Authors Note: Hey everyone! Here is the next one-shot of this collection! Thank you Sanvers4Life for the amazing idea on what prompt to write about. I truly enjoy writing different requests everyone gives because it allows for more creativity and challenge instead of writing what I want. Hopefully everyone enjoys this chapter.
Prompt: Kara returns to Earth-38 a lot later than she expected and has to explain to Alex where she has been; emotions are sent flying.
Sitting alone on the old couch in Kara's apartment, Alex held her knees close to her chest as numb tears dripped from her eyes yet again. 365 days had passed since the last time she saw the Kryptonian and 365 days passed since Alex could feel her heart beating in her chest. During the first few days of Kara's disappearance, Alex thought the Kryptonian might have just lost her phone and been extremely busy with her new position as a reporter at CatCo. But when an entire week went by with no one hearing from both Kara or Supergirl (even though they are the same person), Alex began to panic.
The D.E.O. deployed several Search and Rescue teams across the world, hoping to find traces of clues that could lead them to the location of Kara. But none of the teams could report finding anything substantial to show where Kara might have gone. News reports started flying around asking where National City's favorite heroin went or if something terribly wrong had happened to her. Even Ms. Grant contacted Alex from her vacation to see if there was anything that could be contributed by the Queen of Media to help find Kara. Yet months passed and no information regarding or from Kara presented itself.
Alex started shutting everyone out of her life, not knowing how to deal with the disappearance of the person she loved more than life itself. Everyday, the thought of Kara no longer being alive would try to make its way into her mind, but Alex continuously pushed the thought away, not wanting to think of life with the key to her heart being dead. No one wanted to believe someone or something managed to take the life of such a kind person, but much of the hope towards the situation started to fade away with each passing day and each passing news report.
Alcohol grew to be the only thing able to take Alex's concentration away from the stress of the situation; becoming a large part of her daily routine. No matter how much she didn't want to go back to her dangerous lifestyle before J'onn recruited her to the D.E.O., but there was no longer that smile to remind her to keep fighting the urges. Most of the time, when she wasn't at the D.E.O. taking her stress out in the training room for hours on end, Alex sat somewhere in Kara's apartment with some kind of alcohol in one hand and one of Supergirl's suit in the other. It was the only way for Alex to feel slightly connected to Kara when all her mind felt was numb.
There were days where Alex would stand on the roof of the D.E.O. or CatCo, staring out into the city, hoping to find a red cape somewhere in the distance. Her feet would remain close to the edge, wondering if she leaned forward enough, Kara would come flying and catching her before hitting the ground with force. But the single time Alex took the chance of feeling wind through her hair, the person who caught her was a worried J'onn with pain in his eyes. Later that day at the D.E.O., while under review from both J'onn and the mental health unit, Alex truly started to believe Kara would never be coming back into her life.
Her thoughts were zoned out while trying to remember her favorite memories with Kara, when a sudden loud noise followed by footsteps filled Alex's ears, breaking her train of thought. With disbelief in her eyes, Alex moved her head up from her knees and turned quickly towards the kitchen as the image of flowing blonde hair cascaded her mind. Sitting on the couch in shock, Alex almost didn't notice the Kryptonian rush over towards the calendar on the wall without paying attention to the weeping girl in the living room.
"How long have I been... No, that isn't possible. An entire year went by? It was only three days with Barry and the others... Something can't be right," Kara commented to herself with shocked eyes as she saw the calendar reading a year later from when she left to help Barry with his alien problem. Alex watched as Kara ran her fingers through her hair with a stressed expression flowing from her body, while standing up slowly believing her eyes were playing tricks. Is she really back? No... My mind is playing tricks on me; it is my heart longing for her to be back...
Kara's ears picked up of slow footsteps and soft breathing in the apartment, causing her to turn in the direction of the sound to find a distraught looking Alex standing in the living room with a blank face. "Kara? Is it really you?" Alex asked silently, afraid the person standing in the same apartment would vanish if she spoke too loud or moved too fast. Nothing could have prepared Alex's mind or heart for the extremely tight hug followed by mumbled apologies from Kara, as she moved faster than a speeding bullet.
