HALLEY'S P.O.V
"She hated hearing the screams of those her father would punish. The ones from when her parents would argue. Or those from when her father would scold her, punish her.
It never meant anything good and it scared her, so over the last few months she had found a place where she would not listen to them.
That time she knew it would not take long to hear the yelling again, since her father had been following and he was going to find her.
She put her hands over her ears as soon as she heard him getting closer, just trying to block the noise or, at least, most of it.
"I don't have much patience, Halley" he warned before ordering to come out from wherever she was hiding.
She started breathing with agitation as she tried her best to remain quiet inside a cabinet, knowing that a some point he was going to start opening the doors.
"Come on, you don't really want me to have to find you" it was a threat, she knew it by his tone of voice. "I'm counting..." he kept talking as she heard walking closer. "That's it, time is over"
Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest as she listen how her father was opening one and each of the cabinets, closing her eyes the moment she noticed tugging on the door.
"Non! Stop!" she heard her mother's voice.
"No, I told you she was going to be punished" her father answered, tugging again from the door. "She knows she isn't allow to go outside, much less without permission" he commented.
"She's a child. She was exploring" her mom said, trying to protect her.
"Inside a cave?" he asked angrily, but she was able to hear someone else talking, requesting for his help. "This is not over" he said before leaving.
When the door got opened, she met her mother's blue eyes, still keeping her hands over her ears as she started to relax.
"It's okay. You're safe, little star" her mom picked her up, so she hid her face in her shoulder, just wanting to feel protected."
Her eyes met Mon-El's, but she stayed still, her hands over her ears as he approached her, moving away the moment he tried to touch her, so he sat down on the bed while observing her.
She had ran to her bedroom after not being able to stop her cousin's panic attack, feeling scared because of Kara's screams asking her to leave.
"It's alright, kiddo" her best friend whispered, gently grabbing her hands. "Can I?" he asked before pressuring the wound on her chin with some tissues, getting her to wince.
"Kara?" she murmured, her vision still a little bit blurry because of the tears.
"Alex is with her" Mon-El answered, to which she frowned. "She's going to be okay" he assured her, but she didn't know if she should believe him, since it had been the worst panic attack she had seen her cousin suffering.
Slowly she let Mon-El embrace her. Her head resting on his chest as she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down.
"Hey, how is she?" Alex walked inside the room, so she opened her eyes, wanting to know if her cousin was okay. "J'onn is taking her to the Tower, she just need to rest" the woman explained while observing her. "And we need to take a look at that cut" her cousin's sister said before nodding at Mon-El, who picked her up.
When they arrived at the Tower, she was taken to the med bay, place where her cousin was unconscious under the sun lamps.
She refused for Mon-El to leave her on the bed by her own, gripping tightly to his t-shirt so he would sit down with her.
"She's okay, it was just a panic attack, sweetie" Alex told her since she wouldn't stop looking at her cousin.
"I couldn't help her" she murmured, looking down.
"You did help her, Hal" Mon-El said, but she shook her head. "Asking for help is a brave thing to do and you did it. By doing that you helped her, kiddo" her best friend brushed her hair away from her face.
"Can I see it?" Alex asked, pointing to the cut, getting her to nod. "Okay, lay down, kiddo" the woman patted the pillow, so she would do it. "How did you get it?"
"Kara... She thought we weren't safe, so she pushed me..." she flinched a little when Alex touch around the cut. "She wanted me to leave... I tripped and hit my chin with the nightstand" she tried her best to explain.
"You're going to need some stitches" her cousin's sister commented, only getting her to panic a little. "Hey, look at me, sweetie. It won't hurt, I promise" Alex caressed her cheek, to which she nodded slightly, trusting her.
-/-
KARA'S P.O.V
When she opened her eyes, she panicked since she didn't remember going to the Tower the night before, but her fear only got worse when she saw her baby cousin asleep on the other bed.
