Hello my dears! I don't really have any author's note to give today, so just enjoy :)

I'd Carry a Plane for You

Chapter 23: Forever Young

"This is so freaking cool, I can't believe we're here," Kara gushed, squeezing Alex's arm in childlike excitement. "Look, I can see it already! I can see the top of the pyramids!" Her smile was almost bigger than her face as she bounced in her seat on the rickety old bus slowly rumbling through the Yucatan mountains, bringing them from the tiny Mexican airport to the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, a place they'd both wanted to visit ever since they learned about the ancient Mayan ruins in 8th grade history class.

"So you're definitely not mad I planned our wedding and our honeymoon without you?" Alex teased, already knowing the answer as she raised an eyebrow playfully at her overexcited alien, taking Kara's hand and pulling it into her lap, running her nails lightly up and down the bare skin of her blonde girl's inner arm. Kara grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

"Not mad," the blonde girl murmured, leaning in and kissing her wife lightly. Alex made a soft, unconscious sound of contentment, savoring Kara's warm breath on her lips. "And anyway…" Kara pulled away just slightly, grazing her teeth over the edge of Alex's ear. The dark-haired girl shuddered pleasurably. "You know I like surprises when they come from you, Lex."

"Yeah." Alex grinned stupidly, her happiness radiating from her dark eyes for anyone to see. "I do know. I know you, Kara Grey-Danvers. Inside out." They giggled and kissed again, Alex twirling a lock of long blonde hair around her finger.

"I really like hearing that," Kara sighed, reflecting Alex's goofy-happy smile right back at her.

"I really like saying it," Alex agreed, both of them so lost in each other that they didn't even hear the driver announcing their stop. They did notice when the rickety old bus lurched to a halt, though. "Oh! Are we here?" Alex looked up in surprise, realizing that the long dirt road had finally lead them to the little hotel where they'd be spending the next week, beautifully quaint, open-air lodgings with thatched roofs and huge windows covered only by mosquito netting; no glass. Bright blue and green peacocks strutted around the courtyard like pigeons, seeming fairly unconcerned about any human activity around them. It was perfect, just like they'd always imagined it.

"Señoritas, ésta es su parada, ¿no?" The driver asked politely, gesturing to their bags. This is your stop? There were very few people on the bus, this far out in the jungle; and they were very obviously the only Americans, and this was the only hotel for miles.

"Si, por supuesto. Gracias," Alex smiled sheepishly, standing up from her seat and pulling Kara by the hand. Yes, of course, thanks. The man smiled genially, and nodded, insisting on carrying Kara and Alex's light suitcases off the bus for them despite their protests. When the bus pulled away, the colorful peacocks scattered into the nearby tree line; but in the branches above, a few small monkeys had appeared to investigate.

"Howler monkeys!" Kara squealed excitedly, pointing.

"Damn, they're cute," Alex smiled, her eyes following Kara's up into the trees.

"Not as cute as us," the blonde girl smirked, lacing their fingers together.

"Well duh." Alex rolled her eyes and cocked her head to one side teasingly. Kara leaned in and kissed her again.

"Best honeymoon ever," the young alien girl murmured, sighing happily. "Now c'mon, let's go check in so we can start exploring the jungle!"

Despite Kara's initial insistence that they should go exploring the moment they had checked in, they ended up spending their first day in the Yucatan completely in bed. Their little cabin was so beautiful and full of sunlight, and so private, surrounded by lush trees and vines and not another human soul in sight. It was simply too romantic to resist…and they didn't want to resist. They only emerged when the need for food overpowered the need for sex, compelling them to the small restaurant attached to the main building of the hotel, three walls open to the jungle and covered only by net, just like their cabin. Exotic animals peeked out of the foliage around them while they ate, small deer with enormous ears and round, watchful eyes; little monkeys, odd, enchanting turkeys with bright blue and green feathers like the peacocks, toucans with giant beaks, even a tapir, which resembled nothing so much as a baby elephant with only half a trunk.

Once Kara had tried one of almost everything on the menu, and finally admitted that she couldn't eat another bite, they went for a walk in the twilight jungle, which turned into a flying session when Kara pointed out that there was absolutely no one around to spot them. They saw the Mayan pyramids they'd both been fascinated by since Junior High, but didn't come too close; they agreed that flying to the top of the tallest pyramids in the western hemisphere would not be satisfying. They wanted to climb.

