The entire building shook.

Alex had prepared for a coming war, but the war was here before she was really ready for it. It wasn't like the war was out there in National City or coming for them, no...it was right on top of them. As the building continued to shake, tears welled up in her eyes, she felt like the most selfish person and the most horrible mother. His lips pressed against her temple and her tears fell, she knew that he had to feel what she felt.

"I have to go out there," he whispered.

And she knew that was coming.

J'onn and Kara were two of their most powerful weapons. That left so much for her to lose. She looked up at him. "Just come back to me?"

"We both will," he promised. "I want you to be with Amara right now. I know you think you need to be out here...but Alex, right now your place is with our daughter. You might not be able to do a lot from here, but you need to be the last line of defense for her."

She gave a nod, even though that was breaking her up inside. It meant that she wouldn't be able to constantly monitor what was going on with Kara and J'onn. She'd be totally blind to it all. He was right, though, she didn't have anything to offer right now in the control room, there was nothing she could do. There was no science and no safe reason for her to be out there in the field with other agents.

The glimpse of her sister from the corner of her eyes was enough to swing her attention that way. She knew that she couldn't think negatively, not about them, they'd faced worse odds...but it was so hard. She reached out, Kara's hand was in hers within an instant. She didn't want to make a big show of it, because this wouldn't be goodbye. It couldn't be. It wouldn't be. Their embrace was short, but so loving. It was one without words because they didn't need words.

Her arms wrapped around herself as she watched them go. Only allowing a moment, she turned to look towards Vasquez. "I'll be-I'll be with-"

Vasquez gave a nod. "We'll let you know if we need you."

"Thank you."

In all her years, Alex never really did well alone. Even when she'd been alone, she really hadn't been alone. If it hadn't been her parents with her, it had been Kara, or J'onn… She'd always had someone to lean on and someone who needed her. She hated feeling helpless and useless, but she knew that J'onn had been right...and right now she needed to protect their daughter and make sure she felt safe.

Kirsten Harewood was in the lounge area that they'd set up to be the civilian safe area, her daughters were on either side of her reading books. They looked far more at ease than she felt in that moment. Alex had no idea what he told his family he did, but they obviously weren't fazed.

Sitting next to her mother without a word, Amara was passed to her without a word. Alex just held her daughter, taking in her perfect features and just thought about all of the big steps in her daughter's life that she couldn't wait to witness.

J'onn, she thought. Please be safe.

Always.

The response was in her head, just like her thought had been. It was definitely J'onn. Alex wasn't sure if it was because of her...or if it was because she was holding Amara. She closed her eyes and then rested her head on her mother's shoulder as her arm wrapped around Alex's shoulders. Right now she didn't care, all she was happy was to hear something from J'onn.

"Try to sleep," her mother whispered.

"I can't," Alex responded back just as quietly.

"Then just rest…"

Emergency lights flashed.

Klaxons sounded.

The building still shook.

"Alexandra, they said to stay in place," her mother said.

"We're going," Alex insisted. "All of us," she said as she looked towards where Kirsten Harewood and her girls were. Charlie Benanti was clinging to Alex, which was fine. She knew exactly what they had to do. The whole reason that everyone was in danger was because of her...because of J'onn...because of Amara. The problem with that was that she would always fight back. She'd sat there idle for long enough. She finished adjusting the carrier she had Amara snuggled in before grabbing her larger warm coat and pulling it on over. Zipping it up three quarters of the way, she sucked in a breath and reminded her that she was doing the right thing. "We're going to get to somewhere safer," Alex insisted as she grabbed her sidearm.

Now Kirsten started to argue, "Davis-"

"Harewood will want you kept safe, right now...this isn't the safest we could be," Alex countered. She didn't have the time to continue this conversation. This was what they were doing and Alex needed them to all be on board and listening. "Everyone needs to stay together tight and quiet. We're not going to take anything extra with us, we're just going to go-"

"We need the baby bag at the very least," her mother spoke up as she grabbed it quickly and flung it over a shoulder.

