Hi! thanks so much for the review and the follows! I'm doing my best to update every day but my daughter is sick so I'm kind of busy...but here you go! Tell me what you think...it's not much I'm afraid.

"Alex told me what happened."

Kara closed the door behind Kal-El as he walked into her home and straight into the kitchen. The two grocery bags were filled to the rim and she wondered what he was planning.

"She did?" Was all she could say as he seemed to make himself at home in the kitchen.

"Sit, relax. We can talk while I make us dinner," her cousin said with a smile and Kara did as she was told. She told herself that it was only because he had surprised her.

"What did Alex tell you exactly?" Kara asked. She'd asked Alex to keep the people who knew to a minimum, only when they really needed to know she could tell them. Kara couldn't think of a reason that her cousin needed to know what had happened.

"You got captured by CADMUS, right?"

"Yes, but what did Alex tell you?" She shifted in her seat.

"Oh, just that. She told me you might need me so I wrapped things up at home and took some time off." Kal-El smiled at her and turned back toward the stove.

"What about Lois?" Kara asked. She rubbed her forehead, a headache starting to build behind her eyes.

"She's okay with me being here. It's fine, Kara. You need me," Kal-El didn't even turn around but his voice was so gentle, Kara felt tears burn in her eyes.

"Okay then."

"Why don't you drink some of your wine? Tell me what's bothering you? What happened?" Kal-El asked as he put dinner on the table. The smells made Kara a little queasy but she swallowed and smiled up at her cousin.

"I don't want to drink, it gives me nightmares." Kara had once drank enough to feel the buzz while she was recovering from losing her powers. It had made her night a living hell, and even though back then nothing like this had happened, she had vowed to never drink again while human. "This looks really nice."

"Thank you...Kara alcohol doesn't affect you," Kal-El said with a grin and Kara looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually, it does when I don't have my powers."

"What? You don't have your powers? What happened?" He looked so surprised that Kara chuckled dryly.

"CADMUS forced me to solar flare. They shot Mon-El," she explained. "He was going to die...at least that's what they told me. They'd help him if I helped them."

"But..."

"But they didn't and when they rescued us, he still had the bullet in his leg."

"So what did they do to you?"

Kara looked at his face, etched with concern and she sighed.

"They took some blood." Kara wondered what would happen if she told him everything but the concern and pain on his face earlier told her it wouldn't do him or her any good. So she stopped, and watched his face intently as he processed it.

"That's it?" He looked surprised, and when Kara nodded he blew out a breath. "Well good. I mean, it's not good they took blood...who knows what they're going to do with it."

"True." Kara was glad that he let it go after a moment. She thought of a way to change the subject when Kal-El did her a favor.

"So how's your reporting job?" He asked.

"It's awesome," Kara replied and smiled. This was something she could talk about for hours and he would understand.

As Kal-El left, Mon-El arrived and Kara sighed as she let him in.

"You don't seem happy to see me," Mon-El said with a grin and she smiled at him.

"I was just going to take a shower and go to bed, but come in, make yourself at home," she replied and watched as he let himself fall down onto her couch.

"Go take a shower, I'm okay waiting for a while. I just wanted to hang out."

"You sure?" Kara really wanted to take that shower. Kal-El had brought a lot of memories to the forefront and she just wanted to feel clean again.

"Okay, if you expect people to treat you like they normally would you need to stop feeling weird about taking a shower while I'm here. It's never bothered you." Mon-El said as he took off his shoes. Kara had to admit he was right, she was being weird about doing things she'd normally do without thinking about.

So she got ready for her shower, listening to Mon-El as he chuckled at the TV every once in a while. While she was in the shower, she forced all her muscles to relax and she let the warm water do the rest of the work. She knew that no matter how long she would stay under the stream she wouldn't feel clean, but she couldn't help but try.

"Isn't that water cold yet?" Mon-El asked loudly and Kara jumped, almost slipping.

"No!"

But she did get out of the shower and dried off quickly. She didn't want to keep him waiting longer than he should.

The bruises were already gone, and the wounds Mr. James had inflicted had already scarred over. Kara hadn't told anyone yet, that on her back she knew she had his initials in her skin. The first day she had been alone, she had taken a long shower, and she had found out while she was drying off that the scars on her back weren't simply some lines.

EJ.

She had cried, because not only had he marked her body but also her mind. She wouldn't forget what he had done but he had somehow made sure that no one else would ever forget, if they ever saw her back.

Which is why she hadn't told anyone and she wasn't going to unless someone saw it.