Epilogue

A/N: Thanks once again for the favorites/follows/reviews so far. Now for the final chapter in this saga - a peek into Alex's future. Enjoy!

October 9, 2169 – U.S.S. Intrepid

"We're here, Captain."

Alex glanced up from her glass of Zakarian ale to find Lena standing in the doorway of her quarters. Her sister-in-law had been her right hand for the past 80 years, ever since newly-appointed Admiral J'onn J'onzz had given her command of Earth's first interstellar craft. A project the DEO had been working on in secret for decades, alongside some alien refugees from advanced races and prominent Earth scientists (including Lena Danvers-Luthor herself). By the time J'onn revealed the project's success, the world had known about immortals for over a decade, thanks to General Lane's final attempt at revenge. The disgraced General had lived another 60 years after Cadmus' fall, courtesy of some serum their scientists came up with that slowed the aging process and protected the recipients from most diseases (though it certainly didn't help Lillian, who was killed in prison 40 years after her arrest by an angry alien who'd broken into Stryker's to seek some oddly belated revenge against her and Lex), and had somehow arranged for some of the Watchers' files to go viral at the moment of his death. Luckily, the U.S. government had been accepting of immortals and had passed legislation similar to the Alien Amnesty Act to ensure their protection, as well as to impose some restrictions on the so-called 'Game.' Alex and Lena had both come clean, and were serving with the government's full blessing. They normally got along quite well, but today just wasn't a good day.

"Wonderful," she finally muttered, downing more of her drink. "Is dumbass gone?"

"The security team is escorting him to the space station as we speak."

"Good." A few weeks ago, their now-former Chief Tactical Officer had ignored her orders and gotten them into a firefight with the Gordanian fleet. They'd barely escaped, and the idiot would be lucky if he was still a free man once the military courts were done with him. She should've known better than to let any of Brian's descendants do anything on her ship more difficult than scrubbing conduits. "Are they giving us a replacement, or do I have to promote someone?"

Her XO/Chief Science Officer nodded. "There's some hotshot from the DEO Academy set to join us. Possibly even today. Along with some other new recruits."

"Great," Alex grumbled, taking another drink. She wasn't drunk yet, but the alien alcohol was more effective on immortal physiology than the human varieties (so long as one avoided the lethal types) and she was well on her way. "I really don't have time for fucking handholding, Lena. Not with all the noise the fucking Dominators have been making lately. If they're not ready to do their jobs on day one, they're staying on the fucking station. I don't care what J'onn says." She sighed, reaching for the bottle and refilling her glass. The Intrepid had been tasked with exploring some of the more dangerous sectors of the galaxy, and inexperienced crew members were a liability. One that she couldn't afford. The last time J'onn had stuck her with a rookie, the new kid wound up getting himself killed along with a couple of long-time crewmembers. No one from her extended family, thankfully, but they were related to some DEO agents she'd trained herself back in the day and losing them to such an idiotic mistake still hurt. "Anything else?" she growled, vowing to have a long talk with J'onn about his staffing policies the next time he made contact.

"Lieutenant Schott was asking about the repairs."

"Tell her I want them started as soon as she can get the parts. And I won't object if she wants to throw in a few of those upgrades she's been harping about. Just as long as they don't cause us any major delays." Since taking command, Alex had always made sure to have at least one Schott on board, and Winifred Schott – better known as Winnie – was the latest in a long line of computer and engineering geniuses descended from Winn and Vasquez (who'd both lived well into their 80s), and had quickly proven herself to be the right choice to step in as her Chief Engineer after the last one (also a Schott) retired.

"Of course," Lena nodded. A moment later, the professional façade fell and she approached the desk and leaned in close. "Are you alright, Alex?" she asked softly.

"You know what day it is, Lena. What the fuck do you think?" She lifted the glass to her lips, only to have Lena grab her wrist and stop her short. "You're treading on dangerous ground, Commander," she growled.

"Apologies, Captain, but you know this isn't healthy. What would she say?"

Glaring, Alex yanked her arm free and downed the entire glass. "If she were here, I wouldn't have a reason to drink, now would I?"

Lena frowned. "You're not the only one who misses her, Alex. She was my best friend. But it's been over a century."

"120 fucking years today," Alex shot back. "And the wound is still as raw as the day it happened. If you're going to stand there and criticize the way I grieve, then you can jolly well fuck off. Get back to your fucking job and leave me the fuck alone!"

"I'm going to assume that's the alcohol talking and not take it personally. We'll talk about this more when you're sober. In the meantime, I'll start organizing things for anyone who wants to take some leave while we're in spacedock." Lena tossed off a mocking salute and left. Alone, Alex poured a fresh drink and downed it in one gulp. Deep down, she knew her sister-in-law was just concerned, but at the moment her anger at basically being told to 'get over it' was winning out. It didn't matter how much time passed. Alex could still recall every detail of those days with perfect clarity – the curse of her immortality – which only served to keep the pain fresh.

