A/N: Hey guys! Hoped you enjoyed the last chapter. For convenience in this story, Laurel Gand will have no blood relation to Mon-El, and as a reminder, only four months has passed which means only four years for Mon-El, so no marriage to Imra yet. He's still in the phase of wanting to return to Kara. Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following!

Chapter 20

"Yes. And I'm sorry, but you can't leave."

Kara was sitting in a room in the headquarters of whatever the group of heroes here was called. She was waiting for Alex and Tera-Zar, or rather, Laurel to come out of surgery, and she was still trying to come to grips with the past 12 hours of her life. To find her friend, the woman who saved her life, and then realize she had been lying to her had been a kick to the throat. But finding out that her friend was from the same time Mon-El had landed felt like a kick and then a throw and then a shove off a cliff.

She wasn't sure how to deal with this—with Mon-El and Laurel and not being able to leave the 31st Century for whatever reason. It all seemed like the air was suffocating and forcing the air out of her lungs. Her powers still hadn't returned and thinking about this just managed to increase the perpetual ringing in her head.

The doctor entered the room, and Kara raised her eyebrows. The doctor was short and purple with horns protruding from the top of his head. His face was pinched like he had just taken a bite of grapefruit. He was wearing a green robe with gold accents around the neck, wrists, waist, and ankles.

He turned towards the Kryptonian, a slight smile on his face. "I have to admit that it is quite the honor to meet you in person, Kara Zor-El. I'm Doctor Gym'll, the Legionnaires designated medicinal guide even though half the time they ignore me anyways and go and break more of their bones."

"Uh," Kara tried.

"I'm sure you'll be different. You're a legend. The Supergirl. Indestructible and awe-inspiring—Earth's greatest hero."

"Um."

"Well, Miss Zor-El? Supergirl? Miss Supergirl?"

"Kara is fine, Doctor Gym'll."

"Well, Kara. From the scan we did over your body, I saw some very peculiar things. Your brain for one has a significant central nervous disorder that should cause chronic migraines. Do you get migraines often?"

The woman nodded slowly.

"Another scan revealed a misalignment of your kneecap that should have been healed with the presence of the yellow sun of earth. However, the solution to rebreak your knee to align has failed simulations. It would seem that your kneecap has shifted to accommodate the position it's in and rebreaking would not fix the problem. What's most peculiar is the appearance of an unknown substance that bears a striking resemblance to Kryptonite. However, the substance refuses to flush from your body and has attached itself to the chemical bonds in your brain and your knee. My hypothesis is that this substance is what is preventing your body to heal those certain parts."

Kara wanted to deny it, but it was true. She had learned to hide the headaches well, opting to either quickly leave or plaster on a fake face and ride it out. Her limp was harder, Alex and Barry always taking notice and hovering nearby. Usually she managed to float a half an inch off the ground and it would take the pressure off without alerting those around her that she was in pain. However, now that her powers were gone, she was afraid that everything she tried to hide would come back with a vengeance and encourage more overprotectiveness from both Barry and Alex.

"Yeah. What you're picking up is Cyan Kryptonite. There was an encounter that I had a few months back that had...damaged me."

Doctor Gym'll nodded, scribbling more notes in his book. "Well, Kara. When you fell out of the breach a piece of shrapnel scraped against your forehead. The incision was fairly deep, but it should heal when you get your powers back. As far as I can tell, the Cyan Kryptonite is only bonded to the aforementioned spots. It's not Gold Kryptonite, so there is potential for it to fade over an extended amount of time. However, anything else will heal properly. Until then I suggest plenty of rest and to keep anything off the infected area. I have a salve that should close the wound within the week."

"Thank you, doctor. Do you have any information on my sister? Or on Ter-I mean Laurel?"

"The bar has been successfully removed from your sister's side. Any risk of infection has been neutralized, and with the Legion's technology available, she should make a full recovery in the next week and a half. Miss Gand however faced a collapsed lung from a puncture made by a stray piece of shrapnel. We entered a chest tube, and surgery should clean up the holes that were made. I'm optimistic that she will make a full recovery within the next two weeks if not earlier. You were all quite lucky to avoid any debilitating injuries."

Kara nodded, relieved that everyone would be alright. Now all she had to was figure out why the hell she was being forced to stay here.

