Winn has a new invention, M'yrnn starts sharing his memories with J'onn, Oliver and Kara work on getting home, Alura bonds with William, and the priestesses continue with their plan.

***

"I don't suppose there's any way to know when the Legionnaires will arrive?" Slade asked Mon-El as they leaned against the main console at the D.E.O.

"Unfortunately, no," Mon-El sighed. "I'm basically the kid watching out the window."

Slade nodded, then tilted his head when he heard cheerful whistling. He and Mon-El turned to see Winn saunter into the room, then attach something to his belt. A shimmer of energy went up him, then he turned to the nearest agent. "Yo, Demos! Punch me." Both the Daxamite's and the Australian's eyebrows shot up, which was similar to the surprise on the other agent's face as he turned in his chair to look at Winn. "You heard me," Winn nodded. "Punch me!"

Demos grinned, jumping out of his chair. "Finally!"

"Seriously?" Winn blinked. "You're not even gonna ask – "

Demos threw a right hook at his stomach, but the shimmer of energy appeared, and Demos hissed, shaking his hand and looking at Winn in surprise. Slade tilted his head in surprise, and Mon-El grinned. "I have to admit, I was not expecting that."

"Eh?" Winn grinned and did a turn on the spot. "Huh? Eh?"

"You know, that wasn't as satisfying as I'd imagined," Demos frowned. "And I've imagined it. What happened?"

"An omnidirectional, self-maintaining, subatomic personal shield," Winn declared, showing them the device on his belt. "Boom!"

"That could be very useful," Slade said, impressed. "How does it work?"

"Oh," Winn pulled a notebook towards him. "You know what? Here." He drew something out, then gestured to it. "Check it."

Demos raised an eyebrow. "That literally looks like nothing."

Winn looked like he'd been insulted. "Dude! It's a frequency conversion . . . you know what, don't worry about it," he waved it off. "It's all good. Point is, I invented it, and considering the close call Deathstroke and Black Wolf had with that ammo the other day, I thought I would try and whip up something that could protect those who protect and serve. It's like a magnet for atoms."

"Nice idea, Winn," Mon-El nodded.

"As happy as I was to stop that bullet from hitting her, I'd like to avoid that again," Slade agreed.

"You're a genius," Demos smiled, offering a high-five.

Winn laughed giddily as he high-fived him. "Change the world, that's what I do. Oh!" He took it off his belt and tossed it to Demos, who fumbled before catching it. "Check it. You know what?" He tore the page out of the book. "You know what, this is top secret research."

"Enjoy!" Mon-El called after Winn as he left.

"I thought that would mean," Demos trailed off, holding the device out to Slade.

"My armor will do for now," Slade shook his head.

"And I'm bulletproof, so enjoy," Mon-El clapped Demos on the shoulder.

Demos considered the device in his hands, then grinned and headed back to his station.

***

J'onn took a deep breath, then walked into the room his father waited in. M'yrnn opened his eyes and looked at his son, who was draped in Martian robes like him. "I am ready, my son," he declared, extending his arm.

J'onn swallowed hard. "There's so much I wanna say to you, but I'm afraid that once we start, I won't get a chance to finish it all."

"No," M'yrnn shook his head. "Our thoughts, our words, will flow freely as we begin The Reach." J'onn nodded, then unlocked the cuff around his wrist. M'yrnn inhaled sharply, his eyes brightening. "My mind is free again," he marveled.

"Shall we kneel?" J'onn offered.

"Yes," M'yrnn nodded. J'onn followed his father's actions to kneel on the pillows set up for them. "The process will begin with my most recent memories, and travel back through my life, and then the lives of all those I am connected to," M'yrnn explained. "It will be painful at times as we venture back through my imprisonment. But we will break through those barriers, and you will touch the parchment of the sacred scrolls, breathe the air on Mars, moments after its creation."

J'onn inhaled, then nodded. "I am ready to face it all."

M'yrnn smiled proudly. "I never imagined that my memories, the history of our people and our religion, would live on when I passed. And now, all of it will in you." J'onn closed his eyes, and he reached out to touch the Staff of Kolar. "Let us begin," M'yrnn nodded, and waves of turquoise energy swept out of the staff and around them.

***

As Peace Officers escorted Thara out of the building, Kara took a deep breath. "Selena couldn't have known I was going to come back after she gave me the Harun-El. Not so soon, at least. She had to have another plan to get to Earth. Are there any other ships on Argo?"

"No," Alura shook her head. "They were all destroyed, and we've rebuilt nothing."

"Could the Legion help?" William asked, looking around. "You sent a message to them, right?"

