"Kara?" A voice echoed in her head, "Can you hear me?"

Slowly the world came into focus, punctuated by a pounding headache and soreness in her chest. It always made Kara thankful for the fact that she was an alien. Most of the time she didn't feel physical pain, her yellow sun soaked cells protecting her. She usually had unlimited energy, and when she felt like she was running low, all she had to do was stand outside for a few minutes and she was fully charged again. There had only been a few times in the last year that Kara had blown through her powers, leaving her as weak as she was feeling now. It wasn't a good feeling. She felt sick to her stomach and her head was spinning.

"I think she's coming around." A female voice said from somewhere to her left. "We can turn the solar lamps down."

Someone was holding her right hand, and someone else had their hand on her shoulder. Normally she felt any touch with a hyper sensitivity that came from having super powers, but at the moment, everything felt normal. Almost like it had when she was back on Krypton. She struggled to come to her senses. Kara wanted to know why she felt powerless. It was a feeling she didn't like. Being vulnerable and open to the environment around her scared her.

Blinking several times the world came into focus. She was in an infirmary, but not one of the DEOs. While theirs were dark and enclosed, this one was light and open, full of glass and steel. Above her hung lights the size of a tanning bed, still glowing slightly from having been pumping her full of solar radiation. Monitors covered one wall, all sorts of charts and images displayed on them. A woman in a white lab coat stood at her feet, concern written across her pretty face. Slowly she turned her head and what she saw made her smile.

Barry was sitting beside her, both of his hands wrapped around hers. He was dressed in civilian clothes, his hair all messy, the stubble on his face more pronounced than ever. His eyes though were locked onto hers, full of relief and tears. He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and said softly,

"Welcome back girl of steel."

"What happened?" Kara's voice was weak as she continued to look around. Next to Barry stood Alex, her hand on Kara's shoulder. She was breathing deep and blinking back tears. Winn and J'onn stood behind her. On the other side of Barry stood Kal in his Superman regalia, worry etched onto his handsome face.

"You don't remember?" Her cousin asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. That's when Kara noticed she was covered by Kal's cape. Heart pounding she shook her head no.

"Maxwell Lord, he - " Winn started, but stopped, looking to Alex to explain.

"Lord created another synthetic version of Kryptonite." Kara's sister began slowly. "It's gold in color but has different properties than the red he made before."

"What kind of properties?" Kara asked, eyes darting to everyone in the room.

"Short term, it has the same effects as regular Kryptonite." J'onn said in Hank's form. "Weakness, sickness, leaching of solar radiation from the body."

Kara didn't like the sound of what she was hearing. Feeling her heart racing she squeezed Barry's hand and was surprised to feel him squeeze back, and it be almost uncomfortable. She had thought Maxwell Lord had learned his lesson from before, but apparently not. He was still power hungry and afraid of anyone who had more power than him. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sensation of vibrating, soft but jerky. The man next to her seemed agitated and his eyes were sparking, like he was looking for a fight.

"Long term?" She hated to ask, but she needed to know what was going on.

"Kara." Kal sighed, running his hand through his hair. "You've been in a coma for over a week. You've been under solar lamps the entire time, but your cells aren't responding like they should. According to Dr. Snow, you are only at a quarter of the strength you should be. The gold kryptonite has damaged you somehow."

Fear nearly suffocated Kara. Over a week under sunlamps and she still felt this weak? Where were her powers, her strength? Nothing should be able to take them away, at least not permanently. She was on a planet with the biggest and brightest yellow star she had ever seen. It's warmth and light gave her the powers that made her and her cousin so unique. There wasn't something out there that could simply flip the switch off and make her human. Was there? Thought after thought spun through her head, over and over at dizzying speeds. Kara felt her heart racing and her breathing becoming fast and shallow. Part of her knew she was having a panic attack, but there was no way to stop it.

"Vials going critical!" The woman in the white lab coat shouted. Kara guessed that this was Barry's friend Dr. Caitlin Snow. Barry jumped up and in a split second the solar lamps were back on at 100% bathing both her and Kal in bright hot light. "We need to get liquids into her to help calm her down. She's burning through what we gave her in the IV. If we don't calm her down she may go into cardiac arrest."

"Wait." Winn said having moved to grab the dark headed doctor. "Let her burn through. She's fully awake and aware. Maybe the fear and adrenaline will jumpstart her defense mechanisms."

"That's your advice?" Barry shouted. "Let her go into a panic attack!?"

"Barry, calm down." Kal said as he held Kara down onto the bed. She was thrashing and fighting his hold. In the back of her mind Kara registered that her strength was coming back to her. She felt Alex place a cool hand on her forehead, soothing the ache in her head.

"Look to the monitors." Hank said evenly. All movement stopped as everyone but Kal and Kara watched the screens.

