Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Reborn

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 05: Family Tension

The conversation Kara wished to have with her sister had been held up for an hour. Though Kara remembered on some level that she didn’t need to eat, the hunger she felt was real and the family made their way to Eliza and Jeremiah’s home. Kara managed to go through three large stacks of pancakes, six scrambled eggs and a loaf of toasted bread while the others watched every move she made.

Telling her parents and brother she needed to speak to Alex in the Fortress alone did not go over well, especially with Clark. The three looked at each other, agitation obvious on their faces. Kara had just returned. Despite Clark watching her all night and the parents taking turns checking on her, they did not want to let her out of their sight. Clark wondered if Alex would tell Kara… tell her that they had all given up on her, even him.

Still no one would turn Kara down. They couldn’t even though they wanted to stop the two. If nothing else Alex and Kara would resort to using their ‘sister language’ to communicate in front of them. Clark was nowhere skilled enough to keep up with those two when they began speaking Kryptonese.

After Kara gave several assurances she would not disappear and several hugs, the girls left, even Kelex stayed behind and promised not to monitor their conversation.

As soon as they arrived, Alex manually input commands for Justin to bathe the Fortress in red sun rays, then retrieved one of Kara’s red sun bracelets hoping the combination would alleviate more of her sister’s restlessness due to the high solar absorption in her cells.

They settled down together, getting comfortable on one of the loungers, knowing they needed the close contact to sustain them through the difficult conversation. Putting aside her discomfort, Alex began telling Kara a less edited, more accurate account of their past. Any questions Kara had, Alex answered as honestly as she could, careful to leave out the horrors, but knowing Kara could tell if she was lying. The last thing Alex wanted was for Kara to not trust her, regardless of her reasons for withholding information.

“We should have stopped after Myriad. I should have never let us keep going.” Kara whispered, soaking in the conversation with her sister that had lasted the past three hours.

“Yeah… probably.” Alex agreed hesitantly, then with more conviction. “We should have quit after Myriad. But… you still started drinking right after… we could have stopped then. I should have stopped it. I never…”

“I went along with a crazy plan that almost killed you!” Kara snapped. “You have scars on your body and not just from that Worldkiller, scars because of me! Because I needed you to keep me from losing myself! This is not on you!”

Alex closed the space between them and pulled her close, wrapping her sister securely in her arms, letting her know they were safe now, they were together. “No, Kara, we made the decision together to keep going. I was trained to be able to fight by your side and I did, I wanted to. Despite all the bad, we did a lot of good. So, please understand, it’s not all on you.”

Giving Kara a squeeze, Alex began to rub her back, knowing it would help settle her down. “You also protected me by creating some badass armor and weapons for me to use. We made a formidable team, Kara, like we always have. We always will.”

Taking a deep breath, the blonde buried her face in Alex’s shoulder trying to calm herself. She had listened closely to Alex, reading her face for any signs of deception. Alex started with Myriad, refusing to get into Kara’s past before that. It would be too much.

Kara remembered meeting Batman, some of her first meeting with Lobo and that he was now their close friend. She even remembered killing Non.

The girl remembered more than she thought she had of her life, times of joy, times of celebration, hugs from Clark, even his first steps, taken on this planet.

But there was so much missing.

Kara gripped her sister a little tighter, controlling her strength, but needing to feel the contact, knowing Alex was really here with her.

“I need to know more. I need to know everything. Not just Atrocitus and these so called Lanterns, or even Doomsday and the Worldkillers. I need to know everything. There is so much of my life missing. Why? Why can I remember so many good things and nothing else? I know I am missing a lot Alex. Tell me.”

Alex heard the plea in Kara’s voice as she carefully considered what to say. A quick glance of the monitors behind Kara told Alex what she feared. The solar power her cells were metabolizing was lessening. The red solar energy was slowly returning her to normal.

