"I'm glad you made us change our plans from wallowing to wedding. Even though that felt like the longest wedding ever," I said, once we got back to Kara's apartment.

"It was fun, wasn't it?" she said. "I was worried that I would get bored and just think about Mon-el but we didn't really have time for that."

We sat down on Kara's couch and I handed her a glass of wine. "No, there was not much time for anything other than kicking doppelgänger ass."

"Well, I mean, you did find time for some fun before all that," Kara said, with a smirk.

"I don't know what got into me," I grinned. "I mean, a lot of scotch. But I don't do things like that."

"Yeah but you have found out a lot about yourself recently. Maybe if you had known back then, you would've found some reasons to do something like that."

"Yeah, maybe," I said, taking a sip from my glass. "I just keep circling back to what if. What if I made a mistake giving up on Maggie and me? What if she was my one?"

"Everything happens for a reason. What if you gave up something that's important to you instead of taking the leap and finding it all? I had it all...it is possible."

"Yeah, you're right. I just thought it'd be easier by now," I mumbled, while Kara wrapped an arm around me.

"It will, eventually."


"We have an alert! A ship just entered earths atmosphere!" shouted Winn.

"Where?" asked Supergirl.

"Judging by the entry and trajectory, it's going to land just outside the harbour," he looked at J'onn.

"Let's get over there to meet our new guests!" said the director.

Supergirl took off towards the harbour, while J'onn and I followed behind. Supergirl landed on shore to watch the ship descend from above. As she watched, she thought something was off.

"They're coming in too fast!" I yelled, as I jumped out of the passenger side of the DEO vehicle.

Supergirl took off as soon as she heard, running into them with hopes of slowing it down.

"You're not going to be able to stop it completely," said Winn. "Just slow it down enough for a safe landing into the water."

"Okay," said the hero, as she made contact and pushed against the ship. "There looks to be about three people on board. Including Mon-..." her voice trailed off.

"Come again? Including who?" I asked, thinking I had heard her say Mon-el. There's was no way, I thought. How could he be back, the earth was still polluted with lead?

"I'm not sure, I don't have a great visual," strained Supergirl, as she tried to fight back.

I worried that this might set Kara back on the progress she had made moving on. I knew all too well how hard it was to move on from someone you loved and cared for. I watched as Supergirl became pinched between the water and the ship, my stomach in its usual knots.

"Supergirl! Get out of there! Let the ship take the impact!" warned Winn.

"Supergirl!" called J'onn, as he and I helplessly watched the ship push her into the water. We waited, all holding our breath; waiting for Supergirl to emerge. Minutes seemed like hours before the ship broke the surface and bobbed in the water.

I let my eyes scan the water for my sister. The fear, that this was finally the time she wouldn't survive, was creeping in my throat. And then she appeared. Supergirl darted from the water and swooped back down to push the vessel ashore.

"Are you okay?" I asked, trudging through the water.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just knocked the air out of me," said Supergirl, her eyes lifting to the door of the ship that had been released. They all waited, wanting to see who would emerge. I drew my weapon but I couldn't stand the suspense and I climbed aboard the ship.

"No way," my words were barely more than a whisper and Kara was by my side.

"Mon-el?" asked Supergirl, as she lowered herself into the ship, where the passengers appeared unconscious. She climbed next to Mon-el and took his mask off. His eyes flickering open.

"Hey," he gasped, taking his first couple gulps of air. "I missed you."

"How is this happening?" asked Supergirl.

"We have an unconscious female, she needs medical attention right away," I ordered, checking her vitals. "She wasn't wearing a mask."

"There were only two masks," said Mon-el. "I argued with her to take mine. But she's so damn stubborn. Just don't open the mini pod until we're at the DEO."

We looked around to see a pod like child seat strapped in and what looked like a small child inside, asleep.

"Rae didn't want her exposed to the environment if our lead inhibitors didn't work," explained Mon-el.

"Supergirl, get her back to the DEO stat. We'll transport the rest back with us, it looks like everyone is waking up besides her," ordered J'onn.

Supergirl took one last look at the love she thought she'd never get back. "I thought I'd lost you."

Mon-el smiled, "Couldn't keep me away for too long. Go, I'll be right behind you."

Supergirl reluctantly picked up the woman and flew her back to the DEO.


I studied the screens that were monitoring Rae. Mon-el explained that he had found his cousin while looking for somewhere to go after the Daxam attacks. In the midst of the fleet of ships, hers was arriving late to the convoy. When he assessed the ships information, he discovered it was Rae, a cousin that had been lost during the war between Krypton and Daxam. He didn't shed much more on the subject, as we didn't have much time between the harbour and the DEO.

