A/N: Between your votes here and on AO3, Maggie won, so she's paired with Alex.

As always, thanks for all your enthusiasm. I hope you enjoy this chapter!


The thud of the door closing echoed in Kara's head, she groaned and slumped forward more, so she was folded over herself and pressing her face into a decorative pillow on the couch. She wished she had her powers to follow Lena's heartbeat as it departed from the apartment and headed to L-Corp. Instead, Kara was left with a stale silence interrupted only by footsteps above her and honking cars on the streets, making her headache worse each time the sound reached the couch and clattered inside her brain.

She shoved her face between two cushions, turning into the back of it, with hopes it would alleviate the pressure in her skull threatening to pull her eyes backward or make her sick.

At some point, between listening to her own rattling breath and grimacing each time she swallowed, her eyes closed, and she passed into sleep.

She woke and twisted from her side to her stomach; another time, onto her back with the mass of blankets covering her frame; to her side again; with one pillow then with two; then with no blankets then with one then with all of them.

Every time she closed her eyes, Krypton was there—its buildings contorted and its faces blurry.

She emerged into some half-state of consciousness, some time later, teeth chattering so hard she could hear nothing else, body trembling with so much force every pillow had been knocked to the floor. A thought permeated the muddled lattice of distorted Kryptonian memories ensnaring her brain, a flicker of sense that she should call Alex or Lena or anyone, really, but as soon as it had come, her grip on logic dissolved like salt in hot water. She could not have moved her hand anyway, with the sudden invisible weight pinning her limbs in their position.

Her eyelids were useless against the gravity of fatigue.

With a wheeze of breath and no choice of her own, Kara was yanked back into nightmare.

The next time she confronted consciousness, her eyes bolted apart, and her body jolted forward. She shoved the blankets from her frame and they fell to a heap on the floor; a pile of bodies trapping her feet.

Flame scorched at her skin. Around her Krypton was turning to ash.

Her feet pattered against the hardwood floor, the soles blackened by imaginary soot. A soot she felt filling her lungs, coating the inside of her mouth, saliva thick with it. She couldn't swallow, she couldn't breathe.

A cough hacked at her frame.

She stumbled through the streets, mirages of her dream—a vision of blazing orange and masses of smoke so thick she could not see her own hand in front of her face. The couch groaned against the floor as her body collided with it: a frantic Kryptonian civilian pushing back against her.

Hands gripping at her clothes, flames licking her ankles, swirling up around her body.

She pushed forward, fingers feeling around in the darkness so heavy it was tangible, a weight against her body.

A pod in her home, her parents ushering her inside, tears searing paths down her cheeks. The top slammed closed; she locked the bathroom door.

A breath filled her lungs, the pod's purification system starting with a hum. The tile cool in her apartment against her feet.

The pod rose, hovering in the night air, forcing her forward. It stuttered.

She stumbled.

The pod crashed, falling into a chasm severed into Krypton's surface by the quaking of its core.

Her legs quivered, her body wilting under the weight of sickness. Her eyes rolling backward, her knees buckling, the back of her slamming into the granite bathroom counter, her body collapsing onto itself against the tile.

She whimpered. Falling, falling, falling. The fissure a wrap of blankness but the heat prickling at her skin, suffocating.

Smoke hissed through the cracked window of the pod. Clambering away she closed her eyes.

The wooden towel rack jabbed into her back as she scrambled into the corner on her hands and knees.

Seconds or hours could have passed as she sucked in breath after breath, jammed in the bathroom. A warm liquid moistened her hair, dripped thick down her neck, a droplet drew a crimson trail down her back.

Time was wet. A moving river, a waterfall. A tidal wave bashing her against the shore. A riptide yanking her away. A whirl pool going around and around and around.

Her joints shrieked for her body to uncurl, the pervasive ache throbbing into bursts of pain. She was twelve years old again, calling for her parents, begging to stay, screaming in the Phantom Zone. Praying to Rao to keep the flames at bay as they drew closer. As the ceiling fell. Her limbs paralyzed, her throat raw, her lungs filling and emptying too quickly. Dizzying. Trembling.

