A/N - Chapters will come a little slower because I have work a lot this week. I'm glad I'm finally getting to Alex coming home. This story is taking a lot longer than I thought it would (I meant for it to only be 7 chapters for each part of the piece), but I do like it drawn out like this. As always, thanks for reading!

Alex was too eager. Eager to sleep in her own bed, eager to get back to her normal life, eager to stop being treated like she was glass, just eager to go home. She just had to wait until 5:00.

Alex and Maggie had woken up the next morning, still snuggled up together, when the former was pulled in for more tests. The latter chose to go home with Kara and Eliza to help them get the apartment ready for Alex's arrival. They took away any alcohol and gave it to Winn, James and Lena, moved some furniture to put physical therapy equipment around, put any medicine on the nightstand and made sure the fridge was stocked with any of Alex's favorite foods. Everything was to be perfect when she would arrive later that night.

The morning was spent doing any final tests on Alex, while Winn and James pitched in to throw her a small, quiet gathering when she arrived soas not to tire her out too much. The afternoon would be a routine check to make sure Alex could handle basic physical activity such as walking, climbing stairs and getting across the room without assistance.

J'onn did one final scan at Alex's mind. There was nothing out of the ordinary, which was a good sign. Her brain scans were clear of any concussions or unusual activity, blood tests all negative. Kara beamed that her sister was doing so well, and the sooner 5:00 came, the more everyone got excited.

"I'm giving you at least two weeks off. No buts. I don't care if you're co-director, just use this time to spend with your family and rest."

"I'll probably need it. No use arguing with that." She was still weak from not walking for a month, from her legs being broken, from the sedatives still coursing out of her body, from all of the medications she had to take. For once she knew she needed to rest and take it easy.

5:00 came around and Alex passed all of the routine tests. She was ready to go home, and Maggie was going to take her after battling it out with Kara. Each of them knew that the little downtime that she had was precious, and they needed to cherish each moment before Alex went back out on the field.

"You're all set. Kara already has any medications you need to take at home and you'll come back every three days so Hamilton can check you out. I'm glad you're back, Alex." J'onn looked at his surrogate daughter proudly. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Maggie gave the martian a look and wheeled her out before Alex could question him. She looked up at Maggie to ask, but the shorter brunette shook her head, a silent I'm not telling you anything. Getting down to the ground level, one of the doctors wheeled her out and helped her into Maggie's car. She was finally on her way.

The ride was silent for the six blocks, but there was a lot of hand holding and smiling. Maggie sometimes had to pinch herself that Alex was still here, still alive, still breathing. It was a thought that always made her tear up. The thought of her being safe and sound in her arms.

"And we're here! Let me help you out, do you want me to get the wheelchair or can you walk to the elevator?"

"I think I can do it. Come on, I just want to get there."

As they walked into the apartment, Alex saw all of her friends with food and soft music. J'onn, Lena, Winn, James, Eliza, Kara all there to greet her, all there to make her feel welcome again.

"Welcome home, Alex!"

"You guys didn't have to."

"We figured we'd have a small gathering. Nothing to tire you out too much. We'll have dinner and then go home." Winn looked at Alex and couldn't stop grinning. He pulled her into a gentle hug. "Oh, I've missed you so much."

It earned him a smack on the head. Alex was definitely back.

The dinner consisted of potstickers, donuts, sushi, pizza, everything that Alex liked. She insisted that people take some of the leftovers home, or else she knew Kara would eat it all in one sitting. It was a night for Alex to catch up on what had been going on for the month, and just spend time with her friends and family. A night to forget about what had happened, a night to make Alex feel normal, like she was just away rather than in a coma for the past month. She appreciated it beyond words, and made a mental note to buy their first round next time they went to the bar.

As the laughter and talking were dying down, Lena stood up. "I know you heard some stuff while you were sleeping, but we just wanted to present you with this." She went over to the closet and dug out a large box and a smaller one. "Open the larger one first." Alex smiled at Lena and started to tear up. Her friends really did care about her.

Alex carefully unwrapped the larger box, an engraved wooden chest, with her name written in cursive and silver around the edges. She was confused as to why she was given such a pretty box.