"Where's Charlie?" the voice was strong, but cracked with worry. Rae's eyes were darting around the room. She was reaching for the tubes in her arm. But I placed my hand on top of hers to still them.

"She's okay," I insisted, pulling a seat up to her bed. "She's fine, she's with Mon-el and your mom," I said, gently guiding Rae back down. "I'm Agent Alex Danvers of the DEO. You're in the med bay. Do you remember what happened?"

Rae felt her head with a shaky hand. "I remember seeing a loose chord by Charlie's pod. I wanted to check it out but when I loosened my straps, we hit something and I hit my head, it knocked me out."

"That explains the concussion symptoms. We're monitoring you for decompression sickness. That was pretty dangerous for you to come down without an oxygen mask." I took the chance to study Rae's face before continuing. "We were able assess your inhibitor and felt that your inhibitor would be stable enough while we ran some tests but we wanted Charlie in a controlled environment when we opened her pod. Mon-el told us of your concerns with her being so young, so we took every precaution we could." Rae seemed to relax a little more.

"So, everything is fine?" she asked, not sure if she was just asking or trying to convince herself.

"Everything is fine," I smiled, hoping to add some comfort. "Mon-el said it's been a rough go. You were testing on yourself?"

"We had to test the inhibitors on someone and he had the knowledge and the connections back on earth. Although, he was a such a pain in the ass that it crossed my mind to let him test them."

I laughed, "you two were close before you were separated?"

Rae looked down at her hands. "We were. He was like my little brother, basically inseparable. He was someone I could rely on."

"Yeah, he's become that guy for us here as well, we're happy to have him back," I said.

"I really didn't have a choice, it was help him get back to earth or be stuck listening to him go on and on about how great Supergirl is forever," joked Rae.

"Well, I mean, she is pretty awesome," I agreed.

Supergirl walked through the door and was trying to avoid eye contact with Rae.

"Alex, can I have a word outside please?" she said, keeping her attention on me.

"Yeah, sure," I answered, standing up. "I'll be right back."

We stepped outside the med bay and walked down the hall a bit. Clearly Kara didn't want Rae to hear what she had to say. "What's up?" I asked, looking at Kara's expression. "You okay?"

"J'onn is implementing new protocol. These "visitors" are not allowed to see each other or communicate until we have physical evidence that they are who they say they are."

"Did you just air quote visitors? It's Mon-el, shouldn't you, of all people, know if it's him or not?"

"Couldn't J'onn say the same thing about you and Jeremiah? We let him walk right in here and steal critical information. We can't let that happen again."

"So you're on board with this?" I asked, feeling guilty because my one mistake had created this.

"It sucks," she shrugged. "J'onn made a good point. If someone was targeting us, it wouldn't be hard to figure out we've both been down and out lately. It'd be the perfect plan, for them to send people we want most, to get close to us."

"I don't want Rae. I don't even know her," I argued, taking a glimpse in the direction of med bay.

"You don't want her?" said Kara, putting a hand on her hip. "Look at her! She's good looking, she's super smart and she has a kid! That checks one hundred percent of your boxes and probably some you didn't even know about. She's Maggie, but in mom-form."

I rolled my eyes, shaking off the sting of hearing Maggie's name out loud. "No one is Maggie."

"Well, lucky for you because otherwise you'd never find someone who has all those qualities and wants kids. Either way, I'm just saying keep your guard up and it's protocol, we don't have a say in it. Besides, we have Mon-el's DNA, so Winn's just going to cross reference it and we should be good to go. He can vouch for his cousin and we can all get out of here. Keep them separated."

Kara walked away and I took a breath before re-entering the med bay. "Easy for you to say, I have to keep a mother from her baby."

"Shoulder okay?" I asked, looking over Rae's oxygen levels as she sat rubbing her neck and arm.

"Yeah, its fine. I'd like to go see Charlie please."

I turned around slowly. "The thing is, we're on lockdown. So no one can leave their areas."

"Is there a threat to the facility?" Rae asked, getting out of bed. "Is Charlie safe?"

"Charlie will be fine. She's still with your mom and a guard," I explained, knowing the next part of what I had to say wasn't going to be easy. "We're on locked down because of you and Mon-el."

Rae stared at me, trying to comprehend what was being said. It wouldn't make sense, for the last seven months, her cousin had spoke non stop about returning to this place he now called home. He was returning to this woman who would be waiting for him. "Did Mon-el lie to me? Has he done something?"

