Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Aethyr,” Lena whispered to herself as she lifted the nearest book off the ground. “Now how did you get all the way here?” she wondered aloud, flipping through the dusty pages, making sure the book was still intact after its fall. 

She could’ve sworn she started in the “S” section of authors but after knocking over every bookshelf in the museum’s library, it was also entirely possible that the “A” authors somehow shot their way across the room and into the messy pile in front of her.

A catastrophe, that’s what J'onn had called her. Claimed she was worse than all the plagues that fell before them. Plagues which Lena probably knew more about than J'onn himself.

That’s not to say that J'onn wasn’t brilliant — he was, but he never quite got a handle on Kryptonese like she did. For Lena, reading and writing in kryptonese came as swift as a scribbled signature on a historical ledger, and having that skill gave her the ability to research Krypton from extremely dated sources, especially when the vernacular was too specific for general scholars to understand it. 

Without a doubt in her mind, Lena knew she was the best kryptologist around Kandor. It’s probably why J'onn kept her around. That and the generous lump sum amounts Lillian would bestow upon the museum in monthly installments. Though Lena would tell herself that her Kryptonian expertise was the relevant factor here, if only because she wished to prove to herself, and to her adoptive mother, that there’s always a use for learning a dead language. 

“There we go,” Lena said, dropping the book into an organized pile on the table in front of her. 

From there she looked up, placing her hands on her hips while she took in the chaos that remained.

In every direction she looked, there were more books scattered across the room, some with their spines cracked open, face down on the unpolished floor, while others were more rigid in place with their covers shut tight, suffocating under one of the twelve chestnut bookshelves surrounding the oval room. 

Cleaning up would certainly take her the rest of the week, especially if she had to fix everything on her own. J'onn should’ve realized that when he scolded her for the accident.  

Though if Lena really thought about it, the entire ordeal was J'onn’s fault to begin with. Who sets up bookshelves like they’re some kind of eight feet tall dominos anyway? You’re practically asking for someone to knock them over. 

Lena sighed as she turned away, eyeing a new pile next to her. Just as she was about to bend over and pick up another dusty book that probably didn’t belong in this area, the corner of her eyes caught a flame flickering from the hallway, almost as if someone had rushed past it. 

“Hello?” Lena called out. 

She wondered if J'onn was spying on her and making sure she was cleaning up after herself. It seemed plausible given the fact that she had caught him sneaking around just ten minutes earlier. But when she heard a large crash coming from the same direction as the flickering hallway torches, Lena became less convinced it was merely J'onn’s untrusting oversight. 

And considering the luck she was having today, somehow this would be her fault too if she didn’t check out the disturbance. 

Stripping her reading glasses off the bridge of her nose, Lena placed them gently on the table beside her before stalking off towards the back hallway. She quickly shuffled through the corridors until she found herself near the entranceway to the museum backroom, an area where they kept some of their oldest artefacts. 

“Anyone here?” Lena said, just before stepping inside the cavernous room. 

Museums always felt still whenever there weren’t any visitors, but something about this room seemed off, and quieter than usual. The only sounds came from Lena’s flats sliding against the floor, and the torches burning wildly beside her. She grabbed the one on her left, hoping it would be enough to illuminate whatever was hiding in the room. 

As if on cue, another noise sounded further ahead, one that reminded Lena of the time she bumped her foot against a solid table, knocking her drink all over a hundred year old document. 

J'onn wasn’t too fond of her then either.

Lena shook her head, ridding the memory as she inched closer to the noise. It looked like it was coming from inside a hollowed crate. Her fingers ran the edge of it, passing along the kryptonese inscription that once took her weeks to translate. The words didn’t exist in English, so even with her near perfect knowledge in both languages, her translation could never fully capture what the Kryptonians meant when they used that phrase. It wasn’t as simple as “El Mayarah”, meaning Stronger Together, but it was a similar idea, loosely connected to overcoming adversity but with the strength of one’s own upbringing.

Understanding the words was one thing, but Lena never quite got a grasp on the concept itself. Her upbringing didn’t provide any of that strength the inscription spoke of. If anything, it probably took some of that strength away. 

And even beyond understanding the concept, not having the right words to describe something was an equally difficult sentiment to understand at the time, though Lena got a better understanding of it now when she peeked her head over the opening of the crate and a skeleton lifted its body up, shrieking at the highest pitch imaginable. 

Lena’s reaction was instant as she screamed at the top of her lungs and her body jolted backwards. Her fingers fumbled with the torch in her hands, trying to regain the grip she previously had on the stiff wood.

It couldn’t be possible, she thought. Skeleton’s don’t have any organs, nor vocal boxes to produce that noise, so there was no feasible way that high-pitched sound came from a pile of bones. She either imagined it or—

“You should’ve seen your face,” a lighthearted voice laughed from inside the crate. 

Lena recognized its owner immediately. It was simultaneously calming and enraging. 

“Jack, I don’t have time for this,” Lena said as Jack jumped up from his hidden position behind the skeleton. 

“There’s always time for my pro-bono jokes,” Jack replied as he moved the jaw on the skeleton to make it look like the set of bones were speaking directly to Lena. “Get it? Bone-O.” 

“You say that as if you get paid to make jokes in the first place.” 

Jack dropped his hand away from the skeleton and placed it against the front of his chest. “I’m hurt you would even say that.”

“That I would say the truth? Maybe you’d make it as a comedian, but for now you’re just a broke thief.”

“I like to think of it as being pre-rich,” Jack corrected. He let go of the skeleton and jumped out of the crate. “Besides, after my last find, I think I’ll actually get some riches this time. That is... as long as you work your magic.” 

It was always the same story with Jack. 

“You just love getting my hopes up only to show me a piece of junk,” Lena said, shaking her head. “I’m not helping you with this again.”

“C’mon Lena, give your old pal a hand,” Jack said while lifting up the skeleton’s bones once more, playing with the arm emphatically. 

His grip must’ve been tighter than he imagined because one minute he was playfully holding onto the skeleton’s arm, while the next, the arm found itself over his head, firing back after it ripped from the skeleton’s shoulder socket.

“Is that supposed to happen?” Jack whispered.

“Would you just,” Lena started as she took the skeleton out of Jack’s hands and threw it forcefully back into the crate, “stop touching things!” 

“I’m just asking you to take a quick look,” Jack said as he pulled an object out of his suit pocket, levelling it in front of Lena’s eyes, taking the option to look out of her hands.

“Wh—” Lena started before cutting herself short. She reached out for the tiny artefact, carefully lifting it out of Jack’s hands with her nimble fingers, and handing him her torch in place of the object.

There were five sides to the artefact, each side smooth at the top and equal in width, yet it progressed downwards in length as if the artefact was dripping and solidified in that form. If it wasn’t for the uneven bottom, it’d almost look like a pentagonal prism. 

Lena had never seen anything like it. In fact, the only familiar feature on the object was a particular engraving which Lena had always dreamed about seeing in person.

“Where did you find this?” she asked, her fingers running over the topside with the letter “S” engraved across it.

“Found it close to Bokos. A thief must’ve lost it. This has to be worth something, right?” 

Lena continued twirling it around until she found a small switch just on the base of the “S”. She shifted it from its standard position to the right, and after hearing a small click, the “S” lifted itself up, revealing a hollow space containing a folded paper within it. 

Jack and Lena shared a quick look before Lena pinched the paper and pulled it out, opening it up against her knees. With the paper sprawled out, Lena was able to properly take in the symbols that were inscribed on, what looked to be, a map. 

“This is definitely worth something.” 

***

“Right there,” Lena said, directing J'onn’s attention to the topside of the artefact. “That’s the House of El crest.” 

J’onn looked at Lena for a moment, considering her words before he turned his attention back to the artefact, tossing it over a few more times, running his fingers against the grooves. 

“They sound rich,” Jack said, jumping up from his chair so he could get a closer look at the object. “Are they rich?”

“They were one of the noble ruling families on Krypton,” Lena replied.

“Noble ruling family?” Jack repeated. A wide grin grew across his face. He slung his arm around Lena’s shoulder. “Blimey, I really hit the jackpot.”

“More than you think, Jack. I dated the artefact and I believe it’s almost 3000 years old. But the real jackpot is the map that was hidden inside it,” Lena said. She moved closer to the desk, and pointed to the upper right corner on the ancient paper. “That sigil there—It’s for Argo City.” 

“Argo City,” J'onn said with a laugh, speaking for the first time since the duo stepped inside his study. “You do know that city isn’t real.” He lifted up a loupe to his eye and inspected the corner Lena was pointing at before he continued speaking, “It’s fictional. A myth meant to scare off children from wandering west of Kandor.”

“Yes, I’ve heard all about the city that had been protected by the curse of the Worldkillers. But I’ve done a lot of research on the matter and I believe it was not merely a myth. The city did in fact exist.”

“Wait, I know this one,” Jack interrupted. “Argo City is also known as the City of the Dead, right?”

“Precisely. And I think you’d love it just as much as I would. The wealthiest of the El families are said to have hid most of their riches there.”

“Lovely. So when are we going?” 

“You’re not seriously considering going there,” J’onn interrupted. 

Lena crossed her arms. “Why not?” 

J’onn leaned in closer, giving Lena a stern look. 

“No one has ever found Argo City. And most that pursue this nonsense have never even returned from their journey.” He paused for a moment, still holding onto that pointed gaze, almost looking protective. “Don’t go. It’s not worth the risk.”

For someone who always wanted to get rid of her, J’onn was certainly going through great lengths to now urge her to stick around. And while his warnings felt more ominous than the ancient artefact itself, Lena knew this wasn’t an adventure she’d be willing to miss. 

Lowering her arms and moving towards the desk, Lena grabbed ahold of the artefact and the map. 

“I’ll take my chances,” she said, giving J’onn a fierce look of her own before storming out of the study.

***

The more Jack told the story, the more it fell apart. 

“I thought you said a thief had lost it?” Lena asked.

“Yeah, well, one thief lost it and another found it,” Jack replied. He stood close to Lena, trying to keep his distance from the prisoners that were glued to their cell bars, yelling incomprehensible words at them. “Keep walking. I don’t want to get stuck with these fools.”

Lena had barely noticed the prisoners around them. She was still focused, trying to understand Jack’s convoluted tale of how a criminal was useful in giving them more information on the artefact. Lena could only hope that would be the case. If this criminal could help, then they might actually learn something tangible about Argo City.

Everything Lena knew about the city thus far could’ve easily been fiction. The myths surrounding the city always fascinated Lena and though Lillian always chided her for ‘fantasizing about fake cities’, Lena always sensed there was some truth to the myths.

Her birth mother thought so too. 

Unfortunately, Lena never got the opportunity to go on that crusade with her mother. Instead, she had to settle on finding the city with her eccentric sticky fingered friend.  

“That’s not finding something. That’s called stealing,” Lena said. She shook Jack off her shoulder, letting him walk ahead while giving herself some more breathing room. “And when you say get stuck with them is that you admitting you should be locked up here too?”

“Fort Rozz is for real criminals,” Jack answered. “Besides, is it really stealing if she stole it in the first place?” 

“She?”

“She,” Jack confirmed, coming to a stop just in front of a cell on his right. 

Sitting on her knees with her head hung low was a woman wearing a torn up buttoned shirt which had definitely seen whiter days. She had dirty golden hair thrown across her scalp in every direction as if a storm passed through that cell, leaving her permanently disheveled. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was a thick sulfuric stench suffocating the cell. The two guards behind her seemed to be prepared, black masks covering their faces, and hands just at the helm of their weapon in case the prisoner decided to make any suspicious moves. 

The prison staff did say Kara Danvers was dangerous, but Lena was still surprised by the heightened security measures. No other prisoner had watch dogs in the same cell as them. 

“This is the woman you stole from?” Lena said, turning to look at Jack with wide eyes. 

“Maybe don’t say that so loud,” Jack whispered while covering his nose.

Their mumblings caught Kara’s attention as she lifted up her head, revealing cold blue eyes and a lopsided smile. 

“Who are you?” she said, looking at Jack before her eyes rolled over to Lena. “And who's the broad?” 

“Excuse me?”

Even if she didn’t know Lena’s name, it was utterly disrespectful of Kara to reduce her to a ‘broad’. The prisoner was polite enough to ask Jack who he was, but for some reason that courtesy didn’t extend towards Lena. 

The whole interaction gave Lena a pretty good idea of the type of woman they were dealing with, but just as Lena was about to give Kara a piece of her own mind, Jack cut in front of her.

“Just a chap, you don’t know me,” he said, waving off his own presence — obviously for selfish reasons. Still, his self-insert was giving Lena a moment to regain her cool. “But this here is Lena.”

Kara ignored Jack’s evasive answer, her eyes still focused on Lena. There was a bit of a staring contest beginning, though it didn’t last for long as Kara’s eyes darted downwards and then right back up, apparently taking the opportunity to do a quick scan of Lena’s appearance. 

“Well, she doesn’t look horrible,” Kara mumbled.

“I beg your pardon?” Lena said. 

She couldn’t believe the audacity of the prisoner to give her such a backhanded compliment. It wasn’t warranted, especially considering the outfit Lena was wearing. She was quite proud of it, actually. Looking down at her own outfit, Lena wondered how her wool sweater, beautiful emerald necklace and open legged beige pants could ever pale in comparison to the dirty get-up the blonde prisoner wore. Unless she was talking about her face, which again, why say a compliment in the negative?

It’s not like Lena was looking for the prisoner’s validation—she didn’t need a scoundrel telling her she looked good. But she wouldn’t entirely object to hearing that either.  

“Just ask about the cylinder toy and we can get out of here,” Jack whispered. 

He was right. They just needed the information and then they could find the city themselves. There was no need to stick around Kara Danvers for any longer than necessary.

“My cylinder toy? What, were you sneaking around in my room?” Kara said, a grin growing on her face after hearing Jack’s loud whispers.

“It’s—No I—,” Lena stumbled. This was not the information they came for. “It’s not a cylinder. It’s—It’s a prism. An artefact. We wanted to ask you about it.” 

That seemed to catch Kara’s attention even more as she slid her hands down the cell bars and let out a light laugh.

“No,” Kara said, shaking her head. “You came to ask about Argo City.”

“H—How do you know the prism pertains to Argo City?” Lena asked.

Kara lowered her eyes, looking as unimpressed as ever. 

“Because that’s where I found it. Had it for a few days until—” Kara stopped talking, a realization starting to hit. She tilted her head to the side, opening up her line of sight, specifically giving her a better view of Jack. “Wait a minute.”

“I’m just a random chap, remember?” 

“Oh, I remember,” Kara said before her face scrunched up and she threw a jab through the metal cell bars.

The two guards behind Kara weren’t fast enough as Kara’s knuckles hit Jack square in the nose. He immediately recoiled, hands sticking to his face as he yelped out in pain. 

“Did she break my nose?!”

Kara let out a chuckle before the guards hit her backside with the ends of their guns. Somehow, her grunt was quieter than Jack’s continued complaining. 

Lena shook her head. Jack wasn’t even bleeding. And it’s not like he didn’t deserve that punch. 

“So then you were actually there?” Lena said, stepping closer to the cell. “In Argo City?” 

That lopsided grin grew on Kara’s face once again. If there weren’t cell bars blocking her view, Lena might’ve actually admitted it was somewhat of an attractive look on Kara. 

“Yeah, I was there,” she said. 

“You swear?” 

“Every damn day,” Kara smirked. 

It was like she was proud of her own bad behaviour. Lena found it to be obnoxious.  

“No, I didn’t mean that.”

“I know what you meant. I was there,” Kara confirmed. “City of the Dead,” she said in a deeper voice while shaking her hands in the air as if she were a frightened child in a horror film.

Lena couldn’t care to comment on Kara’s childish movements. Not after hearing those words. Words that confirmed what she always knew to be true.

It was real. 

Argo City actually existed. 

Kara Danvers had been there, found the pentagonal prism and managed to make her way back to Bokos where Jack then stole the artefact. She ended up in Fort Rozz, but Lena figured that there were many other factors which led to Kara’s imprisonment. The guards themselves told her that Kara had been locked away because she was ‘having a very good time’.

Whatever that meant. 

Lena didn’t want to know. She just wanted to get better information on Argo City. Kara’s presence in this prison proved that J’onn’s warnings were preposterous. The city was real, and now that she had the proof, Lena would stop at nothing to find it.

“Do you think you could tell me how to get to Argo City?” she asked. 

Kara looked dumbfounded, blinking at Lena like she was asking the most ridiculous question imaginable. 

“The exact location,” Lena continued saying. She felt nervous all of a sudden because if Kara didn’t give her the answer, then she’d have nothing to go on. Finding the famous ‘City of the Dead’ completely relied on Kara’s willingness to help. 

“You really want to know?” Kara whispered.

Her hushed tone made Lena realize the secretive nature of the matter. If Kara were to reveal its location, she certainly wouldn’t announce it for everyone in the prison to hear. Understanding the situation, Lena leaned in closer towards the cell bars. 

“Yes,” Lena whispered back. 

She was still a few inches away from Kara, but apparently Kara didn’t think the distance was short enough. She lifted her finger up, bending it forward, instructing Lena to come even closer. 

There wasn’t all that much room, but Lena obliged, lowering her body and placing her face directly in front of Kara’s. 

Only those metal bars separated them now. They were the last shield protecting Lena from the dangerous prisoner on the other side, or so she thought, because Kara took their proximity as an invitation and she leaned in, almost like she was about to close the shortest distance between them with a kiss on Lena’s lips.

When Kara wet her own lips, Lena’s one track mind took a different turn as if someone pulled on a railroad switch, knocking the momentum off the Argo City path and launching her down a parallel path that started and ended with the sudden, intense wonder as to what those lips tasted like.

She knew it was absurd to even think about kissing her. Kara had been nothing but an unfriendly neanderthal. There was nothing to like about her in the slightest. No real reason for Lena to even think about wanting a taste.

So when Lena leaned in closer, it wasn’t intentional. She wasn’t looking at Kara’s lips, wondering how they looked so soft compared to her brutal exterior. Her breath didn’t hitch at the back of her throat in anticipation of something so forbidden and frankly inappropriate. And when Kara’s eyes darted downwards, Lena swore her heart didn’t start hammering inside her chest. 

Because she didn’t want a kiss. If anything, she couldn’t stop thinking about how explicitly she did not and would never want to kiss a woman like that. But when Kara made that final lunge forward, hands moving down as they quickly grabbed onto its target — the necklace around Lena’s neck — Lena couldn’t help but feel some form of disappointment. 

“Hey!” she snapped as Kara got to work fast, tearing the necklace off Lena and turning to use it as a weapon against the guards. 

The chain caught the first guard by surprise creating a thick red slash across his face, effectively knocking him back. He tried to steady himself by leaning his hands against the walls beside him, but this only helped Kara gain access towards his sidearm. Her fingers had nearly grabbed onto his spare weapon when the second guard foiled Kara’s escape and shoved his blaster against the backside of her head. 

