N/A:I could not have done this without you, Neekah Kade. Thank you so much!

He succeeded in the end.

Kara opened the door of their apartment, shaking with fear. Why was she so afraid? It had been a normal day. A moment ago she had been at work, talking to Cat about covering the news of Lex Luthor's transfer. What Kara couldn't tell Cat, however, was that he was currently being detained at the DEO.

Suddenly a wave of fear washed over her and she had an irresistable urge to check that Lena was alright. It was crazy. Of course Lena was fine! Her brother had been arrested and was at the DEO. Which meant he couldn't send people to kill her anymore. So, of course Lena was fine. Right?

Kara almost broke down the door in her haste to open it.

"Lena?"

The shutters were barely opened, the light shining faintly in the darkness. Lena loved the view from the new apartment. It was what had made the place stand out from all the others when it was selected. They never closed them.

"Lena? Are you here?"

She's fine. Stop being so scared.

Kara tried to search for Lena's heartbeat but found nothing. Panic was running through her body.

She's at work. Yes, at her job. She's at L-Corp right now, making the world a better place. When she gets back we will have dinner on the couch while watching Merlin. We will laugh at Morgana Pendragon and she will tell me not to be so paranoi-

There was a foot sticking out from behind the couch. Kara threw her bag aside and ran over.

"Lena!"

Lena was lying on the floor with her beautiful ink black hair covering her face. There were several bruises covering her neck. They looked like finger marks.

"No no no no no no."

Kara tried to look for a pulse, a sign of breathing, anything. But like before, she found nothing.

"Come on, don't do this to me. W-wake up, this isn't funny. The jokes over Lena. Wake up."

...

"Lena, come on. Stop playing! Wake up, now!"

...

Nothing.

"Honey please. Please. Please don't do this to me. Oh Rao. Lena, come on, don't do this. L-Lena open your eyes. LENA!"

Kara was shaking. Her senses were going crazy and the whole world began to spin. She couldn't focus. She felt like her heart had been ripped out and torn to pieces. Though that might have been less painfull.

Rao, please no. Please no.

Lena never opened her eyes.

A strange calm settled over her as she stroked her girlfriend's hair. She felt nothing. It was as if everything had suddenly stopped, frozen in place refusing to move. Kara became lost in her memories, trying to figure out how this could have possibly happened.

She remembered the first time she had seen her. Lena had been dressed in red and black, with those supernatural eyes that seemed to radiate their own sunlight.

She remembered their first date. Her nerves. Lena's laughter.

She remembered their first time together, desire mingling with fear. Fear of losing control. Fear of hurting Lena. Fear that had soon become pleasure.

Kara hadn't realised she had began to sob, but she remembered Lena's smile when Alex had given her the talk. "If you hurt my sister, I will kill you." Lena had replied that she was happy Kara had a sister who was willing to kill for her. Alex was still upset her intimidation hadn't worked.

She could remember their joint relief when Eliza had approved of their relationship. Soon Lena had grown fond of Eliza. Kara knew that Lena had a weakness for loving mothers.

She recalled the tension she felt between Lena and her adoptive parents, who were slightly disgusted with the fact that their biological son was in prison and that the girl who had been taken in to improve their image was doing better than him.

She remembered the fear and nerves in Lena's voice when she told her about her birth mother for the first time. She had said, "Naturally I don't actually know much about her, but no good person leaves behind a baby in an alley."

She recalled the nights when Lena has sobbed quietly into her pillow because the man she had once considered her family now wanted her dead.

And now she was

dead.

Kara walked into the DEO. She didn't respond to anyone or even look around. She only had one thought. Find Lex. His cell was made of glass and Alex was the only one guarding it. She ignored her but Alex must have seen something in her eyes because she immediately became concerned.

"Supergirl? Supergirl, what are you doing?"

Before Alex could stop her Kara had opened the door to the cell and was headed straight for Lex. The monster looked surprised, but not afraid.

