Light. Bright. Hot.
Kara flinched from the encompassing brightness and shut her eyes. They flew open again almost immediately as hard hands gripped her arms. A cry wrenched from her throat when one of them closed tightly on her injured arm.
"You think that hurts?" a voice whispered in her ear. She thought she recognized it…him. "Wait until the docs at Cadmus get ahold of you. You'll be screaming and begging in no time."
Not in her lifetime. Deliberately sagging against her abductor, Kara also dragged her feet. It slowed his progress a little. More importantly, it allowed her to get her left foot behind his – and wrap her leg around his thigh.
He cursed and attempted to manhandle her into a different hold. Kara tightened her leg, preventing him from hauling her higher against his chest. "Bitch!"
Any thrill at her success ended when a new hand slammed into her cheek. The surprise and the unexpected pain ended Kara's bid for a possible escape. "Stop playing around. Get her on the table. We can't waste time. If she regains her powers before we dose her, Lane'll have our asses." The new man grabbed Kara's legs.
In seconds, she lay on a cold, flat surface. "I can't wait to see what this does." Kara managed to blink away the tears and peer through the blinding light. Harper. The general's aide from Cat's office. He caught her look and smirked. Holding her gaze, he yanked up the cardigan sleeve and the tight white material of her suit that covered her right arm. "Do it."
Kara barely glimpsed the second man. She was frozen by the hate and anticipation in Harper's eyes. She grunted as a needle pierced the skin on her exposed arm. There was a dull, uncomfortable pressure.
A scream ripped from her throat as "uncomfortable" turned into a wildfire burning beneath her skin. Kara fought the hands on her without feeling the usual pain in her arm. It was such a small hurt buried beneath sheets of torment.
She couldn't breathe or think around the inferno blazing through body.
Words. Faces. Places. The world and everything in it were simple backdrops to Kara's suffering. She lived and breathed only pain. Unable to muster the strength to resist, she dangled helplessly as Harper and the other man removed her from the table and shoved her into metal box.
It was so small that Kara had to curl into the fetal position. The top slammed shut.
Then it began to move. The motion added to the still smoldering fire in her veins caused Kara's stomach to churn. Her skin turned cold. Rao, no.
Rao was not there in her tiny, moving prison.
Kara vomited; the harsh muscle spasms racking her body multiplying her misery.
She must have lost consciousness. The box no longer moved when Kara jerked awake. The fire in her veins had faded to a tingling itch. A rumble filled her ears and vibrated the surface beneath her box.
It was dark.
So dark.
Dark like her pod had been. Darker, since there were no stars to light the box.
Kara closed her eyes. She wasn't in the Phantom Zone. No matter what horror awaited her at Cadmus, she wasn't trapped outside of time, floating and alone.
The reminder wasn't enough. Kara whimpered as the walls of the box encroached. She sucked in a breath laden with strange chemicals and the taint of her own earlier sickness. Her stomach rolled, and she did her best to hold still and breathe in slow sips.
It helped this time. Enough for Kara to relax and reach out her left hand, searching for a way out. The box was smooth and hard. There were no noticeable seams or bolts. Nothing for her to manipulate.
Not even holes to allow for air flow.
Kara couldn't prevent another scream, this one of rage and fear. She pounded on the box. She had to get out. She couldn't stay in the box another second. Her hands and feet landed against the smooth walls over and over.
She was so desperate for escape that she didn't notice the floor had stopped rumbling. Kara didn't hear the sound of gunfire somewhere nearby.
"Hey! Hey, Kara! It's Lucy," a voice called. "Hey! I've almost got this thing open. Hang on a little longer."
Hugging her knees tighter, Kara rocked as much as her prison allowed. She couldn't let the voices start this quickly now. Not like all those years in the pod. She had to stay strong. She began one of the longest and most complicated prayers to Rao she remembered, "Blessed Rao, Father of All and Giver of Light."
