"I'm surprised that you haven't tried to find a way out of this cell."

"There is no way out except through that door."

"They took Alex and you just let them, I guess I didn't leave my family in your capable hands after all."

J'onn just stared at Jeremiah Danvers from where he sat on the bench in the cell. The food, water bottles, and trays still littered the ground. He didn't care. He just wanted Alex back. He knew that he couldn't just completely lose control, though. That wasn't going to bring her back. "You're helping these monsters…"

"Oh, we're the monsters?" Jeremiah demanded from the observation side of the long glass windowed wall.

"What are they doing to her, Jeremiah?"

"Testing...preparing-"

"Preparing her for what?!" J'onn spat and got to his feet, his fingers curled up into balls.

"Something greater…"

He didn't know how long they'd kept her away.

All he knew was that he couldn't sleep and whenever his body would decide that he needed to, he'd wake a terrifying startled breath later after hearing Alex's screams and seeing those needles stuck into her spine. It had felt like a lifetime...and then the door opened before she was tossed in.

Immediately he moved to retrieve her. Checking vitals, he let out a sigh of relief. She was unconscious, but she was alive. Sitting her up, to prepare to carry her to the bench, he couldn't stop himself from checking her spine. No new punctures.

"Kara…" he heard her mumble in her sleep.

"I'll reunite you with your sister soon," he whispered as he cradled her in his arms and carried her over to the bench. It was the best he could do, but she really needed a bed and a blanket. Instead of laying her down to sleep, he let her sleep while he held her as he tried to keep her warm. "I promise you."

They'd taken her again.

Instead of coming in like they had before, they simply pumped the cell with gas and took both of them. He had only known that he'd been taken because when he woke in the cell, he found incisions and needle marks. The cell no longer had the trays and food from yesterday scattered every which way, instead there were new trays neatly set below where the observation window was (he'd noticed that they'd just been leaving it open).

There were two trays of food.

He took that as a sign that they'd return Alex to him.

Anxious, he paced and tried to think.

"You're failing her…"

His head whipped around and he glared at Jeremiah Danvers. So many years before, he'd just wanted to save this man...to let him go home to his family...and then he'd made a promise and he'd tried his best to keep it. All those years ago, he would have never imagined wishing that he could kill him. He knew, even without his powers, that somewhere deep inside of Alex she just wanted to take her father with them in hopes that they could somehow get past the brainwashing...J'onn didn't think that was a possibility, sometimes people were just gone.

Jeremiah Danvers was gone.

"What are they doing to her? What are you doing to her?"

He was angry, but he knew that he needed to watch the trays. Alex hadn't eaten since they'd gotten there and once they returned her, he'd need to get her to eat. He wanted answers, though. Nothing could have prepared them for the true horrors of Cadmus. From his experience so far, they took measures, and that left them trapped...with no chance for escape. All he wanted to was to make sure that Alex got out...got to Kara...got help. That was all he wanted, to stop seeing her suffer.

"Making her stronger… I'm sure you thought that was what you were doing when you recruited her to the DEO," Jeremiah said matter of factly. "I don't think you prepared her for this place."

No.

"Just let her go-"

"Why? Because you'd do anything for her? Because you'd take her place in whatever we are doing to her?" Jeremiah questioned curiously and it seemed with some amusement. "You've really become quite attached to her, haven't you?" The next statement sounded more like an accusation more than anything. "You care for her."

And he did.

"She's like a daughter-"

"No… I don't know if that's quite right," Jeremiah said. "I think it's something more… I've watched you with her… How you look at her… How you held her this morning…" He seemed to be thinking it over and trying to put it together. J'onn wasn't sure what kind of relationship he and Alex had, but it wasn't- "And just so you know, I don't approve," Jeremiah added angrily. With that, he left the window.

For a moment, J'onn just watched as they transported people up and down the hallway, some were awake and walking while others were unconscious and being dragged or carried. In that moment, all he wanted was to see them bringing Alex back...but they weren't. So, he moved back to the bench and sat...waiting and watching.

His thoughts moved to what Jeremiah had said before, what he'd been accused of. J'onn knew that he was protective of Alex, extremely so...he felt like he had to be. While he'd kept an eye on both Alex and Kara, Alex was the more fragile and vulnerable one. That was one of the reasons why he'd pushed Alex so hard in her combat training, he'd wanted her to be strong enough...smart enough..and skilled enough to defend herself in nearly any situation. He'd thought he'd achieved that, but now they were here...and all of that...it seemed to mean nothing.

He'd told the girls that they were like daughters to him…

The door opened and his attention snapped to it, it seemed like they were gauging what he was going to do. J'onn just watched them as they dumped Alex's unconscious body into the room and left. He waited only a breath before moving to be by her side, checking her over. New needle marks and as he gathered her up in his arms, he realized that she was freezing. There were no comforts in the cell and they'd clothed them in so little. J'onn did the only thing he could and sat back on the bench with her like he'd done the day before, held her close, and just let her sleep.

"J'onn?"

The entire time Alex had slept, he'd thought about Jeremiah's words. As she looked up at him, he wondered for the briefest of moments if he'd been right because he cared about Alex so much that it killed him to hear her scream like he had and it was killing him now to look down at her so sickly looking. How he'd easily trade his life away for hers without a second thought. He loved her, that was something he knew for sure, but was it the way a father loved a daughter...or was it something more?

"I'm here," he whispered.

"Cold…"

Running his hands over her arms was all he could think to do to warm her as he held her close. There was skin to skin contact, but he figured that they had been close enough. What she really needed was socks and a thick blanket. "You need to eat something," he told her.

"Not hungry…"

J'onn eyed the trays from where he was sitting and tried to figure out what Alex could easily eat. He'd prefer something warm, but they had been sitting there for some time...and they didn't exactly have microwave capabilities in their cell. "Alex, please…"

"I just want to sleep…"

"Stay awake," he told her and immediately snapped into a more authoritative tone. All he could think was she was cold, she hadn't eaten, and if she slept...what if she didn't wake? "Stay with me."

Alex just stared at him, blinking. "Are you going to sing again?" she whispered with a small smile.

"If I knew it would keep you awake…"

"I am thirsty," she whispered.

He sat her up and positioned her so she'd stay sitting up even without his extra support. Once he was certain that she wouldn't fall over, he moved to the trays and grabbed a water and surveyed the food. If she was willing to drink something, then he was certain that he could convince her to eat something. Though, what he really needed was a protein drink on top of the socks and blanket for Alex.

Sitting back down next to her, he was careful to only let her sip slowly, a little at a time. After she seemed to take it okay and was a little more lucid, he offered her some applesauce. At the very least, it would be easy to eat and an easy way to get food and sugar into her body. He had no idea if they were giving her anything in the way of hydration or nutrients when they took her away, but she didn't look it.

"Do you remember when you and Kara used to sit on your roof in Midvale and watch the stars at night?" he asked.

He wanted to keep her awake and alert. J'onn figured that if he brought up happy memories that maybe that would be enough to keep her with him and positive (as positive as they could be).

"You're trying to keep me awake," she whispered as she closed her eyes. He shook her a little, she grumbled, and then opened her eyes once again. "I remember…"

"Talk to me, Alex."

"You know...things could be worse…"

He didn't want her being negative. Right now, there were already enough negative things, they didn't need to voice them and bring more life to them. "Alex-"

"Consider this dismaying observation," Alex said in a creepy voice. "This chamber has no windows and no doors… Which offers you this chilling challenge...to find a way out...of course there's always my way…"

J'onn just stared at her as she smiled. "This is some reference…"

"You need to get out more," she teased.

"Let's get out of here first…"

TBC…