A week had gone by and it was always the same thing. Everyday I had to lie to Kara about my whereabouts before going to see Lex. So far he hadn't asked me to do anything too serious. I had pretty much trained and got used to the whole flying thing.
Kara had become more and more suspicious as the days went on. I tried to seem like everything was fine, but she could tell I was faking it. She questioned me everyday on where I went and what I did. I got really good at coming up with lies. She accepted them, but she wasn't happy about it.
My phone buzzed with a new message. I woke up to find Kara still fast asleep. I reached for my phone and double-tapped the notification. It took me to the messages and of course it was from Lex. The text read, "Come to the warehouse now. It's time for your first mission."
I rolled my eyes and quietly got out of the bed. Kara stirred, but didn't wake up. I got dressed and walked back over to the bed, kissing her forehead. I left a note on the counter to explain where I was, which was another lie, and then I quickly exited the apartment.
For the last week I had been running to the warehouse across town, but today I felt confident. I went to the back alley and pushed off the cement and into the air. I wasn't a perfect flyer, but I could get into the sky without worry now.
The only good thing that came out of all of this was the ability to fly. Feeling the wind through my hair was calming. I felt like a bird, traveling wherever I wanted. Once I landed I was brought back into my life and all crap I was forced into. At least for a little while I forgot my worries.
I arrived with a rocky landing and headed inside. Lex was busy so I had to wait for him in the room next door. While I was waiting, Brainy came into the room. I was prepared to leave, but he held up a hand. "Please, Carly. Just let me explain."
"What's there to explain?" I asked, crossing my arms. "You stood by as they made me kill someone and then with your own hands you made me Lex's puppet. Is there anything else I left out?"
Brainy tried to justify his actions. "Carly, I had to secure the future."
"Screw the future!" I yelled, causing Brainy to jump. "You broke any and all trust I had in you. I understood why you were working with Lex and I kept your secret because it wasn't my place to tell the others, but you went too far this time. If I had been in your position I would have stopped them, no matter if the future was lost."
Brainy spoke quieter. "I had to take into account the calculations."
I shook my head in disgust. "I am not a number, Brainy! Ever since you became your true "self", you've been different. All the emotion you used to have is gone. Do you feel anything anymore? Regret? Pain? Remorse? Because all I see in front of me is an android pretending to be human."
"I am the same, Brainiac." Brainy replied
"No, you aren't." I said, biting my lip. "The Brainy I knew would've never done something like this. You cared more about your friends than anything else."
Brainy looked down at his feet then back up at my face. "Will you ever forgive me?"
"No, I don't think I can Brainy. You crossed a line and even if we get through this unscatched that will always be there." I walked up to Brainy and looked him directly in the eye. "Trust is like a piece of paper. Once you crumble it into a ball, even if you straighten it out again, it will never be how it was."
I walked past him and he didn't try to stop me. As I left the room I sadly ran into Lena who escorted me to where Lex was. We entered to find him at a large table. I sat down with Lena taking a seat next to Lex.
Lex leaned forward. "Carly, I need you to pick up a prisoner and escort him back to this facility. You must retrieve him and bring the man back here. No detours or pit stops."
Question appeared on my face. "Why do you need a prisoner?"
Lena answered. "The animal trials for my new contacts were a success. So Lex thought I should do my first human trial to see how my contacts will react to the human brain."
"What if you kill him?" I asked with concern. "At least testing on me, made sure no one died. What if this plan of yours backfires and you end his life?"
Lena shook her head. "It won't come to that, I promise. The worst that could happen is that it has the opposite effect. Besides, it's not like we're doing this against his will, he agreed to do this for us. I need to make sure these contacts actually work before I give them to the public. This is the safest way to do so."
Lex interrupted. "The guards will escort him to the gate. From there you need to get him back here. Can you do that?"
"I don't...aw…" I clutched the table, leaving handprints. It felt like someone had stabbed me and began to twist the knife within my stomach.
Lex noticed my pain and smirked. "What was that? I don't think I heard you?"
I gritted my teeth with a fake smile. "Ye...ess. I can do that. Right away."
I got up from the table with the pain subsiding. Lena walked around the table and gave me directions to the prison. As I left, Brainy was standing outside the door. He tried to talk to me, but I quickly left before he had the chance. I wasn't in the mood for another crappy apology.