"No, Mon-el is waiting for his results from his DNA scan. I'm sure he understands, he was there when this happened last time. This isn't literally about you guys, it's the fact that we've been burned before and we can't-won't let it happen again," I said, bringing my stool back closer to the bed.

"Wow, whoever burned you guys really did a number. Those are some serious trust issues," said Rae, leaning against the bed.

"It was my Dad."

"Ouch, that must have been a tough day," mumbled Rae.

"The worst," I admitted, unable to control the pained look that crossed my face. "Anyways, you should get some rest while you're here. I'm sure the results won't take long."

"There has to be a way I can see my daughter. We just travelled a ridiculous amount and I just want to see for myself that she's okay."

I thought about it and Rae's sad expression wasn't helping. "Let me see what I can do," I said, turning back to my computer.

"Thank you," said Rae, sitting back on the bed. "I get protocol, a good chunk of my life revolved around protocol in the army. I just wasn't expecting it today. I'm sorry you guys have been targeted before but honestly, I'm just here to give my daughter a chance at a normal life."

"I know," I nodded, handing Rae my tablet with a camera screen of the room her daughter was in. She was sitting on a large conference table, clapping her hands with her grandmother. "You'll just have to trust me, that we're moving through this process as fast as we can to get you two reunited."

"It's kind of ironic, that I need to give my trust to you but you guys can't offer the same in return," Rae mumbled, turning over on her side and staring into tablet.

I didn't like sounding like a hypocrite; I knew if it were me in her shoes, I'd be losing my mind. Feeling horrible, I excused myself to get some air. "I'm sorry, I'm going to go check where we're at with the results."

Rae didn't move, her back to the rest of the room as she watched the screen.

Hours had passed and Mon-el was getting impatient. He knew his cousin was alone in med bay and he was stuck in a training room. Finally, Kara returned.

"Well? Are we cleared? Why is this taking so long?" he asked, walking up to her and taking her hands in his. Kara pulled them back and stepped away. Mon-el was confused.

"They're having a hard time locating your last DNA sample, so we have nothing to compare your current one with," she stated.

"Kara, it's me. I've waited for what felt like years instead of months to get back to you. How can you just act like you don't even know me?"

"I can't," she said. "Can't you see this is killing me? All I've wanted for the last seven months was to wake up next to you. But it was you who said we couldn't trust someone just because we knew and loved them. You made that point with Jeremiah and we didn't listen, so please just understand we're taking your advice now."

Mon-el sighed a big breath and nodded his head. His head knew she was right, but his heart was playing sides. From his shirt, he pulled out the necklace she given him before he left. "I know it's for the safety of everyone but it's me. Can you please just kiss me?"

Kara looked at the necklace before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. " I missed you so much. I meant what I said, I love you."

Mon-el leaned his forehead against hers, relieved that she believed him. "I love you too."

When I walked into the training room where Mon-el was being held, I saw Kara and Mon-el in each other's arms. I stepped in and leaned against the wall with my arms folded across my chest. "So much for keeping everyone separated."

They took a step back from one another but continued holding hands. "Alex, he has my mothers necklace. The one I gave him before he left."

"I've been a little wary of my instincts since everything happened with Maggie, but I knew it was you. What you two share is something special, you really need to hold on to that," I said, feeling my stomach relax. "Any word from Winn so we can make this official?"

"Still waiting," answered Supergirl.

"Mon-el, why did your cousin follow you to earth instead of just sending you down in your pod?"

"Since the war, my cousin has been searching for a place to settle down and call home. When she heard of the Daxamites landing on this earth, she thought she might find other family here. Now that we've been reunited she was hoping she'd be able to raise her daughter here, around family."

I wanted to know more about Rae and how she came to land on this earth. "How could she make three inhibitors, plus a mini one for a child with lacking supplies on a ship?" I knew I was peppering Mon-el with questions but I didn't think Rae would want to talk until she saw her daughter. We still couldn't move forward until we had official word from the director.

"The ship Rae was on had been taken over by peace keeping soldiers, Daxamites tired of fighting and more concerned with saving what was left of our planet," explained Mon-el. "The ship belonged to the Royal family. It's top of the line, complete with its own lab."

"So how did Rae come to be on it with a baby?" asked Kara.

"The Daxamites sent out a signal to regroup, but Rae couldn't exactly go back to my mother's ship so she found herself the peace keeping troop that she had founded once she had been banished from Daxam."

"Rae went against Rhea?" I asked.

