"You know you didn't have to make the trip all the way from Star City," Alex told them.

"Curtis insisted," Paul said.

Curtis just shrugged like he didn't know anything.

Alex just grinned. "My boss really wanted to thank you anyways, both of you." J'onn had given them clearance to be at the DEO. Curtis had been previously cleared and clearing Paul hadn't seemed like that much more of a stretch. J'onn had said something about them talking with the DEO's doctors about the injuries that their agents normally sustained and coming up with some things that route. Alex was fairly sure that he was just trying to come up with more excuses to make it okay for them to be there besides it just being because of her.

Of course, J'onn wasn't the only one who was excited to meet them, Kara had popped in via Skype sessions many times both as Kara and Supergirl and thought they were adorable. Of course, Kara was right. They were adorable. Maybe it was just because they were married, perhaps the bantering that came with that.

"This place really does look like a cave," Paul commented as they moved through the DEO's command center.

"We can work just up this way," Alex explained as she motioned past the control area. One of the rooms had been allocated for them to do their work and what was supposed to be her exit exam. She didn't know how it was technically considered an exit exam if they were going to continue to check in with her, just not as frequently.

When they got to the room, everything was set up as Alex had requested, which included chairs because the round rooms with the platforms normally didn't contain a chair or bench or anything unless it was moved into the space. For this, since she wasn't sure how long it was going to take, it seemed necessary. "Is there anything we need before we start?" Alex asked as they entered the room.

"I don't think so," Curtis said as he started to look around the room. It was barren besides the chairs and platform, so there really wasn't anything to look at.

"Just you," Paul said with a smile.

"I do want to look at the brace first, though," Curtis said.

Alex moved and sat on the edge of the platform before rolling up her pant leg. She'd specifically worn the kind of pants that would do that because she was fairly sure that they would request to see it and likely her leg. She leaned back, placing the palms of her hand onto the coolness of the platform. Curtis came up and was immediately looking it over. Alex knew that she owed so much to Curtis and Paul, so if she had to be their subject for a day, that was something so easy that she could do. They were the reasons why she could do her job again.

"You've had this one for the longest, right?" Curtis questioned.

"Right, I had killed the first one like this not too long after you sent it-"

"It short circuited," Curtis said as he removed it. "This one hasn't had any of those problems, right? No additional heat or anything?"

"No," Alex told him. "Kara calls it the placebo brace." She didn't miss Paul's smirk.

Curtis was shaking his head. "She's definitely special, your sister…"

"You have no idea."

And they didn't.

Even though Kara had appeared during Skype sessions as both Kara Danvers and Supergirl, they hadn't put the pieces together. They didn't know that her sister was Supergirl.

"The brace still feels comfortable? Doesn't hinder your movement?"

"Feels fine. If anything, it feels better."

"I've looked over your last scans and doctor's notes, you're pretty well recovered," Paul spoke up.

"I think it helps with my endurance, to keep it from swelling and pain from when I'm working out harder and longer than just a basic workout," Alex told them. "I mean, I don't think I absolutely have to have it, but I'm not going to lie...I think it makes me better in the field."

"Maybe Curtis should look at making you another brace," Paul suggested. "One that's a step down from the so called 'placebo brace'."

"Maybe like a compression sleeve?" Curtis put out there.

"That might be a good direction."

"You know that whatever you make, I will happily test out and give you all the feedback you need," Alex told them.

"And you have no idea how much I appreciate that," Curtis told her with a smile. "And how accurate I know it is after seeing where you work and knowing what you do."

The loud crashing sound and then the lights at the perimeter of the room flashing red was what brought Alex out of what she'd been working on with Paul and Curtis. She turned towards the door, which was closed. "Crap," she mumbled. She had no idea what was going on, but the red flashing light never meant anything good.

"What's going on?" Paul questioned.

"Not sure yet," she said as she moved towards the door. She stopped before opening it and turned back to them, pointing at them. "Do not move unless I tell you, understand?"

"We got it," Curtis responded with a quick nod.

Alex hit the control in order to open the door. The quick glance she got, was enough to show her that the entire DEO command area had descended into a mini war zone. She was grabbed by J'onn, who pulled her back into the room. "What's going on out there?" she breathed.

She watched him realize that Curtis and Paul were still there. "Damnit," J'onn whispered and looked back at her. "Eris has escaped."

"What? What happened?"

