I looked it up and 'Zehdh' is supposed to be the kryptonian word for 'family'. I am not sure that it's right but I don't know... Humor me or something. :P
The whole story is based on a prompt from tumblr.
I really ship KaraxAlex as a romantic pairing and when I started to write this fic I was planning on going that way, but it turned out more sisterly so I went with it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Supergirl or the characters.
Enjoy.
The bomb exploded.
Kara watches from above as half the building gets blown up.
The sound is deafening and she can feel the heat of the blast in her skin even though she is far away. Her heart clenches tightly in her chest.
Alex was in there.
She was supposed to evacuate the west wing. Kara doesn't know if she made it out before the explosion. At least, last contact she had with her, Alex was heading towards the west wing and away from the location of the bomb. But know there is no way of reaching her since the comms are full with interference from the other officers.
Grunting she rips her earpiece out. She needs to focus and she can't do that with so many people screaming in her ear.
Kara quickly scans the building with her x vision looking for survivors praying that Alex is not among the injured. She spots a few of them and rushes in to help them. She lifts debris and fallen columns and carries the injured to the waiting ambulances.
The evacuation hadn't been completed in time and if Kara wasn't busy on the other side of town taking care of Lord's bullshit new challenge he had for her there wouldn't be so many casualties.
She finds Hank close to the ambulances struggling to organize the police and firefighters into rescue teams.
"Where's Alex?" she asks, getting straight to the point.
"She was still inside making sure everyone was out of the west wing. I can't reach her" he replies looking worried.
"We need to find her!"
"I know but I have my hands full here. I've send a rescue mission to her last known location but honestly you're her best bet" He looks at her somber.
"I'm on it."
"Wait! Where's your earpiece I've been trying to reach you too" he calls out before she takes off.
"It was too loud, so I threw it away." She explains. Hank nods and reaches into one of his pockets taking out a new one
"Here take this. Switch to channel four. It's only me there. Tell me if you find her" He said and waves her away.
"I'll find her" Kara declares and flies off towards the wreckage.
It takes a while before Kara finally spots Alex.
She's laying on the floor crushed under the debris. Her head is turned away but Kara can tell it's her.
"Hank I know where she is" she says quickly into the private comm.
"Is she okay?" He replies immediately the worry evident in his voice.
"I don't know but it looks bad" Kara says ignoring the tears that threaten to fall at the thought of losing Alex. She pulls off a few boulders and makes a gap to reach her.
"Alex? Alex can you hear me?" She says crouching next to her. Her hand reaches out and pushes the hair out of Alex's face.
She's bleeding from a deep cut on her forehead and the right side of her face is badly bruised and full of cuts. Her eyes are closed and her breathing strained. Her mouth is half opened and dripping blood forming a small puddle under her head. A larger one is forming under her torso.
"Oh Alex" Kara whimpers scared.
"Kara. You need to stay calm. She needs you. Check her injuries. Tell me what you see." Hank says softly and pulls her out of her trance. She takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes hastily.
"She's trapped under a big pillar. She has 4 broken ribs and at least two of them have punctured her lung." She announces scanning Alex with her vision."There is rebar of some kind in her stomach just under her ribcage. There's a lot of blood Hank."
"Listen up. You need to free her but carefully so you don't move the rebar and cause further damage"
"I don't think I can do that"
"Kara now it's not the time to question your abilities"
"That's not it. The rebar is attached to the pillar" Kara replies through clenched teeth.
"Can you use your heat vision to cut it?"
"I think so, but I might hurt her."
"You need to risk it. If you don't get her out of there she's going to die Kara. You're the only who can save her."
"Just give a minute." She answers and turns off the earpiece. Kara leans down and places a soft kiss on her sister's head. She feels her stir at the contact groaning in pain.
"Alex?" Kara calls out to her alarmed, but glad she's moving.
"K-kara..." Alex says softly as she struggles to open her eyes.
"Hey I'm here. Come on open your eyes for me sweetheart." She croaks out relieved. She reaches out and pulls Alex's head into her lap stroking her hair tenderly.
Alex opens her eyes but she can't focus on anything. She takes a sharp breath as she registers the intense pain in her side. Immediately she goes into a violent coughing fit. Her body starts shaking as she struggles to breathe only to have her damaged lung cause her further pain. She reaches up and clutches desperately at Kara's arms as she coughs up more blood.
"Hey look at me. You need to calm down its okay." Kara hugs her closer in an effort to calm her down.
