She stayed right next to her cousin while listening to what J'onn was explaining about the imp that had had appeared at her cousin's loft, feeling how everything they were saying was worrying Kara even more than her cousin was before.
As far as she was understanding, it wasn't going to be easy to send him back to his dimension, but at least they should try and, to be honest, she didn't like him at all. There was something about him that she didn't trust, believe that that man would only bring chaos to the city and every citizen that would encounter him.
Kara decided that they were leaving home and the next day they would continue with what they were doing, so she couldn't denied it because she was really tired.
"Okay, it's time to sleep, baby" Kara smiled picking her up before walking to her bed as her cousin already knew that she wasn't going to sleep by herself in that room when Mxyzptlk was out there. "Try to sleep, sweetie" her cousin rubbed circles on her back as she snuggled closer to her, her eyes still open. "It's going to be okay, I'm gonna be here with you all the time" Kara kissed her the top of her head as she nodded slightly, clinging to her cousin's t-shirt while closing her eyes ready to fall asleep.
The five year old opened her bright blue eyes when she noticed her cousin moving, afraid of being left alone she looked for Kara, finding that the oldest kryptonian was observing her with concerned.
"It's still early" her cousin whispered wrapping her arms around her to bring her closer. "Go back to sleep, baby" Kara said while caressing her tangled brown hair.
However, she didn't dare to close her eyes, knowing her cousin hadn't slept at all that night and it was starting to dawn, so maybe they should start getting ready for the day. She finally closed her eyes without falling asleep, but being calm while listening to her cousin's heartbeat.
"Is he coming back?" she asked opening her eyes to look at her cousin.
"I don't know, probably" Kara answered brushing her dark hair away from her face. "We're getting up, I guess" her cousin sighed getting up before picking her up.
One hour later they were at the DEO, J'onn surprised because of seeing them there so early in the morning, but after what had happened the night before it was the normal thing to do.
She spent most of the time sitting on a room coloring as she was being supervised by Winn, but turning her head towards her cousin when she heard her talk.
"I need you to stay here and listen to papa and Winn, okay?" Kara told her making her nodded slightly. "I'll be back soon" her cousin kissed her forehead before leaving.
She stood there the whole morning, running to the balcony when she heard that her cousin was back, her arms hugging her cousin's legs while smiling, which made Kara to kneel down to embrace her.
After having lunch she managed to convince her cousin and Mon-El to go to the park, playing with them as soon as they got there.
"Mxy" she heard her cousin saying, which made her looked up to meet the imp from the night before. "What are you doing here?" Kara asked.
"I have a little gift for this little girl" Mxyzptlk answered pointing at her while showing a box. "I've been seeing you carrying a blue little dragon and I thought that you may like this" the imp opened the box revealing a real baby dragon, which was exactly the same as her soft toy.
"It's like Saffire!" she exclaimed wanting to get closer, but her cousin grabbed her to prevent her from running towards him. "Can I see it?" she asked looking directly to her cousin's eyes finding fear and confusion in them, which reminded her who Mxyzptlk was.
"It's for you, sweet girl" Mxy kneeled down waiting for her to approach, but she just shook her head.
She looked back at her cousin and them to Mon-El, seeing sadness on his face, he had taken care of a dragon like that back on Daxam.
At that moment she stretched her arms towards the daxamite waiting for him to hold her, which he did before embracing her and kiss the top of her head.
"We can see it if you want to, but we're not keeping it" her cousin caressed her face as she nodded slightly.
The three of them got closer to see the baby dragon, Mxyzptlk not really happy about that as he had been expecting for her to approach alone, or maybe with her cousin, but no Mon-El.
A smiled appeared on her face when she saw the little blue and golden dragon, not really believing that she was seeing a real dragon, because she had been listening to Mon-El's stories and dreaming about meeting one ever since then.
"Softly, okay?" Mon-El told her when she was about to pet it, her little hand touching the dragon's forehead scales, smiling happily while observing it closely. "Good job, kiddo" he whispered also petting the dragon. "Kara, try it" he said as she looked at her cousin, who was watching the scene with a smile on her face, but not participating.
"I... No..., I don't think I should..." her cousin shook her head.
"You're scared, my love?" Mxyzptlk asked, to what Kara didn't answer. "I can promise you that he doesn't bite, well, unless you're an arrogant daxamite" the imp said looking directly to Mon-El, who took away his hand when the baby dragon tried to bite him, so she removed her hand as well. "Oh, no, no, sweet pea, he won't hurt you" Mxy told her, as she shook her head, not really trusting him.
"Okay, we're going home" Kara sighed picking her from Mon-El's arms.
"So soon?" Mxyzptlk asked.
Her cousin just nodded before walking away from there, Mon-El walking behind them, smiling at her when she looked at him.
