You all are amazing! I hope you know that!
Please enjoy the next update :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl
"I have always loved earth's sun, even before I knew the powers it bestowed on me."
Kara sat cross-legged on the metal cot in her cell, a small smile playing on her lips. "The first time I saw it, in the blue sky with birds flying underneath it…" The Kryptonian blinked, eyes fixed on a sight Alex couldn't see. "It was so beautiful." The girl's gaze shifted back to the present, thin arm wrapping around her chest. "I want to see it again, Alex. Even if it's just one more time."
Her face, despite the dark shadows that haunted it, was so innocent and hopeful.
"I will help you see it," Alex promised. "You will see the sun again."
Kara smiled and in that moment Alex realized that the Kryptonian was in fact a star of her own, lighting up the night sky and making it day. She filled the room with light, so strong that Alex was engulfed in the beams and whisked away, a faint roar pounding her ears and the sensation of softness surrounding her…
"Alex, can you hear me?"
The roar had faded to a soft beeping as the river of light receded and left her in reality. Alex wondered how many times she would have to find her way back to consciousness. It really was becoming an annoyingly frequent occurrence as of late.
"Alex, sweetie. Can you open your eyes?"
"Mom?" Alex croaked with surprise, prying open her eyes to find her mom leaning over her, greying hair falling across a face that looked too worn to be her mother's. "What… Where's Kara?" She tried to sit up but was gently pushed back down.
"You were hit with a pretty strong sedative," a doctor informed her. "You've been out for awhile."
"You sure took your time finding us," Alex murmured, swimming through the murky clouds of a sedative that had yet to fully leave her system. "Is J'onn here? Where's Kara?" she repeated, successfully pulling herself into a sitting position, noting the bandage and sling that now swathed her shoulder and that her ribs had been wrapped. "What happened?" The last thing she remembered was being in the woods, in a cabin… CADMUS had come and…
Everything suddenly came flooding back: getting ready for CADMUS, realizing that Kara had given herself up to them, the firefight in the woods, that damn tranquilizer coming out of nowhere…
Damn it Kara. Alex couldn't believe that the Kryptonian had tried to give herself up to CADMUS and at the same time, she was barely even surprised anymore. She was going to have to have a very long chat with Kara about her self-preservation skills.
Speaking of Kara…
"Where is Kara?" Alex said for the third time, raising her voice as she looked around and realized that she was the only one in the med bay. Panic pierced her being. "I need to know where she is. Is she okay?"
What if…
"Who is Kara?" Eliza's hand was on top of hers but the comfort of the touch was canceled by the words her mother had just uttered.
"Kara, the girl I was with, the Kryptonian, she has to be here…" Alex was halfway out of the bed, driven by pure panic before her mom and the doctor managed to pin her back down.
"Agent Danvers, the Kryptonian is with us. She's safe," the doctor rushed to reassure her but she could tell by the guarded expression he wore that he wasn't telling her everything.
"Where is she?"
"Alex, you really need to calm down…"
"Where is she?"
The doctor finally spoke. "She's in one of the holding facilities."
"What?" Alex stared at him, anger mingling with her current swirl of emotions. "What the hell… Why? Who authorized that? Where is J'onn?"
"J'onn is in the field with the rest of the team, trying to gain control of the CADMUS base. You were airlifted out of there and brought here for medical attention. When they found you, the Kryptonian had her powers…. She wouldn't let anyone near to you and you were unconscious so…. so they had to do something to subdue her."
"They shot her with Kryptonite?" Alex's stomach turned with horror. This time she did manage to get to her feet, ignoring sudden pain and dizziness at the movement. She subtly gripped the bedframe to steady herself, hiding the motion behind her back. "Take me to her, right now."
"Alex, you're still recovering…"
"I feel fine. I don't have any life threatening injures," Alex growled.
Pain was pain. If she wasn't about to keel over, then there wasn't any reason she needed to wait to see Kara.
Eliza and the doctor exchanged a long look.
"You won't be able to stop her. I'd take her to Kara if I were you." Eliza didn't look happy about it but she knew her daughter.
The doctor heaved a long sigh that ended in him facing Alex with resignation.
"Okay. I'll have an agent take you down. But you have to use the wheelchair."
"Oh hell no."
