Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Seeing Red

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 39: Kara Meets Oliver… Again

Kara and Alex walked into a very silent living room. Clark, having just been brought home quickly from school was obviously confused as to why he was there and why Shay Veritas was there as well.

Kara noted her parents looked upset, almost to the point of being sick. They were both pale and Jeremiah had a thin sheet of sweat covering his face despite the comfortable temperature of the house.

“Maybe we should go to the dining room.” Kara suggested. “This doesn’t look like a living room conversation.”

No one said anything but they did move and gather in the dining room attached to the kitchen and sat at the large table, pulling up with Clark bringing what he referred to as Barry’s chair from the corner and placing it at the table for Shay.

Since no one seemed to be inclined to talk immediately, Kara broke the ice.

“There is a way to get the ring off. Tell me.” she ordered.

Jeremiah looked at his wife and cleared his throat. “Before we get into that I just want to say that we agreed to no secrets so that included telling you this. The decision is yours but you are not doing it. Is that clear?”

Eliza gently slapped his hand. “Stop.”

The man was already upset enough, not having wanted to tell Kara because he did not consider this a viable option but Alex and Eliza insisted Kara know there was a small possibility and let her make the call, despite not wanting to tell her.

“Just tell me, Shay.” Kara told her once again.

Shay looked around the table and lowered her head.

“The energy running through your system, it isn’t just science… I think, as much as I hate to admit this as a scientist, that there…”

“Blood magic.” Kara interrupted. “I know.”

Shay nodded her head. This entire problem had frustrated her to no end. She was a scientist and believed in scientific solutions. This one had her beat.

“There is nothing I can do to remove that ring, have your blood return to its normal state and start your heart beating again.”

Kara already knew this and wondered what the point of this conversation was. Instead of asking, she patiently waited.

Shay shook her head and got on with it.

“Gardner was right. With a bracelet on you constantly, your body cannot handle the power this ring is emitting. It will break you down eventually, so living with a device on full time is not an option. You wouldn’t last more than three years in my opinion. Your strength under the yellow sun is the only reason you can handle it now. Gardner’s human body can handle it but he is not emitting anywhere near the power you are.”

Shay looked at the parents and Alex. None of them were looking at her but Clark was listening intently and staring directly at her, making her look away quickly.

“There is a technique that may work. It is the only way I can think of that has a chance at success. Before you had Kelex take the crystal out of your body you stabbed yourself to force him to. You should have bled out in seconds but he saved your life by filling the Fortress with solar rays. You healed very quickly, thanks to the solar radiation. The problem was, he got lucky, or you did. He used enough sunlight to heal you without killing you. From what I understand the Fortress was not set up with a strong enough amount of sunlight to overload your system… but the solar bed at the Block could be modified to give you an extreme dose of sunlight.”

Kara was confused by this. She had never heard of too much sun being able to kill her.

“I don’t understand. How could too much solar energy kill me when I feed off it for strength?”

“Your body began breaking down from drug and alcohol use. You are nearly indestructible but not completely. The distance from the sun is 95.5 million miles from the sun. This distance gives you incredible power. But just as a Red Ring can break your body down without your powers, too much solar radiation can increase your powers to the point your Kryptonian body could not handle it. Your body, your cells can only hold so much.”

Kara understood. “So too much energy and I go supernova, big boom, that sort of thing?”

Shay shook her head. “Most likely you would just disintegrate, cells dying after being overcharged and simply burning away.”

Kara silently encouraged her to go on.

“If we were to take the red ring off,” Shay continued, “you would go into cardiac arrest. Your blood pressure would be gone. However, your brain and nervous system are not affected as much as your blood. This is why the head bands work on you. I believe that as long as your brain is alive, you can heal. If we removed the ring, we would have to douse your body in an incredible amount of sunlight so healing can begin immediately. Too much solar radiation and you disintegrate. Not enough and you die in seconds. Autopsy reports on Kryptonians killed years ago by you and the DEO have indicated that they could live no matter what, as long as their nervous system was not compromised but no one has ever studied a Kryptonian with complete loss of blood and massive cardiac failure. Add in the acidity of the blood from the ring and there is a strong likelihood that if we do not get the right amount of energy, you would die before you have a chance to heal.”

Kara sat back and looked at the ceiling, avoiding seeing the expressions on her families’ faces.

This was bad.

It was also her only chance?

“The solar bands on my suit healed me nearly instantly during the fight with Doomsday.” the blonde pointed out.

“I saw the readings Kelex took during that fight. The solar bands healed broken bones and stopped some internal bleeding but without surgery you would have still died after the fight was over without a large dose of sunlight. It gave you enough to keep going but this is different. The trauma to your body would be immediate, possibly catastrophic. The only way this could work is to monitor your solar absorption rates, test it daily and increase it, until we hit the maximum amount you can take without burning up. It will take days, weeks, maybe a month, of you being in the Block, being studied in a controlled environment. Even then, we will have to hope that the amount of solar energy can heal you instantly. If it doesn’t, you will die. Without blood or the energy that is running through you, brain death will occur. We are lucky your brain hasn’t been taken over by the energy as well but I suppose that is where the… blood magic part of this comes into play. Somehow you get oxygen to your brain through that substance running through your veins, allowing Alex to manipulate your brain waves. As I told your parents, this is the only technique I can theorize that will give you a chance to live without the ring.”