"Open it." James motioned for Alex to do so. "I don't think you'll be disappointed."

Inside the chest were letters. She carefully took one out, smiling when she saw the name. It read:

Dear Alex,

I know we haven't seen you in awhile but I miss you! You're like my cool aunt, letting me see Supergirl, get ice cream and everything else. Thank you again for taking care of me. I hope you wake up soon so I can visit you.

Love, Ruby

It was letters like those that made Alex's heart full. Others from Sam, Kara, Maggie, Eliza, J'onn, James, Winn, Lena, Vasquez, Lucy, and more, they were all folded neatly into the box. All showing how much they wanted her to wake up, how much they rallied around her, how much they love her. Alex let a tear fall and laughed, trying to brush them off as nothing, but the group hugged her.

"And there's something else in the box!" Kara exclaimed, practically jumping in her seat.

Alex shuffled through the letters and found a smaller wooden box inside. It was a carefully crafted frame with pictures of the Superfriends, of her and the DEO, her and Kara, her and Maggie and many more. Pictures she had always pointed out as her favorites, all stored in one collage that would now be able to go with the letters.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Winn smiled at his idea. He had gotten the chest from the future, which had his dirt collection inside of it. He decided that this was a better use for it. "And now the other thing! Open this one."

She looked confused again at first. It was a simple watch, silver-chained and a plain analogue design.

Lena reached over and started to put it on Alex's wrist. "Press this."

She gasped at the sight of the expanding watch. "You didn't."

Winn wrapped his arm around Lena's shoulders and they both grinned. "Oh we did."

It was Alex's turn to grin as she walked around. There were different settings, an invisible barrier, a cuff that could let her talk to anyone back at the DEO holographically, and one that would give her instant information on any alien that they were dealing with. She hugged the two. "This is amazing. Thank you."

Most of the group left soon after that, with the exception of Eliza and Kara. Eliza made sure that Alex was okay on everything before heading back to her apartment in Midvale, while Kara changed to sleep on the couch. They were glad Alex was here, in her bed, safe and resting before anything else happened with Jeremiah. Everything would be okay for now.

"You okay?" Maggie tidied up the apartment before crawling into bed with Alex.

"Yeah. Just tired now. Thank you again for all of this."

"We all love you. We're just glad you're here."

"I am too. Cuddles?"

"Yeah." Maggie smiled for the hundredth time today. "Goodnight Kara!"

"Goodnight!"

Later that night, Alex couldn't fall asleep. She had Maggie on the other side of the bed, but she felt suffocated. She saw flashes of Jeremiah attacking her, punching, kicking, slamming her against the wall and throwing her. She couldn't stop her emotions, resulting in heavy breathing, shaking, tears. She tried to cover her mouth to muffle her crying but Maggie woke up.

"Oh sweetie." Maggie pulled Alex into a hug and she let all of her tears come out. Kara got up and sat on the other side of her sister, putting her head on her back. Alex was far from okay, and they knew that, but they didn't know her emotions would surface so fast. So soon.

"I can't breathe." Alex shook, her sobs racking her whole body, now seeing nothing but her father.

"Just focus on us, Alex. Focus on your friends, me, Eliza, Maggie. Focus on breathing. Breathe with me, okay? Please, Alex. Look at me." Kara gently turned Alex over and put their foreheads together. Alex looked up slowly, breaths slowing, breaths becoming lighter, becoming steadier.

"It's okay. Everything is okay. You're here. You're safe. You're with Kara and I." Maggie spooned the taller brunette, giving Kara a worried look. "We're going to stay like this. You between us. Safe and sound, yeah?"

Alex exhaled. "Yeah."

And slowly she fell back asleep. Fell asleep cuddled between Kara and Maggie.

A few minutes passed by and quietly Kara whispered, "Maggie, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know. We'll be there for her. It's going to be hard, but we'll do this. We're here, and we'll help her get through this."

They wouldn't fall asleep that night, too scared for Alex. They knew it was only the beginning of their fears, their troubles, but for now, they would be there to hold her.