And back to Earth-38! I really enjoyed this episode, though some parts more than others . . . and I definitely enjoyed one person far less than others.

Alex and Kara get ready for the bridal shower, J'onn goes to Mars, and Maggie shares a bit more about her past.

Enjoy!

***

"The loft looks great," Alex told Kara with a smile before grimacing as she looked at a poster board on the coffee table. "Now, if we could just burn this, then it would be perfect."

"No," Kara laughed. "Come on, it's adorable!"

"I don't know why I thought throwing a lesbian wedding shower would curb Mom's cheesy antics," Alex rolled her eyes.

"Nope," Kara giggled. "Gay, straight, whatever, Eliza will not be stopped until she digs up every bridal shower game since the beginning of time." She nodded when Alex held up a napkin advertising the shower, making a face. "You know what?" she asked, just to rub it in more. "You're gonna love bridal bingo."

"Kill me now, please," Alex begged, making Kara burst out laughing. "So, are we expecting anyone from Earth-1?"

"Ah, yes, Oliver and William will definitely be here," Kara nodded. "I think all the girls are hoping to make it, and it sounds like Malcolm and Quentin might try as well. All in all, most of the gang might be here."

"That's a lot," Alex blinked. "Wow."

"Well, any distraction from that FBI investigation is welcome," Kara wrinkled her nose.

"How's that going, by the way?" Alex asked in concern.

"I want to throw her into space," Kara answered, looking up. "She had William on her list of people to interview."

"William?" Alex's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!"

"Nope," Kara shook her head. "Oliver and I are not letting that happen."

"Good," Alex nodded. "He does not deserve to be interrogated by an FBI agent."

"Absolutely not," Kara shook her head, then took a deep breath. "OK, enough about my life on Earth-1. This is about you and Maggie. This is supposed to be happy."

"Right," Alex chuckled. "Happy times."

They nodded, then Kara straightened when there was a knock at the door. "Oh, Eliza's early," she remarked, heading for the door.

"OK," Alex blew out a breath.

"Hi!" Kara began cheerfully as she opened the door, only to blink when she saw it wasn't Eliza. "Oh, J'onn! Come on in! Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, yeah," J'onn nodded, but he seemed distracted as he entered. "Everything's great. I just . . . I just needed to talk to you both." He turned to them. "I have to go away for a few days. I'm gonna need you both to manage the D.E.O. until I get back."

"Where are you going?" Kara asked in concern.

J'onn steeled himself. "Mars."

"Mars?" Alex's jaw dropped.

"M'gann sent me a message," J'onn nodded. "She needs my help."

"Help with what?" Kara frowned.

"Message was short, urgent," J'onn shook his head. "I tried to make contact, but I couldn't reach her, but I can sense that she's in danger."

"No, J'onn," Kara shook her head. "You're the last Green Martian. The Whites have been trying to kill your kind for centuries! Going back would be a suicide mission!"

"Look, M'gann came to our aid when we were in need," J'onn looked up at her. "I must go for M'gann."

"If you're going to Mars, then Kara is going with you," Alex stated.

Kara immediately nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

J'onn shook his head just as quickly. "I won't have you endanger your life just to fight my battles."

"Your battles are my battles, J'onn," Kara fixed him with a steely look.

"I can't take you away from Alex's shower!" he protested.

"Are you kidding?" Alex scoffed. "If I thought that I could survive Mars, then I'd be right there fighting by your side."

"J'onn," Kara walked forward. "If Krypton still existed and I had to go back to where my parents were buried under rubble, I know you wouldn't let me do it alone."

J'onn sighed and nodded in acceptance, making Kara smile.

***

"Shouldn't we just call Winn to fire up the transmat portal?" Kara asked as she and J'onn walked down the street, Kara in her Supergirl suit.

"No, you can't transmat planet to planet without a gate on the other side," J'onn shook his head, stopping in front of a garage. "We'll have to get to Mars the old-fashioned way."

