The sun was just coming up as Kara stirred awake. Her phone was ringing and had been for the past 5 minutes. She was in a dirty back alley leaned against a dirty brick wall and a dumpster. Her jacket rolled up and crammed between her head and the wall, and her body covered up with a large piece of cardboard. Empty syringe's and bottles of alcohol sat beside her with her bag tightly stuffed under her arms for safety. There was also some vomit not far from her, as she had thrown up before sleeping, or rather passing out. It was only a few hours ago that she had passed out so she was running on fumes. Not that she slept much anyways, sleeping meant dreaming and she didn't like dreaming. The drugs and alcohol helped her not dream, and the drugs helped her stay awake most of the time. She tended to drink a lot of coffee along with food and drinks that had a lot of sugar as well(as well as the alien equivalent since it worked better).

Her phone just kept ringing and ringing keeping her from sleeping more. Finally she got angry enough that she dug it out and answered it.

"WHAT!" Kara yelled.

"What crawled up your ass?" A woman said from the phone.

"I was asleep." Kara said.

"You mean passed out." The person stated.

"If your calling to ask about working during the day, I already said no." She groggily told the woman.

"I'm not calling about that job, I'm calling about the other one." The woman said.

"Text me the name and address." Kara said before hanging up on the person.

This other job that was mentioned was debt collecting. There was always people desperate or willing enough to borrow money, even if it was from a loan shark. Her boss was no was saint, she had legitimate businesses but also ran plenty of illegal and grey area ones. Fight clubs, drugs, loan sharking, smuggling, even arms dealing. She did a lot of charity and social work though to, she wasn't heartless. Kara has helped her on rare occasions with some of that other stuff to but it didn't happen often, well except for the fight club. Fighting is how she first started making money in the city. Sometimes those fights were simply her taking a dive for a bonus. With how much weaker she has been getting though, fights have gotten harder. She hated doing any work that involved guns or smuggling, it made her feel uncomfortable.

Honestly a lot of things had gotten harder recently, not just fighting. Some of the simplest things had gotten harder, things like running, walking and moving in general. Her mobility sucked but it wasn't as bad that others could notice yet. She was also tired a lot, so tired that she just wanted to sleep all the time and had to force herself to stay awake. Her body in general just hurt so much so often that at times it was unbearable. The hardest thing for her though was breathing, it was difficult and at times painful. The coughing bouts made it worse, especially when the saliva she coughs up is accompanied by blood. Her entire body was fucked in every sense of the word and not in the good way either.

Metastatic cancer, that's what the alien Doctor she had seen called it. They weren't sure where the cancer had started but think it started in the lungs as a result of tumors, though there were tumors else were as well. The lungs is where it was the most concentrated as thats where most of the tumors in her body are. This cancer was something he hadn't seen before, it was unique and seemed to be from some sort of synthetic radiation. Turns out that the red sun radiation the DEO had used on her so much was in fact poisoning her. A red sun does strip her of her powers but the frequency of the synthetic radiation they blasted her with wasn't on the right wavelength as an actual red sun. So even though it did the same thing, it was also hurting her. Every time she blew out her powers back then, it allowed the cancer to spread unchecked. The fucking DEO screwed up and never thought to check and make sure they weren't harming her with the red lights, assholes.

Counting the time that has passed since her diagnosis, she has 4-6 months of life left, well 4 to 5 now since a new month had started. She has kept it to herself and not told anyone, nor has she sought any kind of treatment. She is preferring to just let it happen, Kara has lost her will to live, wanting to just live out what ever time she has left as if nothing is wrong. It's not like she really had anyone, not that she allowed herself to truly allow anyone in. The one person she wanted to let in she was afraid to, afraid of disappointing her yet again.

On her way to the address she was given she stopped at a park to watch a sports game that children were playing. Shina was playing, and Kara wanted to watch her since she was in the area. She stood beside a tree a decent amount space away from the field and bleachers. Despite her attempt at not being seeing Shikari had noticed her and quickly approached her.

"You shouldn't be here." The insectoid alien told her.

"I just wanted to see her." Kara replied.

"You have had plenty of time and chances for that, and blew all of them." She shook her head. "You can't just show up and get her hopes up 'AGAIN'! Now please leave before she see's you."

"Please Shikari just let me at least watch her play for a bit." Kara asked.

"No, now leave and stay away from me and stay away from my child." She aggressively told the other woman while trying not to yell.

"SHE'S MY KID TO!" The Kryptonian yelled in frustration.

