A/N: I've had requests to continue "Heartache" and while I wasn't intending to, something hit me today that I couldn't ignore. I hope you like it. I have added "Heartache" to the beginning so you don't have to find the oneshot. Thank you to all who read and reviewed "Heartache".


Coming Home

By 18lzytwner

Preface (Original Heartache Oneshot)

It had been a long day as she slid the key into the lock at her apartment. Despite being a Kryptonian, everything hurt, even though she barely felt a thing all day. Sliding the door open, she plopped her keys down on the table near the door and out of habit started to say,

"Mon-El, I'm…" she caught herself in time but still the emptiness of the apartment loomed before her. He wasn't here, he never would be again. She had done this and now what was once a home was just a place she was living.

Heaving a sigh, she closed the door and set her purse down. There was no motivation to do anything and so she made her way to the couch but stopped short. Everywhere she looked there was a reminder of the man that had been forced back into the cold of space. Deciding she couldn't stay, she turned right back around and grabbed her keys and her purse.

Out on the street, she walked without purpose, unsure of where to go or what to turn to. Everywhere she went she was reminded of the things they had done on their days off or of people that they had saved. He had come so far in their time together. She was proud of him and knew that he could handle himself but her innate need to protect him easily overrode her pride.

She walked for hours and scarcely noticed as the city went to sleep for the night. Finally, she stopped and looked up. The stars seemed pretty if you didn't know what lay beyond them. Her phone rang and she didn't look at the caller ID.

"Hello," she half hoped it was him, knowing full well it couldn't be.

"You're not sleeping?" Winn asked.

"Neither are you," she pointed out.

"Well I got an alert from that beacon I put on Mon-El's ship. I thought you'd want to know," he said.

"What can we do?" She asked.

"I don't know yet but I'm heading in to see. Meet me?" Winn wondered.

"Of course," she nodded even though he couldn't see her. The phone call was over and that's when she noticed she'd managed to circle the city and still end back up near her apartment. Heaving a sigh, she turned and left, now more determined. Even if he had to live in a goddamn bubble, she would find a way to make sure that she got him back. Hell, she'd live in the bubble with him. Whatever it took, to mend the heart that was supposed to be unbreakable but broke anyway.

Chapter 1

Kara beat Winn to DEO headquarters, which he had anticipated she would. He found her pacing around the floor, and he was surprised that she hadn't worn a hole in the hard surface. Winn motioned to the computer and she practically flew to get there.

"All right, it looks like the beacon gave its coordinates and then there was a massive jump…" Winn paused and looked at the numbers again.

"The Phantom Zone…" Kara swallowed hard.

"Maybe you should…" he didn't get the sentence out before she was gone. "Call Clark," he said to no one in particular. Heaving a sigh, he placed a call to a member of his tech team, Ricky Yao.

"Who the hell is this?" Ricky mumbled into the phone. It was still early in the morning after all.

"Winn. We're at Defcon ten. Supergirl. Mon-El. Phantom Zone," he said.

"See you in twenty!" Ricky had noticeably perked up before he disconnected the call. Winn left his seat and headed back into the room where the super uniforms were kept. He'd been working on something special for Mon-El before Rhea had showed up and now he was wondering if it was something that would help.

Since Mon-El had been forced to leave, Winn had begun to work on finding a way to bring him back to Earth. Kara tried to hide it but Winn knew she was heartbroken. It had only been a couple of weeks and the rest of the world had moved on but he knew that she hadn't or couldn't or both. Needless to say, the first chance he got he had kept an eye on the tracking beacon inside the Kryptonian ship and started working toward a cure or something that would mitigate the lead in the atmosphere. There was a time delay due to the signal needing to travel so far and he didn't want to be the one to tell Kara that Mon-El had probably been trapped in there for longer than just a few hours.

"You call anybody else?" Ricky asked as he entered the room.

"No. Supergirl is off to see Superman. We'll wait for word from them before we call anyone. In the meantime, I want to test the containment chamber and its systems. Mon-El will have to live in there until we figure out his other situation," Winn told him.

"You got it. You're in here because of the suit right?" Ricky gave him a look.

"There has to be a way for us to use it to help him not have to live in a bubble…" Winn frowned.

"The yellow sun generators. What if we infused the suit with them? He'd have to wear a helmet so he wasn't breathing in the air but he could have a rebreather and then he could walk around and not be in the bubble," Ricky suggested.

"That's a step we could take. We need to talk to Doctor Milo. He might have some insight into the yellow sun effects and lead poisoning," Winn liked where his friend was going. They buckled down and got to work.

Meanwhile, Kara landed on the balcony and found her cousin waiting for her. She looked at him for a moment and he handed her a cup of coffee.

"I heard you coming a mile away," he teased.

"It's Mon-El," she said.

"Come on in. Lois is still sleeping so let's be quiet," Clark smiled and they walked into the living room.

To Be Continued...