Kara raised an eyebrow when the garage door went up and the lights turned on, revealing a bright blue car with white leather seats. "It's a cool car," she remarked. "So, is this like an elevator to a secret hangar that'll take us – ?"

"No, it isn't," J'onn shook his head, opening the driver's side door.

Kara blinked. "This is your ship?"

"Yup," J'onn nodded.

" . . . we're taking this to Mars?"

"Yes, we are."

"OK," Kara shrugged, opening the door to get in.

"Careful with the leather there, Supergirl," J'onn added when she went to sit.

"Sorry," she held up her hands placatingly, listening to the radio as J'onn got it working. "There's no seatbelt."

"It's from a different era," J'onn reminded her.

"And a different planet."

J'onn raised an eyebrow at her. "I come from a race of shapeshifters, Kara. Why shouldn't our technology shapeshift, too?"

Kara thought it over, then nodded in agreement. "Fair enough."

J'onn smirked, blasting rock music from the radio as they cruised out of the garage, and Kara watched with excitement as the car shifted into a spaceship and took off for Mars.

***

"Eliza, the lasagna is incredible," Maggie complimented that night as she ate dinner with Alex and Eliza. "Alex and I order in so much, I forgot what real food tastes like."

"Thank you," Eliza smiled. "It is the girls' favorite. I'm just disappointed Kara couldn't be here. I know whatever she is doing with J'onn is important, but I just . . . I do worry about her."

"It'll be interesting when Oliver gets here, and you meet the boyfriend when she's not here," Alex giggled slightly.

"Oh, come on, Oliver faced down Lillian Luthor," Maggie playfully swatted Alex's shoulder. "Surely he can handle your mother."

"Who is also Kara's adoptive mother," Alex reminded her. "What's not scary about that?"

"Well, if what I've heard from you and from Clark is correct, I shouldn't have anything to worry about when I meet Oliver," Eliza smiled. "Now, this weekend is about happy matters of the heart. And I did want to make a bridal board for you, too, Maggie, but Alex said you have no childhood pictures."

The smile froze on Maggie's face. "No," she confirmed.

"If you don't mind my asking, how long has it been since you've talked to your parents?" Eliza asked softly.

"Um," Maggie swallowed. "Since I was 14."

"You know what, Mom?" Alex cleared her throat. "Let's just talk about something else."

"No, no, Alex, it's OK," Maggie shook her head, then took a deep breath. "Um . . . I told a girl at school that I liked her, and my parents found out. I came home that day . . . it was winter, and my dad was there with a suitcase, and he told me to get into the car, and we drove in silence. And I just stared out the window, looking at the icicles on the trees, and I was terrified to say anything. But finally, I said . . . I said 'Papi, what did I do?' And he just looked at me with such contempt and said . . . 'you shamed me.' And then he pulled up to my aunt's house, and left me with my suitcase." She swallowed hard. "That was the last thing that my father said to me."

"The only thing shameful about that story is how your father treated you, Maggie," Eliza told her firmly.

"Yeah," Alex nodded in agreement, hugging Maggie tightly. "Yeah."

Maggie smiled slightly, closing her eyes and letting Alex comfort her.

***

Kara followed J'onn through dark caves, J'onn using a flashlight to see. "What now?" she asked.

"I think we're here," he answered, looking at the metal door in front of them. It slid open, and J'onn's eyes widened when he saw the woman waiting on the other side. "M'gann!"

"J'onn!" she beamed, running forward to hug him. "You came! I wasn't sure that you would."

"I'd do anything for you, M'gann," J'onn kissed her cheek. "You know that."

M'gann smiled, then blinked when she saw the blonde alien behind him. "Kara? You didn't have to – "

"You came when we needed you," Kara smiled.

M'gann smiled back, accepting the answer, then turned when she heard growling come from behind them. "Till'all," she warned.