"Breathe cousin." Kal said softly in Kryptonian. "You are safe and your powers are coming back. Rest."

Heart full of love for her cousin Kara did as she was told. Kal pulled his cape up under her chin. She could feel her body soaking up the warm yellow rays, filling her with energy. In a flash Barry was back at her side, looking down at her with clear green eyes. She pursed her lips and the speedster bent down and pressed his lips to hers gently. All was right in Kara's world.

"Barry?"

"Yeah Kara?"

"You need to shave."

Later that day, once it was deemed safe for Kara to travel, Barry scooped Kara up into his arms and before she could blink, they were in Barry's apartment. After the worlds merged, he had decided to move out of the West's home and into his own place not too far from S.T.A.R. Labs. Part of it was due to the face that he needed to be on his own, and the other part was so there was a place where he and Kara could be alone without having to go all the way to National City. Even then, Kara's apartment was also Alex's. Kara smiled into Barry's shoulder as he deposited her on his king size bed before moving to open the curtains over the window, letting sunlight stream in and hit her legs.

"You sit here and relax, I'm going to go shave." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head before disappearing into the bathroom. For roughly three minutes she heard water running and splashing, before a clean shaven Flash reappeared, dressed in sweatpants with his chest bare. Moving at regular speed he walked over to his dresser, pulled out a t-shirt and tossed it to Kara.

"You might want to change into something more comfortable. Alex should be over later with some clothes for you."

Kara laughed when she saw it was another Flash shirt, only this time blue with a gold logo on it. Barry walked out of the room, letting Kara change on her own. She felt fine, if just lazy. Slowly she slipped off her uniform and pulled the shirt over her head. Taking a deep breath she inhaled the scent of her boyfriend, loving how it was like his arms were wrapped around her. It was peaceful. As if her thoughts conjured him, strong long arms slid around her waist and gentle lips were pressed to the side of her head. For several moments they stood in the sunshine, soaking in the quiet, breathing as one.

"You scared the life out of me sweetheart." Barry whispered, voice raw. His arms tightened before he let go and led her back to the bed. Kara settled onto the soft mattress, bare legs still in the sun to keep recharging her. Beside her he turned onto his side, head propped up on his head, looking down at her.

"I'm sorry." Kara said softly, reaching up to cup his cheek. "I had no idea that Lord had been tinkering with kryptonite again. I wish there was a way to make him stop."

"You really don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?" Kara had a bad feeling that she had done something she would regret. When he didn't answer her she asked again,

"Remember what Barry?"

He sighed and took the hand that was on his face into hers, kissing her palm before lacing his fingers with hers. He looked more like himself, handsome but haunted. His eyes locked onto hers, murky and dark. He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.

"Lord stuck when we were almost to Central City; you were coming to spend the day with me and get to know my friends better. I managed to destroy the gold kryptonite, but you had already blown your powers. Your sister had been watching Lord, and had alerted your cousin. I'd never seen Kal so angry."

Barry stopped and pressed a kiss to Kara's lips, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close. Kara had a feeling she knew what happened next.

"Maxwell Lord is dead. Superman killed him, protecting you. Kal covered me as I got you to S.T.A.R. before returning to National City for Alex and Winn."

Kara breathed a sigh of relief. She hated that someone had to lose their life, but she was glad it wasn't anyone she loved. She also knew that while Kal didn't like to take a life, he was more than ready to do so if the situation called for it. There was one less person out there to threaten her or her family. Right now though, she wanted to focus on the moment. She was warm and wrapped in the arms of the man she loved. They were secluded in the quiet with sunlight tickling her toes. Kara wanted new memories to fill the gap in her memories.

"Kiss me?" Kara whispered. With a wicked grin Barry kissed her slowly.

Slowly, slowly his lips caressed hers. Warmth filled her, pouring into her like honey. He was warm, so warm and she couldn't get close enough to him. Gently she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to lay partially on her. His arms went around her waist, pulling her to lay on her side. Together they lay face to face, kissing and caressing each other. Kara felt Barry's hand slip down under the hem of her shirt, hot hand cupping her upper thigh. Her hands were running across his smooth chest and neck, loving the texture of his skin. His hand migrated up to the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. She slid a leg over his, snuggling closer to his heat. The kiss turned deep and powerful, stealing Kara's breath. She was hopelessly and completely in love.

"Kara!" "Barry?"

Alex's voice shattered the moment. Breaking apart the two soon to be lovers looked up. Standing in the doorway to the bedroom, Alex held a duffle bag, eyes narrowed. Behind her stood Cisco, waving sheepishly. With a groan Barry dropped his head onto Kara's shoulder, Kara beginning to laugh and blush.

"Cisco, man. Your timing sucks."

Wow. The love and encouragement you are all giving me means so much! I am so glad you are liking the story. I hope you liked this chapter. Yes, there will be romance and smut in the future.