It had been horrendous. Catastrophi,c really. Their fight had turned out to be the worst that they'd ever had. Alex was terrified that this would be enough to ruin them, and she had never once feared that before. Their bond was something that nothing could ever compare to, and although Kara saw it as sisterly, Alex knew better. It was more, but Kara didn't see it that way… Not anymore.
They had fooled around a few times as teenagers. Before Eliza caught them kissing in the shed behind their house and pounded into their skulls that they were 'sisters' and insisted that they stopped. After that Kara refused to continue with anything romantic with Alex. That conversation had turned into a fight because Alex never wanted to stop, she wanted to love Kara like no one else could, but Kara refused, and Alex didn't take it well… She'd treated Kara like a mortal enemy until their senior year because of how devastated she was; but never once did she stop loving Kara, and if the blonde had asked to resume their fling, Alex wouldn't have said no.
They made up and became sisters eventually; once Alex got her head out of her ass and realized that Kara stopped their dalliance because she had lost her entire world, family, and everything she loved and was afraid of being disowned by another family. The Eliza and Alex were all Kara had, and losing them would destroy her, so Alex did what she would always do, and put her needs and desires aside for Kara's benefit.
Then came the dating scene, Alex hadn't dated much, and then finally came out to Kara, which had been an emotional roller coaster. She had started dating Maggie, trying to bury her feelings for Kara in the Detective, but failed miserably. They ended up breaking up, Alex using the (false) fact that she wanted children as an excuse to end things… But the real reason was that she loved Kara… It was always Kara. However, Kara had an even worse experience. She'd gotten into a relationship with the misogynistic slaver from Daxam, and luckily Mon-El had had to leave with the rest of the Daxamite when Kara had used the lead-bomb against Rhea. That man wasn't worthy of the dirt on the bottom of Alex's shoe, let alone her goddess of a sister. Seeing Kara with him had killed her.
This entire situation killed Alex, really, because still, after all this time, she was irrevocably in love with Kara. Which was why she was sitting anxiously on Kara's living room couch, waiting for the Girl Of Steel to get home from the Deo. She planned to do whatever it took to get their sisterhood back on track; she'd even beg for forgiveness if that's what it took. She would do anything, or let Kara do anything to her if it meant that they could go back to being sisters again. After an excruciating two week period without Kara by her side, she desperately needed Kara back.
It had been an hour since she entered the loft, Kara should have been home over forty-five minutes ago, and although that was unusual, it wasn't going to deter Alex from waiting. She had fucked up majorly, and she was going to repent in whatever way was necessary to get their relationship back.
Kara had fought Maxwell Lord's latest creation that day. He had engineered what he called an 'anti-Kryptonian' robot, and it had been a very close call. Kara had managed to destroy the damn thing, but there were a few times where Alex thought she was going to lose Kara without ever getting the chance to apologize to her and make things right… That thought had terrified her and brought her to Kara's apartment immediately after Kara had gotten released from the sunbeds.
The fight was terrible, and Alex had been forced to take extreme measures. No matter how many times Kara knocked down the robot, it kept repairing itself and starting up again. Eventually, Winn had discovered that it was being remotely controlled from a control room inside Lord Technologies, so Alex found the control panel, knocked out the men controlling the robot, and then destroyed the control panel. After making sure the building was vacated, she had doused every damn floor with jet fuel (Maxwell had 100 gallons of it in his lab, seemingly using it to fuel his massive laboratory) and then lit it on fire.
Kara didn't know that. Alex made sure of it. She swore Vasquez and J'onn to secrecy because she wanted Kara to feel victorious… She didn't want Kara knowing that she had helped. Everything had gone flawlessly, except for one thing, Maxwell had seen her set the fire, and promised her that he was going to hurt her where he knew it would break her. She wasn't sure how he would be able to do that, considering that everything that he had that could be a threat to any of them had ben annihilated by the flames.
She smirked as she remembered the fury in the man's eyes… He'd never looked so livid, not even when she had turned him down at the offer of a second date. She enjoyed knowing that although she didn't have enough evidence to get him arrested and couldn't take his freedom away, she had taken everything else he loved from him.
She reveled in the pleasure that knowledge brought her for a few more minutes, but then her mind shifted elsewhere, and it began showing her flashbacks from the fight… the fight that had resulted in Kara refusing to speak to her.
Guilt consumed her as her mind once again, brought her back to that fateful night two weeks ago:
"Alex, it's time to go home, honey. You've had plenty of liquor for the night. Will you please come with me?" Kara's voice pleaded earnestly with her older sister. She had come as soon as the bartender had called her to pick Alex up for the fifth time that week. "I'm really starting to worry, Alex… You've been getting drunk every night for weeks. I know you've had issues with alcohol in the past, but I really think that this time you should get some help."
