I walked throughout the DEO, trying to find any clue to where Alex was. Suddenly, Maggie came up to me. Her eyes were dark with seriousness, but I could see worry behind them. "She told me not to tell you where, but even I know that you two need to talk it out. Before something bad happens. She's at the shooting range." Maggie tipped me off. "Thank you, Maggie." She nodded. "Yeah, but-just be careful. Her emotions are kinda everywhere. She kicked me out of the range only because I asked her if she wanted to talk. So, go easy. Okay?"

"Of course." I said before walking down to the shooting range. Outside of the doors, I could see a few agents looking like they wanted to enter the range but were too afraid to do so. They all looked to me with wide eyes. I could hear gunfire every two seconds. I hadn't even entered the range yet, and I knew she was obliterating that target. I swallowed hard before walking in slowly.

Alex stood in one of the middle stalls in the range, unloading clip after clip from one of the handguns. I leaned on the wall behind her, waiting patiently. Finally, the target fell after its remaining pieces couldn't hold on any longer. She placed the gun down but didn't turn around. "I don't want to talk to you." She stated flatly. "Alex-"

"No, I said I don't want to talk to you." She repeated. I sighed. "I know you don't. So, I'm going to talk to you. And if you don't want to hear it, you can leave me here." I said and waited. She didn't move from her spot, but only started to refill her clips. "Everything you said, you were right." I started and I saw Alex hesitate for a split second. "What I did, it was stupid. I didn't take in to consideration what would've happened if it went any other way. I shouldn't have made you choose between Eliza and me. That was cruel. And you can hate me for it. I don't care. But I wanted to let you know that you were right. I don't get it. I don't get how important my life is. And perhaps it's because I always thought that I don't deserve to live."

I swallowed the lump in my throat as tears blurred my vision. "Ever since I saw Krypton explode in front of my eyes. I was numb. Why couldn't any of my friends survive? Why couldn't any of our leaders survive? Why couldn't anyone but me survive? Why did I get to live while everyone else died?" I licked my lips as shame dried my mouth. "When I got here, and Kal was grown up, I felt even worse. Being with you, Jeremiah, and Eliza helped ease the pain of losing it all, but when Astra finally told me that my own mother tricked me into capturing her, and therefore condemned the rest of Krypton, it only made that numbness worse."

I fiercely wiped away a tear that ran down my cheek. "But seeing you and Maggie, so happy and filled with life, it helped me believe in survival here. When you supported me and Lena being together, I felt a little less like the girl who was responsible for her own planet's death, a little less like the girl who her own cousin abandoned, and more like someone who could be loved." She put down the half-filled clip but didn't do anything else. She stood there silently. "I felt like someone who could see happiness in the face of another outside the Danvers. But after Rick kidnapped you and Lena gave herself up to help us, I felt stuck again. And then finally, I get a way to possibly see Lena again, a way to find out what Lex is planning, a way to protect those who had made me feel so at home and encompassed, then yes, I will risk it all." I took a shaky breath. "But you were right. Maybe I don't get it. I just don't know what it's like to lose everything. And I never will, until I die and truly lose everything." I sniffled and turned away.

I started to walk out the door and I heard footsteps. "You were reckless." She stated. I turned back around. Tears were running down her face too. "I know." I accepted. "You were too reckless." She repeated. I took a breath. "I know, Alex. You don't have to repeat that. I'm on your side. I should've been smarter than that." I pointed out.

"This isn't about taking sides, Kara. This is about your safety."

"I am safe."

"No, you're not. Not while you make decisions like that."

"What then? What's next? You lock me in the DEO holding cells, like locking a child in their room for misbehaving-"

"YOU COULD HAVED DIED!" She shouted, her voice echoing until the range became quiet. The silence was heavy. Alex took a step closer. Her nose was slightly red, her face blotchy from crying, and the muscle that controlled her jaw was tight against her cheek. She grabbed onto my shoulders. "You could have died." Her voice barely reached my ears this time. "We could've lost you. If you want to make this about fucking sides, I'm on whatever side that keeps you alive. Can't you see that?" She pleaded. I released a deep breath. "I do. Alex. I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry." Alex pulled me in for a tight hug. We held onto each other for a few minutes, allowing ourselves to cry on each other's shoulders. "No. I should be sorry." She hiccupped. "The things I said to you. They weren't right. I shouldn't have attacked you or Krypton like that. That was way out of line. Can you ever forgive me?" She asked. I pulled away and gave her a watery smile. "Of course, Alex. We're sisters. It's okay if we fight every now and again. Besides, I know that both of our emotions are kinda everywhere lately." I tried to joke. She cracked a small smile. "Yeah, maybe." I saw a straggler tear race down her face. I reached out and wiped it away.

