Alex laughed as she felt her body tear through the atmosphere at a high rate of speed. It had taken her a few more days since her disaster of a flight lesson and another week before it felt comfortable to her, but now she was doing it – she was flying – and it felt amazing.

There was something so exhilarating about breaking free from gravity and she wondered if this is how Kara felt every time she flew or if she didn't even think about it anymore since she was so used to it. Her sister had been a little scarce in the last week, but Alex knew it was not only due to her job and Kara and Lena seemed to be spending a lot more time together. Alex didn't want to think about what they were doing with that time, although based on the comment Maggie made the day after she had told her about Kara's issue Alex didn't have to wonder too much about what the two of them had been doing. And when she had seen Kara it was like there was a permanent smile on her face.

As for Alex, she had gotten a lot more adept at using Kara's powers. While she still had to be careful about how much pressure she exerted on an object, she had stopped breaking everything – just the occasional item. She was also no longer confined to the desert base as she had returned home once she had managed to go a few days without breaking anything – well if you didn't count the locker she had punched out of frustration after she had been denied in her request to go out on a mission with the team.

At home, she felt more at ease although she still wasn't fully at ease around Maggie. Her girlfriend was being so patient with her and Alex couldn't imagine dealing with all of this without Maggie at her side. But Kara's concern had become her concern whether she wanted it or not. She just didn't feel comfortable with the idea of being intimate with Maggie again because she didn't trust herself with these powers enough to be 100 percent sure Maggie would be safe.

But maybe that would come as she kept practicing.

The flight and the heat vision were also no longer issues. Even J'onn had joined her on a flight to give her some tips, especially since Alex had drawn one line in the sand – she wasn't wearing a cape. Yes, she understood that it helped Kara be more aerodynamic, but Alex didn't care, she would take her chances without it.

No one seemed to understand why she was being adamant about it. It was only last night that Maggie had broached the subject with her and Alex found herself explaining that to her, the cape represented Supergirl, and she wasn't Supergirl. Kara was practically the perfect super hero, but Alex, Alex could never see herself in that role even with the powers. Kara made a concerted effort not to hurt people, even people who had done unspeakable thing. Alex wasn't that good of a person she had told Maggie, even though Maggie quickly tried to say that she was.

Alex knew the truth though – she may be a good person, but she was capable of doing bad things. And with these powers, crossing any sort of line would make her a dangerous person.

So, no she wouldn't wear a cape because that was just a step too close in her mind to being a superhero.

"Alex, I need you to do what I say without argument or questioning right now," J'onn said through her com. The reason she was out at the desert base today was because J'onn had told her to meet him there, but when she arrived there was only a message waiting for her telling her that he would be there soon and she should take the time to go flying. "I need you to come back down to base, but I need you to crash land while doing it."

"What?" she asked, sure she had not heard him correctly.

"Just do it. Don't come in flawlessly. Crash and make it a bad one. I will explain, but I need you to trust me right now."

"Ok," she said, although she was still unsure as to why he was asking her to do this. She turned back toward the base and as she neared it, she saw J'onn along with two other people standing next to him in military uniforms. She had never crashed on purpose, but she knew she wouldn't be harmed so she came in wobbly and over shot them by half a mile and crashed at a high speed, causing earth to go flying into the air as she came to a stop in a small crater she had made.

Getting up and wiping some of the dirt off of her she began walking toward them as they walked toward her. She could see them speaking to J'onn so she concentrated to hear it.

"Is that the best she has been able to do?" the man asked J'onn.

"It is an improvement," J'onn said. "She was only able to sustain flight a couple of days ago, before that jumping high was all she could manage."

"What about her other powers?"

"Limited as well. Outside of the fire she caused at the main base, she has been unable to use the heat vision and don't get me started as to how many things she breaks with her super strength. I might suggest you forgo shaking hands with her as she is liable to break yours. She still can't control the hearing and has to lock herself away in a secure sound proofed room because she can't handle it."

Alex was confused as to why J'onn was lying to this man, whom she could now see was a general based on the uniform.

"Agent Danvers," the man said, holding out his hand. "General Conrad."

Alex took his hand and applied a little more pressure on it – not enough to break it, but enough to make it hurt.

"General," she said. "What brings you to the DEO?"