"She's in the first bay." A security guard who had identified himself as Agent Burne stopped by the door to the holding facilities. Eliza had stayed in the med bay with the doctor, not having the clearance to enter the lower levels, a fact that Alex was grateful for. She didn't now if she could hold it together if her mom was there. She needed to be able to focus solely on Kara. And Alex knew her mom understood. Eliza would wait and Alex would let her in once she was ready; that was just the way they worked ever since Dad…
"Agent Danvers, there's one more thing you need to know," the agent broke through her thoughts.
"What?" Alex hissed, rising from the wheelchair they had managed to wrestle her into. Every fiber of her being needed to see Kara, to know that she was really alright, to see what state she was in…
"She was violent when we took her in so we had to use restraints, for her safety and ours."
Alex's heart dropped and in that moment she knew she couldn't be with the agent a second longer or she would end up hurting him, regardless of his good intentions. Kara would never be violent unless she felt she had to defend herself or, more likely, someone else.
Alex brushed past Agent Burne to step toward the door. "Wait here. I need to talk to her alone."
"I've been advised to come with you. Because the Kryptonian has been violent and you're still recovering…"
"I said, stay here," Alex snapped, eyes blazing. "She's traumatized, not dangerous. Now get out of the way or I will become violent!"
The agent stepped aside, fear clear on his face and Alex rushed into the first holding facility only to stand frozen at what she found. On the other side of the thick glass a slumped form sat curled in the far back corner, face hidden by the tangled blond hair that fell in front of her bowed head.
Kara. Oh god. Kara.
Alex moved forward, pressing her hand against the sensor at the door, realizing with disgusted horror just how similar their facility looked to the cells at the CADMUS lab. Kara probably thought she was right back there.
At that thought, Alex couldn't even wait for the electric door to finish open before she was darting through.
"Kara." She slowed her pace to approach the Kryptonian carefully.
Kara didn't move.
Oh Kara. All Alex wanted to do was take the girl into her arms but she knew she had to tread carefully to avoid scaring Kara even further.
"Hey Kara, love, it's Alex," Alex gently sat beside the girl, ignoring the way the motion elicited searing pain from her ribs and shoulder. From her closer position, she could see that the Kryptonian was actually trembling slightly. "Hey, Kara, can you look at me? You're safe now."
If anything, Kara curled further into herself.
"Kara, I'm going to touch your shoulder, okay?" Alex carefully raised her hand, which was now trembling as well, and gently touched Kara's shoulder.
The young woman finally responded, head rising as she jerked back violently, tear streaked face pale and blue eyes wide with fear.
"Hey, it's okay, it's okay," Alex raised her hands as well as she could with one arm in a sling. "It's okay Kara, it's me."
"Alex?" Kara's voice shook but held together by a thin strand of hope as she stared at Alex as though seeing a ghost.
"Hey," Alex smiled. "You're okay, we're okay. This is the DEO, the place I told you about. They found us and we're safe now."
Kara uncurled slightly, still staring at Alex with utter confusion. She seemed physically okay; all the cuts and bruises Alex had grown used to were gone but she was clearly terrified. "I thought you were dead…"
"No way. I told you I wouldn't leave you. El Mayerah, right?" Alex reminded her.
At the Kryptonian words, Kara visibly relaxed, dull eyes brightening.
"You're really here," Kara looked amazed and moved as if to reach forward then stopped. "But…" Doubt crept back into her expression. "I saw that same man is here, the man from…" She trailed off, pulling her arms back tight against her torso.
That was when Alex saw them: glowing green bands that held Kara's wrists together. Already the skin around them was irritated and rubbed raw and Alex's world tinted red with pure rage at the sight.
"We had to use restraints…"
Alex carefully reached for Kara's hands, keeping her motions smooth. "It's okay, Kara. I promise we're not back there. I am so so sorry that you've been treated this way. I'm going to get those bands off you, you're not a prisoner here." Later, Alex would be absolutely furious at the girl's treatment but for now she was only focused on seeing the terror in Kara's eyes fade away. "Can I see these?"
Kara nodded slowly, letting Alex gently pull her hands forward, the agent quickly searched for the release mechanism. It wasn't technology Alex was familiar with and she had a sickening feeling that it was something that had been made very recently. She was going to need the security agent's help to get the damn things off. The cuffs could not stay on a moment longer.
