Hello!

Here's one REALLY LONG chapter for you all.

As always, thank you for your support! It means so much to me!

No author's note at the end because I didn't want to ruin the moment.

The question of the day, if you're reading this, is pen or pencil?

Also, I know there's a slight potential loophole but I'll give my rationale later, I don't want to ruin anything.

I apologize in advance for what is about to happen...

Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl.

"It's done. Let me see her." Alex stood beside her work.

"We need to ensure it works first." Dr. Cranwell motioned to a guard.

"If Kara has been exposed to Kryptonite, which I know she has, her body is going to need some time to fight it off and recover," Alex took a deep breath, stepping toward the woman.

A guard caught her arm and Alex resisted the urge to deck him in the face.

"You want my help? Let me help," Alex clenched her jaw.

"You have already helped." Dr. Cranwell was already flipping through her notes.

Alex clenched her fists so tightly her nails bit into her skin.

"The attachment you have is fascinating," Dr. Cranwell did not look up. "If I were a psychologist, perhaps I would run the two of you through all sorts of simulations to test it. But I don't really care." She finally looked up, cold eyes appraising Alex. "I only care about biology. What's under that Kryptonian skin…" She smiled slowly, sickeningly. "I intend to find out."

"I need to assess how she's doing. I know more about her than you do; you're going to kill her."

"Do you know the extent of the alien's healing?" Dr. Cranwell put her notes down. "Is it regenerative to the point it could regrow a limb? Or an organ?"

"I have no idea," Alex grit out, struggling to breathe through the waves of fear crashing over her. "Let me see her. I gave you what you wanted."

Dr. Cranwell considered her for a moment before shrugging. "I need a full assessment." She nodded slightly at the guard, who pulled Alex forward.

Finally they arrived at a laboratory deep in the bowels of the facility and Alex saw her.

"Kara…" she whispered.

The girl was lying on a bed, deathly still. Wires taped in various places, tubes running to different machines and IVs. Her skin was pale, shadows as dark as bruises beneath closed eyes.

Alex turned to Dr. Cranwell only to find herself thrown back by a savage blow to her head. One guard pinned her down while another kicked her in the stomach, sending her on her knees retching. Blood dripped down her chin from her split lip, staining the white lab coat.

"Lillian Luthor may think you're a scientist at heart, but I know you're an agent." Dr. Cranwell sneered. "You need to know your place. What we do here is delicate, precise. There is no room for the blundering passions of a fighter, only the careful calculations of intellect and fine motor abilities."

Alex didn't fight back as the guard kicked her again, unwilling to risk doing anything that would make them separate her from Kara.

The only thing she cared about fighting for was merely feet away, one door away.

"I need to assess her," Alex coughed, blood splattering onto the concrete. "I need to see the drugs you've been giving her. You could kill her with those careful calculations if you don't know what base physiology you are dealing with."

She met Dr. Cranwell's gaze unwaveringly.

"You've seen my file. You know I have the intellect and skills to be in that room."

The woman stepped forward slowly, crouching to look Alex in the eye.

"If you try anything, there will be no going back. I will personally ensure that you watch while we push Alien #379 to the brink of death and then bring it back, over and over and over again. Do you understand?"

Icy fear clutched Alex's chest as she stared into the soulless eyes of the young doctor.

This woman would do everything she promised and more.

"I understand."

The door opened.

"Kara," Alex couldn't stop herself from rushing to the girl's side. "I am so sorry," she whispered, finding her girl's small hand and holding it, trying to avoid the IV sticking out of it.

A tear fell down her face before she could stop it, stinging as it ran into the cut on her cheek.

Feeling Dr. Cranwell approaching, she steeled herself.

"What cocktail drugs are in these IVs?" Alex asked, her voice hard.

A lab assistant began rattling off names of drugs.

"Kryptonite emitter levels?"

She reluctantly let go of Kara's hand to take the tablet handed to her, examining the specs and levels of the room and the emitters on Kara's wrists, then looking at Kara's vital signs, her heart dropping.

They were slowly killing Kara with the combination of the drugs and Kryptonite. Her vitals were dropping at a rapid rate that caused Alex's body to go numb with fear.

Strangely, Kara's brain waves were active, although she remained unmoving.

I hope it's a good dream, little one, Alex brushed a strand of hair out of the girl's face before deciding her best course of action.

"She needs to go under a sun bed to heal," Alex turned to Dr. Cranwell.

"Absolutely not." The woman's voice was hard.

