"Not doing so well, are you?"

Kara recognized that voice immediately. Kara had gotten angry in the past, had spent the better part of the last few years pushing that anger inside of herself regardless of the damage it was doing to her. She'd felt the rage of losing loved ones and the pain of losing friends but never had it burned with as much intensity as it did when she recognized the voice of the brat who'd done this to her. Kara was the only one who'd met him so far but Lena and Alex were fairly certain of his identity. Even if they hadn't been certain the downright murderous look on Kara's face confirmed what they both already knew. She moved at Kryptonian speeds, rage pushing her to speeds that may have given Barry a run for his money. Her forearm was pushed on his throat and she had him pinned to the glass. The only noises he was making were the struggled sounds as air failed to escape him.

"Kara, stop!" Alex screamed, rushing over to her foster sister. She pulled at Kara's arm in vain.

Kara did not stop. She pushed a little tighter and there was some sick irony in the entire situation. She'd never mustered enough control to prevent herself from injuring Lena while they'd been together but when it came to finding the control to not accidentally snap this kid's neck that was no problem. The arm that wasn't being used as an instrument to brace him to the glass raised and at the end of Kara's arm her hand had balled into a tight fist, so tight that her knuckles turned white from the pressure.

"Kara, please." this time it was Lena asking.

"Do you guys really think I'd kill a kid?" she retorted but when she stopped to really look at the situation she supposed she couldn't really blame them. It looked bad and she'd reacted out of anger. It wasn't fair though; she was still raw from her most recent trip down memory lane and she didn't know what to do about all these conflicting emotions. She grunted and sent her fist through the glass and it shattered without leaving so much as a mark on her skin and Memory Master fell to the ground without the wall to hold him up anymore. He took deep, shaky breaths and while he struggled to regain his composure he looked up at Kara with a small smile.

"I knew you wouldn't kill me."

"Tempted," Kara crossed her arms over her chest "undo what you did to me." she insisted right away, wasting no time in getting to the point. There was something about this kid that just bothered her, the way he was unphased by anything was extremely unsettling. It made Kara look away from him; she didn't want to have to see that smile anymore. It was making her sick because she had a feeling that he was enjoying this whole thing.

"Technically you did it to yourself." he dusted himself off as he stood, taking extra care to inspect his cape. "You know that by the time this is all said and done you're going to be calling me a hero too, right?"

Something dangerous flashed in Kara's eyes and she took a threatening step forward only to once again catch herself and take a few steps back. For his safety. Because she was going to snap his neck. She would never actually and she felt horrible for even humoring doing such a thing to a teenager who obviously didn't know any better but this had to end now. She couldn't handle another flashback, the first few had already caused her to become undone.

"I don't want any more visions." Kara was blunt in her desires.

"Then deal with the underlying issue."

"You're not my therapist!"

"You don't have one; so maybe I should be?" he chuckled.

A frustrated grunt was the only thing that Kara could offer in reply and it looked like she might step forward so Lena extended an arm, blocking Kara's path. It was the same arm which held the fingers Kara had recently crushed and the blonde's heart sank at seeing the injury. "Lena, you should get that looked at."

Lena completely ignored her. "I can see that this isn't random, there's something your after. What do you want? Why are you doing this to Kara? I think it'd be best for everyone if you stopped because if you don't then I think that pretty soon National City won't have a hero at all anymore." She glanced back towards Kara "It's just some broken fingers. I've had worse, I'll be fine." then thinking she might have come off a little harsh "It means a lot that you're worried though. Thank you, Kara."

Alex had remained mostly silent throughout this whole thing but felt the urge to point out the obvious. "I don't know what to do here. He's not an alien, he's a minor… Technically he never physically harmed Kara so I don't think we can hold him here."

"Oh, I'm leaving. I just wanted to check on Kara's progress. It's getting pretty late and it's only been what… A few hours?" he sighed in an exaggerated manner. "I'm actually a huge fan. Of all of you. Deal with your shit, Supergirl. Then it all goes away. I'm only here to give you a little push in the right direction…"

"I don't need a push! I don't need help! I need you to stop!" Kara was screaming again but of course Memory Master had stopped listening.

He just hummed as he walked away again. Some agents aimed their weapons at him but a signal from Alex had them all lowering them immediately. He'd known he would be able to walk right out because of all the reasons Alex had listed. It didn't mean they wouldn't get him; it just meant it wasn't the right time. "Watch yourself, miss Luthor."