"Hey, breathe. You're okay, Kara" her sister approached her to calm her down. "You had a panic attack, a really bad one and Halley called us" Alex explained as she continued to observed the little girl, focusing on the dressing over the kid's chin.
"I pushed her..." she murmured, remembering a few things from the night before. "I did that to her" she felt a huge oppression over her chest, not being able to breathe normally.
She had hurt her baby cousin. She remembered how the kid's chin hit that nightstand, the blood pouring from the wound before the little one ran away from there.
She couldn't fight the tears from running down her cheeks, being afraid of having lost Halley's trust, of that child being scared of her.
"She knows you didn't mean to, that you were trying to keep her safe" her sister told her, but she just got up from the bed to get closer to her cousin.
Halley's t-shirt was still covered in blood, some strands of her brown hair were also stained, which helped her understand that it had been a deep cut.
"Why wasn't she healed with the sun lamps?" she asked, being confused about it.
"Her body is still recharging from when we went to the Phantom Zone, so it takes her a little longer to heal" Alex explained before looking at her and adding. "But she's okay, it will heal soon" her sister assured her.
She sighed while nodding, gently picking up the kid, who opened her eyes before closing them again and hiding her tiny face in her neck. That little gesture relaxed her, her baby cousin still felt safe with her.
"I'm going to take her home" she said, stroking the child's hair.
"Do you want me to go with you?" her sister asked her, but she shook her head. "Okay, but call me if you need me" Alex looked at her
"I will" she answered shortly before leaving.
Once she arrived at her apartment Comet went running to her, barking loudly as he tried to get closer to the little girl, only calming down when she laid the kid on the couch.
"She's okay" she petted him before observing how the puppy laid down on the floor next to the kid.
"Kara?" her cousin's voice startled her, but she calmed herself down before turning to look at the child.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked as the kid sat up just to hug her, so she wrapped her arms around the child tightly while trying to contain her tears. "I'm so sorry, baby" she whispered, keeping her cousin in between her arms even when Halley tried to pull away.
"It's okay. I know you didn't mean to" the nine year old stared directly into her eyes.
"I scared you. I yelled at you" she pointed out, still remembering her cousin's eyes full of fear.
"I... I was scared because I couldn't help you" Halley admitted.
"Oh... sweetheart... You did everything you could, you called Alex" she held the child's face in between her hands.
"And Mon-El" the kid added, getting her to frown, but to nod slightly. "I promised uncle Zor-El that I would take care of you and yesterday..." Halley looked away.
"Hal..." she sighed. "You shouldn't be worrying about that, you're nine" she couldn't avoid being concerned about her baby cousin growing too fast. "Being here with you is enough for me, sweetie" she caressed her tiny face. "I love you so much, baby" she kissed the kid's forehead before pulling her back into a hug.
"I love you too" the child whispered while hiding her face.
She kept the nine year old in between her arms for as long as possible, being thankful for having that sweet little girl in her life, wanting to remember that moment forever.
"I don't want to go to school tomorrow" she heard the kid murmur.
"I know you don't, kiddo, but we've already talked about it" she pulled away so she would be able to see her face. "You're going to be okay. You'll be with Levi and have so much fun" she tried to convince her after seeing how the kid frowned.
"What if something happens? What if you're sent back to..." her cousin paused, not wanting to say the place. "There" the child completed.
"That's not going to happen, Hal" she shook her head. "There's no way of knowing what's going to happen in the future, sweetie, but I promise that tomorrow I'll be there picking you up from school" she gently tucked her cousin's hair behind her ears.
"But what if it does? What if I'm not there to say goodbye to you?" Halley eyes contained tears. "That day... You were going to sacrifice yourself..." the nine year old murmured so quietly that she forgot how to keep breathing.
"Halley..." she sighed, trying to know how the little girl had learned about that, but barely finding any words.
"Kelex showed me the message you left" the kid explained, understanding her confusion. "I know you were going to let him kill you" her cousin said as a few tears ran down her cheeks.
"I was going to. It meant keeping all of you safe" she tried to speak while having to fight the lump in her throat.
