The next time Kara woke, she felt sweat-soaked hair clinging to her forehead. This was a new one. She was so used to the cold. Cold that permeated her skin and sank down into her bones until she felt like she herself was made of ice. Cold that reminded her how far away she was from home, from the sun, from everyone and everything that ever made her feel whole. She hated the Phantom Zone's cruel brand of cold, but at least it was expected, unlike the heat that currently enveloped her. Memories flashed through her mind. Alex wrapping a blanket over her shoulders, making her feel warm. Kelly telling her to hold onto that feeling when she wasn't sure what was real. So this, then, must be real. Real, but wrong. Something was wrong.
Kara took stock of her situation. She felt hot, tired, and like she'd been hit by a few dozen trains. She heard a faint beeping behind her along with muffled voices further away. She was lying on something soft. She'd been here before, but she couldn't exactly place where "here" was. She moved to get up and assess her situation, but was stopped by a tugging in her left elbow. Unsure where she was and unable to move, Kara began to panic. She dragged her right arm, heavier than usual, across her body, attempting to rip out the IV that kept her from fleeing. Instead, soft hands caught hers and brought them back down to her sides. The same hands settled on her shoulders and applied the slightest pressure, holding Kara down. Whoever it was wasn't trying to hurt her, just keep her still. It almost felt nice. So, this was real, and nobody was trying to hurt her. "That's two things going for me," she thought, mind addled.
Kara stopped moving and slowly opened her eyes. Confused as she may be, Kara recognized that it was Lena hovering above her, concern etched across her face. "Lena?' Kara croaked out, throat burning. "Hey, yeah, it's me," Lena replied."You're okay, just try not to move too much. Hold on one second." Lena's hands left Kara's shoulders, and Kara immediately missed the contact. Before she could protest, Lena was back, Alex by her side, Kelly only a few steps behind.. Alex placed the back of her hand on Kara's forehead and gazed over to the monitor by Kara's side. "Good enough," she said as she filled a glass of water and raised the top half of the bed so Kara could drink it. Alex and Lena sat, Lena holding Kara's hand and Alex rubbing her shoulder, waiting patiently for Kara to reacclimate to her surroundings. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, and after a few moments, memories of the past few days became clearer. She was in The Tower, she had been rescued, this was real.
"Wha - what's happening?" she asked, still befuddled, but sure that this wasn't the state she'd been in the last time she was truly conscious. "Do you remember when you first woke up and tore your stitches?" Alex asked with a soft voice. Kara thought for a second and then nodded. "One of the wounds got infected. It was pretty bad there for a couple of days, but we have it under control now. How do you feel?" "Hot. Tired." Kara said. "Confused. I thought I was on Krypton again." Alex didn't have to ask to know exactly what Kara meant. Two days ago, Alex had awoken in the middle of the night to Kara thrashing around in the bed, muttering something about fire. She knew Kara was reliving Krypton's explosion in her feverish state. It had happened before, but Kara usually snapped out of it quicker. Ordinarily, Alex would blame the infection on Kara's lingering flashback, but this time, she knew it wasn't just that. The Phantom Zone had been playing tricks on Kara for so long, it's no wonder her fever dream affected her so much. Alex closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to no one that Kara could have at least a few hours of uninterrupted peace. Kelly stepped closer to her girlfriend's side and set a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to keep going.
"It's okay, Kara," she said, trying not to show Kara how worried she was. "You're still right here in The Tower. We're all still here." Kara's eyes followed Alex as she gestured around the room. Cots had been haphazardly strewn about the room, and Eliza and Nia took up two of them, sleeping like the dead. J'onn was leaning against the door frame, quietly talking to M'Gann and Brainy, who all glanced back at Kara every few seconds, clearly trying not to overwhelm her with their presence. "They got worried when you got worse. I couldn't get them to leave," Alex said. Kara gave her a half-hearted smile. "I'd be surprised if you could," she replied, remembering just how much this family loved each other. One day, she'd find the words to tell them how much she missed them.
Alex crossed the room and gently woke Eliza, who went quickly to Kara's side to fuss over her daughter. She wiped Kara's forehead with a clean towel and tucked her hair behind her ears. She didn't say anything beyond a quick "good morning, sleepyhead," but she didn't need to. Eliza knew that what Kara needed from her was just to be there, doing her best to keep the demons at bay. There would be enough talking later. Kelly woke Nia and gave everyone a chance to say hi to Kara before escorting them out to the atrium. Kara almost asked Kelly to let them stay, if nothing else but to help herself remember that they're all still alive, but she knew she wasn't up for a crowd.
A comfortable silence settled over the room. Alex moving around, checking and rechecking Kara's vitals, rewrapping her wounds, keeping herself busy. Eliza and Kelly cleaned Kara up the best they could for someone who couldn't get out of bed, and Lena kept Kara's attention by talking to her about a new gastropub that had opened up in National City a few months before. Seventeen different kinds of burgers. She'd wanted to take Kara to their grand opening, one of the many things she'd kick herself for missing during their feud last year. Kara just listened, relishing in hearing Lena's voice, so gentle, so familiar, so alive. It didn't matter what Lena was talking about, Kara just wanting her to keep talking forever. To keep this one moment of calm from ending.
The more Kara thought about her friends, the more impossible it was to keep her mind from wandering back to the place she'd spent the last however long. Images flashed in Kara's mind, each and every one of her friends dying at her hands over and over again. "Hey, where'd you go?" Lena asked, squeezing Kara's hand in hers, startling her out of her thoughts. Kara jumped a little but calmed down when she realized who was talking to her. Alex stopped what she was doing and looked to Kelly for their next move. "Kara, can you tell me what you were just seeing?" Kelly asked. "Same thing as always," Kara whimpered. "I can't stop watching you die. I know I'm back, but I can't stop seeing it. I've seen it so many times…" Kara trailed off, defeated.
"The important thing is that you know you're back," Kelly said. "If you're ever not sure, you tell us, okay? We'll help ground you. I've been working with everyone while you've been sleeping, teaching them techniques to help bring you back if you get lost in your head. They're all ready to help you until I can get to you, okay?" Kara nodded. "How — how long was I in the … how long was I gone?" Kara looked down as if she were afraid to hear the answer. Kelly placed a hand on her shoulder. "You were gone for a little over a month, and you've been back for a week," she replied. Kara thought about that for a minute, trying to wrap her head around what that could mean. "A month.. what happened? Wait, how long have you known? Oh god CatCo.. oh. Oh no. Lex? What happened with Lex?"
"Shhhhh, Kara, try not to worry about that right now, okay? Everything is okay for now. We'll get to the details in time, once we start working one on one," Kelly's voice was soothing, professional almost. "One on one?" Kara asked. "It's not usually encouraged to serve as your friend's therapist, but, seeing as you don't exactly have the luxury of sharing all the details of your life with someone you don't know, I figure we'd make an exception once your injuries are stable enough. I think I can help you make sense of everything that's happened, rebuild and move on. It's not going to be fast or easy, but maybe I can help you feel safe again. What do you say?" Kara fought back tears. That's all she wanted. Peace. Security. Like she and her friends might have a future. "Thank you," she said, pulling Kelly into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Kara broke down into tears as Kelly rubbed her back. "And we'll help in any way we can, okay? You're gonna be okay, Kara," Alex said from a few feet away. "We all are."