After Barry’s sacrifice, Kara felt lost. She returned to National City and her apartment. Meeting Barry had changed her in so many ways and it was the first time she really felt loved. Without him by her side, she stopped writing about superheroes and went back to the fluff stories she had started with. All of their friends offered up their sympathy, but she just decided that being Kara was too painful and threw herself into being Supergirl. For weeks she shut herself off from her humanity. And for a while, everyone let her do what she needed to in her grief.

Eventually Alex, Joe, and Iris, they all tried to comfort her, but Kara became colder as a result. She put on a brave face because that’s what everyone expected. Three months in after one particularly dangerous fight with another Fort Rozz escapee, she nearly crossed a line, only Clark was able to stop her as he had been in National City to check up on her. When she flew off, he followed her, even though he knew she didn’t want to see anyone.

“Kara…you can’t keep going on like this.”

“What would you know about it Clark? At least you’ve still got Lois. I’ve got no one.”

“That’s not true and you know it. You’ve got friends and family that would do anything for you at the drop of a hat. Even Barry’s friends are willing to be there for you. How long are you going to keep shutting us all out?”

“And how do you expect me to face Barry’s friends? How do you think they’ll react if they see me? Do you think they’ll forgive me for letting him die?!”

“Kara, you didn’t let Barry die. He made a choice; he made the hero’s choice. He gave his all to save all of us, especially you and me. And I know he wouldn’t want me to let you go on ignoring your pain. I know he wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

“Well, we’ll never know. Because I’ll never get to see him again. Never feel his hand on my face, to see the warmth in his eyes as he tells me he loves me. If this is what being human feels like, if this is what being Kara Danvers has to be, then I’m not going to be her anymore.”

“Kara…”

“Please leave; Clark.”

Clark flew off without another word; he knew that Kara didn’t really mean what she had said. Alex had told him she needed to grieve properly; he had just wanted to see her for himself. When she was alone, Kara changed out of her Supergirl uniform into Barry’s sweatshirt, and sat in her window seat staring at the sunset. Even when they were miles apart in Central City and National City, she knew Barry was watching the same sunset she was. Knowing that always gave her a feeling of hope, but now she just felt empty. Just like always, she gets lost in her thoughts.

“Barry…why did you leave me? Our engagement only lasted two months. I know we didn’t have much of a future planned out yet, but what we had decided on was enough.”

As midnight rolled in Kara moved to her bedroom, hoping to find a semblance of peace in sleep. But even then when she closed her eyes, she could still see the lighting storms, she could feel the electricity in the air as the man she loved was gone, and her heart was breaking all over again.

Months passed the same way, day in and day out Kara would protect her city as Supergirl, occasionally checking in at the D.E.O., but avoiding any and all conversations that had to do with her personal life. While she knew she couldn’t avoid the conversations forever, she was going to do her best. Alex began to approach her more frequently, but Kara always flew away before her sister could even speak. Most of the time she found herself at Barry’s testing ground, but even there she failed to find peace.

Finally in what seemed to be a moment that she was opening up, she asked Winn to come over to her apartment. While he knew she needed a friend and was willing to be that for her, her reasons were not what he expected.

“Kara…”

“It’s open Winn. Might as well come in.”

“Good…hey I brought pizza and pot-stickers…”

“Not hungry, and I didn’t invite you over for a social call. I need you to do something for me.”

“Whatever you need Kara…you know I’m here for you.”

“I do…look…you designed my Supergirl uniform, and I need an adjustment made to it.”

“Okay…are we filling in the S Shield like Superman’s? Changing the cape? What are we doing?”

“Nothing major like that…I just…well…

Kara pulled back the curtain she had covering a shadow box frame that she had placed on her wall. Inside was Barry’s Flash uniform. Cisco had kept it on the mannequin at Star Labs, but Kara wanted it for her own and broke in one night to reappropriate it. Given that Barry and Cisco had added her biometrics to the anti-speedster corridor, no alarms sounded and she just walked through.

“Kara…this…this isn’t healthy. The Flash is gone. Shouldn’t his uniform be at Star Labs: Central City? Having this here isn’t helping you move on. It’s been nearly six months since he…”

“Don’t you dare say it Winn. If I have to hear one more person tell me that Flash is dead and not coming back…”

“Hey Kara…I just…”

“I know he’s gone Winn! My heart breaks every day because he’s gone! Barry was the love of my life and I’m never going to see him again! The least all of you could let me do is keep his uniform and not tell me how I need to move on.”

Kara sank down on her couch, tears filling her eyes as she realized she was still pushing people away. She didn’t want to push her best friend away, he was the first person she told that she was Supergirl. Silently, Winn sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, just to let her get all these pent up emotions out.

“Winn…I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean to go off on you like that. It’s just…Barry and I thought we had worked it out so perfectly. We fought so hard to make sure we all walked away from that battle. Our plan even took into account the fact that Metallo and Reactron were going to come for me and Clark. Barry and I…we knew that switching enemies would change the outcome…that Clark and I would be safe…Barry wasn’t supposed to die in my place.”