"Speaking of emotions, you might want to talk to Maggie." I stated. Her eyes widened. "Crap, Maggie." I rubbed Alex's shoulder. "Don't be too worried. She understands, but I bet that an apology won't hurt." Alex quickly kissed my cheek before racing off to find Maggie.

As I was walking back to the control room, I bumped into Eliza again. "I saw Alex running down the hall a few seconds ago." She stated. "Yeah, I told her to go apologize for snapping at Maggie. She was just trying to be supportive." I explained. "So, I take it you and Alex talked?" She assumed. I nodded. "Yeah, we did." I answered. "And?"

"We both decided that we were being stupid and very out of line. But we're fine." I stated. Eliza smiled. "I knew you two would be. It's just so hard to get both of you to see each other's side sometimes. Especially when you two were teenagers. God, that was a nightmare." I laughed lightly. "Yeah, but we always got through it."

"And you always will. You both just need to take a step back." I gave her a quick hug. "Thanks again Eliza." She squeezed my shoulders briefly. "Of course."

Suddenly, agents were rushing around the hallway and out to the control room. Eliza and I hurried out to where everyone was standing. "What's going on?" I asked. "Cadmus." Winn reported as he typed away. "Cadmus? They've not been too active with any big plans besides trying to kidnap Eliza." Mon-El pointed out. "How do we know it's them?" Alex asked.

"We've been monitoring several locations and now we have a convoy coming out from one of their suspected weapon storage facilities." Winn explained. Everyone started to mobilize, until J'onn stepped in. "Alex, take Alpha Team and Mon-El to investigate." He ordered. I raised my eyebrow. "What about me?" I asked. He shook his head. "No. You're staying here. If it's Cadmus, they could have Kryptonite, the regular kind or the special kind. Or both. We can't send you out there. It could be a trap. They could just be trying to lure you out. They could be trying to get us to leave the DEO vulnerable to their attacks." J'onn explained. I glanced over to Alex, who was studying me.

I took a breath. "Okay. I'll stay here. But if anything starts to go bad and anyone is in serious danger, I'm taking off. And no one can stop me." I argued. "Don't worry, we won't try to if it comes down to that." He stated. Alex gave me a small approving nod before running off with Mon-El and the other agents.

I waited impatiently with Eliza, J'onn, and Winn in the control room. "Agent Danvers, status report." Nothing here besides an abandoned moving truck. No current threat. We're about to breach the back doors. I chewed my lip nervously. Oh my god. "What's wrong?" I asked, ready to take off. It's-It's dad. Dad is locked in here. "What?" Eliza gasped and grabbed my hand in shock. Confirmed, it's Jeremiah Danvers. Possibly need a med team ready when we return. Vasquez reported. "Clear the site and get back to headquarters as quick as possible." J'onn ordered. Roger that.

30 minutes later, the DEO was bustling with the returning team of agents. Alex was supporting a beaten Jeremiah as they walked through the main hall. Eliza dropped my hand and rushed off to his side. "Jeremiah?" She asked. He gave a pained smile. "Eliza." He grabbed her and Alex in a tight hug. All three of them laughed and it caused a small smile to erupt on my face. "Ow, okay." He pulled back weakly.

A med team took Jeremiah to the med bay to be assessed. Alex was by my side as Eliza and Dr. Hamilton looked over his injures. "I can't believe it." She whispered. "Neither can I." I stated and grabbed her hand. She looked up to me. "Thank you, Kara." She stated. "For what? I didn't do anything."

"No, you did. You didn't jump into that situation." I shrugged. "I knew that you would be fine." I tried to brush it off. She shook her head. "Not only that, but we couldn't detect the Kryptonite signatures until after we opened the doors and unlocked Jeremiah. It would've been enough to incapacitate you for a while. They aerosolized it." I scrunched my eyebrows together. "What?"

"If you would've breathed that in, your lungs would've been severely damaged." She explained. "Then why didn't you tell J'onn that?" She gave me a shy smile. "I didn't want you to worry."

"What, I wouldn't have worried." I tried to protest. She scoffed. "Yeah right. I know how you think. You would've thought it was an ambush for us and you would've rushed there." Alex pointed out. "What? Pshhh no." I flustered. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Wait, if it was aerosolized, then why aren't any of you making me feel sick?" I asked. "Why do you think that it took us longer to get here? We reported to a decontaminate chamber at the other DEO site. It was on our way here and we didn't want to put you at risk." She answered.

