KARA'S P. O. V
"Alex!" the eight year old let go of her hand before running towards the DEO's director.
"Hey, kiddo" her sister smiled embracing the child tightly. "How was school?" Alex asked the kid.
"Good" Halley answered happily as her sister looked at her.
Her cousin ran toward Brainy, who stared at the child a little bit confused as the eight year old started asking him questions, which made both of them to burst into laughing.
"Well, they'll be both entertain for the next few minutes" her sister commented still observing them. "What's wrong? You're frowning" Alex pointed out as she sighed.
"I've talked to Halley's teacher" she answered. "She's doing really good, her teacher says that Halley is a gifted child and that she should be in a special program" she tried to explain.
"And why is that so bad?" her sister asked as she observed her cousin, Brainy was starting not to know how to deal with the child.
"It's not bad, I've known that she was gifted ever since I met her" she told her sister. "She's different enough from the rest of kids her age, this would only make her even more different" she commented still frowning, not knowing what was best for her cousin.
"But that program can help her develop those abilities" Alex tried to reason with her, but she shook her head.
"No, I'll work on that with her, just the two of us" she answered. "I'll be introducing her more into Krypton's history and we'll be doing more advanced calculus" she said, hoping that it would help as much as that program would do it.
"Do you think that's enough? I mean, it's a huge opportunity for her" her sister asked concerned about the child losing that opportunity.
"After everything that has happened, I don't think she's going to react well to it" she shook her head, even though she was still meditating both options. "I want the best for her, but right now I think that all she needs are her friends and moving her to a different school would break her" she explained, her sister just embracing her tightly for a few seconds.
"You're a good mommy for her, Kara" Alex commented, making her smile a little. "Kelly wanted to know if you have thought about treating Halley with Obsidian North's tech" her sister asked as she sighed.
"I'm not letting my cousin begin treated with that, not after what I've learnt" she answered, thinking about how she should tell her sister about Andrea Rojas. "Remember I've told you that William was up to something?" she asked her, waiting for Alex to nod. "Well, he's not a murderer, but he's investigating Andrea because he believes that she's the one behind everything that has been happening recently" she tried to make sense, but not being able to keep talking because Brainy approached them, being followed by Halley.
"Can you please take your cousin somewhere else?" the coluan asked her, being frustrated about having to answer every single question of the child.
"Halley, What did you do?" she asked her cousin, who frowned while staring at her.
"I didn't do anything" the eight year old protested, so she looked at Brainy.
"She doesn't stop to make questions, I can't concentrate" Brainy explained. "She's an amazing child, but I can't work with her asking everything I'm doing" he told them.
"He was doing it wrong, I helped him" her cousin folded her arms over her chest while frowning.
"I wasn't... Oh, I see" he said staring at his tablet. "Thank you, Halley" Brainy ruffled the child's hair before going back to his computer.
"Okay, we should be leaving, Hal, you have to do your homework" she told her cousin while taking her hand. "I'll call you later" she looked at her sister, who nodded shortly before they flew away from there.
The eight year old did her homework as soon as they were at home, so she sat down next to her ready to teach her a little bit more about their culture.
Halley was always happy to hear new stories from Krypton as the child would stare at her with a huge smile on her little face and her blue eyes shining with enjoyment.
She embraced the child in between her arms, gently caressing her hair while sighing, not knowing if she was doing the right thing, just wanting her cousin's happiness after all.
"No!" Halley screamed, waking her up.
Her cousin was tossing in the bed while crying, claiming that whatever that was happening in the nightmare, was hurting, so she wrapped her arms around her small frame, just trying to calm her down.
"You're safe, baby" she whispered in her ear as the kid opened her eyes, being able to find fear in them. "It's okay, I'm here, sweetie" she caressed her cheek, Halley still crying. "Do you want to tell me what it was about?" she asked pulling the kid away a little, her cousin shaking her head. "Okay, let's try to go back to sleep" she told her while embracing her again.
"Can we get up?" Halley asked in barely a whisper.
"Sure" she answered getting up before taking the child in her arms.
The two of them sat down on the couch, the eight year old keeping herself as close as possible to her, so she kept hugging her, waiting for the child to calm down.
