KARA'S P. O. V
Solitude. She hated it. She didn't like when she was alone. It reminded her of all those years she had spent inside that pod in the Phantom Zone and what was happening at that moment, wasn't different from it.
She was locked inside an ice cube, kryptonite weakening every single cell of her body, her heart pounding heavily in her chest as she tried to process everything that was going on.
Her best friend or, at least, her former best friend, had locked her there and then had hypnotized her baby cousin to take her away from there, from her.
She closed her eyes remembering her cousin's blue eyes staring back at her, how the child was so scared of everything that was happening around her, how Halley had tried to free her even having so little strength.
"Kara?" she heard her sister's voice, breathing with a little of agitation until the she was freed, so she approached the panel control. "We couldn't reach you on comms, Are you alright? Where is Halley?" Alex asked as she traced Myriad's signal.
"I have to find Lena" she said trying to remain calm.
"What did Rama Khan do?" her sister questioned confused, not understanding what was happening.
"It wasn't him, it was Lena, she knew" she answered still working on finding her.
"She knew what?" Alex frowned as she turned to look at her sister.
"My identity, she has known for months" she told them, her sister and Brainy being surprised by the information. "Lex told her and she hates me for it" she commented as she finally got a location.
She barely listened to what they were saying, just turning to leave to where Lena and her cousin were supposed to be.
"Where are you going?" Alex asked.
"To fix this" she answered shortly before flying away from there.
The moment she found herself in front of the bunquer, she frowned, not understanding the reason why her friend would be pointing at her with those canyons, barely having time to react when they shot.
However, she couldn't avoid panicking when she saw the canyons filled with kryptonite, her hands over her head, surrendering herself.
"Let me take Halley, please" she asked just wanting to protect her baby cousin, but she didn't receive an answer. "Lena, please, she's a child" she tried again, still no answer. "I'm not going to give up on you" she told her before flying back to the DEO.
She was upset. Her cousin was alone without her protection, probably as scared as she was, but she needed to be strong, to keep fighting to stop Lena doing something that her friend would regret.
"Hey, Did you find Lena? What is she doing in Lex's bunker?" her sister asked as she approached Brainy while asking for help. "Okay, stop, When did Lex tell her your identity? And why was she attacking you at the Fortress?" Alex looked at her waiting for an answer.
"It was after Shelley Island" she finally answered. "Lex portal to a safe house where Lena shot him. She killed him to protect all of us, but before he died, he told her" she explained not even being able to stare at her sister.
"She's been lying to us for months" Alex commented, being surprised by the reveal. "So why attack you now?"
"So she could steal Myriad from the Fortress" she said, her sister frowning.
"Lena stole Myriad from the Fortress?" Alex asked not believing what she had heard.
"That's how I tracked her" she answered, still trusting her friend. "I don't think this is what it looks like. She saved me from Rama Khan at the Fortress and even a Lex's bunker, the canyons were loaded with kryptonite, but she didn't use them" she explained.
"But still, she has kidnapped Halley" her sister pointed out as she sighed.
"I can still fix this. I can get through to her if I can just talk to her" she told them, turning to look at Brainy. "Can you me in there?" she asked.
"We could harness the Kryptonian cache crystals we have here to covertly project a hologram beam into her bunker" Brainy explained, giving her a little bit of hope.
"Okay, if not for mind control over the population, then why would Lena need Myriad?" her sister asked as she shrugged, not knowing what to answer.
"I think I might know" J'onn said phasing in there, his brother behind him.
"Malefic" Alex whispered while pointing at him with a gun, some agents following her instructions as J'onn tried to stop her.
"Alex, please" J'onn said for the second time. "Malefic and I mind melted, I know his true intentions, he is here to help" he explained. "He has some information about Lena" he added, getting her to frown.
"I was her prisoner" J'onn's brother told them.
She stared at him confused, not understanding the reason why her best friend had kept Malefic as a prisoner.
A few minutes later they were inside an interrogation room, really hoping to get some answers to her questions.
"But what did she need you for?" she asked, standing next to her sister.
"Mind control" Malefic answered, getting everyone to panic, even her, though she tried not to.
"We don't even know her intentions" she tried to calm everyone down. "She's trying to make people less violent" she explained, still believing in her.
"You use Myriad to impose your will on the world population, not to save it" Alex told her as she shook her head.
"She's hurting!" she exclaimed. "All she experienced is people hurting each other as the same way I did. Clearly, she thinks, she's doing good" she defended her friend.