"Please Alex look at me. Only me." She repeats as Alex's eyes dart around panicked. Kara grabs her head and forces her to look at her. Alex's eyes connect with Kara's and she seems to focus on her, even though she's clearly disoriented.
"You need to breathe slowly. Your lung is damaged. Just focus on me okay? Focus on my breathing." Kara says feeling helpless as Alex starts slowing down her breathing. Gradually her grip on Kara's arms relaxes and so does the panic in her eyes.
"Hey you did it." she smiles relieved as tears fall down her face. Alex's eyes dart between Kara's exhausted as her breathing turns into a horrible slow wheezing.
"Do-on't cry Kar-ra." She says her words slurred as she reaches out and wipes the tears of her sister's cheeks. "Its g-gonna be o-okay..."
"How can you worry about me when you are at this state?" Kara replies barely containing her sobs.
"You're my little sister" Alex whispers as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "How can I not?"
That's when Kara eventually loses her composure. She holds Alex tightly against her chest as she starts sobbing. Alex slowly wraps her arms around her neck and holds her.
"Kara... I got you." Alex murmurs weakly and the familiar words bring Kara back to her senses.
She pulls away and puts Alex down carefully. She closes her eyes and lets out a big sigh.
"Alex I have to do something that's really going to hurt you but it's the only way to get you out of here. I just need you to bear with me and stay still for a while, not matter how much it hurts. Can you do that for me?" Kara asks determined to save her sister.
"Okay" Alex agrees weakly.
Kara takes a deep breath as she grabs the pillar that's crushing her. She takes a moment to look back at Alex. She nods in confirmation.
Kara clenches her teeth and slowly starts lifting the pillar. It feels weightless in her arms and she could lift it with one hand but she doesn't want to risk it.
Alex hisses in pain and her back arches of the ground as the rebar shifts painfully in her body. Her fists tighten at her sides and she bears her teeth trying desperately to hold back her screams.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"Kara apologizes at her worried but doesn't stop until she has the beam where she needs it.
Alex breathing quickens as she tries to breathe without putting too much strain on her lungs. Her body relaxes and she slumps to the ground too drained to move.
"I'm sorry. I just need to do one little thing and then you'll be free" Kara tells her swallowing hard.
She positions her body so the pillar rests on her right shoulder and arm and grabs Alex's shoulder with her free hand, keeping her still.
She focuses her attention on the task in front of her and she feels the heat in her eyes as she shoots her laser beams at the exposed rebar between Alex and the pillar.
Alex lets out a pained scream as the flesh around the metal starts burning under the extreme heat. The whole thing only lasts for a few seconds but in Alex's weakened state it was enough to make her pass out.
She collapses to the floor and this time she doesn't stir again.
"Hey Alex. I'm not sure you can hear me but the doctors say I should talk to you. They say it might help. I know you're strong. You can get through this. And when you do I'll be right here waiting."
...
"You need to wake up Alex. There are a lot of aliens you need to catch. The whole squad is lost without you. They can't do a thing. The other day Vasquez walked into a wall. You need to wake up and help me keep them in line."
...
"So I called Eliza. It's been two days and she needs to know. I'll pick her up tomorrow and we'll come see you. I don't know maybe she can get you to wake up somehow."
...
"Hey Danvers. So I was sparring with Andrew yesterday. I beat his ass so hard he'll feel it for days. He had nothing on you. Usually he's better, but I think he was worried about you and couldn't focus. Everyone here is worried about you. Hell the other day I walked into a wall because I kept thinking about you. See? Even when you're asleep you give me nosebleeds."
...
"Oh you poor thing. I told you to be careful. You are not Kara so stop putting yourself in danger all the time. I get that it is your job, but I can't lose my daughter too."
...
"Eliza is a wreck. And I don't think Hank is sleeping at all. I know I am not. Everything seems so dull. Yesterday when I couldn't sleep I tried to paint. I thought maybe I could give you a painting as a surprise when you wake up. There is a place in Argo City, where I was born, you would have loved. I thought I'd paint it during the sunset since you love them so much. But the colors looked lifeless and then I noticed that everything around me looked the same. I think it's going to be like that as long as you're here and not by my side. So please Alex come back and brighten my life again."
...
