A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews!

fyi, creative liberties have been taken with some of the science/medicine in this chapter.

"Kara's stabilized for the time being, but it's alarmingly temporarily and they had to use kryptonite to insert an IV and control her powers. We're going to need a solution fast. Here's everything I was able to find out."

Lena's opening Alex's door and thrusting papers into her hands before the woman's even stepped away from the wheel. "My initial observations weren't exactly correct, but here's what I know now: the bullet releases a synthesized bacteria—Lex couldn't figure out how to transfer the genome correctly and that's why it always failed, but one of Lillian's scientists discovered a frameshift mutation rendering the cell useless, and apparently the bastard corrected it, too."

Alex shifts out of the car and Maggie follows, falling in step with Lena as they get into the DEO, begin picking up their pace as they get closer to the med wing.

"So, I went through the reports and there's something—"

"Lena, wait." Alex pauses, reaches out from the woman's shoulder. She tilts her head down the hall. "Kara's this way."

"Oh, I wasn't—I don't think she wants to see me right now and there's still data to go through, I—"

"This way, Luthor," Alex bumps her this time, leaving no room for disagreement. "We're checking on Kara and then we're fixing this."

Lena lets Alex turn her by the shoulders and follows, Maggie smirks.

/

"Hey, Kar," Alex says softly, stroking blonde hair gently and easing herself onto the mattress beside Kara, taking advantage of the five minutes of privacy the doctors allowed Alex.

"Alex," Kara mumbles, eyelids parting just barely.

"Yeah, hi. How're you feeling?"

Her response is muffled by the hospital bed pillow as Kara turns, buries her face in the fabric with a cry, hand snaking around her abdomen again.

"Okay, so not good," Alex says and rubs Kara's back.

"A little better though," Kara mumbles as she shifts positions, turning into Alex's stomach and wrapping her arms around her sister's middle, pressing her head into Alex's side. Alex immediately receives her, pulling Kara closer. "You're still burning up," Alex says, tucking a strand of damp hair behind Kara's ear.

"Stomach hurts," Kara says, nestles closer to Alex. "And 'm so tired."

Alex hums sympathetically, runs a hand over Kara's side, lightly massages the parts of Kara's abdomen she can reach. "Maggie, can you grab me a wet washcloth?"

The detective nods, slipping around Lena where she stands, fidgeting as she watches the scene and guilt pangs in her chest.

"Maggie's 'ere?" Kara asks as Alex takes the towel, gently wipes Kara's forehead.

"Yep."

"Right here, Little Danvers," Maggie says, rubbing Kara's back. "You look a bit better."

"Yeah," Alex agrees, looks up at Lena. "Do you know how long the IV's been in?"

"Since she arrived, so approximately twenty minutes. They had to—"

"Wait, 's that Lena?" Kara slurs, trying to sit up and pull her eyes open against fatigue. She groans at the sudden movement and sinks back down.

"Yes," Maggie answers, helping Kara straighten. "And she's scared you're mad at her, because her mom shot you," she adds with a pretend whisper, sending her gaze at Lena.

Maggie's attempts to help Kara fail as the blonde sags against the detective's side, eyes dipping open and closed as she fights the fatigue tugging at her body like a weight. "Lena, your mom's an asshole, you're not," Kara murmurs. "She's evil," the blonde says, eyes shutting and words slowing. "But you're… you're perfect, Lena, and… and s-smart and good and… and…"

"Okay, what's she on?" Alex asks, putting an end to Kara's sleepy mumble as she passes out, half on top of Maggie. "She's looking a little better, but she sounds like she's a mess and she still feels sick."

"The IV just has fluids in it," Lena answers, "I was here when the doctors hooked her up."

"Maybe it's flushing out whatever the bullet brought in?" Maggie suggests.

Lena shakes her head. "That seems too easy, but they did have to use kryptonite as I mentioned early, a large amount at first, to put in the IV and to get control of her powers. Which means a decent portion is still running through her system, which could explain why she still doesn't feel well."

