Maggie drove Alex to her apartment, but by the time they got there, Alex appeared to be in even worse shape. She had to help Alex all the way from the car, into the apartment. Alex did seem surprised when she saw that Maggie had her key to open the door.

"Bed," was about all Alex said when they got in and Maggie helped her get there. Once inside, Alex collapsed on the bed.

Maggie was unsure as to what to do. She didn't think that Alex should just be lying there in bed, especially since she just basically confirmed that whatever this synthetic Kryptonite was, it was killing her.

"Dad was already dying when I shot him," Alex said, although she was lying there on her side and not looking at Maggie. "He didn't have much time left. He had created a second dose of the counter agent, but he wouldn't give it to me because he didn't have the time to know if he had done it right or not. He wasn't willing to risk my life. I told him we didn't have a choice and so I took it from his hand, and I injected it into myself."

Maggie sat on the edge of the bed. "Alex, I have to contact the DEO, you know this."

"They can't take it out of me, it's not done," Alex replied.

"But it could kill you."

"Doesn't matter," Alex said.

"No, don't you dare say it doesn't matter. It matters to a whole lot of people," Maggie said. "It matters to me." She didn't even realize she had tears coming out of her eyes. "I can't lose you."

Alex reached for her hand and gripped it. "I can't be at the DEO. I can't be around anyone infected at this stage. That includes Kara and J'onn. And I don't want to be around them or anyone. You don't understand," she said. "It makes me so angry and the things I want to say and do to people. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I can't stop myself. You can go back to the DEO. You can tell them what's happening. But you have to leave me alone."

Alex closed her eyes and Maggie continued to sit there and watch until she was sure Alex was sleeping.

"I'm not leaving you alone," she said as she bent down and kissed Alex on the forehead. "I won't make that mistake again."

Getting up, Maggie left the bedroom and immediately called into the DEO knowing by now they would have found Eliza. She needed to update them in the situation and maybe get some guidance on what to do because she wasn't going to let this kill the woman she loved.

…

Alex woke to voices in her apartment. She didn't move at first – a big part of her just wanting to lie there but she forced herself to sit up. She was no longer wearing the clothes from medbay but also noticed the shirt she was wearing was soaked with sweat.

She got out of bed and walked into the main room.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, the anger roiling inside her. She didn't even need to look at her arms to know they were glowing red.

"Relax," Maggie said as she looked over at Eliza. "No one else is being let in here, just us."

"Kara fell ill at lunchtime," Eliza said. "Maggie already filled us in on what is going on."

"Then she probably told you there is nothing you can do so you have no business being here," Alex said. "Get out."

"No," Eliza said. "I'm going to stay and I'm going to help you through this."

Alex laughed, "Why don't you go help Kara? She's the daughter you always wanted. She's the perfect one that can do no wrong."

Eliza took a step toward her. "I'm not leaving," she said. "You are my daughter and I love you."

Alex shook her head no. "Nothing I ever did was good enough for you!"

"I know you are saying these things because of the kryptonite in your system," Eliza said.

"I might be saying them because of the kryptonite but it doesn't make it any less true," Alex said. "Just admit it, mom, I'm nothing but a disappointment to you. You wanted me to go to med school and be a doctor, but instead, I joined the DEO and the moment I told you, you let your disappointment be known. Just say it. Tell me to my face I'm a disappointment."

The red was now inching up Alex's neck to her jawline and cheeks.

"You could never disappoint me," Eliza said moving closer. "I love you, Alex. I have loved you since the moment I first saw you. The nurse had taken you away to clean you off and wrap you up, so I couldn't see you at first but then she turned, and there you were in her arms. And I reached out even before she got close because I needed to hold you. Then there you were in my arms and never before had I felt such joy, such complete happiness, such love."

Alex took an involuntary step back. She looked like she was about to say something but then doubled over in pain, grabbing at her midsection. Eliza and Maggie rushed forward and helped her to the couch.

