A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and follows. Re-write of 3x06 just for the purpose of setting up Alex's story.

Alex opened the nondescript door in the back alley of 5th and Park where the alien dive bar was located around ten o'clock in the morning. The air was stale and smoky, but she was used to it. She bypassed the pool tables and dart board in favor for the bar. She spotted an open seat near the end and sat down not bothering to remove her brown leather jacket. That's right, mid-morning drinking and she couldn't find it in herself to care one bit. She missed M'gann's infinite wisdom, but she supposed that the Almeracian behind the counter would do just as well. She sighed and motioned for the bartender. "Two bourbons and keep them coming," she downed the first one and relished in the burning sensation in her throat. She swirled the second before doing the same thing.

"Might want to slow down there, tiger," the woman smiled.

"Another," Alex simply said ignoring the warning.

She stared at her phone while she waited for the third to be poured. She debated with herself; call or don't call? Kara had practically avoided her and every one of their friends like the plague when she was so distraught over Mon-El's exile. But that was just what Kara did when she was feeling disappointed in herself, she threw herself into work or school or in this case being Supergirl. Alex supposed it was because that's how things were done on Krypton. Kara mentioned once, that their society had been very scientifically based and unemotional. She always wondered how then, Kara was so emotional, but maybe it had something to do with how the sun's ultraviolet rays affected her Kryptonian cells.

The third drink was poured and then a fourth and fifth. They all went down the same as the first two. She finally pressed the call button, as much as she hated to admit it, she needed her sister. She'd like to say that she didn't need anyone, that she could deal with this on her own, but she couldn't. She couldn't turn her emotions off like that. The blonde picked up on the second ring and when Alex didn't say anything right away, her sister sounded worried. "Alex?"

"I broke up with Maggie," she sighed. "I'm at the bar," she added before she hung up. She rubbed her face with both hands willing the tension and sadness to just go away. After the six tumbler of bourbon, the bartender cut her off. Alex sighed and traced the outer rim of the glass staring off into space. Kara showed up a few minutes later in what looked to be very comfortable casual clothes which meant she had been somewhere or she would be wearing her usual pastels. Alex made a mental note to ask about it later. "Remember how you said that, uh, if lost Maggie, that I would be at a bar drinking, that I would be broken?" Alex asked in a slurred speech. Kara nodded, and the agent could tell her sister felt horrible for that comment, and well, she should. "Score one for the girl from Krypton," Alex picked up the bottle of bourbon and poured herself one last tumbler, she would be sure to give the bartender a nice tip, and raised the glass to her sister.

"Alex, I didn't- "

"Don't," the agent cut her off.

Kara leaned forward and pulled her into a one-armed embrace and kissed the top of her head. She didn't bother telling her sister that it wasn't helping. After all, she had tried to do the same when Kara was off her axis not so long ago. Kara dug around in her purse and pulled out her phone. She made a quick call to J'onn telling him he would have to go without Supergirl and Alex for a few days.

They had gone back to Alex's apartment and Kara helped her pack a bag. She shoved a pair of big aviators on her face and they got in J'onn's car. The couple of hours it took to get to their home town was filled with silence instead of the usual sisterly karaoke competition they normally engaged in. Alex just didn't feel like participating in anything that involved talking. In fact, she had practically ignored Kara. Her mom was waiting at the top of the driveway ready and willing to give Alex a big long hug, but she could only take it for a few seconds before pulling away. She didn't want to crumple in the middle of the driveway where all the neighbors would see.

The few seconds she managed didn't help, she needed the type of hug where the other person just didn't let go. She didn't bother waiting for Kara and instead went right to her room and stripped out of her clothes before jumping in the shower. She turned it on as hot as she could stand before stepping under the spray. She sat herself on the tile floor and brought her knees to her chest rocking just slightly. Alex let the water cascade down her body until she no longer felt the sting of the spray and the water mixed with her tears.

A few hours later, Kara came into their shared room with a steaming mug of hot cocoa. "I brought you this," she offered. "You can make it Irish."

"What's the point of all this?" Alex asked wondering why being in their childhood home had anything to with helping her to get over Maggie as she swirled the brown liquid she raised from her dad's stash in the basement.

Kara sighed and folded her leg under her as she sat on the edge of the bed. "You need to sleep, and I always slept well here," she admitted. Alex hadn't known that there were places she didn't sleep well.

