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“Kara! Nia! You’re going to want to see this.”
Kara and Nia lifted their heads from where they were sitting around the kitchen table, going over one of Nia’s latest articles — a profile piece of a half-human, half-alien family who were trying to raise their children with the best of both cultures.
“What?” Kara said, as she left her seat and moved toward her sister. The note of worry in Alex’s voice told her it definitely wasn’t something good.
“Oh, that is not good,” Nia said before Kara had time to register fully what she was seeing on the television screen.
The footage was shaky and grainy, like it was being shot on a cell phone. In the bottom half of the image, she could see people running. The sounds of screaming and crashing were all around. In the top half of the image, though-
“That’s an alien ship,” Kara said, “but I’ve never seen anything like that!”
It was huge and towering and almost rolling down a street in New York. In the corner of the screen, she could see bursts of light.
“Iron Man is there,” Kara added. She looked at her sister and Nia. They all stared back at the television.
“This isn’t good,” Nia repeated.
•••
“This is not good,” Brainy said five minutes later. He had shown up before Nia had even had a chance to call him. “By my calculations, this had a ninety-five percent chance of not happening.”
“Ummmm,” Nia said.
“You know what’s happening?” Kara asked.
“His name is Thanos,” Brainy said. “He is trying to collect the Infinity Stones.”
“Who?” Nia said.
“The what?” Alex said.
Kara felt a sense of dread, unlike anything she’d felt before, well up inside her.
“He is a Titan,” Brainy explained. “Very powerful. More powerful than a god. And the Infinity Stones-”
“Are tied to all aspects of our universe,” Kara said. “Time, reality, space, power, soul and mind. My mother told me about them when I was a child,” she added, at Alex and Nia’s surprised looks. “She said they were a legend.”
“They are not a legend,” Brainy said. “And this Thanos, he desires to get all six of them.”
“To have ultimate power?” Nia said.
“To snap his fingers and end half of life,” Brainy said. At the horrified looks on everyone’s faces, he continued. “He believes this would be the proper way for life to flourish.”
“Well, he is wrong!” Nia exclaimed. Her fists were clenched. Alex just look completely horrified. Kara felt sick. But there was something Brainy had said-
“You said there was a ninety-five percent chance this didn’t happen, though?” Kara reminded him.
“It did not,” Brainy said. “In the future — in the past — the Avengers stopped him before it was too late.”
“So the Avengers are going to stop him?” Alex said.
“It is too late,” Brainy said. “He already has a stone. He never got a stone in the future. The past of the future. He was killed before he got that far.”
“So something changed then,” Nia said. “Right?”
“The Avengers changed,” Kara said, because suddenly it all made sense. A stone that could control time. That could change a destiny. “In our timeline, they split up.”
“Yes,” Brainy said. “By my calculations, that is correct. If the Avengers had stayed together, there is a ninety-nine percent chance Thanos would be dead now.”
“Okay,” Alex interrupted. “That’s great for that timeline, but what about now? Can we stop him?”
Brainy looked grim. “There is a forty percent chance.”
“Forty?” Kara repeated.
“Yes,” Brainy said. “If you enlist help.”
•••
The D.E.O. was in chaos. People gearing up, people monitoring every form of communication possible.
“Okay, tell me what we know,” Alex said. She had been on the phone for the past hour, with the president and the governor and Kara didn’t even know who else. The alien ship had disappeared from New York, leaving behind it a mess of rubble and injured people and chaos. Kara had wanted to go help, but Nia and Alex had convinced her otherwise.
“You need to stop Thanos first, Kara,” Alex had said, and Kara knew she was right.
“According to my calculations and our communications system,” Brainy reported to Alex, “we believe Thanos is in control of three Infinity Stones already — the space stone, the power stone and the reality stone. The alien ship over the city of New York was sent to get the time stone from a certain magician named Stephen Strange. This Stephen Strange has not been seen since the alien ship disappeared and coincidentally neither has Iron Man nor the little flying spider.”
“That’s not a coincidence,” Kara said. “They’re trying to stop him from taking the time stone.”
“What about the other two stones?” Alex cut in.