"Alex, I need you to tell me what you know about all of this so I can help you," Eliza said. "What did your father tell you?"

"You can't help," she said, shaking her head. "It requires a human host to work. It has to be done like this."

"There has to be something we can do," Maggie said.

"You can't," Alex said.

"We can at least bring your temperature down," Eliza said, feeling the heat coming off of Alex. She turned to Maggie. "Ice, get several bags of ice. We'll get her into an ice bath."

"I'll have Lucy pick some up," Maggie said. "I'm not leaving."

Maggie did leave the room to contact Lucy and Eliza turned back to Alex. "I need you to tell me everything you know," she reiterated. "I'm not going to simply stand aside and lose my daughter. You can yell at me or believe I don't care about you but I'm going to stay here and fight for you. Now tell me everything your father told you about this."

Once Lillian left them, Alex turned to her father. "You can't possibly be considering you doing this," she said to him.

"It's already begun," Jeremiah said. "Kara was exposed to it a couple of hours ago."

"What?" Alex said. "No. No. How could you do that? It's Kara. She's my sister."

"I know," Jeremiah said calmly. "But I need you to believe me when I say what I'm doing is for the best."

"How can you say that?" Alex said. "I don't care where Kara is from, she is my sister and I love her, and I would do anything for her."

"Alex," Jeremiah said in all seriousness. "I know how much Kara means to you. I know. And there are some tough decisions that you are going to have to make soon."

"You mean like deciding to join Cadmus. Fine, I will join Cadmus but only if you cure Kara, let her go and you do not institute this insane plan," Alex said. "You do that, and I will join you. I will do whatever you ask, but she has to be safe."

Jeremiah stood up and put his hands on the sides of Alex's face. "I wish I had been there when you were growing up," he said. "I wish I had been there for all the special moments of your life. You will never know how much that has pained me. But I promise you this my beautiful daughter, if you trust me now, it will all turn out."

"So, when did he tell you about the cure?" Eliza asked.

Alex looked at her mom and noticed that Maggie had slipped back into the room.

"When he touched me, he moved his hand back by my ear and slipped a miniature com it," Alex responded. "I knew then that something was up. But first I had to endure dinner with Lillian."

Alex ate a piece of the chicken off her plate, but she didn't really taste any of it. It was only her and Lillian there at the table as Lillian had requested some alone time with her.

So far, they hadn't said much to each other.

"Your father told me that you would be willing to join us under certain circumstances," Lillian said. "Tell me, if I was to entertain such a thing, what guarantee would I have that you would work for us, I mean work for us."

"I don't know that there would be anything I could say that you would believe," Alex responded. "But if Kara and the others are safe, any work I would do for you would be worth it in my eyes. What work would you have me do?"

"Your father wants you to work with him," Lillian said. "But you would be wasted in a lab, which is why the DEO doesn't keep you in one. I'm not saying you won't be useful in that capacity and that you couldn't work in the lab with your father, but I was thinking something more proactive. You have detained many of the Fort Rozz aliens in your time at the DEO. Outside of Kara, you may be the one person who knows the most about those aliens. I would task you to find the ones that remain and detain them on behalf of Cadmus."

"And what would Cadmus be doing with them once they were detained?"

Lillian smiled at her – something Alex was increasingly annoyed by every time she saw. "They would be detained so they cause no harm to us humans."

"Merely detained?"

"Well, we would want to study them."

Alex nodded, knowing it wouldn't be that simple. "I wanted Kara and the others to be safe in order to join you."

"You really do not see it, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You hate me. You hate Cadmus, yet you say you will join us, work with us, all for the life of your alien sister," Lillian said. "You don't see that you shouldn't have to change your life because of her. You should have been able to live the life you wanted to live. You shouldn't have to make these choices. Kara destroyed your life, why can't you see that?"

