Lena's face lit up as she saw the portal open in front of her. One by one, the SuperFriends stepped out, Brainy, Nia, and then M'gann, their somber faces causing Lena's smile to fade. Alex was next, walking out of the portal and immediately turning to watch J'onn step through, carrying her unconscious sister. Lena immediately ran forward, begging to know what happened. "It's not good," Alex said, keeping their conversation short as she and J'onn rushed Kara to the medbay, everyone following close behind.
Eliza heard the elevator doors opened and sprang into action, guiding the team over to where she had set everything up in the event that Kara returned injured. "Put her here," she said, pointing toward a bed that she had modified with pillows and cushions after seeing the uncomfortable, bare tables they had been using. As J'onn laid Kara down, Eliza moved to position and activate the yellow sun panels built into the side of the bed. Alex grabbed her wrist and motioned her head to the side, prompting her mother and J'onn to follow her for a private conversation.
"I don't know that the sunlamps are the right move right now," Alex said, running a hand through her hair. "What do you mean? She's hurt and she doesn't appear to have her powers. She needs the sunlamps to kickstart her healing, you know that," Eliza argued. Alex nodded and bit her lip, clearly torn about the point she was trying to make. "I know. But we don't know how quickly the sun lamps will bring her powers back. You didn't see her, Mom," Alex said. "I almost wasn't able to convince Kara to come with us. She thought I was a threat, and I'm not sure I've convinced her otherwise. God knows what happened over there. She's not in a good mental state. I'm concerned. I'm —"
"You're concerned that, if she regains her powers before we figure out how to help her feel safe here, we might not be able to contain her," J'onn interrupted, sensing that Alex was too afraid to make the suggestion. Alex bit her lip and nodded. "I won't use kryptonite on her, and I'm worried that simulated red sunlight would confuse her and make her think she's back on Krypton, and who knows what damage that could do. I think it's safer for everyone if she heals at a human pace for now." Eliza sighed and nodded her head. She knew Alex was right, but she hated knowing that her daughter might be in pain for longer than she had to be. "Let's go fix her up," was all Eliza said as she headed back to Kara's bed.
The rest of the team, who had gathered around Kara's bed, just staring at their hero, moved back to let Alex and Eliza start working. Alex cleaned and stitched Kara's wounds while Eliza administered fluids and medication through an IV and went about setting her knee. When they were done, they were confident that, even though Kara had lost a lot of blood and would need to be immobile for a while between the knee injury, several broken ribs, and what appeared to be a moderate concussion, she would, eventually, make a full recovery. "It's going to be a long road," Alex said, "but she'll get there. We just have to figure out how to get her to cooperate with us. More than that, we have to figure out how to help her deal with what happened over there."
Alex glanced over at Kelly, hoping her girlfriend would know what to do. She always did. She had to know now. Kelly walked over to Alex's side and laid a hand on Kara's shoulder. "Nia filled me in on what happened in the Phantom Zone while you were working on Kara," she said. "It sounds like the phantoms have skewed her reality to the point where she might not believe that she was ever actually here on Earth. Getting her back might not be easy." Kelly looked at Alex, who was trying her best not to break down. She moved to hold each of Alex's arms and look her in the eye. "I said it might not be easy, but I didn't say it was impossible. You know I won't stop until she's back with us. I would never." Alex nodded and leaned in to hug Kelly. She trusted this woman with every fiber of her being. They had Kara back physically, and now they were going to help her heal mentally. They were a team, all of them, and they were going to succeed.