Seconds or minutes or hours. Years in the Phantom Zone. She didn't know.

Praying to Rao, flames closing in, whirl pool tossing her around.

Helpless.

Blinded, she couldn't see past the smoke in front of her eyes, her ears picked up a crashing, a cracking. Rocks falling.

Must be.

She felt the tile beneath her fingers, but the quaking of Krypton, too, so real beneath her touch. The dissonance clawed at the fibers of her sanity.

Her muscles tightened to brace herself against another fall that never came.

Instead, there was whispering in a language that made her brows pull, straining to understand the words that were familiar but just beyond her reach.

Instead, a cool, featherlight touch curving around the back of her head, soothing the spikes of pain radiating from the base of her skull.

"Kara?"

Something about the sounds were familiar, the letters strung together.

"Kara?" Jabber followed, jumbles of noises with no meaning. But the first part…

"Kara?" More words, more somethings.

The pitch of noise heightened. "Kara."

Her name.

She tilted her head in the direction, eyes half lidded but vision a muddle of blinking lights and smeared landscape.

The hand lifted, and footsteps retreated.

Kara managed a deep breath, felt her diaphragm raise with it and the oxygen level something inside her.

For a moment, there was no Krypton or Earth. Just the air around her.

An icy sensation juxtaposed the heat of her skin. The soft hand was back, this time with fingers brushing against her cheek.

The smoke around her vision retreated, the swirls of color morphing into a person.

"L—L—Lena?" She rasped.

It sounded right in her head, but Lena's brows knitted, face sinking in concern.

"I'm going to help you up, okay? Let's see if we can get you standing." Lena's gaze darted around Kara's frame, the brunette's lip pulled between her teeth.

"Shit," Lena whispered to herself, Kara wavering on her feet even as she leaned into her girlfriend's side. "This is not good." Her voice a shrill vibration barely passing her lips. "Damn it."

Heat and flame and bolts of white light impeded Kara's vision. Her head felt as though it were cracking open, like the ground beneath her feet.

"Come on, love. Please, I—Please be okay."

A distant electronic beeping slipped into Kara's mind.

Lena's fingers shook as she dialed Alex's number.

/

Kara whimpered.

"Okay… okay. Yes." Lena paused outside her rarely used car and freed her hand by catching the phone between her ear and shoulder. She jammed her thumb against the unlock button on her keys until the low clicking echoed in the night.

In someone's arms Kara's position shifted and the blonde slumped against the car, legs quivering beneath her. She blinked, no recollection of where she was or how she'd gotten there.

"You're okay, Kar, here we go." Someone pulled open the door and tried to steer Kara's body as she crashed into the seat, nearly hitting her head on the metal frame.

"I am. I know. No. No. I don't know." There was that voice again. English. Speaking English, the lilt of an accent. A click as something was strapped over Kara's lap and a clunk as the door closed.

Lena slid into the driver's side and started the car. "I don't know, Alex. I don't—I—I wasn't there. I—Okay I'm leaving now."

Her phone clattered into the cupholder as she dropped it, call finished and fingers struggling to stay steady. She squeezed them open and closed before gripping the steering wheel, knuckles paling, as she pulled out of the parking space and swerved onto the street, tires screeching against the asphalt.

On the street, she sped until traffic gathered at a red light and slammed her foot on the brakes, silently cursing her lack of experience driving in the city and her subpar knowledge of backstreets in the area. She tossed another glance at Kara, letting it linger this time. Kara's eyes were closed, the top of her head pressed against the seat and the bottom part, still bleeding, avoiding contact. One hand hung limp around her waist and the other squeezed into her thigh.

Lena's eyes were drawn to the ice pack, wrapped in a towel in her lap. She uncurled one hand from the wheel and picked it up, nudging Kara's hand at her waist. "Kara, if you can hear me, I need you to try to keep this on the back of your head. It'll help with the pain and staunch some of the bleeding."