The last Alex knew, Eris was fine. Actually, the Kryptonian was voluntarily in a coma-like state like they'd done with Bizzaro. Alex had seen her the night before and had checked vitals. Even then, they kept Eris in a cell that was only accessed when medically necessary. Had someone gotten in and removed the meds that they had hooked her up to? Was it Non? Was it-

"As far as I know, she was asleep and the next moment she was killing a doctor," J'onn told her. "The base is locked down."

"Crap."

That was to be expected, the lockdown. It was just going to be interesting getting Eris back into containment, keeping civilians safe, and doing it all without the entire DEO going to hell. She remembered when Jemm had escaped, of course...she hadn't trusted J'onn then, but she sure as hell did now.

"What's the plan?"

"Right now, we need to move Eris back towards the containment area, but we also have to keep in mind we have civilians with us," J'onn said.

Alex looked back at them and sighed. If this was anything like with Jemm, it wasn't going to end well. Maybe if Kara were there… "I think I have a plan," Alex said and moved over to where Paul and Curtis were. "You guys trust me, right?"

"Yes?" Paul said hesitantly and extremely slowly, leaving it nearly a question.

She dragged them to the platform and motioned for them to get up. "You're going to be safe. We'll be back for you-"

Before Alex could finish trying to assure them, though, a body flew through the room colliding with her before they both hit the wall. There was a high pitched shrill of a scream that escaped one of the Holts', Alex wasn't sure which one. She saw across the room J'onn hit the control panel and the glass cell walls lower around Paul and Curtis. They hadn't been prepared for that and looked a little freaked, but at least they'd be safer inside.

Eris entered the room, J'onn immediately charged at her. There were too many people there, it wouldn't be safe for him to transform. So, Alex shoved the limp body of the DEO agent who had been hurtled into the room, pushed herself up, and sprinted towards the computer panel.

They needed to even the odds a little.

Alex managed to get to the control panel and enable the chamber (the entire chamber) to affect Kryptonians, putting the green Kryptonite level at eighteen percent. The entire room dimmed to green. That would be enough for them to be able to get Eris to the point of restraining or so Alex hoped.

When she turned to assess the situation, she saw J'onn hitting the clear barrier of the cell that they had trapped Paul and Curtis in for their own safety. Both civilians flew backwards and there were two different responses, a yelp and a scream. Alex immediately took over, going after Eris. "Get the cuffs!" she shouted to J'onn. She'd sparred with Kara enough in this green Kryptonite modified state that she had a fair idea of what to expect. Even though Eris was substantially weakened, she still packed one hell of a punch. Alex was knocked backwards and down before putting all of her weight on her leg, launching herself back up and flying forward to land a hard punch to Eris. It was enough to knock the Kryptonian back.

She knew that they could adjust the emitter so that the level was higher, but they really didn't want to hurt her. Eris had come in voluntarily and obviously something had triggered this...outburst. All Alex could think of was what Kara's face was going to look like.

"Eris! Please!" Alex shouted. "We can help you! You wanted our help! What has changed?!"

"You never wanted to help me! I have never felt pain like that!" Eris shot back, her green eyes blazing.

Alex kept her distance, her hands up defensively. She wanted to talk her out of it, but she knew that there was a high chance that that wasn't going to happen, but she'd noticed that J'onn had made it out and right now...all she had to do was stall. "The green Kryptonite...it's just to weaken you enough so that our medical tools can help you...if it hurt, then it was too high a setting and I'm sorry for that...we can adjust it...but you've been unconscious for-"

Bam!

She was across the room, held against the wall by the throat, her feet unable to reach the floor. Alex closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the breathing. She was going to get out of this. Her mind was already racing, trying to figure out two things: how Eris was still this powerful with the emitter on and why had she woken up in the first place?

The sound of people screaming and smacking the glass brought Alex out of the moment of internal quiet and concentration that she was going through. She saw Curtis and Paul trying to get Eris' attention. They were so sweet and they likely didn't realize how much they were risking their lives in that moment, or they did and they were that much more fabulous. Alex brought her arm up and managed to maneuver it just so to smack Eris, moving her face from one side to the other before Alex pulled her legs up and used all of her weight to shove her feet into Eris' abdomen and forcing her to release her grip on Alex.

Falling to the floor, Alex gasped like crazy as she immediately started to scramble back to her feet. As she went at it again with Eris, she heard a familiar hiss and looked over to see that Curtis had a phone or a tablet (who could tell nowadays) and had likely hacked into their system.

