"How is she?" Diz asked as he approached MJ in the waiting room.

"I don't know. No one is telling me anything." MJ said pacing. "What are you doing here?"

"Grant told me what happened and I thought you'd like the company, until Kar gets here."

"Thanks." MJ said.

"Where is everyone?"

"Aunt Kara went to get Kara, and J'onn went to get grandma." MJ said.

"How are you doing?" Diz asked.

"It's my fault. I didn't notice."

"No one did." Diz pointed out. "I mean the DEO is trained for that and they didn't spot it."

"But I live with her and when she acted differently I just enjoyed it." He said. "I should have noticed and done something."

"This isn't on you." Diz said.

"Doesn't feel that way." He said as his sister rushed into the room.

"MJ?" The teenage Kara said.

"I'm sorry." MJ said to his sister who ignored him and hugged him. Looking round MJ she saw Diz and mouthed.

"Thanks." Before Diz left the room.

"Are you hurt?" The teenage Kara asked him pulling away.

"No." MJ said. "But mom sounds really bad."

"I know." His sister said.

-00-

"Hi." Steve said as he saw the adult Kara in the corridor.

"Steve? Have you heard anything?" Kara asked.

"I'm not working her case. But I did just go via the OR."

"And?" Kara asked.

"She lost a lot of blood and has several breaks. But she's hanging in there."

"If I hadn't gone-"

"Kara this isn't your fault." Steve said, not sure why she was blaming herself. Before he could say anything else they heard Kara's name being called.

Turning Kara saw J'onn and Eliza walking towards them.

"How is she?" Eliza asked when she reached them.

"She's in the OR. My guess is it will be two to five more hours." Steve said. He then looked at Kara and said. "I need to pick Martin up from Chess practice, do you want me to get Alex too?"

"Yes please. Can you bring her here?"

"Of course. When we get back I check in on your sister again."

"Thank you." Kara smiled before he walked off.

"What's happened?" Eliza asked.

"We don't know for sure. What we do know is a body double took over Alex. We think after I went to Argo."

"Did they hurt the kids?" Eliza asked.

"No. MJ's fine. Although he blames himself for not noticing. I brought Kara back from Stanford and she is with him now."

"I'll go see them." Eliza said heading to the waiting room leaving J'onn with Kara.

"How are you doing?" J'onn asked.

"I shouldn't have gone." Kara said.

"Kara, I was here and I missed it." J'onn reminded her.

"Was the shapeshifter that good at mimicking Alex's thoughts?"

"No. The day after you left we were inundated with alien attacks and a lead came up on their origin. Alex called and asked me to go and investigated."

"So she sent you away?"

"It seems that way." J'onn agreed. "I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have known." Kara said.

"Maybe. I'm going to go to the DEO and see if I can figure out what they were doing. Call if you need anything."

-00-

"Mom!" Alex called as she rushed towards Kara.

"Hi." Kara said hugging her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." The teen said. "Steve said to tell you he's checking on Alex and he'd be over soon."

"Where's Martin?"

"Coffee shop."

"You sure you are okay?" Kara asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" The teen asked confused.

"The Alex you have been living with when I was on Argo, wasn't your aunt, it was a shapeshifter."

"That would explain why she was so relaxed." The teen mused.

"So did she, it, hurt you?"

"No. We barely saw her." The teenager said. "Wait, where has the real Alex been?"

"We don't know. But she has turned up and she is hurt."

"Will she be okay?"

"I hope so. We will find out soon." Kara said before checking again. "You sure she didn't hurt you?"

"Yes." The teen replied.

"Okay." Kara said hugging her. Seeing Steve down the corridor she released her daughter and said. "Why don't you wait with your cousins? I'll be in soon."

"Okay." The teen said walking off.

"How is she?" Kara asked walking to Steve.

"She will be out of surgery soon." Steve said.

"And?"

