Chapter 10:

As light poured through the partially open blinds the two superheroes laying together on the couch were to be eternally grateful for their unnatural strength and regeneration abilities, not having to worry about the back pain that sleeping in such a way would cause others. Barry awoke first and blearily opened his eyes, blinking the sleep from them and taking a few moments to come to terms with where he was now.

As he took in the space he saw that he was in Kara's apartment and had decided he must be dreaming but then the recent events came to him and he looked down, noticing the woman of his dreams snuggled to his side, her head resting on his chest and a small, adorable smile on her face. Barry the tilted himself back to get a better look at her only to have her grip him tighter and stay cuddled up to him.

A proper smile worked its way across Barry's face as he came to terms with all that had happened in the past few hours and the life that was already growing for him on this Earth. Kara had said she'd be his girlfriend! With that he knew whatever else that faced him on this Earth, it wouldn't be able to stop him. As Barry spent the next half-hour or so absorbing the newfound happiness he had and the comfort of his current situation he finally decided he should get up. Slipping from Kara's strong grasp using a small dose of speed to escape fast enough to get out of her grip whilst not waking her, Barry ventured across the open space and into the kitchen. After exploring the contents of the apartments food, he found that it was seriously lacking in enough breakfast for the Kara alone and with the two of them they were only going to need more.

As such Barry raced through the streets faster than he had previously, practicing his ability to absorb the sonic booms that would come in handy for fights that were bound to end up taking place in the city if he continued to be the Flash here. He raced around the city and in under 10 minutes had been able to collect enough money that had been kicked under things and left on the ground to buy groceries, deciding he was definitely going to need to get a job. He made short work of shopping by as he raced through the supermarket at normal speeds and soon returned to the apartment, laden with bags full of food ranging from frozen potstickers, pizzas and pies to bacon, eggs and essential baking supplies.

Getting to work he had soon whipped up a stack of both waffles and pancakes along with a plate full of bacon and some perfectly scrambled eggs that definitely hadn't taken him multiple tries before nor burning.

At the smell of the food Kara woke up as well, in truth she had been up that morning already, snuggled up to Barry and listening to his heartbeat which both calmed her and filled her with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and knowing he had woken up. Rather than alerting him to the fact that she was awake, Kara had decided to make the most of what she wasn't sure was a dream or not, sure they faced a lot of problems the last day but no one was harmed and Barry had returned, that couldn't be true, could it?
She had soon drifted back into what was the most peaceful sleep of her life, on Earth or Krypton, and was scared and fearful when she awoke on the couch alone, almost letting tears slip from her eyes as she thought that it was all a dream, as had happened previously in the recent months. Smells of delicious breakfast that wasn't common within her apartment, as she usually raced out to work each morning and only had whatever was easy, wafted over to her and broke her from her train of thoughts. Slowly turning around, she saw Barry humming to himself and cooking in the kitchen with stacks of delectable food piled up on the island behind him.

In any other situation, being the perpetually hungry superhero, she is, she would have raced to the food and dug in as fast as Kryptonian-ly possible, instead she couldn't help but stare. The dreams that she had, had were really coming true, she had to pinch herself just to check that what she was seeing was real. Then she thought back to everything last night and almost jumped as she remembered the last events of last night. Barry had asked her to be his girlfriend and she had said yes! Remembering this she had to refrain from jumping with joy. There, in her kitchen, cooking her breakfast, was her boyfriend, Barry Allen, literally the man of her dreams, wearing black skinny jeans and a dark grey dress shirt with windswept brown hair.

She couldn't believe that the handsome, charming, amazing man in front of her was her boyfriend, from where she was as she really looked at him for the first time since he reappeared on her world, she noticed how much more muscular he was. On his last visit, only a few months ago, he had, had muscles although was still quite skinny looking, now he looked almost as muscled as her cousin as she could somewhat see his strong build through his shirt. Kara blushed as she realised, she had now been staring at him for a fair while and then blushed deeper as she once again remembered that he was her boyfriend and undeniably hot. She quickly turned away and allowed herself to calm down before making a poor show of pretending to just be waking up with an over exaggerated yawn and stretching.

Barry didn't pay any heed to this if he noticed, instead he turned to her with a smile that lit up her world, "I thought you might be hungry after the day we had yesterday, so I grabbed some food."
Kara smiled back and run abnormally fast over to him, embracing him in a soft embrace as she pecked him on the lips and then lent back in his arms to look into his face, "You're the best. I still can't believe you're here. And my boyfriend." She added the last part with a giggle but was internally nervous hoping that she didn't just imagine that.

Barry blushed heaving in response to her actions but reciprocated in kind, "I know, I can't believe you are my girlfriend, I feel happier than I have in a long time and that's thanks to you." Barry emphasised his statement with a bright smile and giving Kara another peck on the lips that developed into a more passionate kiss as they both express the feelings; they hadn't said out loud.

Once they broke apart, Kara slipped around the other side of the island and sat on one of the breakfasts stools, pulling over one of the plates Barry put out and stacking it with food before drowning it in maple syrup. Barry sped through the kitchen cleaning everything up in seconds and joining her moments after she sat down. As they ate in comfortable silence the two kept exchanging glances at each other and looking into one another's eyes for a few moments when their gazes met before turning away with blushes. As Kara was finishing up her breakfast, somehow ahead of Barry, she looked over to the clock and jumped a little in surprise, drawing Barry's attention.

In a frantic rush she turned to Barry, "I need to be at Catco in 15 minutes, I'm so screwed, I'm so sorry I have to go, will you come with me?" Kara said unintentionally using puppy dog eyes when she asked for him to go with her, not that they were needed.

"Of course I'll go with you, I have to get my life sorted out on this world anyway and there's no better place to do that then with the centre of it by my side" Barry said whilst looking at her, both of them blushing deeply when he said this, "And don't worry about the time, you get ready, I'll runout and get the coffee and then I can race you to Catco in a few seconds."
Kara's heart filled with warmth at what Barry said and she calmed down as he gave her his plan, smiling she kissed him on the lips before speeding off to get ready for work, only then realising she was in her pyjamas the whole time and blushing again. She would usually be so embarrassed that she was blushing this often, but this was Barry, so it didn't matter, very little else seemed to when he was around.

