Taylor's legs dangle over the edge of the bed and they let them sway back and forth ; they're beyond wanting to mask their nervousness. The med bay is packed with people, everybody suddenly very intent on seeing them. Brainy and Nia are standing close to each other, but there's an awkward gap between their bodies, like neither one of them knows how to grab the other's hand. J'onn is standing behind the couple, hands in his pockets in a fake display of relaxation. He eyes Taylor curiously and they're glad that their kryptonian biology shields their mind from him. Kelly made the trip too, she left work early and hovers in the back next to Kara whose gaze Taylor avoids purposefully. She walked in with Lena, their bodies close but not touching, like two celestial orbs orbiting around each other. Lena is standing the closest to them now, sleeves rolled up and hands covered in band aids. She has Taylor's watch and from where they stand, it seems fixed ; even the glass has been replaced. She takes a step forward, opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, Alex walks in, eyes glued to her tablet.

"Your exams are clear," she says, weaving her way into the room without registering anyone's presence, "I think you just need time to readjust..." She stops, turns around and to Kelly, tuning into her like a compass to the north. "Why is everybody here ?" she asks slowly, a frown slipping low on her face.

"I figured out the watch," Lena explains, the precious object dangling in her hand as she shows it around. "It should be good to send a signal out now."

"So you're going home ?" Alex asks for clarification.

"I have to signal my position first," Taylor says, "but yes, I'm going home."

They wait for the clear sense of relief that they should be feeling but instead comes a wave of mixed emotions and a strange pull that compels them to look at Kara. Her eyes are fixed on her feet and she stands rigid with her arms crossed, intent on not looking at them. Eventually, she must sense Taylor's searching gaze and when their eyes lock, she smiles tentatively.

And the thing is Kara will grow older slower than everybody else in this room and she looks so much like their Yeyu that it's hard for Taylor to clearly separate the two, almost impossible to drill into their brain that this person that pushed them away isn't really the one they will meet again in the future. They feel oppressed all of a sudden, like an animal in a zoo, crushed by the heavy gazes of the people that came to see the latest attraction in town. Tears build behind their eyes and they hesitate between snatching the watch out of Lena's hand and running or staying put. They hate the hesitation, and the weakness, and the pain, and Rao, their hands should be healed by now.

"Can I have a moment with Taylor ?" Kara asks quickly. "Alone ?"

Murmurs of affirmation sound all around them and one by one everybody trickle out of the room, Lena laying the watch on the bed next to them before she leaves.

It's both easier and harder to breathe once the room is empty and they get back to avoiding Kara's searching eyes. The both of them stand like that in silence for endless suffocating minutes and the longer it lasts the more Taylor wants to scream.

"Do you want Chocos ?" Kara asks eventually, reaching in her hidden pocket to retrieve a slightly crushed pack of cookies.

Out of everything, everything, that has happened since they accidentally time travelled, this is the most absurd and Taylor can't help but laugh, and laugh, and laugh until they burst into tears surprising Kara and themself. Kara is by their side in a flash, hovering close but not touching them, and when Taylor manages to stop hiccuping long enough to see her clearly, there's a full apology in her eyes.

"So that's a no on the Chocos I suppose ?" Kara says. "How about ice cream ? I'd really like to talk to you, apologise, before you leave. If that's okay."

Taylor nods. It's the best they can offer right now but it seems to be enough for Kara who reaches in her pocket again to find her glasses and lets a plain blue shirt and black chinos replace her suit. "Whenever you're ready," she says softly, cocking her head towards the door. Taylor straps the watch to their wrist and follows wordlessly.

They don't walk too far ; just around the corner of the DEO to a small square that in a couple of years will engulf the whole block to become National City's biggest park. Right now, it's home to a wonky fountain and what Kara proudly introduces as the best ice cream in the entire city ; they agree to disagree on that, but it's as far as the conversation goes until they've both finished their triple scoop and they have nothing left to occupy themselves.