Without processing, Kara's fingers stumbled along the pack and held it to her head.

Beside her, Lena let out a breath.

The light turned green.

Lena covered the hand on Kara's thigh with her own, slipping her fingers between Kara's.

She breathed out questions and murmurs of reassurance, but Kara spoke no words other than Kryptonian whispers and could not tear her gaze from the road in front of them.

/

At the DEO, Kara staggered from the support of Lena, and crashed into Alex's arms. The blonde had fallen silent in the parking lot, when a speedbump jerked the car and she hissed in pain, stealing the words from her mouth and failing to return them as Lena rushed out apologizes and ushered them inside.

The slip-on shoes Lena had worked over Kara's sock clad feet squeaked against the pristine floor. Her legs wavered, barely making the two unaided steps between Lena and Alex.

At her sister, Kara murmured, sinking forward; and, with her arms curling loosely around Alex's neck, Kara's eyes rolled back, and she fell limp. As though her body had been waiting to find Alex before letting go.

The coil of worry in Lena's gut launched into her throat. She stepped back, out of the way, felt time spinning around her as Alex's arms strained, lowering Kara to the ground, whispering to her, feeling the heat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

Lena crossed her arms, tucking her hands away to stop herself from reaching out to Kara. The night med team bustled down the hall, a stretcher in tow.

"Luthor, let's go!"

Lena blinked, and the crew was already moving around the far corner, Alex looking back at her as she followed. "I'm talking to you! Come on."

Lena swallowed, mouth feeling dry and full of cotton, nodding as she took a step behind them and ignored the ringing in her ears.

/

IV inserted into a vein. Vitals running across a display screen. Heartrate, temperature, blood pressure. All too high.

Lena nearing Kara's bed, pushed back by Alex's elbow. Blood drawn. Headwound cleaned and wrapped in gauze.

Alex and the other medics whirling in and out of Lena's vision.

"How could you let it get this bad?"

Lena's eyes snapped from Kara to the voice at her side. Alex. Leaving Kara's bed for the first time since they'd arrived.

Lena drew her lip between her teeth. "Excuse me?" She asked quietly for clarification, shoulders crumpling inward as she belatedly processed the question. The accusation woven within its undertone.

"How could you let it get this bad?" Alex repeated, and Lena felt all the warmth drain from her body. A chill settling in her marrow. Alex's words carried an edge. Sharp. Mangling Lena's insides.

The knot of guilt in her stomach tightened, Alex pulling on the string Lena had left dangling, had been twisting with imaginary fingers since she'd stumbled home from work on exhausted feet and found Kara bleeding and slumped on the bathroom floor.

"I—" Lena stammered. The ice in her bloodstream was combated by a flare of heat in her cheeks. "I didn't mean—I didn't know—She—I—" A breath whistled through her tightening lungs.

She'd seen Alex look like that before. Once. On TV, apprehending an alien that'd pummeled Kara in a fight.

"I—Sorry. I'm sorry."

Lena shrunk back as Alex leaned closer. "You should be. Because this one? This one's on you, Luthor."

Lena's hands trembled. She had never felt so small.

"You should have called." Alex turned away, back facing Lena as she finished and busied her hands with the IV in Kara's forearm. "You can wait in the hall until she's stabilized."

Lena swallowed and willed her legs to work, but she couldn't move. Not her feet or her lungs or her lips.

Her eyes were trained to her hands, missing the warning glare Maggie sent in Alex's direction.

A hand settled on Lena's back, warm fingers curling over her shoulder.

Lena looked up and blinked. She hadn't even realized she was there.

"Come on." Maggie tilted her head toward the hall and offered a small smile. "Let's give them some space."

Lena followed the slight pressure of Maggie's hand, her own right palm pressed against her chest over her heart, fingers clawing into the stiff fabric of the dress she'd put on for work hours ago.