I decided to take one of Lex's cars because I wasn't in the mood to fly there. I didn't want to be in my suit when I picked up the prisoner because if this went sideways, I didn't want Vamtrona involved. I took the long route so I could clear my head and try not to think of all the wrongness of what I was about to do. If he died, it was my fault and Lex knew it too.
When I arrived the guards were outside with the handcuffed prisoner. I parked the black van and got out to meet them. They looked at one another with concern.
"You're here to pick up the prisoner?" One asked
The other had the same look on his face. "Just you?"
"I'm stronger than I look boys." I said, grabbing the prisoner's arm and pulling him forward within the blink of an eye. "And faster too."
They quickly nodded and almost ran back into the building. I smiled at their sudden nervousness. I maneuvered the prisoner into the back of the van and I got in front. When we were on our way, he tried to make conversation. "You're strong for a little thing."
"Yeah, well...I work out a lot…" I said, quickly changing the subject. "Can I ask why you agreed to do this? Be a lab rat for the Luthors?"
"They said they'd shorten my time in prison." The prisoner shrugged. "They have a lot of power and money so if they can help me out then why not."
"What did you do to get put in prison?" I asked
The prisoner leaned forward in his seat. "I robbed a bank. My family was low on money and we were desperate. My daughter really wanted this necklace for her birthday. I wanted to be able to get her one nice thing so I robbed the bank in hopes I could buy it for her. Sadly, I was caught before I had the chance."
"How old is your daughter?" I asked
"She's 18 now." The prisoner smiled to himself. "I wanted to get the necklace for her on her 16th birthday so after these tests I might be out for her next one."
I told him the bad side to this. "This is a test trial. Things could go bad, you know that right?"
He nodded. "I know, but it's the only choice I have at seeing my family again. Wouldn't you take life threatening risks for the people you love?"
"Yeah, yeah I would."
Kara woke up, finding herself alone. She listened with her ears in case I was in another part of the apartment, but she only heard silence. She got up to investigate and found a note on the counter addressed to her.
The note read, "Deirdre asked me to go shopping with her so I'll be out for most of the day. See you tonight. Love, Carly."
Kara's face scrunched up with doubt because she knew I hated shopping. I only ever got clothes from thrift stores because I liked the way older clothing was made. Kara pulled out her phone and tried to call me, but there was no answer. At that point she was going to leave it alone, but then a knock sounded at the door.
She threw the note back on the counter and answered the door to find Deirdre on the other side, a cooler in hand. Kara moved aside so Deirdre could come inside and set the cooler on the counter. Now Kara knew I was lying.
Deirdre turned toward Kara as she closed the door. "Carly told me to bring her blood from the apartment. She had left it behind when she moved in here and so I thought I would help out."
"Have you seen Carly today, by chance?" Kara asked
Deirdre shook her head. "No, I only talked to her on the phone. Why?"
Kara walked over to the counter and handed the note to Deirdre. She read it and her eyes went wide. "Carly, left this note for me this morning. She said she would be out most of the day shopping with you. Now if you're here and you only talked with her on the phone, where is she?"
"I think I should go." Deirdre quickly turn-tailed it for the door.
Kara was just as fast and blocked the only exit. "You know something and I need you to tell me. Carly has been acting strange for the last few days and I know you know why. She told me about her panic attack, but there's more, isn't there?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about…" Deirdre backed up toward the living room.
Kara stepped forward at the same pace Deirdre backed away. "Yes, you do. Carly has always been open with me, but something has happened. She is distant and never home. It has been a week since she moved in and I never see her. I can tell she is avoiding me, but I want to know why."
"I have no idea…" Deirdre quickly said
Kara appeared in front of Deirdre and grabbed her by the front of her shirt. "Don't lie to me Deirdre. Even without a heartbeat, I can tell you're lying. What happened and why won't Carly tell me? Why did she tell you and not me?"
"I can't tell you. If I do, it could put Carly's life in danger." Deirdre said with complete honesty. "She is trying her best to keep you safe. She only told me because of a simple loophole. Carly is doing her best to fix this situation, but if she tells you things could get worse. You just have to trust her. If she's hiding something, it must be for good reason."