“According to my calculations, Thanos has not yet gotten the soul stone, but the events are already in motion.”
“Can we stop him?”
“There is only a point twelve percent chance.”
“So that’s a no,” Nia said. “What about the mind stone?”
“The Avenger known as Vision wears the mind stone in his head. Thanos will send his army after him.”
“Where is Vision now?” Kara asked.
“In Wakanda,” Brainy said. “A young scientist there thinks she can remove it from his head so that it can be destroyed.”
“The Infinity Stones can be destroyed?” Kara asked.
“Yes,” Brainy answered. “By intense heat and power.”
Kara stared. “Like what I can do?”
“I do not think you can do it alone. You can come close, though.”
“So what you’re saying then-,” Alex started.
“Is if Clark and I work together, we can destroy the Infinity Stones?”
“I predict a seventy-nine percent success rate that way,” Brainy said. “And if you incorporate the help of the young witch, Wanda, the success rate jumps to ninety-three percent.”
“Where’s Wanda now?” Kara asked.
“I do believe she is in Wakanda with Vision.”
“Okay.” Kara looked around at all of them. “I need you to find Clark and send him to Wakanda. I’ll go now to help get the plan in motion.”
“The D.E.O. will send backup if you need it,” Alex said. “We just need a few hours.”
“I do not think one can just go to Wakanda,” Brainy said. “You need to know the special coordinates.”
“Don’t worry,” Kara told him. “I know how to get there.”
•••
“Kara Danvers!” King T’Challa stepped forward to greet her. Behind him stood members of the Dora Milage. Behind them, Kara could see a few members of the Avengers. They looked different than the last time she had seen them on her television, but she would know them anywhere. “It is good to see you, although not in these circumstances.”
“It is always good to see you, T’Challa,” Kara told him.
“Your cousin is coming too, yes?” he asked.
“He’ll be here soon.”
T’Challa turned around and beckoned the members of the Avengers forward. “Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff and Sam Wilson. This is Kara Danvers,” he told them. “Supergirl.”
“It’s really nice to meet you,” Steve Rogers — now with a beard and mustache, Kara noticed, and hotter than she remembered — stepped forward and held out a hand to her. “You’re a legend around here.”
Kara laughed. “That’s funny coming from Captain America,” she said. “No bigger legend I’ve ever heard of.”
They both grinned at each other for a few seconds, until Natasha — blonde, instead of the red hair she normally sported — interrupted. “We have a world to save,” she said. “Fight now. Flirt later.”
“I thought you were into multitasking,” Sam Wilson said as Kara felt her cheeks redden slightly, but T’Challa was now nodding.
“Yes,” he said. “I want to hear this plan.”
•••
“You need to stay with Vision and Shuri until the operation is done,” Kara told Wanda. “And then destroy the stone. No matter how bad it looks outside, you have to stay with them. Protect them.”
Wanda nodded. “I understand.”
“Now, the rest of us,” Kara said, “We fight. Thanos will come if we are winning, or if we are close to losing. He wants to be the one to get this last stone.”
“Let him come if we are close to winning,” T’Challa said. “We do not want to be close to losing.”
“No, we do not,” Sam said.
“When he comes,” Kara said. “We need to keep him as contained as possible. Clark and I will do what we can to destroy the stones. The more we can destroy, the weaker he will get.”
“And then we can kill him,” Sam said.
Kara must have made a face because Steve looked at her curiously. “You don’t agree?” he said.
“I don’t kill,” Kara told him. “Anyone. It’s not who I am.”
“It’s who I am,” Natasha said.
“You are welcome to him. Clark and I are going to destroy the stones, starting with the time stone, so he can’t use them.”
“And we will protect you so you can,” T’Challa said. “That is our mission.”
“Great,” Sam said. “So now what?”
“Now we wait,” T’Challa said.
•••
They stood in the center of the wide open Wakandan lands. The dome barrier was up, serving as another source of protection. On one side of Kara stood Clark, who Nia had tracked down, as promised. On the other side of Kara was Steve Rogers.
“I still can’t believe we’ve never met before,” he was saying to her.
