It was sort of annoying, Dez thought, fighting a guy who could fly. For one thing, she couldn't hit him. He'd fly higher before she got the chance, and there wasn't enough sand in the world to help her reach him. It didn't help that he also had laser eyes (seriously an actual alien with laser eyes) that could cut through just about anything or that he could punch holes through walls or that with a huff and a puff he could bring a house down. He seemed to have all the same powers Kara did, only he was ten times more skilled, even though she had been on Earth way longer and, from what Kara had told the Legends, the Earth's sun was what gave them power here. (It didn't make much sense to Deserey, but then again she had never been much of a science geek.)

Non was holding his own against the six Legends that hadn't stayed at Cat.co, plus Supergirl herself. The guy was seriously OP, coupled with all that big bad energy. Deserey thought, if this world were a super hero movie, this would have been the climax. She could already hear the dramatic music they'd add into the background in editing.

Somewhere in the midst of battle Kara had bent a piece of metal with her heat vision. Deserey couldn't tell if she'd done it on purpose or accident, but either way Sara had decided to use it to her advantage. She charged forward, ducking under the laser eye beams and soaring vehicles hurling through the air, scooping the thing up from the ground; and with her new found weapon in hand, the White Canary tossed the metal in the air like a boomerang. It didn't do much to harm Non; in fact, it was crushed upon impact with his skin. But Deserey thought the effort was nice.

Captain Cold and Heatwave's guns were useless, too. The streams from the respective guns only reached so far before losing momentum, freezing and burning something else entirely. A tree, a mailbox. Anything but the intended target. Rip's gun didn't help much either. Same issue. Range not far enough. Useless against the over powered boss man. There were even a few instances in which the three of them had almost hit a group of marching, brainwashed civilians, prompting Supergirl to snap at them. Above all else, they needed to protect the people, after all. Flying douchebags be damned.

The only ones who could even reach him were Kendra, Carter, and Supergirl; but even with the three of them combining their abilities, Non was kicking their asses. Carter'd send a hefty swing his way, one strong enough to knock any man right out of the sky and send him tumbling to his demise. But maybe that was the problem. Any man. Non wasn't a man, not entirely anyway, not really. He wasn't human. All he had to do was flick his finger, and Kendra was crashing on to the rooftop of the nearest building.

Kara sucked in a huge gulp of air, letting it out in one, long breath -- the destruction that followed was cataclysmic. The wind tore through buildings, power lines, destroyed the road, taking Non and anything not bolted to the ground right along with it; the Legends had to grab hold of something sturdy to avoid the same fate. The three flying heroes landed next to the rest of the team, Kendra rubbing her arm from where she'd been hurt during her latest hit. Leonard was scowling, maybe it was that sixth sense he'd mentioned. Maybe he figured something awful was about to happen. "This isn't working."

Dez snorted. "No shit." She had specs of sand stuck in her hair, no doubt making her look like a homeless slob; the back of her hands were itchy. She wasn't sure if that was due to her nerves or the fact that her hands were extremely dry, which had her wondering when the last time she'd put lotion on her hands was. Such a strange thing to think about in the midst of battle...

Sara's hair was a bit tussled, knotted in some places, and her white battle uniform was dyed black and brown in some places from where she'd had a wrestling match with the concrete. The rest of them weren't much better. Varies scrapes and cuts all over their bodies -- under their eyes, on their cheeks, elbows, legs. Everywhere. Yet somehow Kara was still flawless. She hadn't so much as ripped her suit or broken a nail. There wasn't a bruise on her; if anything she looked like she might have just walked out of a beauty solon. The only sign she had had any sort of scuffle at all was the way she landed: knees crashing down, fist slamming into the concrete in front of her, making a little crack in the road. And the way she flipped her hair over her shoulders when she stood up right. Even that looked stunning.