Setting her drink aside for the moment, Alex touched her computer screen and pulled up some old photographs that she'd made sure to load onto her private systems before the ship left Earth the first time. She cycled through the numerous pictures of the Danvers-Sawyer family taken over the years. Holidays. Birthday parties. Science fairs. School dances. Vacations. Graduations. Jamie's wedding. Alex paused at that one. Her and Maggie's little girl had turned out to be quite the prodigy, skipping grades and graduating high school at 12. By 23 she'd earned a double-Ph.D. from Stanford in bioengineering and astrobiology. She joined the DEO shortly after, becoming one of their top scientists as well as their best field agent – just like her mother. The DEO was also where Jamie met the man who'd become her husband. Agent Sam Foster (who turned out to be Cat Grant's grandson by Adam). They were married a few years later, and of course Alex and Maggie had made sure to be back in National City for the ceremony. Alex had to pass herself off as Jamie's older sister for those who weren't in the know, but it was worth it to be there for her daughter's big day. Maggie – who'd fully recovered from her injury while Jamie was still a child – had walked her down the aisle and Alex had played bridesmaid along with Kara (who was introducing herself as Jamie's cousin). The picture was of her and Maggie after the ceremony, with Jamie between them. Maggie's hair had started to turn gray and there were crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, but otherwise she was virtually unchanged from the day they'd met. It was a picture Alex especially cherished because it was one of the last where Maggie was happy and healthy.

Jamie never had biological children, but she and Sam adopted four of them – two human and two alien. Sam was eventually killed in the line of duty, but Jamie survived long enough to see J'onn's interstellar travel project (which she'd also contributed to) become reality, and passed away peacefully with her family by her side.

Maggie, however, hadn't been so fortunate. During Jamie's final year at Stanford, Alex had applied to a number of medical schools and had gotten into all of them. She ultimately chose Harvard and Maggie transferred to the Boston PD to head up their new science division while Alex attended school under the alias 'Alyssa Sawyer.' They passed their relationship off as a 'May-December' thing so they wouldn't have to hide their feelings in public. Thanks to her previous schooling at Stanford, Alex was able to test out of most of the basic classes and graduate in half the time (though she did take an extra year to attend some new courses specializing in alien medicine and get a certification in that field). She did a surgical residency at Mass Gen and ultimately ended up going into Trauma, since it put her on the front lines and allowed her to take point on most of the alien cases coming in. Maggie had seemed fine all that time. A bit forgetful sometimes, and towards the end of her residency she could remember her wife complaining of headaches fairly frequently and not being as energetic as she was used to, but by then Alex had been so consumed with studying for her boards that she just chalked it up to age. She traveled to Opal City and aced the exam, only to return and find out that Maggie had seen a doctor and come back with a diagnosis: brain tumor. And not a small one, either. Alex didn't need to be a neurologist to understand what the MRI had shown. The tumor was in the center of Maggie's brain, spreading into both lobes. It was a miracle that her wife hadn't been experiencing more symptoms. Though Alex had gotten job offers from pretty much every hospital in the country, she ended up taking the job at Yang-Sloan Memorial (formerly Seattle Grace-Mercy West and renamed in honor of two doctors who'd died in a plane crash back before Kara became Supergirl) because she knew the best neurosurgeons in the country practiced there. Dr. Amelia Shepherd, who'd helped Maggie after Henshaw's attack, and Dr. Lexie Grey, who was about the same age as Alex (give or take a few years) and some kind of prodigy with a photographic memory. Dr. Grey also looked enough like Alex – or at least how Alex would've looked had she been mortal – that half the people there thought they were related at first.

At any rate, when Alex and Maggie had arrived in Seattle and consulted with the famous neurosurgeons, the doctors had been optimistic about her chances. They'd successfully completed a number of similar surgeries over the years and Dr. Shepherd was confident that she and Dr. Grey could do it again. But first, they wanted Maggie to do a few rounds of chemo and radiation to try and shrink the tumor. Those treatment methods had advanced quite a bit since Alex's first attempt at medical school, but – unfortunately – the side effects hadn't improved much. Which meant that those months were hell. Maggie was sick as a dog most of the time, and Alex could barely focus at work because she was so worried. The only reason she didn't quit right then (besides needing the insurance and the money for their bills) was because Kara and Lena had flown out to help her take care of her ailing wife. Lena had offered to pay the bills and all so Alex wouldn't have to work, but Maggie insisted that she not let her training go to waste after all the effort she'd put in. Despite how sick Maggie got from the treatments, Alex was able to hold onto the hope that it was only temporary…that the surgery would work and they could put all of that behind them and get on with their lives. Medicine had advanced enough over the past 30 years that cancer was rarely fatal any more, and procedures to the brain didn't carry as much risk as they used to (though neither was 100% certain). Unfortunately, that hope that only lasted until Maggie went blind and Dr. Grey determined that the tumor had actually grown, rather than shrunk, and was pressing on her occipital lobe. After much deliberation, both neurosurgeons decided that they'd run out of time. There were only two options remaining: attempt the surgery, which – given the way the tumor had developed by that point – risked killing Maggie or leaving her brain damaged, or keep Maggie comfortable in hospice care until the end came.

Once the doctors had delivered the news, Alex called her sister and Jamie and asked them to get the family together. Everyone who wasn't already in Seattle made the trip immediately, and Alex and Jamie sat down with Maggie and discussed the options together. Maggie, to no one's surprise, wanted to try the surgery, even after Alex explained the risks. Once the decision was made, Alex went to talk to Dr. Shepherd while her wife said her goodbyes to everyone else, just in case. She also needed some time to get herself together so she could be strong for their family. By the time she returned to the room, Maggie was once again alone….

"Hey, Danvers," Maggie whispered. Alex paused in the doorway for a moment, trying her best not to break down again. Her wife looked so small and frail…a far cry from the strong, badass cop she'd fallen for all those years ago. Wiping away the few tears that had slipped out, she made her way over to the bed and sat down, taking Maggie's hand in her own.