"Then you need to turn off the Kryptonite emissions," Alex shot back, deftly pushing buttons on the tablet. "You're poisoning her; in combination with the drugs it's too much for her system. She is not a full sized Kryptonian, you can't treat her like one; her body can't handle this much. Switch to the red solar lights if you want, I don't care, but you need to turn off the Kryptonite."

There was a tense silence during which nobody moved.

"Look, if you want to look at these vitals yourself, go ahead!" Alex barked. "You want my expertise on Kryptonian physiology? Here I am."

Dr. Cranwell nodded slowly and a lab assistant went to a panel in the wall.

Alex turned back to Kara, finding her hand again. She increased the oxygen levels going to the girl, checking her blood pressure before turning to the lab assistant. "We need to flush some of these drugs out of her system. Can you prepare a solution?"

The assistant glanced at Dr. Cranwell who raised an eyebrow at Alex.

"You did your experiments with these hideously designed cocktail drugs, got your damn results, now you need to get them out of her bloodstream." Alex was physically shaking with anger.

"I can make a solution," the assistant turned to a cabinet filled with different bottles and substances.

"This better not be a trick," Dr. Cranwell's presence was like an ominous cloud.

Alex lost it.

"Listen. I'm trying to keep Kara alive; you and your goons almost killed her. You have no idea what you are doing. Unless you want to explain to Lillian Luthor that her deranged plans have failed and you killed the one alien she most wanted to find, I suggest you listen to me."

Alex's eyes sparked, her nostrils flaring with anger.

Dr. Cranwell's dark eyes darkened with resentment. "Nobody speaks to me like that," she hissed.

"I don't give a fuck how people talk to you."

Dr. Cranwell turned to the lab assistants. "Do what she says within reason but if anything is suspicious, notify me immediately. The guards will supervise as well. I have surgeries to prepare for."

The doctor paused.
"You will regret that."

Then Dr. Cranwell was gone.

As soon as she left, Alex set about making Kara more comfortable, every instinct in her body begging her to take her girl and run.

She hated the position she was in, it was all she could do to hold in her fury and make calm rational decisions.

Kara depended on it.

"Hey kiddo. I love you," Alex whispered. "You're going to be okay."

Kara stirred slightly, her eyes blinking slowly.

"Kara." Alex's eyes widened. Kara was conscious. This was a very good sign.

"Alex," Kara murmured. "You're here." Her brow creased in confusion.
"I'm going to help you as much as I can," Alex promised her, shoulders shaking with restrained anger. "You're going to be okay."

"You're hurt," Kara's face scrunched in concentration as she tried to reach up to touch Alex's face.
Alex caught her hand and held it tight. "I'm fine. I love you."

Kara clung to her hand weakly. "I love you."

Tears welled up in Alex's eyes, the feeling of helplessness suffocating. Kara looked so so tiny, so fragile… She needed help, sunlamps, safety... "I'm so sorry. You know you're the best thing that has ever happened to me, right?"

"I told you that first." Kara smiled slightly. "You remember…" She closed her eyes for a moment, grimacing. "It's not your fault…"

"Don't you dare start that again," Alex shushed her. "Tell me how you're feeling?"

"Sick," Kara groaned. Alex noticed the sweat beading on her forehead.

"Can you get her some water?" Alex turned to the lab assistant who had prepared the solution for her. He nodded, grabbing a cup. "Thank you." She took it thankfully, before turning to help Kara take small sips.

The water seemed to refresh the girl, her blue eyes brightening.

"Wait, I almost forgot," Kara tried to sit up.

"No, no, don't move," Alex gently pushed Kara back down. "Just tell me."

"I saw J'onn," Kara whispered.

Alex looked at her confusedly.

"In my head. He was there. He's looking for us," Kara explained, one hand fiddling with the oxygen tube in her nose.

"Don't touch that, love, it's helping you." Alex didn't quite know what to do with Kara's announcement. "Of course he's looking for us, kiddo."

"He's coming." Kara relaxed. "I showed him where we are. He said it was enough to find us."

Alex bit her lip. Was Kara hallucinating? She checked the girl's temperature, concerned to find it higher than normal.

"You need to rest, okay? Your body needs time to heal."

"Okay," Kara agreed sleepily. "I like going to the backyard. Maybe J'onn will be there again."

"I love you. I am fighting for you, no matter what," Alex kissed her hot forehead. "You're going to be fine."

"Love you too." Kara's eyes fluttered closed as she drifted off.