“Make a single move and I’ll blow your brain to bits right here,” the guard warned. 

Kara sighed loudly. She seemed like she was about to admit defeat, but then her eyes moved to Lena’s once more, and a spark ignited behind those blue shades. Even though she had only just met her, Lena instantly knew that look could only mean that Kara still had one last trick up her sleeve. 

“If you want my help, then—” Kara started before the guard pushed her face into the dirty ground.

“Shut up,” he mumbled before putting all his weight against Kara’s back, keeping her down with his foot and making sure she wasn’t getting up anytime soon.

The whole scene unfolded faster than Lena expected and she found herself still caught up in the moment before Kara’s face was buried in the dirt.

It was embarrassing enough that she didn’t realize Kara was eying her necklace instead of her lips, but even more embarrassing than that was the sheer desperation she felt in this exact moment, when her mind finally caught up to speed: Kara Danvers only intended on using her to escape. She had tried it once and that spark in Kara’s eyes was further proof that she would try it again. 

Still, despite knowing Kara’s intentions, Lena needed to hear the rest of her sentence. 

She lowered her body to Kara’s level, and took in a deep breath, readying herself for the loss of her dignity.

“Then?” Lena probed. 

Kara raised her head just enough for Lena to see that maddening lopsided grin. It remained on her face as the second guard regained his footing and approached Kara, yanking on her chains, lifting her up and away. 

“Then get me the hell out of here!” Kara gritted out while the two guards pulled her back, ushering her towards the hidden door behind her cell. 

They left so fast that Lena didn’t even have a chance to intervene. She placed her hands against the cold metal bars, gripping tightly as her only hope slipped out of her reach. 

The mission wasn’t supposed to go like this. Lena was prepared for a trade, intending on offering her most treasured artefacts in exchange for information on finding Argo, but getting Kara out of prison was an entirely different ordeal. Lena didn’t even know how they were supposed to go about it.

“Is the dream over then?” Jack asked. 

Lena turned to face him, seeing him sitting in the middle of the hallway, curled up in a ball with his hand still pressing against his face. He really was overreacting about that punch. 

“And are you going to get that necklace back?” he continued. “If you don’t think it’s valuable, I’m sure I can find a buyer that—”

“Sorry sir,” a passing guard interrupted, clearly trying to get Jack to move out of the way. 

“Sir? Hmm… Sir Jack Spheer. Yes, I do like the sound of that,” Jack said, waving his finger at the guard. “Lena, how does one become a sir?” 

Lena ignored him, realizing the guard could help overcome their current predicament. 

She stood up tall and pointed to the cell on her right. “Do you know where they’re taking her?”

The guard didn’t even have to look at the cell to know exactly who Lena was talking about.

“She is to be hanged. It is time she pays for her crimes.”

While Lena would normally agree that criminals deserve some form of punishment, and that Kara definitely needed to be reprimanded for leading Lena on and then stealing her necklace, death wasn’t the ideal solution for either of them. 

Even with the map and the prism-like artefact Lena had, she still didn’t know how to find Argo City. No one knew where the city was, and there were far too many dangerous pitfalls on Krypton for her to scour the land herself. Kara was the only one with the direct route to Argo City and if she were to be hanged, the possibility of finding Argo would die along with her. 

Turning back wasn’t even an option anymore. This was the closest Lena ever got to finding the city and she wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip away just because one frustrating criminal happened to upset the wrong people. 

She’d be remiss to let her birth mother down like that. So as much as she hated to admit it, Lena needed Kara alive.

“Get up, Jack,” she said, turning away from the now emptied cell. “We have a bargain to make with the warden.”

Chapter Text

“I don’t like this deal,” Jack said while leaning against the outside walls of Fort Rozz. He was finally done complaining about Kara potentially breaking his ‘perfectly shaped nose’, and he had now turned his sulking sights onto their current predicament. “Freeing Miss Danvers in return for half of the treasure we find in the city seems like a rather large wager to me.”

“Need I remind you that we won’t be able to find any treasure if she doesn’t help us get there,” Lena said.

The deal with the warden was clear: they were to make their way to Argo with Kara, and then she would return to Fort Rozz with treasure in tow. It ruined Lena’s initial plan of ditching Kara at the first chance she got, but perhaps having a guide every step of the way would make their crusade that much easier.

“When you put it like that…” Jack mumbled, going silent for the first time in twenty minutes.

The sudden peace took Lena by surprise. If Jack himself ran out of steam, then they really had been waiting around for far too long. The prison staff said they had a few housekeeping tasks left before releasing Kara, but the longer the wait remained, the antsier Lena felt.

It seemed like she had been pacing around in the same spot for so long that her footprints were beginning to leave a permanent etch in the sand. It wasn’t the mark Lena had intended on leaving when she first arrived on Krypton, but it was still better than being cooped up in a library, organizing books for hours on end.

Argo City — that was the destination she’d always dreamed of finding. From the tales her birth mother told her to the extensive research she had done in the Kandor library, every tiny detail about Argo made her love the ancient city even more. The prospect of being there herself was everything she wanted, and also, everything she feared. Argo could either bring her that missing link in life, connecting her love of history with the love she had for her birth mother, or it could be the bucket of water that fell over her face, waking her up from those ‘misguided fantasies’ that Lillian constantly criticized.

The city had a lot to live up to, and the speculation of what it might actually be was a constant blockade on Lena’s mind. It was hard for her to think about anything else when she couldn't get any real answers until she reached the city itself. Fortunately, Lena’s sanity would get a small reprieve as Jack’s need for conversation kicked in once again.

“At least she seems like one of the better adventurers from there.”

“From where?”

“National City. The whole lot are annoying, but I’ve heard some things about her.”

Something about the way he phrased that sentence caught Lena’s attention. She wasn’t sure how Jack knew so much about Kara, but since he did, it was only right that he shared his intel. For the safety of the mission, obviously.

If they were to embark on a dangerous adventure together, then they needed to prepare for anything Kara might throw at them. There were no hidden agendas behind Lena’s interest in her. It was strictly professional intrigue.

“What type of things?” she asked.

“Well, she’s different from the normal bunch. More fearless. More focused. More reliable,” Jack listed as if it were his job to prop up the criminal. “So by us getting her out of this hell hole, I guarantee she’ll keep her word and stop at nothing to help us find Argo.”

“Good,” Lena said with a slight nod.

She wasn’t entirely convinced about Kara possessing those traits, but if Jack deemed them to be true, then Lena would cautiously trust in his assessment. Reading people had always been his strong suit, though there remained times where Jack’s earnest admiration of others clouded his judgment. In those rare moments, Lena would retain some reservation for the specific individual on Jack’s ‘good chap’ list.

Now was one of those times.

“But as soon as we find what we’re looking for, then we can part ways,” Lena continued.

Jack let out a stifled laugh. “Not a fan of hers?”

“Did we not meet the same person?”

“Technically, I met her a few days ago.”

“That’s besides the point. You saw how she acted,” Lena said. She found herself clenching her jaw as she started to remember the treatment she was recently subjected to. “She’s filthy, rude and a complete scoundrel. I don’t like her one bit.”

Just as she finished speaking, a loud creak sounded behind her, stiffening up Lena’s back. Judging by the sound of the high-pitched metal scraping a headache into Lena’s mind, she figured someone was pushing the front gates open.

As the creaks continued, a sudden nervousness started to creep up all over Lena. There was an unusual feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach, but it wasn’t—it wasn’t regret. Lena meant every word she said. It was more a feeling of guilt, fearing that someone overheard her loud frustrations.

“Anyone I know?” Kara’s voice chimed in, confirming Lena’s suspicions in the worst way possible.

Because of course Kara decided to show up exactly one second after Lena aired out her grievances. And even though Lena said what she believed to be true, it didn’t stop her from feeling an inkling of shame, hating that she had unintentionally been direct with her critique of Kara.

Though at the same time, it didn’t even sound like Kara was offended. If anything, she seemed almost proud to have had such a lasting effect on Lena, regardless of the fact that it was a negative impression. With just three spoken words, Lena was able to sense that lopsided grin plastered across Kara’s face.

That grin was beginning to become an annoyance and Lena couldn’t wait to wipe it off.

“Actually w—” she started to say but her voice lost itself mid-turn once her eyes landed on Kara.

She was still wearing the same white button-up from earlier, that much Lena could tell, but the way she styled it made it seem like it was an entirely different outfit. Where Lena had previously seen torn seams, Kara had hidden them by rolling her sleeves to her elbows, tightening the shirt around her surprisingly large biceps.

Not that Lena was looking at them. Her eyes had quickly jumped over Kara’s muscles as she observed the gun holster around Kara’s back, the two straps making it seem like she was wearing classy suspenders from the front.

It was all so… polished. The color of the holster even perfectly matched Kara’s pants. If Lena didn’t know any better and this was the first time she had come across Kara, she would have easily mistaken her for an upstanding citizen. Her hair was even combed back in a sleek ponytail, displaying a sharp jawline that, admittedly, may have caught Lena’s attention.

She was only human after all.

“Oh,” Lena settled on mumbling. Because apparently she wasn’t just human, she was also a bit of a disaster when it came to talking to an attractive woman. “H—Hello.”

The greeting fell flatter than a run-down manuscript, but it’s only because Lena didn’t know what to say. It’s not her fault that all her vigor disappeared after taking one good look at a cleaned up version of Kara. All it meant was that Kara took her by surprise and that’s fine. Her voicelessness didn’t mean anything else. At least, that’s what Lena kept telling herself until the small voice at the back of her head (which sounded awfully like Lillian) reminded her that this was the second time she let Kara get the jump on her.

Back inside the prison, Lena had lowered her guard so easily, letting herself fall gracelessly into Kara’s trap with just the prospect of a kiss. It felt embarrassing in the moment and even more so now that she was thinking about the situation again.

Lena didn’t even know her. Didn’t even like her, and yet part of her succumbed to the idea of kissing Kara. It was careless and Lena couldn’t understand how she lost all sense of her mission just because her eyes fell on a stupid pair of lips.

It was almost as bad as her current speechlessness.

“Ready to lead the way, Danvers?” Jack suddenly asked. He slid his body off the wall and walked past Lena, slightly nudging her in the shoulder.

“As long as you’re not tailing me from too close behind,” Kara said. She held out a hand, visually creating some distance between her and Jack.

“I say we put that in the past, right? No hard feelings?”

Kara slowly dropped her hand, letting out a soft chuckle. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Wonderful,” Jack cheered as he threw an arm over Kara’s shoulder. “I think this is going to be a grand trip. Never had a guide before so that’s something to look forward to.”

A guide, Lena thought. That’s all that Kara was. They had a mission. That’s why she was with them. There was a deal.

“Miss Danvers,” Lena said, finally finding her voice after clearing her throat. “Getting you out of Fort Rozz wasn’t an easy feat, but I’ve done as you asked. Now if your information to get us to Argo turns out to be faulty, then I’m warning you—”

“You’re warning me?” Kara said with a chuckle. “Please, lady. I’ve travelled to Argo with countless people and the things that are out there waiting for us are far more intimidating than any threat you or a Fort Rozz goon could make against me.”

After Kara finished her thought, she hastily threw Jack’s arm off her shoulder.

”We need a ship,” she mumbled before storming off ahead, out of earshot.

Lena always believed that actions spoke louder than words so when Kara ignored Jack’s usual schmoozing, it felt like Kara saw this adventure strictly as a mission. She couldn’t even be bothered to fake niceties, clearly having no intentions of creating any sort of friendship with Jack.

Lena didn’t mind.

If anything, she thought that’s what made Kara perfect for the mission. Her stoic and brazen nature would keep them on track. She wouldn’t be a distraction. Lena was sure of it.

“Yes, I see,” Jack mumbled as he perched up closer to Lena. His eyes followed in her line of sight, landing on the same figure Lena had been observing in silence. “Filthy, rude, and a complete scoundrel. Nothing to like there at all.”

Lena rolled her eyes over to Jack, immediately spotting his wide smile. He looked like he was about to add another comment, but before he got the chance, Lena shoved him in the shoulder, letting his lanky figure plummet to the sand below them.

She’d be damned if she let two people get away with stupid grins today.

***

For the last forty minutes, Lena found herself flying over the same geographic region, entranced by the falls below her. There was something devastatingly beautiful about a controlled inferno burning anything that drew too close to its source. The hot lava would rise up every now and then, small bursts of it even coming close to the windows.

Most people were terrified of Krypton’s Fire Falls, but Lena loved being in the heat of it all. Her cheeks were practically squished up against the window as she noted the blazes all around them.

For someone who had spent so much time researching Krypton’s history, it was a shame that this was the first time Lena had taken a trip over the Falls. She never had a good excuse to leave the museum and go sightseeing, especially considering there was nothing worthwhile West of the Kandor.

Or at least, that’s what Lena thought.

She had heard about the lost valley of Juru, another unexplored forbidden sector of Krypton, and everyone knew to stay away from the Island of Bokos (except for Jack of course), but it had never occurred to Lena that Argo would be found near those cities.

She still wasn’t sure of the exact location. Kara thought it best to hold out that information till they arrived, and Lena didn’t know how long that would be.

So in the meantime she continued gazing out the window, trying her best to commit every inferno to memory. Her plans came to an untimely end when a loud bang sounded on the table in front of her, pulling her attention.

“Sorry,” Kara mumbled while taking a seat across from Lena. There was a rolled up piece of fabric on the table in front of her which Lena assumed was the culprit behind the crashing noise. “Needed a place to clean these.”

“You couldn’t have chosen some other unoccupied seat?”

“What, you’re not happy to see my pretty face?” Kara asked. She didn’t wait for Lena to confirm or deny the rhetorical question, probably because she believed it to be true either way. “You looked lonely over here. Where’s the boyfriend anyway?”

Lena folded her arms over her chest, annoyed with Kara’s continued assumptions.

“I’m not the nearest bit lonely. I came here to enjoy the sights.” She considered letting the rest of Kara’s question go unanswered, but part of Lena knew that it would somehow be worse if she ignored it. “And not that it’s any of your business but Jack isn’t my boyfriend. I don’t know what he’s doing. Probably off gambling with the other tourists on this float.”

Maybe she had imagined it but Lena swore she saw the tiniest curl on Kara’s lips after she clarified that Jack wasn’t her boyfriend. That idea alone was nerve-wracking to Lena, but she wasn’t sure which insinuation was worse — Kara being happy with the news that she wasn’t dating Jack, or Lena imagining that such news would bring a smile to Kara’s lips.

Either way, the smirk was gone the next time Kara opened up her mouth.

“The Fire Falls are a beautiful sight for sure,” she said. “Takes my breath away everytime I come here.”

“You pass by them often?”

“Not as often as I’d like to,” Kara answered. She leaned forward and started to undo the ropes on both ends of the fabric roll. “But it’s calming to look at.”

“Yeah, it is…” Lena agreed, trailing off.

She wasn’t sure she recognized this version of Kara. She was almost amicable, shockingly interested in something that didn’t have anything to do with herself, which was so unlike the version of Kara that Lena had spoken with every other time.

It was nice and with the conversation turning to focus on the Falls, Lena started to feel herself slowly easing into Kara’s presence, which was for the best because it didn’t seem like Kara would be leaving anytime soon.

Lena uncrossed her arms as she took a quick glance out the window. Talking about Krypton was something she could do.

“Do you know how the Falls came to be?” Lena asked.

For a moment, Kara stilled her movements and glanced up at Lena. It was hard to tell what she was looking for, but she must’ve found whatever it was because a second later she looked back down, using her hands to continue undoing the ropes.

“Yeah, I heard a thing or two about it. Had something to do with the blood bloom plants secreting a flammable fluid.” She finished with one rope and moved onto the next. “There were tons of those plants growing on the cliffs and once the secretion started, it never seemed to end. Sort of like a forest fire that kept on going.”

Lena nodded even though Kara couldn’t see it. “You know the scientific explanation.”

“Is there any other?”

“There’s always the old folktales.”

Kara finished untying the second rope before looking up at Lena. Again, she had that unreadable expression across her face, eyes darting over Lena as if she were analyzing her very being.

“I haven’t heard about any folktales for the Falls,” she said. “What’s the legend?”

A small smile pulled at Lena’s lips but it was only because they were about to discuss ancient history. She loved ancient history. There was nothing more to it than that.

“Like most Krypton tales, it began with the Gods,” she started to explain. “Have you ever heard of Rao and Cythonna?”

“The God of the Sun and the Goddess of Ice, yeah I’m familiar.”

Lena raised both eyebrows, slightly impressed that Kara knew of Cythonna. Most around here only took the time to learn about Rao.

“Well then you know that they fell in love. Opposites attract and all. Except Cythonna was on a mission to birth children with Rao. Children which would inevitably become her own cold, heartless minions that’d be set on destroying Krypton and all the warmth across the land.”

“I thought you said they fell in love. Why would she want to destroy Krypton?” Kara asked. She was sitting a bit closer in her seat, the roll of fabric on the table now forgotten.

The implications made Lena’s stomach do somersaults.

She cleared her throat. “Well, Rao fell in love, and Cythonna used that to her advantage and claimed she was too.”

“Alright, so the relationship took a bad turn. Chicks can be crazy. Been there,” Kara said while waving her hand in the air. “How does it relate to the Falls?”

While Lena hated people referring to women as ‘chicks’, the use of that word gave her even more insight into Kara. It made a nice mental note that she filed away in the ‘don’t think about it’ section of her brain.

“The other Gods exposed Cythonna’s intentions. Rao didn’t take the news lightly. He banished her but she still had left her mark on him. That despair which drove her actions found its way into Rao, making him weep for his loss.”

“You’re not telling me—”

“I’m afraid I am,” Lena said with a soft laugh. “The God of the Sun cried for over one hundred nights and those very tears — the Fire Falls themselves — kept on flowing long afterwards.”

There was a short silence after Lena finished recanting the tale. She could practically see the gears turning in Kara’s head as the full picture revealed itself.

“Nah, I don’t buy it,” Kara finally said while shaking her head.

“And why not?”

“There’s no proof for any of that. You read it all in a book, right? What if that book was fictional.”

Lena tilted her head, narrowing her gaze on Kara. “Really? This doubt is coming from you of all people?”

“How—” Kara started, stumbling on her response. She regained herself a moment later. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you’ve been to Argo City itself, but most people believe the city is fictional,” Lena explained. She leaned her face in her right hand and gently drove her point home. “Some books say otherwise.”

That seemed to shut Kara up as she leaned back in her chair, thinking long and hard.

“That’s... fair,” she mumbled, taking her time to admit the smallest defeat. “But speaking of Argo...” Her hands then dropped down and reached for the roll she was playing with earlier. She passed her hands across it quickly, unrolling the fabric on the table, revealing daggers and guns alike.

Lena let out a light gasp when she saw the arsenal. “Where did you get all these weapons? You were in prison hours ago.”

“I have my ways,” Kara said with a wink.