It was four A. M in the morning and, even though, they should be sleeping, , they were watching a movie, hoping that it would keep the child relaxed.
"I remember blood" the eight year old murmured, getting her to look at her kind of confused. "He used different instruments to make the cuts" her cousin stared at her as she observed her with sadness.
"It's okay, you're safe now, baby girl" she caressed her hair gently. "He won't hurt you ever again, Halley" she promised the child before kissing her forehead.
Halley seemed to calm down a little her head resting on her lap, so she caressed her cousin's hair until the child was sounded asleep, moment at which she went back to bed with the kid in her arms.
However, that didn't mean that she would sleep, since she stayed awake until her alarm rang, waking up the little one that rested by her side.
"I don't want to go to school" her cousin murmured.
"Why not?" she asked helping the child to sit down on a stool at the kitchen.
"I won't know anyone" Halley looked directly into her eyes, which broke her heart into pieces, feeling responsible for her cousin's fear.
"It will be just today, tomorrow you will be with your classmates again, okay?" she tried to calm her down, but the child shook her head.
The school had insisted about Halley going to special program they had, just to test her abilities, however, she was the youngest kid in that program and she could tell that it was starting to scare her baby cousin.
Just as the first day of school, the little girl refused to let go of her hand, begging her not to leave her there and, for a few seconds, she really thought about taking the child with her.
"Hey, calm down, baby" she kneeled down to her cousin's height. "I'm scared, too, Halley" she admitted, getting her cousin to look at her with tears in her eyes. "I'll be here if you need me, kiddo, I promise" she embraced her tightly. "Everything will be fine, okay?" she took the kid's face in between her hands, getting her cousin to nod.
She kissed the child's forehead before standing up and grabbing her cousin's hand, feeling how her own tears were threatened to escape her eyes the moment she left Halley at her new classroom, being insecure about if she was making the right choice.
HALLEY'S P. O. V
"Hey, girls" the DEO's director smiled approaching them, but she stayed still whilelooking down, even when Alex embraced her. "How was it?" Alex asked.
"Um... Not good" Kara answered observing her as was still calming down after having been crying for the last few minutes. "If I want, she will be accepted at another school that it's better for gifted kids" her cousin told her sister, which made her frown after hearing her words.
"And what are you going to do?" Alex questioned as she shook her head.
"I won't let that happen" her cousin answered while picking her up. "I want her to be happy, to be a normal child, so she's staying at her school with her friends" Kara explained embracing her as tight as possible. "I have to go to CatCo, Can you stay with her?" her cousin asked her sister, who nodded even if she didn't want to let go from Kara.
"Don't leave" she whispered burying her face in her cousin's neck.
"It will be okay, I will come back soon" Kara kissed her forehead before leaving her in the floor.
She was held by Alex the moment she tried to run after Kara, calling her cousin's name repeatedly, not calming down when Alex pick her up to embrace her.
"It's okay, kiddo" the woman whispered while rubbing circles on her back. "Do you want us to do something?" Alex asked, pulling her away a little.
"Drawing" she answered, to what her cousin's sister nodded.
She spent the evening drawing, being supervised by Alex, sometimes by Brainy, however, she couldn't avoid panic after hearing to her cousin's voice asking for J'onn's help.
Alex stopped her before she could run inside the med bay, where her cousin was unconscious, just wanting to make sure that Kara was alright, not being able to avoid crying in the woman's arms, feeling so desperate about knowing her cousin's health.
"She's okay, just unconscious" J'onn told them, gently stroking her hair. "Come here, kiddo" he picked her up, embracing her as tight as possible. "Do you want to lay down beside her?" he asked, to what she nodded, so he laid her down on the stretcher.
She rested her head on her cousin's shoulder, embracing Kara with left arm, just focusing on her heartbeat, which was managing to calm her down.
"Sweet dreams, kiddo" Alex kissed her forehead the moment she closed her eyes, finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.
KARA'S P. O. V
She smiled a little when William opened the door, trying to keep her cousin in her arms, the child had fallen asleep a few minutes ago.
"I'm sorry I brought her, but none could stay with her" she apologized when he stared at her before observing the child.