As she emerged from her room minutes later in a pale blue summer dress and cream high heels with her hair done up in her usual ponytail and her glasses on, she saw Barry leaning on the island staring at her with coffees in hand and another bag on the counter. "What? Is there something on my face?" Kara said concerned, taking her glasses off."
Barry waled up and took the glasses from her hand and placed them back on her face gently, "No, I was just amazed at how beautiful my girlfriend is, I can't imagine how people don't know you're Supergirl." Kara blushed at the compliment, "You aren't too shabby yourself Scarlett Speedster."
They both burst out in a fit of laughter before Barry gave her a peck on the lips before handing her the coffees on a tray and the bag, "Hold on."
This was all the warning Kara had before she was swept up in his arms and reappeared seconds later beside Catco, as she left she let out a small squeal but didn't even hear it as they left it behind in their speed. As Barry put her down she let out a little sigh, wishing she could stay in his arms, she then stared at him in awe as she realised how fast he must really be, she can see at super speeds but that was incredible, even she just saw blurs.

Barry chuckled at her expression before offering his hand which she took in her own as they walked into Catco's lobby, as they made their way up to Cat's office the two felt so right in that moment, holding hands and going to work like any normal couple that had begun falling in love. As they were in the elevator Kara whispered to Barry despite the elevator being empty, "By the way, in case you didn't remember, Cat doesn't take to kindly to office romance even if you don't work here so don't let her see." Barry chuckled at this, remembering Cat Grant's unique nature quite well.

He gave Kara one last peck on the cheek, which she blushed at, before the elevators opened revealing the already bustling office, many people working to get stories out about what had transpired the previous day. The two made their way across the room through the flurry of frantic workers before getting to the Ms Grant's office where the two stopped outside at Kara's desk. Kara quickly set her things down including the bag and coffees before looking over to Barry, "What's in the bag?"
"What? With your x-ray vision and super senses, you didn't figure it out" Barry chuckled a little at Kara's blushing faced response she mumbled "no" quietly, "Have a look then." Barry said with a smirk.

Kara opened the bag and then her eyes widened, and she hastily withdrew the contents and took a big bite from it. Then Kara looked up at Barry with a mouthful of the freshly glazed donut that he had gotten a few of from her favourite donut shop that they went to on his last visit. Kara then let out a muffled response, "Thank you Barry" or at least that's what Barry thought she meant to say through her mouthful, Kara had then quickly blushed and swallowed her mouthful before revoicing her appreciation, sneaking a kiss on his cheek before anyone could notice.

As the two waited there, Kara having sat down on her chair and Barry leaning next to it on her desk, they sipped on the coffees Barry had gotten them whilst Kara ate the donuts and convinced Barry to have half a one even though he had told her he had gotten them for her. As they continued chatting about nothing in particular, sharing little details of their lives and both feeling happier than ever, they were soon approached by Winn after he emerged from the elevator.

When he came over, he once again tried to apologise for jumping out the window the other day, but Kara quickly shut him up, telling him he wasn't in control and that it wasn't his fault. Winn rolled over on his chair after he set his thing down at his nearby desk and the three began chatting and informing Winn of the details of what had happened yesterday, before the three then just talked amongst themselves like long-lost, reunited friends which in some ways they were.

As Barry had looked up around the room momentarily, he noticed Jimmy standing by the side of the room and then continued looking as he noticed him staring at Kara strangely, then he saw him look at Barry in surprise before glaring hatefully at him. Barry was unsure what was going on and was relieved when they avoided confrontation as Winn and Kara noticed what was happening. Winn stood up, "I'll make sure he doesn't bother you for now, it's so great to see you again Barry and we need to catch up more soon." He said and Barry smiled at him and nodded before he walked away towards James.

Barry and Kara watched Winn approach him and start talking to him before their attention was drawn away by the binging of the private elevator, announcing Cat's arrival. Kara panicked slightly realising that she hadn't told Barry that Ms Grant knew who he was and told him to sit in her seat as she got up with Ms Grant's coffee, approaching her and leaving any potential issues that may rise, until they do.

As Ms Grant emerged from the office it was business as usual, she walked past Kara taking the coffee with a curt, "Morning Kiera" whilst ignoring everyone else and entering her office with Kara following her in. After sitting down behind her desk with Kara in front of her she finally spoke up, "Don't think I didn't notice the superhero eye candy you brought into the office Kiera. He looks even more handsome than last time, with those big muscles and all. Is he single?" Ms Grant asked, looking genuinely inquisitive.

Kara refrained from gagging at the though and also felt slightly defensive at what she was insinuating about her boyfriend, "Errr, I think he is with someone." Kara half-said, half-mumbled with a slight blush. Ms Grant raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she tried to decipher her assistant's behaviour.

"Very well, that's a shame, now I want an interview with him as soon as possible. Will he be staying around longer this time?"
"He doesn't quite know yet, but he may be staying around for a long while.' Kara answered trying to make sure not to give away her identity.

"Interesting, competition for Supergirl, this will make things interesting." Ms Grant said with a scheming face on as if already planning the media rivalry in her head.

"Um, Barry told me that he and Supergirl were partners, working together, and he isn't sure whether he will be the Flash anymore." As Kara said this, she felt pain inside, thinking of how much he had suffered, but his this as to not give it away to Ms Grant.

"Hmm, no, I disagree, I've never met a man more obviously a superhero than maybe a few overzealous Mormons, I'd bet my career that he will eb the Flash. I must make sure to claim him for National City before Perry White gets his hands on him.

Kara smiled at the way her boss saw Barry and, on the inside, she knew that he wouldn't stop being the Flash, it was part of who he is, but whatever he decides she will support him. She was falling in love with him, Barry, and whether that is the Flash as well, or not, didn't concern her, so long as he is happy.