"You do Agent Danvers," he said after releasing her hand and shaking his slightly probably due to the bit of pain. "It is my understanding that you now have the powers of the Kryptonian Supergirl and I was sent here to see how you are progressing with them."

"I only have them temporarily."

"I thought that had not yet been determined," Conrad said.

"I have full confidence in our finding a way to return the powers to Supergirl," Alex responded.

"For argument sake, let's say that won't be an easy or quick process. How long do you think it will take you to master the powers?"

"I don't know," Alex said. "Right now, I'm just trying not to hurt anyone."

This conversation was making her uneasy and from what she could see it was a conversation that J'onn wasn't keen on it either. That had to be why J'onn had told the general that she wasn't doing well with the powers. But why?

"I've read your file, Agent Danvers," Conrad said. "You are an extremely intelligent and exceptional soldier. I wish I had a dozen just like you under my command. I have no doubt that you will get a handle on these powers in no time." This time he turned to J'onn. "I want updates on her progress every day. Who knows, by this time next week we could be setting up a demonstration."

"I will send you those updates personally," J'onn said.

Alex kept quiet even as the general told her to keep up her training. It wasn't until the general was driving away that Alex asked, "What was that all about?"

"That is a problem," J'onn said. "You are an employee of the U.S. government a fact the general has quickly latched onto. He knows he can't compel Supergirl to do anything since she is neither a U.S. government employee or even of this planet. You on the other hand are someone that the general believes will do whatever your government orders you to do."

"He wants me to use these powers for the military. That is why you had me crash and why you told him I couldn't control the powers."

"I thought it might buy us some time," J'onn said. "But we won't fool him forever. He sees a super soldier in you and he has already broached the subject of having you transferred to his command."

"But I'm not even in the military."

"Doesn't matter," J'onn said. "He is going to fight to get his way. To him, you are nothing more than a weapon he wants to use."

"I'm not going to use Kara's powers that way," Alex said. "I don't care if an order comes straight from the president. These aren't my powers to use. I shouldn't even have them."

"Which is why we need to figure out how to get them back to Kara, so I asked her to make contact with her friends over there on that other Earth, the ones from Star Labs. They might be able to come up with something we haven't thought of. It might require you to go there for some testing."

"I'll go wherever if it means getting Kara her powers back," she said.

….

Maggie walked next to Alex as they headed into the DEO to meet Kara so the sisters could travel to the other Earth. When Alex had told her about this General Conrad, Maggie was immediately concerned because she didn't want Alex put into such a position. So, when Alex followed it up with Jonn's suggestion of going to this Star Labs, Maggie was in complete agreement.

Still, she already felt like she hadn't gotten to spend much time with her girlfriend, which is why she at least insisted on seeing her off.

Last night she had spent the night at Alex's and had broached the subject of intimacy, but Alex was quick to point out that she wasn't ready yet. Maggie was fine with that as an answer – something she reassured Alex of – but she wanted Alex to know that they couldn't just ignore it either, which meant having an open and honest conversation about what they were both feeling.

Maggie meant what she had said – she wasn't going anywhere regardless of whether Alex had these powers or not.

She just needed to make sure Alex knew that.

They went down to an area that Maggie wasn't familiar with and she realized they were in some sort of storage area.

"What is this?" Maggie asked.

"Kara said it is better if we don't do this in a public area," Alex explained.

Speaking of Kara, there she was with Lena. Maggie couldn't help but smile at seeing the smile on Kara's face as she and Lena held hands and stood closely facing each other while speaking. Maggie glanced over at Alex and saw she too was regarding the other couple but not with a smile on her face. Instead, she looked sad.

Lena was the first to notice them and moved to stand beside Kara, still holding her hand.

"Hi, Maggie," she said. "Alex. How are you?"

"Good," Alex responded. "Just eager to get Kara's powers back to her before I'm drafted into the army."

"If you want, I could speak with my attorney about that situation," Lena said. "It may not solve the issue, but we could bury them in another paperwork to delay it."

"Thanks," Alex responded. "I will keep that in mind if this little trip isn't as successful as I hope."

"How does this work anyway?" Maggie asked. "The whole jumping to another Earth."

"My friend Cisco is going to open a breach between our world and theirs," Kara said. "And we'll just go through it and we'll be there in Star Labs where hopefully they can help us figure this out."