This could be good or bad in the brunette’s mind. While Alex certainly did not want Kara to have her Kryptonian power, her rebuilt body was also returning to a Kryptonian version of normal.

Would her brainwaves go back to their previous state? Would her entire set of memories return and how could she deal with that?

Would she still be susceptible to physical addiction?

Of course she would, Alex realized. While her body had been rebuilt and was no longer craving drugs or alcohol, her addictions would still exist within her mind. Once those memories started returning, Alex knew her addictions would as well.

The only hope she had of her sister remaining somewhat at peace was the fact Kara remembered every good thing about her life.

She also seemed to be blocking out every traumatic and violent act she had ever witnessed or caused. The only death Kara could remember was killing Non.

So if the blonde was blocking her negative memories, perhaps her mind was trying to protect itself. Maybe that would be enough to keep Kara from being overrun by the flood of life experiences and memories that haunted her before. Even as her hope flared, her scientific background shouted just as loudly those hopes weren’t realistic. Her stomach churning, Alex decided to try to shut down this line of questioning.

“Can’t we just rest for now?” Alex answered her question with one of her own. “I… we just got you back. It has been less than 24 hours, Kara. I have waited for you for a year. We have plenty of time to discuss these memories. You really want to sit here while I go over fourteen years of your life on Earth? Clark, Mom and Dad, we should be with them. Let’s relax first, then we can talk about what is next.”

Alex hoped that would satisfy Kara for now. Instead it opened up another path of questions Alex did not want to address.

Kara pulled back from her, while still keeping a firm grip on her arms. “That’s another thing. Last night, what was that all about? The looks, the comments between you and Mom, Clark lying last night? Every time… what is going on with you and our parents?”

Alex closed her eyes and nearly cringed. That was something she definitely didn’t want to get into right now. Judging by the determined look on Kara’s face, the subject would not be dropped.

The older sister also admitted to herself that a selfish part of her was glad Kara wanted to know.

“They wouldn’t believe me. They’ve always believed me, believed in me, but this time, they didn’t. They gave up, they convinced Clark to give up. I knew you were alive. I could feel it and all they did was tell me to move on, to help Clark move on, okay? I never gave up and they did and continually made me feel bad about it. Now they feel like crap and I am glad about it. That’s what happened. We barely get along, even though we work together and… and… they gave up, on you, on us!”

Kara watched her strong sister, who had been shaking since Kara woke for the first time in the Fortress, breaking down. The blonde pulled her close again and held her as tight as possible. Despite the red sunlight, Kara knew she was still at full strength and didn’t want to hurt her sister.

“Alex…” Kara whispered in her ear while she held her closely, “… I teleported into the sun. I would have thought I was dead too. I should be dead. No one, nothing should be able to survive that. You can’t hold it against them. They did what was best for Clark.”

“You never would have given up on me.” Alex told her, voice muffled by Kara’s shoulder.

Kara pulled back and looked into her sister’s eyes. “They are our parents and they love us, but they aren’t us, Alex. They aren’t me and you. You are right, I wouldn’t have given up on you, but they aren’t connected like we are. You can’t judge them for that. I know you are angry, but they did nothing wrong. We are together now. Isn’t that what matters?

Alex nodded her head reluctantly, letting the subject drop for now and moved back into Kara’s arms.

“I also want to know why you are shaking and your heart rate is elevated. You said I had emotional difficulties? You did too, right? You are still having problems.” Kara told her.

She also felt tension in Alex’s body even as her sister answered her in a positive tone. “It will be better. Now that you are back, it will be better. I’ll be fine.”

Kara knew that wouldn’t be the case, but did not argue the point now. Her earlier statement still stood. They had time. The family was together. Supergirl was dead and only the Danvers, all five of them, mattered now.

The two girls walked into the transporter and arrived back in the Danvers’ basement where their parents, Kelex and little brother had been waiting for who knows how long.

A moment of awkward silence descended.