"Supergirl get back."

Kara ignored Alex and stared hard at Lex. "Your sister is dead."

Lex sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment. "Are you sure?"

Kara chose not to respond.

"How did she die?" He asked.

"Don't you know? You were the one who wanted her dead."

"I have sent many people to kill her. I want to know which one did it."

Kara immediately rushed forward and grabbed him by the nexk, holding him up. "She still loved you, you piece of trash! She still had hope that you could change!"

"Supergirl no! Put him down! Put. him. down!"

Kara looked back at Alex, "He. killed. Lena. Alex."

"Are you going to kill me then?" Kara looked beack at Lex to see him strugling to breathe. "Come on girl. Show me that all Kryptonians are the monsters I know they are. I loved my sister, and I hate that she had to die, but it had to be done. So go ahead. Kill me like the monster you are. I can't stop you."

"No!" Alex shouted, trying to reason with her. "That's what he wants! You can't kill him. It won't bring Lena back. Ka-Supergirl you have to let him go! Let him go!"

Kara was Lex's smile. He was so sure that she would listen to Alex. That she would let him go.

My brother was not always like this. He used to love me, before he became a monster. I love my brother, I just hate the person he has become.

Kara ripped his heart out with her bare hands. She watched the light fade from his eyes, that smile still on his face.

Then everything

went

dark

She woke up suddenly, writhing on a gurney. There were straps with Kryptonite holding her down to prevent her from injuring anyone while they tried to remove the parasite. She was pretty sure she had just kicked someone but thanks to the Kryptonite it wasn't much of a hit. Kara didn't know what was happening. All she knew was that Lena was dead and it hurt. So bad she just. couldn't. think.

"Kara!"

One of the faces by her side took shape. It was Alex. Her sister looked pale and scared.

"Kara, you have to stay still! We are trying to get this thing off! Everything is gonna be fine, I promise."

"L-Lena..."

"Lena?" Alex took her hand. "Easy there, Kara. Lena is fine. She's probably at work right now."

"NO SHE ISN'T!" Kara shouted. "She wont ever work again! I won't ever see her again, Alex, NEVER!"

"K-Kara?" Alex tried to get her sister to look at her, "Kara, that isn't true. Listen to me. This fucking parasite makes you live through nightmares that you think are real. Remember the Black Mercy and Non? Well, this one is like the ugly cousin. Do you understand me Kara? It wasn't real. None of it was real."

Unfortunately Kara truly believed that Lena was dead and therefore refused to listen to Alex. Her sister must have been confused. That is if it was even her sister at all. Lena was dead, and she would never see her smile ever again.

"It wasn't real! Kara, It wasn't, you have to believe me!" Alex yelled taking her by the shoulders.

"Dead, Alex. She is dead. My Lena is dead, dead, de-"

"It's out!" Shouted one of the soldiers.

The parasite left Kara with a pop, leaving a burning sensation in her chest. Kara squirmed a little, then lay still, breathing hard while the effect of the parasite gradually faded from her mind. The world stopped spinning and she started to remember what had happened before. Cadmus. The Doctor. Alex shouting her name before the Black Nightmare had attacked her and plunged her into that nightmare.

"Kara?" Alex asked with a hint of tears in her eyes.

"I'm fine now. I think I remember everything." Kara squeezed her hand lightly. "Please untie me."

The dizziness had almost completely dissapeared, but Kara could still see Lena lying dead when she closed her eyes. When the managed to catch the Doctor, Kara wasn't sure she would be able to stop herself from ripping her to shreds with her bare hands.

All she could see was Lena's motionless body. Lex's heart broken in her own hand. Oh Rao.

She needed to leave as soon as possible.

Kara tried no to panic, but when she flew past Lena's office and saw that it was empty, she couldnt help it.

She has to be at home already. Please, please be at home.

