Author's Note: This chapter is 2 scenes as there is an element in the first that makes its way over into the second scene (and also because the first scene felt too short to me to post as a chapter on it's own). ALSO, this means you get 3 scenes in one day, because I am feeling generous! And also because I was feeling so very upset about the last episode that I needed to write something other than "Boom". These two scenes are the result of that.

III. Blanket summary: This was a prompt sent to me by one of my glorious anons on Tumblr who wrote: "Alex finds out that on occasion Kara stays overnight at the DEO watching over comatose Bizarro/Jane Doe. cue feels." SPOILERS FOR 1x12 - "Bizarro"

IV. Blue summary: This was a headcanon presented to me by the glorious BreezyR over on Archive of Our Own who said: " I bet Kara sometimes has nightmares and Alex has her own methods of taking care of her then. Like hot cocoa and cuddling." SPOILERS FOR 1x13 - "For the Girl Who Has Everything"

III. Blanket

Alex slipped near-silently down one of the halls of the DEO, nodding to a passing agent as she went. It was late and quieter than it was in the day, but the base was still active as the business of protecting the earth never stopped. She was meant to be off work, but when she'd stopped by Kara's to check on her and found her sister not home, she'd known where to go.

When she reached the door she needed, she pushed it open and peeked inside. She saw precisely what she thought she would — her sister asleep at the bedside of the comatose Bizarro, or Jane, as Kara had taken to calling her. She'd told Alex, voice soft with sadness and regret, that "Bizarro" just seemed too harsh a name for the innocent lying on the bed.

This was not the first night she knew Kara had come to sit with Jane, and at some point a small leather loveseat had been brought into the room, which Alex suspected was the work of J'onn. He'd been the initial one to notice Kara's visits and the one to tell Alex about them.

Alex sighed softly as she regarded her sister's exhausted features. Even in her sleep, she still looked like she was being crushed under the weight of the world. There was nothing Alex could do about it and she hated it. She could be there for her sister and offer whatever she could to help alleviate the pressure, but until Kara was ready to release it, the burden would remain.

That was why she was there, though. Not to acquit her sister of whatever she was struggling with, but to offer what succor she could. In this case, it was a blanket.

It seemed silly because Kara was Kryptonian and didn't actually need a blanket in order to keep warm, but Alex knew having one brought her comfort. This one was a particular favorite as well — a soft blue microfleece one that she'd had for years, one of the first things she'd been given after coming to Earth. Kara kept it stored safe in her linen closet and only ever pulled it out when she was feeling emotionally overwhelmed. When Alex had stopped by Kara's apartment, she'd found it on Kara's bed and knew in that moment, despite her sister's earlier (and multiple) assurances that she was fine, just how very not fine she actually was.

After closing the door behind her, she padded quietly across the room. She stood before her little sister and just watched her breathe for a few beats before she finally draped the blanket over her.

The act, though gentle, didn't go unnoticed by the sleeping blonde because her eyes suddenly fluttered open. She blinked lethargically a few times, seemingly attempting to process where she was and what was happening before her gaze came to rest on Alex. "Hey," she greeted softly, slowly pushing herself up into a straighter position.

Alex slipped down onto the little couch beside her. "Hi," she whispered in return. Unable to help herself, she leaned forward and pushed an errant golden lock out of Kara's face and tucked it behind her ear.

"I thought you left hours ago," Kara said.

"I did."

"Then why…?"

"I'm just checking on you," Alex replied.

"How did you even know—"

"That you'd be here?" Alex smiled gently. "Elite agent, remember?"

Kara smirked and Alex watched as her sister unconsciously fingered the soft fabric of the blanket in her lap, not even noticing it was there until a few seconds later when her sleepy brain seemed to realize that something was not the same as it had been before. Kara looked down and Alex saw the very moment that she recognized which blanket it was.