And there she was once again. That cocky and smug looking Kara that Lena knew all too well. But given the conversation they were just having moments ago, Lena knew that there was more to Kara than this facade she liked to present. It’s what made Lena realize that it was not worth her time to comment on Kara’s egotistical ways. She’d simply ignore them.

“Do you really think we’re going to need all this in Argo?” she asked, bringing the conversation back to a relevant topic.

Kara picked up a revolver and popped open its cylinder, making sure it was properly loaded. “Lady, there’s something dark and twisted down there underneath that ruined city.”

“And you think semi-automatic weapons will help against whatever is down there instead of high-tech blasters?”

“It’s an ancient city filled with century old treasure. I just think it’d be wrong of me to fight the old with the new,” Kara answered. She closed the cylinder of the revolver and began inspecting its trigger. “Besides, isn’t she a beauty?”

Lena ignored Kara’s question. She was more concerned with the reference to century old treasure. “Well, I am hoping you’re right about the treasure because I am expecting to find a specific artefact of sorts in the city. And well, Jack is obviously looking for the hidden treasure from the wealthy El families.”

“Of course he is,” Kara mumbled.

“But you were there. You didn’t see anything? Or take anything yourself beside the prism?”

“Didn’t stay for long,” Kara said. She put the revolver in her holster and moved onto cleaning the next weapon. “Lots of Sagitari keeping anyone out of the city. They all claim it’s cursed.”

Lena couldn’t say she was surprised that the Sagitari would be there. Anyone who believed in the legitimacy of Argo, and who dabbled in the right books about the city’s ancient history knew about the Sagitari’s sworn protection of their leader Russell Rogers.

According to one book she read from the Kandorian library, the Sagitari were said to be a smaller division within Krypton’s Military Guild, but instead of enforcing the law across Krypton, this faction praised Russell and put his word above all others. Their protection of Russell allowed him to rule over Argo City up until his demise — which happened to be another heavily debated topic amongst scholars who believed in the city.

All the stories dictating the tale of his death varied to some extent, but most of them agreed on the fact that Russell died at the betrayal of his wife Acrata. There were even fewer records on her and even though some believe that she left Russell for another, the identity of that paramour was never uncovered.

After his death, the Sagitari’s whereabouts became unclear. Their presence vanished from any general Kryptonian history book, but if you got your hands on some of the more unconventional historical ledgers, namely records that were often depicting the city as fictional, then there were whispers which remained of the Sagitari’s legacy. Some argued they disbanded, while others claimed they made it their life’s mission to protect Russell’s tomb, going so far as to have their descendants stepping up to the challenge.

The fact that Kara mentioned them at all was intriguing — it meant that she knew more about Argo than she was letting on. How she came to learn about the Sagitari was a question in itself, though Lena didn’t dwell on that matter as there was a far more important consideration at hand: If Kara saw the Sagitari in Argo City, then this confirmed the theory that these individuals were still out there protecting Russell’s tomb as he was evidently buried in the city he spent most of his life ruling. The Sagitari claiming the city was cursed only proved that they wished to keep people away from discovering his remains.

“Yes, I’ve heard all about the curses. And while I’m not one to believe in the fallacies people come up with just to keep others away from uncovering the truth, I do believe in another tale I heard about the city — that the Book of Rao is buried there.”

Kara shook her head and put another gun away, this time in her second holster. “Can’t say I’m surprised considering what you believe about the Falls. Does that mean you believe in all of the old Kryptonian folktales?”

“Most of them,” Lena admitted. She subconsciously ducked her head a little lower. “My mother told me about them when I was younger. She had actually visited Krypton a few years before the Great Kryptonian Emigration happened.”

“Really? Not many people knew about Krypton before then?”

“My mother was adventurous and brilliant,” Lena said with a large smile. “She made her own ship just to get here. Nowadays, there are daily flights to Krypton.”

“An abandoned planet with technology that’s more advanced than half the planets out there definitely makes a great vacation spot,” Kara said. “But it is nice to see tourists from all over the universe coexisting in one spot.”

“I think so too,” Lena mumbled.

She thought her mother would’ve loved that idea as well. Though she was only a preschooler at the time, Lena remembered her mother praising every little thing about Krypton. Seeing the diverse nature of it today would’ve been a lovely sight for her to see. But then again, Lena knew her mother was enraptured by the ancient Kryptonian culture which some tourists took for granted.

“She really loved the idea of the Book of Rao and how it was supposed to contain all the secret incantations of the Gods,” Lena explained. She wasn’t sure if she should divulge her mission but after being so open about her mother with Kara, she didn’t see any use in hiding it. “After she passed, it became my life’s mission to find the book.”

“So you have no interest in the fact that it’s gold plated?”

“You certainly know your history,” Lena said, once again impressed by Kara’s hidden Argo knowledge.

Kara chuckled to herself. “No, I know my treasure.”

“Right,” Lena mumbled, her fingers unintentionally dropping to her neck, tracing the skin that remained untanned, normally covered up by some jewels.

The change in her demeanor was quick but it didn’t go unnoticed by Kara. She placed the dagger she was cleaning in her boot before looking up and locking eyes with Lena.

Her face almost looked… apologetic?

Kara held that expression as she reached into her back pocket, fumbling around until she found what she was looking for. Hands coming back in front of her, she was now holding out a crumpled up napkin in front of Lena.

“I meant to give you this earlier,” she started to say while using her free hand to unwrap the top of the napkin, revealing the necklace that she had ripped from Lena’s neck not so long ago. “My mother once showed me a necklace that looked similar to this one. Out of all the treasure I have, and all the treasure I seek, that necklace is the only one that’s worthwhile to me…”

Her vulnerability surprised Lena and even if she trailed off in her thought, that one sentence revealed more of Kara than Lena ever expected to find out.

“I’m sorry for taking it,” Kara finished.

Lena didn’t have any real sentimental value attached to her necklace. It just had a nice emerald green jewel at the center of it which she admired. The colour accentuated her own green eyes, and she missed having it with her, but that’s as much value as the necklace had.

“Thank you,” she said, figuring it was best to accept Kara’s apology instead of explaining that the necklace was mostly worthless to her.

When she lifted the necklace up, moving to place it around her neck, Lena quickly realized the clasp was completely different. She normally purchased necklaces with lobster claw clasps since they were easy to attach, but given the trouble she was now having just to open it, Lena figured Kara had it replaced with something else.

Which made sense if Lena thought about it. When Kara ripped the necklace off, she must’ve broken the original lock. Going the extra mile to fix the necklace before returning it to her was admirable, but if Lena couldn’t get the damn thing on, she’d hardly be able to display her appreciation.

After her third failed attempt, Kara spoke up. “Do you need some help?”

“If you don’t mind…” Lena mumbled. She waited till Kara made her way around the table before standing up and dropping the necklace back into her hands, adding, “I’m not used to using this type of clasp.”

“A spring ring. That’s what the lady at the shop called it,” Kara said. She practiced opening the clasp a few times, seemingly having a much easier time than Lena. “I think I got this. Just need you to—”

Kara made a circular loop with her finger and Lena followed her directives, turning around so that her back was facing Kara. She then moved her long hair to the front, hoping that would give Kara enough space to attach the necklace.

With the backside of her neck bare, Lena had never felt so exposed. She felt chills running across her skin, the heavy air around them making the small hairs on the back of her neck prick up. It’s no wonder she startled forward when Kara’s finger inevitably touched her skin, feeling like an electric shock even though Kara was only gently brushing a few strands of hair out of the way.

“Relax…” Kara whispered as if her words would make it any better.

If anything, they just made Lena all the more tense. She still tried to calm down anyway, taking a deep breath and focusing on anything but Kara’s delicate touch. When she glanced out the window in front of her, she assumed she could lose herself in the Fire Falls just as she had done earlier, but magically, as if someone flipped a switch, Lena found that the Falls were suddenly lacking interest.

Still, she kept her eyes peeled on a fire bubble, fighting every urge to look at the hands that had made their way over her head, dropping the charm of the necklace lightly against her chest.

A few more agonizing seconds passed before Lena heard the small clasp click behind her neck.

“There we go,” Kara said, now moving her hands away from Lena.

Lena looked down at the emerald jewel and smiled. She pulled her hair out from under the chain before turning around, coming to a hard stop mere inches away from Kara’s face.

When she looked up, she realized she was much closer than Kara was when attaching her necklace. In fact, she was so close that she only now noticed she was wrong about Kara’s features. Her hair wasn’t entirely golden. There were a few strands of light brown lowlights, hidden under the layers of blonde.

Lena wondered if it was dyed or naturally like that. Either way, it suited Kara.

“How’s it look?” Lena asked, hoping to break the sudden silence that ensued.

It didn’t work the way she planned as Kara took the question as an opportunity to study Lena with even closer optics. Her eyes bounced back and forth between the necklace and Lena’s gaze. Ultimately, they ended up settling somewhere in the middle, stuck on Lena’s lips.

“Looks beautiful,” she whispered.

They stayed in that position, staring at one another for what seemed like ages.

Lena wished she knew what was going on in Kara’s mind, mainly because she was way too preoccupied with her own rampant thoughts.

They were stuck in the same position they had been caught in days ago, but this time there were no metal bars between them, no escape plan, nor help being requested. Most importantly, Lena was smarter this time around. She knew she couldn’t succumb to the idea of those lips, no matter how inviting they looked.

But part of her wondered.

“When you first grabbed it—the necklace I mean—was that your initial plan?”

“What do you mean?” Kara asked, her eyes never moving from Lena’s lips.

Lena couldn’t believe Kara was making her say it out loud. But she had to know the truth.

“Back in the prison cells… did you always mean to grab the necklace or had you first intended to kiss me?”

“I—” Kara started before shaking her head. In that exact moment, it looked like a spell was broken. Her eyes lifted off Lena’s lips before she furrowed her brows. “No? Why would you think that?”

“But you were—”

Lena cut herself short. She didn’t understand Kara’s answer. In Fort Rozz, she had been looking at Lena with the exact same regard she was giving her moments ago. A look which meant Kara wanted to kiss her. Lena was sure of it. Unless she misread the situation twice.

“I can kiss you now if you really want?” Kara offered, giving Lena that signature lopsided grin.

She said it in such an arrogant way, acting as if Lena was the one who really wanted the kiss. It was cowardly of her, especially considering she was the one who had her eyes glued to Lena’s lips.

The absurdity of the entire situation pushed Lena to her limit and she made a point to shove past Kara, storming off to her own quarters.

In the distance, she could faintly hear Kara shouting, “Ah c’mon, we were having a moment. Don’t be like that.”

As Lena continued to walk away, creating more and more distance between them, she felt her anger spiking to new heights. Maybe she misread their first almost-kiss, but this time, it was clear that Kara wanted to kiss her and that’s what frustrated Lena to no end. Instead of them moving on from a potentially awkward moment, Kara denied having current desires and she returned back to being an egotistical jerk. It’s almost like she believed she’d ruin her reputation if she admitted that she actually wanted Lena.

It was all so stupid, Lena thought as she slammed her door shut.

She didn’t believe their flight was much longer, but at that moment she decided it’d be best if she spent the rest of it in her quarters, a safe distance away from Kara (that is, safe for Kara’s sake). Besides, it’d be a shame to waste such a perfectly good room when they paid extra to board a ship with resting areas.

As Lena went to lay down in her small cot, she tried her best to relax instead of dawning on the denial that kept echoing through her mind.

Kara Danvers was a piece of work. One she was done trying to understand.

There were far more important things for Lena to think about — Argo City was one such example. Soon enough, they’d reach the ancient city and everything Kara related would be forgotten. Only then would Lena finally reach peace of mind. She certainly wasn’t close to getting it now as her mind continued racing. But after a few minutes of resting, she did get a sudden unwelcome distraction in the form of a sharp point poking the side of her neck.

When she opened her eyes, Lena spotted a man covered from head to toe in red and black plated armour. The sharp point from earlier turned out to be a dagger held against her neck.

“Where is the map?” he asked while pushing the dagger even further in.

Lena knew she was beat. There was no way to get out of her position without him drawing blood.

“It’s in there,” she said, her eyes glancing towards her luggage.

He looked over quickly but didn’t take his hands off his weapon.

“Is the key there too?”

“The key?” Lena replied.

She wasn’t sure what key the man was even referring to. She didn’t have any keys with her. At least, she didn’t think she did. But it wasn’t like she could give it any real thought while she was in the midst of a robbery.

Fortunately, the door to her quarters burst open a moment later, saving Lena from answering.

“LENA!” Kara shouted, two guns at the ready, pointed directly at the thief.

Lena thought Kara’s presence would get the thief to back off, but it only made him double down as he shot his arm out to Lena and lifted her body off the cot to use as a human shield. But before he could get Lena in the right position to protect himself, in the smallest opening possible, Kara fired two gunshots which landed just below the thief’s armoured outfit and sent him flying back in the room.

“We need to get out of here. Fast!” Kara said.

She ushered Lena towards the door and the two women started rushing down the hallway at full speed. They had nearly exited the resting quarters when Lena remembered that she left something behind.

“Wait!” Lena exclaimed, turning back and running towards her room. “We forgot the map!”

She nearly made it to the door when Kara grabbed her by the waist and flipped her back around.

“Relax. I got the map up here,” Kara said, pointing the revolver to her head.

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Lena mumbled as she shook her head and followed behind Kara, turning dangerous corners and avoiding marksmen from all over the ship.

Gunshots kept going off in the distance but with each blast it sounded like the assailants were drawing nearer. To make matters worse, Lena noticed that the ship was starting to skim downwards, the left wing now dipping into the Falls.

“Where’s the pilot?” she asked, turning to look at Kara.

“She’s either been shot or she’s trying to blast her way out of here like the rest of us,” Kara said. She wrapped the fabric roll from earlier around her chest and kept pushing forward with Lena.

Throughout their escape, the left wing of the ship continued submerging into the Falls. It had an immediate impact on the rest of the ship which started to heat up uncontrollably, causing the shell of the aircraft to slowly melt with even more flames bursting around them.

But the fire wasn’t all bad. It helped create a smokescreen that hid their position even if it offered no protection from stray bullets. In fact, the smoke was so thick that when Kara pulled Lena behind a bannister, Lena could barely make out Kara’s large frame despite being right next to her.

In their sheltered position, Kara started reloading her revolver. She was so preoccupied with her task that she wasn’t paying much attention to the bullets scattering all around her.

Thankfully, Lena was as attentive as ever, fearfully watching as several gunshots missed Kara by mere centimetres. It seemed like one marksman made their position as another shot sounded, drawing even closer to Kara. Lena didn’t bother waiting for the third shot as she grabbed Kara by the holster on her shirt and pulled her over.

“Wha—” Kara started before she heard the next shot, one that barely missed her shoulder and would have most definitely hit her in the chest if Lena didn’t move her.

She nodded quickly, forgoing a thanks as she returned the favour a moment later, saving Lena from an ambush and shooting two marksmen down to the ground. After stopping those last two men, Lena and Kara found themselves at the backend of the ship.

“We’re in the air. Where the hell did they come from?” Lena asked now that she had a moment to breathe.

“There’s no time to think!” Kara said. She looked over the edge, making note of the three splits in the fiery river stream. It looked like she was trying to gauge the distance towards the last part.

“You want us to jump?” Lena asked.

“Do you have a better solution?”

“Not burning to death would be ideal.”

Kara ignored the comment and pointed to a small opening, just a few meters ahead.

“There’s our chance,” she said before turning to Lena and holding out her hand.

Considering this was a life or death situation, Lena made the split second decision to grab on. They ran for the edge and jumped off, landing on a cliff, safely away from the burning flames.

Once they were on ground, Lena turned her attention back towards the ship. She vaguely made out a lanky figure jumping off the ship's railing. The man nearly burned his leg from the onset of the jump, yet he somehow managed to make it just past the blazing river and onto the same cliff as Lena.

When he stood up to collect himself, Lena finally made out the devilish smirk across Jack’s lips. He was always one to be smirking but there was something extra devious about this particular look. Only when Lena followed in his gaze did she realize he was smirking at her holding onto Kara’s hand.

She never let go of anything faster than she did at that moment.

“Beautiful weather, innit?” Jack said once he was close enough. He raised his hands in the air, putting the sparks and fire bubbles behind him on full display.

“A little too hot for my liking,” Lena laughed.

“Yes, I do have that effect on people,” Jack grinned.

Lena didn’t bother replying as she shook her head.

“You might be a bit more mindful about my jokes and overall presence considering I’m the chap who went back for this damn thing.” After burying his hand in his pocket, Jack pulled out the prism that had kicked off their entire adventure.

Lena couldn’t believe she forgot about the prism. Her gut reaction was to save the map, but maybe there was more to this prism than she thought.

“Alright Jack. I’ll admit, you did good.”

“Better than good,” Jack argued. “This whole mission would be over without this prism, right? I think that means I deserve a higher share of the reward when we find the treasure.”

“Sure, if we can even get there now,” Lena said. She turned back to look at the ship that was now almost entirely melted into the Falls. “We just lost all our tools and clothes.”

Jack opened his mouth, looking as if he were about to make another needless comment about how much praise he deserved, but he never had a chance to get the words out as another man shouted from a distance.

“Hey Danvers! Looking for these?” The man was holding up Lena’s luggage and several half-scorched bags, shaking them in the air victoriously. “It looks to me like I have all the equipment!”

Kara crossed her arms, looking as unimpressed as ever.

“Hey Mike! It looks to me like you’re on the wrong side of the Falls!” Kara shouted back.

Mike’s laughter seemed to subside once he got a better look at the landscape around him. Lena realized it at the same time as him — Kara had timed their jump perfectly.

If they had jumped any earlier, they’d be alongside Mike, who was now throwing a tantrum for being stuck in between two blazing river streams. Judging by his location, Lena estimated he’d have to do a full hour long detour before he could find himself a small enough stream to cross over the Falls without risk of burning his skin.

“Who is that sad looking specimen?” Jack asked while shaking his head.

Kara chuckled as they all walked away. “No one important.”

Chapter Text

The trip to Argo was supposed to be easy. If they hadn’t fallen off a burning ship mid-flight, then they would have probably been in the ancient city by now, but alas, nothing Lena planned ever turned out to be easy.

So instead of cruising towards Argo, Kara, Lena, and Jack were forced to take a short detour through Krypton’s deadly Scarlet Jungle. This new route mostly consisted of Kara cutting the long grass in front of them with her dagger as Jack tried to play with the wildlife, placing them in numerous situations where the team almost died at the claws of venomous wide-jawed beasts.

No matter how many times Lena warned Jack not to approach an animal, without fail, he’d proclaim that the animal looked peaceful and that they were all giving him an “inviting smile”.

It was a miracle that they made it out of there at all.

Eventually, they found themselves in Meteor Valley and it was there that they were able to rest for a few hours. In the morning, they made their way to a small, and surprisingly populated market located in one of the larger craters within the valley. Near the far end of the market, they found a merchant who was renting out some zuurts, one of the few remaining domesticated animals used for transportation on Krypton.

