HALLEY'S P.O.V

When I woke up the next morning, I was alone in bed, still being able to feel Kara's crushing embrace, the one that she had kept during the whole night.

For a moment I thought I was the last one to get up, but only Mon-El and Kara were in the kitchen. Both of them stopped talking as I walked inside, which made me stare at them a little confused.

"How did you sleep?" my cousin asked.

"Good" I smiled. "What were you talking about?" I asked them, seeing how she stared at her husband for a few seconds before sighing.

"We're thinking about adopting a puppy" she answered, getting me to close my eyes. "We know you're not ready for having another pet, but it's a great opportunity for Leo and Juliet… To have a chance to grow up with a pet as you did with Comet" she barely whispered his name.

I frowned slightly while meditating the idea since I knew I wasn't ready to go through having to say goodbye to another pet, another puppy. I had needed a long time to mourn his death, even at that moment I wasn't still over it.

"It's okay not to be ready" It was Mon-El who talked, getting me to look at him while nodding slightly.

"No, it's great" I murmured, both of them staring at me as if they didn't believe me. "I really mean it" I assured them. "I might not be ready, but you're right, it's a great opportunity for them" I commented.

"Halley, I don't want you to be okay with it, just because you think it's the right thing" Kara told me as I sighed.

"I'm…" my voice cracked as I tried to talk. "I'm not okay with it" I admitted. "I thought we had more time with him, I wasn't ready to make that decision and I need a little bit more time to heal from that" I explained as my cousin embraced me tightly against her. "But if you think it's time to add a new puppy to the family, I'll be alright" I told them while trying to keep a smile on my face.

Kara kept me embraced for as long as she could, even while having breakfast she made sure not to let go of me just as she had been doing for the whole night, which, honestly, I was thankful for because I was scared of not being able to control myself again.

"I'm going to the DEO, Do you want to come with me?" she asked me after having kissed the top of my head and pulled away from me.

"I think I prefer to stay home" I answered, not ready to feel judged by everyone that worked there.

"I thought you may want to visit Val" Kara commented as I sighed.

"Not yet, maybe later" I told her, not knowing if I would be able to face him.

"Okay, but what happened yesterday wasn't your fault" she pointed as if she had read my mind.

I nodded slightly even if deep down it still felt like it.

I spent the whole morning trying to finish my homework, to get distracted, but with it minute past the hate and fear of aliens were increasing as well as my own nervousness.

Ever since the moment a video of me throwing Lex Luthor from a building was uploaded to the Internet, people had been discussing and pointing out that we were all villains, including Supergirl, whose video from years ago had made its way back to social media.

I sighed as I walked through the DEO, just wanting to find my cousin, since I just needed to talk to her. However, I stopped in my tracks the moment I saw her talking with Alex, she looked really upset about something.

"No, she couldn't control herself" Kara almost exclaimed. "She's not a villain, I won't let them believe that"

"I know" Alex answered. "But right now we have orders" those words made me frown as I kept listening to their conversation.

"I can't ask her to stop being Flamebird just because they think there will be a riot" my cousin shook her head angrily. "She's a good kid. She's nothing like the version they saw yesterday and we both know that" she was practically begging.

"Kara, people fear Supergirl now. They believe what these against aliens organizations are saying and we can't let that happen" Alex tried to explain, but Kara was already getting ready to protest. "If she goes out there, they're not going to care that she's a kid. So it's our only option to protect her" she tried to explain to her sister, who was frowning.

"If it was necessary, would you give the order to capture her?" Kara asked.

"If I don't have an option, yes" the DEO's director answered, getting me to close my eyes for a few seconds before leaving.

"Hey, What are you doing?" Kara asked while walking inside my room, getting me to look at her. "You're doing homework, huh?" she smiled.

"Well, since it's the only thing I'm going to be able to do…" I commented as she frowned slightly.

"You know?" she questioned me while sitting on the bed, to which I nodded. "I'm so sorry, baby" she whispered.

"It's okay, it's not like you have made that choice" I shrugged.

"No, I made a better choice" she smiled slightly. "They agreed for you to keep being Flamebird as long as you're always being watched by me" Kara explained.

"Aren't you doing that all the time?" I asked her while frowning.