"Kiera, cancel my appointments, I'm going to see what I can find out about who 'The Blur' really is, and get me one of those green herbal drinks, all this end of world stuff has me feeling healthy." Kara smiled internally at this, knowing however deep she dug she wouldn't find anything on The Blur or Barry, so she made her way from her office over to her desk, finding her chair empty and looking around the office finding her boyfriend mucking around with Winn at his computer.

Leaving him to what he was doing she sat down and got to work cancelling or rescheduling the appointments that Ms Grant had for the day and finding where to get the herbal drink for her, knowing that once these were done she would have the rest of the day off as Ms Grant focused on her research.

Barry, over at Winn's desk after having been beckoned there by him, was playing 'Castle Crashers' with Winn, who told him that usually he had nothing to do given his job was mainly to fix the occasional bug or error and fix Ms Grant's computer if it stopped working. The two had been talking about programming and hacking as that was what Barry had found out was his Winn's expertise on his last trip and now he was also extremely skilled at it after his work back on his Earth, or his old Earth, he wasn't quite sure what to call it.

After almost an hour the two were just finishing one of the levels that they were stuck on when Kara came over was confused, not understanding the technology and software they were talking about whilst they played, she knew Barry had learnt a lot but was surprised at how easily he could keep up with Winn now. Even with her advanced education from Krypton and superior brain processing abilities she couldn't usually understand a lot of what Winn talked about.

Barry noticed her there and smiled, turning their conversation away from what they were talking about when he realised that Kara couldn't understand. "Hey Kara, we should probably see if we can figure out what Non is doing now, he doesn't sound like the person to go down with one hit, if you're busy I can try and chase some things down using the set-up upstairs."

"No, it's fine, I have the rest of the day off and was thinking the same thing, but I thought we could grab something to eat on the way to the DEO." Kara responded with her usual bright smile, or at least how it usually was around Barry, which was brighter than ever.

"Sounds good to me." Barry replied, already hungry despite their abnormally large breakfast. The two then headed into the elevator, bidding farewell to Winn. As the elevator descended the two stood shoulder to shoulder, hands brushing each other, both smiling without realising it. The elevator then stopped on a lower floor and the doors opened up revealing James Olsen.

"Oh, hey Kara, I was just coming up to see you. Mind coming into my Office to talk?" He asked, but it sounded closer to demanding.

Kara sighed, realising she was going to have to deal with this sooner or later, so she walked out of the elevator, dragging Barry by the hand behind her as they followed James to his office. Once they had entered his office, he closed the door behind him before turning to the two, Kara had left her hand in Barry's, feeling safer and more comfortable this way.

James walked forward until he was in front of the two, a little too close to be considered normal, he was only slightly taller than Barry but due to Barry's new physique that was stronger than James' he didn't seem all to intimidating. Kara on the other hand was slightly shorter than Barry and didn't have a very large frame and despite her powers, given James' position it looked intimidating, and would have felt so to Kara if she didn't have Barry next to her, instead it was just annoying and angering.

"So, Kara, I see 'The Blur' is back in town, what his world threw him out?" James said aggressively.

Before Kara answered Barry did, "Actually I came here on my own, I wanted to see you guys again and hang out with Kara. There aren't many people that we can relate to, and Kara and I just understand each other." He smiled as he said this, hoping that James wasn't going to keep acting aggressive like he had been, he wouldn't let him treat Kara like that and he didn't want to hurt Kara's friend.

James snorted when he looks at Barry, "Shut up wimp, you're no hero and I made Kara into Supergirl, I'm the only one that understands her." He then pushed Barry away from Kara, "And I don't like how close you are to my girlfriend. Fuck off or I'm going to do something that you won't like."
Barry had stumbled back, not expecting the attack, and hit the side of the bench, causing him to stumble further away to avoid falling on the floor. Kara was too chocked at James' words and what he did to Barry that she was frozen still, James then grabbed her at the waist and kissed her forcefully, snapping her out of her daze. She pushed him back violently, making sure not to use her full strength, making him fly back and hit the glass wall without breaking it, before falling to the floor.

Kara then wiped her mouth on her arm before facing James' murderously, before she could speak though, Barry acted. He ran forward faster than James could register and picked him up by the collar of his shirt, hoisting the heavy man up against the wall as if he weighed no more than a feather. Barry then stared straight into his eyes as his own turned into blazing balls of pure lightning.

As James became aware of his situation, he literally pissed himself as he faced the scariest thing he had ever seen, an angry Barry. "I don't care who you think you are or what you think you've done, if you dare lay a finger on Kara again I will throw you off the peak of Everest and watch as you break into thousands of little pieces as you land below. She made it clear she doesn't want you near her so stay away, or else." Barry said in a deep vibrating voice before he grabbed Kara and ran out of the building to a nearby diner that Kara had raved about to him on his last visit, leaving before James could process what happened.

Kara looks over at Barry in shock as they came to a stop, taking time to figure out all that had just happened in the last few minutes. Barry saw the shock in her eyes and thought that she had seen him for the monster he felt like, looking down and turning away slightly his eyes filling with unshed tears he let out a broken sounding "sorry", preparing to run away out of her life. Before he could, Kara grabbed his wrist and spun him back in front of her before pulling him to her and into a passionate kiss.

As she moved back, both of them catching their breath, she spoke, "What's wrong Barry?" She cupped his cheek as she spoke.
"Y-you saw me, d-do that to him. I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did it, I just can't stand seeing anyone try to hurt you. N-now I'm scared y-you want me t-to leave." Barry stuttered slightly, shaken by what had happened.

"Barry. It doesn't matter, I love it that you want to protect me and if you hadn't done what you did, I would have done similar to him for hurting you. I'm not going to leave, and you aren't either. You're stuck with me so get used to it." Kara finished with a smirk as she wrapped her arms around his neck whilst leaning into his chest.

Barry chuckled slightly, realising how he had acted without considering how amazing Kara was. Wrapping his arms around her waist and returning the loving embrace he whispered in her ear with his face buried in the crook of her neck, "I know, I'm sorry for being so stupid. I couldn't be stuck with anyone better, thank you for being there Kara, always."