Lena had never ridden one of these animals before, but seeing as her legs were still sore from all the walking they did the day before, she wasn’t entirely opposed to renting the zuurts. It was only later, after Lena purchased a new wardrobe with the spare change she found in her pockets, that she became a bit worried about the animal’s thick white fur potentially shedding onto her clothing.

The seamstress she purchased from argued that Lena needed clothes which were more suited for Argo’s terrain. It cost more than Lena hoped, but she did prefer to wear fresh clothes instead of an outfit that had been tainted by the thick smokey musk of the Fire Falls. The fact that her new clothes resembled the royal wardrobe from the House of El was an added bonus. Lena had always been enamoured with the sharp edges and loose-flowing fabric of the royal regalia. The one she purchased was a classic black dress with golden details around her shoulders and her waist.

She looked good. She knew she did.

And judging by the prolonged look Kara gave her after she first changed into the outfit, Kara knew it too. Except the words never came out of her mouth. Instead, she ducked her head low and mumbled something along the lines of them needing to move along.

So that’s what they did, continuing on their voyage past Meteor Valley, riding onwards until they found themselves stopping in front of a round stone monument.

“Here we are,” Kara announced. She held out her hands as if she were presenting something remarkable. “Argo City itself.”

It had to be a joke.

Aside from the round stone monument in front of them, only a sandy wasteland covered the rest of the area. Still, Lena and Jack looked around, wondering if they were missing the obvious. Turning in her spot, the only other thing Lena noticed was a crew of explorers, led by Mike, riding towards them from the south side. They had caught up much faster than she anticipated and given the speed they were riding at, they’d no doubt be joining the group momentarily.

“You sure she didn’t catch that Scarlet Jungle fever you were talking about?” Jack said, leaning towards Lena. “I think the heat’s gotten to her. There’s no bloody city here.”

“Oh, it’s there,” Mike said as he neared both of them. His crew rode in just behind him, each of the fourteen travellers sitting on their own trained horses. When Mike dismounted from his own, he added, “you just can’t see it right now.”

His presence seemed to be off-putting to Kara who had now crossed her arms over her chest. It was such a polar reaction from Lena who found his words to be nothing short of intriguing.

If they couldn’t see the city now, then when would they be able to see it?

Lena looked across at Kara, hoping she would fill in some gaps, but Kara was too focused on Mike to even realize that Lena was waiting on her.

“What are you doing here?” Kara asked him. There was a strong furrow in her brows which spoke to her annoyance.

“You thought the Falls would hold me back?” Mike replied, letting out a throaty laugh. “We have horses that run ten times faster than those things you’re riding.” He waved his hand at the zuurts as if they were the most pathetic animal he’d ever seen. “I’m honestly surprised you even made it this far without the ship.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“Oh, please. You know why I’m here.” Mike smirked. It didn’t look like he needed to add anything more for Kara to understand but he clarified anyway. “I’m coming for my treasure.”

Kara’s knuckles tightened around her biceps. “It’s not your treasure.”

“We’ll see about that.” Mike walked away from Kara until he was standing just in front of the stone monument. “We’re still on for that bet, right?” he asked with his back towards Kara. He then lifted a knife out of his pocket and began twirling it around in his hands. “First to the city owes the other $500?”

Kara must’ve found something funny because she snickered before dismounting from her zuurt.

“Yeah,” she said with a smile, her annoyed mood from earlier seemingly gone with the mere mention of the bet. She was now looking like her usual confident self. “I just hope you can actually pay up this time when you lose.”

Instead of answering, Mike took his knife and slashed it against the palm of his left hand. He let out a hushed whimper before squeezing his hand shut, letting drops of blood fall onto the stone monument in front of him.

It was a very peculiar action and Lena knew it could only mean that the monument required some sort of blood offering. But at first glance, the stone itself didn’t seem out of the ordinary. It just looked like a normal rock, albeit situated in the middle of nowhere. It was only when Lena squinted her eyes that she then noticed a small inscription etched into the stone, just near the front edge of the monument. It was written in Ancient Kryptonese, but if her translation was right (and it always was), the inscription read: Only the Blood of an El will Suffice in Revealing the City’s Shell.

“The headstart won’t help you,” Kara said with a laugh. She walked closer to the stone and took out the knife she had hidden in her boot. Mimicking Mike’s actions, she slashed the palm of her hand, and then closed her fist around it. “Besides, we’re only two,” she added before letting two drops of blood fall onto the stone monument.

And given the scripture Lena had just read, that could only mean—

“Blimey,” Jack whispered beside her. Lena turned her head away from the monument to face him. “It is real.”

Following in his line of sight, Lena looked ahead, and where there was once a wasteland, she now saw the ancient city of Argo.

But it didn’t look anything like she had imagined. Despite all the accounts she had read about Argo, none of those sources captured the sight that was in front of her.

In fact, all those sources were wrong.

Argo didn’t look like any of the advanced cities on Krypton. It didn’t have those signature tall towers, nor were there any roads or even floating carts. Instead, it looked like a city that was built with clay and water. Sand covered half the buildings, yet Lena was amazed at the mere fact that those buildings held up in this day and age. The entire place looked like it pre-dated Krypton’s famous technology.

“Let’s go!” Kara shouted, breaking Lena out of her awe-struck gaze as the blonde charged ahead on her zuurt.

There were so many questions circling Lena’s mind — about the city and about Kara, but if Lena wanted any answers, she knew that staying put wasn’t the solution. Grabbing her own zuurt’s attention, together the two lunged forward, following Kara towards the city.

With every step her zuurt took, Lena tried her best to commit the moment to memory, wanting to capture every dip in the road towards Argo, knowing this was the moment she always dreamed of, a moment that nothing else would ever compare to. The wind picked up around her, almost as if it was helping blow her in the right direction, giving her that much more of a push towards Argo. The heavy steps of her zuurt made chunks of sand fly up high, clouding the air around her, yet none of it would work in obscuring her clarity. She was set on the city and there was nothing that could get in her way.

That is, nothing except Mike.

His horse outmatched her zuurt in every way and he was soon riding past Lena, taking her focus off the city as he loudly sped towards Kara. It wasn’t long before he was neck and neck with Kara’s zuurt, and still, it looked like his horse was holding back from reaching its top speed.

“Better luck next time!” he shouted with a smirk once his horse managed to cut in front of Kara.

Even from a distance, Lena couldn’t stand the look he gave Kara. His smirk was just as maddening as Kara’s lopsided grin but for all the wrong reasons. Lena would always be annoyed with Kara’s cockiness though it was somehow different compared to this. Kara didn’t grin with the same superiority complex that Mike had. When she grinned it was because she was proud of herself in the moment, not because she thought she was better.

It was the faintest difference, but like two synonyms that could be interchanged in a sentence, one was always better, making it a slight difference that mattered to someone like Lena.

Kara mumbled something to herself before narrowing her eyes on Mike, seeming more focused than ever before.

“C’mon,” she then said to her zuurt.

The tactic worked wonders as the zuurt picked up its speed, inching her towards Mike’s horse. When she was close enough, Kara reached her right arm out, grabbing onto Mike’s back.

“What are yo—”

And there it was again, that quintessential Kara grin forming across her face as she pulled Mike down, forcing him off the horse and into the bare sand below them.

“Hey!” he shouted along with other loud complaints that were soon drowned out by the noisy riders zooming right past him.

“Better luck next time!” Kara called back with a wave.

Her enthusiasm and newfound cheery attitude were so captivating that Lena’s attention stuck on the adventurer instead of turning back to Argo. She might’ve even let out a few giggles as she watched Kara shoot her fist to the sky, overjoyed in celebrating her glorious win. Because throwing Mike on his ass seemed to be more rewarding than the idea of even winning the race. Lena realized that once her own zuurt managed to finally catch up to Kara’s.

Side by side, Kara now turned to Lena with a marvelous smile across her face. It was nothing like that cocky grin from earlier, but a genuine smile. One which creased at the corners, revealing laugh lines that were often hidden on Kara’s serious face. One which made her eyes sparkle, begging for all the focus to be on her instead of the bright red sun shining behind her frame. One which Lena wished she could capture, freezing time for a few seconds to bathe in the ethereal moment.

But the perfect picture didn’t last because Kara broke it by spurring on her zuurt. Lena followed along, but her zuurt sped up even faster than Kara’s and she suddenly found herself passing Kara and racing forward towards the forgotten city.

In the distance, Lena could hear Jack cheering, “Go Lena! Win us this bet!”

And she did win it, arriving first at the clay infused arches with the biggest smile across her face.

Part of that happiness came from the joy of the ride, loving the intensity of the race and the aftermath of it, seeing Kara’s fist continuously pumping in the air once she rode past the arches herself, obviously still happy for throwing Mike down but now even happier for being able to gloat about winning.

And yet another part of Lena’s happiness stemmed from the fact that she was finally here.

She was finally in Argo City.

All her efforts and years of research had amounted to this one moment and Lena couldn’t be more thrilled.

She lowered her body to the ground and picked up a handful of sand, letting it trickle through the smallest opening in her fingers like the hourglass she had back on her desk in the library.

If only J’onn could see her now, Lena thought.

She dropped the rest of the sand out of the palm of her hands and she walked further in, letting her fingers delicately trace the edges of the run-down remains. As the wind picked up, simultaneously making sand flow through her hair and filling the small cracks in the structures around her, Lena knew this was where she was always meant to be.

In a way, reaching Argo City felt like she was coming home for the first time.

***

“This statue here is of Yuda Kal, but it looks like the legs have run under all this sand,” Lena said, gesturing towards the area on her right. “If we’re to find the book of Rao, then we’re going to have to dig.”

Kara nodded, walking over to the spot that Lena was pointing towards. She made a small ‘x’ on the ground with the grip of her revolver before proudly smiling at Lena.

“How do you know it’s here?” Jack asked. He pointed across the city to where Mike’s crew was setting up camp. “They look like they’re going to dig over there.”

“Let them. I’ve researched this city for years and most sources claim the book of Rao should be hidden in the legs of Yuda Kal.”

“I thought you said this place was nothing like your research?”

“Yes, well, some of that research has proven to be faulty, but I’m sure it’s still better than anything Mike knows of this place. Him and his crew are just lousy treasure hunters that search anywhere, hoping for a score,” Lena rattled off before adding, “no offense.”

“None taken. You definitely are my advantage here and I’m confident enough to admit that,” Jack said. He walked over to the mark that Kara made and picked up the shovel he had stolen from Mike’s crew. “If you say it’s here, then it’s here.”

Jack didn’t waste a moment as he started digging on the marked location. The sand was light, that much Lena could tell, but after moving five shovels of it to the side, Jack was already dramatically wiping the back of his hand against his forehead.

“I think it’s unfair that the prettiest team member is doing all the hard work,” he mumbled. “This sweat is so bad for my pores.”

“That’s weird. I don’t think I’ve done any hard work today,” Kara said with a knowing grin, turning to look at Lena just to see her reaction.

“You think you’re the pretty one here?” Jack asked, saving Lena from making a comment. He shook his head as if he were answering the question himself. “You may have the muscles, the charm, the overconfidence, I’m not too sure if you’re funny but I feel you may have that comedy thing going for you as well, the mystery of being an adventurer, th—”

“Jack,” Lena interrupted.

“Yes?”

“How long will it take until you get to the point?”

“I was getting there before you so rudely cut me off,” Jack huffed with his chest. “Now what was I saying?”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Do you want Kara to help you dig?”

“That’s what it was, thank you Lena. Considering her build, yes, I do think it would be a bit fairer if Kara digs.”

“My build?” Kara asked.

“Yes, you see you’ve got the strength for this. My body is built more for sipping on bourbon. Hers is more suited for reading a book. We should just stick with our builds.”

Kara shook her head. “Why don’t we take turns?”

“Whatever you want to call it but I’m tapping out for now,” Jack said. He jumped out of the hole he was starting to make and walked off to the side, taking refuge and apparently deciding to sunbathe on a wooden log.

“Guess I’m up,” Kara mumbled.

But she didn’t move towards the shovel right away. Instead, she turned to Lena, fumbling with something she pulled out of her back pocket.

“Hey, uh,” Kara started again, suddenly stammering on her words. It was definitely the first time Lena had ever seen her so nervous. She couldn’t imagine what it was about. “I went to go speak with Mike before and I—”

Mike, of course, Lena thought. There had to be some history there that she didn’t know about. Kara’s annoyance with him couldn’t have stemmed from nothing. But her nervousness now also felt somewhat telling, almost like there might be some unresolved tension between her and Mike.

If that was the case, Lena wasn’t exactly thrilled to be hearing about that story, so it wasn’t her fault if she tuned out a couple words here and there. But her comprehension wasn’t made any easier with the way Kara kept speaking either. She would start rambling on about one thing before dropping off in the middle of a sentence and starting a new one altogether. Lena managed to catch onto a few words here and there about “their bet” and “taking an advance” but when Kara held out a tightly wrapped roll of fabric, about the size of a folded up sheet of paper, Lena was still confused about what was happening.

“So, uh, I got this for you. Thought you might like—might need it,” Kara corrected herself quickly.

Lena looked down at the roll, realizing this didn’t have anything to do with Mike. It was quite the opposite actually, and it sounded like Mike was simply a means to an end, a way for Kara to give her something.

Quickly unrolling the fabric, Lena discovered ten finely crafted tools that would be perfect for her to use when they were underground. The gift itself was beautiful but Lena was even more riveted by the idea that Kara put so much thought into replacing her toolkit after she had lost her last one in the Fire Falls disaster.

And Kara had been nervous.

Nervous to hand her a gift for the sole reason that Lena would like it. Nervous even when talking to her because it was almost like an admission. A way of saying that Kara was thinking of her even without uttering those exact words. It was all so uncharacteristically gentle of Kara and just thinking about it made Lena’s heart rate quicken.

But Lena didn’t understand it.

She didn’t understand Kara for that matter. Lena had sworn to herself to stop trying to understand the adventurer, but how could she not try when Kara was constantly subverting expectations?

Just before addressing Lena, Kara was once again speaking highly of herself, stroking her own ego by calling herself the prettiest of the group. But then in a matter of seconds, her temperament completely shifted to this nervous individual who was going out of her way to make a grand gesture.

So Lena didn’t know how to feel. Should she be trying to reconcile this tender version of Kara with the conceited one, or should she just accept the gift and move on?

Either way, Lena took too long to decide on an approach and by the time she looked up, Kara was already gone, down in the hole, digging for their entrance to the underground.

The moment had passed but Lena knew that fluttering sensation in her chest wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. No matter how hard she tried.

***

Once they managed to create a small opening, going underground was easier than any of them imagined. Sand had covered half of Argo, but the part of the city that was underground was somehow perfectly maintained, the sand above only acting as a sheet over the rest of the city without actually harming anything below it.

There were, however, skittering noises echoing all around them as they were making their way through the sunken levels of the city.

“Better not be bugs,” Jack mumbled. “I hate bugs.”

“Just keep moving along,” Lena whispered harshly.

She turned one more corner until she finally made it towards the legs of the Yuda Kal statue.

“This is it!” she exclaimed, presenting it to Kara and Jack.

The statue had to be thousands of years old but it was still in a better condition than Lena expected. A few corners had been chipped, and the lower areas had decomposed, probably after some water trickled through the sand and fell atop it, but overall, the statue was still marvelous.

If Lena had the time, she would’ve loved to inspect its exterior for a few hours. There was so much she could learn about Argo just from examining one of their ancient statues. Unfortunately, Lena knew her current entourage didn’t care all that much about an artefact’s preservation. They were more concerned for the real treasure hidden inside the statue.

And Lena would be lying if she said part of her wasn’t either.

“So can we just rip the legs off or...?” Jack asked.

“No!” Lena snapped, holding up her hand to make sure Jack didn’t step too close. “You saw the traps in the Scarlet Jungle? They weren’t even guarding anything out there and Miss Danvers nearly met her end on a strategically placed pike.” She lowered her hand as she gestured towards the figure in front of them. “This statue is housing real treasure so we need to be extremely careful here.”

“What do you suggest?” Kara asked.

Lena folded her hands together and walked a little bit closer to the legs of Yuda Kal. “We start by undusting the sides. Right there,” she said, pointing to one edge. “We go all around the grooves to make sure there aren’t wires that we might hit.”

“Wires?”

“I’m not familiar with the sort of technology they used here. Trip wires are very common traps but they could’ve employed anything.”

“So we’ll follow your lead,” Jack said.

“Perfect. If we do this right, then we should be able to find that golden book by tomorrow.”

“Golden, you say?” a voice muttered.

She didn’t even have to turn around to know who was speaking.

“Well, I think me and the boys will take over this spot then,” Mike continued. Lena heard the cocking of a gun and ever so lightly felt something cold and foreign against the back of her head. “That is, unless you have a problem with that?”

A second gun was cocked and Lena’s eyes bounced to the noise, looking at Kara who was now taking a step forward with her revolver aimed out at Mike.

“I’ve got a bit of a problem with that, Mike. You see, you were supposed to be digging on the other side of the city,” she said.

“Yes, I did start there but then I saw you guys digging a lot and I didn’t want to make my men blow their energy when you were already doing all the hard work.” Lena couldn’t see Mike's face but she imagined he was faking a horribly apologetic look. “So, we just used your path and we were going to go our merry way until I heard the sound of dollar signs ringing in my ears. Now, I’d be a fool to ignore that, don’t you think?”

“You’ve always been a fool, Mike. At this point, it’s best for you to own it and walk away before this gets messy.”

“Kara,” Mike tutted quietly as he shook his head. “There’s fifteen of us and only three of you. I know you’re good in a gunfight, but you’re not that good.”

As much as Lena hated to admit it, Mike was right. It would be futile to even try and fight him. But that didn’t stop Kara from tightening her hold on her revolver and sizing up every member of Mike’s crew. With her eyes jumping over everyone, it looked like she was calculating a way to win against the odds.

“Lads, we don’t have to fight,” Jack said as he took a step forward.

His negotiation skills definitely needed a bit of work because as soon as he finished speaking, one of Mike’s crewmembers lifted up a gun and pointed it in his direction.

“Oh, okay, you want to fight. Well, that’s entirely different then,” Jack mumbled as he took a cautious step back, kicking a small pebble to the side in the process of retreating.

Lena watched as the small pebble rolled, falling down a small crack, hollower than she imagined for the ground floor, unless—

This wasn’t the furthest down they could go.

“There’s no problem,” Lena blurted out. “You can have the spot, Mike. There’s plenty to dig out here so we’ll just find somewhere else to start.”

When she finished talking, Lena looked over at Kara, trying her best to give her a look that said trust me. Initially, it felt like Kara didn’t want to give in as she stood still with her lips twisting from side to side, but after another pointed look from Lena, Kara flipped her gun and carefully secured it back inside its holster.

“We’ll be on our way then,” Lena said, beckoning to Jack and Kara.

“Why did you let him—”

“Wait,” Lena said, cutting Kara off from asking any more questions.