Blue eyes snapped back up to chestnut and Kara swallowed hard. She was struggling with the realization that she had been found out, Alex could see it playing clearly across her sister's face. It was harder to keep the roiling emotions in check when someone else knew you were experiencing them; it was harder to convince yourself that they weren't so bad when you could see a reflection of them in the empathetic expression of another person.

Alex knew Kara thought she needed to be okay, that being emotional was a burden to others. She knew this because that was her own mindset. But Kara was not Alex — her emotions had always been so much closer to the surface and Alex knew that the worst thing Kara could try to do was be like Alex, to force them down and pretend to be okay.

So when Kara cracked, Alex was relieved.

Face crumpling, Kara leaned forward into Alex's waiting arms and trembled helplessly. Alex held tight.

After Kara had calmed, Alex spoke up. "Why are you here?" she asked softly, though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

Sniffling, Kara pulled back and looked sadly over at Jane. "I know she's in a coma," she started, "and isn't aware, but still, I didn't want her to be alone. I didn't want her to…"

Alex understood. "You didn't want her to be afraid."

Kara brought her head back around to meet Alex's gaze once more and nodded. "Yeah."

Alex studied her sister's face. Her eyes were damp and a far brighter blue because of the tears; her expression was earnest and kind and terribly tragic. And Alex made a decision. She pulled up the blanket and slipped underneath it as well.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked.

"Staying," Alex replied, because there was more than one girl in the room who could use someone else to keep them from feeling alone and afraid. She extended an arm out to Kara, inviting her in.

Kara gave Alex a small, watery smile and nodded before hunkering down under the blanket and leaning fully into Alex's welcoming side. "Thank you," she whispered.

IV. Blue

The blanket was out and Alex wasn't at all surprised. Kara had once told her that it was the same color blue as what her mother had worn and that was why she'd been so drawn to it when she'd first arrived on Earth as a child. Having now been inside Kara's head, Alex realized how precise a match it actually was.

The only thing sticking out from under the blanket was a tuft of blonde hair and while Alex wished she could see her sister's face just so she could check to see she was okay, she was glad that Kara was finally getting some rest.

The past few days had not gone well. Kara had tried to play it off as if she was okay. During the evening of fun with James and Winn she had seemed almost normal, but after the guys had left, the effort to maintain the facade had become too much. She hadn't said anything, but the moment Kara had pulled the blanket out of the linen closet, Alex had known just how much she was suffering.

Alex had been staying with Kara since it had happened, since the Black Mercy and Astra's death. She'd told herself that she was doing it for Kara, but she knew she was doing it for both of them. Despite Kara's half-hearted attempts at insisting she could manage alone, Alex knew better, knew her sister needed her there just as she needed to be near Kara.

Alex had never come so close to losing Kara before. There had been some scary calls, but this time Kara truly had almost died and Alex hadn't quite figured out a way to wrap her mind around that. Yes, Kara had survived, but the fear Alex had felt for her sister still lingered below the surface and now, watching how Kara was managing her grief, she was even more afraid.

Kara had been pushing herself as hard as she could, working at CatCo and saving as many lives as possible, only coming home when she was exhausted. She actually hadn't said how she had handled Cat Grant and the mess J'onn's charade had left behind, but she hadn't been fired, so Alex assumed she managed to work out something. She was happy about it, too, happy that Kara had been able to hang on to that important part of her life, but at the same time, Alex couldn't help but worry about the way Kara was just throwing herself into her work, both there and as Supergirl.

Kara wasn't coping, she was ignoring, and Alex knew just how dangerous that was for a person who lived as freely by her emotions as Kara did. Kara had always been the one to willingly feel the deepest, to wear her heart on her sleeve. To hide her feelings, to force them down went completely against Kara's nature and it never ended well. Alex knew that sooner or later they were going to catch up with her.