"I'm sorry," Kara finally says when Taylor is deeply absorbed by a bushtit collecting branches. "I promised I would help you, that I would take care of you, and I did the exact opposite."

Taylor sighs. "I get it," they say. And they do. Beyond the pain of seeing the person that wears their Yeyu's face act like this, they do understand why Kara reacted the way she did. They have the benefit of knowing her and who she will be, and even if it hurts, they can understand why she acted that way.

"I know you do," Kara says, "but that doesn't mean I shouldn't apologise. I don't want you to think I don't care, because I do. And no matter what my life is like right now, if there is one person I should set my problems aside for, it's you."

"No you shouldn't," Taylor retorts, shaking their head in disbelief. "For one it's not healthy, and two, you're not my mother. And I know it. It's just, it's harder with you because you, you look like you, for lack of a better term." They glance at Kara, making sure she's following along and find her looking straight at them, concentrated and open. "You, Rao, I don't know if you've noticed that yet but you age at a slower rate than anyone else. And Mum, well she has grey strands and crow's feet but you don't look that different and..."

Their train of thoughts is interrupted by something moving fast right in the corner of their sightline and a second before they can take cover, the fountain explodes. The world slows down around them as they are carried away from the wreckage and when it comes in focus again the billowing smoke is almost blocked from their view by a broad figure clad in a supersuit.

"Are you okay ?" Kara asks, her eyes trailed on the former fountain as she tries to catch a glimpse of what's happening. Before Taylor can reply however, a stream of light bursts out of the smoke and sends Supergirl flying back, taking them down with her. "Seriously ?!" Kara yells, jumping back up in a flash. "I was kind of in the middle of something !"

"The time as come Supergirl, for you to answer for your crimes," a low voice sounds, preceding by a second the emergence of a tall bulky man, the sight of whom turns Taylor's stomach upside down. Half robot half raw flesh, he's twelve feet tall and his species was definitely not covered in class. With a flutter of his large hand, the smoke parts around him, revealing three companions, not as ugly but definitely just as terrifying. "I am Tharok, kneel before the Fatal Five."

"Fatal Five ?" Taylor sneers. "There are only four of you."

Any other witty remark is taken right out of their mouth by a gigantic axe flying inches away from their face. The axe rounds them like a boomerang to return to its wielder's hand and before Taylor can fully understand what's happening, their feet leave the ground and they start floating away. And not just them, but the bench that got blasted away with them and a half torn lamp post and tufts of grass ; almost like gravity ceased to affect this square foot of the world only.

"What the fuck ?!"

"Language !"

"Seriously ?!" Taylor screams as Supergirl tackles them to the ground away from the affected area. "That's your main concern right now ?!"

"We need to take out Axe Man, that's our main concern right now !" Supergirl yells back.

"On it !" Rolling their shoulders, Taylor puts their hood up and launches themself at their target, leaving torn grass and dirt in their wake.

"I am Persuader," the axe's wielder growls.

"Cool," Taylor retorts as their fists make contact with his face with a satisfying crunch. "I'm Lor-El, and you have bad timing."

Persuader wobbles back to his feet and Lor-El has to back flip to narrowly avoid both his axe and Supergirl being blasted away by energy, again. They quickly find themselves back to back, Supergirl blasting Tharok with heat vision and Lor-El attempting to freeze Persuader. He's strong though, stronger than anyone they've ever faced and he frees himself from his ice restrains simply by tensing his muscles and loses no time throwing his axe again. This time, it doesn't seem to affect gravity, instead leaving in its wake a large glowing tear in the very fabric of the universe.

Supergirl succeeds in fending off her attacker, sending him flying away in a tree that cracks in two and fall on them. Without thinking, Lor-El pushes Supergirl out of the way, and the tree gets siphoned off by the tear.

"What's that ?!" Supergirl yells over the deafening roar that overtook the previously quiet park. The approaching sirens of the DEO's strike team almost succeed in covering her voice.

"Don't touch it ! It's a dimensional rift ! Our universe is gonna fold in on another one !"