She didn’t want Mike eavesdropping on their conversation, not after her most recent discovery. So the trio walked in silence, continuing along with their torches, giving way to a dimly lit path in front of them. Even as they were walking away, Lena would look over her shoulder every now and then to make sure that Mike wasn’t following. She was tired of him sneaking around and she wasn’t about to let him get a jump on them for a third time that day.

Eventually, after walking along a few more corridors, Lena finally found stairs leading even deeper into the city.

“We can dig from below their position,” Lena said, explaining her previous actions now that Mike was out of earshot.

Jack came up behind her and wrapped his arm over her shoulder. “Brilliant as ever, Lena.”

The group followed the stairs downwards and after going through a few more turns and tight passages, they found themselves just under the statue of Yuda Kal. It was easy enough to find with Mike’s crew shaking the ceiling just above them. The only problem with this location was that it was much deeper from the surface, and as the day continued, the room got darker and darker. Kara used her torch to light up a small post in the area, but it hardly illuminated the room.

“Considering we’re under the statue this time and the walls look sturdy enough, we don’t have to be so careful when digging,” Lena said. She took the shovel that Kara was carrying and she began poking the ceiling above her.

The first few hits managed to make cracks in the ceiling, big enough that small streams of sand began flowing downwards. After that, the next few hits brought down large chunks of clay. Lena was almost aggressively digging everything out, not even caring about the bits falling all around them, dirtying up the sleek outfit she had just purchased earlier that day.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Kara asked.

The answer came in a heavy thump along with sand scattering in the air. Jack’s loud shrieking followed as a massive object fell from the ceiling, missing his foot by mere inches.

“Lena, you are so lucky—”

Lena waved off his complaints as she walked closer to the fallen object. Kara was right behind her, equally as intrigued.

“Is that—”

“A sarcophagus, yes,” Lena said. Her hands were shaking as she neared the object. Never had she been so close to a fresh artefact. “I wonder why it was buried under the base of Yuda Kal.”

“They’re not normally buried there?” Jack asked, having a sudden interest in the sarcophagus once he realized he wasn’t going to get any attention for his complaints with the given crowd.

“No, it’s not the normal convention. They only did that for someone important or…” she trailed off, looking at Jack with a sudden realization. “Or if someone did something horrible.”

This was the first time that Lena had ever seen a sarcophagus that had come from the base of a statue and she was all too eager to find out whose remains they were and which case it was. Turning away for a moment, Lena reached for the toolkit she had stuffed in her pocket. She unravelled it on the floor and quickly picked up a fine brush. Something this delicate needed special attention, and Lena was always the best at carefully inspecting artefacts. She started gently brushing away some of the dusty sand atop the sarcophagus, beginning with the midsection, knowing that’s where a name was usually written.

“She who shall not be named,” Lena translated aloud.

“Haven’t heard that one before,” Jack mumbled.

Lena quickly narrowed her eyes at Jack before returning to dust around the sarcophagus. She was diligently working her way down its length when she suddenly noticed Kara next to her, blowing against the sarcophagus, obviously breaking every archeological rule known to man.

It did, however, reveal a small five-sided indentation in the sarcophagus.

“Looks like a lock,” Kara said. She crossed her arms and let out a heavy breath. “It’ll take us ages to figure out what’s in there if we don’t have a key.”

“A key?” Lena repeated with a whisper. She scrunched up her face before remembering the words the attackers on the ship said to her. “Oh, a key!”

Reaching over into her pocket, Lena pulled out the prism that Jack had saved from the bruling fires. When she was holding it in her hand, so close to the pentagonal shaped hole, the prism started to emit a white glow.

“Did it always do that?” Jack asked.

“Not at all,” Lena whispered. She brought it a bit closer, and then, like a magnet finding its opposite polarity, the prism jumped into the hole.

Only a small piece of the prism was sticking out now. It looked like a button that was begging to be pressed in, urging Lena to open up the sarcophagus and find out what was left inside of it.

Her finger inched closer and closer, but just before she could touch the ancient prism, Kara stopped her, grabbing ahold of her finger.

“Wait,” she said. “Do you hear that?”

In the distance, not so far away from the steps they descended, Lena faintly heard loud screams, very different in nature to the ones Jack usually had. They weren’t worried shrieks nor short in nature. They were screams that sounded like unbearable anguish slowly turning into a tormented demise.

It felt like a bad omen and Lena could tell that it was giving her group the spooks.

“Should we maybe continue this at an earlier hour tomorrow? It’s getting a bit dark down here and I definitely don’t like the sound of that,” Jack said.

Lena hated the idea of prolonging the mystery of what was inside the sarcophagus, especially when the casket was for a woman who was not even worthy of having her name inscribed on the outside. There was definitely something special about this hidden tomb and Lena was anxious to learn all about it, but seeing as they still hadn’t found the Book of Rao, there was still a lot more digging left for the group, which meant, they weren’t going to leave Argo anytime soon and they had ample time to peak inside the curious sarcophagus.

Besides, it wouldn’t be all that bad to wait another day. At least Lena wouldn’t have to deal with Jack’s constant whimpering about the bugs he couldn’t see within the darkness.

“Fine. But you better wake up on time cause we’re coming back bright and early,” Lena said. She turned back towards the prism and cautiously lifted it up, putting it away in her pocket for one more night.

Lena didn’t think they were below the sand for long, but once they resurfaced, the sky had darkened to a hazy purple while the air around them chilled without the sun’s bright rays beaming against the city.

They had started a campfire, hoping it would keep them warm for the night, but most of the wood they were using was wet, and it made it hard to keep the flames ignited. This led Kara on a search for more wood near the outskirts of the city. As she walked off, Lena watched her, patiently waiting with her head resting against Jack’s shoulder.

Kara’s task was simple but she didn’t get very far in her mission as she started getting sidetracked, talking to Mike’s crew instead of making her way past them. When Lena spotted a shocked look across Kara’s face, she wasn’t entirely surprised to see Kara racing back towards the campfire, forgoing her search for wood in lieu of some news to share.

“Those screams we heard earlier came from them,” Kara started to say, taking a seat right next to Lena. “Three of their men died today.”

“What? How?” Jack asked.

“Lena was right,” Kara said, her eyes meeting Lena’s for a moment. “They were digging at the feet of the statue and some ancient booby trap shot out. Melted their faces.”

“I knew this place was bloody cursed,” Jack said with a sigh. 

“You don’t actually believe that?” Lena asked.

She looked between Kara and Jack but neither of them responded. Which was lucky for all of them because their discussion was about to be interrupted either way as a bunch of horse riders began storming the city.

“Definitely cursed,” Kara whispered under her breath.

In an instant, chaos erupted around them. There was shouting and crying as the riders began firing their weapons at anyone they saw, dropping bodies like flies in their wake.

‘You have got to be kidding me,” Lena mumbled.

She turned around to look for help, but Kara was already several paces ahead, firing both her revolvers at the shady figures attacking them. Jack seemed to be on his own mission, off to the side, hunched over in Mike’s campsite, stealing a bottle of alcohol and hiding it under his shirt.

Lena didn’t understand how either of them moved so quickly when she was still stuck in the same position. Even now, once she was aware of the situation, Lena felt like she couldn’t move. It was almost like she was frozen in place by this immovable force.

So when a rider started charging towards her with their sights aimed down, Lena shut her eyes tight, sure that she’d be a goner. Her brain almost confirmed her death once she heard the loud blast. But strangely, she never felt the bullet impacting her skin. Instead, she felt a heavy shove in her chest which knocked her body roughly to the ground.

When she blinked her eyes open, Lena immediately caught sight of the rider that was recently aiming at her, but he wasn’t on his horse anymore. In fact, his horse was long past Lena while the rider was sprawled out in front of her, almost gagging in the sand while his hand clutched the bullet wound in his shoulder.

Lena didn’t see the shot being fired but she was almost certain it came from one of Kara’s revolvers, saving her just in the nick of time. But given the way her body was knocked down to the ground, paired with the sudden headache that was beginning to kick in, Lena figured the rider's horse still must’ve toppled into her.

Everything around Lena started to feel fuzzy and she quickly realized standing up was no longer an option. So Lena let her head fall to the sand, giving into the moment of reprieve.

From where she lay, she watched the battle unfold, bodies upside down and bullets firing in every direction. It was only when she was steady on the ground that she came to realize the riders firing gunshots all around her had been wearing the same red and black armour as the thieves who attacked her on the ship. And if they were attacking everyone in the city, it meant they weren’t thieves at all.

They had to be Sagitari, performing their duties by protecting Argo from any trespassers.

“Dammit, Kara,” yelled one of the Sagitari. She was a tall, red-headed woman, who stood proud, looking as if she might be the leader of the soldiers.

How she knew Kara’s name was a question that Lena couldn’t wait to get an answer to. But for the moment, Lena was more preoccupied with Kara’s actions, watching as she stood opposite this red-headed woman with a piece of recently lit dynamite in her hand.

The lead soldier took a step back. “I’m not going to kill you but this is my last warning. You have one day to leave Argo.”

“You know I won’t leave until I find it,” Kara replied.

“One day, Kara,” the red-head repeated. She lifted up her finger to emphasize the fact. “One day until I’m sending my men without me. And they’ll be happy to finish the job.”

The woman then whistled loudly, collecting the rest of her soldiers before storming back out of the city. When she was gone, Kara ripped the fuse wire off the dynamite stick and discarded it to the side, stopping the explosion with more than enough time to spare.

Off to the side, Lena could hear the surviving members of Mike’s crew cheering loudly, apparently celebrating their win. Jack was with them, patting the backs of the men and suggesting they open a bottle to honour the fallen.

Kara, on the other hand, hadn’t moved. She was standing in the middle of the battlefield, head bouncing around in every direction, looking as if she were seeking something. Her shoulders were raised up high and she was almost on her tiptoes, trying to glance around the minor destruction the Sagitari left behind.

It was only when she turned around and finally spotted Lena that Kara’s shoulders lowered in relief and a warm visible breath escaped from her lips. In that precise moment, Lena understood that Kara wasn’t looking for something.

She was looking for someone.

She was looking for her.

If Lena wasn’t frozen before, she definitely was now when Kara rushed over and tried to slowly help her up.

“Are you alright?” Kara whispered, quiet enough for only Lena to hear.

Just like that smile she gave Lena on the ride towards the city, there was something extremely genuine about the way that Kara asked the question. She actually sounded concerned for Lena’s wellbeing.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Lena replied, now standing up tall with the help of Kara, whose hands never left Lena’s arms.

“Are you sure?” Kara asked, her eyes boring into Lena’s.

It felt like Lena was imagining the scene in front of her, her mind conjuring this vivid image of blue eyes wobbling. Because it couldn’t be possible that such a tender look came from such a brazen woman. Delicate didn’t seem to be in Kara’s nature but here she was proving Lena wrong once again. And the more that Lena looked at Kara, questioning her unconventional behaviour, the more that Kara started displaying signs of concern.

When Lena didn’t answer the question, Kara decided on assessing Lena herself, starting with her chin which she gently lifted up with the barest contact of her fingers. Her eyes scanned over the skin, ensuring there weren’t any bullet wounds or bloody gashes hidden anywhere.

Lena thought she’d pull away from the touch, Kara’s soft fingers being too much of a shock for her skin to handle, but instead she found herself having the opposite effect like she wanted to lean into it.

“Yes, thank you,” Lena finally managed to mumble.

Her answer seemed to be enough for Kara who nodded before sliding her hand back down and moving her arm around Lena, almost protectively holding her up even though Lena was now perfectly able to stand up on her own two feet.

It was a chivalrous, unnecessary move, but either way, Lena didn’t want her to let go.

***

“If they’re going to come back again, you need to be prepared,” Kara said. She put down the bottle that she had been drinking from, the same one Jack had managed to nab midfight.

“Prepare myself?” Lena repeated.

“Yeah,” Kara said. She stood up and got in a fighting stance. “C’mon, I’ll show you.”

It had to be nearing two in the morning. Jack and all the other crew members were already passed out, and the campfire was starting to die down, but Kara and Lena remained awake, enjoying every moment together until either of them called it quits.

Truthfully, Lena knew she should’ve called it quits hours ago. They had planned on waking up early to continue their expedition, but Lena couldn’t find it in herself to end the night just yet.

And how was she expected to end it now when Kara was offering to teach her a valuable lesson? One fighting tutorial could be the one thing that saves her in the event of another ambush.

So, really, staying up and learning from Kara was in everyone’s best interest.

“Alright, ball your fist up. No, not like that.” Kara chuckled when Lena inevitably got it wrong. “You’ll break your thumbs if you punch like that.”

Lena shook her head but corrected her hand positioning.

“Okay, good, and now you punch like you mean it.”

Kara held the palm of her hand up, keeping it steady with her feet grounded to the floor.

It was an easy target — there was no way that Lena would mess this up. She wound up her arm and with all her force, punched ahead while shouting, “I mean it!”

She might’ve used a little too much force because once her arm was fully extended, Lena ended up losing her balance, crashing fast towards Kara. But there was never a concern for Lena’s safety, not when Kara’s toned arms were there to catch her.

And hold her.

And bring her just a bit closer to Kara’s chest.

It was dangerous. Far too dangerous of a position for Lena to find herself in. And even without the alcohol that was currently swimming in her system, this proximity alone was enough to make Lena’s head spin.

She smiled up at Kara and waited for Kara’s returned grin before gently swaying away, regaining her balance on her own two feet.

Kara laughed and shook her head. “I don’t understand you sometimes.”

The words implied that Kara had been trying to understand Lena, which was a funny sentiment considering that Lena had been having the same issue.

“Well, I can certainly say the same for you,” Lena said. She lowered her body near the campfire, hoping to regain some of the warmth she just lost.

“What do you mean?”

Kara asked that question with such innocence that it was almost laughable to Lena.

There were countless reasons for Lena not to understand a single thing about Kara. Whether it was the fact that Kara hid her knowledge of Argo and pretended to be a typical treasure hunter, or the fact that she adored acting arrogantly towards strangers when in reality there was this kindhearted soul lurking in her — there were all these different facades to Kara that it was almost impossible to keep up.

How was Lena supposed to know which version of Kara was real? Was she bits of each one or were some versions of her simply a front to throw others off? And if that were the case, why would she hide who she truly was?

Fortunately, Lena had been paying enough attention to come up with some of those answers herself. Kara knowing about Argo, having some sort of connection to the Sagitari and most damningly, revealing the ancient city through the stone monument, all led Lena towards one conclusion that she hadn’t yet had a chance to confirm.

“You’re an El, aren’t you?” Lena asked.

She half expected Kara to deny it but instead, Kara remained wordless, opening and closing her mouth aimlessly. When she was done working her jaw, Kara ended up taking a seat next to the campfire, leaving a one person gap between her and Lena.

“You didn’t know when we met so how did you find out?”

Lena let out a loud giggle, which even she realized was a bit unusual for the conversation, but she told herself it was because she was happy that she was right about Kara being an El. There were no other reasons for her deviant behaviour. She wasn’t tipsy. Not at all.

“The inscription on the stone monument,” Lena explained.

Kara popped the inside of her cheek with her tongue. “I should’ve known. You read the Ancient Kryptonese on the sarcophagus so of course you saw the one engraved in the stone.”

“It was a bit hard to read over Mike’s incessant babbling. I’m equally surprised that he’s an El.”

“Eh,” Kara mumbled. “He’s a Daxamite. It hardly counts.”

“So you’re an actual Kryptonian?”

“Yeah, I am,” Kara admitted.

Lena scrunched up her face as she analyzed Kara carefully. Kara was an El. A Kryptonian. That meant something. But what exactly did it mean? It’s like all the words were there in a mind map, but in Lena’s current state, she couldn’t connect the information together. And to make matters worse, even more questions continued flooding through her mind.

She didn’t know there were any Kryptonian Els left on this planet. So how was Kara an El? Where had she been hiding this whole time? And if she were an El, then shouldn’t she know about Argo City more than Lena herself? Shouldn’t she have known about—

“Rao and Cythonna,” Lena blurted out. “You said you didn’t know the folktale of the Falls. I thought all Kryptonian children learnt the folktales.”

“We do... I just…” Kara hesitated in her words. “I wanted to hear you talk about it.”

“Why?”

Kara bit the bottom of her lip like she was still trying to stop herself from the admission.

“You get this look in your eyes when you’re excited. Like what you’re about to say is the most thrilling story ever. And even if I knew the story I just... I couldn’t lose the chance of seeing that beautiful excitement reflect on your face.”

It was a line.

It was such a line.

But it was a line that Lena couldn’t stop herself from succumbing to. Kara just wanted to hear her speak about something she loved and if that wasn’t the most pure form of affection, Lena didn’t know what was.

“I still believe the scientific origin story though,” Kara defended. “I wasn’t lying about that. I was in the science guild so that origin always wins for me.”

“Was?”

“Before we left Krypton.”

If Lena had just a bit more operating capacity, she would’ve probed and asked more about the exodus. There was only one proper source detailing the emigration while the rest of the written accounts felt more like speculation. There was still so much to learn and Lena's mind ran rampant with all the questions she wished to ask.

Finding out why Kara was the only Kryptonian left on this planet was equally as thought provoking, but Lena was already feeling sluggish and she knew that her interrogation wouldn’t last for much longer. There was only so much she could say tonight.

“I was right that you knew far too much about this place for a common thief,” Lena said with a smile.

“A common thief,” Kara laughed. “Is that what you think of me?”

“It’s what you want me to think of you.”

“Well, everyone likes a treasure hunter.”

“Yes, but I can tell there’s so much more to you.”

When Lena finished talking, she realized that they had somehow moved much closer to each other. If she lifted her hand, she could've grazed Kara’s face.

Kara must’ve come to the same realization but she was more resolute than Lena as she reached her own hand out and without any hesitation, placed it atop Lena’s.

“And what about you?” Kara whispered.

“What about me?”

“How do you want me to think of you?”

Lena took a moment to ponder that question.

If this was yesterday, she would’ve said that she didn’t want Kara to think about her at all. But now that they had spent more time together and Lena had gotten to know a more open and tender Kara, Lena was all too willing to give an answer.

But what was the answer? Lena didn’t even know what she wanted to think of herself.

Kara must’ve been able to sense the inner turmoil because she added on, “You said you wanted to get the book of Rao to honour your mother, but why not send your own team to get it. Why did you want to come yourself?”

It sounded a bit accusatory. Like Lena should have a valid reason for wanting to explore Argo on her own.

“Look, I may not be a thief, or an adventurer, gunslinger like you Miss Danvers. Or is it Miss El—”

“It’s actually Zor-El.”

“—but I am proud of what I am.”

Lena felt herself rambling on and logically she knew that Kara wasn’t trying to upset her but the insinuation that Lena didn’t know herself was maddening. Of course she knew what to think of herself.

“And what is that?” Kara asked, beaming up at her with a brilliant smile.