“By killing her! Killing her and hoping we don’t burn her up or instantly killing her from complete blood loss!” Jeremiah shouted, making Shay flinch. “Kara, I told you we would find a way to safely get this ring off of you and we will…”

“You won’t.” Kara cut him off. “I know it, we all know it. This thing is not going to come off without something extreme happening.”

“Then it stays on and you keep your cool.” Clark told her, not liking what he had understood of this conversation at all.

Kara shook her head. “It’s not that simple.”

No one said a word for a few moments.

“How do we even get the ring off?” Kara finally asked. “I can’t just pull it off.”

“No,” Shay agreed, “you can’t, but there is something that can. Something that was used to kill the one who started this in Mexico. If you ask her, I am sure she can split the ring and survive long enough to get out of the room before the solar radiation gives her third degree burns or worse. It would be a risk for her as well, but we can minimize it. If she would allow us to use her… magic sword, we also could put it on a robotic arm and operate it remotely.”

Kara looked around the table, all eyes on her now, making her a bit uncomfortable.

“What are the odds of this working?”

Shay schooled her face, not wanting her reaction to influence Kara either way.

“Not good. We would have to find the correct dosage of sunlight without burning you up and then hope that it works. The line will be extremely thin but it is our only option, at least the only theory I can come up with and from what I understand, the only theory so far that has a chance of succeeding. I cannot tell you that you will live through it. All I can say is this, in my opinion, is your only chance to live without the ring. The decision is yours and your families. We will keep looking into different methods but I doubt there is any safe way for the rings to come off and as far as the other Reds there is no way short of death that can take those rings off.”

No one said anything for a minute or so while Kara took in what Shay was telling her. There was a chance, but the only chance she had would most likely kill her.

Too much solar radiation would kill her. Living with the ring and a red sun device of some sort would kill her. How long till she wouldn’t have the option to use it even occasionally?

But she could fight the ring for years, keep her powers, fight the bloodlust and be there for her family.

Until they died, of disease, accident, any number of ways humans could die.

If she kept her powers and the ring she would live forever as a monster, an overpowered monster that would constantly feel the need to travel to Oa and burn the place to the ground. Of course if her family was gone she could always cut the ring off and go with them.

“I need time to think.” Kara told her.

“Diana would never do it.” Eliza told her quickly.

Kara shook her head. It didn’t matter. “If we use a robotic arm, I have a friend who owes me a favor. I believe Batman used her katana to kill two Red Lanterns in Mexico. It’s called the Soultaker. It can cut through anything. It is infused with blood magic as well. I can’t decide right now. I need to think, and we all need to talk about this. Thank you for your work, Shay. We will get back to you this afternoon, no longer.”

Shay stood and walked out, not wanting to stay for the conversation and argument that would follow.

“Kara…”

“Please Dad.” Kara stopped him. “Let me think for a while, digest this and we can all talk. I need some time to think about everything, okay?”

The man looked ready to argue but conceded, happy that she wasn’t jumping at a chance that would, in his opinion lead to certain death.

The family sat silently in the living room for a few moments.

“Kara, please? Clark finally asked quietly.

“Please what?” the blonde asked curiously.

Clark rolled his eyes. “Please don’t do this.”

The girl laughed, surprising them all. “I’m not going to do that. I ran the numbers in my head and the chances she could pull this off is less than 2 percent. Maybe its the bands working but I am not suicidal. If she thinks the odds are over 10% she overestimates herself. Plus I can’t spend weeks in the Block when my little brother is the best baseball player in North Carolina. But it has given me something to think about. We have been going at this all wrong.”

Kara closed her eyes and leaned her head back in her, deep in thought. After a few minutes she opened them and was surprised to see her family still staring at her, looking a bit shocked.

“What?” she asked.

Jeremiah cleared his throat. “Uh… you are serious? You won’t do this? Really? Because this is exactly the kind of reckless thing you would jump on in the past. I’m about to throw Alex a party, if those bands are working this well.”

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “We probably should throw her a party seeing as how we missed our birthdays while she was waiting for me to emerge from a lake of blood on another planet. Maybe we can celebrate with Clark this year. I’ve done a lot of thinking lately. I hate living with this ring and it is hard to control, but I have always had a hard time controlling myself. I have never needed a ring to lose my temper. Besides, people have to live everyday with prosthetics, in wheelchairs, or completely paralyzed and bed ridden. Being stuck with an ugly red ring on my finger isn’t the worst thing that could happen to someone. Leslie and I have been talking about this a lot. I think…”

Before Kara could finish the sentence, Clark and Alex had thrown themselves at her, wrapping her up.

The girl laughed and gently squirmed from them.

