Author's Note: This should probably take place before "Trinity" (3x17) and you're going to need tissues.

"There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice." ~ Simon Sinek

J'onn J'onzz

Guilt wadded up inside of him as he stared at the pod and wished he could will its occupant to be better. He knew it wasn't that easy. Alex was the only from the DEO team that he'd dispatched two weeks earlier to bring in what they thought was just a Fort Rozz escapee that had recently surfaced...to still be alive. They'd all been infected with an unknown venom that was systematically shutting down organs and somehow Alex was the last one to show signs. They'd found her passed out on the floor in her lab, but had been able to get her into stasis pod on the Legion ship. So far, it was keeping her alive...that was really all they could ask for while a cure was being worked on. J'onn had agreed to let not only the DEO to be working towards a cure, but they'd also asked L Corp for assistance.

Anything to save Alex.

"I hate seeing her like this."

"So do I," J'onn said quietly without looking over his shoulder. He could hear Kara's steps as she moved to his side to join him. They'd spent quite a lot of time. They both knew that them being there wasn't helping and Alex couldn't hear them, but they couldn't stay away. He was certain that it was the same for her, it brought a feeling of comfort just to see that she was still there and that the pod was keeping Alex alive.

"I know it would help to have a sample of whatever attacked them, but there's been no more reports or sightings," Kara said with a sigh. "I wouldn't even know where to look."

Silence stretched out between them. They'd been looking nonstop in between all of the other threats. The Worldkillers were still out there, all three of them now. They had Mon-El, Imra, and Brainy in the DEO at all times now to assist in finding them and fighting them when reports came in of them appearing. The tension was the worst and J'onn felt like it had only been worse the last two weeks, which made this even harder.

"What are your plans tonight?" J'onn finally spoke as he looked over at Kara.

"I was just going to stay here...I really haven't been sleeping."

"Can you do me a favor?"

Kara looked over at him. "What do you need?"

"Take Eliza home with you, make sure she eats a full meal and sleeps for a good eight hours before she comes back here tomorrow," J'onn requested. He was quiet for a moment. "I know you've been avoiding her the last couple of days…" Tensions were high and things were chaotic, but he wasn't blind...he knew Kara well enough to notice her body language (especially around Eliza).

"I just-" Kara sighed. "She brought up if Jeremiah was here...that maybe the two of them could figure out something...and as much as I'd do anything to save Alex...to bring her back to us...I can't get past the feelings that I have after the last time we ran into him."

"Because he betrayed us."

"Yes."

"And Alex-"

J'onn understood. For so long, Alex had dreamed of being able to have her father be alive and be in her life. She'd adored Jeremiah so much and that was a pain that had been deeply embedded in her...and then to have him show up...and be with Cadmus...it hadn't been easy for her (or any of them). He gave a nod. "But what if he could save her?"

"Would he?"

"She's still his daughter and I believes he still loves her."

"He-"

"No matter what Jeremiah has done, I don't believe that he would allow any of you to die if he could save you," J'onn put out there. "That said, I'm not sure how we could even contact him...or if Lillian and Cadmus would even allow him to assist us in finding a cure for Alex."

"So what are you saying?"

He wasn't even sure, all J'onn knew was that he couldn't lose Alex. He looked back to Alex's still form in the pod and crossed his arms over his chest. "For tonight...let's make sure that Eliza leaves Alex's lab…"

"And tomorrow?"

"We work harder to find that cure."

Mon-El

"Imra, what are you doing?" He'd been asleep, but had woken because of an alarm sounding on the ship. Mon-El had gone to investigate it and hadn't expected to see Imra up and the cause of the noisey alarm. It had taken him a moment to take in what he was seeing and just another to actually move to try to intercept what Imra was doing.

"You're blind to this-"

"I'm blind?! You're the one who-"

"I don't want to hear about it, Mon-El," Imra continued as she telekinetically moved Alex's wet body. "The mission-"

"I didn't even have a choice-"

This time Imra stopped entirely, including Alex, and looked directly at him. "And what would you have chosen if I had asked you?!"

This was a conversation that they'd had and sort of had, but things had still been especially tense since he'd finally been looped in on why they were in that time. Mon-El honestly didn't know what his exactly response would have been if he asked, but in that moment...all he could think about was that everything that was being done felt like he wasn't included in any discussion...and when he was looped in, he was dismissed. "I don't know!" he shouted honestly. "But right now, what you're doing...you're killing Alex! She's got to go back into the pod until they come up with a cure!"

"Why? If we weren't here-"

"But we are here," Mon-El snapped back. "You brought us here."

"I did-"

"And you decided that we should help and to possibly interfere with things here."