Barry Allen was seething. He was standing, arms crossed, trying to remain calm and school his features. He didn't want to be the jealous boyfriend, but something about Kara made him want to be. To tell the world that she was his, and they couldn't have her. Especially this man in front of him who had all the stage presence that Supergirl had and then some. This wasn't the man he heard stories of—immature, frat boy, shirking responsibility and being a hindrance. This was a man who had years to mature and become a leader, the leader of this team. He had said they called themselves the Legion of Superheroes. They were endorsed by the United Planets which was essentially this century's version on the United Nations and pretty much gave them free reign to do whatever the hell they wanted.

It was actually really annoying. He felt inadequate, irrelevant, and frankly, lame in front of this man. He was so afraid that Kara was going to get caught up her old feelings, in her past love, and realize that she wanted to stay here with him. He had a feeling in his stomach that she was supposed to stay here. That she would, and it scared him. More than anything.

"So, you're Mon-El." It wasn't a question. It was merely a statement clarifying the position he held right now.

"I am."

"Kara's told me a lot about you," he said, scanning his eyes for any reaction.

He laughed, his shoulders shaking as his eyes seemed to reminisce. "I'm sure it was all bad. I wasn't exactly a person to be...proud of when I was there."

"Kara seemed to think you were. She said that you became a hero."

"That's...that means a lot to me. Everything I became, everything I was, was all because of what she taught me," Mon-El said, his voice soft.

"She has that effect."

Mon-El tilted his head at him. "So, you're her...um, boyfriend?"

Barry recognized the hope in his voice. The distinct lift in his voice that he didn't want them to be together, and he couldn't help but feel a burst of pride from hearing someone else say it, especially him.

"Yeah. I am," he said. And you can't have her, he wanted to add.

"That's-uh-that's good, that she-uh found someone." The pain was too evident in the folds of his face.

Barry heard that pain in his voice, and he felt a need to reassure him that Kara didn't just move on. He wasn't this man's biggest fan, but he wasn't going to be an ass. He didn't want to negate either of their pain just because he and Kara were together.

"She thinks about you all the time. She shut herself off from everyone for months after she sent you away."

Mon-El winced. "I-I never wanted her to-I'm just glad she found someone."

"Have you?" He knew he shouldn't have asked, but he couldn't help himself.

The man shook his head. "No. There's been no one except Kara."

Barry felt his heart contract. "Oh. I'm sorry." It wasn't explainable, but he felt guilty.

"It's okay. There's just no one that can, uh, there's just no one that seems right after being with her."

Barry opened his mouth to say something, but Kara entered the room, bandage gauze wrapped around her head. Her face was annoyed, and she kept trying to adjust her hair before realizing that the bandage was prohibiting any movement. Barry slowly walked to her, placing his hands on her cheeks to move her head.

"Wow, I'm loving this new style."

She glared at him. "I look like Frankenstein's monster."

"Eh. Maybe. Powers not back?"

"No. Last time they came back because James fell down an elevator shaft, so unless you feel like throwing yourself off the side of the building, I'm afraid they'll just come back when they feel like it."

Kara twisted to look at Mon-El who was trying his best to melt into the background. She knew that Barry was feeling insecure, and she wanted to reassure him, but at the same time she wanted to speak to Mon-El alone. She sighed. Barry would have to trust her.

"Hey, Barry. Can I speak with Mon-El alone, please?"

She saw the slight pain his eyes before he nodded and moved to leave. She grabbed his arm and pressed her lips to his cheek. The man smiled sweetly, the kiss relieving some of the wrinkles around his eyes, and then spun around to leave.

Kara could feel the heaviness around her face as she stared at Mon-El. She saw many differences in him. The hair, the beard, the sureness, the suit, and the distinct air of authority, but she also saw so much of her Mon-El in him. The twinkle around his eyes, the unique lift of the sides of his lips as he smiled, and the way his eyes were always on her—searching and alerting to her every need, just like when they had been together.

"You've changed. I see the suit's a new addition. Winn was always so upset that he never got to make your suit after you had promised him that he would be able to."

"Well, I mean, this one was based off yours, so in a way he did."

Kara grinned slightly. "You based your suit after mine?"

"Yeah. The whole Legion is based off you," he corrected.

Her eyes widened. "Really? Why?"

"I told you I would be the man you always believed I could be, so when we made the legion we all chose you as our example. You were the example of what we could be, what we all wanted to be. You were the inspiration we all chose, that I chose."