“Look, Shay did have one thing right. Magic. We have been going at this all wrong. We have been trying to find a way to turn my blood back into… blood and remove this ring. We haven’t thought about the simple fact that it shouldn’t be possible for blood to turn into energy in the first place, not from a physical stand point. I saw everything. I know how these rings were made. Atrocitus wasn’t in a lab mixing chemicals and then decided to forge a ring. He used blood magic by murdering his friends to form a battery and then the rings emerged from it and were drawn to the angriest beings in the universe, somehow knowing how to find them. I remember the ring talking to me now. Before I put it on, it talked to me. It is sentient. I share the other Red Lanterns memories. I feel their anger. We can talk to each other in our own languages and understand. We can change our clothes into whatever it is we wear in an instant, making portals just by thinking of where we want to be. I can somehow vomit fire. These aren’t physical properties, they are metaphysical.”

Eliza and Jeremiah glanced at each other and held hands, not sure if this was a good place Kara was going towards or a bad place. They could only wait and see.

“What are you thinking of?” Alex asked, hesitantly.

Kara wasn’t sure herself, an idea still forming in her head.

“The blue rings could remove the red rings. But the Blues are all dead and there are no blue rings but they were magic. Damian Darhk had magic. Lobo and Nyssa suspected magic would work on me. I suspect Diana’s sword could have cut me even at my full strength. We know magic exists. I know it exists because I have seen it in the Lazarus Pit. I killed a man who did not age. We need to find our own magician, someone powerful, who can counter the blood magic. I know someone who can. Or at least I know someone who knows someone who can.”

“Who?” Jeremiah asked, still not sure he liked where this was going. He seriously missed the days his daughters’ worst acts of rebellion were sneaking out to Raleigh after hours. “Bruce?”

Kara was silent for a moment, obviously thinking of a plan. This could be bad because she could usually think of a plan in a split second.

“I can’t find Nyssa.” she finally blurted out. “Or at least Kelex can’t. She went to restore Sara Lance’s soul and free Laurel Lance. Kelex picked up Sara Lance with Oliver Queen four days ago in Star City. Laurel is nowhere to be found and neither is Nyssa. I suspect she figured out a way to restore Sara’s soul after she emerged from the Lazarus Pit. I also suspect in exchange for this information and most likely Sara, Laurel and Nyssa stayed as part of a deal with Talia. Bruce cannot be involved. I can’t find where the League of Shadows is hiding. Nyssa never told me and I didn’t ask. Regardless, if Sara isn’t a blood thirsty monster but hanging out with Oliver Queen, someone must have helped them. If I can find this person, he or she may be able to help us. I just have to ask Sara. She will want her sister and Nyssa back. I want the information on who helped her and I want Nyssa free. I will free both of them and she and Queen will tell me.”

Eliza rubbed her forehead and leaned back. “Kara, if you ever get involved with a League of any type of ninjas again, shadows, assassins, whatever else kind there are, you are moving into your old room and living there until you are 90. Do you understand me?”

“Yes ma’am.” Kara told her quickly. “I am honor bound by Nyssa’s agreement after she disbanded the League not to attack the League of Shadows. I will just reason with Talia.”

Jeremiah snorted. “Your method of reasoning usually ends up with someone’s head through a wall. Add in the recent temper problems and…”

He stopped speaking when Eliza kicked him.

“Alex will go with me. It will be fine. I won’t kill anyone, I swear. I’m not saying whoever this magician is can help but it is a chance I am willing to take. The whole thing will take a day, I promise. 24 hours and we will be right back. Alex can take my bands and I won’t miss any sessions.”

The parents looked at each other for a moment, not sure what to say. The whole thing sounded just like something that would set Kara off and send her on a mass murder spree.

Clark decided for them. “C’mon Mom and Dad, this isn’t the stupidest thing she has ever come up with. If it works, it works and if it doesn’t maybe whoever this is can pull off a magic show at this party I am forced to share with the two dorks.”

The parents looked at each other and silently agreed to go along, thinking this could work but could go wrong and send their daughter’s soul to some sort of hell. They would have to watch carefully.

Kara recognized the look on their faces and smiled. It was a ridiculous plan but at least if Nyssa was being held against her will, she could get her back.

With quick hugs and assurances they would return in 24 hours, the two girls rushed to their home, Kara making it there much quicker than Alex. Alex met her in the basement where Kara tossed her the suit Alex had worn many times.

“Grab a bag, arm up and bring the Peacemaker. Leave the staff here. Things might get bloody so guns and blades only.”

Alex was surprised by that. “You said you were honor bound not to attack the League.”

“I am, but you aren’t. If they try and stop us, take them out. Incinerate them.”

“And Talia?” Alex asked.

“Don’t kill her. Bruce may not love her but they have a history. I will deal with Talia.”

Alex grinned and began packing the big overnight bag, including Kara’s crystal headbands. After she was done, she grabbed Kara and hugged her. “Thanks, for not going along with Shay’s idiotic plan.”

Kara held her tightly. “I promised you when I was 14 that I wouldn’t leave you. I tried to break that promise. I never want to break a promise to you again. This probably won’t work, but at least I can get Nyssa back and maybe this magician could pull it off? Anything is possible. What do we have to lose, right? We haven’t done anything fun together in a while.”

Ten minutes later, Alex was suited up in her copper and silver armored suit, bag ready to go.

Kara lit up in red, decked out in black with the red cape and boots. Alex suspected if Oliver Queen was afraid of her before, he was really going to love her now.

“So since you refuse to rebuild my baby, how do we get there. Flying in your arms?” the older sister asked, not excited at the prospect since she had her jet built.