The two leaned back to look at one another and shared another sweet kiss before Kara broke off looking at him happily, "No need to apologise, that's what girlfriends are for right? Now I'm hungry and can already smell the delicious burgers so let's go." She then dragged him behind her, with his hand in hers, into the diner for lunch.

-----

After the meal the two had returned to Kara's apartment and suited up before heading out into the desert to the DEO headquarters in order to chase down Non and Brainiac. Arriving at the base of operations for the secret organisation the two ran into the central command area where all agents turned and held guns up pointed straight towards Barry.

Seeing this Kara jumped in front of him, worried for his safety but more angry at their actions towards Barry. With a glare, enforced by her eyes that began to glow in a threatening manner, she spoke in a cold tone, "Put your guns down, he's a friend."

Shocked by the usually calm Girl of Steel's reaction all the agents immediately lowered their weapons, not wanting to further anger the powerful alien hero. Lucy approached Kara, having only slipped her gun from the holster, knowing Barry from his last trip and merely acting in shock by the sudden arrival.

"Supergirl, Flash, it's good to see you here, after everything that happened yesterday, I was afraid you might have been missing. How come Flash is here, I thought you had to send him back to his universe or something when he left?" Lucy directed the question towards Kara who answered, "He came back, he's going to be moving here and came just in time to help us stop Myriad, we couldn't have done it without him." Unaware of her own actions, she looked adoringly at Barry and moved closer to him, where their arms were brushed up against one another.

Lucy turned to Barry, nodding her head in appreciation, "It looks like we are in your debt again Flash, it'll be good having you around." She said with a smirk as her eyes skimmed over his suit clad frame. Kara frowned and glared slightly as she noticed this but was brought out of it as Barry subtly slipped his hand in hers and gave her hand a light squeeze.

"Well, its all a part of the job. Now we need to stop Non for good. Have we got any leads as to where he is located?" Barry asked Lucy, ignoring her actions.

"We don't have any idea as of yet-", She was interrupted when Maxwell Lord entered the room with a grim expression and was received similarly to Barry. Lucy raised a hand and the agents lowered their guns, "What brings you here Lord?" Lucy inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't you have anywhere better to be? Like at Lord Tech, looking after your traumatised employees." Kara piped in.

"That's what psychiatrists on retainers are for, I on the other hand am more worried about what's still happening."
"What do you mean, Myriad's shut down, everyone's better now."
"That's not quite the case. I returned to my lab and checked on my systems that they had been piggybacking on and found out that they didn't switch Myriad off, instead they amplified it. Emergency rooms all over the city have been filled with people complaining about headaches. They have increased the wave ten-fold and it is still increasing exponentially. Given they couldn't control us, they are going to kill us. The wave will be amplified until all of humanity's heads explode."

"How long do we have?" Lucy questioned.

"At the current rates, we have little over 3 hours. Only about 2 and a half before all humans are effected by large pains like that of a strong migraine."

"Flash, the mind-wave didn't affect you, will this?" Supergirl's asked, turning to Barry with eyes filled with concern.

"Don't worry about your little friend, the wave only affects humans, whatever species he is, he'll be fine." Lord responded, Kara simply ignored him, looking towards Barry.

"The original waves did work on me somewhat; it just couldn't control my mind because it runs too fast and myriad was far too weak for me. This on the other hand will affect me as it does anyone else." At hearing this Kara became far more worried than she already was, she couldn't lose Barry, she couldn't let him be hurt.

Seeing Kara's concern and anxiety Barry soothed her, "We've got this, you don't need to worry about me. Between you, Superman and I, Non won't know what hit him." Barry said with a smirk. If he were being honest this had him scared too, for humanity on this planet and for more significantly for what Kara would be left behind with, after everything he wasn't all too concerned about himself.

Kara gave a weak smile back, a great portion of her fear pushed aside by Barry's calm and collected, even humorous, attitude. Turning back to the others she spoke up, "So how can we stop this?"

"The wave is being powered by one of these." Lord brought up a picture of a device on the screen that Kara recognised, "It's an omegahedron, an extremely powerful energy core that is supply enough power for them to spread the wave across the entire globe."

"We used to use these back on Krypton, Non must have gotten it from Fort Rozz." Kara chimed in.

Barry walked forward to the console and began typing things on the keyboards available. Using them he read up on all the available information on the energy core and then using that information, he was able to apply a search using a range of satellites he had hacked into, to pinpoint the location of the drive. Finding that it was located somewhere in Nevada, Barry brought up a map of where it was only to find nothing, using skills he had picked up from Felicity and taught himself Barry was then able to hack into the stealth technology that was there through the US military that had put it up.

To the others this process was a blur of his hands across the keyboards and of different files and coding appearing and disappearing on the screen at illegible speeds, Kara didn't have it much better, only being able to make out the occasional word.

As the satellite image displayed on the screen was suddenly filled with an uncloaked alien prison there was many gasps of shock. General Lane who had been standing near them and listening to the conversation whilst observing them then spoke up, "How did you do that, we cloaked the prison using the most secure military servers, hacking the US military is a serious crime." As he spoke the men, he had with him moved forwards, the general approaching with what seemed to be an intent to apprehend Barry.

Kara overcame her shock at seeing the crashed prison, that had been giving them so much trouble recently, appear on the screen, "Back off" She said aggressively to the men approaching Barry and general Lane, "So what? You found Fort Rozz in the middle of Nevada and just hid it there?" Kara questioned the general.

"You try moving a million tonne space ship, we did what we could and cloaked it using its own stealth technology." Lane rebutted.

"That's unimportant, what is important is that this is where Non and Brainiac's base of operation is and where the omegahedron will be. You and your speedy friend need to get out there and stop this as soon as possible." Lord said.

"If we're going to do this then we might die, I know the risks but this time I want to say the goodbyes that I couldn't when I left Krypton." Kara spoke with a grim expression.

Hearing this, Barry's expression hardened as he promised to himself that he would do whatever it takes to make sure Kara doesn't die.

