A/N: Thanks for the comments.
Chloe - There is no easy fix for Alex in this, but Kara and Eliza will rally round her.
"Where are we going?" Alex asked when she noticed Eliza turn the wrong way out of the hospital car park.
"I thought we'd go for a walk."
"A walk?" Alex asked.
"Well you are not meant to drink with the painkillers." Eliza reminded her. "And if we went for ice cream without Kara we would never hear the end of it. And seeing you are not sleeping coffee is a bad idea, so a walk seemed like a good idea."
"Why aren't we going back to the house?" Alex asked.
"Because you need to talk to someone without Kara listening in."
"I'm fine."
"You punched a tree." Eliza pointed out. "Probably more than once."
"How did you know?" Alex asked, not bothering to deny the claim.
"You had splinters in your hand." Eliza pointed out.
"Well I was angry and frustrated." Alex said looking down at the cast on her hand.
"About?"
"My ability to screw up life."
"You don't screw up life." Eliza said.
"The first time I met J'onn I was in a jail cell." Alex confessed almost causing Eliza to swerve off the road.
"Why?"
"Attempting to drive while intoxicated."
"Does Kara know?"
"No. Well I don't think so. I haven't told her. Or at least I don't remember telling her, but I guess that doesn't mean much." Alex said. "But if she knew she would have ended up telling you, so I doubt I told her."
Not knowing how to respond Eliza silently waited for Alex to continue.
"My life was spiralling out of control because of my own inability to control it and J'onn saved me. J'onn has always been there for me, looking out for me. And then I made him wipe my memory and now he is feeling guilty." Alex said as Eliza pulled off the road. "I remember this place. I haven't been here for years."
"Do you remember the last time?" Eliza asked.
"The weekend before Kara came." Alex said after a moment before paling and asking. "Or have I forgotten coming here with Kara?"
"No. You never came here with Kara. But it used to be your favourite place."
"Yeah, we'd all come here and have a picnic. Then we'd kick a ball around. And you and dad would teach me about the different birds." She listed before adding guiltily. "Kara would have loved it. But I refused to come back."
"You said you were too old for it." Eliza said.
"I lied. I just didn't want to share it with Kara." Alex confessed.
"I know."
"You knew? Why didn't you force me to come?"
"You had just had your life turned upside down, we didn't want to force you." Eliza said. "Plus you had just lost your bedroom, you needed somewhere that was yours. And we hoped that you and Kara would find somewhere that could be special for both of you. Which you did."
"So why are we here today?"
"It holds good memories for me too. I wanted to reminisce." Eliza said getting out of the car. "And it is free from trees so hopefully you will just talk through your problems rather than punch through them." She added as she waited for Alex to join her before they started to walk silently through the park.
"What if I don't get them all back? What if a gap causes me to hurt Kara?" Alex eventually asked.
"You would never hurt Kara."
"I tried to kill her." Alex reminded her mother.
"You never hurt Kara, you tried to hurt Supergirl."
"Who is Kara."
"But you didn't know that." Eliza said. "You thought Supergirl was a threat."
"J'onn told me she wasn't and so did Kara, but I ignored both of them and went with my instincts which were completely wrong. How can I trust anything I do? How can Kara trust me? What if how I was when I had the mind wipe was who I really am?"
"Alex you were acting on incomplete information."
"Precisely. And I still don't know if I have the complete information. If I make a decision based on what I think I know, but is actually not correct I could hurt Kara."
"Alex, there is no way of knowing if all your memories are there."
"They're not." Alex said sadly. "I can still feel the holes. They're not as big as before, but I know something is missing. Like earlier when Kara was talking to her mom about that art fair, I couldn't remember it."
"They may come back. But even if they don't you are going to make new memories and until you trust yourself trust those around you."
-00-
"I don't know how you do it?" Kara said to Kal as they sat on the bench in the garden.
"Do what?" He asked.
"Take on the world alone."
"I'm not alone. I have Lois." Clark said confused.
"Yeah, but she doesn't stand by your side when you go and fight someone." Kara said.
"Something I am thankful for every day." He said. "But in answer to your question, fighting alone was something I have always had to do. I got used to it." When Kara didn't say anything he asked. "Why didn't you come to me for help?"
"Lois needed you. And I guess maybe pride. I mean you left me for a few months and I broke the world."
"You didn't break the world." Kal said wrapping an arm round her as Alura came to join them.
"Are you two okay?" She asked.
"Yes." Kara said pulling away from her cousin and looking at her mother.
"I am happy that you never lost your inability to lie." Alura said sitting next to Kara. "But you do not need to lie to me."
"I'm okay. I have to be." Kara said.
"What does that mean?" Alura asked confused staring at Kara until she started talking.
"Alex feels so guilty for what happened. But everything that happened was a result of her making another sacrifice to protect me." Kara explained. "You've both seen how guilty she looks even though none of it is her fault. If I tell her I'm not okay she will blame herself even more. She doesn't deserve that. She has always been so strong and looked after me. Now I need to be strong for her."
"And for that I am so proud of you." Alura said pulling Kara in for a hug. "But right now Alex is not here. You don't need to be strong in front of us."
-00-
As Eliza and Alex walked into the house they were met with a smell of fresh cooking. Confused they went to the kitchen where J'onn was standing in front of a saucepan stirring something.
"J'onn?" Eliza asked.
"Hi. How's the hand?" J'onn asked looking at Alex.
"It'll be fine." Alex said before asking. "Why are you cooking?"
"It was getting late and there are three Kryptonians here. I also thought Eliza might not want to cook so I prepared dinner." He then looked at Eliza and said. "I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not. Thank you." Eliza replied as Kara rushed into the kitchen.
"Alex, are you okay?" She asked as she hugged her.
"I'm fine. You saw yourself it is just a break." Alex assured her.
"Four breaks." Kara corrected.
"Kara, I'm fine." Alex repeated.
-00-
"You stay up all night watching these movies?" Alura asked as she sat next to Kara on the couch.
"Yes." Kara said. "Normally with popcorn, ice cream and chocolate." She added pointing to the coffee table that had all the food on it.
"You mentioned those last time I was on Earth. They are full of sugars aren't they?" Alura asked.
"That's why they taste so good." Kara pointed out.
"Should you eat them at night? Do they not disrupt your sleep?"
"The point of movie night is to watch movies, not sleep." Kara explained.
"Shouldn't you two get some sleep tonight?" Eliza asked.
"We're fine." Alex said.
"So what are we watching?" Eliza asked knowing she wouldn't win the argument.
"Kara's favourite." Alex said causing Kara and J'onn to tense slightly. Oblivious to the looks Kara and J'onn were exchanging Alex dug one handed through the DVDs before pulling out the Wizard of Oz box.
-TBC...
A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