"We did," Oliver nodded, holding up the disc in his hand. "Though looking at this, I don't think we'd be able to call them here."

Alura frowned, thinking hard. "All your father wanted to do was save us all."

"He built this dome," Kara gestured. "He saved Argo."

"He was looking for another way, but he never got it completed in time," Alura said slowly, starting to smile. "Maybe that's what Selena was planning on using. She knew it existed, she had years to get it working."

"Get what working?" Kara frowned.

"The transmat portal," Alura answered. "Your father had been developing it to get every Kryptonian off the planet before it exploded, but he failed."

"Where's this portal now?" Oliver asked, standing up from where he was sitting.

***

Alura led them deeper into the city, and Kara's breath caught when she stepped into the room. "Father's lab," she whispered in awe as lights flickered on. "I can't believe it's still here!" Oliver watched her dart around like a child in a candy store, exploring where her father had worked, and he automatically raised a hand to the ring around his neck, the one Zor-El had gifted Kara before she left Krypton. "I spent so many afternoons with him here," she smiled widely. "Sometimes, when he was working on a problem, he'd use me as a sounding board. He talked to me like I was another scientist." She turned and smiled at her mother. "He'd make me feel the most important person that ever existed."

Alura smiled back, wrapping her in a hug. "I wish I could've met him," William whispered to Oliver.

"Me, too, buddy," Oliver squeezed his shoulder. "But I'm glad we have Alura."

***

"The stage is set for the ceremony to bring forth Reign," Coville announced as he rejoined the priestesses.

Selena inserted the crystal next to the Sword of Juru, and the opening to Earth's core bubbled with fire. "Hold the Harun-El perfectly still when the transformation begins," she ordered.

Coville nodded and backed up. He picked up the rock and took a deep breath. "May my suffering appease the dark gods and grant us our salvation."

He held his hand over the opening, and he grimaced and grunted as the rock glowed purple, fire swirling around him. The priestesses circled him, chanting quietly in Kryptonese, then Selena returned to English. "Spirits unite as we ask the one true goddess of Old Krypton, Yuda Kal, to bring us our Goddess," she prayed. "To bring us our salvation. To bring us Reign!" The fire erupted in the symbol of the Worldkillers, and Coville cried out as he was thrown back. The chanting continued as the fire burned harshly, and Selena smiled widely. "She is born again!"

Coville stared at the mass of fire that was on the ground, and Selena frowned. "Something's wrong," she said. "She is unformed."

"She only has one bloodline," Ayala said. "Reign's. There should be three. She needs to embody the Trinity."

"Purity and Pestilence may be dead, but their blood still exists," Selena mused as Coville stumbled to his feet. "I can sense it. We need to find the blood of Reign's sisters to make her whole."

"I know where you can find it," Coville said.

***

"We're nearly done, OK?" Lena told Sam comfortingly. "You're doing great."

Ruby smiled at Sam. "You look better already."

Sam snorted and patted her daughter's cheek. "You're such a bad liar, but I am grateful for that."

"OK, Sam," Lena joined Alex as Max folded his arms. "I need you to count to three, and then look at us."

Sam nodded. "One, two, three." Alex tapped something on her tablet, and Sam tilted her head, frowning when she could still see all three. Lena waved her hand cautiously, and Sam snorted. "Yes, you're waving. Is that supposed to mean something?" Whatever she said made the three others look uncertainly at each other. "What?" Sam asked as Alex tapped her tablet again. "What's going on?"

"This is a refractive scatterfield," Max gestured. "In simple terms, it's an eye test. If your cells were expressing in a Kryptonian manner, then you wouldn't have been able to see us."

"Your eyes would've hurt just trying to even look through," Alex nodded.

"So the sun lamps aren't working?" Ruby's face fell.

Sam sighed. "OK, so what's next?"

"Environmental factors can influence gene expression, turning it on and off," Lena suggested. "Maybe the Harun-El can rewrite the process. I could take this blood back to the lab and see if the Harun-El will rejuvenate your cells."

Sam nodded, and Lena took the blood and walked off. "I'll see if I can help her out," Max told Alex.

She nodded, and Max squeezed her shoulder before following Lena. Alex watched them leave, then turned to Sam and Ruby as Ruby squeezed her mother's hand. "We're gonna figure this out," she said. "I promise, OK? Stay strong."

***

"That looks . . . " William trailed off, looking at the portal in front of them.

"Yeah, complicated," Oliver scratched the back of his head. "Cisco would have a field day with this."

"Well, we don't have Cisco, but I know a bit about transmat portals," Kara walked around it, then considered the controls. "And it doesn't look so bad. Selena had it mostly working."

"But even if we get it up and running, don't we need another portal to transport to?" William asked.

