"Would you be okay without me?"

The question came out of nowhere and having been engrossed in the movie they were watching, Alex did a doubletake and looked at Kara in surprise. "What?"

"Without me." Kara wasn't looking at Alex. She was watching her own fingers fiddling with the blanket draped over the two of them. "Would you be okay?"

Alex reached for the remote, pausing the movie. She'd known that something was wrong. Kara had been unusually quiet all night and she'd only eaten half the pizza she usually would. The other two were still on the coffee table in front of them. "You mean if you moved away or something?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I guess. You could say that. Or maybe if I wasn't around for some other reason. Like if something happened to me. You know, the thing with Rein happened last year and I've almost died more times than I care to count since I became Supergirl."

"Where is this coming from?" Alex frowned, turning more on the couch so she was facing Kara. "What's going on?"

Kara bit her lower lip, managing a slight shrug. Feeling Alex's hand come to rest on her arm she felt her eyes prickle with tears. She quickly blinked them away. "Can you answer the question?"

"Of course I wouldn't be okay. How could you think that?" Alex shook her head in disbelief. "I've told you so many times, I can't lose you. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you."

Kara nodded mutely, swallowing against the lump in her throat.

"You're kind of scaring me, Kara," Alex admitted nervously. "Tell me what's going on. Why are you suddenly thinking about this stuff?"

"We both know it a possibility. I just have a bad feeling, Alex. Like something is going to happen to me."

"Like dying?"

"Right." Kara nodded in response. "And I just want to know that you'll be okay so I can…"

"What? Go gently into that good night?" Alex's tone was slightly harsh when she spoke but there was no disguising the worry in her voice. "If thinking I'm going to be okay will help you do that then no, Kara. I won't be okay. Not by a longshot. Losing you would destroy me."

Kara felt her eyes dampen slightly as she recalled the Monitor's words to her. "Alex…"

"In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die."

"It's not gonna happen." Alex wrapped her arms around Kara from the side, drawing her close to hug her tightly. She pressed her lips firmly to Kara's hair. "I'm never going to let anything happen to you."

Kara sniffled softly and nodded her head, letting herself relax into Alex's gentle embrace. She closed her eyes as Alex's fingers gently combed through her hair and after a short while she felt herself starting to drift off. It was only an especially deep breath from Alex that dragged Kara back into consciousness. "I think I'm going to get some sleep."

"Oh. Yeah, of course. Seems like you need it." Alex gave a gentle chuckle when Kara elbowed her gently in the ribs. "Ow!"

"Will you stay? I mean...stay with me?" Kara asked quietly as she pulled herself away from Alex. She bit her lip as Alex studied her closely but her nerves melted away when her sister flashed a warm smile.

"Sure. Get ready for bed and I'll put this pizza in the fridge for tomorrow." Alex replied as she used Kara's knee as leverage to push herself up off of the couch.

Kara watched Alex for a moment before she got to her feet and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She went through her usual nighttime ritual before she padded into her bedroom and slipped into bed.

"In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die."

Kara stared at the Monitor, her expression blank as she tried to take in what he was saying. If she was honest, she was still stunned by the fact that he had appeared in the middle of her apartment, seemingly out of nowhere. "What does that mean?"

"Something is coming." The Monitor replied in his usual monotone drawl. "Something which will force you to make the ultimate sacrifice for those you love. And the billions of lives at stake."

Kara was broken from her thoughts by Alex plopping down on the bed next to her. She turned over to face Alex, watching as her sister got under the blankets with her. A small smile tugged at her lips as she watched Alex shiver and try to wrap the blankets tighter around herself. "I hope you're not going to steal all of my blankets tonight."

"You invited me in here, remember?" Alex grinned at Kara. "You practically asked for your blankets to be stolen."

Kara turned her face into her pillow to hide the smile that tugged at her lips. "Whatever." She didn't get a response from Alex and she looked up again to see that Alex's eyes were closed. "Do you remember when we used to do this as kids?"

