"Kara?" Alex said, "I need to tell you something."
Kara turned around to face Alex.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Kara turned around with a small smile on her face. Alex wanted to stop. She didn't want to be the person who ripped that smile from her sister's face.
"No!" she thought, "I have to do this. I have to tell her. I just… I just have to…"
Alex took a deep breath. She was terrified. She didn't want to tell Kara this way, in front of their friends. Winn and James were arguing about the ice cream and potstickers, and it didn't seem like a better time was going to come up soon.
"Kara, when Hank said that he killed Astra… he was lying. He didn't kill Astra," Alex looked away, taking another steadying breath.
The arguing had stopped, and Alex looked over to see James and Winn staring at herself and Kara. Alex tried to look at her sister, but she couldn't.
"Alex," Kara asked, apprehension in her voice, "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying," Alex took another steadying breath, "That I killed her. She… she was standing over Hank. She promised to give him an… an honorable death. And I reacted. I just… I reacted. I'm sorry, Kara. I'm so, so, sorry. I'm sorry tha-"
"What?"
Gone was any sadness or fear from Kara's voice. This was the voice that Alex knew as her Supergirl voice. The one she wore when she was facing the alien of the week or staring down Non. This was a voice that Kara only used with the people she hated most, the ones who were threatening her world or her family. And now Alex was one of them.
"What?"
Now she was yelling.
Alex cringed. She deserved this, she knew. It was her punishment.
"Go on, you idiot! Look at her, at least. Don't be a coward!" she thought to herself.
Taking a deep breath - the millionth, it seemed - she looked up to see Kara glaring at her. Kara looked like she wanted to burn Alex to ashes.
Alex would be lying if she said that she'd never been afraid of Kara. That was before she had realized that Kara was more like a big puppy than a threat. But, now, Alex could feel all of that doubt and fear resurfacing. It made her want to run.
"No!" one half of her thought, "I am a soldier. Soldiers do not run!"
The other half yelled, "Are you crazy? Do you want to get killed? Get out of here before she incinerates you!"
Fear won. As calmly as she could, she stood up and said, "I… I should go."
She took a step towards the door, only to find a literally crushing hand grabbing onto her own.
"Stop."
"No, Kara," she tried to reason, "We'll talk about this when you're calmer. Please."
Alex heard the scraping of a bar stool across the tile floor.
"Sit."
"Kara, please."
"Sit."
"No, Kara, please. You might regret this."
Alex could feel her control slipping. She tried to calm down as she pleaded with Kara.
"Kara, please. I know it was wrong. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. I'm sorry, Kara. Please, I'm sorry!"
With Alex's last yell came a sheet of ice from Alex's uncrushed hand.
"No!" Alex's dad's voice rang in her head, "You promised never to reveal your powers to your sister! You broke your promise, Alex!"
Alex had just broken her oldest promise, and now there was nothing she could do about it.
"I'm sorry, Kara," she whispered, as she raced for the front door, wanting only to get away from it all.