"How did you know it was me?"

Maggie smiled. "I may be blind, but the rest of my senses are still working. And I'd know your footsteps anywhere. Besides, everyone else has already been and gone."

"Yeah…well…I had to make sure those doctors know what will happen if they fuck this up."

"Never change, Al," she chuckled, reaching up with her free hand and running her fingers through Alex's hair, which now fell just past her shoulders. "But in all seriousness, Dr. Shepherd knows what she's doing. And so does Dr. Grey."

"Shepherd's also pushing 70. What if she forgets a step or her hand trembles and makes her cut something she shouldn't?"

"70 is the new 60," Maggie shot back. "Get with the times, Danvers. Being older doesn't make her incapable. I'm sure if she thought even for a second that she couldn't handle things, she'd step aside and let Dr. Grey and Dr. Edwards run the show. And if her age makes her incompetent, what does that say about me? Or Dr. Grey, for that matter. We're not that much younger."

Alex sighed. "You know I didn't mean it like that, Mags. I'm just worried. I don't want to lose you."

"And I don't want to die. But I know it's a very real possibility no matter which road we take, and I accept that."

"I don't. It's too fucking soon. There has to be some medicine or treatment that can fix this. Maybe Kara can go back to the Fortress…." She started to rise, only for Maggie to tug her back towards the bed.

"I appreciate the thought, but your sister risked enough the first time. I'm not sure we can go down that road again. Or that it would even work this time. A coma and a tumor are two different things, and I have no idea if tumors were ever even an issue on Krypton. Besides, if you asked her to do that and it failed, Kara would never forgive herself. I don't want her carrying that around for the rest of eternity."

Alex nodded, knowing that Maggie had a point. Kara wasted enough time blaming herself for things that weren't her fault. Much as Alex wanted to save her wife, it couldn't be at her sister's expense. "I should've picked up on the signs sooner," she muttered. "I'm a doctor, for fuck's sake. If I hadn't been so caught up in my own shit…." Her voice broke, and Maggie pulled her close, holding her as she stained the front of her wife's hospital gown with her tears.

"It's not your fault, Al," she soothed. "I probably should've gone to the doctor sooner, but even that might not have made a difference."

"Still," Alex protested, looking into her wife's sightless eyes. "If we'd caught it earlier, you'd probably be cured by now."

"You don't know that. Cancer's not exactly predictable, and just because most are curable these days doesn't mean they all are." Maggie shook her head. "I don't want you blaming yourself, either," she added, cupping Alex's cheek. "This isn't anyone's fault. It's just one of those things, okay?"

Alex nodded, only half convinced. She ran her fingers across Maggie's scalp, which had been stripped of hair by the failed treatments. "I love you so much, Mags. Please don't leave me. I can't do this without you." Tears streamed freely down her cheeks as she spoke, and Maggie automatically wiped them away with her thumb.

"Yes, you can," Maggie assured her. "Alex, we knew this would happen someday, one way or another. I'm only mortal, after all." She sighed. "Maybe I won't make it to that nursing home, but I have no regrets. I've had 33 wonderful years with the most amazing woman I know. We've raised a beyond brilliant daughter who's going to help change the world. And I've had the privilege of walking among the greatest heroes in the multiverse, and even calling some of them family. I can only hope my next life is even half as awesome."

"Don't tell me you still believe in that soulmate crap."

Another sigh. "Of course I do, Al. I know it's not an easy concept to wrap your mind around, and it's been decades since I've walked in your dreams, but I still feel that connection as strongly as the day we met. Stronger, even. And that connection is what helped us find you back when Cadmus was holding you captive, remember?" she added, tracing a finger along Alex's scar. "Besides, I'd like to think that the universe couldn't possibly be that cruel. If the surgery fails, it won't be goodbye. Not forever. Just until we meet again."

"I wish I had your faith," Alex muttered. "I'm 59, and in all those years I have yet to see a single shred of evidence to suggest that there's anything beyond what we have right now. And I don't want that to end…not like this."

"Neither do I. That's why I'm doing the surgery, to give us a fighting chance at having at least a few more years. But if I am going to die, I'd rather it happen while I still remember who you are and am still myself. I've been lucky so far that this thing hasn't made me forget anything important or changed my personality, but it could only be a matter of time. You shouldn't have to go through that."

"You know I'd take care of you no matter what, Mags."

"I know," Maggie nodded. "And I love you for it. But I don't want to live that way, Al. I don't want half a life where you're forced to go from wife to nursemaid. Where I can't fully be myself anymore, either because the tumor changes me or because the attempt to fix it leaves me incapacitated." She ran her hand down Alex's arm before squeezing her wife's fingers. "Alex, if the surgery doesn't work and leaves me brain damaged – or worse – please don't drag things out. Please…just let me go."

"Maggie…" Alex sobbed, unable to hold the tears back any longer. Her wife squeezed her hand again before releasing her grip and trailing her hand back up to cup Alex's cheek.

"Promise me…please." The immortal nodded, her throat too tight to form the words. Much as it pained her, she couldn't deny her wife's wishes. "And don't do anything stupid," Maggie continued. "When I get my next shot at this, I want to be with you and not some reincarnation. I need you to live for me, Alex. Don't be afraid to move on. I don't want you to spend all your time pining away, waiting for me to come back. You deserve a full and happy life, whether or not I'm around to see it."

Alex shook her head. "How can my life be full or happy without you?"