"So, we stay," she shrugged. "For like three days, and mom will cook tons of food, and I'll gain five pounds. And then, walk back into an empty apartment," she added sardonically. None of this changed the fact that Maggie was gone.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kara asked gently. "It might help."

Alex scoffed. "You don't get to do that," the agent shook her head pointing at her sister and glaring.

"What?"

"You don't get to shut down what, for six months after Mon-El goes, and now you sit here and tell me to talk?"

"It will get better," Kara added.

"Yeah?" Alex leaned forward so she was just inches from her sister's face and looked into her blue eyes. "Are you better?"

"Okay," Kara stands up. Alex can tell she hit a nerve. "You are edging on mean drunk," the blonde put her hand out as if to stop Alex from continuing. "And I only signed up for sad drunk," she said moving to her bed.

"Oh!" Alex said with surprise. "That's right, it's whatever Kara says, that goes. Right? I mean screw everybody else, Kara knows best," she raised her glass.

"You know what, I'm sorry that I was trying to do something nice for you."

"I'm sorry I broke the imaginary rules for a weekend, that I," the brunette pointed to herself. "Didn't ask for," Alex said angrily.

"Then, I'm not going to try to help you anymore," Kara raised her voice and turned around glaring at her.

"Good!"

"Great!" Kara crawled under the covers and turned her light off situating herself, so her back was to Alex.

Kara was tired after dutifully listening to her sister as she cried and vented angrily, mostly at her about her own behavior after she sent Mon-El away, and finally gave up trying to sleep. Alex had fallen asleep and was now snoring loudly. There would be no sleep had in this room tonight for her. She had never meant to wish any ill will toward Alex and Maggie's relationship. That was never what she wanted. She just wanted Alex to understand that she was broken and nothing in that moment would fix it. She supposed that's how Alex felt now and because Kara had been right she partially blamed the Kryptonian. It made her think of another time Alex blamed her for something and treated her poorly.

She sighed and got out of bed. She padded down to the living room and opened the balcony doors. Kara thought it might do Alex some good to get out of the city, and instead it had caused an even deeper rift between them than had been there. A rift that she had caused in the first place. She knew she needed to apologize, it wasn't as if she had been the best sister or friend the last six months, but she just couldn't deal with all of the emotions swirling inside, guilt being the overwhelming one. She rubbed her forehead and sat on one of the deck chairs pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders, not because she was cold, but for the comfort.

She wondered what Lena was currently doing and wondered if she would mind if Kara called her to talk some more. It made her feel so much better knowing that Lena listened with care and didn't judge her for her feelings or actions. She hesitated staring at the screen of her iPhone. It was as if her fingers hadn't cared what she was thinking and the next thing she knew it was ringing.

"Hello?" Lena's voice was scratchy, and Kara immediately felt awful for waking her up knowing that the CEO didn't sleep well to begin with.

"Hey, sorry I woke you," Kara apologized.

"It's alright, are you okay?" Lena asked with concern.

"Yes... no? I don't know," the blonde sighed and held her forehead with her free hand.

"Want to tell me about it?"

"I brought Alex home to Midvale for the weekend. I thought it might do her some good to get out of the city and get some fresh air, you know? But all it seems to have done is make things between us worse. I'm pretty sure she hates me right now."

"Why?"

"I haven't been the best sister recently and she kind of let me have it, which I deserved."

"She's just hurting, everyone grieves in their own way. You don't deserve her anger just because you needed space from everyone. You were overwhelmed. She understands that, she knows you don't handle your grief well."

"I know, I'm just not used to this mean antagonistic side of her anymore."

"Anymore?" Lena wondered.

"She hated me for a while during our early high school days."

"I'm having trouble picturing that, you two are so close now."

"We are, but we weren't always. A brief time after I had arrived," Kara began. "I snuck up to the roof to go flying fairly often and Alex had caught me that time. So, I did what any teenager would do, I took her with me. She laughed the whole time and held me tighter when I went faster; she loved it but when we got home, there were scary looking people at the house. It was the DEO, the real Hank Henshaw. They forced Jeremiah into working with them or they would have taken me and after that, Alex barely talked to me except to yell at me or tell me how much she hated me. I thought she'd never get over it. I only had one friend, Kenny, he was amazing."