-----

After all that had transpired at the DEO headquarters, Kara and Barry made their way back to Catco, stopping on the roof and getting changed into normal clothes. Barry turning around as Kara forgot that he could see at superspeeds, with a deep blush. As they finished changing and turned around Kara spoke up, "Barry, I know you didn't come here for this and I'm sorry you got dragged into my messes, thank you for being by my side through it all. I have to do all it takes to save the Earth, it's what I am a hero to do, to protect those who can't protect themselves. I wish it could be another way, but if I die, I want you to move on, you can have everything I own, I just want you to be able to move on and have the happy life you deserve." She spoke in a timid voice, not breaking eye contact with Barry, "My worst fear is that I won't be able to help you when you needed it even though you were always there for me." At this she looked at the ground, the tears that had welled up in her eyes, slipping out and down her cheeks.

Barry placed a finger under her chin and lifter her head up, locking eyes once again as he moved closer to her, "Kara, you don't owe me anything, and even if you did, the time I have gotten to spend with you is more than enough repayment. In the short time I have been here you have brightened my life immensely with your beautiful smile and cute laughter." Kara blushed red at the complements, "I couldn't dream of a more amazing girlfriend, but I promise you this, you aren't going to die, I'll do whatever I have to, but you and I, together, we're unstoppable. Okay?"

Kara nodded, more tears streaming down her face but now due to joy as well at hearing how much Barry cared for her and believed in her. The two moved in at the same time and shared a passionate kiss that expressed their feelings to one another.

After Kara had calmed down, wrapped up in Barry's comforting embrace and leaning against his chest, the two then made their way downstairs where they were met with Winn. Going off into the hall the two had explained the situation to him and Kara still said her 'could be' goodbye. Kara had then left Barry and Winn together as she went off to talk to Ms Grant.

Walking into the office she saw her boss sitting at her desk, typing away aggressively at her computer as she often did. "Ahhh, Kiera, is there something you need?" Ms Grant inquired noticing her there."
"I just want you to know that working for you has been a true honour, you're my role model and you lead this city with such strength and grace, and underneath that prickly exterior you have the biggest heart of anyone I know. I just- I'm just trying to say, thank you for being such an amazing mentor and friend.

"Okay, so that was either my eulogy or your dictated suicide note. Is there something you need to tell me?" Cat asked moving her full attention to her assistant.

"No, I just wanted to let you know, after everything that happened yesterday, I thought I should appreciate the people in my life properly."

"Okay, okay, well you've made quite the impression on me too Kiera, now get back to your desk, chop-chop, I've got research to be doing." She said returning her focus to her computer. Kara just smiled to herself, she was finally starting to see the real Ms Grant, not the façade she always wore. She then turned around and returned to Barry and Winn, finding Barry talking to Winn about some computer stuff that she didn't understand, obviously trying to distract him from the news they had just given him. When she got to them, she told them that it was time and they needed to go and deal with the issue now. Barry nodded and bid his farewell to Winn, as did Kara, and then picked her up and raced her back to her apartment where the two quickly got changed into their suits.

Kara then approached Barry, wrapping her arms around his waist as he did the same to her, "Whatever happens, thank you for everything Barry, you are the best boyfriend that I could ever have hoped for." She said into his chest.

"Well, you're the best girlfriend in the multiverse already and we've only been together for a day!" Barry said as he chuckled and Kara giggled at this, the two forgetting their situation for a moment, "Thank you for being there for me too Kara, you've already done so much more for me than you realise." He said before they shared another kiss before racing to the DEO once again.

Upon arrival they were met with Kal, who was in a heated argument with general Lane, from what Barry could tell the general was like Eiling and saw the heroes as threats or weapons and not actual heroes. As they entered Superman dropped his argument and came over, greeting Kara with a hug and Barry with a firm handshake that would crush any normal persons hand.

"I've been caught up to speed on what is happening, I didn't expect Non to act so fast after his original plan failed but at least we caught on to what is happening." Clark said.

"Well, we've located their base of operations, now we have to go in and disable the device that's going to kill all humanity. Barry sped over to the round table in the middle of the cavern-like room, he pulled out a large sheet of paper and pencils off a nearby desk and made a detailed sketch of the area with Fort Rozz, only taking a few seconds.

Then he spoke up a plan whilst drawing it onto the map, "With the device emitting from the prison no human will be able to enter this radius, I will but it will weaken my ability to fight due to the pain. Superman, Supergirl, you'll both be fine, so the three of us will enter the area and try and draw them out. Based on what we know so far, they have an army of kryptonian soldiers and Brainiac. We will need to fight off their army and disable them so that we can deal with the wave. Once we get inside the prison, we will scope out how they are emitting the wave and then find a way to disable it." Barry finished with a now detailed plan of their strategy drawn onto the map.

"How are we supposed to fight and army of kryptonian soldiers as well as a living supercomputer with only three of us?" Clark inquired from his place next to Barry and Kara around the table.

"You both have more fighting experience than them in this environment with your powers, that should give you both an advantage. I should be able to overload Brainiac with power in order to disable her and then help you, Superman, with the rest of the soldiers. Supergirl, you will be dealing with Non who is probably their most skilled fighter, once you deal with him, you'll back us up or if we're done first than we'll support you." Barry replied, received by nods from Kara as she was surprised by how good he was at strategizing, realising he probably picked it up during training at the League of Assassins.

Clark on the other hand was confused with how Barry could fight against the kryptonians with him, even if he was strong, he was still human. "How are you going to be able to fight the kryptonian soldiers, no offense but they are probably more powerful than you."

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve, trust me, together we can do this." Barry responded, Clark nodding in acceptance, deciding that if his cousin trusted him, that he would too.

"When this is all over you are coming with us." General Lane spoke up, indicating towards The Flash, "I don't know who or what you are, or where you came from, but you are not an American citizen and as such are a threat to the nation that we must prevent." He said aggressively.