"Spader will be out to give you all the details, but at a top level, she has been through a lot and has a lot of injuries. She had been shot in the leg, has a punctured lung and probably a concussion. She also has several breaks. She was severely malnourished and dehydrated. However, she came through surgery fine. Which is good. But it is going to be a long road."

"Thank you." Kara said looking relieved.

"Well I didn't do anything."

"You told me she was here." Kara reminded him. "And have told us more than anyone else."

"It was nothing." He said. "But there's something else and really unofficial. He thinks some of the injuries were sustained over at least a week, maybe two. So I have to ask, who has been looking after Alex?"

"Some sort of body double, but we don't know much yet." Kara said.

"Are Alex and MJ okay?" Steve asked eyes wide.

"They weren't hurt." Kara said.

"That's good." Steve said looking relieved. "Can I get you anything? Do anything?"

"No, we'll be okay. You should go home, I am sure Martin is getting bored."

"You sure?"

"Yes. But thank you."

"It was nothing. And I mean it, if you need anything, let me know." He said walking off. Taking a breath Kara went to the waiting room where all eyes turned to her.

"She's out of surgery and we can see her soon."

"Thank god." Eliza said.

"But she has quite a few injuries and is going to have a long road to recovery." Kara said.

"But she'll be okay?" Her niece asked.

"Steve seemed to think so."

"How long?" MJ asked.

"To get better?" His aunt asked.

"No. How long was it the shapeshifter?"

"We don't know for sure. But we think some time after I left for Argo. Vasquez is looking into it but we'll probably need to wait for your mom to tell us for sure, but Steve thought between five and ten days." Kara said choosing not to share what Steve had told her.

"Should have seen it." MJ said walking out of the waiting room.

"I've got it." The teenage Alex said hurrying after her cousin.

-00-

"Don't want to talk. Especially to you." MJ said as his cousin joined him on the hospital roof.

"I missed it too." Alex said.

"You weren't even living with us." MJ pointed out.

"I should have questioned that." Alex pointed out.

"So should I. Instead I just enjoyed it." MJ argued.

"Maybe, but I should have seen it, especially as I have been through it before. When Worldkiller-1 took over mom, I ignored every thing strange that was happening. Then I did it again with your mom."

"If I'd seen it earlier, maybe she wouldn't have been so hurt." MJ said.

"Or maybe you would have been hurt instead." His cousin argued. "You can blame me, blame yourself. It doesn't rally matter. What matters is when your mom wakes up she is going to be really angry and freaked out about what the body double did to you. She needs to see you."

-00-

"I was getting worried." Eliza said when the two teens entered the waiting room.

"I'm sorry. I needed some air." MJ said as a doctor came in.

"Hello." He said. "I'm Dr Spader. I have been working on Alex."

"And?" Eliza asked.

"She was brought in as a result of being hit by a car. That caused a broken leg, however the accident isn't the problem. She had severe injuries indicating she had been to-" He stopped himself as he looked at the teens and rephrased. "That she had been undergoing trauma for one maybe two weeks. That had resulted in concussion, cracked ribs, broken wrist and several breaks in her fingers. She also had a gun shot wound."

"The good news is many of her breaks can be helped using nanotech to help fuse the bone, but her leg is bad and that technology may not work. Only time will tell."

"But she will okay?" The teenage Kara asked.

"She should recover from her injuries, but it will be a long road. You can see her, but only two at a time."

"You go." The teenage Kara said to her brother. "I'll go in next."

"But-"

"Mom needs to see that you are okay."

"I'll go with you." Eliza said.

Once the pair had left the room the teenage Kara turned to her cousin and asked.

"What did he say?"

"That he should have figured it out sooner."

"Good job getting him down." Her mother said.

"Did the body double hurt him?" The teenage Kara asked.

"I don't think so. We didn't really see her. She was at work most of the time and MJ was always out with friends." The teenage Alex said.

"What about you?" The teenage Kara asked.

"I was at home."

"Why did no one at the DEO notice?" The teenage Kara asked her aunt.

"I don't know." The older Kara said. "But I promise you I will figure it out. But right now my priority is your mom."