A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and awesome prompts- keep sending them in :) If I get enough, I'll put a poll up on my profile page so you guys can vote on which prompt you want me to write next.

This one was inspired by KillMeToday's prompt, Alex gets shot for saving a kid and Kara takes care of her, combined with the usual fluffiness.

Thanks so much for the prompt!

I hope you all enjoy, and I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

The details weren't clear in Kara's head, when she thought back to the moment, as she paced the hospital waiting room, feeling weaker and worse than she ever had, even in the presence of green kryptonite and homicidal aliens.

All she could recall were bullets and chaos and blood. So much blood. Quantities of blood like she'd never seen.

There was a child, a small boy, no older than seven years old, with sandy blond hair and big brown eyes. Kara wasn't sure how he'd ended up as a hostage, and after everything that went down she hadn't bothered to ask. He was trapped amidst all the gunfire and thoughtless violence; some mindless act driven by fear and desperation.

Kara and Alex had been out together, walking back to Kara's apartment after a late dinner when the commotion started – sharp pops and bangs from inside the abandoned warehouse – both girls had rushed to investigate, to help in any why they could. God, it hadn't even been Alex's mission. It had nothing to do with the DEO.

A bullet had barreled in the child's direction just seconds after Alex had spotted him. Kara, on the outside of the room, occupied with one of the criminals, didn't see it happen, didn't know until it was too late. But she had come to realize that Alex did what she always did. She sacrificed herself to keep someone else safe.

It wasn't fair to wish that Alex hadn't done it, because the kid had been saved, he and his family returned safely home, as she learned later. But dammit, by the time Kara reached Alex, the brunette was already bleeding out and Kara had no idea what to do.

"Alex," Kara screamed as she traversed the room. The concentration of so many feelings all fizzing and swirling inside her pushed her powers, their potency escalating as her control diminished, and within seconds every criminal in her radius was knocked to the ground and rendered unconscious.

Even knowing how awful they would feel when they woke, Kara knew it wasn't close to the ache of worry burning in her stomach.

She closed the final steps before collapsing beside Alex, sinking to her knees. The room had emptied, with the criminals unconscious and the family held hostage, fleeing onto the street, given instructions to call an ambulance and wait on the sidewalk until they arrived.

"I'm okay," Alex said, through labored breathing and a winded voice. Her hands were pressed against her abdomen. Kara would never forget the sight of thick, crimson blood oozing between her sister's fingers, sliding across her hand and dripping to the floor.

"Alex, you were shot," Kara said and her words were made heavy by the lump in her throat.

"Not that bad, just need to s-stop the bleeding," her sister replied in a strained timbre, trying to move off the ground. "Don't try to fly me to the hospital, I don't k-know where the bullet is and if I move wrong, I m-might mess something up. You need to change, I'm sure c-cops are on their way. If they see you with me as Supergirl they'll- they'll know. The family saw Kara w-walk in, they need to see her walk out… think Supergirl was someone else"

Kara didn't want to leave Alex's side, not for one instant, but she knew her sister was right. She changed with super speed, returning to Alex in under two seconds.

As Alex attempted to ease herself into a sitting position a hiss escaped her lips and a grimace contorted her features. Her arms wobbled from beneath her and she buckled, her head slamming against the concrete as she met the ground.

"Alex," Kara yelled and slid closer, pulling her sister's head into her lap.

Alex squeezed her eyes shut, blood had saturated her shirt, blossoming exponentially across the fabric. She reached blindly for Kara's hand and Kara wrapped her fingers around her sister's, clenching tightly and willing herself to just do something. Anything that would help Alex survive.

"Alex, I need to try to slow the bleeding, okay?"

Kara pulled off the cardigan she'd been wearing and tried to drown out Alex's gasp of pain as Kara pushed the material against her sister's wound. All Kara could do was whisper "I'm sorry," over and over again, the words looping from her lips as Alex writhed.

After a few seconds, Kara felt Alex's weight grow heavier in her lap, her sister's limbs were going limp, her skin paling, her breathing fading and her words were so soft Kara could barely make them out, even with her super hearing. "I love you," Alex was saying. "I love you so much, Kara."

