"How's Alex?" The teenage Kara asked when her mother returned home.
"Okay. The Red-K is out of her system, but she feels really bad about what happened. How are you guys doing?"
"Fine." Both teenagers said.
"What happened wasn't Alex's fault." The older Alex said.
"We know." MJ said.
"And she didn't mean what she said." Alex added.
"Except she kind of did and she wasn't exactly wrong." The teenage Kara said.
"Be that as it may, she would never want to hurt you."
"We know. Besides we're teenagers. Whenever we fight we hear and say worse than that." Kara pointed out.
"So you're okay?" Alex asked.
"Yeah." Both teens confirmed.
"But?" Alex asked sensing they were holding something back.
"There was something." Kara said after a moment.
"What?" Alex asked.
"You know that list of powers Alex might get?"
"Yes."
"And there was the mental projection one?"
"Yes."
"We think she has it." Kara said.
"Why?" Alex asked.
"When she was going all Alzilla on us we both saw things. The same things, really clearly." MJ explained.
-00-
"You feeling okay?" Kara asked when she and her daughter returned to the apartment.
"I'm tired."
"You should probably eat something." Kara said.
"I'm not hungry." The teen said.
"Do you want to get ready for bed and I'll get Chewie?"
"No." Alex said quickly. "I mean don't leave me. What if I react again?"
"I know it is hard but you are safe now. It is just going to take a little time to trust yourself. But I am sure Kara and MJ will look after Chewie tonight." Kara said hugging her. When she felt her relax she asked. "You sure you don't want something to eat?"
"No."
"You want to go to bed?"
"I guess. Can you stay with me while I fall to sleep?"
"Of course. Go get ready for bed, I'll be in in a minute." Kara said. As her daughter disappeared Kara sent a message to her sister to keep her updated before getting some water from the fridge.
"Here." Kara said putting some water on the bedside table before sitting at her daughter's desk.
"I'm a bad person aren't I?" The teen asked.
"If you were a bad person, you would not be feeling guilty." Kara pointed out. "You're not a bad person. You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to. Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."
"What's a death eater? Wait I remember those, you used to tell me a story with them. Are you quoting something again?"
"Harry Potter." Kara said. "And it wasn't just Sirius Black who had wisdom, Dumbledore said. 'Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.'" Kara said. "But my point is, you aren't bad."
-00-
When Alex woke the next morning she heard breathing coming from somewhere in her room. Looking round she saw her mother sleeping on the floor, her head resting on a cushion. Feeling even more guilty Alex went to the kitchen and started to make pancakes for her mother.
"Why didn't you wake me?" Kara asked wondering into the kitchen a few minutes later.
"You were sleeping. Why were you sleeping on the floor?"
"I didn't want to leave you." Kara said hugging her daughter. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired. My head hurts. I don't think I can go to school." The teen replied causing Kara to pull back and look at her daughter.
"Okay, you don't have to go to school today, but you have to see your cousins tonight."
"What if they don't want to see me?"
"They'll want to see you." Kara said. "So we have a deal?"
"Okay." The teen said.
"Good." Kara said before pulling her daughter in for another hug. "While you may have been unplanned, that is not the same as being unwanted." Kara said. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I hate that any part of you doesn't believe that. But you were right that I haven't been spending as much time with you as I should and I'm sorry."
"I didn't mean what I said." The teenager said.
"I know. But there was still truth to it and I am going to fix things." Kara promised.
"There's nothing to fix." The teen said.
"If any part of you is unhappy then there is something to fix." Kara said.
-00-
"How are you feeling?" Alex asked as she approached her niece that evening.
"Okay." Her niece said.
"MJ and Kara want to see you if you up for it. MJ said you kinda ran out on the game but he'll give you another chance at beating him."
"You have to face them sometime." Kara reminded her daughter. "The longer you leave it, the harder it will be."
"Okay." The teenager said.
"I'll be right here if you need me." Kara reminded her, giving her a hug before watching her daughter leave the apartment.
"How is she?" The older Alex asked once the door was shut.
"Subdued. Feeling guilty and wanting to avoid everyone."
"If anyone can help her, it is you." Alex reminded her.
"Maybe. How are Kara and MJ?"
"They seem fine. They pointed out they were teenagers and outbursts were expected."
"Very pragmatic." Kara commented.
"They did say something though. Both Kara and MJ said they saw the same image when she was having her episode. That mental projection power, the one you thought she had, I am pretty sure she has it and it is growing stronger."
"I'll talk to her again." Kara said. "Have you figured out where they were exposed?"
"We think at the fire Superman attended there was some Red-K dust. He inhaled it and carried it back to Alex. By the time he got to you it had blown off."
"Who did it?"
"Because we haven't found the dust yet we we can't figure out if it was the same batch of Red K used on you or different. But we'll keep searching. How are you doing?"
"I wasn't exposed."
"No, but you had to deal with outbursts from Clark and Alex. Kara and MJ told me some of what she said to you."
"She didn't mean it."
"I know." Alex said. "But it still hurt." She then paused and said. "Alex isn't here, you don't need to put on a brave front." She then pulled her sister in for a hug.
After several minutes Kara asked. "Have I really made her that unhappy?"
"Of course not."
"But I let her down."
"You have not let her down." Alex said. "You know what it is like to be on Red K. What Alex said was based on bad thoughts everyone has, it doesn't mean she meant it."
"I know."
"Do you?" Alex asked.
"Yes, but even if she didn't mean it, part of her still felt it." Kara pointed out.
"Red K aside Alex seems pretty happy and balanced." Alex reminded her. "She will be okay."
-00-
When the teenage Alex and Chewie returned home later that evening and she saw her mother and aunt on the couch she asked.
"Do you want me to go?"
"Of course not." Kara said patting the couch next to her. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay." Alex said sitting down.
"Everything okay with Kara and MJ?" Kara pressed.
"I guess."
"I can't believe it is this late." The adult Alex said looking at her watch. "I'm going to head back. Think about what I said."
"I will." Kara said before Alex looked at her niece and said.
"Night Alex."
"Night." The teen said as her aunt left the apartment. Once the door had shut Kara hugged her again before saying.
"You should get some sleep, you have a chess tournament tomorrow."
"I don't want to go."
"Because you are scared of getting infected again and hurting the other kids in the tournament?" Kara guessed. When her daughter nodded Kara hugged her and added. "I'll be right there with you. You have nothing to be scared of."