"Sounds easy enough," Maggie said. While she thought it was a good idea for Alex to lay low with this general being around, she wasn't sure what she thought her girlfriend being on a different Earth. But it wasn't like she could go with her. For one, she had to work and two with Kara and Alex gone, she was needed here in case anything major happened.

"Hey Kara, here is the …" Winn started to say before stopping. He had a small box in his hand.

"What's in the lead box?" Alex asked. She had tried to look into it already but had failed.

Winn looked over at Kara, which only caused Alex to move over to Winn and put her hand out. "Give it over?"

"No," Kara said, interceding. She took the box from Winn. "It's Kryptonite. Caitlin asked me to bring a sample."

"Do you think that is wise?" Maggie asked stepping forward. "The last time Alex was around that she got sick."

"It was just a headache," Alex downplayed it. "The fact it affected me at all could be important. It was a good call on Caitlin's part. I'm looking forward to meeting her and hearing her insights."

"Just keep it away from her as much as possible," Maggie said to Kara.

"Trust me, it feels odd even holding onto this."

They all turned toward a noise only to see the breach opening and then there was Cisco stepping out of it.

"Hi, Cisco," Kara said coming over and giving him a hug. "Thanks for doing this."

"Anything for you," he smiled. "So, introduce me to your team."

Kara approached Lena first. "This is my girlfriend Lena," Kara said.

"Pleasure," Cisco said. He was then introduced to Winn and Alex, but when they turned to Maggie, Cisco looked her up and down. "And who might this be?"

"I'm Maggie and I'm her girlfriend," Maggie said pointing at Alex who Cisco took a quick look and then backed up a step.

"Well, we'll take good care of your girl," Cisco said.

"You better," Maggie said. "Or the next time you open one of these breach things, you will find me standing in front of it waiting for you."

"And on that note, are you two ready?"

"Give us a moment," Alex said. She pulled Maggie aside. "Are you sure you are ok with this, you seem a little tense?"

"Yeah," Maggie said. "I just don't like this General Conrad wanting you to use these powers. I don't like that you have to go to another Earth to deal with this."

"I don't like it either," Alex said. "And I don't care who this general is, I'm not going to use Kara's powers in that way. If I have to stay on another Earth to do that, I will."

"As long as you aren't staying there permanently," Maggie said. "I would miss you."

"I miss you already," Alex replied, giving her a kiss.

It was a small kiss and Alex had mostly leaned in to give it to her. Maggie respected the boundaries that Alex had put in place out of fear, but Maggie would be lying if she said it wasn't hard to want to embrace her girlfriend and be embraced in return.

Like it used to be.

They walked back toward Cisco where Kara was also saying her goodbye to Lena whom she had pulled into her arms to give a kiss. Maggie noticed that Alex wasn't even looking them and when Kara finally joined her, Alex gave her a small smile before entering the breach with her.

Once the breach closed, Lena walked over to Maggie. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Maggie said. "I just hope this works."

"I do too."

Maggie turned toward her, "Are you sure wouldn't want to delay it just a little bit?"

"No," Lena said. "Kara needs her powers back. She needs to be Supergirl. Would I be fine if she never got her powers back, I don't know, but I know she wouldn't be fine. I'm sorry that you and Alex are having to deal with well you know."

"Yeah," Maggie said turning from where the breach had been and she began to walk out with Lena. "We'll be ok, I just wish she would talk about it."

"Alex doesn't strike me as much of a talker of feelings."

"No, she is not," Maggie said. "Usually, I let her have some time in her own head space before I start pressuring her to talk about things. Not to get too personal, but how was Kara with all of it when you too first started becoming intimate."

Lena stopped suddenly, forcing Maggie to stop. "Just between us?"

"Of course," Maggie said.

"I'm not sure I have ever seen someone get more embarrassed talking about sex than Kara gets," Lena said. "I've also never seen her blush so much."

"At least she will talk about it."

"Does Alex just refuse to talk about it at all?"

"Not entirely," Maggie responded. "It's more like she is hoping for a solution to present itself so it's not an issue so therefore she won't have to talk about it."

"Hopefully, she will get her wish with this little trip."

"Hope so," Maggie said, glancing back at where her girlfriend had disappeared.