When twilight faded into the deep blackness of jungle night, they flew back to the ground, taking care not to fly too close to the little hotel; they might have felt like the only people for a hundred miles, but they both knew that there were in fact other guests at the small resort, some of whom were more than likely to be looking up at the stars on such a dazzlingly clear night. Kara landed no more than a mile away from their little jungle oasis, both of them breathless and tingling with the heady rush that flying together always brought on.

"Let's never go back to civilization. Seriously. Let's stay right here for the rest of our lives," the blonde girl murmured, kissing Alex for all she was worth and pulling her down to the soft ground. "I have everything I need right here…"

"Hmmm…" Alex sighed, unresisting at first. After a minute of making out on the jungle floor at night, though, the dark-haired girl started to appreciate why everything at their quaint little hotel was covered in mosquito nets. She sat up regretfully on top of her beloved little alien, who whined in protest.

"What? What's wrong?" Kara pouted, the urgency practically vibrating in her clear blue eyes. Once she got wound up, she became very one-track-minded very fast. And this was their honeymoon.

"I'm getting eaten," Alex complained, scratching a bug bite on her arm. "I don't need civilization, but I do need the mosquito net."

"Aww, Lexie, I'm sorry," Kara sighed, sitting up with Alex still in her lap and levitating them both effortlessly to their feet. "I wasn't thinking."

"Oh yes you were. You were just thinking about something else," Alex teased, brushing a few twigs from Kara's long hair.

"Okay, if you want me to walk all the way back to the cabin with no makeout breaks, you have to stop looking at me like that," the blonde girl huffed; but she was grinning.

"Like what?" Alex asked innocently.

"Like I'm dinner." Kara smiled wickedly.

"Well…you are very yummy," the dark-haired girl agreed, wrapping both arms around her beautiful bride's neck, and leaning in to nibble lightly on her throat.

"Thought…you were getting eaten…" Kara sighed, her knees turning to jelly as she dropped her head back, her will to resist fading fast.

"Don't care anymore. I'll just eat you, then we'll be even…" Alex kissed Kara hard, and Kara pulled her back to the leaf-strewn jungle floor without another word. Soon they had their hands under each other's shirts again…but before they could start peeling their clothes off, they both heard a deep, rumbling sound close by, like a strange animal. A strange and large animal. They sat bolt upright, their intensive combat training slicing through the playful haze of arousal like a hot knife.

"You heard that, right?" Kara panted slightly.

"I heard it," Alex agreed, reaching unconsciously for her gun even though it wasn't there. "Fuck. I don't have a weapon."

"C'mon baby, let's just go back to our cabin. Whatever it is, we should just leave it alone anyway." Kara tugged on Alex's hand, but Alex didn't move. She was staring into the darkness, silent and alert and listening. "Lexie, come on," Kara repeated, tugging a little harder.

"Shh," Alex whispered, an inscrutable expression on her face. Somehow, she sensed that this was not a normal jungle creature. The sound it was making…it was just…strange, somehow. Unearthly.

"Alexandra Grey-Danvers! Do not shush me!" Kara exclaimed indignantly, hands on her hips. "If you think being married means you get to order me around, well I've got news for you, missy…" Kara's rant was cut short by a loud, terrifying hissing sound from very close by, followed by a blur of motion as the huge creature launched itself at them from out of the darkness, catching Alex by the shoulders and smashing her to the ground. It happened so fast, the thing was no more than a blur of scaly blue and green limbs and sharp claws; it opened its huge mouth full of sharp teeth and gave another hissing roar in the young DEO agent's face, misting her with its spit. Before Alex could even think, the pressure of the huge creature crouched on top of her was instantly gone, as Kara flew at it and punched it, sending it flying back into the darkness with a feral howl of pain.

"Holy fuck, holy fuck," Alex panted weakly, flat on her back on the jungle floor, making no move to get up.

"Are you okay, baby?" Kara asked urgently, kneeling down and pulling Alex protectively into her arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was yelling at you when I should have been paying attention…"

"It's fine…I'm fine," Alex shook her head, trembling slightly against Kara's chest though she appeared unhurt. "That…was not a native species."

