A/N: Hello! Now that exams are done, I'm free to write more for a little while. :) Thank you so much for all you guys do. The poll has been updated so head over and vote if you'd like.
Also, I made a twitter today, like literally an hour ago or something. My handle is super_q13 - which is subject to change, but I'll put my username up on my profile here in case I become indecisive. So, if you want to follow me there it'll be a good way for me to update you on chapter progress, prompts, polls, etc. Plus, we can talk about Supergirl and stuff, which I'm always game for.
P.S. To the guest who reviewed requesting Kara/Alex pairing, I only write them as sisters-sorry!
Lastly, special thanks to the guest who submitted today's prompt of Kara getting tortured at CADMUS and Alex taking care of her. And, thank you to the super sweet guests who reviewed last chapter. Btw, I threw Maggie into this update, because I love her. So yeah, she's kind of in this one a lot.
Okay, okay, I'm finally done.
"I'm taking the right corridor, Sawyer you go left," Alex whispers as they turn a corner in the dark building, gunfire is white noise and the corruption of CADMUS is its backdrop. After three months the DEO received a solid lead on Kara's disappearance and the location finds them racing through halls, shoes screeching across the floor as they take advantage of the chaos to look for Kara. Alex leads a tactical team and after pleading with J'onn, he'd allowed Maggie to come too, tagging along with Alex's partner team.
In the earlier months, before Kara was drugged and kidnapped, Maggie had grown close to the blonde between shared movie nights with both Danvers and friendly conversations and ice cream. Just the day before Kara's disappearance, Maggie had stolen the confession from Alex's mouth that Kara was Supergirl. Now, as she watches the darkness swallow Alex and her team around the corner, Maggie's heart thunders in her chest as her feet pound against the tile and she takes off. "Come on, Kara," she mutters as she kicks in doors and sends ammo flying. "We've got to find you."
Kara sinks against the corner of a dark room, presses her aching, bleeding body against the metal at the sound of footsteps that reverberate through the hall and doors slamming and gunfire. The frigid temperature sends shivers ripping through her body and despite her attempts to stay quiet a whimper escapes her lips. She curls a hand around her stomach, just minutes prior three CADMUS agents had shoved liquid green kryptonite down her throat until she swallowed and refilled the I.V. injecting more of the substance directly into her bloodstream.
She presses her head against the wall and opens her eyes. Everything is dark and it sends panic like ice through her veins. She can feel the ever present Kryptonite built into the walls, she should be able to see it. She should be able to see slivers of light seeping in from beneath the door, but instead everything is black.
She can't see but she hears the footsteps grow closer, the yelling pounds in her ears and then the door flies open and still, her vision is a field of total darkness.
"Kara," a voice says and the blonde recoils.
"Clear!" another voice yells. "You got this?" an agent asks Maggie and she nods.
"Good," the male voice says. "You get her out as quickly as possible, we have to keep moving."
Everything is so loud and cluttered, it's dizzying. Kara tries to push herself further against the wall and her injuries scream in response.
She hears soft footsteps approach and halt in front of her. "Hey, Kara. We're going to get you out of here, okay?" The voice is warm but the blonde is silent. This would not be the first time they faked a rescue and it's all more confusing now that her sight has been torn from her senses.
"We have to move really fast. This might hurt a little; I'm so sorry." Maggie pulls the I.V. from Kara's arm with as much tenderness as she can muster. The detective pauses at the sight of handcuffs imprisoning Kara's wrists and the raw, red skin beneath them.
She takes a deep breath to resettle herself. Another agent cuts the metal off before rushing to hold off the CADMUS agents storming toward the room.
"All right, there we go," Maggie says and hoists Kara up, the blonde moans in protest and a sharp whimper follows.
"I know," Maggie attempts to sooth as she adjusts Kara's arm over her shoulder and quickens their pace. "I'm sorry. If there were any other way to do this I would, but we have to get you out now."
