Kara doesn't show up for the funeral. Alex tries to convince her to go but she refuses. What's the point, she argues, if there's nothing to bury?
It's not like Lena will be mad at her for not going.
Part of her knows this is the denial phase.
Clark tries to call a few times and she doesn't pick up. She deletes the voicemails. When he finally stops, Kara suspects that it's because Alex ordered him to.
Alex spends most of her nights in Kara's apartment, sometimes in bed with her, sometimes on the couch. Alex tells Maggie the truth about Supergirl's identity because she needs to talk to someone about it. Because Kara knows she feels powerless to ease her pain and it's gnawing at her.
Winn and James don't mention Lena at all. They know better than to bring up her name unless Supergirl is discussing new leads on Lex's whereabouts at the DEO. They stop by her apartment as often as they can, with food. So much food. Kara eats it all.
Mon-El tries his best to cheer her up and he buys her alien alcohol until Alex tells him to stop, because Kara drinks it all and gets hammered too many times and Alex can't deal with an alcoholic sister with superpowers.
Her friends keep trying.
Kara often wants to yell at them to leave her alone. The only friend she wants to see is Lena.
And Lena is gone.
Kara Danvers, the reporter, is asked to write articles about L-Corp and the aftermath of the attack. She wants to refuse at first, but changes her mind. She doesn't trust anyone but herself to write about Lena's company.
She locks herself in her bedroom and types frenetically on her keyboard, often going beyond the word count Carr asks her to produce. She speaks of Lena Luthor and her ideologies, and how the future of the company she's worked so hard to reform is looking bleak without her at the helm.
Writing helps a little. It helps Kara through the denial phase.
It pushes Supergirl into the anger phase.
Alex works the leads in National City, goes to every place she can think of where people might know something about Lex Luthor, and gets in touch with Clark daily. She doesn't tell Kara, but Kara guesses. Alex sometimes takes Maggie with her, now that Maggie knows the truth about Supergirl. Her sister's girlfriend looks at her curiously once or twice before Kara's glare is enough of a warning for her to stop.
Supergirl focuses on the leads outside of National City that are not in Metropolis. That is Clark's turf. She tracks down humans and aliens alike, and leaves broken bones and bloody noses behind without remorse. If one of those bastards knows where she can find Lex Luthor; she'll get the answer out of them.
A month goes by and the trail goes cold. The DEO has to keep going and focus on other threats. Alex spends less time working the streets with Maggie, exhausted and frustrated by the lack of credible leads.
Kara doesn't stop. She doesn't sleep more than a few hours per night.
But no one has anything to say about Lex, and Kara's anger only keeps growing.
She makes a mistake.
She finds a known accomplice of Lex and, when he offers nothing useful, she hits him. She hits him so hard that he is sent flying back and crashes against a wall. Kara hears the disgusting crack of bones and she cringes.
Alex and other DEO agents are hot on her heels and when their van screeches to a halt, they swarm out of it and rush to the man who lies on the ground, unconscious. Alex frowns when she sees the state he's in and she makes her way over to Kara, who stands at a distance.
"What the hell, Kara? You could have killed him!"
Kara has nothing to say for her defense.
"You can't do that, Supergirl. You can't be reckless with your powers. He's human. What happens if word gets out that you killed a human being? People will hate you. They'll turn on you."
"I know," Kara says, her eyes on the man who is now being carried to the van on a stretcher, still out.
Alex wants to say more but decides against it. Instead, she shakes her head and hurries back to the van, where her team is waiting for her.
"Head back to the DEO now," she yells over her shoulder.
Supergirl nods and disappears into the air.
The man Supergirl punched falls into a coma. The DEO keeps quiet about it and Kara is thankful that none of it leaks to the press and media. She doesn't need the bad publicity. She doesn't feel particularly remorseful; the man was a piece of shit after all.
Alex and J'onn agree to bench her for the time being. Kara doesn't mind. She wants to focus on finding Lex Luthor anyway. The DEO can certainly handle a few rogue aliens on its own. The Guardian and Mon-El will help.
Supergirl's anger subsides after the incident. She needs to be clear-headed if she is to continue her search for the most wanted man in the country. On her way to CatCo, Kara stops in front of L-Corp where the yellow tape on the door has been removed by now. The company has to keep going somehow.
Kara hasn't met the new CEO. She doesn't want to. Carr doesn't ask her to go back there, as if he understands that his youngest reporter can't step foot in there again. Not just yet.
It's a Saturday afternoon when Kara's world is violently shaken, again. She's walking among the crowd on the busy sidewalks of National City, trying to clear her mind by going grocery shopping. She has the disagreeable sensation of being watched but it's silly, because she's Kara Danvers and no one knows her real identity, and no one has any reason to pay attention to Kara Danvers.
And yet when she stops at a light, waiting to cross the road, the burning sensation intensifies and Kara can't help but look around her. She only sees unfamiliar faces, all around her.
All but one.
Because on her left, far across the road, on another busy sidewalk, Kara's eyes find what they are looking for. She freezes. She blinks.
And just like that, Lena Luthor has vanished.