You were shaking. Out of anger or sadness or shock or coldness you didn't quite know. Maybe a mixture of all of them. Your arm felt too heavy, even drained of most of its blood due to the thick, deep cut that rested from your elbow down most of your forearm. It was wrapped securely with your torn t-shirt, but blood dripped through the fabric from time to time, a constant reminder of the dull ache of it. Your left leg was no better. It seemed to crumble under even the slightest weight you put on it and you found yourself stumbling more than walking. You sent numerous prayers to every god imaginable, including Kara's precious Rao, which only brought back the memory of distress on her beautiful face. Cadmus had attacked your helicopter and somehow made it crash haphazardly into a desert far away from any life form. You had watched from the window as she looked back at you for a second to make sure you were still there before continuing to try and put out the fire a Cadmus agent had started. She had looked distressed then, but you imagined it had gotten progressively worse when she looked back again to see you gone. You stumbled on a rock and fell face first into the dust. Pain rocketed through most of your body and you weakly cried out. God, surely Kara will come soon? At least send a DEO search party?

Those are the thoughts that keep you going. You had no idea which direction you were going, no idea how far away you are from home. But you guessed a long way as Kara had yet to come rescue you.

2 weeks later...

You thanked Rao that you had payed attention to the geography lessons about how animals survived in the wild otherwise you wouldn't have survived this long. Going off of cactus water and insects wasn't something you thought you'd ever have to do but there you were, doing just that. Sand haunted your days and your nights constantly. You had remembered something your best friend Lena had said about following the sun to find north, and done that, hoping for a way out of the wasteland of dust.

It wasn't until roughly 3 weeks that you saw a glint of a skyscraper poking out of the skyline far ahead of you. You let out a strangled scream of happiness, and would've followed it up with running until you reached whatever city you had found but were too tired to do anything more than stumble slightly quicker than you were before.

It was two more days before you got to the edge of the unknown city, climbed the haphazard fence that bordered it, and saw actual humans. You asked, in a hoarse voice, to borrow a strangers phone, to which the kind woman handed it over with a worried look at your ragged clothing.

You wracked your brain for a number to call, but fell short. Usually, you knew yours and Kara's number off by heart, but the weeks of exhaustion and dehydration and not having to tell anyone your phone number had made you forget. You sighed and handed the phone back to the stranger, before turning to walk away.

'Hey. Are you okay? What happened?' The stranger softly tugged at your shoulder.

'Yeah I'm fine. Just a bit lost. Where are we?' You gestured tiredly to the surrounding city.

'Gotham.' She supplied, 'Why do you have somewhere to be?' She asked softly.

'Yes actually National city.' You said.

'No way! That's not too far I could drive you there if you want?' She grinned at you.

'Seriously? I can't make you do that. It's too much.'

'It's not enough. You look like you've been through hell and back. Come on, let's get you home.'

Time skip...

You thank Linda again for her kindness as you close the door of her car and stare up at the DEO building, usually blocked by other skyscrapers but not when you stand at the entrance.

You pull the door open, wincing at the struggle.

When you looked up, the receptionist was the first to glance at you.

'Holy shit.' You heard loud and clear. A couple of the agents next to her followed her line of sight to see what rattled her and they each took on a shocked expression.

'Someone get Director Danvers right fucking now.' One of them whisper shouted.

You stayed rooted, not sure you could even move at the surreality of seeing the steel walls and faces you recognised.

A swarm of activity ensued down a hallway somewhere and the noises grew louder until a familiar red head strode purposefully into the room. But her steps faltered when she saw you and changed into a sprint. The force of her hug sent you backwards slightly, but not enough for you to fall over.

You heard her shout a, 'Supergirl get your ass down to reception right now.' Into her earpiece, but you couldn't focus on much else bar her arms around your body.

'(Y/n) you have no idea how good it is to see you. Where did you go?' Alex pulled back and took a step back, clearly a little uncomfortable with how much affection she just showed in front of her agents.

'Umm I don't know to be honest. I woke up in a desert and just walked from there.' You shrugged.

'You walked for a month straight?!' You could tell by the restraint that Alex wanted to pull you in for another hug but before she did a shocked voice startled you from behind.

'(Y/n)?' She sounded so surprised, as if she didn't believe it was you. You turned around to look at the blonde you had missed insufferably.

'Oh my Rao!' Was all you heard before you were swept into the familiar embrace of your girlfriend.

'It's really you.' She whispered into your knotted and dirty hair.

'It's really me.' You said, smiling into her shoulder. Tears flowed silently between the two of you, both having obviously missed each other over the past month.

'I thought you were dead.' She whimpered.

'I'm not. I'm here Kar. I'm home.' And in her arms, you were always home.

And when you did get back to your physical house, the shower and fresh sheets and proper meal and warm body pressed against your own made the long, twisted way home feel more worth it.