Violet huffed and puffed, trying to quickly catch her breath as she felt the beads of sweat on her forehead start to slip down her face. Tears stung her eyes, and fury burned behind them. Alex was slumped forward in front of her, head pitched forward and resting on her chest. She'd blacked out again, and Violet knew she only had moments before Henshaw forced her awake and they started up once more.
Unfortunately, Lillian had settled into a bit of a routine. It was pretty quickly evident that punishing Violet for being 'uncooperative' didn't exactly inspire her to start talking… but she had nearly lost it when Lillian took her anger out on Alex.
And vice versa.
Which meant that Lillian had her strategy. It involved a cattle prod and alternating between torturing Alex when Violet wouldn't answer a question, and turning it on Violet when Alex got in the way.
Henshaw kicked at the leg of Alex's chair and her head snapped up, awake but disoriented. Violet tried to meet her eye line, but Alex's head was unsteady as she struggled to get her bearings. Once she had her attention, she tried to silently convey how sorry she was; it was her fault Lillian continued to torture her, to push her over the edge, again and again. Alex, still panting and tense, was able to focus on Violet's face and relax a little; she would gladly take the brunt of Lillian's torment if it meant Violet didn't have to. Even though her head was pounding, Alex gave her the smallest smile and briefest nod in an attempt to reassure her that she was ok.
Sure, it wasn't true, but she could pretend.
Violet pulled her gaze from Alex's and glared at Lillian, who was waiting 'patiently' across the room. "Leave her alone," she demanded as Lillian stood up, her throat sore and hoarse from yelling and struggling.
"Now Violet, we've been over this. I would love to leave her alone, you can't possibly think I want to do this. All I need is honesty. So far all you've told me is the name of the alien race that comes to destroy us. Which is hardly enough to do any actual good." Lillian sauntered closer, ominously caressing Violet's face with the end of the prod. Violet closed her eyes and tensed up, preparing herself for the shock that usually followed. "Don't you want to help save the world?" Lillian whispered. "Is that not the point of you being here?"
Alex's heart pounded seeing her that close to Violet again, but she fought against instinct, with every fiber of her being, and sat quietly, biting her tongue. She knew that the second she fought or spoke up or did anything that even remotely indicated that she was coming to her daughter's aid, Violet would be the one to suffer.
Lillian sighed and stepped back. "You know ladies, I'm starting to wonder if the stakes aren't high enough here. You're both plenty tough, you've proven that to me, to each other. So, we're going to try this one last time; same concept, grander scale."
Alex clenched her fists and pulled against their bindings. Violet just stared, suddenly far more frightened than she'd allowed herself to be up to this point. Her stone faced and stoic façade had already started to crumble, and this additional threat, whatever it was, was going to be bad.
"Violet, it's clear that you value Alex's life – your mother's life – above your own. Quite commendable really. And Alex," she turned, "you want nothing more than to protect your child." Alex looked to Violet who averted her eyes, unwilling to meet hers. "One of you, and it's up to you which one, has one last opportunity to give me what I want. I expect both of you have enough useful information to ensure that I, and Cadmus, are more than prepared to warn the world about what's coming, so I really don't care which one of you takes this deal."
Violet watched Lillian and kept quiet, but heard Alex speak up beside her. "No one is taking any deal. No one is telling you anything."
"Well, then you'll both die, and how unfortunate would that be. I have a feeling that once you hear the rules you'll be far more interested in participating. So here's the deal; the first one to tell me what I want to know… dies."
Lillian delighted in the flicker of confusion on both her captives' faces. "The other one of you will live. In short, the first one to talk gets to save the others life."
Alex's eyes grew wide and she whipped around to Violet. "Look at me! Violet! Look at me!" she pleaded to the side of Violet's face. Violet ignored her, keeping her cool as she watched Lillian closely. Alex knew what was coming. Promise or no promise, she remembered Violet's words; In the moment, if it's between me and you… it needs to be you.
She knew that Violet would happily sacrifice herself to save her.
Lillian grinned, eyes wild and menacing, "I'll give you both a moment to discuss—"
"What do you want to know." Violet surrendered, somehow sounding both strong and defeated at the same time.
"No! Violet!" Alex raised her voice, "we talked about this! This isn't your job, you can't just—"
"What? Save your life?" Violet asked quietly, finally making eye contact. Her face was calm, her mind resolute and made up.
"Violet, please," Alex choked out a whisper, praying that she could get through to her.
Violet looked back at her, a small sad smile appearing on her face. "You'll see me again."
"Yes yes, I'm sure she will," Lillian made her way over to Violet and undid her restraints. "But for now, we have bigger things to worry about, don't we Violet."
