Chapter Text
Kara had been missing for four-hundred and five days when Alex received the call from J’onn that her little sister had returned and was at DEO HQ, unharmed but severely disoriented. It was 2:30 am in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and she’d been asleep but as soon as she heard the words ‘Kara is alive’ she’d sprung out of her hotel room bed and started to collect and toss her belongings into a pile to shove into her suitcase, her priority being to get back to National City as soon as possible to see her sister. The whole process of packing, securing a flight back to the States, dealing with the flight itself, getting a cab from the airport to take her directly to the DEO, and so on, was tedious and unending. It had already been thirteen months, three weeks, and a day, and Alex didn’t want to wait another second to see Kara.
When Alex arrived and walked into the DEO, she felt similarly to how she felt returning to her high school for class reunions. It was all familiar. She’d known the place like the back of her hand at one point, but after having been away for so long, it had somehow felt different: the lighting was darker, the hallways were smaller, the building’s scent had become aged, vintage. Alex contemplated how a place could feel like it had changed so much over the course of thirteen months. Thirteen months didn’t feel like a long time when she thought about being away from the DEO; however, thirteen months had felt like an eternity without Kara.
“Agent Danvers, it’s good to see you” J’onn said as he walked to greet the woman who had been like a daughter to him, pulling her in for a firm hug. Alex wrapped her arms around J’onn and squeezed him tightly. Perhaps time always moves slower when it comes to being away from people, from loved ones.
“J’onn…” Alex said as she smiled at him, conveying silently that she had missed him before moving onto her sister. “Where is she?”
J’onn gave Alex a nod signaling her to follow him, leading her to an observation room in the north wing of the DEO building. They had several doctors running tests on Kara over the last day and a half, and Kara was so tired after the last round of tests that she had fallen asleep on one of the stiff electric beds that she and Alex both despised so much.
“How is she? What tests have you been running? Results?”
“We’ve run all the usual tests; most of the more unusual tests as well. All the results are coming back normal—she’s body and brain healthy—so it’s bizarre that she has no recollection of the last thirteen months. She claims to have been on an alternate Earth, in an alternate universe and that she was only gone for a few days.”
Alex took a deep breath and considered just what it was that John was saying.
“Well, given the test results I think it’s safe to say that my mind is blown. It explains why neither the DEO Search and Rescue squads nor Superman could find her… why I couldn’t find her.”
Inside the room, Kara started to shuffle, sensing she was no longer alone. She was hesitant to open her eyes out of concern that the people she’d heard were doctors who would insist she endure more tests and she couldn’t do it anymore. The results were coming back without any red flags, and she didn’t have the energy to keep telling them, calmly, that she was fine. So she wouldn’t. She’d refuse any tests they’d try to throw at her. She’d even give those pesky doctors a piece of her mind if she needed to.
No use in delaying the inevitable, Kara thought, allowing her eyes to flutter open as she pulled herself up off the bed and placed her feet firmly onto the floor, ready for battle. Without turning around, she threatened the doctor walking into the room, “you know, there’s only so many times I can say that I’m perfectly fine without actually losing my mind, right?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure it’s a big sister’s job to second guess everything the little sister says.” Alex said, barely having time to exhale before Kara sped around the bed and scooped her into her arms.
“Oh Alex, I’m so sorry… I can’t even believe… I had no idea this would happen.” Kara said.
Alex shushed her sister as she let herself sink into the hug. Kara was alive and it was the first time in such a long while that she knew it was true. It didn’t feel like she was lying to herself anymore.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I missed you and I’m so happy you’re home safe,” Alex said with her arms wrapped around Kara as tightly as Kara’s arms were wrapped around her. They had a lot to talk about, and frankly the DEO was the last place Alex wanted to be, so she released Kara from the hug then turned to her boss.
“J’onn, do you have any other tests to run on Kara? Can I take her home? Please.” The plea was phrased as a question but J’onn knew that Alex wasn’t asking; instead she was warning that she’d be taking Kara regardless of his response, though to be fair she still hoped he’d be okay with it. There was a permanent but negligible bite that had developed in Alex’s tone over the last year as she scoured the globe looking for her sister. J’onn had heard it every time he spoke with Alex over conference calls and video briefings and the few times he’d met her in the field to help her with the search, and yet no matter how many times her tone pierced J’onn’s ears, it always stung just as much as it did when he’d heard it the first time. After all she’d been through in the last thirteen months J’onn thought it was reasonable that she’d hardened herself. He didn’t blame her.
“Go… but take care of each other.” J’onn replied.