Kara didn't know what to say. She didn't really think there was anything she could say short of understating it and saying 'thanks'. It was an honor to be the inspiration for a future congregation of earth's heroes. An honor that she never even thought she would have.

"I wanted to tell you. I wanted to come and tell you I was still alive. I just couldn't figure out how to get back."

She shook her head. "It's okay. You were adjusting. You were moving on."

"No. I was pathetic, and I was lost. For years after I landed, I only tried to get back. You wouldn't have been proud of me."

Kara stepped closer, grabbing his hand. "Years?"

"It's been years, Kara." He said it as if he thought that years had passed for her as well. As if it was obvious. "Has it not been—?"

"Mon-El, it's been four months."

"That's not possible," he said, scrunching his face in confusion. "Its been four years."

Kara's mouth fell open. "No, Mon-El. Time must have moved differently for both of us."

He cleared his throat. "It...I guess it doesn't matter. What's happened, happened. I-I, Kara, I wish I could have come back. I wanted to come back." His eyes flickered, emotions swiping past faster than she could process. Fear. Regret. Longing. Each one there. Each one struggling to stay behind crystal blue eyes.

Kara slid her hands to his face, cupping his cheeks. "Mon-El, you've become a leader, a hero. You belong here with your team. I'm so sorry that I made you, that I banished you here, but I can see that you've made such a difference. You're saving lives. You're being the man I always knew you could be."

Mon-El closed his eyes, and Kara leaned forward to brush her lips across his cheek.

"I'm so proud of you."

Barry felt anxious and worried as soon as he left the room. His brain was telling him to leave, to respect their privacy, but his heart was screaming at him to stay and listen to their conversation. He wanted to trust her, but paranoia was strong and it was fierce. He didn't want to leave them alone because he was afraid of losing her.

No.

He would trust her. He would not be that person. He would not be that boyfriend. Barry cruised around their HQ, wandering and trying to take his mind of the conversation that was happening rooms away.

He ended up in a lounging area with chairs and sofas and plopped onto the nearest one. His knee was jiggling and looked inhumanely fast to anyone looking. There was a click and then a woman walked in—platinum hair and a white body suit that seemed to accentuate every feature of her body. It was revealing, and he found himself immediately looking away. The woman gasped and smiled, running over to him.

"The Flash?" Her face was wide and surprised if not a little awestruck.

"Yeah. Who are you?" He was wary of all these people walking around, and he wasn't quite sure that he could trust everyone yet.

"Nura Nal. Oh my gosh, it's so cool to meet you!" She grabbed his hand and started shaking it profusely.

"Uh, thanks?"

"I mean both the Flash and Supergirl! I can't even imagine it! I shouldn't be surprised, I mean I saw this coming, but it's still so awesome that I get to meet you in person!"

"Wait, you saw this coming?"

"Well, yeah. But it's just so cool. Two founding members of the Justice League! Right here!"

"Justice League?" He was trying to keep up, but it was difficult with the woman speaking a mile a minute and wearing something that didn't seem to even qualify as clothes and seemed more like a stripper's outfit.

"Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. I'm Dream Girl. I can see into the future through my dreams and visions. Get it?"

"Yeah. So, you're clairvoyant?" He asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. About a little less than a year ago, I saw Supergirl falling from the sky and landing in the future. Then I had more visions about her where she stayed here, and then helped us, and even joined the Legion. It was amazing."

Barry paused on her words, feeling the panic in his chest increase exponentially. "Wait, she stayed here?"

"Yeah, except a few months ago, I started seeing something different. Instead of Supergirl falling here by herself and staying, I saw her falling with three other people and leaving. I was so disappointed until I saw that it was Alex Danvers and Barry Allen falling with her."

He was still reeling from all the information that this woman was piling onto him. Kara was supposed to stay. 'Until months ago,' meant when he traveled to Earth-38 to save her. Like traveling in time, he changed the future. He changed what was supposed to happen because hopping earths and time traveling weren't supposed to happen. They were anomalies just like the speed force, just like him. He changed her future of staying here. With them, with him.

"Why did she stay?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper.

"What do you mean? She stayed for Mon-El, of course. The big man himself. He told us that he was going to find to find a way back to her. He told us he loved her. For years when he got here, he wouldn't even look at anyone else, the only person he even remotely opened up to were Laurel and Imra, but eventually just Imra when we sent Laurel on the mission. In my visions I saw them together and then she decided to stay."