Idiot.

Eris took her distraction as an opportunity and sent her flying again, but Alex caught herself before she completely hit the floor. She looked up to see the Kryptonian stalking towards her and as Alex decided on her next move, she watched as Eris tumbled forward in pain. The shrieks were nearly deafening.

"What the hell?!" J'onn said as he arrived. He didn't wait, he moved forward and was immediately securing Eris in the green Kryptonite handcuffs.

Alex noticed that it seemed like DEO agents were moving again as the red flashing lights stopped and everything seemed to resume to normal. "What the hell was that?!" she demanded, her glare in Curtis' direction.

"Uh...helping?" Curtis supplied slowly and confused.

"You could have been killed."

"But-"

"But no," Alex said quickly and snappy. She let out a sigh. "Fighting Kryptonians is dangerous, Curtis." She was quiet and looked away and then looked back at them. "That doesn't keep you from being big damn heroes though." A smile spread across her face.

Curtis just grinned like crazy.

"Did I miss something?"

Everyone turned to see Kara, dressed as Supergirl, leaning in the doorway with a pink bakery box in her hand as she snacked on a cruller.

J'onn just shook his head before guiding a handcuffed Eris out of the room.

"Oh, you missed a lot," Alex told her sister. She didn't even want to know how many agents were injured. "You stopped for donuts?"

Kara shrugged. "I got the alert from Vasquez that Eris had escaped during a meeting and I got here as soon as I could, but with the base on lockdown...I figured I might as well stop and pick up some treats. Curtis and Paul don't mind," she said as she moved further into the room and opened the box. "I brought enough to share."

"You are a goddess!" Curtis said and immediately moved to snag a cruller from the box.

While Curtis devoured it, Alex noticed that Paul hadn't moved and seemed to be studying Kara. She was waiting for it. The realization that Kara and Supergirl were the same person. it was coming. She and Kara had been trying to decide who would figure it out first, if none of them gave it away. Alex didn't think that any of them had given it away.

"Shut up," Paul muttered.

Curtis just seemed confused. "What?"

Paul didn't respond, but merely pulled Kara's hair back and then let it go again before pulling it back again and holding it there again. "Someone else is seeing this, right?"

Amused, Alex shrugged. "I see this everyday."

"I'm still lost," Curtis commented in between bites.

"Imagine glasses," Paul told his husband before releasing Kara's hair again. "Kara."

"But it's Super-oh...oh...Kara...Kara is Supergirl…" Curtis blurted out and looked between Kara and Alex. "How...how did we not figure this out sooner?"

"Master of disguise?" Kara supplied brightly. She held the box out to Paul, who finally took one, before she made her way over to Alex.

Alex grabbed one and realized that she hurt. It didn't matter, it wasn't like she broke anything. An ice pack and ibuprofen were certainly going to be needed, though, and possibly a shared pint of ice cream once she was home. "I kept expecting you guys to figure it out-"

"Oh, no...completely clueless," Paul said.

"We love her...as Kara Danvers and Supergirl, but yeah...no idea...it's the glasses...they're a super power, too, right? Are they like psychic paper?" Curtis questioned.

"Oh, you should see my badge," Alex told them. "That's like psychic paper."

"It's really trippy," Kara commented in between bites. She motioned to the area that was set up. "So, are you guys done? I mean, you guys aren't going right back to Star City, right? We like get to hang out? Game night at my place."

"You know, maybe we could just relocate to National City," Curtis entertained.

Alex grinned. "I thought you liked your boss?"

"Oh, I do," Curtis commented. "Felicity is awesome, but I mean...so are you guys…"

"Come on, we'll give you the full tour."

"You can see my spaceship," Kara said excitedly.

"Your spaceship is here?" Curtis questioned.

Kara shrugged. "It brought me to Earth twelve years ago."

"You're going to adopt us into your superfamily, right?"

Alex just smiled and they headed out of the room. No matter what had happened over the past year, Alex was just happy that she had this family. A family wasn't always consisted of blood relatives, it was also made up of adopted aliens and friends...people that you got to choose to be your family. She would happily adopt both Curtis and Paul Holt into their little family. Without her family, all of them, she would never had made it this far...she would never have healed as she had.

"Just wait to decide that until after you endure game night," Alex teased.

The End.