She didn’t tell him she had asked to, many times, from the moment she had learned that J’onn was friends with Nick Fury but something about keeping SHIELD and the D.E.O. separate and not interfering with each other’s efforts.
“I’ve watched you on TV,” she told him. “And I’ve seen your movies.”
He groaned. “Those are not my movies. They’re all so over the top.”
“I don’t know,” Kara said. “You came off pretty good in them. Though none of the actors portraying you did you justice, of course.”
For a second, she thought she saw Steve Rogers actually blush, but then it was gone and she figured she was mistaken.
“Well,” he said instead. “I can’t do any of the things you can do.”
“You’re human,” she told him. “I’m Kryptonian.”
“You’re amazing.”
This time Kara felt herself blush. “Okay, stop,” she said. “We have a fight to take care of. Don’t be getting all sappy on me.”
“He’s always sappy.”
Apparently Natasha was listening to them. This time, Kara really did feel herself turn bright red. And she was pretty sure she wasn’t imagining the red in Steve’s face either.
“When this is over,” Natasha continued. “You two should go to dinner. I think you’d hit it off.”
“Ignore her,” Steve said quickly. “She likes to try and set me up on dates. Although I thought she quit that four years ago.”
Natasha shrugged. “I just hadn’t found the right woman until now.”
Steve looked like he wanted to say something back to her, but a sound like the world’s biggest plane instantly appearing above their heads came over them and everyone’s attention turned to the horizon.
A ship, similar to the one Kara had seen over New York on TV that morning, had appeared outside the dome, and as they watched, hundreds upon hundreds of an alien species that Kara had never seen before disembarked, running straight toward them with cries that echoed painfully in the air, not dissimilar to nails on a chalkboard.
They kept watching as the electric field surrounding the dome kept most of them back, but a few squeezed their way in, some mangled, all still screaming their horrible screams. A few members of the Dora Milage stuck their spears through the heads of the ones who made it in, but more were coming, surrounding the dome, and Kara took a deep breath, casting a look at her cousin.
“We must let them in,” T’Challa said, looking around him. “They will try every last section if we do not and they may get to Shuri and Vision. We must fight them to protect them. Are we all ready?”
There were murmurs of assent all around. Kara’s hands tightened into the fence.
“Then open the force field,” T’Challa commanded into his ear piece. “Here we go.”
•••
The stream of creatures was never ending. Kara punched, flew at, and froze as many of them as she could, but there were always more, running straight for her, straight for Clark, straight for everyone.
She rarely ever grew tired, but she was feeling the strains of fatigue. She wondered how the others were still standing. But yet they all were.
She looked behind her in time to see one of Thanos’ henchman take a swing at Steve with a spear while he was fighting off four other aliens. She blasted him out of the way with her lasers.
Steve turned around to catch her eye.
“Thanks,” he huffed.
“Any time,” she said.
She spent more time knocking creatures out of the way, punching another one of Thanos’ henchmen — a woman this time — out of the way a second before she stabbed Natasha. Natasha nodded at her and dived back into the fray.
Kara found T’Challa fighting at the center of the battle.
“You are sure he will come,” he said to her. Steve appeared on T’Challa’s other side.
“He’ll come,” Steve said, looking at Kara. “And we’ll be ready.”
•••
Steve and Brainy’s calculations were right. Thanos came. The battle was still raging, but the losses on Thanos’ side were staggering. Kara didn’t bear to think how many of the Dora Milage and the Wakandan warriors had gone down in the fight as well. At last count, she had seen most of the people she knew still standing, still fighting.
And then, just after she had sent five aliens toppling over each other with a blast of frozen air, she looked behind her and there he was. She’d never seen him before, but she knew without a doubt that this was Thanos.
Tall. About four times the size of anyone else. Purple. A face full of disdain for those who were fighting around him.
And then she saw it. On his hand. A glove. And by the knuckles, five bright and shining stones.
The Infinity Stones.
She looked around for Clark, but he had seen Thanos, too, and within a second he was by Kara’s side.
“The green one first,” she whispered to him. “That’s the time stone. Without it, whatever happens can’t be undone.”