"I'm not saying it'll be easy, Al," Maggie sighed, using her thumb to wipe the tears away once more. "But you're immortal, with all the time in the world stretched out before you. I'm sure you'll fall in love a great many times over the centuries. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to be a few of those, but I'm not expecting to be the only one, and I'd never hold it against you. Whether my life ends today or years down the road, I want you to promise me that you won't let my ghost hold you back. That you'll move on."

"I can't make that promise, Mags. But for you, I'll try. That's the best I can give you."

Maggie nodded. "Fair enough. I love you, Alex Danvers-Sawyer."

"And I love you, Maggie Danvers-Sawyer."

"Now and forever…"

"…come what may," Alex finished, pressing a gentle kiss to Maggie's lips. She could hear people hovering outside – no doubt waiting to prep her wife for the surgery. Swiping furiously at her tear-stained cheeks, the immortal kissed Maggie's forehead before carefully embracing her. "You're going to beat this," she whispered. "I know it. You're going to go in there and fight like hell to come back to me."

"Always," Maggie nodded, drawing her wife into as passionate a kiss as she could muster. "Tell the doctors I'm ready."

Swiping at her cheeks, Alex grabbed the Zakarian ale and chugged down half of what was left in the bottle. The last time she saw Maggie fully alert was when she'd walked her to the operating room, right before using her privileges to watch the surgery from the observation area above. Unfortunately, despite the doctors' best efforts, they weren't able to remove the tumor completely, and Maggie never woke up from the procedure. Alex still had her wife's power of attorney – they'd made sure to update things when they moved and she took on a new identity – and, as per Maggie's request, she made sure that no extraordinary measures were taken to keep her wife alive. She stayed by Maggie's bedside for a week, right up until the end. Dr. Grey called time of death at 4:17 AM on October 9, 2049. And the second that Chief Grey (Lexie's older sister) arrived for work that day, Alex quit her job and started making arrangements to return Maggie to National City, where it all began.

"60 fucking years," Alex grumbled, hands buried in the pockets of her coat as she stared down at the fresh dirt covering her wife's casket. A headstone would eventually mark the spot, but those still took time to make even with the fancy new technology available. Not that she needed it to know what little time Maggie had been given. 60 years might seem like a lot to most people, but for Alex it was practically no time at all. And she'd only been part of Maggie's life for a little more than half of those years. "It's not fucking fair."

"I know how you feel," a familiar voice offered. Alex turned to find Barry Allen standing there in a dark suit and long coat, still looking as young as the day they'd met. Apparently, his speedster metabolism kept him from aging. Same with Wally and Jesse. With a sympathetic smile, Barry moved in a bit closer. "When I lost Iris to breast cancer a few years ago, I thought my life was over. I couldn't imagine not having her by my side, even though we both knew that I'd be around a lot longer than she would."

"And I suppose you're here to tell me it gets better?" Alex snapped. "Did Kara put you up to this?"

Barry sighed. "Kara thinks I'm cutting out on the wake to deal with an emergency back on my Earth. And I wouldn't feed you some stupid cliché like that. In all honesty, most days I still feel like my heart's been ripped out of my chest, and it's all I can do to keep moving." He shook his head. "I know you probably have people around here with a lot more experience dealing with this sort of thing, but I also get the feeling that experience isn't what you need right now."

"It's not," she nodded. "Ben, Grace…even my dad…they've all been around so long I'm not sure they still even remember how badly this hurts the first time. Dad certainly didn't seem overly devastated when we lost Mom." A sudden aneurism took Eliza when Lex was only two. Alex and Kara had been working towards mending their relationships with her and, though some progress had been made (especially with Kara, though Alex suspected that Eliza's renewed interest in seeing her youngest was at least partly due to having a half-Kryptonian grandchild), they still weren't back to where they were before Cadmus struck. And, despite the strain in their relationship, losing the only mother she'd ever known had been painful for Alex. Not as much as losing Maggie, but it was up there. Her father, on the other hand, had seemed resigned to losing his wife, and after Maggie died his advice was something along the lines of 'you'll get used to it.' Not helpful at all. She sighed. "Right now, it hurts to even breathe. How the fuck am I supposed to get through the rest of fucking eternity without her?"

"I'm still figuring that out myself. We've both lost people over the years, but nothing compares to losing the love of your life."

Alex nodded again, glancing out over the cemetery. The oldest stone that she knew there belonged to Jo. Her ashes had actually been split up and scattered over a few places that had meant something to her in life, but Alex had arranged for a headstone for her late mentor so that she could come by on occasion to pay her respects. James was buried just a few rows over from Maggie, having been killed less than a decade after Cadmus' fall by an alien who'd been orphaned by Lord's policies and was looking for someone to blame. Never mind that James hadn't been a willing participant. Lucy was next to him. They'd only been married a couple of years at the time of his death, and the loss devastated her. She threw herself back into the military, going on tours in the worst parts of the world until one day, an IED went off under her Humvee and she died saving the soldiers under her command. Her headstone had an image of the Medal of Honor engraved into it, which she'd been awarded posthumously for her actions. Gertrude was right next to where they'd buried Maggie (thanks to a very generous donation to the cemetery from Lena). They'd managed to keep her even after Maggie recovered from the paralysis, and she'd passed away from old age when Jamie was in undergrad. Loyal to the end. There was a smaller box buried next to Gertrude. When Jamie was 5, Alex and Maggie had attempted to have another child. But there were complications and the child died before he was even born. Matthew Oliver Danvers-Sawyer. And the complications left Maggie unable to carry any more children. But Jamie had been more than enough for them, and Alex was proud of the amazing woman their daughter had grown into. She just wished Maggie could've held on a little longer…maybe stuck around to see the children Jamie and Sam had been talking about adopting. The thought that her wife would never get to enjoy being a grandmother broke Alex's heart all over again. Her chest tightened and tears blurred her vision.

