Before they could depart, Kara knew she had to check in on her mother.  While Alura was awake and recovering, it wasn’t just the physical damage they had to discuss, it was the mental anguish of these events.  Seeing that Barry was with Clark, Hal and Tomar, Kara walked to where her mother was sitting, taking a seat next to her.

(“Mom, I’m sorry for what you had to go through.  I’m sorry Ultragirl did what she did to you.”)

(“Kara, you have nothing to be sorry for.  Ultragirl was responsible for these injuries.  She was born of rage and hate.  You could never do what she did to me.”)

(“Yeah, but Mom I have the same potential for darkness as I think she has for goodness.”)

(“So that’s what this is about.  Kara, listen to me…she is not you.  And you are not her.  I studied the black kryptonite in full while you thought you were thirteen.  Just as the red variant causes reckless emotions and selfish desires, the black variant turns any Kryptonian who comes in contact with it evil.”)

(“So that’s what happened to me after I fought the Sand Demon.  But what about the dagger?  I was stabbed through the shoulder with that.”)

(“I can only theorize that your prior exposure rendered you somewhat immune.  And don’t forget, you weren’t exposed to as much that time as before, according to Alex and Barry anyway.  So trust me Kara, you’re not anything like Ultragirl.”)

(“I’m not so sure about that.”)

(“I am.”)

After her conversation with her mother, Kara knew it was time for her and Barry to have their own discussion.  The couple knew they were taking a risk in heading home while the threat of Brainiac and the Worldkillers was still out there, but she meant it when she said they needed some alone time.  Not only that, but she had so much on her mind to reconcile.  Her dark clone, being thirteen again and how Barry dealt with the whole situation.

With her own mind still in a state of turmoil, she could only imagine what he was going through.  Those are the reasons she chose to fly while he ran the distance below her instead of calling Cisco to breach them home.  On the ground while following Kara’s flight path, Barry was struggling with his own thoughts.

“Can Kara and I really just go back to the way things were?  I love her, I know she loves me, but with the hell we’ve gone through, will she even want to stay together now?  She says she remembers everything.  I wonder just how she’s dealing with it all.”

Unbeknownst to Barry, above him Kara was lost in her thoughts just as much as he was.  She was having the same doubts and trepidations she could see in his eyes as they left the Fortress together.  It didn’t go unnoticed that he didn’t take her hand like he normally would have.

“I told Barry I remember everything and that we’d talk later.  We promised each other that we’d always be open and honest with each other.  No lies, no secrets.  What if he can’t handle it?  What if I can’t handle it?  I don’t know if I’ll be able to take it if he decides to walk away from what we have, please Rao don’t let this be the end of our marriage.”

When the couple arrived back at their apartment they were both still reeling from the ordeal.  Kara immediately went for her closet to change out of her uniform only to find it ransacked.  Her clothes were all over the floor so she instantly called for Barry.  He came running; only having gotten the top half his uniform off to see what else had Kara distraught.

“What’s…Kara…?”

“Look Barry!  Look at the mess!  You didn’t…?”

“No…no!  Kara, I was by your side whenever I could be.  I’ve barely even been in our apartment these past few weeks.”

“Then someone broke in.  Was there any sign of forced entry?  Anything missing?”

“I didn’t see any.  Kara babe, you’ve got to calm down.  We both do.  Deep breaths.”

Kara tried to calm herself but couldn’t.  With everything else going on, and Cobalt Blue knowing Barry’s identity, this was just one more notch that made her question if they were really safe.

“Barry…I…I’m trying but…I don’t…”

“Hey…hey.  You and me, we’re okay.”

Kara was near tears as Barry enveloped her in a tight hug and ran his hands up and down her back in a soothing manner.  Gradually her breathing began to calm and she pulled back enough to lean her forehead against his.

“I’m sorry, Barry.  I know I’m a mess.  Sometimes it’s easy to lose myself in Supergirl and then…”

“Kara, you don’t have to apologize.  Look, I’ll get this mess cleaned up and run a thorough check of the apartment.  I’ll check the locks and see if anything’s missing.  Take that shower you need.  I’m not going anywhere.”

Kara sighed and stepped back into her closet.  She was still worried about the conversation she and Barry were going to have, but him saying that they’re okay and promising to check the apartment while she’s in the shower eased her mind slightly.  After sliding her cape off, she quickly pulled the blue top off, leaving her in just her bra and skirt.  Barry couldn’t help but let out a whistle of appreciation and only a slightly suggestive comment.

“Okay Kara Allen, now you’re just teasing me.  I might have to check the locks and the apartment after I join you in the shower.”

Kara was thankful that she had her back to him as she reached for her robe.  If she hadn’t; he would have seen the blush coloring her face up to her hair line.  When she was mostly composed, she turned to face him and lightly slapped his chest, then gave him a peck on the lips.

“Not this time baby.  But I’ll be back in a few.”

Kara sauntered off with a sway in her walk as she headed for the bathroom.  Barry couldn’t stop himself from staring until the door closed.  That brief moment was helpful for him but his worries were still in the back of his mind as he quickly cleaned up Kara’s clothing.  After a thorough super-speed check of the locks and their possessions, the only item missing was her black dress from date night. With nothing else to do, he sat down on the couch and scrolled through the news reports on his phone until Kara emerged from the shower, a towel around her head and wearing one of his shirts.  But instead of sitting, Kara began to pace.

“Feeling better?”

“Somewhat, Barry.  Do you…”

“Want to talk about what happened…,” the couple spoke the words at the same time, a nervous chuckle escaping from both their lips.

“I think we should.  But I also think our positions have reversed themselves.”

“How so; Kara?”

“Think about it Barry, just a few months ago I was asking you where you were, and what had happened.  The six months you were in the Speed Force.”