He felt like his heart was shattering into a thousand pieces. He didn't know how he was supposed to take this. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel like the love of her life when the alternative was him who she would have stayed for.

"Hey, you okay? You look sick. I should take you to Gym'll. Guy's a stickler, but he's good. Let's go," she said, grabbing his arm.

He shook his arm out her grasp. "I'm fine. I'm fine."

The door clicked open once more, and Alex walked in, limping slightly with a bandage wrapped around her stomach. She squinted at Barry's pale complexion and walked over, eyeing the strange woman next to him.

"Hey, who are you?" she asked the woman, surprised when she released Barry and brought her in for a hug.

"Alex Danvers, I can't believe it's you!"

She pushed her away, preparing to hit her.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Mon-El had told us that you were a strong and fierce warrior."

Recognition dawned in her eyes, and she relaxed slightly. "Mon-El? You're a Legionnaire?"

"Not quite. Legionnaire in training. There was an incident, but we can talk about that later. We really should get the Flash to Gym'll."

"Gym'll?" She asked, looking at him for clarification.

"She thinks I'm ill," he explained weakly.

She raised an eyebrow. "And you aren't?"

He shook his head, unable to speak. Alex turned towards the woman. "Can you give us a minute?"

Nura nodded and moved to leave the two, smiling the entire way out. "Man, I met Alex Danvers and Barry Allen," she whispered to herself.

Alex whipped back around to Barry, taking a seat next to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, then I guess it has nothing to do with the fact that we're in the future where Mon-El is." She searched his eyes, brown iris's analyzing every twitch of his face.

He sighed, pressing his palms to his eyes and rubbing. "What do I do, Alex? You want to know what that woman said? She said that if it weren't for me then Kara would have stayed in this time with him. I changed her future when I came into her life."

"And what's the alternative? You not save her and then she dies from Kryptonite poisoning? Or she doesn't, and she comes here to stay? Without me, no less? Barry, you and Kara are entirely too ignorant to see that you aren't gods. You have these powers, but you're just people. You chose to save my sister just like she chose to stay with you. Life is made up of choices, it doesn't matter if you know which one you would have made if other things wouldn't have happened. Barry, she loves you."

"Alex, what if she doesn't? What if she loves Mon-El, and I was just there as some kind of consolation?"

"Do you hear yourself right now? Barry, you have to trust her. Kara doesn't want to be with Mon-El. She loved him. Absolutely. You have to honor that love, but she's chosen to be with you, and you have to honor that choice as well."

Barry nodded. He saw who he had been with Iris—jealous, insecure, selfish. He wasn't going to be that person with Kara. Jealousy was a powerful emotion, but so was trust and he wanted to trust Kara. He needed to trust her. Mon-El or no Mon-El, he and Kara had to be fine, and he had to believe it.

"Thank you, Alex," he breathed.

"Of course, Barry. But just think of that conversation whenever you think of running me across town, okay?"

He grinned. "I mean, I could run you to the meeting right now."

She glared at him, standing up and holding her side as she backed away. "Don't."

He laughed and stood, slinging his arm around Alex's shoulders. "Fine. But consider our debt paid."

Nura watched the exchange between them from the doorway, her body shielded from the wall behind them. She turned around, bumping into Imra. The black-haired woman jumped out of the way, grabbing Nura's shoulders and holding her still.

"Nura, what are you doing?"

"I had a dream."

Imra straightened, immediately disregarding any previous annoyances. Anyone knew that when Nura had a dream, it was important.

"What was it about?"

"The usual. She still dies. Nothing has changed."

"Nura, we can't let that happen. The world needs her, the future does."

"Imra, all of my dreams have happened. Mon-El believed that he could prevent it, but it still happens. She dies and the entire world with her."

"We know what's at stake. Not just this world, but all of them. The multiverse."

"There's nothing else we can do. Supergirl will still die."