Alex smiled softly at the memory. "You mean when you used to crawl into bed with me and I'd pretend to be annoyed about it for five minutes until I gave in?"

"Mmhm," Kara mumbled in response. "You've always been the person I feel safest with. Back when I had nightmares, nothing could calm me down like you did."

Alex opened her eyes to look at Kara, noticing the sadness reflected in Kara's blue eyes. "Well, the feeling is mutual."

Kara felt her eyes prickle with tears once more and she moved forward, wrapping her arm around Alex's waist. She buried her face in Alex's chest to hide her tears. "I'm sorry about bringing that up before."

"It's okay." Alex murmured, her arms going around Kara. "There's no limit to what you can talk to me about." She felt Kara nod into her chest and waited for a moment before she continued. "I meant what I said though. I'll die before I let anything happen to you. You should know that by now."

Kara hummed in acknowledgment and Alex sighed softly. "Get some sleep. I'll treat you to breakfast tomorrow. Deal?"

"Leftover pizza is breakfast," Kara mumbled before she pulled back just a little.

"Pizza can be lunch tomorrow," Alex smirked in response. "I'm buying you real breakfast."

Kara smiled warmly in response. "Thanks, Alex. You're the best."

"I'm aware."

-

The second Kara opened the door, Nia knew that something was up. Kara was wearing a weird, almost crazy smile on her face. "Uh...hi."

"Hey, Nia!" Kara's voice came out a little higher than usual and she quickly ushered Nia into the apartment. "Thanks for coming!"

"You're welcome?" Nia asked unsurely. She heard Kara close the door behind her. A moment later the Kryptonian was brushing past her, hurrying toward the kitchen.

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

"A glass of water would be nice. Thanks." Nia hung up her bag and jacket and ventured into the kitchen behind Kara. She accepted the glass of water offered to her with a small smile. "Thanks."

She took a sip, watching Kara begin to nervously fidget in front of her. Slowly, she lowered the glass and set it on the kitchen table. "What's wrong?"

"Am I that obvious?" Kara asked with a small smile. "We've been friends for a while now, right?"

"Right?"

"And...I like to think we're close friends." Kara continued anxiously, wringing her hands in front of her. "Like I am with Brainy, James, Lena…" She grimaced slightly at the last one. "Well uh...like I was with Lena. Not that I don't want to be friends with her again. I do. I definitely do, I'm just…"

"You're rambling, Kara," Nia said with a soft smile. She reached out, placing a hand upon Kara's to stop her fidgeting. "What do you need from me? A kidney? Because I'm willing but I didn't think you of all people would need something like that…"

Kara managed a soft laugh at that and felt herself calm slightly. "I need a favor. A really big favor. And I need you to keep it a secret from everyone. Nobody can know."

Nia frowned at that but nodded for Kara to go on. "Okay, I promise."

"There's this...person I know. Well, he's not really a person, more like...a being. Like a god. Almost." Kara answered carefully. "And he's told me something about my future. I need you to tell me if it's true."

"You know a god?" Nia asked in confusion. "Like Thor?"

"No. Can we focus?" Kara gripped Nia's hand back. "This is really important. Will you do it? Please?"

"Use my dream powers? Of course." Nia answered without hesitation. She noticed the worried look on Kara's face. "There's something else."

"He needs to be here," Kara admitted, tugging Nia toward the couch. "To...sort of give you a boost. And so you can see what he knows."

"I guess it's fine," Nia replied, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was about to meet a god. "So you can just call him?"

"I've never tried." Kara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Uh...hey! Monitor?" She heard a gasp from Nia and opened her eyes to see the Monitor had appeared next to them. "Whoa. I didn't expect that to work. You just appear when I call you?"

"Not always." The Monitor answered, briefly glancing at Nia before he turned his focus back to Kara. "However it is imperative that you understand the threat which is to come. And your role in preventing it. Therefore I will help you to see the truth. Along with Dreamer. Of course."

