Author's Notes: Hello my loves! I just want to thank you all so much for your outstanding support and kind words. It thrills me to see so many people enjoying something that I was sure no one would even take notice of. You all are amazing!

Also, forgive me for taking forever to get this chapter out to you! My muse has been particularly fickle these past 3 or so weeks and this chapter didn't quite turn out how it was in my head, but here it is regardless! Enjoy.

It burned.

The scream caught, silenced by the suffocating, throat-seizing pain.

No, no, no. Wrong.

Can't.

White door. 4A.

Red and gold.

Sparkling lights.

"...You and yours be filled with explosive joy…"

Blonde rushing. "Oof!" Breathless. Blinding blaze and heat.

Red.

Alex nearly choked on the harsh gasp of air she swallowed as she jolted upward in bed. A tearing ache from her fresh scar ripped up her side at the wrenching movement and she winced, unable to prevent the hissing sound from escaping her lips. She pressed her hand to the still-healing wound and doubled forward at the waist, clenching her eyes shut until the spike of pain ebbed back down to a throb.

After a few moments, she grit her teeth and slowly straightened her spine, testing her side to see if it was going to flare again. It twinged, but nothing beyond that.

Her head, though,... her head was screaming. Vicious and slicing like hot spikes behind her eyes, it stabbed and seared. She pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead and pushed hard against the bridge of her nose, trying to breathe through it.

"Alex?"

Of course Kara would have overheard and come to check on her.

Alex raised her head and squinted at her sister's silhouette in the doorway. Kara stepped forward into the moonlight that was shining through the windows and Alex could easily see the concern on her sister's face. "You okay?" the blonde asked.

Sucking in another breath, Alex thought to nod, but paused before the action and reconsidered. "Yeah," she said, raspy and strained.

"Alex…"

"Headache," Alex confessed, though the pain was already receding.

Kara frowned and said, "I'll get you some water," before she disappeared back out of the room. A few seconds later she reappeared at Alex's side, Advil and water in hand. "Here."

"Thanks." Taking both, Alex dropped the Advil into her mouth and took a sip of the water, washing it down. She looked back up to see that Kara still had the same expression on her face, the one that spoke of fear for Alex and a not-quite-hidden guilt that plagued her for every little thing she couldn't control. "I'm okay," Alex assured her and the younger Danvers smiled, though it wasn't quite convincing.

"What happened?" Kara asked, blue eyes searching.

Alex felt incredibly reluctant to say, but she couldn't deny her sister, not when Kara was regarding her in that sweet, earnest, worried sort a way that was so typical of her. "Dream," she said. "I had a dream and I just sat up too fast."

"What was it about?"

Alex watched as Kara lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, clearly deciding that needing to know what the dream was about was more important than either of them actually sleeping. There was something in her eyes though, almost like a tentative suspicion, like somehow she instinctively knew something more was going on. There were times when Kara was so very trusting and clueless that Alex almost worried for her safety, but there were other times, like now, where she marveled at the depth of Kara's intuition.

It only ever really seemed to be with her though that Kara saw more than what was just presented on the surface. Alex supposed that made sense. They were sisters and more than that, they were incredibly close. After spending years helping Kara acclimate to living on Earth, she had learned to read her little sister very well. Of course Kara had been able to do the same with her.

It was part of the reason why keeping her secret about being an agent with the DEO had been so very difficult, so very exhausting. Whenever she'd been around Kara, she'd had to be on the top of her game, always careful of what she did or said so that Kara wouldn't pick up on any inconsistencies or clues. She'd managed it, yes, but she had hated every moment of lying to her sister.

"I planted the bomb," Alex blurted suddenly, the weight of not having told Kara yet far too much for her to carry any longer. She'd meant to tell Kara when she'd gotten back with dinner, but just… hadn't been able to. Kara had arrived all triumphant and adorable, presenting the food she'd picked up like some great prize that she had fought valiantly to acquire. Alex just hadn't had the heart to shatter her sibling's cheerful mood. "I did it. It was me."

Kara blinked, looking a bit startled. "It's okay, Alex. It was just a dream," she said, not understanding. She reached forward and squeezed Alex's hand gently. "You didn't actually plant the bo—"

Alex shook her head, drawing her hand away and dropping her eyes so that she wouldn't see the undoubtedly confused and hurt look on her sister's face at the withdrawal. She just… she couldn't handle being comforted, not when it had been her who had done the wronging… even if it had been against her will. "No," she whispered, "I did, Kara."

