"What's going on?" Alex asked looking from her daughter to Lena
"My leg got really bad." Her daughter explained. "Lena ran some tests."
"How bad is it?" Alex asked as Lena started to display some images on a screen.
"The nanotechnology has a failsafe in it. After the bone is healed they are meant to dissolve well, disintegrate, and get washed from your body. Because Kara was thirteen at the time of the accident and still growing, the doctor who administered them altered their programming so they would stay in the bone and make sure it grew correctly. However, they were never really designed for that and they haven't managed to adapt to how fast Kara is growing."
"The doctor said that was to be expected and every time I had a growth spurt my leg would be bad." The teenager said.
"Unfortunately it is a little more complicated. They are trying to keep your bone in a similar state to what it was meant to be when they were activated. Because you have grown so much, they are actually fighting against you." Lena said showing some images on the screen.
"So my leg is completely screwed?"
"Not at all." Lena said. "But for your leg to fully heal we need deactivate the current nanotechnology and to give you a new dose."
"Okay." Kara said before noticing her mother frown. "What?" She asked.
"What you probably don't remember from the first time, because you were so heavily sedated, is it is going to hurt. A lot." Lena said.
"Okay." Kara said.
"No, she means you will be in agony." Alex said. "The first couple of days the nanites invade your bone and will need to damage it in order to let it grow. After that the pain won't be so bad, but it will still hurt a lot more than it does normally and you'll have to keep weight off it for somewhere between one and two weeks."
"But after that?" Kara asked.
"After that, it should be much better than it is now." Lena said.
"Okay. Well can you give them to me now?" Kara asked.
"No. That would be unethical." Lena said. "But I can suggest a different doctor. One who actually knows what they are doing."
"What happens if we do nothing?" Alex asked.
"If the current nanites aren't deactivated they could end up causing long term damage." Lena said. "As a minimum they need to be switched off. After that you could delay new treatment, but Kara's leg will probably be in as much pain as it is now." She then passed Alex a tablet showing various projections of what would happen with various treatments.
After what, to Kara, felt like hours, Alex finally stopped reading and passed her daughter the tablet.
"What's this for?" Kara asked confused.
"That lists every risk that you will be exposing yourself to if you have the treatment. Read through them."
"Are you trying to scare me off treatment?" Kara asked.
"No." Alex smiled. "Only you know how much pain you are really in. You are mature enough to make this decision. So I want you to read through and think it about it carefully."
"You are letting me decide?" Kara asked confused.
"If you want to. But I can make the decision if you would prefer. But read that first, then decide." Alex said. "We'll give you some space, ask if you have any questions."
-00-
As Alex and Lena moved to the other room she saw the look that Lena was giving her and said. "I think treatment is the better option, but not by much." Alex explained. "But she is capable of making her own decisions."
"I thought you were not wanting her to have the treatment." Lena said.
"Part of me doesn't, because I don't want her to be in that much pain. But if she doesn't have it, all we are doing is postponing."
"What about Mongul?"
"We have no idea when he will get here. It's not fair to make her wait, if she wants to go ahead."
"I know you are worried about the pain. But they could keep her sedated." Lena said. "In fact they may insist on it."
"I know." Alex replied. "But I still worry."
"While Kara reads up it on I will make a few phone calls and see if we can get her booked in." Lena said.
"Thanks." Alex said.
-00-
"You okay?" Alex asked as she drove her daughter home.
"I guess." The teenager said.
"Your leg is going to be okay."
"It's not that." Kara said.
"Then what?"
"In the street earlier I thought he was going to kill you."
"I'm okay." Alex said glancing at her daughter.
"You don't look it." Kara said. "If Alex hadn't have been there he would have killed you."
"We don't know that." The older Alex said, seeing her daughter roll her eyes she went on. "Technically I should have waited for back up. But there was no way I was going to leave you there. I will do what ever it takes to keep you safe."
"I know, but it doesn't help us if you die in the process."
"I don't plan on dying." Alex said.
"And she did?" Kara snapped before quickly apologising. "Sorry."
"You are right, some things we can't control." Alex said. "And you know more than most that accidents happen. But I am doing everything I can."
"I know. I'm just scared."
"I know." Alex said reaching over and squeezing her hand before continuing to drive.
"Did you kill him?" Kara suddenly asked. "The alien I mean."
