646. Chapter 646

“You know,” Kara says after an hour goes by in silence. After Alex refuses to do anything but stare broodily at the road in a way that reminds her uncannily of Oliver Queen. “This isn’t just a car.”

“Yes, I know, you went to save Mars in it,” Alex tosses up her hands, and Kara bites her tongue to ignore the resentfulness in her tone, to ignore the callousness in her regret.

“What I meant,” she’s careful to keep her voice gentle and somewhat light, “is that we could use it as… you know… more than a car.”

That gets Alex’s attention.

It gets her attention and it gets her to lower her sunglasses and stare at her little sister with something that might be a small, almost imperceptible flame of life in her eyes.

“No way. We can’t. J’onn would kill us.”

“J’onn loves us,” Kara corrects as she pulls over.

“That doesn’t mean he won’t literally murder us,” Alex argues, but her wheels are already spinning.

“We wouldn’t take it out past the Kuiper Belt, and we won’t get a scratch on it,” Kara singsongs.

Alex scoffs. “Yeah, okay, you’d better let me drive if you don’t wanna run into some asteroid or something. Although, sounds nice right about – “

“Alex.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, no gallows humor.”

She’s grateful that Kara doesn’t argue that going through a breakup isn’t like being about to die. Because that’s sure what it feels like.

She would know.

She’s been about to die before.

Recently.

And that time, she’d known Maggie was coming for her.

This time…

Maggie.

She forces herself back to the present, to Kara’s burning, pleading eyes.

“I taught you that pout, you are not allowed to deploy that pout on me,” Alex warns, but there’s not enough life in her voice to put any conviction into it.

“You wanna drive? You’ve flown my pod more recently than I have. Drive,” Kara grins, hopping out of the driver’s seat and practically skipping to the passenger’s side.

“Kara, we can’t. Are you serious?”

“Have I ever not been serious?”

Alex furrows her brow like she’s trying to do calculus while fighting off an eight foot superstrength alien. “Is that a trick question?”

“Alex. Are we going or aren’t we?”

“That’s definitely a trick question.”

Kara points to the controls Alex needs to send the car into space ship mode, and Alex’s eyes definitely have some life in them now.

When Winn’s photo comes up on Kara’s phone, she ignores it the first time.

She picks it up the second.

“Winn, this isn’t a good – “

“Kara, you don’t happen, by any chance, to be taking J’onn’s very precious, very irreplaceable space ship convertible with the most unexpected collection of music possible on an interplanetary joy ride to cheer your sister up, are you?”

Alex glances sidelong at Kara, who bites her lip and shrugs.

“You wouldn’t be calling if you didn’t know the answer, would you?” she asks as the ship ascends and Alex all but bounces in her seat.

“Um, yeah, Kara, the thing is, uh… do you… do you really think that’s a good idea? Because I’m gonna be the one within extreme disapproval range if you guys – “

“We won’t get vaporized and we won’t start any wars and we don’t scratch the paint, I promise, Winn. We’ll be back soon. Alex needs it.”

“I need it, Winn!” Alex calls, and they’re not sure if it’s her voice or Kara’s pout, somehow effective through the phone, that makes him grin and tell them he gets to come with them next time.

The first real smile that tugs at Alex’s face in days comes as soon as they leave the atmosphere.

As soon as she turns and watches the Earth become a living marble of life and death and everything she’s ever known.

When she rescued Kara in her pod, she was too focused to take in the beauty. Now, Kara takes the controls and lets Alex bask in the soft light of her home planet.

Alex takes the wheel back eventually, wordlessly, navigating them through the asteroid belt smugly. Traversing the entire Red Spot of Jupiter – “do you know it can fit at least thirty-eight Earths in it, Kar?” she says in a voice that sounds almost worshipful – and crying at the rocky rings of Saturn.

Kara starts blasting J’onn’s Brittney collection somewhere near Neptune, and for a moment, it feels sacrilegious to Alex.

But then, it feels… right.

A Kryptonian and a human, bringing their teenage years across the solar system they both now call home.

“I love you, sis,” Alex holds her hand as they turn back, as promised, at the start of the Kuiper Belt.

“I love you, Alex,” Kara promises, and Alex’s smile lasts all the way back to Earth.