Light. Kara faltered, drowning in the darkness. It was so dark and cold. She shivered, body banging into the box with each convulsive shudder. Her teeth clacked together as she tried to spit the words of the prayer out. "Bring your peace…your peace and kindness on all Your children as they gather before You. In this time and in this place, set Your hand upon…" Wait. That wasn't right.
Frustration and grief sprang to life under the swells of fear. She couldn't remember any more. Words that had been as familiar as her own name when she'd been a child, gone.
A sob echoed in the silence surrounding her.
"Kara? We've almost got it open. Why don't you talk to me until then? Tell me some things you like to do," Imaginary Lucy said.
Why not? Kara couldn't survive another Phantom Zone. What did it matter if she gave in to the imaginary people? She couldn't live without sunlight and air and people. Closing her eyes despite the already soulless dark, she answered, "Flying." Rao, she loved to fly. Earth was so beautiful. When Kara was in the air, she could see so much green, so many growing things, and people.
"I always wanted to do that." Lucy's laugh teased a smile from Kara. "I'd spend all my time hiding above the clouds, away from all the shit going on down here." The box shifted, and Kara heard Lucy grunt. "Jesus! Whoever built this thing needs their ass kicked. Good thing…I'm stronger…than I look."
Something banged over Kara's head. Once. Twice. Metal screeched against metal.
"Got it!" Lucy called, and then air and light replaced the stifling darkness. "Told you I'd get it." She grinned down at Kara. "Come on." Her voice was softer now, as if finally realizing that Kara wasn't whooping with joy. "Take my hand, Kara."
Lucy's hand was warm and strong. Stronger than Kara felt as she crept from the box. Her legs shook until Lucy and another figure, dressed entirely in black leather with a black visored helmet obscuring any facial features, wrapped their arms around Kara and helped her walk the long expanse of the tractor-trailer where she'd been imprisoned.
Dim light and stars glimmered. Was this Rao's holy passage? Kara steps faltered. Would she see her mother and father soon? "Ieiu? Ukr?"
Lucy's partner turned and managed to catch Kara as her legs gave out.
"What has happened to the child?" Hands ran over Kara's torso, fingers taking special interest in her ribs and abdomen. "Look at her, your Highness! She is skin stretched over bone."
Kara's head rested against a warm body, and a heart race under her ear.
"I know we shouldn't bring her there, but we have to do something! This whole plan's FUBAR'd. I'm calling an audible. Get me a bird ASAP!" Lucy wasn't happy. Kara couldn't properly see her any longer; however, her voice was tight and clipped.
There was suddenly another voice above Kara. It was softer and muffled by helmet and visor so that Kara couldn't quite make out all the words. "…can't…back…" Each word vibrated the chest she rested against.
"I'm taking her to the desert base."
The quiet voice rose. "No! It's too soon!"
"Belay that, God damn it!" Lucy snarled. "I still want that bird and a clear flight path."
Past and present continued to intertwine as Kara plunged into a fevered dream.
"We are lucky that I saw her, then." Even on the verge of sleep, Kara recognized Diana's voice. The probing hand moved away, and another stroked her arm. "I am here, mikrós ílios. Epione will take good care of you."
Kara woke fully at that. "Don't leave me! Please," she begged. She didn't want to be alone again. Diana was the first friend she'd made since…since Alex.
A husky laugh soothed her fears. "No, little sister, I will not leave. However, I am not a healer. Epione is my mother's chief healer. She says you are not well; I trust her to make sure you are strong and healthy before I take you home, Kara. That is all. I will be here with you the whole time. I promise."
"Take…home…promise," Kara echoed Diana.
"Home," the person holding Kara said. "I promise." The arms around her tightened. "Make it happen."
Lucy didn't sound angry anymore, only tired. "She's not safe there."
"Make her safe."
Kara liked that voice. It reminded her of General Antiope. So there! she mentally mocked Lucy.
"It's a good thing I like you," Lucy said. "Get her ready. The bird's two minutes out. I need to make another call."
Footstep sounded as Lucy resumed talking, but her voice grew soft and far away.
