Winn: i'm almost there. hope you're ready.

Alex: as ready as i'll ever be. bring her in whenever. everything good between you two?

Winn: yeah, she told me all the same stuff you did. minus the part about how everything is your fault. you two really are sisters.

Alex: good, i'm glad it worked out. and about the sister thing... i think kara would disagree with you there. and so would drunk me.

Winn: don't dwell. just think ab how you're going to fix it.

With that, Alex closed her phone and paced the apartment. Where would she even start? What did Kara need to hear to get this idea out of her head? What is she going to think when she opens Winn's apartment door and finds her horrible and condescending older sister awaiting her?

She felt something rub against her leg. Alex looked down curiously and found that she hadn't even remembered to change out of her DEO clothes.

She reached into her pocket, and pulled out something she'd never thought she'd see again.

The picture.

And in her back pocket, she reached in and found her matching one.

But how have I never found it? I- never mind... not important right now.

As she continued to stare at the pictures, she struggled to hold in her tears.

So, Kara walked in and found her sister crying on the floor, looking at the matching set of pictures.

Those pictures that she hadn't seen in years. The picture that had gotten her through the worst of it, and then was ripped away from her.

The picture that she never thought she'd see again.

And she couldn't help but cry too.

She knelt by Alex's side, and held her hand. This didn't change anything. She was still leaving tonight. But she couldn't go in good conscience, knowing that her sister was hurting.

"Lex..."

Alex took out the note Kara had written and showed it to her little sister.

Kara's jaw dropped. She wasn't even going to give that to Alex until later tonight. How had she found it? She wasn't supposed to read it.

She wasn't supposed to know.

"How did you... Where did you get that?"

Alex couldn't do anything. Say anything. The only things that were coming out of her mouth were choked sobs.

She hiccuped through her tears. "I'm so... I'm s- so... sorry. I-"

She couldn't even bring herself to keep going. Her heart was broken, everything she had said just came back to her and hit her like a wave. It just kept repeating and playing in her head like some kind of devilish and tantalizing broken record.

And it wouldn't stop.

She couldn't say any words. Everything she had planned to say. Everything she had wanted to tell Kara. Her baby sister.

It was all just gone.

All that she had left were tears. Tears on tears. She was sobbing, sucking in large breaths, feeling like it wasn't going to help. The walls were caving in, she couldn't breathe. She wanted so badly for it all to go away. To have her sister safe in her arms.

But all she could do was just... cry.

Kara didn't know how to feel. She had been distancing herself from Alex, not wanting to regret her decision to trade herself in. She knew if she had a real conversation with her big sister, she wouldn't be able to go. She would be forced to stay. Kara wouldn't be able to leave her sister here alone.

But she was cold and distant. And it did exactly what she had wanted. It had prevented her from feeling the heartache of having to face her sister.

Before she left forever.

But looking at her now, and seeing how broken she was... It reminded her of herself. Alex felt as horrible about what she had said as Kara felt hearing it. Her body screamed for her to just stand up and leave, to go do what she had been planning forever. To go do the right thing, the noble thing.

But her heart wouldn't let her. Her heart told her that it was in fact, the wrong thing. That the only person who could fix her broken soul was sitting five feet away.

Her heart wouldn't let her leave her sister feeling the crushing weight of the guilt of what she had said. Her heart wouldn't let her leave her sister, knowing that if she did leave, it wouldn't give Alex happiness like she originally thought.

It would kill her.

Her heart wouldn't let her do that.

Instead she sat directly across from her big sister, and pulled her into a crushing embrace. She felt all of Alex's tears as the shirt on her shoulder became increasingly wet. She felt all the love and strength, but the simultaneous brokenness and weakness that came when Alex returned the embrace.

Kara had never felt a grip so strong, her big sister was putting in everything she had. She was sobbing, she was crying. "Shhhhh, Lex. Please. It's okay. I forgive you..."

Alex buried her face into the crook of Kara's neck. Her tears leaked down Kara's neck and into her shirt, despite the words of comfort coming out of Kara's mouth. And with those tears, Kara could feel all of the regret. All of the sorrow that accompanied them. She shouldn't have let her sister's drunk words impact her so much. She should have known that Alex needed her.

She shouldn't have distanced herself. She took one arm and brought her hand up to Alex's hair. She did her sister's own trademark comfort move and started stroking Alex's hair while whispering warm words of comfort.

"Lex, it's okay. Shhh. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault, not at all. I forgive you. Don't worry about anything, we'll figure this out... I forgive you. I promise. I forgive you."

Somehow, she managed to tighten the embrace, and she let Alex cry on her shoulder. Just as Alex had let Kara do to her millions of times before.

They just sat there holding each other.

As if their lives depended on never letting go.

Because in fact, Kara's life really did depend on it.

And Kara made a vow to herself, just as Alex had done. How Alex had promised herself she'd never touch alcohol ever again.

Kara told herself that even though Cadmus may have won this day, they wouldn't win this war.

And for herself, but mostly for Alex, she would make sure of it.