"But what would have happened to me if you had died?" Halley cried, staring directly into her eyes, practically begging for an answer.
"They would have taken care of you. They would have kept you safe" she answered, wiping with her thumbs the tears from her cousin's cheeks. "And you would have never lost me because just as my mom did. You have an hologram to access in case you need to see me, to talk to me" she explained, observing how the child was slowly calming down. "I will always be with you, baby girl. I promise" she promised before pulling the little girl into a hug, trying her best to hide her own tears, but not being able to do it the moment she rest her chin on the kid's head.
She had spent so much time away from that child that she couldn't bare the thought of what would had happened if Lex had killed her. Honestly, it was too painful to think about that little girl losing her.
-/-
She walked out of Andrea's office kind of upset, even scared, not understanding the reasons why the woman would be so obsessed with what the Superfriends do in their normal day, but she honestly didn't have time to be giving interviews as Supergirl.
"How did it go?" William asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"What?" she frowned, being a little confused about what he was asking.
"Halley's first day back to school" he explained.
"Um... Not good, but not as bad as I expected" she answered, not wanting to remember how the child had been sobbing their whole way there. "She hasn't called yet, so I guess it's going well" she commented, really hoping it.
"I bet she's doing fine" her friend smiled, wanting to reassure her. "I have to show you something" he told her before guiding her to his desk.
She observed how he took out a folder from one of the drawers, but her heart stopped beating the moment she saw what was inside.
"What is this, William?" she asked him, reading her own file, almost freaking out when she read her Kryptonian name.
"Andrea gave them to me" he answered as she sighed. "I'm not sure where she found them" he added before she could ask.
She observed the files again, knowing that there was only one person obsessed enough to have managed to get to her real identity and she knew it was about time he would learn about her human identity.
"Lex" she muttered, anger trying to take control of her as well as fear, since the memories from what had happened the last time she had fought him didn't go away.
"You think it's his?" William asked, to what she nodded slightly, not knowing what would happen next.
-/-
"William!" her cousin smiled, letting go of her hand before running to him.
"Hi, kiddo, How was school?" William embraced the child.
"Good" the nine year old answered while shrugging, not really meaning it.
"She had a rough day" she commented when she saw the confusion on William's face. "But she did well" she ruffled her cousin's hair while smiling.
"What are you working on?" the reporter asked her the moment she sat down at her desk.
"I'm trying to find out as much as I can about Warden Kote at Van Kull Prison" she answered. "Hey, your friend doesn't still work for the CIA, do they?"
"Yeah. Why? You looking for a deep dive on the warden?" he asked her.
"Would you mind asking?" she asked him back.
"Sure. Happy to help" he answered with a smile.
"Oh, good. Then help me understand this" Andrea approached them. "I gave you two an assignment. Get me an interview with one of the Super Friends" the woman said. "Now, two of them were at the same place at the same time, and where were you? Not there"
"Andrea, we can actually explain..." William tried to explain.
"No, no, no. I don't want to hear your excuses" Andrea interrupted him. "Not only did you miss a golden opportunity to get me what I want, but CatCo was scooped by every other news outlet. I can't bring myself to look at our media tracker ratings after this" their boss explained as she sighed.
"Who cares about the ratings?" she muttered, but loud enough since she was heard. "I... uh... you keep saying you want CatCo to be the most trusted source of news in National City" she tried to explain her own point.
"Yes. Of course I do" Andrea answered. "Our readers need hard-hitting and truthful reporting now more than ever"
"Then let us do our job, instead of making us chase the Super Friends around. They aren't the story" she asked her.
"For any of us to do our job, CatCo needs eyeballs, and the Super Friends can get them for us" their boss was persistent. "The more we have, the better our ratings, the better our bottom line. And that's the reality. I suggest you remember that" Andrea threatened them before looking at Halley. "Maybe a kid interviewing Supergirl can be interesting" the woman commented as she pulled from her cousin's arm protectively.
