NOTE! READ ME!

No, I have not started a new story/fandom yet. My friend is having some trouble with believing me when I say this story is going to be amazeballs, so I have convinced her to let me post it under my name so you can give some feedback. Let 'er rip! (Because I really really want to read the end of this story. haha)

- Sin

"Astra, don't!"

The words tore themselves out of Alex's throat, clawing their way out of her damaged larynx almost of their own accord.

It was as if time had stopped for an instant or slowed down. She had watched as the scene played out before her, Jonn's arrival, the sound of Astra's hopeful voice as she said her nieces name, the shift of her stance, her defensive position, the pivot of her foot as she prepared herself for battle.

And as she stumbled away from the concrete barrier she had been precariously bent over a moment ago she watched this scenario play itself out to its inevitable end. Someone was going to die if she didn't do something.

If only Jonn had gone with another team. If only he wasn't so intent on protecting her, keeping his promise to her father. If only she'd had more time.

She had been getting through to Astra, she knew it, the woman had already been loosening her grip when Jonn arrived, she saw the shift in Astra's too bright eyes, her words had struck a nerve and she had to press that advantage now before the two Aliens began trading devastating blows.

And that's when the words had formed and fell from her lips, in the space between heartbeats.

Just as quickly as she had turned to face Jonn, Astra turned back to face her, dark curls and white streak whipping about her as she spun, her body only half turned so as to keep both her adversaries in sight at all times, there was no way a seasoned soldier like Astra would turn her back on a foe as powerful as a Martian and she had learned not to under estimate Alex.

Despite the ache in her throat and the pain in her chest Alex kept her gaze locked on Astra's, dark brown eyes never wavering from the intense steely glare being levelled at her, the near cold calculation with which she was being analysed made her swallow as hard as her injured throat would allow but she didn't blink, didn't back down.

She reached to her chest and unclasped the strap that held the sheathed sword to her back, the weight of it slipping away from her body, the slight relief in her shoulders was almost worth the risk in and of itself.

Reaching behind herself and clasping the sheath she pulled it around her body until she could grasp the hilt of the sword, for the briefest of seconds her eyes slipped to Jonn, who stood tense and ready, watching Alex as closely as Astra was, waiting for her sign or signal she guessed, waiting to see what Alex was doing so he could respond accordingly, but as her fingers closed over the hilt and she felt the soft, pulsing warmth of the kryptonite blade, she saw the infinitesimal shake of his head.

Despite the grim set of his alien features, Alex felt the smallest of smiles tug at the corners of her lips, a micro-expression designed to calm and comfort him, to tell him without words she had everything under control; that she knew what she was doing.

Alex watched as Astra's eyes narrowed, watching her every movement, the ripple of tension that rolled through the General's body as she flicked her eyes over Alex.

Setting her shoulders and her stance, readying herself in case this did go horribly wrong, she took another deep breath and drew out the blade.

The soft sickly green glow made Astra step back, despite the bright blue light above her heart that was her kryptonite armour.

As quickly as she had drawn the blade from its lead lined sheath, Alex slowly dropped into a couch and set it on the ground, standing back up slowly with her hands raised in surrender, pressing a foot to the blade and sliding it as far away from herself as she could.

Alex watched with a mixture of soaring swooping, gut churning hope and humour as both Aliens watched the blade skid away with almost identically perplexed expressions.

"I was wrong Astra," Alex began, taking a few careful, slow strides forward towards the woman, who only moments ago seemed very set on choking the life out of her.

Astra's gaze snapped back to Alex quickly, despite the pinch around her eyes as her gaze narrowed on Alex, she knew she was listening, not considering how quickly she could snap Alex in two.

"You asked me, what we are," And even with her hands held at shoulder height Alex indicated the two of them with a gesture of her fingers, her voice soft, calm, the slightest note of trepidation as she took another step forward.

"You and I are all Kara has left,"

Alex noticed the slightest of shifts in Astra's stance, she hasn't said anything but she notices the smallest of changes to the set of her shoulders, the unfurling of her clenched fists, the look in her eyes changes from cold consideration to something approaching warmth at the mention of Kara and so Alex continues, knowing she can keep this from spiralling out on control if she just keeps reminding Astra about the thing that binds them together.