Kara smirked. “Dad impetuously jumped behind me in S.T.A.R. Labs, but at least we know you can follow me. We are taking the Red Lantern express route.”

Kara thought of where she wanted to go, this time on Earth and opened up a swirling ring of red. Alex and she stepped through it into the lair of the Green Arrow.

The looks on the gather Team Arrow were comical. They obviously weren’t expecting visitors. Oliver and his short sidekick had their bows ready and Sara her staff, along with Diggle, holding an M-16.

“You act like you aren’t glad to see me, Oliver.” Kara told him, smiling. They were all in plain clothes and she had caught them by surprise. That was good. Kara liked to keep people on the defensive.

“Kar Zor El.” he greeted her, dropping his bow. “And here I thought you were retired.”

Kara shook her head and approached him. “I am retired, not dead. We need to talk. Actually I need to talk to Sara if you wouldn’t mind. I am guessing since she is here and Nyssa and Laurel aren’t, the two of them are still in the company of Talia?”

Oliver looked at her closely and was very concerned by what he saw. The last time Kara was in his lair, she had looked insane. Now she was just frightening. He almost would have preferred insane. She was dark and there was sparks of red flashing in her blue eyes. He also noticed she had a ring on her right finger, a red ring that was glowing.

“Nice ring.” he told her, ignoring her question.

“Its a mood ring. It only picks up one mood though. Care to guess what that is?” the grinning blonde asked. Alex lay a hand on her shoulder.

“Information, remember? Cooperation, being nice?”

Kara shook her head. “I didn’t come here to fight… I mean not that you can fight me. I didn’t come here to break your other leg is what I am trying to say. I plan to get Nyssa free. You no doubt want Laurel free. I need the name of someone you and Sara know. I need this person’s services. Sara Lance, since you aren’t snarling and drooling, I assume you regained your soul. Tell me how and I will get your sister back.”

Sara walked away from Kara and leaned against a console, crossing her arms. “I can’t get her back. My body had to go back into the Lazarus Pit for the man to bring my soul back. The only way Talia would allow it was to procure oaths from Laurel and Nyssa that they would serve her. I was sent away after I awoke. I was weak and had to get the man who rescued me out of there. His name is John Constantine. We were surrounded by over 150 members of the League. I couldn’t fight them all. Oliver and I have been trying to figure out a way to take them back but Nyssa would not come regardless. If you know her enough to go looking for her, then you know oaths are binding to her.”

“Unless, the oath is released. I am also honor bound not to attack the League of Shadows but I will get Talia to release the oath. Sadly to do this, most of the members will need to die. My sister will handle the majority of them but she could use some aid. If you are willing, we will get them back, released from their oaths and Talia Al Ghul will never be a problem again, for any of us. That is my bargain. I get your sister released from her oath and safely to you and you tell me how to contact John Constantine and persuade him to assist me.”

“I don’t need them along.” Alex argued.

“We can never have too much help. Nyssa has told me what kind of warrior Sara is. Robin Hood and Little John are decent with a bow and it doesn’t take much for John Diggle to pull a trigger. I am not sure if the compound is protected against my portals or what effect the Lazarus Pit will have on me if my portal doesn’t work. That means we go through the front door.”

Alex frowned at this thought. “This would be a lot easier if I had a jet. Just saying.”

“You would still have a jet if you backed off when I told you too.” Kara countered.

“And you would be dead! That’s what is really bugging you, isn’t it? You are mad I got shot down? I’m not crazy that you were nearly beaten to death but here I am. How do you think Mom and Dad reacted when I told them about your little killing spree on Mars? I am the one who had to calm them down before they ever talked to you. Yes, the unstoppable monster got a lucky shot in but the ejection pod worked out. Maybe if you hadn’t taken so many shots to the face, you would have seen me, instead of deciding you were going to fight this thing until he killed you! Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

“Why don’t you ever listen to me in a fight?!”

“Because as strategic as you are, when you fight a strong enemy you get a little…”

Alex hesitated.

“What? What do I get Alex?”

“You get stupid! There were other ways to fight that thing instead of going toe to toe with it. You could have ducked, led it away, taken it to the water.”

“And let it cause a bigger path of destruction? Metropolis couldn’t evacuate! I had to hold it in one place!”

“By letting it beat you to death! We could have…”

The argument stopped when John Diggle cleared his throat, causing both girls to remember where they were and who they were with.

“As fascinating as this conversation is, and believe me, it is fascinating, you were saying something about a plan?”

“We are talking this out at the next family session.” she told her little sister.

Kara turned away annoyed, knowing Jessica always took Alex’s side, no matter what.

“Yes. A plan. I have a plan. You will strike them all down and I will reason with Talia… on another planet. As I said I am honor bound not to kill her but if she ever expects to come back to Earth, she will do as I say. So why don’t you all suit up… wait, you do all have suits right? Are these nonflammable?” Kara asked, trying to keep a straight face. Oliver’s irritated look was all the answer she needed.

While Oliver and company changed clothes and loaded up, Kara was instructed by Alex to sit down in a chair in the back of the lair. Felicity Smoak walked in and froze, stiff as a board, staring at the two women.