Another groan parts Kara's lips, Maggie can feel Supergirl's muscles tighten and tense against her own body. They're so close that she shares in every shiver and shake. Their escape begins with Kara fighting each step, flailing and thrashing against Maggie, but her attempts are weak and soon she becomes so consumed with focusing on staying on her feet and struggling against the kryptonite in her system that Kara is forced to comply and lean against Maggie.
When Kara finally relents, the detective wonders how much the youngest Danvers is really processing, between the soft murmurs, swaying steps, and distant, unfocused glances, it doesn't appear to be much.
"We're almost there," Maggie mutters as Kara's shaking grows more violent. The black filling her vision makes every step a risk, a battle. She wants to believe that this is freedom, but she can't. It's already difficult enough to balance the woman against her side, and the added movement of Kara's sudden trembling causes Maggie's foot to catch on debris scattering the floor. She stumbles for a moment before correcting herself, but the harsh movement jerks Kara's body and she snaps her eyes shut, straining to pull deep breathes through her lungs.
"Come on, just a few more steps," Maggie pleads to the sound of gunshots ringing out in the background, growing closer.
Maggie shakes her head and stops, giving Kara a moment to steady herself. Something's wrong with Kara, Maggie thinks as she steers her gaze toward the younger woman's flushed face. Her eyes are dropping closed, her breaths short pants that burn through her chest; it's already such a stark contrast to the fight the blonde was putting up just minutes ago.
Maggie sends a glance behind her at the chaos erupting in the other hall. They have no other choice. There's no way she's letting Little Danvers lose it here, not when they're so close. "The exit is just around the corner."
The door comes into view just as Maggie feels the muscles of Kara's stomach tighten sharply against her side. The blonde heaves, vomiting as Maggie nearly carries her through the door. Sunlight slaps against their faces as they spill into the parking lot. It's just the two of them, the rest of the tactical team, behind in the building.
Worry fills Maggie and she gently deposits Kara into a sitting position on the asphalt. She didn't even know Kara could get sick.
Kara leans forward, crouching on her knees and palms as her stomach lurches, expelling bile. Maggie puts a hand on Kara's back as it shakes, and she can't miss the way Kara flinches when the touch is first initiated. "It's okay, you're okay," Maggie comforts, rubbing circles across Kara's back and gathering the blonde's hair behind her. God, where is Alex? She thinks that this is something Alex would do, so she continues.
Kara throws up again and spits, shoulders heaving and limbs shaking beneath her frail and battered frame. She trembles some more until falling back, so she's pressed against the pavement and gravel cuts into her legs.
Maggie presses the back of her hand against Kara's forehead, heat radiates against the detective's skin. "Alex is on her way, she'll be here soon."
Kara swallows hard, she wishes she could see who's touching her. In all the fake rescues, they'd never been able to stimulate Alex, it never worked and then, days later they told Kara her sister was dead and it felt like nothing else mattered anymore.
A medical team pulls up and doctor's rush out, gathering around Kara. It's too loud, it's too much under the touch of foreign hands and darkness that she can't break through. She needs to see, she needs something to hang on to.
It's all overwhelming. The noises and touches in her head. Her chest constricts, her throat tightens. With her weak limbs she hits and squirms, with a raw, painful voice she screams.
"Kara!" someone yells and she hears footsteps racing toward her. Alex sprints out of the building, pushing her way between doctors and collapsing onto her knees in front of her sister. The familiar timbre steals Kara's voice from her throat, she freezes.
"Alex," she whispers a beat later.
"Yeah, it's me. I'm right here." Alex responds and Kara's tries to look toward her sister's voice. She reaches out, feels with her fingers Alex's cheeks, her nose, her lips. She is real.
Kara lets out a sob, the medical team around them is still, Maggie watches from the side.
"Kara, you're safe now. It's okay. I've got you," she says softly to her sister's unresponsive whimper. Alex tugs Kara against her, gently takes her in her arms. She moves her fingers to check the pulse on Kara's wrist. "They told me you were dead," Kara cries and bunches her fingers around Alex's shirt. "They said they shot you, that you weren't ever coming to get me."
