In the end
Everyone ends up alone
Losing her
The only one who's ever known
Who I am, who I'm not, and who I wanna be
No way to know
How long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me...

The Fray

When she regained consciousness, she was in a cell with nth mental bars and there was a patch of kryptonite in the wall. Two guards stood watching her and she noticed a huge contraption between them, with wires that stretched into her cell. She didn't think much about it though because her head was sore and her hand was throbbing; she looked down to see a bandage wrapped around it, but it was still bleeding heavily, and she felt lightheaded.

"She's awake." She heard a guard say, and Rhea appeared, grinning.

"Good. Bring him through."

One of the men nodded and stepped out of view. Kara could hear someone yelling down the hallway and Mon-El appeared, struggling against three guards. His face was bruised and there were cuts on his arms and legs. When he saw her, his face dropped and he started fighting harder, thrashing against the sentries.

"Kara? Oh my god, Kara?!"

"Release him." Rhea said and the guards dropped their arms and stepped back. Mon-El ran forward and reached for her through the bars.

"Kara?" His voice was full of worry and she stood up shakily, touching his face to reassure him.

"I'm okay."

"You don't look okay." His eyes raked over her whole body, searching for more injuries.

"Neither do you." She responded, eyeing his bruises.

"I'm fine, it's not me I'm worried about." He murmured, cupping her face and brushing hair behind her ear, "You shouldn't have come after me, this is all my fault."

"I'm always going to come after you, Mon-El. And it's not your fault." She sighed and leant up against the bars, partially to be closer to him and partially because she didn't have the energy to stand, "It's gonna be okay."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, Kara Zor-El. For you, at least, it's very much not going to be okay."

"Mother why are you doing this? Leave her alone, just send her back to Earth and take me with you, please, I'll do anything." Mon-El pleaded, facing her, but she just laughed.

"No, my son, we are past the point where you could have bargained your way out of this. Because of the actions you and your little girlfriend took, I was forced to kill my husband, in the best interest of Daxam. You will both pay for that."

"What?" Mon-El's voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible and Kara gripped his hand through the bar with her good one, "You… you killed my father?"

"Of course I did. After he let you go I couldn't let him continue to rule – his judgement was irreparably damaged – he would not have ruled the way we are meant to. He had become weak."

"So you murdered him?" Mon-El's voice was much louder now and Kara squeezed his hand, but didn't say anything. He let go of her and stepped towards his mother, but two of the guards placed themselves in his way, "What, are you going to kill me to?"

"Mon-El, you're my son. I love you."

"That didn't stop you with my father!" He tried to get to her again, but the guards shoved him back and he glared through their barricade.

"No, Mon-El, I just need you to remember what it's like to be a true Daxamite. I need you to submit."

"If you let Kara go, I will."

"Ha. That didn't work last time. No, this time I have something much more interesting planned."

"I don't like the sound of that." Kara muttered.

Alex opened the door to the cell and grabbed the man by his armour, yanking him up and shoving him back against the wall, "How do we get in?!"

"I will never betray the Queen."

She punched him, hard and when he dropped to the ground she caught him in the gut with a swift kick, "I'm asking nicely. You won't like it when J'onn asks."

"I will never betray the Queen."

"Okay. J'onn?" Alex stepped back and let the Martian Manhunter enter the cell. As she returned to Winn and the monitors, she heard the man screaming.

"This device," Rhea said, gesturing to the large contraption Kara had noticed earlier, "Is wired into the kryptonite in her cell, so she'll stay weak enough that the machine will work."

"What does it do?" Mon-El knew he didn't want to know the answer.

"It's a torture machine."

He was right.

She smiled, "The solution I poured into Kara's hand while she was unconscious is now running through her blood, sending signals back, and as long as the kryptonite stops her from healing and absorbing the emulsion, I can use this dial to cause her excruciating amounts of pain." Rhea revealed a sort of remote with buttons and dials.

"No, no, you're not torturing her!"

"That's the first thing you've said that makes any sense." Rhea said.

"What?"

"I won't be the one torturing her," she said, and threw the controller to him, "You will."

Mon-El couldn't help the small laugh that escaped his lips, "Excuse me? What is wrong with you, do you really think I'm going to torture Kara? It's not gonna happen."

"Oh yes it is. Because the longer you wait before pressing that button, the more pain you will be in."

"What?" Mon-El asked, and Rhea spun a dial on the machine. Sudden, excruciating pain filled up his body, boiling beneath his skin, and it took his breath away. He slipped slightly, one knee propping him up despite the torture.

"Mon-El!" Kara shouted, yanking futilely at the bars.

"If you press the button, your pain goes away for as long as you give it to the Kryptonian. The longer you wait, the more painful this becomes for you."

"I'm not going to hurt Kara." Mon-El muttered through teeth gritted against the sensation of lava burning through his body.

"Mon-El, it's okay, turn it on, I can handle it." Kara said.

"No."

Rhea spun the dial more and the pain increased. He stiffened, trying to remember how to breathe. He couldn't help the growl of pain or the weakness in his stance, but he knew that he wasn't going to put Kara through it.

"You can do whatever you want to me, Mother. I'm not going to do what you ask." He was going to vomit, he was sure of it, and then without warning the pain disappeared, and he could feel his pulse throbbing angrily through his veins.

"Unfortunately for you, you will. I had a feeling you wouldn't be very receptive to the idea, so I added a failsafe. If you don't take some initiative and torture the Kryptonian," she paused, relishing the moment as she revealed a switch on the machine, "I'm going to kill her. I flick this switch and the solution in her system combined with the kryptonite will overload her system completely, killing her slowly and excruciatingly. Or, you could do as your mother instructs."