"No." Kara frowned. "It definitely wasn't."

"Did our honeymoon just turn into an alien retrieval mission?" Alex sighed despondently. Her dark eyes were full of starlight, already looking sad and regretful at the idea.

"No," Kara shook her head vehemently. "When we get back to the cabin, we'll call it in to the DEO. They do have other agents besides us, you know. Let J'onn handle it. We are on our honeymoon." She enunciated each word emphatically, blue eyes flashing with single-minded determination. Alex grinned crookedly, brushing a windswept lock of hair back from Kara's face.

"What was that you were just yelling at me about…? Something about how being married doesn't mean we can order each other around?"

"Oh, shut up," Kara huffed, her cheeks flushing pink. She felt almost weak with relief that the huge alien beast with the pointy teeth and sharp claws hadn't torn Alex to pieces.

"Yes mistress," Alex smirked. They both started to giggle.

"You're definitely not hurt?" Kara asked again, anxious and protective.

"Definitely not hurt," Alex agreed, reaching out and stroking Kara's cheek with her thumb. "Thanks to Supergirl."

"So…cabin?" Kara asked tentatively.

"Cabin," Alex nodded.

"More sex?"

"Lots more sex." They stood up giggling and brushing dirt and leaves from each other's clothes, as the shock of their unexpected encounter wore off and they prepared to return to their little hotel villa in the middle of the Yucatan jungle. Alex scratched a red welt on her shoulder.

"Aww, Lex, you're getting all bitten up," Kara sighed regretfully, having completely forgotten the reason they stopped to begin with.

"It's okay," Alex waved her hand dismissively. "Compared with the possibility of being eviscerated, somehow a few bug bites don't seem so bad now." Grinning, they laced their fingers together and walked back towards the hotel.

In the morning, Alex woke up in a pool of sweat. She felt antsy and tense and exhausted all at the same time, sort of like she'd been up all night cramming for a final and drinking black coffee. Beside her, Kara was sitting up in bed and quietly talking to J'onn on the Supergirl phone embedded in her earring.

"I already told you everything I saw, okay? I don't know, I don't know if it's sentient, I don't know…just send a team now. With medics. Something's wrong with Alex, she's sick…"

"I'm not sick," Alex mumbled, rubbing her eyes and trying to sit up. Immediately, her vision doubled and the sky began to spin around her. "Whoaaa." She immediately dropped back down against the pillows.

"J'onn, she's awake. Yes. Just keep me informed, okay?" Kara impatiently tapped her earring to sign off, stroking Alex's sweaty hair back with a smile full of love and reassurance. "Hey baby boo. How do you feel?"

"I'm not sick," Alex repeated, her hazel eyes still glazed and sleepy. "I just feel…weird."

"Yeah, well you probably have an alien virus, so the weird is pretty understandable," Kara sighed, still stroking Alex's hair tenderly. "We just have to hang tight for a little while, Lex. Then J'onn will be here for us, and we'll go back to the DEO and get you all fixed up. And alpha team will bag the freaky scaly thing that jumped you, so we can figure out what it did to you and how to make you all better."

"I told you, I'm not sick," Alex huffed weakly, still managing to look annoyed. Kara sighed. She knew Alex hated admitting she was sick, but this was just ridiculous.

"Lexie, let's skip this argument, just this once, okay? You're burning up, your temp is going through the roof. An unknown alien sprayed its unknown cooties in your face, and eight hours later you're a puddle of sweat that can't stand up. Please, just lie still and let me take care of you till J'onn gets here?"

"I can stand up," Alex whined resentfully, already forgetting that she couldn't even sit up in bed a minute ago. Without stopping for further debate, she pushed herself up and tried to swing her legs over the side; and then the room was spinning again, and Kara caught her before she could hit the floor.

"It's okay, shh, I got you," the blonde girl murmured protectively, too worried to be annoyed with Alex's sullen attitude.

"Okay…I can't stand up," Alex admitted with a sigh as Kara laid her back lovingly against the bed. "But I'm not sick, Kar. I'm really not. Something…something weird is happening to me…"

"Can you describe it to me?" Kara asked gently, still confident that Alex simply didn't know what every single alien illness in the galaxy felt like; but maybe if she could describe it, it could help J'onn and the team know what they were looking for, know what to do to make Alex better before she was cooked alive by her rising fever.

