Sara was running on autopilot. After Oliver’s funeral, she did her best to resume some semblance of a routine with William and Connor, while also giving them the space to grieve however they needed to. It was the weekend, and as was what was becoming the norm for William, he hid in his room. She checked on him, making it clear she was always there to talk, or to listen, or to just sit with him, but he mostly wanted to be alone. She respected that. As for Connor, he was all over the place. It was too much for a five-year-old to understand. So one minute he’d be sobbing, and the next he’d be confused. Asking when dad was coming home. She did her best to explain to him in terms that he could understand that he wasn’t, but it didn’t seem to matter, and the cycle just started over again. So, feeling exhausted and alone, she carried a bowl of Teddy Grahams and his special seal water bottle out to the couch, preparing for another round of hours of Animal Planet with her youngest.

@greentxppedarrow continued xxxx

Lian looked at the man in obvious distrust. Dressed in a baggy black hoodie and matching worn jeans, the teenager looked younger than her actual thirteen years old. But that was the name of the game in Gotham wasn't it? Blend into the shadows, make any noise or waves and you'll pay for it.

Lunch in the cafeteria was completely and utterly overwhelming. It didn't matter that she had been on Earth now for a few years. Or that Eliza and Jeremiah had recently moved them from Midvale to Sterling. Teenagers were teenagers, and thus--loud. Incredibly and utterly loud, especially to Kara's sensitive ears, which was why she had retreated into the library with books spread out around her and a notebook in her lap. There was everything from chemistry to Shakespeare around her. The science was a comfort to her, even if it was far, far too easy with her. Shakespeare, and their English homework? Well, that might as well be scribbles on a page as far as she was concerned.

Kara held back a groan as she heard unfamiliar footsteps approaching, and she forced herself to tear her gaze away from the book in front of her only to freeze when her gaze caught Oliver Queen's. The most popular guy in school. Almost immediately a blush bloomed on her cheeks.

Kara held her breath as he turned toward her, her eyes first connecting with his--the sight of his unushered tears making his the vice in her own chest tighten, before her gaze fell to the wrist of his outstretched hand. The platinum band that was emblazed with arrows, kryptonian script and the symbol that was emblazoned on her own chest made her own shoulders lower a fraction. That answered one question--this was her husband and not a doppelganger or an evil twin. It was the same husband that she had said goodbye too only a few hours ago.

Her mask slipped briefly and confusion, relief, old broken grief, anger, and surprise all swirled on her face for a micro-second before she hid it all behind her signature smile as she stepped up beside Oliver (though only he, and perhaps Thea would see the hesitance in her steps), taking his hand with her free one and squeezing his tightly. They would talk later.

Her brows raised as he introduced the people around him, and she subtly shifted so she was leaning into his side. His mother? But wasn't she....Kara glanced at Oliver in surprise before she smiled at the older woman. "Oh! Hello, I've heard a lot about you, Mrs. Queen."

Her nervousness turned to genuine happiness when Oliver introduced the other man, and her 'Girl of Steel' mask broke as she smiled brightly at him. "Oh, of course! Sara told me about you--" There had even been a memorial picture of the other at their wedding. "I'm so happy to finally meet you."

Rory shifted in her sleep against Kara's shoulder, which tore her attention away from the people surrounding her. "Right, sorry--" She muttered to the two before releasing Oliver's hand briefly to reach up to tap the center of the House of El symbol on her chest, and immediately Kara's suit retracted, revealing a normal outfit consisting of jeans, a sweater, boots and her own matching wedding bracelet--but mostly importantly it revealed the drowsy figure of their eighteen month old, Aurora Queen. "Shh, little one.." Kara muttered low in Kryptonian, "Look whose here, love." She jostled the toddler gently as Rory blinked her eyes open--taking in those surrounding her with a telltale crinkle before she recognized Oliver over Kara's shoulder.

Kara's heart dropped into her stomach at the expression on her husband's face. Of course he knew her too well for her to hide this. Not like it would work for much longer anyway, given the scene behind her.

"Er--well, you see." She began, stuttering. "There was a situation at a Luthorcorp lab and you know, I went--" She began before her eyes widened at the implication she knew Oliver would surely draw. "Lex is still imprisoned and Lena isn't in the city." She rushed to assure, because the last thing she needed was her husband calling Kate and them waging war on the Luthors. Again.

"And well--I couldn't just leave him there, okay? He was in this horrible cage, and they were torturing him, Ollie! And it's not his fault what they did to him and---" The more she spoke, the more distressed Kara got, her eyes begging Oliver to understand and please don't get upset.

@greentxppedarrow asked: 'Come Back to Bed' (for Kara)

Kara turned away from the window toward his voice, and her lips quirked up into a small, exhausted smile at the sight of him leaning against the doorway that separated her bedroom from the rest of the loft. In the dim light of whatever pre-dawn hour it was, Oliver looked almost soft, if not exhausted. Though, if she voiced those thoughts to anyone, they would laugh and say that Oliver frequently looked at her like that.

Kara pushed off of the archway that separated the living room from the hallway which housed Rory's room and moved toward him. She honestly didn't know how to put into words everything she had felt over the past few days, and she didn't even quite know if she had processed everything.

"I thought..." She whispered, her voice suddenly choked. "--Oliver...you..." Her hands trembled as she dropped her head to try to keep her composure. Flashes of the versions of their daughter and her stepson from the future had been dancing around her mind from the moment Sara had broken the news to her. She could remember Barry bracing her when she stumbled back, but there hadn't been time to break down--not when there was a universe to save.

"Tommy, what are we doing? Your message made it seem like you were fighting with Laurel again, not that you wanted to visit Thea---" Kara was half complaining as she let the man she looked up too as a big brother tug her up the familiar steps of the Queen Manor by her wrist as if he knew she would escape, given the opportunity. Which---to be fair, Kara would. She seldom came over the Manor within the last five years, especially after the 'Funeral'. Her and Moira would meet once a week at a high end cafe uptown, and Thea would drag Kara shopping now and then, but...she rarely stepped foot into the sanctuary that held a lot of the memories she had of Oliver and their time together. It was too painful. Too bittersweet. Too overwhelming. Too much.

Sometimes, she'd land on the balcony outside of Oliver's room, wanting to slip through the doors and climb into his bed, something she had done so many times throughout the years--but never able to bring herself to disturb the last piece she had of him.

His absence was an incredible void that she honestly didn't know what to do with. And nothing she had tried over the past five years had helped--and she had tried many things. Most of which, the man pulling her did not know about.

"Just trust me." Tommy's voice was fondly exasperated as Kara was tugged through the doors--only for the younger blonde to absolutely freeze before she even got to the entry table. Because there at the foot of the stairs, was Oliver Queen. Kara's eyes widened at the sight of him, her hand limply falling out of Tommy's grasp as the other moved to hug Oliver. Oliver. Oliver Queen. Who looked decidedly not dead. She couldn't hear what the two boys were saying over the roaring in her ears. She felt both weightless and like her legs were locked in lead.

Was this even real?

Rao, she hoped so.

Only vaguely aware of Thea dragging Tommy into the dining room by his suit jacket, Kara struggled to keep her speed at human levels as she took a few shaking steps closer to him.