"You okay?" Barry asked softly, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Alex shook her head. "It's too much, Allen. Too fucking much. Everything here reminds me of her. I can't even bear the thought of going to Kara and Lena's place because of the time we'd spent there. Or Jamie's place, for that matter. Hell, it's taking everything I have not to lay down on the nearest set of train tracks and end it all."

"I know what you mean," Barry nodded. "Why don't you come back with me?"

"To your Earth?"

"Yeah. I'm not saying it'll erase your pain, but maybe being somewhere she'd never visited will help at least a little."

Alex snorted. "Is that what you did after Iris died? Hopped over to another Earth?"

"No. But I've heard that immortals have some sort of eidetic memory deal that I definitely don't share. Maybe it'll be easier for you if there's nothing around to trigger any flashbacks."

"Are there immortals on your Earth?"

Barry shrugged. "Beats me. If there are, they're avoiding Central City. Can't recall a single case that sounded even remotely like what Ray told us happened with Lord all those years ago."

"Great. When do we leave?"

"Don't you want to say goodbye first?"

Alex shook her head. "If I say goodbye to Kara, I'll end up talking myself out of this. Just…give her a message for me? Tell her I'm taking some time away to clear my head and work through what I'm feeling right now. And please ask her not to come looking for me. I'll be back when I'm ready to face things here again."

"I'll tell her," Barry nodded. He zipped away, returning a few minutes later and pulling a device like Kara's from his pocket. "Kara says she understands. She'll miss you, but she respects your decision and will give you the space you need. All she asks is that you call her once in awhile."

"I think I can manage that much."

"Good to know." He pressed the device, opening a portal. "You ready?"

"Let's do this." With one last look at Maggie's grave, Alex leapt into the portal, Barry following a moment later.

Alex sighed, drinking down more of the ale straight from the bottle as she absently ran a hand over the thick, dark-reddish fuzz that passed for her hair these days. One of the first things she did after leaping Earths was to shave it all off, since the length was yet another reminder of her loss, and she'd kept it that way ever since. She'd wound up spending the better part of three decades on Barry's Earth, taking over as Team Flash's resident doctor (and quickly becoming an expert on metahumans in the process). The memories still came, but without the constant physical reminders they were more or less bearable, save for the anniversary of Maggie's death, which inevitably found her holed up somewhere in STAR Labs with the strongest alcohol available until someone (usually Barry) tracked her down and dragged her back to civilization.

Alex had tried to move on. She really did. But the idea of getting into something serious with anyone that wasn't Maggie…her brain wouldn't even consider it. Not that she spent the years on the other Earth living like a nun. She visited Central City's one and only lesbian bar at least once a week, and never left alone. Those liaisons rarely went further than a one-night stand, though, and even the handful of women she'd slept with more than once were nothing more than casual encounters. No serious emotions involved. The closest she'd had to any sort of long-term relationship there was a standing rendezvous with Sara Lance (who also wasn't aging normally – a side effect of some resurrection ritual Alex didn't really understand) whenever the Waverider was in town. Admittedly, things did get a bit awkward when she'd found out that Sara had also slept with Kara once, but not awkward enough to stop what they were doing. Which was pretty much your basic 'friends with benefits' situation. Nothing deeper than that.

"Why am I not surprised?" a familiar voice asked softly. Alex looked up from her drink to see her sister standing in the doorway, her expression one of concern.

"May I help you, Ambassador?"

Kara frowned. "I know you've never been happy with me not taking a more active role on the ship, but you don't have to use my title like a curse. You know my reasons." As she spoke, the younger Danvers idly tugged at the glove on her left hand, sending a twinge of guilt through Alex. The reason she'd finally come home from Barry's Earth wasn't because she was ready, but because Lex had borrowed her mother's interdimensional communication device and reached out for help. A Kryptonian genetic experiment had gotten loose from the Phantom Zone and done the unthinkable. Superman was dead at the creature's hands, and though Kara, Mon-El, Jana, J'onn, and M'Gann had managed to take it down, none of them had escaped unscathed. By the time Alex returned, their Martian friends had mostly healed, but the rest weren't so lucky. Jana had deep claw marks across her face, Mon-El's eyes had been gouged out, and Kara was missing a hand. To say nothing of the trauma they all must have experienced at seeing the creature – Doomsday, the news had called it – beating Kal to death and killing untold others in the process. The only reason Lex was still in one piece and emotionally stable was because the older heroes had insisted she stay in National City with Guardian (Lena, who'd taken over on a more permanent basis after the Cadmus mission – with Maggie's blessing – due to the latter's injury) to protect the people there while everyone else went to Metropolis to join the fight against Doomsday. And ever since then, J'onn and M'Gann had more or less withdrawn. J'onn still worked at the DEO (and on his big project that would be revealed about a decade later), but kept his distance from everyone, leaving Alex as de-facto Director from that point up until the Intrepid launched. Immortals had been outed by then – another big shock to come back to – so she'd had to come clean and get the President's blessing to step into that role. As for Kara, with a bit of help from the Fortress they were able to get her a highly advanced prosthetic that was the next best thing to having her own fully functioning hand. The Fortress could've given her one that would've been indistinguishable from the real thing, but Kara had refused for reasons she wouldn't go into. Alex suspected that it was a form of self-imposed penance for not being able to save Kal. Bottom line was, even with the prosthetic, her career as Supergirl was at an end since there was no way she could maintain a double life with such an obvious injury. Lex stepped up and became Superwoman, wearing a more functional costume (closer to Barry's, but with Kara's overall color scheme) and a mask like Ollie's to better hide her own identity. "You can talk to me, you know," Kara continued, seemingly oblivious to Alex's train of thought. "I know this is a hard time of year for you, and anything I can do to make it better…."

