A/N: Thanks for the comments. This chapter is going to be a little rough on Kara - but from the next chapter things get much better for her.
"Mom, look who I found." Alex's teenage daughter shouted as she entered the house.
"You don't need to shout." Alex called back as she walked towards the front door, her hair still wet from her post surfing shower, only to stop in her tracks when she saw her sister.
"Kara?" She asked unable to believe what she was seeing.
"Hi." Kara smiled.
"You're alive. Where have you been?" Alex asked.
"That's kind of a long story." Kara said.
"You're really alive?" Alex asked stepping towards her.
"I am." Kara smiled.
"And you've come back?"
"I have."
"Which means you've always been able to come back?" Alex pressed, her body suddenly stiffening.
"Not exactly, space travel isn't that easy when you don't have a ship."
"But you could have come back before?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Kara said unsure where Alex was going.
"Kids, go wait upstairs." Alex said.
"But-" They both protested.
"Now." She said in a tone they knew better than to argue with.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come." Kara said sensing something wasn't right.
"No." Alex said. "You should have come sooner. You are three years too late."
"What?" Kara asked lost.
"Kelly died. If you had been here you could have saved her."
"She's dead?" Kara asked shocked.
"Where were you when I needed you?" Alex asked as years of buried feelings started to bubble to the surface.
"I'm sorry." Kara said not knowing what to say, but knowing Alex needed to rant.
"You're sorry? And that's meant to make up for all the times you weren't there? I needed you and you were no where. You chose to stay away." Alex said, tears streaming down her face.
"It wasn't like that."
"Wasn't it? Could you have come back before?"
"It's not that easy."
"Yes it is. Could you have come back before?"
"Maybe."
"But you didn't. You chose to have your own life and that's fine. But don't come here now thinking I am just going to forget all those times you weren't there. All those times I searched for you. All the times I needed J'onn but couldn't talk to him because he was, still is, out looking for you."
"He's not here?" Kara asked.
"No. Why are you really here? What do you want from me?" Alex asked.
"I-"
"I mean that is why you came back isn't? Because you want something."
"No. Not exactly."
"And there is it. You want something. And that's fine. But I'm not letting you drag my kids into it."
"That's not my intention."
"Then go. We don't need you."
"I'm sorry." Kara said backing out of the house. As the door shut Alex sank to her knees.
-00-
"What's going on?" Eliza asked as she returned home and found Alex and the children sitting in the living room looking like there had been a huge fight.
"Aunt Kara came here and mom lost it." The elder child said.
"Kara?" Eliza asked in disbelief.
"Yes." MJ confirmed.
"She's alive?" Eliza pressed, not believing it as she sat down.
"Yes." Alex said.
"Where is she?" Eliza asked.
"Gone." The teenage girl said bitterly.
"What do you mean gone?"
"Mom went crazy and threw her out." She explained before standing.
"Where are you going?" Eliza asked.
"Out." The girl said storming from the room.
Sensing Eliza wanted time alone with Alex MJ also stood and said. "I'll go, somewhere not here."
"What happened?" Eliza asked sitting next to Alex.
"She's alive." Alex said. "She's really alive."
"Just like you have always said." Eliza pointed out.
"Even I had lost faith in that." Alex confessed. "But then she just walked in here with Kara. And instead of being happy all I could think about was if she had been here three years ago Kelly might still be alive and I lost it." Alex said. "Everything I have been bottling up I just let rip and Kara did what she always did and just stood there and took it."
"She won't have gone far." Eliza said. "We can find her."
"I'm not sure we will see her again." Alex said sounding defeated. "I'm so sorry." She said as Eliza hugged her. "Why aren't you yelling at me?"
Pulling away Eliza looked at Alex and said. "You have fought so much, for so long, you were bound to break."
"But I shouldn't have taken it out on Kara."
"No you shouldn't. But we will find her and you can make it right." Eliza said as the doorbell rang. Suddenly feeling hopeful Alex rushed to the door.
