KARA'S P.O.V

"Who's Esme?" her cousin asked after she hung up her phone.

"Um... Alex and Kelly are going to foster a little girl" she tried to start explaining. "And if everything goes well, they'll be able to adopt her" she told her, seeing how the child frowned slightly. "I was thinking we could go buy a few things to welcome her and maybe we could give her some of your old toys..." she couldn't keep talking, since Halley interrupted her.

"They're mine" the nine year old shook her head, which was able to surprise her.

"You don't play with them anymore, kiddo" she answered her.

"I do play with them" Halley complained.

"Okay" she sighed, not wanting to force her to do something she didn't agree with. "What about the old bike? You have a new one. We can go to the park and you can help teach her how to ride a bike" she tried, that time seeing how the little girl just shrugged before going back to her room.

She had not expected that reaction from Halley. She thought her cousin would be happy and welcoming to that little girl, but instead the child seemed to be upset because of the news.

She stood there for a few seconds, knowing the kid needed time to think about it, to understand everything that was happening. But she already could tell that it wasn't going to be easy.

-/-

Halley had been waiting for her outside of the Principal office, the kid looking down the moment she walked out as she sighed, not knowing how to handle that situation.

She took the child's hand before leaving the school, neither of them talking, but she was not sure about what she should say or do or even if she should be upset about it.

She had been telling her cousin to defend herself from others, but she had never thought that the little girl would go that far, at least not enough to be expelled from school.

"Okay, What exactly happened?" she finally asked as she stopped walking.

"They were being mean to Levi. I wanted to help him, so I stood up for him" the nine year old answered as she crouched to her cousin's height.

"You gave a kid a contusion on his ribs and a broken arm" she pointed out, the little girl looking away. "Halley, I've already told you that talking is the way to solve those problems" she reminded her.

"I know" Halley sighed. "But they weren't listening. And when he was about to hit Levi, I acted. I couldn't control my strength" the child explained. "You do this every day... You've tried talking to Nyxly. It didn't work, so you fight" her cousin looked at her.

"It's not the same" she shook her head, even if deep down she knew she would have done the same thing. "Did you or Levi talk to your teacher?" she questioned her.

"No" the kid whispered.

"That should have been your first step, kiddo" she told her, observing how the child sighed before nodding slightly. "Is there something else going on at school?" she asked, having a feeling her cousin was hiding something, but the child just shook her head. "Remember you can tell me anything, okay?" she tucked her cousin's hair behind her ears. "Okay, let's go, sweetie" she grabbed Halley's hand to start walking again.

As they walked to the Tower, she tried to explain to the child that they were going to meet Esme there and that the little girl was excited about finally meeting her. However, Halley didn't pronounce a word about it.

"No! Don't touch it!" the nine year old yelled the moment the elevator doors opened, rushing to take Saffire from Esme's hands.

"Hal" she looked at her after observing the fear and confusion on the other child's face.

"It's mine. I don't want her to touch it" her cousin answered her kind of angrily before trying to leave, but she stopped her.

"Hey, you could've at least asked nicely" she told her, just as Alex and Kelly approached.

"I have to do homework" Halley said, getting rid of her grip and running away.

"What happened?" Alex asked her. "Is Hal sick?"

"She got into a fight with a kid during recess, so she's been expelled for the next three days" she answered. "She says that she did it to defend Levi, but I... I don't know what's going on with her" she admitted while shrugging. "And now she got upset because Esme was playing with Saffire" she explained, observing how her sister nodded slightly.

"Okay, come on, let's go play" Kelly said, grabbing Esme's hand so she and Alex would be alone.

"She's still not okay with it?" her sister asked, to which she nodded. "Have you talked to her about how she feels?" Alex questioned her with sadness.

"I've tried. She doesn't talk and when she doesn't want to keep listening, she leaves" she answered. "I think she needs time" she commented.

"I'll talk to her later. Or I'll try" her sister told her as she sighed, not being sure if her cousin was going to be receptive to that idea.

-/-

HALLEY'S P.O.V

She took the paper in her hands before looking for her cousin. There was going to be a science fair that Friday at school and she had been hoping to go, but after what had happened that day she was not sure if she was going to be able to.

However, she stopped walking the moment she heard Kara's voice teaching Esme how to use her superhearing, not being able to avoid feeling upset since it had been a while since her cousin had taught her how to use any of her abilities, not liking the idea of that child taking her cousin's attention from her. So she went back to J'onn's office to finish her homework.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she heard William ask, which got her to look up. "Finishing your homework?" he asked, sitting next to her on the couch as she nodded. "And where are the rest?"

