The drive to the DEO had been short. Once there, Kara was laying on her sunbed, healing. Alex sat by her side, holding her hand, and silently scolding herself.
Why didn't I try harder? She was gone for so long, and I abandoned her.
The sound of footsteps pulled Alex out of her thoughts. She looked up at her girlfriend, Maggie.
"Hey, Alex," she smiled and pulled up a chair. "How are you holding up?" Maggie asked.
"Well, I'm fine. I can't say the same for Kara."
"Alex, don't do that," Maggie scolded firmly but comfortingly.
"Do what, Maggie? It was my fault. I let my baby sister be captured and held for weeks. Weeks, Maggie! God knows what else they did to her!" Alex was yelling now.
"Alex, you did the best you could, given the circumstances. Don't beat yourself up about this. We both know Kara wouldn't want you to," Maggie responded calmly.
"Maggie, we don't even know what they did to her. We only saw the end. They could've killed her." Alex was holding her head in her hands.
"But they didn't, Alex. Focus on that. We got to her, and we arrested those bastards. Getting frustrated isn't going to help anything, and you know that. Just be here. If not for yourself, then do it for Kara."
At that moment, the doors slid open once again. J'onn was walking through with his head down. Maggie exchanged a look with him and turned to her girlfriend.
"I'll go get coffee," she said. She gave Alex a kiss on the head and exited the room. There was an awkward silence for a few moments.
"Awfully nice of you to stop by," Alex said sarcastically. J'onn didn't respond. He only took a seat on the other side of Kara's bed and crossed his legs.
"She'll be okay Alex. The lamps have already closed up her small wounds. She'll be waking soon."
"Don't act like you care," Alex hissed. "Don't act like you care for her. If you did, then you would've actually tried to find her."
"Alex, I did-"
"No, that is unacceptable. You pushed this off, and when I confronted you, you pulled the boss card. You sent me home, J'onn. Kara was in danger, and you sent me home. I can't believe you!"
"Alex," he said.
"When she needed you, you left her. So don't act like you care!"
"Alex!" J'onn yelled. "I do care. I care for her, but I also care for you. I sent you home because you were tearing yourself apart! You weren't eating, and you were barely sleeping. I care about you, but I don't care if you're angry. I don't care if you hate me. When I told your father that I would protect his girls, I wasn't just talking about Kara. Think about that."
With that, J'onn stood and briskly walked out, leaving Alex clutching her sister's hand. Alex bowed her head and looked at her sister. Suddenly, Kara's eye twitched.
"Kara?" Alex asked softly. More of Kara started to move. Alex was sure that she was waking up now.
"Kara, open your eyes." Kara took a few seconds, but eventually, her cobalt eyes peered at her sister.
"Hey," Kara said. It was barely more than a whisper, but that was all that Alex needed. Alex rushed to get her some water. She tipped little sips into her mouth until she was done.
"Don't you go and do that again, you hear me?" Alex scolded, stroking her sisters hair.
"Whe-" Kara cleared her throat. "Where is this?" She eventually croaked.
"You're at the DEO, Kar." Alex continued to stroke her hair. Kara's brows knit together in confusion, forming her signature crinkle.
"Is this real?" she asked. The vulnerability in these few words nearly broke Alex.
"Yeah, Kar. This is real. You're safe here." At this, Kara relaxed a little, but she was still unsure of her surroundings. Alex debated if she should voice her thoughts or not, but eventually, her curiosity got the best of her.
"Kara, what happened?" she asked carefully.
"What'd you mean?" Kara asked back.
"What did- What did they do to you?"
"Nothing. One minute I was flying, and the next, I was there. It's a wonder you guys found me so fast. How'd you do it?"
Kara's unnerving amount of calmness led Alex to believe that she was vaguely unaware of her surroundings.
"We didn't, Kara. The police found you – Maggie found you, and she called me."
"Oh, no. She knows my identity, doesn't she?"
"Yeah, but we can trust her. She is my girlfriend, after all."
"Yeah, but you've only been dating her for a few weeks, Alex. I haven't even met the woman."
It was this moment that informed Alex that something was wrong.
"Kara, we've been dating for over a year," Alex said slowly. "I told you I was going to propose, remember?" Kara's brows pushed together even further.
"No, you just told me you were dating like two weeks ago," she explained with certainty.
Alex gave up the argument and pulled out a pen light, shining it in Kara's eyes. Her pupils weren't contracting. This was very odd. Alex took her blood pressure and rechecked her vitals.
"Having a good time there…um…uhh," Kara stumbled over her words.
"Alex, my name is Alex." There was no doubt that something was wrong.
"Right, sorry," Kara apologized.
Then, Maggie walked in with two coffees.
"Hey, sleeping beauty. It's nice to see you awake." Kara smiled pleasantly but didn't respond.
"Oh, don't worry, little Danvers, your secret's safe with me." She pressed the steaming cup into Alex's waiting hand. Kara looked at Alex expectantly.
"Yes, Kara?" Alex asked.
"Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" she asked back. Maggie and Alex exchanged glances.
"This is Maggie, my girlfriend. You've met her. You sleep over at our house sometimes, Kara. Why can't you remember anything?"
Kara's face was overcome with a look of guilt. "I'm sorry, I just can't remember."
Then, it was time for Alex's face to take on the look of guilt. "No, it's not your fault. Don't worry, Kara. We'll figure this out. I'll make sure of it."
