"J'onn," Alex breathed as her eyes flew open. She immediately started to panic when she saw the IV stand, sitting straight up and looking for an exit. As her fingers wrapped around the IV lead in her hand, she found her fingers being torn away.

"Alex, you're safe… Hey, look at me."

She didn't have any choice in it. Alex was yanked around until she came face to face with her sister. She blinked rapidly, her chest pounded, and her lungs squeezed from fear. Kara was still there. Tears pushed their way forward and she just reached out to grab Kara with all the might she had.

"You're safe," Kara whispered as she ran her hand in circles over her back and just held her.

"J'onn," Alex breathed as the realization that he was still back there hit her hard. "We have to-"

"Lucy's looking into our options...right now, we just need you to rest…"

"Jeremiah…"

Now Kara held her back and stared at her. "They found blood, but no body…"

Her fingers were wrapping around the IV tubing again and she went to yank it out. "I can't stay here-"

"Stop!" Kara shouted. "Alex, you're not going to do anyone any good if you don't give yourself a chance to recover… You were dehydrated, malnourished, and exhausted-"

"How many hours have I been here?"

"Nearly ten hours…"

"I have to-"

Her sister's voice got really quiet. "What did they do to you in Cadmus?"

Alex shook her head. "It doesn't matter-"

"It does," she said firmly with so much love and concern. "It matters. I saw the marks along your spine." She turned Alex's arms so that the insides showed side by side. "We've all seen the marks that they did something to you…"

"They were taking samples… They were doing it as torture...no pain killers," Alex told her sister. She knew that Kara wouldn't stop until she told her something. She tried to explain the best she could, but her voice broke halfway through and then turned into a heartbreaking whisper. "I think they were going to start experimenting on me...that's why Jeremiah finally decided he would help...that's why J'onn made me go without him." Now she really started to break down. "Kara, I should have never left Cadmus without him-"

"Okay, shhh…" Kara said as she wrapped arms around her sister once again. "We're going to find him. He's strong. You know that. He's going to hang in there until we can pull him out. Have faith in him."

And she did.

"Soon, Kara," Alex pushed.

Whatever they'd thought about Cadmus before, Alex was witness to the fact that it was about a thousand times more horrific than any of them could have imagined. It was hard for her to breathe, to calm, to accept it...to let it wash over her. She closed her eyes and just concentrated on Kara.

"You need to rest."

She'd slept ten hours, but she knew that had to be nothing compared to how long they were gone.

"How long?" Alex questioned.

"I told you-"

"Were-have we been gone?" she corrected her question. Time didn't pass the same inside of Cadmus. Alex had had no idea when it had been day or night...when a day had passed...a week..or anything more. She'd woken up many times having no idea how long she'd been out. They'd had all the control and Alex felt the need to struggle to regain some sense of what had happened to her, even if for the moment it was knowing how long the bastards had had them captive inside of their prison.

"I don't know," Kara admitted softly as she released her. Their eyes never leaving each other. "You and J'onn left Lucy and I almost two months ago… I hadn't heard anything from you-"

"We were trying to keep you safe."

Kara smiled at that. "You know, I can take care of myself, too."

"I couldn't have beared knowing that I was the cause of them coming after you...sending you to Cadmus," Alex said weakly and honestly. As she carefully relaxed back against the bed, she realized just how exhausted she was. "Neither one of us were willing to risk it… You were needed in National City...and at the DEO…" She closed her eyes for a moment, her hand seeking out Kara's, to keep some link to her sister. She breathed and thought back. It seemed like a lifetime ago that they'd left Kara and Lucy...that they'd escaped and set out knowing that they couldn't go back...at least not until they'd completed their mission and they'd hoped...clear their names.

"Alex?"

"Four weeks…"

"Four weeks?"

"A month out there...a month in Cadmus," Alex supplied. As she thought about each time separately, they didn't seem like they could be the same amount of time. All she could think was that her time in Cadmus had felt so much longer...it had felt more like four years. "But it felt so much longer, Kara," she whispered as her voice broke and she couldn't keep herself calm anymore. Keeping her eyes shut, squeezing them to try to keep any fresh tears at bay, she let out a shuddering breath before a sob escaped her lips. "And J'onn's still there…"

"We're going to find him," Kara whispered. "Believe that."

She was trying to.


They couldn't keep her in bed for too long. Once she was rehydrated and she'd eaten something, she hadn't been able to allow herself to remain in medical. So, she'd checked herself out. Kara was gone, apparently Eliza had shown up in National City looking for both of them. Alex hadn't talked to her mother in two months and Kara had been trying to cover without worrying her. Obviously, they'd both failed on some level.

