It was probably the first quiet morning the Danvers sisters had had in a long time. Alex was spread on her side of the bed, left arm dangling and left knee up to the level of her hip. She was very much sleeping and was even slightly snoring. Sure the exhaustion and the concussion weren't for nothing. Kara, for her part was lying on her left side, facing the wall. When the young woman cracked one eye open, it took her a few seconds to first realize that she wasn't in her own bed, and then, remember why she had spent the night at her sister's place. Waking up slowly, Kara turned to lay on her back and looked at Alex. She smiled at the light snoring before gazing at the clock on Alex's nightstand. Kara was surprised to see it was almost noon. Then, she figured it wasn't abnormal at all since when the two woman belly flopped on the bed a few hours earlier, the sun was already starting to show.

Silently, Kara got up and stopped to look at her reflect in the mirror. Detailing herself up and down, she felt a little guilty that she had no traces of the fight, not like Alex, J'onn and Astra did. The young woman grabbed the hem of the way to big Stanford T-shirt Alex had gave her for the night. I'm back, she thought. I am myself again.

Still quietly, Kara walked in the kitchen to make some coffee, knowing that, even it wasn't the morning anymore, Alex wouldn't be able to wake up without a cup. But the coffee machine wasn't as silent as Kara and soon, Alex was walking sleepily in the kitchen, scratching her head and yawning. She didn't say anything and neither did Kara. The young woman only handed her a cup of the black beverage and smiled as her sister sighed after her first sip. Alex stepped closer to the kryptonian and kissed her on the cheek.

"Good morning." the agent finally managed

"Eliza was right." Kara chuckled. "You are addicted to coffee."

"Whatever." Alex mumbled as she stretched to pick something on a shelf

"Pasta, really?" the kryptonian said, exasperated

"It's the only thing I've got. No donuts, no waffles. Just pasta." Alex started, sipping some more coffee. "Take it if you hungry or I put it back on the shelf." she insisted with her extended hand.

Kara took the pack of pasta reluctantly with a slight pout before reaching for a pan.

"That's what I thought." Alex said proud of herself

SSSSSSSSSS

"Supergirl got taken down last night by not one, but two super-powered aliens. None of which we know their true is this scary, powerful green monster? And who is the mysterious woman that seemed to be almost able to defeat Supergirl? Some sources say that she is, in fact, an other kryptonian. Others say that she is the same alien who called out Supergirl and fought her already once. Could she also be the woman who fought along side Supergirl just a few months ago? The lack of image certainly doesn't help us but one thing is certain. We are more and more surounded by forces we can't control. So the big question remains. Should we be afraid?"

Cat Grant muted the screen shouting behind her and threw the remote on her desk. She seemed clearly angry. And all her staff present in her office sensed it very well.

"Alright people, tell me how I am going to write an article without any footage of any kind. Without any information to support my work."

"Well the scene was quite dangerous." a reporter dared

"I don't ask for a full documentary in this kind of situation and you know it." Cat started sharp as a knife. "Let's start with witnesses, photos, phone's videos. Steal them if you have to, but I .Story."

After a deadly glare, everyone practically ran to their desk except Winn and James.

"Any updates?" Cat asked them more softly, sitting down in her seat

"Everyone's fine. Kara is ok and so is Alex." James said, relieved

"That's not new. Adam already told me about it." Cat started, annoyed. "I was asking for Supergirl news."

"Uh, Miss Grant, Kara is still pretty shaken up by things so I don't think that-"

"Oh come on, Witt. We both know Kiera will never hang up the cape." Cat snapped. "People are wondering where Supergirl is and what happened to her. If she doesn't show up some might even think she's dead and unleash a wind of crime on the city. If it hasn't already started." she shrugged, checking her phone after it bused. "Never mind. Go back to work." she said dismissively.

The men did as told a bit confused but didn't argue further.

SSSSSSSSSS

"Can you tell me the reason you summoned me at my house in the middle of a work day?" Cat asked at the hero landing on her balcony, staying at a good distance

"Because that way we're alone. Carter is at school, Adam's at the university and I didn't want to make a scene at CatCo."

"Well I'm afraid it didn't work. Seeing their boss leaving in the middle of the afternoon for no reason made quite a scene in the bullpen." Cat said sarcastically.

Kara stared guitly at Cat who didn't seem impressed at all. But her heart told otherwise. And Kara could tell.

"Miss Grant, I'm so sorry-" Kara started, stepping closer

"Stop." Cat cut off. "Don't." she added making Kara stop in her motion

"But I hurt you. Both physically and mentally." the young woman started, upset and ignoring the previous request. "I said horrible things to you, I strangled you."