"I also believed that Kara could defeat Pestilence-"

"There's still time, Imra! You have to give her a chance!"

"She's lost focus! Not when it comes to the Worldkillers...she's distracted-"

"You keep thinking about Preya and saving her...your sister...something that's already happened...and you're willing to kill someone else's sister?!"

"How do you know that this wasn't the way it happened? We don't have record of Alex Danvers," Imra shot back. "For all we know...we've just prolonged her life…"

He moved past Imra and to the stasis pod controls and started to press commands into the panel only to find out that he was locked out. Mon-El stared at it for a minute and then stared at the panel again when it confirmed he was locked out. Anger rose in him even more, things had been hard since waking up in that time...but he felt like Imra was just trying to push him over the edge now. Mon-El went to grab Alex, convinced that he would be able to override the lockout and get Alex back into the pod. There was time, but he didn't want to chance it...he wanted her back in there as soon as possible. But when he went to put his arms under Alex, he found himself being thrown backwards and flung against a wall.

"I'm sorry, Mon-El, but there's no cure for Mortethaon."

"Mortethaon? It's-why didn't you say anything?" Mon-El got to his feet, stunned by what Imra had said more than the whole being thrown against a wall by his wife's mental powers thing. Thoughts ran through his head, but that didn't banish what Imra was doing or make it right. In fact, Mon-El felt like this whole situation was much worse than he'd thought it was when he'd originally walked in.

"I just realized it an hour ago," Imra stated honestly. "Mortethaon affects species differently...sometimes even within a species… It's not easy to have one strain to match up to in a database."

Mortethaon was not something that he'd seen in person, but he'd seen footage of the worlds that had been affected by it. It seemed to be a durable and ever changing flexible virus that was passed around person to person, but was not something that everyone was susceptible to...and there was no cure. "Only Alex's team came down sick from it…"

"Maybe others have an immunity to it," Imra said with a shrug.

Mon-El just stared at her. "Open the pod, Imra."

"No."

"Imra-"

"You'll no longer have access to the ship's functions until we're back in space, Mon-El, I've already seen to it," Imra told him matter of factly. "You might not understand what or why I'm doing this...but it's clear that we've failed at our mission...and Kara still fails."

"Then so do we...because of the path you're forcing the Legion to choose in this moment, it's not what we're founded on, Imra."

"I'm going to take Alex back to the DEO so that Kara and her friends have time with her before she passes...and then we're leaving, Mon-El."

Mon-El walked up to Alex again and held out his arms. "Let me take her," he said calmly, which was taking everything for him to keep the tone steady. All he could think in that moment was how this was going to break Kara...and J'onn...and-and Eliza… The three people who had lost so much already were about to lose again and there was nothing he could do. Even if he were able to overpower Imra, she had him locked out and there was no way to get it back. He didn't think that there was going to be anyway to get Brainy to even help him get it back.

"Fine, but be back quickly."

Imra released Alex's body into his arms. Mon-El took a few steps and then swung around to look back at her. "Go without me."

"Mon-El, you don't belong here-"

"I never asked for it, but what you've done-"

"She'll hate you now, they all will…"

And in that moment, he wondered if that was part of the reason why Imra had done this. "I know," he breathed before hurrying out of the Legion ship. He looked down to see Alex waking up in his arms. How was he going to tell her? How was he going to tell any of them? "Hold on," he whispered to her.

"Where's Kara?" Alex weakly managed to get out.

"I'll get her for you," Mon-El promised. "Just rest."

J'onn J'onzz

He was on his way out, J'onn had been having a harder time each day leaving the DEO and heading to his apartment with his father. Alex wasn't home...she wasn't in her bed or out with Kara...or even there at the DEO doing paperwork or exchanging snarky remarks with Adler. How could he go home and relax or act like things were normal when they weren't? He'd made it to the elevator when he'd caught glimpse of Mon-El and picked up on Alex. Even though it hadn't been necessary for him to keep out psychic feelers for Alex anymore, he'd found himself still reaching out for her with her on the Legion ship.

She wasn't on the Legion ship anymore.

J'onn moved quickly, meeting them in the medical bay just as Mon-El was setting Alex down on one of the tables and calling for Doctor Hamilton. "What happened?" he demanded. As far as he knew, they still didn't have a cure. He didn't understand why Alex was there...out of the stasis pod, which was not only keep her safe but alive.

"The Legion ship is leaving," Mon-El responded.

"What?"

"Imra felt like it was for the best."

"And you?"