She was… she was good at researching. She was good at uncovering truths about cities that most believed were fictional. And she was determined to learn everything she possibly could about civilizations which fell centuries ago. That’s why she came to Argo. She was the best kryptologist on this damn planet. If she sent anyone else to do the excavating, they would’ve missed everything important. She wasn’t going to sit behind a desk and wait for someone like Jack to relay his findings. She would find the splendor herself, and then she would take it back to the museum and inform tourists of the story behind the artefacts she would find.

Because that’s who Lena Luthor was. That’s who she had always been, even if someone like Lillian tried to get her to hate who she was.

And Lena was proud of herself. No one could take that away from her.

“I am… a librarian!” she shouted.

For all the thought she put into the answer, she still didn’t expect that to be her chosen label. But it didn’t really matter because when Lena looked back up at Kara, the adventurer still had that beaming look across her face. Perhaps, even smiling more than before now that she heard Lena’s answer.

It was too much. Lena’s stomach had been aching for hours and the look on Kara’s face was enough for Lena to overcome the last precipice of her inhibitions.

“And I’m going to kiss you, Miss Zor-El,” Lena whispered, her eyes now landing on Kara’s lips.

“You can just call me Kara.”

“Okay, Kara,” Lena said with a dopey smile.

She leaned in and just as she was about to kiss those inviting lips that she had been dreaming of since she first saw them, her entire world turned pitch black.

***

Waking up with a hangover definitely wasn’t what Lena planned for her second day in Argo. Her eyes drifted open and she found herself lying down next to the dried out campfire which must’ve lost its flames sometime during the night. A blanket was draped over Lena’s shoulders and a bottle of water leaned against her side as if someone had put it there.

Kara.

It all came back to her so quickly. The warmth. The sharing of secrets by the dimly lit fire. The inevitable fall into temptation foiled with a sudden submersion into darkness.

Last night was a little surreal. Half of Lena’s thoughts were clouded with the fact that she had spent a night in Argo City while the other half remained caught up in the hushed whispers she shared with Kara. Fortunately, those divided thoughts met somewhere in the middle as an El would undoubtedly be intertwined with this city more than any other person. It was a comforting thought, one which made Lena welcome the idea that she had only just scratched the surface of understanding both Kara and Argo City.

“Oy!” Jack called out. “Are you just going to sleep all day or what?”

Lena rolled her eyes but nonetheless rose from her position. As eager as she might’ve been to learn more about Kara, they already had a mission set out for today and exploring Argo City definitely took precedence. Besides, Lena didn’t even know if Kara would want to continue their conversation from yesterday. From the looks of it, with Kara shielding herself behind Jack, it seemed like she wasn’t all that interested in any conversation.

So, Lena didn’t push it. She quietly got ready and followed Jack and Kara back into the depths of the city. Every now and then Lena would steal a glance at Kara, watching as the blonde adventurer descended the steps without daring to once look in Lena’s direction.

“You two are awfully quiet today,” Jack said once they made it to the lowest level of the underground city. He had been speaking the entire way down, hardly realizing all the “yeah’s” and “mhm’s” he was getting up until this moment.

“Everyone seems quiet to you cause you never shut up,” Kara mumbled.

Lena let out a soft chuckle as if she made the jab herself.

“You laugh but imagine how boring this trip would be if it was just you two,” Jack finally said, now shaking his head.

Even though he tried to hide it, Lena was able to see the small smile forming across his face as he continued descending the path.

“Imagine. Me and you,” Kara whispered with a smile as she passed by Lena, finally giving her a glance for the first time that day.

It made Lena instantly regret looking at her and seeing that devilish grin across her face. In that exact moment, Lena realized she much preferred when Kara was avoiding eye contact, if only because it meant Lena didn’t have to get lost in the adventurer herself.

Fortunately, Kara didn’t linger after her comment, and it saved Lena from having to explain the blush that started creeping its way on her cheeks.

Lena cleared her throat. “Boring is right up my alley.”

“Yes, I know,” Jack replied. “You probably fancy all these old trinkets more than the people who used them.”

“Not realizing the worth of what one has is a basic theme across history.”

“Everyone always wants something more,” Kara cut in.

“Precisely,” Lena said, happy that Kara was done with the silent treatment. It was just in time too because they had finally reached the foot of the sarcophagus. “So should we open this up to find something more?”

“Precisely,” Kara teased.

Lena rolled her eyes and tried her best to ignore how Kara tried to imitate her accent. Focusing on the task at hand, Lena took the pentagonal prism out of her pocket and placed the key back into the small engraving they found the day before. She then gently pushed it into its proper position and once it was flush against the rest of the sarcophagus, a small click echoed throughout the tombs.

“Jack, help me open it up,” she said, moving to the other side.

Together, they popped the shell of the sarcophagus off, engulfing the room in another gust of sand and dust. When it all settled down, the inside of the sarcophagus revealed a very old and darkened corpse.

“Aren’t these things supposed to be bandaged up or dried out?” Jack asked.

“Sort of,” Lena said. She took a step closer, inspecting the corpse without touching it just yet. “But it doesn’t make any sense. While the inscriptions on the sarcophagus are over 3000 years old, well... this body looks like it’s still decomposing.”

“Spooky,” Kara said.

It wasn’t a technical term that Lena had ever used, but spooky did feel appropriate in this case. In all the mummy’s she had examined, Lena had never seen anything like this. She held her brush out in her hand but it felt pointless — she couldn’t even find a spot to start undusting.

“Even spookier are those marks over there,” Kara continued. Her voice died out as she turned around.

Lena followed suit, turning away from the strange mummy and noticing that Kara was pointing towards the part of the sarcophagus they ripped off. Lena approached it slowly, kneeling low to the ground so that she could properly inspect the inside of the cover.

“These look like fingernail marks,” Lena said, running her fingers against a couple grooves that were in the stone. “Which must mean this woman was buried alive.”

“Buried alive?” Jack repeated.

“It seems that way,” Lena mumbled.

She noticed a few more slashes covering the stone at the bottom and further up at the top. The lines at the bottom were jagged and lighter than the middle ones like the woman who was buried was becoming feeble and losing hope in breaking free.

The top, however, had a different type of engraving. It wasn’t just lines sporadically engraved in the stone, but a certain legible phrase which happened to be written in Ancient Kryptonese.

“Uzivu khuhp,” Lena read aloud. She barely finished pronouncing the words before lifting her gaze to meet Kara’s.

Though the words meant nothing to Lena, she knew they carried some relevance to Kara, whose eyes darkened upon hearing the phrase.

“What’s that in English for those of us who didn’t spend their youth kissing a book?” Jack asked.

Lena turned to face Jack, and with a heavy sigh, she translated the words for him: “I will Reign.”

Chapter Text

Nighttime drew faster than anyone expected. Lena had barely finished examining the skull of the grotesque mummy when Jack’s loud whining dragged the trio back up to the surface.

“Waste of a day,” Jack mumbled once they finally settled in at their campsite. 

His shoulders were slumped forward and a grim smile smeared his usual cheerful look. Kara had a similar demeanor, eyes downtrodden on the campfire, looking deep in thought, probably thinking about the same thing as Lena. 

I will Reign. 

Those words, an inevitability coming from a condemned woman, kept echoing through Lena’s mind. Had this woman known that someone might one day open up her sarcophagus and heed her words? Had she written them in hopes of manifesting her escape? Who was she?

There was a story there, one which was still unwritten and all too ready to be discovered. It wasn’t part of the expedition they planned, yet the more Lena thought about this mummy, the more she became intrigued by it. 

“I’d hardly call it a waste,” Lena started, taking her eyes off the campfire and looking over at Jack. “The history we’re about to uncover with that mummy is worth far more than any jewels we could’ve found.” 

Jack let out a dry laugh. “Forgive me for not seeing the beauty in that hollowed corpse or the carcasses you’re holding.”

“They’re not carcasses. They’re shells,” Lena corrected. She brought one close to the campfire, letting the light illuminate the cold casings. “A shell of a scarab. To think that they were buried with our friend down there…”

Lena trailed off, shuddering at the thought herself. 

“What about it?” Kara probed.

Lena tore her eyes away from the scarab shells and met Kara’s pointed gaze. There was a sparkle behind her eyes, enticing Lena to continue.

She smiled to herself. “Scarabs can live for hundreds of years and if they’re kept in a tight space with a live woman, well… it could only mean that they were feasting on her for centuries.” 

Jack grimaced at the thought. “Was this like a regular thing they did to people back then?”

“Not at all,” Lena said. “I read about this once and it’s a sort of curse that only the most wicked miscreants would ever get. Truthfully, I didn’t think the ritual was ever actually performed.”

“Remind me to never upset someone that much,” Jack mumbled. 

“I would hope not,” Lena said with a soft laugh. “Even the scholars who wrote about this curse feared it. There was a lot of jibber jabber concerning the potential consequences, but most believe that if anyone subject to this curse rose again, it would bring about the end of the world as we know it. Plagues would start on Krypton but eventually spread across the universe.”

“And what’s the fancy name they coined it?”

“I beg your pardon?” 

“You scholar types always name curses,” Jack said with a shrug. “What’s this one?”

Lena wanted to roll her eyes but she couldn’t exactly claim that Jack was mistaken. “Well… they called it the Curse of the Worldkillers.” 

“Worldkiller,” Kara quickly mumbled. “It’s just the one.”

Her interruption came in a rush, and Lena couldn’t tell if it was a slip up or the start to Kara turning a new leaf and being more honest with the group.

“What do you know that we don’t?” she asked. 

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “Not much else. But it’s not important.”

Her response was vague; it was always a half-truth with Kara, but Lena was getting tired of her usual antics and she knew it was time to take a stand against Kara’s evasive nature. 

“See, I feel like it is important because I still don’t know how you play into any of this,” she said.

“What do you mean? I’m not involved in this mummy business.”

“Maybe not. But you knew the leader of the Sagitari which means you’re still not telling us everything that we need to know,” Lena pressed. She gave Kara a hard look, one which was immediately met with a heavy sigh. 

“It’s…” Kara darted her eyes over to Jack and then back at Lena. “...personal.”

The hint was discreet yet obvious enough for Lena to get the idea. 

“Jack, darling, would you give us a moment?” 

“And just as things were starting to get juicy,” Jack said, letting out a dramatic sigh before he stood from his seat. “Whatever, I wanted to see what those blokes were blubbering about anyway.” 

Jack nodded towards the direction of Mike’s crew before he began rushing out of earshot, giving Lena and Kara the much needed space they sought. But even when they were alone, Kara didn’t immediately start. 

“So… it’s just us now,” Lena said.

“Observant as ever.” 

“I have to be, otherwise it would be impossible to know a single thing about you.” 

“This again,” Kara said, shaking her head. “So are you interrogating me for the mission or because you’re dying to know all about me?” 

Lena didn’t even have to look at her to know that she finished asking the question with her usual lopsided grin.

“I just want a full picture of the history so I know what I’m— what we’re really getting ourselves into here,” Lena argued. She thought Kara would jump to comment on the slip up, but Kara simply mumbled a quick “mhm” before staying quiet. 

With her silence, the environment around them absorbed all the attention — the firewood popped loudly from the small twigs that burned, the hiccups echoed from Mike’s crew after yet another sordid joke had been told, even whistles permeated through the air whenever the wind found another gust, and yet despite all that noise, all Lena could focus on was the way that Kara’s grin faded and turned to a pensive look with the longer they sat still. 

“Her name is Alex,” Kara started. She had her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose and she kept her eyes closed like she was trying to picture something in her mind. “The leader of the Sagitari, I mean.”

Kara took a deep breath before lowering her hand and meeting Lena’s eyes once more. 

“She’s also my sister.” 

Lena scrunched up her face and shook her head for a quick moment. She didn’t expect to get such a direct answer. “The Sagitari are all Kryptonians?”

“No, actually none of them are.” 

“But then how—”

“She’s my adoptive sister.”

Lena leaned back in her seat, thinking over all the implications that came with that answer. Another ten questions popped up in her mind but before she could voice any of them, Kara held up her finger.

“I should probably start from the beginning,” Kara said, like she knew exactly how rampant Lena’s mind was already running. “I know you have a general idea about the Great Kryptonian Emigration but Clark did a shit job on the details.” 

“Clark?” Lena repeated. She had to file through a few scholars in her mind before remembering which dorky nerd with glasses he was supposed to be. “You know the original Krypton historian?” 

“Yeah, he’s my cousin.” 

Lena let out a soft laugh. Maybe she should’ve expected an answer like that by now. “Your family tree gets more and more complicated by the minute.” 

“Clark is actually blood-related,” Kara said with a smile. “His real name is Kal-El. And I suppose prior to this week, you thought he was the only living El.”

“Well, he was the only primary source we had. A Herodotus of Krypton, detailing the planet before anyone on Earth even knew it existed.” 

“And yet Kal was a baby when the Emigration itself happened. He’s lucky his parents gave him a way to learn about the history of Krypton, but Kal doesn’t actually remember the Emigration. Not like I do.”

Lena had read the articles that Clark published more times than she’d like to admit. She had cherished them for making Kryptonian history widespread on Earth, but with Kara sitting right next to her, starting to recant the story herself, all those articles suddenly felt worthless.

“How old were you?” Lena asked. 

“Old enough to have the memories haunt me to this day,” Kara said as she balled up her fists. “The cries of families being separated. The flames that burned down the libraries. The way Kandor closed themselves off to the rest of the region, letting us suffer while they thrived under the best technology that shielded them from the virus. Yeah,” she finished bitterly. “I remember it all.” 

Kara’s eyes looked much colder now, leaving Lena and becoming focused on the campfire in front of them, the dancing flames seemingly transporting her back to a much darker time. 

It broke Lena’s heart to see how, to this day, Kara carried the trauma from witnessing the destruction of a planet. Lena knew there was nothing she could say that would make any difference, but she didn’t want to let Kara suffer through the memories alone. Carefully, Lena lifted her hand and reached out towards Kara.

When she wrapped her hand around Kara’s fist, it immediately tore Kara’s eyes away from the flames as she looked directly at Lena.

“I’m sorry,” Lena whispered.

Kara kept staring at Lena, a blank expression on her face as if she didn’t even hear the words, but then her fist loosened up, and she continued after that. 

“I wish we could’ve had more time to save them all…” Her words were soft, almost like it was forbidden for her to talk about something so personal. “My father was the first to realize Kryptonite was poisoning the air. He told the high council but they didn’t listen. Not in time, anyway.”

“Why would they ignore his warning?” Lena asked.

“Kryptonians are stubborn.” 

“Don’t I know it.”

Kara let out a slight laugh. “No, they are far worse than anything I may have done. The high council was staring evidence in the face and chose not to believe it. Not to mention their solution to burn anything that came in contact with the virus, which was even more horrifying.” 

“And their definition of everything excluded Kandor.”

“Now you’re getting it,” Kara said. “It was only when the virus started knocking on Kandor’s door that they realized there was no hiding from it. That’s when the plan for the exodus began. But we didn’t have much time, and drastic decisions were made from the start.” 

Kara stalled for a moment, an invisible lump caught in her throat. 

“Anyone who was sick would be left behind. The craftsman down the street, the girl I sat next to in my first year of schooling, the leader of the science guild…” Kara trailed off on that one, looking up at Lena before shaking her head and continuing. “The rest of us were put in pods and then shipped to various planets.”

Lena nodded along, listening to every detail in Kara’s gruesome tale. Even with the snippets alone, she couldn’t imagine living through this pain, nevermind the full details that Kara must have been sparing her. What she went through was unimaginable, and Lena could only wish that there was a way for her to take all that suffering away. But memories were scars of the soul and listening would be the only way to ensure she understood the depth of those cuts.

“So you and Clark were the only ones that got sent to Earth?” Lena asked.

“My mother did too. It was actually supposed to be just us cause there was a two person per planet rule, but an exception was made for Kal since he was a baby and they wanted us to take care of him after his parents fell ill. Of course, our pod got knocked off course and it took another thirteen years to arrive on Earth. But that wasn’t the biggest surprise of the trip. Because we didn’t know—when we left we—we ran the tests but— nothing came up. We were— she was—”

Lena tightened her hold on Kara’s hand, hoping even the smallest action could help. At first, Kara’s entire body stiffened, but when her eyes fell back to their entwined hands, her shoulders started to relax, and she let out a deep breath.

“My mother was dying. We left Krypton with her as healthy as ever, but when we landed on Earth, she was dying. The virus didn’t appear in her tests but the smallest drop must’ve latched onto her somehow. I didn’t know but it festered over that trip, leaving her coughing and nearly breathless by the time we finally arrived on Earth.” 

Kara had tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, but she looked like she was trying her hardest not to let them fall.

“But my mother was strong. She fought against that virus everyday, not giving it a chance to take her away from me. It was hard at the beginning. We stayed secluded from the world, just in case the virus was infectious to humans.” She paused and a smile formed across her face. “We weren’t very good at hiding though. Government found us quickly, but this woman who they sent to capture us ended up doing the complete opposite. She saw my sick mother and all she wanted to do was help.” 

Lena smiled at that. The action reminded her of her own mother; always extending a hand to those in need. “Lucky that they sent that agent over any other.”

“It changed my whole life,” Kara said, still with a dimpled infectious smile. “This woman— Eliza was her name—she was a scientist too and she was all too happy to help stall the decay of my mother’s health. It worked for a few years but eventually there was nothing she could do… and… fate took matters into its own hands.”

Kara paused once more but Lena didn’t try to rush her. She knew all too well how much the loss of a mother weighed on your soul, no matter how long ago you parted ways. 

“I love my mother but I do wish she was a bit less of a cryptic,” Kara suddenly said with a fond smile after wiping away an errant tear with her free hand.

“What do you mean?” Lena asked. 

“Before she passed away, she told me to find the last Martian. She didn’t say why. She didn’t say how. She just told me to find him.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“I didn’t either. But Eliza’s daughter, Alex, she liked the idea of a mission. She joined me on all my searches, trips to the library, hacking into government facilities for intel— all of it. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think we would’ve ever found him… but after everything that came afterwards, I sometimes wish we never found him at all.”

Regret was something Lena never imagined she’d hear coming out of Kara’s mouth. It was almost shocking to know she wasn’t confident in every choice she’s ever made. “That bad?”

“At first, no. He’s one of the nicest guys I know. He figured out a vaccine for the virus, and he gave it to me right away when I said I was Kryptonian. And then when I said I wanted to come back home, he had a ship ready to bring me here. But… it’s because of him that Alex got indoctrinated into the Sagitari, and the second we didn’t see eye to eye on something, all that kinship between us was gone and I was suddenly an enemy,” Kara said grimly. She couldn't even hide the bitterness in her tone. “So yeah, it was pretty bad.” 

“What did you disagr—”

A loud crash sounded behind Lena, cutting her off. The noise even made her jump from her seat, and when she finally turned around to see where it came from, she found Jack standing upright with his hand scratching the back of his neck. 

