TRIGGER WARNING: Implied rape/sexual assault of a minor. You could totally skip this chapter if you absolutely can't take this topic and I admit, it was hard to write because I wanted to treat this topic delicately and not have this be some kind of tragedy-porn.

And just a heads up, HAVING SEX WITH A MINOR IS FUCKING RAPE. As an adult, you should always be aware that a child CANNOT consent to having sex with you. You are the adult, you have the responsibility to understand that a child CANNOT give consent. They are totally off limits.

Alex didn't like what was happening. She felt like things were spinning out of control but she had promised Rebecca that she wouldn't call the police, which Alex really thought was a bad idea. They had gone back to Alex's house together and Alex and Kara had set up the garage for Rebecca to sleep in. The Danvers kept their car parked outside during the surfing season so Alex could use it as her base of operations. It was made even easier for Rebecca to crash there when they remembered that the Danvers' old couch was stored in there, and that pulled out into a bed.

"You gonna be okay here?" Alex found a blanket that Eliza had bagged and stored away on a back shelf. Kara hovered near the door, nervously acting as a look-out.

"Yeah." Rebecca dropped her bag at the side of the couch, looking overwhelmed by everything.

"It'll be warm at night in the garage-" Her words were cut off as Rebecca walked up to Alex and hugged her tightly, briefly, before letting go and fleeing to the couch.

"Thanks." Rebecca husked. The girl, usually so much larger than life, looked so small sitting on this beat up pull-out bed. "For everything. And thanks, Kara."

"You are welcome." Kara replied softly, from the door. "Alex. We have to go. Eliza may be coming to check on us."

"Call me if you need anything." Alex brandished her phone. "And the garage door opens only by remote control and the side door can be locked from the inside… you sure you don't need anything else?"

"I'm fine." Rebecca's laughter sounded forced. "This is way more comfortable than what I'm used to."

The Danvers sisters walked back to the house, Kara's hand snaking out to hold Alex's, seeking comfort in the heat of Alex's hand and feeling disconcerted at this… possessive feeling. Humans were just more touchy. Kara had seen that it was a source of comfort, and had experienced it herself. She had a lot of self-reflection to do. But she recognized that Rebecca needed someone like Alex right now.

"Alex," Kara looked at Alex solemnly. "Please, fix this. She's so scared. And she's sad."

Alex wanted to tell Kara that she can't fix everything, and especially not something like this. She didn't know the first thing about FIXING something like this. Especially not with Rebecca swearing that she would literally kill herself if Alex told ANYONE.

The brunette wanted to say she didn't know, or that she couldn't, but what came out was, "I'll try, Kara."

Because the way Kara looked up at her with so much trust in her eyes and so much faith, it was like back to being number one in this household again. And she smiled at Kara, because even though this little alien was powerful beyond imagination, she needed Alex. And Alex found that she liked that Kara needed her.

"Did Rebecca give you back your wallet?" Eliza asked as they entered the house. Alex's mother was coming down the stairs and had been about to go out to check on the two girls.

"Oh, yeah. We caught her near the beach." Alex lied. On the beach, Eliza had called and Alex had lied and told her mom that she had put her wallet in Rebecca's bag for safe-keeping while they had been biking during the day and forgotten to retrieve it until she had left.

"Really, Alex." Eliza tsked. "You need to carry your own stuff around. Maybe carry a purse."

"I had my dry bag before. But you and dad took it home for me."

"I meant a separate bag." Eliza rolled her eyes. "One that's not carrying your wetsuit and surfing clothes."

"It's fine, my other stuff doesn't get wet because it's in a different compartment."

Eliza deliberately ignored Alex's statement. "We'll get you a nice purse."

"Mom, I can't carry a purse to surfing! That's not cool." Alex let out a frustrated growl and went up the stairs, Kara following behind with a quick 'good night' to Eliza. They prepared for bed, Alex taking a quick shower to wash the last of the sea off of her and going to bed. But she found it hard to sleep with what she knew now. A little while later, when she knew her parents had gone to bed for the night, a scratching at the door told her someone else was awake, too.

"Come in." Alex whispered, knowing Kara could hear her no matter how soft her voice was. The door opened quietly and closed, Kara's soundless entry into the room telling Alex she was floating over. The feel of Kara's weight sinking down next to her made her turn around to face the younger girl. They never slept together, since Alex liked sleeping by herself and Kara, though less unsure, was still afraid she might accidentally hurt someone. Hurting someone was a near constant fear in the back of her head. The thought of hurting Alex was especially anxiety-inducing.

