Winn found Alex pacing one of the private conference rooms of the DEO. He gently rapped on the door frame to let her know he was there, and slowly stepped inside. She immediately whipped around and bit out. "I don't want to talk to anyone right now, Winn."

He held his tongue and tried his best not to respond with a snarky remark. Alex was stressed and blaming herself, and she lashed out when that happened. It was understandable, and Winn was just here to try and make it better.

"Listen, Alex. I know you don't want to talk, but please just hear me out. I know how it feels to be so... helpless. I can't pretend to understand what you guys went through together back there, but I do understand how you're feeling right now. In that room fighting for her life, is my best friend. I know she's not only yours too, but also your sister. I know what it feels like to just have to wait for someone else to give us the news, instead of going in there and helping her. I know what it's like to have to rely on her to fight, and not be able to guide her.

But she has proven time and time again that she is a fighter. Kara is going to make it, because she knows she has to. The world is in danger, and there's no way she'd leave this earth knowing that one single soul was in danger. She has a kind heart, and she is exceedingly brave, sometimes too much for her own good. But she's going to come out of this alive. And whatever happens next, we can help her through it. I know a close friend of yours died back there, and she's blaming herself. She'll probably be traumatized when she wakes up. But we can help her with that. The other stuff is out of our control. So just count on her to fight."

Alex just looked over to Winn, tears in her eyes. She ran over to him and pulled him in for a hug. She whispered into his shoulder. "Thank you..."

-00-

Alex watched as Kara slowly awoke from the surgery. Her sister tried to open her mouth to speak, but her throat was too dry and it came out more like a rasp. Alex rushed over to the cup of water by her bedside and slowly let her drink.

After finishing the whole cup, Kara finally felt better. She looked up at her big sister and asked. "Are you okay?"

Alex could have smacked her right then. "Excuse me? Are you okay?"

Kara smirked. "Gets you everytime..." She looked around to gain her bearings and found them to be inside the DEO. "Did J'onn come? How did we get out? The last thing I remember was... getting crushed under that piece of ceiling. I couldn't move. I wanted to tell you to leave without me, it was too dangerous. What happened?"

Her older sister reached for her hand and squeezed it. "If you thought for a second I would have left without you, you're sadly mistaken. I went back in and dragged you out until we made it to the exit. Then Jeremiah came and dragged us to safety after I passed out. I woke up in a campsite with him, and we waited until the DEO arrived to get us out."

Shock overcame Kara's face. "Jeremiah's alive? I thought he was shot. And are you sure he's good now? He did try to kill us... Well, me..."

Alex met her sister's pleading eyes. "He's good, Kara. He explained everything to me, and J'onn read his mind to check for sure earlier. He's good, I promise. And he was never going to kill you, Kar. You have to believe me. It was all an act to gain Lillian's trust. He needed it to get inside so that he could try to sabotage the doomsday weapon without arousing suspicion."

"And did he succeed?"

Alex slowly shook her head. She then proceeded to get her little sister caught up with everything else that had happened, when her parents burst through the door.

Eliza immediately ran over and engulfed her two daughters in a hug. To the point where Kara thought she was suffocating. "Eliza... Can't breathe..."

Her adoptive mother laughed and let go. "I'm sorry, Kara. I'm just so happy to see you... I'm so glad you made it alive, Kara. You had me so worried."

Kara grabbed her foster mother's hand, and squeezed it. "I'm right here. You don't have to worry anymore." As Eliza moved aside, Jeremiah came into Kara's view.

"Jeremiah? Is it really you?" He came closer to the bed and stood nearby, enough to support her, but not close enough to make her feel uncomfortable. He knew there were things he did and said that must have scared her, and he didn't want to give her a panic attack. "It's me, Kara. The real me."

She motioned gently for him to come closer. She grabbed his hand, squeezed it, then suddenly slammed her hand into his arm, remembering the fateful day when he helped Lillian and Hank escape. She recoiled in pain when the arm turned into steel, and her knuckles turned bright red. She looked up at her adoptive father that she hadn't seen in so long, sacrificed everything for, with fear in her eyes. "What is... Why is that there? When did that happen? You used a Cadmus-made weapon, and you attacked Alex with it."

A look of pain came across his eyes when he remembered that day. Having to hit his own daughter with a weaponized steel arm, only to use it more to hurt his other daughter as well. So many things he did under Cadmus, so many things that he regretted. "I'm sorry, Kara. I never meant to hurt either of you. But Lillian was going to shoot her if I didn't step in. I offered to take care of her with the only way I knew wouldn't end fatally. It was wrong, I know. But at the time, it felt like the right choice."

Kara stared at her foster father, anger burning behind her eyes. "I would have protected her. You should know that. I'd do anything for her, I'd give my life for her. You should never have laid a hand on her. Everybody else can choose to forget what you did, but I never will. I gave everything for this family, and I'd do it all again. But you paid me back by attacking my sister. You broke her. She was so sad and broken about your betrayal, and I've never seen her so vulnerable. You caused her to start drinking again. She hated me when she got drunk. Blamed me for everything wrong that you had done.

That fight is ultimately what led us to that car accident outside of Winn's apartment. That's how we got stuck at Cadmus. You broke your own daughter, and got her captured. Then when we were there, the whole time, you played along with Lillian's torture. I can't believe you expect us to just forgive you. I don't even know if I can look at you. You messed with Alex's heart and you almost killed her. Multiple times. I would lay down my own life for her, and after doing that, you expect me to be happy to see you? Jeremiah, you may have done all the wrong things for the right reasons, but that does not justify everything you've done. Please just leave."

A hurt look came across his eyes, but he knew this would happen. He deserved this. Kara was completely right about everything she had said. He couldn't even fault her for being angry. He dejectedly turned and walked away, leaving the tense room silently. J'onn had been watching the whole thing unfold from the corner and approached Kara slowly. He simply squeezed her hand, showing that he supported whatever decision she made.

Alex turned to Kara with tears in her eyes.

"Kara..."

And somewhere far off into the distance, Lillian was smiling.