I waited a few seconds outside and I saw a few men dressed in black approaching the base. I pulled out the IV line in my arm and tried to jog back inside. I stumbled and caught myself on the wall. The alarm was blaring throughout the entire DEO now. I grimaced and tried to harness my super hearing. As I pulled myself into the control room, I realized that a lot of agents were on the floor unconscious. I heard Alex and Winn shouting.

I pushed myself to follow the sounds and I saw Alex and Winn fighting off two men. They looked like Tycho's henchmen, but I knew that he turned them off after he stabbed me and I knocked him out.

Winn went to strike the henchman in the face, but the henchman dodged and knocked Winn unconscious. He fell to the floor in a heap. The henchman turned to Alex. It was two on one now, but Alex didn't know. I watched as the other henchman pulled out a gun while Alex battled the first one. Everything slowed down in an instant. I could see the henchman readying to pull the trigger. Alex glanced over her shoulder to see how Winn was fairing.

I saw her expression changed to fear. The first henchman kicked the back of her knee, sending her to the ground. I heard the click from the trigger mechanism and everything turned into a blur. "ALEX!" I screamed. I managed to run to Alex before the bullet reached her. Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky. I was only quick enough to push her out of the way, but everything sped back up and the bullet ripped through my shoulder. I landed on the floor with a thud.

I heard Alex yell my name, but I was distracted by the two henchmen threatening my sister and the pain raging through my body. The first henchman got a few punches on me before I used some strength to punch him through the wall. He collapsed instantly. The second henchman re-aimed the gun at my chest, but I used my remaining power to freeze the gun.

His hand froze and Alex took the moment to kick it, sending the gun shattering through the air. She punched the second henchman right in the center of the face. He, too, fell to the ground in an instant.

Alex kneeled by my side, her hand peeling back my bloody one from my shoulder. "What the hell Kara! I told you to stay outside!" She shouted. "More- outside." I gasped weakly and pointed to the control room. As if on cue, there were more gunshots. She grabbed her gun that was a few feet away.

Alex stayed right by me as she fired off her gun. I heard two bodies collapse on the floor as she finished. She holstered the gun and came back to my side. "What were you thinking?" Alex scolded. "I wasn't." I answered shortly. I heard Winn groan.

"Help- Winn."

"No, he's not the one bleeding out."

There was some shuffling out of my peripheral vision. "Ow, my head-Kara!" Winn shouted. He scrambled over to Alex and me. "What happened?" Alex ripped back part of my shirt to get a better view. "She pushed me out of the way of a bullet." I grimaced as she moved my arm. "What the hell Kara?" He was upset. "That bullet- had Alex's- name on it." Winn stared at me. "So, you thought the best route was to throw yourself into the mix?"

I took in a sharp breath as pain spiked in my shoulder. "I couldn't let- Alex die. She didn't- see it- until it was- too late." Winn glanced up at Alex, who was entirely focused on my injury.

My eyes began to get heavier by the minute. "Keep your eyes open Kara." Alex commanded. "'M tryin'." I slurred. Exhaustion was wreaking havoc on my body. It was getting harder to keep my eyes open. I laid my head down on something soft. I realized that it was Winn's legs. "Where's J'onn?"

Alex applied more pressure to the wound. I grimaced. "I don't know, he was here one moment and gone the next." I closed my eyes and started to drift off. I could hear Alex and Winn. "Keep her awake Winn. Talk to her. I'm going to find something to stop the bleeding. Hold this here to stop it for now." I heard Alex run off.

"Kara?" Winn called. I was so tired. I felt him move my hair out of my face. "Kara, can you hear me?" I slowly opened my eyes. He let go of a deep breath and smiled at me, even though there were tears in his eyes. "I was thinking about working at the DEO almost full time. What do you think about that?" He asked. "That sounds great- Winn. I know- you love working- here." He nodded. "Yeah. I don't know how Miss Grant will react though."

I smiled at him. "You- don't need to- worry about that. I'll- talk to her." He nodded and I saw a tear escape. "Really? You'd do that?" I nodded weakly. "Of course, you're- my best- friend." He sniffled. "That means so much, Kara. You're my best friend too." I heard Alex running back here. She kneeled by my shoulder. Winn released my shoulder slowly. "I got some supplies to help her out, but we'll need to either get Dr. Hamilton or someone because I don't know what's going on with her body."