"The D.E.O. has one," Kara nodded.

"But we don't have a way to contact them," Oliver pointed out.

Kara frowned, then turned to Alura. "Are there any crystals here? I mean, maybe we can contact them the way we did Selena."

Alura turned around and inspected Zor-El's work area. "All he had are these," she picked one crystal up and handed it to Kara. "Kryptonian cache crystals, like the ones I put in your pod."

Oliver blinked. "Didn't you say the D.E.O. recovered your pod?" he asked Kara.

She grinned in response.

***

"Alert," the console in the D.E.O. said, making Mon-El and Slade look at it in surprise. "AI room engaged."

"AI?" Slade asked Mon-El.

"An artificial intelligence version of Kara's mother was in her pod, and it's here in the D.E.O.," Mon-El answered as the two of them walked through the building. "I don't think it's ever turned on by itself before."

"So that's not normal," Slade narrowed his eye.

"Nope," Mon-El agreed.

He entered one of the rooms Slade hadn't been inside to find Winn already inside and looking around. "Oh, so you got that alert, too?" the techie asked.

"Yeah," Mon-El looked around. "Nothing?"

"Nada," Winn nodded, tapping on his tablet.

Slade turned to leave, only to snarl and draw his gun on instinct when he came face to face with a shimmering projection of a dark-haired woman in an aqua gown. "Whoa!" Mon-El's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, God, no!" Winn gasped, Slade backing up and looking the hologram of Kara's mother up and down. "No! Oh, you're creepy. AI, malfunction, OK. Be gone!"

With a wave of his hand, the projection flickered out. Barely a second later, it sprung back up. "Is that supposed to happen?" Slade asked Mon-El.

"I have no idea," the Daxamite frowned uneasily.

"Will you stop, please?" Winn furiously worked on his tablet. "You're fully wigging me out."

"Winn?" the hologram suddenly spoke. "Winn, it's Kara. I need your help."

"OK," Winn stared at the hologram. "Not only are you now appearing at will, you are fully schizophrenic."

"Winn!" the hologram insisted. "Winn, listen to me. I am using cache crystals on Argo City to reach you. It is the only way we have of communicating from under the dome."

"Hang on, listen to her," Mon-El held out a hand, stopping Winn from doing anything.

"I know I sound like Alura, but it's Kara," the hologram continued. "My mom, Oliver, and William are with me. We're stranded on Argo. Sam's in trouble, and we believe that Reign is still alive."

Mon-El balked, and Winn looked creeped out. Slade looked between the two, and sighed, seeing that neither of them were immediately doing anything. He finally looked out the door and shouted, "Alex!"

There was a loud clatter from somewhere in the D.E.O., then the auburn-haired woman ran down the hallway. "What is it?" she asked, panting heavily.

"That hologram is saying it's Kara," he pointed at the shimmering form of Alura.

Alex blinked, stepping into the room and examining the hologram. "Kara, is that really you?" she asked.

"Yes," the hologram nodded. "Alex, this is an emergency."

"No, I feel like we need to give her, like, a test or something," Winn said. "Like, something only Kara would know."

"Little one, what did the wizard tease you about when we were first in Kasnia?" Slade interrupted.

"I looked like I was dressed for Halloween in black and orange," the hologram immediately answered.

Slade made a triumphant gesture. "Only three other people would know that."

"OK," Alex nodded. "Kara, tell me what's going on."

"Dark Kryptonians stole our ship and flew to Earth," Kara explained. "It turns out the Harun-El we used to kill Reign and save Sam split them apart. But Reign is only dormant, not gone. The Dark Kryptonian witches want to resurrect her and use her to terraform the Earth, turning it into a new Krypton."

Slade sighed. "Only you and Oliver, little one. Only you and Oliver have that kind of luck."

"OK," Mon-El pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's the plan? I remember the ship we took to Argo was the only one in the city."

"That's right," Kara nodded. "We need to get back to Earth. Father has a transmat portal, but we need to make it work."

"Transmat portal?" Winn brightened. "OK, I can help you set yours up, then we will get ours working, and then we can interface them. Yes!" He blinked. "And you are Kara, right?"

"Winn!" Alex and Slade hissed at the same time the hologram insisted "Yes!"

"Yes," Winn balked. "I knew that."

***

J'onn felt as though he was swimming in the knowledge he was being given. "How does it feel, my son, to now know all of the million moves on the Ok'Rock'Tock board?" M'yrnn asked.

"Enlightened, Father," J'onn smiled.

"Just don't share them with your imaginary friend, Zook," M'yrnn smirked. J'onn smiled as his father's memories swept over him, but it quickly faded as he bowed his head. "These are happy memories," his father said. "They should make you happy."