Kara felt like she were dying. She felt like she were the one on the cold concrete floor, bleeding out and gasping for air. She felt Alex slipping away like water between her fingers and she felt like Earth was splintering right beneath her feet. "No, no, don't you dare leave me, Alex. You cannot let go. You can't, you can't, you can't."

"I'm sorry," Alex said in a shaky, breathy voice. "I should have been better, I should have done more for you, 'specially when you first got here…"

"No, Alex you were perfect. You are so perfect. You're the best sister I could ever have. You're not going to die. You're not."

"Do you love me?"

Kara nodded feverishly. "More than anything in the galaxy."

"Then don't lie to me and don't lie to yourself, Kar. We both know how this could end."

"No." Kara shook her head, tears pouring down her face as she pushed the fabric against Alex's abdomen, wishing there was a way to do it without inflicting so much pain.

A sharp gasp sliced the air and Alex bit her lip. "T-tell Mom I love her, okay? Promise you'll be there for her."

"I promise, Alex. I promise," Kara said, sincerity and agony carving out her words.

"And take care of yourself too, Supergirl. Don't miss me too much. You gotta keep living. For both of us."

"You can't say that," Kara cried. "You're not going anywhere. I- I won't let you."

Alex smiled sadly, her eyes closing as she fought to remain conscious.

"Alex," Kara began, softly, whispering between hiccups. "Did you- did you know, that you're my favorite superhero?"

"Not a hero," Alex mumbled, her words smearing together, like the blood that seemed to drench everything, and her breathing was a mess, shallow and ragged and Kara was begging the world to just let her live. Give her more air; give her more time.

"Yes you are," Kara said. "The best one. Alex, you're exactly the person I wanted to be when I grew up. You're the bravest hero and the strongest one and the-"

Kara stopped, her words lost in a howl of sirens and the sound of footsteps pounding through the doorway.

"Help!" Kara called, her voice hoarse as a flurry of EMTs rushed in, surrounding the pair. When Kara looked back down, Alex's eyes were closed, her body was entirely limp.

The next pieces were a blur. She remembered Alex being pulled away from her. She remembered screaming her throat raw and the way Alex's blood had stood out, stark against the white of the ambulance as they tore through the streets. Kara remembered doctor's asking her if she was okay and she couldn't conjure the words to say it, so she just nodded as more tears gathered and fell and speckled the hospital's tiled floor.

Outside the surgical unit, in the corner of a small, empty waiting room, Kara backed into a wall, sliding until she felt the ground and curled into herself; knees pulled to her chest, head bowed downward as she sobbed. What kind of hero was she, Kara questioned, if she couldn't even save her own sister?

She had one damn job, and she could never manage to do it right when it came to the people she loved. Her mom, her dad, the people of Krypton, Kal-El, now Alex and Eliza and Hank…. She repeated the names in her head; the list of people she'd let down. Two planets and two paths of destruction.

Kara reached up to wipe at a tear, pausing with quivering, trembling hands as she caught sight of the crimson that stained her skin. Slowly, she looked down, to realize that her shirt was drenched in the same hue. She sat like that, petrified, gaze torn between her fingers and the fabric all bathed in red, for nearly an hour, until Hank arrived and found her in that very position.

"Kara," he said quietly, the sterile, white doors still swinging behind him as he knelt in front of her.

She didn't react to her name, didn't register his presence until he reached out, took her blood-caked hands in his, soft and warm. "Come on. Let's get cleaned up."

It took a second, but Kara finally nodded, her gaze still far as he helped ease her into a standing position.

He washed her hands under water until she sniffled and took a hard, deep breath and managed to take over for herself. Hank leaned against the wall, watching her with concern.

"She's – she's in surgery right now," Kara said, still rubbing furiously at her hands.

Hank nodded. "I know."

"How'd you find out about what happened?"

"You called me," he said calmly.

She swallowed hard and vaguely pieces together a memory of trying to dial someone's number, but struggling because her hands were shaking so badly.

