KARA'S P.O.V
Her gaze was fixed in her baby cousin, worried about her as the child was embracing Comet with all her strength.
She sighed not knowing how to tell her cousin that the puppy needed to stay at the vet for the night, being aware that the eight year old wasn't going to accept it so easily.
"Hey, baby, it's time to go home" she told her while walking towards her, Halley staring at her while frowning.
"But he's coming with us, right?" the child questioned not daring to let go of Comet, getting her to sigh.
"I'm sorry, sweetie" she whispered shaking her head, her cousin's blue eyes filling up with tears as her lower lip started trembling. "He's going to be fine here, they're going to take care of him" she tried to calm her down while kneeling in front of her. "We'll pick him up tomorrow, but he needs to stay, baby" she wanted to convince the kid, but her cousin shook her head upset.
She sighed. They couldn't take Comet home, the puppy was dehydrated because of the illness, but her baby cousin refused to leave him there, alone.
She had canceled her dinner with Lena the exact moment Comet had started throwing up, convincing herself that telling her best friend the truth could wait, which matter at that moment was that puppy and her baby cousin.
"What if something happens to him? What if he's scared?" the child asked her starting to cry, so she couldn't avoid embracing the little girl in between her arms.
Comet meant everything to Halley and after everything that had happened, she was aware the if something happened to him, her cousin wouldn't recovered from it.
"It's gonna be okay, sweetheart" she whispered. "Look, I have one of his toys, Why don't you give it to him?" she smiled while handing her the toy she had in her bag.
"Okay" her cousin nodded wiping her tears.
The eight year old placed the toy beside Comet before embracing him again, whispering reassuring words in his ears as she was able to observe how the puppy wiggled his tail happily.
"Love you, Comet" the kid whispered before kissing his head.
"We'll be here tomorrow, okay?" she told her cousin while gently petting Comet. "We're gonna miss you at home, boy" she smiled before embracing him.
By the time they were about to leave, Comet started whining, which only caused her cousin to stop walking while looking at her with so much pain in her eyes, so she couldn't avoid picking her up as the child broke down in tears.
"It's okay, baby" she whispered embracing her tightly. "He'll be fine" she kissed the child's forehead.
However, her cousin didn't stop crying, not even once they were at her apartment, just wanting to stay in her arms cuddled at her.
She laid down in bed embracing her baby cousin, just as she had been doing it for the last few weeks as the kid's nightmares were getting worse, remaining awake until the child in her arms would be asleep, only wanting to keep her safe.
It had been hard to leave her baby cousin at school, the eight year old only asking about Comet, having to promise her that they would go to pick him up after school.
At that moment she was with her sister, Kelly and J'onn at Noonan's before going to work, being really worried about how people was using the technology nowadays.
"Technology does a lot of good too, Kara" Kelly told her. "In my new job I'm gonna be using Obsidian's VR tech to heal the brains of dementia and PTSD patients" her sister's girlfriend explained, getting her to nod, that was a really great use of technology. "I... Only if you give me permission, I could use it with Halley" her friend commented.
"Umm... No, I prefer to keep doing it like always" she answered before adding. "I mean, it could risk her identity"
"Well, her file would be confidential, so only I would be able to know what happens during the sessions" Kelly explained as she frowned, not knowing if it would help her baby cousin.
"I'll think about it" she told her.
The child hadn't talked about what happened during the kidnap, just knowing a few things because of the little girl's nightmares, when the kid would explain a little bit.
"Hey, How did it go with Lena last night?" her sister asked once they were alone, to what she just looked down. "I'm dying to... Oh, no, I know that face" Alex commented. "Are you se... You didn't tell her?"
"It's not my fault I had to take the dog to the vet" she tried to defend herself.
"Comet? How's he? And Halley?" her sister questioned her.
"They're both fine, well, Halley will be as soon as we pick him up" she answered. "It was a hard night, though" she commented remembering how her cousin hadn't been able to sleep, waking up constantly because of nightmares.