"Was? Do you not talk to him anymore?"

"He died," Kara said sadly.

"He was the first person I lost on Earth. He was my best friend, we did everything together. I used to meet him at night in the woods a few miles from my house. We would stargaze, not that I was ever any good at it. He would always point out constellations, but I just didn't see them in the same way he did," she sighed and took a deep breath. "The last time I saw him alive, we were doing that with the new telescope his parents bought him. He was showing me a nebula, and I swear it was the most beautiful thing I had seen up to that point. We talked about how majestic it was and if there was life out there somewhere," she laughed softly. "I later found out he knew. About me, I mean. He had caught me flying in a picture and he kept my secret and he liked me for who I was," she explained. "Anyway, that's actually when Alex and I repaired our relationship."

"Really? How?"

"Kenny was murdered," Kara started to explain and heard Lena's intake of breath.

"How old were you?"

"Fifteen at the time. Alex and I had bumped into each other when I was looking around the spot we had been the night before, I almost lasered her with my heat vision by accident." Kara chuckled softly. "I used to lose control of it when I got scared and she startled me. I asked her why she was there, and she told me Kenny was tutoring her in secret because she was failing calculus and didn't want anyone to know. So, we were both there mourning our friend and we made it our mission to find out who had killed him. We found his laptop and all the pictures he took but some were encrypted."

"How did you get around the encryption?"

"Clark's friend, Chloe, was really good with computers. She helped us recover them. We chased every lead and thought we had caught the killer too, until we were run off the road while walking home from school one night. Alex almost died, and Eliza was beside herself, she didn't know what to say to me to make me understand that I shouldn't be messing around in things that serious, so she had someone talk to me. The woman, she was an FBI agent, looked so much like my mother, Lena. I- " she paused and swallowed the growing lump in her throat.

"It's okay, take your time." "She made me realize that I needed to live as a human, because the people I cared about weren't bulletproof like me. So, I told Alex no more investigating, but she refused to stop. She went on to do more digging and eventually went to the sheriff. I called her to figure out where she was because I was worried, and she told me she would be home after the game. Alex hated football though. I struggled with going to find her until that last picture was decoded. It was the sheriff, he had accepted a bribe from a drug dealer and Kenny had caught it all on film. I was just in time to save Alex and we've been close ever since."

—

"Wow, the sheriff?" Lena was shocked.

"Yeah, that was technically the first crime we ever solved together."

"Don't worry, she'll come around," Lena was sure the agent would no doubt feel guilty about what she said in the morning.

"Thanks, Lee, you're right," Kara sighed.

"Get used to it, I usually am," Lena teased.

"You're amazing, you know that?" the reporter told her.

She was quiet for a while. "Hey Kar?"

"Hmm?" "Can you see the stars right now?"

"I'm outside."

"Can you find Corvus?"

"That's a constellation?"

"Yes," Lena chuckled. "I'll tell you how to find it," Lena said smiling. "Look at the moon, to the left of it are three very bright stars. These are the head and body of the Virgo constellation. From the third star, Porrima, there are three paths; to the right and left are her arms. Her left arm ends on the star, Spica, and just west of that, even though you can't see it, is Mars. South east of Spica, is a cluster of stars. The three brightest stars are Algorab, Kraz, and Minkar. There is a star on either side of Minkar named Alchiba and Gienah Ghurab. These five stars make up the constellation of Corvus, the crow. If Krypton still existed, it would have been within this constellation."

"Lee... how did you?" Kara sounded amazed.

"I found a file in my brother's things. A few years ago, a Metropolis astrophysicist pinpointed the approximate location. I was saving it for a rainy day, but I thought it might make you feel better."

—

"Thank you," Kara smiled. "I guess I should let you go."

"Any time, try to get some sleep okay?"

"You too, I'll talk to you soon."

"Goodnight, Kar."

"Goodnight, Lee," she ended the call and set her phone down next to her. She was just sitting staring out at the darkness thinking about how to help her sister when she heard footsteps. They were far too quiet to have been Alex, she was a stomper.

"You're still out here?" Eliza commented as she approached the balcony. "Who was on the phone?" "Yep," she sighed. "I made some more coffee in case this turns into a teary all-nighter," the older blonde handed her a steaming cup.