"You love her Astra, as if she was your own."

There was a drooping in Astra's gaze; a sorrowful and sad expression flittered across her sharp features for the briefest of seconds.

"My family took her in and loved her as if she was one of us. She is my little sister and I love her more than anything else on this earth, you and I have that in common, we would do anything for Kara."

Astra swallowed and the expression on her face changed from sorrowful to down-right heartbroken.

"We are her protection Astra, you and I, we keep her safe from the evils that try and diminish her light, she's our hope and we are her protection, you tried to save her when she was a child, you can save her now."

Alex was within arms-reach of Astra now, standing in front of the General like they had only hours before in Kara's apartment, bright warm sun slight filling the space around them as they stood almost toe to toe.

Alex wasn't sure what had changed so much in the last few hours, why all of a sudden she was so sure she could save Astra, that she could talk her down, bring her back to Kara, but she was determined to try, not just for Kara's sake, but perhaps for everyone's. Without Astra the Kryptonians wouldn't be nearly as much of a threat.

Non was a brute, a bully, he was cunning and cruel but he didn't have vision or strength of leadership like Astra did. Astra was what held the alien forces together. If Alex could bring Astra into the fold, maybe she could weaken them enough; demoralize them enough that they would be easier for the DEO to deal with.

And then there was the realization that they were far more alike than Alex had ever really considered.

Alex held her breath as her eyes darted over Astra's face, trying to read the woman in front of her, trying to gauge if her words had any impact at all, if perhaps by some miracle this could turn to their advantage after all.

Almost eye to eye the two of them stood as Astra's piercing blue eyes racked over Alex, the intensity of her sweep giving Alex goose-bumps.

It was a heartbeat, a second, a blink of an eye but Alex felt rather than saw Astra's defences fall, she felt the woman relax, her shoulders drop slightly as she began to nod her head.

But it didn't last longer than that, suddenly Astra's entire body stiffened and her head tilted slightly, Alex had seen Kara do the exact same thing too many times before to not know what Astra was doing, she heard the softest of breaths leave Astra's mouth with the word "No," floating on it.

"What?" Alex didn't get a chance to say any more than that. She stepped back fractionally and realized she could hear it now too, it sounded like jet engines speeding in their direction.

Looking past the fall of Astra's dark curls she could see three bright blue lights in the sky heading straight for them.

Jonn was less than ten feet away preparing him-self for the attack to come, readying himself, dropping into a fighting stance and hissing something in what Alex figured as his native tongue.

She glanced from him to her sword which was a good fifteen feet away and felt very exposed, her gun was filled with useless lead bullets and was out of reach and she had thrown away her only other weapon.

Alex turned back to Astra at the exact moment that the oncoming bodies collided with their respective targets.

Alex felt the impact, the air shuddering around her as she expected to be launched off the side of the car-park to fall to her death; she clenched her eyes tight and turned her head, waiting for the shock and pain of impact, the weightlessness of flight.

But nothing happened, opening her eyes a sliver she felt her throat close, shock and relief battling within her as she realized what it was she was looking at.

She was between the car-park wall and Astra, the slightly taller woman's frame was turned so her back was to Alex, her stance was planted, her feet braced against the concrete under her, her arms thrown up and crossed over her chest to protect her head and abdomen as she bore the brunt of the Kryptonians attack.

Alex was pressed so close to Astra's back she could feel the steel corded muscles of the woman tense and surge as she held back her former troops, keeping them at bay, holding them back from Alex, using her own body as a shield.

Alex's heart was thundering in her chest and her mind was a whirlwind of over whelming emotions, adrenaline was surging through her, her agents instincts screaming at her, tightening her muscles, readying her for a fight, even if she was hopelessly out matched, but the sight in front of her froze her for a moment.

Only moments ago the two of them were adversaries, at odds, both of them knowing that if pushed they would have to fight and possibly kill the other, but when her troops arrived Astra's hand was forced. Alex had naturally assumed Astra would fall back into her role as their General; she would turn on Alex in order to save herself.

Instead, she was there, in front of her, so close that Alex's turned shoulder was pressed between Astra's tensed shoulder blades. She could feel every twitch of the muscles that writhed beneath the thick black material of Astra's suit.