"I need to go find out how these work so I can take them off, I'll be right back…" Alex started to get up.
"No, Alex, please. Don't leave me," Kara's breathing suddenly increased, panic bleeding through her words. "Please."
"It's okay, I'll be right back, I promise," Alex tried to placate the distressed Kryptonian.
"No, Alex, please…" Kara's breathing hitched to an impossible frequency, tears pooling in her eyes. "Don't leave."
"It's alright, Kara, you're safe here…" Alex pulled Kara close, holding the trembling girl tightly. "We're safe," she repeated, tears slipping form her own eyes as Kara sobbed in her arms.
"I was so scared, I thought you died… I thought I was back… I thought…" Kara's sobs mingled with broken sentences that descended into jumbled Kryptonian words.
"I know, I'm so so sorry, Kara. We're safe now."
They sat, Kara curled in Alex's arms, for a long moment before Alex shifted slightly. She didn't want to let go but she also had to get those cuffs off and get Kara out of here.
"Agent Burne?" she called out, resigned to the fact that if she couldn't leave Kara, her only other option was to have the agent come in. "I need the key to the cuffs." She had no doubt the agent was monitoring their interactions through the cameras.
"Coming in!" Sure enough the door slid open and the agent entered.
Kara's reaction was instantaneous, the young woman's entire body tense and ready to spring into action as her eyes tracing the man's movement.
"It's electronic key, activated by thumbprint," the security agent approached Kara and reached for her hands.
"Stop right there," Alex blocked the agent as Kara violently flinched back. "Touch her and you lose that hand. Just give the key to me and get out."
The agent dropped the electronic key in Alex's waiting hand, but didn't leave, instead scooted back several paces and watched with wide eyes.
Ignoring him, Alex had the cuffs off in a moment, Kara rubbing her wrists as she held them to her chest, huddling against Alex.
"I'm taking her to my apartment," Alex looked up to inform the agent, jaw set and flaming eyes daring him to protest as she put her arm comfortingly around Kara. "I need a car readied for me to take."
"Whoa, you can't just take a Kryptonian out there into the world!" The man stepped forward and something in Alex reared its head as she pulled Kara closer and her body automatically readied itself for attack. Thoughts suddenly filled her mind - she didn't like that they were sitting on the ground and the man was still standing, she didn't like that he was tall, and she really didn't like that she could see the curve of well-toned muscle beneath the fabric of his shirt… It was going to be a tough fight to win injured but she could do it. She had to do it, had to protect the innocent girl in the cell next door…
Except there was no girl in the cell next door because they were safe and this was the DEO and not CADMUS. Alex fought the tide of panic that crashed over her trying to relocate herself in space and time as the agent who stood over them continued to talk.
"…security risk and we don't have the proper authorization…"
"Listen." Alex was on her feet before she knew what was happening, pain silenced in the wake of the adrenaline that raced her veins. "I have the clearance to make this decision." She backed the man against the thick glass, satisfied to see his face pale and eyes widen with fear. "So if you decide to get in my way, I will kill you."
The security agent gulped. "I'll get your car." He practically ran out of the room and Alex felt a visceral sense of relief at his absence, even though her brain knew he was on their side, that as a DEO agent he was part of her team, that she didn't need to protect Kara from him…
Somehow her brain was not the one in control though.
Thank god J'onn wasn't here to see that. Alex was not ready to have any conversations about her own emotional state anytime soon.
The thought sent a small twinge of guilt through Alex; she hadn't even asked for updates on her boss or team as they were attempting to secure the CADMUS base. But did it matter if there was nothing she could do to help them? They would let her know if they had news on the team. She had to focus instead on what she could do and that was help Kara.
"Hey love," Alex turned to find Kara also now standing, the Kryptonian looking completely and utterly lost. "It's time to go home."
Ahhh.
I love writing Danvers sister This chapter was so satisfying to write. Hopefully it was enjoyable to read as well!
Also - we are entering the recovery phase for Alex and Kara which means there is more freedom plot-wise. If you have any scenes you would like to see as the sisters navigate finally going home (well home for Alex) then let me know in a review! I can't promise anything but I do read all the reviews and take suggestions very seriously!
Until the next chapter!
~silverliningineachcloud