“Relax, not here to kill you.” Kara told her offhandedly and the woman practically ran to Oliver.

A moment later, Oliver cautiously walked up to the two, the brunette looking at her cell phone while Kara sat next to her with a glowing tiara on her head.

“Uh… we are ready.”

“Give us a minute. These bands make it easier for her not to kill you. We both want that, right?” Alex asked, while Kara snorted.

Oliver agreed. “Take all the time you need.”

Alex held in a laugh. Despite what Kara did to him last time, Oliver Queen was cautious but she didn’t sense any fear. He was too stupid to be afraid like her sister could be at times. Ironically, Alex suspected Kara and him could be good friends but were most likely too similar to ever get along for any length of time. This short team up was probably pushing it.

“Do you guys have infrared?”

Oliver shook his head. “Just Dig.”

“We are going to fight ninjas in the dark. They may hide in the shadows but they can’t hide their body heat. I have a sonar in my headgear that can pick up heartbeats but I can’t fashion one for your… hood. There are infrared goggles in the bag. Give them to your team. Don’t touch my guns and the one that looks like a grenade? Definitely don’t touch that one. It can turn a White Martian to goo.”

Oliver had seen those Martians on TV. “Noted.”

Walking to the bag, he was approached by Sara, Roy and Diggle.

Diggle leaned down next to him. “Are you sure we can trust this crazy bitch?” he whispered.

“We haven’t had a feasible plan to get Laurel out of that place since we found out what happened. She is motivated to get Nyssa out. Of course I don’t trust her. She is obviously insane but her sister seems to be some sort of handler and can probably keep her calm. I think she is brainwashing her now…”

“I can hear you, you know? I’m right here. I can hear for hundreds of miles, remember? If you are going to talk about me at least use sign language and I will close my eyes. Also I would like to point out that you were a rich spoiled brat and after only five years of being stranded you came back to civilization and began a murder spree. Be careful who you call insane, asshole.”

Sara smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “I kind of like her.”

“You would.” Roy mumbled.

The unlikely team gathered and Kara raised her right arm, thinking of Talia Al Ghul and desiring to be outside her compound.

A red portal lit up the Lair.

“Uh…”

“Don’t lose your pair now, Queen. Follow us.” Alex told him, a bit amused.

They all stepped out into frozen ground, a very tall cliff inf front of them. Only Kara saw the door at the bottom of the cliff.

“Straight ahead, carved into the rock.”

“I see, four guards on top of the cliff.” Alex confirmed and raised her rifle. Four beams of light were fired in quick succession. Four screaming voices were heard, then nothing.

“Haven’t lost it.” the older sister said, satisfied.

Kara on the other hand, was not impressed. “They are still alive. Did you join the Peace Corp or something while I was in rehab? Since when do we set to stun?”

Oliver and Dig looked at each other. She really had gone to rehab? Oliver had been skeptical of her statement on the News, but apparently that wasn’t the case. He also figured out from the argument with her sister, that she had sustained grave injuries from the Metropolis fight and suspected that ring and the need to find John Constantine had something to do with it.

For the first time, he was beginning to see her in a different light.

Of course she was still a godlike insane powerhouse but perhaps there was more to her than the act she had formerly put on for the public that hid her insanity. The man never could deny the lives she saved.

“You said some of your old friends might have joined the League of Shadows after Nyssa’s League dissolved. Do you really want them dead for standing at guard duty? We are after Talia. If we just kill bodyguards and leave her alive we are no better than the Hood… no offense Oliver.” Alex lied. She was actually beginning to have fun, enjoying their reactions to her baby sister.

The very large door that had been hidden in the cliff opened and multiple men in black ran out. Had it not been for the infrared goggles Alex had given the team, they wouldn’t have been able to tell how many.

“Don’t shoot. Alex has a point. Let me thin the herd a bit. Stand back and turn off the infrared for a second.” Kara ordered. She flew towards the men, then hovered over them twenty feet above the ground, red light bursting from her and surrounding her body, making her larger than life, like a great red monster that had appeared from Hell.

Every member of the League of Shadows stopped and stared at her.

“Some of you know who I am. I am Al Malek. Some of you served under me in the League of Assassins. I have no wish to harm you. I have come to reclaim Nyssa Al Ghul. After tonight there will no longer be a League of Shadows. Talia has overreached and brought down my wrath. Leave now and you may live. Stay and you will die. You have five seconds to make your decision. Any one need me to repeat this in another language?”

Apparently, no one did. Almost everyone outside ran off into the cold, and kept running, away from the firebird in the sky who had been known as the Angel of Death while in the League. Even those who did not serve under her but had been with Talia for years ran.

Only ten loyal followers remained.

Kara floated back to Alex, her red aura lessening.

“There, happy? Everybody is alive. Wait until I tell Connolly about this.”

An arrow was shot towards Kara who caught it with ease, her eyes lighting up and a smile on her face.

Alex placed a hand on her shoulder. “You promised, no killing tonight.”

“Then what are you waiting for? We have a castle to raid.”

Alex began firing, followed by Team Arrow. Those few remaining were made quick work of.

Oliver looked at Kara when she slowly walked up to join them.

“So I see you have learned some new tricks.” he told her quietly.