"They're trying to find Nyxly and they're helping Esme with her powers" she answered in barely a whisper, feeling left out.

"Well, when I was coming back, I saw this in a store and I thought that you could like it" he said while pulling from one of the bags a big Lego dragon themed set. "It's even blue like Saffire" William pointed to the picture on the box.

"Wow" she smiled, taking it from his hands while admiring the package.

"It's bigger than the ones you've been building, but maybe we could build it together" he commented, getting her to nod.

"Thank you" she left the box on the table before hugging herself at him.

"You're so much welcome, kiddo" William hugged her back just as the elevator doors opened, Alex stepping out of it. "As soon as you're done with your homework, you tell me. I want to be there when you open it" the reporter ruffled her hair before leaving.

"Such a cool Lego set" Alex commented while sitting down by her side, which got her to look away.

"Am I in trouble for screaming at Esme?" she asked in just a whisper. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare her" she apologized.

"Hey, it's okay. You're not in trouble" her cousin's sister answered her. "The way you're feeling right now, it's okay. Most kids feel that way when they have a new sibling or cousin younger than them" Alex explained as she stared back at her. "I even felt like that when Kara arrived. I was angry at her all the time, but look at us now… We argue, true. But we're sisters and the love we feel for one another is never going to change" she admitted. "And you might not be ready to meet Esme yet or even feel we're leaving you out of everything, but that's not true, kiddo. We can be a little too focused on Esme, we're trying to make her feel safe, loved… But that doesn't mean we… I love you less, Halley" the woman tucked her brown hair behind her ears. "Because you forever will be the little girl who taught me how to be a mom" Alex's eyes were filled with tears before pulling her into a hug. "I love you so much, kiddo"

"I love you too" she whispered, keeping herself hugged at her as the fear of losing Alex was slowly fading away.

They both remained like that until Alex pulled her away, only to hold her face in between her hands and kiss her forehead.

"What's this? A science fair? It looks fun" her cousin's sister commented while taking the paper from the table.

"It doesn't matter. I don't think I'll be able to go" she shrugged.

"Why not? Because of what happened today?" Alex asked her, getting her to nod slightly.

"I didn't want to hurt him. I just wanted him to stop" she explained, still feeling angry because of the whole situation. "I pushed him… I-I heard how his bones snapped… I couldn't control it" she admitted while shaking her head.

"I know you didn't mean to, Hal" Alex brushed her hair away from her face. "You were protecting your friend. It's okay" those words were enough to calm her down a little. "Maybe I can go with you to the science fair, I don't think Kara is really into it" the woman said, to which she frowned slightly.

"But… What happens with Esme?" she asked.

"What happens with her?" Alex asked her, being confused by her question.

"I don't know. I thought that now that she's here, you would…" she stopped talking, sadness taking over as she thought about it.

"That I wouldn't spend time with you?" her cousin's sister finished her sentence as she looked away. "Oh, kiddo, look at me. We won't be able to spend as much time alone as before, but I can make an exception from time to time" the woman assured her. "And I think you should know that Esme is pretty excited about meeting her super-cool big cousin that likes to draw as she does, that will show her how to use her powers and maybe even introduces her into building cool Lego figurines" Alex tickled her a little, getting her to giggle. "So whenever you feel ready, you'll meet her, okay?"

She nodded slightly, a smile still on her face. Maybe having a new little cousin was not as bad as she had thought.

-/-

She was sitting on the couch with Saffire in between her arms as she waited impatiently for her cousin to be back, being kind of afraid of their mission going sideways.

"What's its name?" Esme asked while sitting next to her, getting her to turn her head to look at her confused. "Your dragon. This is Lovey" the little girl showed her the stuffed animal she was holding.

"Saffire" she whispered. "It was the name of Mon-El's dragon" she explained.

"Mon-El had a dragon?!" Esme exclaimed as she couldn't avoid smiling slightly while nodding.

However, the smile was wiped from her face the moment she heard her cousin talk, not being able to control the panic attack that was about to start.

She didn't even realize that she was being held by Kara when she started shaking, just closing her eyes as she tried to avoid those memories, but the fear she was feeling at that moment did not let that happen.

"I got you, baby" Kara whispered, tightening the strength of the hug.

"Is he... Is he really back?" she asked, really hoping that what she had heard was not true.