"She's right." Lena whispered, eyes fixed on the wreck of shaking hands in her lap, collapsing into the chair Maggie led her to. "I should have—this is my fault. This is all my fault. I should have—"

Maggie slid her fingers over Lena's and gave a soft squeeze. "She's worried about her sister." Maggie's voice was firm and pragmatic. "Okay? She's worried," Maggie continued, the simplicity of her words bashing against Lena's vibrating convolution of emotion, starting to tug it down. "And I'm telling you that not to justify what Alex said, but to help you understand that it's not personal. She doesn't mean it."

Lena's green eyes raised, swimming with unshed tears and Maggie couldn't wait any longer. She wrapped her arms around Lena and pulled her close.

/

Alex's gloved hands pattered against the stainless steal rolling table behind her. She lifted her gaze up to the monitors for the third time in the past minute, checking the stability of Kara's stats once more. The numbers weren't ideal, but they were manageable for the time.

The gloves clung to her skin as Alex peeled them off. Dropping into the biohazard disposal with a swish of the plastic lining.

Alex ran the back of her hand across her forehead and sighed.

She silenced her footsteps as she crossed the room to the bed, curled Kara's palm in her own and felt the heat radiating from her skin. The lump lodged in her throat made it hard to talk, so she stood under the fluorescent lights, lingering scent of antiseptic in the air, with her lips pressed together.

"I was wrong," she breathed out. "I was wrong, Kara, this is my fault."

Her features crumpled, and she bit her lip to stop its trembling. "But I'm going to fix this, okay? I'm going to make you better, I promise." Alex squeezed Kara's hand, kept it tucked in her own as she pressed a kiss to Kara's warm forehead.

"I love you, sis," she whispered, lowering Kara's hand and settling it back beneath the crisp blanket before slipping into the hall and toward the lab.

/

Lena pulled away from Maggie when breathing thrummed into something manageable. After that, she sat, spine straight and eyes trained on the floor in front of her, fingers doing laps around each other.

Maggie remained at her side, offering a soft smile each time Lena's glance flickered her way.

The hall was quiet and the emergence of a footsteps drew both their eyes. A young medic stood in front of them, a tablet tucked in the crook of her elbow.

"Agent Danvers said Supergirl is stabilized, she can have visitors now but she's still unconscious."

Maggie gave her a thanks, then shifted her attention to Lena as the woman turned down the hall. "Want to go see Kara?"

Lena nodded.

At Kara's bedside, she dropped into another plastic chair, curling her fingers around the edges and crossing her legs.

Maggie squeezed her shoulder. "Will you be good in here?"

"Yes. I'm okay." Lena looked up, attempting a smile. "Thank you for waiting with me."

"Of course. I'll see you in a little bit."

/

Maggie let her feet carry her through the twisting corridors.

She walked from the medical wing to the lab without thought of where to turn or which doors to enter; the path engrained in her head by now.

Through a heavy set of metal swinging doors, another hall opened up and Alex came into view, behind a pane of glass, one hand curled around a pencil and the other grasping a test tube.

Maggie watched as Alex lowered the pencil to the lab counter and dropped her head into her free hand. Her shoulders gave a telltale shake, she eased the test tube back into place, and her other hand moved to cover her face.

Maggie slipped through the doors, glancing at the lab techs who were occupied with microscopes in the far corner of the room, clearly leaving a wide breadth between themselves and Alex, giving her space and keeping to themselves with the tasks she'd delegated.

"Hey." Maggie said softly, standing in front of Alex. "I know you're worried, but—"

"I know." Alex rubbed her face and groaned. "I was horrible to Lena. I know I messed up. I'm going to apologize I just—I have to—I don't know what's going on." Alex shrugged, expression still masked by her hands, heel of her palm pressing against her eyelids.

"You're not alone, Al," Maggie said, tucking a strand of hair behind Alex's ear and lowering her touch to Alex's leg, brushing gently with her thumb.

Alex sighed and dropped her hands from her face, wrapping her arms around Maggie's middle in a brief hug.

"Thank you for coming," Alex whispered. "I know you'd rather be sleeping at one in the morning."

Maggie shook her head. "I wanted to be here with you."