“It’s okay.” Kara finally told them. “We are together, that’s all that matters right? Clark, are you alright?”

The boy nodded his head slightly. “What did Alex tell you?”

“She told me enough for now.” Kara answered carefully, not wanting to make him feel bad about blatantly lying to her. “I don’t remember a lot of things, but I know everything… I know I wasn’t perfect. I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot of things I don’t want to learn, but Alex had a good point. We are together now and that is all that matters. Let’s take advantage of it, okay?”

Kelex excused himself, stating he needed to go back to the Fortress and ensure that all was in working order, in his words.

The five gathered in the living room and had seats, Clark curled into Kara’s arms while the rest of the family watched her closely. None of them wanted to turn the television on, not wanting to see the recap of yesterday’s news.

They sat in silence, none of them knowing what to say.

“Do you still feel strong?” Eliza asked.

The girl nodded her head. “Yeah, but I don’t feel like I have this uncontrollable urge to fly into space or send a massive blast of heat vision into the sky. I am getting hungry. I don’t need to eat though? I remember that. I guess since I flew through space, I don’t need to breathe…”

“All of that can wait.” Eliza told her quickly. “I’ll cook. What would you like? Anything at all. I went grocery shopping last week and can make all your favorites. Just tell me…”

“I need my memories back.” Kara interrupted her, well aware of Eliza’s sudden ramblings when wanting to avoid a subject. Some things, it appeared, had not changed in the last year. “Alex thinks I am blocking my bad memories and only retaining my good memories. If it is an emotional block, the physical structure of my brain has nothing to do with it. They could come back in time or all at once. I would rather they not surprise me. Starting in the morning, I need to know everything.”

Alex shook her head. “Look at me, Kara. Earlier, you asked me what was wrong. I remember everything and if I could block out all the bad things we have been through, I would. You don’t want this. You have a chance to be free, to start over. If those memories come back…”

“If they don’t,” Kara interrupted, “if I never remember my entire life then I will always be half a person. You all loved me. What I was, good and bad, made me who I was. Was I that bad of a person you would rather me pretend I was someone else?”

“Of course not!” Jeremiah told her quickly. “It’s just… things hurt you… deeply. Before you… before you went into the sun, if I had a way to take those memories away forever, you would have taken it in a heartbeat. They did you no good and they could harm you again. Do you remember Barry Allen?”

Kara was surprised by that question. It seemed random to her, a blast from the past she had moved on from. The blonde knew she had made sacrifices to become Supergirl. She had broken away from Lena, from Barry… but why? Why had she cut off contact with Lena and Barry? Lex didn’t try to kill her until he found Doomsday a year and a half ago. Before that he obviously made no serious attempt or Alex would have told her unless she didn’t consider it worth mentioning with everything else she had revealed to her that morning. Lena knew her secret though, Barry must have and… what happened?

“Yeah. The first date I ever went on. I met him my first week of college and that weekend… we danced. You rented out a restaurant for us, Dad. I had never danced with a boy… or kissed a boy. I… why are you bringing him up now?”

Jeremiah suspected as much. Kara and Alex were both right. Kara had somehow selected the memories she wanted and dismissed the rest.

“Do you remember meeting him again?” he asked carefully.

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “No. I became Supergirl. I was… I was too busy. Besides he didn’t fit into the Supergirl lifestyle. We lost touch… when did I meet him again?”

Clark looked sharply at Alex. He had poorly lied the night before, but supposedly Alex had told Kara everything about the past few years. She left out Barry? They dated for over six months.

Alex reached over and took her sister’s hand. “I told you about the Justice League, Kara. Barry… Barry was a member and… you didn’t like it.”

Kara actually snorted as she laughed until she noticed no one else was laughing.

“Barry? A member of Bruce’s team? Why would Barry be on that team? Barry Allen isn’t exactly vigilante material.” she told her family.