"It's true, I long planned to destroy my brother, but Mrs. Luthor stopped me" Malefic explained.
"She's not hurting anyone, I can still save her, Alex" she looked at her sister, who stared back at her.
"You don't know that" her sister said. "Halley is still there with her, Kara" Alex added.
"Mrs. Luthor experimented on that child, she tested the Q-waves on her... I think she used kryptonite" J'onn's brother said to everyone's surprise, moment at which she shook her head not wanting to believe it.
However, deep down she knew that it hadn't been the first time her friend had used kryptonite on the eight year old, which only got to increase her nervousness about what would be happening to her baby cousin.
"I need to talk to her" she told them shortly before leaving that room.
HALLEY'S P. O. V
She had woken up in a different place, it wasn't Lena's lab, even though it was still a lab, but it look different and colder.
She frowned a little while staring at Eve, who was following Lena's instructions on how to do it, but not getting Myriad to work properly.
"It's not going to work" she whispered while observing how Lena was trying to fix Myriad, getting the woman to look at her.
"Why?" Lena asked as she shook her head, bowing down her head, but still feeling observed.
"It's Kryptonian technology, yours won't be enough to fix it" she answered in just a whispered, barely being able to look at the CEO.
"How do you know that?" the woman questioned, frowning a little. "You used to be there when your parents were working on it, weren't you?" Lena looked directly into her eyes, so she nodded. "Do you know how to fix it?" her cousin's friend or former friend asked.
At that moment she sighed. She did know how to fix it or at least where the problem was, but she didn't want to tell her, so she remained in silence, looking at her feet.
"Halley, sweetie, I just want to help people" Lena told her, but she shook her head scared.
"Myriad is bad" she whispered, getting the woman to frown. "It will hurt people" she pointed out.
"Well, not exactly, it will help to people not to lie" Lena defended herself, moment at which she realized the reason why Lena was so upset with Kara. "You're cousin makes you lie everyday, you can't tell who you really are" the woman commented while staring at her.
"She wants to protect me" she answered. "Bad people would hurt me if they knew that I'm her cousin" she explained looking directly into the woman's eyes, getting Lena to sigh.
However, she didn't get an answer as Lena continued working, knowing that she wasn't going to give her the information that she wanted.
She closed her eyes in fear the moment she saw how Lena managed to get Myriad to work, which was making her remember what had happened about three years ago.
"We're so close, Hope" Lena said. "We can save them" the CEO commented.
"You won't save people with Myriad, they will be scared" she told her, hoping that it would stop her, but Lena didn't even bother to look at her. "I lost my mom because of it and she wanted to save this planet, too" she explained with tears in eyes.
"I'm not using it the same way they did" Lena looked at her as the tears started to stream down her cheeks.
She turned when she heard her cousin's voice, feeling a little bit more relaxed when she saw the hologram, Kara was fine or, at least, she hoped she was.
"Kara!" she exclaimed before running towards her, standing in front of the hologram while crying, her cousin trying to reason with Lena before focusing on her.
"Hal, baby, don't cry, it's okay" Kara's soothing voice managed to calm her a little, Lena keeping her arm in front of her so she couldn't keep walking.
"I want to be with Kara" she told Lena, who just shook her head before walking to the main control. "No, no..." she sobbed while observing how the hologram disappeared.
"It's okay, come here, kiddo" Lena grabbed her hand before taking to where a bed was, obligating her to sit there before doing the same. "I know you want to be with your cousin, you will be" the woman told her as she looked ar her through tears, still sobbing. "I never meant to hurt you, sweetheart, or to scare you... I'm so sorry you were involved in all of this" her cousin's friend apologized while wiping her tears, her tiny hand was still in between hers.
"Are you going to hurt Kara?" she questioned in barely a whisper.
"No, I don't want to hurt her, at least not physically" Lena answered. "I just want her to understand the pain I have felt during these months" the woman explained as she rubbed her eyes, Lena embracing her tightly. "You should be sleeping, it's late" the CEO commented as she shook her head. "Lay down, Hal" Lena told her, so she did, still crying.
The woman smiled a little while starting to stroke her brown hair, her blue eyes closing slowly as she heard to Lena's soothing voice singing a lullaby, one that she had never heard before, but that it was managing to calm her down until she fell asleep.
KARA'S P. O. V
She was upset. Her best friend hadn't stopped using Myriad and her baby cousin was still away from her, even though, at least, she knew that Halley was fine.