"Kara, sweetie, I promise we're going to find a way to make this better but first…" Alex trailed off and Lena picked up where she left off.

"I need to take care of my hand, I know." she sighed, "Now's as good a time as any to test it out."

Lena gave Kara a comforting smile and even a pat on the shoulder as she walked past the blonde heroine. From a sealed glass container on the other side of the room Lena withdrew a vial of something after entering a keycode to get the damn thing open in the first place. She had no troubles placing the vial into one of those gun injector thingies even with one hand and she never even hesitated into jamming it into her hand and pulling the trigger so to speak. Lena was rushing then. She placed her hand flat against a nearby table and did her best to adjust her fingers as best she could. Then like magic, right before Kara's eyes, the swelling went down and a quick scan with x-ray vision confirmed Kara's suspicions. Lena's hand had healed in less than a minute.

"A little something I was able to make with help from your friend Barry Allen. We were able to use his speedster D.N.A to make this healing agent. It works pretty well but can be dangerous is abused. In theory at least, I guess we'll know if there's any negative side effects based on what happens to me."

"You shouldn't experiment on yourself Lena." with those words Kara was slipping back into old habits, worrying about Lena when there really wasn't any need. If Lena deemed the mystery drug safe it probably was. She was the smartest woman in the room after all; probably in the city.

The Luthor was wiggling her fingers experimentally as she returned to the seat she'd used by where Kara's bed had once been. She crossed one perfect leg atop the other and leaned back comfortably. It looked like another day at the office for her despite the broken glass everywhere and the remains of a broken bed. She looked completely unfazed, like she'd just come back from lunch. "Are we all going to ignore his thinly veiled threat as he left?"

"No." Alex was the first to reply. "I don't think you should be alone for now Lena, maybe you should stay at the D.E.O tonight?"

"I'm not going to be bullied by a teenager and I'm not going to hide from one either, Alex." Lena replied calmly, "Kara, do you have any thoughts?"

Kara was, in truth, exhausted. When all this started she'd been on her way home to have dinner and relax before heading to sleep. Instead, for whatever reason, each memory she had to relive was draining her. It was mentally exhausting and she did briefly wonder if that was part of reliving the memories, some sort of side effect, or if it was just her. She did glance at Lena though and sighed. Lena was handling all of this like a champ. Lena was the true hero through all of this. She'd been surprised by Kara's sudden appearance, yelled at, had her fingers broken and she was still acting like it was a typical day.

"I'm tired. I want to go home and sleep." she responded to Lena, and for such a simple answer it had taken too long to reach it. She wasn't sure what else to say. She'd already broken down and admitted to missing Lena so bad it basically physically hurt her. It sort of negated anything she wanted to say for the rest of the night because no matter what they talked about both would only be thinking of back. The only difference was that thinking about it was killing Kara and Lena didn't seem to even care.

"Are we also not going to deal with how he got into the D.E.O in the first place?" Alex chimed in, frowning.

"I think Kara has a point though, more than any of us she's had one hell of a day. I think it's best we head back to my apartment where she can get some rest." Lena was so matter-of-fact as she spoke that neither Alex nor Kara initially noticed the implications of what she'd said. When they did they both turned to her at the exact same time, forcing Lena to pre-emptively answer whatever questions they were about to blurt out. "There's no way we can leave her alone when she could pass out at any moment, without any warning. I've been named in a threatening way by the person who did this to Kara. It just makes sense, we can watch each others' backs because, let's face it, you're going to be busy investigating." that last part was directed firmly at Alex.

Alex looked like she was going to argue, then she nodded. Lena was absolutely right. It wasn't that she'd delay looking into stuff in order to watch Kara but this was the most efficient use of all their time. Kara could defend Lena from any harm, Lena could watch over Kara if she passed out and Alex would be able to fetch them if she found anything. It wasn't like the kid had truly hurt anyone either. Sure, he seemed to have some kind of goal but he kept insisting he was helping. If he'd wanted to really hurt Kara he could have done something the first time she'd passed out in that alley.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Kara huffed out.

"I really think it's what's best, Kara." Alex replied, reaching out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. She tried to remain impartial but the look she was giving her foster sister was so full of desperation that there was no way it would pass unnoticed.