Alex stroked her hair, fighting the tears that threatened to spill.
She didn't care that she probably had several broken ribs at this point, that her every breath sent pain searing through her body; she only cared about keeping Kara safe.

"Does she need anything else?" the lab assistant asked.

Alex bit her lip. "She shouldn't be doing this badly, I'm not sure what is happening." She furiously looked over all the data and levels again. "I mean you guys have poisoned her but her system should be fighting back more than it is…" She stopped and turned to the lab assistant. "You said she, not it."

The assistant shrugged, looking away.

"She's been muttering your name ever since she got here. She must really love you."

"She wouldn't leave me when Cadmus closed in," Alex stroked the girl's hand. "She could have gotten away."

"I know, I've seen the footage. She almost took down an entire troop of CADMUS operatives."

Alex paused.
"What?" she turned to the man. "She what?"

"I can show you," the assistant took the tablet and quickly pulled up a video.

The footage seemed to be coming from a body camera, shaky and dimly lit.

Yet Alex could clearly see her own form, turned around in her seat, talking to a small blonde girl in the back seat. Suddenly she saw herself thrown back by some invisible force. Involuntarily, Alex's hand flew to her own chest, feeling the dark bruised area the bullet had hit her, her head aching at the footage of her own head cracking against the windshield.

Kara's reaction was instantaneous; she jumped forward, wide eyed with panic. Alex raised a trembling hand to her mouth as she watched the girl arch her back in some desperate scream, her eyes shooting blue light all around.

The body cam was briefly blocked as operatives yelled in panic, running away, hitting the ground.

"Oh my god." Alex watched as Kara continued to scream, her eyes alight. Like some scene straight out of a science fiction movie, she shot light all around from her eyes, hands out stretched, surroundings bursting into flames.

Then all of a sudden it stopped. The girl crumpled and the green glow of kryptonite weapons approached.

The lab assistant turned off the video.

Alex turned back to Kara, stroking her hair slowly as her brain worked to process what she had just seen.

The words fell from her lips.

"Solar flare."

"What?" the assistant turned to her. "Did you say something?"

"Solar flare," Alex repeated more loudly. "Kara didn't lose her powers because of the Kryptonite, she solar flared!" Alex began to pace, limping slightly. "I've seen this before, it's happened to Superman. They're the same species and Kara just did the same thing. That means she was already in a weakened state when the levels of Kryptonite were added on top and then whatever else you bastards did to her! No wonder her system couldn't handle it; it was already depleted!"

The lab assistant stared at her.

"What does this mean?"

Alex swallowed hard, panic drumming a desperate rhythm against her chest.
"Even under the sunlamps, Kara isn't going to heal."

"Kara."

Kara looked up from the plants she was tending, setting down the watering can on the path. "Hi J'onn! What are you doing here?" She moved to give him a hug, giggling as she playfully wiped the dirt on her hands on his suit.

"That's no way to greet a friend," J'onn's laugh was deep but his red eyes were worried. "How are you doing Kara? Are you hurt? You're unconscious again."

Kara felt something tug in the back of her mind stir but could only identify the feeling of confusion.

"What?" she tilted her head slightly, looking around her. "I'm awake and talking to you, J'onn. I'm not unconscious," she smiled slightly, wondering if it was some sort of joke.

J'onn's concerned expression deepened. "Kara, how did you end up here?"

Kara glanced around the back yard, her smile faltering as she took in the shining sun and slight breeze.
"I… I don't know. I don't remember," she frowned. The scene around her rippled slightly and a dull ache of worry suddenly hit her. "J'onn, stop."

"Where is Alex?" J'onn asked.

The world rippled again and Kara closed her eyes as the feeling that something was very very wrong hit her. She tried to push it away, not wanting to remember. "Stop it, J'onn!"

"Kara, it's okay for you to be here but you have to know it isn't real," J'onn knelt beside her. "As soon as you believe this is real, your body will stop fighting whatever is making you unconscious."

Images and memories flickered back into Kara's mind and she squeezed her eyes closed, trying to keep them at bay. "I'm scared. It's easier here."

"I know." J'onn put an arm around her. "It's going to be okay. But you have to fight for us. I can't lose you and neither can Alex. You're important to us."

"I don't want to lose you both either," Kara looked up. "Alex is hurt. I don't know how to help her. I'm so scared."

"I came to tell you I'm on my way," J'onn put his hand on Kara's shoulder. "We are coming."
Kara's eyes widened. "How…"

"I'll tell you later," J'onn promised. "I need you to help us."

