Author's notes: Really sorry about the delay, legit started working on it as soon as I posted last chapter, but got stuck along the way. Thanks to all who are continuing to read this, and are patient with my procrastination pretty much. All mistakes are mine, I tried, but English grammar always confuses me when I'm writing.
Trigger warning: descriptions of a panic attack.
Previously:
Alex laughs at her sister, who was definitely all Kara right now, and not the confident Supergirl who managed to defuse a potentially lethal situation. Lucy joins the laughing and hugs Kara, relishing in the comfort the powerful, yet mumbling, superhero provides. Lucy steps back instantly, looking at her hands, which were covered in blood.
"Kara…"
"The bullets scraped you?" Alex questions incredulously as she pushes away Supergirl's cape to examine her back. The suit was bullet proof, so there weren't any tears, but her sister was definitely bleeding.
Kara finally feels the pain in her back, as if spurred on by the sight of her own blood, "I just… I think I blew out my powers," Kara says.
"What?"
"I didn't… I felt it when I was trying to use my heat vision, and it just stopped…" Kara admits, although she was confused at how her powers seemed to be working and not working at the same time.
She knew she should tell Alex, give her all the details, and she would figure it out, but a part of her held her back. She can handle herself, it was nothing a little sun wouldn't heal; there was no need to worry her sister. If she did, Alex will be all over it trying to figure it out, when Kara was really trying to get Alex to live her own life, do things that her being Supergirl stopped her from doing, just like she made her promise during Myriad. So far, her actions have just put a barrier between her and her sister instead of the intended outcome.
"You should've said something!"
"I didn't know…"
"Kara, you put all of us at risk, all these people were depending on you to save the day if something went wrong—"
"And I did—"
"Lucy could have been shot—"
Lucy, whose eyes widened at the mention of her name, tried to defuse the argument, "But I didn't, Sup—"
Kara interrupts, running a hand through her hair in frustration "But she didn't—"
"We let our guard down. I let my guard down, and Lucy got shot at. Because I thought you got it—" Alex's worry for her sister and Lucy had driven her to the only emotion that she can express: anger. She just didn't get why Kara was acting the way she is, defensive, defiant, hiding things from her.
Kara takes a deep breath, trying to keep her feelings under control, "I did have—"
"And now you got yourself hurt again—"
"ALEX," Kara interrupts her sister's reprimands as she steps away and turns around to face her, "will you get off my back just for one second?" The pain from her back, coupled with her sister's yelling was getting the better of her.
Alex fell silent in shock at the sudden outburst, then frowned when noticing her sister's ragged breathing, and beads of sweat stippling her forehead. "Kara?"
Kara was looking at down at her hands, which were shaking. Alex's voice was drowned out by her own heartbeat racing loudly in her ears. She wasn't sure what was going on, but the need to get out of there, the room, the DEO, was increasing by the second. "I—I have to go."
"Kara?" Alex tried to approach her sister, questioning her sister's odd behavior, but Kara stepped back.
"Al-ex," Kara almost sobbed, needing her sister's help, but at the same time needing to get away from her, "I c-can't. I have to... I have to go." Kara was gone, before Alex could reach her.
"Damn it!" Alex ran her hand through her hair. She turns towards Lucy with panic in her eyes, "I have to find her, something is wrong!"
"We will," Lucy caught Alex before she can race out. She was worried about Kara, but knew that Alex wouldn't be the right person to help right now, considering how much Kara seemed affected during the argument. She bit her lips, trying to find a way to tell Alex what she wants to say without stepping over the line, "I just… I just think she needs some space."
"Lucy, you don't understand," Alex replied distracted as she pulled out her phone, "That's my sister, she's hurt, and she doesn't have her powers—"
"She just used her super speed to get out of here," Lucy replies confused, "I don't get it. The bullets bounced off her..."
This caused Alex to pause. She had a point. "Maybe an adrenaline kick from seeing you get shot at?" Alex answers weakly, already knowing the flaw in her reasoning.
"She couldn't have gotten in front of me that fast unless she had heard the gun before it was fired."
"So her powers are not blown."
"But something is definitely wrong with them."
Alex stares at the blood covering Lucy's hand, immediately getting an idea.