"I just feel…speedy…jittery…like too much coffee…all shaky, tense…and tingly, and hot…it's like…it's like…" Alex's voice trailed off into a shriek of pain, as her entire body seemed to tighten and contract, every muscle from head to toe spasming at once as she curled in on herself. Kara held her hand, terrified and confused as she watched the love of her life screaming and writhing in pain, with no idea what was causing it.

"Okay…okay…you're okay," Kara soothed when Alex's body finally went limp, and her screams faded into shaky panting.

"Jesus…fuck…what the fuck is happening," the dark-haired girl croaked, slightly hoarse from screaming.

"I don't know, baby, but we're gonna find out. I promise, we'll figure this out…" Kara's hand was threading gently through Alex's hair again, desperate to soothe her somehow…and then she frowned, holding out a strand of Alex's dark hair and staring at it. "Did your hair just get longer?"

"Sure. Okay," Alex mumbled flippantly.

"No, Lex, I'm serious. Your hair just grew about four inches in the last minute. Look, feel it." Kara took Alex's hand and put it in her hair; and Alex frowned in confusion, the same as Kara had done.

"Well that's weird," Alex admitted.

"Officially weird," Kara agreed, trying not to sound too worried.

"Kar, I'm really thirsty…and hungry…"

"Good! Hungry is good! I'll call room service," Kara smiled, relieved to have something tangible to do. And though it seemed selfish to admit it, she was really hungry, too.

By the time J'onn and the DEO team arrived, it was evening, and Alex's hair was at least a foot longer than it had been when she woke up. She'd had several more episodes of intense, blinding pain that made her curl up in a twitching ball and scream her head off, each one followed by immediate, voracious hunger and thirst. Her body temp was still high, but it seemed to have leveled out at some point and was holding steady, neither going up or back down. Kara was willing to admit by this point that Alex might be right; she wasn't sick, at least not in any way that Kara had ever seen or heard of. Sick people didn't eat like they'd just run a 12K marathon, every two hours. But something was physically wrong with her. Very wrong.

"Room service. Somebody order a helicopter?" J'onn opened the door to their little cabin with a grim smile, trying to keep the mood light for Alex's sake. She was his protégé, practically a daughter to him; he hated to see her in pain like this, pale and shaking in a pool of sweat.

"Hey. It's J'onn," Alex murmured, her voice croaky from screaming all day.

"How's my top agent?" He asked, with a fatherly smile as he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his hand lightly on her back. It was very hot.

"Not totally awesome," Alex admitted with a deep sigh. "Definitely sub-awesome. You?"

"I'll be better once we bag and tag the thing that attacked you," J'onn said, his voice conveying the utmost confidence that this was not a question, but a foregone conclusion. "For now, the med team's going to come get you out of here, and I'll follow with alpha team when we have the creature in containment. We'll figure out how to fix this, Alex."

"I know, I know," Alex whined, sounding resentful and adolescent. "You don't have to talk to me like I'm a dumb kid."

"I wasn't," J'onn assured her, chalking up her sullenness to the amount of pain and confusion she was experiencing. But he also noticed—he couldn't possibly not notice—how long her hair had gotten; much longer than he'd ever seen in the time he'd known her. But he had seen it this length in some old pictures of Kara and Alex from high school.

There was something else that seemed different about her appearance, besides the length of her hair; but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He studied her closely; she looked like Alex, even with her dark hair falling past her shoulders in waves now. Then the med team came bustling in with a rolling gurney from the helicopter, and three medics were hovering over her, taking her vitals and distracting her long enough for Kara to slip around to J'onn's side and ask him quietly, "…Does she look younger to you?"

That was it. The indefinable change that he couldn't explain. It was subtle; she wasn't any shorter, and people in their mid-twenties often passed for teenagers anyway, there was nothing specific to pinpoint. But she was. Younger. Sixteen, seventeen maybe; eighteen at the most.

"I know what we're looking for," J'onn said suddenly.

