Hey all, this chapter is going to be short but sweet! It provides a segway in the next chapter.

As a warning, we are beginning to approach the end!

Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl. Does anybody actually read this line?

Let the feels begin.


Alex's eyes slowly opened, blinking back sleep to find an empty spot on the bed beside her.

"Kara?"

She straightened, ignoring the protest of pain her body gave.

Kara had been sneaking into her bed every night since they had arrived at the DEO safe house that doubled for a vacation home. Her need to be close wasn't something they outright talked about, but Alex felt a similar sense of comfort when Kara was near; sometimes she would momentarily panic over Kara's safety, even when she knew the Kryptonian was just out of sight.

Alex tried to calm her racing heart as she scanned the room.

Maybe Kara had slept in her own bed.

Alex doubted it but it seemed plausible enough to soothe her frantic mind, so she pulled herself to her feet and made her way to the room they had assigned to Kara.

The bed hadn't even been slept in.

"Kara?"

Alex couldn't stop the wave of panic that crashed over her.

"Kara!"

She painfully pulled her body around the cottage, searching for a blond head that was frighteningly absent.

"Alex?" Eliza appeared in the doorway of her own room, a light robe falling around her pajamas. "What's going on?" Her face creased with worry.

"I can't find Kara."

The words themselves seemed to drive a knife into her own heart as she said them and suddenly Alex felt her body being shaken painfully by a sob.

"Sit down." Eliza firmly guided her to a chair, her light eyes flitting around the room. "Take a deep breath, I'm sure she's near."

"What if they found her? What if they took her?" Alex tried to stand back up, her whole body tense with fear.

"Alex, you're still recovering, stay here. I'll look outside."

Alex noticed that her hands were shaking.

"Mom." Desperation laced the word as images of Kara in the lab flooded Alex. "We need to find her."

"I'm here."

Eliza and Alex startled, both looking up.

Kara stood hesitantly in the doorway, her bare feet wet and hair windswept around her face.

"Kara."

Alex practically flew across the room despite all her injuries, pulling the girl into her arms. As soon as her arms wrapped around Kara, the tears she had desperately been holding back escaped. She rocked back and forth slightly, body trembling.

"Do not scare me like that ever again," Alex choked out, smoothing Kara's hair, kissing her forehead. "Do you hear me?" She drew back slightly to look Kara in the eyes.

Kara nodded, her eyes red and swollen.

"Both of you, sit," Eliza corralled them onto the couch.

Obediently they sat, Kara curling up against Alex's side.

"I am going to go to the kitchen and cook pancakes. Until those are ready, neither of you is to leave this room, understood?" Eliza stood before them, hands on her hips. Her blue eyes shifted between Kara and Alex, fiercely protective.

Both Kara and Alex nodded, knowing they had no other option, and Eliza relaxed slightly.

"Good. I'm going to go start cooking." She strode briskly out of the room.

Alex shifted so she could see Kara, alarmed to find the girl had buried her face in her arms.

"Kara."

If possible, the Kryptonian curled further in on herself.

Alex bit her lip, slowly reaching out her hand to rest it on Kara's shoulder. The girl leaned into her touch.

"Love, where did you go?"

Kara raised her tear-streaked head.

"Out on the water. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"I know. Just tell me next time, okay?"

Kara nodded, sniffing.

Alex was wondering how to get Kara to tell her what was going on when the Kryptonian broke the silence.

"What if it's me?"

Her voice was small, broken.

"What?" Alex's brow furrowed.

"What if…" Kara was staring into space, as if seeing something Alex couldn't. "What if everything that has happened is because of me."

"Kara…" Alex shook her head. "I don't understand…"

"No matter where I am or what I do, people get hurt," Kara whispered. "First Kyrpton, then I brought Fort Rozz here, then the lab… I just keep thinking about all the things that have gone wrong and I don't know why." Kara bit her lip. "But I think… I think maybe it's me. Maybe there's something about me, whether I want it or not, that makes things fall apart…"

"Kara." Alex's heart clenched painfully in her chest as she absorbed Kara's words.

"I ruin everything."

"Kara, no. It's not you." Alex put her hands on the girl's shoulders, trying to get those sapphire orbs to see her.

Kara wasn't listening.

"Maybe… it would be better for everyone if I had never come to earth." She stared off in the distance, her face pale in the shallow morning light. Almost ethereal, for a split second Alex could actually see that Kara was not from this planet. Instead, she was a girl of steel with a splintered soul.

"No Kara. Listen to me. Listen."

Slowly Kara's eyes found her and Alex knew the Kryptonian was listening with every fiber of her being.

"It's not your fault. None of this is your fault."

As if something inside her had broken, Kara let out a small cry, sobs overtaking her.

All Alex could do was gently rock the girl that the universe had failed and tell her that it wasn't her fault.


(line)

The golden sand warmed Kara's fingertips as she combed through it. Scooping up a handful of the tiny grains, she watched as they streamed down from between her fingers.

"Found a shell."

Kara turned to find Alex holding up a small white object.

The agent was sitting in the sand, an unreadable expression on her face. A soft breeze played with her auburn hair and rustled the tall grass near the cottage, where Eliza was reading.

"Here." Alex held the shell out and dropped it into the palm of Kara's hand. Curiously, Kara turned the shell over, feeling its smoothness and examining its curved form. "A little animal used to live in that," Alex explained.

Tilting her head, Kara tried to imagine what that would look like. It was nice that the animal would share its beautiful home with the world when it was done with it.

"Can I keep it?" she asked, glancing at Alex.

"Of course."

That morning, Kara had cried. A lot. While part of her felt like a rag that had been wrung out, the other part of her felt strangely full.

It was like Alex' s hugs, the soft sand, warm sun, and Eliza's pancakes were filling the gaps that had been chiseled into her by exploding planets and laboratory needles.

"What are you thinking?" Alex asked softly.

Kara gently ran her finger over the shell.

"I'm thinking…" Kara hesitated. "I'm thinking maybe things are going to be okay."


Like I said, short but sweet!

I'll try to get you all the next part relatively soon. Hopefully this chapter will tide you over until then.

Question of the day: What do you like about fanfiction?

~silverlining