"Alex, I think it's time we call your mom," Kelly said as Alex slammed her tablet on the table for the third time in the last hour. Lena stood on the other side of the table, massaging her temples as Kelly made her way toward Alex. It had been a week since Alex met Lena at The Tower to come up with a new game plan to get Kara back from the Phantom Zone. They had tried everything they could think off - having M'Gann use her new connection to the phantoms to try and single out the ones closest to Kara, coming through every last bit of information they had on the Phantom Zone from Alura's hologram to figure out how prisoners were released in the past, even trying to reach out to Alura on Argo, but the communication channels they set up between Earth and Argo on Earth-38 didn't yet exist on Earth Prime. In their most desperate moments, they even used Silas's device to open random portals to the Phantom Zone on the off chance that one might open right where Kara needed it. After a few tries and thousands of dollars in damage to The Tower from fighting off the stray phantoms that made it through, Kelly had convinced Lena and Alex that it was time to take a break.
After that, they sank into a new pattern that was even more frustrating than their first efforts. After a night of restless sleep in The Tower, they'd post up in the lab, chasing lead after lead for a way to track Kara, losing heart every time they'd come to a dead end. Brainy and Nia had gone to the past to get some of Kara's DNA in hopes that it would allow M'Gann to track her down, but the headaches Alex was experiencing from random glitches in her memory told her that their mission wasn't going smoothly. J'onn and M'gann were busy handling National City's emergencies in Supergirl's absence, and a future without Supergirl was seeming more and more likely. Today, Alex had been working on a way to identify heat signatures of lifeforms in the Phantom Zone, but the atmosphere must have changed Kara's unique signature, because Alex's search was coming up empty yet again.
Alex sighed and ran her finger over the cracked glass screen of the tablet that caught the brunt of her frustration. Between Alex and Brainy, enough Tower technology was harmed in recent days to make even Lena raise an eyebrow at the cost to replace it. "Not yet, Kelly." Alex said, almost pleading. "I'm not ready yet." Alex had been so convinced that they would get Kara back sooner than later that she had refused to tell Eliza. If Eliza knew that Kara was missing, she'd want to be there to comfort Alex, and Alex didn't have time for that. She didn't want comfort. She didn't even think she deserved it. She just wanted Kara back. Throwing herself into finding a way to get Kara back had kept Alex from having to feel the crushing weight of her sadness and fear, and she was afraid that telling Eliza would mean that Kara was really gone, that she might have to feel this way for quite some time.
Kelly grabbed Alex's hands, leading her over to the couch they's moved into the lab for the nights when either Alex or Lena would refuse to give up on a lead in favor of sleeping in a real bed. Lena caught Kelly's eye and gave her a somber smile. "I'll be outside," she mouthed, stepping out to give the couple some privacy. Kelly said down next to Alex and placed her hands lightly on the tops of Alex's thighs, positioning herself so that Alex couldn't avert her gaze. "Alex, I know you were hoping to find Kara before telling Eliza what happened, but she's been gone almost two weeks. Eliza is going to find out eventually, and I think she deserves to know," Kelly said, her eyes soft. Alex took a deep breath and her eyes glistening with the tears that were threatening to spill.
"What am I supposed to say," Alex asked. "That I couldn't keep Kara from being sent back to the one place she considers worse than death? That I'm not good enough to get her back? I can't tell her that. I can't tell my mom that her daughter is gone and that she may never come back. I can't. I -," Alex's breathing became quicker, and her words were getting lost behind the sobs stuck in her throat. Kelly cupped Alex's cheek with one hand, bring her back to make eye contact. "Breathe with me, Alex, it's okay. Just breathe." Kelly guided Alex through several deep breaths and pulled her in close once Alex had better control. "This isn't your fault, Alex." Kelly soothed. "Kara isn't in the Phantom Zone because of you, and we are going to get her back. We will figure this out, and maybe Eliza can help us. I think you need your mom right now." Alex nodded, realizing that Kelly was right. Above all, Alex needed her mom. "Can we tell her together," Alex asked, voice small. "Of course we can," Kelly replied.
A few hours later, Eliza made her way into The Tower, dropping her bags and pulling Alex in for a hug. "Oh, sweetie," Eliza said as Alex broke down in her mother's arms. "I'm so glad you called." Eliza pulled back, looking Alex over. "Alex, honey, when is the last time you slept?" Alex shrugged and wiped her eyes with a shaking hand. "I don't really know," she admitted. "I don't have time. I have to find Kara." Eliza nodded. She knew her daughter would stop at nothing to find her sister, even if it meant sacrificing her own well being. Eliza reached up and stroked Alex's cheek with her thumb. "How about I work with Kelly and Lena for a while to see if a fresh set of eyes helps while you get some sleep?" Alex opened her mouth to protest, but Eliza shot her a look that meant the conversation was over. She nodded begrudgingly and allowed Eliza to walk with her to the room they'd set up for overnight stays in The Tower. Eliza tucked Alex in and laid behind her, holding her until she was sure that Alex was truly asleep.
Eliza made her way back to the atrium where Lena and Kelly were waiting. Eliza gave both women a hug, wondering just how bad it had been for them the last couple of weeks. It broke Eliza's heart to learn that Kara had been missing without her knowing, but she knew Alex well enough to understand why it took so long. Now that Eliza knew, her only concern was being there for her daughters and the people who loved them.
"Alex isn't the only one who looks like she hasn't sleeping," Eliza said, surveying both Kelly and Lena. Kelly smiled, happy to have someone else looking out for the best interest of the team to give her some backup. "It's been hard," Kelly admitted. "We have no shortage of leads, but none of them ever amount to anything. Lena and Alex have been working almost nonstop. None of us can stop thinking about what Kara might be going through out there. I'm sure you can guess how Alex feels." Eliza chuckled, but the concern on her face remained apparent. "She blames herself," Eliza said. "She always does." Kelly nodded. "She's not the only one," Kelly said, cocking her head toward Lena, who had been staring down at the ground, nervously wringing her hands. Eliza walked over to Lena and grabbed both of her hands. "Kara told me everything," Eliza said. Lena's eyes shot up, laced with fear. "I'm so sorry things got so messy. I'm just glad you're back where you belong. This is not your fault. Kara knows how much you love her, and she knows you're going to help find her. She knows." Tears swelled in Lena's eyes and she collapsed forward into Eliza's arms. "It's okay," Eliza said over and over, beckoning Kelly to join in on their hug. "We're going to figure this out."