A snarky comment was on the tip of Alex's tongue, but she bit it back, finishing the bottle instead and getting up to retrieve another one. "How are my niece and nephew?" she asked, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice while moving the subject away from her own grief. Not only had Kara won the relationship lottery with Lena, who was never going to leave unless someone got lucky with a sword – a lot less likely these days – but both of her children were still around. Lex had inherited the Kryptonian longevity, along with most of the powers (minus heat vision and freeze breath, though the human DNA that cost her those also gave her some degree of immunity from Kryptonite), and Toomians like Cody aged at half the rate of humans. Granted, he wouldn't be around forever – at 155, he was physically somewhere in his 70s – but he'd married another Toomian he'd met at the private school his parents had sent him to (which specialized in alien children) and had two fully-Toomian sons. One of them was on the Intrepid as a security officer, and the other had been recruited for the Green Lantern Corps. Meaning that Kara would likely have both of her grandchildren around for quite some time as well (assuming James didn't get himself killed protecting whatever Sector the Corps had assigned him to). Jamie, on the other hand, had been gone for decades, and Alex had lost track of how many generations there were between her daughter and the current set of descendants that included the Intrepid's Chief of Security. Alex wasn't sure if her Security Chief even knew how the two of them were related.

"Cody and Serena are talking about moving to Florida, clichéd as that is. And Lena and I were planning to visit Lex in Metropolis while the ship's in spacedock. Meet this new young man she's been gushing about."

"Right," Alex muttered, pouring herself a fresh drink and downing it in one gulp. "Because relationships with mortals always work out so fucking well."

"Alex!"

"Does this guy even know that 'Linda Lee Davenport' – stupid name, by the way – is a 150-year-old half-alien superhero? Or is she planning to surprise him with that on their freaking wedding day? Assuming they even make it that far."

Kara sighed, dropping down into the chair on the other side of Alex's desk. "I'm going to let that slide because I know that it's the grief talking. I get the same way on the anniversary of Kal's death. The look on Lois' face as we sent Kal back to Rao in Mon-El's old pod…I think it's burned into my brain. I thought Cat could hold a grudge, but she had nothing on Lois. The woman was cursing me even with her last breath for failing my cousin."

"You're exaggerating," Alex grumbled. Lois had lived well into her 90s, still working as a reporter right up until the end, and still single. She and Clark had never gotten around to having children, and she could never bring herself to truly move on after he died. Something Alex understood quite well. Still, though the elder Lane barely spoke to Kara for the rest of her life, Alex wasn't fully prepared to say that it was out of hatred. Probably more because her sister reminded Lois too much of Clark.

Kara shrugged. "Maybe. But the point is, I still have a hard time shaking the memories of that day. All of us that were there do."

"And I don't because I was off hiding in another universe."

"I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking it," Alex snapped. "Don't even bother denying it, Kara. We both know you can't lie worth shit. I'm surprised that there was anyone in National City that didn't know you were Supergirl."

Frowning, Kara drew in a deep breath. "Again, I'm going to let that slide because of the day."

"Don't do me any fucking favors." Alex shook her head, downing another glass of the Zakarian ale. "Why don't you join Jana and Mon-El on the Hyperion so you can all use the same therapist or whatever the fuck you do to deal with your issues? Maybe take Lena with you so they don't have to take us off course whenever one of their fucking suits needs fixing." Part of Lena's contribution to the big interstellar travel project was a special suit that mimicked the effects of the yellow sun for Kara, Mon-El, and Jana so that they wouldn't lose their powers every time their respective ships left Earth's solar system. Which was great, but every time something went wrong with one of the suits other than Kara's, Jana – Captain of the aforementioned Hyperion, on which the still-blind Mon-El was serving in the equivalent position to Kara's – would have to contact Alex and arrange a rendezvous because Lena was the only one still alive who understood how they worked.

Another sigh. "I'm here because I want to be, Lexie. You're still my big sister, and I'd rather travel the stars with you than with people I barely know even after a century and a half. I love you. That's never going to change no matter how much you try to push me away."

Glaring, Alex threw back yet another glass of the strong alien liquor. "If you loved me so fucking much, you wouldn't have filled Maggie's head with that soulmate bullshit and spent the last 120 years trying to give me false hope."

"It's not—"

"Don't even fucking start," she snarled, slamming her hands on the desk. "If any of that fucking fairytale was even remotely true, I'd have found her again by now."

