Alex learns something is still wrong with M'yrnn, Kara, Oliver, and William have a close call, the team in National City get to work, Kara might be paranoid, but Oliver's always there to reassure his fiancée.

Enjoy!

***

Alex snickered into her hand as she listened to the music playing in the J'onzz apartment. "Kara always hated the opera." J'onn smirked as he listened. "But I'm sure that if she had heard Puccini, she would absolutely love it."

"Yeah, I miss her, too," J'onn said fondly. "Hey, you know, you should come with us to the opera next week. The complex rhythms and orchestrations of the music, I think really benefited my father's memory." He turned to where M'yrnn was walking in from the dining room. "Isn't that right, Father?"

"I cannot go," M'yrnn shook his head.

J'onn blinked. "No, I was just telling Alex about your love of opera," he elaborated, Alex tilting her head from where she sat. "She may come with us next week."

"You should not make plans for me, J'onn," M'yrnn told him. "That is what I was speaking about when you asked about my mind."

J'onn frowned in confusion. "Why not, Father?" he asked. "You've been so lucid lately. He's been better than he has been for weeks," he added to Alex.

"The surge of clarity that comes right before the end," M'yrnn nodded. "I've been wanting to tell you, my son. The time has come for us to perform The Reach."

J'onn did a double take in shock. "The Reach?" Alex repeated, standing from her chair.

"An ancient rite on Mars," M'yrnn explained. "The elder generation passes down their memories, their knowledge, all the experiences of their life, before they pass."

"You are not passing anytime soon, Father," J'onn shook his head in denial. "You are better."

"I am not," M'yrnn denied right back. "And if we don't begin The Reach before the beginning of my end, all of my Mars memories will be lost forever."

J'onn swallowed hard. "Alex, will you please tell my father he's nowhere near his end?" Alex bit her lip, fidgeting in place. "Alex, please tell him!"

"J'onn, that's not my place to say," she whispered sadly. "I mean, only your father knows."

"And I do know," M'yrnn nodded. "The time we've spent together these past months have been the most joyous of my life. But all the memories we've preserved by doing the Ta'ar Ka'riq are at risk if we don't begin the process."

"We . . . " J'onn took a deep breath. "We will preserve them, Father. Just . . . just not yet."

Alex's phone pinged from where it rested on the table, and she hurriedly picked it up. "Oh, there's a situation at work," she winced. "I'm sorry, um . . . I have to go."

"I'll come with you," J'onn hurriedly said, looking at M'yrnn. "We'll talk about this later."

M'yrnn nodded, putting his hand on his son's shoulder. "We'll talk about this later."

J'onn smiled tightly, then followed Alex out of the room.

***

"It hurts me to see a masterpiece in ruins, man," Winn mourned, looking down at James's shield while the other man gripped his shoulder. "It's like the Picassos that went down with the Titanic, you know?"

The door to the armory opened, and J'onn stepped inside. "I heard you went into a bank robbery with some kind of concerning weaponry," he said, walking over. "Alien guns again?"

"I would say D.E.O. weaponry," James shook his head, pointing to the gun on the table. "This one, to be exact."

J'onn's eyebrows shot up. "A D.E.O. assault rifle?" he asked incredulously. "What? No, that's impossible. After Agent Schott's mother raided this place, I had every weapon in here microchipped."

"Look, J'onn, I saw it, I felt it," James said. "It was yours."

"Yeah, we even did a ballistics test out on the firing range with Slade's help," Winn nodded, grunting as he lifted James's shield up.

"Yeah, he shot this weapon at that shield from the same distance," James pointed.

J'onn looked at the bullets with a frown. "Which one was which?"

"Can't tell, can you?" James raised an eyebrow.

"Because the impact is identical," Winn nodded.

"That's just impossible," J'onn frowned. "We use proprietary technology, guns solely designed for our use!"

"Somebody shot this weapon at me and a cop, and he got away," James countered. "I just want to catch the guy, because if he has this one, he might have ten more. We are down one bulletproof superhero, and while we have another one, I suggest that we follow the only lead that we have at this point."