It was early evening when the DEO helicopter took off from the Yucatan jungle, meeting up with a much faster, medical military jet in Baja that took them the rest of the way back to National City, by which time it was past three am. Alex fell asleep intermittently through the journey, exhausted by the stress her body was undergoing; but she woke up screaming and thrashing each time the pain hit, signifying a fresh round of the biochemical feedback loop she'd been trapped in since her encounter with the Legelian. That was what the creature was called, according to J'onn, who described in perfect detail the alien they'd seen once he saw what was happening to Alex. Its home world was Selubol VIII, a distant planet in a distant corner of the galaxy where no Kryptonian had visited. The big, scary spikes on its reptilian back were not weapons at all, as it turned out, but rather pheromone receptors for its symbiant—a parasitic lifeform without which their species was unable to breed. As there were no such creatures here on earth, the Legelian had apparently been wandering the jungles of Central America for years, possibly decades, continually in the agitated state of seeking to complete its breeding and regeneration cycle—it was, essentially, in heat.

J'onn's theory was that alpha team would find more than a few wild animals in the jungle that had befallen the same fate as Alex—debilitated and de-aging from exposure to the alien's pheromone spray, which was its catalyst for both breeding and rejuvenation, like a snake, shedding its skin every few months. But the Legelian was not biologically compatible with any species on this planet. By coming into contact with the alien's rejuvenation pheromones, which oscillated on multivalent quantum frequencies and amplitudes, the normal quantum resonance of Alex's DNA has been destabilized. In the simplest terms, her body was moving backwards on a cellular level.

By the time they got her into the DEO med bay, there was no further question that this was the answer to what was happening to Alex; within a period of roughly thirty-six hours from the time of exposure to the creature, she'd de-aged about half her lifespan, from twenty-five to somewhere around twelve. She looked like the kid who Kara remembered standing over her pod on the day she'd crash landed in Midvale, scared and alone until she saw those bright, curious hazel eyes looking down at her, full of warmth and reassurance.

Only now there was no brightness in the dark eyes Kara knew so well, except for the fever-glaze of her elevated body temp, caused by the accelerated metabolic rate the creature's pheromones were imposing on her biology. Just like Kara, whose natural metabolic rate was also much faster than a human's—her body temp was, likewise, a couple of degrees higher. But this wasn't natural for Alex's biorhythm, it was taxing and exhausting, using up all the energy in her body faster than she could replace it. They'd put her on IV fluids and nutrition in the medevac, but it didn't seem to be helping very much. Seeing Alex like this, a helpless kid screaming in pain, weak and shaking in a feverish pool of sweat, made Kara's heart tear in more directions than she even knew she could feel. All she could do was murmur empty reassurances, letting Alex curl up in her arms, stroking her long waves of dark hair while she cried and trembled helplessly.

"Stop it, leave us alone," little Alex mumbled hoarsely as the medics wheeled her out of the medevac jet and into the DEO, where the med bay was already set up for her.

"It's okay Lex, we made it home. You'll be okay now," Kara murmured, rubbing her back lightly. Despite not wanting Kara to leave her alone on the gurney for even a minute, Alex had displayed a profound level of tactile sensitivity, which wasn't surprising considering the level of cellular flux her body was experiencing. Kara had to be very, very gentle when she touched Alex, so as not to cause her any further pain.

"Kara? …Is this real life?" Alex asked woozily, half-asleep as she rubbed her eyes and blinked up at the blonde girl blearily. She looked about ten years old now, younger than Kara had ever seen her in their life together. Even as a child, she was stoic; Kara had always known that. The pain in her eyes was obvious, but she never complained. She cried when she couldn't bear it anymore; but she never complained, not once.

"Yeah, baby. This is real life," Kara sighed, wishing she could give a different answer. "But we're back at the DEO now, Dr. Schwartzman is gonna take good care of you. I promise. We'll get you through this, you'll be good as new before you know it."

"Don't leave, 'kay?" Ten-year-old Alex whispered, her hot face resting limply on Kara's collarbone.

"Of course I'm not leaving," Kara assured her, sifting her fingers gently through her love's dark hair, even softer than it usually was now that it had been rejuvenated over and over again, youthful and vibrant.

"Even if there's an alien…or a terrorist attack…"

"Even if there's an alien or a terrorist attack," Kara promised, kissing the top of Alex's head. "I'm not going anywhere without you, Lexie. I promise."