Alex took a deep breath. Kara had explained to her when they were spending some much needed sister time during Kara’s rehab, the Barry Allen who was the Flash wasn’t her Barry Allen from her pre-Supergirl days. Alex realized Kara kept the two versions of Barry separate in her mind which made her breakup with the Flash not all that surprising. So it wasn’t unexpected the two Barrys were separated in her memories now either.

Alex laid her palm on Kara’s cheek. “See? There are a lot of things you don’t want to know. A lot of stuff happened…”

“I want to know.” Kara said quietly, placing her hand on Alex’s cheek as well. “I have to. Let’s relax tonight. Tomorrow we have a lot to do. I realize the world needs to believe I am dead, but Bruce, Alfred, Lobo and J’onn deserve to know. Connolly and Jessica, all of them should know as well. They are our friends, our family. Also… I need to talk to Dante. Its time I did something I should have done a long time ago, but was too afraid to.”

“What… what’s that?” Jeremiah asked, dreading the answer.

“I wanted to ask him to be my mate when I was 18. I guess I was too afraid. I’m tired of waiting. I am going to ask him. I know he loves me. He needs to know I am alive. We can wait until morning, have the night to ourselves, but he needs to know.”

That night while Eliza cooked as much spaghetti as possible, Jeremiah walked out to the front porch.

The sight of Kara by the telescope the two had made together made a smile grace his face.

“You haven’t been using it.” Kara told him. “The swivel hasn’t been used or cleaned for that matter.”

The man walked up to his daughter and ran his hand along the top of the cylinder.

“I just couldn’t. I couldn’t watch the stars without you. I tried, but I couldn’t. I thought it would make me feel closer to you, but instead I just felt your loss even more.” Jeremiah explained.

Kara took his hand gently.

“It wasn’t your fault, Dad. I love you. I will always love you no matter what.”

Jeremiah said nothing for a moment, squeezing her hand tightly, head hung low.

“Did it hurt?” he asked quietly, a question that had haunted him since the moment he found out what she had done to save the world.. “When you got there, All this time you were trapped, did it hurt?”

Kara thought for a moment. “I remember a bright light. Sometimes I would retreat in my mind and dream. I could feel my body rebuilding, but no, it didn’t hurt. If it did, I don’t remember.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “I remember being… I felt so… lonely. That’s all, I don’t remember any pain.”

Jeremiah should have felt relieved by this, but didn’t. For one, Kara would never tell him the truth if she hurt. The second was the sadness in her voice when she talked about feeling alone. He told her the first night he slept on the roof with her she would never be alone again. He told her he would protect her, but she was the one who always saved him.

“You understand why I want my memories back, don’t you? Why I need them?”

He shrugged his shoulders slightly, but said nothing.

“I don’t have many memories of Krypton, mostly just the time I spent with Kal… Clark and Alura. I remember some good times with Astra. I hardly have any memories of my father and that doesn’t concern me for some reason. I do have one memory that is hazy, but I can’t forget the feeling when I am around you.”

“Around me?” the man asked, wondering what memory and feeling she was connecting him to.

“I was young, I hadn’t been here long. For some reason, I was at a funeral watching from a distance. I don’t remember who died or why I was there. I do remember that I was scared and sad and felt very alone.”

Jeremiah put an arm around her shoulder and braced himself, wondering if this memory would become clear now and having no idea what to do about it.

“I remember you sitting next to me on a bench, asking me if I wanted to come home. I wasn’t that small, but you still picked me up in your arms and carried me the car. I closed my eyes while you held me. I don’t think I had ever felt so safe and loved in my life. Every time I am near you, I feel safe. Please don’t blame yourself. You have always protected me more than you will ever know. From what Alex has told me so far, the things that happened after Myriad, the things she obviously left out, I must have made life hell for everyone. But none of you gave up on me. You still tried to help me. Don’t think you failed me. It would break my heart, okay?”