Before Barry could respond Kara reacted to the threat, "You lay a hand on The Flash then you are going to war against my cousin and I, trust me, you are lucky you aren't our enemies." She said with her deep blue eyes, lighting up with energy, enforcing the threat. The general stepped back, shocked at how ready the hero was prepared to go to war against them for someone who hasn't even been around very long. He then looked towards Superman, looking for him to counter Supergirl's threat against the nation he protected but was further shocked to see the Man of Steel with his fists clenched and angry glare directed towards him too.

After this the three raced from the headquarters, out towards Nevada without another word, Barry running, slowly for him, underneath the two ad they both shot through the sky around 50 meters in the air at around Mach 2.

As they arrived within a hundred meters of the prison that towered into the sky, Barry came to a stop without any skidding, Superman and Supergirl landing on the ground on either side of him with loud thuds that sent slight shivers through the surrounding ground. As they looked towards Fort Rozz the three tried to come up with a way to lure out the army.

"How are we going to get them out here?" Kara asked the other two after a few moments where neither could see a way.

Before Barry could respond, Clark spoke up, "I don't think that will be a problem, here they come." As he said this, he indicated towards the group of people that were approaching them rapidly through the air.

As they landed, a quick count indicated 6 kryptonian soldiers along with Indigo and Non, the two groups then approached each other slightly, Kara stepping in front of the other two.

"Kara Zor-el, my niece we could have ruled this world, but your weak heart has led to humanity's demise." Non spoke.

"What? You couldn't control everyone so instead you want to kill them all? I won't allow you to do that, you best turn the wave off or this won't end in your favour." Kara retorted.

Non just laughed, bringing out a metal ball from behind his back and throwing it on the ground at Kara's feet, "There you go, the omegahedron, you see it is powered by Fort Rozz, and that you can't stop." Indigo then picking up where he left off, "I have locked up all the systems, you will never be able to deactivate it, but to do so anyway, you would have to get through all of us which will never happen."
"We'll see about that." Kara said before flying directly at Non, colliding with him and driving the two into the side of a large hill, causing an impromptu land slide to form. As she did this, Superman also sped off into the group of Kryptonian soldiers, knocking one out already with a brutal roundhouse to the head that was received with a loud boom and resounding crack.

As the Kryptonians engaged in combat Barry sped over to Indigo, "So you're the quick little one that was able to keep me out of your stupid broadcast stunt. You'll pay for that with your life." The living computer said with rage as she then leapt at Barry with remarkable speed. Despite her speed it was nothing to Barry and he easily manoeuvred around her skilled assault and placed plentiful strong hits onto her body, focusing on usual weak points and joints.

Apart from a scream of rage as her arm had been snapped due to the destruction of her elbow, Indigo showed little signs of being hurt by the onslaught. Deciding a new strategy would be necessary Barry pushed her back with a huge punch that sent her into the rubble that had been caused in Kara and Non's initial engagement, Indigo getting up quickly from the attack and minimally harmed as her broken elbow snapped back into place, repairing any damage he had done.

Kicking up a cloud of dust, Barry sped over to her and ran around her at increasing speeds, the waves caused by the sonic booms that he was unleashing knocking her around in the enclosed circle of his lightning trail. As Barry reached speeds over Mach 35 slowly, not wanting to give away his full potential yet, he became unidentifiable in the storm that surrounded Indigo and as she tried to escape, she was electrocuted and thrown back into the middle as she collided with Barry's fist.

Barry then came to a sudden and almost immediate stop in front of the now kneeling Indigo as she tried to remain balanced, still vibrating with lightning dancing across his body, Barry reached out and touched the living computer on the shoulder causing her to shut down almost immediately, cutting off the scream that she emitted. As Barry came to a full stop before Indigo, she fell to the ground backwards, sprawled on the ground with the three lights in her head gone out. He then looked over to the rest of the fight in order to assess what he needed to do now.

After Clark had engaged his opponents, he had been almost immediately overwhelmed with the constant onslaught of attacks being made by the other five enraged soldiers. Flying slightly into the air, he made quick use of the advantages of his experience as he out manoeuvred the others in the air and was able to take out two more whilst only sustaining slight burns, due to heat vision, and probably a broken rib from a well placed punch that sent him careening up into the sky. Shooting down from the sky he struck one of the kryptonians, knocking him out for good, only to have the other two and one that he had previously knocked out approaching him. The four of them began fighting once again before he had knocked back two of them and engaged the last one with their heat vision, overpowering him quickly. Despite his advantage, his opponent was quickly backed by the other two that had returned, and he was slowly losing as the connected beams approached him.

Before they could overpower him, a loud boom and the sound of cracking thunder echoed across the area as one of the kryptonians went down, digging a long trench in the ground before coming to a stop, smoking and bleeding, obviously knocked out. With the shock of what just happened, the battle of heat vision ended, and Barry pulled up beside Clark with a flash of orange lightning. Now the two pairs faced one another before engaging once again in a fight, Clark and his opponent slamming into one another and shooting up into the air and knocking one another across the sky.

Barry had similarly engaged his opponent in close quarter combat, the kryptonian soldier had the advantage in the fist fight of slightly greater strength but was far outmatched by Barry's battle prowess and was losing miserably as a result. The kryptonian, realising his disadvantage, took to the skies and combined an onslaught of heat vision, freeze breath and swooping attacks to take advantage. Barry continued fighting back but the battle was evened out as many of his attacks couldn't reach the kryptonian and the occasional blast of freeze breath slowed him momentarily.

Barry then attempted to launch lightning, still avoiding giving away his full potential in case and wanting to preserve energy in case he needed it later, he ran in circles generating the required lightning slowly. Before he could finish the attack he was struck by a blast of freeze breath and rendered unable to avoid the next blow, the fist connecting to his sternum and severely breaking his breastbone with a wet crack as blood spurted from his mouth, throwing him back and into the side of one of the nearby hills.

Despite the lethality that such a blow may have for others, as he stood, he was able to quickly regain composure, his bones already fusing slightly together and the damage to his lungs healing enough to stop him coughing up blood, but this did little for the pain itself. As he got a more solid stance, he faced his opponent again, seeing him speeding over towards him in what would be a lethal blow, even for him. Barry prepared to lean slightly in order to avoid the blow whilst gripping the kryptonian and using his own motion to fling him into another hill, that was when it all went downhill.