"When are you going to tell Lena?" her sister asked her, to what she shrugged not knowing what to answer. "Oh, come on, Kara, when I told you to hold off I just meant for one night" Alex approached her as she sighed.
"But there's been so much going on with Halley... And I've been helping you recover all those prisoners from the DEO desert facility" she tried to explain, but the truth was that she had been focusing on other things, so she wouldn't have enough time to talk to Lena.
She had tried a few times but never being brave enough to do it, not knowing how Lena was going to react, how it was going to affect their friendship, but most of all she was afraid of losing her best friend.
"I'm terrible" she whispered.
"No, you're not, you're just scared" her sister tried to reassure her.
"I'm so scared that she's never going to forgive me, Alex" she admitted in barely a whisper.
"Oh, Kara, you have to be brave and tell her" Alex embraced her as she sighed, she should.
"You're right, we're having lunch today, I'll tell her" she assured trying to sound confidence, even though she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to find her voice.
The moment her sister had told her about the museum, she hadn't doubted it, flying away from L-corp as fast as possible, not even thinking about the fact that she hadn't told Lena the truth. She needed to reach the museum, her baby cousin was there.
"That's new and terrible" she commented observing the dinosaur in front of her.
The fight wasn't as easy as she thought, not being able to prevent it when the dinosaur hit her with its tail throwing against a poster before falling to the floor.
She couldn't avoid making a disgust grimace when she found out that it was Lex Luthor's poster, frowning a little bit when her gaze found her baby cousin hiding under a staircase, the child's blue eyes filled with fear.
"Stay there" she whispered, Halley barely nodding at her words as she turned the moment J'onn landed there.
"Alex said you might need my help" he told her, to what she nodded.
"Let's get the dino" she looked at him while getting up. "J'onn" she screamed after observing how her friend fall to the ground, running to him while seeing how that shapeshifter flew away in the kryptonian pod. "Hey, Are you okay?" she asked J'onn, helping him to sit up.
"J'onn?" she heard her cousin ask, which made her to look at her, the child was staring at both of them with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Go get her, I'm fine" he told her, so after being sure that he was fine, she walked over to her cousin.
The eight year old didn't hesitate to hug at her, so she wrapped her arms around the child only wanting to calm her down.
"It's okay, baby" she whispered in her cousin's ear, being aware of the people that was surrounding them, she couldn't risk her identity or her cousin's.
However, she took the child in her arms, embracing her as tight as possible, noticing how her baby cousin was griping her cape in her fists as her breath was more agitated, the kid was having a panic attack.
"Try to breathe, kiddo" she pulled her away a little, Halley shaking her head while sobbing. "Yes, you can. In and out" she instructed observing how the kid was starting to follow her indications. "Good job, baby" she smiled embracing her again. "I have to take you with the rest of your class, okay?" she told her.
"No, don't leave me" the eight year old increased the strength of the grip.
"I'll pick you up as soon as I leave J'onn at the DEO, I promise" she tried to convince her, her cousin looking at her for a few seconds before nodding, so she approached her cousin's teacher.
"Halley!" the teacher exclaimed as she left her cousin on the floor. "Thank you, Supergirl"
She smiled at her as an answer, just looking one last time at cousin promising that she would come back shortly before leaving with J'onn to the DEO.
She was relieved of finally having told her best friend the truth of her identity, but she had to admit that she was still scared of how it was going to change their friendship now that Lena knew.
She was flying to her friend's penthouse to pick her cousin up as she had asked Lena to take the kid with her when Midnight had started attacking at the ceremony. However, she didn't think she would find her best friend at the balcony when she landed.
"Lena, I can't tell you how much it means to me that you were there tonight, that you're even willing to talk to me at all" she told her friend, finally feeling as if she was in peace with herself.
"Thank you for telling me the truth, but Kara..." her friend sighed while shaking her head slightly. "Things can't be like they were before" Lena said as she panicked, what if Lena wasn't fine with it. "Do you understand that it can't be anymore secrets between us? I have to be in on everything" her best friend asked.