Nia sat down heavily on the couch. "You know me?"

The Monitor nodded. "You too will have a role to play."

"Can we just get this over with?" Kara sat down next to Nia.

"Very well. Close your eyes."

Kara glanced at Nia and reached for her hand, grasping it tightly. "Just in case." She mumbled before she let her eyes close. She felt a touch to her head and she opened her eyes.

She expected to see the room she had been in, but instead, she found herself in the middle of the street, people running past her. "Nia?!"

"I'm here." Nia appeared next to Kara, glancing around. "What the hell is…"

Kara grabbed Nia's arm, trying to back them both away as a wave of red rushed toward them. She barely managed to stumble back before they were engulfed. Everything turned black for a split second and then the next few minutes were a series of flashes. The DEO being wiped away. Brainy. Nia. James. Catco. Her mother. Kal and Loius with the baby. Alex getting caught up in the red mist as she tried to help people escape it. Lena struggling to find a solution until the very end.

Over and over again, the scenario played out in different ways, finally ending with Kara herself flying into the red wave.

Kara gasped as she was dragged back to reality and she quickly jerked her hand away from Nia's. The Monitor was gone.

"Kara…" Nia's voice was trembling as she stared at Kara. "What the hell was that?"

Kara opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, unable to get her words out for a moment. "The Monitor was right. I-I have to die."

"What are you talking about?" Nia got to her feet, anxiously staring down at Kara.

Kara's fingers dug into the couch, inadvertently piercing the upholstery. "In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die. That's what the Monitor told me. If I'm going to save everyone else, I have to sacrifice myself."

"Kara!" Nia exclaimed loudly, trying to break Kara from the trance she seemed to be in. She was relieved when Kara met her eyes but it did nothing to ease the panic she felt. "This can't be right. There has to be something else we can do. Anything. You can't just give up."

Kara bowed her head, trying to hide the tears that filled her eyes. "You saw it, Nia. All of those timelines. Billions of them. And there's only one way to stop what happened."

"It can't be!" Nia sat down on the coffee table in front of Kara. "W-We just have to tell Alex. Maybe we can figure something out."

"We're not telling Alex!" Kara's voice was sharper than she intended it to be as she looked up at Nia. "Not yet. You can't tell anyone about this, Nia. You promised."

Nia gritted her teeth. That was a promise she wished she hadn't made. "You can't do this alone, Kara."

"I'm not alone. I have you." Kara forced a smile to her face but it quickly slipped away. "Thanks for doing this for me. I know it couldn't have been easy to see all of that."

"Kara, are you okay?" Nia asked gently, concerned by the way Kara seemed to be shutting herself off from what she was feeling. Or trying to at least.

"I'll be fine." Kara lied, slowly getting to her feet. "I just need some time to process. Um...you should probably be getting back to work, right?"

"Well...yeah but I can stay if you want me to." Nia said even as she followed Kara to the door.

"It's fine," Kara replied in a strained tone of voice. "This crisis isn't coming anytime soon. We have some time. I think."

"O-Okay." Nia took her things from Kara and watched as Kara opened the door for her. "I don't like leaving you alone like this."

"I'll be okay." Kara's voice shook as she spoke. "Alex will be back soon. I'll be fine."

Nia wanted to argue but Kara seemed so opposed to letting her stay that she relented, her shoulders slumping. "We're going to figure this out. We have to."

Kara nodded and watched as Nia walked out of her apartment. She didn't give Nia a chance to turn around before she closed the door behind her.

As soon as the latch clicked into place, Kara felt her knees weaken beneath her. She lowered herself to the floor, still clutching the door handle and finally let her tears flow, unhindered.

She wasn't ready. Alex wasn't ready. She still had so many things she needed to do. To make amends for.

-

Lena glanced up at the sound of a soft knock at her office door. Her brow furrowed for a moment before the door opened and Kara walked in.