The world slowed and quieted. The person holding Kara propped her on one of the two motorcycles parked alongside the rode but kept Kara sheltered with arms and chest. The sleepy chirps of birds and the soothing sounds of insects lulled her into a peaceful trance.
A rhythmic beating sound woke her. A bright light beamed down from the sky. The arms bracketing her slipped under her knees and around her shoulders, lifting Kara from the motorcycle.
Wind whipped around them as the person carrying Kara ducked a helmeted head closer to Kara's, shielding her from dust and debris.
"Get her onboard!" Lucy, crouched low under the whirling rotors of the landing helicopter, waved an arm at her partner. "Cadmus is on the move. You're going to have company here any minute."
Kara rose and fell as the person holding her shrugged. Whoever Lucy's partner was, they weren't scared of Cadmus. Kara was. Kara would have thrown herself into the helicopter if she could in order to avoid another taste of the drug and the box.
In seconds, Kara was carefully buckled into a seat. Lucy scrambled into the seat next to her.
The person who'd held and carried Kara hesitated. Kara could feel the stare through the tinted visor. One hand reached out, gloved fingers cupping Kara's chin.
"We need to go." Lucy's voice was urgent yet lacked the bite from earlier.
With a sharp nod and one last long glance, the hand disappeared, and Lucy's partner jumped from the helicopter.
"Go! Go! Go!" Nothing except command now, as Lucy whirled a hand in the air.
The helicopter lifted from the ground. Headlights raced toward their position. Kara heard the sharp rapport of gunfire until they faded in the distance.
Sunlight warmed Kara's face and cool sheets brushed her skin. She sighed, stretched, and groaned. Rao, everything still hurt.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Kara's eyes snapped open. Lucy Lane perched on the edge of the bed. Kara's bed.
"I'm home!" How had she gotten here? The night before was fuzzy. Nightmare and reality playing tag in her memory.
Lucy laughed. "You made my partner promise. Do you know how hard it is to arrange permission to land a helicopter on a building in National City? You're lucky Cat has a soft spot for you. We landed at CatCo; she had a car and a private security company waiting for us."
Security. It was laughable. Kara, when not crippled by her own stupidity and overuse of her powers, was the strongest individual on the planet. Yet she was surprised and touched by the lengths that Lucy and her band of motorcycle riding, helicopter flying friends and Cat Grant had gone to save her.
She tried to put all of that into words. "Lucy, I…thank you," she whispered through a closed throat. The back of her eyes burned, and Kara held statue still in the hope the tears wouldn't fall.
"Hey, I'm in your corner." Moving closer, she gripped Kara's hands. "You're almost family, if that idiot cousin of yours ever makes an honest woman out of my sister." Lucy didn't allow Kara to pull away. "The General is an ass, and I hope that article and the tape put him deep in the bowels of Leavenworth."
"It went to press, then?" Kara let the warmth of the sun pull her back toward sleep for a minute. "Wait! What tape? What about Elenor? Harper's goons shot her!"
Lucy's head tilted to one side. "The one you made of the meeting in Cat's office. We found it in Elenor's purse."
"I'm going to dump you at the ER doors…" Elenor stopped talking.
Kara saw blood blossom on Elenor's blouse and jacket. The other woman's eyes, always so lively, stared vacantly ahead as she dropped to the ground.
Run! Kara's mind screamed, but her legs wouldn't move. Her feet were frozen to the ground. She jerked at a sharp prick of pain in her shoulder and thigh.
Everything became weirdly light then dark. Fuzzy then clear.
She saw…boots. Heavy and polished. Greens and browns and blacks. Hands. So many hands and voices.
Voices. Loud, angry voices outside the apartment. Kara swung her legs out of the bed as Lucy smoothly hopped to her feet and grabbed a gun from the nightstand that Kara hadn't noticed before.
"Kara?" Shit! Cleo was outside.
Kara had never called Diana after her fight with the robot. Paired with the article about the gang hunting Supergirl, and Cleo might only be the first of the Royal Guard at Kara's door. "Put the gun away, and call off Cat's security team," she ordered, already pushing her body to move faster. "Hang on. I'm coming!"