"'Kay…good," Alex sighed, wrapping her small hand tightly into the fabric of Kara's t-shirt. Her fears momentarily soothed, and the pain beginning to fade, ten-year-old Alex drifted back to sleep, curled up on top of Kara like a kitten. Dr. Schwartzman came over and hooked a fresh IV bag up to the pole beside the bed, and after giving it a little tap to ensure it was flowing properly, the doctor glanced up at the sleeping girl's vital signs on the computer monitor.

"How's she doing, doc?" Kara asked quietly.

"Her vitals are strong…she's a fighter," the doctor sighed, taking in the sheen of sweat covering the pale, sleeping child.

"That's not an answer."

"I know. I wish I had a real answer for you, Kara," Dr. Schwartzman shook her head. "But the truth is, we really don't know. She's stable for now; that's all I can say for sure. Based on the data the med team recorded on the flight back, it seems that she's losing a year roughly every three hours—so, in theory, we have about thirty hours left to find a treatment to reverse the Legelian's pheromonal catalyst. That's assuming her body can endure the stress that long. The younger she gets, the more dramatically her cells are being altered; she could have a heart attack, she could go into shock, her organs could start shutting down. There's just no precedent for the kind of physical stress her body is experiencing."

Kara nodded silently, appreciating the doctor's honesty though her eyes still filled with exhausted tears at the thought of Alex enduring any more pain than she already had. "We've only been married for three days," she whispered, her arms circling more protectively around Alex's smaller body. "I'm not ready to be a widow…"

"We're not going to let that happen, Kara." The doctor put a reassuring hand on the blonde girl's arm. "She's strong. And we're stubborn. I've got the whole med team on this, we're studying what we know of Legelian physiology from the DEO database and looking for a catalytic reversal agent. If J'onn can get back with blood and tissue samples soon, it will speed things up significantly."

"I just hope you can move as fast as she's moving," Kara sighed, her hand slipping mindlessly through Alex's hair again. The dark-haired girl began to twitch and whimper in her sleep; Kara tensed worriedly, knowing what was coming. "It's happening again," she said quietly to the doctor, who had not yet seen one of Alex's cellular flux episodes up close.

"Ow, ow, stop…please make it stop," Alex whimpered, waking up in a haze of pain yet again, her tears soaking into Kara's shirt.

"I'm here Lexie, I'm here," Kara cooed gently, holding Alex steady on the bed while her muscles twitched and thrashed in agony. "It's going to pass, just breathe honey…" Alex was sobbing, beyond words now as the pain overtook her whole body. Her temperature spiked, all the monitors beeping frantically as the med team swarmed around them. Kara could feel Alex's body shrinking in her arms now; the younger she got, the more dramatic the physiological changes, just as Dr. Schwartzman had noted. She was literally slipping away, and there was nothing Kara could do to stop it. After a few agonizing minutes that felt like hours, Alex stopped thrashing, her breathing shallow and labored like she'd just been held underwater or tortured.

"Let's get some ice over here," the doctor calmly instructed her team, pressing her stethoscope against Alex's back to hear her heart rate. Little Alex flinched and screamed in Kara's arms.

"Don't!" she shrieked, kicking out blindly to push the doctor's hands and tools away.

"Shh," Kara whispered, cupping one hand gently against the back of Alex's head in reassurance. Looking up at the doctor, she explained apologetically, "her skin is very sensitive now, especially right after the…episodes. Try to use the lightest touch possible, please."

"Okay," Dr. Schwartzman nodded patiently, bending down so she was face to face with the teary-eyed child that was their top field agent. "I'm sorry, Alex. I'll be as gentle as possible, okay?"

"'Kay," Alex whispered, sniffling and panting. "I'm sorry…I'm s'pozed to be brave…"

"You don't have to be brave right now, zrhueiao," Kara murmured, kissing the top of her dark head. "You don't have to be anything. I got you, I'm right here, I'm not gonna leave you alone. Not today, not ever."

"What if the doctors can't fix me…what if I'm a kid forever?" Alex whispered, wiping her nose on the back of her hand as the tears continued to spill down her cheeks into Kara's shirt. "You…you can't be married to a kid…"

"You're not a kid," Kara smiled gently, trailing her fingertips lightly, so lightly, over Alex's trembling back. "You just look like one."

