A/N: Hey y'all! I'm sorry I haven't posted in forever. My life has been super hectic lately, and I just haven't had any time. Also, I urge you guys to donate and pray for those who were affected by Hurricane Harvey! Many lost everything and are homeless right now, and we can each do something to help. But with the story, I'm sorry this leans towards one of the smallest chapters so far, but I hope this makes up at least a little bit for not posting. Now that Kara's back and stuff, this chapter is going to be a lot of patching up some unanswered questions. I have a lot of things in mind, but I love hearing from you guys and your ideas. I realize I have a lot of things going on in my life, but I want to try and come up with a consistent schedule. I'll tell you guys that sometime soon when I figure it out, but for now, I hope to get the next chapter up no later than Wednesday. Now, without any more waiting, here we go!

Chapter 10

Kara felt her feet hit the ground. Turning around to check behind her, she nodded to herself and continued running. The trees seemed to work against her as she maneuvered through the forest, barely dodging hanging branches and jumping over large roots. She could feel it getting closer. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest as she increased her pace, hoping to outrun it. There. The light. That was where she needed to go. Kara didn't know why, but she knew she had to make it there. She could feel the relief pass over her.

She heard a scream. Her head whipped to the screeching sound, and her eyes found her mother lying on the ground with her leg pinned by a tree. Her eyes widened as she abandoned her path and ran to her mother. She skid to a stop in front of her and slipped her hands under the tree. Kara let out a sigh of frustration as she tried lifting it off of her. Her hands bled as she pulled in a pitiful attempt to save her mother. Her mother tugged at her arm from the ground and guided her to sit next to her.

"My dear Kara. I love you," she whispered, stroking her hair.

Kara shook her head as tears streaked down her face. "No, mother! I will save you! Don't give up!" She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Please, mother."

Alura smiled up at her daughter and brought her hand to cup her cheek. "My sweet girl. How long do you think you can run?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

Alura pointed to the smoke that was slowly making its way over to them. "Kara, you are a hero. You save people. It is your strength, but it is also your weakness. You evaded your death on Krypton, in space, and now by gun. How long do you think you can run before it eventually finds its way to you? How many must die for you?"

Kara shook her head, rejecting her words. "No, mother. No more will die! I won't let them!"

Alura frowned. "You have not been able to so far. Death will find you, daughter. Embrace it." She dragged her hand from Kara's cheek and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. "One can only avoid death for so long, dear one, but it takes when it wants. For each time you live, more will die in your stead."

Kara heard a loud bang behind them and turned, shielding her mother's body with hers. Her mouth opened slightly as a green light approached her. Her head slammed back as the green bullet embedded itself in her head. Her body shook and convulsed as the Kryptonite made its way through her system.

Kara opened her eyes groggily and felt someone's arms wrapped tightly around her. Her face was wet with tears and her eyes puffy. She barely made out Alex's figure around her whispering that it wasn't real. She pulled away and looked her sister in the eye.

"Alex?" she asked, disoriented from the dream.

"Yes, Kara. It's me. It wasn't real. I promise you I won't leave you. I won't die. You'll never get rid of me." A single tear fell from her eye as Alex pulled her in for another hug.

"It felt so real, Alex. I thought she was there," Kara said through her tears.

"I only heard bits and pieces from your mumbling. What happened?"

"I was in a forest running from something. I almost made to safety, but I saw my mother trapped under a tree. I went to save her, and she told me that I would evade death for only so long. Others would die unless I did. I heard a bang and someone shot me." Kara bit her lip and looked down. Alex frowned and tilted her sister's head to look up at her.

"Kara, I will not let anyone else get to you. No one will ever hurt you again. No one will hurt any of us again."

Kara nodded at her sister's words, feeling slightly better. Her mind replayed the dream as Alex hugged her, and she pondered the meaning. She knew that she had escaped death far more than the average person, and she wondered if her time was going to catch up with her. She wasn't sure what would happen, but she wouldn't let someone else die in her place. Not now, not ever. She ran her hand through her hair and stood up, Alex following her from behind.

"I'm going to go walk around the building."

Alex raised her eyebrow. "Not alone you aren't." She shook her head. "This last week has been hell and especially after that dream, I don't want to leave your side. Not to mention Cadmus probably wants to finish what they started."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Alex! It's been five days since you pumped me with the mystery substance, and I feel fine! I feel a hundred percent! Please! I need to be alone right now."

She saw the hurt look that passed over her sister's face as she relented. "Fine We're having a meeting at nine with everyone." She looked at her watch. "Four hours from now."

"Alright. I'll see you there. I love you, Alex."