Alex's breathing was fast and hard, as was her heart beat, but adrenaline and training told her to keep her head and so her focus tightened and she managed a glance towards were Jonn had been a second ago, he was gone but she could hear fighting above them and assumed he had taken to the air in the hopes of drawing the Kryptonians away.

She took a moment to glance down over her shoulder, behind her was the side of the car-park, down however many stories to a splattery death, she was pinned between a wall and a hard place, literally, Astra was like granite, unmoveable, she just kept blocking blow after blow, unmoving in her defence of the human, unwilling to go on the offensive in case she left Alex exposed.

A sound caught Alex's attention and she looked down at her feet, planted to keep her turned and bracing herself against Astra's back, adding her weight to Astra's almost, as if in an effort to keep Astra from sliding back any further.

The ground beneath Astra's feet had buckled, cracks like spider webs were fanning out from under her boots, small sections crumbling and dropping away as she continued to hold her ground against the pair of Kryptonians intent on pummelling her into submission.

"Astra!" Alex called out over the sounds of blows being landed and the urgency in her voice made Astra turn her head away from her opponents for a moment and catch Alex's quick eyes down.

As if needing no more communication than that Astra changed her tactics, she suddenly spun and grabbed for Alex her fingers curling around the harness still strapped to Alex's waist and hauled the smaller framed woman against her side, turning and dropping at the same time, pulling Alex in as close as possible as she curled her body around Alex, leaving her back and side exposed to her enemy for the briefest of moments.

Alex didn't know what it was Astra was trying to accomplish with this manuever of hers, Alex was pressed tightly to Astra's side, trying to make her slim body as small a target as possible as she curled her forehead into Astra's shoulder, feeling the older woman change her grasp on Alex, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Then Astra brought her other arm down, clenched fist slamming into the ground with enough force that Alex could feel the blow back, felt the shudders as the ground collapsed under the devastating blow. Kryptonians didn't need to use so much force, Astra could flick her fingers and reinforced steel would shatter, but it was a show of force more than a requirement of it, it was a statement of intent on the General's part.

The car-park gave way beneath them and for a moment Alex clutched to Astra's upper arms, her fingers digging into the warm material but not making any impression on the impervious skin beneath.

All of this had happened in such quick succession that the two Kryptonians were caught unawares, the ground beneath them swallowing them up as the entire section of car-park fell away under them and they plummeted to the floor below, debris following them down. Their impact on the cars below was enough to send them through that level as well, possibly through the next two levels.

Alex lifted her head from Astra's shoulder to realize they were floating above the hole Astra had just formed, the Kryptonian woman's arm banded about the small of Alex's back as she held her pressed the length of her body, her blue eyes hard and flint like as she glared down the black pit beneath their hovering feet.

Alex looked down as well, brushing her short cropped hair back behind her ear, glancing from Astra's sharp elegant features and then down again, knowing that some falling concrete and cars were not going to stop kryptonians for long.

Releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding she cut her eyes back to Astra's and realized the almost unfocused look in her eyes was Astra using her x-ray vision to try and find her troops under the pile of rubble and mangled cars.

Behind them suddenly Jonn landed with a resounding thud, his knee pressed into the throat of the Kryptonian he had been battling, cutting off the leanly built man's oxygen supply as Jonn applied his whole weight to the effort of keeping the man pinned.

Astra gently floated them back to the ground, setting Alex down with all the grace and softness of someone handling glass she slipped her arm away from Alex and Alex saw the shift in Astra, the shift that came with being a General, her blue eyes hardened, her entire frame become much more threatening, her hands curled into fists again as she glared at the fallen soldier Jonn was still wrestling with.

Alex stepped away from Astra and walked the few feet to retrieve her gun, unloading the ordinary rounds and pulling a second clip from her belt, drawing it out of its lead lined case she slipped the magazine of Kryptonite rounds into the weapon and pulled back on the slide with a resounding click that made Astra look at her sharply even as she strode towards her fallen former comrade.

There was a shift in her gaze, an understanding that crossed her features. No accusations or concerns that perhaps the weapon would be turned on her, no recriminations for Alex switching to an ammunition that was lethal to her, just a quiet acceptance.