"I'm staying behind," he said quietly. "I didn't want this…"

Doctor Hamilton was there going over Alex's vitals and hooking her up to their systems. "I can't tell you how much time she has," the doctor said evenly but bluntly. "Right now, she seems stable."

"That could be from her being in the stasis pod," Mon-El spoke up.

"You should have family come immediately, Director," Hamilton said as she looked to him. "I have no idea how long she'll remain stable...or how long it will be once organs begin to shut down."

"Kara and Eliza," J'onn said quietly with a nod. Kara had taken Eliza home not long ago...he didn't want them to be told over the phone and he'd rather be the one to go. "I'll go." He looked sternly at Mon-El, trying to keep his emotions at bay. "You stay right at her side. You call if Doctor Hamilton says there's any change before I get back." When Mon-El gave a silent nod in response, J'onn headed out of the medical bay as quickly as he could with his head bowed. It was late and there really weren't many at the DEO at that hour (and they really weren't milling around), but he was worried that he wasn't going to keep his emotions bottled in before he was able to make it to the balcony.

Once in the sky in his natural form, J'onn allowed tears to fall. He felt like there was going to be no other good time for him to feel the grief he already felt. J'onn knew he was going to have to be strong for Eliza and Kara...and Alex. For a very large chunk of Alex's life, he'd looked out for her and tried to protect her the best he could...and he just couldn't imagine his life without her. He knew that with how close Alex and Kara were...and then just being a parent...how hard it was going to be for them…

When he finally got to Kara's apartment building, he knocked at the door...not wanting to scare Kara or Eliza. The news he was bringing was going to be enough. Kara opened the door a moment later, she was still dressed in her clothes from CatCo earlier in the day and had a mug of coffee in her hands.

"J'onn, what is it?" Kara started to ask and then the small smile that had been on her face started to fade. "It's Alex, isn't it?" she asked a beat later. "Come in," Kara said as she pushed the door closed once he was inside. "I'll go wake up Eliza."

"Imra and Brainy have left with the ship...and Alex is stable, but Hamilton doesn't know for how much longer…"

Kara set down her coffee and then disappeared.

J'onn waited, but it wasn't long until Eliza was there dressed with Kara next to her side. They both looked exactly how he expected, but it didn't make it easier…

"Let's take the other exit," Kara said as she headed for a window.

Kara Danvers

"Hi," Kara said as tears fell, but she pressed a smile in place. This was so hard, but she was so scared...she knew she had to be strong...but this was her sister.

"There's no cure, is there?" Alex whispered.

Her sister was so pale and sounded so weak, but Kara kept hoping that with Alex being in the stasis pod that maybe it had healed her somehow even if they had said that there was no cure. The beeping from the monitors all seemed good, but Doctor Hamilton still saw what they knew now as Mortethaon was still in Alex's bloodstream. "Not that we've found yet," Kara said quietly, trying to keep her voice from breaking as her smile fell. "The Legion ship had to leave."

"No."

"No?"

"Mon-El is here...and I remember…"

Kara waited a moment, but Alex didn't continue what she was saying and it seemed like she was struggling in that moment. "It's okay...shhh...just rest right now."

"I love you, Kara."

"I love you, too, Alex."

They just sat together for the longest time and Kara just thought about what Alex had said. Doctor Hamilton had said that Alex might become confused or forget, but it seemed like something different. She looked back over her shoulder to see J'onn and Eliza standing in the doorway and then Mon-El standing far beyond. Looking back at Alex, she watched as her sister's eyes closed and she cupped her cheek and Kara let the tears silently fall down her face as she bowed her head. "I need you, Alex," she breathed. "Please don't go."

Alex just slept.

"Jeremiah should be here," Kara said at one point after Eliza had moved to sit at Alex's bedside with her. They were holding hands and Kara kept thinking about the first year she was on Earth and how happy they'd all been.

"He should be," Eliza agreed. "I don't know where he is, though."

"Adler is looking for him," J'onn spoke up for the first time in some time.

"Good," Kara said with a nod as she lightly squeezed Eliza's hand. She looked back over her shoulder to see that Mon-El was still standing right outside of the med bay. The entire time they'd been sitting there, Kara didn't even know how much time had passed since Alex was still awake, she'd been thinking about what her sister had said before. "I'll be right back," Kara said as she let go of Eliza's hand and then as she stood, she half hugged her adoptive mother and pressed a kiss to her temple. She moved past J'onn and out towards Mon-El, who immediately straightened when he noticed her coming towards him.

"I'm sorry, Kara-"

"Alex said something about how the Legion ship didn't have to go," Kara said. It was the best she could cobble together from what Alex had said, but she had hoped that that would help get some information out of Mon-El. She hated to think that he was keeping things from her, but at the same time they really hadn't had anytime to talk. Her sole focus had been on Alex.

