The Darkest Place

Broken

"Oh my god, oh my god!"

Mon-El heard Alex before he saw her, but he didn't move from his perch on the stool. Kara lay asleep on the bed next to him, yellow sun lamps bathing her in soft golden light. He held her hand to his mouth, her fingers pressed against his lips. He was afraid that if he took his eyes from her for a moment, she would disappear. Again.

"That's-That's Kara!" Alex sputtered, reaching her sister's bedside. "How? How is she alive?"

"We don't know," J'onn said, his eyes glued to Kara.

"Sir! I mean, J'onn." Agent Vasquez stood in the doorway of the med bay, holding a tablet. Her eyes flickered between all of them. "Sorry to interrupt, but I found something I think you're gonna want to see."

"What is it?" Mon-El asked. He turned to face the agent, but didn't let go of Kara's hand for a second.

"The Supergirl that died—we found traces of Black Kryptonite in her bloodstream."

Mon-El glanced back at Kara. "And this one?"

"Nothing," Vasquez replied. "It's clean."

"Does that mean..." Alex trailed off.

"The Black Kryptonite split her in two," Mon-El realized, his mind racing. "This is the real Kara."

"But where had she been all this time?" J'onn narrowed his eyes at the sleeping Kryptonian, as if he could read her mind simply by concentrating harder.

"That's the thing," Vasquez said, joining them by the bed. "The portal she came through, we traced it back to the Phantom Zone."

Mon-El inhaled sharply. Kara had told him about it—the place where she was stuck for 24 years, reliving the destruction of her planet and the death of her family over and over again. Gods knew what she had been reliving this time.

"How could she find her way back?" he asked softly, more to himself than the other people in the room. J'onn responded anyway, his tone solemn.

"That's a question for her."

***

Kara didn't want to open her eyes. She could faintly hear the voices of people she loved, but it could easily be another Phantom's trick. An illusion built only to hurt her.

Finally, curiosity got the better of her, and she opened her eyes, automatically raising a hand to shield them from the harsh light.

She was in the DEO med bay, but any other details were quickly obscured by a blur of red hair. Alex.

"I missed you so much," her sister whispered, her voice hoarse with tears. Kara could only hug her back, too shocked and relieved to say anything. Alex pulled away momentarily, cupping Kara's face in her hands.

"I can't believe it's really you."

J'onn patted her leg, his eyes crinkling with joy. "Good to have you back, Supergirl."

Kara smiled weakly. She noticed that there were other people in the room, Agent Vasquez, and...him. Mon-El.

He hovered awkwardly a little ways away, like he wasn't sure if he was allowed to get close. Kara wanted to call out to him, but like Mon-El, she wasn't sure what was okay anymore.

"W-We found about the dopplegänger," Alex stammered, glancing back at J'onn for support, "And traced the portal back to the Phantom Zone. H-How did you escape?"

Kara opened her mouth to speak.

Suddenly she was on the ground in the Phantom Zone, screaming with pure terror, white mist pouring from her mouth.