

And he could not escape them no matter what he did.

"I love you, I know I should have said it before."

Kara's blood-shot wet eyes, her contorted face and broken voice, they cracked his still injured heart all over again.

"You made me so happy..."

Her strained, yet genuine smile made him scream loudly, begging to wake up and stop reliving this torturous moment he never wanted to be repeated again.

Nevertheless, his will held no power.

Onto the next hellish hallucination.

He was confined in a pod, speeding away from the place he had come to know as his true home.

A wormhole appeared, sucking him in as he futilely punched on buttons and the screen pad. His heart was beating so fast that he was sure it would burst out of his chest any second now. In the end he gave up, clutching Kara’s necklace to his chest with all he had, Mon-El closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

His thoughts were only of Kara…

Then his stomach flipped as he was hurled into somewhere else again.

A grave with an almost gone name and outlines of an all too familiar insignia.

A shredded crimson fabric draped over his arms.

A heavy heart and sleep ridden eyes.

A wish for an end after dragging, intolerable days,

And a necklace around his neck.

Mon-El re-watched them all, experienced the profound despair he had been carrying all along once more and under it, his well-built dam in his mind shattered into millions of pieces and he plunged deeper than he ever had into the bottomless pitch black void inside him, the one he was well aware of its existence, but had stubbornly been ignoring.

Mon-El surrendered,

Relinquished,

Gave in to the unbearable overwhelming sensation,

And he plummeted,

Becoming one with the darkness around him.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Just as he considered all was beyond the returning point, a dazzling light cut through his annihilation sharply, reminiscing a lightning bolt.

It gifted him with weightlessness and showered him in an unexpected, yet very much welcome sense of peace.

“Edri sehta rrosh mor tim.”

Words of his mother tongue resonated delicately in his mind, vibrating every part of his being back into life as the conception behind the Daxamite phrase began to finally clarify in his previously dying consciousness.

Open your eyes my love

Feather like touches followed the gentle syllables,

Caressing his face,

Spreading warmth,

Like the Sun.

And so he complied willingly.

“Ellsayar...”

Was the first word his heavy tongue slurred to pronounce upon his vision clearing, only to be filled with two piercing sapphire irises which belonged to the voice that had saved him.

Comets…

The eyes were teary and that made him wince. Why this beauty was burdened by such sadness. For what reason were they so disturbed?

“Why are you crying?”

His still numb right hand lifted sluggishly to touch the colorless droplets on the bright skin above him.

Instead of an answer, her hot lips connected to his forehead, causing the spot to burn as though being touched by Hestia, goddess of fire.

“Mon-El.”

Her hushed voice tickled his ears softly in a way so invitingly calming that his whole body finally became fully relaxed.

“Kara…” it came out as a quiet whimper, one so low that he wasn’t sure if she had heard him.

“Shhh… Nivo rrem vera” you’re safe.

The hand that was stroking his cheeks all along slid upwards a little to brush away the tears he wasn’t aware he had shed. He didn’t remember Kara ever speaking Daxamite so fluently. In their short time together, she had only picked up a few sentences.

Was this a dream again, one which leaves you feeling emptier after waking up?

Gradually his tired eyes grasped other details of their surroundings.

There they were again. Cascaded by eternal light, warmth and tranquility in that field of ever green.

The destination of all their paths,

Out of time,

Out of world,

Out of reality.

“Am I dreaming?” He asked Kara, catching her eyes with his own.

She shook her head as a sign of not knowing.

In that moment Mon-El realized that he didn’t care anymore whether this was a fantasy or not.

All he cared about was the presence looming over him and nothing else.

Gently his hands wrapped around the white dress covering her figure and pulled her down to himself, inhaling her fragrant scent that evaded all his senses and consumed him.

“Thah mora rrem e Mon-El.”

She whispered into the crook of his neck and pecked him gently there.

Mon-El felt fresh tears breaming his eyes, this time in happiness though.

I Love You Mon-El.

She had said so easily, in the language only he could understand, as if it were a well-known fact.

“Thahe mora rreme de Kara.”

He said back in a shaking voice as his fingers ran through her vibrant golden tresses and brought her head up gently to capture her lips in the most passionate kiss he had ever given.

And Kara too pushed forward, asking and giving more, hands wound around his shoulders, tugging at his shirt.

The two remained in each other’s embrace, kissing, touching and savoring every moment as long as this was going to last. Neither bothered or even paused to consider what was waiting for them both in the world of awakes, where they couldn’t even touch one another.

Dream or not, they wished to never wake up from it.

Ever.

A M A Z I N G fanart by @notsomildmannered!

Thank you so much! You always flatter me!