Kara stopped at her last words. It only reminded her of her hand around Cat's neck, bruising slightly, and the rage she had been feeling. She looked at her feet, ashamed, before looking up. Cat was standing there, calm and immobile.

"You know, I repass what happened in my mind when I can't sleep." Cat started, walking towards the balcony before leaning on the rail. "And I think about it."

"I'm sorry you have nightmares because of me." Kara said sadly, joining her

"Oh I never said I had nightmares. If I can't sleep it's because of work, not because of you. Do you want to know why?" the Queen of all Media asked already knowing the answer, as Kara nodded silently. "Because when I looked at the mad blond woman with her fingers around my throat, I saw you Kara. The real you." she paused, staring at her protegee with comforting eyes. "You were there, fighting, keeping yourself from really hurting people." she finished with a smile

"No..." Kara countered, looking down. "No I wasn't."

"Yes, Kara. That's why you doubted when I mentionned Non." Cat said, putting her hand on the young woman's arm

"No!" Kara yelled jerking backward, before staring at Cat, upset. "No, I didn't fight it. I couldn't. I doubted because evil or not, I'm still scared. Why is everyone thinking I was strong enough? I wasn't, ok? I wasn't." she said turning her back to her boss.

Kara felt her eyes getting wet. Cat was speechless. And that didn't happen often to the Queen of all Media. She didn't know what to do. She had always thought of Kara as the strongest woman she had ever known, smiling and brave. Which she was but Cat had never considered Kara with her insecurities and her doubts. She had never thought that maybe, behind that bright smile, someone could be hiding and not being really happy. Eventually, Kara faced her again, eyes wet and red, with the saddest face Cat had ever seen on the woman.

"I hurt and scared everyone in the city. I shoved three people out of a window. Somewhere, a girl has a broken arm and two men are bruised and in pain because of me. An entire street is destroyed because of me. People are afraid to go out because of me." Kara was now crying

"People aren't the only ones who are scared." Cat said softly as Kara looked down at their joined hands. "You are too." she added, causing Kara to nod, sniffing back her tears

"I'm so afraid the city will never forgive me. And Adam... I can't lose him." the young woman confessed

"Trust me, Adam won't go." Cat assured. "As for the city...I can't say it's going to be easy."

"I know." Kara said in a sigh

"But with time and a little hope and effort, you will win the people's trust back." the woman promised

"Thank you Cat." Kara said, gently wrapping her arms around the other woman.

Cat allowed the hug and grabbed firmly the red cape, searching comfort for herself.

"Ok that's enough." she said after a moment. "I still have company to run."

Kara chuckled.

SSSSSSSS

After her more than inspiring conversation with Cat, Kara knew what she had to do. Instead of hiding and be scared of others' reaction, she had to show everyone what Supergirl was all about. She had to show them that what they saw the previous day was all over and would hopefully never happen again. So, Kara had took off and, in her full Supergirl attire, was flying above the city. Most people were surprised at first. The young woman was going slowly enough so they could see the smile on her mouth. The hero seemed herself again but the scepticism wasn't very far. How could they be sure? What could garanty them the alien was safe again?

Kara sensed all of it. Her super-hearing wouldn't miss a piece. She could hear the surprise, the fear, the doubt. Kara's smiled faded a bit when she realized how many people were actually gad to see her. There weren't many.

A scene in a park caught her attention. Kara focussed on the voices asking for help.

"I told you to be careful, Nick. Now we have to buy an other ball." a child said, angry

"Hey, it was your idea to play here." the boy countered also upset

"Can't we just ask someone big to climb in the tree?" a third one proposed, more calm

"I could do it for you." Kara said with a big smile plastered on her face, floating behind them.

The three children, who couldn't be more than ten years old, spun around and stared in shock. They didn't say anything as the surprise was too big. Without a word and without letting that smile go away, Kara went to retrive the ball in the tree before landing right in front of them.

"Here you go." she said, handing the ball to the third kid.

"Be careful!" the first boy exclaimed. "My mom says Supergirl is dangerous." he added, causing Kara to lose her smile.

The third kid, who had been smiling at the hero until his friend interrupted, stepped closer to Kara carefully before taking the ball. He could have retreat as soon as the object was in his hands but he didn't. Instead, he stared at the red S and then at Kara herself. The young woman didn't know what to do.

"Tim, go back. Peter's mom is right." Nick said with a little fear in his voice. "I even saw Supergirl on TV yesterday. She was destroying things."