"What ?!"

"It's a dimensional rift !" Lor-El repeats.

"I heard you ! How do I close that ?!"

"Destroy the axe ! We have to destroy the axe !"

Lor-El words seem to fall into deaf ears and it doesn't take them long to figure out why ; the world just went very quiet. In the middle of the destroyed fountain stands one of the attackers, at least Lor-El thinks so, everything around him is blurred, and it's hard to make out the details. Where Persuader seemed to cut through the universe, this one seems to be syphoning it, destroying every inches he touches in bigger and bigger circles.

Lor-El's feet slips on the ground as they start getting sucked towards him and they grab the first thing they can, a broken handrail, and stick it into the ground to anchor themself for precious seconds. Supergirl comes deliberately and stupidly flying by them and they grab her by the cape, catching her in the nick of time and dragging her back mostly out of range.

"I think he's eating matter !" Lor-El yells, their words lost even to their own ears. "He's eating matter !" they try again. "Please know how to lip read already. Please. Please. Please."

Like a gift from Rao, Supergirl nods and Lor-El can make out a reply on her mouth. "Push him into the dimensional rift ?"

"Too impredictable."

"Then what ?"

Lor-El's grasp weakens around their makeshift anchor, their feet unpleasantly slipping towards the newly created void, they don't have much time, or at least not enough to go the safe route. Three DEO vans pull up much too close from them, and Alex is the first out of them, already running towards them.

"Coming from his right hand," Supergirl seems to say.

Persuader runs past them and without taking the time to communicate their half baked plan, Taylor lets go of the hand rail, trips him and grab his axe. Thankfully, Supergirl seems to catch up because she grabs them and fly them out of range, letting Persuader go crash in the fourth attacker, whose only purpose seems to be protecting the one who's decomposing matter. But he's strong, and with his feet firmly anchored to the ground he deflects both his companion and himself outside of the syphoning range and closer to Supergirl and Lor-El again.

"Take care of them ! I've got anti-matter guy !" Lor-El screams uselessly, half of their words lost because they aren't turned toward Supergirl properly. Supergirl does seem to get the most of the message and almost too easily, she soundlessly cracks Persuader and his buddy's heads against one another. "All muscle, no brain," Lor-El mumbles to themself in a weak attempt at a joke, before throwing, with all the strength they have, the axe towards the last one standing.

It's a shot in the dark, literally. They can't see much of anything anymore and their body is starting to pull itself inside out but the axe seems to hit its mark because the world snaps back to normal with a brutal force that sends them flying back and crashing in a car. In the assailant place is a muddled corpse perfectly cut in two.

"Shit," Taylor whispers, their voice suddenly much too loud. "I think I just killed someone."

The axe comes flying back their way but Supergirl grabs it dextrously and uses its handle to knock Persuader out again when he starts groaning.

The world is loud, very loud ; sirens and cries and a roaring fire not far from them and Alex talking in their ears as she helps them back up.

"You alright kid ?"

Taylor nods, their eyes fixed on the corpse dangling from what is left of the ledge of the fountain. The corpse that seems to be reforming on itself, the suit it's clad in working to put it back together.

"We have a new and disturbing problem," Taylor mumbles.

Swiftly, Alex whirls around and with two precise blasts of her gun and a net bomb, separates the two body part again. "We'll just have to put it in custody in two different cells."

"Sure," Taylor agrees, slowly nodding again like this isn't immensely disgusting. What, for the love of Rao, just happened ?

"God I need a drink," Alex groans, "or seven."

"I second that," Lena mumbles with her head between her hands.

For a brief second Alex wonders if it would hurt to claw her own brain out but she dismisses it pretty quickly ; it would be a mess to clean. Today only, she's had her butt kicked, willingly, multiple times by a time travelling Kryptonian, the universe was almost destroyed in two different ways, and she ended up with three aliens and two halves of another in custody. She needs a nap, and for someone else to be in charge for a minute or so. Last year was definitely terrible for an array of reasons but at least with Colonel Haley pulling the rug from under her, she didn't have to pretend to be on top of everything all the time.