Mon-El could still feel the lingering kiss on his cheek. It was an innocuous gesture, but he couldn't help but feel the weight of the world from the display. It seemed to be the vestiges of her feelings that now belonged to someone else, and it hurt like hell. He couldn't escape the inexplicable pain and joy of having Kara back. To be within arm's reach of her, but to still lose her sucked all the air out of his lungs. It felt like being thrust into the pod all over again. He had longed for this moment for four years, even more so when Nura had come to him with her dream. That's why he had sent Laurel. He had to prevent her death. He couldn't allow her to be taken away from this world even if everything else crumpled because of it or even if it didn't.

He knew the cardinal rule of time travel, and his newfound, strict morality had tried to convince him to be selfless—to give up Kara—but he knew that he couldn't. He couldn't because the world needed her. They needed the unwavering hope that she brought in every area of life as well as when she was Kara. Every single part of her was a living, breathing representation of pure, unadulterated goodness. She was the soul behind so many people, and he knew that letting her die wouldn't do anything except create a domino effect of pain to everyone around her.

She was too valuable to the world—to him.

But he saw the looks she gave Barry. He knew that he lost her the moment he saw both of them together. He had seen the love that him and her had, and he wished that he could win her back, but this wasn't the bachelorette. He couldn't spout romantic promises and win her affections. This was real life, and he knew that he couldn't stand in front of her happiness even if he wished to Rao that he was a part of that. The truth was he constantly belied her expectations and he couldn't risk hurting her again.

It was strange the irony of the situation. He needed her to let her go, and he knew that they both needed to see each other to finally move on. They had grieved. They loved each other, and they always would, but he would never intentionally get in the way of something that made her happy just to satisfy his own personal wants and desires.

He saw her walk away, leaving to find Barry, and he wanted to grab her and warn her what was going to happen. He wanted to make her stay here, and it killed him knowing that she would have if Barry hadn't shown up. Mon-El wished that she would just remain in the future and stay alive, but he couldn't ask that of her. He knew what she would say if she knew what would happen, and it was that she couldn't abandon her people. That if she died, then she died for the people she loved and that alone was enough for her. It always had been.

He might not be the love of her life anymore, but he was going to find a loophole. A way to make sure she kept everything she had worked so hard to attain. She wasn't going to stay with him, he knew that now, but he would make damn well sure that she didn't die.

"I won't let you die, Kara."

Kara found Barry with Alex, the two smiling at each other as Alex tried to run away from Barry, holding her side in the process. Barry sped in front of her, causing her to bump into his shoulder, and she smacked the flat of her palm across his shoulder. He jumped back in pain, rubbing his now bruised shoulder.

"Ouch! Geez, Alex, even with your stitches you're violent," he complained.

"I told you...you don't get to run me anywhere. It's almost as bad as when Kara flies me."

Kara scoffed, walking up to them and glaring at her. "I'm a great flier!"

"Yeah, sure, if point was to give someone whiplash," she countered, poking her sister in the arm.

"I didn't see you complaining when you threw yourself off the side of the building and expected me to catch you."

"Hold up, Alex threw herself off the side of a building?" Barry interjected.

"Well, there was a Daxamite invasion going on. I didn't exactly have the time to chew you out for all the jerks and turns you made," Alex continued, ignoring Barry.

Both girls stared at each other before breaking and laughing, grabbing the other in a quick hug. Alex grimaced, and Kara pulled back immediately, checking her sister over for injuries.

"Are you okay? Is something broken? Let me see."

Alex squirmed from her sister's scrutinizing gaze. "I'm fine, Kara. I'm fine." Her eyes widened, and she pushed Kara out of the way, grabbing a lamp from the side of a table. "Watch out!"

A blue skinned figure had entered the room, looking almost as shocked as Alex did and raising his hands to ward off the lamp that was slowly making its way towards his head. The thing managed to jump out of the way but was taken off guard when Kara sped over to him and picked him up, eyes burning.

"Who are you?" she growled, shaking her hand, and by extension, the poor man attached to it.

His face was scrunched in fear, his arms struggling against the Kryptonian currently whipping her hand back and forth at speeds that made his brain feel like a marble in a tin can. He held up his hands in surrender, hoping she would stop long enough to realize that he wasn't a threat.

"I'm Brainiac 5! Stop it!"

Kara paused, Alex and Barry exchanging looks and wondering who it was and determining if he was a threat.

"Who?"

"Querl Dox, otherwise known as Brainiac 5. I'm a 12th-level intellect and member of the Legion."

Alex rolled her eyes. "We didn't ask for your life story. Kara, he's fine. And if not, Barry can speed him over to the Pacific and throw him in. Wait is there still a Pacific? What's the geography looking like in the future?"

