It had become a fairly regular occurrence for Kara to watch Selah be taken for a few hours every day, and then to be returned a few hours later, often with surgical wounds that were still mostly unhealed. This time it felt different, however, as she watched the girl being led into the cell. Her posture was sharper, and she was hardly shaking or fidgeting at all, which was rare for her on a good day. Kara had never seen her acting so composed and calm on a day when she had gotten surgery or had tests done.
"Selah?" she asked, but the girl waited to reply until she was in the cell and the door had closed behind her.
"The guard is gone?" she asked quietly, her head down.
"Yeah," Kara replied. "Your arms, what did they do?" she demanded, carefully taking her elbow and examining the deep cuts that sat on the outsides of her biceps.
"It doesn't matter," Selah replied, pulling her arm away impatiently. "I know how we're going to escape."
"What?"
"You know how usually when they operate or just whenever my powers are coming back, first my body heals itself up and then it takes a little while longer for my telepathy and stuff to come back?" Kara nodded. "It's been changing. My psychic powers come back really fast now, long before anything else is healed. I think it maybe has something to do with all of the empath powers and stuff. When I think about it, I don't ever remember my mother's psychic powers being gone, even when she was hurt and the rest of her powers were regenerating."
"What does that mean?"
"I've learned that the doctor turns her psychic blocker off whenever she operates. It buzzes a little bit, and I guess that it annoys her when she's trying to work, and she knows that my powers are gone when I'm under the red sun lamps, so it's not like I can hear her. But she always turns it back on once I'm almost healed, which was usually long before my telepathy would be back. Now though, I can hear thoughts almost as soon as I wake up from the anesthesia, before my body has even really started healing."
"So you know what she's been thinking about?" Selah nodded.
"I didn't say anything to her because I thought that it might be useful, and I was right. Mostly she just thinks about knitting, so I guess that I know how to knit now. But today, she was thinking about how her shift was almost done, and she was excited to go back home. She went on this whole tangent about how she hoped that her boyfriend had made her dinner but he probably didn't because he doesn't do anything useful even though he doesn't have a job, and so he just sits at home all day, and she was worried that her mother was right about him, and-"
"Your point?" Kara asked flatly, raising one eyebrow.
"Sorry. She thought about leaving, Kara. I saw the route that she takes out of the building. She goes out into a parking garage where her car is. We're kind of out in the middle of nowhere, and the garage is still underground but there's a ramp that leads up to the surface. It connects to a road, which eventually will take us back to the city."
"And you know how to get all the way back to the city?"
"Not quite," Selah admitted. "She got distracted before the thought got all the way to her apartment. But once we're outside I can probably send a signal out to J'onn or to my aunt, to let them know where we are, and that we're okay."
"Probably?"
"I'm like, ninety-two percent sure that I can."
"It's risky," Kara said.
"What other chance do we have? When are we ever going to get another opportunity like this?" The hero hesitated, biting her lip as she looked away from the girl, thinking.
"Fine."
.
Kara glanced over at Selah as the guard entered the hallway. The girl's face was emotionless, her cloudy eyes closed tightly.
"Back from the door," he said robotically, and they both took a few steps back. Kara watched intently as he pressed the button on his belt and began idly fumbling with his keys. Finally selecting the right key, he opened the door, and grunted at Selah.
Before the girl could take a step, Kara ignited her eyes, lunging forwards and zapping him squarely in the chest with her heat vision. He yelled in pain or anger or surprise, or a mixture of all three things, and then he fell forwards, a hand clutching at his chest. His keys tumbled down to the floor, landing with a metallic clank, and Kara watched in horror as the man's body. He didn't fall backwards against the wall, like she had been hoping he would. Instead, he slumped forwards, directly into the door to the cell. She tried to move fast enough to stop him, or to push him out of the way, but she didn't make it in time, and the door slammed shut with a decisive bang.
"What do we do?" Selah asked, her voice panicked and stuttering, having watched the entire interaction through Kara's thoughts.
"I don't know," she replied.
"They're going to expect me to be in that lab in five minutes. When I'm not there, they're going to come here and they'll find this. Kara, they'll-" she took a quick shaky breath. "They'll kill us. What are we going to do?"
"I- I don't know."
"An octopus pulls off its own limbs in captivity," the girl muttered, squeezing her eyes shut and rocking back and forth on her heels.
"What?"
"Just something Lena said."
"How is that relevant to anything that is going on right now?"
"If we get the cuffs off, I can open the door psychically, and we can escape before they realize what's going on."
"We've talked through this a million times, Selah. We can't get the cuffs off without," Kara began, before it dawned on her. "No. No way."
"What else are we going to do?"
"I am not cutting your hands off."
"You don't need to. Not my whole hand, at least. My thumbs will regrow, if you heat vision my thumbs off, I can slip my wristss out of the cuffs and then I can get the door open."
"No, Selah."
"Look, man, I'm not thrilled about this either, but it's pretty much our only option right now. We've already wasted way too much time talking about this." Kara ran a hand over her face angrily, as Selah wordlessly sat on the floor. She placed her cuffed hands flat on the ground, with her thumbs extended. "Please, Kara?"