Alex scoffed, she wasn't even that drunk yet. Three beers and three shots of Jose Cuervo were nothing to her anymore. She was embarrassingly sober for all the alcohol she had consumed. She had all the reason in the world to be mad anyway. Kara shouldn't be flirting with people at work. It was unprofessional and made Alex extremely jealous… not that she would know that. "Trying to save me? Since when does my wellbeing ever matter to you?" She slurred… perhaps she was a tiny bit tipsy.
Kara jerked back as if she had just been punched in the face, as a look of hurt spread across her face. "Alex, it's always mattered to me. You matter to me." She said as concern filled her voice. "You're my sister, Alex, and I love you."
"Right." Alex scoffed. "Just like you've always been straight."
"What are you talking about, Alex?! I do like men! I've told you multiple times that I like men and woman, Alex."
Alex stood up harshly, knocking over the stool she had been sitting on. "Don't pretend to be the loving, caring, selfless little sister… because we both know that isn't who you actually are! You're hypocritical. You say you're tired of hiding who you truly are, but you're still doing it! You don't like men, Kara. You just settle for them because that means that what we've done, what you used to feel for me, wasn't serious. But it was!"
Kara shook her head, clearly trying to make sense of everything. "I don't even understand why that was brought up, let's just get you home, Allie. You're drunk and saying things that you don't actually mean." She finished, offering Alex her arm.
Alex growled. "no! I'm calling you out on your bullshit! You're lying to yourself Kara. Just like you've lied to everyone else! You're pathetic!" As soon as the words left her mouth, Alex realized that she was, in fact, very tipsy.
Tears were streaming down Kara's face now, making Alex's chest clench. "I'm pathetic?! Really? I'm not the one that got into a relationship with someone, proposed four months later, and then cut it off because I 'wanted' kids when I don't actually want kids because I don't want to leave them as orphans if I get killed on the job one day. I'm not saying you're pathetic, Al, I'm just saying… Glass houses."
Alex had had enough, and without thinking, irrational anger took over, and she snapped and slapped Kara as hard as she could in the face. Her eyes went wide the moment she did it not only from the searing pain in her hand from slapping a person made of steel but also because of the look of hurt in Kara's eyes. "Kara I- I'm so sor-,"
Kara shook her head, stopping the apology from leaving Alex's mouth. "Don't." She said. "You've killed someone that I loved greatly, and let someone else take the blame for it, lying to me for weeks about it, and I didn't even once think of causing you any sort of pain and instantly forgave you. Yet, I tell you I'm worried that you're drinking too much, and you randomly bring up my sexuality and try to invalidate it, but you hit me as well!? Did you think that my powers hadn't yet come back from the fight with the Braalian? Were you trying to genuinely hurt me? Because that felt like a pretty hard slap for a human."
Alex was panicking; she just wanted a rewind option so that she could start this night all over again. "I- I... yes?" She had no idea what to say, and she wanted to slap herself twice as hard as she slapped Kara.
Kara stood up from the barstool slowly, placed a fifty on the counter, hoping that would be enough to cover at least a part of Alex's tab, and slowly walked out of the building. Alex drunkenly chased after her, desperate to fix what she'd done. "Kara! Stop it goddamn it; you're being a fucking child!"
Kara swirled around angrily. "HOW!?" She yelled tearfully. "How am I being a child, when I'm not the one acting petulant because my sister isn't who I want her to be!? I'm not trying to tell you who you should be, and what you should like! I'm not hitting you! That's all on you, Alex! All I tried to do was take care of you, to suggest getting help for the alcoholism that you've recently fallen back into, but I'm done. I'm done trying to make sure you're okay when you don't give a rat's ass whether you are or not. I'm done dropping everything just to come running every time you have your personal bartender call me to come pick you up from the bar because you decided to get plastered for the fifth consecutive day. You don't want my help; you just want me as a chauffeur. You don't like who I genuinely am, and you don't accept me as the person I've grown into. You want me as your personal bodyguard and hangover nurse, and I'm fed up with it! You won't stop drinking yourself into unconsciousness no matter how many times I beg you to get help, so I'm done. I can't do this anymore, Alex. I can't watch you kill yourself!"
Alex knew that she fucked up, but she desperately wanted to fic this, or better yet, justify her actions. "I'm not an alcoholic. I'm just drunk."
Kara shook her head. "You are an alcoholic. You are always drinking every chance you get. And, at first I thought that you were drunk, but you're not. You don't act like this when you're intoxicated beyond repair, you act like a whiny little child, but you also slur your words and ramble. None of which you are doing currently. You may be tipsy, but you aren't drunk, and you know exactly what you're saying and doing. If I'm such a hypocritical and pathetic liar, how about you stay away from me? Hm? Sound like a plan that we can both agree on?"