“Kara; it is okay to grieve. You’ve lost someone close to you…but you can’t forget that you still have people here in your life that care for you. Barry wouldn’t want you to forget that. Even if he’s gone, and the Flash is gone, they wouldn’t want you to stop living your life…”

Kara looked up, her tears now down to a trickle. Winn spoke of Barry and the Flash as two separate people and she realized that she had never introduced Barry to her friends, only Clark, Lois, Alex and Eliza. Her hurt intensified in that moment as she spoke again.

“I lost him, Winn. Barry…my parents…everyone I love has been taken from me. It’s like I told Clark…I don’t know if I can be Kara Danvers anymore. Maybe Supergirl is all I should be.”

“Kara…that’s not…”

“Let’s get back to why I asked you here. My uniform, I want you to make a change to it.”

Just like that, Winn sensed that a switch had been flipped in Kara’s mind. He was trying to comfort her, but she shut all of her emotions off and got back to the task she had decided to ask him for.

“Okay, so what do you need me to do?”

“The Flash’s lightning bolt; I want you to make a smaller version of it…two smaller versions actually. You’re going to put them on the shoulders of my top. Central City is without the Flash, but they still need a hero. The only way I can move on is to protect both cities. This is how I’ll honor Barry’s memory.”

“Kara…”

“Don’t question it Winn, I just need you to do this for me.”

Winn wanted to protest further, but knew it was impossible. Kara had it in her head that she had to protect both Central and National City, even if she was going to wear herself thin in the process. He also knew from past experience that when Kara got this stubborn, no one could say anything that would stop her. After three hours he finished his task, and went back to the D.E.O. While what he was about to do would anger Kara, he knew he had to bring it up to J’onn and Alex. But he didn’t expect Max Lord to be there when he got back.

“Alex…please tell me that isn’t who I think it is…”

“Yes Winn, Max Lord has resurfaced. And he came here, refusing to speak to anyone but J’onn.”

“Why now? What could he possibly want…”

“God only knows. Did you see Kara…”

“I did, she’s still grieving…and I worry that she’s going to…”

Winn paused as the doors opened and Kara walked in from the balcony. She wasn’t pleased to see Max, but kept calm at least until J’onn explained the situation. What she heard was not anything she hadn’t expected, but that didn’t stop her fury.

“Supergirl…you have to let me explain…”

“Explain what…exactly? That you let a lunatic create an army of meta-humans that attacked innocent people? Or that you helped empower two individuals with the only substance on Earth that could kill Superman and I? People died because of you! The Flash died because of you!”

Kara grabbed Max by his shirt front, easily lifting him up into the air as her eyes began to glow with her heat vision. Max Lord was the cause of her grief, it was bad enough when he had created a synthetic red Kryptonite that cost her the trust of the city, but finding out that his experiments were ultimately responsible for the death of her fiancé caused a rage that she hadn’t ever experienced before.

“Supergirl, let him go!”

“Why should I J’onn? Hasn’t he hurt enough people? You weren’t there when his creations started a war!”

Before anyone could react, Kara flew out of the D.E.O. and into the skies, still holding Max in a death grip. Her fury had yet to abate and after everything he had put her through, even if he had helped stop Myriad, all she could see was red. She slowly inched higher into the air, letting him begin to get short on breath. In her heart, Kara knew this wasn’t justice, Clark wouldn’t do this but she couldn’t feel anything over the pounding of her broken heart.

“How does it feel Max…are you enjoying the pain you have caused so many others? Are you enjoying the pain you’ve caused me?”

“S-S-Supergirl…”

“Save it, I don’t care what you have to say. You may have J’onn convinced that you want to help, but I’m not buying it anymore. It would be so easy to just…”

Kara let a few of her fingers open, just keeping enough of a grip so she didn’t drop him to the streets below. She knew something he had on him was affecting her, something concealed in his coat. But whatever it was didn’t matter to her. She was just about to loosen her grip a bit more when a voice in her head stopped her.

“KARA! Don’t do this! You’re better than he is! Remember that…remember that I love…”

Kara shook her head, regaining her clarity and her eyes cleared. She knew the voice that had spoken and he wouldn’t want her to cross this line. Even in death, Barry was still her rock.

“You know what Max…you’re not worth it.”

Kara’s voice was venomous, but she reattached her grip on his shirt as she flew back down to the D.E.O. When they were back inside, she dropped Max to his knees and guards quickly handcuffed him.

“Supergirl…that was incredibly risky. The Flash was your friend…I understand that, but we are not judge, jury and executioner…”

“That wasn’t me J’onn. Max had something that made me lose control. Search him. I promise you’ll find something in his coat pocket.”

The guards continued to restrain Lord as J’onn and Alex searched his pockets. Alex was the first to find what Kara had known about, even if she didn’t know what it was.

“Red Kryptonite. Are you out of your mind Max? You know what this stuff does to Supergirl!”

“All too well Agent Danvers…that is why I brought it. I played a part in the rebirth of Cadmus. I was responsible for all of those meta-humans we created. I gave Reactron the gold Kryptonite that would have depowered Supergirl and Superman.”