Kara gently set him down, her eyes returning to their normal color as she sheepishly apologized. "Sorry. You look like someone who tried to kill me."

"It's fine. Mon-El sent me to tell you that Laurel has been taken out of surgery. He assumed that you would like to see her."

"Thank you, Brainiac 5. I'll be right there."

He nodded and quickly ran walked out of the room, most likely to avoid the jumpy woman who had been a personal hero of his. No matter the awestruck nature of seeing her in his present and her future, it was a little more than unsettling to be held from his neck by a legend like her.

Kara turned to Alex and Barry. "I'm really starting to get unnerved by all the people popping out from all over the place."

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Especially the ones that look eerily similar to Indigo. I'm not so sure about everyone that's here. I'm going to go find Mon-El and do some recon and see if I can't learn so more about this place."

Alex smiled and left, leaving Barry and Kara to themselves—an uncomfortable silence lingering between them. It was an unspoken, almost awkwardness that blanketed them both though really no fault of their own. It was merely an unfortunate happenstance that had thrown a wrench in pretty much everything that had been happening. Neither wanted to admit it, rather opting for unconfrontational ignorance or was it just plain avoidance of the obvious. The words were elusive, creating a fear that once it was spoken it would become real, a real issue that needed to be dealt with.

"I know how bad this is," Kara started. She was never really one to let fear deter her.

"Yeah. Gotta say. Not too happy about being here with Mon-El. It's not exactly the situation I dreamed I would be in."

"I didn't either, Barry. I've spent almost half a year wondering what happened to Mon-El. Wondering if I had killed him, and now he's here. He's alive, and he's leading a team of superheroes in the future. It's a situation that I couldn't have ever dreamed of—even on the more weirder days, but now there's these feelings of guilt and pain at what I had forced him to do. There's a feeling that I let him down. I failed him."

Barry shook his head at her, desperate to try and get her not to blame herself. "Kara, you gave him a new purpose in life. One that I'm sure he's been looking for ever since he met you. He's established a legion that saves lives and one that's entirely influenced by you. I'll be the first to say that I'm a little jealous and a part of me worries that you'll want to stay here with him, but I also know that you're the most honest person I know. You're led by your heart and it has never steered you wrong before. I trust you, Kara. I trust you to know that you saved him."

Kara offered a weary smile and slowly approached the man, wrapping her arms around him—wishing that for once she could squeeze as hard as she could without breaking his body in half.

"Barry, I'm not staying here. I want to be with you."

It felt like a physical weight was lifted from his shoulders, and he found himself tearing up. The fear, the doubt, the paranoia had consumed his mind. It was crushing and debilitating as he forced himself to be supportive and unjealous. It took restraint that he was sure he didn't have and faith that he was sure he had lost ever since Zoom had taken his father from him. But still she chose him. She chose him, and he felt like he could finally breathe.

"I love you, Kara." He meant to declare it, no hesitation, no wavering, but it came out small and vulnerable full of the deepest emotions of his heart. It was an admission of his soul to her that he gave in that moment.

"I love you too."

They had said it before, but there was a weightiness that carried through the simple words this time. It wasn't a pinpointed difference but a spontaneous exchange between two people who barred their entire being to the other.

They shared a tender kiss, Barry pressing his lips to hers and closing his eyes to savor the taste of her. To savor the moment for as long as it would permit him to. Kara eventually pulled away, slipping her hand onto the slight stubble protruding from his chin and smiling shyly.

"I need to go check on Tera-Zar."

"You mean Laurel?" he asked, amused.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Laurel."

He nodded and stepped back, letting her go—knowing that she would always come back. She wasn't leaving.

Alex had heard the words uttered from Mon-El's mouth. It was quiet, and it was a miracle that she had even managed to pick up on the softness of his voice. She found herself frozen in place, hoping to god or to anyone that she hadn't heard what she thought she did. She wanted to backtrack and forget about it—chalk it up to injury or whatever because there was no way that she could accept it. There had to be a missing context in there somewhere, a crucial part to the simple sentence that Mon-El had said because there was no way. There was just no damn way that her Kara was going to die. She had to be rational and ask him calmly why the hell he just said that he wouldn't let her die.