There had been a hard pit settling in the bottom of the hero's stomach from the moment the guard had entered the hallway, but it became a sinkhole as she began to realize that the girl was right. She turned to stand in front of Selah, looking down at her. She felt nauseous as she directed her gaze at the girl's hands. When she glanced quickly up at her blank eyes, she saw that they were determined, and she knew there was no other option.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered as her eyes lit up. She tried to ignore the girl's yelp of pain, and the puff of acrid smoke that rose up in the air, bringing along with it the smell of Selah's burning flesh. Instead, she forced herself to concentrate, making sure that she had completely cut off the thumb before letting her heat vision dim again. Dropping to her knees, the sinkhole in her chest grew even larger as she put a hand on Selah's cheek, watching the girl as she began to cry.
"Do the other one," she said through gritted teeth. Her voice was rough and raspy. Kara felt as though she was engulfed in that hollow, empty feeling as she cut the girl's other thumb off and she cried out again.
"It's done," she said, kneeling down again. She tried her best to wipe away Selah's tears, but her hands were so shaky that the task proved impossible. Instead, she picked up one of her hands, examining it through her own tears. The yellow sunlight shining weakly from the hall lamp had already healed her burns, and she could see that the other hand was beginning to close up as well.
"Help me get the cuffs off," Selah said, her voice still raspy. "I'll open the door." The hero tried not to pay attention to how much Selah was shaking as she slipped the power dampeners off of the girl's now completely healed, thumbless hands.
"You're good to do this?" she asked, and the girl nodded. She squeezed her teary eyes shut, tipping her head to the left. Kara heard the lock click, and the cell swung open.
"Let's go," she said, stepping over the unconscious guard and starting towards the hallway, but the girl hesitated.
"We still don't know where all of the shields are," she said. "I have to blow out my powers."
"If you do that, you're going to be completely blind," Kara protested.
"That's better than being paralyzed," she retorted. The hero gritted her teeth as she reluctantly dropped Selah's hand, and the girl turned towards one of the Nth metal walls. She opened her blind eyes and concentrated her heat vision, directing it onto the solid metal in front of her. A high pitched buzzing began to fill the room and the lights around them flickered frantically, swinging anxiously on their chains. The noise around the rose to a crescendo, making Kara wince, until finally Selah crumpled to the floor, her eyes clenched shut.
"Selah?" she asked, rushing to her side.
"I'm okay." Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her nose began to bleed sluggishly. "Ugh. Why is my life once again proving to be a weak parody of Stranger Things?" she asked as she unsteadily got to her feet. "We have to go."
"Do not let go of my arm," Kara ordered as they turned to the doorway and began to walk out of the cell.
"I won't." She felt the girl stiffen as they walked into the hall, anticipating an electric shock, but she relaxed as none came. They both passed through the doorway safely.
"Where do we go now?" she asked.
"Straight for a while, and then we take the first left. Do you remember the way to the lab?" Kara nodded before remembering that the girl couldn't see her.
"Yes," she said.
"We're basically going to go that way, but then we turn right just before we come up to the door," Selah stumbled a little bit on the door frame as they left the hallway, but caught herself again. "Do you hear anyone coming?"
It was hard for Kara to hear anything over the deafening sound of Selah's heartbeat, which was going far too fast, but she concentrated, closing her eyes.
"No," she answered. "I hear someone in the lab, but their heart rate doesn't suggest that they're agitated at all."
"Good." Following Selah's directions, the two carefully made their way through the maze of winding passageways, trying to be as quiet as possible.
"What now?" she whispered, as they went past the lab and turned right.
"Next left. Then the hallway will branch off into three, and we have to go straight. The exit to the garage is then two rights, a left, a right, and a left after that, but there's some long segments of hallway between each turn." The hero began to hear steady footsteps dimly in the distance, and her heart dropped.
"Someone's coming," she said.
"From where?" Selah asked, her voice anxious.
"To the left. They're not far away," she bit her lip. "I'm going to pick you up, and I'll use my super speed. Will we make it to the door in time?"
"I'm not sure."
"That's going to have to be good enough." Scooping up the girl in her arms, she began moving as fast as she could, focusing on the goal ahead of her, but the footsteps were getting closer and louder, and the sound was amplified by her nerves. "We're not going to make it," she hissed, slowing down. "They'll cut us off before we get there."
"Take a left," Selah said. "The hallway goes towards a maintenance closet. They probably won't be going down there."
"Unless they're specifically searching the hallways to look for two missing aliens."
"Yeah, well we'll still have a better chance at not getting found if we go that way. Otherwise we are going to run straight into them." Anxiety rose in the hero's chest as she turned left, following the winding passageway as far as she could. When she reached the door at the end, she stopped.
"Now what?" she asked. "We just sit here?"
"I guess." Pushing herself up against the wall, Kara took a few deep breaths, listening to the footsteps as they grew closer and closer. They were now only a few hallways away. She could make out two distinct sets of footsteps, guards, she assumed. "Are they still there?" Selah asked.