She had just settled on the couch when she heard it — the first whimper. Alex froze in place, holding her breath, and just listened. After a few moments, she decided that she'd imagined the sound, but just as she was about to relax back down into the cushions, she heard it again. Her eyes immediately went to the lump on the bed that was her sister.

Kara shifted in her sleep, rolling onto her back. She whimpered a third time and Alex was immediately on her feet. She moved quickly but quietly over to Kara's side, carefully pulling the blanket down to reveal her sister's anguish-twisted, but still-sleeping face.

Nightmares.

Alex's heart clenched in despair. She knew this would happen at some point, was actually surprised it hadn't happened sooner. She suspected the delay in the nightmares was due to the fact that Kara was exhausting herself to the point of almost dropping on the spot, forcing herself into too deep a sleep to dream. But now...

It was just like when she had lost her family the first time, though Alex imagined this time had to be so much worse. To lose something you loved was painful enough, but to then have back that thing you had been dreaming of for so long only to have it ripped away yet again… Alex couldn't even conceive of that measure of agony.

When Kara's face crumpled even further and her whimpers turned into distressed cries, Alex immediately climbed onto the bed beside her and reached forward, gently shaking her. "Kara," she said softly, "Kara, wake up."

Alex couldn't recall the number of times she had done the same thing when Kara had first arrived on Earth. They had slept in the same room as girls and that meant she hadn't been able to simply ignore Kara's nightly distress (not that she would have wanted to either way). She'd felt that Kara was her responsibility and had never thought to seek out her parents in order for them to help with the trauma Kara experienced over and over after the sun set. Instead, with a some time (and bruises, as waking up a hysterical Kryptonian who hadn't yet fully figured out her new powers turned out to be, on occasion, mildly dangerous), she'd worked out the best way to calm her new sister.

"Kar—" Alex reeled back when Kara surged forward and almost headbutted her. "Whoa, Kara! Hey, hey!" Her hands hovered before her sister, but she didn't touch, wouldn't until Kara was fully out of the grips of the nightmare.

Kara looked around, chest heaving, confusion plain across her haunted face. It took her a few seconds, as it always did, to realize where she was, but the moment she did, she leaned right over into Alex's waiting arms. She didn't cry, just shook, her body no doubt trying to free itself of the last vestiges of whatever she had been living through in her mind.

"I got you," Alex softly said, rubbing Kara's back in soothing circles. "I got you."

Eventually Kara pulled back and blinked wide, wet, sad eyes at Alex.

Alex slipped her hand into Kara's and gripped it tight. "Krypton?" she asked.

Kara shook her head. "Astra," she whispered. Alex felt her heart drop. "I dreamt that I got there in time, that she agreed to give up Non and their plans, to help us, but more so, she agreed to let me help her," she shook her head, "but then everything went wrong and she died anyway."

"Oh, Kara…"

Tears finally started to fall down her sister's cheeks, voice trembling as she continued to speak. "I just— I think if I had been there instead of trying to take on Non, I might have been able to reach her, to convince her to help us. If I had been there, Hank —J'onn— wouldn't have had to—" her breathing hitched, "he wouldn't have had to kill her."

The plaguing guilt she had been feeling since the moment she pulled the kryptonite sword free of Astra's breast flared hot and Alex had to look away.

Kara missed it though, no doubt too tangled up in her own turbulent emotions to spot the distress glance across Alex's face. "There was still good in her, Alex. I know it. I could have saved her. If I hadn't let my anger blind me. If I'd just…"

"Kara, no," Alex interrupted, shaking her head. She paused there, though, unsure of what comforts to offer her sister.

Her struggle stemmed from the fact that Alex believed what her sister was saying, too. She had seen the conflict in Astra's eyes, the war of duty versus family. She had seen the sudden shift from self-righteous anger to conscience-stricken hesitation when she'd asked the woman to help them. In that moment, there had been an opportunity to save Astra from herself.

But the opportunity had been lost.