"No, no, no, don't do this, please, I can't… Please, I can't do that to her, please…" Mon-El shook his head and pushed himself back up to his full height.

"Well then say goodbye to your girlfriend." Rhea put her hand on the switch.

"NO! No, please don't!" Mon-El yelled, "Okay… I'll… I'll do it, just please don't kill her, please?"

He turned to face Kara and she looked up at him and managed a small smile, "It's okay."

"No, no it's not." He said, barely holding back tears, "I don't want to do this, I can't…"

"Yes you can." Kara whispered, "it's okay, I forgive you. I understand, and you can do this. Just press the button."

"I don't… I…"

"Press the button, Mon-El. Or she dies." Rhea said.

Mon-El looked down at the device in his hand and back up at Kara, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." And he pressed the button.

Kara screamed in pain, her back arching and she collapsed against the bars, unable to stand. He released the button and stepped forward, "Kara I'm so sorry–"

"It's okay," she panted, "I'm fine. Who says torture hurts? That was nothing." She smiled, trying to reassure him, but he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Again." Rhea commanded.

Kara braced herself and Mon-El held down the control. She screamed again, sliding down the door and spilling onto the ground, her screams rising in pitch. He flinched and let go and she drew in a rasping, shaky breath.

"Again."

"Remember," Mon-El said quietly, "You look like a tree."

Kara pushed herself up on her haunches and smiled at the memory of watching Funny Face on her couch with him. Smiled at the face he'd made when Fred Astaire had said that line because it was exactly the sort of awkwardly well-meaning thing he would say. He was calling her beautiful despite everything. She swallowed and locked eyes with him, "Let's give 'em the old pizazz."

He pressed the button.

"We've got to get them out of there! She's not going to be able to take it forever, we've got to get them out." Alex looked at Winn, "Please tell me you're getting somewhere?"

"Sort of…?"

"Sort of?" There was a frightening edge to Alex's voice and Winn sat up a little straighter.

"Well, I think she let me into the camera system – she wanted us to see what she was doing to Kara and know that we couldn't do anything about it. That's why it was so easy. The rest is… a lot harder, even with the information the guard gave us; she's not an idiot, she deliberately sent lackeys that knew as little as possible."

"But?"

"But, I'm really good, and I think I can bypass the double encryption through the cameras… And there's a catch, because there always is."

"What's the catch?"

"I'd have to turn off the cameras. We wouldn't be able to see what was going on up there for as long as it takes to get through. We'd still be able to hear, but I'm not sure we're gonna like that part."

They all looked at each other, the sounds of Kara's screams the only sound between them, until J'onn decided for them, "Do it."

Kara's screams were burrowing into Mon-El's brain and he knew he would never be able to forget the sound, that it would haunt his nightmares until he died. She was writhing in agony against the floor, and Rhea turn a knob on the larger machine, upping the pain. Her screams became almost silent, and she contorted, her injured hand smacking the bar and bleeding harder. He released the control and dropped to his knees beside her.

"I can't do it. I can't… I can't keep hurting you, I… please, I can't, I can't…"

She stretched her fingers through the bars and he gripped them, tears rolling down his face.

"I wish I'd landed somewhere else, I wish you'd never met me. If we never met you wouldn't be in so much pain."

"You're worth it…" She opened her eyes and searched his, "Every second."

"I'm not, I'm not."

"I… before I met you, I was so alone." Kara mumbled, "I had no-one who understood exactly what it was like to be who I was. And then, you arrived. And I… I had someone who understood… I had… My life changed when you arrived… for the better…" She winced and he shook his head, "And I love how much you've changed, but I also… love how much you've stayed yourself… And I know it seems like I'm just bossing you around all the time… But all I want is for you to see that you can become the hero I know you can be… from the moment I met you, I believed in you. I promised you… when you were unconscious… that you would never be alone… Your father's gone… your family… your planet… but so is mine… and we are not alone."

Mon-El suddenly realised what she was doing and he shook his head harder, "No, don't."

"Mon-El…"

"No. No I'm not gonna let you, because if you tell me all of this now it means you don't think you'll get to say it later… You're saying goodbye." He pulled her up into a sitting position and held her there, supporting her, "I'm not gonna let you. You're not saying goodbye, we're gonna get through this."

"Mon-El… I need you to know–"

"Don't you dare!" His heart broke as he looked into her eyes and realised that she was admitting defeat. She was accepting that she wasn't going to make it out. "Don't you dare say goodbye to me Kara, we don't give up! YOU don't give up! Don't you dare, please, please don't say goodbye. I can't…don't, don't give up. Don't you dare."

"Enough crying. Again." Rhea said. Kara slipped through his fingers as she collapsed back against the floor and he growled.

"I can't!" Mon-El shouted, "She's dying, she can't take any more! PLEASE! I CAN'T!"

"Yes… you can…" Kara slurred, her eyes drifting closed and her skin paling, "you can."

"Mother please just let her recover first. Please?"

Rhea drew herself up to her full height, and any shred of decency that Mon-El might have believed she possessed fell away as she uttered the words, "Press the button Mon-El."

"I can't."

"Then she dies."

"Please…" His hands balled into fists and he stared at the control by his feet. He wanted so badly to just destroy it, but he knew that would spell death for Supergirl. He slowly picked it up, but he hesitated, his finger hovering over the thing that was causing her so much agony.

Kara opened her eyes one last time and smiled sadly, saying the only thing that she could, the only thing she had the strength to say, the only thing that she knew would make him press the button; "Comets."

Mon-El looked at her, tears rolling down his face. He held down the control.