The blonde shrugged her shoulders. “You know us insane Goddesses, always looking for new ways to take over the world. Using the eyes all the time gets tiresome. Shall we?”

The six made their way slowly into the compound. Kara took a look around with her X ray vision.

“Cheap bobby traps on the stairs in front of us. A dungeon is below with Laurel in a cell, twenty members have assembled inside, no doubt guessing she is our objective and preparing an ambush. Stun grenade, Alex?”

“Let me do my job and you do yours. Go get Talia. We can get Lauren.”

“Laurel.” Sara corrected.

Kara and Alex rolled their eyes, as usual having the same facial expressions like they were twins.

“Talia has ten guards with her. I can’t attack any of them and I don’t want Nyssa harmed in the crossfire. Why don’t you come with me, take out the guards so she isn’t hurt and I will have a talk with Talia. Give Queen a stun grenade and a breach explosive. His exploding arrow isn’t thick enough for the bolt on that door.”

After quick instructions on how the explosives worked, Alex and Kara parted ways from them. Kara walked first, setting off the boobytraps, slightly annoyed by the hundreds of poison darts that simply burned up on contact with the invisible shield around her. Sometimes being too powerful made life too easy.

Kara knocked on the door to Talia’s throne room where her Lazarus Pit resided. Her second knock sent the thick door flying down and Alex ran in, guns in hand and firing.

Kara didn’t watch her, knowing these people were child’s play for her sister who was trained to fight the deadliest aliens in the universe. Instead she walked up to Talia, not making eye contact with Nyssa. Talia was furious and stood up, only slightly taken back by Kara’s new outfit.

“You are breaking your oath! You cannot attack me!”

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t attacked one of your soldiers. My partner is kind of a wild card. We need to talk.”

The girl opened up a red portal behind Talia, grabbed her arm and dragged the woman through it.

Talia found herself in a barren wasteland, nothing but grey rocks and sand, dark, barely lit by the sun. She noticed some sort of moving fauna, black in color and hard to see but appeared to be spongy.

“Welcome to Craddock. Its a moon in the Andera sector. You will get used to the atmosphere in a second. There is water here of course, and the sponges growing from the rock are edible. Just make sure they are dead first. You can use some of the rocks to kill them. The gravity is similar to Earth’s. Speaking of Earth we are about 14 thousand light years away. Not much chance of getting home. The sponges and a few different species of fish reside in the ponds about a mile form here. The moon isn’t much larger than the Earth’s moon but it is such a dump, no one comes here. This is actually my first trip. My friend Lobo had to land here to make repairs to his ship once. The nearest sentient creatures are over there.” Kara told her, pointing to a bright star in the sky.

“It is cold as hell as you can tell but the moon has a molten core so you won’t freeze to death. Just find a nice dry spot and sleep on the ground and you will be fine. Oh yeah, if you see any ships from the planet I just showed you, hide. Those guys will eat any biological entity they can find.”

Talia had been furious when she realized Nyssa’s general was the one to attack her.

Now she was scared.

“You can’t do this. You are honor bound…”

“To not attack you.” Kara told her, holding in a smile. “I haven’t attacked you. I am not killing you. I’m just not taking you back. Funny thing about oaths. You have to read the fine print. Enjoy your new home.”

Kara took to the sky, only stopping when she heard Talia yell for her to stop. She floated back down slowly.

“I do have to sleep tonight.” she told the woman.

“What do you want?” Talia asked.

“A lot. Release of all oaths, dissolution of the League, Destroy the Lazarus Pit, oaths against any form of vengeance, that sort of thing. You played with the wrong woman, Talia. Your father thought he was invincible until he met me. He didn’t die like a coward though. You are nothing but a coward, manipulating others to get what you want, staying in your cave…”

“Laurel Lance came to me! She made the decision to bring Sara back from the dead. I let her.”

‘Knowing Sara would be a monster and have to come back to you! Knowing Nyssa would follow! You played your game but its over now. Look around you, Talia. I would love nothing more than to leave you here. Its the type of hell people like us belong in! I don’t use others to get what I want though! When I fight my battles they are my battles! Do you know what this is?” Kara asked, putting her glowing ring inches from Talia’s face.

“Blood magic.” the woman whispered.

“Its a weapon and a part of me now. I am the most powerful person in the Universe. All I want is for me, my family and my friends to be left alone. You brought me here. You brought hell on yourself! So did your father, so did Malcolm Merlyn! I am justice, I am revenge, I am reckoning! You? You are nothing but an old woman who has lived too long. Will you do as I want? I can bring you back here or someplace worse at any time. Your decision.”

Talia looked around, beginning to shake. Would this woman actually leave her here?

Yes, she would. She had never met Kara Zor El personally and only knew what former League of Assassin members had told her. She was ruthless, but caring, cold but warm. She was invincible, a goddess on Earth.

And she would leave Talia on this rock.

“I will agree to whatever you ask.”

Kara took a breath, wishing she hadn’t. The air here truly was foul.

“I knew you were reasonable woman. A woman after your father’s own heart, I mean what was left of it after I hit him. Your pathetic life is everything to you.”

A red circle appeared and in a split second, Talia found herself back in her lair. Kara noted the guards were all bound but alive.