Kara eyed Carter and Kendra, her brow furrowing, a curious yet some how childish smile, albeit small, tugging at her lips. The light from the sun caught her eyes just right, and Dez found herself thinking, Oh my god she's such a doll! Something about that angle, even in the middle of a fight, it just made her look so pure, innocent. Even after everything she had lost, even after learning her aunt and uncle were total nutjobs, she was just so...hopeful. She was pure. "You didn't say you were Thanagarian." Thanagarians. Those were the aliens Savage got the tech from in the fifties to make his little bird freaks.

Kendra nit her brows together, aggravating a cut that lay across her forehead. "That's because we're not..."

"Oh," Kara cleared her throat awkwardly. "Sorry. It's just...your wings...I thought..." She waved the thought away, shaking her head. "Never mind, not important."

"What is important is taking this guy down." Sara was getting into serious assassin mode, now. It was startling, how different she was when she got like that. Her eyes hardened, and Dez could see the razor edges that had been forged through years of torment, doing whatever it took to survive, unspeakable things. She could see the bloodlust outlining those beautiful blue irises, too. Her shoulders tensed, feet planted firmly, weapons raised at all times, eyes flickering around their surroundings, up to the sky searching for Non. Sometimes, Deserey got so wrapped up in how comfortable she'd gotten on the Waverider, among her fellow Legends, she forgot how scary her team mates were.

Those harsh, war tarnished blues landed on Kara's -- more child like than the assassin's, but determined and filled with strength and courage all the same. She was ready, scared, but ready. Both women were bad ass in their own rights, powers or no. "We're gonna need to know all the weaknesses your people have."

Kara shook her head, putting her hand on her forehead as if she were getting a headache. Deserey doubted she was able to get those, though. "There isn't much..."

Rip shoved his hands in his pockets. That nervous tick of his again. Always so nervous, anxious. Too anxious to be a captain. A bit hypocritical from time to time. He was desperate, and maybe just slightly lost. Deserey liked to think he'd found his way with the Legends. She knew she had. "Well, there is one thing..." When everyone remained silent, Rip took that as his cue to continue. "Kryptonite."

"No," Kara said quickly. "That's archaic!"

"This whole city is anarchy," Mick pointed out ever so helpfully.

"What's kryptonite?" Kendra asked.

"The radioactive remnants of my home planet," Kara said. "It's toxic to kryptonians here."

"Of course it is," Dez sighed. She glanced at Rip, eyebrow raised, absently scratching at her dry hands. "And you know about it somehow? What's up with that? You been here before or something?"

Rip gave a small shrug, but otherwise her question went unanswered, Kara snapping when Leonard suggested they just go find some kryptonite and send it Non's way. Easy peazy lemon squeezy. "I won't use it on anyone." She shook her head. "I'm not cruel! I'll find another way!"

Leonard scoffed. One hand was placed over the trigger of his Cold Gun, eyeing the sky with almost as much gusto as Sara. Observational. Pragmatist. Always thinking, always plotting, waiting for something to go horribly wrong. Making exit strategies. He could have been a wartime consigliere if he'd went to college or even finished high school for that matter. "Higher morality hero crap again?" From the way he spat the word 'hero' one would have thought it were an insult. Coming from him, it probably was.

Supergirl's childish gaze changed faster than Deserey could blink. Harsh, sharp. She looked like she might have been tempted to deep fry Leonard's brain, but to his credit his composure didn't waver under her stare. He almost appeared to be more comfortable under that gaze. It was familiar, he knew what to expect from it, but the smiling? The lightheartedness? The caring? That was uncharted territory for him, made him fidgety. It's why he could never trust kind people like Ray, Kara, and especially Barry. That's what Deserey figured, anyway. "I won't stoop to his level!" Though, it was unclear who's level she was talking about -- Non's or Lord's?

"Well, better think of something fast." Carter's jaw was set. His knees were bent, wings springing from his back in one fluid motion, his mace clenched tightly in his fist. Life times of running and fighting, training, leading. It had all turned him in to a fierce warrior. The battlefield was the only home he had ever truly known. "He's coming back around..."

