Of Knights and Aliens

Chapter 75

Winn slowly begins to build up a tolerance for walking for so long. Each day, he makes it farther and farther after lunch until Kara takes pity on him and carries him on her back. And all this walking is taking it's toll on everyone (except Kara).

They keep talking (using sign language) everyday, but the exhaustion creeps up on them and has them fall asleep right after dinner each night.

It's the second to last day of walking, and the walks are getting progressively shorter, this day's the shortest yet. And it also happens to be the day they split up from Winn, who will be staying nearby with the reinforcements. The split up is a bit later on, but they can all feel it weighing heavily on their minds. This reminds them that they're almost at the castle.

It's as though the reality sinks in as they march, for once not signing to each other. The battle they've been dreading is coming up soon, and they have prepared all they can. There's not much else they can do besides march and wait.

Winn starts their next conversation, wanting to have his last time seeing them for a couple days not tainted by the battle they have looming over them. He signs, asking them all which sci-fi book they think is better out of two relatively popular ones. He knows they've all read them.

It's funny, and exactly what they need, to playfully argue over which book is better. Especially since Lena, Vasquez, and Alex agree on one, and the others agree on the other. What makes everyone chuckle (not laugh, because they are trying to be quiet) is when Kara signs to Lena, "you're wrong, but I'll still kiss you, babe."

Then the time comes for the reinforcements to split off from the rest of the group. Agents all around are saying (signing) goodbye and hugging their friends.

"Group hug!" Kara signs.

Alex huffs out a breath, but they all comply anyway, converging on Winn in a giant family group hug. They all pretend not to notice the tears glistening in his eyes from happiness. After the group hug, they all take turns signing to him to be careful and their goodbyes. He gets more hugs, which Winn is ecstatic about because he loves hugs almost as much as Kara does.

Winn tears up again as a knight puts his hand on his shoulder and reminds him they have to go soon. He hugs them all one last time and urges them to be careful too, reminds them he can't lose any of them. Then he follows the knight, who has been politely waiting nearby, to the large group splitting off from the main one.

The agents and knights watch them go for a moment before J'onn urges them to keep moving.

Alex lets out a breath as they walk. "That was harder than I expected," she signs.

"Yeah," Lena signs in agreement. "But he's a good kid, he'll be fine."

"Lena," Maggie signs, looking amused. "You know Winn is older than you, right?"

"Of course I do. He's still like a little brother." Lena signs back, winking at her when Maggie has no response to that.

That night is the hardest yet. Though everyone falls asleep relatively quickly because of the leftover exhaustion of all that walking, their minds race as they sleep, provoking dreams and nightmares from the most experienced of agents.

It helps that Kara and Lena, and Maggie and Alex are sharing tents so their girlfriends can wake them up if they seem like they're having a nightmare.

Lena has one where the tiara thing Kara has doesn't work like they expected it and she... She shudders just thinking about it. She's awake now, has trained herself to wake up during a nightmare before she screams. But Kara's awake, she's slept next to her often enough to hear the subtle difference in her breathing.