"Me?" Kara tilted her head, confused.

"You have to give Alex a message."

Kara looked around her at the peaceful backyard. "I have to leave?"

"Kara, you know this place isn't real. Alex isn't here."
Kara bit her lip. She knew J'onn was right. Even if things were calm, it wasn't real. And Kara would rather be in a chaotic world with Alex than a calm one without her. She had to go back. She had to fight. She had to get her body to wake up or this world might swiftly change into a prison.

After all, if Alex wasn't there, it wasn't a very perfect place, was it?

"Okay." Kara nodded her head. "I'm ready. What is your message?"

J'onn told her.

Gritting her teeth, Kara bowed her head and opened her mind. Her surroundings shifted around her and suddenly she found herself deep deep underwater.

Holding her breath, she squinted up to see the faint light of the distant surface. Desperately, she swam and kicked, trying to get to the top.

Her air was running out. She was still so so far… She just wanted to sink down into the deep nothingness.

"You can do it, Kara." J'onn's voice was like a push upward and she continued to fight.

Just when she was sure she wouldn't make it, she found herself gasping in air as she hit the surface and reality flooded back to her.

Agent Alex Danvers was not one to wait to be rescued.

She wasn't one for waiting in general, especially not when lives were in danger.

When that life was Kara, her little sister, her little girl, her family, she wasn't going to waste a moment.

She needed a plan, stat.

The problem was, her hands were tied. They were tucked away in some labyrinth of crazy laboratories, probably underground, under constant surveillance. Kara needed the medical support Alex had access to here and Alex wasn't even sure how much longer her body was going to hold up. She had held off in examining her own injuries, focusing on Kara instead. But when she let down her guard down for even a moment, she knew she was in pain. Possibly some sort of internal bleeding was happening, one of her ribs might be pressing against her lung but at least it wasn't punctured, she would be able to tell if that happened…

She caught her own gaze in the shiny surface of the metal cabinet and grimaced. Blood was had dried on her cheek, her temple, her chin... Kara must have been really scared to wake up to her face; she basically looked like a zombie.

Alex took a deep breath, wincing slightly even at that movement.

Plan.

That's what she had been thinking about.

"We need sun lamps to make sure my theory about the solar flare is right," Alex straightened.

The lab assistant, Alex didn't even know his name, looked hesitant.
"In order to check that, we're going to have to not only give her sun but take away the kryptonite…"

"Yes," Alex nodded. "That is correct."

The man bit his lip. "We can't do that."

"What's your name?" Alex asked.

The lab assistant looked at her hesitantly. "Connor."

"Okay. Connor. I don't know how you got here or why, but look at me right now and tell me whether you can live with this girl dying on your hands."

Connor glanced down.

"It's an alien…"
"Don't even try that," Alex cut him off. "I know you know better than using that to justify what is happening here."

Connor glanced at the guards in the hall.

"I'll show you how to set it up."

Halfway through the process of getting the sunlamps running, Kara woke up with a strangled gasp.
"Kara!" Alex grasped her hand "Hey kiddo. How are you feeling?"

Kara groaned, blue eyes blinking confusedly.

"Here we go," Connor spoke up and the sunlamps turned on, flooding Kara in their warm light.

Wincing at the sudden brightness, Kara squeezed Alex's hand weakly.

"I have to tell you something."

Alex bit her lip, praying that Kara wouldn't start talking as if she were dying again. Alex didn't know if she could take that.

"What is it, love?" she asked gently, keeping an eye on Kara's solar levels, which were completely depleted. Please, please let me be wrong and heal.

Kara shifted closer to her, playing with her fingers. "It's a message, from J'onn."

"Okay." Alex worriedly noted that Kara still did in fact have a slight fever. The solar levels weren't rising… it probably takes time, right? "Tell me."

"Hmm…" Kara closed her eyes slightly.

"Kara, stay with me," Alex lightly stroked her hair.

"Oh." Kara looked confused for a moment before her gaze cleared. "The black fox hides in its burrow and the owl hunts mice under the full moon. "

Alex's eyes widened.

"Is she delusional?" Connor glanced at her.

"She has a fever, I think she's hallucinating," Alex lied; trying to process what Kara had told her.

"I'm not!" Kara tried to sit up.

"Shh," Alex kissed her forehead. "I know you're not," she whispered in the girl's ear.

Kara smiled slightly and settled back down.