Jeremiah smiled, and brought her closer, squeezing her tight and knowing he would likely never forgive himself for a multitude of things. Like Kara, he had an ability to feel guilt over things which he had no control and probably always would where his children were involved.

The two walked inside, joining the waiting family around the table. Eliza, Alex and Clark had small plates of spaghetti in front of them while the large bowl resided in the middle.

Kara grinned shyly at those gathered. She had become used to their staring. Understanding what had happened made it clear she was not going to be let out of their sight until they no longer believed they were dreaming.

“Dad, better make a bowl. Once I start, I don’t know if I can stop.” Kara warned him. The man did as told and Kara attacked the pasta ravenously, though enjoying the taste. When the last noodle was gone, the family sat in silence for a moment, not sure what to do.

“When are you going to put the crystal in her, Dad? She probably needs the Kryptonite serum also.” Clark asked suddenly. No one was ready for that question except Alex.

“I think she should sleep in the Fortress tonight, under the red lights.” Alex told the boy. “As soon as her skin begins to soften, we can inject the serum over a few days to metabolize with her blood. Once her blood is similar to yours with the serum, I am going to place the crystal back in the same location, attached to her collarbone. I think in seven days she should be fine. First we need to wait for her cells to burn out the massive amounts of solar energy she absorbed. I think…”

“Alex, do you think we might want to talk about this with her?” Eliza interrupted. “I have a number of tests we can run at the Fortress to ensure that any left over solar radiation won’t harm her in the long term and only three days with the serum is not enough for a range of comparisons to Clark’s blood. With her powers, we know she can’t be harmed. Kara won’t do anything to alert the world to her return. There is no need to rush.”

Alex felt the blood rushing to her face. She didn’t want another argument in front of Kara. Her little sister was already worried about a divide in the family. Unfortunately in Alex’s mind, this was exactly the kind of crap that was causing the divide.

“I’m not rushing.” Alex told her, bitterness evident in her voice. “I have been thinking about this, preparing for this for a year. I can show you my notes if you like. I suspected she may be overloaded, looked at every possible scenario while you were trying to talk me into getting closure and wanting to have a memorial service for her!”

“Alex.” Kara said softly, placing her hand over her sister’s iron grip on the table edge. “Relax. Let’s take it a day at a time, okay? We have no way of knowing how long the red sun ray bracelets and lights in the Fortress will take to level me out. I’ve been wearing this bracelet non stop and am pretty sure I could still lift a mountain. I will stay in the Fortress until we can get a handle on it and then we can begin talking about what is next, alright? I’m actually kind of sleepy now, so maybe it’s time we all turned in. It’s not necessary for all of you…”

“We will all be in the Fortress with you Kara.” Jeremiah told her. Kara did not argue, instead looking at Alex and pleading with her eyes for her sister to let this go for now.

“Clark, why don’t you go to the Fortress with Kara and I will pick up some clothes from our house and meet you both there.” Alex ordered in the form of a suggestion. “I’m sure Mom can cook up some food for us in case we get hungry.”

Clark stood and took Kara’s hand with a smile for her. He was obviously being placed somewhere with Kara so neither of them could listen to what was being said. For once he didn’t care. He wanted Kara to himself for a while and did not want to stick around for the argument that was sure to swiftly follow their exit.

Kara was hesitant to leave them in this state but Clark’s hopeful smile when he reached out to her was impossible to turn down. The two walked to the basement leaving the other three alone.

In the kitchen, neither her parents nor Alex had moved from their spots. Once they heard the telltale buzz from the transporter in the basement, Eliza spoke first.

“You can’t believe this is a good idea to rush her, Alex. We have hundreds of tests we need to perform before we can be certain your course of action is safe!”

“I’ve been looking at this for almost a year!” Alex yelled standing up, knocking her chair over in the wake of her rising anger. “While you were going to work and moving on, I was killing Cadmus cells to make sure Clark was safe and planning for Kara’s return! The only thing that took my mind off of her return was work, that thing you said I buried myself in to avoid dealing with grief, remember?”

