Kara didn't know how long she had been in the cell for. There were no windows, or anything that could indicate what time it was in the day. Security guards passed by every few hours, she would estimate, and once, she had been given a bowl of cold broth and some stale saltine crackers, all of which she had eaten hungrily.

They had only taken her back into the lab one time so far, when they had taken cell samples. Her powers had still been gone from the dampening gun that they had used to knock her unconscious, and without any sunlight to bring them back, they were able to draw blood from her. After that, they had taken scrapings of her skin and swabbed her cheek, and then they clipped a lock of her hair and cut off the ends of some of her fingernails. She had been expecting something more to happen after that, but they only put her under a yellow sun lamp for a few hours. Once her powers returned, they returned her to the cell, and that was all. If Selah's experience was any indication, however, she knew that they would be back.

The cell was maybe six feet by twelve feet- she had walked out the distance as soon as she arrived- and it was made entirely of Nth metal. Three of the walls were solid metal, but the front one had long metal bars that spanned the entire length of the floor to the ceiling. In the center, there was a small cutout for a door; also made of bars. There was absolutely nothing in the cell, and she was certain that her body would be aching from sleeping on the hard floor if her powers were still gone. The door had a small slot through which they pushed food through, but the hinge only worked one way, so she couldn't stick her hand out. She could get her hand through the bars, but only barely past her wrist.

Past the door was a hallway that led to a larger room, with many more doors branching off of it. One of them led to the lab that they had taken her to, but Kara didn't know what was behind any of the others. The entire building had lead plating on the walls, ceilings, and floors, so she couldn't see into any other areas. The only source of light was in the hallway, a bare bulb that flickered nervously whenever the guards walked by. Kara suspected that this was also a yellow sun lamp, based on the color of its glow and the fact that her powers were not deteriorating despite her being constantly indoors. When she first was put into the cell, she immediately began examining every square inch of it, trying to formulate an escape plan. Now, she had investigated the room eight times, tried to goad the guards into letting important details slip, and fruitlessly used her heat vision on the metal in an attempt to melt it. When all these plans failed, there was nothing left for her to do but accept the fact that she was trapped. Sitting on the hard floor, she had allowed herself to get fully engulfed in her own thoughts.

Kara's connection to her religion had fluctuated over time. Right as soon as she had landed on Earth, she was more devoted than she had ever been on Krypton, praying to Rao every morning and evening, and reciting all of the texts that she could remember. She did this all in an attempt to try and keep her religion alive, trying to keep a part of her old life with her. It reminded her of standing in the temple with her classmates, all of them speaking the words in unison. She knew that Kal-El had crystals with the texts saved on them, but it didn't feel the same when she listened to them in the Fortress. On Krypton, all of the children had to commit the verses to memory before the age of twelve- a task which she had barely accomplished before the planet exploded. Saying the words aloud made her feel a connection to her people, her culture, and her past in a way that simply couldn't be replicated by the crystals.

As she got older, her intensity to her faith faded, and she disconnected from it almost entirely by the time that she started college, as she was determined to be as 'normal' as possible. Humans didn't worship Rao, so neither would she. When asked, she would usually describe herself as being spiritual instead of religious, mostly because she couldn't exactly explain that she worshiped the dead god of a red star that was thousands of light years away. Eventually, she began reconnecting with her religion again, especially once she became Supergirl, when she allowed herself to truly embrace her identity for the first time. From the moment she saw Alex's plane starting to go down, she instinctively began reciting the enai osh urvish in her mind, a benediction for safety that she had learned so many years ago. The words that were ingrained into her memory sprung up with surprising ease.

Sitting alone in her cell, Kara began to pray again. She had no idea when it was morning or night, but she made her best guess as to the time, and she prayed. When she laid on the floor and tried to sleep, she would whisper the words of Rao's supplications into the quiet air, a plea for comfort and health for friends and loved ones.

So once Selah arrived, she figured that Rao must have not been listening.

The girl was thrust into the cell unceremoniously, awaking Kara from an uneasy sleep. The door squeaked open, and she fell to the floor with a thud, her hands confined in power dampening cuffs. The guards wordlessly locked the cell door again, and strode away as Kara sat up, moving to the girl.

"Selah?" she asked in disbelief. She could see the outline of her body in the dim lighting, lying still on the ground. As soon as the hero's hand touched her shoulder, she pulled back.

"They lied," she wept, cowering away. "They lied to me."

"Shh," Kara murmured, sitting down on the floor next to her.

"They said that they would send you back if I came here. They promised."

"It's okay."

"I'm so sorry, Kara," she said, lifting up her tearstained face for the first time. Her eyes were swollen and her cheeks were mottled pink. "I never meant for you to get taken, I never wanted you to end up here. It was so stupid of me to go to them, I just wanted to fix things but they took you and it's all my fault. I shouldn't have trusted them, but I didn't know what else I could do," she sobbed, fat tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry."

Bowing her head, the girl waited for Kara to become angry, for fire to rise up in her thoughts while she told her how reckless she was, how idiotic her actions were, and that she endangered everyone. She waited for the woman to yell and push her away, for her to lash out. But the fury never came.

"Love." Her voice was soft and gentle, and her thoughts were full of compassion. She scooted closer to Selah and wrapped her arms around the girl, who allowed herself to accept the embrace this time.

"I'm sorry," she said, trembling.

"It's okay," Kara replied. "I'm okay."

"Did they do anything to you?"

"No. They just took some cell samples. Nothing bad." Selah nodded. "Are you okay?"

"You're asking me if I'm okay?" the girl laughed sadly. "When you've been here for two weeks, all because of me?"

