As Alex opened her eyes she saw her son and tried to sit up, causing pain to shoot through her whole body.
"Mom." MJ said moving closer to the bed.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked, the bruising and swelling on her face making her words come out slurred.
"I'm fine." He said gently taking hold of her bandaged hand.
"I was so worried about you." She said trying to squeeze his hand as tightly as she could. But the breaks and bruising made it impossible. "Sorry it took so long to get back."
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Fine, just a little tired." She said trying to smile.
"You should rest." Eliza said from her other side.
"You sure you're not hurt?" Alex asked her son again.
"I'm fine." He replied as she passed out.
"Mom?" He called.
"She's okay. She needs rest." Eliza said. "But I know seeing you are okay helped her."
-00-
"Hey." The teenage Kara said seeing her mother stir a few hours later.
"Kara?" Alex asked trying to focus.
"I'm right here." She smiled squeezing her hand.
"Shouldn't you be at college?" Alex asked trying not to show how much pain she was in.
"It's Thanksgiving. No classes this week." Her daughter said. "Besides I wasn't going to not be here."
"I'm okay." Alex said.
"You don't look it."
"I'll be fine. Just need a little rest." Alex said.
"The drugs have decreased your ability to lie." Her daughter said.
"I'm fine." Alex repeated.
"This is the fifth time we have had this conversation." The teenage Kara said.
"I'll be okay." Alex said before asking. "How's MJ?"
"Feeling guilty. But the other you didn't hurt him if that's what you meant."
"Where is he?"
"At home with grandma."
"Look after him."
"I will." Her daughter said. "How are you feeling really?"
"Fine if I don't move." Alex said as a doctor walked in.
"Good you are awake." He smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine. When can I go?"
"Not for a while. Don't be fooled by the pain killers doing their job." He said. "Your recovery will take time. But now you are awake I need to run some tests."
"I'll be outside." The teenage Kara said kissing her mother's head before leaving.
-00-
"Hi." The older Kara said entering her sister's room later that day.
"Hey. How's your mom?"
"Better than you." Kara pointed out.
"I'm so sorry-" Alex started to apologise.
"What happened wasn't your fault." Kara said. "They probably took you because me leaving gave them an opportunity."
"But-"
"The kids are both fine, that's what matters." Kara reminded her. "For now you need to focus on getting better because you look terrible."
"So people keep telling me." She said glancing at her daughter who just shrugged before asking.
"Want me to go?"
"No. But can you check in your brother?" Alex asked.
"Sure." The teen said standing.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't try anything stupid." The older Kara smiled at her niece. Once the teenager had left the older Kara moved closer to her sister and she asked.
"How are you doing?"
"Been better. Might take a while to recover." Alex conceded.
"Well you can take as long as you need, we are all here to help." Kara said.
"Thanks." Alex replied as as Vasquez entered the room.
"Have you got the person who did this?" Alex asked.
"Yes. But they still claim to be you."
"How do you know I'm me? They have my tracker right?"
"Your DNA is yours. Their DNA is something weird." Vasquez said.
"Plus the other you was acting not like you." Kara said.
"Did I, they, do anything?" Alex asked.
"We are still investigating." Vasquez said.
"We need to get everyone involved." Alex said.
"We will but we-" Vasquez started only for Alex to cut in.
"Harris is dead." Alex said.
"What?" Kara asked.
"They had replaced him. Locked him up and tortured him, while they worked at the DEO. When they replaced me, they killed him." Alex said. "I couldn't stop them."
"What happened isn't your fault." Kara said.
"Tell that to Harris." Alex said sadly.
"A team will be in tomorrow to do a full debrief but in the mean time do you know where you were held?" Vasquez asked.
"No. Yes. Old factory on the East side. Should have broken window on the first floor."
"We are trying to extract your past locations from your phone, well the phone the fake you had, but we haven't pinpointed yet." Vasquez said. "But you were found on Marshall so we will start there."
"Didn't run for long. Couldn't." Alex said wincing in pain.
"May be we should leave the rest for tomorrow." Kara said.
"Not yet." Alex said. "They wanted access codes."
"For what?" Vasquez asked.
"Lab Theta."
"How did they even know about that?" Vasquez asked frowning.
"No idea."
"What is lab Theta?" Kara asked.
"A black site. Where everything deemed too dangerous to worry about gets put." Vasquez said.
"So Warehouse-13?" Kara asked.
"Just a much darker version." Her sister confirmed, wincing as she moved her jaw too much.