Solar levels were still showing no improvement and Alex busied herself rolling up Kara's shirt and shorts so that as much skin was showing as possible while still protecting the girl's privacy.

The black fox hides in its burrow and the owl hunts mice under the full moon.

It was her code with Henshaw, Alex had no idea how but clearly Kara had somehow gotten a message from him.

Black fox hiding in the burrow was them; they needed to stay under the radar and hide while the DEO infiltrated and took the base down. That was the owl hunting mice part, which Alex knew would be accompanied by a blackout due to the night analogies. All of it would go down at midnight, or the full moon.

"What time is it?" Alex glanced at Connor.

"Eleven fourty-eight," he said, glancing at his watch.

Twelve minutes.

Alex looked at the solar levels. Still nothing.
There should at least be something.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Alex turned to find a livid Dr. Cranwell in the doorway.

Kara screamed as Alex was suddenly pulled away from her, the agent's hand roughly yanked out of her own.

"Alex!" She sat up, ignoring the wave of pain the motion brought.

Two large guards were struggling to restrain Alex, the woman fighting furiously.

"She needs the sunlamps!" Kara faintly heard Alex yelling. "Just let me explain!"

"Get rid of her," a calm voice ordered.

"Stop!" Tears came to Kara's eyes as one guard landed a punch to Alex's jaw. Her sister was outnumbered and already injured. "Please, stop!" She gathered her strength and yanked off the various tubes and wires, jumping off the table.

Something hit the sunlamps behind her, causing them to explode at the exact same moment that one of the guards managed to twist Alex's arm so far behind her that she cried out.

"No!" Kara screamed, mirroring the pain in Alex's voice.

Then, suddenly, amazingly, Alex twirled around, yanking the guard's arm to cause his head to dip down at the exact same moment she brought her knee up to slam the two together. Nose gushing blood, he dropped like a rock. Another guard threw himself forward, only to be met with the metal pole that had been supporting an IV drip.

Sneaking up behind her, another guard suddenly lunged at the agent.

"Alex, watch out!" Kara threw herself forward, attaching herself to the man's leg. It was the best her body could manage at the moment and she gave it her all.

"Don't kill it, we need that alien alive!" someone screamed.

"Get off!" the man shook his leg.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

"Leave Alex alone!"

Kara fought like a wildcat as someone pulled her off, nails roughly scraping skin. The person swore and dropped her. Kara took advantage of the chaos to scramble under a table after someone's fallen gun.

Alex needed a weapon if she was going to survive.

Kara's hands wrapped around the heavy metal.

"Alex!" she called out.

The agent knocked down a guard then turned to her. Kara slid the gun across the room, praying it would end up in the right place, and Alex somehow deftly swooped down and picked it up.

"Get down!" Alex shouted and Kara scrambled back under the table as gunshots rang out.

So so many gunshots. Kara closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears, hoping everything would be over so and in the wake of it all Alex would still be standing.

Sudeenly cold hands wrapped around Kara's arms and she found herself being pulled out from under the table.

Everything seemed to shift into slow motion. Guards lay still on the ground. Alex turned, ragged coat stained with blood. She raised her gun as crimson leaked from the corner of her mouth, eyes alight with fury.

"Not so fast."

Kara felt a slight twinge as a needle pricked her neck.

"Let's play our own version of Russian roulette, Agent Danvers," the scientist holding Kara said, her voice silky. "I don't know what's in here; I just grabbed the first syringe I found."

"Inject that in and I kill you," Alex's chest heaved, her gaze unwavering even as one of her eyes was almost swollen shut.

Kara winced as the scientist pressed the needle slightly further.

"If you don't put down that gun, we can both find out what is in this thing."

Alex hesitated.

"Or," the scientist pulled Kara closer. "You can listen to me and I'll let your alien go."

"Don't do it Alex!" Kara begged. "She'll kill you."

The way Alex looked at her, Kara knew that the agent already knew that.

"Please. Alex," Kara sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "Don't do it."

Alex lowered the weapon slowly.

"Slide the gun over to me and put your hands on your head."

"Alex, no!"

Horrified, Kara watched as Alex complied.

Moving was agony.

Alex pushed the gun across the once clean laboratory floor, the dark metal streaking the floor bright red as it slid through a pool of blood.

Not moving her gaze from Dr. Cranwell who held a syringe to Kara's neck, Alex slowly held her right arm up, left arm hanging uselessly by her side.

Kara looked terrified and Alex's chest ached as she met the girl's wide blue eyes.