"Technically yes, but you know what I mean" she answered. "Look, people are scared and it will be hard to get their trust again, but we'll work together to get it, okay?" she assured me, getting me to nod. "We all know that you didn't want to do it, but now we need to convince them" my cousin told me.

"Thanks" I smiled at her, to which she shook her head shortly before pulling me into a hug.

She kept me embraced for as long as she could, getting me to hug myself at her as well as I closed my eyes.

"And now let's have dinner, it's been a while since we've been all together" she said while getting up. "Come on, I'm starving" Kara complained as she pulled from my arm.

"Okay, okay" I really tried to calm her down, but not being able to avoid laughing.

I couldn't avoid smiling, after two weeks, we were going to be able to send Halley back to her time. Everything was alright, Kara had her custody back and I could not wait until the day I would forget the memories I had from that time.

"Hi, kiddo" I smiled at my younger self, ready to tell her the news. "Guess what?" I asked her while sitting in a chair next to her. "You're going back to your time as soon Brainy has the safest way to do it" I told her, observing how her blue eyes lit up.

"Really?" she stared directly into my eyes, to which I nodded. "Lex?"

"He doesn't have your custody anymore, he's planning something though" I answered sincerely, since from what they have explained, Lex was working on something. "But it'll be okay" I tried to reassure her after observing how her face changed from excitement to worry.

"But you don't know what's going to happen because things are going to change, right?" the nine year old asked.

"Well, things we'll be different, but I don't think they can be worse than what I remember, sweetie" I shrugged, seeing how she nodded slightly before hugging herself at me, so I hugged her back.

As I pulled away from her, I saw Val staring at us from the door, which only got me to close my eyes while shaking my head, I wasn't ready to talk to him, not yet.

The truth is that I hadn't been able to be in the same room with him since I couldn't stop remembering every single thing I had said to him that day and, honestly, I didn't want to talk about, not to him. So I had been hiding from him, running away every time I would see him, but he was being really persistent.

"Can we not do it now?" I asked him, having to look away when he stared at me.

"I'm tired of doing this everyday and not having an answer" he complained as I sighed. "I've given you time, I know you're blaming yourself, but it wasn't your fault" Val said. "So, please, talk to me" he added while staring directly into my eyes.

"I... I will when I'm ready, Val" I answered him, seeing how he shook his head slightly.

"Fine, but it's the last time I'm going to talk to you, look for me when you feel like it" he said before leaving.

At that moment I just closed my eyes for a few seconds before returning my attention to my younger self, trying to smile at her.

"Are you mad at each other?" she asked while frowning.

"Um..., no, no, we're not" I denied as quickly as possible, the child looking at me as if she didn't believe any single word I had said. "We just need to talk, that's all" I told her.

"He's worried," the nine year old pointed out, getting me to nod, he was. "Why don't you want to talk to him? I mean, he's your best friend, you should tell him everything, right?" she asked, to which I couldn't avoid smiling a little while observing her, missing being so innocent.

"I guess things are a little bit more complicated than that" I answered, seeing how a little smile was drawn on her face.

"Because you like him and he likes you back" she looked directly into my eyes, so even if I tried to deny it, I knew she wouldn't believe me. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Why do you say that?" I asked her back, not really wanting to answer her, observing how she shrugged a little, still waiting for my answer. "Maybe you're a little right, just... um... Promise me one thing" I stared at her. "Promise me that you will not rush into things when you're older, please"

"I promise" she whispered with a smile shortly before I pulled her into a hug.

I felt how my heart dropped the moment I heard the news from the past, having to close my eyes to try to calm myself down.

"So you don't know when you're going to be able to bring Kara back?" I asked, upset that anything was going as it was supposed to.

"We're working on it, but it's not easy," J'onn answered.

"But you want Halley back?" I was confused about why putting that little girl through all of that.

"Yes" I heard Alex. "The timeline has already changed and now it's safe for her to be back. Lex doesn't remember about Kara's identity or Halley's anymore" she explained.

"Okay" I sighed. "Brainy said that the portal is ready, I'll let you know when she's going back" I told them.

"Sure" Alex said before hanging up.

I stood inside that room without knowing what I should do, not wanting to give those news to my younger self or even my cousin as I was fully conscious of how much she feared the Phantom Zone.

