Kara observed how her little cousin let her backpack fall to the floor the exact moment they entered in the loft.
"Hey, hey, kiddo, take your backpack to your room" she told her, but the six year old just looked at her for a few seconds before taking a package of cookies and sitting on the couch.
She sighed while observing her, something was going on with Halley, the child had barely talked during their way home, which was starting to make her believe that something had happened at school.
She let her eat, she knew for sure that her cousin was hungry, so she took the backpack, feeling that it was heavier than the other days. At first she didn't give it importance, thinking that her cousin may have taken a book or some toys to school, however, the moment she couldn't find the book Mon-El had gifted to the child, she knew.
That book was inside her cousin's backpack, what made her worry about what the child could have done with it during that day, worrying about the kid's safety. She had told so many times not to take it, not to tell anyone that she was an alien, that she couldn't believe it.
"Halley, kiddo" she called her while walking out of the room with the book in her hands. "Why did you take to school?" she asked getting her cousin to look at her.
"I didn't show it to anyone" the six year old answered.
"Well, the point is that you know that you can't take it to school" she told her observing how the child was just looking at the TV. "Halley, I'm talking to you, Why did you do it?" she asked again.
"I wanted to show it to Levi, but I didn't" the kid looked at her as she sighed.
"Sweetie, what you've done is dangerous, don't do it again, okay?" she asked kneeling in front of her.
"I won't" Halley whispered making her nod before kissing her forehead.
A scream woke her up, it was 4 A.M and Halley was having a really bad nightmare, so she wasn't surprised to see that the bed spreads where all over the floor along with the pillows, observing how the little girl was crying desperately while tossing around.
"Hey, it's okay, baby, it's just a nightmare" she whispered softly trying to wake her up, Halley's eyes opening to look at her with fear. "You're safe, I'm here with you" she told her while picking her up, getting the child to hide her face on her shoulder while sobbing. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.
"No" the child answered between sobs, so she just nodded while sitting in the bed, keeping her cousin close to her.
"Okay, just try to go back to sleep" she kissed her forehead, cradling the child while singing the kryptonian lullaby.
Soon, her cousin was asleep in her arms, but she didn't lay her down with fear of the child waking up because of a new nightmare.
Halley had been having nightmares ever since they had come back from Earth-1, everything that had happened during that days had been too much for the six year old, but every time she asked about it, the child just looked at her without wanting to talk about it and she respected that.
However, she had the feeling that there was something her cousin didn't want to tell her and it was starting to worry her, but she should leave her her space, at least for a little while.
Things with Halley were getting worse, the six year old was most of the time talking back to her and not doing whatever she told her to do. Honestly, she was desperate with the situation.
The last day the child had refused to do her homework and tired of not being heard, she let it stay, but all of that had made her to talk with the teacher, being concerned about something going on at school.
However, as far as Miss Taylor told her, Halley was acting the same at school, but the teacher did show concern about the kid not doing her homework, the six year old was really hard working and neither of them could understand what had made her change that way.
"Hey, kiddo, Do you want to play with me?" Winn asked showing the child the nerf and she could see how her cousin's eyes light up, but Halley had to do her homework from that day first, plus the one she had refused to do yesterday.
"I'm sorry, Winn, but she has to do homework first, right, Halley?" she glanced at her cousin, who looked at her.
"But I want to play" the child protested folding her arms.
"And you will, but first do your homework" she told her, seeing how the six year old frown.
"Oh, kiddo, you should listen to your cousin, we'll play once you finish" Winn told Halley making the child nod.
She could observed how the six year old sat in a chair before taking her homework from her backpack and start doing it, so she sat beside her to work in an article.
"I'm done" Halley exclaimed giving her the sheets of paper.
"Good job, baby" she smiled. "Go find Winn" she told her shortly before the child ran out of the room.
She observed the six year old playing with Winn and Mon-El, the child laughing when Mon-El picked her up while tickling her, which made her smile not really wanting to end that moment, but it was late and they should be heading home.