"Can't sleep?" Alex asked. She reached out and gently raked her fingers through Kara's hair. The blonde hummed in affirmation, blue eyes impossibly bright in the dark of the room, glasses probably in her own room.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" Kara asked, speaking Kryptonian.

Alex wordlessly pulled at the sheets until Kara moved so Alex could lift them and welcome Kara in under the blanket. The little Kryptonian snuggled closer, tucking her head under Alex's chin and curling up until her knees were just touching Alex's abdomen.

"Alex?" Kara's voice came out slightly muffled.

"Yes?" Alex had resumed stroking her fingers through Kara's hair.

"I don't understand something. I heard some of what you two were talking about on the beach-"

"How much did you hear?" Alex was suddenly alarmed, Rebecca's bombshell had made her forget for a second that Kara had super hearing.

"Not much." Kara confessed. "The ocean was so loud. But you said that you wanted to call the police. And… he was touching her? What happened?"

"Kara, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this myself." Alex sighed, switching back to English and turning onto her back so she was staring at the ceiling.

"If she doesn't want him to touch her, he shouldn't." Kara insisted. "I know humans are more physical, but maybe you should educate him on Kryptonian etiquette."

Alex sighed again. "I don't know if he'll listen."

"He will." Alex didn't have to look at Kara to know that the blonde was looking at her with trusting eyes. "He'll understand. You told me if anything made me uncomfortable, I should tell you. Maybe he needs to know that Rebecca is uncomfortable."

"Kara." Alex rolled back to look at Kara. The blonde's face was bright and open and innocent. "Kara, I want you to know that Earth is… definitely not like Krypton. And you're still young, but what Connor is doing is, um, more than just touching."

"Oh." Kara blanched at the implications. "Yes. I… My mother. She sometimes brought home cases. And I overheard. I did not understand until I questioned my aunt about what I heard and she explained it to me."

"Wow. Your aunt actually did?"

Kara nodded, remembering her Aunt Astra very seriously explaining to her. It had been a Kryptonian soldier who had gone off-world. He had done unspeakable things.

"My mother also later explained the case to me, she did wish that I understood matters of our justice system..." Kara fell silent, suddenly stunned by the fact that she hadn't been sad in a while. She was still sad, but that crushing weight of losing everyone, her mother, her family, Krypton, even baby Kal-El… she hadn't felt it for a long time. On the wave of that realization came the grief, coupled with overwhelming guilt-

Kara was drawn out of her thoughts as Alex pushed the Kryptonian gently until she was turned away from the older girl, then one arm snaked around her waist and the other under Kara's neck as Alex pulled the blonde back to hold her loosely, Kara's back against Alex's front, but about an inch of distance between them.

"Is this okay?" Alex questioned. "Tell me if it's not."

Kara covered Alex's arms with her own, wriggling backwards a bit more so she was flush against Alex, the warmth she felt banishing Kara's melancholy immediately. It was like the satisfaction of a puzzle piece slotting in place, how safe, how taken care of she felt in Alex's embrace. The Kryptonian was overwhelmed with the traces of the ocean still on her sister, and just the all-encompassing scent of Alex. The feeling of this human sinking into her Kryptonian bones, rooting her to this alien soil.

"How do you always know how to make me feel better? How do you know when I need to feel better?" Kara spoke her thoughts aloud.

Alex shrugged, tightening her hold so it was a hug. "I just do."

Wrapped around each other, Kara, who always had trouble falling to sleep under Earth's yellow sun, was lulled gently to something-like-slumber by the steady thump of Alex's heart against her back. Alex, however, stayed awake, not used to having someone sleeping with her and her mind running a mile a minute with everything that had happened. It was only when the sun was lightening the sky that she managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours, pulled towards rest by the comforting heat of Kara's body. She only slept for a bit though, before Alex roused at the feel of sunlight on her face from a crack in the curtains.

Alex tried to extract herself from Kara, but the younger girl woke up groggily when Alex tried to move away from her. The blonde's fingers reflexively constricted painfully on Alex's arms and made Alex hiss in pain.

Kara released her hold on Alex immediately. "I'm sorry-"

Alex's arms tightened around Kara again to show her that it was alright, holding her until Kara's shoulders relaxed.

"I will work on my reflexive actions." Kara turned and squirmed until she had tucked herself under Alex's chin, taking a deep breath.

"You're doing so much better."

Kara nodded agreeably, taking another deep huff again.

"Are you smelling me again?" The corners of Alex's lips quirked up, despite how tired she felt, mentally and physically.