As he prepared himself, planting his feet solidly into the ground beneath him, the waves from Fort Rozz amplified enough to break through his now weakened tolerance and caused him to fall to his knees and grip his head, trying to recover his control. As this happened, he was left completely exposed and unprotected to the killing assault being launched towards him.

Clark had just finished off his opponent by slamming him head-first into the ground as they had sped down from the clouds in a close struggle, looking up he saw the attack being made against Barry and him falling to his knees, leaping into action he sped over to him but he was too far away and wouldn't be able to make it in time.

After Kara engaged Non, the two had flown into the sky, high up above the clouds, as the two had broken through the white clouds into what seemed like a different world, they sped at one another. As they collided, the force of their blows blew back the clouds beneath them and loud sounds were released.

They continued to trade blows as they flew through the sky, both making use of the clouds to make unforeseen attacks and gain an advantage. After a while of back and forth blows being landed the two collided with one another and began falling through the clouds, grappling with one another for the advantage in their dive.

"Kara, you have already lost, give in and I may let you survive to see a new, better world." Non argued. Rather than respond Kara took the distraction to her advantage and kneed her uncle in the balls, sending him reeling back into the clouds they had just dropped out the bottom of.

Using his further distraction, Kara flew through the clouds, passing by him in the haze multiple times, knocking him about with solid blows. As she went for another pass by, she saw Non's eyes glowing a harsh red and as she made to attack him, he was ready and swung out, fist colliding with her face, sending her careening back with a bloodied lip.

The two then approached one another slowly, becoming more like shadows, visible to one another through the dense cloud. Simultaneously the two's eyes began to glow brighter than their heat vision was flung out towards each other in a battle of pure energy, Kara's bright blue beams clashing brilliantly with Non's deep red ones. As they both increased the power within their beams the clouds were lit up with bright lights of blue and red, swirling against one another on either side. The red began to dominate the sky as Non's heat vision became more powerful and approached Kara, the blue dimming slightly.

Then with a scream of rage, thinking of all the people Non was going to hurt if she lost, Alex, Eliza, Jeremiah, Winn, Ms Grant and most significantly Barry, as this fuelled her, her heat vision brightened to multiple times that of Non's and rapidly pushed back, throwing their beams into Non's eyes and finishing the display of lights in the clouds with a blinding flash of blue.

As Kara disengaged her heat vision, Non drifted back slowly before he began plummeting towards the Earth, growing faster and faster without any sign of stopping. Kara drifted below the clouds, watching her uncle drift down and collide with the ground, resulting in a loud thud as his body lay there lifeless.

As she looked over for where her cousin and boyfriend were at with their own fights, she found the last standing, or flying as the case was, kryptonian speeding towards Barry who had suddenly collapsed to his knees, gripping his head in pain. With a rush of anger, fear and determination, Kara sped off with a loud boom, towards the place where the kryptonian was going to collide with Barry.

She wouldn't let anyone harm her Barry, not if she could help it, ever. So as the kryptonian was about to collide with him she put on a final burst of speed, accompanied with another loud boom, and she tackled his out of the air and off to the side, away from Barry, driving him into the ground in a trench with her on top. As they slowed down, she released all her anger and fear that him attacking Barry like that had caused her and she began pounding his face into the dirt.

As she violently rained down blow after blow on the kryptonian his face became bloodied and disfigured, with many broken bones as the ground beneath his head cracking apart. As she continued to give the bastard hell for what he had attempted to do, she was brought to a halt, escaping her blind rage as a hand was placed gently on her shoulder. Looking over to whoever had touched her she found a bloodied, yet seemingly okay Flash with a grim expression on his face.

Reacting immediately, she leapt up and embraced him, remembering just in time to be gentle, not knowing the extent of his injuries. Barry, who had just regained control of himself from the pain within his head, returned the comforting embrace, the two breaking apart shortly after. Kara looked at what she had done and back towards Barry, then dropped her head in shame and sadness, she wondered to herself how Barry would see her now.

"I would have done the same if he tried to kill you. It's okay, you saved me and we're both okay, your cousin as well, that's what matters." Kara turned back to him with a weak smile on her face and embraced him again whispering a quiet, "thank you" before breaking away as Clark walked over to them from where he landed a few meters away.

"What are we going to do now? We need to find a way to shut this thing down and Indigo seemed pretty adamant about the fact that, that wasn't possible." Kal supplied.

"We need to get inside to find out how to do this." Barry said.

Kara turned to him with wide eyes, "But you were already weakened by the wave, can you even survive going in there. Clark and I can take care of it." Her voice full of concern.

"It will be okay; I've found out all I could about this place and know the most about possibly finding a way to shut this down. We have to do this; the world is relying on us." Barry noticed how completely unconvinced Kara was of him risking himself, "If it becomes too much, I can get Kal to get me out of there or can get out myself before it gets too bad. I promise." At this Kara nodded, still highly worried.

Clark looked at him with increased respect as he saw the lengths that Barry was prepared to go to, to protect a world he had been on for only a few days. The three then raced into the prison and soon found the main room where they surrounded the centre console. From there Kara searched for what she could on a way to shut it down based on her limited knowledge of the complexities of kryptonian technology. Barry on the other hand was sifting through every bit of information on the system that he could find about what they can do to turn it off whilst Clark was unsure what to do. After a few minutes Barry wiped across his face using his sleeve, wiping away the blood that had begun dripping from his nose.

Kara noticed this as she looked up and knew they had to find a way soon, "We have to do something now, there can't be long left before it's too late." After a few more seconds Barry looked up, stopping what he had been doing at the console.

"The system is practically completely shut down, there is no way that we can turn the beam off and the transmission system itself is far too protected for us to destroy or dismantle ourselves in the time we have. There is only one solution that I can see working." Barry summarised.

"And that is?" Clark inquired.