"I agree. Don't worry, you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to." Lena chimed in, and maybe there was a hint of bitterness behind her words? There had definitely been something.

"The last time I saw you, Lena, we got into it. I don't want to-"

"You don't want to deal with any of it, I get it. You had no problem rushing in here to save me though. If making you a little uncomfortable for the night is what it takes to make you safe don't think I won't depower you and force you to my apartment." Lena was actually glaring at Kara, something she had rarely ever done. Kara was usually too adorable to be upset with but if she insisted on toying with her safety Lena would take matters into her own hands. "And stop acting like the last time we saw each other was at the party."

"Don't!" Kara responded, quickly looking away.

Alex wanted to ask what that was about, but decided it best not to. If Lena and Kara had seen each other since that party she'd never heard anything about it and there was probably a reason for that.

"Kara's she's right…" the elder Danvers remarked.

Kara wanted to fight it, wanted to push back. She should just fly out of there and she glanced towards the large balcony she always flew in through. Pearly white bit at her bottom lip and the muscles in her legs even tensed. She could do it before anyone even reacted, she was Supergirl after all.

"Don't you dare." Lena stood suddenly and she no longer seemed so unfazed. Her face had scrunched up and if it were a cartoon there'd be steam coming out from her ears. Possibly her nostrils too, which flared slightly in anger. "Stop being so selfish, just for a little while. We've let you be selfish for years now, not it's our turn. Throw your tantrum if you want, Kara but you're going to get in the damn car. Do you understand me?"

"You don't-"

"Doesn't matter." Lena cut her off so quick if it were expressed as a physical blow Kara would be through the wall.

"I don't-"

"Care. I don't care."

"Lena, seriously, li-"

"No! I get it, you still love me. We'll deal with it some other time. Right now you're going to get your ass in the car that's waiting for us downstairs." Lena spun right there and began walking her way towards the elevator, calling out behind her "If you're not down there in five minutes I'm coming back up here. You don't want that."

Kara turned towards Alex.

Alex was holding back a smile as best she could, which all things considered was not very well. When her eyes met Kara she made a noise that was some sort of hybrid of a scoff and laugh. "Don't look at me, Kara. You heard her."

All Kara could do was stare at Alex in disbelief and truth be told she kind of felt like a child being told what to do. "You're supposed to be on my side, Alex." she said accusingly and playing the guilt card had definitely not been the way to go because Alex raised a hand and brought it across Kara's cheek. It wouldn't hurt at all, but the meaning was clear.

"How dare you, Kara?" she paused. "How dare you?" she repeated, "I love you and I will always be on your side but you don't get to try and guilt me after the shit you've pulled. Lena's one of my best friends. She's worried about you, we've all been so worried about you but you didn't give a damn. Instead you shut yourself off, you shut us all out and that's your own damn fault."

Kara blinked and she suddenly felt like she was going to cry again. It was written all over her face.

Alex sighed, "I know it's not going to be easy, I know it hurts. But please do this for us. We can't take the first step for you. You're. Not. Happy." Alex wanted those words to really hit Kara, and she paused again to make sure Kara understood that this wasn't a guess, it was fact. Everyone knew it and no matter how many times she smiled for the cameras or pretended she was fine they would always know, the people who truly cared about her would know and they weren't okay with it. "If you want to leave, then leave. None of us can stop you but you know, Kara… The way you've been acting is worse than any physical damage you've ever caused." with nothing left to say Alex walked away as well, leaving Kara to make her choice.

/

"You should drink something, Kara."

The blonde blinked a few times and turned her head towards Lena, who she had not looked at once since she'd entered the car. She shifted a little uncomfortably but she couldn't move any further away from Lena than she already had, having already crammed herself completely against the door. From an outside perspective it would look almost like Lena was actually repelling her, the same side of two different magnets that couldn't touch and the closer she extended her hand towards Kara the more the Kryptonian tried to move against the door. Any more and the thing would probably blast off and that was all she needed.

"I'm not really thirsty Lena, thanks."

"You're mad at me." It was a statement, not a question.

Kara just looked at Lena in disbelief. She wasn't angry at Lena, far from it. Sure, her feelings were hurt. She was feeling vulnerable and confused, unsure of where either of them stood with the other and given everything that had happened today it seemed like a rather fair place to be in emotionally. If anything Lena's statement should be reversed because her outburst back at the D.E.O had made it pretty clear that she was the one who felt angry; Kara was just hurting. There was definitely some anger within Kara but none of it had ever been directed at Lena. Only herself and more recently Memory Master.