When I opened the door of the room, Kara stared at me as if she was reading my facial expression, immediately knowing that something was wrong since after talking to the little girl, she grabbed my arm and pulled me outside.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Did your memories change or something? Do you still remember..." I tried to ask her, but she interrupted me.

"I still remember Lex torturing you" she answered as I frowned, it was going to be hard. "What's wrong?" Kara questioned me again, that time pleading for an answer.

"Lex sent your past self to the Phantom Zone" I barely whispered, observing how her face changed, being able to find fear in her eyes. "I'm sorry" I hugged her.

"It's okay, baby" she whispered, hugging me back."At least it means that you were safe and that we'll forget those memories" my cousin commented.

I closed my eyes while resting my head on her shoulder, just taking my time to calm down, just getting Kara to increase the strength of the embrace.

"It will be okay, Hal" my cousin kissed the top of my head before pulling away. "Is she going back?" she asked, to which I nodded slightly.

"Should we tell her? It's going to break her" I looked away, not really wanting to tell that little girl.

"I know" Kara whispered. "But it's better for her to learn now, so she'll know that I won't be there waiting for her" she pointed out as I sighed.

Honestly, I didn't want to go back inside the room, not when I knew that we were going to hurt her with the news from the past, that she was going to refuse to leave because at the moment she had everything she wanted, she had her cousin with her.

The nine year old blue eyes stared at us as soon as we opened the door, she knew something was wrong, I could sense her fear.

"Am I not going back?" the kid asked as Kara approached her, kneeling in front of the chair where the child was sitting.

"You are going back" my cousin answered.

"He hurt you?" panic was rising in her voice, which made me turn around not bearing to see her face.

"We can say that he kind of did" Kara answered. "I was sent to the Phantom Zone during a fight with Lex" she explained.

When I looked back at them, the nine year old was sobbing with her face buried in Kara's neck, her little hands forming fists to grip tightly to Supergirl's cape, refusing to let go.

I was aware that my cousin was trying her best to contain her own tears while keeping the child embraced tightly. It was going to be harder that I thought.

I looked up when I heard the door getting open, my eyes barely meeting his before I bowed down my head again.

"It's not... I'm not really in the mood to talk right now" I told him, but having to stare back at him when I didn't receive an answer. "I know I asked you to meet me, but..." my voice cracked as I observed how Val was approaching me quietly, just to sit next to me on the bench."Val, I'm being serious, I don't want to have that talk, not now" I complained, hoping he would leave, but he didn't.

"Then don't talk" he whispered while wrapping his arms around me, pulling me closer.

For a few seconds I tried for him to let go, but I ended up surrendering to his embrace, my head resting on his chest with my eyes closed.

I gripped tightly to his t-shirt, not really wanting to let as for the first time in days I was finally letting myself relax, even if it was only for a few minutes.

"Don't leave me" I whispered as I buried my face in his neck.

"I won't, Hal" he whispered back, rubbing circles on my back as he tried his best to soothe me.

After the news that we had gotten today, I had been terrified the whole day because of everything disappearing around me, of losing everything I knew.

"I heard the news" those words made me pull away from him while sighing. "Is she back in the past?" he asked.

"She'll be back in a few hours" I couldn't avoid the sadness in my voice, being a little bit scared of how my younger self was going to react about being back in her time with Kara stuck at the Phantom Zone. "I was so focused on her not having to go through any of the torture... I never thought of how things could change" I explained, not daring to look at him. "I was selfish" my eyes closed as I felt how Val brushed my hair away from my face.

"Why do you say that?" he questioned me. "You were just protecting her, there was no way of knowing that was going to happen" Val said, but that only got me to frown.

"I was protecting her because I wanted to forget those memories, because they keep terrorizing me at night. I just..." I stared directly into his eyes. "And now I'm not even sure if they will be worse" I barely murmured.

"Well we all know that Supergirl would do anything to go back to the people she loves, to go back to you" he tried to calm me down.

"She was stuck there for decades, Val" tears were starting to fill my eyes. "She hates being alone... I can't... I can't lose her..." my voice cracked as a sob escaped my throat.

Val didn't say anything else. He just pulled me into a tight hug the moment I broke down in tears, even if I tried my best to stop them from coming out of my eyes.

"What if she never comes back?" I asked, not really looking for an answer. "Everything will change… And I don't…" I wasn't able to control the panic attack, so I pulled away from him while trying hard to breathe.