J'onn narrowed his eyes when a group of White Martians approached, then one of them shifted back into human form. "If he's worried about the sight of White Martians, he came to the wrong planet," he spat.

"Meet Till'all, one of our best fighters," M'gann gave him a look. "But his bedside manner could use some work." She nodded as a young woman came forward next. "And N'keyy, a new recruit."

"It's an honor, J'onn J'onzz," she smiled. "M'gann's told us about you, how you inspired her to rise up and – "

"Enough," Till'all spat. "We've already wasted a day trying to bring him here."

"Wasted?" Kara repeated angrily. "We came all this way to fight alongside you!"

"We didn't bring you here to fight!"

"Silence, Till'all," M'gann narrowed her eyes. "That's an order."

"What's going on, M'gann?" J'onn asked, turning to her.

"We recently stormed a White Martian base near the D'ori'i crater," she answered.

"There was a prison camp there, for Green Martians," N'keyy added.

"There were dozens of camps," J'onn frowned.

"Well, this one was still in operation," Till'all shook his head.

"How is that possible?" Kara asked in confusion.

"I'm the only Green Martian left," J'onn agreed.

"No," M'gann shook her head. "There's another one." She beckoned, leading J'onn on. "I brought you here because I didn't think you'd believe me unless you saw this for yourself."

Kara followed the two Martians to a chamber nearby, and Kara frowned when she saw J'onn stop in shock as he saw the hooded Green Martian inside. "J'onn? Who is it?"

"It's my father," he answered in awe. "It's him . . . he's alive!" He turned to M'gann hopefully. "My wife, my daughters?"

M'gann, however, shook her head sadly. "So they kept him and only him alive for hundreds of years?" Kara asked. "Why?"

"M'yrnn J'onzz is the high religious leader of the Green Martians," M'gann answered.

"Not even the worst of the Whites would kill the prime servant of H'ronmeer," N'keyy nodded.

"Instead, they sentenced him to a fate worse than death," J'onn said angrily. "Alone for centuries, thinking he was the last of his kind, of his people!"

"Soon, they'll all be dead," Till'all told him. "We're running out of time."

"What does he mean?" Kara frowned.

"We believe your father knows how to find the Staff of Kolar," M'gann told J'onn.

"You can't be serious!" J'onn protested.

"Staff of what?" Kara looked around, confused.

"Kolar," N'keyy answered.

"It's a myth, it's a parable," J'onn shook his head. "My father used to tell me stories about it. Be a good boy, or H'ronmeer will strike you down. It isn't real!"

"It is," M'gann insisted. "And the White Martians have found out where it's buried."

"The staff of your god H'ronmeer is a psychic weapon," N'keyy told him.

"Which means that if the Whites find it, they can track down every resistance fighter and kill us where we stand," Till'all added. "We'd be helpless."

"We raided their base, hoping to find the staff's location, but they had already moved on," N'keyy told him. "Your father had been left behind. They didn't realize how valuable he'd be to us."

"Valuable?" J'onn echoed. "What are you talking about?"

"We believe he knows where the Whites are planning to dig," M'gann answered.

"Won't he tell you where it is?" Kara asked.

"He has closed his mind to us, completely," M'gann shook her head. "We can't read it."

"He is willing to let us die, and he calls himself a man of God," Till'all scoffed.

"That man of God was tortured for centuries by your people," J'onn snarled.

"Then you understand what is at stake!" Till'all countered. "If we don't find the staff first, our resistance is finished, and then the monsters who slaughtered your people get this planet, once and for all."

"We need you to go to your father, J'onn," M'gann told him. "Convince him to help us, and then we can save Mars, together."

Kara looked over at J'onn, who seemed torn about what to do.

***

This will probably be the last bit of Mars we see before the ending. It's just Kara and J'onn on Mars, which means nothing really changes from the episode. We will catch back up with them at the end, though.

Most of the action will be back on Earth when Team Arrow arrives. That might be up tonight!