"I love you too, Kara." She turned around and walked back into the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

Kara smiled slightly and grimaced. She didn't want to admit to anyone, but she wasn't feeling her best. The whole group hounded her every second of everyday to make sure she wasn't dying, and she was losing it. She couldn't handle to constant tests so she lied. Her powers had yet to return, but Caitlin had told her that scientifically, her body had regained its usual strength. She should have her powers back, but she had been told she might have a mental block keeping her from accessing her powers. Her other injuries had healed almost as if they weren't there, but she still had frequent headaches and pain in her leg. She had to hide her limp from the others and their paranoid attitude but knew that whatever had happened was going to be permanent no matter what her genius friends tried to do.

She limped over to a balcony over the back part of the house and leaned on the railing enjoying the view. It had been a roller coaster of a week, hitting all of the lowest lows possible without any of the good to accompany it. Well, perhaps there had been some good. She smiled at the thought. Barry was hers. She had been waiting to move on, and she couldn't think of anyone better than Barry Allen to do it with. They had spent practically every day together with Barry running to her favorite restaurants and getting her favorite foods as they spent their time in her quarantined room. She couldn't help but smile when she was around him. It was perfect.

She heard someone behind her and turned to look. She smiled at the gruff man behind her and gestured from him to join her at the railing.

"Can't sleep?" Oliver Queen asked.

She nodded. "Can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes my mind brings me back to being shot and tortured. Not really the best dream to go back to."

Oliver glanced at the pretty blonde next to him. He had felt threatened by her the first time he met her, giving her the cold shoulder and isolating her from him. He felt comfortable in the world he was in. People he could punch. Things that made sense. He didn't know what to do with an alien who could fly other than to avoid her. He had thought that was the best thing for him until he saw the way she fought. The intensity. The compassion. It was a personality that drew him in and changed how he thought of her. His experiences on Lian Yu usually had the same effect on him as what had happened to Kara. The nightmares. The survivor's guilt. He saw the look in her eyes and it frightened him because he saw the same in his.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Kara turned to look at him. "What?"

"The guilt you're feeling inside is nothing to be ashamed of. You survived your planet and you survived being shot. You're a survivor."

Her eyes widened in surprise and then softened. "What happened?"

"I crashed on an island. Everyone else died except me and I had to learn how to survive on that forsaken place if I wanted to live, and I did. I lived there for five years and it changed me. Much like an exploding planet and almost dying did for you. We have to live with the choices and things that happen to us. I know you're going to be fine."

She scoffed. "How do you know?"

"Because you've survived this far. Everything that's happened has only served to strengthen you more than before, and this won't be any different."

"Thank you, Oliver."

His lips turned upward into a grim smile. "Anytime."

Kara's eyes closed as a wave of nausea passed over her. They had become very consistent, but she knew that they only lasted for a few seconds at a time. Her headache increased and she swayed back and forth. Oliver grabbed her by the shoulders, afraid she was going to topple off the side of the balcony and shook her slightly. Her legs crumpled as she fell into Oliver. He caught her and reached into his pocket to call Barry. His phone was ripped from his grasp as a man emerged from a breach in front of them. Oliver looked at Kara. She had stood and her eyes had opened again, glowing an intense red. Lasers sped from her eyes towards the man, but his skin turned metal just as it hit him.

"Close." The man breathed in the air. "Ah, it's good to be back on my earth." He stepped forward and attempted to grab Oliver. He moved out of the way and punched at the metal man. His knuckles cracked on contact, and he grabbed his hand.

Kara was moving purely on adrenaline. Her powers had returned, and she felt the buzzing that flooded her body when she was in a fight. Her hand clanged with each punch she threw, and her knee ached from stepping forward so much. The strange metal man grabbed her arm as she threw it towards him and used it to throw her into Oliver. The two fell into the breach behind them.

Kara felt a weird sensation throughout her body as she landed on the other side of the breach, Oliver somehow falling on top of her. Both groaned and Oliver pushed himself off of her, falling to the side. His hand was swollen and disfigured, and he was having a hard time breathing after being hit with a Kryptonian. Kara took a deep breath.

"You okay, Oliver?" she asked, concerned.

"Not really. You?"

She laughed. "Sure. I'm doing great. At least I have my powers back."

Oliver chuckled. "Yeah." His eyes clouded over as he remembered what happened. "Kara, why did you collapse?"

She froze, contemplating whether or not to come clean. She sighed. "Fine! I lied. I'm not exactly miraculously healed all the way," she admitted.

Oliver rubbed his face with his non-injured hand. Alex and Barry had told him about their conversation with Maxwell Lord, and he knew there was a chance she might not ever feel 'amazing'. He just didn't want to believe it. Oliver grunted and sat up, Kara following suit.