"Charlie, I need you to hold onto my mom's hand, okay? You have to stay close," Alex told her. Between the Harewood girls and Charlie, Charlie Benanti was the youngest by a few years. Without Adler or Benanti there, that meant that she needed to keep a close eye on the little girl. She knew that if their positions were reversed that Benanti and/or Adler would do what she was doing in a heartbeat (though Adler would have already been out of there because no one would have dared argued with her).

"Okay," Charlie responded with a quiet nod.

"And you have to be really quiet." The little girl nodded again. She looked around the room. "We're going to stick together, be quiet, and keep as close to the walls as we can. It's not far, but it's not going to be quick to get to." She didn't help for anything else to be said, instead of she moved towards the exit she knew that they could take that would be the safest. Pushing it open just a bit, she took a moment to take in what she had to deal with. It sounded quiet, but she knew that she couldn't take that as gospel. Experience and training had taught her that she always needed to be prepared.

When she opened the door further, she took the time to check in all directions to make sure it was safe before having everyone follow her. It was an immediate thought to Alex that this wasn't going to be as nearly easy as it could have been since she was moving all civilians. None of them understood her hand gestures, except possibly Charlie. Alex wasn't completely sure on that one.

It actually ended up being a lot easier for the first half of their move than she'd thought. That part of the base seemed quieter than the area that they'd been in before...possibly because they were going further into the base. She looked back to check on everyone following her before sucking in a deep breath and peeking down to check on Amara. Her daughter was wide awake, but so far she was quiet and calm, Alex just hoped that that continued until they could get to where they were going.

There was fighting and Alex could hear it getting closer. At least there hadn't been any weapons fire that she had heard from the group that seemed to be getting closer to them. Small blessings, she supposed. Taking it as slow as she felt was safe, Alex inched her way around a corner only to come face to face with someone who was most definitely not DEO. Reacting instantly and instinctively, Alex disarmed him immediately before disabling him and leaving him unconscious in a heap.

It was that moment that scared her the most, when Amara started to cry out.

"Alex! Is she-"

"She's okay," Alex told her mother quickly as she holstered her weapon for a moment so that she could look at her daughter properly. Unzipping her jacket, she immediately went to work pulling Amara from the carrier. She'd been able to see her little face looking up at her, but she just needed to see for herself that Amara was really okay. The guy hadn't touched them, but it had still scared Alex enough. It seemed that as soon as Alex held Amara against her chest that the infant calmed, so Alex pulled out her gun and they continued. This wasn't the way she wanted to do it, but it was her only option or so it felt like in that moment.

They were close.

"Alex," she heard her mother hiss from behind her. "Let me carry Amara."

But they were almost there and Alex felt like there was no need to do it. They were nearly there and she didn't want to risk her daughter getting upset, vocally upset, because of such a hand off. Amara was still so small and right now her schedule was even more screwy, Alex just couldn't risk it...more for Amara and the other children's safety more than anything else. They'd been so lucky thus far.

No, she could do it.

They could do it.

Just a little bit farther.

The scream alarmed her more than anything else in that moment. It wasn't from Amara or anyone in their party, but like a warcry coming from the throat of a partially familiar person. "Wall!" she shouted. It was a blink, but Alex squeezed Amara to her chest, dropped her gun back into its holster, grabbed Charlie, and then turned and practically shoved her mother and Charlie into the wall. Her body acting as a shield for a moment, but instead of them being attacked, there was a loud clatter that came next.

J'onn!

"I'm here," his voice came aloud.

Alex turned her head to see him there battling the cyborg that had once partially been her father. It was their opening and Kara came in to cover them even more a blink later. So, she took it, dragging Charlie along with her, which meant her mother was being towed as well since Alex had realized that they were still holding hands. The Harewoods were close behind and Alex led them to the safe spot that she wasn't sure was exactly as safe as she'd hoped. "In, in, in," Alex said. She handed over Amara to her mother this time. Her eyes were on both Kara and J'onn as she held the door, her weapon in her hand once again, and all she could think was that she didn't want to leave them behind.

Go!

She didn't.