J'onn sighed, then nodded. "All right. Agent Schott, keep pushing with the ballistics. Check with Slade, see if it was this gun that was used."

"Yup," Winn nodded, putting the shield away.

"There's only one other place this gun might have come from," J'onn told James. "Let's go talk to the manufacturer."

***

Oliver would never get tired of the relaxed smiles Kara had on Argo. "Why are you smiling?" he asked, switching his gaze from William looking through the market stalls to Kara, who looked like she was floating on clouds.

"It just feels amazing to be normal," she answered, wrapping both arms around Oliver's. He put his free hand on hers, adjusting the umbrella they had so it covered both of them. "I'm actually relieved I can't fly. No one to save . . . do you hear that undetectable sound in the distance?"

"I've never been able to hear undetectable sounds in the distance," Oliver deadpanned.

Kara pouted at him. "You are no fun."

Oliver chuckled, kissing her temple. "I'm just saying, I can't hear anything."

"Neither can I!" Kara grinned giddily.

"Kara! Dad!" William called from nearby, waving quickly.

Kara tilted her head, recognizing the stall he was at. "That's where Mon-El and I got our cloaks when we first arrived," she said, guiding Oliver over.

"Kara Zor-El," the blonde woman curtsied quickly. "It's an honor."

"Oh, please, there's no need to do that," Kara blushed, making Oliver chuckle. "Who's your new friend, William?"

"This is Val," William answered with a smile at the curly-haired boy. "He said Mon-El saved him."

"Did he?" Kara's eyebrows shot up.

"With a device from his belt," Val's mother nodded.

"Must've been the same device he used for Armand's son," Kara realized.

Oliver shook his head fondly. "Guy can't help but save people no matter where he is. Are you feeling better?" he asked Val.

"Yes, sir," he nodded.

"Good," Oliver smiled. "He'll be happy to know – " He cut off when he heard a creaking sound, and after he looked up, he balked and grabbed Kara and William. "Watch out!"

The blonde woman grabbed Val, and the five of them rushed to the side before the structure behind them crashed down on them. As Val's mother fussed over her son and William scrambled to his feet, both Oliver and Kara looked around wildly. Kara was the one who saw what Oliver took a second longer to: a woman draped in a black cloak that turned and left the moment she was spotted.

***

"I hope I see you again," William hugged Val under the careful watch of their parents.

"Me, too," Val beamed up at him before running to join his mother.

William hurried back to where Oliver and Kara were standing with Alura. "Are they gonna be OK?" he asked in concern.

"They should be, buddy," Oliver nodded, ruffling his hair.

"I'm just grateful none of you were hurt," Alura looked over her family in concern.

"I'm so sorry," Thara joined them, now in her Peace Officer uniform. "Usually our construction sites are up to code, but it turns out, this one hadn't been inspected yet."

William frowned in surprise. "So, it was an accident?"

"Of course," Thara blinked.

As Kara and Oliver exchanged wary looks, Alura frowned in concern. "Why? What do you think it was?"

"I'm not sure," Kara admitted. "Um, I saw someone after it fell, running away."

"It could've been anyone," Thara pointed out.

"It's just, in my life, nothing happens for no reason," Kara sighed. "There are no accidents."

"That was on Earth," Alura gently reminded her.

Kara nodded, but she chewed her lip, still uncertain. Oliver frowned as he turned to Thara. "Do you think you could look into it further?" he requested.

"Of course," Thara nodded. "We'll get right on it."

"Thank you," Kara said in relief.

"I'll see you two later?" Thara looked between Kara and Oliver.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Of course," Oliver agreed.

As Thara walked off, Alura looked over Kara, Oliver, and William. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah," Kara nodded quickly. "Yeah, we're fine."

"OK," Alura nodded, walking off.

The three watched her go, then William looked up at Oliver and Kara. "Do you think it was actually an accident?"