“So your plan was what exactly? Come here with the red variant you created and get Supergirl to kill you? How sick can you be?”

“Sick…or brilliant? You should have let her kill me. That would have been justice.”

“No…that would have made you a martyr. It would have given you what you wanted, all-out war on aliens. We don’t operate like that at the D.E.O.”

“You’re right, Director Jones. But I wasn’t lying when I came to you. Cadmus has gotten out of hand. Paul Westfield is dead because his chosen chief scientist Dabney Donovan used his own meta-human formula on him. Donovan’s plans go far beyond just what he did for us.”

“What are those plans?”

“I don’t know. All my access was removed. Donovan has a genius level intellect, but he’s a certified madman.”

“Then we’re going to Cadmus. You’re going to tell us where it is.”

When Max divulged everything he knew, J’onn took a team to Cadmus, Kara was set to come along until Live Wire escaped from her cell in the D.E.O. She had used the confusion to electrify her cell, shutting down the power. Now she was tearing up National City to get to both Supergirl and Cat Grant once again.

“J’onn, Alex…go. I’ll take care of Live Wire.”

Kara flew off towards the park where Live Wire was in a rage. She was still shaking off the effects of the red kryptonite, but she had it mostly together. When she landed, she shouted her adversary’s real name.

“Leslie!”

“Supergirl…finally! Ready to die? As soon as I finish you off, no one will stand in my way of killing Cat Grant!”

Kara stepped in to fight, but Live Wire had more power than the last time they had fought. Normally Leslie’s lightning wasn’t much of a threat but Kara was screaming in pain. For every step she took forward, she was forced back two steps. Neither of them knew it, but a massive lightning storm had erupted overhead, sending innocent people running for cover. That same lightning briefly enhanced Live Wire’s power, and she unleashed a violent strike which knocked Kara to her knees.

“Supergirl…now you die…”

Electricity sparked from Live Wire’s fingers as she lifted Kara’s chin. She wanted Supergirl to be looking her in the eyes as she died. In the next moment, a bolt of yellow lightning hit the ground directly between the two women. Leslie was thrown back as Kara tried to get up. Still weakened from the fight, she fell to her knees once more, but the electricity was still there. She looked up, shielding her eyes as she took in the powerful form standing between her and Live Wire.

“B…Barr...F…Flash?”

Live Wire was back to her feet, screaming in rage. Electricity was her power and she didn’t take it well that someone was using her own abilities. She did everything she could to throw electricity at the Flash, but he just absorbed it and redirected it at her.

Kara could only watch as Flash was using powers she had never known he could be capable of. His feet barely touched the ground as he ran around his enemy. Live Wire was still expending her energy, but Barry just kept absorbing it. Leslie fell to her knees, still screaming in pure anger. Then there was an explosion and both blue and yellow electricity erupted from where Flash and Live Wire had been fighting. The force of the blast threw Kara on to her back. When she finally recovered she stood up, hoping that what she had seen was real.

“Flash…Live Wire…”

Leslie was unconscious on the grass. Her powers seemed to be dormant for the moment and N.C.P.D. was arriving with a small contingent of D.E.O. guards. While they took Leslie into custody, Kara flew up into the air using her telescopic vision to search for Barry. When she found nothing her hopes began to falter until she heard groaning coming from under the pedestrian bridge.

Quickly landing, she ran to where the sound was coming from. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw him there. His hair was longer and he had a beard, but it was him. Barry had come back, albeit without a stitch of clothing, but he was there, he was alive. Kara’s reprieve only lasted a few moments as she processed seeing her fiancé back. National City Police would soon investigate the rest of the scene and ask questions she didn’t have answers to. She wrapped him in her cape and immediately took off for Central City and Star Labs.

Upon landing, Kara barely waited for the doors to open as she stepped through, instantly looking up to the video cameras, calling for anyone she hoped was there and could help.

“Cisco! Caitlin…Harry! Anyone?”

Cisco had just returned from the Speed Labs as Kara had walked in. Back in the control room, he looked down at the video feed only to see Kara carrying someone who was wrapped in her cape. He did a double take, not believing what he was seeing until he zoomed in.

“No…no way…”

Cisco breached himself to the anti-speedster corridor just so he could be sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. While Kara had gotten used to his breaches, she wasn’t ready for this one as she had just been attacked by Live Wire only to be saved by a Barry composed completely out of lightning after thinking he had been dead for six months.

“CISCO…”

“Sorry Kara…I…just…never-mind. Caitlin! Caitlin, we need a gurney to the anti-speedster corridor!”

Caitlin came running as soon as Cisco called. Harry had just returned from Earth-2 as she ran by him.

“Snow…”

“Not now Harry. Cisco just basically shouted for me to…just come on!”

Harry quickly followed Caitlin towards their destination only to run into her as she came to a complete stop. The force of their collision rolled the gurney forward, only for Kara to put a hand out to stop it.

“Guys…seriously?”

“Sorry Kara…is that…is…Barry?”

“Yes Caitlin…can we…”

“Uh…why is he naked?”

“Jeez Cisco...I don’t think that’s really what we need to worry about at the moment.”