"Halley, you have to breathe" he said, to which I shook my head, I was trying, but I couldn't. "Focus on me, you can do it" Val encouraged me, reaching slowly to grab my face as he knew I needed space to start to calm down. "It's okay" he whispered the moment my eyes met his. "I know there's no way of knowing what's going to happen and that is scary, but everything we'll be alright or, at least, we have to hope for it" he told me, gently wiping my tears from my cheeks with his thumbs.

I nodded slightly at his words. We didn't know how Kara being at the Phantom Zone was going to affect the Future and there was nothing we could do to stop it, so panicking about it wasn't going to change it.

"I'm sorry about what I said the other day" I whispered, not daring to look at him.

"I know you couldn't control it, it's okay, Halley" Val assured me, but I frowned while shaking my head.

"No, it's not" I told him. "We both know that what I said was because at some point I thought of it, I felt that way" I looked directly into his eyes. "So you can't be okay with me telling you that 'I wish I had never met you'" I paused when I saw him trying to talk, but instead he just nodded slightly. "I don't regret meeting you, but I do think that your life could be a lot easier if we have never met" I admitted.

"That's really stupid" he murmured.

"I've made you choose me over your family… Argo… I've put you in danger more times than I can even remember" I pointed out a little bit angry that he was smiling at me as if he didn't care at all.

"Halley, I chose coming to live here because I wanted to, you didn't obligate me" he sighed before smiling again. "In danger? Do I have to remind you that you jumped from a building even knowing that you wouldn't survive?" he chuckled. "Plus I know you're always there, so it's okay" Val assured me while looking directly into my eyes.

"There's something else I wanted to tell you" I needed to be sincere with him, observing how he frowned slightly. "Kara was right… We're going too fast and it's like a lot for me" I didn't know how to explain it.

"So you prefer that I move out from the loft…" he was confused.

"No, you keep the loft and I'll be staying with my cousin" I told him, seeing how he shook his head.

"But it's yours" Val pointed out.

"And now it's yours" I shrugged with a smile. "Plus we're going to keep seeing each other like a lot, you know… I study in Metropolis and you work here, so…" I commented, getting him to laugh.

"Are you sure?" he questioned me, to which I nodded slightly.

"I can always go back to live with you" I answered him.

"Thank you" Val said after a few seconds, to which, once more, I shook my head. "Are you doing something tonight?" he asked.

"Um… Homework and projects?" I answered a little unsure.

"That's too boring" he complained as I laughed. "What if we do something tonight?"

"Like a date?" I asked him.

"If you want to call it that way" he shrugged. "So is it a yes or a no?" Val looked at me.

"It's a yes" I smiled at him.

I couldn't avoid the smile that was drawn on my face while observing how my younger self was saying goodbye to every single one of us, taking her time to keep herself hugged at Kara since it was an uncertainty when she was going to be able to hug her again.

"Are you ready?" I asked her the moment she approached me, I was going back with her just to make sure that she returned safely.

"The portal will only remain open for ten minutes" Brainy commented while getting ready.

"Be fast" Kara told me, to which I nodded slightly.

"Okay" I sighed while gripping the kid's hand. "Open it" I looked at Brainy.

I looked one last time to my youngest self, seeing her nod, before starting walking to the portal, just hoping that everything would turn out alright.

"Halley!" Alex exclaimed, making the nine year old to let go of my hand and run to her.

I smiled at the scene. Basically everyone was there to welcome her and she was safe so I could leave, but I was stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around my torso.

"Thank you" the child whispered as I hugged her back.

"I'm going to miss you" I admitted. "Keep fighting, someday you'll be just like me" I commented, getting her to laugh which made smile. "Everything will be alright, okay?" I looked directly into her eyes.

Halley just stared back at me with a smile on her face before going back to Alex, who pulled the child close to her.

"Thank you" she said, getting me to smile at her while nodding.

I looked at the portal knowing I didn't have much time, so I walked through it, going back to my time while hoping for everything to be alright.

Hi!!

This is the last chapter from Teen Halley until Supergirl goes into its mid season. My idea is doing a time jump, the one I have been wanting to do for a while…

However, I'm going to need some name for that puppy, so if you have any idea I'm happy to hear it.

Thanks so much for reading it, let me know what you think,

Ayrin