A/N: Long time, no see! I hope everything is going well for you all. Since I had a tie between a couple of prompts on the most recent poll, instead of creating a new poll I'll write and post the prompts that were tied. After that, I'll update the poll and let you know. :) Feel free to keep sending in prompts and I'll save them for the new poll.
Also, to the guest who reviewed the last chapter - thank you so much, your prompt will be added when the poll gets updated. :)
Special thanks to BiaZor-El for today's prompt, When Kara blows her powers she has an allergic reaction to food and a very scared Alex has to save her.
I hope everyone enjoys the chapter and I'd love to hear your thoughts! As always, thanks for all your enthusiasm and support. I appreciate it. :)
"A bunch of us from the DEO are going to a New Year's Eve party tonight, you should come," Alex called as she let herself into Kara's apartment.
The blonde looked over from the couch, her head popping up from beneath a blanket. The fabric gathered around her shoulders and she peered up at Alex through mused, messy hair. "Huh?" she asked.
"Are you feeling okay?" Alex said, brows furrowed as she plopped beside Kara on the couch and extended a hand toward her forehead.
Kara wrinkled her nose and moved Alex's hand away. " 'm fine, just tired after yesterday's fight. I can't get sick, remember?"
Alex sighed and slumped against the couch. "I know you're not supposed to get sick, but I like to check because it has happened before," she said. "But… if you are feeling fine, you should go to the party with me." The brunette nudged her sister's leg and smiled expectantly at her.
"I'm tired," Kara groaned and turned back into the couch, shoving her face between the cushions.
"Come on, you've been spending too much time holed up in here. I'm worried about you, you have to live a little." Alex leaned over and tickled Kara's side. "You can't go all boring on me now."
Kara squirmed, limbs flailing and feet kicking as she grabbed a pillow and flung it at Alex, before the blonde slipped to the floor.
"Ow," she said dully, looking bored as she glared at Alex, who'd caught the pillow.
"Seriously?" the agent asked, blowing dark hair out of her face and extending a hand out to Kara. "Get up."
"You started it," Kara grumbled as she let Alex pull her back onto the couch. The blonde crammed her face into another pillow, snuggling into the fabric with a content sigh.
Alex rolled her eyes.
Kara couldn't explain the heaviness in her limbs or the weight that kept pulling her eyes closed as she burrowed beneath a blanket and felt warmth bundle her up. Somewhere in her head she had a gnawing notion that something was wrong, that maybe she'd pushed a little too hard the previous night and had blown her powers. She almost considered mentioning it to Alex, had barely parted her lips to speak before changing her mind. She was just so tired; she didn't want to worry Alex or summon the energy fend off her concern. So instead, Kara let her eyes close.
"Will you please go with me?"
Kara's voice was muffled by the couch when she replied. "You just want to go so you can see the cute guy from engineering that you've been eyeing all week."
Alex found her eyes rolling again. "You're annoying."
Kara smirked into her pillow.
"And you're wrong. I want to go because it'll be fun, and you need some fun."
"I do not."
"If you go we'll get ice cream later or something," Alex tried.
Kara pulled her head away from the pillow and sat up. "I'm an adult, I can get ice cream myself."
"True, but you know it's so much better when you go with someone else. So, are you in?"
With a groan, Kara threw herself back against the couch. "Fine, but you have to pick out something for me to wear, I'm not in the proper state to make decisions right now."
Alex patted Kara's thigh and stood up. "Sure thing."
/
"Alex, I don't know about this," Kara whispered as she tugged on the hem of her sapphire dress. "It reminds me of that time in high school you made me go to the party at Ashley's house with you and the skirt you told me to wear was at least three inches shorter than anything I'd ever seen before."
"You had fun," Alex said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "And you'll have fun now."
"We played spin the bottle and I had to kiss that crazy kid on the football team, the one that never showered after practice. Then, we played truth or dare and somehow I got stuck on the roof. By myself. It rained and I couldn't use my powers to come down. People forgot I was there. I got locked out."
"Still fun."
Kara shook her head. "Awful. My dress is too short."
"It's perfect."
"I'm hungry."
"Good. There will be food."
"I'm tired."
"You'll feel better, just loosen up a bit," Alex said as they entered the building and turned down the hall.
Kara sighed and Alex stopped walking, putting an arm on Kara's shoulder, the blonde wanted to lean into her sister's touch but forced herself to keep standing straight. "How about this?" Alex suggested, "We'll stay for an hour and if you still want to go home, we'll go together. Okay?"
"Okay," Kara repeated with a nod. Alex smiled at her, giving a small squeeze to her shoulder. "You'll be fine."
/
"Alex, something's wrong."
"Ugh, I know," Alex yelled over the music, emerging from the crowd of people and flashing lights. A thin sheen of sweat glimmered on her hairline and Kara dully noted the drink that looked suspiciously alcoholic in Alex's hand. "I saw you got stuck in an awkward conversation with that jerky guy from the labs. I would have come and saved you earlier but I got caught up with -
Kara shook her head, sharp enough that strands of blonde hair loosened from her braid. "No, it's not like that. I don't feel right."
"You're blood sugar's probably just low. Come on, let's go find something for you to eat." Alex placed her free hand on Kara's elbow and began leading her forward, navigating through the sea of people.
Kara stopped walking and shook her head again. With each passing second her chest was growing heavier, her breath shallow and her throat tight. "I feel like I can't breathe and my stomach hurts and everything feels itchy."
"Are you just trying to get out of this? Look, fifteen more minutes and then we'll go."
"No! Alex, it's not that," Kara said, tears burning in her widening eyes. "I can't breathe. I- Alex, I really don't feel good." She stumbled forward a bit, feeling dizzy as the room blurred in front of her. Voices and figures blended together, forming jumbled, moving spots of color and loud clatter that pounded in her ears.