"The prisoners are fully secured Director Danvers," Brainy says, striding inside the room with Nia in tow. She's sulking, having been too late to participate in the villains' take down, and it would be funny if Alex weren't exhausted.

"Thank you Agent Dox. Any chance they'll talk anytime soon ?"

"I'm afraid not."

"We could ask J'onn for help," Kara suggests. "It's a breach of privacy but one of them tried to swallow the universe so I think we can make an exception."

Alex shifts to look at her sister. She's standing directly behind Lena and she can't tell if her hand is indeed on the small of her back or if it's just a trick of perspective but it wouldn't surprise her. Lena jumped into her arms the moment she came back to the DEO and they've been standing awfully close ever since ; knuckles brushing, Lena's hand briefly fisted in Kara's cape, Kara's hand tenderly brushing Lena's hair away, and they don't even seem to be aware of it. Alex supposes that between yelling at each other and fixing Taylor's watch they must have had an earnest talk, and it makes her somewhat happy.

"Already done," Brainy replies, bringing Alex's attention back to him. "He said they all have mental shielding coming from an outside source that he hasn't been able to locate."

"Fuck," Alex mumbles under her breath.

"Accurate reaction," Brainy says almost cheerfully. "Thankfully, we might be able to wear them down with interrogation. One of them in particular, Validus, might be a little more open to manipulation."

"Validus ?" Taylor sneers from the back of the room. "Why do they all have shit names ?"

"Language," Kara fires as an automatism causing Taylor to groan and briefly hide their face in their hands.

"I'm not twelve," they grumble to no avail.

But they don't seem really annoyed, more amused, and Alex takes in their dishevelled appearance ; the neatly torn fabric around their knees, the jeans altered to give them more fighting room, the entire missing sleeve on their hoodie lost to battle and the scuffed boots, their rubber soles entirely burned away. They've been through the wringer but they look in their element, and Alex feels privileged to witness this, happy also, to know that though she's bound to forget them, they will meet again in the future.

They straighten up eventually, arms clasped behind their back in a way that reminds Alex of herself and with the authority of a twenty something who is also somehow a space soldier they ask : "do we have more information on their origins ? Were you able to trace them back to anything ?"

"Well I wasn't able to really pinpoint anything," Brainy says, shaking his head, "but their weapons and armours are definitely not from our times." He marks a pause ; Alex sees the rest coming from a mile away. "There is a high probability that they came from the future through the same wormhole as you, and a smaller but very possible chance that they are also the ones who attacked you in space."

"So I brought them here," Taylor whispers.

"It's not your fault," Kara corrects immediately, quick to wipe out the mere thought from Taylor's mind.

"My name is Lor-El," Taylor sighs. "El. At Crucible my lineage wasn't exactly a secret. We also have a very similar heat signature. They might have found me first, but they're clearly after you and I brought them one step closer to you."

Kara frowns. She has that distinctive -why is it always me ?- look on her face, but when she speaks, she's calm, and reassuring. "We apprehended them," she says, "you don't have to worry."

"Their dumb name is the Fatal Five," Taylor points out. "We're missing one."

"Then we'll find them," Kara says firmly, hand living Lena's back to come resting on her own hip. "We always do. Don't let that stop you from finding a way home, okay ?"

"I know you will," Taylor replies. "And I already activated the beacon anyway." When they say that though, their hand come surreptitiously rest on the watch and a crinkle form between their brow. Neither Kara nor Lena seem to pick up on it, but Alex sure as hell does. There's a beat when Taylor's eyes cross hers, a moment of hesitation during which Alex thinks she should say something, that she should voice her concerns, ask for clarification ; but there's a plea in Taylor's gaze, a call for Alex to keep that to herself, and they reach a silent understanding. Whatever the reason is, Taylor didn't activate their time beacon, and Alex just has to trust them.