Chapter Two

The two women began circling each other, but it was almost instantly clear that neither one was prepared to make the first move. Maxwell Lord had anticipated that and the transmitters he'd had fitted into their ears crackled to life with the sound of his voice.

"Danvers sisters, together again," he said, and the cruelty-laced sarcasm oozed through his tone. "Yes, that's right. Kara Zor-El Danvers, I do know your real name."

That woman made no outward sign of acknowledgement, she simply continued to step carefully around the perimeter of the ring, never taking her eyes off of her dark-haired foster sister.

"And Alexandra, well I suppose you've known all along that your sister was here."

Alex couldn't contain the scoffing huff of air that pushed through her nose, even if she knew she would likely be punished for it later.

"Now these people have paid for a fight - to the death - and you two are going to give it to them. Do you know why?" he paused but of course there was no reply. "Because if you don't then you will both be very, very sorry. Alex, look at your sister. Look into her eyes. You've seen the videos of what we've done to turn her into this."

And Alex looked - stared - into blue eyes that had always held a soft look for her. But Kara was gone and she didn't know what this new version of her sister was capable of.

"If you refuse to fight, then what she has already gone through will look like nothing, and she will be begging for her alien god to just let her die."

Alex stepped, right leg crossing over left as she mirrored her sister's actions. If she hadn't already shed all her tears while watching the inhumane way Kara had been treated, then she might have had to blink them away now.

"K. Kara Zor-El. You can see that Alex still has fight left in her."

It was true. Perhaps Maxwell Lord had thought it would be more entertaining if one of his fighters still had her soul. Alex had undergone severe and punishing training at LordTech, but she had not been subjected to the same mental torture that had been most painful for the Kryptonian.

"If you don't fight her then I will break her. And I can see that you do know who she is. Some part of your mind still cares for her or you would have already attacked. But I am telling you that she will be completely insane by the time we finish with her and then we will kill her in front of your eyes anyway."

Kara blinked rapidly, her breath coming short and fast. Lord was right, and the good, loving, caring part of her mind was struggling to break free from her conditioning. She didn't want to hurt Alex. She didn't want to kill her any more than those young people who had been presented to her again and again. But she couldn't allow her sister to be changed. To be turned into - her.

"Now I am going to count to three, ladies, and then you will start this fight and you will not stop until only one of you is standing. And please consider that whoever dies will no doubt be the true winner here."

"One."

"Two."

Neither Alex nor Kara heard Lord's last word because they were already rushing towards each other, feet pounding on the floor, breath harsh and loud in the otherwise silent arena.

Kara went immediately for an offensive attack, raising her arms to bring them down like hammers against Alex's collarbones. But Alex was prepared for that and she sank into a crouch and spun, her foot hooking Kara's left ankle and bringing the other woman slamming into the floor.

The rose in tandem only a heartbeat later, Kara's hands fisted at her sides, Alex's eyes searching, calculating, looking for any weakness. She knew that the Kryptonite in her suit would eventually weaken Kara, but not yet. Not much. She was still stronger than a human and Alex couldn't let her land a blow.

Alex launched herself forward, and Kara lunged, expecting a shoulder to her solar plexus. At the last moment, the dark-haired woman dropped to her knees and slid between Kara's legs, swiveling and rising as soon as she was through, and throwing herself at her sister's back, arms wrapping around strong shoulders, green light throbbing against the pale skin of Kara's neck.

It was enough to sap a bit of her strength, to bring her closer to Alex's level, but she quickly dropped to one knee and flung Alex over her shoulder, sending her pounding to the mat, air forced from her lungs.

There were only two thoughts in her mind. She had to win. She had to win. She couldn't let Alex be hurt anymore.

She stalked over to her sister and easily grabbed her arm as the other woman attempted to gain her footing. She used that arm as leverage, forcing it up and under Alex's chin, cutting off her air, crushing her throat. Alex wheezed, feet scrabbling against the floor, barely touching as Kara lifted her up against her chest. She let her body relax and when Kara's stance loosened, she grabbed the back of Kara's neck while forcing her own body down and into the ground. The move threw Kara off balance and she rolled to the side as Alex put space between them.