There were laws to the universe. There were constants and fluctuations that supplied the world they lived in. There were things that were necessary to her very being, to her very existence. Things that were eternal and everlasting, things that she refused to let go of, and every fiber of her body would fight for those constants. For those things that she couldn't live without. Kara was her constant. Kara was a different part of her, ripped apart from the beginning of time and scattered across the universe to reunite as two parts of the same soul. Barry was her love, the love of her life, but what Alex shared with Kara was indefinable. It was indescribable, and it was fierce. It was a love that she knew she would never share with anyone else and one that she refused to part with. It was essential to who she was—who she wanted to become, and she would tear the world apart to keep from losing it.

So instead, in true Alex Danvers fashion, she charged the bearded man and slammed him into the nearest wall. She probably wouldn't have been able to move him except he was surprised and frankly, powers or no powers, everyone was terrified of the government agent. It was a an unspoken rule at the D.E.O. Never get on Agent Danvers' bad side unless you wanted a broken bone or the equivalent of death.

So now Mon-El was pressed against the wall, Alex's knee hovering uncomfortably close to the area between his legs. There was a fire in her eyes that could hardly be distinguished between an insane sadist and a very very concerned older sister. It seemed that those two personalities tended to overlap more than once.

"You're going to explain why the hell you just said what you said or else I'm going to let my knee continue and then chop it off," she threatened.

Mon-El winced, her threats the least of his worries. He was more torn between telling her and not. The implications of knowledge were often too great to be risked, especially when the fickleness of time travel was involved.

"Tell me!"

But then again, Alex wasn't just anyone, and she needed to know. Maybe she could protect her.

"Fine, Alex. Fine! Kara's going to die."

Alex growled, grabbing him by the shirt and throwing him away from the wall and her. "Start talking."

"One of the legionnaires had a vision of her dying soon. Maybe a year from now."

"How?" Alex could barely manage a single word, her mind rushing and blanching at the prospect of never seeing her little sister again.

"There's a war coming, Alex. One that has both sides—evil and good—struggling for power. It's spreading throughout the multiverse. Soon both present and future will be destroyed along with Kara."

"Cut the crap, Mon-El. Tell me how she's going to die. Tell me now or I swear to god I will throw you into a wormhole myself and make sure you pop out in hell."

"I don't know! She could only see her dying—blood seeping from her body and bruises covering the entirety of her skin. Her suit is torn and the center of her chest is….it's open. It's bleeding, and she dies. She dies. That's all I know. I'm sorry, Alex. It happens soon. The timeline is still in flux—soon this future, the one we're in right now, will begin to change. But you can still change it."

Alex's face drains of color, and she turns, narrowly making it to the trashcan, and puking. Her chest heaves from the news that is more than just a bad prophecy. It speaks of the end of her world as she knows it because there is no world for her without Kara. There is no reason for being without her little sister being there with her. Since the moment she was dropped onto the Danvers' door it had been drilled into her head. Protect your sister. It was a command written in her DNA—a second nature to her. She could no longer distinguish where he life ended and Kara's began. They were simply one, and for Alex she was always content with that, significant other or none. It was her and Kara against the world. Forever.

"Send me to the future or past or whenever it happens. I'll kill whatever kills her first. I'll get it done. Then it won't be a threat."

Mon-El shook his head, not surprised in the least. "It doesn't work like that Alex. I can't just send you to when she dies. There are rules that are too complicated for us to comprehend. All I know is that it can only be stopped in the past. Barry Allen made it possible when he changed the timeline and prevented her from staying in the future. He has the power to stop her death before it happens. He can change the future."

"Damn it, Mon-El, I'm not going to just wait for the moment to come and then hope to god that Barry can manage to save her in time. I need to do something now. Get your member down here. We're going to kill this before it can get that far!"

"Alex, don't you think I've tried?" His eyes sagged as he tugged at her shoulders, turning her towards him. For the first time since they had landed here, Alex got a good look at the man. More than just an off the shoulder glance, and she saw the deep circles around the rims of his eyes and the lagging way he moved about as if broken and hopeless.

"Alex, I've tried. I tried when I sent Laurel to find her, and I tried to go to the past to stop it. It blocked my attempt—almost killed me. Something's happened that has quarantined that time from the rest of history. We can't know what happens and we can't stop it right there. We have to stop it before it happens."

Alex shook her head. "I have to tell her."