By the time they were at home Kara was called to go to the DEO, so it was Mon-El who stayed with her at her cousin's loft.
"Are you tired?" Mon-El asked shortly after she yawned while rubbing her eyes, so she nodded slightly. "Okay, honey, let's go to sleep" he picked her up from the couch to tuck her in bed. "Good night, baby girl" he kissed her forehead as she closed her eyes, soon falling asleep.
Mon-El barely had time when he heard Halley screamed, running to the child's room, fits forming in his hands as he watched the scene.
The five year old laid unconscious on the floor with a weird looking plant over her chest as Mxyzptlk just disappeared from there, which caused him to curse before kneeling beside the child wanting to be sure that Halley was still breathing.
He tried to move it, but everytime he pulled from the plant the kid seizured, so he just stared to Halley one last time before grabbing his phone to call Kara, not knowing what she should do. However, before he could do so, Kara was already back, calling him from the living room.
"Kara!" he called her, his fingers pressed on the child's neck, Halley was still having a pulse.
"Hey, What are you...? Halley!" Kara exclaimed quickly kneeling down by the child's body as well. "What happened?" she asked observing her five year old cousin.
"I... I don't know, I heard her scream and by the time I got here, she was already like this" he tried to explain as Kara caressed her cousin's face. "Mxy is behind this, I saw him dissappear" he accused before Kara could say something about it.
"We have to take her to the DEO, we don't have so much time" Kara took the child in her arms, the plant gripping stronger around Halley's torso. "I'll meet you there" she said shortly before leaving through the room's window.
When he got to the DEO, even though that he had been super fast, it was clear that Kara was even more faster as Halley was already being checked by the doctors, Alex included, while Kara was waiting outside the med bay.
The kryptonian girl just looked at him, tears being contained in her eyes making them shine even brighter, which was breaking his heart, for Kara that little girl was her everything.
"How is she?" he asked as Kara sighed.
"Bad..., This is bad, Mon-El" Kara answered. "That plant is called a black mercy, right now Halley is inside a dream where her biggest wish is being granted and I..." she needed to pause a little before keep talking. "I can assure you that for her whatever she's living in that dream is real" she looked at him. "If we don't pull her out of it, she will die" Kara told him, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Then, How do we do it? How do we pull her out?" he asked hoping for an answer, but losing all his hope when Kara shook her head. "Is there no way to do it? There has to be something that we can do" he said not truly believing that Kara was going to let her baby cousin die.
"There's a way to do it, but it's not so simple" Kara told him while wiping her own tears. "I've been where she is now" she finally said after pausing for a few seconds. "Non put under that dream to get rid of me during myriad, he hoped it would kill me, but my aunt told them what they should do to save me... I lost everything again in that dream..." tears fell down the kryptonian's cheeks as she tried to cover her sobs. "I know that she's with her mom right now... It's going to be difficult for her and for the rest of us" she said as he embraced her wanting to calm her down, Kara's face buried in his shoulder as she kept crying.
"We're going to bring her back and we're going to be with her for everything she needs" he whispered still hugging her tightly, feeling Kara nod on his shoulder.
"Kara" Alex called her sister, which made them turn to look at her. "She's fine, well, as much as she can, but she's stable for now" the agent explained.
Both of them nodded before following her inside the room, the truth was that the child only seemed to be asleep despite the plant that was resting on her chest, but everything else was as normal, not even a pale skin.
He observed how Kara approached her cousin, whispering in the child's ear before kissing her forehead and grabbing her tiny hand, so he walked to stay by the other side of the kid, caressing her hair.
"We need her to reject the dream by herself, just as you did" J'onn said looking at the child before looking at Kara, who nodded slightly. "Agent Schott is working in repair the same instruments we used the other time, but it will take time" the DEO's director explained being able to watch how Kara was losing all her hope as she was hoping for a quickest thing to do.
"I need to get some air" Kara whispered advancing towards the door and before he could say something, she was already left.
At that moment he stood there confused, feeling that they all kind of knew and accepted that it wouldn't turn out fine, that there were so much more options to everything to end wrong and with Halley being hurt.
All of that broke his heart. He wasn't sure what he would feel if he had the chance to go back to Daxam, but he knew that for a five year old, who was still mourning her mother's death, that was going to be so hard to overcome.
Part of him was hoping that Halley would open her eyes and smile as if nothing had happened, but his other half was telling him that it would need time for that to happen, to see her awake and smiling, asking questions enthusiastically about dragons and playing around with her blue little dragon, the one, that right at that moment, was laying besides her.
He turned his head when he heard Kara's voice talking to Alex, who apparently was mad with what her sister was telling her.