"You don't have to stay up," Kara replied taking the cup. "Alex is already asleep. You're probably the only one." Eliza sat next to her.

"Well, this is the mom fine print. When your child's in agony, you show up regardless the hour."

"I figured it would be nice to get Alex away from everything for a couple days," Kara said sullenly. "It only seems to have made things worse."

"This is going to be hard no matter what, but at least here she can lean into it. Better than letting her pretend she's fine," Eliza finished looking at Kara expectantly.

"You're worried about me," Kara realized quickly.

"I think I worry about you more than Alex," the older blonde admitted. "Losing Maggie is going to be excruciating but at least Alex doesn't close herself off."

"I'm not doing that," Kara shook her head.

"Aren't you? You have the most wide-open heart in the world for other people but when you feel weak, you punish yourself for it," Eliza observed. "You've had an awful year."

"And I'm feeling a lot better, I promise," Kara tried to reassure her with a small smile.

"You don't have to be better, you're allowed to be a mess," Eliza sighed.

"Really, Eliza, I'm okay," she knew she'd have to tell her adoptive mother something to satisfy her curiosity. "I've started to come out of my funk with a little help from a friend," she reached for the older blonde's hand.

"Are you sure you're okay? You can talk to me, you know?"

Kara smiled considering her offer. "I know. It's complicated. I've realized a lot of things the last few days. Things I had no idea I was struggling with."

"Kara," Eliza started but stopped when she felt a light squeeze from her youngest daughter.

"I know I was a difficult person to be around because no one knew how to help me. I didn't even know how to help myself, so how could I possibly tell anyone else what I needed if I didn't know? I just wanted to be left alone," she explained. "A couple days ago, I wouldn't be this open about it but one of the things I learned recently is, that sometimes you just need to talk and let your feelings out."

"About Mon-El?"

"About everything," Kara sighed exasperatedly. "I didn't realize how much I was still holding on to; how much I was still grieving for everything I've lost; how much I was blaming myself for things out of my control. I guess I just never let myself because I'd drown in my own sorrow if I did."

"Oh, sweetheart," Eliza put her mug down and pulled Kara close. "What's different?" "I finally opened up to someone who I thought would understand; someone I trust not to judge me."

"You know I don't blame you for anything that happened when you girls were growing up, don't you?"

"It's nice to hear," Kara responded. "I still blame myself for Jeremiah," she sighed heavily.

"He made his own choices to stay away after we all thought he was gone."

"Yeah, but I was the reason he was taken in the first place."

"That's not true, the DEO would have found out about you sooner or later."

"Maybe," Kara shrugged.

"You've got to forgive yourself."

"How can I? Alex still blames me."

"No, she doesn't," Eliza said in disbelief.

"You didn't hear her when he came back, and I was suspicious of him. I know she just wanted to believe the best of him and she could never imagine him doing something like hacking the DEO, but she was brutal. When I was on Red K, I said some pretty awful things to her, one of those things was that I thought deep down she hated me. Part of me is still afraid that she might."

"Alex doesn't hate you, she loves you, you're her sister."

"She's just so angry. I'm not used to it."

"She'll come around, give her a few days."

"Yeah," Kara sighed. "So, this friend you've been talking to, should I be worried?"

"No," Kara smiled widely. "She's a great friend and I trust her with my life."

"Oh," Eliza chuckled softly. "You like this person," she said knowingly.

Kara bit her lower lip. "Yeah, I do."

"I'm glad you finally figured out why Mon-El's exile hurt you so much," Eliza kissed the top of her head.

"Me too, it just exacerbated the guilt I felt to a whole new level. Especially, not knowing what happened to him. I just wish I had figured it out sooner, so I didn't hurt my friends."

"They'll understand."

"Let's hope so," she winced.

"You haven't told them about this other person yet," Eliza observed.

"No, I needed to explain a lot of things and be honest with her. I didn't want to tell anyone anything until she and I had talked about it."

"Lena," Eliza figured it out.

"How did you?"

"A mother knows these things," she smiled. "Besides, you talk about her constantly and anyone with eyes can tell how much you mean to each other. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I assume you told her the truth about you."

"Yeah," Kara smiled thinking about it. "She was remarkably understanding. I told her a lot but there's still more I want to share with her. I've always felt this connection to Lena that I couldn't explain; something I never felt with anyone else, not even with you guys."