Yes Shikari's daughter Shina was also Kara's daughter. The Kwai species was capable of having children with some other species and even those of the same genders. Because of their insectoid physiology pregnancy didn't last long. Plus the children grow at a rapid pace before stopping and growing at a normal human rate. Shina was only a little over a year old but was the equivalent of a 8 year old human. During that one year period of rapid growth having both parents working together to teach the child is highly important. Shikari was forced to work harder to pick up Kara's slack since she was never around enough to help, or because she was to busy being passed out and/or to out of it.

"Maybe if you acted like her parent and was actually there for her that would be true, but it's not!" Shikari yelled. "You weren't even there when she was born!"

"I wanted to be but I..." Kara tried to defend herself.

"You were passed out and not waking up no matter how much I yelled that I was going into labor!" She cut Kara off before she could make excuses. "It's always excuses with you!" The women yelled with a finger in Kara's face. "Unless you get help I don't want you anywhere near her!"

By this point the yelling was loud enough that others heard them, even the game had stopped with kids, especially Shina staring at them. Once again Shikari told her to leave with Kara letting her frustration get the better of her. As she walked away she punched a nearby tree resulting in a loud snapping as the trunk shattered. The tree fell caving in the roof of the restrooms, which were luckily empty. Despite not wanting to do it Shikari called and reported the incident to the police. Following the game Shikari also planned to stop and file a restraining order on the other woman. She hated needing to do it but she felt that it was in the best interest of her and her daughter. Kara needed help, but until she got it or was forced to get it, she wanted her nowhere near them.

Kara was angry and frustrated, but mostly at herself. She was a screw up, and she knew it. She should have stayed away, but instead she went there and caused a scene, which will probably get her in trouble AGAIN. Shikari was right, she was a shit parent and was never really there. Honestly she's not sure why she even bothered or tryed, not when she wasn't going to be alive that much longer. A part of her wanted to just kill herself instead of letting the cancer do it. In her head though she felt like a coward because she could never bring herself to do it. Not killing yourself doesn't actually make her or anyone else a coward, she knows that, yet she still feels like that.

Awhile later she had gotten to the address her boss gave her. The guy she was after owed her boss a lot of money, money he should have easily been able to pay. However he seemed to think that he was exempt from payment. As soon as he saw her he slammed the door in her face prompting Kara to kick it in. When he tried to dart out a back window she grabbed him before he could get out. As soon as he was caught he turned into a little crying bitch begging her not to hit him. After getting the code for his safe she hit him knocking him out. Not only did she take what money he owed, but she also took what ever was left and pocketed the rest. That included some jewelry and a really nice rollex watch, she might keep the watch.

Kara found it kind of ironic that (at least she thinks that's the right word) while she worked doing some debt collecting work that she herself debts she owed. If they were debts through her boss it wouldn't be so bad but unfortunately she owed money to someone else. She didn't owe a lot per say but it was still enough that plenty of people would end up in an ER for not paying it. For her it wasn't exactly money she had borrowed but money she owed for drugs. She basically had a running tab with a drug dealer, a drug dealer that also worked for a alien rights organization. Honestly though it was less an alien rights group and more a anti-human hate group. She might not exactly like humans but that didn't mean she wanted harm them, well not harm them outside of her jobs, or when they piss her off, or when they deserve, or when it's funny. Okay well maybe Lena was right and she has some complex issues. God her life was so fucked up and she often wondered when it got so much worse than it already was.

After leaving she started to wonder if she would feel better after her night job. She had been spending a lot of time with a client at that job, a woman who was requesting her pretty much every night. She was fun to talk to, easy to talk to as well. There was something about the woman though and she couldn't put finger on it. Kara had to admit though it was nice having someone to talk to that didn't know who she was and thus didn't judge her. She didn't have normal conversations with others often so it was a breath of fresh air. She hated to admit it but she kinda had a bit of a crush on the woman. Which others would probably think was dumb since they don't even know who each other truly are. Damn, if only her job let them take those damn masks off, or at least exchange first names.

It was while thinking about this that she just so happened to get a text from her mystery woman.

Maggie sat there at her desk with people on her mind, Kara and Matrix. Matrix was just amazing, and not just her perfect body but her personality. Ever since that night Maggie had been going back to see her, or rather paying for her services as was required. At first the woman wasn't very talkative, but after a few days opened up more. A little over a week and they would spend a lot of time talking, not always having sex. It was easy to tell she had some kind of past, and that whatever it was, was pretty traumatic. Obviously she didn't really talk about herself other than things like hobbies etc. She did happen to let some things slip. She used to live on the other side of the country, had no family left, and didn't have a great life from 13 up. It also slipped that she wasn't a very trusting person, that at some point people she trusted betrayed her. Matrix had gotten real quite after that slip up, it took her a few days to be more open again.