"I'm not sure, buddy," Oliver put his hand on his shoulder. "But hopefully we'll find out."

"I just hope I'm not being paranoid," Kara sighed.

"Hey," Oliver wrapped his arm around her. "If I've learned anything, it's always listen to your instincts, and mine are saying the same thing yours are."

"Good," Kara leaned her head on his shoulder, and Oliver led them out of the marketplace.

***

"Thank you," J'onn told the assistant as he and James walked into the manufacturer's office.

"Mr. J'onzz, Mr. Olsen," Preston stood up to shake their hands. "Thanks for waiting."

"Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Preston," J'onn nodded. "We won't take up too much of your time. We just have a few questions."

"No problem," Preston nodded. "Our contract with your division of the FBI is one of our most important."

"Have there been any missing shipments of weapons?" J'onn asked. "Anything from your factories?"

"Absolutely not," Preston immediately shook his head.

"Well, the suspect used a weapon identical to one of Director J'onzz's assault rifles and used it to shoot at a police officer," James said.

Preston blanched. "Is the officer all right?"

"He will be," James noddd.

"That's a relief," he sighed. "Well, as for theories, the criminal may have purchased one of our Heel-14 rifles and modified it with a bump stock."

J'onn cocked his head. "I'm sorry, a Heel-14?"

"We designed a civilian version of the assault rifle we produce for you," Preston explained. "Not to worry, it's perfectly legal and in line with our contract. It's a hunting rifle."

J'onn scowled. "That is not a hunting rifle. Someone used a weapon we designed and used it against a police officer."

"And that is not your fault any more than it's mine," Preston shook his head.

"Yeah, but you can do something about it," James pointed out. "You can stop selling that weapon."

Preston frowned. "I have two thousand employees to pay. Taking any of our products off the market hurts every one of them. This is a family business, and our guns bring families together. I remember when my grandpa gave me my first hunting rifle and taught me how to shoot. It was an inter-generational experience, and it's my hope to help as many Americans as possible capture that feeling and pass it on to their children."

"Look, no one values families more than I do, but that is not for families," J'onn said. "That is for military personnel . . . trained officers, law enforcement." He took a deep breath. "All right, here's what's gonna happen right now. You are gonna hand over all documentation relating to the Heel-14, and you're gonna comply completely, 100% with our investigation. If you do not, we'll take our business elsewhere."

"Of course, I'll comply," Preston nodded with a chuckle. "I wouldn't dream of standing in the way of your investigation."

"Oh, you just dream of a world where everybody's armed to the teeth, right?" James raised an eyebrow.

Preston quirked an eyebrow. "And you dream of a world where every person reads CatCo magazine. We're both businessmen, Mr. Olsen."

***

James hid a smirk when a dramatic voice announced from the doorway, "I was summoned?"

"Actually, I asked if I could have a hand from someone, and given that Lena's eyes deep in helping Team Flash, I asked you two," he looked up to see Lucy smack Max on the back of the head as they entered.

"Well, that's why we're here with a mountain of pizza," Lucy said, carefully lowering the stack she was carrying onto the table.

"So, what're you working on?" Max tilted his head.

"I'm trying to track down a gunman by using the weapon that he used," James answered. "Clark did an expose on the gun epidemic for the Daily Planet years ago, and I'm trying to figure out how he was able to track a private sale of an assault weapon without a registry." He frowned, seeing the stacks of reading Max had with him. "What's that?"

"Well, I have my share of light reading to do, too," Max answered. "It's duplicating the black rock that was brought back from that meteor. I thought this could help."

"Ah, yes," Lucy nodded. "I hear that all the time: people don't like the government keeping track of the guns they own."

"I never really understood that argument, that someone's right to own an assault weapon is more important than someone's right to go to school safely," James frowned.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "I have a gun for self-defense. I have used it for self-defense."

"Am I going to be in the middle of a lover's spat?" Max looked up from what he had just opened.