"I think you should ask the Alura-Archive about it when you're at the DEO next. Your cousin once mentioned something like that about Lois."

"I will inquire about it, though I'm not sure what to ask."

"You should probably ask about intimacy," Eliza suggested.

"Right," Kara grew a spectacular shade of bright red.

"I should get to bed. I'm not as young as I used to be," she smiled.

"Good night."

"Good night," Kara replied with a smile feeling better about reassuring Eliza she was in fact doing much better now.

Alex woke up the next morning with a pulsating stabbing pain in her temples. The sun was far too bright, and she needed someone to shut it off. She stretched her aching muscles and sighed as she sat herself upright. Kara's bed was already made when she looked over and she wondered if her sister had even slept. She rubbed her face trying to get rid of the exhaustion. Another quick shower, a couple of Tylenol, and a cup of coffee later, she found Kara out on the balcony wearing the same clothes as she was last night looking through the telescope.

Kara looked up briefly to meet her eyes and Alex could see the pain, worry, and exhaustion. The blonde quickly looked away. She felt like such an ass for the way she had acted the night before. The fact she was hurting was not an excuse to hurt her sister. She lashed out because Kara would take it. She knew how to hurt her, and she did it just because she could. "You slept in," Kara observed looking through the telescope.

"Yeah," Alex looked out over the horizon and walked a little further out onto the balcony toward her sister. She should apologize.

"Good," Kara looked up. "Remember this thing?"

"That was the best thank you gift we ever got for solving a case," Alex smiled halfheartedly.

"Kenny was one of the first people I lost on Earth," she picked at one of the dials with her fingernail. "Doesn't get any easier," she admitted.

"Kenny Lee, keeper of secrets," Alex sighed and ran her hand over the metal casing. "You know," Alex felt herself tear up. "That was the first time I really understood what I had in you," she met Kara's gaze. "What it could mean to have a sister. It's crazy to think that I ever thought you were the worst thing that could happened to me. I'd never get over it," Alex said. She wasn't good at apologizing, really apologizing.

Kara chuckled. "Well, I did hog the bathroom," she shrugged.

"Yes," Alex agreed readily. "After Kenny, that's when I realized, you and I could get through anything together."

"That's the first time I really became Kara Danvers," the blonde smiled.

"It's a good thing too, it got us through the next ten years," Alex looked down and picked up her mug.

"I remember thinking I would never feel at home on Earth. I still don't in a way," she admitted. "But I feel at home with you."

"Always," Alex promised, and Kara smiled. "It was a good idea, coming here," Alex confessed. "I don't think I could have slept in any other bed last night without Maggie. I'm sorry I punished you for trying to help," Alex's eyes watered and she bit the inside of her cheek.

Kara's sigh was long. "It was your turn."

"I never want to hurt you."

"I know," the blonde nodded. "I am getting better. I'm sorry I haven't shown it. Maybe if I had, you'd have more hope right now."

Alex stepped towards her sister. "You're here, right now, that's all I really need."

"Good," Kara hugged her tightly with one arm and kissed the top of her head. Alex sighed and leaned into her taller frame.

Hours later, Eliza sent them off with a picnic of food for on the way back to the city. They exchanged goodbyes and Alex demanded to drive since Kara already got to and looked like she could fall asleep at any time. "You almost killed us coming up here!"

"That opossum came from nowhere!" Kara countered.

"Keys," Alex held her hand out. "Come on," she shook her hand.

"If you were so worried, why didn't you say anything yesterday?" Kara asked getting into the passenger seat.

"Because," Alex put her aviators on. "Yesterday, getting into an accident didn't seem like a big deal. Today, I would like to avoid it."

"Progress," Kara smiled and pulled the sunglasses from the top of her head and set them on her nose.

Alex turned the car over and muttered when she heard the song Sweet Escape, "Classic."

"Yep, turn it up," Kara smiled and turned the dial as Alex started backing out of the driveway.

As Alex drove the winding back roads towards the highway, she couldn't help but feel ten times lighter. She and Kara had cleared the air between them and she was already feeling somewhat like herself again. The agent knew she had a long way to go and that some days were bound to be harder than others, but she could count on Kara to be there for her. She would do the same for her little sister in the blonde's time of need. She would try to do better for Kara, she thought as they sang and laughed at each other getting the lyrics of the song wrong.