“How many damn times do you want me to say I am sorry?!” Eliza asked, standing as well. Jeremiah stayed seated, but prepared to rise if the argument escalated.

“Sorry? I haven’t wanted a damn apology from you! I never have. You think I have been waiting all this time so I can tell you ‘I told you so’? When I was 14, I told you two that I found and alien girl and a baby in a cave and you believed me! You never doubted me! 14 years later I tell you she could have survived and you believe Shay Veritas! Sorry? Sorry doesn’t cut it. I don’t want either of your apologies. Understand though, I am making the decisions about her health. She is getting that crystal in as soon as possible. She is done with all this! All she ever wanted to be was human. I’ll be damned if I make her feel any less human for longer than necessary! Do we understand each other?!”

When Alex moved closer to Eliza, Jeremiah quickly stood and placed his hands on Alex’s tense shoulders, rubbing them soothingly.

“Let’s take it back a step. It has been an emotional time for us and we are getting way ahead of ourselves. Kara knows something isn’t right with our family and if we want her to feel comfortable and safe we all need to get on the same page, right? Let’s take it a day at a time,” he suggested, praying it would calm Alex. The girl was shaking, but he wasn’t sure if it was anger or anxiety. This was the first time she had been away from Kara since she found her little sister, even if it was for only a few moments.

“Can we talk about her memories?” Jeremiah suggested.

Alex shrugged her shoulders and moved away from him, causing his hands to drop. “She has an emotional block, not a physical block. They are going to come back. We need to control how they return and how she deals with each one. Eventually, she is going to go out, see a bar, see a bottle of whiskey. You think that won’t trigger memories? She is going to watch the News, she has already read that damn book. When I told her we beat Myriad, she never asked who killed Astra, but she knows. She knows in her heart that she did. Eventually that night is going to return to her. She is going to figure out the House of El’s role in the destruction of Krypton and it is no secret that Zor El made Doomsday and the Worldkillers. The only thing we can do is try to give her information in an orderly fashion and talk her through each event. Hopefully, she can begin to find a true peace, like she was doing before that damn red ring.”

“So Jessica? Jessica went through everything with her. Maybe she can talk her through it again?” Jeremiah suggested, Eliza nodding her head in agreement.

“No. It has to be Leslie.” Alex told him. “Leslie made more progress in a year with Kara than Jess did in twelve years.”

“Leslie is too brusque. She isn’t what Kara needs right now.” Eliza argued.

Alex’s eyes narrowed, the tension in her body almost palpable. “Maybe you weren’t paying attention, but I remember telling you I would be making the decisions in regards to her health.”

Eliza stepped closer to her daughter. “Then you should remember me not agreeing.”

Losing the tenuous hold on her growing anger, Alex closed the distance until she was right in her mother’s face. Her fists clenched at her sides, Alex forced the woman back, her mother’s eyes wide as fear and shock blossomed across her face. “I do not care whether you agree or not. Kelex and I have spent months running the numbers. I told you my notes are available if you want to see them. If Kara disagrees, has questions or any doubts, I will discuss it with her and will adjust things accordingly. I won’t force her to do anything she isn’t comfortable doing. Also, just in case you forgot, I control the fortress and all access to it. So if you want to have any part in her recovery, you need to back off. We will do this my way and that is not up for debate!”

“Alex,” Jeremiah stepped in, panic written all over his face as he hoped to halt a situation that was rapidly becoming volatile. Trying to get her focus on him and off Eliza, he continued in a soothing tone. “We just want to understand. This is the same Leslie who suggested you take anxiety meds and antidepressants, begin dealing with your grief and trauma and forget your… mission? You told her to never let you see her face again, remember?”

