When she opens her eyes again, Kara feels like a new woman. The pain in her hands, arms, side, and abdomen is gone. The hardness and cold of the marble floor has been replaced by the comforting softness of a mattress. Kara feels the healing power of the sunlamps on her skin.

Kara knows all this means she made it out alive. They made it out alive. Kara looks around for a sign of Lena. The only other person in the room is Alex. She's bent over some paperwork.

"Alex," Kara exclaims.

Alex looks up. "Kara!". Alex rushes over to Kara's bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Kara looks around the room. "Is Lena in hospital?", she inquires.

Alex shakes her head. "No, she's here. We stitched up the cut on her head and checked for head trauma. There doesn't seem to be any."

"No concussion?"

Alex shakes her head.

"Where is she?", Kara wants to know.

Alex shrugs. "I don't know. She was here for the past few hours. We told her an hour ago that you were going to be fine, but she wanted to be here when you woke up."

Kara detects a hint of worry in her sister's voice. "Is she okay?", she asks.

"I don't think she's slept at all in the past three days. It's good you're awake so she can finally get some sleep."

"Did she tell you what happened?"

Alex nods. Tears well up in her eyes.

"Hey," Kara says, as she reaches out and grabs hold of Alex's hand. "We're fine."

Alex wipes away a tear with her other hand and says, "You were in such bad shape, Kara. You were bleeding so much." More tears flow down her cheeks. "I didn't know whether you were going to make it."

Alex takes a moment to collect herself and then continues. "We were about to enter the cathedral with a strike team when Lena came out. She was covered in so much blood. Your blood."

Alex stares at Kara's body as if trying to comprehend how a body that was so damaged can now, only a few hours later, be whole again. "J'onn flew you back to the DEO. We took Lena."

Kara is quiet for a moment as she takes all of this in.

"And Lex?", she finally asks.

Alex inhales sharply and then says, "He's dead. We have his body here at the DEO."

Kara nods. She had not expected him to survive.

Kara looks around the room and then asks, "What time is it?"

"4 a.m. You should really stay under the sunlamps for at least another half an hour."

"Could you get me something to eat?"

Alex smiles. "Of course."

Alex is about to turn around when a figure appears in the doorway. It's Lena. She's dressed in black sneakers, a gray DEO sweater and gray DEO sweatpants. In her hands is a large mug filled to the brim with coffee. There's something specter-like about her. There's no color on her cheeks and dark circles have formed under her eyes. A haunting, empty look in her eyes makes her appear barely present.

Alex walks over to Lena and puts a comforting hand on her arm.

"Can I get you something to eat?", she asks.

Absentmindedly, Lena shakes her head.

After Alex has left the room, Lena awkwardly takes a few steps forward. She seems so distant. Out of reach.

"Hey you," Kara says warmly.

Empty eyes gaze back at her. Lena seems a million miles away.

Kara reaches out a hand. Lena doesn't seem to notice.

"Lena, you look exhausted," Kara says instead. "Why don't you go home and get some sleep?"

Lena looks at the sunlamps for a moment and then says, her voice thin and uncertain, "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Kara tries to give her a reassuring smile. "I'm okay," she says.

Lena nods and then looks down at the floor. "Lex is dead."

Kara's heart breaks seeing Lena like this. "I know," she says softly.

Lena looks up at Kara. "I know you didn't want me to ..."

"Lena, no one can blame you for what you did in that cathedral."

Lena looks unconvinced. An expression of disgust comes over her face.

"I let him use me," she says with contempt in her voice. "Again. I let him use me as bait and you almost died. And you almost died because he learned how to make kryptonite. It's exactly as you feared when I first told you I found out how to make it."

Kara can't bear seeing Lena like this anymore. She pushes herself up on her elbows and slowly moves her legs off the side of the bed.

She opens her arms. "Come here," she says warmly.

To her surprise Lena stays where she is. She avoids Kara's eyes. "I'm sorry for what my brother and I put you through," she finally says, sounding like she's making some sort of official statement.

"Lena, you didn't put me through anything! You're not responsible for what Lex did!"

Lena frowns, her jaws clenched.

"Lena, will you please look at me," Kara begs.

Reluctantly Lena complies.

Kara takes a deep breath and then says: "When Lex sent us the message threatening your life, Alex tried to warn me. She wanted me to be careful, make a plan. But I was in such a rush to get to you I didn't stop to think. Lex is a master at exploiting our vulnerabilities. You know that better than anyone. But rushing in head first to save someone you care about doesn't make you a bad person."

Lena looks at her uncertainly.

"Lena, you are not a bad person. You did what you thought needed to be done to keep someone you care about safe. I did the same. What happened tonight is not your fault."

As Lena fights back the tears, Kara puts her feet on the floor and opens her arms once more. For a moment Kara thinks Lena will reject the comfort she tries to offer again, but then she suddenly Lena darts forward and allows herself to fall into Kara's arms.

As soon as their bodies touch and Kara has wrapped her arms around her, Lena starts to cry. Kara holds her as tightly as she can without hurting her. Lena starts to shake in Kara's arms as her sobs become louder and more erratic. Kara can feel Lena's heart beat against her chest.