At first, there was only a blur carried by a gust of wind; then there was the dirt that was kicked into the air as Non came to an abrupt halt, his feet hovering just above the ground. His wrinkled face frowned, those dead eyes flicking between the humans with lackluster movement. "These are the best of your world?" To say he was unimpressed would be an understatement. He was, quite frankly, underwhelmed. "These people? These broken, uncoordinated, stupid, useless humans?"

"Oh. Ouch," Dez sneered, placing a hand over her heart in the most dramatic way she could manage. "That hurt my feelings." There was a time those words would have hurt. Hell, maybe they still stung the slightest bit, but she was learning things, traveling with the Legends. She was learning she didn't have to listen jerks like him anymore, she didn't have to hear words like that. Over the last several months she had done more than any ordinary person could ever hope to accomplish. She'd fought terrorists, evil Russian scientists. She'd taken on evil dicks from the future and whack-o bird monsters. Hell, she had even single handledly taken down a bunch of aliens when the Legends had first arrived on Earth 38. She was learning she was pretty fucking awesome.

"I don't do feelings," Mick growled. In one quick motion, his Heat Gun was raised; flames shot out of the barrel, hurtling towards Non. He was closer to the ground this time, but of course when the fire hit him it did diddly squat. Not even so much as a singe on the bastard's cape. The attack only managed to piss the arsonist off and further Non's distaste for these ragtag humans. So barbaric. So spiteful. It was a good thing he was wiping them out, he thought. He could have killed them all with the snap of his fingers. Too easy. He could take them down at any time, he was sure, so he decided to have some fun with them first.

"Uh...guys...?" Ray's timid voice called through the com system.

Then there was Jax's frantic, "Yo, we got a problem up here!"

Five figures appeared on the balcony of Cat.co. Each of them stepped on to the ledge, and even from the ground Deserey could see their stoic expressions. Oh God. No time to think. By the time Deserey realized what was happening, they were already jumping, already falling. In the blink of an eye, Supergirl leapt off the ground and into the sky, Carter and Kendra not far behind her. The two hawk warriors hovered a few feet in the air, quickly catching two of the people as they soared down, blank faced. Kara easily snatched up a third, but missed when she went to grab the last two people.

Dez's heart jumped up her throat. All she could do is stand and watch, uselessly as the two fell faster and faster, it seemed. Yet, somehow, simultaneously the fall seemed to last a life time. Kara's cry of, "No!" echoed, ringing in Dez's ears. It was all too close to home.
Fortunately, relief came quick, like the tides of the sea on the beach. The Atom and Firestorm emerged from the Cat.co building, each flying faster than Dez had ever seen either of them fly before. They caught the two remaining people just before they hit the ground.

"Missed one." And just like that, all the relief dissipated. There was a sixth person, one that Deserey hadn't noticed before, not until it was too late, and judging from the looks on the others faces they hadn't seen them either -- they hadn't saved them either. "Do not stand against me." It was a drone doing the talking, one of the people who'd jumped from the balcony -- a dark skinned man with vacant brown eyes (they must have been enticing when he was able to think for himself) -- but it was Non's words. Another drone spoke up, another from the group swan dive -- this one a short man, white, brown hair, easily pinned as a computer geek. "Or more will die." Deserey thought the threat was mostly aimed at Kara.

The Black man stepped forward, staring at Kara coldly. They must've been close, if Kara's expression was anything to go by -- her eyes were shattered. "Everyone you know, love, and care for will die." He placed his hands on either side of Supergirl's neck, the Legends getting rather fidgety. They were ready for a fight, despite the threats, in spite of the failure. They'd failed before, it never stopped them. Why should it now? At least, they weren't going to let this world lose it's beacon of hope just because they were a bunch of screw ups. Still, they didn't attack. Not yet. This man, however threatening, was innocent. He wasn't in control of himself. "Accept defeat, Kara Zor-El. I have already saved National City. Next, I will save the world."