“Let’s hope whatever happens is good for us,” Clark said.
Kara looked around again. By now, the others were realizing Thanos had arrived, and one by one they were racing toward him. Kara watched as all of them were thrown back as though they were nothing but rag dolls. Only Steve and the Hulk and T’Challa could even battle with him for longer than a second.
But it was all they had. There was no other way.
Steve was racing up to Thanos again, the new black shield T’Challa had given him on his arm. Kara nodded at Clark, and they followed close behind Steve.
Steve raised his arm, sent a punch flying in Thanos’ direction. Thanos’ hand — the one wearing the glove — came down on top of Steve’s. Kara didn’t hesitate. Neither did Clark. Acting as if they were one, they sent the laser beams from their eyes directly on to the little green stone on Thano’s glove.
The titan roared in rage, but something almost magical happened — it was as if his arm was stuck, Steve holding it up with all his might and the four red beams of light going straight into the green stone.
For a long moment, nothing else mattered — just Thanos and the stone and Steve and Clark and her. Kara concentrated, her whole being narrowed into that one spot on the glove, her fists clenched, her teeth gritted.
Something knocked into her from behind. She fell forward, losing concentration, hitting the ground hard. Steve yelled. Clark twisted.
Something exploded as Kara whirled on to her back, using a foot to knock back Thanos’ henchwoman. She screamed and went for Kara again, but Kara rolled out of the way. And then Steve’s shield was in the woman’s face and the woman was flying backward.
The Hulk roared and went after her.
Kara leaped to her feet. Thanos was glancing down at the glove. Where the green stone had been now there was a wisp of smoke.
He roared in rage and stormed toward her. His hand whipped down to grab her, but she was ready. She flew into the air, focused on the next stone and sent her laser beams flying.
Thanos roared again, his other arm sweeping widely, knocking back a whole line of people. Clark appeared next to Kara above Thanos, and then his lasers were focused too.
Again, Thanos tried to pull his arm away, but he couldn’t. He screamed and tried to punch at them with his non-glove hand, but they were too far away.
A spear flew through the air. And so did a man.
Steve.
Kara barely had time to register that Steve had leaped up to prevent it from hitting her or Clark when another spear came flying. This time someone with wings knocked it out of the way, and Kara barely processed it was Sam.
The Avengers — at least the ones who were there — were surrounding her and Clark, keeping them safe.
She felt something like a sense of warmth flood through her. And she focused harder.
The blue stone cracked in the glove and fell to the ground. Then the red. The gold. And, finally, the purple.
Kara floated back to the ground exhausted, barely able to stay awake. Warm, strong arms grabbed her from behind, holding her against something firm.
She watched, as her eyes started to close of their own accord, as Thanos howled, and then there was a rumble that seemed to come from deep inside the earth.
The last of Kara’s energy left her, and she sank into a contented blackness as she felt the world around her finally grow quiet too.
•••
Kara felt something soft beneath her when she came back to herself. She also felt like she had been hit with kryptonite, which she knew was impossible.
She could hear deep breathing beside her, and she knew she wasn’t alone.
She opened her eyes and turned her head.
Steve.
She was lying on a small narrow bed in what looked like a medical ward of sorts. Beside her, in a wooden rocking chair, Captain America sat, sleeping peacefully, his shield still in his hands, like he was ready to protect her at all costs.
Kara smiled to herself and sat up. Across the room, she could see Clark in another bed, talking to T’Challa and drinking what looked like a cup of tea.
She slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Steve, and made her way over to them.
“Hey,” Clark said.
“Kara,” T’Challa acknowledged as she dropped on to her cousin’s bed. She definitely was going to have to rest a bit before flying back home.
“We won, right?”
“We did win,” T’Challa said. “Thanos is gone. So are the stones.”
“Gone as in …?”
“He disappeared,” T’Challa said. “We do not know to where. But there are no more stones and no way to turn back time, so it is over. At least this part.”
Kara looked at Clark. “He could come back some day,” she said.
“He will,” Clark said. “But we will be ready.”