Turned out they had plenty in common, they spent time nerding out over Doctor Who and adventure time. Similar taste in tv, movie's and even games, as well as both of them liking cars and motorcycles. Matrix liked to read when she could, which sadly wasn't often. They were both really big into detective novels, like Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christy. Their humor was pretty on point to, which was fun since not even Alex thought all her jokes were funny. It was weird in a way, she was spending a lot of her free time with a exotic dancer, an exotic dancer who also sold her body for cash, who's real name she didn't know and face she hasn't even seen. Hell she wasn't even sure if she was human or alien. She befriended her, and might even have a crush on her. Jesus her sperm donor really is rolling around in his grave, not that, that bothered her.

When it came to Kara, she was highly worried about the former blonde and had been looking for her for a month. Ever since the day she had arrested her she couldn't help but worry constantly. Kara wasn't well, she wasn't sure why, at least not completely. What she did know, was that the women needs help. From reading her police file, talking to other officers and people listed in the file she was able to gather a lot of information. The fact that she was technically married after getting hitched to Marains ex fiancée of people was already dumbfounding to her. Then you had the fact that Kara wasn't even her real name. The daughter of Zod, the same Zod who tried to kill everyone on earth. Did Alex and the DEO know? They had to, the former blonde had been earth since she 13 after superman found her. Something didn't seem right about any of that.

Maggie did talk to Shikari Lonestar who was apparently one of Kara's many ex's and the mother of her kid. Shikari had plenty to say about the woman, but not enough relevant information to completely figure things out. However she had a kid, A KID! Jesus, Kara had a kid. An absentee parent, an achoholic, a drug addict, just what was going on with her. Maybe she could get something out of Lena, she has been the one getting her out of trouble apparently anyways.

"Hey mags!" Tarra yelled as she sat on the edge of Maggie's desk. "So a little birdie told me someone's been snagging up all of Matrix's time every night." She smirked.

"This concerns me how?" Maggie asked.

"Cause that same birdie say's it's been you." Her grin got bigger. "Told you she was great. Although I'm not sure why you seem to be making friends with a stripper."

"First off, exotic dancer's are people to, and hard working ones at that." Maggie turned to face her. "And second, what I do in my free time is none of your business." Mags emphasized her statement with an irritation in her voice.

"Wow, calm down Mags, jeez." She said rubbing the back of her neck. "Didn't think you would get so bent out of shape over some whore."

It only took a brief moment for Maggie to register what Tara said. It was in that instant that the Latina quickly got and hit the other woman in the face. Tara was knocked to ground hard causing a loud crash as the trash can was knocked over. The sound of the hit and the crash alerted others who quickly stood up to access the situation.

"What the fuck Mags!" Tara yelled.

"Don't call her that again!" Maggie yelled back. "It's not like you have room to talk anyways! You sleep with anything that's even remotely sentient and for free. Hell your the one who pays for most of the sex you get!" The latina cop ranted while others stood around watching to see if they needed to step in.

"Christ, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were getting the feels for the chick." Tara wasn't necessary smart, but she wasn't stupid either so when looking at Maggie's face it was easy to see this comment seemed to hit true. "Holy shit! You are getting the feels for her!"

"So what if I am?"Maggie said with a lowered tone compared to before. "It's none of your business anyways!" She was trying to keep her cool as she realized that hitting her fellow cop was an overreaction, even if Tara did kind of deserve it.

"I think it would be best if you two go your separate ways for now." Marika injected having come over to try and defuse the situation. "You both need to cool off."

"Cool off?" Tara asked. "Why do I need to cool off? She hit me!"

"Because wether you meant to or not, you instigated things by not thinking before you opened your mouth." She shook her head. "However Maggie shouldn't have hit you, but maybe now you will at least learn to think before speaking."

"Whatever." Tara mumbled as she got up and walked off.

Honestly Marika was surprised it took this long for someone to hit the Thanagarian. She was a good person, but had flaws that she needed to work on. For instance, she had a poor choice of vocabulary which tended to cause trouble. Tara was also blunt and had what humans called a potty mouth, or rather talked like a sailor. The woman was poor at reading people as well, especially humans and thus wasn't good at gauging how what she say's might effect someone. Marika knew these things not just because she's a detective but also because she's the precinct's psychologist and therapist.

"Maggie I'd like to talk to you in office." The blue skinned alien told her.

"Oh come on, it was just a tap." Maggie responded.

"It's either talk to me or I file an incident report, your choice" Markia said with a raised brow.

"Fine, fine!" Mags said with sigh as she started walking towards the other woman's office.