"She's right," Mon-El said. He crossed his arms crossed over his chest and looked down. "I found Imra had pulled Alex out of the stasis pod...she was bringing her here...to the med bay."

"Why?" Kara asked, confused at why Alex would be pulled out.

"Because Imra believed that our mission here was done, that you failed and you would continue to fail at taking out the Worldkillers," Mon-El said evenly.

"And so she just decided that that meant that Alex needed to die?" Her heart was so full of pain and she couldn't stop the emotion from hitting her voice and it breaking.

Mon-El looked up at her then. "Kara, I tried to put Alex back into the pod...Imra locked me out of the entire ship...I tried to talk sense into her, but she wouldn't listen...not to reason...not to anything." She could see it in his face that he was telling the truth, but that didn't make this any easier. "I wish I could tell you that I knew how to save her, Kara...or that I knew that she doesn't die...but I can't...I'm so sorry…"

She cast her eyes down and tried to focus on something else in that moment. Kara didn't know what felt worse in that moment, but she needed more of the truth even if it only made it all worse. "Tell me what Mortethaon does…"

"Kara-"

"Please," she whispered.

"It affects species differently. I've seen it where it's affected genders of a species differently," Mon-El explained. "There seems to be any pattern as to why it infects one person but not another...but it basically shuts down the internal organs." He went quiet for a moment. "It morphs and can jump to different species...we should have probably taken more care-"

"But only Alex is sick…"

"Her entire team died, Kara."

She knew all of that, but that didn't make it any easier to accept. It had been two weeks and she hadn't come to terms with losing Alex. Kara was still trying to figure out how they'd gotten to this point. "Maybe if Jeremiah was here...and he and Eliza had more time…" She paced for a moment, her mind racing, and she kept thinking of ways that had a possibility to save Alex. Mon-El reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her. Kara pushed off his hands and she stared at him. "Don't tell me not to hope!" she snapped before he could say anything. "Hope is all I have right now."

"I won't…"

"Alex is more than my sister," Kara said as she pressed her hand to her heart. "She's-she's my heart...and part of my soul...and-"

"I know," he said gently. This time he pulled her against his chest and held her in a hug and she let him. They'd kept so much distance because of Imra...and because the fact was that he really wasn't her Mon-El. Still, she had really needed to be hugged. Adler hugging her (would have been frightening), but would have been enough too. It was nice to have someone who was strong enough to actually hug her tight, though. "Alex is strong."

"Stronger than me."

Eliza Danvers

J'onn had pulled her out of the room, leaving Kara in at Alex's side. Eliza was trying to be hopeful because so far, the monitors had all remained with steady vitals and Alex didn't seem to be suffering...just sleeping. The hard cold reality that she was going to lose her daughter kept creeping back into her mind...and wrapped around her heart...and all she could think about was the grief she'd felt over Jeremiah's death for so many years...and how to lose Alex would be so much worse.

"Did you find Jeremiah?" she asked once they were out of the room.

"Adler thinks that she's found where Cadmus is operating out of and believes she's spotted him," J'onn told her. "I want you to come with us."

"But Alex-" Eliza started as she turned back to motion to the med bay where Alex and Kara were currently.

"Kara's with her," J'onn reminded. "And Jeremiah has been with Cadmus for so long. He says that he's stayed with them because of Alex and you and Kara for this long...so now, I need you to be the one to be there to tell him...to explain to him what's happening." He was quiet for a moment before he spoke up. "I'm afraid that he won't believe me if I go alone."

And that made sense to her.

"They'll let us know if something changes?" Eliza asked him quietly.

"Yes," J'onn responded just as low.

Eliza didn't want to leave...she was afraid that something would change and she wouldn't be there. But all she did was nod. "I'll be back in just a minute," she told him before heading back into the med bay. She moved to Alex's side and leaned down to press a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "I love you, Sweetheart." She then moved to Kara and pressed a kiss to her temple and gave her a squeeze. "I'll be back soon. We're going to get Jeremiah." When Kara opened her mouth to say something, Eliza already knew what she'd say. "I need you to stay here with Alex. We'll be quick. It's just to make sure he realizes that what we're saying is the truth."

Kara just gave a nod.

"Stay strong," she whispered.

It was easier advice than to take herself, Eliza realized as she left Kara there. She moved to J'onn and felt like her insides were being ripped apart the further she moved away from med bay. She walked past Mon-El, who hadn't left the spot outside of med bay, and she wondered if this was all going to work or if it was a waste of time.