Kara shook her head slightly. "I'm confused. Are we talking about your dream or—"

"Hank came over last night," Alex cut in, the need to get it off her chest sudden and desperate. "They pulled more security footage and cleaned it up. It shows me getting the bomb out of my car and bringing it into your building."

"What? That- that doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't, but it's still what happened."

"Alex, that's not…that's not possible..." Kara's tone strained with disbelief.

"The laptop."

"What?"

Alex motioned to the side table. She could have reached and gotten it herself, but she didn't want to pull her side again so soon after wrenching it. Kara frowned and leaned forward, grabbing it and handing it over.

Opening the laptop, Alex pulled up the file, but then paused, suddenly conflicted. She wanted to prove her point, to show Kara what had been discovered, but at the same time, she dreaded damaging her sister's insatiable optimism. She hated the idea of dampening her spirit even a little bit.

The choice was made for her, however, when Kara tugged the laptop back out of Alex's hands and pressed play, clearly determined to see for herself.

Alex watched as her sister's expression quickly went from fiercely determined to not believe, to confused, to pained. When the video stopped, freezing on the last frame, Kara just stared at it as Alex had the first time she'd watched it.

"That doesn't make any sense," Kara whispered, repeating her earlier thought. "You wouldn't…"

Alex felt her throat clench painfully. Her heart hurt for Kara and she felt guilty for the dimming of the light in her sister's eyes. Everything was just so confusing. She felt so lost and while she was grateful to have her sister by her side, she hated that Kara was now having to make this dangerous journey with her, especially when it had already almost cost her her life.

She was about to speak, to apologize, to explain what little she knew, to… say something, but then Kara looked up at her, a frown on her face.

"Wait, last night? You've known since last night?" The expression that passed over Kara's face was that of a kicked puppy. "That explains why you were acting so weird at dinner… but I thought we agreed? No secrets."

"It wasn't a secret," Alex sighed. "I was going to tell you. I just… I needed time to process it."

"But Alex—"

"Kara. I planted a bomb in your apartment. I almost got us both killed." She swallowed hard against the jagged lump of emotions in her throat, her voice turning raw. "I almost got you killed. I just… I needed five minutes to wrap my head around it."

Kara must have picked up on the struggle within Alex because suddenly there were tears in the younger sister's eyes and a look of sad helplessness on her face. She leaned forward and hugged Alex as tight as she no doubt dared. "I'm so sorry this happened to you," she whispered, sniffling.

It didn't sound like a passing sentiment, like something you'd say if you were trying to comfort someone whose family member was in the hospital. What it sounded like was an actual apology, actual guilt. Alex easily recognized it because it was what she was feeling as well. "Don't do that," she said, hugging Kara back to her when her sister started to pull away.

"Do what?"

"Apologize," Alex clarified. "We've been over this. None of what's happened is your fault. It's being done to you, not by you."

"To us," Kara corrected, pulling back again. This time Alex let her. "And the same goes for you."

Alex tried to glance away, but Kara wouldn't let her. "No, Alex. Look, if you think for even one moment that I'm going to let you get away with blaming yourself for something you had no control over, you've got another thing coming." Kara ducked her head to catch Alex's gaze again. "Unless you weren't brainwashed or hypnotized or whatever and you actually planted the bomb on purpose?"

Alex snapped her head back up in alarmed and she frowned at her sister. "No! Of course not."

"There you go then. It's not your fault, okay?" Kara squeezed Alex's hand. "Now can we both resolve to agree that this is on neither of us and place the blame on the person actually behind it?"

She was right, Alex knew she was right, but it was a difficult thing, just shutting down the guilt. Even when fully knowing that it was baseless, unwarranted, guilt always seemed to hold on tight, quietly suggesting that maybe, just maybe, there was still something to feel sorry for.

It was something she was just going to have to work on, she concluded. In the meantime though she could at least give her sister a little piece of mind. She took a breath and nodded. "Okay."

Kara smiled. "Good," she said before she suddenly turned her head to the side and covered her lips momentarily with her fingers, trying and failing to conceal a yawn.

It didn't go unnoticed by Alex. She poked her sister in the knee. "Go to bed," she commanded. Tomorrow was going to be a long day for both of them.

"I'm okay," the blonde countered, returning her eyes to Alex's. "You still haven't told me what your dream was about."