"It's okay" he whispered shaking his head while walking away. "Don't worry, I didn't confront Andrea, but believe me, I wanted to" he assured her as she took a picture from her pocket. "I'm more confused than ever, if their not the villains, then who?" he questioned as she sighed.
"And this is when it gets even more confusing" she commented, trying to find a way to tell him. "The DEO caught Rip Roar and they were able to ID him..., he's Russell" she told him while handing him the photo they had made.
"What? This is not possible" William shook his head in disbelief. "I thought they had killed him... I don't believe it, What could have they done to turn him into that... Monster?" he asked.
"I'm so sorry" she whispered approaching him. "I know how painful this is, but now that we have him in custody, the good thing is that we can finally get you some answers" she tried to calm him down.
"Thank you" he said looking up at her. "You know I didn't want you involved in any of this, but I don't know how would I do it without you" he admitted, to what she just nodded while keeping a firm grip on Halley when the child stirred in her arms.
"It's okay, you're safe" she whispered the moment her cousin opened her eyes just to look at her. "Go back to sleep, baby" she gently brushed her cousin's dark hair away from her face, the child staring at her before finally closing her eyes again, her tiny hands gripping her jacket as if the kid was afraid of letting go off her.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but it's her dad still in the picture or it's just you taking care of her?" William asked after having observed the scene.
"Well, Halley is my biological cousin, her mom died when she was five and she's been with me ever since then" she explained, seeing how he frowned before nodding a little. "So I can say that it's just me" she told him, answering to his question.
"How do you do it? It has to be so hard" he questioned kind of curious about it, which made her smile a little.
"It's hard, but it's worth it, she's a lovely child" she smiled being proud of how her cousin was growing up. "Although, I have family and friends that help me" she told him. "We should be heading home, see you tomorrow" she smiled walking towards the door, William opening it up.
"Bye, see you tomorrow, Kara" he whispered shortly before closing the door, moment at which she flew out of there to her loft.
She laid her cousin on the couch, wrapping the child with a blanket as she prepared everything they would need for their little excursion, knowing that Halley would be really excited about it once she would tell her.
She prepared a backpack with some food, water and a two blankets, also packaging her cousin's telescope, so when everything was ready she took her baby cousin in her arms and leaped into the night sky.
"Kara?" the eight year old rubbed her eyes as she landed on the ground. "Where are we?" the child asked observing their surroundings, it was all darkness.
"It's was supposed to be a surprise" she said with a smile, taking the kid to the safe place her aunt had made.
"Thank you" Halley embraced herself at her, so she hugged her back.
"Don't thank me, baby" she told her, keeping her embraced. "And now let's observe the stars" she kissed her cousin's hair.
She knew that it was a risk for them to be there, the government was still studying the place where Fort Rozz had landed, even though she was surprised that they hadn't discovered that place yet, but thankful that her cousin's identity was still a secret.
Halley was sitting in her lap, the child's head resting on her chest as both of them were observing the dark night sky, smiling widely whenever the eight year old would point to different stars, telling her their names.
"You're mom would be proud of you, Hal" she commented getting her cousin to look at her.
"Do you really think that?" the child asked, being able to distinguish sadness in her voice.
"Of course I think that, sweetie" she tucked Halley's hair behind her ear. "I am so proud of you, so I know that she would be" she told the child, who smiled a little before snuggling at her.
"I love you" her cousin barely whispered, being loud enough for her to hear it.
"I love you more, baby" she smiled as Halley pulled away from her.
"No, I love you more" the child said while frowning, getting her to laugh while embracing her again.
She kissed the kid's forehead just keeping her as close as possible, a huge smile on her face, just feeling happy of being able to have her baby cousin in between her arms.
Halley had been through a lot during the last few months, however, that didn't stop her from hoping for the eight year old to never lose her innocence.
Hi!
I haven't been so sure about how to write this chapter, but I've been having that idea of Halley being a gifted child ever since I started the fanfic.
I'm writing a lot of ideas for the crossover about how to involve Halley in it and, all I can say, is that I love the few scenes I have written for Halley and Oliver, even though I don't know which one I would be able to fit in once I watch the crossover.
Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think,
Ayrin