"You're the one who yelled at me, Lena." Kara took the bottle, if only to appease Lena.

"It worked didn't it?" Lena asked. Now that they'd started a dialogue it probably had to go somewhere but Kara didn't seem like she was going to open up. It left Lena in this awkward position where she was worried about saying the wrong thing, so many things felt off limit. The Luthor didn't think they should be though. They should be able to talk. Like they used to. It was true Kara had brought this all on herself but regardless of what anyone said going forward the blonde bombshell had finally taken the first step in admitting her pain. It wasn't an obvious step, she hadn't asked for help and had needed to be coaxed into it but that didn't change the fact that she could have run. Nothing had really been stopping her and it would have been easier for her. She never would have had to deal with anything and could have tried bottling it up. Instead she had marched her pretty self down to the parking garage and gotten into Lena's car without much of a fuss. "I'll admit I was a little harsh, I'm sorry Kara. I didn't mean to be. I watched you trash Alex's office. I watched you trash the medbay. I watched you break down and admit to destroying yourself. I watched you cry. I couldn't stand the thought of you being alone tonight, Kara because I know what you'll do. It's become a pattern, it seems. You'll go home and blame yourself for something that isn't your fault. I couldn't have that, even if I can just control that for one night."

"You don't understand Lena."

"You keep saying that, so help me. Please." Whatever anger Lena had been channeling earlier was replaced with a much softer tone, something to show Kara she truly was worried and did want to help.

"Why?" Kara's voice cracked, this was too much. All of it was too much, all these things were happening in quick succession and she needed a break where she could just not think about any of it. She needed to not be reminded of what she'd lost, she needed to to just shut her brain off. It was becoming quickly apparent she wasn't going to get that, at least not right away. Instead she'd try to make Lena understand. "Why do you need to understand? Don't you get that'll just make it worse?"

"I'm not following, Kara."

"You help me feel better for a night, then I have to go home once all this is over and get over you again.. That's not fair, that's not fair to you. It's not fair to me, Lena, I can't do this again. I can't hurt you again because of my lack of control." there was a bit of fidgeting before Kara kept talking. "These memories are hard, Lena. It's not just remembering. It's reliving. I can feel you, I can touch you, I can taste you. It kills me, Rao, don't you understand that it kills me? None of this is because I didn't love you anymore. It's because you almost died and even if you hadn't died you act like I didn't notice you wake up with fresh bruises. I had to fill in the blanks myself. Did I roll over in my sleep and my hand hit you? Did I try to pull you close, wanting to cuddle and squeeze too hard?"

"You should have trusted that I know what I can and can't handle, Kara." Lena brushed some hair from out of her face, more just so that she wouldn't just sit there like a statue while she spoke. "We would have figured it out. Together." Lena's voice noticeably dropped as she finished with what she had to say. "You took that chance away."

Kara's mouth twitched, Lena still wasn't getting it. "I had a nightmare. I kicked you so hard you flew into the wall. You had internal bleeding, you almost died because I kicked you in my sleep! I picked you up and you coughed blood on me! I had to fly you to the hospital dressed as Supergirl and explain that I did that to you! My God, Lena, do you know how awful that was? How scared I was…"

"It wasn't easy for me either, Kara!" Lena was quick with her response and this time it was her voice that cracked. "When I woke up you were like a different person, I didn't know who I was talking to anymore! Jesus, you started sleeping on the floor! You wouldn't come anywhere near me, we stopped trying to be intimate!

"Oh, please, that was a lost cause from the get go." Kara was getting defensive and even though her brain was screaming at her to stop before she said something she'd regret again, she couldn't seem to shut off the part of her brain that was making her terrified.

"You don't believe that."

"It's one of the things I regret the most!" Kara howled, "It was embarrassing and humiliating and a waste of damn time!"

"We had options and even if we didn't I wouldn't have cared if we'd never have sex."

"Big words coming from the woman who got laid days after we broke up!"

There was no quick reply this time, Kara had crossed a line again. She had pushed Lena away again. Two women, both equally powerful in different regards, stared at each other for the longest time. Kara was overridden with guilt. It wasn't fair to bring that up especially since she was the one who'd left Lena in the first place. The things Alex had said to her before she'd left the D.E.O rang true in her head and she took a deep breath before it went farther. "I shouldn't have- I… Lena, I'm sorry."