With Maggie's warmth enveloping Alex, her hand brushing back and forth over the agent's shoulder blade, her soft voice like honey, a blanket of calm engulfed Alex, allowing her to pull in an easy breath.

Just as she was letting her eyes close, the machine to her left beeped.

Alex sighed and straightened up, running a hand over her face. She glanced over and noted the green light. "I have to get back to this." Alex tilted her head to the test tube, apology written across her features.

"Of course," Maggie said and gave Alex's shoulder a squeeze.

"You should go home and try to get a few more hours of sleep. I know you have work today."

"You sure?"

Alex nodded. "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Maggie agreed, giving Alex a quick kiss. "Take care of yourself—Kara and Lena, too, all right? And call me if you need anything. I'll come in after work."

"Okay." Alex nodded again. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

/

Something was draped over her shoulders.

Lena blinked, a twinge in her neck at falling asleep in the unforgiving plastic chair, reluctant to open her eyes in the harsh light. Scratching her skin as she straightened into wakefulness was a standard DEO-issued gray blanket.

"Sorry—I know it's not the best, but you fell asleep and you had goosebumps."

Lena rubbed her right hand across her face, the other still curled around Kara's limp palm. The CEO turned and saw Alex at the end of the bed, thumb running over the blanket covering Kara's shin.

She cleared her throat and dropped her hand, turning so she was facing the chair, "I wanted to apologize for earlier, Lena. I was out of line."

"It's okay," Lena said. Her voice was so soft she barely recognized it. "You were worried and tired and—"

Alex shook her head. "I still shouldn't have said those things to you. They're not true. I feel guilty because this is my fault and I took it out on you. That's not fair, regardless of any excuses."

Alex continued, coming around from the front of the bed. "I mean look at you," she gestured forward and let a small grin flicker across her cheeks, fondness softening her face. "You're exhausted, you're worried, too, you're still in your work clothes and you did everything right. You called me, you got Kara here, you didn't yell… You did good, Lena."

Lena shrugged and felt her cheeks heat up at the praise.

"Can I hug you?" Alex asked.

Lena nodded, tears rising in her eyes again and blanket forgotten as she stood up and felt Alex's arms fold around her shoulders.

"She's going to be okay."

"I know."

Both their voices wilted with the weight of tears pressing up in their throats. With Kara just feet away and fighting internal battles. With the time just four hours past midnight and their eyes heavy.

"Where's Maggie?" Lena sniffled, ducking her head to wipe her eyes as she pulled back.

"She went home. She has to work in the morning and I told her we'd be okay."

Lena nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, I've been looking at her bloodwork and the infection isn't anything I'm familiar with. I think it's Kryptonian." Alex rubbed at her face, eyes stinging each time she blinked. "So, I was hoping you'd be able to work with Winn to get in contact with Kara's mom? We need to send out a signal."

"I'll do everything I can," Lena said. She smoothed the front of her pencil skirt and looked back at Alex. "Should I start now?"

"Winn doesn't get in until eight, but you can go ahead." Alex sat on the edge of Kara's bed. "I'd encourage you to get a little more sleep, but I think we both know how hard that can be when stuff like this happens."

Lena nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Someone will be with Kara?"

"I'll stay with her. I'm just waiting on some tests to finish processing right now."

"Okay." Her gaze lingered on Kara. "I'll go get started."

"And I'll have one of these rookies stop by with coffee for you." Alex motioned to the groups of newbies filtering through the halls, eager despite the early hour, and shot Lena a small grin.

She managed a smile. "Thank you."

Just as she was turning to leave, Kara's monitored beeped once, twice, then again in rapid succession.

Kara thrashed against the sheets in her attempt to sit up, the room a blur of color smudged across her vision. Fragments of Krypton fighting with the white walls of the DEO med room.

She whimpered, a hand crawling up to her forehead.

In two strides Alex was at her side, settling a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Kara murmured something in Kryptonese, words that Lena didn't know. But Alex shook her head, speaking back to Kara in her language—words choppier than the blonde's had been.