They'd had her change into something similar to what Alex would normally wear at the DEO and she'd been passed off to Agent Benanti to be basically babysat while J'onn went in with Adler to try to extract Jeremiah without having to take her into the Cadmus facility. They'd be contacted in comms (which Benanti had) if they needed to go in and it was all making Eliza so anxious. Jeremiah needed to be there with Alex, to say goodbye...but there was also the small hope that he could maybe figure out a cure to Mortethaon. They waited in silence together, so when there were suddenly explosions, the sound seemed deafening in contrast to the stark quiet she'd just been enveloped in with only her thoughts. Benanti pushed her down behind cover and they crouched there for a moment before popping up.

Benanti put two fingers to her ear. "Director? Alice? Come in."

Eliza just waited and watched the DEO agent, but didn't hear the response from either J'onn or Adler. She just found herself being dragged back towards the vehicle that they'd arrived in. "What did they say?" she asked as she kept looking back.

They were only steps from the black SUV when they were joined by others and Eliza got her answer. "They said for you to get your asses back in the truck!" Adler said in a hurry as she managed to make it into the driver's seat before even Eliza or Benanti made it to the doors.

Jeremiah was there.

Eliza climbed into the back of the SUV and Jeremiah was practically placed in right beside her. J'onn closed the door and gunshots were fired in their direction. Benanti was in the front passenger seat (sort of) and half of her body was out of the vehicle as Adler drove away and Benanti shot at those coming from the Cadmus facility while J'onn took to the skies. Once there was enough time to breathe...and to feel like they were safe, she looked at her husband. "Did he tell you?"

"Alex," Jeremiah simply said, there was sadness already in his voice.

"She needs you, Jeremiah."

"She needs both of us," Jeremiah corrected. It was still hard for Eliza to look at him sometimes. She'd spent so many years grieving him and moving on with her life and yet...he was alive, but he wasn't exactly the same man that she'd loved and lost. She wasn't sure how to make peace with that...or if she could. All she knew was that this was where they were right now and they needed to find a way to move forward. "And whatever this is...we'll figure it out, we're not losing her."

"It's incurable, Jeremiah."

"J'onn said that it shuts down organs."

"It does," Eliza confirmed. "But it also adapts...and it doesn't seem to have a reason for whom it infects as far as we've encountered and from what Mon-El says."

"She's not dying, Eliza."

And how he said it, she believed him.

Jeremiah Danvers

"I need a lab," he said as they entered the DEO.

"See your daughter first," Eliza told him.

Jeremiah wasn't sure if he could look at Alex and be able to hold himself together. He'd done this all for her. Everything that he'd done at Cadmus had been to protect his wife and daughters...and to lose Alex...it wasn't right. J'onn and his two agents were escorting them to the med bay and he found himself stopping at the doorway. Kara was there at Alex's side and he felt for a moment like he couldn't draw breath. This was something that he'd feared since they'd taken in Kara, for something to happen to Alex… Of course, it wasn't Kara's fault...and he knew how strong Alex was, but it was still hard to see the reality of it. Kara looked over at him, her big blue eyes filled with tears, her hands still holding Alex's.

"Kara," he whispered and took a step inside.

She didn't say a word and looked back to Alex instead. He could hear her draw in breath as he moved closer. "I can't lose her," he heard Kara whisper, almost like a prayer.

He didn't know what boundaries there were with his family right then, so he kept his distance from Kara even though all he wanted to do was to comfort her. Right now, he felt like his family needed something more. They really needed him and Eliza to be doctors in that moment...but first, Alex… She looked so breakable, which was not something that he'd ever think to use to describe his strong little girl. "Alex," he whispered and knelt down beside her bed. Kara reached over and placed Alex's hands into his before getting up from the bed and he was left alone with her. Jeremiah drew in a shaky breath and the first thought that came to mind was to apologize, but he'd done that before and he knew that Alex needed so much more than words...she'd demanded that of him in the past.

"Dad?"

The voice he heard was so quiet that he nearly missed it. "Yeah, I'm here, Honey…" His focus was on her eyes, which had been closed when he'd walked in and Eliza had warned him that she'd been mostly unconscious since being pulled from the stasis pod. They ever so slowly opened, but just a slit. Acting quickly, he reached out and held his hand above her in order to shield her eyes from what had to feel like harsh bright light from overhead. "I'm here, Alex."

"Dad," she repeated just a little louder this time and her head rolled to the side so that she was looking at him.

Holding back the tears was so hard. All he wanted to do was to cry and hold her and promise her that he'd fix this...that she wasn't going to die.

"Kara? Mom?"