Alex's heart ached because, no, that did notsound like a plan that they both could agree on. "Kar-." Before she could finish her sentence, Kara was gone in a blur.
That's why Alex was currently alone, waiting anxiously for Kara to return home. She needed Kara; she needed to apologize to her, to beg her for forgiveness, and regain their bond; because a life without Kara wasn't a life.
She stayed sitting on the couch, waiting fretfully for her sister's return for another half hour before she finally heard the sound of Kara's undeniable footsteps approach the door and the sound of a key entering the lock. Alex's heart began to pick up its pace as the door opened to reveal her gorgeous foster sister. As soon as the Kryptonian walked through the door Kara's soft humming stopped, and her face steeled. "Alex," She greeted guardedly.
"I'm at your disposal, Kar'," Alex said, fighting back years.
Kara shook her head. "Alex, please don't do this today. I'm exhausted and sore. I just want to go to bed."
"Please, Kara… I'm sorry! You were right." She said. "I drink way too much, and it's getting to be unhealthy, so I've decided that I'm going to start going to AA meetings. Okay? You were right!" She said pleadingly.
Kara pursed her lips. "I don't understand why you treated me the way that you did that night Alex. All I was trying to do was take care of you… It's what we always do."
Alex had no idea how to explain herself without giving away her true feelings, so she tried her hardest to explain herself. "I'm so sorry for that night, Kara. I just…" She sighed and shook her head exasperatedly. "I was mad at you… But not for any good reason. I was jealous because you were talking to the newbie agent all day and we didn't really get a chance to talk." That was false, she was jealous because Agent Sanchez was flirting with Kara, and Kara was enjoying it… But she couldn't tell her that. Kara was her sister.
Kara glared at her. "You were jealous of that? Alex, you were engaged to Maggie for six months and practically ignored my mere existence. I'm allowed to have friends…"
Alex sighed and nodded. "I know, Kara… I know. I don't know how else I can express how sorry I am. I know I was stupid and hateful, and you have every reason not to forgive me. All I can do is say that I'm sorry, that I don't believe any of the things I accused you of, and I will try to be better."
The Kryptonian hero threw her purse and jacket on the kitchen table before walking over and sitting next to Alex. "You hurt me, Alex."
Alex's heart shattered at that. "I know." She said tremulously as tears leaked from her eyes. "And I will never forgive myself."
As soon as her last sentence passed her lips, Kara's hand found Alex's. "Hey, shh. C'mere." She said as she pulled Alex onto her lap and enveloped the older woman in a tight hug. "You're my sister," Kara stated softly, driving the knife straight through Alex's heart at the reminder of why they could never be together. "And I'll always love you, no matter what." She said, echoing Alex's own statement from the Red Kryptonite incident.
"P-promise?" Alex asked weakly.
She felt Kara's head nod atop of her own. "OF course, Alex. We can get through this. As long as you promise me that you will get sober. No more alcohol."
Alex nodded rapidly. "I went to my first meeting yesterday. I promise you, Kara. I will get sober." For you, she wanted to add. "No matter what, I won't let you down, Kar'. No more alcohol… Not even Wine Coolers." She vowed.
Kara chuckled. "Good to know."
XXX
The rest of that night had been spent watching scary movies and eating dozens of pot stickers before Kara passed out on the couch. Alex chuckled at her baby sister as she slid a pillow under her sister's head and covered her up with her fluffy unicorn blanket. She kissed Kara's forehead softly and whispered. "I love you, Kar'. I'll see you in the morning." Against her forehead.
Kara groaned as she opened her eyes and pulled the Agent into a tight hug. "I love you too, Alex. Always." She said sleepily.
Alex returned the awkward embrace as much as she could, given their position, and smiled at finally being in her sister's good graces once more. "Sleep well, Kar'," She whispered.
A pout formed on Kara's sleepy face. "Stay?" She asked sadly.
And, oh, did she want to. But staying all night in Kara's embrace was too much for her right then. It'd be a bittersweet torture, and she couldn't handle it. She was much too weak. "Not tonight sweetie. Another time though, okay?"
Kara frowned but nodded sleepily before sleep took over her once more. Alex chuckled and exited the apartment. On her way to the elevator, a strange man in a top hat pushed passed her. "Watch it, buddy!" Alex growled as she entered the elevator. She'd never seen him before, he must've just moved in, and if she ever saw him again, she'd give him a piece of her mind. She huffed and leaned back against the elevator as she waited for it to hit the first floor.
XXX
An hour later, Alex stepped out of the shower, toweling her hair when her phone started ringing. She looked at the screen and smiled when she saw a FaceTime coming through from her sister. She chuckled, surprised that the hero had woken up so soon, and clicked the green button to accept. "Kara, you should be sleepi-," She cut herself off, as her heart rose to her throat. "MAXWELL!?" She asked angrily. "What have you done with her!?"