"I'm gonna marry Mxyzptlk" Kara blurted out as she entered the room.
"You're doing what?" he asked trying to react to the information.
"I've talked to him and he has given me two options, I can't let her die, Mon-El, I'm sorry, but I can't risk my cousin's life" Kara told him as he shook his head, she was already risking it.
"He's a trickster, Kara, What if he doesn't do what you expect?" he asked trying for her to understand his point.
"I know, but it's the only thing I requested him" she answered. "I'm so sorry, Mon-El" she looked at him with so much sadness in her eyes.
"When are you marrying him?" he asked.
"Tomorrow morning" Kara said barely looking at him.
He nodded without knowing what else to say, feeling tears in his eyes, trying not to think about the fact that he was losing Kara, but the only thing he could do was respect her decision because he knew that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if something happened to the child.
"She opened her eyes confused. The last thing she remembered was to be at her cousin's loft with Mon-El, but at that moment she was in a completely different place, one that she couldn't remember.
Her eyes observed everything around the room, there were drawings made by her everywhere, a desk where the color pencils were spreaded all over the place and between her arms was her beloved blue little dragon.
"Hey, little one, How are you feeling?" that voice, the one she knew so good filled the room, her eyes watering as she was looking up.
"Mommy?" she asked as tears started falling down her cheeks.
"It's me, baby" her mom smiled at her while sitting down at the edge of the bed. "I'm here, kiddo" Astra put her hand on her daughter's cheek.
"It can't be you, you're dead" she said wanting to give what was happening any sense, but she wasn't really getting it.
"You may still having a fever" her mom whispered while putting her hand over her forehead. "But it's okay, because I'm here now" her mother caressed her hair as she kept looking at her confused.
However, she felt at home for some reason, so she tried to stop those thoughts, embracing her mom with her tiny arms only seeking protection in her mother's arms.
She had missed feeling so calm, listening to her mom's heartbeat while closing her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried not to start sobbing when her mom embraced her tightly.
They stayed like that for a few minutes before she pulled away and looked back into her mother's eyes, her mind was still telling her that all of what was happening was a dream, it couldn't be true.
"I've living with Kara since father's death" she said, seeing how her mom shook her head. "You were dead, so she took me in" she tried to explain.
"Your father died, that's true, but I've never died" her mom answered caressing her cheek. "And I know you love your cousin, but you have never been living with her" she told her.
"Could I see her?" she asked looking straight to her mother's eyes.
"Sure, little one" her mom smiled kissing her forehead.
She spent the whole morning reading books about Krypton with her mom, asking every single question she could think of at that time.
Her mom had told her that Kara would meet them after work, so she couldn't be more impatient about seeing her cousin, looking to the clock from time to time, only to find out that time wasn't passing.
She had fallen asleep in her mother's embrace shortly after lunch, her head resting on her mom's shoulder as she listened to her heartbeat, but waking up to find her self laying on the couch covered with a blanket, her cousin's voice being heard from the kitchen.
"Kara!" she squealed while running into the kitchen, her arms open ready to hug her cousin, who crouched to take her in her arms.
"Hi, baby" Kara kissed her forehead while hugging her tightly.
She looked at her cousin before looking behind her as if she was expecting some else to be there as well, knowing who she was missing, Mon-El.
"Where is Mon-El?" she asked getting her cousin to smile.
"I knew you were going to ask about him" Kara said tickling her, which made her giggle. "He's working, kiddo" her cousin answered.
She nodded before asking her cousin to paint with her, however, when the everything started shaking she couldn't avoid running towards her mom in fear, burying her face in her mother's neck when she picked her up.
"You're safe, little one" her mom whispered kissing the top of her head, which made her nodded fighting to believe her words."
It had only been a few minutes since Kara had left to the Fortress of Solitude, since she had promised her baby cousin that everything would be alright, since she had made him promise that he would protect Halley by all means. So, there he was, waiting for everything to be over soon, for that child to be awake, but also to ready to be him who would pull her out of that dream.
Everyone was inside that room, all of them sharing the same fear, Halley being hurt more than she was or even dying.
At that moment his panic increased as he saw how the five year old seizured causing the machines, that were attached to her, to beep.
"Come on, Kara" he heard Alex muttering while approaching the child. "We're losing her, she's not strong enough" the woman commented seeing how J'onn nodded.
"Agent Schott, get ready everything" J'onn commanded Winn, who nodded starting to work. "Mon-El, you're pulling her out, remember to be quick, you need her to trust you" the director looked at him.
He nodded hoping for being able to bring that child back, knowing he would do everything he could.
Hi!
Mxy didn't make things easy for Kara or anyone else, but Halley has been the most harm one. Will they be able to pull her out? Will they be able to save her?
Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think,
Ayrin