Mon-El shook his head vehemently. "Alex, you can't! She can never know!"

Alex gritted her teeth. It was maddening that they kept getting put in these positions where one had to lie to the other just to protect them. It was the same dance over and over again, and she just wished that for once it could stop. She wished it could all just stop, and she wouldn't have to worry about losing her sister once again to a world that she had always been too good for. Kara had always been too good for this world.

"I-I, Mon-El, I have to. She has to know."

Mon-El grabbed her by the hands. "Alex, if she knew this was going to happen, it would ruin everything she's built for herself. She would live knowing that she's going to die and for what? Nothing would change. She would still sacrifice herself thinking that this was her destiny. It wouldn't help anything."

"Mon-El, I promised her." Alex was practically begging him—begging herself to not break her promise to Kara. She couldn't do it again. She and Kara had finally reached a safe place…a good place. This lie could drive them apart."

"Alex, no. We have to stop this ourselves. She can't know."

She closed her eyes and nodded slowly. "Okay. Okay."

"Good. Alex, I promise we'll figure something out."

"We'd better. I'm not losing her again." Alex ripped her hand from his and stalked out of the room, wanting to cry and punch something. She wanted to fight right now and bring down the world until she felt that her sister was going to be safe. But for now, she had to patient and bide her time. Bide her time until she could bring down hell on to the person who was going to kill her sister.

Kara hesitantly stepped into Laurel's room. She didn't know what to expect when Brainiac 5 had told her she was out of surgery, but she definitely wasn't expecting the woman to already be conscious and lucid enough to hold a conversation. She understood that she was in the future, but this kind of healing tech was…astounding.

Laurel gave her a faint smile before tapping the edge of her bed. Kara plopped down next to her, swirling emotions bouncing around inside of her. She didn't know if she was supposed to be angry or relieved.

"Kara," Laurel whispered sadly. "I-I—d"

"I know," Kara interrupted. "It's fine."

"No. I lied to you. I've heard enough stories from Mon-El to know that lying about who you are is definitely one of the things to avoid when around you."

Kara smiled grimly. "That's true. To be fair, Mon-El was hiding the fact that he was the prince of a party planet that kept their subjects drunk and oblivious. You only lied about being from the future. I get it. You were taken captive by Cadmus and couldn't exactly admit to me that you belonged in the 31st century. They were probably listening."

"Yeah," Laurel lied, clenching her teeth. She was glad that Kara had made it easier on her and offered a plausible lie that she already believed in, but still…easier by not much more. She still knew that her friend was going to die, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Mon-El had given her a mission, and she had failed. She failed both of them.

"Kara, I'm sorry. You say you understand, but I'm still so sorry. I didn't want to keep this all from you."

"Laurel, it's fine. Why were you in the 21st century in the first place?"

Laurel's face tightened, her eyes delivering the depths of her sadness, the manifestations of her fears. "There's something coming. Something we needed to change."

There's something about the way she says it. The weightiness behind the words, the careful and drawn of pronunciation of each syllable that screams at Kara to dig deeper. She knows that something's been going on. She felt it ever since she stepped foot into this time period, but she knows the rules of time travel. She knows the importance of protecting the timeline and protecting that knowledge that comes with it, so she doesn't ask. She doesn't ask for the reason, or the background.

"Did you change it?"

"No."

She nods, forcing herself to be satisfied with an answer that only ignites the journalistic curiosity that brews inside of her. She nods and forces herself to be okay with the answer. She doesn't need to know what's going on—she doesn't want to know.

Laurel leans forward. "I need to thank you for saving my life. You came back, and I'll never be able to repay you for that."

"You saved my life first."

"I guess I did. But thank you. You guys will have to be heading back soon. The past needs you."

Kara bites her lip. "And you have to stay here, don't you?"

"I do."

"Okay."

"Will you be okay?" Laurel asks, cautiously. She understands the pain behind the blonde's eyes. The hurt and agony that losing a friend can do. She saw it often in Mon-El's eyes.

"I'll be okay. I'll be okay." Kara repeats it, hoping that by repetition the words might actually become true and the aching in her heart might actually go away. She knows the silliness of this feeling and the stupidity of feeling loss from a woman she knew less than a day, but then again, she had always grown attached too quickly. It was her strength and it was her weakness.

"I'll be just fine," she repeats.

And she believes it.