"NO! You stay away from her!" Alex screamed, fighting her own restraints with everything she had left in her. "Leave her alone! I will tell you whatever you want to know, just leave her here!"
"We should have just started with this little game, would have gotten through to the both of you much quicker," Lillian sighed, feigning regret. "You're both so eager to talk now… but it's only fair to choose the one that volunteered first. I wouldn't want to come off as biased after all," Lillian grinned and looked between the panic and rage on Alex's face, and the sorrowful acceptance on Violet's. "Violet and I will go sit down with a failsafe polygraph. Since this is the last time we'll be talking, we need to make sure everything that comes of this conversation is accurate. Once I'm satisfied… Agent Danvers, you will be free to go."
Alex continued to fight her restraints as Lillian took Violet by the arm and lead her across the room. "NO! Lillian! I swear to god I will kill you! Violet!" Furious tears mixed with fearful ones as she futilely attempted to stop what was happening in front of her.
Violet allowed herself to be pulled to the door, stopping just short of it and turning to Alex, a single tear sliding down her cheek. "I love you, tell Maggie and Kara that I love them too. I'm sorry that this is happening, but I'm not sorry for getting you out of it."
"Please," Alex sobbed, "please, no. Violet!" She watched her daughter and their captor disappear through the door that slammed shut behind them.
And she started screaming.
Kara turned her head midflight as she heard something. She couldn't identify it, not yet, but it was the first sign that she might be on the right track. Lena had locked in on coordinates to an abandoned airfield, miles out of town, and Kara had immediately taken off towards it. Maggie was supposed to meet her there, Winn was gathering as much intel as possible on it, and J'onn and Lucy were coordinating a search and rescue team.
No one even dared to suggest that Kara wait for back up.
Kara landed at the mouth of an empty airplane hangar. The noise she had picked up on was louder now, but no more defined. It sounded like screaming, but it was muffled and distant. Kara scanned the area, noting that there was nothing for miles around her, which made no sense. Unless…
She directed her x-ray vision downwards.
And couldn't see through the floor of the hangar.
Lead.
Kara's heartrate quickened. She couldn't see what was down there, but it was obvious that something was, in fact, down there. Something hidden from Kryptonian eyes. Exactly the kind of thing that Lillian Luthor would use to ensure that her location was as protected as possible. Kara searched the hangar for anything that looked like a weakness. A breach. Something that could get her down below. She eventually found a lead door hidden behind a false wall, and as she pried it open the screaming became clearer.
Alex!
Kara forced herself to pause before going after her sister and activated the tracker in her suit so Maggie would be able to find her more easily. Kara had given her the coordinates the second that Lena had confirmed them, but considering Alex's screams were coming from down, she wanted to ensure that Maggie would have as much of an advantage as possible when she arrived.
Because she sure as hell wasn't about to wait around for her.
Speaking of which. Kara stepped through the doorway, confident that she was in the right place. She owed Lena big time. At her feet was a staircase; long, steep, and darker than Kara would have liked.
Which didn't slow her down in the slightest.
The further down she got, the clearer Alex's screams were. They were still muffled, as though someone had tried to soundproof the bunker she was being held in. Something else that would make sense if you were trying to hide something from a Kryptonian. But her cries were loud enough, desperate enough, that they were able to break through and find their way to Kara's ears. Whatever was going on down there sounded like torture, and Kara followed the sound of her sister's voice and raced down the winding steps.
Once at the bottom, a series of doors lined the hallway that Kara found herself in. From there it was easy to pinpoint and follow the sound of Alex's desperation. Kara's eyes flared as she used her heat vision to break through the door holding Alex.
Once the 'soundproof' barrier between them was eliminated, Alex's screams were deafening.
Kara rushed in, expecting to find Lillian or Henshaw actively torturing her sister.
Instead she found Alex.
Alone.
Bound to a chair.
And screaming her head off.
"Alex! Alex, it's me, I've got you," Kara ran to her, "Maggie's on her way, we're going to get you home."
Once Alex opened her eyes and registered Kara's presence, the screaming subsided. "Kara!" she cried out. "Thank god! I knew you would hear me. They have Violet! Lillian took her, they're going to kill her!" Alex sobbed, panicking as Kara broke through the restraints that had kept her from going after them. She stood quickly, adrenaline keeping her from stumbling or swaying, which was its own miracle considering how light headed she was after Lillian's 'persuasive attempts' and her own continuous and breathless screaming.
"We'll get her back," Kara didn't hesitate, turning back to the door as Alex bolted after her, terrified they may be too late.