"I'll fill you in later." Vasquez said. "It is probably best Alex doesn't talk." She then turned to her boss and said. "I'll leave this tablet here. It's not for you to work from, but if you remember anything log it." As she put the tablet down she looked back at Alex and said. "If you need anything call. We have guards outside so you are safe and we have increased the security round the kids. So just focus on getting better." With that she left the sisters.
"You sure you are okay?" Kara asked her sister.
"No. I'm really angry." Alex said.
"I will find the people behind this." Kara promised.
-00-
"Is she asleep?" Eliza whispered as she entered her daughter's hospital room.
"Yes." Kara confirmed looking over to her foster mother.
"I'll stay with her. You go look after the kids."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Maybe you'll have better luck getting through to MJ." Seeing Kara's questioning look she explained. "He's locked himself in his room."
"I'll talk to him." Kara said.
"Before you go, how are you holding up?" Eliza asked.
"Me? I'm fine. Why?"
"Ignoring what you went through with your mother and your concern about both Alexes?" Eliza asked.
"Ignoring all of that I'm fine."
"And if you don't ignore it?" Eliza pressed.
"I feel like I don't have control over anything." Kara confessed.
"Your sister will be okay." Eliza said. "And so will all the kids. But you need to look after yourself, none of them, especially Alex, can afford anything bad to happen to you."
-00-
"How's mom?" The teenage Kara asked when her aunt entered the house.
"Okay, she's resting. Eliza is with her." The older Kara explained. "Where are the others?"
"Alex is at your place with Chewie and MJ is barricading himself in his room."
"Want me to break him out?" The older Kara asked.
"No, but now you are back I might use you as a threat." The teenager said standing. "If I don't go into MJ's room in two minutes can you just fly through the window?"
"Um sure." The older Kara said as her niece went upstairs.
"MJ, I'm coming in." The teenage Kara said before trying to open the door, only to find she couldn't.
"You know you can't protect the window and the door. If you don't let me in Aunt Kara will just fly in through the window."
"I don't want to talk." MJ said from the other side of the door. "Just leave me alone."
"See that's not happening. So you either let me in or aunt Kara is coming through the window." The teenage Kara said resulting in muttering from the other side until eventually the door opened.
Hearing the success the older Kara smiled and left the house.
-00-
"What are you doing over here?" Kara asked her daughter as she returned to the apartment.
"I thought MJ would prefer it."
"Things still no better between you?"
"Not really."
"But you got him to come back at the hospital." Kara argued.
"Only by pointing out Alex really needed to see him."
"You know we are going to be staying over there?"
"I know. But he needed space and I thought he was more likely to talk to Kara if I wasn't there."
"You sure you are okay?" Kara asked.
"I'm fine. But I'm sorry I didn't notice."
"That's not on you." Kara said as an alarm went off. "What's that?"
"To remind me to get food."
"Anything in mind?"
"Kara said Mexican."
"From National City?" Kara asked confused.
"There's that place ten blocks away."
"That's not Mexican food." Kara said.
"It is according to the flyer."
"It lies." Kara said. "Why don't you walk Chewie and I will get real Mexican food, well real American Mexican food. I'll see you over the road in thirty minutes. And make sure you have your DEO guard."
00
As the group sat round the table eating the food the older Kara bought she said.
"So I have drawn up a rota."
"For chores?" Her teenage namesake asked.
"No. For seeing your mom. The hospital said there can't be more than two visitors for at least three more days. But you guys also need to rest. So the rota ensures your mom is never alone, but you get enough sleep." Kara said putting a multicoloured bit of paper covered in post-it notes on the table.
"Wow, that is some rota." The teenage Kara commented.
"So you are rationing our time with mom?" MJ asked.
"No. I am trying to make sure your mom worries about healing."
"This is super organised. How come we are allowed to visit over night?" The teenage Kara asked as she read the rota.
"Steve pulled a few strings." Kara said before noticing everyone had finished eating. "Right I'll go get some sweet treats." She added flying off.
"Okay, what's wrong with your mom?" The teenage Kara asked her cousin. "She's way to calm and this rota is disturbingly organised and colour coded."
"She blames herself so she is freaking out about what happened, but is trying to act super calm so not to freak you guys out."
"Why does she blame herself? She wasn't even on the planet."
"Precisely." The teenage Alex said as MJ stood.
"Where are you going?" His sister asked.
"To my room. Then bed." He said leaving.
"You two still fighting?" Kara asked her cousin.
"I guess."