"Hey, kiddo, we have to go" she told her from the door, getting the three of them to look at her.
"No! I want to stay a little longer" her cousin protest surprising everyone else in the room.
"Halley, it's okay, we can keep playing tomorrow" Mon-El tried to convince the child, but her cousin just shook her head before screaming 'no' again and storming out of the room, tears streaming down her cheeks.
At that moment both of them looked at her as if they weren't sure about what to do and, to be honest, she didn't know either. Her cousin wasn't a child that would have a tantrum, she had never seen the kid acting that way, but, again, she could assure that something was bothering the little girl and day by day she was really believing that it had to do with her.
She massaged her forehead with her fingertips, not knowing if she should talked to someone who could help her, Eliza maybe.
"I'll go to check on her" Mon-El said breaking the silence to what she nodded, watching him leave.
"Kara?" she turned to meet her sister. "Can I talk to you?" her sister asked her.
"Yeah, sure" she answered following the agent outside the room.
"What's going on with Halley?" Alex asked
"That's something I would like to know, too" she told her sister. "She's been acting like this for days and I don't know what to do" she answered sincerely.
"May have something to do with what happened at Earth-1?" her sister questioned concerned to what she shrugged.
"Maybe, she's been avoiding that subject" she answered getting a worried look from her sister. "She's never acted like this and is confusing, I don't know if I should ground her or just talk to her, it's just... I can't do it" she finally admitted, tears running down her cheeks. "I tried once, but she looked so terrified..., Rao, she thought I was going to hit her... I would never hurt her" she cried as her sister embraced her.
"Hey, it's okay, but grounding her won't make you an evil person, she needs to understand that what she's doing is wrong" her told her. "Well, mom grounded me a so many times without going to science fairs, she even grounded you without watching The Wizard of Oz" Alex pointed out as she smiled a little. "She's going to be mad at first, but then she will get over it" her sister said to what she nodded.
"Why don't you come tonight?" she asked. "Just in case I need help, this is scary" she admitted making her sister laugh.
"You're scared of a six year old" Alex laughed teasing her.
"What? No" she quickly denied. "It's just..., all of this is new and I don't know how to do it" she explained.
"Do you think I know how to do it?" her sister asked.
"Well, no..., but more that I do" she answered looking at her sister with pleading eyes.
"Okay, okay, I'll go" Alex surrendered herself.
She smiled to her sister before observing how Mon-El was bringing the child in his arms, her cousin hiding her face on his neck as if she didn't want to look at them, but accepting to be held by Alex, just resting her head on her shoulder as she could see the child's red eyes.
"Thanks" she tried to smile at Mon-El, not really getting it, everything was still weird between them.
"No problem" he smiled back. "She said something about Earth-x and you dying, Did something happen?" he asked concerned about what the child had said, making her sigh not really wanting to have that conversation with him.
"No" she lied, a little crinkle forming on her forehead. "We should go home" she said wanting to get out from there.
"Yeah, sure, see you tomorrow" he nodded not asking anything else.
During the way back home, Halley just kept her eyes closed, not participating in the conversation she was having with Alex or not even complaining when she took her from her sister's arms.
"Who's hungry?" Alex asked once they were at the apartment.
"Me!" Halley exclaimed making both sisters laugh.
"Of course you are" she tickled the six year old, who giggled while moving.
Dinner was easy, the three of them shared what they had done during the day, Halley explaining excitedly what she had learned at school. However, the moment she told the child to go to brush her teeth, the six year old sat on the couch with her arms folded over her chest not doing what she was told.
She looked at her sister not being sure about what to do, watching how the agent nodded at her, so she sighed before getting herself in front of the child.
"Go brush your teeth, Halley" she told her one last time, but the child shook her head. "Then it's time to go to bed" she said seeing how Halley looked at her with wide eyes.
"But I want to watch a movie" her cousin complained.