J'onn joined us shortly after Alex stopped talking. "How are you two doing?" He asked. "Fine, but it's kind of hard to wrap my head around the fact that we finally found him." Alex stated. I nodded silently. Eliza exited the med bay. "You can all come in now. He's fine, just a few lacerations and bruised ribs." She stated before walking into the med bay.

Jeremiah smiled as we walked into his field of view. "Jeremiah." J'onn welcomed. "J'onn J'onzz, it's so good to see you again." He greeted. "What happened to you?" I asked. Jeremiah's face turned serious. "I don't know how long we were rotting out there in the Amazon, but I came to at Cadmus. They saved me, so I could save Henshaw. They forced me to keep him alive, to enhance him. Physically turn him into the monster he was beneath." Jeremiah turned his attention back to J'onn. "It is strange seeing you in Henshaw's skin."

"I hope I've put it to good use." J'onn offered. "Better than he ever did." Dr. Hamilton added on from the corner of the med bay. Jeremiah chuckled. "But what happened after that? You were gone for such a long time." I pointed out. "I guess I did too good a job enhancing Henshaw, because Cadmus wanted me to stick around, help 'em with other projects. In the beginning, I tried to escape again and again. But, well, let's just say they didn't appreciate that very much." He answered.

"Oh, Dad." Alex whispered. "It's okay, by working with them, I was helping to keep you and your sister safe." He stated. Mon-El walked into the room. "I'm glad you're okay." Jeremiah nodded to Mon-El, a silent thank you.

"But after you saved Mon-El and I, didn't they torture you?" I asked. He sighed. "Yeah, they did." He looked away from me. Eliza looked up from Jeremiah's arm, where she was working silently as we all talked. "Jeremiah, the uh, damage to your arm, it's too much to repair, I'm sorry." She explained.

"Part of the punishment when I helped Mon-El and Kara escape. But I would do it again, in a heartbeat." He smiled at us. "I'm just so lucky that you found me. So lucky to be back with all of you." He stated. Smiles echoed throughout the med bay. His eyes landed on me. "I uh- is it okay if I talk to Kara alone please?" He asked the room. Everyone left and it was just Jeremiah and I in the med bay.

"Something wrong Jeremiah?" I asked. "No, not really." He answered simply. "Then what's up?" I asked. "You and the Luthor." He stated quietly. I swallowed and hesitated as he stared at me. "How do you know?" I asked. "Lex was quite angry when he found out. He was already angry at Lillian's death. You only infuriated him more." I looked away.

"I know. I'm sorry for putting everyone else at risk, Jeremiah." I stated, shame lacing my voice. "Kara, look at me." I slowly looked up. "I am not mad at you."

"What? You're not?" He shook his head. "No, why would you think I would be?" He asked. "One, I'm dating a girl. Two, the girl I'm dating is a Luthor. You have always been so cautious. You have always wanted me to be cautious, and here I am, throwing caution to the wind." I stated. He smiled. "Kara, I don't care what your sexual preference is. I know that Krypton never saw love and family only with a male and female as its foundation. Rao paired two people together because they were perfect for one another. It never mattered what sex they were. You know that. Eliza and I studied Krypton's beliefs and societal norms for years, even before you came to Earth. And secondly, caution sometimes should be thrown to the wind. Cadmus had me work on DEO watch to make sure we were undiscovered, and I came across a leak in the private files. I knew it was invading privacy, but I had to make sure that you and Alex were still okay. I read them and I found out that Alex started dating Maggie. It was in some paperwork and the annual psych evals. Alex's insecurities actually lessened and her mental stability only improved after she starting dating Maggie." He pointed out.

"You know about Maggie too?" He smiled. "Of course. And no, I'm not going to turn Alex away just because she is with Maggie, and I'm not going to turn you away because you are with Lena. Love is love, and nothing I say will change that. And I wouldn't want to change it either. She is still my Alex, and you're still my little Kara. I'd rather you two be happy than to hide your real selves to the family. I don't care she is a Luthor, I just want you to be happy, and safe." I bit back tears of happiness as I wrapped Jeremiah in a soft hug. "Thank you, Jeremiah." He wrapped his arm around me briefly.

"Now, go send in Alex. I do think there is some thing we need to discuss as well." I nodded and walked out of the med bay. Alex was waiting for me. "What did he say?" She asked. "Go in there, Jeremiah wants to talk to you." She raised her eyebrow but walked into the med bay. I waited outside for Alex.