Alex and Astra both advanced on Jonn's position, Alex raising her gun and aiming it at the man who was still attempting to struggle with Jonn who grunted as he took a palm thrust to the chin but didn't relent his grip on the wiggling writhing body under him.

Astra's eyes glowed red for a second and then died, the crisp blue returning as she called out the man's name, her voice commanding and sharp but also Alex thought she heard a tinge of weariness in her tone, a tiredness that she didn't think she'd ever heard from the usually stern and stoic woman.

The man stilled under Jonn's grasp and his eyes snapped to Astra, his expression was one of righteous anger and disgust, flashes of hurt and betrayal flittered across his rounded face as he looked upon his former General, there was no real change in Astra's demeanour as far as Alex could tell, the woman was still tall, proud and confident, her stride was still strong, her shoulders still pushed back, her stance was still very much that of a leader, a woman in control, but the expression on her face wasn't the grim set determination Alex had seen earlier. In fact it was very hard to get a read on Astra's expression; it was too subtle and full of things Alex didn't understand in the heat of the moment.

Astra opened her mouth to speak, perhaps to try and convince the man to surrender or to offer him the chance but from behind her burst two furious kryptonians, concrete dust coating their black combat suits as they tore back into the sky and hovered for a split second.

Astra turned to face the threat, her dark curls whipping about her as she narrowed her eyes and launched into the air.

Alex took a few steps back, closing the gap between herself and Jonn as she turned her weapon on the closest of the two threats and realized in the space of a breath that the blue light on his combat suit was flickering sporadically, with a tight grimace of a smile she opened fire on him.

In the sudden confusion the man Jonn had been restraining turned the tables on the Martian and their fight began anew even as the Kryptonian Alex had fired on froze in mid-air, a stunned slightly bewildered expression on his face as he canted sideways and then dropped like a stone, plummeting to the ground with a nearly earth shattering thud, his body sprawled in an unnatural position.

Alex felt a small tug in the bottom of her stomach, guilt and regret that lasted only a second as she turned her sharp eyes towards Astra, who was floating a good thirty feet in the air trading heavy blows with her opponent.

She pointed her weapon up, trying to get a good line of sight on the man but the two combatants were moving too fast for her to get a clear shot, each of them swooping and diving and driving at one another like battering rams and Alex couldn't risk accidently hitting Astra.

All of a sudden she felt the wind almost knocked out of her as a body collided with hers, large arms wrapped around her middle and pulled her close as they both went skidding across the car-park and Alex took a second to realize it was Jonn, wrapping his larger sturdier frame around hers to try and protect her from the impact.

The two of them rolled for a few metres before they came to a stop and Jonn let her go, immediately pulling himself up onto a knee in order to place a hand on her shoulder and check on Alex, flicking his cape slightly behind himself.

"Are you alright?" His voice held a shaky note of concern that she found endearing, no matter his form or appearance, that almost fatherly concern filled his voice and he just couldn't seem to stop himself from worrying about her.

"I'm fine." She groaned as she pushed herself up onto her elbows and then staggered to her feet with Jonn helping to tug her back into a standing position.

Alex swept the roof for threats and saw the Kryptonian Jonn had been fighting with standing at the satellite box with the device Astra had been so intent on using.

Even as Jonn sped away to deal with him Alex spun in a circle to try and locate Astra, finding the woman less than fifteen feet away but she wasn't struggling with her opponent any more.

Alex noted the expression on the man's face, he seemed to be caught between disbelief and pain, he glanced down briefly and then at Astra's face again; his expression morphing into cold anger.

He said something in Kryptonian before he squared his shoulders and took off, straight up into the star filled sky.

Alex didn't take any notice of his exit, instead she called Astra's name as she jogged towards her, feeling the aches and pains of the evenings events as she moved, her muscles hurt, she was sure she had a few bruises down her sides and her elbows and knees hurt from where she'd gone bouncing across the concrete but she put all of those to the back of her mind as she finally came to stand just behind Astra, Jonn joining her as the red glow dimmed from his transformation back into Hank Henshaw.

Alex reached out to touch Astra on the shoulder to get the woman's attention and subconsciously in that moment she noted that there was a difference in Astra's frame but she didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Astra?"