"They were wrong," Alex says and takes Kara's face in her hands, brushes her fingers across pale cheeks. "I'm right here. I'm alive."
"But, Alex," Kara whispers as she's pressed up against her sister's shoulder. "Alex, I can't see."
"You can't see?" Alex asks, brushes matted, bloody hair from Kara's feverish forehead.
"No," Kara shakes her head, but it makes the pounding worse and she feels like she might be sick again, so she stills. Somehow she's feeling considerably worse. "Everything is black. I—I can't… how do I know? How do I know this is really really you? I have to be sure. I have to know. I-"
Alex curls her hand around Kara's, silencing the blonde, and pulls it toward her chest. "You know this heartbeat," she says and moves Kara's fingers to brush a scar on her sister's hand, "and you know I got this scar climbing trees." Alex pauses for a moment then runs Kara's hand over her pinky finger, "and you know that this bone never healed correctly after I broke it playing flag football, so it feels crooked." She gently pushes Kara's hand against her brown hair. "And you know the length of my hair and you know the earrings that I wear, and the watch I always have on." She moves Kara's hand.
The blonde's breathing stills just a bit. Alex let's go and runs her fingers over her sister's hair. "You know me."
Kara nods and she's about to speak, has words posed on her lips, when her eyes drop closed and she falls limp against Alex.
/
Kara's eyes part in dim gold light, illuminating the room. It's the first time in so long that she doesn't have to recoil at brightness or blink her way through the dark. It's the first time in hours that images begin to form before her again. The whiteness of the room exists as a blur in her vision, but there's something about the sterile walls and beeping and medical equipment glinting light that makes her breath catch, lodges a sob painfully in her throat.
Her eyes shift around but it's all fuzzy so she squeezes them shut and can feel her heart begin to thump faster and faster. The machines get louder, the noises quicker so they vibrate in her ear.
They have never taken her here before. She wonders what they will do.
She can feel her throat getting tight, her breaths gasp, her limbs jittery. Oh Rao, she can't go through this again. She can't. She doesn't want to die here, doesn't want to leave earth without saying goodbye first. She—
"Kara," a voice seeps into her thoughts. She hasn't been called Kara in so long. There's a bit of muffled words and ruffling as Maggie gently shakes Alex awake.
"Kara," comes another voice, sleepy and familiar-one that Kara will always know.
She lets her eyes open and in the place where darkness and hazy images once stood are Alex and Maggie, leaning over her with concern etched across their features. It all comes back to her, the rescue, sitting in the street and grasping Alex. This is real. She is safe. She can see, and she's seeing her sister. Between the floods of relief, a sob heaves its way through her lungs and cracks her lips apart.
"Alex," she murmurs through the water streaking her checks. She extends a broken little arm out to her big sister and when Alex leans in to hug Kara, everything just snaps. In reality's harsh illumination everything shifts back into place, Kara can feel it in her heart and chest as she clutches Alex.
"I love you, I love you," Kara mutters between her cries into Alex's hair. "I love you."
"Shh," Alex says soothingly and runs her hand over Kara's back, keeping her close in the firm embrace. Kara thinks she could stay there like that forever. "I love you, too."
"Sorry," Kara says and her words are watery and jumbled, "I'm sorry. I missed you so much." Everything's a rush of whispered syllables between sobs and gasps for air.
"Kara, you don't have to apologize," Alex says, pulling Kara's trembling body impossibly closer. The blonde tucks her head against Alex's shoulder, so her vision is filled by the grey fabric of her sister's sweater. "You didn't do anything wrong." The brunette rocks slowly in the hospital bed with Kara held tight in her arms.
"I can see again," Kara says, nuzzling her nose against Alex's sweater.
"Yeah I bet you can. You're body was overwhelmed with green kryptonite. CADMUS liquefied it. The doctors here had to pump your stomach to get out what they could, and the rest will just take time to go away," Alex runs her hand up and down Kara's back. "You were pretty beat up. Got a lot of broken bones and stitches."