Lena sighed and made a mental note to fire her new secretary. She got to her feet, closing her laptop. "Something I can help you with, Miss Danvers?"

"Sorry. I hope you don't mind me stopping by like this." Kara said as she walked toward Lena's desk.

A few months ago, Lena would have rushed to assure Kara that she could stop by whenever she wanted. That she always had time for the reporter. "I must admit, I am surprised to see you stop by like this." She gestured toward Kara's clothing. "I thought you were more partial to red and blue now."

"I didn't want to come over as Supergirl," Kara answered quietly. "I do need to ask you something though. For work."

"So that's why you're here." Lena was annoyed that she felt somewhat hurt by the revelation. She schooled her expression to not show it. "What is it I can help you with?"

"I was wondering if you could help me with something." Kara rested her hand on the back of the seat in front of her. She didn't want to sit down and she was sure Lena wouldn't appreciate the suggestion that she intended to stay for a prolonged time, but she needed to do something with her hands. "I was wondering if you know of anything that could make...something or someone disappear."

Lena stared at Kara for a long moment. "That's all? You don't have anything else for me to go off of?"

Kara nervously bit her lip. "It's um...like a red wave? And it wipes out everything in its path. Including people."

Lena briefly pursed her lips. "You're talking about anti-matter. Only a theory of course but...theoretically, anti-matter could destroy everything it comes into contact with. Without exception."

Kara's grip on the back of the chair tightened. "Is there any way to stop it? If it enters our universe?"

"There's no way that I know of." Lena frowned at the sound of a creak. "Supergirl, you're breaking my chair."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm so sorry." Kara quickly let go of the chair and stepped back. "I'll replace it. I'm sorry."

Lena nodded slowly, not entirely sure what to say. She was still furious with the Kryptonian. Still hurt beyond repair but something wasn't right. Kara could barely look at her. "Why did you need to know?"

"What?"

"About the anti-matter." Lena walked around her desk to sit on the edge of it. "Is something happening?"

"Maybe…" Kara replied faintly. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Sorry. I'm acting...weird, right? I'm just frazzled and it's been a long week. Sorry."

"Stop apologising."

"Right," Kara muttered, cursing her lack of focus. She almost regretted not coming in her suit. She could have used the confidence boost. She was silent for a minute, trying to think of what else to say. "Lena, listen. I'm really sorry. For everything."

Lena frowned. "I thought I told you t-"

"Stop apologising. I know." Kare interjected before Lena could finish. "I just needed you to know that I'm sorry. I'm never going to not be sorry for what I did to you. And our friendship. I betrayed you and everything our friendship stood for. I just hope that you'll be able to forgive me someday." She watched Lena look away and figured that was her cue to leave. She didn't want to push. She was surprised that Lena had allowed her to stay in her office for as long as she had. "I should be going. I'm…"

"You're keeping something from me," Lena interjected, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She noticed surprise flash across Kara's face. "You've lied to me enough that I know what it looks like now."

"I'm not lying to you. But there is something I need to tell you." Kara said reluctantly. "And I will. I just don't know how to say it yet. I don't know if I even want to say it. To you or anyone else."

"If that's the way you feel."

"I should go." Kara said quietly. She waited for an answering nod from Lena before she turned and walked back to the door she'd entered through. She paused with her hand on the door handle. "Lena?"

"Yes?"

"Me coming to see you is never just about work." Kara didn't look at Lena as she spoke. "I miss you."

Lena opened her mouth to reply but before she could say anything Kara was gone, shutting the door carefully behind her. Sighing, Lena pinched the bridge of her nose.

"A solution for anti-matter." She mumbled to herself, slowly lowering her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at her laptop. She'd been working non-stop for what felt like weeks, barely giving herself time to eat and sleep. She supposed a break to work on a new project wouldn't hurt.

TBC (probably - if you guys like it. Just experimenting here!) :)