Not many detectives had their own office unless they were a higher ranking officer. Marika however had a office because of her other job as the precincts shrink. Maggie herself had to see her a few times after she first started. Marika had wanted to get to know her and make sure her mental stability was okay, which she did with everyone who was new there. It was also standard procedure for officers to get accessed after any particularly tough cases or incidents. The office was big but wasn't small either, it was just the right in between size.

Several chairs were scattered around with a table in the center of the room. Her desk was in a corner with a few chairs in front of it with her work and personal belongs on the desk itself. A mini fridge sat next to the desk, right next the drawer she kept her snacks in. A photo of her husband in his lantern suit sat on the desk alongside their wedding photo. Posters of movies and music littered her walls along with mental health and police force posters.

"So you want to tell me what all of that was about out there?" Marika asked as she took a seat.

"It was nothing." Maggie said standing there in front of the desk.

"It wasn't nothing, you hit a fellow officer." The alien responded as she eye'd the other woman up. "Maggie please sit.

"I'm fine standing." The Latina stated.

"I insist that you have a seat,...please." She insisted getting a sigh from the other girl as she sat down. "Thank you. Now what had you upset enough to hit Tara?"

"Does it matter?" Mags asked. "It's Tara, you know how she is, she tends to piss people off a lot."

"She does but no one has gotten upset with her enough to hit her, at least none of her co-workers anyways." The alien detective noted.

Tara did tend to piss people off but never enough to hit her, at least not co-workers. Criminal's she dealt with how ever tended to hit her a lot, no matter what there offense was. Marika remembered one time when a 90 year old elderly human woman broke Tara's nose. Tara had been called out to a domestic dispute between the elderly woman and her husband. Tara being Tara made an inappropriate joke about the woman's age which resulted in her taking the ladies cane strait to the face.

"Mags your not the type to normally lash out like that." She said as she leaned forward in her chair. "Which is what has me concerned. So I'm going to ask again, what has you so upset?"

"Because she..." Maggie hesitated very briefly. "She called a friend of mine a word that I don't particularly want to repeat."

"A friend? Seems like more than just a friend for you to react the way u did." Marika studied Maggie's reaction, her body language, her facial expressions, looking for even the smallest details. "Does Matrix know you have feeling for her?"

"I-I wha-what..." Maggie started stuttering in surprise. She wasn't expecting to be surprised like that. Though, she didn't know how Marika knew either. "H-How..."

"Maggie despite you're best efforts it became rather obvious to those who are observant enough. Besides..." Marika cleared hear throat. " I had gotten worried when you started disappearing so much after work and during breaks."

"You followed me didn't you?" Maggie asked with a bit of a glare.

"I did, but in my defense, I did ask you about it and you avoided the question." The alien women's face briefly became stern as she continued to talk. "Maggie I worry about you, so when I noticed you sneaking off I wanted to know that you were okay."

"Okay, yea I guess you make a point." Maggie sighed but still upset.

"So Maggie, please answer me honestly, do you have feeling for Matrix?" She asked.

"Yes." Mags said with a slight hesitation.

"Does she know?" The woman asked as she leaned back in her chair to get more comfortable.

"I...I don't know." The Latina leaned forward. "She might have picked up on it but I can't be sure." She shook her head.

"From what I know about her, she does seem to be pretty observant, at least when she wants to be." The alien replied. "You should ask her out." Marika said bluntly.

"I-I can't...that's..." The brunette was stuttering, god she almost felt like a school girl. "How would I even do that!?"

"Simple, you text her. I know you have her cell number, considering how often you've been texting on it lately."

Maggie did eventually text her since Marika wasn't letting it go. And surprisingly Matrix said yes. To be completely honest she didn't think she would. God she felt like she was in high school again, she's a grown ass woman with plenty of experience under her belt and she's nervous like a teen would be. Nervous, nervous over a woman who's real name she doesn't know!

While sitting there Maggie looked up to notice a painting hanging on the wall behind Maika. It showed a high view of a sprawling and obviously alien city landscape at sunrise. It looked beautiful, and the painter was extremely skilled.

"It's a painting of Krypton." Marika said having noticed where Maggie's eye's were looking. "Valora made it, it was a gift."

"Valora?" Maggie questioned.

"About a year ago I tried to help her but you can't help those who don't want it." She shook her head sadly. "Despite that she still seemed to thankful that someone cared. Found the painting on my desk with a note."

"She's got a lot of talent." The Latina said.

"She doesn't seem to think so if her note was anything to go by." She said as they both sat there looking at the painting. They continued to talk for a bit as Marika still wanted to discuss things with Maggie.