Alex looked at her, her teeth clenched in her closed mouth. She did hate this woman who sat there across from her. She hated everything this woman stood for, but she realized that she meant what she said – she would work for her, work for Cadmus if it meant keeping Kara safe. She had spent most of her life making sure Kara was safe – safe from bullies at school, safe from her own powers, safe from the Fort Rozz prisoners, safe from Cadmus.

"You don't see it either," Alex said. "You don't see that I love Kara and I would keep making the choices I made to ensure that she is living a happy, full life. If she wasn't in my life, I would feel a hole inside me that would never be filled by anything ever again. So yes, I will come work for you because I will always do what I have to do to protect my little sister."

Lillian leaned forward at the table, looking at her. "I know you will," she said. "It saddens me really that you will never know what it is to live your own life."

"Like father, like daughter," Alex said, as she stood up. "A deal with the devil. And like my father, I can live with it."

"You were going to join Cadmus?" Maggie asked. "You were just going to throw away your life?"

"Don't you dare judge me," Alex said, and again the Kryptonite in her blood lit up. She got to her feet and advanced on Maggie, who prepared herself in case Alex struck at her.

"What life did I have once you left me?" Alex said getting in her face.

"You left me first," Maggie said, even though she knew it was probably not wise to enrage Alex any further. "You left me time and time again to follow this obsession with Cadmus. And where did it all lead? What did you accomplish but possibly killing yourself and Kara?"

Alex did attack this time, but Maggie was ready for it – as Alex tried to bull rush her, Maggie used her momentum against her to send her crashing to the ground. She was back on her feet in a second, but as she got to her feet she stopped as Maggie was pointing a gun at her.

"It's just a tranquilizer gun, but it will do the trick," Maggie said. "Now stand down."

"Alex, please, stop this," Eliza said.

Alex looked from Maggie to her mom, but her body remained tensed and Maggie kept the gun trained on her. This was a more powerful tranquilizer than what they used at the train yard and Maggie was certain it would do the trick, but she didn't want it to have to go like this.

She was ready to shoot if needed though.

"Alexandra," Eliza said more firmly and she stepped between Maggie and Alex.

"Eliza," Maggie warned. "Get back."

"She isn't going to hurt me," Eliza said. "You are stronger than this Alexandra. You are the strongest person I know. Whatever this is doing to you, you have to fight it."

Alex kept her eyes on her mother, but she didn't make a move toward her. But Maggie could see the red was beginning to dull once more.

"Sorry," Alex said. "It's just … hard."

"It's ok," Eliza said, going up to her. "We're going to figure this out, together."

"I um … I think I need to go lie down."

Maggie could see that whatever was happening to Alex was taking its toll on her. Eliza helped her daughter back into the bedroom where Alex laid down on the bed. Maggie was a little surprised when Eliza came back out a few minutes later.

"She went to sleep," Eliza said.

"That was quick."

"I don't know if her body can hold up to this," Eliza said. "Her fever went up a bit."

"Lucy should be here soon with the ice."

"It's more than that. I won't lose my daughter."

"We're not going to lose her," Maggie said, even as she got the feeling that Eliza had some other meaning behind the statement.

"Watch over her until I return. When Lucy gets here, make an ice bath and put her in it whether she is awake or not," Eliza said.

"Where are you going?"

"I need some medical equipment brought here. I should also check on Kara's condition. Maybe it will give me some sort of idea of what this cure is that is incubating inside Alex," Eliza said. "If her condition worsens at all, call me and I will get back here."

"Why not just call and have what you need to be brought here?"

"Because I need to see if the DEO has all that I need," Eliza responded. "Just keep her cooled down and I will return as soon as I can."

Eliza hugged Maggie before rushing out. Maggie immediately went into the bedroom once Eliza left. Alex was indeed sound asleep and while Maggie knew she and Alex were no longer together, she still got on the bed with her, wrapping her arm around her. She could feel the heat radiating off of Alex.

"All those firsts," she whispered. "I still want to do them with you."