Hank watched as Kara continued scrubbing her hands, her skin pink and raw. He turned the faucet off. "They're all clean. No more blood."

"Here, go change," he said, producing a bag of spare clothing Alex had left at the DEO. Kara hadn't noticed he'd been carrying it until now. "I figured you might need this.'

"Thank you," she choked out, noting, with a pang in her chest, that this probably wasn't the first time he'd done something like this.

She emerged from the stall a moment later, clad in a black leggings and an oversized crew neck sweatshirt she recognized from a trip she and Alex had taken, years ago. It was worn and faded, but its scent and feeling reminded Kara of Alex, the softness and familiarity, and the washed-out blue of its fabric had always been Alex's favorite color.

"I need- I need to call, Eliza, too" Kara said, looking up at Hank and already dreading having to break the news to Alex's mom.

Hank nodded. "Let me take that," he said, holding the bag of clothes for her. "I can go grab us coffee and meet you back in the waiting room, if you want?"

"Okay," Kara replied with a small nod. "Thanks," she said, her voice quiet.

He rubbed her arm gently. "It's the least I can do. You hang in there."

Kara stood, still staring down at her phone seconds after the door had closed, fearing that the conversation was so heavy it would break her all over again.

Before she could back out, Kara dialed the number and closed her eyes. She paced the length of the room five times before Eliza's voice came through the line.

"Eliza?" Kara asked quietly.

"Kara, is everything okay?"

Kara felt herself shaking again. "No," she said, pausing to gain some composure. "Alex is h-hurt. She got shot."

It was silence hung in the air, taunt and heavy. Until, at last, Eliza broke it. "Is she going to make it?" she asked and her voice was tight, cracking.

"I don't know," Kara cried into the phone. "They wouldn't tell me, no one would t-tell me anything. They t-took her into surgery as soon as we got here."

"I'm taking the first flight over. I'll be there as soon as I can… I"

"She wanted me to tell you that she loves you, in – in case she doesn't get to s-say it herself." Kara brought a loose fist up to her eyes, rubbing her tears away and she heard Eliza's breaths turn to cries over the phone.

When she spoke again her voice was soft. "Kara," she said. "I love you. And I love Alex. I'm on my way to the airport now."

Kara leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Eliza said sincerely, before they exchanged their goodbyes and Kara was left in silence again. She moved out of the bathroom, her legs feeling weak and tired as she collapsed into a chair in the waiting room - waiting for Hank, waiting for Eliza, waiting for the doctors, and waiting, mostly, for Alex to pull through.

A few minutes passed before Hank had placed a warm cup in her hands and sat beside her. Together, in silence, they waited, and Kara's mind wandered. As a teenager, outside of school, Alex had been a little bit rough and tumble. Bold and brave and fiercely competitive with a love for contest, had landed Alex a few hospital visits, usually a result of sports injuries or adventures gone wrong.

Kara was drawn to a specific incident. She'd only been living with the Danvers for one, maybe two years, when Alex had sustained a head injury in a rough collision during a soccer game. She'd played through the game and when it was over begged Kara, who'd been cheering from the sidelines of the high school field, not to tell Eliza or Jerimiah. Kara had agreed, unknowing of the severity of the injury and eager to make Alex happy, despite the guilt she had felt knotting in her stomach for keeping something from her foster parents.

Late that night, she'd heard Alex crying, and stumbled sleepily into Alex's room as her sister asked her to get Eliza. Kara remembered tailing her foster mom and Alex to the hospital, staying as close to them as she could. She had been afraid of getting in the way, but even more afraid of being alone and leaving Alex. What stood out most, though, was remembering the heartbreak on Alex's face when her mom talked with the doctor, and after diagnosing Alex with a severe concussion, determining that it was unsafe for her to continue playing.

Kara would never forget the helplessness she'd felt, tugging inside her, as Alex seemed to wander around for days looking lost and unsure of herself.

Now, that same helplessness had settled inside Kara and it was even worse than she'd remembered, weighty and biting and magnified by the gravity of the situation.