"I'm sorry." Kara replied, but Alex could feel her smiling and hear her taking another deep breath.

"I'm going to go see Rebecca. Can you run interference?"

"Run… interference?"

"Make sure Eliza doesn't see." Alex clarified. Kara looked up at Alex and nodded seriously.

"It will be my duty." Kara said seriously. It was so adorable, how earnest she looked, that Alex couldn't help reaching out to gently cup the side of Kara's face in a fond caress. Kara giggled, nuzzling into that hand happily.

"Alright. Are they awake?" Alex asked.

"Eliza and Jeremiah are both still asleep." Kara reported dutifully. "But Eliza will wake in about ten minutes."

"How do you-"

Kara fluttered her eyelashes at Alex, her blue eyes sparkling in the sun, an otherworldly, incandescent blue.

"X-ray vision." Alex answered her own question.

"And her clock always wakes her up promptly at the same time every day."

Alex rolled her eyes at Kara's smug grin and rolled out of bed quietly. She sneaked out of the room and out the back door, running to the garage and knocking on side door. Rebecca opened the door almost immediately.

"Woah. You're awake."

"Set an alarm. I know you said your dad won't come to the garage in the morning but I wanted to be up." Rebecca was dressed already. She looked awkward and unsure. "Um. I'm sorry for like, losing it on you last night. I didn't want to-I didn't need-"

"No, don't apologize. It's fine." Alex looked back towards the house, hoping that Kara was doing her job. "Wanna come in and get cleaned up?"

"Yeah, I gotta pee real bad." The proclamation lightened the mood a bit and Alex grinned at her friend and motioned for her to follow. They snuck back to the house, tip-toeing up the stairs. Rebecca slipped into the hallway bathroom just in time, as the master's bedroom door opened.

"Mom!" Alex squeaked.

"Is Kara in the bathroom?"

"Yes!" Alex nodded, hoping to god Kara got it and didn't appear. "Yes!"

"Okay…" Eliza looked at Alex strangely. "I'm going to go get breakfast ready."

Alex nodded, trying to look nonchalant until her mother had disappeared down the stairs. Then Kara poked her head out from Alex's room. "That was close!"

Rebecca cleaned up quickly, Alex slipping in so they can brush their teeth side by side. Kara kept watch at the door and waited until Rebecca and Alex had slipped into Alex's room before she used the bathroom. Rebecca then snuck out Alex's window and managed to slide herself safely off the sloped roof, then went up to the Danvers' front door to ring the doorbell.

"I got it!" Alex jumped down the stairs, a few at a time, to swing the door open.

"Hey, ready for school?" Rebecca leaned in and waved to Eliza. "Hi Dr. Danvers!"

"Hi Rebecca. Did you eat yet?"

"No, but I'm okay, I don't really eat breakfast in the morning."

It was only natural after that pronouncement for Eliza to insist that Rebecca have some breakfast. Kara was already ready at the table, having some scrambled eggs, sausages, and pancakes, having super-sped her way through her morning rituals.

"Good morning." Kara greeted mechanically. "Did you sleep well? In your own house that you came from?"

"Yes. I did." Rebecca narrowed her eyes at the blonde while Eliza looked at Kara weirdly. Alex resisted the urge to slap a hand against her own forehead in exasperation.

"Good! I'm glad you slept well. In your bed. At your house." Kara opened her mouth to say more, but caught Alex making a 'cut it out' motion behind Eliza's back. Wisely, the Kryptonian kept quiet. They ate their breakfast, Rebecca managing a couple of bites out of politeness, and kept to safe topics like Alex's surfing competition.

"We're going to bike to school, okay, mom?" Alex had finished her breakfast and watched Kara worriedly as she tried to eat faster so she could go with them. The problem was that she was eating way too fast. Superhumanly fast.

"Kara, slow down." Eliza reprimanded. The younger girl immediately stilled her movements to a turtle pace, Rebecca none the wiser as she glanced over at Kara.

"Not that slow, you goof." Alex laughed, reaching over the table to brush away some of Kara's hair and tuck it behind an ear.

"Can I go on the bicycle, too?" Kara's voice took on a begging tone, looking at Alex plaintively. "I want to come with you!"

"Kara, maybe next time?" Alex smiled apologetically. "Rebecca and I want to talk about surfing."

"It's okay, you two can talk. I just want to ride with you." Kara just liked being with Alex.

"We can go home together, okay? I just want to ask Rebecca some questions about my… technique." Alex looked at Kara desperately, willing the blonde to get it. "You know. What we were talking about. Last night."