"To self-destruct the entire prison, it was a safety measure included in case of a mass breakout occurring and there being no other solution, in order to prevent the criminals within the prison from breaking out and wreaking havoc. The problem is that the explosive power of the self-destruct is over 1000 kilotons which is 50 times the amount of an atomic bomb, meaning the explosion wound devastate the surrounding 750-kilometre radius, reducing it to little more than dirt."
"We can't do that, there must be another way." Kara said, fear lacing her voice, Clark reacting similarly.

"There is a way we can do it whilst protecting everyone, well almost everyone, if you two are capable of lifting Fort Rozz to the edge of the atmosphere and flinging it out into space, you should be able to get it to over 1000 kilometres from the atmosphere which would have no effect on Earth as the explosion would force all the debris out, away from Earth, and the small amount that makes it back would burn up completely on re-entry." Barry said.

"That will work, we can do that, we have to do that." Kara responded, "Wait, you said 'almost everyone', What do you mean, will Clark and I not be able to make it back in time?" She asked worried but mostly unperturbed.

"No, it's not you two, you can make it back far enough. The self-destruct system in on a dead-man type switch, it has to be released to cause the explosion meaning that someone will have to be here, within the control room to set off the system." Barry said solemnly as it was obvious who that would be.

"NO! You can't Barry, I will do it, this isn't your responsibility." Kara pleaded desperately.

"I'm sorry Kara but you're needed to throw the prison into space, and we don't have time to find another way. I'm okay with this. At least I will go out saving humanity, protecting you." Barry said, embracing her in a tight hug, ignoring the almost excruciating pain in both his head and chest.

"Go, we don't have much time. Thank you for everything Kara and I'll see you in Rao's light." Barry said, remembering the Kryptonian afterlife that Kara told him of.

Tears poured down Kara's cheeks as she found herself helpless to save the man she was beginning to love more and more. She gave him a final sweet kiss, "Thank you for everything Barry, I will never forget you." She then flew out of the ship, tears still running down her face as she got to the top ring of the prison to pull it up with.

After she left Clark walked over to Barry, "It is plain to see how much the two of you care for each other. I wish my cousin could be with the man she is so hopelessly in love with, for what it's worth I couldn't choose anyone better. In the short time I've known you, you have already shown me a truer meaning of hero then I have ever seen." He said shaking Barry's hand and clapping him on the shoulder, "Is there no way for you to survive this?" He asked in a last-ditch grab at some hope.

"I didn't want to tell Kara in case I give her false hope, but as I let the explosion begin, I will run across the prison and phase through the exterior, getting as much speed as I can to throw myself back towards Earth. With a miracle, I might be able to make it back through the re-entry given my powers protection from the damage that it causes and by getting to the atmosphere fast enough. If I make it, I'm going to be unconscious and need you to grab me." Barry said.

Clark smiled at that, "I'll catch you on your way back, I promise. This world isn't done with you yet and it seems like you'll be a member of the House of El one day." As he said this Barry blushed at the implication but smiled at how he had accepted him already.

Clark then flew out and joined Kara as they began to lift using all their strength, letting out grunts as they heaved to lift the extremely heavy prison, Fort Rozz groaned as it began lifting off the ground. As they flew towards the upper atmosphere the two kryptonian heroes sped up as much as they could and when they arrived at what seemed to be as far as they could go, the air almost too thin for them to breath, they flung the prison forth with a final burst of strength, out of earth's atmosphere and hurtling away into the dark space beyond. Kara heard Barry using her superhearing just after they let go, "goodbye Kara."

As the prison flung out into space Barry waited, the pain within his mind almost completely incapacitating him, and as it reached far enough away he let go of the switch to activate the self-destruct, and immediately bolted towards the end of the station closest to Earth.

As Fort Rozz was flung from their hands the kryptonians drifted to the side and slipped back through the gap in the prison as to not be caught by it and brought out of the atmosphere. As they watched it fly away, Kara refused to move, despite the difficulty to breath, tears running down her face, she had only just gotten Barry back and now he was gone already, forever. Kal similarly waited beside her but was clinging to the hope that Barry would be flung back towards them.

Second later the entire sky lit up with a jaw droppingly massive explosion, due to its close proximity to Earth, people across America saw a second sun momentarily appear in the sky as their crippling headaches departed suddenly, then the sky was left coated in fire as if it were the clouds themselves.

Kara and Kal watched as it happened, Kara letting out a cry of despair seeing what she loved most be destroyed just beyond her reach. As Kara turned away, not able to bear the sight anymore, Kal noticed a red blur approaching them and hoped that it was Barry and that he was okay.

Barry had made it to the edge of the prison, the artificial gravity just shutting down as violent waves approached him through the corridor on both sides in slow motion due to his speed. He pushed off with as much force as he possibly could and fazed through the walls of the ship, appearing outside seeing the upper atmosphere of Earth approaching rapidly. He felt himself making a little distance from the wave of fire and destruction that was following him and prayed to anyone that would listen for him to make it before passing out due to a combination of exhaustion, pain and the extreme conditions he was in.

As the red blur came further into his sight Clark recognised it as Barry and realised that he would have to better match his speed in order to not kill him when he caught him. Racing down towards Earth, Clark picked up as much speed as he could, as Kara noticed his actions and soon saw a red blur speed past her, she quickly pursued he cousin and what she didn't know was Barry.

As Barry began to pass Clark, he caught him and began slowing their speed as fast as he could, curving up and avoiding hitting the ground by only a few metres, then coming to a stop almost a kilometre further away. As he came to a stop he looked down at the hero within his grasp, praying to Rao that he was alive and could survive. Despite the blood covering him, dripping from his nose and ears as well as multiple wounds on his back, some of which still had shards of metal in them, Clark's hope was kindled by the shallow breaths he was taking.

Kara then landed next to him with a loud impact and rushed over to them, "H-he's alive?" She asked disbelievingly, thinking it was a dream or something. "Yes, he is but we need to get him to the DEO so that he can be healed" Clark answered. Despite the large amount of worry that Kara still felt, her face adorned a large smile as Barry had come back to her again.