Astra staggered back, her legs giving out on her, her knees buckling and it was only training and reflexes that meant Alex caught her in time to stop her from collapsing backwards onto the rooftop.

"Oh my god," Alex breathed as she cradled the older woman in her lap a little awkwardly, despite her lean trim frame, Astra was heavier than she looked and Alex took a moment to reposition her as carefully as possible, her brown eyes trailing over Astra's twitching form.

"Alex." Hank's voice hissed as he took stock of Astra's body and indicated her side with a quick flick of his head.

One of Astra's hands was pressed against her left lower rib cage and blood was slowly oozing through her fingers, but what was more disturbing was the soft tinges of green that bleed through the gaps.

"Oh no,"

"Kara,"

"Shhhh, don't try to talk."

"We need to get her back to base as quickly as possible."

"We need to stem the bleeding first."

Hank didn't respond simply added his large hands to Astra's pushing down a little on the wound and eliciting a pained moan.

"Kara…. It's Astra…you need to get over here right now." Alex reached up with a trembling hand to press down on her ear piece.

It seems to take an interminably long time for Kara to arrive, longer than Alex feels it should and she feels the cold gnawing worry about her sisters' condition after a fight with Non crawl under her skin.

Alex has slipped herself out from under Astra's tense trembling body, setting her gently on the cold concrete, brushing back Astra's dark locks as sweat begins to bead on the pale woman's forehead, her body's natural reaction to the proximity of Kryptonite.

And the blood still pumping from between Hank's fingers, he's trying to be as gentle as possible while maintaining pressure on the wound; was a very stark reminder that no matter how invulnerable Kryptonians might appear, there were still ways to kill them.

Astra's breathing is shallow and quick as she tries to fight off unconsciousness and death, Alex isn't sure how deeply the blade has penetrated into her body but she's certain that its near major organs and arteries and if they don't get Astra back as soon as possible she is not going to last much longer.

"Alex!"

Kara lands far more carelessly than she normally does, the ground cracking slightly under the weight of her impact, whether it's from her own fatigue or her distraction at the sight of Astra lying prone and bleeding on the ground Alex isn't sure.

"Kara, she, she was going to help us, she was helping us and then one of them had Hank's knife." Alex explained in a rush of words as she ran over to her sister and then brought her back to Astra's side.

Hank looked up at them both with nothing but pity and sympathy, nothing but soft warm fatherly concern, "We need to get her back as quickly as possible."

Alex saw Kara's throat bob as she swallowed hard, her sisters' large eyes round and shimmering with tears she was trying desperately to hold back.

With a nod and a determined set to her jaw Kara kneeled down beside her Aunt, her features softening when Astra's eyes fluttered open and the hazy blue orbs focused on Kara.

"Little one?"

"Hush, it's me, you're going to be okay Astra." Kara's voice throbbed with emotion as she knelt down and scooped her Aunt up into her arms, standing up and settling Astra in her arms more carefully she took a second to look at Alex before she launched up into the sky, possibly not as fast as she was capable of, but certainly fast enough that she was nothing but a red and blue blur.

Alex vaguely realised that Hank is speaking, she'd been too focused on watching her sister vanish into the inky dark sky to take in what was going on in the immediate vicinity and she mentally scolds herself for loosing focus.

"The helicopter is on its way back, you go on ahead; I'll deal with clean up here." Hank stepped up beside her and put a gentle hand on her elbow, pulling her out of her momentary mental dislocation and bringing her back to reality.

Alex could only nod her response as she felt herself go through the motions of putting her gun back in its holster, watching as Hank made his way across the open wind swept space to the body of the Kryptonian she had killed.

Her fingers had the slightest tremble to them as the full day's events fell on her, the weight of everything she had been through crashed down on her, going into Kara's subconscious to rescue her from the Black Mercy, the emotional sledge hammer that came with realizing her sister may not have ever really been happy here on earth, that somehow she hadn't been a good enough sister to Kara.

The sound of the rotor blades of the Helicopter and the cold blast of air that announced its arrival made her look up, her short hair battering about her face as she watched it come to a hover just above the wreckage of the car-park.

With a deep steadying breath Alex sprinted across the space, keeping hunched over until she could climb into the back of the helicopter and strap herself in, a tightness curling in her chest.

The night wasn't over yet, she still had work to do.