“That’s my bad! Meant to see if you were nearly finished up. Even brought back this bottle for you two, but…” He trailed off, looking down at the shattered pieces on the ground. “Slippery fingers and all. But if you are finished, I got my own tale to recant.” 

Lena turned to Kara and noticed that she wasn’t even looking at Jack. Instead, Kara’s eyes remained fixated on the broken bottle pieces scattered around their campsite. With the angle she was at, the dying fire in front of them started to cast a shadow on her face, withdrawing her from the moment with increasing speed. 

“I’m taking silence as a yes,” Jack said before taking a seat. He patted the spot next to him, trying to get Lena to copy his actions. “So, I just found out that Mike’s crew hit the riches while we were down there wiping mummy juice off our clothes.” 

Lena was still caught up in Kara’s story, wondering what could’ve possibly torn two sisters apart. Even though she now learned about Kara’s connection to the Sagitari, she was still missing something. Something that was perhaps more key to Kara than to the history of Argo itself. 

“What riches do you speak of, Sir Jack,” Jack said with a higher pitched voice when no one answered. “I’m so glad you asked Lena! They actually found these golden jars about yea-big.” He lifted his hands up, framing the size of the item he was depicting. 

His left hand hit the side of Lena’s leg while he made the movement, and that seemed to bring Lena out of her never ending thoughts, making her realize that she would need another private moment with Kara if she wanted to follow up with more questions. For now, she would have no choice but to focus on Jack’s tale, which did turn out to have an interesting tidbit to them. 

“Golden jars?” Lena repeated.

She could’ve sworn that Mike’s crew was digging in the wrong area, so she could hardly believe that they actually found something of any value. She turned away from Jack and peered at the lively campsite, watching as the rowdy members played catch with said jars. All of them were engaging in the childish activity, all except for one who was off to the side, hands running over the edges of what looked to be a heavy black squared box. 

Lena recognized it instantly.

“That book—” she started. 

“Yes, they found a dingy old book too. Of course you would care about that and not the money makers in their hands,” Jack said while rolling his eyes. 

Lena continued watching as the man holding the book attempted to pry it open at every possible angle. He seemed to think there was something worthwhile in the pages because he never gave up, turning it over and over, hoping that the book might somehow open itself up. 

“Forget about the book, Lena. When are we going to find gold?” Jack pressed.

But Jack’s words were beginning to drown out the more that Lena watched the man with the book. His attempts were futile and he only got angrier with every failed attempt, but his emotions were the last of Lena’s concerns. No, the real sight that caught her attention was a carefully crafted pentagonal hole on the face of the book.

“Jack, darling,” Lena said with a smile. “Gold isn’t the most valuable thing here.”

***

The chronic drinking of Mike’s crew eventually took its usual toll, knocking his team out and giving Lena the perfect opportunity to make her move. She rose carefully from her makeshift bed and tiptoed around the campfire, making sure she didn’t stir Jack or Kara from their slumber. 

When the coast was clear, she carefully made her way into Mike’s campsite. It didn’t take much effort for her to find the book that the man was toying with since he had discarded it on the side of a wooden log, almost begging for it to switch owners. 

Lena leaned forward and just as her fingers touched the spine of the book, a familiar voice sounded behind her.

“That’s called stealing, you know,” Kara said because obviously she wasn’t actually asleep.

Her presence didn’t change a thing though. Lena still needed to see what was inside that book. 

“Funny, I remember Jack always referring to it as borrowing.”

“What are you even doing?” Kara whispered loudly. She crouched forward, joining Lena beside the small wooden log. “That’s definitely not the Book of Rao.” 

“It isn’t, but I believe it’s the Book of the Dead.” Lena fished out the pentagonal prism from her bag and inserted it in the small hole that appeared on the front of the book. 

There wasn’t any time to waste. She didn’t want anyone else to wake— least of all Jack because if he knew that this key fit everywhere, she really wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“And you want to open something that has a name like that?” 

“Just to take a peak,” Lena said wryly. “I’ll return it afterwards.” 

She pressed the prism in, watching as the book glowed bright white for a moment before returning back to its dark nature. Lena’s eyes quickly flashed to Kara’s, and for a moment, she could feel apprehension sitting behind that glossy gaze.

It made Lena hesitate but it wasn’t enough to make her stop altogether. She flipped open to the first page, and her eyes scoured the book.

“It’s in Ancient Kryptonian,” she said.

Her fingers drew across each word as she started reciting it aloud.

“.:buahnes tiv dhehraoghehd non w tiv tahn uru ;zov kehiehku tiv kigrhysium i threhk w tiv zhgehvuju— ” 

“Don’t finish it!” Kara interrupted with a shout.

“—rahn.” 

The moment the final word escaped from Lena’s lips, she could tell that something shifted. All the campfires in the city immediately ceased, and the environment plunged cold. 

“You don’t actually think what I said will manifest, do you?” Lena asked.

A loud screech sounded from the distance and the wind started picking up in every direction. Members at the campsite stirred awake with the stark change in the atmosphere. 

Kara raised her voice to compete with the loud winds. “So you did understand what you read and still kept reading it?” 

“I’ve practiced translating for years. Of course I know what I read,” Lena said, almost with a scoff. But there was one small reservation to that fact. “The only word I wasn’t familiar with was the third, but the rest was clear enough: something will be walking across the lands and the blood of the weak will flow on the world. ” 

“Not something,” Kara said as she caught sight of what was making the noise in the distance. She instantly tore her eyes away, locking them with Lena’s. “Death.”

When Lena looked back at the scene in front of her, she was finally able to make out the swarm of flies streaming through the city, swallowing everything in its path. Mike seemed to notice it at the same time as her, and he ran off immediately into the night, not even wasting a moment to wake up his crew. Lena took an apprehensive step backwards at his urgency, causing her to bump into Kara’s chest. 

If not for Kara placing her hands on both her shoulders, steadying her movements, Lena would’ve lost her balance and toppled to the ground. It was a little silly, too, how such a simple and necessary gesture made her heart pang more than she wished.

“C’mon,” Kara said, giving Lena the smallest of smiles, before turning around and jogging back to camp. 

It took a minute for Lena’s mind to catch up to the moment and she had to shake all Kara-filled thoughts away as she trailed after her, only slowing in her pursuit once they were back in their campsite and she saw Jack tossing and turning in his sleep. Crouching down, Lena shook him awake. 

Jack lifted his head, muttering, “Wha—Lena—” He looked like he was going to give her a piece of his mind but decided against it when his half upright body caught sight of the commotion in the distance behind her. “Are those….bugs?” 

“Not the friendly kind,” Kara said, digging through their supplies and slinging some guns into her holster. 

“Friendly bugs are not a thing,” Jack said and jumped up from his position to fumble for some weapons nearby. 

But there wasn’t much time for any of that. The flies were drawing closer and closer, almost as if they were gliding with the strong winds. It wouldn’t be long before their campsite was swarmed and they had nowhere left to run. Loud screams were already echoing from Mike’s campsite as the last remaining crewmembers woke up and tried running away. Those screams rang in the night like the final warning for the trio.

“Forget the guns!” Lena shouted. She grabbed Jack by the arm and tugged him forward. “We need to run, now!” 

She wasn’t even sure where they could possibly find refuge, but Kara decided to take the lead in that search and Lena had no objections whatsoever. Lumps of sand kicked up in the air as all three took off, Kara at the front as she rushed down into the tunnel they made upon their first arrival in Argo. They didn’t slow in their strides or so much as exchange a word with one another in their descent through the undergrounds of the city until they were far enough from the surface that they could no longer hear the buzzing of the flies.

“Where the hell did those buggers come from?” Jack asked through gasping breaths, turning to look at Kara.

“Don’t look at me. Ask her.” 

“Oh, come on,” Lena said exasperatedly. “This isn’t because of what I did.” 

“It’s Lena’s fault? That’s wonderful. Don’t even expand on what you did because I’m grateful I’m not the accused this time.”

“She read from a cursed book.” 

“It wasn’t cursed.”

“And how do you explain the flies then?”

Jack threw his arms in the air. “I thought I said don’t expand on it. Does no one listen when I speak?”

“No,” Kara and Lena both chimed at the same time as they turned to look at Jack. 

Normally, he would throw an award-winning dramatic fit after being ignored, but Jack couldn’t even focus on the matter as his eyes flew to something behind Kara and Lena, and his mouth fell agape. 

“Blimey…” 

Lena turned around first, and near the back walls, out of a tiny crack, she saw the horror that stole Jack’s attention. Hundreds if not thousands of scarabs were currently squeezing their way into the room — the same scarabs that she was holding the shells of just earlier that day. 

Once they made their way past the holes in the wall, the scarabs began skittering across the room, cutting the distance between themselves and the group.

“Cursed!” Kara yelled, swinging her gun to point at the scarabs just before firing a shot, clearing away the bugs that were closest. “This way!”

Lena followed Kara down a narrow hallway, but after turning another corner, they found more scarabs chasing them from around the front end as well. It didn’t look like there was anywhere for them to run but that didn’t stop Kara from making a path of her own and jumping on an unsteady rock, just out of reach from the scarabs. 

Jack didn’t even give a warning as he jumped right after, but once he landed near Kara, the rocks started shaking uncontrollably. Still, they remained semi-composed, and it seemed like that was the last safe haven available. 

Kara held out her hand and her eyes softened at the corners. “Trust me!”

And Lena did trust her. She trusted her when Kara said she knew how to get to Argo, she trusted her when sharing stories about her birth mother and she trusted her when they were jumping off a burning ship. All that trust existed despite Lena having the worst time trying to read Kara. Trust was simply this innate feeling that felt right whenever she was around her.

But with the scarabs inching closer and closer, Lena knew that trust wouldn’t get her out of this situation. There was no way that she could make that jump without losing a leg and as that realization sank in, Lena began cowering in on herself, backing up bit by bit as the scarabs started hopping over her feet. 

“Don’t just stand there!” 

Lena thought Kara might have been talking to her, but when she looked back up, she noticed that Kara was shoving a gun in Jack’s hands and she was directing him to make a move. He barely had a handle on the weapon before Kara jumped off the rock and started making her way towards Lena, hardly caring for the scarabs that were attacking her.

“You’ll be okay!” Kara called out to her, moving closer and closer. 

But with every step forward that Kara took, Lena had to take a step backwards as she narrowly avoided getting bitten. The distance between them remained the same until Lena felt her elbows smack against the solid wall behind her. 

“Kara?” Lena called out. She felt her voice wavering, the fear coming from running out of options with her back up against the wall. 

“I’m coming!” Kara yelled back and she looked as determined as ever, her brows furrowed and her eyes focused on finding the clearest path to get to Lena.

But that look amounted to nothing except for being the last thing Lena saw before she felt the wall give in behind her as she leaned a little too heavily on it, and her world shifted once she flipped into another room.

“Kara!” Lena shouted one last time before toppling over, landing in a pit of bumpy sand. 

She rubbed the back of her head sorely as she pulled herself back to her feet, now standing in front of the wall she had recently fallen through. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary with it, looking like every other solid wall in the city, but Lena figured it must be some sort of activated trap wall. She stepped closer and tapped on various parts of its surface, trying to figure out how to trigger the switch once more.

When the tapping didn’t work, she tried leaning on it, attempting to recreate the exact same position she held on the other side before the wall spun and she got flipped into this room. 

Nothing seemed to work. The result was Lena finding herself in an area that was so unlike all the others she had been in thus far. It was dark and colder than usual. She was grateful that there weren’t any scarabs, but just a few steps away from the door, shaking in some of the rough sand, she found a body face planted in the ground. 

She would’ve left it alone. She would’ve walked away and tried to find her way out of whatever catacomb she might’ve fallen into, except the body made a noise, and Lena realized the explorer wore clothes she had seen not too long ago. 

So she crouched down and carefully put her hands on the body’s hip and shoulder, getting enough of a grip to gently flip it over without causing any more harm to the figure’s frame. 

“Muhhhhhh,” echoed loudly in the room as Lena let out a shriek of her own once she caught sight of the man’s face. 

Where there were once beautiful dark brown eyes, the man in front of her now had tunnels sinking into his head as if someone had taken a spoon and scooped out both of his sockets. He moaned once more and Lena realized the eyes were only the beginning of his suffering because his tongue was also missing, making it impossible for him to utter specific sounds. 

This gruesome attack had to have happened recently since Morgan here, Mike’s right hand guy, had been on the surface of Argo not too long ago. That fact alone put Lena even more on edge than she had already been, and she quickly jumped to her feet and spun around, searching in the shadows for the possible perpetrator. 

Her search didn't last for long as the culprit carried herself into the light, eliciting another loud shriek from Lena. Once again, she found herself taking steps back, trying to create some distance between herself and the freshly risen mummy she had uncovered earlier that day. 

Except it looked different. This corpse had more skin on it than she swore it had when she was inspecting it. It also carried itself with ease, albeit there was one leg that was slower than the other, almost trailing behind. Yet the corpse stood upright and its bones were strong enough to make the swiftest movements as she continued following Lena. 

The biggest difference between the figure in front of her and the mummy she uncovered were the dark brown eyes that were sunk in its sockets, and a tongue that slid itself against the mummy’s thousand year old teeth. 

That tongue clicked once before the mummy’s deep voice mumbled, “Acrata?” 

Lena didn’t expect her to say anything but even more shocking than hearing the mummy’s voice was the fact that Lena remembered the name. Acrata was Pharaoh Russell’s wife; that tidbit of history was never debated on. But this woman in front of her certainly wasn’t Russell and that only opened up even more questions. 

Questions she quickly got the answer to as the mummy lifted its hand and gently ran it across Lena’s forearm, a delicate gesture that only made Lena want to hurl. The mummy’s fingers weren’t perfectly covered in skin, so most of the gentle strokes were actually boney scratches. 

“Lena!” a voice suddenly shouted, and when Lena turned her head to the side, she found Kara looking straight at her from the nearby hall.

The mummy turned around as well, and she seemed to take Kara’s presence personally as she leaned forward and let out a loud scream, clearly intending on spooking Kara away. 

But her attempts failed miserably with Kara simply scrunching up her face and screaming back at the mummy, possibly even going an octave higher, just before she fired her shotgun, temporarily pushing the mummy off to the side. 

“Go go go!” Kara shouted as she put her arm on Lena’s back and urged her forward. 

Lena didn’t need to be told twice and she ran directly ahead, finding Jack not too far away and following in his steps until they eventually found their way back outside of the city. The sun had started to rise, and the flies were no longer around, but Lena couldn’t help but feel as if this was only a temporary moment of reprieve.

“Did you really run off from us so you could get cozy with the mummy?” Jack asked. 

Lena’s chest was still rising and falling quickly. She wiped some sweat off the top of her forehead, and breathed out, “She’s not exactly my type.” 

“No, but I know who is.” 

Lena didn’t get a chance to counter his assumption because when Kara stepped outside, Lena noticed that the Sagitari were right behind her, and one in particular didn’t look all too happy. 

“What the fuck, Kara?” snapped the red-head, Alex as Lena now knew her.

“It’s fine.” 

“It’s fine? That’s all you have to say for yourself? Do you understand what you’ve done, Kara? Because you’ve just unleashed the one thing we were warned about. The one thing I was tasked with stopping from ever escaping this place.”

“Look, Alex I’ll handle it—” 

“Save it. I’ll try and clean up the mess you started,” Alex said. She snapped her fingers and Lena noticed that a few of the Sagitari started moving ahead, carrying Morgan, the eyeless victim to a sheltered area. Alex then pushed into Kara’s shoulder as she walked past her, mumbling, “as always.”

She said it under her breath but it was loud enough for everyone to hear, and it only made Lena feel even worse about the entire situation. It didn’t seem fair that Kara was the one getting blasted for Lena’s mistake, but Lena didn’t know how to interrupt when Alex’s words went past this mishap, cutting deep under Kara’s skin. 

“Did you not hear me?” Kara said, her eyes stitching together in anger. “I just said I got it.” 

Her response brought Alex to a stop but she didn’t turn around to look at her sister. Instead, she tilted her head to the right, looking over her shoulder so that her voice wouldn’t drown out. 

“In case you forgot Kara, you don’t have superpowers on Krypton.” She turned her gaze forward again and started to walk away. “You’re as useless as the rest of us here.”

With her exit, Lena felt a bleakness falling on the world, though she wasn’t sure if it stemmed from feeling like they doomed humanity, or from seeing a defeated look covering Kara’s usual confident face.

***

Everyone was in a sour mood by the time they stepped on the island of Bokos. Jack claimed it was the best place for them to sleep for the night so they could avoid flesh-eating flies, but Lena got the impression that he only wanted to visit the island to party with the best thieves on the planet.

It was a little surprising when Kara didn’t make an excuse to run off and join in his plans, though part of Lena might have even wished for Kara’s absence, if only because Kara was becoming poor company in her current state of mind.

“I hate this place. I can’t wait to get off this planet tomorrow,” Kara mumbled as she began filling her suitcase up with clothes. 

“Tomorrow?” Lena repeated. She knew that Kara was upset but she didn’t think that she was ready to leave the planet entirely. “We can’t leave. Did you not see that thing?” 

“Yeah, I saw. But Alex said she’d handle it, so fine by me.” 

“You can’t be serious.” 

“I am.” 

Lena shook her head and walked over to Kara’s luggage, lifting up one of the items that was recently stuffed away in it. “You know she won’t be able to stop it alone.”

“What are you—” Kara started before grabbing the unfolded shirt out of Lena’s hands and throwing it roughly back inside her luggage. “Why do you care about my sister?” 

“The better question is why don’t you?” Lena snapped back.

“I do. It’s just—” Kara sighed heavily, and with it, some of her anger started to dissipate. “Remember when I told you that we disagreed on something?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Well, when the Martian brought us to Krypton, he let us go anywhere… anywhere except Argo City. He told us about the Curse of the Worldkiller, and we listened because there was no reason to even go there. I just wanted to come back home so that I could somehow reconnect with my mother.”

Lena nodded, fully understanding the sentiment, for it was the same reason why she came to Krypton herself. 

“I spent a lot of time researching in the Kandorian library, trying to get back to my roots and learn everything I didn’t have a chance to learn about before the exodus. And that’s when I read about it— the necklace my mother showed me.” 

Lena’s eyes widened, realizing that Kara was honest with her the first time she opened up on the ride over the Fire Falls. “The necklace that looked like mine?” 

“Bingo,” Kara said. “It was an El heirloom and my mother showed me countless pictures of it but I never saw it in person. And reading about it in that book made me realize that she never showed it because she never had it. The book explained that it was buried centuries ago with the rest of the El wealth.” 

“In Argo…” Lena finished, understanding Kara’s train of thought.

Kara nodded slowly before continuing. “I asked Alex to go with me so that I could get the necklace back, something that belongs to my family anyway, and which my mother always coveted.” 

“But she said no.” 