"They're out in the hallway with J'onn," he explained. "I can have them come back in-"

"I'm dying-"

"Don't say that."

"It's true," Alex insisted. "Killed my whole team."

"But not you."

"Not yet."

Jeremiah looked over to where Eliza, Kara, and J'onn were in the hallway and all he could think was that they'd had the last sixteen years with Alex...and he'd missed so much. Eliza had raised both of the girls to be strong, intelligent, and independent women who saved the world...and J'onn had trained them. There was a slight sting of jealousy in him as he thought about how his girls were likely so much closer to J'onn than they might ever be to him (if he was able to leave his life at Cadmus behind...and save Alex). "I'm going to find a way to stop whatever this virus is," Jeremiah said and put the full force of his conviction behind it. He needed Alex to believe him and to hold on for a little longer.

"There's no time now," Alex told him weakly.

"Right now, you're stable...which I realize can change at any moment," Jeremiah told her. He knew that sometimes it was easier talking with a person who was also a scientist and it felt both right and wrong talking to Alex in that moment like that, but she needed to hear the truth too. "But for right now...let me try."

"Mom's been in my lab for two weeks…"

"Sometimes two heads are better than one, remember?"

Alex smiled at that.

It was enough to bring a smile to his own face. "Shall I send in Kara?"

"I'm fairly sure you can't stop her from coming in."

"You're right," Jeremiah said. He was hesitant, but when he got up he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I know I haven't done all the right things in your eyes, but I love you, Alex...and I swear you're not going anywhere…"

"Then don't mess up my lab," she teased weakly.

He laughed at that and headed out. It was so difficult for him to hold it together, but he hoped that he covered his worry well when he'd been in there with Alex. Kara immediately went in once he was out and Jeremiah looked back for a moment, Kara's face was bright and she was clearly already talking a mile a minute to Alex. Jeremiah looked back at Eliza and J'onn. "Can we get started at the lab now?"

Kara Danvers

"It's weird, right?"

"It's weird," Alex confirmed.

"I mean, I want to be happy and excited, but…"

"I know."

They'd been talking for well over an hour and though Kara could tell that Alex was getting tired, this was all she'd wanted...to talk to her sister like normal and to hold onto that moment forever. They'd talked about everything from all the times Alex had been sick as a kid growing up to Eliza in DEO standard issue clothes to Jeremiah being back. "I should let you rest," Kara said a bit resistant to her own idea as she got to her feet.

Alex caught her hand and held it tight. "Just stay."

"You sure?"

"Kara, I don't know how much time I have left-"

"Please don't talk like that," Kara said and her heart felt like it was going to break.

Alex just smiled instead. "Do you remember when all we did was fight? Did you ever imagine that you'd be sad to be rid of me?"

Kara was not amused at that, even though she knew that her sister was just trying to lighten the conversation. She didn't snap back, but instead sat back on the edge of the bed and held tight to Alex's hand. "All siblings go through that kind of a phase," Kara brushed off. "We were teenagers!" Her voice went softer suddenly. "But you are my rock, Alex...and I don't know how to go on without you." She waited a beat and tilted her head. "If our roles were reversed-"

"Not fair," Alex said as she pointed a finger with her free hand at her sister. There was silence between them for a moment and then Alex sighed. "But you're right."

"So, don't give up."

"I just...I don't want to be alone."

"I'll stay," Kara promised. "You won't be alone." She smiled at Alex and thought about what else they could talk about. "Believe me, I can always talk to you for forever…"

"Promise me something...and then we won't talk about what might happen again," Alex said. Kara frowned at it and then gave her a nod. "Promise me that you won't let the sadness or anger take you over… Kryptonians have a mourning period...two weeks...no longer. Promise me that you'll still be Supergirl...the Supergirl that is a beacon of hope and light and that will always see another way." She paused for a moment. "And that you'll take care of Mom."

"I promise," Kara managed without crying, but she wanted to. "I promise, Alex." This time, tears fell but she wiped them away right off. Kara didn't know if she could keep the entire promise, but she'd try...for Alex...for Eliza...and for everyone else.

"I'm proud of you."

"Of me?" Kara asked, her voice breaking and then she let out a short laugh.

"Yes."

"You know that I learned everything from you." Kara was starting to think that Alex was trying her best to keep her crying, but she tried to calm down and take some breaths. She didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but for right now...she just kept talking to Alex about anything and everything...because they had the time.

Mon-El

He wanted to be useful, but he knew that he'd only be in the way. He didn't know the science like Doctor and-well, Doctor Danvers did… He wasn't as close to Alex as any of her family or J'onn...even Winn and James were closer to her. Mon-El felt like all he could do was stand outside and be there if he was needed. It was all much like watching a film where there was a timelapse scene. He could see it all happening, but there was nothing he could do to help or stop the virus...or anything.