"I'm so sorry, baby" her cousin answered, caressing her face. "But it'll be okay. We'll be okay" Kara assured her, but she shook her head, knowing that there was no way of knowing what would happen with Lex being around.

"Is she okay?" she heard Esme ask.

"Yeah, just a little overwhelmed" Kara answered, keeping her embraced, her head resting on her cousin's shoulder while closing her eyes.

She could not deny how scared she felt at that moment, not knowing if he would be able to take her cousin away from her again.

"I think I'm going to have to go to the future" Mon-El's voice got her to open her eyes, looking for her best friend as she felt how her cousin sighed.

"No" she murmured, pulling away from Kara to run to the place where Mon-El was. "You can't" she said as he crouched to her height.

"I'm not leaving for forever, only to get some information, kiddo" her best friend told her, but she shook her head. "I'll be back as soon as I know what's going on, I promise" he assured her while pulling her into a hug.

Her hands formed fists around his cape, holding it as tightly as she could, not wanting to let go the moment he tried to pull away.

"I need to make sure that you'll be safe, Hal" Mon-El tried his best to convince her to let go. "I'm not leaving you again, sweetie" he whispered.

"Wait, please" she asked him before running to her backpack, looking for one thing that she always kept inside. "You gave me this necklace when you left the last time…" she showed him, putting it on the palm of his hand. "You keep it and bring it back to me?"

"I will, kiddo" he smiled while toying with the dragon from the necklace.

"I love you" she threw herself into her best friend's arms.

"I love you too, kiddo" Mon-El kissed her hair before she finally pulled away, being ready to let him go.

-/-

"Are you sure you don't want to help us?" William asked her, but she just shook her head. "Come on, it'll be fun. Right, Esme?" he commented.

"Yeah!" Esme exclaimed and for a moment she thought about joining them, but she shook her head again.

"Okay, call me if you need me" he asked, so she nodded slightly before seeing them leave the training room.

She closed her eyes. There was something in her that told her that something was going to happen during that night and, honestly, it scared her.

Ever since she had learned that Lex was back, she had not been able to avoid the panic attacks, the fear of him sending Kara back into the Phantom Zone and, even if she hoped that he would not know about their identities, she was terrified of him coming back for her.

The smell of cookies soon invaded the whole Tower, so for a few seconds she stopped building the lego figurine, thinking about going to help them, but she did not have much time to think when she heard the alarms.

At that moment she dropped the lego pieces from her hands to the floor before getting up, trying to use her superhearing to find out what was happening. However, after a few minutes of not hearing anything, she walked only wanting to make sure that William and Esme were fine.

"William?" she called him as the elevator doors opened, leading her into the main area of the Tower.

She froze. Her gaze meeting the person she feared the most, seeing him walk backwards with a gun in his hands before hearing the horrible sound of the gunshots followed by William's body falling to the floor.

She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Only tears seemed to find their way out, streaming down her cheeks as she tried running to him, to do something that would help him.

She kneeled down next to him, looking away for a few seconds, barely bearing the sight of the blood that was pouring from his chest, but holding William's hand tightly as she gripped with her other hand her necklace.

"Not yet" she heard Lex talk shortly before snapping the necklace from her neck, throwing it away. "Come on" he grabbed her arm.

"No! No!" she screamed, feeling how William used the little strength he had left to pull her closer.

But Lex managed to scoop her up by her waist, which only got her to fight against him, her gaze still focusing on William as she hoped for her cousin to get there in time.

"I'm sorry" the reporter whispered as Lex was taken her inside of the elevator.

By that time she could not hide her sobs any longer, fighting against Lex's grip one more time, only to feel how he tightened it.

"I don't think you want us to scare your little cousin, so stop the crying" he warned her, leaving her on the floor as she closed her eyes to calm herself down.

"Oh, well, hello, Halley" they met Nyxly in J'onn's office, but she only observed Esme for a few seconds, trying to make sure that she was okay. "Let's go" she observed how the fifth dimensional imp took the little girl's hand as she was still being held by Lex.

She was aware that she could not scared Esme, that she needed to be strong for her.

Hi!

Today is Supergirl finale. Honestly, it's a sad day. I can't believe it's ending.

I'll have to wait and see the finale to think which direction I'm taking with Halley about her magic, maybe Nyxly could explain it to her. I don't know.

Also William's death… It broke my heart. And writing the scene with Halley involved in it, it was even harder.

I hope you all enjoy the finale!

Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think,

Ayrin