"You guys knew, didn't you?" Kara accused.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah. We knew or at least suspected." He squinted and looked around. "Now we just have to figure out what Earth we're on."

"That's great," she muttered. She saw buildings to her right, fairly close to them. She peered at them and gasped.

Oliver quickly stood to his feet, ready to attack anyone who was there. He slowly turned around and saw nothing. His eyes arched at Kara, and he gave her his uninjured hand to help her up.

"What's wrong, Kara?" he asked, concerned with the pale look on her face.

"Well, I think I know what earth we're on," she responded.

"What?"

She turned him around and pointed. He squinted and sucked in a breath.

"Star City. We're on Earth-1."

Alex Danvers tapped her leg, practically starting a fire from the amount of friction she was generating. It was 8:55 and Kara still hadn't arrived. The circular table that they ordered was filled with herself, J'onn, Barry, Kal, Bruce, and Jeremiah. They were currently missing Oliver and Kara, and Alex was going crazy from the wait. She glanced at her watch for a fourth time. 9:00. She stood from her chair and rested her palms on the table.

"Where's Kara?" she asked.

Barry nodded. "Yeah. She should be here by now. You told her nine, right, Alex?" he asked.

She glared at him. "Yes! I told her nine! She should be here by now."

Bruce raised his hands, trying the calm the fight that was sure to break out between the two concerned people. "I'm sure she will be here soon. This place is secure. She's fine. I'm positive her and Oliver will be here momentarily. For now, I think we should start our discussion."

Alex nodded and slowed her increasing heartbeat. She lowered her body back into her chair and took deep breaths. Kara would be fine. The whole group of superheroes had been fully focused on Kara that they hadn't stopped to think about the still unanswered questions that this whole situation had brought upon them. They still didn't know who was in charge, the motive, or how the dead people rose back to life and were so organized. It was an infuriating situation they were in, and they needed answers.

"You're right, Bruce. What's first?

"We need to make a list of things we already know."

"We know Cadmus is involved somehow," Jeremiah responded.

"But we don't know if they are in charge or reporting to someone above them," Kal added.

"One of their goals was to retrieve blood from Kara for a project Cadmus is working on. That's why they got Kryptonite," Barry told them.

"So whoever's leading the charge on this expedition doesn't have a breacher, is able to break people out of prison at the drop of a hat, and bring people back to life," Alex said, skeptically.

"Perhaps, the people aren't brought back to life. What if they were different versions?" J'onn proposed.

Bruce nodded. "Yes. They could be doppelgangers from the different earths. They must have found out about the multiverse and found doppelgangers of the people we consider dead."

"That's a compelling theory, but let me bring it back to the fact that they don't have a breacher," Alex said.

The group paused and pondered the questions that seemed to remain unanswered even as they discussed all the different possibilities. Bruce sighed.

"What about the earth you're from?" he asked, pointing to Barry. "Have the noticed you're gone?"

Barry smiled. "I visited it a few days ago, and I have given up the mantle to another speedster for now."

"You're staying here?" Alex asked, surprised that he would give up everything so quickly.

He shrugged. "I don't know yet. Maybe. Whatever happens, I want to stay with Kara whether it's on this earth or the other one. He smiled.

Bruce bit his lip. "I have an idea to propose. For the past week and a half while Kara has been recuperating, I have nursed an idea I've had for a while now. A team of superheroes for each earth."

"How is that any different than how it's been so far?" Barry asked.

"I don't mean separate teams for each city. I think we should work towards one ultimate team of superheroes that would defend the world. We would have a HQ that would regulate when and where someone would be stationed according to the situation."

"No offense, Bruce, but as I mentioned before, wouldn't a super place like that miss out on small time crime that goes on in the cities," Alex countered.

"A little, but some could be stationed in specific cities and called in when they're needed."

"This is going to take a lot of time. A lot more time than Cadmus has already given us," J'onn added.

"Normally, yes, but I have been working on this long before this all happened. I have a privately owned base in Washington with state of the art technology. I'm sure we can construct one on your earth as well," he said nodding to Barry.

"I think I have a place that is usable on Earth-1. I can contact Wally and tell him about all of this."

"Good. We aren't going to beat these people by being dispersed around the world. We need to fight united. I have kept tabs on a few people that I can recruit for our earth. I have also spoken with Oliver about people he believes would be able to help on Earth-1." Bruce turned to look at Jeremiah. "I know J'onn has been working with you. Have you been able to dredge up any information on Cadmus?"