The one thing that he'd been able to do to help Alex had been taken away.

"Why did you stay behind?"

He blinked for a moment and then looked over at J'onn, he'd felt invisible but he knew that wasn't the case. J'onn, however, had practically snuck up on him...or he'd just been so focused on Kara and Alex talking and how they looked like things weren't as serious as they were. Mon-El took a minute to think about his response to J'onn's question. The first thought that came to mind was that it was really the first choice he'd felt like he could make for himself since the Legion ship ended up there in that time...but then the second was Kara...and this family that he'd once been apart of. Even though Imra was his wife, he'd felt closer to this family that he'd had to leave behind so long ago and so he'd gone with his heart. "Because this is where I should have been all along...you guys are my family...and even if I can't do anything to help Alex...and even if Kara and everyone hates me for what was done...this is where I feel like I still belong."

"There's so much hope in this building," J'onn said. "But there are also heavy hearts…"

Mon-El understood that. He wanted to believe that Alex could be saved, but he knew the future...and if it were to be believed then Mortethaon would kill Alex like it had killed so many others. So many had worked on a cure on so many planets...the best and the brightest...and no one had yet to find it. So, it was hard to believe that two human scientists would come up with a cure. "Today's a day that I wish magic existed…"

"Or miracles."

"Or miracles," Mon-El agreed.

"But maybe they exist and we just have to accept that we've seen them before," J'onn put out there. "Though Alex would argue that there has to be a scientific explanation for everything." He paused for a moment, them both watching the sisters in the med bay. "But Kara…"

He knew exactly where J'onn was going. "But Kara would believe...no matter what...even if it seemed like all hope was lost."

"They compliment each other like that."

Nodding, Mon-El looked away from the Danvers sisters and looked at the J'onn who was standing right there, dressed as always in his black DEO attire. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Don't lose hope...believe in them…"

"I'm trying."

"Me too."

Eliza Danvers

"I keep thinking that maybe if we can find an alternate to the stasis pod she'd been in on the Legion ship," Eliza said. She was frustrated because all she kept thinking was that they needed more time. At least when Alex was in stasis, she wasn't so worried that she'd be in the lab and her daughter would just slip away without her by Alex's side. She felt ill and she just wanted to sit with Alex...but at the same time she knew that this was important and could change things.

"I've thought about it as well," Jeremiah said as he looked over at her from the microscope he'd been looking down. "Hypothermia is the first thing that comes to mind," he stated. "Which Kara might be able to achieve using her freeze breath-"

"But there's no guarantee that we could keep her at a steady temperature, which would make things dangerous."

"I was also thinking...if this virus adapts to different species...then maybe introducing a mix of DNA would force it to adapt and move away from the human cells."

"That's if Alex's body can handle having a large enough dose of alien DNA in her system because the most effective way would likely be a blood transfusion...and she's already in such a weakened state, Jeremiah…"

"I know." She watched as he sighed and then raked his hand through his hair. They were trying, but nothing seemed to be catching or viable. She watched as he pounded the table with the palm of his hand in frustration. "I just...I won't lose her...and all I keep thinking about is you and Kara."

Eliza reached out and put a hand on his arm. "Jeremiah, we have to focus."

"Kara's already lost a family and a planet...I don't know what losing Alex would do to her."

And neither did she.

She didn't even want to think about it, even though it was something she couldn't not think of. "We have to focus on the science, Jeremiah. As hard as this is...we have to step back and look at this like it's a sample we received…" It was so much easier to say, she knew, then to actually put into practice.

Jeremiah got up and started to pace. "How many alien species are here, do you know?"

"Not an exact number, no," Eliza admitted. "Kara is a Kryptonian, J'onn is a Green Martian, Mon-El is a Daxamite...I know that they had a White Martian." She paused and looked directly at him. "What are you thinking, Jeremiah? It's not like we can draw blood and mix it all...not without somehow making it into an universal blood type…"

"Right, but there has to be a way to look at it differently… The reason why we can't mix every blood type is normally antibodies…"

"Introducing anything into Alex's system is going to be a risk," Eliza put out there.

They were both quiet for a long time, but then Jeremiah spoke up again. "I remember reading an article about UCLA's kidney transplant program where they go through a process for those who are a genetic match but not the correct blood type. They use processes of desensitization and immune modulation-"

"I don't think that Alex is strong enough-"

"And we don't have the time, it typically takes weeks, if I remember correctly…"

"Medusa."

"What?" Jeremiah asked in confusion.