"No, Kar…it's…it's more than that," Little Lexie shook her head weakly, her hand reaching out to hold a lock of Kara's blonde hair in search of more comfort. "I…I can still remember everything…I remember…my life…I know I'm…I'm a grownup. But it feels so far away…I feel like I'm just a kid. I'm sorry, Kara, I'm sorry…"

"Hush, don't say that," Kara shook her head, stroking Alex's hair gently again. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, sweet girl…this isn't your fault, you didn't do anything to make this happen. Please just let us take care of you, baby…it'll be okay, you'll be okay."

"'Kay," Alex whispered, wiping her nose on her hand again. "Kara?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you…are you still my bluebird?" Alex's small voice was vulnerable and uncertain.

"Always," Kara murmured, her voice quiet but full of emotion as she kissed the top of Alex's head again. "Now try to rest a little, okay baby?"

"Will you…*snf*…will you sing?" Alex asked shyly, holding onto the fabric of Kara's shirt again as if afraid she'd disappear.

"For you, anytime anywhere," Kara smiled softly, hugging Alex's small, shaking body a little tighter against her chest. She sang until the shaking relaxed, finally, into sleep; and after almost two days without any sleep herself, Kara soon followed.

When Kara woke up, Alex was crying again, worse than ever; the uncontrollable sobbing of a young child in unbearable pain. It sliced Kara's heart right in half before her eyes were even open. J'onn was sitting beside them, she realized as she blinked sleepily and took in the room around them, the beeping of the equipment and the urgent voices of the DEO medics. Kara looked into his dark eyes, and saw the worry; so they hadn't found a cure, not yet.

"Breathe Lexie…breathe," Kara hummed softly, stroking the long dark hair fanned out across her chest as Alex thrashed weakly on top of her, screaming inconsolably.

"It has to stop now," the dark-haired girl whispered, her voice more childlike than ever. It was more than just her voice; it was the panic and the pain and the unselfconscious vulnerability, right out in the open in front of everyone. Alex had always been stoic, always; even when they were kids. The day of the car accident by the beach in 7th grade, when her arm got sliced open and needed 27 stitches—she didn't cry. But she was thirteen then; now she looked half that age, no more than seven. Maybe even six. Too young to be stoic; she was physically, neurologically unable to hold back any of the pain she was experiencing.

"I don't want it to happen again, Kara…just make it stop…"

"We're trying, honey. We're trying as hard as we can," Kara murmured protectively, looking back at J'onn's grim expression over the top of Alex's dark head, slumped limp against her chest.

"Try harder," Alex whined, her voice pleading.

"We will, baby girl…we will," Kara promised, sitting up a little against the bed and rocking Alex's frail little body gently in her arms. She was too skinny, she looked like an abused child who'd been locked in a closet without food for days, weeks. The IV nutrition they were pumping into her couldn't keep up with her unnaturally enhanced metabolism.

"Kara…I'm thirsty," little Alex mumbled, with a dry cough.

"J'onn will get you some water," Kara promised soothingly, rubbing her back until she stopped coughing.

"I don't want water," seven-year-old Alex whined. "Can I have root beer?"

"I'll go see what I can find," J'onn smiled, crouching down by the bed to be on eye-level with the dark-haired little girl. "I know you're scared, Alex." He tapped his temple, reminding her of his psychic abilities, that he could hear her thoughts. "It's okay to be scared. Just don't give up, okay kiddo? Because we're not giving up on you."

"'Kay," Alex whispered, with a brave attempt at a smile as J'onn winked at her and walked away toward the vending machines in the corridor. "Kara…"

"What is it, baby?"

"You…you have to promise…"

"I'm not leaving you Lexie. I already promised"—but Alex cut her off.

"No—not that. Promise me that if I…if I die…"

"You are not gonna die, Lex. That is not going to happen," Kara said vehemently, unconsciously hugging Alex's limp body a little tighter in her arms.

"If I die," Alex continued stubbornly, "You have to promise you won't be sad forever. Promise…you'll find someone else, 'kay? I don't want you to be alone forever…my bluebird…"

"I'm not going to promise you that, because it's not going to happen," Kara half-snarled, shaking her head. "You are going to be fine, Alex. Do you hear me?"