“What the hell?!” Kara asked, looking at Alex and Nyssa.

“I’m trying to set an example of self-control.” the older sister told her.

Kara shook her head and walked to a shelf on the far side of the Lazarus Pit, finding parchment and ink. She handed it to Talia and began instructing her what to write.

After it was done and Talia had signed the document, Kara examined it closely then walked to a wall safe behind the throne. Ripping it open she took a bag of black powder and dumped it into the Lazarus Pit.

Talia screamed despite knowing what was going to happen.

“If you are worried about crow’s feet, I can recommend a great spa.” Kara offered. “Only one thing left to do and you will never have to see me again. Alex, you have Peacemaker?”

Her sister walked behind Talia and grabbed her, pressing a small syringe to her neck. A hiss and Talia jerked, blinding pain striking her and doubling her over.

“What did you do?” she hissed, finally able to stand straight after a couple minutes.

“We put a small bomb and GPS tracking device in your neck. I have a very powerful A.I.” Kara explained. “He will keep track of you at all times, your locations, your conversations. If you ever approach anyone I love, he will detonate it. Your death will be quick and painless. If anyone attempts to detach it from your Cervical Spine, it will detonate. Your texts will be monitored constantly, your computers, your bank accounts. There is nothing you can hide from me Talia. You belong to me. If you abide by our agreement, you will live out the remainder of your life peacefully. If you don’t then you die. No matter where you are in the world, even under it, that signal will not be interrupted. I’m an alien. I have tech you couldn’t dream of. I think we are done here. I will leave it to you to inform what is left of your League that it is over. If you don’t, I will know.”

The three walked out of the room, leaving Talia on her knees crying.

They met Team Arrow outside, a crying Laurel holding onto Sara.

“Thank you.” Sara whispered, her eyes glistening.

“Sisters should never be kept apart.” Kara told her, took Alex’s hand and opened a portal back into the lair.

While Alex packed her weapons in the bag, Kara moved towards Oliver.

“Constantine?”

“Where do you want to meet him?” Queen asked. “He is in England now.”

“Call him and ask where the best place to perform blood magic is. I have a totem I desperately want removed that was made by blood magic. I will go wherever he wants me to be.”

The man took her in and for the first time that night, saw a hint of sadness and longing. For the first time ever, he wondered what life had done to her and realized she had not always been like this. He hadn’t always been what he was either. Taking out a piece of paper from the desk, he wrote an address and phone number on it.

“I will let him know you are going to call. Good luck, Kara.”

“You too. By the way, if you need help with that throwing star killer, go the top of Gotham City’s police headquarters and turn on the spotlight then wait. He can take care of it.” she told him with a wink.

The blonde approached Nyssa and the two hugged.

“It took you long enough.” the woman playfully complained.

“I’ve had a lot going on. Try to stay out of trouble. You want a ride somewhere?”

Nyssa shook her head. “One trip into a cloud of red energy is enough for the night. I will call you tomorrow. Perhaps we can talk about the changes in you, that strange ring on your finger and why you need a Shaman?”

Kara nodded. “That’s probably a conversation that needs to happen in person. I’ll call you and you can come by. First, I need to get it off. I will be okay. I always am. Be careful, please?”

Nyssa assured her she would be.

Alex and Kara walked out of the Lair and in seconds were in front of their house.

“So, that was… fun I guess. It wasn’t an unstoppable killing machine or a horde of White Martians, or a pack of Green Lanterns but it was a nice night on the town.” Alex told her.

Kara playfully punched her on the shoulder.

“We saved Nyssa, reunited two sisters, neutralize Talia without killing her and I didn’t kill Oliver Queen or anyone else. I guess it was pretty fun.”

“What are we going to do tomorrow?” the older sister asked. Kara thought about it for a moment.

“I suppose I am going to set up an appointment with this John Constantine guy and then… I really liked the way Clark looked on that pitcher’s mound. I think I am going to take one of Mom’s photos and put it on canvas.”

Alex smiled warmly.

“You haven’t painted in a long time.”

“Yeah,” Kara agreed, “probably time I started again. We are going to get this ring off, Alex. One way or another, I will get it off. I won’t accept it. But until then, I am going to control it, control myself. I have to.”

Alex ruffled her hair. “Yes, we will. For now I think we should probably feed Streaky and go to sleep. You have a portrait to paint tomorrow and need to start building my new hover jet in secret.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen.”

S.T.A.R. Labs

Bruce found Barry in a barely lit, unused room at the back of the lab. Not sure what to say but knowing he needed to pull the Flash out of his funk, he decided to give it a shot. Diana hadn’t had any luck and he doubted he would either but the man looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

Mulling over words of wisdom that Alfred had given him over the years, he mentally prepared his speech.

“Barry, you have got to get it together. You need to sleep and losing it over a girl who dumped you is doing no one any good.”

Bruce almost patted him on the back but couldn’t remember if that was part of the plan. Alfred patted people on the back when he cared, right? Of course the speech had sounded more poetic in his head. “Why don’t we go to the metagene dampening room and spar? Sometimes getting the hell beat out of you is just the thing a guy needs to wake up.

Barry took in the man, decked out in a designer suit, and he appeared quite serious.