"Shh," She put a hand on the girl's arm. The guards were now walking along the main branch of the hallway that they had just exited, and her heart stopped as they paused abruptly. She tried not to so much as breathe, and she willed Selah to do the same, wishing that she could telepathically tell the girl what was happening.
"Reports from the transport team?" one of the guards said.
"Negative."
"The subject was supposed to arrive three minutes ago. Should we go check it out?" the other replied.
"Yes," the first guard sighed. "We are not getting paid enough for this."
The footsteps began again, and Kara waited until they had left the hallway and begun to fade away again to exhale.
"We have to move, now," she said. "If they haven't already figured out that we're gone, they will soon."
"Okay," Selah replied, wavering on her feet a little as she stood again, moving away from the wall. Kara picked her back up, and they tentatively re-entered the hallway. Finding it deserted, she refocused herself on their goal, the door to the parking garage. The only thing that separated them from that door, from freedom, was two more long stretches of empty hallway. She swiftly made her way through them, elation rising up in her chest as it finally came into view. The door frame was slightly larger than all of the other ones, subtly marking it as important, and it was made out of a heavier, thicker slab of metal, with a key card panel beside it that Kara promptly zapped with her heat vision.
"We made it," she gasped. Then the door slid open with a hiss, and she felt Selah's body become tense.
"How kind of you to join me," Beta said. The director stood only a few feet away, her hands folded delicately across her body, and an evil smile spread on her face.
"How did you know?" Kara demanded, the familiar pit in her stomach returned, and all of her former joy deflated, falling down into it.
"Do you really think I am so stupid as to leave my facilities un-monitored?" Beta asked, a scornful smile on her face. "Every square inch of this place is bugged. If you so much as sneezed, I had a team studying the surveillance tapes and documenting it. Getting 037," she nodded at Selah. "Out of the cuffs, now I must admit that I was not expecting you to go that far. Very ingenuitive." Walking over to the hero, who was still holding Selah, she took one of the girl's hands, which were now healed off completely, showing now signs of damage- beyond the missing thumbs. "Of course, I can work around the unexpected." She patted Selah's hand before walking away again.
"So, what now?" The hero asked. "You're going to kill us?"
"I'm not going to kill 037," she purred, "Not just yet. We still have use for her. At least, we do for now. You, however, I don't need. In hindsight, perhaps I should have gotten rid of you long ago."
"Put me down," Selah whispered.
"What-" Kara hissed back, but the girl just looked up at her with an unreadable expression. "Please tell me that you have a plan," she muttered as she lowered Selah to her feet.
"I have about seventeen percent of one."
"That really isn't reassuring at all."
"I think it is time for us to move past the scheming, hmm?" Beta asked brightly, cutting off their whispered conversation. "I have won. You," she turned to Kara and Selah, standing side by side. "Have lost. Now that is nothing that you should feel ashamed of, or disappointed by. It is simply a fact. So." The woman spun on her heel, and put a hand into her coat pocket. "Now it is time for us to move on to the next adventures." She pulled out a power dampener, and began toying with the dials on the side.
"I know that you have my psychic powers," Selah said, taking a step closer to Beta. "Have you gotten my mind-reading, or not yet?" Irritation flickered across the woman's face, but she quickly regained her composure.
"In due time, it shall come, just as all the others have. Each day I grow stronger, as do you."
"So you can't hear what I'm thinking?" The director didn't reply. Instead, she flipped a switch on the side of the device and pointed it directly at the girl. "Good." The end of the dampener lit up, and Selah flicked her head to the right. A bright blue energy draining bullet shot out of the machine, but almost as soon as it emerged, it began slowing down, until it came to a complete stop. It hung motionless, suspended in the air halfway between Selah and the director.
"Enough of these games," she spat, her dark, cold eyes blazing with anger.
"Oh, I forgot. They're only fun when you're winning. Well, then, maybe it's time for us to move on to the next adventures." The girl's blank eyes mirrored the light of the blue energy ball, and she smiled as she parroted Beta's words back at her. Then, she closed her eyes and bowed her head. The ball began bouncing up and down, vibrating back and forth with excitement. Selah lifted a hand, and held it outstretched towards the ball. She took a deep breath, and then it flashed forwards in a pushing motion. Even with her super senses, Kara was hardly able to follow the path of the blue light as it soared towards Beta, fitting itself neatly back into the muzzle of the power dampening gun.
The whole world was still for one perfect second, and Selah's outstretched hand- silhouetted by the bright blue light- was unwavering. But Kara blinked, and then everything exploded, sending out a shock wave that was strong enough to knock her to the ground. She saw Selah fly backwards, and the shadowy form of Beta's body disappeared as she was completely engulfed in the blue nothingness.
She struggled to keep her eyes open, desperately trying to stay awake. She had to find Selah, they had to escape, they had to get themselves back to the city, back to Alex.
"I can't-" she managed to whisper, her cheek pressed against the cold concrete floor. "I need to-"
But the comforting darkness overtook her.
.
.
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