She pulled some more items out of the small bag. One of the items I noticed at isopropanol alcohol. "It seems like the bullet went all the way through."

"Is that- good?"

"Yeah, it means that I can wrap you up now and we don't have to worry about the bullet inside your shoulder."

"Damn, that was a lucky shot. An inch higher and it would've destroyed her collarbone."

"Winn, hold her down."

Alex turned her attention back to me. "This is going to hurt a lot Kara." She warned. "I'm ready." I stated through gritted teeth. She poured the alcohol on my wound and it stung severely. I cried out in pain and felt myself try to pull away.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl." Alex tried to soothe. Winn forced me back onto the ground. "Damn, she's strong even without her powers." Alex poured the alcohol on my shoulder a few more times and it wore me out quickly. I was barely conscious when she wrapped up my shoulder. The last thing I saw was J'onn running over to us before I fell into the darkness.

I woke up sometime later and the first thing I felt was a throbbing pain in my shoulder.

The Kryptonite multiplied its effects as pain was rampant throughout my entire body. I looked over to my shoulder and I saw it was wrapped in gauze and my arm was in a sling. Gravity felt like it was weighing me down even more than usual.

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. I laid in the silence, listening to my heartbeats on the monitor. After a while, I heard someone enter the room. Their heartbeat was slow and steady at first, but picked up as they neared me.

They sat down by my side. "Oh Kara, what did you do?" It was James. I was going to open my eyes, but I was upset with him and I didn't want to talk.

Why did he avoid me for so long? He sat there is silence for a while before speaking again. "I'm so sorry for not coming sooner Kara. I was afraid to see you."

He paused for a second. "I didn't want to see you like that. Winn told me how you struggled, almost not making it. If anything had happened, I wanted to remember you as the person who would walk into my office with a large smile on her face and the best attitude in the building. I couldn't afford to see you. If I did, I would be afraid that I would break. I'm so sorry Kara." I heard him sniffle.

I was about to open my eyes, but I heard someone else walk in. "I'm sorry Mr. Olsen, but I need you to leave." I heard Dr. Hamilton command. The chair James was sitting on creaked as he stood up and left. Dr. Hamilton walked over to my side and grabbed my free arm. She rubbed it soothingly. "Kara, can you hear me?" I waited an extra second. "Kara?" I opened my eyes slowly. Dr. Hamilton smiled at me.

I tried to sit up, but she stopped me. "Take it easy." I slowly eased myself into a sitting position. "Do you remember what happened?" I nodded. "I was shot." Her smile faded. "Yes. You were. Lucky for you though, the bullet went through your shoulder cleanly. No major tears." I flexed my hand that was resting in the sling. "How long will I be like this?" Dr. Hamilton sighed. "I'm sorry Kara, but I don't know. You lost even more blood, but that also means that you lost some of the Kryptonite. How are you feeling?"

I glanced through the doorway as I saw Winn walk by. He seemed anxious. He glanced at me before looking at his tablet and back at me. He stopped near the door. "Kara?" Dr. Hamilton repeated.

"Human."

"On a scale of one to ten, what is the pain in your shoulder?"

"9."

"And the rest of your body?"

"About a 13."

"Are any of your powers active?"

I tried to use my x-ray vision, but it didn't work. "All burnt out." Winn pushed the door open quietly. "Alex told me that you used some powers to stop those men and save her. Where did they come from?" I thought for a second. "I'm not sure. They could've been locked up and the extra time in the real sun rays helped me reach them in a time of need."

Winn sat down on a chair and it squeaked. Dr. Hamilton turned around. "Mr. Schott, you can't be in here." She stated. "J'onn told me to come in here and check on Kara for him and Alex." She sighed and turned back to me. "Fine, but don't overexcite Kara." Dr. Hamilton took the sling and bandages off to see the wound. "Remarkable." She stated.

Winn leaned closer from his chair. "Is she healed?" She shook her head. "No, but she is healing faster than she has been since she was in a coma." I glanced down and saw that there were already parts of new skin near the edges of the gunshot wound.

Dr. Hamilton continued to take my vitals. Winn waited for Dr. Hamilton to leave before talking to me. "What the hell Kara."

He crossed his arms. "I know." I stated softly. "No, you don't know. Do you know how much work we did to keep you alive? You can't be pulling the super hero stuff all the time Kara! At some point your luck will run out. Do you know the feeling of seeing your best friend laying in the isolation room, looking like death? Do you know?"