"Is that true?" Tim asked innocently, nerver backing up

"I-I" was all Kara could stammer.

Was she supposed to tell the truth and crush this kid's dream, or lie knowing someone would destroy his hopes later anyway? She didn't have to choose.

"Get away from them!" a woman shouted, running towards the kids

"Mom! Look, Supergirl took the ball out of the tree for us." Tim said, ignoring how protectively his mother had yanked him away from the woman in the cape.

"I-I'm sorry." Kara started, holding her hands in front of her, backing up on her own. "I didn't-I'm so sorry." she added taking off, with a sob she wasn't even trying to hide.

Kara let the tears run down her face as she flew away from the park. Even kids didn't like her anymore. Gaining people's trust back was going to be even more difficult than she had imagined. Everyone was afraid of her and the worst part...She could understand why. Kara didn't cry much. It was just a few tears of frustration, for now at least. As she flew in an other part of town, a memory made Kara slow down. That street... It was the hot dog street. The young woman stopped for a moment and took the time to think. She remembered an advice Cat had given her when she didn't know her assistant was Supergirl. "Calm the hell down." she had said. "How about we start small and work our way up." The words were echoeing in Kara's head. She knew what to do know. Instead of saving people and perform heroics acts like nothing had happened, she was going to show this city she was sorry for what she had done. And it was going to start by making amends for that hot dog she had stolen. After spotting the man she was looking for, Kara made a soft landing in front of him, careful not to scare him away.

"S-Supergirl." the man breathed out, already panicked

"Hi." Kara started with a smile, taking upon herself to not react at his terrified expression. "I wanted to give you this. For the hot dog." she added, handing him some cash.

The man took it, unsure of his movement. But when he looked up at the alien in front of him, all he could see was sincerity and guilt, causing him to outline a smile on his lips. It was brief however, because when Kara looked around her, she saw the crowd gathered around them.

"I'm sorry." she said to the man before taking off once again.

SSSSSSSSS

It was the end of the afternoon when Kara finally crashed at her place. She smiled. Alex. Her sister had taken the time to clean her apartment. Kara wondered if a few DEO agents had given her a hand. Alex was always so thoughtful. Slipping off of her super suit, the young woman opted for sweatpants and a large T-shirt. There was no way she was going out until tomorrow. Having nothing more to do, Kara slumped on her couch with a tub of ice cream and put the news chanel. Of course, a debate on Supergirl was on.

"Here are some testimonies our reporter gathered this afternoon."the host said before lunching the footage

"Supergirl has done countless good to this city over the past few months and suddenly everyone hates her? I get it, she's done horrible things but if you ask me...that wasn't really her."

"Supergirl is a freak. Last night, she blew up my car with her eyes and hurt a bunch of cops. I don't know where she comes from but she better go back to it."

"I can't say I like Supergirl but I can't say I hate her either. What we saw yesterday was like a war scene and what she did was horrible. But all of a sudden, today she's back to her old self. I don't say we should trust her but if we could at least understand what happened...it sure would help a lot."

Kara watched the testimonies with sadness and desperation. She was going to need help. Help from Miss Grant and from her family. Kara let a single tear role down her cheek as she turned off the TV. She looked at the tub of ice cream. It was empty. With a sigh, the young woman got up to get an other one but the freezer was empty as well. So Kara gave up. At least for the day. She shambled to her bedroom and flopped on her bed. There, she curled herself into a ball, heaving from the sobs she was keeping in her throat. But for once, she was alone and could cry as long and as hard she needed to. Hugging her pillow so tighlty she ripped it under her fingers, Kara cried loudly. Only she could hear and she was fine with it. She felt it deep inside her. The release, the pressure going away. It was soothing to know that, for the first time in days, she was doing something she really wanted. And so Kara continued. She cried for long minutes until her body made her understand she didn't need to anymore. And then and only then, the young woman was at peace. It took her a few moments to calm herself down, to stop the sobs. Eventually, Kara uncurled her body and sat on her bed, crossing her legs. The kryptonian wiped the rest of the tears off her face. Her eyes drifted to the nightstand to look at the clock. Instead, she saw her phone and it reminded her of Adam. It was time to talk.

AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing!

So Kara tried to win the people back. We'll see how that goes. Don't forget to leave a message to tell me what are your thoughts on this chapter or even the story. I'm very curious to see comments on the discussion between Kara and Cat. Like always, I will reply to your message either with a simple "Thank you" or a more elaborated answer if you want to ;)

Next, Kara continues to try, Alex tries to get closer to Astra.