"What about you?" James raised an eyebrow. "Are you one of those people that thinks that having a gun makes everybody safer?"

Max sighed. "I think it's been made clear that my opinion hasn't had that much weight with any of you in the hero department except recently, but in the right hands? Maybe that's the case, yes. But if that's what this is going to go into, can we agree to disagree or see each other's side as long as the other person sees ours?"

James looked back at Lucy. "I can see how you stood working with him."

"Well, bad company's better than none," Lucy shrugged.

"I resent that," Max grumbled.

"Well, at least you're listening to me," Lucy smirked.

"And at least someone gives me a decent conversation," Max riposted, then pointed at the pizza. "Can we start on those?"

"Yeah, I'm with Max," James eyed the mountain. "That is a lot of pizza."

"Sorry," Lucy blushed.

"It's fine," James chuckled, then barked, "Ms. Tessmacher!"

"Yes, Mr. Olsen?" the blonde hurried into the doorway.

"We are gonna need your stomach on at least two of these," James pointed at the boxes.

"Thank you," Eve smiled. "Could I get any of you anything?"

"Maybe a cup of coffee," Max tilted his head, looking through the pages of what he was reading. "This article on spontaneous fission is seriously dry."

"Scientists," Lucy rolled her eyes.

Eve blinked. "Is that the one by Forrester?" she asked, making Max look up in surprise. "Scientific Universe Journal?"

Max checked the title page. "Yeah," he told her.

"You need to check out Jen Steinmetz-O'Grady's work," Eve said. "I studied with her at Yale. Her brain is – " She mimed an explosion. "Beyond." Max's eyebrows shot up, but Eve smiled. "I'll be right back with that coffee."

As she rushed off, Max turned to look at James, who looked just as surprised as him. "Your personal assistant studied nuclear physics?"

James shook his head fondly. "There is nothing that surprises me about Eve anymore."

***

If William hadn't thought it would be the coolest thing ever to get his soon-to-be stepgrandmother to himself for the night, Oliver thought he would have complained that he and Kara were with Thara and Lir-Al for the evening. As it was, he was enjoying himself as he listened to Kara happily catch up with her best friend and her husband. "Did you find the gravity manipulator you were looking for?" Thara finally asked.

"Well, the guy said that was what it was," Oliver nodded. "He was sort of an oddball, though. Do you know him?"

Lir-Al snorted. "Ol-Irus," he nodded, and Thara hummed in agreement. "Everybody knows him."

Kara did a double take. "Ol-Irus?" she repeated. "Our schoolteacher?"

"Uh-huh," Thara nodded eagerly. "Do you remember that time he made us take home insect samples to study, and they reproduced by the hundreds in our houses?"

Kara burst out laughing, nodding in agreement. "Well, maybe you weren't so good at your insect homework, but I'm sure you are an amazing mother."

"Yeah, she is," Lir-Al smiled fondly.

"And your children?" Oliver asked. "Where are they tonight?"

"They're with the babysitter," Thara answered.

"Whose mother, Laura, is our landscape architect," Lir-Al nodded.

Thara groaned. "Lir-Al, please don't bring it up, it's all so distressing."

Oliver's eyebrows shot up, and Lir-Al leaned forward. "We're building a gazebo in our backyard. It's been carved out of this huge, beautiful piece of stone that was left from the wreckage."

"We couldn't have been more clear with Laura that we wanted it to face south," Thara continued.

"So that we could enjoy the lake off the orchard in the evening," Lir-Al nodded.

"And she's carved it in the wrong direction," Thara huffed.

"So, now we have this stone monolith in our backyard that's facing the woods," Lir-Al shook his head in disappointment.

"Nothing can be done about it," Thara sighed, taking a bite of her meal. "It's so tragic."

Kara tilted her head. "Well, I mean, it's not that bad."

"You'll see that the direction you're facing matters a great deal," Thara said.

The two other Kryptonians continued on, but Oliver noticed Kara's attention veered elsewhere. He took a sip of his drink and tried to see where she was looking, then blinked when she saw a flash of black disappear. "Uh, excuse me," Kara quickly stood up and left the table, moving through the restaurant.