"Do you mean that, or are you just saying it because you feel bad?"

"I mean it, Lena, I mean it."

Lena seemed to be hesitating. She had been waiting to hear those words from Kara for a long time, even if in her mind it wasn't because of some cruel comment she'd made. This was not the Kara she had fallen in love with. This wasn't Supergirl. Kara's scars ran deep and each moment that passed gave the impression that no one had really understood the depths to which Kara had sunk. It didn't change anything for Lena though but she was also starting to get that Kara was more than a little confused on her feelings for the formerly bright, bubbly heroine.

"It means a lot to hear you say that, Kara. I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm going to say next though, okay? Please, just once listen."

Kara nodded; it was only fair.

"You're right. I did have sex days after we broke up. It meant nothing, I didn't care about this guy if that's what you think. It's easy to make assumptions that it's because I was so horny from not being able to get off while I was with you. That's just you trying to villainize yourself, though."

Kara opened her mouth and Lena raised a hand, reminding her of what she'd agreed to moments ago.

"I hated myself. It was disgusting, I felt disgusting. It was wrong, it felt wrong because it wasn't you. I lost you way before we broke up, I lost you the moment you gave in to your fears. You stopped trusting me and you were there with me physically but you weren't really there. You're acting like you're the only one in pain, well here's the truth, Kara. I miss you too!"

Those words were like a punch straight to Kara's gut. She actually flinched, visibly recoiled as she heard Lena say those words. She shut her eyes because that emotionless facade Lena had been hiding behind since Kara arrived at the D.E.O was beginning to falter and that just wasn't acceptable. If she saw Lena upset she would want to comfort her, she would want to hug her and then she would hurt her. "Please, Lena, st-"

"I miss you all the time, I miss my best friend, I miss my girlfriend. I spent months hoping you would fly in through my window and talk things out with me. For weeks I still ordered absurd amounts of food whenever I got take out. To this day I still look at some of the pictures of us on my phone and you are not the only one who gets to be sad. You don't get to treat me like I'm paper anymore."

"To me, you are paper!" Kara wailed back, choking back a sob.

"You. Won't. Hurt. Me."

"I already have!"

Lena reached out towards Kara with trembling fingers, so slowly as though Kara were the fragile one. The look on Kara's face as she saw Lena's hand make its way towards her was one of absolute terror. She looked as though if Lena made contact with her all of her deepest fears would come true, like so much as having Lena brush against her would cause the Luthor to explode into an unfixable pile of rubble. If Kara broke Lena, truly, she'd never be able to put those pieces back together.

On the other side, unbeknownst to Kara, Lena was thinking the same thing. Kara was truly the fragile one and even thought it was so obvious to Lena, Kara was unable to see it. She was so fixated on being scared of breaking Lena she'd forgotten to make sure she wouldn't break too. Lena's eyes were urgently trying to convey the message that everything would be fine, if Kara let her guard down for just a second nothing bad would happen. Her hand made contact with Kara's cheek, as softly as a feather falling into a pond without causing ripples in the water's surface.

"See? You're okay." Lena whispered, trying to get the hyperventilating Kara to calm down."You're okay, you won't hurt me."

"I…"

"Shhh, just don't move, don't blink, don't do anything, Kara." Lena was unmoving, Kara was unmoving. All there was were fingers on the soft skin of Kara's face and the blonde's desperation not to lean into that hand. How long had it been since any form of contact that didn't involve her fist bashing someone in the face? Too long, Rao, too long. Her blue-green eyes shut again but this time it was not out of desperation nor the desire to look away. It was to enjoy the warmth that came from the hand upon her cheek and her heart ached with longing.

"I-"

"Shhh. See? Do you see now? You're okay. Our conversation isn't over, I know this doesn't fix anything, I know you still think you're this great beast that's going to tear me apart if you give in… But just for this one, brief moment, relax. Take it in, darling, and realize you're okay."

"I'm okay?" Kara's voice had dropped to a whisper, matching Lena's

"You're okay."

"Miss Luthor, we've arrived."

Kara gasped and pushed away from Lena. The door to the car flew off, just as Kara had feared it could and the girl of steel herself fell onto the pavement of the sidewalk with a very ungraceful thud.

If looks could kill Lena would already be searching for a replacement driver.