However, she couldn't forget the way the eight year old was crying, wanting to be with her, feeling desperate to hold the child in between her arms and whisper reassuring words to her cousin.
"You okay?" her sister asked while approaching her.
"No. I couldn't get through to her" she answered, her gaze still focused on the city. "You know, a part of me always knew that this couldn't be that easy" she said looking at her sister. "And I get it. I fully understand why she feels betrayed" she started to explain. "It's so hard for her to trust people, but I made her trust me. Over and over again, I made her believe that I was the best friend who would never, ever hurt her" she shook her head in tears. "And then she finds out in the most horrible way that our entire friendship was based on... lies" she sighed, her sister staring at her with sadness.
"Your choice to conceal your identity, it wasn't born out of a place of maliciousness. It was born out of love and compassion" Alex said wanting to calm her down. "You were just trying to protect your family, you were trying to protect Lena from people who could use that information to hurt us" her sister told her. "And, look, I love Lena, too. I am deeply upset by what is going on. But this is... this isn't just two friends that are in a fight, this is someone who has turned a corner" Alex pointed out showing her real feelings.
"No, but this is not her. This is not our Lena" she tried to keep defending her friend, she was still able to see the good in her.
"Well, who is our Lena?" her sister asked. "I mean... she knew that Lex was out of prison, and she said nothing. She kept Sam Arias locked in-in a subbasement at L-Corp, knowing that she was Reign, and she said nothing" Alex enumerated. "She knows how to make kryptonite, and she kept that hidden from us, she even used it on Halley" her sister looked at her upset. "Lena is living her own double life"
"You are making her sound like a Luthor" she pointed out, not wanting to think about her friend being evil.
"Maybe that's because she is one" her sister answered. "We can't put our faith in some distant hope that she's gonna do the right thing, and... when every single action that she has taken up until now points to the contrary" Alex explained. "We have to stop her, Kara. The safety of the world depends on that"
"No, she is not Lex, I will not treat her like a villain" she told her sister.
"I know you won't, that's why I have to" Alex stated as she frowned not understanding what she was referring to. "When you went to speak to her, we used the hologram to piggyback a virus into the bunker's mainframe" her sister explained to her surprise.
"Alex, did you use me?" she asked.
"In a few moments, Lena's defenses will be down and Myriad will be stalled" her sister answered. "And, by then, if we have to take more drastic actions, Claymore 3 is position above Mount Norquay and I will give her time to surrender" Alex told her as she turned, not being able to believe what she was hearing. "Kara, we need to start thinking with our heads, not our hearts"
"Have you even thought that my baby cousin is there?" she asked, feeling a lump in her throat, her sister staring at her. "What if she doesn't surrender? They will die, Alex, you can't do this" tears were being contained in her eyes, not really wanting to think about it.
"We will take Halley safely from there, we both know that Lena won't take that risk" her sister assured her, but she shook her head.
"I can't risk my cousin's life" she told her sister, trying to keep herself as calm as possible.
"I won't give the order if Halley is still inside" Alex promised her, but she just looked away for a few seconds before walking away from there, not stopping when her sister called her.
She sighed. She didn't want to treat her best friend as villain, but, deep down, she didn't know what to trust anymore.
HALLEY'S P. O. V
Her head was resting on her arms as she observed how Lena's project was starting to work, tears being contained in her eyes, knowing that everything would change after that.
"What's happening?" she heard Lena ask, the DEO was trying to stop Myriad.
However, that didn't mean that Lena stopped working, since she kept trying to fix it, to reach her goal, but the CEO ended sitting on a chair beside her, giving up.
She looked at Lena with a little bit of sadness, but hoping that it would mean that they were doing back home as she just wanted for her cousin to embrace her.
"They stopped Myriad, I don't understand" Eve or Hope, said while approaching them.
"There's nothing to understand, I lost" Lena answered. "This is a life lesson to learn, sometimes the good guys don't win" the woman commented. "Come on, kiddo, we're leaving" the CEO grabbed her hand before the three of them walked through a portal, appearing at Lena's lab.
She frowned while observing how Lena was taking a gun in her hands, her whole body shivering as she couldn't avoid a bad feeling to take control of her.
"I'm sorry I failed, I wished there were more I could do for you, Mrs. Luthor" Eve apologized.
"There is" Lena gave her the gun as she shook her head before covering her eyes with her hands, afraid.
When she opened her eyes again, they were surrounded by FBI agents, Eve letting the gun fall to the ground as she stared at Lena confused about what was happening.