Oliver quickly hurried after her, vaguely aware of Thara following him. "Hey!" Kara called, reaching out for the woman in black's hood. "Hey!" She whipped it down, making the woman turn and face her. "You were at the marketplace earlier, I saw you. Are you spying on me?"

"Kara, what's going on?" Thara frowned.

"She was there right after the crane fell," Kara answered.

"It's not true," the woman shook her head.

"I know what I saw!" Kara insisted. "Why do you want to hurt me? Tell me!"

"She's crazy," the woman looked at Thara sadly. "I did nothing."

Oliver narrowed his eyes. "You're lying," he deduced. Maybe they were aliens, but they were human enough that he could catch when someone lied.

Kara pointed victoriously at the woman. "Now you're gonna tell me who you are, and what you want with me, or I promise you, you will regret it."

"Kara, enough," Thara stepped between her and the other woman, looking at the woman in black. "Felra, go home." She raised her hood and left, and Thara turned back to both of them. "Her husband owns the grocery. I've known her for years. She would never hurt anyone, let alone somebody she's never met."

"Tell that to some of the people I've taken down in Star City," Oliver muttered under his breath, watching Felra like a hawk until she was out of sight.

Thara sighed. "Let's call it a night," she said. "Go home, get some rest."

Kara sighed, but nodded, and as Thara left, she turned to look at Oliver. "I'm not crazy, right?" she whispered.

"Definitely not," Oliver shook his head. "Come on, let's go."

***

"Have we identified any potential suspects yet?" J'onn asked the next afternoon, walking up to where Alex and Slade were bent over a tablet.

"Uh, not yet," Alex shook her head.

"We've been going through that list that you had from the gun manufacturer, but trying to locate the weapons like this is particularly hard," Slade said.

"Yeah, there's no digital trail, there's no paper trail," Winn joined them. "All we can do is actually call the individual retailers that sold the guns."

J'onn sighed. "Well, what are we waiting for? I want that guy found and off the streets as soon as possible before he can use that weapon on anybody else."

As he walked off, he heard Alex catch up to him. "You're not avoiding going home, are you?" she asked.

J'onn scowled. "No, I'm not," he shook his head.

Alex raised an eyebrow, then went back to her tablet. "OK."

***

Kara stared looking at the Dar-Essa flowers when Alura walked up to her. "Thara spoke with the owner of that construction site," she said. "The pillar fell because of a part the ywere having trouble with in the past. She also checked, Felra was at work when it happened, so if you saw someone suspicious, it wasn't her." Kara bit her lip, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her engagement ring. If Oliver had said Felra was lying, she was more inclined to believe him. After all, he had said Chase was someone who had acted like a friend, but he had ended up being an enemy who almost took so much away from him. "Kara," Alura sighed, sitting down next to her. "I know that being back here is an adjustment. The remnants of your home that you thought had been destroyed . . . believe me, I understand. I was haunted for a long time by the end of our planet. And the loss of your father . . . it wasn't easy to regain a sense of peace."

"So, how'd you do it?" Kara asked.

"Oh, it took time," Alura smiled.

Kara sighed, tucking her feet under her. "I'm so happy to be here with you and Thara," she said. "And yet . . . I do feel unsettled."

"Well, the accident yesterday didn't help," Alura said.

Kara shook her head. "I know it sounds crazy, but I don't think it was an accident. I think something's behind it, and I have always followed my intuition."

"Kara," Alura reached over and took her hand, "you've had to live your life as a warrior, surviving on a foreign planet, defending others. You have to take in the fact that maybe you don't have to live that way anymore. You've spent so much time taking care of others. Maybe it's finally time to take care of yourself."

Kara smiled sadly. "It's funny . . . my sister, Alex, she almost said the exact same thing."

"Well, I know why you love her so much," Alura grinned.

