Hello! Thank you for the lovely reviews. They really do make a huge difference in motivation and encouragement.

I loved reading about your favorite drinks. I LOVE jasmine green iced tea. I also love cream soda, which I didn't remember until I read all your reviews! It's been so long since I've had it.

It's getting late so I'm just going to keep this author's note short and let you all enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl

Content warning for child abuse, verbal & physical

"Once we get inside, head straight for the bedroom," Alex reminded Kara.

"I know."

They went around to the back door which was always unlocked and gave them a shorter distance to their bedroom, Alex peering through the glass door before pulling on the handle.

Locked.

That was strange. Phoebe was many things but forgetful was not one of them. She always kept the backdoor open for them so she wouldn't have to be interrupted by letting them in.

Alex tried to hide her worry from Kara who was looking at her questioningly.

"Probably accidentally locked it. Let's try the front."

They made their way to the front, Alex twisting the knob to find that it too was locked, leaving them stranded on the front step.

"What do we do?" Kara played with the straps of her backpack, worry etched across her face.

"Um..." Alex weighed their options.

They didn't have a key; there was no way Pheobe would trust them with one.

But if they knocked, there would be no way of avoiding Pheobe's verbal onslaught. Alex had a really bad feeling that Pheobe might be trying to force them to face her, especially after how they had run out that morning.

"Carl's isn't back yet," Kara noted, looking at the empty spot in the driveway where his silver car sat when he got back from work, which was usually by now.

Maybe Carl would unlock the door when he got back.

Across the street, the thin blond neighbor that Pheobe called a snoop was taking out the trash and Alex could feel her gaze pause on them standing there. They couldn't stay here forever trying to decide what to do. Just as Alex was going to suggest they take a walk around the block and check again a little later, the front door flew open.

"There you are!"

Phoebe looked strange.

Her face was pinched, a huge smile plastered on her face that was defied by puffy red eyes.

"Come in, girls," she said, slightly shrilly, her bloodshot eyes darting momentarily to the neighbor across the street and then back to them.

They hesitated and Phoebe's smile became much more fixed. "Come. In. Side." Every word was enunciated through gritted teeth.

Resisting at this point would only make things worse so Alex let Phoebe lead them inside, careful to keep a firm grip on Kara's hand.

"Hello girls." Phoebe turned to look at them after she had closed and locked the door behind them. "How was school?"

The whole situation reminded Alex of a glass vase sitting on the very edge of a shelf; one wrong move away from teetering and shattering.

"Good." Alex answered for the both of them, as she usually did.

"And how about you," Phoebe's gaze turned to Kara, singling the younger girl out. "How was your day at school?"

"Uh... it was good," Kara stammered, her grip on Alex's hand tightening.

"Really?" Their foster mom's smile was sickeningly sweet. "What did you do?"

This was weird. Alex was getting all sorts of red flags from Phoebe's erratic behavior and sudden focus on Kara.

"We have to do homework," Alex interrupted and suddenly before she could even register what had happened, she was reeling back as the force of Phoebe's hand hit the side of her face.

A sharp burst of pain lagged slightly behind the shock. Phoebe had actually hit her.

"Hey!" Kara had surged forward, putting herself between Alex and Phoebe. "Don't touch her! You can't do that!"

"I can do whatever the hell I want, bitch," Phoebe snarled. "You're just a kid nobody wants. You got that? Nobody wants you. You got given up twice. I bet your real parents were happy to get rid of you and your adopted parents were glad to die just to get away from you!" The woman actually laughed as she taunted Kara and the younger girl froze, tears pooling in wide hurt eyes.

"Kara, go to the bedroom," Alex had recovered from her shock enough to push Kara toward the hall that led to their room. "Go."

"Nuh-uh." Phoebe grabbed Kara's arm, and although Alex had recieved the slap, the fury in Phoebe's eyes was almost solely focused on the blonde. "She has to do chores. It's the only thing she's good for, useless bitch."