With that said, the survivors from the jump marched their way back into the Cat.co building, as if nothing has happened. Non was gone too, the coward running off to hide in his bad guy HQ no doubt. Though the loss weighed heavily on them all, Ray and Kara were the most effected by the innocent they couldn't save, that sixth person no one seen fall. Ray gently bent down, closing their eyes. Kara muttered something under her breath, a kryptonian prayer Deserey guessed. She closed her eyes, silently wept. It wasn't the first time she had seen someone die, it wasn't even the first time someone had died because of her, but that knowledge didn't make things any easier.

There was a moment of silence, or maybe it was just the fact that no one dared to speak, lest the inevitable argument between the Legends ensued. Maybe they just didn't have the energy to argue this time. It was their fault. Someone should have noticed. They should have saved them. But it was too late. The silence was only broken by the ring of a phone. Kara's. She dug into the pocket of her skirt, clearing her throat, smoothing out her hair and taking a few steps away.

Deserey could still hear her side or the conversation, though. "I'm fine." They'd only met a few hours ago, but even she wasn't convinced by that lie. The person on the other end of the phone apparently thought the same thing, because Kara said, "Yes." And after a short sigh she asked, "Did you get to Cadmus? Did you and Hank find your dad?" Cadmus? Hadn't someone mentioned a Hank earlier?

"Where are you now? ... Stay there. If you come to National City, Myriad will take over you too... I'm not alone. I'm, uh, with Ms. Grant... Maxwell Lord protected her...and himself....yeah, well, I don't really have a choice. You don't know what it's like here, it's my only option. Besides, I have the Legends too...from Barry's world, yeah..." She trailed off for a moment, her blue eyes glassy, flickering back and forth. "I love you, Alex."

When they got back inside Cat.co Lord spilled the beans. His big plan -- a kryptonite bomb to off on Non and all his men. Supergirl and Superman would have to skip town for roughly fifty years, he'd admitted, but it was a small price to pay for saving the world. So he said. When Kara expressed concern for the people of her city, the rich douche confessed it would kill eight percent of the city's population. Too many people. Way, way too many people. "Eight percent of four million people. That is over three-hundred thousand people, Max!" Cat cried.

"Versus the seven billion people on the planet that Non wants to turn into zombies," Lord pointed out. Martin cringed slightly at the word "zombies." Dez just assumed he was still hung up on that sixth person no one could save. She was anyway. Lord shrugged carelessly. This was war, after all, casualties were to be expected.

Cat glanced at Supergirl, hands on her hips. "Are you seriously considering this?"

"We can't!" Ray cried before National City's hero had a chance to speak. He was by far the best of the Legends. In a world (or multi verse) where everyone and everything tried to lead people astray, Ray had somehow managed to stay on the path of purity the whole way through. He never wavered, never doubted what he believed in. He was the purest of pure, but he wasn't weak. If anything, his innocence made him that much stronger, that much braver. He knew what to fight for. "We already have a plan. Just let me finish working with the satellites and --"

"It's taking too long. We need to act now!" Lord insisted.

"We cannot risk our own humanity in doing so!" Martin spoke up. "I realize this is a war, but can't we maintain our honor?"

"I'd rather maintain my life, Professor," Mick shrugged. He'd gotten a beer from somewhere and was sipping it slowly. Maybe he'd snuck away to the Waverider to retrieve it or maybe he'd had it in his pocket this whole time. It was hard telling with him. Mick Rory was one of the most complex men Deserey had ever seen, sort of like fire she supposed. Unpredictable, untamable. Dangerous. Yet somehow warm and comfortable. A loyalist to the very end. A good friend. Someone you didn't want to cross. Underappreciated in his time. An enigma if nothing else.