“What about Iron Man and Stephen Strange and Spider-Man? Any word from them?” The last Brainy had told them, they were heading to space to try and stop Thanos, but the time stone had been on the glove.
“Your D.E.O. is very helpful,” T’Challa said. “They are monitoring for them, and will bring them home when they are found.”
“Good,” Kara said.
“You should rest,” T’Challa told her. “You expended too much energy destroying the stones. Tonight, we shall have a gala to honor our victory. I expect you will come before heading home.”
“Well, I don’t have any other plans.”
T’Challa laughed. “Good. Shuri can help you find a dress. Perhaps you can share a dance with the good captain over there.” He inclined his head toward a still sleeping Steve.
“Is Natasha giving you matchmaking tips?” Kara asked, but T’Challa simply stared at her.
“He likes you,” he said. “You would make a good match.”
“You would,” Clark said.
Kara shook her head. “You both are ridiculous.”
•••
Kara might have superpowers, but she decided the Wakandans had their own certain type of magic. Not even three hours after the doctors had cleared her had she watched the ballroom of the palace transform from an empty space to a masterpiece worthy of a victory gala. The walls were adorned in gold, the marble floors sparkling. Tables and tables of food were spread out. Little round tables and matching gold chairs dotted the floor and continued out on to the balconies that overlooked the beautiful countryside.
Shuri had found her a gold dress that seemed like it was made for her the way it settled just right on every curve.
“Are you okay?” Kara asked her when they finally had a moment alone together, without the seamstress.
“We are fine,” Shuri told her.
“You were able to get the mind stone from Vision without hurting him?”
“Of course,” said Shuri. “You did not doubt me, did you, Kara Danvers?”
“Never,” Kara said, and Shuri laughed.
“I thought not,” she said. “But yes, I removed the stone, and Wanda destroyed it. All six stones are now gone.”
“As they should be,” Kara said. “SHIELD and the D.E.O. were never going to be enough to protect them.”
“He will come back some day,” Shuri said softly. “Someone who wants power that badly …”
“I know,” Kara said. “And some day we will be ready. But not today. Today we get to celebrate.”
“Yes,” Shuri said. “We can celebrate and you can get a new boyfriend.”
Kara choked. “What is with all of you?” she said, and Shuri laughed. “Besides,” Kara added, “I don’t think I can date a fugitive.”
Shuri laughed more.
•••
Kara stood on one of the balconies off the dance hall, staring off into the distance. With the sun now set, the fields where they all fought, not all that long ago, were obscured. The damage that was done, the bodies that had fallen, all of it obscured by the night and the music floating out into the air.
Below her, lights from the city twinkled. She had only been to Wakanda once before, back when she was first learning the full extent of her powers. Clark had taken her. He and T’Challa had been friends from an early age. They had even trained together for a few months, Clark had told her.
On her first trip to Wakanda, it had felt so foreign to her — this place she didn’t belong — but now, as she stood on the balcony, it felt right to be her, to have helped the Avengers and the Wakandans stop a threat to all of their humanity.
She heard the balcony door open behind her, and she knew without turning her head who it was. He sidled up next to her, leaning his arms against the railings.
She smiled at him. “You clean up nice.”
He was looking incredibly handsome in a dark suit and tie. The beard and the mustache were still there — after all, saving the world again did not automatically erase fugitive status. There would be hearings and discussions and arguments about the Accords, and maybe this time they would force her and Clark to sign too, to include aliens and not just humans with powers.
“I was going to say the exact same thing to you,” he grinned. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She glanced down at her gold dress. “I don’t come to things like this very often, if you believe it. I’m more of a jeans and sweatshirt and eating pizza on the couch with my sister kind of girl.”
He laughed. “I only go when I’m forced to. Tony likes to throw parties.”
“Tony,” Kara said. “Any word on if they’re back yet?”
“I’ve heard it’s in progress,” Steve said. “Thank you for everything you did today. We wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for you and your cousin.”
“You had Wanda. She can destroy stones.”
“She had to protect Vision. If she had left him and they had gotten him …”
“They didn’t,” Kara said.
“Thanks to you.”
“And to you,” she said. “And the others. And T’Challa and Shuri and the Wakandans. It was a group effort.”