"It's going to be okay," she wanted to say, wanted to gather the girl in her arms and assure her they were all going to be fine.

Dr. Cranwell picked up the gun, letting go of Kara, who crumpled to the ground.

Seeing the syringe finally away from Kara's neck, Alex felt like she could suddenly breathe again.

The feeling didn't last long as Dr. Cranwell brought down the butt of the gun on Alex's head, causing her to collapse into a swimming agony. The world tilted as Alex blearily fell to her knees. She blinked blood out of her eyes, staring up at the young doctor.

"Going to kill me like the coward you are?" she spat.

Dr. Cranwell examined her almost curiously, dark eyes blank of emotion.

"I am going to kill you. But there is something I want you to see first."

Alex's blood ran cold as Dr. Cranwell pulled out the syringe.

"No…" Alex reached out one trembling hand. "Stop." She coughed and blood dripped unnoticed from her lips. "You said you'd let her go!"

Dr. Cranwell just smiled, walking to Kara and yanking her up by her hair.

"No!" Alex tried to drag her broken body forward as Kara whimpered in pain.

A gun sticking out of the holster of a fallen guard caught Alex's eye. She reached with trembling bloodstained fingers, finding it just out of her grasp.

If she could just reach it…

"Just think. All this trouble for one alien…" Almost lazily, Dr. Cranwell raised the syringe.

Alex lunged, a scream tearing from her throat at the excruciating pain the movement brought, something in her body snapping.

A gunshot rang through the air.

Slowly, almost curiously, Dr. Cranwell looked down at the red flower blooming across her white lab coat.

Still, the woman smiled.

Something was wrong.

Alex suddenly noticed that the syringe the doctor had been holding was now empty.

"No!"

Dr. Cranwell fell to the ground lifeless, a cruel smile still playing on her lips.

The air fled Alex's lungs as her eyes moved to Kara. The girl's face drained of color as she fell to her knees.

"Kara," Alex gasped. She couldn't breathe, couldn't catch the elusive element of oxygen.

"Alex." Kara crawled forward, tears streaming down her face.

Alex closed her eyes momentarily as she wrapped her good arm around Kara. "You're going to be fine." Slowly she moved them to the wall, propping her broken body up in a sitting position against the surface, grabbing a gun, ready to shoot anyone who entered.

Kara's body spasmed suddenly and Alex held her tight, fighting to remain conscious.

The shouts of guards came closer, more and more alarms blaring.

"You're hurt," Kara whispered. "They hurt you."

"It's going to be okay," Alex murmured, holding Kara's hand tightly.

"I love you," Kara looked up at her, blue eyes fixed on Alex's.

"I love you so so much." Alex stroked her hair, her broken and bruised fingers trembling over the silky gold strands.

Kara squeezed her eyes shut, her body suddenly beginning to shake uncontrollably.

"Just hold on," Alex held her close, not able to stop the tears streaming down her face. "Hold on, Kara."

Suddenly the lights went out, plunging them into darkness. Screams and gunshots filled the air. The alarm on the wall beat a lazy rhythm into the air, a red light brightening the room then pulling back into pitch black.

Red light. Darkness.

Pain. Comfort.

Tears. Love.

"Alex, where are you?" J'onn's voice rang in Alex's head.

"Lab." Alex showed him, laying out the image of the room and how she first got there. "Hurry."

Alex felt Kara spasm again against her.

Red light. Darkness.

"Hurry."

Pain. Comfort.

"Kara." Alex's own breathing was irregular, gasping, desperate, yet she focused all her energy on the girl beside her.

"…best thing… on earth…" Kara murmured, her eyes glassy.

Tears. Love.

"What is?" Alex felt pain rip through her chest but she wasn't sure if it was her injuries or the fact that she could see Kara fading away right in front of her.

Kara smiled faintly.
"You."

"You're the best thing in the galaxy," Alex whispered.

Kara's smile widened at that, face lit up by the flickering alarm light.

Red light. Darkness.

Pain. Comfort.

Tears. Love.

This was the rhythm their hearts slowly carved into time.

"Sisters forever." The small Kryptonian's eyes fluttered shut.

"Sisters forever," Alex choked out, the edges of her vision going dim.

Only minutes later, a strong beam of light held by a dark skinned man found them; two limp figures propped up against the wall of a once pristine laboratory, bodies strewn all around them.

Shouting for help, he rushed forward.

Neither figure stirred but their hands remained entwined.