"Don't talk about her that way!" Alex couldn't breathe anymore, fury coursing through her at the sight of Kara in Phoebe's grasp. The small girl was looking at Alex with an expression of pure panic even as she let Phoebe pull her. For a moment, all Alex wanted was for Kara to break Phoebe's arm right then and there. But she knew Kara wouldn't fight back, not just for fear of being discovered but also because the Kryptonian was terrified of hurting people with her powers. "Let go of her."

"You don't get to tell me what to do," Phoebe's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Please," Alex pleaded, hating herself and that word yet willing to offer it if it would make this end and get Kara out of there. "I can do the chores."

Phoebe opened her mouth and stopped at the sound of the garage door opening. Carl was home. Alex felt generally ambivalent about Carl but in that instance, she couldn't have been more thankful.

"Fine." Phoebe shoved Kara toward her, the younger girl stumbling into Alex, who quickly wrapped her arms around her. "Go do your homework." The woman was already turning her attention elsewhere, hands flickering to smooth her hair and straighten her blouse, eyes peering toward the garage door.

Alex and Kara ran.

Once alone in their room and with the chair safely tucked under the door knob, Alex was able to turn her attention to Kara.

They just stood there for a second, staring at each other, trying to breathe and process what had just happened. The physical space of their room helped absorb some of the panic with its familiarity. It was pretty bare, furniture-wise, only a rickety dresser accompanying their beds, but Kara had taped up a multitude of her drawings on the off-white walls and Alex let her eyes sweep across the colorful papers without actually seeing them.

Phoebe had always been manipulative and mean but this had crossed a new line. Alex didn't know that meant. She didn't know if she wanted to know what that might mean.

"She hit you," Kara's gaze was fixed on her cheek, which Alex was sure was already starting to display the abuse it had received. Self consciously she put a hand up to cover the area, feeling angry hot skin.

"It doesn't hurt."

Kara gave her a look that told her that she didn't believe her lie for a second, distress clear on her face.

"Come here." The way Kara was keeping distance between them was bugging Alex; she knew it was a sure sign the Kryptonian was blaming herself.

"I should have..." Kara didn't move, just stood there wringing her hands.

"Shut up." Alex stepped forward to envelope the smaller girl in a hug. "None of this is your fault and you did the right thing. Keeping your identity a secret is way more important. It's not our fault. Adults aren't supposed to do that."

In Alex's arms, Kara relaxed incrementally, finally hugging Alex back and burying her face in the human's shoulder.

"Why was she acting like that? What did we do wrong? What was that?"

The words were muffled as they were uttered into Alex's sweater but the older girl could still hear them clearly .

"I don't know." Alex absentmindedly stroked Kara's golden hair, smoothing it. "I don't think we did anything. I think something else happened that set her off." She paused, replaying the situation over in her mind. "You know that none of those things she said about you are true, right?"

Kara only buried her face further into Alex's shoulder and Alex gently pried the girl away so that she could look her in the eye.

"You're not useless and you are wanted. You are smart and kind and valuable and Phoebe has no idea what she is talking about. Say it."

Kara sniffed slightly, blue eyes sliding away. "That's silly."

"No, it's not. Say it. Say you're smart and kind and valuable and that Phoebe has no idea what she's talking about."

"I am..." Kara's voice wavered slightly. "I am smart and kind and uh... valuable. And Phoebe has no idea what she is talking about."

The words increased in confidence as she continued and Alex nodded in satisfaction at the statement's conclusion. "Okay good."

"You have to say it too," Kara crossed her arms.

Alex knew better than to argue with Kara. The Kryptonian was more stubborn than anyone Alex had ever met. Perhaps, in some moments, even more stubborn than Alex herself.

"Alright." She said the words as well, waiting for Kara's approval as she finished.

"Okay good." Kara nodded seriously and Alex hid a smile at the way the little Kryptonian was mirroring her actions.

"Now that we've settled that, time for homework." Even as Alex said the words, drifts of screamed arguing carried down the hall to their room.

Phoebe and Carl were fighting.

Something was going on and Alex had a very bad feeling about its implications.

But Kara was watching her so Alex just pretended like she wasn't worried. Maybe if she pretended long enough, it would be true.

"Why is Marcy sending us away? Why doesn't she want us to stay with her anymore? Is it because I broke the door? Or that dish I dropped? Or..."