"Kara had to fight Non today. She stopped his plans but I wouldn't say it was a victory. It turns out he was the one that planted the bomb. She became reckless, angry... She ended up blowing out her powers. I think she blames herself for what happened. I tried to talk to her about it. I told her you're gonna need her so she has to be careful. I don't think I got through to her. Only you can do it. So come on Alex wake up and talk some sense into your sister."
...
"Eliza had to go. She had an emergency at work but she will be back as soon as she's finished. I just drove her to the airport. Also I'm sick. Blew out my powers in a fight with Non but at least he didn't get to plant his bomb."
...
"Hey any changes?"
"No"
"Oh. Umm... I just wanted to see how she's doing but I'll come back later."
"Wait. I don't mind."
"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude"
"You don't."
"I guess I can stay for a while."
"I've seen you here a lot. Are you close with Alex?"
"Yeah she's my sparring partner and my friend. She has saved my ass too many times. She's a total badass."
"She is, isn't she?"
"Yeah. I mean... You know...she's my favorite human badass. And you are my favorite alien badass. You even top Superman and the one with tentacles for a mouth we caught last year."
"That's good to know"
"She'll be alright. Don't worry about her she's a though one".
...
"Alex. I can't do this anymore. I can't lose you too. Please, please wake up. I missed you. I miss your smile, your snarky comments, I miss cuddling with you in the couch and watching TV, I miss the way you kiss my head and hug me close when I'm sad. I miss how you always look out for me and believe in me. I miss seeing that proud look on your face when I show you my latest painting. I miss everything about you. Please come back to me. I love you."
She's awake before she can open her eyes. A beeping sound is all she can hear. A dull ache all she can feel.
She's confused and every second she can't open her eyes she starts to panic. She tries to remember what happened, what could have caused such a reaction from her body.
She remembers darkness and pain. Red color and burning. Blonde hair and soft hands. Blue color and warmth.
She remembers voices. She knows them but they sound so far away. She can't tell who they are.
She remembers feeling like she's underwater, endlessly drifting with the currents.
The voices are scared. They call out to her. Beg her to wake up.
She eventually remembers what happened. The bomb. Being trapped. Kara saving her.
Kara. One of the voices is hers. The most desperate one. She needs to see. She needs to know her little sister is okay.
"You look like shit."
Kara's head snaps up at the soft sound coming from the bed. Her gaze meets hazy brown eyes and she freezes on the spot.
Alex is awake and speaking to her. Kara doesn't know if it's real. Ever since she became sick after blowing her powers, she's been having weird dreams that feel closer to hallucinations than actual dreams.
Alex is always present. Sometimes Kara sees her dying in her arms, others she wakes up and starts screaming at her that it was all her fault and that she never wants to see her again and others Alex just stares at her, much like she's doing right now.
Kara wants to believe it's not a dream. She wants to believe it so much. She can't keep this up much longer.
Alex frowns at her sister's lack of response. Her protective instincts kick in and she's pushing herself into a sitting position, forgetting about her injuries.
Kara knows this is real when she hears Alex's pained grunt. She's next to her in a second even without her powers.
"Hey take it easy. Don't try to get up. You're really hurt." Kara says softly pushing her back on the bed. Her voice sounds hoarse and strained from her sickness and also from all the crying. Alex of course notices it immediately and her frown deepens.
"You've been crying." she grunts through gritted teeth as she lies back down.
"I was worried about you" Kara replies as she sits back on the chair she was in and grasps Alex's hand between hers tightly.
"How long was I...?"
"A week."
Alex's eyes widen in surprise and she squeezes Kara's hands when she sees the tears forming in her sisters eyes. She stays silent not knowing what to say, the pain clouding her thoughts.
"Alex I was so worried. I thought I lost you" Kara whispers as the tears fall from her eyes.
"You saved me." She retorts.
"Barely"
"I would never leave you Kara. Not like this." Alex says seriously.
"That's not something you can control Alex" Kara says pained and looks down.
"Try me" she challenges with a smile and a raised eyebrow. Kara lets a soft laugh at that comment, happy to have her sister back but still terrified of how close she came not to see her again.
"I heard you, you know."
"What?" Kara confused looks back up.
"I heard everything. While I was... sleeping." Alex explains with a soft smile.
"You did?" She asks genuinely surprised.
"You owe me a painting."
"I do." smiles Kara but immediately frowns as she sees Alex wince. "I should go get a doctor" she says and gets up.
"Hey Kara?" Alex calls out as she reaches the door.
"Yes?" Kara half turns, her hand resting on the doorknob.
"I love you too."