Supergirl flew across town to where the apartment she shared with her girlfriend was as fast she could. She almost broke the window because her hands wouldn't stop shaking. She entered the apartment and almost tripped over a chair, strugling to catch herself in time.

"Lena? Lena are you here? LENA?"

"K-Kara?"

She found Lena in the kitchen, with her hair wet and wrapped in a bathrobe. There was a pink ice cream spoon suspended halfway between her mouth and the bowl on the counter.

"Lena," Kara whispered.

Kara felt as if her soul had just returned to her body.

"Kara? What the hell happened to you?" Lena walked over to her, worried. Kara watched as drops of water traveled down her neck to her collar bones. "You look like someone dragged you through a hurricane. Are you alright? You came in screaming like you were being chased by Freddy Krueger."

Kara hugged her as tight as she dared without hurting her.

Lena was very confused, "Kara? You're scaring me, puppy."

"Everything is okay now," Kara murmered against her hair. "I just experienced the second worst day of my entire life. It's a long story, but everything is right now, I promise, love."

Kara looked at Lena's face, the worry still there. It was still perfect. She never got tired of looking at Lena. Or touching. She pressed her forhead against her girlfriend's, wanting to be as close as possible.

"I love you." Kara kissed her hair. "I love you I love you I love you." More than I ever thought I could.

Lena stood there in shock for a moment.

"Well I didn't expect the first time you said that to be like this, but I don't care." Lena hugged her. "I love you too, Kara."

There was no doubt that it had been a very strange day, thought Lena.

Besides getting the results she had been waiting for from the Department of Technology, people no longer seen to be so afraid of her. Perhaps they were beginning to see her as her own person and not just the sister of Lex Luthor.

So she decided to return home a little earlier than usual. She planned to have a nice bath and then order some food later. Once she was done bathing she felt a craving for strawberry ice creal. She was just digging in when a frantic (very frantic) Kara, still in her Supersuit, came stumbling in through the window.

For the next half hour, after Kara had calmed down a little, her puppy held her on the couch, sobbing softly and shaking slightly. It broke her heart having to see Kara like this and not knowing how to fix it. Kara had her head buried between her breast, like she wanted to be as close to Lena's heart as she could.

When Kara explained what had happened, Lena finally understood. Kara had believed she was dead. And had killed someone, even though it wasn't actually real. Lena couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been for her strong and brave puppy.

"It wasn't real, Kara." Lena looked her in the eye. "Do you hear me? I am right here with you, puppy. I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." Lena kissed her. "Nothing else."

Kara kissed her back, sighing into the kiss as if Lena's lips were sweet strawberries. Her hands drifted to Lena's robe, untying it quickly. She needed her more than she had ever needed anything else before in her life. With no effort, Kara lifted Lena, who proceeded to wrap her bare legs around Kara's hips, and walked them to the bedroom without breaking the kiss.

Kara marveled at the sight. The pale breasts were heaving. Her hips were shaking, and those soft hands that she loved so much were clawing her back, knowing she could not hurt her lover.

"Kara ..."

Lena's heart was running, strong and melodious. She needed to hear that sound. She needed to hear Lena's voice, her gasps, feel the warmth of her stomach explode.

"Kara, I'm co-"

She twisted her knuckles, playing her sweet spot.

"KA-RA"

Lena was asleep, Kara lying with her head burried in her neck, thinking over what had happened.

She kept remembering the Lex Luthor in the nightmare. She couldn't tell Lena, that in a blind rage, she had killed her brother. Why would she? None of it was real. She had't been herself. Neither was Lena, or Lex, or Alex.

But if it had been real, could I have killed him?

Kara wasn't sure of the answer. She didn't want to be. All she wanted was to forget the whole thing and listen to the heartbeat of the woman she loved.

Thump thump. Thump thump.

Kara would do anything to protect the woman lying next to her, there was not doubt about that. The nightmare had shown her how if would feel if she were to lose Lena, if someone took her Lena away from her. And Kara would make sure that never, ever happened. No matter what.