National City could be divided into four major blocs. There was the Metropolis, the central hub of everything news and business. The Residence, the largest middle class residential area of the city. Governor's Hill, home to the main Luthor Corp building and family mansion. And the Glades, seedy, impoverished, and with 99% less surveillance cameras.
That was where Alex and Kara spent their school days.
With everything so rough and tumble, it was hard to tell what was abandoned and what was simply dilapidated, but the girls had long since found what was once a library.
Its walls were high, only half its windows smashed, and it did not reek of garbage or urine. It was nearly perfect.
"Hey!" Alex yelled at the building's imperfection. "This area is ours today."
Two heads shot up from behind a toppled bookcase. Two heads belonging to the same body.
"So sorry." One replied, accent heavy.
"But we won't cause trouble. No trouble." The other rushed in and was promptly shushed by his other half.
"Don't care." Alex shook her head, as the alien stumbled out from behind the bookcase.
She could see it for all it was now, not just two heads but four arms and a tail as well. And it was massive, probably over seven feet.
By all means, it should've been intimidating, but its torso was a twig, potentially even smaller than Kara's when she'd first arrived. Alex looked it up and down, sizing it up with a power she knew she didn't have.
When she found its legs, just two, that was when she noticed it; the branding. The flesh was still raw, red and meaty, and swelling into the shape of an L.
If Alex had been Kara, she would've felt a heat behind her eyes. "You've been with CADMUS?"
The alien nearly jumped into the air. Its eyes, all four between the two heads, grew wide, and then they fell on its leg, on the brand.
"No. No. We gots away. Not even registered. Not even close." The first head urged, while the other nodded.
"No one gets away." Alex spat. "Any minute now, CADMUS will show up, Taser us- if we're lucky- and take us all away to be cut up. You're going to let them do that to her?"
Alex stepped aside to reveal Kara, all hunched and small and blonde.
"No. No." The alien hurried to say, both heads at once.
"Well that's what's going to happen if you stay here. You'll lead 'em right to us."
The alien was starting to back away. "I'll go. I'll go." He nearly tripped over his feet as he raced back into the shelves and presumably the main entrance.
When she was reasonably certain it was just the two of them, Alex unclenched her fists and took a deep breath.
"C'mon." She motioned for Kara to follow her into the stacks. "Let's find you a dictionary."
When she didn't hear footsteps behind her, Alex turned; Kara was just standing there, staring. "I said c'mon."
Kara didn't move.
"Are you going to just stand there all day?"
Kara let out a breath. "We could've shared."
"He escaped CADMUS. We can't take the chance they're following him."
"We could've shared." Kara repeated, an edge to her voice that Alex wasn't sure she'd heard before.
"Look, Kara, it's not like I want the poor guy- guys, whatever- to be out on the streets, but he's going to get caught again. He's going to put us in danger." Alex enunciated each word. Kara was not going to misunderstand her.
Kara didn't move, didn't speak, but Alex could see the wheels turning in her head. She didn't need to stand up straighter or make eye contact; she knew that Alex was well aware that if she wanted something she could take it. This though, diplomacy, survival, strategy, it was Alex's domain and it was one that Kara had never ventured into before. She'd never even voiced an opinion on it.
And then something curious happened. Kara's eyes started to glow. It was like a switch had been flipped; her normally blue eyes were suddenly white and brighter than humanly possible.
An image flashed before Alex's eyes. Muted colors all but the bright red emanating from his eyes.
Alex ducked just as the imaged replayed in time. She grunted as her shoulder hit the floor, her eyes closing for less than a second. When she opened them, there was a fire before her eyes.
And Kara… Kara was staring at it. Her eyes were wide and blue again, the pupils dilated.
Kara mouthed something, presumably the Kryptonian equivalent of "whoa" before Alex was on her feet again, grabbing Kara's hand.
"And now we have to go." Alex yelled and gave Kara a tug. To her relief, Kara moved without a fight.
The girls were nearly out the door when Kara suddenly stopped.
"What are you doing?" Alex called back. "We have to go."
"I can fix it." Kara was already turning around.
"Kara!" But there was no stopping her, even running at human speed.
Alex found Kara back in front of the rows of shelves. Her head was up, her hands were in fists, and she stood up straighter than she did even by the school. She took a deep breath and then she blew.
Out of her mouth came what could only be described as a storm. It was clouds and ice and wind all bundled into a tornado that was somehow coming from her sister. And it froze everything in its path.
The fire was out before Alex could will her mouth to work. Replacing it was a glacier that ran from ceiling to floor and over rows and rows of half-standing shelves.
"Whoa." Was all Alex managed to say.
"Now we can go." Kara turned, beaming.
But as quickly as it had appeared, Kara's smile was gone.
"Hey, what's wro…" Alex was cut off as a hand clamped over her mouth.
She barely had time to look up, to see the dark mask hovering above her, before Kara was moving. In a flash, she bolted across the room; fist connecting with mask and a sickening crack hit the air.
Alex shook herself free just as the beeping started.
She looked behind her and saw Kara standing over an armor-clad figure. He was covered head-to-toe, but the mask, a simple configuration of plastic and goggles, was now cracked, split down the middle. A touch of pale flesh could be seen peeking out. It was his chest plate, though, that caught her eye.
It was separate from the rest of the armor and it wasn't black at all. It was silver metal fashioned with a divot in the center. And inset into the divot, under a layer of Plexiglas, was a rock.
It couldn't have been much bigger than Alex's fist, but it glowed.
The beeps had accelerated.
Alex stood frozen; some part of her brain screamed "A bomb! Run you idiot. It's a bomb." But another part recognized the glow. And even if it hadn't, there was no way it could have forgotten the green slithering up Kara's skin, making her veins pop.
But Alex couldn't move. She wanted to, could feel the energy, the momentum in her joints. But she could not move.
And that's when she saw him. The two headed alien.
Kara fell to her knees and Alex watched.
"Alex… Alex…" Kara's voice broke. Her breathing ran ragged.
And still Alex couldn't move.
The two-headed alien watched, pupils dilated.
"Sorry." He mouthed.
Alex felt her throat constrict and then everything went black.