"Kara, stop." Alex shoved the last of her stuff into the ratty suitcase. She hadn't been able to take a lot with her from home but what she had, she was never going to leave behind or lose. Ever. Then again, what she had was a plethora compared to Kara who only had a necklace from her home. "It just... It just didn't work out, okay? It wasn't anything you did."

It wasn't fair that they were having this conversation, that they were here in the bedroom packing all their meager possessions into bags because homes were temporary and adults could just get tired of kids and not even tell them why they had to leave...

"Maybe if I talk to Marcy... I can be better. I can do more chores and eat less and..." Kara's expression was so heartbreakingly earnest that Alex felt like either hugging the girl or punching a wall.

Although Marcy didn't tell them why they had to go, just that it "wasn't a good fit," Alex had a good idea what it was. It shouldn't have been surprising, Marcy not wanting them anymore. The woman had attempted to bond with them, over and over again. She had wanted to be their new mom. She had wanted to fix them.

But Alex didn't need a new mom. She had a mom already. And nobody was going to replace her. Ever.

She had shut Marcy out, hardcore.

Kara had been nothing but kind, of course, but the Kryptonian was still skittish and guarded in her interactions with Marcy. The younger girl's words and actions were scattered as her world was further shattered with loss and the need to hide who she even was and survive on a new planet. She had been the same way when she had arrived at the Danvers house.

They were doomed from the start. Marcy was never going to get the quick rewarding relationship she wanted from them. She was never going to get to be the hero who put them back together again, at least not in the span of a few months.

They were just too... broken.

Soon the attempts of mothering had cooled to coexistence, an arrangement Alex had been happy with, and now... this.

So it really shouldn't have been a surprise.

But it still was.

And somehow it still hurt.

"Kara." Alex paused her packing. "It's not you. It's not anything you did. It's just... how it is. Who we are. People don't want other people's kids. They want their own kids. And we can't be that. We can't love them like that. We still belong to our families."

Alex wasn't sure if that really made sense but Kara seemed to understand what she was saying. It was silent for a moment as they both absorbed the words that still hung in the air.

"I will always belong to the House of El," Kara said quietly. "And you will always belong to the House of Danvers. But we still love each other and we can still be family too... right?" An edge of uncertainty crept into the younger girl's voice.

"Right. Of course." Alex was quick to reassure Kara, realizing how her words could sound and trying to make sense of what she meant herself. It wasn't that she couldn't love someone who wasn't a part of her original family. And Kara would love anybody. It was just that she would always love her parents. She wasn't ever going to move on from that. They were a part of her, just like Krypton and the House of El were as a part of Kara as her Kryptonian DNA. They needed someone who could love them while giving room for those parts to remain, who could love them with those parts, not trying to remove or replace them.

Kara was still looking at her, worried.

"We still belong to our Houses but we can belong to each other too."

"El mayarah," Kara said suddenly, expression brightening.

Alex had enough familiarity with Kara's quiet murmurs and sleep talking to know she had spoken in her original tongue. She waited, knowing Kara would reveal what the words meant if she wished to.

"It means... it means 'stronger together'." Kara's smile was wistful. "It is the motto of the House of El." She tilted her head, looking at Alex with sudden intensity. "I will always belong to the House of El and you will always belong to the House of Danvers but we can still be stronger together. Maybe we will find a home where they understand that, like your parents did."

It was eerie how Kara did that sometimes, jumping between being a little kid, goofy and scared and trying to figure out how to exist and blaming herself for everything, to suddenly being really wise and mature. It was all still Kara, Alex reflected. A Kara that Alex felt like she was finally getting to know.

"Maybe we'll find a home like that." Alex wished she could be as hopeful and positive as Kara. "But we still can have el mayarah."

Kara looked at her questioningly.

"We're kind of stuck together, Kara," Alex gave her a small smile. "For better or worse. And not just because of some papers. We can decide on our own to be sisters. If you want to."

The smile of confirmation that Kara gave her was brighter than the sun.

Please let me know what you think! I so appreciate your comments and thoughts!

Question of the day: Do you have a family or personal life motto? What is it? (if you feel like sharing)

Until next time!