"Alex?" Kara asked confused when she was woken by her daughter climbing into her bed.
"Sorry." The teen said.
"What's wrong?" Kara asked hugging her daughter.
"Nightmare."
"What happened?" Kara asked sitting up.
"It's fine. I just needed a hug." The teen said as Chewie jumped up on the bed.
"You're shaking." Kara commented as she wrapped her arms round her daughter again. When she felt the trembling had stopped she pulled away and turned on the light before looking at her daughter. "Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." The teenager said looking down at her hands.
"I don't care about being woken up. I care about you. What happened?" Kara asked.
"It was just a bad dream." The teen said. "It doesn't matter. I'm being stupid."
"You said you'd stop hiding things from me." Kara said.
"I'm not hiding things. I just don't want you to worry."
"I'm always going to worry." Kara pointed out. "What's going on?"
"Ever since I got ill I've been having nightmares where I can't breathe. Sometimes I'm drowning, sometimes I'm in a room with no air."
"Come here." Kara said pulling her back in for a hug. "I can't imagine how scary it was when you had that virus. But I promise you no matter what happens to you I will always try to make it right."
"I know." The teenager said holding tightly onto her mother.
-00-
"You look tired." Alex said looking at her sister when she turned up at Lena's lab the next morning.
"Didn't sleep much last night. Alex was having nightmares."
"About what?"
"Drowning and not breathing."
"That's understandable." Alex said.
"I still felt useless." Kara said miserably.
"Alex is okay." Her sister reminded her.
"She's been hiding the nightmares from me to protect me. She hid the chess from me so I didn't get stressed out. I am meant to be the strongest person on Earth and my teenage daughter is lying to me to protect me."
"She's worried about you and will keep worrying about you. But when you get your powers back she'll probably worry a little less."
"I know. That's why I agreed to the tests."
"Yeah, you really had no choice over that." Alex said directing Kara to the bed. As Kara sat on it Alex asked. "Nightmares aside, how are you doing?"
"Okay I guess." Kara said Alex started to run some scans. "Have you found out who was responsible yet?"
"No. Not yet. We are working on it."
"But they could do it again?" Kara asked.
"It's possible. At the moment we aren't ruling anything out." Alex said as she kept running the tests. "But whoever did this, we will find them and make them pay."
"What if that is what they want?" Kara asked. "I mean, what if it was Lobo and he wants me all vengeful?"
"We don't think it was him."
"You don't know that." Kara said.
"The cannisters used to release the virus and the Red-K were cannisters associated with Mongul's army. According to Peter those cannisters, filled with something else would have been at the weapons' caches. Whereas Lobo would have brought his own." Alex explained. "Plus there is something else."
"What?"
"I should have told you this before, but I wanted an answer before I said anything."
"What?" Kara pressed.
"To make Red-Kryptonite there are several chemicals that are required. Three are controlled which means they can be tracked. And we tracked them to the DEO. We were the source. And those chemicals were required to make the cure for the virus. That's how they were taken."
"So Alex got sick so someone could expose me to Red-K?" Kara asked.
"Maybe." Alex said.
"Who's the traitor?"
"We are still trying to figure that out. But again, Lobo doesn't seem like the type to groom a double agent."
"But it doesn't rule out Lobo. I mean he said he wanted me to lose more so I would get angry."
"But you didn't lose anyone." Alex said. "And they needed us to figure out how to make a cure in order to steal the chemicals." Alex said.
"But why would anyone want me exposed, apart from Lobo?"
"We don't know. But I promise you I won't stop looking for answers."
"Do you think Alex is safe?" Kara asked.
"We have no reason to believe anyone knows that she is connected to Supergirl." Alex said. "For now focus on getting better. I'll take care of the rest. Including Alex." She replied as the finished the next scan.
"So how is it looking?" Kara asked.
"Everything looks normal. Maybe you just need an adrenaline rush"
"Maybe, but I'd be quite happy for no one to provide that." Kara replied.
"I hear that." Alex smiled. "I'll be at the DEO. Call If you need anything."
-00-
"Director Danvers." Aptil greeted as she was shown into her office.
"You seem happy." Alex said.
"For once I come with good news."