Kara had flown out of the DEO as fast as she could, breaking the sound barrier after a few seconds; which in hindsight was not the best idea because her powers were already acting up. She falls to her knees in sand, struggling to catch her breath. She hears the soft sound of crashing waves, but that quickly changes as each wave sounds like a crashing building to her. She tries to look up, but is unable to concentrate on anything as her x-ray vision activated and deactivated, leaving her nauseous and disoriented. She was completely overwhelmed, and did not understand why it was happening.
Kara pulls her head down closer to the sand, using her hands to cover her ears, and firmly closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the nausea. She faintly hears her name being called, but can't concentrate long enough to find the source.
"Kara." the voice was closer now but when she tried to open her eyes, her senses were assaulted again, and she was seeing a skeleton kneeling next to her; she immediately closed her eyes again. "Kara, calm down, you're going to be okay."
Cat Grant was very familiar with panic attacks from her own son often having them. But having that background knowledge didn't seem very helpful when the superhero quiet literally fell from the sky, a few feet away from her. She was sitting outside at her beach house, having taken the rest of the Friday to work from home as Carter was being let out of school early. She watched as Supergirl, no, Kara, start to sob, not knowing how to calm her down. Kara was insisting on keeping her eyes closed, and covering her ears, so she wasn't able to reach to her as she normally would have to her son. Cat wasn't very familiar with the exact details of Supergirl's powers, but imagined it had something to do with the girl's behavior.
Cat just knows she has to calm the girl down before she starts to hyperventilate. She starts to rub circles on the hero's back, but her eyes widen as she looks at her hand, only to find it covered in blood. Keeping her own panic at bay, she pulls away the girl's cape to find the source of blood. A blood stain had formed on her back. So now she had two things to address, the panic attack and the wound. She wondered about what happened to the girl, how Supergirl can even get hurt, but she remembered being briefly introduced to Kryptonite during the Myriad fiasco. She needed to call Kara's sister, that agent who was wearing the Kryptonite infused-suit, but for one very rare moment, Cat did not have her phone on her. She had stepped out to finish her cup of coffee and get some sun, and decided to leave the phone behind to force herself to take an actual break. Now she was regretting that decision, and knew she couldn't leave the girl to go grab her phone. Kara needed her.
Cat settles herself in front of Kara instead, and brings her hands to Kara's face. "Kara, look at me," she says as she brings her face closer to the girl's. The touch seemed to zap Kara's focus, her body leaning towards the familiar touch, but she still wouldn't open her eyes. Cat slowly puts her hands on Kara's own to try to pull them away.
"No please don't," Kara sobs.
Cat doesn't budge, "focus on my voice, Kara. You're going to be alright, I'm right here."
It was the smell that got to Kara first. A distinct smell breaking through the confusing haze of ocean, smoke, food, and even blood. It smelled like home, although the word didn't mean very much to her, but like she was safe. This gave her a momentum to calm down just enough to hear a familiar voice filtering through all the loudness. After a few seconds she realizes who exactly it was. Cat. Her eyes fly open in shock, which sends another wave of nausea.
Cat cringes at the terrified look on her previous assistant's face, but suddenly she feels Kara's steel arm wrap backwards around her waist, pulling her behind Kara just as lasers shoot out of the girl's eyes marking 2 distinct tracks across the sand till they reach the water. Cat's heartbeat quickens at the display of power, but soon enough the lasers fizzle out, and Kara would have collapsed right into what Cat can describe as molten sand, if it weren't for Cat's arms pulling her back.
Kara felt the last of her super powers drain, and is actually relieved as her senses returned to normal human levels.
"It's just me. You're okay, Kara. You're safe."
Cat turns Kara towards her gently, takes Kara's trembling hand and placed it on her chest, "Follow my breathing." Cat takes in deep breaths in, and exhales them slowly, urging the girl to do the same. After a few seconds, Cat is pleased to see Kara take a shaky breath in. "Good, Kara, that's really good."
They stay like this for a few minutes, Cat reassuring Kara as she gets her breathing under control. The hero's tears were flowing silently down her face, but she seemed to be more in control now, despite the shakiness.
"Let's get you inside," Cat says softly, "We need to call your sister." Seeing Kara's eyes widen in panic again, and not wanting to aggravate the girl in her current state, Cat backtracks, "or not…"
Kara nods lightly in appreciation, not having the energy to talk.
Author's Notes: Let me know if you have any ideas of what you would like to see in the next chapters!