“I remember.  Now, you said you remember everything.  What do you remember?”

“I remember what the black kryptonite made me do the morning after my nightmare about you and Clark dying.  Barry…I’m so sorry for attacking you…”

“I still maintain that it wasn’t your fault…”

“I know.  I remember the fight with Reign and her stabbing me.  Thinking I was thirteen again and the way I was afraid of you…”

“Again, not your fault.  But what brought you back?  How do you now remember everything, like us?”

“The matrix.  No one on Krypton has ever really understood how they work and it seems on Earth they have untapped potential.  But it was feeling Mom being attacked that jolted me awake, memories restored.  I could feel her pain.”

“I’m not sure what to say to that.  These Kryptonian bonds that you, Clark and Alura share…sometimes I wonder if you and I will ever feel that same bond.  Without our inhibitors.”

Now was the moment Kara began to worry again.  She could hear the uncertainty In Barry’s voice and the thought that he may want out of their relationship crashed down on her like a tidal wave.  Within seconds, she was looking down at her feet, her eyes focusing everywhere but her husband.  Barry, for his part immediately noticed the shift in her behavior, and it added his own concerns to the already tense atmosphere.

He knew had to assuage her fears and quickly got up, crossing the short distance to where Kara stood.  Gently, he placed a hand on his wife’s face, bringing her attention back to him.  As Kara looked up, she could see the concern in his green eyes just as he saw the first tear slip from her blue ones.

“Barry, I know these past few weeks weren’t easy for you.  And you know they weren’t easy for me.  If after all that’s happened you want out, I understand.”

The concerned look in Barry’s eyes was now replaced by one of confusion.  He wasn’t sure where this all was coming from; he was just sure that Kara was emotionally distraught from everything that had happened to her.  So he took a few moments to compose his turbulent thoughts.  Kara took this as a bad sign and pulled back from him, her tears beginning to flow more freely.

“Kara…I don’t understand.  If I want out?  Out of what?”

“You’re a genius; Barry!  Don’t you get it?  If you want out of our marriage!  I won’t blame you if you want to end this!”

Barry raised his hands in a placating gesture as Kara went from extreme sadness to extreme anger in a heartbeat.  Now realizing how she seems to have misconstrued what he had said about their bond, and how his words caused the misconception, he had to speak up with an explanation before anything worse happened.

“Kara…I would never…could never want out of our marriage.  I love you, and I love what we have.  If anything I was worried you wanted out.”

“I…, Barry I don’t want out.  It’s just, what you said about not feeling that we have the same bond I have with Clark and my mother…”

“Hey, hey Kara, I know it’s your Kryptonian heritage that created and maintains that bond.”

“But you feel like an outsider because you don’t feel it when I get hurt like Clark feels it.”

“Maybe I do.  But Kara…I know that comes from the three of you being the last of your family.  I’m not Kryptonian so; maybe I’ll never understand how it works.  But it doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No.  And it never will.  Because we don’t need that.”

“Barry, I’m being serious.”

“So am I.  While you thought you were thirteen, I was a wreck.  After I left you at the Fortress, I ran so fast I breached to another Earth all on my own.  I didn’t tell Clark this, and I didn’t tell Cisco.  The Speed Force showed me something when I was coming back which turned out to be two weeks later.”

“What did you see?”

“You, talking to the Speed Force representation of my Mother.  You were there.  I felt it.  It was when you were unconscious after the red sun sub-basement.  Somehow, I sent your consciousness there.”

“Which means?”

“That we have a bond that, for me, equals what you, Clark and Alura have.  That’s all I need.”

Kara looked back up into Barry’s eyes, her tears now having abated.  She saw how darkened they were by passion and crossed the short distance right back to him.  In that moment her own feelings for the speedster ignited a burning passion that she knew equaled his.  Forcefully she crashed her lips on his as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he grabbed her hips.

Months had passed since she and Barry had been together like this and neither of them held back.  In the morning after their lovemaking the whole apartment showed the signs.  The bed, along with Barry’s left leg was broken.  They were lucky that the apartment below them was still vacant; otherwise their downstairs neighbors would have heard everything and immediately moved out.

Back in the Arctic, Kelex and the Fortress robots were working on repairs to the destruction caused by Brainiac, the Worldkillers and Ultragirl.  Zod had been placed in a makeshift cell with another simulated red sun, but he had no thoughts of escaping.  His thoughts were focused solely on Brainiac and Clark’s words about how he helped his long-time adversary.  On the other side of the Fortress, Alura sat watching Ultragirl behind the Argo protocol shields which had been strengthened as a precaution.

“You can stare at me all you want Mother.  Nothing will change the fact that I will forever hate you for abandoning me.”

“Oh Kara, you need to let go of all of this anger.”

“Why should I?  My anger is all I have.  Without it, I’m nothing.”

“You’re not nothing.  You’re my daughter.  Despite what you’ve done…you always will be.”

“I’m not your daughter.  I never will be.  I’m just a copy, a fake.  And I refuse to be kept around just so I can be spare parts for little Miss Perfect.”

“Is that why you think you’re here?  Why your sister didn’t kill you?”

“She’s not my sister!  I never had a sister!  And know this “mother” when I get out of here, and I will, I’m going to prove I’m better than her.  I just hope you live long enough to witness the victory of the echo over the voice.”

Alura could only turn away as a single tear escaped her eyes.  There was no reasoning with this twisted version of her daughter.  And until the Fortress was completely repaired, Kelex could not focus on creating a gold kryptonite bracelet to take the clone’s powers away.  Ultragirl, however did not plan on losing this war so easily.  She knew the final battle with Brainiac and the Worldkillers was coming, and she was going to be there.  She would make sure that Alura watched Supergirl die.