"Ka-" Alex started only to see a uniformed man on the other side.
"Director." The man said as Alex opened the door.
"I'm on vacation." Alex pointed out.
"I know ma'am but I have been ordered to take you to National City. There is an emergency. I will bring you straight back when we are done. This order is from the top."
-00-
As Alex's eldest stormed along the beach, angry with her mother and the world she headed to what had become her private sanctuary, a small cave hidden amongst a rocky outcrop. As she entered the cave she almost screamed in surprise when she saw her aunt sitting there.
"Hi." The older Kara said.
"Hi." The teenager returned. "What are you doing here?"
"I didn't really have anywhere else to go. I used to come to this cave when I was a kid. There is something comforting about it. What about you, why are you here?"
"It's where I come when I am in Midvale and I argue with mom. So I'm pretty much here everyday. I'm sorry."
"For what?" The older Kara asked.
"What mom said to you. She shouldn't have. It's not your fault."
"Isn't it? Alex was right, if I had been here I could have saved Kelly."
"It was a car crash. Not everyone can be saved. Besides you weren't here because you almost died saving the Earth. But she didn't mean it. She still blames herself."
"You just said it was a car crash. Why would Alex blame herself?" Kara asked confused.
"It was because she was working late that mom ended up driving that night."
"That doesn't make it her fault."
"I know. She doesn't. Everyone knows, apart from her, that she is the wrong person to blame." The younger Kara said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Maybe you could tell her?"
"I think right now your mom needs space."
"So you are going to live in a cave?"
"It's not like I have anywhere else to go. Besides I want to be in Midvale for a while." Kara said.
"Then come back to the house."
"I can't."
"Mom wants you back. No matter what she said. I know she loves you. I mean she called me Kara after you. And Grandma really wants to see you."
"It's not that simple. Besides, it is probably better for everyone if I stay hidden."
"Why?"
"It's complicated. But trust me you would do better pretending we never met."
"I don't believe that. I need you. We need you." The younger Kara said. Getting no response she went on. "I have read the stories about Supergirl and she stood, you stood, for hope. Right now mom needs that more than anything. So please come back."
"This isn't the first time we have argued. And I know she needs space right now." The older Kara said before hearing something in the distance. For a moment she said nothing before turning back to her namesake and saying. "You should go back. Eliza will be worried about you. Do me a favour, don't tell her I'm here."
"But-"
"I have always been a complication to Alex. Right now she needs to focus on you not me. Please go."
-00-
"Where have you been?" Eliza asked as the teenage Kara returned to the house.
"I just went for a walk. Where's mom?"
"They took her." MJ said.
"Who?"
"The DEO. They came and got her."
"She's working again." The girl said bitterly.
"She wasn't given much choice." Eliza assured her.
"There's always a choice." The girl said.
"Well she probably didn't want to be here." MJ said.
"What's that meant to mean?"
"All you have done since you got here was fight with her." MJ said.
"Let's have dinner." Eliza interrupted. "Then we'll watch a movie. I'm sure your mom will be back soon."
"And Aunt Kara?" MJ asked.
"I don't know." Eliza said sadly as Kara avoided looking at both of them. "I hope so."
-00-
"It's my turn." MJ said hurrying to the lounge following dinner.
"No it isn't." The teenage Kara replied.
"Yes it is."
"Your movie choices suck." Kara said.
"Shouldn't you wait until I have chosen before protesting?" MJ countered turning on the TV.
"Fine. What are you choosing?"
As they bickered the news came on in the background showing live pictures from National City.
"Wait, that's mom." MJ said looking at the screen where Alex and several Agents were on top of a skyscraper fighting an alien.
As the alien threw Alex off the roof both children felt like they had been punched. As the blood pumped so loudly that they couldn't hear anything they saw a black object arrest Alex's fall before flying her back to the top of the skyscraper. Having put Alex down the figure, dressed in black with a tinted motorbike helmet approached the alien, punched it once, hard enough to knock it out, before flying away.
TBC...