Alex gave her mother a final look, her heart breaking having to leave Amara. She secured the solid door (thankful this was an area that was not composed of translucent walls and doors), shot out the keypad lock, and then turned her attention to the cyborg down the hall. She sucked in a deep breath and reminded herself that there was only the smallest shred of her father somewhere deep down inside and that she needed to think of him as a hostile. This wasn't Jeremiah Danvers, this was someone who would kill her, her daughter, and everyone else that she loved.

Her arm raised.

Breathe.

Aim.

Squeeze.

The shot rang out and Alex immediately gasped. It hit the cyborg, but he was still standing and now staring at her. Kara took her turn, throwing him across the room, before both she and J'onn were both flying after him to engage the cyborg once again. She didn't stay where she was. No matter what, she was still a DEO agent and she wasn't backing down. She knew that her daughter and the others were safe and locked away, but the threat was going to be ever present...especially with the cyborg still on the loose.

As she moved towards where they were fighting, Kara and J'onn were flung away, which left Alex standing there only a few feet away from the cyborg. She looked in their directions quickly, taking in that they were both still breathing. "You're never going to stop," Alex shouted as her gun aimed perfectly for the cyborg. In her head, though, she was trying to calculate the best spot to shoot that would disable him, something that wasn't a head shot.

"And neither will you," he said to her in a slightly mechanized version of her father's voice. "You've always been a stubborn one, Alex."

"Don't."

He sounded too much like her father and that was breaking her heart. All she could see was a head shot and that was killing her. There was a cold reality hitting her and she just didn't want to be the one that ended the life of her father. A sob bubbled up inside of her and hiccuped out of her. Tears threatened to spill over and she realized then that her hand was shaking just the slightest.

He didn't stop though. "Alex-"

"Don't!"

The cyborg with her father's face moved closer to her, no fear in his eyes. She was frozen. All she could see was her father. He'd been lost, she tried to remind herself. Cadmus had stolen him away. They'd broken him, no...no, Cadmus had killed her father.

His chest pressed against the muzzle of her gun. "I'm sorry, Alex," came in the softest whisper that sounded exactly like her father. "That I never came home."

The sound of the gunshot echoed almost at the same time his words rang in her ears. Her mouth dropped open and it was like she couldn't pull in any air. Her father's eyes stared right into hers and for a long moment, that was all that existed. "I'm sorry," she managed to breathe just as he collapsed. "I'm sorry…"

Kara pulled the gun from her hand and steadied her before pulling her into an embrace. Alex let the sob out in a far more violent way this time.

"You promised to look out for them," she could hear her father say.

She pulled back from Kara to look over at him. J'onn was crouched down next to him on one side. It was like Kara could sense what she was thinking and they both, together and still holding onto each other, crouched down on the other side. This was their one time to say goodbye. It was going to be the only time.

"You did a good job…" Jeremiah said. It was definitely clearly her father now. "Please...take care of them...all of them…"

"I will," J'onn vowed quietly and Alex could hear his voice crack. This was emotional for all of them.

"You are a noble man, J'onn J'onzz."

"Mom," Alex croaked out, realizing that her mother was locked away and deserved this moment as well as she looked in the direction of the door.

"I'll get her," J'onn said as he reached out and touched her shoulder before going.

"My girls," Jeremiah whispered with a smile on his face. "You two both grew into such strong and intelligent women… You are both far more spectacular than I could have ever imagined all those years ago when our family became complete."

"Jeremiah!" Eliza shouted in a broken voice. It was only moments later that her mother was where J'onn had been before. Amara was still in her arms and really...it was only right. This was their family. "Oh, Jeremiah…"

"Eliza, I'm sorry-"

"Shhh…" her mother said before silencing him with a kiss. "I love you. I've missed you so much…" It was then that her mother must have realized how little time they actually had because she turned Amara so that she could be seen. "And this is our granddaughter… Isn't she perfect?"

"She looks like Alex," Jeremiah breathed with a small laugh. "Perfect."

Alex swallowed and forced herself to speak up once again. "Dad-"

But it was too late.

Jeremiah Danvers was gone.

For good.

TBC…