"And they do, Father," J'onn assured him. "But they also remind me how much I'm going to miss you. Every moment that passes between us brings us closer to that eventuality."

M'yrnn smiled softly at him. "By the end of this, you will not feel loss, J'onn. You will feel complete. I promise."

"How do you know?" J'onn frowned.

"Because I know the hole that comes with not doing this, the way I felt when your mother was taken from me, when you were taken from me," M'yrnn answered. "Be patient, my son. Let the memories fill you up as they have filled me up."

"OK," J'onn nodded, closing his eyes.

***

"OK," Winn's voice rang out in the lab. "So we should really be able to talk now."

"Nice to hear you, Winn," Kara smiled as she fiddled with the multiple wires and consoles in the lab, Oliver crouched nearby to help if she needed it.

"You, too, and not you as your mother," Winn agreed cheerfully. "Ready?"

"Almost," Kara said. "I just need a few minutes to route the power from Argo's main grid."

"OK. Do you see a multi-phase descrambler which links to a power source?"

William and Oliver looked totally blank, but Kara twisted to look at the wires. "Uh . . . yeah, but the insulator is cracked." She scoffed. "Which means as soon as we go through the portal, the circuits will fry, which makes it a one-way trip."

"Well, here's to finding a ship that can take more people to Argo, because I really want to see where young Kara grew up as a Kryptonian."

"Winn, if you get us back as quickly as you can, drinks are on me and I'll tell you all about it," Oliver said.

"Really?" he sounded gleeful. "You know what, I am all for that."

"Then you'd better hold me to it," Oliver smiled at Kara, who giggled.

Alura smiled from where she and William sat, watching Kara and Oliver work together. "Your father is a good man," she noted.

"Yeah," William smiled happily. "Yeah, he is."

"He mentioned a woman named Samantha earlier," Alura looked at him. "Is that your birth mother?"

William swallowed hard. "Yes," he nodded, ducking his head. "She was. She was killed around when Dad started dating Kara."

Alura paled. "I'm so sorry," she hurriedly said, eyes wide as she looked up, almost expecting Oliver or Kara to hear them. "I didn't know."

"It's OK," William shrugged half-heartedly. "I didn't expect you to."

"Still," Alura swallowed. "I am very sorry."

"Thank you," William smiled at her. "I know you didn't mean any hurt by it."

He was quiet again, which made Alura tilt her head. She had spent time with her soon-to-be grandson while Kara and Oliver had explored Argo on her own. She had listened to so many tales from him and knew him to be talkative. Now he was so silent . . . why? "Has something happened, William?" she asked. "I haven't known you to be this silent."

William swallowed. "I called Kara my mom when we were attacked by that droid," he said in a small voice. "A . . . Kelex?"

"Yes," Alura nodded. "What troubles you about that? I understand that when she marries your father, she will be your . . . stepmother? Is that the correct term?"

"She will be," William nodded. "It's just . . . I called her that before they were married. I don't know if I'm betraying my mom by calling her that already."

Alura nodded in understanding. "I have watched the three of you interact during your stay here, William," she said. "And I have seen my daughter treat you as if you were her son of her own blood. To Kryptonians, nothing is more important to us than our family. And you are Kara's family, her son. I have every intention to see Kara marry your father, and I know that when I do, I will meet the family she has on Earth and the other woman who raised her as her daughter. That intimidates me slightly, but I know that does not make me any less Kara's mother, just like this Eliza Danvers is no less Kara's mother as well." She placed a hand on William's shoulder comfortingly. "Kara will be your mother, but I know she will always respect Samantha as the mother before her," she said. "There is no shame in that. Did Samantha meet Kara?"

"Yes," William nodded, smiling slightly. "They never said anything, but I think they were friends."

"Then I like to think Samantha would be happy with who you find yourself calling your mother," Alura smiled softly. "I hope so, anyway."

William considered. "I think she would, too," he said, then beamed up at her. "Thank you."

"You are welcome," Alura bowed her head.

There was a sizzling noise, then Kara cheered as the portal hummed with purple energy. "It worked!" she cheered. "The portal's on! Just fire it up and bring us home."

"All righty," Winn responded.

Before anything else happened, the feedback of alarms wailed in the lab, making Alura and William stand up. By the time they reached Oliver and Kara, the portal fizzled out of existence, making Kara look up in surprise. "Winn?" Oliver prompted. "Winn, what happened?"

"You guys," Winn gulped. "I think the Dark Kryptonians are here."

***

For some reason, I am loving writing Alura and William's relationship. They're cute together.

Two more to go!