"Hey, kiddo, Are you okay?" One of the agents asked while approaching at her, but she just walked backwards until she was next to Lena.
"They're here to help, sweetie" Lena said, trying to calm her down.
"Director Danvers asked me to take her to the DEO" the agent explained, but she wasn't truly trusting her, so she just stayed still.
"Halley, kiddo, look at me" Lena asked, getting her to do it. "She's going to take you home, it's okay" her cousin's friend explained while gently caressing her hair.
She walked slowly toward the agent, letting the woman grab her hand, looking one last time at Lena before they walked outside.
She let go of the woman's hand the moment she saw Alex, a huge smile on her face as well as tears in her eyes.
"Alex!" she exclaimed, the director crouching to her height to embrace her as tight as possible.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked, pulling her away a little, to what she nodded. "Good" the woman smiled before kissing her forehead. "Let's go find Kara, kiddo" her cousin's sister told her.
She tried to contain her tears, but not being able to stop them from running down her cheeks when her cousin's arms were wrapping around her.
"It's okay, baby, I'm here with you" Kara wiped her tears. "You're safe" her cousin whispered before kissing her forehead, increasing the strength of the hug.
KARA'S P. O. V
She stroked her baby cousin's hair, just wanting to keep the child calm, even though Halley was asleep, but she was scared that if she stopped, the kid would wake up.
"How's Halley?" Alex asked walking inside the med bay.
"Asleep" she answered. "She was a little bit afraid, but I prefer not to ask her anything yet" she explained, being scared of what her cousin would tell her.
"And how are you?" her sister asked her.
"I don't know" she answered while shrugging.
"Me neither" Alex sighed. "When the FBI went to arrest Lena, Eve was there" her sister told her as she frowned. "She confessed the whole thing" those words made her closed her eyes, part of her fighting to believe that it was true.
"I wish that was true" she commented.
"Well, we recovered Myriad, but you know Lena, she's not going to stop" Alex explained.
"I know" she looked away. "She's alive thanks to you" she pointed out.
"And to you, I mean, you were right about saving Lena and Malefic" her sister admitted. "You had a lot more faith than I did"
"If we could save Malefic's soul..." she started saying.
"Maybe we can save Lena's" Alex completed, to what she smiled a little while nodding. "Kelly and I are gonna get some sushi, Wanna join?" her sister asked.
"No, no, I should be taking this little one home" she answered while picking her cousin up, Halley's eyes fluttering open. "It's okay, baby, we're going home" she told her, her cousin resting her head on her shoulder without closing her eyes again.
"See you tomorrow, girls" her sister ruffled Halley's hair before leaving.
Once at her apartment, they barely had dinner, she wasn't hungry at all, not after everything that had happened, and she knew that her cousin wasn't fine either.
She was sitting on the couch with the child's head resting on her lap as the child remained with the eyes closed, even though she wasn't asleep, her cousin's heartbeat was still accelerated.
She sighed, caressing Halley's hair while observing the picture she had in her other hand, one of Lena and her, thinking about how it was possible that she had lost her best friend.
"Can you read me a book?" Halley asked, moving her head to look at her, to what she smiled.
"Sure, Which one do you want?" she asked her as her cousin got up from the couch to get the book. "This one, Flamebird and Nightwing?" she looked at the child, who nodded while sitting next to her. "Okay, kiddo" she smiled, wrapping one arm around her cousin before taking the book, Halley snuggling closer to her.
The eight year old smiled while listening to the story, observing how her cousin was being as attentive as the first time she had read it to her.
"They were heros like you" Halley said while looking at her. "You saved the world, too" the child commented, to what she smiled.
"Someday you'll save it, too" she caressed her cousin's cheek.
"But I want to do it with you by my side" the eight year old smiled at her.
"I would love that, my little Flamebird" she kissed the child's forehead, Halley closing her eyes with her head over her shoulder.
"I was scared" the child admitted in just a whisper.
"I know, I was scared, too" she told her, keeping her embraced as tight as possible. "But now you're here with me" she said.
"Forever and always" Halley stated with a smile.
"Forever and always" she repeated while kissing her brown hair, promising herself that she would never abandon that little girl.
Hi!
It was hard writing this chapter, having to figure out where to put Halley, but I think it worked out well.
The conversation Kara has with Halley could tease something, but it depends on how the crossover is.
I'm really excited for the crossover, the sneak peek was like too much, plus all the promos... I have so many ideas, but I would have to wait to watch it.
Thanks so much for reading, Ayrin