Mon-El walked up to me. "Hey Kara." He greeted. "Hi Mon-El." I answered. "Are you busy?" He asked. "No, is something wrong?" He looked into the med bay before speaking. "Don't you think that this timing is a little too good?" He asked. I raised my eyebrow in question. "What does that mean?" I asked. "I mean, don't you think it's too much of a coincidence that Jeremiah escapes right as we're about to crack the code of what the Luthors and Cadmus are trying to do?"

I shook my head and sighed. "Now is not really the best time to bring this up Mon-El. Besides, do you have any solid evidence?" I asked. He hesitated. "Well, no."

"Then drop it, please." I stated. Alex started to make her way out to me. Mon-El walked away in a huff. As Alex walked out, tears were in her eyes, but I knew, like me, they were tears of happiness. "On a scale of one to crazy happy, how crazy happy are you? Because I mean-" She beamed at me and I immediately stopped talking. "I have my entire family with me." She whispered. I smiled back at her. "So I'm thinking a dinner to celebrate his return?" I asked. She nodded. "Sounds great."

A day later, everyone was in my loft. J'onn and Jeremiah were talking to each other, Mon-El was helping Eliza cook, Maggie and Alex were sitting on my couch with Winn and James as they discussed what game to play. I smiled to myself, happiness washed over me, until I saw one spot empty. It was the seat right by the couch, right where Lena loved to sit. My smiled faltered, but I shook my head and told myself to enjoy the night.

We all sat down at the table after Mon-El and Eliza finished cooking the dinner. I raised my glass. "A toast. To coming home." Everyone raised their glasses and echoed me. Jeremiah stood up. "Now, obviously, this is going to be a time of adjustment. But I hope you'll all be patient with me. I've seen and done things that I wish I hadn't." He started.

Alex tried to stop him. "Dad, don't." He shook his head. "No, sweetie. If I'm going to move forward, I can't ignore my past. Cadmus changed me, they tried to break me. But in the process, they made me dangerous. I know their weaknesses, and I'm want to work with all of you to make our planet safer. So, if you'll have me, Director, I'd like to return to the DEO. Formally." He stated. I glanced over to J'onn. "J'onn? Can he?" Winn asked. "Pending a full psych evaluation and a field readiness exam. We'll give you the tour tomorrow." J'onn answered and Jeremiah smiled. "Thank you, friend." I looked around the table and saw Mon-El glaring at Jeremiah. I said nothing, but I knew I was going to talk to him soon.

A few hours later, everyone was gone except for Mon-El. He walked over to me as I put the last of the dishes in my sink. "Did you think that was odd? What Jeremiah said at dinner?" He asked. "What? No." I brushed it off absentmindedly as I washed the last plate. "Think about it. I'm in the DEO for two months before I can pee alone, and he wants to walk right back in? Isn't that salmony?" He asked.

"Fishy." I corrected him. "And I mean, he did work at the DEO." I tried to counter. "Right, fishy. No matter, he spent a lot of quality time in Cadmus. He's probably going to get full access too. No background checks or tests for ulterior motives?"

I set the plate down, annoyed. "Why won't you accept this?" I asked. "What?" He questioned. "I mean, why are you pushing this?" I asked again. He crossed his arms. "We're just going to give him free reign?" I walked away from his face. He followed me over to where I was picking up some empty beer bottles. "Why is no one questioning this? Is that not crazy?" He prodded. I turned around to face Mon-El.

"If your father walked through that door right now, after all these years that you thought he was dead, what would you do?" I asked. "I would run." He answered shortly and I was confused.

"Run?"

"He was not a good man." Mon-El grimaced the second that left his mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything like that about Jeremiah." He tried to apologize. "This is not about you and your suspicion. You are out of line. And you need to leave my home." I stated. He swallowed. "Kara- No, that's the-" I cut him off. "No, no! And I asked you to give Jeremiah the benefit of the doubt and you ignored that. So I don't-"

He held his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay, hey! I'm sorry. That is two strikes on me, okay, but let's just- let's let it go." He tried to defuse the situation. I laughed dryly. "This is not baseball. You know what, why don't I show you out?" I asked. He shook his head and walked out the door. I pulled off my glasses after the door closed behind Mon-El and I rubbed my temples.

The next morning, I arrived back at the DEO. Mon-El walked up to me. "Mon-El." I greeted, although a little coldly. "Can we talk?" He asked. I crossed my arms and studied him for a second. "Fine." I stated after a few seconds. "Look, I'm sorry for last night. I was rude, and that was uncalled for. But can you please just see it away from any influence the Danvers have on you?" He stated calmly. "You have 5 minutes."