"That long?"

"I'm sorry," she said again, her hands shaking as she wiped at her tears, which was an awkward task with her hands cuffed together.

"No more apologizing," Kara said firmly. "Look, we can't change what's happened, but we can figure out how we are going to move ahead." The girl still looked unconvinced, and Kara could sense her guilt, hanging in the air above them. "Selah, I don't know what I would have done in your situation. You made a mistake. A big one. But I'm not angry with you, and I'm not sure that I can blame you. After all that you've been through, I probably would have done the same things as you did, when it comes down to it. And hey," she whispered, drying the girl's teary cheek with her sleeve. "We will get out of here. I promise." There was no reply from Selah, but she let out a shuddery sigh. "How did they get you?"

"I snuck off when Alex wasn't paying attention, and then I waited in the alley behind Noonan's until they showed up." Kara shut her eyes, trying not to think about how worried her sister must be. "It was stupid of me to think that they were actually going to follow through on sending you back. I should have known not to trust them on their word."

"It's okay," the hero murmured. Selah leaned into her shoulder, still trembling slightly, and Kara put an arm around her. "We'll be okay. Are all your powers gone?" she asked, nodding to the cuffs.

"No, they only stop my telekinesis, as far as I can tell. My telepathy is weaker but it's still mostly here. I can't move anything, but I can still hear you." Selah bit back another yawn, and Kara smiled.

"When was the last time you slept?" she asked.

"Does being put under anesthesia count?"

"Okay, get some rest," she ordered. "I'll keep watch and I'll wake you up if anything happens." The girl nodded, and curled up on the hard metal floor next to the hero, resting her head against Kara's knee. She unclipped her cape from her shoulders, and she draped it across Selah's body. Gently pushing a few curls off of the girl's forehead, she began humming softly until she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

.

"Try it again," Kara said, ignoring Selah's groan.

"I guarantee that they've put up psychic blockers around this whole facility," she said. "I won't be able to reach anyone even if I do manage to send out a signal that's strong enough to overpower the cuffs."

"You never know unless we try."

"Fine," the girl shut her eyes again, sighing dramatically. The two were sitting cross-legged on opposite sides of the cell, working on Selah's telepathy as a part of Kara's latest escape plan. Concentrating her power and focusing on the image in her mind, Selah grimaced.

"It's a... spider?" The hero asked, furrowing her brow. "No, a sheep. A goat?" Groaning again, the girl opened her eyes and flopped to the floor.

"It was your childhood cat, Streaky," she said, rubbing her forehead angrily as she laid on the ground. "Let's face it, this isn't working."

"You're getting better though," she said. "When we first started I couldn't get anything from you."

"So if I do manage to connect with anyone at all, they'll maybe hear something vague about the concept of spiders. That will certainly help us escape." The hero gave Selah a long look, and she sighed, sitting up. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so negative. It's just frustrating."

"I know." Kara got up and crossed to the other side of the cell, sitting next to her. "But we have to keep trying."

"The telepathy or in general?"

"In general. We'll revisit the telepathy later."

"We could try getting the cuffs off with heat vision again?" Selah offered.

"I'm amazed by how quickly you forget the third degree burns I gave you the last time we tried that."

"Hey, getting burned is better than playing a telepathic game of 'I'm thinking of an animal'." Kara was about to reply when the door to the hallway swung open, and Director Beta walked in, followed by a guard. Selah felt herself weaken slightly, and she spotted a green vial in the guard's hand. Turning to Kara, she saw the hero stumble back against the wall, her face pale. Director Beta stood patiently outside of the cell as the guard unlocked it, entering as soon as the door was open.

"How are we doing this morning?" she asked in a syrupy voice. Neither replied, so she continued. "I was hoping that the Kryptonian would grace us with her presence."

"No," Selah said, anger rising in her chest. She took a step to the side, placing her body between Kara and the Director, ignoring the protest that rose up in Kara's thoughts. "You promised that you'd send her back."

"Circumstances change," Beta said lightly. "I do regret that we were not able to uphold our end of that agreement."

"You promised," the girl insisted, not moving. "Take me instead." Kara's thoughts grew louder with this, rising to a panicked crescendo, but Selah didn't so much as flinch. "You can do whatever you want to me, but you are not going to touch her." The director pursed her lips, raising an eyebrow as she sized up the girl.

"No resisting?" she asked. The girl's stomach lurched as she nodded stiffly.

"You have my word."

"No," Kara managed to interject, trying to grab at Selah's arm with a feeble grasp. Selah glanced back at the hero, and her face was even as she took a step forward, moving out of her reach.

"Well then." Beta glanced over at Kara, before fixing her gaze back on the girl. "Shall we?"

A guard pressed a small button on his belt before entering the cell, grabbing the girl's shoulder in the familiar hold, and she felt herself get slightly weaker as the Kryptonite got closer. Kara's thoughts filled with pain, and she fell to the floor, unable to move as they left the cell.

"Fun, isn't it?" The director asked, pointing to the guard's vial as they walked, leaving the hallway. "Synthetic Kryptonite. It is concentrated, and it's much stronger than the usual kind. It cannot hurt you too badly, as you are not a full blooded Kryptonian. But the exposure alone is enough to kill a full Kryptonian," she laughed softly. "But I trust that it shall not come to that. You will do exactly as we say, yes?"

"I gave you my word. But if you so much as touch her," Selah threatened, her voice low.

"No resisting," Beta reminded, the ever present smile still gracing her lips. "Or we might just find out precisely how long it would take our special Kryptonite to do its job." The threat loomed over Selah as she was led down the winding hallway, uncertain of what awaited her at the end.

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