"Promise," Alex whispered stubbornly.

"Lexie…"

"Promise," Alex repeated, managing to sound emphatic despite how weak and croaky her little voice was.

"Okay…I…I promise," Kara gulped, swallowing hard to push back the tears. She had to be strong for Alex now; she could cry later.

"Hold…my hand," Alex murmured, her breathing shallow as she opened her hand, too weak to even reach for Kara's. The blonde girl slipped Alex's small, hot hand into her own, unable to lace their fingers together the way they normally did, because her hand was so much larger than Alex's now.

"You have to hang on, Lexie, you have to keep fighting…" Kara's warm, familiar voice was full of love, and Alex smiled weakly as her eyes slipped closed. She didn't have the energy to talk anymore; but she didn't feel scared now. Safe in Kara's arms, she drifted away into the peacefully beckoning darkness.

When Alex opened her eyes again, it felt like a long time had passed. Her whole body felt stiff, like she hadn't moved a muscle in hours…days, even. Her memory felt fuzzy, she wasn't sure what was real…except that she was in the DEO med bay, and she definitely had her own, full-sized adult body. Was all of that real, or had she dreamed it? Had she really been a child the last time she closed her eyes?

"Kara…?" She mumbled croakily, suddenly realizing how dry her mouth was.

"Hey there, soldier." It wasn't Kara, but their chief medical officer who smiled down at her reassuringly. "It's good to see those eyes again. How do you feel?"

"Sore," Alex said after a moment's assessment. "Where's Kara…"

"At work, at CatCo. She wouldn't leave your side for three days, but J'onn finally kicked her out once you were on the mend. You've been in a medically induced coma for a week."

"A…a week?" Alex repeated weakly, disbelieving. "What the hell happened…"

"You don't remember?" Dr. Schwartzman raised an eyebrow, still wary of brain damage or memory loss after Alex's unique ordeal.

"No, I do…at least I think I do. It seems so crazy now, though…maybe it was just a dream?"

"It wasn't a dream. And you were a very cute kid." The doctor winked teasingly. Alex groaned and pulled a pillow over her head.

It didn't take more than three minutes for Kara to appear by her side; she'd obviously left her desk at CatCo in a hurry when she heard Alex was awake. The blonde girl was nothing but a blur of motion as she streaked through the DEO halls to the med bay, stopping dead in her tracks at Alex's bedside.

"Hey babe," Alex smiled sheepishly, feeling suddenly embarrassed as all the jumbled memories of her helpless, involuntary second childhood spent entirely in Kara's arms flooded back to the forefront of her mind. "Check me out, all full-sized and shit." Kara burst into tears. "Hey, it's okay, I'm okay. I'm fine." Alex held out her arms, and Kara flew into them, sobbing inconsolably.

"You…m-made me p-promise…not to be sad if you died," Kara choked through her tears, her hands running everywhere over Alex's body, as if convincing herself that her wife was really all there.

"I'm sorry, bluebird," Alex smiled weakly.

"Well you should be sorry, you big jerk! You are not allowed to die!" Kara half-yelled, raising her tear-streaked face from Alex's neck with a slightly hysterical gleam in her blue eyes.

"Ever?" Alex asked jokingly. Kara sniffled and rolled her eyes.

"Well…ask me again after our 60th wedding anniversary, okay?"

"Okay," Alex nodded, smiling in agreement. Then suddenly her dark eyes went wide in horror, and the smile slid from her face. "Oh, fuck me…our honeymoon…I wrecked our honeymoon. Like epically wrecked. Like, people who go on cruises where the whole ship gets food poisoning will still be like, yeah, well at least it wasn't as bad as Alex and Kara's honeymoon." The dark-haired girl groaned and smacked her hand against her forehead. Kara reached out and gently pulled it away again.

"Lexie…I don't care about the goddam honeymoon," the blonde girl shook her head, regaining her calm the longer Alex babbled.

"No?"

"Nope," Kara shook her head seriously. "I just care about my wife." They grinned at each other shyly. "And now that you're no longer jailbait, will you please kiss me so we can live happily ever after?"

"You're such a dork," Alex smiled goofily, and kissed her. Neither of them had noticed the doctors and medics all discreetly leaving the room, pulling the privacy curtain closed behind them.