***

When darkness fell over Argo and all that she could see were candles and lanterns and dim lights in the city, Kara leaned on the railing of the verandah, letting the cool breeze blow past her. She took a deep breath and lowered her head, resting her forehead on her steepled hands. It felt so good to be on Argo's soil again, to be with the people she had thought were dead. But after everything that had occurred in just the past twenty-four hours . . .

"Kara?"

She lifted her head off her hands and looked behind her to see Oliver step outside, concern on his face. "Hi," she gave him a small smile.

"Hi," he responded in kind, walking up to her and putting a hand on her back. "What is it?"

Kara sighed and turned to look back out at Argo. "Thara found out that the pillar that fell on us had a faulty part," she said. "And Felra was working when it happened."

She could feel Oliver frown, even though she didn't see him. "So it was an accident?"

"I still don't think it was," Kara shook her head.

Oliver considered, then nodded. "OK."

Kara blinked, then looked up at him. "You're taking my word for it?"

"Angel, I don't believe it's an accident anymore than you do," Oliver shook his head. "But Argo is your home turf, not mine. If you say something is off here, I'd believe you over anyone else."

Kara laughed bitterly, shaking her head. "Tell that to Thara. She knows what we've done on Earth, both our Earths, but when my instincts say someone she knows isn't trustworthy, she doesn't accept it."

"Because she doesn't expect you to be a hero here," Oliver guessed, rubbing her back. "We didn't come here expecting that, either. This is supposed to be a break, a vacation."

Kara sighed. "Some vacation it's turned out to be."

"Hey," Oliver's hand slid down to grasp her arm, and she let him pull her up so they were eye to eye. "What we do on Earth, as heroes, that's not something we just automatically stop doing," he told her. "When Felicity and I left Starling City after Nyssa's father attacked, I tried to hang up the suit for good. That didn't last long when Damien Darhk arrived. You know how long I lasted before I took the suit back from John. These jobs we do, the instincts we develop for them, there's no off switch for them. They're always going to be there. We can take a vacation all we want, that just doesn't guarantee we won't turn off vigilante mode."

"I know," Kara nodded, averting her eyes. "I know, I just . . . I wanted you to see what was left of my home without having to worry about having to be vigilantes."

Oliver gently grasped her chin and lifted her face so blue eyes met green. "Kara, I have loved seeing what remains of Krypton," he whispered. "To hell with whether what's happened was an accident or not. Nothing is going to change that it means so much to me that you wanted me and William to come with you when you wanted to return. I've gotten to see what you're like with the mother you grew up with, your childhood friend. That's part of you I'm not sure I ever thought I would see, especially since we all thought Krypton was dead."

Kara swallowed. "I don't know if that Kara and the Kara from Earth are the same person anymore."

"Maybe they aren't," Oliver allowed. "We all had moments in our lives where we changed drastically. For me, it was when I was on Lian Yu. For you, it was after Krypton's destruction. Frankly, I don't care which Kara is in front of me right now. All I know is I love you, whoever you are, whether you're Kara Danvers who grew up on Earth or Kara Zor-El who grew up on Krypton. You are the exact same woman I fell in love with, and nothing is going to change that."

He kissed her softly, and as she melted against him, he pressed their foreheads together. "I love you, too," she whispered, closing her eyes. "So much."

Oliver kissed her again, harder this time. "And when we get back to Earth, we're going to get married for good," he told her. "We've waited long enough."

Kara snorted softly. "I think Alex might kill us if we wait longer."

"Well, she'll have to wait for us to get back," Oliver smirked, stroking her cheek. "But let's focus on now and not then."

"Yes," Kara agreed, accepting his hand when he held it out to her. "The rest of the world in the morning."

"I like the sound of that," Oliver nodded, following her back inside.

***

Happy Kariver. :) Well, a brief happy moment before everything goes to hell next chapter.

This is definitely my last update for the next few days because I doubt I will be able to get something finished considering my work schedule, but hang in there! Just a few more updates and it's on to the finales!