"Rae couldn't hurt a fly. She looks tough and is, but she doesn't have an evil bone in her body. When my mother couldn't have any more children, she longed for a daughter. Rae and I were always together; she was like a sister, always looking out for me. My mother saw how well we got along; she tried to mold her into the daughter she always wanted. Rhea and my uncle were close siblings; Rae is named after my mother. So when my mother suggested to Rae that she join the coalition, Rae didn't want to let her down. But she stayed true to who she was and became a doctor in the Daxam Army. It wasn't exactly what my mother had in mind, but it was obviously something she could work with. Rhea tried to force Rae into researching biochemical methods of warfare. Rae has always been brilliant, she excelled in school and Rhea figured that's how Rae would come to prove her worth. But Rae couldn't; all the horrors she had seen while out in the field, she spoke of it when she would return for short stints. She couldn't bare it and I should've done more to stand up for her. When the war looked like it wouldn't end, she made a choice to choose peace. Her research was of ways to heal not only Daxamites, but also all Kryptonians, faster. I can see this now, but then it only came off as betrayal. She knew plans from both sides and when she couldn't talk sense to either, she just started healing and trying to help everyone."

"Did Rhea find out?" I asked.

"Yeah, it was bad. There was a warrant out for Rae's return. Rae was brought in by her own troop. She was so stubborn, now I wish she had just run. But that's not Rae; she stood in front of my mother and swore that given the chance the only thing she would have done differently would have been to find her research faster. The look on my mothers face was a mix of pride, she felt that the strength Rae possessed had come from her but then it changed to disgust, that Rae didn't carry out what was best for her people. She banished Rae in the middle of the war regardless of the countless times she risked her life, trying to save someone else. All I did was stand by as I watch my mother cut into my best friend to remove the Daxamite insignia off her uniform. I knew my cousin felt equally betrayed by me, I could feel it. I could feel her eyes on me as her blood was spilt that day."

"So now what?" I asked.

"Well, it was a pretty cold reunion. I don't think I was the family she was hoping to find, but after hearing everything that happened since, I think we're on a level that we can understand each other. That's why she agreed to help me get back here. She lives a pretty normal "human" life from what I've grown to learn. They were living on earth-1 before Rae heard the signal," said Mon-el, looking between Kara and myself.

"Alex! You're needed in med bay right away," came Winn, in my earpiece. Alarmed, I took off running towards the medical wing.

"What happened?" I asked, grabbing gloves and going to Rae.

"The monitors are going mad, but she isn't presenting much different from before," explained an assistant.

"I'm...fine," gasped Rae, who was holding her shoulder. "Just a small case...of the bends."

"That's the first stage in decompression sickness," I said, reaching for the oxygen mask. I pulled it down over her face. "We need to go to the hyperbaric chambers."

"You guys just have one of those just lying around?" Rae asked, sarcastically.

"Actually, yes. We do. We're the DEO," I said, smiling back and helping her up. She cringed when I tried using her arm to help.

"Sorry," I worried I made it worse. "Let's go this way."

We walked down two more halls and Rae came to a complete stop, staring through the conference room window. I saw her whole body soften when she saw her daughter asleep in her mom's arms.

"She's very sweet," I said, quietly.

"Yeah, she really is," agreed Rae, trying to subtlety wipe away a tear. "Quite the personality for only a little over a yesr old. Always trying to make me laugh."

Her mom rocked the chair back and forth before looking up to see Rae. When she did, she sat straighter. Rae held up a hand, stopping her from standing. Her mom mouthed the words, "are you okay?" Rae nodded and smiled, before turning her attention my way. "How many ways are there to the chamber?"

"Three," I answered, still looking through the glass.

Turning back to the window, Rae gave another comforting smile to her mom, "thank you."

"You're welcome," I answered, sneaking another glance her way. "We should keep going. I can monitor everything better from the chamber."

Rae nodded and gave her mom a small wave before putting her best foot forward so her mom wouldn't see her in pain. I respected how strong Rae was, but could also see another side to her as well. We arrived at the hyperbaric chamber and I opened the door for her.

"Come in Winn," I called out on my radio.

"Winn here! What can I do ya for?" he chirped.

"Take me offline. I'm entering the hyperbaric chamber with a patient."

"T-take you offline? With the potential convict patient in a locked chamber?" he asked loudly, allowing Rae to hear. Rae laughed a little while holding her shoulder steady.

I took a step back before giving my answer. "Well maybe if you could rush the results we would have our answers."

"Oh, sassy! Okay. I like it," he said.

"Winn. Offline," I repeated, before unsnapping my radio.