A moment passed before Alex accepted the hug and started crying fiercely while her knees gave out from under her, causing both women to end up hugging on the ground. Kara whispered softly into Alex's ears, trying to reassure her heart that the hug wasn't a dream and she never meant to be gone for an entire year. "Alex, you have no idea how sorry I am about being gone this long. But I swear only three days passed on Barry's Earth before I came back, expecting to return the same day I left," Kara said.
"What do you mean Barry's Earth? Barry as in that guy who caught you while falling out of the window at CatCo? Why didn't you leave a note or anything Kara?" Alex asked quickly with the feeling of pain invading her tone.
"Yes, it was him. I don't know how I am going to explain any of this to you without an ounce of doubt coming to your mind..." Kara replied as she broke the hug between them and looked into Alex's eyes. "Barry Allen is from a different Earth, as in the theory of the multiverse is true. I owed him a favor for helping be take down Silver Banshee and LiveWire last year and he needed my help with an alien issue on his planet. So I went with him, defeated the aliens while also helping his United States Government start making an organization like the D.E.O. before coming back here. Three days passed while over there, so I thought I would be able to get back to the same time here of just three days later. But I guess something went wrong," Kara explained, trying to read the emotions and thoughts going on in Alex's head through her eyes.
Trying to process everything Kara had just said, Alex closed her eyes and took a deep breath before putting the first sentence of a response together in her head. "So you left this Earth to go help a friend on another Earth without thinking it would be important to tell at least me first? Do you have any idea what hell I have been through within the past year?" Alex started asking with a loud and stern tone, noticing Kara flinch lightly at her questions. "One day you are here and the next you aren't. I went around the world looking for you during the first month after you disappeared, but found nothing. So then I thought you were taken by CADMUS again and went after them all by myself because J'onn refused to help me go on a suicide mission. When I found Lillian after three months of searching, you were no where to be found so I took my anger out on Lillian before J'onn and a strike team came in time to stop me before I killed her.
There were so many news reports talking about how you could have ran away or died, which only hurt me worse with each passing headline. Everyday I came back here hoping you would be standing in the living room waiting for me, but you never came. So I... I started drinking again like I did back in college because it was the only way to wash out your memory long enough for my lungs to start breathing again. J'onn found me just this past week lying on the ground passed out with one of your suits in my arms before he took me to the D.E.O. to get cleaned up for the first time in over a month," Alex continued to explain as Niagara Falls erupted from her eyes and her voice changed tones numerous times.
Kara sat on the ground with a blank mind, her heart breaking little-by-little with each word entering her ears from Alex's mouth. She didn't want to believe any of this was truly happening, all she wanted was for Alex to start laughing uncontrollably before announcing the whole thing had been a prank set up by Winn or someone else in her life. She didn't want to believe Alex truly went through finding CADMUS and almost killing Lillian Luthor, knowing it would have been the final thing to break Alex's soul. But a part of her knew none of this was false, she truly had been away from her life for a year.
"Alex... I... I have no idea what to say right now. For me to just leave and put you through all of that and possible more... Rao I am a terrible friend. I should have left a note or tried to come back sooner," Kara replied with her head pointed towards the floor, unable to see the pain on Alex's face any longer. Her ears heard Alex take a deep breath trying to slow down her heart and mind in order to make more coherent thoughts.
"The worst part of it all was not knowing if I would ever get to hug you again. Or hear your beautiful voice sing during game night. I tried jumping off a building so you would come save me, but you didn't. That day, I really thought you had left me for good. My heart would have never gotten to tell you how much I love you Kara," Alex added calmly. Kara's eyes shot up at the mention of Alex jumping off a building, which should have killed her in an instance. She could only imagine how J'onn must have felt that day, to watch as his other daughter-like person would have been taken from his life.
Time moved slowly for the both of them as silence filled the room and Alex moved closer to Kara. Both of their thoughts were interrupted when Alex suddenly put her hands on Kara's face and connected their lips. Kara moved back from the kiss in surprise, not knowing if Alex truly meant the gesture or if she slipped trying to give her a hug. But when she started missing the feeling of Alex's soft skin against her own, Kara quickly moved back forward to re-close the distance between them, going against what Alex thought would have happened next.
"I love you too Alex. Please forgive me for leaving you..." Kara said with her lips still against Alex's.