Footsteps echoed down the hall as the door to the waiting room opened and a doctor entered. "Family of Alex Danvers?" he asked.

Kara's head snapped up. "Over here," she said, standing up with Hank beside her. "I'm her sister."

"The surgery was successful," the woman announced with a warm smile and Kara felt a smile splitting across her own face.

"She's going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded. "I'm confident she'll heal completely. Your sister suffered some blood loss, but the bullet missed everything vital and we were able to remove it without complications."

Kara shuffled anxiously and pressed her chin against her tangled fingers. "When can we see her?"

"Soon. She's in the PACU unit being monitored by a recovery nurse. When your sister wakes up you'll be alerted and taken back to see her. She'll likely be tired and may experience some nausea, but she'll be okay. I'd say with the way things have been going, she should be awake in about an hour."

"All right," Kara said with a nod, thanking the doctor.

She turned to Hank as soon as they were alone. "I need to call, Eliza," she said, this time with a smile tugging at her lips.

Kara wandered into the halls, returning a few minutes later. "She was five minutes away from boarding," Kara told Hank when she got back. "She's on her way now."

"And Alex! She's gonna be okay. She's okay!" Kara said, jumping around Hank. He laughed quietly and smiled, glad to see their usual Kara was back. He was afraid to imagine what would have happened if things had turned out differently. He knew that same fear would come back over Kara once her initial outpour of relief passed, but for now, Kara's relief was infectious.

"Family of Alex Danvers?" A nurse called into the room, about an hour later, after Kara had paced relentlessly, unable to keep still.

"Here," Kara said as the nurse approached.

The woman smiled and glanced at her clipboard. "Are you Kara?"

The blonde nodded.

"Your sister just woke up a minute ago and she's already asking for you."

Kara smiled. "So we can go back now?"

The nurse gave them a sympathetic look. "Hospital policy only allows us to permit one visitor at a time so soon after surgery."

Hank looked at Kara. "You go. I'll check in with you both tomorrow. Let Alex know I'm glad she's okay."

Kara nodded. "Thank you… for everything."

He patted her on the shoulder. "I'll see you two later."

After goodbyes and exchanging the bag of Kara's old clothes and an extra pair for Alex, Hank left and the nurse led Kara into Alex's room. Following a small verbal set of rules, the nurse opened the door to Alex's room and left the sister's alone.

"Hey," Kara said softly.

"Hey," Alex parroted, looking small beneath the white hospital sheets. Her hair was a bit of a mess, her eyes tired but there was a small smile on her lips and there was air filling her lungs and her heart was still beating and that, to Kara, was the most beautiful thing she could imagine.

Her sister was alive. Her Alex was alive.

Tears filled Kara's eyes and poured over, spilling down her cheeks to the tip of her jaw.

"Oh, Kara, come 'ere," Alex said, pulling a hand out from under the sheets and stretching it toward her sister.

Kara was by Alex's side in an instant. She filled the bedside seat, relishing in the feeling of Alex's arm around her and doing her best to burrow against Alex's neck without hurting her.

"Sorry," Kara wheezed, her voice muffled.

Alex squeezed her tighter. "Nothing to be sorry about."

"I was so scared, Alex. I was so scared I thought you were going to die."

"Shh, I know, I know." Alex brushed away Kara's tears before wiping at her own. "I was scared, too," Alex admitted and Kara pulled back to look at her sister. She brushed Alex's hair behind her ear and took Alex's face into her hands.

"I'm so happy you're okay. I don't know what I would do without you."

Alex smiled and it changed the path of the salty tears pooling from her eyes and clinging to her lashes. "Back at ya, Sister."

Kara laughed and Alex tried not to, because she didn't want to hurt her side, so she just smiled at Kara. "I love you," she said, her voice heavy with exhaustion.

"I love you, too," Kara said and fixed the sheets around Alex before gently stroking her sister's hair. "Go back to sleep," she instructed softly. "I'll be right here when you wake up."

Alex nodded, leaning into Kara's touch and whispering sweet murmurs, with painkiller and fatigue influenced candor, about how lucky and happy she was to be alive.