She'd been so thankful that Adler had brought by the spare set of black clothes she'd kept in her locker at the DEO, so that she didn't have to walk around in the blue scrubs. Although Alex was technically not supposed to be there at the DEO (at least not walking around free), she really should be in a cell if anything. None of that had come up though and Alex was grateful for it. Though she was concerned about people getting into trouble.

"It's good to see you up."

Alex looked up and saw Lucy standing holding open the door to J'onn's office...the director of the DEO's office...which she realized was Lucy (at least for the meantime). As she stilled for a moment, she realized that was where she was going. During her time at the DEO, she'd always been able to go to J'onn if there was anything she needed to talk about. "It's good to be up...and not feeling so crappy."

"I assume that Kara told you that I'm working on a few different ways to get J'onn out of Cadmus?" Lucy questioned and then motioned to the interior of the office.

Taking in a breath, she moved into J'onn's office and just stood there until Lucy moved to sit in the seat Alex was used to seeing J'onn sitting in. After a moment, she sat in the chair opposite. "She did...and I can tell you that it isn't smart…"

"Excuse me?"

"You'd be risking everything," Alex laid out. "Don't get me wrong. J'onn is not remaining in Cadmus, but you don't know him-"

"The last eight weeks I've been doing everything that I can to basically be the closest I can to you and J'onn J'onzz...because I've read all the files and reports...I've talked to all of the agents here...and there are no people that are better suited to this job than the two of you," Lucy explained. "I might not have really gotten to know either of you personally...but in these eight weeks, I feel like I know you both. I know that you might blame me-"

"I don't," Alex interrupted quickly. Lucy had called her out for lying, but in the end...Lucy had been doing her job (and she'd been right). "But you don't owe-"

"I may be the acting as the director the DEO currently," Lucy explained. "But I will risk it all...and I'm certain that every agent in this building is willing to do the same." She tilted her head and a smile spread across her face. "And everyone else who's home, but also works here… Adler and Benanti have already volunteered."

"What?"

"The moment that they knew we were only picking you up, they both volunteered," Lucy said with a shrug.

It was sort of nice to know that Lucy didn't feel completely adapted to her position as director of the DEO. Alex knew that if she really wasn't doing a good job (even though Kara had practically gushed otherwise) that the others would be treating Lucy a certain way. "Does Adler bring you donuts?"

"She gave me one the other day actually…"

"Was that the first time?"

"I...think...so…" Lucy said slowly, obviously not following. "Is that significant? Is there something I'm not understanding?"

"It means that she likes you, that you're accepted as a member of the DEO," Alex explained. "If Adler gives you a donut, then she has to like you...or really want something...or both."

Lucy seemed pleased with that knowledge. She was quiet for a moment, leaning back in the chair, and then it was like a lightbulb went off. "Oh! I found something… They wanted me to box up all of J'onn's possessions and send them in, but I've been putting it off," Lucy explained as she pulled open a drawer. "I found something...and I thought you might want it." She held it out to Alex.

Taking the item from Lucy's hand, she looked it over and smiled. It was a small wallet sized picture (back when people actually kept pictures in their wallets and not just on their cell phones). It was of her and Kara when they were younger, not long after Kara joined their family. A smile instantly spread across her face. It was aged and the edges were worn. She realized that J'onn had likely gotten it from her father. She sucked in a shaky breath and tried to just focus on happy thoughts.

"You know, this picture...it was taken about an hour after Kara and I had this huge fight...well...actually, I was the one who was upset and Kara just sort of took it." She shrugged. "It wasn't easy then… I didn't realize how much I really wanted or needed Kara in my life, needed a sister. My parents decided that we needed to bond and instead of forcing it, we made a mess making ice cream sundaes for an early dinner...we went down to the beach to run and splash and...just be kids…"

"That had to be hard-"

"That was one of the best days of my life," Alex admitted with a smile. She paused for a moment. "Can I keep this?"

"Yeah." They were both quiet for a long moment. "I'm really sorry about your father."

Alex just nodded as she stared down at the picture. "He was a good man...even after everything Cadmus did to him...deep down...he was still that man...my father."

"Are you certain that he's-"

"Dead?" Alex questioned and she found it odd that those words slipped from her mouth with so little emotion. It was hard after everything she'd endured in Cadmus. After everything that she'd been through as far as her father was concerned, it was hard not to be jaded. "I know they shot him… They knew that he helped me escape," Alex whispered. "He's better off dead...believe me, he wouldn't want to end up back at Cadmus…"

The silence stretched on.

"You know that you can't be part of the mission-"

''I'm going!" Alex insisted, getting angry.

"They'll be looking for a chance to detain you-"

"Let them try," she challenged.

"The rest of us shouldn't even be doing this. Everyone's risking everything, but J'onn and your father risked to get you out-"

"I'll wear a mask, I'll do anything you want...except stay behind," Alex told her plainly. "He's my family too…"


TBC…