"Hey, hey, you're okay," Kara says soothingly as she strokes the back of Lena's head. "I've got you."

For a few minutes the sobs continue unabated. Then, suddenly, they stop. The breathing in her ear grows more regular and Kara feels Lena's heartbeat growing calmer. Kara feels Lena's body finally relaxing against hers.

When Lena lets go of Kara she looks utterly spent. Yet there's a lightness in her eyes that wasn't there moments before.

Lena gives Kara a loving look and wipes the tears off her cheeks with both hands. "I'm really tired," she says.

"I know," Kara says warmly as she caresses Lena's cheek with her thumb. "Do you want to sleep here? I know the DEO has a few beds available."

Lena shakes her head. "No. I want to go home."

Kara nods. "Okay."

For a moment Lena seems to consider going in for another hug or even a kiss but then simply turns around and leaves the room.


After soaking up the energy from the sunlamps for another half an hour and eating a large Chinese takeout with plenty of potstickers, Kara flies home. A few hours before dawn, the city beneath her is still mostly asleep. A few sweeper trucks are moving down the streets at a gentle pace, cleaning National City's public places for another day of work and play. A couple of taxis are picking up party-goers outside one of the city's most popular night clubs.

When Kara enters her apartment, it feels like she hasn't been there in ages. Then it hits her it's not even been a day. She quickly changes out of her Supergirl costume, takes a shower and gets ready for bed. She suddenly feels tired and drained. She's just turned off the lights and climbed into bed when there's a knock on the door.

Kara looks through the door from her bed. Lena. She's still in the clothes and shoes the DEO gave her. She's not wearing a coat, even though it's cold outside. Kara jumps out of bed.

"Lena," she says as she opens the door. "Are you okay?"

Lena nods, but looks as spent as when Kara last saw her. Lena follows Kara into the apartment as Kara turns on a light. Kara studies Lena's face as she tries to figure out what it is she may need.

When Lena remains quiet, Kara asks, "Would it help to talk?"

Lena shakes her head.

"Do you want a drink?"

Once again Lena shakes her head. "I started drinking at home, but …." She doesn't finish her sentence.

Seeing how Lena seems on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, Kara insists, "Lena, I think you really need to get some sleep. I think you'll feel a lot better once you do."

Lena looks at her with big, dark eyes. Kara can't tell what's going on inside that brilliant mind of hers.

As if sensing Kara's incomprehension, Lena says, "I didn't want to be alone."

She pauses for a moment and then adds, "I thought I could come here."

"You can always come here, Lena," Kara says warmly. She feels so happy and relieved that Lena's instinct had been to look for support, to come here, to her.

Lena slowly makes her way over to the couch. She sits down and stares ahead catatonically. Kara knows at once that this won't do; she needs Lena to lay down and sleep.

"Lena, it won't do you any good to sit here," she says as she walks over to where Lena's sitting. She takes both Lena's hands in hers and pulls her up.

Lena looks embarrassed and mumbles an apology.

Kara takes Lena's hand and guides her to the bathroom. She grabs a new toothbrush from the cabinet underneath the sink. She puts some toothpaste on it and gives it to Lena. "Brush," she orders.

Lena brings the toothbrush to her mouth and starts brushing her teeth. Kara leaves the bathroom to grab a towel, a washcloth, some clean underwear and a nightshirt. When she re-enters the bathroom, Lena is just rinsing her mouth.

"Good," Kara says.

She puts some warm water and face wash on the washcloth and cleans Lena's face, making sure to avoid the area around the stitched-up cut. Lena closes her eyes and doesn't object to Kara's ministrations. Kara spots some dried blood near Lena's hairline. She wipes it away carefully. Kara rinses the lather off the washcloth and wipes the last bits of face wash off Lena's face.

Kara opens the faucet and makes sure the water is warm. Then she puts Lena's hands and lower arms underneath the streaming water and uses hand soap to remove the last traces of her own blood from Lena's body. The job done, Kara dries Lena's hands with the towel and hands her the clean underwear and nightshirt. "Put this on and come to bed," she says.

Kara turns off the light in the living room and, getting into bed, turns on the light on the nightstand.

Barely has she done so or Lena emerges from the bathroom in Kara's shirt. She stops in front of the bed and looks down at Kara uncertainly. She's shivering. Whether she's cold or whether it's from exhaustion, Kara can't tell. Finally Lena climbs into bed.

For a few minutes they lie side by side on their backs, staring up at the ceiling. When Kara extends her arm to turn off the light, she casts one last glance at Lena. She's still shivering underneath the warm covers.

"Lena, are you okay?"

There's no answer.

"I can take you to the hospital if you want."

"It's okay. I'm just cold."

Lena turns on her side, away from Kara. Kara gently puts a hand on Lena's back. She's so cold to the touch. Kara scoots over and presses her body against Lena's back. She puts a protective arm around her. She kisses her shoulder.

"We're safe now," she whispers into the dark.