The professor stared at the arsonist with wide eyes, alarmed. Always so analytical, hysterical at times, arrogant at others. But good nonetheless. A clear view of what is right and what is wrong. He had a tendency to push boundaries, push beyond the breaking points, but he wasn't unethical. In his case age truly did mean wisdom. And experience. In another life he could have been someone's Uncle Iroh, maybe.

"That's messed up, man." Then, there was Jax. Young, headstrong Jax with a heart of gold and a will made of iron. Young, but not naive. He could do anything the rest of them could and more. Smart, quick witted. He wasn't just some kid. He was, in many ways, the bravest of them all, and one could have argued he had taught the rest of them a great deal about courage, about standing up for what you believed was right.

"Look, I don't like it either, but it's the only play that makes sense..." Sara sighed.

Leonard hummed softly. He was sitting on a table top, one vacant of zombified persons, examining his fingernails. Something about the perch reminded Deserey of a cat, a rather comical comparison in the midst of such a horrific event. "Just like Rip wanted you to off Stein back in Russia..."

"What?" Martin cried.

"It was only if things went south! We weren't going to tell you!" Sara glared at Leonard, who merely shrugged.

"You were going to kill me??" Martin gaped at Sara, then Rip. "You told her to kill me?!"

"Is that really the biggest issue here?" Rip asked sheepishly.

"Yes!"

Before they could go on any further, Kendra broke it up. She had her arms folded in front of her, hair tucked behind her head. After years, life times, of being ripped to shreds, lost and confused, there she was, standing strong in spite it all. Defying it all. Sure, there were times, like at the pentagon or when she went psycho on Mick, when she lost control. But that was to be expected after everything she'd been through. She was strong, not because she was always in control or because she could fight ten, big muscler men at once the way Sara could. Her strength came from somewhere else. She was strong because she kept pushing forward, in spite of that nagging sense of apathy that threatened to overwhelm her. She was strong because she moved on.

The group argued pros and cons of Lord's plan for a while longer. Morality hero crap as Leonard had put it. No one wanted to destroy the whole city, but it was looking more and more like they would have to. Still, it didn't feel right. Not to the Legends, and certainly not to Kara, who had remained eerily quiet since the whole argument began. Her whole "I'll find another way!" thing she'd given Leonard and Rip earlier slowly fading away. "It's your city," Sara told Supergirl at some point. "Your world. It's your call." They split up, needed to think things through. The Legends gathered at the back of the spacious office floor, next to a group of drone zombies. Kara was on the balcony. Cat was lurking. Lord had left to his facility to get the bomb ready, apparently deciding he didn't need permission to be a murderous asshole. Things were looking pretty bleak.

"Maybe Non was right," Kendra said quietly. "We're not the best of this world, we're not even the best of our own world."

"We couldn't save that person," Ray added gloomily. "Not to mention every time we try to save people something goes wrong."

"Maybe we're in over our heads here..." Carter said, looking guilty for even saying it. But no one argued the idea. The hope, that spark of life that always seemed to fuel the Legends, however whacky, it was fading fast. They were losing faith in themselves, shifting into those self loathing, destroyed things everyone always said they were. Deserey was sick of it. Sick of being sad and angry all the time, sick of feeling lonely and inadequate. Of all of it. Like hell she was going to be shoved down, not anymore. No one controlled her life, it was finally, completely hers.

"Bullshit," Dez snapped. Everyone turned to stare at her with wide eyes, a few of her team mates opening their mouths to comment, but she barreled on not giving them the chance to interrupt her, lest she lose the fire ignited within her. "I mean, sure, we're broken and uncoordinated. He was right about that. And we do mess up a lot, I admit. We've doomed the world more times than I can count --"

"Are you going somewhere with this?" Leonard sighed, a hint of a glare beginning to form.

"You can't paint a picture with just one color," Deserey said.

"Meaning what exactly?" Jax frowned at her, eyes big and a bit childish. But the spark was back, however small. Sometimes, all it took was a few words of encouragement.