Jeremiah shook his head. "They implanted something in my mind after I betrayed them to help Alex destroy one of their bases. Before, they were only threatening to kill Alex and Kara. After they caught me again they implanted something and then used an alien to control me. When J'onn entered my mind the implant pulsed and erased critical information that I had gained when I was helping them. It was a precautionary measure once they found out what J'onn's powers were. They were prepared."

"So we have nothing." Barry confirmed. "Nothing that we can use to get back at them for hurting Kara."

Alex slammed her hand on the table, her anger igniting. "We need to start at the beginning. We need to retrace our steps and everything that has led to this exact moment. I'll be damned before I let Cadmus get away with torturing my sister."

Kal nodded. "I agree. It started with Volcana. She used to work with Cadmus, but last we heard from her, she has a new employer that apparently roped in Livewire, Banshee, Scarecrow, Joker, and Reactron. Interesting though because all five were incarcerated. Livewire, Banshee, and Reactron were in National City jail after Barry helped modify it, and Joker and Scarecrow were in Arkham Asylum."

"On my earth we have Weather Wizard, Mirror Master, Deathbolt, and Girder. Almost identical situation. Weather Wizard and Mirror Master were supposed to be in Iron Heights Prison. However, Deathbolt and Girder were dead," Barry added.

"It has to be some kind of sadistic show of power then. They wanted to confuse us by showing us that prisons and death won't stop them from being able to defeat us," Bruce said.

"It also means that they have to have some sort of interdimensional communication device. They coordinated the Kryptonite pick up and drop off meaning that they are working together," J'onn stated.

"Somehow Cadmus fits in as well. We have three groups. Earth-1 villains, Earth-38 villains, and Cadmus. The earth's merged under one leadership and is working with Cadmus." Alex's eyes widened. "That also means they have to be able to travel between earths. I was wrong. Their breacher might have been occupied or they could have seen the chance to take advantage of Barry's speed and that's why they hopped through and goaded Barry into traveling to Earth-38."

"Barry's seemingly dead metahumans are probably, as J'onn said, doppelgangers from Earth-38," Bruce concluded. "We have more information now, but we still need to know the people in charge and the reason why they are banding together."

The doors to the conference room slammed open, causing Alex to pull out her gun and Kal's eyes to light up. Cisco burst into the room, followed closely by Caitlin. Alex lowered her gun and glared at the both of them.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked.

Cisco pointed to the elevated monitor in the front of the room. Clutching his tablet, he swiped to the side and footage from earlier popped up on the screen. He pressed play and the eyes of everyone in the room widened. They saw the breach open and the fight that went on between Kara, Oliver, and Girder. They spectated with baited breath as their friends were thrown into the breach and trapped in whatever world they ended up on. Barry and Alex slowly rose to their feet, followed by the rest of the occupants in the room as the replay came to a stop with Girder jumping through another breach and disappearing.

"Oh my god," Alex said, drawing her words out slowly.

Barry rushed toward Cisco and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Where is she?"

Cisco stumbled backwards and shook his head. "I-I don't know, Bar! They could be anywhere! I tried vibing to see where she was, but they're blocking me somehow! I can't find them!"

His face paled as he fell into a chair. The days they spent after giving Kara the Blue K were some of the best days of his life. He was beginning to think that things were going to end up okay. That no matter what life threw at them, they could handle it because they had each other. It was clear what their goal was. He saw it now.

"They want to get rid of Kara. They either need her for something or want to get her out of the way."

"Why her?" Kal asked. "There has to be something specifically about Kara because I have the same powers as her."

"Or they know that Kara is stronger. She beat you when you were under control. They need the strongest person gone in order to do what they have in mind," Alex added.

"That may be the case, or they need us separated. Cisco just said they put up a blockade between us. We are divided," Bruce said.

"Do we know what earth Oliver and Kara are on?" Caitlin asked, distraught at the thought of Kara being tortured again.

J'onn shook his head. "We don't, but I'd guess they threw them back onto Earth-1. At least that way they can control the situation. If they threw them onto a foreign earth, there is a possibility that they could find a breacher there to take them back. On Earth-1 they know that Cisco was the only one."

"They planned this perfectly," Jeremiah responded. "We are almost split in half exactly. Ray, Sara, Jax, and Stein are still here while everyone else is on the other earth."

"How are we supposed to get them back here?" Alex questioned, mentally beating herself up for letting Kara go.

Bruce shook his head. "I'm not sure we can without a breacher. We need to find whatever's blocking Cisco and destroy it."

Barry sighed. Whatever needed to be done. It was a cruel twist of fate that Kara was ripped away from him again, and he was determined to get her back. His worries were soothed the tiniest bit from the knowledge that wherever Kara was, Oliver was with her and he would keep her safe. He trusted Oliver with his life, and he would have to trust him with the life of the woman he loved as well.