Hearing his voice brought her back to the moment. Alex shook her head, visibly shuddering and forcing herself to back down before she succumbed to her instincts and physically attacked her mother. That jarring thought alone was enough to break through the haze of rage threatening her restraint. Seeing the distraught look in their eyes, she was distressed to realize her control had slipped. She took a few steps back, closed her eyes and lowered her head. Remembering her training, she took several deep breaths to calm and center herself.

When she felt settled, she raised her head and answered him in a normal tone, though she was still shaken. “You are right, but this isn’t about me. She will do it for Kara. It has to be soon. Kara will want to see J’onn, Bruce, Alfred, the guys, Jess, all of them sooner rather than later. Seeing Alfred may trigger memories of AA or her time in the Block. I am also going to have to explain what happened with Dante and I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Perhaps you could try it out on me?” the father suggested. “Since when was Kara in love with Dante?”

“Since she met him probably. It got worse as she grew. She fell for him hard and kept looking for signs as she got older that he may feel the same way. She talked herself into seeing things that weren’t there. When she turned 18, she asked him to be her mate and he turned her down.”

Alex felt herself relaxing, feeling some tension leave her body since the conversation had turned for a bit from confrontational to one of explanation.

“Kara always told me that Alura promised her she could choose her own mate from the list of candidates. This was a big deal on Krypton since not many got to choose their mates. Losing her planet, her culture, her customs…” Alex stopped speaking, trying to figure out how best to voice her thoughts without betraying Kara’s confidence.

She sighed, not wanting to explain something she knew Kara considered private, but knowing they needed to know in order to understand. “Spending her teenage years on earth didn’t change her view on mating. Kara decided early on that Dante was going to be her mate. He turned her down… I’m not sure what happened after her suicide attempt, but I suspect she may have tried, hoped… but he must have turned her down again obviously. I have no doubt it was the cause of the split even if the two never gave me details. Kryptonians mate for life, remember? Once she chose and was rejected, it hurt her more deeply than even she would admit. She would never have any other man in her life, not really.”

Eliza sat down, remembering her daughter’s fascination as well, but hoping it had been a passing phase. Alex had assured her in college that Kara had handled the rejection and the mother hoped the brief long distance affair with Barry Allen before Supergirl ever lived was a sign of this.

“She loved Barry. She may not have loved Dick Grayson, but she loved Barry.” Eliza said, still upset at her daughter’s reaction minutes before, though now hoping what Alex was saying wasn’t true. “Dante and Kara reconciled at the Block, she started dating Barry, things were going well. She could still find romantic love.”

Alex snorted. “Remember the Killer Frost incident at S.T.A.R.?”

“Of course.” Jeremiah told her. “Hard to forget. Caitlin had been under her darker self’s control and Kara recognized it so she…”

“Kara could have handled that a dozen ways.” Alex cut him off. “She could have placed a dampener on Snow, recorded her words and sent it to Dante, asked Caitlin to demonstrate the dampener in front of the group to test if it was working. Instead she had a screwdriver in her hand and was seconds away from stabbing the woman in the throat if Barry hadn’t stopped her. Pretty violent response, even for Kara at the time, don’t you think? But what happened minutes before she talked to Killer Frost? Kara found her and Dante kissing. She found her chosen mate, who had rejected her, in the arms of another woman and looked for any excuse to kill Caitlin Snow. She barely spoke to them at Bruce’s Christmas party a month later. Wouldn’t talk to Dante at all despite their reconciliation.

“Now all she remembers are the signs she misinterpreted from her teenage years as love and believes Dante will be waiting for her. How do I explain that he disappeared into the Amazon rainforest after her supposed death because of guilt? That he never loved her the way she wanted. She may have loved Barry Allen, but Dante will always be the one for her. It’s why she kept Dick Grayson at a distance, broke up with Barry Allen when she realized he wasn’t the Barry from her college days because that Barry died the day the Flash was born. I am going to have to explain this all to her.

“I am big enough to admit I need help. I am contacting Leslie tomorrow. She will come. She has too.”