Deserey shifted, letting her eyes run over every one of her team mates in turn. She had grown to love each of them so much in such a little amount of time. They had all helped her so, so much, in more ways than one, some not even knowing what they'd done for her. It was because of them she was able to find a good place, a place where she actually kind of didn't mind herself. How could they possibly think ill of themselves? It was baffling. "We don't need to be in history books to be great, to be legendary, I mean -- shit! Just look at what we've already done!"

She waved her hand around, gesturing skyward towards the roof where the Waverider was perched still. "We stopped an immortal mad man and an actual evil scientist from taking over the Cold War. We saved Norway from a nuclear bomb, and rescued a bunch of kids from Sire Douchington III."

"Half of those problems only happened because we started them," Mick reminded.

Deserey waved the comment away. "So what? We're people, we screw up. Some more than others, but so what? Big deal! So, one a-hole says a few mean things. He took one look at us and decided we weren't worth his time, that we were nothing. He's underestimating us. He hasn't seen what we can do, he hasn't seen what we've done. He's just another dickwad who thinks he knows us better. And frankly, if y'all haven't figured out how epic you are by now, then..." She shrugged. "I don't know what to tell ya."

Cat Grant took a step forward, giving a curt nod at the Legends. "She's not wrong." And now all eyes were on her. She wasn't complaining though. "I haven't known your group very long, but I know how to spot potential as soon as it walks through the door." She shrugged. "I may not know your stories -- daddy issues, not enough positive reinforcement, bullies, lost loved ones, I'm sure you all have some tragic back story that makes you doubt yourself. They always do." The Legends shifted, their own individual nervous ticks on display for all to see. Each of them in turn were thinking of the ones they couldn't save. Anna, Ronnie, all the innocent people that couldn't be helped. Maybe the people she'd assassinated in Sara's case.

Cat twirled around the office a bit, her eyes rolling around to the back of her head as she did so. "Do you think I became the Queen of all Media by sitting around whining like a bunch of self loathing teenagers?"

Her harsh gaze landed on the Legends; they squirmed under her stare. "No. I had to claw my way up from the very bottom. I had to climb right out of the gutters. Greatness isn't easy. It isn't supposed to be easy.
"You have to work for it, you have to earn it. That's why not everyone can be great, it's too hard. The easier thing to do would be to lay down and admit defeat. Unfortunately, that isn't an option for anyone in this situation, is it?

"So whatever tragic heartache mumbo jumbo is holding you back, you need to stow it. You cannot allow yourselves to fall apart every time you fail, it's what they want, it's what they expect! It's why they try so hard to stunt your potential. But you make history, my dears, not the other way around. Push passed it, whoever broke you, whoever told you you wouldn't amount to anything, shove their words down, and be great anyway. Do it for the sake of this world and your own. Earn the name Legends, here and now."

The spark was back. Ray was sitting up straight, visibly inspired by Cat and Deserey's words. The others were more subtle, but it was still clear as day they were feeling better, giving nods of agreement, claps of hands on each others backs, even just staring intently and actually listening to everything being said.

"Supergirl needs your help," Cat went on, "this city needs your help! And I have no intentions of becoming a mindless drone today! I have already seen your potential. It's time you see it in yourselves." Her green eyes, sharp and intense as ever, ran over the Legends, checking that they were indeed inspired, before giving another brief nod of approval. "Now if you'll excuse me, it seems I need to go work my magic on Supergirl as well." With that, she stalked off to the balcony to inspire National City's favorite hero.

Leonard made a face as soon as she was gone. Maybe it was a mask, put on to hide the fact that he was actually feeling something positive for a change. "Ugh," he complained. "Hope speeches."

"God damn right hope speeches!" Dez said a bit too loudly.

He rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything further. A few moments later, Kara came back out, Cat trailing behind her. She had a new light in her eyes as well; Cat was looking ever so smug behind her, happy to take all the credit for the hero's inspiration. Though to be fair she did have a great deal to do with it. "I have an idea," Kara said.