"Deirdre, I'm worried about her." Kara said, letting go of Deirdre's shirt. "I don't think I have seen her smile once since she moved in. I catch her crying and pushing me away. Is it because she regrets moving in here?"
Deirdre quickly shook her head. "Of course not. She loves you with all her heart. It's just a bad situation that she has to handle on her own. If she tells you, it could cause her serious pain and I know you don't want that."
"Why would it cause her serious pain?" Kara asked with desperation. "If she's in pain I want to know about it. Just tell me."
"I can't. She'll tell you when the time is right. Just trust her."
Deirdre stepped around Kara and quickly left the apartment. Kara watched her leave as her phone rang. She put it up to her ear with a frantic Kelly on the other line. Kara's eyes went wide. "Alex, did what?!"
Once the prisoner and I arrived, Lena got to work. She connected the contacts to him and began the tests while placing him in a glass box to keep everyone else safe. At first everything seemed to be on the up and narrow, but then it backfired. When the test failed for a third time, the prisoner had changed. He seemed more angry and irritated, like he would rip one of our heads off if he could get close enough.
Lena tried to control him, but he was getting to be too much and she knew that this couldn't continue. She disconnected the contacts and hoped it would calm him down, but it made no change. Instead of causing him to become happier, it had the exact opposite effect. He slammed his fists into one of the glass walls of his cage.
Lex realized the situation was getting out of hand so he had to do something quick. He came over to me and asked for my assistance. "Carly, I need you to hypnotize the prisoner so that he calms down. If that doesn't work then I'm going to need you to kill him."
I shook my head. "I'm not going to kill him, Lex."
"Well, then you better hope this works."
I approached the glass box that the prisoner was in and Lena unlocked the door. I stepped inside and he tried to throw a punch at me. I caught his fist midair and held onto it as I looked into his chocolate brown eyes. His mind was harder to crack so it took me longer to get in, but when I did, he was like jello.
I looked deep into his eyes. "I need you to calm down."
I saw his lips prepared to repeat what I had said, but something happened. Something severed our connection and the anger returned to his face. Whatever Lena's contacts had done could not be hypnotized away. He grabbed at my throat and slammed my back into one of the glass walls, shattering it. We fell through the hole with him pinning me to the floor.
I looked over at Lex and he nodded. I didn't want to hurt this man, but I could feel the pain rising inside as I tried to refuse the order. I tried to talk some sense into him, but he wouldn't listen. His hands wrapped around my throat and he tried to strangle me, since I didn't need to breathe, it had no effect.
I grabbed both his hands and pryed them from my neck, headbutting him. I got to my feet as he slowly did the same. He lunged at me, causing me to throw him across the room. I kept yelling for him to stop, but he wouldn't. It was like he was in some sort of trance, he wouldn't stop until either I killed him or he killed me.
He lunged at me for a third time and this was my last shot to put some sense into him. He grabbed at my shoulders and my hands were on his. I pleaded. "Calm down!"
I felt this wave travel from the prisoner, through my hands, and into myself. His body loosened while my body tensed up. Lena, Lex, and I were all shocked. Lena was the first to ask. "What did you just do?"
The man let go of my shoulders with a peaceful smile on his face. I looked from him to Lena. "I...I...don't know. I just touched him and pleaded for him to calm down. Then he did."
"It's because you have a special ability." Brainy explained, coming into the room. "I was trying to tell you earlier when you ran off. Some vamtronians have special abilities and yours is that you take bad feelings from others. You can take another's sadness, anger, or pain into yourself, relieving their suffering."
"That's possible…" I said, looking down at my hands.
Brainy nodded. "Yes, it is. You can take that emotion into yourself. If someone were dying you could take their pain so they would die without anguish. Downside is you will then be angry, sad or in pain until you use it up. By crying, screaming or punching something. Sometimes the feeling is manageable, but other times it can cause you to explode, especially if you take from multiple people. Like right now, do you feel angry?"
That's when I realized my fists were clenched and my body rigid. "Yes, I feel angry. I wish I could rip someone's head off honestly."
Lex laughed. "Excellent. You are even more fantastic than I originally thought. What a wonderful thing. More tests will be done on the prisoner in the coming days and maybe we'll crack the code faster than we thought."
