Chapter 85

Due to the high number of people exhausted, injured, or traumatized (or any mixture of the three), J'onn decides not to leave for a couple of days. Instead, they stay with the reinforcements and set up temporary camp. They don't have enough provisions for this many people to stay for too long, so they leave after three days of rest.

The walk back is much slower than the walk there. Even with all of the horses they have carrying or pulling injured and exhausted people, it's taking them twice as long. And as DEO agents, as knights, it's Alex and Maggie's job to make sure everyone can keep going. And if they can't, try to make the impact on their progress as minimal as possible. Usually that means calling over Kara to carry the person to a wagon with free space, or if they see one nearby, carrying the person themselves.

Everyone's working together to get back to the Danvers castle in one piece, and oftentimes there's someone who an agent may not realize is about to drop and someone by that person will grab the nearest knight. Lena helps when she can with whatever the people will allow. She doesn't touch anyone without their consent, but does end up carrying a couple people to wagons on their long journey.

Each night, a few volunteers will take shifts so that they're not unguarded. Usually they're DEO agents, but occasionally someone else will volunteer.

By the time they're nearing National City, everyone is on their last legs energy-wise. J'onn chose the right day to get moving, as they're just starting to get down to the last of their supplies. Not enough to be alarming yet, especially since National City's a day's walk away, even at the pace they're going.

J'onn made sure to send word ahead of time to the Queen. He knows that if there are people flooding the street, celebrating their return, that could be overwhelming to a lot of the people here. Plus, Eliza needs to have a bunch of rooms in the castle prepared for their new guests. J'onn has worked with Eliza long enough to know she's probably setting up programs for them and getting a few psychologists to come and listen to them.

She'll also order the main streets to be cleared the morning of the day they're expected to arrive. Just until they've passed, of course. There are bells all over the city for this very reason, to let people know when they can't go outside just yet. They're not used very often, but everyone knows what it means when the bell rings.

***

"We're finally going to reach National City tomorrow." Vasquez sighs happily.

"The first thing I'm going to do is get good food." Kara says.

"You know you could do that now, right? You can fly, Supergirl." Alex points out.

Kara sighs. "I know. What do you guys want to do when we get back?"

"Clean my sword." Maggie admits, resting her hand on the hilt where her belt and holster are resting beside her. "It's filthy."

"Sawyer, you didn't bring something to clean it with? What happened to being prepared?" Alex asks, surprised.

"I had this rag but it didn't get everything off. And now the rag is nasty too." Maggie explains.

"That makes more sense. Here, I have a semi-clean one." Alex hands her a strip of cloth, the color faded from years of use.

Maggie thanks her and begins cleaning her sword, grimacing at how red it still is from blood.

"What about you, Winn?" Vasquez asks. "I know I'm going right to sleep. Are you going to be visiting your lady friend?" Vasquez gives him an exaggerated wink and he sputters, his cheeks red.

"Wh-I just want food! She's the chef!"

"Sure, and that's the only reason you'll be over there." Alex says, joining in on the teasing.

Winn blushes. "Like you're one to talk. You're literally cuddling with Maggie right now."

Alex grins at him, tightening her arm around Maggie's waist. "I just have more game than you, Winn."

Maggie shakes her head fondly, still focusing on cleaning her sword. "What're you looking forward to then, Princess?"

Alex points at Maggie half-seriously in a threatening way. "You know I don't like being called that."

"But it's true." Maggie argues, looking up at her girlfriend and smiling her dimple-filled smile that makes her girlfriend stop for a second every time.

Alex just huffs, her cheeks slightly pink. "Whatever, Sawyer. I'm looking forward to actually sleeping in a bed."

The others groan in agreement.

"What about you, Lee?" Kara asks, smiling softly at her girlfriend.

Lena automatically smiles back. "I'm looking forward to taking a warm bath. I still feel dirty from that fight."

The others nod in agreement and ignore how red Kara's cheeks get at Lena's answer. Lena, of course, notices and whispers to her.

"Why are you so red, darling? Is it that you want to be in that bath with me? Because I had assumed you would be." Lena practically purrs and Kara's face gets redder. She lets out a quiet squeak that's too quiet for anyone but Lena to hear. Lena smirks at the sound and kisses Kara's heated cheek.

"Lena, stop flirting with my sister." Alex says in a stern voice.

Lena's head turns quickly to see that Alex's eyes are dancing with amusement, not actually threatening. Her heart rate slows and she rolls her eyes at Alex.

***

The next morning, the walk goes by faster than usual. Everyone knows they're getting close, that they'll arrive in National City today. There's an excitement, a buzz in the large group of people that wasn't there before. They move noticeably quicker now that the end is finally in sight. Literally. The walls of National City are visible from the path they're on.

The guards of the entrance see the large group and know instantly who it is. As if the sheer size wasn't enough of the clue, J'onn leading them is a sight that would make anyone know. They signal the others and then the bells begin ringing.

The bells are designed to be loud enough for all to hear, but not deafening. They're in every square, on almost ever street corner where two streets meet. So they don't need to be loud alone. But together, they're unmistakable. They always come with advanced warning, like in this case, so the guards don't have to wait very long before they open the gate. Unless there's a sudden natural disaster. Or extranormal, in which case the affected areas' bells ring and the DEO steps in.

Kara puts her hands over her ears, grimacing. She notices a few of the other aliens, and some of the humans, do the same. The bells are some of her few dislikes about National City.

The first time they rung while she was here, she had only been on Earth a couple of weeks. The noise itself was overwhelming, but the loud noise reminded her of Krypton's death. Not in the loudness that Krypton exploded, but in the silence. It had made no noise as it blew, silent in the vacuum of space. So this thunderous noise she hadn't been expecting, so much like she had imagined it sounded like for her friends, her family, her parents... Kara had a panic attack, though she didn't know what it was called at the time. Alex was the one that helped her through it.

Lena places a hand on Kara's arm, a gentle pressure that reassures her that she's here for her. Kara has long since perfected the art of calming herself down. Alex can't always be around and she doesn't like having to rely on people like that. Even though she kinda relies on Alex like that. She knows how easily good things can be taken away, and perhaps that translates into this.

Kara takes a final deep breath, trying to keep it quiet so she doesn't disturb the others. The ringing in her ears has gone now but it still echoes in her head. She knows from experience that it won't stop for another couple of minutes.

When it finally does, she relaxes. No matter how many times she's gone through that, she always worried that this time, the ringing won't stop. But it always does, thank Rao. Lena's touch helps a lot more than even Kara expected. That along with her being by her friends and family, it really helped her calm down quicker.

They walk inside the gate to the eerily empty streets. Kara always thinks it feels weird, walking through the streets of National City after the bells have rung. It's normally so busy during this time of day and now it's silent, with only the sound of their feet hitting the pavement echoing.

The walk up to the castle goes well, with everyone being motivated to get there as soon as humanly (and alien-ly) possible.

Next chapter, they're back at the castle! Now I'm off to write a philosophy paper due tomorrow! Whoo! Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!