He gave me a small grateful smile. "Look, I know you're happy he's back-" Mon-El started, but I interrupted him. "Are you not?" I asked. "I-He saved us. So, yes." He answered.

"Then why are you so against this?"

"I was there and I watched you solar flare, and it didn't look like they were trying to, you know, capture your heat-vision. It looked like they just wanted you to blow your powers out. To make you human and see your limits." He explained. I rolled my eyes. "Mon-El, you are not a scientist." I argued. "And you don't know Cadmus wants, but I bet Jeremiah does." He stated. "Why is it so hard for you to trust him?" I asked. Mon-El narrowed his eyes at me. "Why is it so easy for you?" He questioned. "Because he's always protected me, at great cost!" I yelled.

Mon-El pulled me into a small room. "Yes, he had, but he also lived with your enemy for years. And I mean when is the last time we were this lucky? Lucky enough that Cadmus was moving their most valuable prisoner, a guy that the DEO has been unable to find for over 15 years? And he just he just lands in our lap? That seems too easy, especially for the Luthors. We need to quarantine him. At least until we know exactly what he's has been doing for the past 15 years." Mon-El reasoned.

I furrowed my eyebrows at his reasons. They made more sense then I wanted to admit to. "They-they forced him to keep Henshaw alive." I stated weakly. "What makes you think that they're not forcing Jeremiah to do something now? Huh?" He asked. I sighed. "Okay, we'll keep an eye on him. But I still trust him." I stated.

"Trust is easily broken, Kara." He said before walking off. I was shocked, and angry at Mon-El. What gave him the right to question Jeremiah? I exhaled through my nose forcibly as annoyance flooded my veins.

I left the small room and saw J'onn, Alex, Winn, and Jeremiah in the control room. As I walked up, Jeremiah was the first to see me. His eyes followed my movements as I approached them. They seemed to almost be evaluating me and it was unsettling. I brushed off the odd feeling and stood next to Alex. Even just by standing next to her, I could tell she was happy and content. I was still put off by the way Jeremiah watched me, but Alex's happiness soon distracted me.

"-and that's the new DEO." Alex explained. I blinked and realized that I zoned out as they were showing Jeremiah the improved headquarters. "Thank God we're out of that cave. I think I saw a bat in there once." He pointed out. "Kara said she was bit by one when she was there." Winn added on. Jeremiah gave me a questioning look. "Yeah, but Bruce and I have made amends since then." I answered. "Bruce?" Alex asked. "Yeah-" I stopped myself short as I was going to say the bat was named after the Big Bad Bat himself. "I thought it suited him." I lied quickly. Everyone but Winn continued with their discussion of the new headquarters. However, Winn looked at me, his eyebrow raised, before his eyes widened.

I put my fingers to my lips and he nodded very quickly before smiling to himself proudly. I rolled my eyes and jumped into the conversation. "I know that Cadmus has a nuclear bomb." Jeremiah stated. "Been there, done that." I stated and Alex held out her fist. I bumped it playfully as J'onn rolled his eyes.

"What?" Jeremiah asked. "Yeah, a while ago we found out that Lillian and the rest of Cadmus had a nuclear bomb as well as stockpiled Kryptonite." Winn answered. Jeremiah furrowed his brows. "Jeremiah?" J'onn asked. "That can't be right. I remember Lillian talking about the bomb so recently." He stated. "Dad, Lillian is dead. She has been for a while. Lex tried to shoot Kara, but it ricocheted off Kara and hit Lillian." Alex tried to explain. Jeremiah stiffened briefly, before shaking his head again, this time more fiercely. "No, it can't be. I remember Lillian talking to me not too long ago!" He asserted.

Alex went to grab Jeremiah's arm, but he pushed her away. I expected her to slightly move, but not go flying across the room. "Alex!" I called. She stumbled as she stood up. "I'm-I'm okay."

Everyone looked to Jeremiah, who was now glaring at us darkly. "Jeremiah?" I asked.

Hey guys! What's up? I know it's been a while, but I finally got another chapter done, and this one is a lot longer than the last. Yay! If you hadn't caught on, I'm using some dialogue from the show, more specifically, from the episode Homecoming. At the last minute, I got a great idea and decided to make this story a bit longer before it comes to an end, because let's be honest, despite the fact that Lena and Kara have been torn apart for so long (and it's killing me to do so), I have had a lot of fun writing for this story. So when I got the opportunity to make it a little longer, it made me excited. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I guess I'll see you all soon! ~Raya Kor-El