"The Medusa Virus," she said as she looked over at him. "If we could get Mortethaon to go after an introduced foreign sample without Alex's body shutting down, we could use Medusa to eradicate it." Eliza was starting to feel like they were getting somewhere. "The Medusa Virus was designed by Zor El and targets non-Kryptonians...but we figured out how to have it target a specific alien DNA source."

"Let's see if we can get Mortethaon to leave human DNA for something else and see if Medusa is an option to combat this."

Jeremiah Danvers

"You need to come now."

Jeremiah looked up to see a DEO agent holding the lab door open. Eliza was already out the door and all he could think was that they were too late. He and Eliza had a promising lead, but it would take more time to get all of the results back...to know if it was something that was safe enough to risk in order to save Alex. Getting up, he headed out as well and the agent followed.

When he got to the med bay, though, he couldn't bring himself to go in all the way. Jeremiah felt frozen as he took in the site of Kara and Eliza both crying and J'onn holding Alex...this was clearly a goodbye. His eyes went to his daughter's vitals and he knew that time was not on their side.

He'd made promises…

He'd intended on keeping them…

"Kara, you have to induce hypothermia," Jeremiah said quickly as he took a step into the room. His mind flashed with the bits of life he'd been able to be apart of with Alex. From bringing her home from the hospital to reading to her to the first time she got hurt to their science discussions...and when their family grew… It seemed like anything in the last couple of years had only come with his daughters looking at him with disappointment. Selfishly he wanted time to show them that he was a good person...the father that Alex remembered.

"No," Alex said quietly.

And it shocked him. Her voice was so quiet and she sounded so far away, but at the same time it was firm. The closer he got, he realized that J'onn was also crying. "Alex, please...we think we've found a way…" He looked from his daughter to his wife. "Eliza, tell them."

"We don't have the results, Jeremiah...that's no way to know if it'll work...or if it'll just hurt her...it's not worth it now," Eliza told him between tears as she held Kara.

He didn't want to give up.

He couldn't.

Alex had to live.

Suddenly Alex was coughing and holding her chest. Difficulty in breathing was a sign of not only the lungs shutting down but also the heart. "Medusa has a chance to work!" Jeremiah told them. He just couldn't let go...not yet...not now...not because of some virus.

"Dad," Alex said quietly as she held out her hand to him.

Hesitantly, he reached out and took her hand before taking a step towards her. "Alex, it could wor-"

"It could make this all so much worse for all of you and I don't want that," she told him gently.

"Alex…"

"Give me a percentage of it working," she put out there.

Jeremiah knew that this was her being a scientist. She had obviously already accepted that she was going to die and was ready for them to let her go. Alex had to know exactly what Mortethaon was doing to her body, but when there was a chance… "I don't-we were still waiting on results…"

"Dad-"

"I don't know the numbers, Alex, but it's a good theory." When she started into a coughing fit, Jeremiah moved closer to her, holding her hand between both of his. He hated to see Alex suffer, that's all he'd been trying to prevent all these years. "Please, Alex...we still have time…"

He felt helpless as he just stood there, Alex pulling her hand away and J'onn still holding her. Kara and Eliza were right next to the bed on the other side. Alex was coughing and he could hear her trying to catch her breath. They didn't have long and his heart was breaking. All he wanted to do was to save her...and no one was letting him even try. He felt like such an outsider in that moment, like he didn't even deserve to belong there.

"We love you so much," Kara managed to get out.

Jeremiah watched as Kara pressed a kiss to Alex's forehead and watched as it looked like Alex was slipping away. They really were saying his goodbyes and he found himself breaking down even though he wanted to stay strong and he wanted to hold tight to the hope that he could still save her.

"I love you, Alexandra," Eliza whispered a moment later.

"This is not our end," J'onn said quietly to Alex, her eyes barely open. "You have been our strength and you will continue to be...until we see each other again…"

And all their words only broke him more because he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye. His head was spinning and he just wanted to try...that was all he felt like he could do...to try to save Alex. Jeremiah just stood there, watching them all be there with Alex as he was just a step away from her...and he watched her eyes close and the rise and fall of her chest...until it stopped and the monitor alarms sounded. The cries of Eliza and Kara came a breath later, which felt like a knife twisted into his broken heart. "No," he breathed. "No," he repeated. The doctor merely came in to turn off the monitors before leaving them all. "Please," he pleaded with them. "Please let me try…"

He'd failed.

He'd failed all of them.

She couldn't be dead.

Alex's chest didn't move.

Her eyes didn't open.

He hadn't kept his promise...to any of them.

"Oh god, no...Alex…"

The End.