Alex nods, running her fingers through Kara's hair. "Maybe. We need to run more tests, check it out." She looks down at her sister. "I hate to leave Kara alone though. Maybe we can go over some of the files in here?"

Maggie shakes her head. "You two need a real lab so you can work as efficiently as possible. I'll stay with her. You guys go."

"Are you sure?"

Maggie nods, nudging Alex upward. "I don't trust this moment of calm. Go."

"Call me, for anything."

"I will. Now, go, I'm serious."

Alex squeezes her hand and presses a kiss to Kara's head. "Thank you," she tells Maggie then turns toward the door. "Come on, Luthor, Winn's going to meet us there."

/

"Hopeless. This is absolutely hopeless," Winn says four hours later, dropping his head into his hands in front of his computer screen. "All these files are encrypted."

Lena turns around. "What do you mean? We got through every set before."

"We're not getting through this time. It'll take days—weeks, even—to get into these documents. They're different."

"They're the most important ones, we need them!" Alex says. "If there's an antibiotic, it'll be there. Winn, I swear to god, we need those files, because none of these tests are coming back conclusive."

"What's wrong with the tests?" Lena asks.

"I can't ID this bacteria as even close to anything I've literally ever seen on this planet, I have no idea where parts of these genomes came from because what I'm seeing can't be right, some of these samples must have been contaminated, some look like they've been crossed with Kara's samples. It's a mess and I keep seeing Kryptonian cells and I'm trying again on this last petri dish but it's still got a minute or two and—" Alex's phone rings. "Shit, that's Maggie. Winn, can you pass me it."

"Hey," she answers.

"Alex, you need to get down here."

"What's wrong?" Alex asks, already out of the lab and racing down the hall, pulling away from the phone briefly to tell Lena and Winn where she's going.

"Kara's unconscious and they can't get her to wake up, she-"

Alex steps into the room and Maggie drops the call.

A flurry of doctors rush around the room. Machines howl and beep. "How did it happen?"

"I don't know, she seemed fine. I've been here the whole time."

"Kara," Alex turns toward her sister, leg shaking nervously as she stands near the bed. "Kara, come on."

The blonde's eyes part, she bolts up and screams. Her gaze is glossy and her whole body trembles.

"Fever's increasing!"

"Heart rate up!"

Alex bites her lip, bounces her leg harder.

The room spins and Kara's voice rings in her ears.

"Showing signs of hypercytokinemia!"

"We need to stop the hyperventilation!"

Kara collapses back down, curls into herself, choking on breath.

A stream of Kryptonese words breaks from her lips, in between sobs.

Alex pushes through doctors, grabs Kara's hand. "It's okay, Kara, it's okay. Just breathe. Just use your damn lungs, come on, Kara."

Frantic blue eyes fall on her own.

Keeping her fingers entwined and her gaze trained on her sister, Alex calls out. "Maggie, I thought you said she'd been doing fine earlier, getting better. What changed? Did they do anything different?"

The detective's eyes are wet. "She was, Alex, I swear. She's was doing so well, her system completely cleared the kryptonite twenty minutes ago and she was okay, she was sleeping and—"

Alex freezes. "Say that again."

She faces Maggie. Keeps her hand on Kara's always, always, always.

"She was sleeping?"

"No, no, no, Maggie, the kryptonite has been inside her this whole time?"

Maggie nods, looks to the lead doctors for confirmation. They nod, pausing.

Alex looks at Dr. Hamilton. "And she was looking better?"

"It's true."

The door is thrown open, clashes against the wall.

Lena and Winn come in, red faced and panting. Lena holds up a picture on her phone, taken through a microscope.

"The bacteria is photoautotrophic, in a weird, mutated way but for all current and necessary purposes we can consider it photoautotrophic," Lena says through a gasping breath. "I was wrong, the sunlamps weren't a catalyst for a reaction; they're how the bacteria were surviving."

"Holy shit," Alex looks between the pair and Kara, brushes back her sister's soaked hair, hand calm and cool against the thrashing body. "I know how to fix this."