"Then go brush your teeth and we'll watch a movie" she tried to negotiate with her, but, again, Halley just shook her head. "Okay, last time, go to brush your teeth at three or go to bed" she explained. "One..., two... And..." before she could say three, her cousin was already in the bathroom brushing her teeth. "Good job, baby" she smiled at the kid once she returned to the living room.
Halley insisted about watching Tangled, but falling asleep in her arms shortly after the movie started, her hand gripping her t-shirt not wanting to let go.
"You did great" her sister smiled at her.
"Thanks, but I think she made things easier" she told her. "I need to talk with her about what happened in Earth-1" she said observing her cousin.
"She will open herself eventually" Alex told her, to what she nodded.
She knew that she shouldn't obligate the child to talk, but she really needed to know what was going on with that if she wanted to help her.
"Halley, baby, we're going home" she told her cousin, who was playing at the playground with Levi.
"I don't want to!" Halley screamed hanging from one of the bars ready to keep playing.
"I'm being serious, Halley, we have to go" she told her one more time, but the six year old opted to ignore her while swinging herself. "You're gonna get hurt, kiddo!" she exclaimed after observing how the child's hands where slipping from the bar, but before she could catch her, the kid fall to ground.
It didn't take her so long to pick her up in her arms, embracing the child tightly, who started crying with her head hiding in her neck.
She pulled Halley away a little to observe her, noticing how the child whined when she touched her left hand, which made her use her hear vision to find that one of her bones was broken.
"Is she okay?" she heard Levi's mom asked.
"It hurts" her cousin cried letting herself fall against her.
"Shh, it's okay" she kissed her head wanting to calm her down. "I'm taking her to the hospital" she told Claire, lying, she couldn't tell her where she was really going.
The moment she wasn't seen, she leaped into the sky holding her cousin tight while flying to the DEO. She was concerned about the little girl, but she tried to stay as calm as possible when she talk with her sister.
At first Halley didn't allow Alex to touch her arm, just pulling it away and crying when she felt any type of pressure on it, but ended up letting the agent to run some test and doing an x-ray.
"Okay, I have the results and she needs a cast" her sister said entering the med bay. "I don't know how long will take for her bones to heal" Alex explained her, making her nodded.
Halley was much more cooperated during the process, seeing how the child observed her blue cast kind of confused, touching with her fingertips.
"I won't be able to move the hand, will I?" Halley asked her.
"No..., you won't, but it will be just for a few days, okay?" she told her, brushing her cousin's hair away from her face.
The six year old just nodded without wanting to say anything else, just leaning on the bed and closing her eyes as if she was ready to fall asleep.
"Kara" Halley called her, so she looked at her. "I'm sorry" the child whispered opening her eyes with so many tears being contained in them.
"What? Why?"she asked confused.
"I've been not behaving well" the six year old said barely looking at her. "It's okay if you don't want me to stay with you" her cousin whispered.
"That's ridiculous, Why wouldn't I want you to be with me?" she asked really hurt by her cousin assumption, observing how the child shrugged. "Halley, Did you been doing all of so I would have an excuse to leave you?" she questioned, feeling tears contained in her eyes when she saw her baby cousin nod. "I would never do that, baby" she whiped her cousin's tears.
"I was scared, I... I thought I was going to lose you... They wanted to kill you..." Halley started sobbing. "And I saw mom... Astra die... I can't lose you" her cousin cried even louder.
"Oh, baby, it's okay, I'm here, I'm here" she embraced the six year old. "I won't ever leave you, okay?" she told her holding her face. "I will always be here with you no matter what... Your mom will be forever in your heart, little one" she kissed the child's forehead before embracing her again. "Won't do this ever again, please" she begged her keeping her close.
"I won't" Halley answered resting her head in her shoulder.
"Remember, kiddo, El Mayarah..." she started talking, pulling away the child.
"Stronger together" her cousin completed making her smile while nodding. "I love you" the six year old whispered.
"Love you, too, baby" she kissed her forehead, before hugging the child as tight as possible, not ever wanting to let her go.
Hi!
I tried my best to write Halley misbehaving in this chapter, I hope you like it.
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think,
Ayrin