A few more sentences passed between them, Kara's voice raspy and soft and so small as she dropped her head against the knees pulled up to her chest, breathing heavily and balling the sheets in her hand.

"Alex, 's you?" Kara slurred, raising her head and immediately resting her forehead on her palm.

Lena's heart spiked, finally understanding some of Kara's words.

"Yeah, sis." With a gentle hand Alex smoothed back Kara's hair, drawing it away from her clammy skin. "It's me."

"Sorry." Kara squeezed her eyes closed. "I was confused, I—I thought… my mom and Krypton and—" she hiccupped and her breath caught in her throat. "I—it—sorry."

"Hey," Alex said softly, head tilting to the side as she continued drawing her fingers through Kara's hair, soothing against the pressure in her head. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here." Alex kissed her temple. "And look—" she tilted her head to the side where Lena had slunk back, trying to stay out of the way. "Your girl's here, too."

Kara made another attempt at raising her head, slower this time as she arched her neck to see Lena.

The CEO parted her lips to speak, but no words came out. Frozen in place, her muscles tensed up, shoulders knotted. She bit hard on her bottom lip as it started trembling. Tears flooded her eyes and the rest of the room turned to a blur, Kara the only point of clarity in her vision.

And Kara, through her heated skin and red eyes and burning throat and pounding head and aching muscles and churning stomach, brushed some blonde hair off her face with a shaky hand and pulled the sweetest smile across her face as she turned her gaze onto Lena.

One tilt of her head, a blink revealing blue eyes, and Lena burst into tears.

"Oh, Lena…"

With Alex's help, Kara sat up and opened her arms.

Lena fell into them. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." A swell of heat rose in her chest, as Kara's hands came around her, working like the spring sun against a snowcapped mountain range.

"It's okay." Kara's fingers swept through Lena's hair. "It's okay.

Lena pulled back, wiped her eyes with one hand while setting the other on Kara's shoulder. "Sorry. I really just—I really thought… You looked so bad when I found you, Kara. You couldn't even…" she shook her head, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth and trailing off.

"I'm fine," Kara assured her, taking Lena's hand into her own. "Really."

Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes, but the hand easing her sister back toward her pillow betrayed her visage of annoyance. "No, you're not."

"I'm getting there," Kara protested.

Lena smiled down at Kara, the blonde's eyes already sinking closed.

"Get some more rest, Kar," Alex said and pulled the blanket back up around her shivering sister. "We're going to fix this."

"I know." Kara fought against sleep, focusing all her energy on lifting her eyelids open. "I trust you guys."

Alex kissed her temple and held onto Kara's hand.

The brunette looked across the bed at Lena and they shared a nod.

"I'll get to work." Lena gave Kara's leg one last squeeze before she left.

The room was still for a moment, time swirling around the sisters, lethargic and hazy. Kara's breathing wheezed through the air, heat radiating from her skin.

She shifted beneath the stiff sheets, so thin Alex could see the navy of Kara's shirt outlined.

Alex sighed. "Kara, I know you're still awake."

The blonde turned her head toward Alex, trained slivers of blue onto the other woman.

"What's going on?" Alex brushed her thumb over Kara's cheek.

Tears gathered in her eyes. "I'm scared, Alex." Her voice rasped beneath the hum of the machines. A whisper void of its prior joviality. She sounded like twelve-year-old Kara, in the bedroom they'd shared over a decade ago. "Every time I close my eyes I go back. I feel so bad, Alex, and I didn't want to worry you guys but I—it… It's like I'm slipping away."

Alex stole her hand from under the covers and gripped it hard. The plastic chair scraped against the tile floor as Alex stood, the creak of the mattress following as she slid onto the bed and filled the few inches between her sister's shaking, warm frame and the edge.

"Careful," Kara coughed, trying to raise her head but ultimately dropping it back to the pillow. The air whooshed out of it. "You're going to fall."

Alex shook her head and pulled Kara's hand to her chest as she snuggled down. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you."

Kara curled into her side and, with a whistle of a deep breath, closed her eyes.