"You will be" she assured her while showing her the watch. "You know everything now" she offered it to her, Lena taking the watch in her hands to observe it. "If you ever need me, all you have to do is call" she told her, to what her friend smiled a little, which made her smile back.
She turned her head to observe the eight year old asleep on the couch, the little girl was finally taking some rest, so she couldn't avoid smiling a little.
"Thanks for staying with her" she smiled at her friend, happy of being able to act normally with her cousin not matter that Lena was there.
"It wasn't a problem, she's such a nice kid" Lena answered her.
"I should be taking her home" she commented picking up the child, her cousin's head falling over her shoulder.
"I think you should know by now, but they took pictures of both of you at the museum" her friend commented as she nodded.
"Yeah, Supergirl comforting a child" she smiled a little, some of the pictures were beautiful. "I'm fine as long as none discovers our relationship" she explained hugging a little tighter her cousin. "Hey, How about lunch tomorrow? Since we couldn't have one yesterday..." she asked her friend.
"Sure, lunch" Lena answered smiling.
"See you tomorrow, then" she smiled before leaping into the sky with her cousin in her arms.
The moment she got home, she laid the eight year old on the couch, not really wanting to wake her up, at least not until she had the dinner ready.
The child was still having nightmares about what had happened during the kidnapping, so it wasn't at surprised that her baby cousin was exhausted.
However, she turned when she heard her cousin throwing up, the kid standing beside the couch, bending to the floor as she ran to help her, gently wiping the child's face, who shivered in her arms, Halley was having a fever.
"It's okay, I got you, baby" she whispered sitting the child on the couch, her cousin barely looking at her. "How are you feeling?" she questioned her while cleaning the floor.
"Not good" Halley whispered rubbing her eyes.
"It's okay, sweetie" she tried to keep her calm. "Let's give you a bath, baby" she said offering her hand to hold for the kid, taking her cousin to the bathroom before helping her to remove her clothes.
She frowned the moment she found a bruised area on her cousin's arm, the little girl whimpering when she touched it, keeping her arm away from her. However, she kept staring that spot, greenish veins being visible under the child's skin, her own fingers turning green, too. It was kryptonite.
"It hurts" Halley complained in tears, so she removed her hand observing the kid kind of confused.
"How did you get this?" she asked, Halley observing her arm while frowning, shrugging a little as an answer. "You don't know who did this?" she questioned her hoping for an answer, but her cousin shook her head.
She nodded before helping the child with the bath and to get the pajamas on, her baby cousin still hot at her touch, which managed to worry her.
Halley laid down on the couch with Comet by her side, her head resting on him with her eyes closed, the eight year old shaking her head when she asked if she wanted something for dinner.
At that moment she decided to call her sister, worried about what was happening with her baby cousin, trying to remember any moment in which the child could have been in danger.
"Hey, Kara, What's up?" her sister answered the call.
"Halley is sick, she has a little bit of kryptonite in her arm" she tried to explain while observing the child's arm, it was getting greener.
"Are you sure?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, she's running a fever" she told her.
"Okay, I'll be there" her sister said before hanging up.
She approached the child, gently brushing her dark hair away from her face, only getting the child to open her eyes to look at her.
"I don't want you to be mad" her cousin whispered as she frowned.
"Why would I be mad?" she questioned confused.
"Because it was Lena" Halley answered in a whisper as she forgot to breathe, not understanding why her best friend would have done that. "But she didn't want to hurt me" the eight year old added when she frowned, confused, not knowing how to react.
"Halley, you have kryptonite in your arm..." she tried to talk while sitting on the couch, her cousin sitting up to get closer to her, hugging at her.
"She just took a little bit of blood, I was supposed to be asleep" the child explained as she sighed. "Don't be mad at her, please" her cousin begged looking directly into her eyes.
"Okay, I won't" she said taking her cousin to sit her on her lap, embracing the child tightly.
She kept her cousin in between her arms, trying to remain calm, still looking for an answer to why her friend had took her cousin's blood, not knowing why Lena would want it.
