Hello beautiful readers!

Wow I said that I would update soon and I totally didn't *cries*

Anyways, it's here now so maybe just maybe you'll forgive me?

As always, thank you to my wonderful amazing reviewers and readers and I hope you enjoy this chapter as we descend into angst-land!

Disclaimer: I don't own Supergirl.

"Alex, hurry."

They were truly overdue to be discovered yet Alex felt strangely frozen as she stood over Kara, scalpel in hand. Carefully she probed the area around the glowing device at the back of Kryptonian's neck, trying to get a sense of how it was lodged. Based on location, it could be entwined with the spine, in which case, a careless removal could cause permanent damage.

"Just do it," Kara urged her. "It'll heal. This is our best chance."

This plan was probably their best shot and given that there was almost certainly a tracker in the device anyway, it had to be done regardless. Taking a deep breath, Alex made the first incision, Kara barely flinching. "Hang on," Alex murmured, working around the device while trying to ignore the blood that began to roll down Kara's neck and stain the back of her shirt.

There was a sudden knock at the door. "Dr. Branwell, could you please look at Alien #421's chart?"

Shit.

Alex began to work faster, fingers slick with crimson.

"Hello?" The knock came again then the door opened a crack before being stopped by the chair propped under the handle. "What the hell… Dr. Branwell, are you in there?"

Alex held her breath as she worked as quickly as possible, praying the person would just leave.

"Hey! Guards!" The banging at the door increased.

Damn it.

"Alex," Kara hissed. "Just pull it out!"

"There are wires, they could be anchored to your spine, I don't want to hurt you…" Alex was desperately trying to assess the situation even as the banging on the door increased and blood pooled and spilled over her hands.

"Alex, please!"

"Open up or we'll shoot!

"Do it!"

"I'm so sorry." Alex closed her eyes briefly before grabbing the device the best she could and pulling hard.

Kara's cry of pain mingled with the roaring of blood in her own ears as the device held firm. It wasn't going to work, she was killing Kara, she had doomed them both…

Then suddenly the metal piece popped out.

Alex threw it across the room before turning to the Kryptonian's still form, pausing only to switch on the lamps as Kara had instructed her to do. "Kara, are you okay? Say something! Kara!" She could hear the terror in her own voice.

Alex's desperate inquiry was cut off by a bullet entering her shoulder, jerking her body forward and robbing her lungs of air.

"Raise your hands above your head in surrender!" The order was barked from the door, which had finally been pried open.

Alex did as she was told, trying to keep her body in front of Kara's as a multitude of guns were trained on them.

"Looks like the DEO agent was trying to escape with the alien. We have the DEO agent cornered," a guard reported into his shoulder radio, pale eyes never leaving Alex. "Awaiting orders."

The reply came crackling loudly through the radio.

"Kill the agent."
The guard's finger tightened around the trigger of his gun, "Copy that."

Then the room erupted into chaos.

Before she could even process what was happening, Alex found herself behind Kara as blue lasers split the room, surroundings bursting into flame and screams filling the air. The Kryptonian paused to turn her gaze to the ceiling, eyes glowing as she melted a hole through several stories, dust and smoke and rubble filling the air.

Alex felt Kara's arms wrap around her then they were shooting up the freshly made hole even as Kara continued to burn through the layers of building that separated them from freedom.

Just when Alex was sure the thick soot and debris that pressed against them in their seared tunnel would suffocate her, there was a sudden burst of fresh air and they were soaring through the night sky. Beneath them, a burning building grew more and more distant by the second, and then in a sudden burst of speed it was gone.

They were free.

Alex was about to tell Kara to keep going, that they needed to get as far away as possible, when she noticed that the Kryptonian was shaking – and she was also shaking by extension.

"Kara, you okay?" Alex shouted over the roaring air around them, trying to twist slightly in order to see the alien's face.

There was no response, instead Kara's shaking increased to seizing and they began to lose altitude as they jerked through the sky.