Not wanting to address the second statement, mostly because she didn't want to think about it, Alex skirted around it by narrowing her eyes ever so slightly and saying mildly, "Maybe it's not you who needs the sleep. Maybe I do."

Kara squinted at her like she was trying to decide whether Alex was telling the truth or trying to avoid any further talking, but she turned her head away before Alex could figure out which of the two Kara had decided on. She stood and for a moment Alex thought she was just going to leave, but then her sister turned to face the bed and was suddenly (and carefully) climbing over top of Alex to the other side. Kara plopped down in the empty space and curled up on her side, facing Alex.

"You do realize the guest room is right down the hall, yes?" Alex teased softly.

"Yep," Kara sleepily replied, but she didn't make a move to get off of Alex's bed again. In fact, she just inched a bit closer to Alex and snuggled further down into the pillows, closing her eyes.

Alex knew what her sister was doing; she was staying to keep Alex protected. From what —bombers or bad dreams— Alex didn't know. What she did know was that Kara had come into the room and slipped into the bed beside Alex quite a few times since the bombing, though only when she thought Alex had been asleep and wouldn't notice. Alex had noticed, every time.

Repayment, she supposed, for all the times she had done the same thing for Kara when the Kryptonian had first come to Earth. Kara had suffered a great deal of fear and sadness those first few years, but Alex had seen to it that she was with her through it all. Every nightmare, every fear-inducing experience, every fog of sorrow she'd slipped into remembering what she had lost — Alex had been there beside her, crawling into Kara's bed to keep her company, to offer support, to protect her.

The sisters slipped into a reflective silence, both too lost in their own heads and so mired by exhaustion to pursue any further avenue of conversation.

Alex wasn't sure how much time passed before a small shift from her sister beside her drew her attention to the side. Kara had tucked her fist under her chin, but her eyes were still shut and her breaths were deep, slow, and even. She had obviously fallen asleep.

Alex smiled softly and after a few moments of just watching the alien girl who had become both her sister and best friend, slipped very carefully out of bed and grabbed the throw blanket off of the chair she had in the corner. She moved back to Kara and gently covered her with it. Her sister had fallen asleep on top of the comforter instead of climbing underneath it and while Kara didn't actually need a blanket to keep warm, Alex knew she preferred to have one, that she found being wrapped in one comforting.

Once Kara was covered to her satisfaction, Alex climbed back into bed. Her surgery site twinged at all the movement, but she ignored it, slipping under the covers and relaxing back into the pillows.

Alex was both bone-weary and overwrought, her body and mind silently warring with each other as she lay there. She wanted to sleep, longed for at least the momentary relief from her inner turmoil that unconsciousness had to offer, but at the same time, feared it. Feared what she might miss while asleep, feared what could happen if she allowed her defenses to drop, and now she feared what she might see in her mind's eye.

She wasn't entirely sure what she had seen right before waking up earlier, but she remembered that the flashes had been so intense she'd been breathless and her heart had felt like it was going to explode. It hadn't been like any other dream she'd had before. It had been so fresh, so real, and some of it, the last parts, she knew had been real. She had experienced them.

She wasn't unaccustomed to having dreams about distressing events she'd had in her life, but this had been something… more. It felt almost like some strange, dark truth trying to force its way into the light. She didn't want to remember it, but at the same time, something in the back of her mind was demanding that she did.

Alex stared at the shadowed ceiling above, drawing comfort and strength from the feel of Kara's soft, warm breath against her shoulder, and decided she couldn't let fear rule her, if not for her own sake then for Kara's. They would never figure out who was behind the bombing if she couldn't move past the fear. She was at the center of the whole thing and she held answers, even if she didn't know what they were yet. She couldn't simply hide away and ignore it.

When Kara had been feeling guilty about Alex having to kill Dr. Morrow on her behalf (even though it hadn't just been for her), Alex had told her sister that for her she'd do anything and she had meant it. She would do this, she vehemently concluded, and whatever else it took to find the animal who had tried to kill her sister.

With a steeling breath, Alex tentatively attempted to pull the memories of the dream back to the forefront of her mind. Her head heated with a low, throbbing ache as she tried, making her wince… and nothing came.

She frowned and tried harder.

A/N's: TBC, of course! This one ended up kind of just being a filler chapter, but it was still something that I felt needed to be in there. I needed to see Kara's reaction to the news about the footage and explore a little more of their mutual guilt (silly girls) instead of just jumping ahead to the action of the story.

That said, things should be picking up the pace soon! *evil grin*

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