“It was nice,” Steve said, then, “You don’t want to join a team, do you?”
Kara laughed. She thought about Alex and Nia and Brainy, all waiting for her back home. “I have a team,” she told Steve. “It’s different than yours. But it’s mine and it works and I love them.”
“I’d like to meet them one day,” he said.
“I’d like for you to meet them too,” she said. “Especially my friend Brainy. He’s from the future but he thinks the world of you.”
“He’s from the future?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I would like to hear all your stories, Kara Danvers.”
“I think I’d like to hear all your stories, Steve Rogers.”
If it was possible, Steve’s grin grew larger. Kara had a feeling hers did as well. It had been a long time since she had felt something stir inside her, an even longer time since she had met someone she thought could maybe understand her.
Steve gestured his head toward the music streaming out the doors. It had just changed from a fast-paced song to a much slower one. “Would you like to dance, Miss Danvers?”
“I would love to.”
Steve held out his hand, and Kara took it in hers, letting him lead her back inside the dance hall. Once in the center of the dance floor, Steve pulled her closer to him, placing a hand on her hip. She placed her arms around his neck.
“I think I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” he told her as they swayed to the music, and this time Kara didn’t even care if she was blushing.
“Maybe you should kiss her then,” came a voice, and Kara looked up to see Natasha staring pointedly at Steve before Sam tugged on her arm and ushered her away.
“You can ignore her,” Steve said. “She’s awful.”
“She’s pretty adorable,” Kara said.
“That’s not what people usually say about Natasha.”
“Do they usually say she’s right?”
“She says she’s right all the time, but I think she’s the only one who says that.”
“What if she’s right this time?”
“What?” Steve stared at her in actual confusion.
Kara laughed, and then she whispered in his ear. “Maybe you should kiss me.”
“Oh!”
“Well?”
He leaned in. Kara lifted herself on to her toes. His mouth was soft and tender and gentle, just like he was underneath all those muscles. She moved her hands to his shoulders, and his arms came up to wrap around her back.
Kara forgot about the music, forgot about the other people dancing around them, forgot about the Avengers and Wakanda and Thanos. All there was, for one glorious moment, was her and Steve and a kiss that seemed to go on forever.
And when it ended, all she wanted was to do it again.
•••
They stood on the same spot where T’Challa had greeted her a week earlier. This time, Steve was next to her, holding her hand.
“I am forever thankful for everything you have done for us, Kara Danvers,” T’Challa told her.
“Don’t be,” she said. “You’re the one who let me crash here for a week.” She glanced sideways at Steve as she said this, and he squeezed her hand. In a strange way, even with the fight against Thanos and the terror that had caused, it had been one of the best weeks of her life. It had been so long since she had taken a break. So long since she had taken time for herself. So long since she had spent so much time getting to know another person.
“You are welcome here any time you want,” T’Challa told her.
“Thank you,” she said, letting go of Steve’s hand so she could give the king a hug. He hugged her back tightly. “And you are more than welcome to come visit National City anytime you’d like.”
“I just may do that,” T’Challa said. “Goodbye, Kara.” He nodded at her.
“Goodbye, T’Challa.”
He turned around then and walked off, heading back to the Dora Milage who were standing and waiting in the distance, leaving her alone with Steve once again. Steve reached out and took back her hand.
“I’m going to miss you.”
“Hopefully you won’t be a fugitive for much longer. Alex convinced the president to fight for you all to be welcomed back home.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to join the Avengers when we do come home?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to work at the D.E.O.?”
Steve took her other hand in his too. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” He leaned forward and kissed her.
“You better,” she said. “I’m going to miss this.” She kissed him once more before pulling away. “See you soon.”
“Bye, Kara.”
With a smile on her lips, Kara raised her arms into the air, and with one last look at Steve, she took off. She had been gone for a week, and it was time to go home. Time to go thank Alex and Brainy and Nia in person. Time to fight again for alien rights in National City. Time to save the people who needed saving.
Time to tell Alex and Nia that she had a boyfriend and his name was Captain America. (And then time to convince them that it was real.)