Author's note:

Just a tiny little one-shot I needed to get out of my head, after watching the episode for the first time. Hope you enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this piece (e.g. in char/out of char?) in the comments.

"Hey."

That simple word was enough to yank Alex from her empty thoughts violently. A little embarrassed that it made her heart race like crazy, too – and Kara most likely noticed due to her super hearing – the redhead found herself smiling her "just-a-little-too-bright-to-be-genuine smile"; as her sister had once dubbed it.

"Hey ... you," Alex eventually replied stupidly whilst brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Ever since their falling out in the morning, Alex had been nervous about talking to her sister. Even despite the quick apology during the service.

To her surprise, Kara seemed to be nervous, too, if her fidgeting hands were any indication. "Kelly just told me what happened today," she said, sounding worried. "Do you think we can, you know ... talk a sec? In private, I mean."

"Sure," Alex replied immediately. Even though she wasn't really up to talking about the obvious VR problem they had to face tomorrow, she was adamant about easing her sister's obvious worry. She didn't quite understand why Kara would walk on eggshells around her in the first place. To be honest, it even scared her a little bit; had she missed- or rather misjudged something?

They passed Eliza, both squeezing her upper arm lightly to get the woman's attention, and threw supportive smiles her way. As they excused themselves, her mother just nodded knowingly and told them to take their time, but not before wrapping her arms around her biological daughter – and only her – in a loving hug. A rare moment, that almost made Kara burst into tears when she noticed that, for once, Alex was perfectly at ease in her mother's arms.

"Take care of her, will you?" Eliza whispered when Alex was out of hearing range. Kara only nodded feverishly.

The sisters decided on walking along the beach before they reached an old favorite spot of theirs. The old, heavy log at the edge of the sand beach was still there, greeting them like an old friend with its protruding branches, and would probably survive upcoming decades as well. As usual, nobody was here. Especially during the approaching night time.

Alex used the silence – not only around her, but between them, too – to take the sound of the waves in. Sometimes she really missed living in a quiet town like Midvale, where the worst thing that could happen to you was your dog dying.

"So those lenses are more dangerous than we thought? No fail safe?"

It was obviously just an icebreaker, but Alex decided to play along for now. After her behavior this morning, she owed Kara that much.

"No fail safe," she confirmed. "And it keeps messing with your head until you start to forget about the real world."

"Sounds a bit like a Black Mercy."

"Yeah ..."

Silence settled between them once again; this time Alex used it to take Kara's features in. She looked exhausted, but the sadness she saw in the blonde's vibrant eyes was more captivating.

As well as unnerving.

Alex lost control over her heart rate once more and soon Kara noticed. She returned the worried look she was receiving herself.

"That's not what you wanted to talk about," Alex said and smiled sheepishly, bracing herself for what was coming next. Kara just sighed, looking down.

"No ..." – a mumble – "I wanted to apologize."

That surprised Alex. "What for?"

"For leaving you in your misery."

Alex was dumbfounded – even though she felt a bit caught as well– and it must've shown on her face. Despite the fact she wasn't sure what Kara meant exactly, or maybe because of that, her heart really started to beat her up from the inside. Her throat closed up as well, making her next words sound hoarse.

"I don't know what you mean?" Alex was careful to ask. She was irritated about how the end of her own sentence died out, but Kara still heard her, thanks to her super-hearing.

"But I think you do," the blonde replied and continued, when her sister remained silent. "I know how much Jeremiah meant to you. And I know how much you're hurting."

"I told you, he died a long time ago ..."

"No, he didn't," Kara protested with such force, her sister instantly closed her eyes, to seal the tears away.

"He was still out there. And with him, your hope that he would, one day, come back to us. Back to you."

The natural brunette held her breath, slowly losing the inner battle with herself. Kara was hitting all the right spots, reminding her of why it was so easy for her to get lost in the perfect world of Obsidian.

She was suddenly aware of her general exhaustion, especially because her heart kept pounding against her bones violently and made her ache all over. But also because her father's broad smile suddenly flashed before her inner eye.

She had missed him for years, but today, it felt unbearable.

"And I shouldn't have ignored that. Because I knew, what was happening." – Kara clasped her hand, holding it softly – "And I know you. Like I've never known anyone. And still ... I chose myself first. Even though there is no day that goes by, where I don't feel like I'm failing you … I'm so sorry, Alex."

Kara obviously mistook her continuous silence for hard feelings because the blonde lowered her gaze even more, let go of her hand as if she suddenly got burnt and averted her eyes completely. She sighed, too, which was a rare sight in itself.

"I was selfish, because of my own pain and I let you drown in yours, because I didn't want to be pulled under. In the process, I nearly lost you entirely and I would've never forgiven myself for that. I won't let this happen again, and I hope that, one day, you can forgi-"

"Kara!"

Alex reflexively slammed her hand against the upper arm of her Alien sister, knowing all to well that she didn't feel any force at all. It was also the most effective way to shut the Kryptonian up.

"Stop it ... there's nothing to forgive. If anything, I should be the one apologizing."

"No, you shouldn't!" – Kara shock her head determinedly – "Because it's what you do and how you grieve! I know, Alex. You lash out and it's not personal."

"... While that is true, it's still a rather bitchy trait, I wish I didn't have. You, of all people, don't deserve it. And I do feel sorry for all the things I said while I was angry."

This time it was Kara who remained silent for a while. However, she rested her head on her sister's shoulder while wrapping her arms loosely around the redheads torso.

"You're perfect," she eventually mumbled, "I don't want you to change. He wouldn't want that either."

The words stung more than Alex anticipated; she didn't even know why they stung in the first place. She tried hard, but failed to keep her fists unclenched. Feeling the overall tension and discomfort within her sister, Kara began rubbing her back in agonizingly slow circles.

Alex bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. She was still fighting that inner battle, but it became more and more improbable to win, if Kara kept this up. She was grateful that the blonde didn't say anything else at first, so she could catch her breathe.

Then it happened.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Something inside of her snapped – probably her heart, if the pain was any indication – and Alex broke down. Tears flooded her eyes so quickly, that she wasn't able to keep them off Kara's arms and her breathing slipped out of her control, too, while she desperately tried to hide her face in Kara's shoulder.

Thankfully sweet nothing's filled her ears and, like always, strong Kryptonian arms refused to let her crumble to the ground.

"I'm here," Kara whispered reassuringly, "and I will never leave you."