Kara mumbles something incoherent and grips Alex tighter. Over the blonde's shoulder Alex catches Maggie's gaze.
"I'll go," the detective mouths quietly, motioning toward the door.
"Thank you for everything," Alex whispers back.
On her way out Maggie puts a warm hand of Alex's shoulder, leans to whisper in her ear. "Let Kara know I hope she feels better, and that I'm glad we have her back."
Kara lifts her head from the safety of Alex's shoulder, she blinks up at Maggie. The blonde's hair is mused and messy, her eyes watery and cheeks red. "Wait," she says quietly, makes an attempt at straightening up. It tugs something in her abdomen and she flinches back. "You helped me. You got me out of there. I remember."
Maggie shrugs and gives a smile.
"Thank you," Kara says, her blue eyes earnest and her voice the steadiest since her return.
"You being back here is more than enough thanks, Kara."
Blush colors Kara's cheeks before a yawn takes over. Maggie and Alex both laugh. "Get some rest, Kara, and hang in there. I'll see you girls later."
Maggie gives Kara's hand a squeeze and kisses Alex's cheek before she disappears through the door and it's just the two Danvers sisters and four walls and the steadying thump, thump, thump, of Kara's heart.
There's so much Alex wants to say but all she can do is hold Kara against her and synchronize their breaths as she whispers over and over again "I'm here, I'm here, I'm here" while Kara curls close against her.
Minutes pass and Alex falls to silence as Kara's muscles finally ease and her tears still. She pulls away from Alex just enough to look up at her face through puffy, red-rimmed eyes. "What time is it?" she asks.
"11:33" Alex answers as she glances down at her watch.
"At night?"
"At night," Alex confirms with a nod and tucks a strand of hair behind Kara's ear.
"Can we go look at the stars?" she asks, sniffling.
"I don't know," Alex hesitates. "You're pretty banged up, Kar. I don't want you to hurt yourself or be in any more pain than you already are."
"Alex, it's been so long since I've been able to see them."
"I'll get a nurse to grab you a wheelchair."
Ten minutes later they're perched on the DEO rooftop out in the desert, where there's no light pollution or grating sounds, just stars and planets and the soft hum of the earth. Short inches of concrete stretch between their hips and silence quivers in the late night air.
Instead of watching the stars, Alex glances at her sister, studying each stitch and bruise exposed by her thin hospital gown in the soft moonlight.
"Alex?" Kara murmurs quietly, pulling Alex's gaze some moments later.
"Hmm?" Alex hums, switching her gaze from the bandages on Kara's broken ankle to her sister's face.
The blonde looks down, runs her fingers around the hem of her hospital gown. "Thank you for coming and bringing me home, I-" she breaks off into a sigh and blinks away the tears that burn in her eyes. "I was so scared," she admits and her voice is barely a tremble in the air. "I didn't think I was going to see the sun again, or the stars, but what really killed me was thinking I was never going to see you again and I can't, I couldn't- "
"Kara," Alex says and wraps a hand around her sister's fidgeting, shaking fingers. "I am always going to do all that I can to be here to bring you home and I swear to you, I will always, always fight for you with everything I have in me, okay?"
Kara nods with stars reflecting in her watery eyes. "Thank you."
Alex brushes her cheek. "You're shivering," the agent says.
Kara continues to gaze out into the night sky. "Just a little longer," she says and pulls her knees to her chest. "I'm not ready to let go just yet. It's quiet up here, it's...safe."
"Okay," Alex says. Kara slides over, and snuggles into Alex's side.
"Maggie's nice. I like her," Kara says.
"Me too," Alex responds, pulling a small laugh from her sister.
"Can we go home tomorrow?"
Alex nods. "I think so."
"Good," Kara responds and rests her head on Alex's shoulder. "Because there's nowhere I'd rather be right now."
Alex wraps her arm around Kara. "There's nowhere I'd rather have you be either."