Alex reached out, holding Kara up as the blonde slumped forward. The action sobered Alex and she pulled out her phone, quickly dialing the DEO and calling for an ambulance fitted specifically for Supergirl.
The brunette felt her heartrate rise as she moved Kara out of the room. Despite years of training in high stress situations, she found herself struggling to stay calm whenever Kara's safety was at stake.
"Hey, hey, Kara, it's going to be okay. You'll be okay. I've got you," Alex said as she lowered Kara to the ground in the empty lobby of the building, the younger Danvers wrapping her arms around her abdomen, body lurching as she coughed.
"I need you to tell me what feels bad so we can figure out what's wrong," Alex said, keeping her voice low and calm.
Kara nodded, panting as she cried and forced out the words to explain to Alex the sharp, stabbing pain in her stomach; the tightness of her skin; the pressure in her chest and her throat and the feeling that it was getting harder and harder to pull oxygen into her body.
Gently, Alex pressed a hand to Kara's cheek. "You're flush," she said softly. "And you're shaking."
"I feel cold," Kara said, leaning against Alex.
The brunette slipped off her coat and wrapped it around Kara, as the younger girl's shallow breath turned to hollow wheezing and she strained for air. Alex gently touched Kara's swollen, red face when it clicked.
"You're having an allergic reaction," Alex said suddenly and Kara's eyes widened. "No, it's okay. This is good, it means we know how to fix it. You're going to be just fine," Alex promised even though her hands were shaking and her skin was paling and her heart was racing; even though she knew how life threatening the situation could become if help didn't come quick.
"Kara," Alex said to her sister's hunched, gasping form. "I need to go back into the party and see if anyone has medicine, okay? The ambulance will be here soon, but maybe we can fix this now."
Kara feverishly shook her head, more hair escaping her braid as tears dripped from her cheeks to her chin before splattering against the tiled floor. Her chest was heaving, bile rising in her swelling throat. With a shaking limb, she reached out for Alex and grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly despite the havoc wracking her body.
Alex returned the squeeze and knelt in front of her sister. "I have to go. As soon as you get some medicine into you, you're going to feel so much better, just hang on a little longer. I know you can do it."
"No, don't go, don't go," Kara whispered between sobs and quivering, high pitched gasps as Alex stood up.
The agent had to peel Kara's fingers from her hand to release the younger girl. "I'll be right back," Alex promised, her heart breaking at Kara's whimpers. Alex didn't want to abandon her fraught sister, not on the cold lobby floor of a party she hadn't even wanted to go to; not here, not now, not anywhere.
"You'll be okay, Kar, I know you will. I'll be back before you know it, just do your best to keep breathing." Alex pressed a kiss to Kara's hair and the blonde watched through spotty, fading vision as her sister disappeared down the hall, shoes squeaking against the tile.
It took less than three minutes, less than one hundred eighty seconds, for Alex's yelling for EpiPen to get it placed in her hand by a stranger, to whom Alex called her thanks as she sped back to the lobby, bumping both people and furniture as she ran. In the same time, the hurt radiating through Kara's body had doubled, tripled, quadrupled until everything was hot with pain and her breath was a thin, strangled gulp for air. Distantly she heard Alex's voice growing closer, growing louder; but everything hurt and she just—she couldn't breathe and she couldn't think as the lights in the room dimmed and black flooded her vision. Her consciousness was fleeting and then her consciousness was gone.
A dull noise resonated through the room as Alex dropped to her knees beside Kara and pressed the needle into Kara's thigh.
The blonde's eyes slowly opened, peering at Alex through swollen, red skin. Kara sought out her sister's gaze and clung to it. She wheezed slightly and made a move to get closer to Alex. The older sister took Kara's hand. "You're going to be okay now."
"Alex, I'm scared," Kara rasped and hiccupped between cries.
"Oh, I know," Alex said and stroked Kara's hair, pulling the blonde into her lap. Kara curled against her big sister and tangled her shaking fingers in Alex's dark hair as the burning tightness that had flooded her body began to ebb away. "But you don't have to be anymore," Alex continued, rubbing circles on the back of her trembling, weakened sister. "I gave you some medicine that's going to help you feel better really fast and then we'll get in the ambulance and they'll give you more medicine and we'll arrive at the DEO and you'll be good as new."
Kara nodded and her throat loosened. She sucked in a series of deep breaths and nestled closer to Alex, feeling shakier and more vulnerable than she had in years. Alex wrapped her arms around her sister, hugging her securely, firmly as they slowly rocked. Tears dripped onto Kara as Alex held her close and tucked her head into Kara's hair. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, breath warm against Kara in their close proximity. "I'm so sorry, Kar, I should have listened to you, I should have paid more attention – you blew your powers and I didn't even notice, I shouldn't have made you come."
In the distance sirens rang closer, music seeped into the lobby, a dog barked outside. Kara pressed more tightly against Alex and shook her head. "Not your fault," she muttered sleepily. "But I'd forgive you anyway."
Alex closed her eyes, feeling the soft, consistent presence of Kara's warmth. "I need to be a better big sister for you," Alex said. "I promise I'll try to be better."
"Impossible. You're already the best."
Alex shook her head, she didn't have words to tell Kara how grateful and how sorry she was. She didn't know how to describe the worry, the panic, that'd prickled through her body as she'd watched Kara stumble and fall and struggle to breathe. With words, she couldn't convey the guilt, heavy in her stomach. So instead, she told Kara over and over again how much she loved her as the DEO medics arrived, and she held her sister's hand until long after the sun had finally slipped back into the sky.