Beyond the Empyreal Stars

31.

31.

Odette traced the name carved into one of the two rocks just a few feet apart. Duke sat beside her in the grass of the Ellipse, though it looked nothing like it did the last time she was there. Even further out was the ruins of the White House, now covered in green.

He told her about finding them days after searching, their bodies covered in ash and debris. When they did, more tears were shed as Duke dug the graves, numb to everything around him. After they were buried and Graham and Alanna had said a few words, Duke had sat there in front of the mounds of dirt for an entire day, carving their names into rocks.

"They didn't die for nothing," Duke said quietly as she pressed her palm to Clark's makeshift gravestone.

"Still," she said. "You must miss them. I still do."

"I've had years to make peace with what happened and you've only had a few weeks. Everything that happened that night...it's still raw for you."

Odette looked over at him, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that he really believed her, that they weren't at odds over the truth anymore. With everything out in the open, they were able to be the old Duke and Odette again, something she'd missed the most.

"You are so much like them, you know," she told him. "And yet you are your own person. That is why everyone looks up to you to guide them in times of crisis. Why they chose you to lead."

"A fact I still don't understand sometimes," he grimaced. "I try my best, but sometimes it isn't enough. Besides, everything that's happened...well, I might have had some help in deciding what to do. And it wasn't from a human."

As Odette's suspicions mounted, Duke pulled out his HoloTab from his jacket pocket. He turned it on, the screen blinking to life in front of him. She watched as he pulled up a comm, pressing a name.

"You have kept in contact with her," Odette whispered.

"For a few years now, yes," he nodded. "No one knew until earlier today. Now, I think it's about time we all knew about each other."

It took a few moments for the comm to connect to the recipient, and then Diana appeared on the screen. It looked like she was alone in the Gallery. When she saw Duke, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Well, Duke Mitchell, I do believe this is one of the very few times when you are the one to contact me."

"Hello, Diana."

Diana's eyes narrowed even more. "Where are you? You do not look like you are in New York..."

"D.C., actually. We came here to talk and make peace with the past."

"We..."

Duke turned the HoloTab so Odette appeared in the field of view also. When Diana saw her, her jaw dropped.

"Odette," she breathed, leaning forward almost as if she were trying to touch her. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it is," she said, smiling and nodding. "Hi."

With Duke forgotten, he handed Odette the HoloTab for her and Diana to talk. Diana, acting like a mother would her child, asked Odette everything, from what had happened, how she and the others were, and what had been happening during their time on Earth. She complained halfhearted about Duke not giving her much information on their conditions, relieved to see she was okay.

"We were never going to give up hope you and the others were still alive," Diana said when Odette asked how the last five years had been for the Terrians. "We never filled your positions and would not until we stopped receiving pings from the Acer. We knew your location, just did not have the means to get to you without risking the lives of other Terrians."