"The gods do things on their own time. It's not for us to question. I'm sure—"

Alex threw the rest of her bottle at the wall by the door, just barely missing Kara's head. "Fuck your gods," she growled. "They probably died with the rest of Krypton. And even if they survived, I doubt they give two shits about us lowly 'mortals.' Wasn't it Shakespeare who said that we're like flies to them and they can crush us whenever the fuck they feel like?" Alex shook her head, returning to her bar for yet another bottle. "Maggie's gone, and I was a fucking idiot for letting you and her convince me – even for a moment – that she'd return somehow." She opened the bottle and drank directly from it, downing about a third in one go. With one last glare, Alex set the bottle back down and leaned against the bar, forcing back the tears threatening to emerge. A moment later, strong arms were encircling her waist from behind and a chin was resting on her shoulder. "Don't fucking touch me," Alex snarled, though she made no move to extricate herself. Instead of backing off, Kara only gripped her a bit tighter.

"I'm not going anywhere, Lexie," she whispered. "You're my sister, and I love you no matter what. I'm sorry things haven't worked out the way you'd hoped, but I'm not going to let you give up. I need you, and this ship needs its Captain and Chief Medical Officer. Drinking yourself into a stupor will help no one."

"It'll sure as fuck help me."

"Today, maybe, but the pain will still be there tomorrow and you can't do this to yourself every day for the rest of eternity. Please, Lexie," Kara sighed.

"Can't you just give me the rest of the day, Kar?"

"I have…every year for the past 120. This year needs to be different. Besides, there's someone you need to meet and you shouldn't do it tipsy."

Alex frowned. "I don't need you to fucking set me up, Kara. I can find my own dates."

"This isn't a date. The new Chief Tactical Officer arrived just before I came in here, and I really think you should welcome her personally. Lena has her waiting for you in the Mess."

"You're the fucking Ambassador. Can't you do it?"

With a sigh, Kara loosened her grip a bit and gently turned Alex to face her. "Trust me, Lexie. You're going to want to meet her."

"For something that's not a date, you're awfully insistent. And I'm really not up for yet another disappointment."

"I've got a really good feeling this time. But if I'm wrong, I'll spend the next year on the Hyperion and I'll never bring up anything like this again. Swear to Rao."

Alex drew in a deep breath, just barely resisting the urge to reach for the bottle again. "Fine," she finally grumbled. "But I'm holding you to that."

"Of course," Kara grinned, planting a quick kiss on her sister's forehead. "Just take a few minutes to sober up, then head over to the Mess."

"And how will I know which one she is?"

"You'll know." Not bothering to explain, Kara gave Alex a quick hug that was a bit too tight, then stepped back. "I'm going to go find Lena and get ready for our trip. Good luck! Love you, Lexie."

"Love you too, Kar," Alex nodded, offering a weak smile. She knew Kara meant well, which is why she could never stay mad at her for too long no matter how often her attempts at proving her soulmate theory turned out to be wrong. This time would probably end up no better, but she was going to have to meet her new officer sooner or later anyway, so she might as well do it now. With a heavy sigh, she went over to her sink and splashed some water on her face, catching sight of her sword in the mirror as she raised her head. It wasn't strictly necessary anymore, but keeping it around was a hard habit to break so she'd hung it on her wall instead of carrying it on her as a sort of compromise. The last time she'd actually used it was to take out the asshole who'd killed Jeremiah while she was on the other Earth (another 'surprise' she'd come back to). She'd almost gotten in serious trouble because she'd violated one of the new rules when doing so, not realizing how much had changed since immortals had been outed. Luckily, the DEO had Ben on retainer and he was able to run interference and keep her out of jail. Alex had offered Ben – who'd turned out to be the oldest immortal on record – a job on the Intrepid when it launched, but he'd refused, preferring to stay Earthbound. He'd been married to Cat Grant up until her death at 110, after which he'd resumed roaming the world. Cat had been National City's longest-serving Mayor at 4 terms (which could easily have been 5 had she not stepped aside), and even now CatCo – still under the direction of a Grant, as it had been since Carter took it over after graduating from college – was one of Earth's leading media companies. One of Carter's descendants (Catherine Jane Grant III) currently served as the Intrepid's Chief Communications Officer, and was just as formidable as her namesake. Even Kara was intimidated by her.

Shaking off the memories, Alex changed into a fresh uniform that didn't reek of Zakarian ale and made her way to the Mess. Her crew seemed a bit surprised to see her out and about on a day that she'd always spent sequestered in her cabin, but thankfully no one dared question her about it.

When she arrived, the Mess was empty save for a lone woman at a corner table, studying something on a tablet while drinking what Alex assumed was coffee. There was something oddly familiar about her, but Alex couldn't quite put a finger on it. She grabbed her own cup of coffee and made her way over to the table. "Mind if I join you?"

"I'm busy," the other woman grunted.

"Too busy for your Captain?"

At that, the new Chief Tactical Officer leapt to her feet and saluted, nearly knocking the table over in the process. "A-apologies, Captain. I-I didn't realize…."

"At ease, Lieutenant," Alex softly commanded after subtly checking her uniform for her rank. "Despite the rumors I'm sure you've heard, I don't bite. Not unless you really piss me off."

"Of course, Captain," she nodded, taking a slightly more relaxed stance. "I was just reading the reports from my predecessor."

"Mostly fiction, I'm sure. There's a reason you're replacing him." Alex sighed, taking a sip of coffee as she looked the Lieutenant over. They were almost the same height, and the younger woman had long dark hair and dark olive skin. She still couldn't shake the odd sense of familiarity, and couldn't figure out why. "What's your name?"

"K'trine J'onzz."

"J'onzz," Alex repeated. "As in Admiral J'onn J'onzz?"

"He's my father."

"So you're a Martian?"