Two guards approached and took the man away. I still wanted to rip someone's head off, but I kept it pushed down. Lex came up beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I almost whipped around to snap his arm, but I breathed deeply instead. "You did good today, Carly. Now that we know what the side effects can be to these contacts we can try to fix them for next time. You really are a wonder."
Lex wandered off into another room and Lena began to follow. When Lex had left, she approached me. "Meet me at L Corp early tomorrow morning and I'll take some blood. If I can pinpoint the formula I might be able to reverse engineer the antidote, but we have to keep this a secret. If Lex finds out we are both screwed."
"Who would I even tell?" I asked
Lena nodded and hurried toward the door. I stood there clenching my fists tight. Brainy came over to me and with the anger I had combined with new anger I wanted to kill him, but I gritted my teeth and stopped. "How do I make this anger go away?"
"You have to use it." Brainy stepped forward. "Punch me. It wont rid you of all the anger, but it will allow you to control it."
I didn't even hesitate as my fist flew out, hitting Brainy in the chest. The second my fist made contact he went flying into the opposite wall. I felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I was angry, but more of a silent one. I approached Brainy and helped him up. "Thank you, but this does not mean I forgive you for the other day."
"I know, but I just wanted you to know I truly am sorry for everything. I hope this eases some of your pain." Brainy wandered off, leaving me on my own.
I was feeling good for the first time in the last week, even if I was a little angry. Lena was willing to help me and I had a special ability to take other's pain, I could help others even more than I thought I could. I made it to the apartment and when I entered I saw an angry Kara sitting at the table. My smile vanished quickly.
She got up from the table, her arms never uncrossing. "Where were you?"
I quickly responded. "Didn't you read the note?"
"Yeah, I read it..." Kara said with fire in her eyes. "First off, you said you were going shopping with Deirdre, which was a red flag as you hate shopping. Second, Deirdre stopped by the apartment with no clue of these plans. So, I'm going to ask again...where were you?"
"Kara, I can't tell you." I said, looking down at my feet.
Sadly, Kara wouldn't take that as an answer. "Carly, what happened? We have never hid anything from one another and now you've completely shut me out. I've been dealing with Jeremiah's death for the last few days and you were nowhere to be found. Alex got herself stuck in VR so she wouldn't have to feel the pain. Where were you to not be there for me or even Alex?"
"Kara, I'm sorry. I didn't know…"
"Yeah because you weren't here!" Kara yelled. "You vanish for hours at a time. I have had to save countless lives this week on my own because we couldn't find you. I know something is clearly wrong. I catch you crying and avoiding me. So please, explain what is going on. Talk to me!"
"I can't!" I yelled, causing Kara to jump. "I can't..."
Kara moved closer to me. "When Deirdre was here this morning, I asked her why you were acting this way. She wouldn't tell me what was wrong, but she told me you weren't okay. That you were protecting me and that telling me would cause you pain. She told me to leave it alone, but I want to help you."
"You can't help me. There is no helping me!" I yelled, running my hands through my hair. "I am trying my best to make the best of the crap I am stuck in and I want to tell you, but I can't. If I do, things could go horribly wrong."
Kara grabbed my hands. "Carly, what happened? I'm not mad that you have been avoiding me or not being there to help me with grief. I'm mad because you are clearly in pain and won't talk to me about it. Just let me in, please."
At that moment I realized I had to leave. Staying here meant lying to Kara again and again. If Lena could solve this then I would be able to tell Kara with no worries. I wanted to tell her everything because I hated lying to her this way, but if I told her it could kill me. Which would cause her more pain then my lies did.
"I wish I could tell you, but I can't. If I do, bad things could happen. Just know I never wanted any of this." I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut. "I'm sorry, but I think it's best if I go."
I began for the door when Kara grabbed my wrist. "Don't leave. Just let me help you."
I looked back at her. "I love you, Kara. But It's for your own good."
I grabbed her face and brought her lips to mine. When I kissed her I left that wave feeling I had felt when I took the anger from the prisoner. This anger wasn't as toxic as his was. I felt Kara loosen under my kiss and when I pulled back she looked happier, but confused. "What was that?"
I placed my hand on her cheek. "I took your anger. When this is all over, I hope you can forgive me."
I left the apartment, taking none of my belongings with me. Kara stood there shell shocked, a hand slowly raising to her lips.