It was Alex's turn to attack. She was not going to let Maxwell Lord win. She was not going to allow her sister to be pushed into becoming a monster. She ran forward with a scream pouring from her lungs, and then pushed off the ground, leg kicking out to catch Kara in the chest. It threw the blonde backward and Alex pressed her advantage, sending blows to her face and then an almost crippling kick to her thigh.

But Alex was only human, and the Kryptonite had not done more than dull Kara's strength, while Alex's was rapidly failing. When Alex kicked out again, aiming for Kara's throat, Kara grabbed her ankle and twisted, sending Alex to the ground with an agonized scream as the tendons in her knee were wrenched and torn. Then Kara was above her, hauling her up, forearm around her neck, hand on the back of her head, fisted into dark hair, ready to snap her neck. Alex struggled and clawed at Kara's face but there was a look in the blue eyes staring down at her. A pained resignation that Alex recognized. She stopped clawing and instead wrapped her hand around the back of Kara's neck, forcing her to meet her eyes.

"Do it, Kara. Do it. I forgive you. Don't forget that. I forgive you, Kara Danvers."

And Alex felt the impossible pressure against her neck, knew that she was dead, wondered if she would hear the crack before she hit the ground, wondered if it would hurt.

But suddenly, that small, desperate bit of sanity in Kara's mind pushed forward, snapping the carefully constructed LordTech control, breaking free on a horrible, terrible scream that rattled the doors and had the viewers covering their ears. For months at the start of her training, she had been put in positions where using her powers would spare her sudden pain, but then using them would result in even greater punishment. They had repeated that treatment over and over again until she would do nothing without express permission.

But that scream. That unholy, tortured scream, broke that lock that had been placed in her mind and she opened her eyes wide, pure white light pouring from them, burning smoking red lines along the walls, the ceiling, the floor and sending the viewers diving for the exit of their prime seating area. Then, one after the other she snapped the bracelets that could control her and hurled them away.

Maxwell Lord was shouting commands in her ear but she didn't even hear him. The sound of her blood rushing through her drowned out all else as she used her x-ray vision on all the walls and then ran towards one, fist poised to punch through. She punched and grasped and tore through sheet-metal and drywall and brick until the evening light was visible and then she reared back and with one mighty kick, knocked out an exit.

She could hear again then, could hear guards rushing and Alex screaming for her to run, and Maxwell Lord still uttering commands and promises of torment into her ear. Kara looked back at her sister, collapsed on the floor and there was no way she was leaving her there. As guards slammed open the doors and poured into the room, Kara, in a motion that was only a blur of color, sped back, scooped Alex into her arms and was out and free before the guards could even take another step inside.

Alex was sobbing in her arms, telling her to leave her and pounding on her back and chest, but Kara just ran. She ran as fast as she could, even with the Kryptonite of Alex's suit sapping at her powers. She couldn't fly, but she could run, and so she ran. Ran deep into the night. Ran even as Alex passed out in her arms. Ran until Metropolis was far behind her. Ran until the lights of National City loomed ahead.

Kara slowed only slightly when she reached the outskirts of the city. She used her vision to get a better view of the city's layout and then she sped on, Alex seeming only a light weight in her arms now as she moved through dark streets and avoided the few cars on the road. She stopped in front of the National City Memorial Hospital and laid her sister down in the entryway before letting out another scream that she knew would bring help to Alex's side. She didn't wait to see the orderlies and nurses running through the sliding glass doors and kneeling beside the fallen woman at their feet.

Instead she ran again. Ran until she spied green and trees and the park that reminded her of Midvale and happiness and freedom. The park was completely deserted and Kara finally felt her injuries throbbing and her super-powers failing as she stumbled towards the area of thickest growth. There was a stone footbridge and a culvert and a drainage tunnel, now mostly dry in the heat of the summer. Into that small, hard space, Kara walked, with shoulders drooping and mind a whirl of instinct and the desire to survive. She needed quiet. She needed shelter. And she fell asleep against the hard curve of the tunnel, her head resting on pebbled ground.