“Worse than that,” Kara said. She clenched her jaw, looking as if she were still upset over the betrayal. “Alex made it her life’s mission to stop me from getting it. The Martian agreed, saying I was the biggest threat to Argo, and he appointed her as head of the Sagitari.” Kara let out a loud snicker. “She said she was doing it not only to save the universe but for my protection as well. She didn’t want the Curse to ring true, and she didn’t want me to be responsible for summoning it.”

“I can’t say she was entirely wrong,” Lena said. “We did wake up that mummy.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Lena regretted it. Kara’s face immediately flashed, and she was back to that hotheaded adventurer she was moments ago. 

“We? There’s no we here,” Kara said. She turned around and started gathering more items in her hands to throw in the bag. “ You’re the one that read that book.”

The harshness in her tone took Lena by surprise. She knew that it was true — Lena was responsible for freeing the mummy, and she felt horrible that it was further worsening Kara’s relationship with Alex, but just because those were the facts, it didn’t mean that Kara could take her anger out on Lena, especially when Kara knew about the Curse in more detail than even Lena knew. The least she could have done was give a warning that they were two wrong steps away from launching the destruction of the universe. 

“I may have read it but you didn’t stop me.” 

“Maybe not, but it’s not my problem anymore,” Kara said in a rush. “I can’t find that stupid necklace and as far as we’re concerned, all I had to do was hold up my end of the deal, and I did. I got you to Argo, and that’s as far as our partnership goes.” 

Lena took a step back. She didn’t want to take those words the wrong way but. “Was that really all I meant to you? Finishing up a loose end in an agreement?” 

Kara stilled. She gently disposed of the latest item she grabbed before looking over at Lena and letting out a heavy sigh, another quick change in her demeanor. 

“It’s complicated.” 

“It doesn’t have to be,” Lena said. 

But she didn’t know why she was fighting, why she was putting herself in such a vulnerable position when all Kara did was confuse her. 

“Look, I don’t—”

“It’s fine,” Lena mumbled as she shook her head. “I’m not going to beg you to stay.” 

Even if she wanted to. Even if this meant that this would be the last time she’d see Kara, because if this curse really brought on the end of the world, then this interaction right here would be all they had left. 

Lena would’ve given it her all if she wasn’t always the one to voice her desires. It always felt like she was making the first move, and what kind of game were they even playing if no move ever came after the first?

So she stood her ground, and didn’t add anything more. All she could do was hope that Kara would see through her words and choose to stay and fight. 

But Kara simply clenched her jaw and walked out of the room.

***

Lena spent the rest of the day researching to avoid getting bogged down in her emotions. She hadn’t thought of it earlier but sitting on an island filled with thieves proved to be the best possible library the world could offer. All the books that were mysteriously missing from Kandor happened to find themselves in the back pocket of a sneaky thief in Bokos. 

The challenge was finding something worthwhile that the thieves would be willing to trade their possessions for. Lena didn’t have many lucrative items herself, but she borrowed a few from Jack in hopes of obtaining a textbook that contained a few answers. 

The Historia book she currently held felt like her best bet and after making a dicey barter sale to get it, she took a seat at the nearest open chair and began flipping through the book, racing towards the section on Pharaoh Russell. 

Like all textbooks she had read thus far, his section was still the shortest chapter in the book. The beginning of it started the same, overlooking the start to his rule, discussing the policies he implemented, and then finally dissecting the love he had for Acrata. Lena was about to close the book when one particular paragraph caught her attention.

She grabbed a few napkins from the dispenser in front of her, and pulled a pen out of her pocket, quickly transcribing the translated words on the napkins. Sentence by sentence, the history started to become clearer, until it was all written out in front of her. 

When the Pharaoh discovered Acrata’s relationship with the High Priestess, his wife struck one final blow, hoping to escape from his reign and turn to another. But the guilt of killing her husband weighed on her, and Acrata turned the blade on herself in agony. Whispers of a ploy to kill the evil inside her and be reborn by the High Priestess’ side permeated through the ranks, and when the High Priestess stole her body, along with canopic jars filled with her organs, a resurrection was duly imminent. Fortunately, the Sagitari were there to avenge their leader and seal the woman away, ensuring she would never have the chance to reign. 

Though this passage depicted a very different tale of Russell’s death compared to Kandorian sources, it was the most detailed and plausible explanation that Lena had ever read. She didn’t doubt it for a second, especially after remembering the golden jars that Mike’s crew were tossing around the campsite. She was nearly certain those jars contained Acrata’s organs, and if that were the case, Lena knew she had to find those jars immediately.

***

Lena first checked the bar but once she found them to be empty, she made her way back to her temporary lodging, hoping to find Jack, so she could inquire some more about those stolen jars. 

What she didn’t expect to see was Kara sitting on the steps right in front of the door. She was staring at her hands but she stood up straight when she noticed Lena approaching.

“You’re still here?” Lena asked. She hoped that she didn’t say it with as much excitement as she felt brewing in the pit of her stomach. 

“Water in our drinks turned to blood and it’s ruining the buzz so yeah,” Kara said.

It was a very odd statement but it did explain why the bars were empty. Even worse, it meant that the plagues were starting to get worse. Kara’s presence suggested that she might have given the fight a second chance, but Lena wondered…

“Is that the only reason why you’re back?” 

Kara fiddled with her thumbs. 

“Not really. I also wanted to say that I—” She stopped abruptly and her eyes flashed to something behind Lena. “Wasn’t that—?”

Lena didn’t want to turn around. She wanted to hear whatever Kara had to say, she wanted the world to stop throwing distractions in her path whenever Kara was on the verge of an admission. But given the already dire situation, Lena knew she couldn’t put her own feelings first. 

When she turned around, looking in the direction just behind her, she found Mike scurrying out of a building and running off down the street. Something about his furtive glances around the area looked especially suspicious.

“I thought he died in Argo?” Lena said. She saw a few members of his crew escape but she hadn’t actually seen him on the surface of Argo. “Where was he running from?” 

“I don’t trust that son of a bitch,” Kara said. “Let’s find out.”

Lena nodded and they both ran towards the building that Mike recently left. Once they reached the front, they noticed the main desk was vacated, and it only made Lena feel even more cautious. Kara seemed to feel the same way as she pulled her revolver from her holster and kept it close to her chest. 

Together, the two tiptoed up the stairs, bringing them to the living area, where they caught sight of anything but life itself. Sitting on the sofa was the body of Morgan, though he looked even worse than the last time Lena saw him. 

For starters, Morgan was completely motionless, his body a light shade of green, and shriveled up as if someone had sucked the life force out of him. He looked as if he had been rotting for days and the stench that suffocated the room seemed to agree with that assumption. As bad as it was, they couldn’t even focus on Morgan’s poor remains because standing by the fireplace, a few meters away was that cursed mummy.

Lena watched curiously as the mummy twisted her body around and snapped her limbs in every direction as more layers of skin started to cover her bones. It even looked as if some of her muscles were regenerating despite that being completely illogical. 

“Well shit,” Kara said as she pulled out the second revolver in her holster and began firing both guns in quick succession at the mummy. 

Every shot she took seemed to have no impact as the bullets either went through the mummy’s body or it bounced off its freshly formed muscles. The mummy didn’t even seem to mind the assault as she continued walking towards Kara, only stopping when she was right in front of her. 

“Kuvaium,” the mummy said before lifting Kara up off the ground and throwing her across the room. 

Lena watched as Kara fell to the floor like a ragdoll being discarded by a child. She almost ran after her, but before she had a chance to move, the mummy shot her arm out, hitting the wall behind Lena, and effectively blocking her from escaping.

It was the exact same position that they were in the day before, but it felt even worse now that the mummy had drained Morgan’s life into her body. Lena felt her stomach retching the more that the mummy stared and drew closer to her.

“Voikir Khap,” the mummy whispered before leaning in ever so slowly, eyes downcasted directly at Lena’s lips.

Lena shut her own eyes tight, and turned her head to the left, either delaying the inevitable or hoping it would be enough to save her. Her face stayed contorted until she heard the loud screech of a cat, and heard a gust of wind. 

The noise instantly got her to open her eyes, and only then did she notice that a cat had wandered into the living room, seemingly scaring the mummy that had now turned to sand, and continued gusting away with the wind, slowly escaping out a nearby window. 

Lena had to thank all the gods that the mummy’s lips never met hers. It was one thing to face death at the hands of a thousand year old creature but it was another to be the object of that plague bringing creature’s affection. For that reason, Lena thought she had it the worst, but judging by the way that Kara was clutching the sides of her ribs, Kara wasn’t all that much better off. 

“So she’s in love with you because you saved her? But why did she call me a fool?” Kara asked. With the hand that wasn’t clutching her ribs, Kara was childishly pinching the bottom of her chin as if she were deep in thought.

Something about her reaction was completely absurd and maybe that’s what pushed Lena into having a little fun herself. 

“Because even though she’s three thousand years old, she was closer to kissing me than you’ve ever been.” 

Kara immediately barked out a laugh, clutching her ribs even harder.

The sight made Lena bite the bottom of her lip because it all felt so light and carefree as if they weren’t facing the literal embodiment of evil. Kara probably had a broken rib, and the whole fight proved that her guns were useless, but she was as relaxed as ever.

Which probably should’ve been the tip off for Lena. But she realized they were entering dangerous territory too late and when Kara’s usual lopsided grin formed, Lena knew she was in trouble.

“Yeah, maybe,” Kara said, her grin turning into a knowing smirk. “But at least I’m not afraid of a little pussy.”

***

After the most recent attack, Lena and Kara quickly gathered Jack and the three journeyed back to Kandor in hopes of getting help. The return trip was much smoother than the road to Argo, and it only took a few days until Lena found herself back inside the museum she always dreamed of leaving. 

“If anyone can help us stop her, it’s going to be him and him alone,” Lena said while turning the corner, nearing J’onn’s study. But once she finally stepped foot inside the petite quarters, Lena was surprised to see that J’onn wasn’t alone. “You again?” she asked, her eyes moving from J’onn to Alex and then back again. “What are yo—” 

“Oh, J’onn’s here,” Kara mumbled after being the next one to step inside the room. She ignored Alex’s presence entirely as she turned to look at Lena. “I didn’t realize you worked for J’onn.” 

“I didn’t realize you knew him at all?” 

“Well… he was the Martian I was telling you about,” Kara said. 

“You’re a Martian?” Lena asked, turning to J’onn. He simply nodded his head quietly. “Oh god,” Lena mumbled while running her fingers through her hair. “How did I not realize all of this would be connected.”

J’onn crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “I warned you about going to that city, and now look at what’s happened.”

“You could’ve told me the reason to stay away instead of denying the city was real,” Lena argued. “How long have you known about Argo?” 

“Since forever,” J’onn said. He let out a heavy sigh as if he knew that he had to give more information before Lena would be satisfied. “All Martians are taught about the city. Our greatest ancestor ventured into the galaxy during Pharaoh Russell’s time. He was here when the curse was enforced and thereafter it became our mission to protect the city and stop anyone from ever unleashing Reign.”

Hearing J’onn’s explanation brought another pit to Lena’s stomach. That’s all she seemed to be feeling these days as she started to question every piece of history she had ever read. 

“So the Sagitari were never Russell’s protectors?” Lena asked. 

“They were. But after the curse was cast, the Sagitari changed their purpose, and they elected a Martian as their leader. That Martian would lead for hundreds of years until a new one replaced him.” 

“Wait,” Kara suddenly interrupted. “When did you start?” 

Lena was surprised that Kara didn’t already know the answer considering that she had met J’onn years before and he had already told her about Argo. Though given the bare details he’d provided Lena during all those years that she worked for him, she figured that he hadn’t told Kara all that much aside from her needing to stay away from the city. 

“My tenure began a few years before the Great Emigration.”

“So that’s how my mother knew you…” 

“Given that the El Family has their wealth buried in the city, we always inform the newest family members when they come of age. It stops them from making foolish decisions of trying to breach the city’s walls.” J’onn stopped for a moment, looking down at the floor. “But it seems I’ve failed my ancestors and I have doomed us all. Reign has awoken and now she will stop at nothing to get her full powers back.”

“You’re saying she isn’t at full power yet?” Lena asked. 

“No,” Alex jumped in. “She’ll need to drain the life force of those who stole something dear to her.” 

“The canopic jars,” Lena whispered in realization. 

“You stole them?” J’onn asked.

“No. That was all Mike’s crew.” 

“That bumbling idiot,” J’onn muttered. 

Silence fell on the group for a moment as they were all deep in thought, Lena herself still thinking about J’onn being more tied to this city than he ever let on. 

“Okay, but wait,” Kara interrupted. “I get that Reign is killing people who stole the jars, and that’s probably why she started with Morgan, but that doesn’t explain why she was after you.” 

Lena twisted her lips from side to side. She was suspecting the reason but she didn’t want to hear the confirmation either. 

“She called me Acrata,” Lena explained, turning away from Kara to look at J’onn.

His reaction was instant as his eyes widened. Alex mirrored his actions.

“The name of her beloved,” Alex said while slowly nodding her head. “The reason that she was cursed in the first place, because there was no greater crime than stealing the Pharaoh's wife.”

Kara waved off the response. “Look, that makes sense and all, but it doesn’t explain why she tried to kiss Lena?”

Lena wouldn’t say that Kara looked jealous but there was certainly something about this entire situation that was getting on her nerves. 

“She tried to k—” Alex started before stopping abruptly. Her eyes flashed quickly at Kara before they moved over to J’onn. 

“It’s exactly what I feared…” J’onn said. He was quiet, thinking pensively, before he voiced the exact concern Lena kept circling back to in her mind. “She’s going to try and raise Acrata from the dead, and she’s chosen you as the human sacrifice.” 

Another silence fell on the room once the words left J’onn’s mouth. It felt as if they all felt bad for Lena, but knew there was nothing left to do. She was already a lost cause. 

“You really always get the worst suitors huh, Lena?” Jack said, speaking up for the first time since he walked in the room. 

It was moments like these where Lena appreciated Jack the most. He had realized the gravity of the situation, and instead of blabbering like he usually did, he kept quiet until his words would have the most impact, grounding her with his effortless humor at the perfect moment.

“It’s still better than the last girl,” Lena replied, smiling back at him.

“Oh, yeah. She was a hot mess.” 

Lena shook her head, the memories of a simpler time flooding back. It was only six months ago when she wasn’t going on a life-threatening research trip, or placing the world in peril after freeing a mummy. A time where she didn’t venture West of Kandor, taking the leap off a burning ship with only the voice of a criminal guiding her. A time where Lena stayed confined in the museum, dusting away with the rest of the ancient artefacts, following orders that were asked of her. 

She looked over at Kara, finding that she was smiling sadly at her. When Lena first met her, she had thousands of preconceived notions of Kara, but throughout the course of their journey, Kara continuously proved those notions wrong. Perhaps it’s why Lena had the worst time trying to understand her. Though she hated to admit it, she may have made the tabooed mistake a librarian never swore to make, and judged Kara by her exterior. 

At every turn, Kara was different than she imagined, and it always kept Lena on her toes. They had their issues when they first started working together, but even after being subjected to constant headaches on those frustrating days, Lena wouldn’t take any of it back. Even now with freeing the mummy, causing havoc on the world and potentially being sacrificed for a three thousand year old Priestess, Lena couldn’t find it in herself to have any regrets. 

For the first time in her life it felt like she was living, even despite knowing that death was just knocking on the corner. 

That thought alone gave Lena one more fighting idea. 

“Maybe…Maybe we can actually use it to our advantage,” she started. She cautiously looked around the room, eyeing everybody one at a time. “If we know that she’s coming for me, then I can be used as bait.” 

Lena dreaded Kara’s reaction, and it came as fast as she imagined it would. 

“We are not doing that.”

Alex wasn’t as opposed to it. “It could work.” 

“We don’t even know how to fight this thing. We aren’t putting her at risk,” Kara shot back. 

“What if this is our only chance?” Alex asked. 

“It isn’t. Reign is also after anyone that stole those canopic jars. So, who else was there?” 

“Well, after Morgan, there was Otis, Maxwell and I believe Oliver,” Jack said, counting each crew member on his finger. 

Kara nodded along after hearing each name but she stilled once Jack finished the list. “Mike wasn’t with them?” 

“Otis said he ran off before they even started digging.” 

“Of course the coward did,” Kara sighed, almost like she wanted Mike to be part of the ‘endangered’ list. “Alright, well we’ll start by finding them. They were all on the return flight to Kandor, but I hope they didn’t leave back for Earth yet.” 

The change in plans happened so quickly, Lena barely had a chance to keep up. But everyone seemed to be on board with it, and they moved into action right away.

“You gather the rest of the Sagitari. I’ll go check if we can spare any other reinforcements,” J’onn said, looking directly at Alex. 

He stormed off after giving her the directives, but before she could leave the room herself, Kara gently placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder, stilling her movements. Even from where Lena was standing, she could tell that Alex was surprised by the action. 

“Could you do me a favor?” Kara asked. 

Alex looked at Kara’s hand and then moved her eye’s back at her sister’s face. “Anything.”

“Could you leave one soldier here? To guard Lena in the meantime.”

“To what?” Lena exclaimed.

Alex quietly nodded before walking out of the room, clearly not wanting to get involved anymore than she needed to. 

“I hope you’re not intending on leaving me here,” Lena continued. 

“Look, it’s the only way we can stop her without—” Kara cut herself off. She still had that sad look in her eyes and it didn’t seem like it was going to go away anytime soon. “I can’t risk putting you in danger.” 

“I’ve dealt with her twice already and I’m still here.”

“Last time was too close…” 

“Plus, I know more of the history tha—” Lena’s sentence got cut off as Kara lowered her body and picked her up by the waist, throwing her over her shoulder. “Oh, absolutely not! Put me down this instant.” 

Kara kick-opened one of the doors in J’onn’s study. 

“I’m serious, Kara.” 

“I am too.” Kara walked further in the room before she dropped Lena down on the ground. “This is too dangerous and I don’t want you getting anywhere close to her.” 

She finished talking and started turning away. Lena wanted to bolt past Kara but Kara’s frame was big enough to block the doorway and Lena knew that she wouldn’t be fast enough anyway.

“Don’t you dare walk away!” 

When Kara was finally standing in the frame of the door, she stopped walking and her shoulders dropped. Lena could feel the hesitation, so she gave it one more shot. 

“Please…”

It made Kara turn around, but that crestfallen look remained on her face, and Lena instantly knew she lost this battle. 

“I’m sorry,” Kara said before grabbing the handle of the door, and shutting it behind her. 

Lena knew her attempts would be futile but still, she rushed forward and toyed with the knob, hoping a hinge would loosen and she could run out, giving Kara a piece of her mind. 

But the door was clearly locked and it wasn’t budging. 

She could hear Kara’s voice from the other room. “No one goes in and no one goes out. Got it?” From the bottom of the door she could still see her shadow, standing just in front of it.

“Dammit, Kara!” she called out before slamming her palm against the door. “Open up! Please!” 

Her cries got louder and louder, but eventually Lena saw the shadow under the door slowly move away, leaving her alone and afraid in the museum she always felt trapped in.