I bowed my head. "No, I don't know. I'm sorry for causing so much worry." I mumbled. "It's not okay. I hope you've had your fun playing hero. Because right now, we need Kara back. She was my hope but it seems she'll be out of commission for a while." He stated angrily. "Winn-" He cut me off. "Save it Kara. I hope you heal soon." He stated bitterly and walked out of the room.

I stared at the wall in shock. What the hell just happened? Where did that come from? I am really that bad of a hero? Maybe I am. Maybe I should slow down and go back to a life as only Kara Danvers. It seems like that way people won't get hurt with me around.

Some cleared their throat and got my attention. It was Alex. She was standing by the door. "Are you okay Kara? I've been trying to get your attention, but it seems you spaced out."

I shrugged. "I'm fine." My voice betrayed me and Alex immediately made it to my side. "What's wrong?" I looked down. "I'm not in the mood to be yelled at again."

Alex sat down by my side. "Who yelled at you?" I took a breath. "It was Winn. But it was more like what he said. Or didn't say. He was furious at me. He said that he hoped I was done playing hero for you. And that I was his hope, but he made it seem like I'm not anymore. What did I do?" I buried my face in my hands.

Alex pulled my hands away and held them in hers. "You did nothing wrong Kara. What you did saved my life. I don't want to admit it, but you were right about what you did. If you didn't get in the way, I would've been shot in the face. I was so scared. I looked down the barrel of the gun, and I froze. All that training and I froze. When you took the bullet for me, I was even more scared, but for you. I couldn't lose you after all of this waiting."

She rubbed the back of my hand with her thumb. "Maybe that's why Winn is upset. He tried to save you when Tycho attacked you. And he could cope with that, but this was your choice. Even though it was an incredibly stupid one."

I laughed weakly. "Come on Alex, you know how stupid I can be at times." She smiled.

"How are you feeling otherwise?"

"Still human. And in pain."

"What about the morphine?"

"Dr. Hamilton says that even though I'm not healing like I usually do; I still would burn it off too quickly."

"So, what are you getting for the pain?"

"Nothing. I'm toughing through it."

She crossed her arms. "It's okay Alex. I can handle it." She didn't say anything, but I knew she wanted to. There was a flash of light and a rush of wind. "Kara!" Barry exclaimed. Alex took this as her queue and left the room. I smiled lightly at him. "Hey." He sat down by my hip. "What were you thinking?" I sighed. "Everyone has given me the 'it's stupid what you did and now I'm mad at you' speech. Thanks though." I replied sarcastically.

Barry shook his head and held my hand. "No. I wasn't going to give you a lecture. And I can't be mad at you. I've done that a few times- made stupid mistakes, I mean, not being shot-" He clarified.

"I understand why. You wanted to protect your sister. Your heroism goes down into your core, no matter if you have your powers or not."

He smiled at me. "Thanks, Barry, that's a breath of fresh air compared to everyone else." I smiled back. "Of course, Kara. I guess I have to have your back now all the time, huh?" He joked and I laughed.

"No, only when J'onn or Alex are on my case. But it would be nice if you were on my side all the time." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "I will."

Dr. Hamilton walked back into the room with more of an attitude than last time. "Out. Mr. Allen. She needs her rest. And make sure no one else tries to visit now. It's an isolation room for a reason." She commanded.

Barry stood up and walked to the door. He glanced over at me before leaving the room. Dr. Hamilton walked over to me and checked my IV lines. "How are you feeling Kara?"

"Why don't I feel high?"

"Huh?"

"I've seen it where people are delirious after having it in their system. When Alex was on Percocet after she got in a fight and broke her nose. She had to get it fixed and was on Percocet for the pain. She was quite amusing for those first few days."

She laughed. "I don't think I could ever imagine you high." She shook her head and her small smile disappeared.

"But, I don't completely understand why it hasn't affected you as severely. Maybe because your metabolism is still high even though you don't have your powers? I'm not sure. I know a lot about your physiology and how it reacts to certain medications, but not everything. So it's partially guesswork. Just, get some sleep Kara. Your body is still fighting the kryptonite and exhaustion is more probable." She left and I dozed off.

Woohoo! Finally made it to Chapter 10! I might be posting another chapter later today, but it all depends how my practice goes. So keep an eye out. And again, I really appreciate your support. Sooooo, yeah, see you guys in the next chapter! ~Raya Kor-El