"Kara!" Alex was completely helpless as they plummeted downward toward the dark forest. "Kara!" The trees were approaching faster and faster and Alex wasn't even sure that Kara was conscious except that the Krytonian's arms remained securely wrapped around her.

Just when Alex was certain they were done for, Kara's seizing stopped and she stiffened, a strained scream hissing through gritted teeth. They began slowing down, but not enough, the wooded ground approaching still far too rapidly… It wasn't going to be enough…

They twisted in the air, Kara somehow now below Alex, her form curled like a shield as they crashed through branches. Pain mingled with screams and rushing air and blood pounding in Alex's ears, and then suddenly, strangely, everything was silent.

Something wet was dripping down on her.

Blearily Alex pried her eyes open, coughing and spitting dirt that coated her mouth. She was… outside. And the wetness dripping on her was rain filtering through the thick trees above.

Yay nature.

But actually… what happened Where was she?

Groaning, Alex pushed herself to a sitting position, shoulder screaming in pain at the motion. Hmm. There was a hole in her shoulder.

Alex was still trying to orient herself and figure out what had happened when she spotted the crumpled form beside her.

Everything flooded back, painfully, viscerally….

"Kara! No no no…."

Pain spiked through Alex's being as she pulled herself forward toward the unmoving Kryptonian but it was nowhere near as strong as the panic she felt.

"Kara, hey," Alex made it to Kara's side, gently rolling the girl onto her back, sickening fear accumulating in her stomach as Kara gave no response and she took in the blood that stained her thin clothes. "You're going to be okay, you're going to be fine…" She quickly reached for Kara's neck, terror rising as she tried to find a pulse, ignoring the streaks of blood mixed with rain that covered Kara's skin and hair. "Come on, Kara, I know you're still with me." She couldn't stop the tear that rolled down her cheek as she gently readjusted her position, searching for any sign of life.

Then she found it: slow and steady, a heartbeat.

"Thank god," Alex gasped, sitting back for a moment and letting the raindrops mix with the tears on her face. "I've got you, okay?" Alex took Kara's hand. "I've got you."

"Ynugh Astra tae…" Kara's eyes fluttered open, brow furrowing with confusion as Kryptonian mixed with blood on her lips. Her gaze darted around their surroundings.

"Kara, hey, Kara," Alex squeezed the girl's hand, relief overwhelming her being. "It's Alex. We crash landed in a forest but you're going to be okay."

Kara looked at her as though seeing her for the first time. "A…Alex?" She tried to sit up but Alex gently held her down.

"Don't move until we know how seriously you're injured, okay?" Alex tried to smile, clutching Kara's hand tightly. "Do you feel any numbness or tingling anywhere? I need to make sure you didn't damage your neck or spine. You could make it worse by moving," Alex explained distractedly, already moving to press on Kara's fingertips. "Can you feel this?"

"Yes."

"This?" Alex tried the other hand. "Can you wiggle your toes?"

"Yes and yes," Kara confirmed. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

Alex ignored her, examining the deep gash she had found on the side of Kara's head. Probably compliments of a branch on their way down. In fact there were bits of bark and leaves tangled in Kara's golden hair.

"Alex, I'm okay, can I please sit up? I need to see if you're hurt." The Kryptonian pulled away from Alex's probing hands and moved herself into a sitting position.

"Careful!" Alex wrapped her arm around Kara's shoulder as the girl suddenly blanched, pain written all over her expression. "Kara. Where does it hurt?"

"It doesn't," Kara was breathing heavily, eyes tightly shut, so obviously lying that Alex would have laughed if the situation weren't so serious.

"Kara…"

"My leg kinda hurts."

Then Alex saw it; over an inch in diameter, a broken branch was sticking out of Kara's thigh, slick with blood.

"Oh god." Alex had no idea how she had missed it before and how Kara could have failed to mention it. It must have happened when they fell through the trees.