The man on the other side of the phone had on a strange contraption on his head. He smirked devilishly as he spoke. "You decided to take everything I cared about away from me, so I decided to return the favor." He said with a cocky laugh. He then flipped to the rear camera where a very battered Kara hung from her wrists.
"KARA!" She yelled tearfully.
"Alas, Supergirl has fallen." Lord said in faux-sadness.
"Let her go, Maxwell, or I swear to God I'll-"
"You'll what, Agent Danvers?" He interrupted. "What have I left to lose besides my actual life? You've taken away everything else I've got. But, I still had two things in my apartment just incase this ever happened." He said as his hand came out from behind the phone to point to the cuffs shackling Kara to the ceiling. "Kryptonite handcuffs." He paused. "And this." He said as he moved the camera to show a syringe filled with a red liquid. He picked up the needle and propped the phone up.
"Max. Whatever you're doing, please don't." Alex pleaded as she collapsed to the floor feeling utterly helpless.
She watched as Max smacked an unconscious Kara. "Wake up, Supergirl!" He crooned.
Kara's eyes fluttered open groggily, as she looked around her. "Kara! Oh, thank god. Sweetie, we're going to get you out of there, okay?"
"No, she's not." Max laughed. As he rose the syringe to Kara's throat.
"A-Alex. H-help." Kara whimpered weakly.
The agent's lip began to tremble. "Kara, I'm right here, sweetie. I'm right here."
Kara nodded. "Okay."
"Any last words for your sister, Agent Danvers?" Maxwell asked.
"PLEASE!" Alex begged. "Please, just… Take me! Kill me, not her!"
Maxwell tsked. "You should have just killed me, Alex. That'd have been less painful. At least I'm giving you an opportunity to say goodbye to the thing you love most. I'd take it… Because it's more closure than I'll ever get."
Alex let out a sob. This was her absolute worst nightmare. Why hadn't she just stayed with Kara when she asked? Why had she been so goddamn reckless at Lord Tech? Why?
"Kara, Kara, sweetie. I love you." She whimpered. "I love you so damn much."
Kara's eyes met the phone. "Alex," She whispered.
The older sister let out another cry as she nodded, her sobs overtaking her as she nodded. "Yes, sweetie. It's me."
"I- I love you too, Alex," Kara whispered.
Alex wiped her tears away, getting ready to plead with Maxwell to let Kara go, but before she could say anything, he shoved the syringe into Kara's neck and injected the red liquid into her bloodstream.
"NO!" Alex yelled tearfully.
Max laughed at the desperate older sister, and just as he did so, Kara's body began convulsing, and she let out an earth shattering scream of agony.
Alex's heart shattered, her world began to dim, her lungs burned as she tried to force them to do their job, and her stomach felt like it was going to explode. "KARA!" She cried out.
After a few more moments, Kara's body fell limp against the chains, and Maxwell clapped his hands proudly as he smiled. He walked back over to where the phone was propped up and spoke with a broad smile on his face "You took away the thing I loved most, so I took away the thing you loved most. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth." He said before he disconnected the call.
Alex immediately called J'onn as she tried to gather her thoughts. "Alex?" He asked questioningly.
"J'onn! I need you to have Winn trace Kara's phone. Immediately!"
Within moments, they had the location, and Alex was on her way with backup to follow.
XXX
It would typically have taken her forty-five minutes to reach her destination, but this time it only took her twenty. It was an old waterpark, not abandoned, just temporarily closed down for maintenance, and although it was random, it was at least refreshing that it wasn't some abandoned warehouse.
She found where he had been keeping Kara, and immediately sprung into action. She busted down the office door, gun ready to fire, but all she was faced with was an empty room, besides Kara's lifeless form.
"KARA!" She screamed as she surged toward her sister. She slipped her wrists free from the cuffs and caught the alien in her arms before she hit the ground. "Kara, Kara, sweetie, please. Wake up for me!" She urged as she shook the Kryptonian's head. But, to no avail. She refused to wake up.
XXX
It had been three days, and they still had no idea what Maxwell had injected Kara with. It had been touch and go for the past 72 hours, and still, there had been no signs of recovery. They had kept Kara under the sunbed, and still, nothing was happening, and Alex was beginning to lose hope.
She had refused to leave Kara's side, not wanting to miss the moment if she woke up, but it seemed as if that weren't going to happen.
She let her sobs take over her once more. She rested her forehead on the hand she held in her own when the monitors began to beep uncontrollably. Alex instantly rose her head as her eyes went wide and hope filled her heart. "Kara? Kara, are you there?" She asked hopefully.
Kara bolted up with wide eyes and looked around the room. When she met Alex's eyes, she furrowed her brows. "Wh-Who are you?"
I've been wanting to post this fic for a while now... I hope you enjoyed it! Part two will be up sometime this week:) Let me know what you think!