K'trine nodded. "The first Green/White Hybrid to survive. Probably why Papa has always been so protective. It took nearly 50 years to convince him and Mama to let me even go to the DEO Academy, much less take a posting on a ship." As she spoke, the young Martian met Alex's eyes, and everything seemed to slam into place. They were the same eyes Alex had spent over 30 years gazing into…eyes that had lovingly gazed back every day of those decades. Eyes she never thought she'd see again. She must have been staring, because K'trine gave her an odd look. "Something wrong, Captain?"

"Sorry," Alex muttered. "It's just…you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago." She shook her head, setting the coffee mug on the table. "I should go," she grumbled, starting to walk away.

"Are you talking about Maggie?"

Pulling up short, Alex whirled around to face K'trine once more. "Where did you hear that name?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy," the Martian sighed, looking at her feet.

Alex leaned against the nearby wall and crossed her arms. "I've been around a long time, kid. I doubt there's much you could say that would shock me."

K'trine stared at her for several moments before finally nodding. "Since I was a child, I've dreamed of another life. One where I was human. And they aren't fantasies or wishful thinking. Some of the dreams are dark. Like the ones where I'm a teenager and being thrown out onto the streets by my own father just for being different, or where I'm ostracized at school for that same reason. Or the ones where I'm badly injured standing up to some terrorists and left comatose for over a month. But there have also been quite a few good ones. Dreams of a wife and daughter…a full and happy life with them. Not without tragedy, mind you – like suddenly losing my mother-in-law, or having my twin brother get killed in the line of duty just before my daughter's graduation from her Ph.D. program – but overall quite pleasant. And the woman I'm with in those dreams looks just like you, and she calls me 'Maggie.' Am I losing my mind, or did those things really happen?" Instead of answering, Alex stumbled away from the wall and wound up leaning on a table as she tried to catch her breath. Not only did K'trine look a lot like Maggie while in her human form – especially her eyes – but she'd been dreaming of their life together. It shouldn't be possible. And yet, she could practically hear Kara gloating, reminding her of the shesur ehrosh that she and Maggie supposedly shared. "Captain?" K'trine asked softly.

"Those things did happen," she finally managed, turning to meet the young Martian's eyes once more. "Her name was Maggie Sawyer, and she was my partner for 33 years. My wife for the last 30 of them." She sighed. "Does your father know about these dreams?"

"Yeah. Kind of hard to keep secrets when you're telepathically linked."

"Right," Alex grumbled. She couldn't help but wonder if J'onn's reluctance to let his daughter join the DEO's space program had something to do with the fact that she was connected to Maggie somehow. And if it did, she and J'onn would need to have a very long talk about keeping secrets like this. Deep down, Alex knew that her 'Space Dad' would never keep them apart out of malice. But it didn't change the fact that K'trine had been around for at least 50 years without Alex's knowledge. Years that she could've been spending getting to know the younger woman and figuring out if this soulmate stuff was true instead of growing more frustrated and bitter by the day. "How do I know you didn't just pull those memories from him?" she finally asked, her mind still not quite willing to make that leap.

"Because I also remember the last thing Maggie told you before she went into the operating room for that surgery. It was 'see you around, Danvers.' Who else would know that?"

Alex nodded, forcing back tears. It was such a small thing, but K'trine was right in that no one else still living could possibly have known about that exchange. She sighed, running a hand down her face as this new reality clashed with over a century of deeply-ingrained beliefs. "So what does this mean? Are you her?"

K'trine shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know. I have her memories, and taking this form feels right, somehow, but beyond that I'm just as confused as you are."

Another sigh. "Listen, I'm glad you're here and all, but you shouldn't feel obligated towards me because of these memories or whatever. If you want a transfer, just say the word."

"I don't want a transfer, Captain."

"Then what do you want?" Faster than Alex could react, K'trine closed the space between them and pressed her lips to the immortal's. And once she was over the initial shock, Alex melted into the kiss. A kiss that felt like coming home. "So you want to stay?" Alex smiled, once they parted. "Cause that's what I'm getting."

K'trine nodded. "So what does this mean?"

"I don't know," Alex shrugged. And she really didn't. There was definitely a strong connection, and it was hard to deny that K'trine seemed to share at least something with Maggie. Alex wasn't prepared to say that J'onn's daughter was the reincarnation of her late wife, but at the same time she couldn't rule it out. Even though it flew in the face of everything she'd ever known to be true, she had to concede that maybe – just maybe – Kara had been right all along. And even if she wasn't, Alex found herself wanting to get to know K'trine better. "Why don't we figure it out together?"

"I'd like that, Captain."

"Alex," the immortal corrected, brushing K'trine's hair away from her face. "My title is just for when you're on duty. When it's just us, call me Alex."

"Of course…Alex." They kissed again, and Kara's squeals of delight echoed throughout the ship. But Alex would deal with her sister's voyeurism another day. Right now, the only thing that mattered was that – for the first time in over a century – she felt whole. Like the missing piece of her heart had finally been recovered and put back where it belonged. And she'd be damned if she let it slip through her fingers again.

THE END?

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who's been keeping up with this story. There's no immediate sequel planned, but I haven't ruled out writing some one-shots later on to fill in some of the gaps. For now, just assume that anyone who's fate wasn't specifically mentioned had a relatively peaceful end (and that any immortals not mentioned are still around somewhere). A quick shoutout to my beta, zankoku46, without whose help I couldn't have finished this epic. And keep an eye out for my next story, which picks up at the end of Season 2. See you then!