I helped Rae up on to the bed inside the chamber and readjusted her oxygen supply. I booted up the screens and started the chamber.

"You don't have to lock yourself in here, you know. I've used these before, I can run it," offered Rae, with a smirk. "You know, so you're not locked in here with a potential felon."

"I'm extensively trained in tactical operations and combat, as well as being certified in over thirty military weapons, I think I'll be okay if you turn out to be a felon," I said with my own smirk. I continued hooking Rae up to the various machines that would help.

"Wow, military?" said Rae, pretending to think back. "I was in the military once. Although, I remember being certified in thirty two weapons."

I couldn't help but laugh a little at her teasing. Her sense of humour was refreshing considering her current circumstance. "Do you want my help or not?" I teased back.

"I do appreciate it," she answered, her tone more serious now. "But what if something happens and you're stuck in here. We'd have to wait for the chamber to level out before you could open the door."

"Nothing will happen, we're at the DEO and even if it did, Supergirl and Mon-el are out there with an army of others. Everything will be fine," I assured her. She was quiet now, favouring her shoulder.

"Is it getting worse?" I asked.

"No, it's fine," she said.

"Are you sure?" I asked again. "I can read your pain levels, they're pretty high."

"What are you, a psychic?" joked Rae.

"Well, you are squeezing the bed rails together." We both looked at the rails that were now pinched in the middle. Rae looked at me a little stunned.

"What the hell?" she mumbled, looking at her hands.

"You'll have different abilities now that you're on this planet. They must be manifesting now that you've spent some time on earth with the yellow star. We should've just kept you under the sun lamps. Your healing power should fix everything," I explained. I moved closer to check her lungs. We were both silent as I listened, "sounds like there is some improvement. I'll see what I can do about reversing the chamber."

"Mon-el mentioned that he was able to jump from buildings and was much stronger but I don't know if I just didn't really believe him or I forgot. I was so busy with finding a way to produce the inhibitors. Does this mean Charlie will have the same abilities?"

"They may be harder to detect at such a young age. I can run some tests to see what we can find out?" I offered, trying to stop the pressurization. "I stopped the chamber but we're still going to have to wait until the pressure normalizes."

"Okay, everything is starting to loosen back up. Thank you for your help," Rae said, swinging her legs over the bed. I moved closer to take out the tubes that I could at the moment.

"No problem," I answered, feeling like I was standing a little closer than I had to. I caught Rae's ocean blue eyes and had to step back to the monitors while my blush left my cheeks.

"So, what do you guys do for fun on this planet?" Rae asked, lightening the mood.

"Um, its pretty similar to Earth-1. We were actually just on Earth-1 for a wedding, believe it or not," I said, pulling out the last tube in her arm. Rae looked up at me with a sceptical look on her face, "small galaxy I guess huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I smiled; her hand touched mine as I was moving away and she looked up at me from her spot on the bed and smiled back.

"Results are in! Everyone is who they say they are! Mon-el's back! Yay!" shouted Winn, with his arms up in the air through the glass of the chamber.

His presence and shouting startled me back a couple steps and I busied myself away from Rae.

"Um, that's great to hear," I said, smiling at Winn through the chamber window.

"Yeah, hey. What's going on here? Shouldn't Rae be hooked up and being monitored?" he asked, his nose basically pressed against the glass.

"Her abilities are much like Mon-els, she's able to heal herself and withstand injury. It didn't occur to me until we had already pressurized. We're just waiting for the chamber to level out now," I confirmed.

"Okay, well once you guys are out we'll be able to go out and celebrate! Drinks for all!" Winn shouted. "Oh, before I forget, while you were offline I took the liberty of monitoring your phone calls and your date for dinner tonight called to confirm."

I had forgot all about my new dating life with all that had happened today. Thankfully, my back was turned to both Winn and Rae so they couldn't see my response. "Winn, do me a favour and call back to cancel. I probably won't make it in time."

"What? Don't be silly, it says you have twelve more minutes to wait and then you're a free woman! Dinner isn't until eight! You'll even have enough time to stop at home and revamp that cute little thing you've been doing to your hair lately. You know the one—"

'Great Winn! Thank you," I said, cutting him off before he spilled any more details of my personal life. I turned around to see him walking back out the way he came.

When I finally looked back at Rae, she had a small knowing smirk. I took a seat on the chair leaning against the wall to wait out our last eleven minutes.

"Well," said Rae, jumping down off the bed and extending a hand to me. "I'm Rae, officially Mon-el's cousin. It's nice to finally meet you Agent Danvers."