"The bad guys peacefully turned themselves in?" Alex asked.
"I said good news, not drug induced hallucinations." Aptil said.
"So what's the good news?"
"Good news is the IRS have found enough on Sloane Syndicate to seize assets." Aptil said.
"They have?" Alex asked.
"Yes. As of ten minutes ago all accounts have been frozen and Sloane Syndicate can not do anything without IRS approval and a court order has just been granted allowing full access to their systems, including those on standalone networks. My contacts at IRS believe they will have enough evidence to issue arrest warrants in a few days." He listed before adding. "I was expecting you to look more happy."
"I am." Alex said. "I just thought it would be harder."
"It seemed plenty hard to me." Aptil said. "And these aren't the final actions. This will just allow access to files on personal computers."
"Alex." J'onn said entering the office, but when he saw Aptil he apologised. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"I was going anyway." Aptil said.
"Wait, this concerns you to."
"You saw McGuire?" Aptil guessed.
"Well, Brody did. I told him about the terrible treatment I had received here. Went on about aliens having better rights than humans."
"And?" Alex asked.
"He told me I wasn't alone and that I could help level the playing field."
"How?"
"He invited me to a meeting tomorrow."
"A trap?" Aptil asked.
"A trap." J'onn confirmed. "Well more of a test to see if I bring backup."
"You can read his mind?" Alex asked.
"I can. I haven't done a deep read, but I have pulled out his surface thoughts."
"Any chance they are a plant?" Aptil asked.
"It is possible." J'onn said.
"So we have two choices, bring Mcguire in or send you into the trap." Aptil said.
"Alex?" J'onn asked noticing she was lost in thought.
"Maybe we should bring him in."
"What?" Aptil asked surprised.
"Every time we have acted against Sloane and Kai they have tied up loose ends very quickly. They may do it this time too. If they do they may take out McGuire, Rogers and Brody. If we bring in McGuire and Rogers at least they will live long enough to give us something. Also I am pretty sure that McGuire knows J'onn is Brody or at least Brody is working for us."
"You are?" Aptil asked before guessing. "You have a mole?"
"Yes." Alex confessed. "And that makes me think the trap is to kill J'onn. I can't risk that."
-00-
"Eliza? What are you doing here?" Kara asked looking up from her desk.
"I thought we could have lunch." Eliza said holding out a bag.
"Did Alex ask you to check I was eating?" Kara asked.
"No. I just wanted to spend time with you."
"Oh, okay. Just let me save this." Kara said tapping at her keyboard before standing. "All done." She added as she picked up her coat before asking. "Do you want to go to the park?"
"Sure." Eliza said as she followed Kara to the elevator.
"You didn't have to check up on me." Kara pointed out as they stepped into the elevator.
"Like I said I wanted to see you." Eliza pointed out as the elevator started to descend.
-00-
As they sat in the park eating the food Eliza had brought Eliza asked.
"How are you feeling?"
"Alex needs me to be strong."
"Alex needs you to recover, there's a difference." Eliza pointed out.
"I know." Kara said.
"Do you?" Eliza asked.
"Yes. And I am trying. I know I let things get to me and I shouldn't have."
"Letting things get to you isn't the problem." Eliza said. "Taking on so much and not asking for help is the problem. Maybe you rushed too hard to get back to what used to be normal. I'm sorry no one noticed how much you were suffering."
"I wasn't. I just let things get to me and then the train wreck happened and I just felt so useless. And then Alex got sick -"
"Kara no one is denying you have been through a lot, but we should have acted before it got too much."
"But you did. You saved Alex." Kara said.
"Alex was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back." Eliza said. "But you were suffering before that."
"I guess when I was away I remembered the good more than the bad. And I know there were times when I felt helpless, but the things I remember were helping people and overcoming anything that got thrown my way. I guess I forgot that second part wasn't always easy. And then there's Alex. She used to tell me everything and now she doesn't. And if that was her being a teenager I'd get it. I wouldn't like it, but I'd get it. But not telling me about her chess game, she did that to protect me. That's not her job."
"No it's not, but she is your daughter. And I know I have only known her a few months, but she is so much like you and she wants to protect the people she loves and you are top of that list."