"You saw?" Alex asked as she pulled onto the drive.
"Yes. Don't worry the others didn't."
"I'm sorry." Alex said.
"He was going to kill you." Kara said.
"I know, but I still didn't want you to see that." Alex sighed as she put the car into park.
"He wasn't the first alien you killed though?"
"No."
"Are you okay with it?"
"It's not like I want to kill anyone, but if it helps protect the people I love I'll do it." Alex said. "Your aunt has a completely different view though."
"I can imagine." Kara said.
"Come on, let's get you inside." Alex said getting out of the car.
"Everything okay?" The older Kara asked when the pair walked into the lounge.
"Kara needs to have more treatment on her leg." Alex explained. "But it should make it better."
"When?" The older Kara asked.
"Lena has got her booked in tomorrow morning." Alex said before looking at her daughter. "You should get some rest."
"Okay." The teenager said before hugging her mother and saying. "I love you."
"Love you too." Alex said holding her tightly.
"Where are MJ and Alex?" The adult Alex asked once her daughter had disappeared.
"Already asleep." Kara explained. "What happened?"
"The nanites are defective, they are making things worse." Alex said. "I should have seen it. How did I not see it?"
"Her doctor said everything was okay." Kara reminded her.
"I should have questioned it." Alex said. "Lena picked it up in two minutes."
"Lena knows how they work more than anyone." Kara reminded her.
-00-
As Kara quietly shut the door to the room her daughter and Chewie were sleeping in she felt eyes on her back. Turning she saw her niece standing in her bedroom doorway.
"You okay?" The adult Kara whispered so not to wake Alex and MJ.
"Can I talk to you?" The teenager asked.
"Sure." Kara said following her into the bedroom where her niece sat down on the bed. "What's wrong?"
"I assume mom told you everything about my leg?"
"She did. Are you having second thoughts?"
"No. Not exactly. Kind of. It's that it seems like a really bad time to have it. I mean mom is really busy at work and-"
"Kara, right now the only thing your mom is worrying about is you."
"I don't want to be a distraction. Mom seemed to be freaking out about the pain thing and if she is worrying about me and work she is just going to get even more stressed."
"Forget about Mongul for a moment. If things were normal, well as normal as usual, would you want to go through with it?" Kara asked.
"Yes." The teenager said without any doubt.
"Then you have your answer. I'll take as much work off your mom as I can. You just focus on recovering."
"Okay." The teenager replied.
"Get some sleep." Kara said hugging her.
-00-
"She okay?" Alex asked when Kara finally re-emerged.
"I assume you mean Kara?" Her sister asked.
"Yes. I heard you talking."
"She's worried about you." Kara explained.
"Me? Why?"
"She thinks she is adding to your stress. She really wants the treatment but was thinking of postponing it until it was a better time for you." Kara explained.
"Did you talk sense into her."
"I tried." Kara said.
"Thank you."
"You okay?" Kara asked.
"No. I should have seen it." Alex said. "I thought I was doing the right thing for the kids going back to the DEO, but now I am not so sure. Kara complained every time she ran or overused her leg and I just accepted that as being okay. If I hadn't been at the DEO, if I had spent more time with her, maybe I wouldn't have missed it."
"Alex, no matter what job you do you will always dedicate yourself to it. Today you saved the kids because you are at the DEO." Kara reminded her. "And we all took Kara's pain as being normal, any of us could have questioned it."
"What else have I missed?" Alex asked. "How did you do all of this by yourself?"
"Do what?" Kara asked confused.
"Raise a kid, who is well balanced."
"I just made her sick through stress and hid her intellect and powers, so I am not the best role model." Kara pointed out. "Besides I wasn't always by myself."
"You weren't?" Alex asked.
"No. Not exactly." Kara said. "We weren't living like hermits. And on some planets I made some good friends. Friends who would help out with babysitting and look after us when we were ill."
"You were ill?" Alex asked frowning.
"Without powers I got to experience the full joy of germs." Kara said. "But like I said on some planets there were people to help with that. They never knew who I really was or what I was running to and from. But is that so different from how things were between Lena and I before she found out the truth? The point is, yes there were some planets I had to do everything alone, but there were others where I could get help. Once I had decided to embrace that help things got a little easier. Right now we all want to help you and Kara, so accept the help."