“Not really in the mood to get my ass kicked right now, but thanks for the offer.”

Bruce shook his head, out of ideas. After he and Selena had parted ways for the 22nd or 23rd time since he had been 15, a fight with Bane had taken his mind off the continual heartache she had caused.

“You have to get over her, Barry.” he offered as a second piece of advice.

Barry frowned, annoyed that this conversation was even taking place. One of the many things he liked about Bruce Wayne outside of the Batman persona was his unwillingness to delve into someone’s personal life. “How Bruce? I have loved her from the moment I saw her. I shared things with her I have never shared with anyone else. Now I can’t even talk to her. I watch her from a distance and run cross country just to see a Little League baseball game, using Clark as an excuse and hoping she will apologize and ask me back. Instead I get treated like a guy she used to know.”

Batman looked at this situation as strategically as possible, analyzed what Barry was saying and offered his opinion.

“That was dumb.”

The Flash finally spared Bruce a look in his eyes and was surprised to see disappointment in them.

“Dumb? I wanted to see her.”

“It was dumb expecting Kara to apologize. She only apologizes to a few people. She destroyed the Batmobile once because I refused to kill the Joker… again. She never apologized but she did fix it, even added a few more toys. That’s the way she apologizes. She talked to you and that is as close to an apology as Kara is ever going to get. She will never apologize for what she said here unless she didn’t mean it. I don’t agree with her assessment of your skills but it was what she believed. If you want to prove her wrong, then get some sleep and keep working, keep getting better. Show her the world doesn’t need Supergirl because it has the Flash.”

Barry thought of this, wondering if he could be right. Was it that simple? Just ignore her, wait for her? But she wasn’t waiting. Not according to Clark.

“Have you ever played Halo… never mind. Clark and I play sometimes when his parents are asleep and he told me she had a sort of… date. She took Curry to the Fortress so the two could swim in the ocean. He thinks they were on a date but I think we both know better.”

At that moment, Bruce wanted to destroy the Batmobile. Kara had pulled some self-destructive acts in the past, a lot of them involving sex with a guy she felt nothing for one of them. Curry? Damn it! The team had beginning to mold, even Stewart had begun to be accepted by almost everyone but him. Now this.

“Did you… did you ask him about it?” he asked cautiously.

Barry shook his head. “I really don’t have a right, do I? She isn’t my girlfriend.”

“That’s true,” Bruce mumbled before he realized from the look on Barry’s face that he had said it out loud. The man looked sheepish. “Sorry, not great at this stuff. Why don’t you try dating? Selena and I parted ways when I we were 15, She went off to become a world famous criminal and I… I went in search of the League of Shadows. Talia and I became… close as I got older. It had to end, but it did take my mind off Selena, for a while.”

“So sleep with an assassin? Because the only one I know is Kara’s best friend and she is gay. That’s kind of off limits, in so many ways.”

Bruce crossed his arms and began walking around the room, deep in thought as he would be when a problem presented itself and he needed a solution quick. Perhaps calling Alfred to take up this conversation could help? Calling Diana for backup? Curry for a joke… no, best to leave Curry out of this.

“Date someone. Meet someone, anyone you might like and give it a shot. Not to make her jealous but to see who else may be out there. She isn’t watching anyway. Live life, Barry, while she is trying to figure out hers. I know you have been watching from a distance for years, and quite frankly, almost became obsessed with her. I know another guy that became obsessed with her and she played him, used him and never even tried to hide it. Find someone and just give it a shot. It wouldn’t kill you, would it?”

Barry thought about it, the idea of dating, having fun with a woman who wasn’t Kara seemed wrong, unnatural. It was true he may have developed a fascination, not an obsession, over the years they had been apart. But once they were together, she had become such a huge part of his life. Now she was stepping away from that and his persistence was not paying off. Perhaps Wayne was right? It wouldn’t kill him and he doubted she would care any longer. He hadn’t spoken to Patty in a while. A waitress at Jitters had slipped him her number last week.

It was possible.

It also still didn’t feel right.

“If you want to sleep ever again, you are going to have to do something. Either Caitlin needs to develop something to help you sleep, you need to fight a much larger and dangerous opponent, someone who is not Curry and let out your frustrations or try dating. Either way you are no good to the team in the state you are in, not this team, not the Justice League and you certainly aren’t good for Central City. That’s it, that’s all I got. My relationship history is limited to a cat burglar and an assassin. Figure it out but get it together quickly. We have an unknown alien object that landed softly in Greenland and announced its presence. I can’t tell you why it is here but it can’t be anything good…”

Bruce’s speech was cut off by Lobo entering the room.

“It isn’t good. Its a spy probe. Your underground hideout is probably safe as well as the Fortress, but this thing is sending every bit of information S.T.A.R. Labs has on all of you, especially video of your fights. I need to take it into space and destroy it as soon as possible. Stewart and I will both try and figure out the planet of origin. There are only three worlds that use this particular type of sphere and none of them have any reason to study Earth. Stewart is waiting on us.”

Bruce walked out quickly, leaving Barry and Lobo alone.

“So,” Lobo began. “what I got from that is Kara is single now?”

Barry walked out of the room past the Czarnian.

“Shut up, Lobo.”