Kara frowned. You could almost see the wheels in her head turning. When she finally got it, it was like a lightbulb turning on in her head. Her mouth opened in an 'O' and Kara nodded in understanding.

"Yes! I will leave you two alone!" Kara nodded happily. "To talk. About surfing!"

Alex shook her head, used to Kara's quirks. Any kind of subterfuge or lying still came unnaturally to the bright girl. The two older girls finished their breakfast and headed out to the garage. Halfway there, Rebecca's phone chimed. She checked the message, then wordlessly handed her phone to Alex.'

Connor had sent the teenager that message. Alex felt seriously disturbed after reading the explicit message and handed the phone back to Rebecca, wondering what she could do. The message was… disturbing. It was a mix of loving platitudes and underlying threats.

"That's messed up." Alex didn't know what else to say.

Rebecca shrugged. They were alone in the garage, and the girl took the opportunity to reach out and pull Alex closer, resting her head on Alex's shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes and Alex didn't try to disengage, even if she felt uncomfortable, and even if she knew that they would have to book it if they wanted to not be late for school.

"You're… you're the only one who knows. And you know… this whole thing. It's all my fault."

"How is this your fault?"

"I just… when he asks. I don't know. I… I don't say no." Rebecca's hand fisted Alex's shirt. "It wasn't like this when he first… first started showing up. It was nice, at the beginning, you know? He was so nice. I was excited, because he was so cool and my mom really liked him. He has a nice car, and he bought me and my mom lots of gifts. He made her happy and we would go out together. And it wasn't like, at the beginning he was… he was okay. We just hung out. Like, like he was just a regular adult."

Alex stayed silent, willed Rebecca to keep speaking.

"My mom still works a lot, you know, at the labs." Rebecca's mom was a lab technician and worked odd hours. "So it was great to have someone who could just be there. We would… we would go shopping and he would get me whatever I wanted. He'd take me out for pizza. He took a whole day and taught me how to drive. And it was normal for him to-to hug me and stuff. It's… it's what dads do, right?"

Alex kept quiet, feeling extremely uncomfortable at that question. Her dad hugged her, but Alex knew that whatever Rebecca was referring to was intrinsically different.

"And I let him. It was… it was okay. He would… he would kind of… it started off I guess… with-with his hand 'slipping' sometimes. Just like, and I didn't want to make a big deal cuz when I kinda… the first time, he kinda just brushed it off and told me it wasn't a big deal." Rebecca was struggling with getting everything out, starting and stopping. It felt like a confession, an ugly thing full of guilt and shame. And finally, Alex placed a hand on top of Rebecca's head, stilling the words that were coming out momentarily. But Rebecca seemed to draw strength from that touch.

"I let him. It was little things at first. I just thought it was something-he was always touchy-feely… and then he… things got… he just did MORE. And then, when mom wasn't home one night-I couldn't move, I was, I didn't say ANYTHING, I-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me." Alex said quietly. "None of this is your fault, Rebecca. You have to know that. No matter what you did or didn't do, it's not your fault. You're fifteen. We're… we're just kids."

Rebecca drew away, quiet and withdrawn. Alex could see the circles under her eyes now, the tenseness of her shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Alex apologized, thinking about all the times Rebecca had come by, or asked her to hang out.

"That was the point," Rebecca laughed bitterly. "That no-one would know. I w-was handling it just fine."

Rebecca went and pressed the garage door remote on the wall, and pushed her bike out into the sun. Alex following closely behind with her own bicycle, going back in to press the garage door remote again to close the door, and running quickly and jumping over the sensor to get out of the garage.

"You staying here tonight?" Alex asked, just to fill the silence.

"No, I can go home tonight." Rebecca's lips firmed into a line, her face pale. "Mom is coming home and she has the next few days off so it's safe."

Alex couldn't imagine doing something like that. Home was supposed to be 'safe'. But home was a place that Rebecca didn't feel safe in.

"We have to tell someone."

"No, Alex. I just have to… have to avoid him without him knowing I'm avoiding him. Until I go away to university." Rebecca shuddered. "I can't. I just, let's not talk about this anymore."

"University's a long time away."

"I'll get an after school job, too." Rebecca's eyes were wild. "I could make this work."

"But-"

"It'll work." Rebecca tried for a smile, but it came out more like a grimace. "I can t-take it until then. I'm used to it. Let's just get to school? We're going to be late!"

Alex pretended not to hear the hitch in Rebecca's voice and didn't point out the obvious change in topic. Alex just closed her mouth and nodded grimly. "Let's go to school."