She sighed, wanting to keep trusting her best friend, but when it comes to her baby cousin's safety, she would protect that child not matter from who it was.
Hi!
I've writing and rewriting this chapter since I watched the first episode, deciding which scenes, changing the POVs...
I still believe that Lena won't become a villain, but writing her taking Halley's blood is a way of getting Halley into that story arch.
I was reading a few old plots and chapters and I found a little fragment of how I imagined this fanfic at first. There are so many differences, Halley's name was Autumn and she was supposed to be three years old, she was going to meet Kara when Alex was kidnapped by the hellgrammite. Also, Astra would have asked Kara to take Halley in shortly before dying.
She smiled observing how the three year old was drawing while humming a song, her blue eyes focused on the line she was making with a marker.
She placed a bowl of crackers beside the child, who looked at her while smiling widely before starting eating as she just caressed her hair gently, the little girl going back to drawing.
"It's open!" she exclaimed after hearing someone knocking on the door, knowing that it was her sister.
"Hey, girls" Alex smiled, being able to observe how the little one frown before running to hide behind her legs, which made her laugh.
"Oh, sweetheart, it's Alex, Do you remember her?" she questioned her baby cousin while picking her up, Autumn hiding her face in her shoulder.
"Hi, kiddo" her sister smiled, caressing the kid's hair, but only getting the three year old to whimper.
She embraced the little one tightly, wanting to reassure her cousin as her sister observed them with worry.
She hadn't managed to make the child talk during the few weeks they had been together, barely having listened to a few words from the kid, who at that moment was hugged at her while trembling.
"Do you want to continue coloring?" she asked her cousin, who nodded, so she left her on the floor.
"How is it going?" her sister asked when she sat beside her on the couch.
"Good, better, actually" she answered with a smile. "She's getting a little bit more confidence with me" she explained observing Autumn. "But still not talking" she shrugged, concerned about her baby cousin not really talking.
"She will talk eventually, Kara" her sister tried to reassure her.
She nodded at her sister's words, that toddler needed time to process everything that had happened, to get used to live with her.
The three year old frowned as her lower lip trembled, tears filling up her beautiful blue eyes as she got up from the couch to approach her, not knowing what was going on or why her baby cousin was crying.
However, before she could do anything, Autumn threw herself into her arms, griping tightly to her t-shirt while hiding her face in her neck.
"Mommy" Autumn called in tears, her heart breaking after hearing the baby girl making use of the kryptonese for the first time to call her mother.
"It's okay" she whispered keeping the child close to her, gently stroking her hair. "You're safe, baby girl" she assured her as her cousin put her little hands on her shoulder to pull herself away.
"Mommy" the toddler repeated so innocently, looking directly into her eyes for a few seconds before snuggling at her again.
At that moment she understood that her baby cousin wasn't calling her mom, the child was calling her, the three year old had chosen to name her like that.
She couldn't contain the tears in her eyes while increasing the strength of the hug, her lips on the child's forehead as the little one rested her head over her chest.
"Mommy" Autumn whispered while closing her eyes.
"I'm here, baby, I'm here" she whispered while cradling her, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I love you, baby girl" she kissed her forehead again while sitting on the couch beside her sister, who was smiling at them.
"I may not know kryptonese, but I understood that word" her sister told her as she smiled, the truth was that during the first months in Earth she had called her parents in kryptonese whenever she had had a nightmare. "You're her mom now, Kara" Alex looked at her while gently stroking Autumn's hair, who had fallen asleep in her arms, getting her to nod.
"I am" she whispered still not being able to believe everything that had happened during those past weeks.
"Which means that I'm the cool aunt and that I'll spoil her whenever I want" her sister pointed out making her laugh. "I'm serious about it, Kara" Alex assured her. "It was a beautiful moment, I'm glad I was here to see it happen" her sister smiled.
Her aunt had asked her to take care and protect that little one, to keep her safe and she would fullfil her promise.
Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think,
Ayrin