If Alex had just had more time talk to her, if J'onn hadn't shown up when he had, if he hadn't been bested by Astra, if Kara had gotten there faster… There were so many factors that had attributed to the way things had ended, so many things that could have gone differently, but hadn't. It was just a bad day, one of those bad days when it could have gone just right, but instead had gone perfectly wrong.

"I could have saved her," Kara repeated in a broken whisper.

It drew Alex back out of her head, making her realize that she'd fallen silent.

"I don't know that you could have," Alex softly countered, though it felt wrong even as she said it. She fully believed her sister could reach just about anyone, but in this moment, that wasn't what Kara needed to hear. What she needed was to be shown that it wasn't her fault.

"Astra had been misguided for so long that she couldn't see beyond what she had convinced herself to believe," Alex said, squeezing Kara's hand tight. "She couldn't see that there was another way. After all that time, her warped ideas were all she knew anymore and she was so afraid that if she let them go, everything she had worked for, everything she had sacrificed —your mom, your planet,... you— it would be for nothing."

"She never lost me, though," Kara wept. "She always had me."

Alex sighed and pulled her little sister into another hug, holding her as close as she could as Kara sobbed against her. "There are days when you just lose, Kara," she murmured. "There was nothing you could have done or can do that will change it. We lost that day. What you have to remember, though, what you have to hold onto is that she loved you. Despite it all, the madness and the anger and the violence, you helped Astra remember the woman she had once been and she died loving you."

Kara held tight to Alex and just wept and not once did Alex wish to pull out of the embrace. She was Kara's protector, her support. It was a mantle she had accepted begrudgingly as a child, but now it was the position she held at higher value than she did anything else in her life. She clung to her sister, holding her secure until Kara's sobs turned to soft whimpers and she began to fully slump against Alex.

Kara was overwrought and just so very weary. Alex knew that the conversation was over, at least for now, so without letting go, she coaxed Kara back down into the pillows. She one-handedly adjusted the blanket, as deep a royal blue as ever there was, so that it covered them both and then snuggled beneath it's warmth, her sister pressed firm and safe against her side.

Alex unconsciously rubbed soothing patterns into Kara's back as they lay there and listened as Kara's hiccuped breaths of despair eventually evened out, her exhaustion making it impossible to ignore the cool pull of sleep any longer.

As she stared up at the shadows on the ceiling, Alex felt a tear slip free as her sorrow surged anew in the silence. It was but the first as she found herself suddenly unable to hold back the flood.

She wept quietly, for herself and what'd she'd been forced to do; for Kara and what she had been forced to live through. She wept at the weight of the secret she now had to keep. She didn't know what would happen should a day come when Kara found out what had truly happened. Astra may have never lost Kara despite all she had done, but Alex feared the moment the truth finally found its way into the light, she would lose her.

Even imagining the look of betrayal that would no doubt darken Kara's sweet, open face was too much for Alex, so she did the only thing she could right then — she pressed her tear-stained face into Kara's hair and pulled the blanket up high. It was warm and safe and would, at least for now, keep them protected against any further pains the world wished to serve them.

A/N's: I'm not going to lie to you, it's been a really long time since a TV show (or movie) upset me so much that it left me feeling physically ill. "For the Girl Who Has Everything" did that to me. I just loved Astra so very much and I just know she could have been redeemed. If it had just been Kara there instead of J'onn... GAH. Cannot. I cannot.

Everyone was on point this episode, that is for sure, but I will say that Chyler Leigh's performance throughout (especially the scene where she's pleading with Kara to remember and to come back with her) was just... wow, phenomenal. We've always seen Alex so calm and I just love how violent she got in this. And the whole "I either come back with my sister or I don't come back at all" line? HO-LY CRAP. It really gave us all some great insight into how far she would go for Kara. It also gave me a better idea of how far I can push her in "Boom" and still keep her true to character. God, such a great, horrible, brilliant, gut-wrenching, amazing episode. I hate it so much and I love it all the more.