"No, I'm sorry but no" she shook her head, keeping Halley closer to her.
"It would be such a tender scene, adorable... She's a cute little girl" Andrea crouched a little to be at the child height. "Wouldn't you like to meet Supergirl?"
The nine year old looked at her without knowing what she should answer, whatever they would answer, it was going to be kind of a lie.
"She's shy. I don't think it's a good idea" she answered for her cousin.
"Think about it. Now, go back to work" the woman told them shortly before leaving.
"Start doing your homework, okay?" she kissed the kid's head before going to the balcony, needing fresh air.
"Maybe Andrea isn't so wrong... I mean, you know each other and she's right, it would be adorable" she heard William's voice behind her.
"I can't let that happen" she answered, really hoping her cousin wouldn't hear what she was about to say. "It's only matter of time for Lex to know who I am. At that point he's going to learn about Halley, but..." she made a paused to turn to look at him. "Maybe this time he won't know she's a Kryptonian and I will finally be able to keep my baby cousin safe" she told him.
"I understand that" William approached her. "But what if he doesn't figure it out this time?" he asked her.
"It's Lex, he's gonna know" she sighed. "I can't risk my cousin's identity, not now" she shook her head, her heart racing. "Not when I don't know if I will be able to fight him" her fears getting stronger.
She feared that if at some she had to fight Lex, she would not be able to, since she was sure that the memories from what had happened the last time would paralyze her.
"I know I might not be a superhero, but I'm here to help with anything you need" William assured her.
"Thank you" she nodded, just wanting to keep that little girl safe.
-/-
"They wore cuffs?" she asked in complete horror, being upset when Kelly nodded.
She looked at her baby cousin with sadness, even if, at that moment, the child was playing happily with Mon-El, but she couldn't imagine a kid going through all of that.
"That's so upsetting" she commented while shaking her head. "It can't believe it could have been Halley's life" she frowned slightly.
"You found her there?" Kelly asked her.
"No" she answered. "But I did consider the option" she added as her friend looked at her with sadness. "I...um... I didn't know if I was going to be able to take care of her... To give her the life she deserved after so much pain" she explained, still being something that it was hard for her to talk about. "I regret even thinking about it... I don't know what I would do without Halley" she admitted with tears in her eyes.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm sure you had your reasons to do it" Kelly told her, wanting to calm her down, but she panicked when her baby cousin's blue eyes met hers.
Halley stared at her for only a few seconds before starting walking away, but she needed a little bit more time before walking after her.
"Hal" she called the child while approaching her, the kid was sitting on the stairs at the balcony.
"You didn't want to take care of me?" her cousin asked directly, her gaze not meeting hers.
"That's... um That's not completely true" she answered while sitting next to her. "I didn't know you existed and I was scared" she tried to explain. "I know they're not excuses, kiddo. But I only wanted what was best to you" she gently brushed the kid's hair away from her face, her cousin finally looking at her.
"Were you going to do it?" Halley asked her and, honestly, she could understand why the kid felt betrayed.
"I thought about it" she answered, not wanting to lie to that child. "I was terrified of doing something wrong, of not being a good role model for you" she told her. "When I landed on Earth and I learned about Kal-El, I thought he was going to take care of me. Instead he took me to the Danvers. I was upset, confused, scared... I didn't know them, I didn't know him either, but he was family" she explained while looking to the kid. "I didn't understand his decision. I did the moment I found you, but I also understood how you might have felt at that time" she paused. "Alex asked me not to give you up so easily and being your mommy it's the best decision I've ever taken" she smiled a little when the kid smiled. "Don't ever think I didn't want you with me, sweetie" she embraced her, the little girl snuggling closer to her. "I love you so much, baby girl" she kissed the child's forehead, feeling much better after having been honest with her baby cousin, not being able to imagine a life without her.
Hi!!
I only focused on episode 9 for the chapter. I'm not sure I'm going to write a chapter for episode 10.
I can't wait to write the scenes with Mxy!
Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think,
Ayrin