Alex could still feel the way Kara had curled around her as they plummeted toward the ground, protected her… She had no doubt it was the reason she was still alive and only minimally injured while Kara was covered in head to toe with scratches and gashes. In fact, the only area that didn't seem to be injured was Kara's torso; the bulletproof jacket apparently also effective against branches.

The good news was that the branch had missed the femoral artery; it was located too far toward the outer side of the thigh to have hit it, plus if it had, Kara would have already bled out. Still, removing the branch where it was could cause significant damage and bleeding. She was going to have to leave it in.

"What is it?" Kara shifted, trying to see what was going on.

"No, no, don't move," Alex held her back, mind racing. She was going to have to bandage the wound around the branch and stabilize it until they could get medical help. Quickly she tore the sleeves off her shirt, ripping them into bandages.

"You're bleeding."

Alex blinked, turning to Kara to find the Kryptonian staring at her shoulder with concern. She glanced down at the bullet wound with a slight note of surprise. "Huh." She had completely forgotten about getting shot. "It looks like a through and through, doesn't seem to have hit anything major."

"It looks major." Kara was completely unconvinced, the crinkle in her brow still apparent.

Alex pushed away the urge to try to smooth the crinkle away and instead took advantage of Kara's distraction to begin winding the makeshift bandage around the wound on her leg. "Well it's not. Also, don't move."

Kara gasped in pain as Alex pulled the bandage tight.

"I'm so sorry about this," Alex worked as quickly as she could. "We'll just patch this up then find a way to contact my boss. He'll get us out of here in no time." She tied off the bandage and turned to Kara, expecting the girl to be semi-conscious from pain.

However the Kryptonian was staring up at their surroundings, sudden wonder painting her expression. Alex paused to look around also, trying to figure out what Kara was looking at. All she saw was thick and oppressive wilderness. They really needed to get out here. But with CADMUS certainly on their trail, it wasn't an option to leave Kara behind while she went for help. Besides, Alex was not letting the Kryptonian out of her sight again for any reason.

"Alex," Kara breathed. "I… I just realized. We're outside." Excitement radiated from her being as she dipped bloodstained fingers into the earth around them. She looked from the dirt on her hands to Alex, a smile spreading across her face. "It's dirt!"

"It is dirt. Well, more of mud, thanks to the rain."

"Rain…" As if in a trance, Kara's gaze drifted upward. "It's raining!"

"Yes…" Alex moved to pull Kara's arm over her good shoulder, getting ready to hoist the girl up. "It's raining." She was suddenly worried again about the head injury the Kryptonian had sustained and whether Kara's sudden fascination with the weather was a symptom of a more serious injury. "Come on nature girl, let's get you up so we can find some help. One, two, three…"

Kara was far lighter than she should be but in that moment it was helpful for getting the Kryptonian on her feet. It took a moment but finally she was upright, weight almost entirely on her good leg.

"I never thought I'd see it again," Kara's face was pale with pain but her eyes were bright with excitement as she clung to Alex.

"See what?" Alex asked distractedly as they took their first step, the movement suddenly terrifying as it sunk in just how far they might need to go and how much each step would cost.

A horrible dread accumulated in the pit of Alex's stomach. The agent had been so focused on getting Kara out of the CADMUS lab, driven by some instinctual need to protect the younger girl, that she hadn't really considered what would happen next.

What if she had rescued Kara from the lab only to subject her to slowly bleeding out in the wilderness?

What if she had only made things worse?

If Kara died out here, how was Alex any better than CADMUS?

"The sky." Kara's voice broke through Alex's agonizing thoughts.

"What?"

"I never thought I'd see the sky again."

Alex paused, turning to look at Kara just as Kara turned to look at her. The Kryptonian's eyes were sparkling with tears, a soft smile curving her lips.

"Thank you."

Ahhh writing this Kara is so fun, she's so innocent. And Alex is so BA.

So... what do you think? Enough angst or shall we continue?

~silverliningineachcloud